Al Diaz/Miami Herald/TNS via Getty Images(ORLANDO, Fla.) -- Two people were injured during an apparent road rage incident on Florida's Turnpike in Lake County on Saturday morning, authorities said.



A 37-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman were traveling southbound in a Chevy Impala at around 10:15 a.m. when someone opened fire on their car near mile marker 272 by someone traveling in a grey Toyota Camry, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.



Both victims were transported to the Orlando Regional Medical Center with minor injuries. Their Chevy Impala has 12 bullet holes on its right side, the highway patrol said.



The Toyota Camry did not stop, and authorities are searching for the vehicle as well as the suspected shooter, the highway patrol said.



Officials initially said the two were shot, but after doctors examined them, it was determined that none of the bullets hit them directly. They were injured by glass and bullet and metal fragments, according to the highway patrol.



The investigation is ongoing but preliminary information suggests the shooting occurred in a road rage incident, according to the highway patrol. Further details on the case were not immediately available.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Let Me Tell You is a new bespoke podcast series from



Hosts Daniel McConnell and Paul Hosford take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments in recent Irish political history from the unique perspective of one of the key players involved.


Theresa May is being warned she faces wrecking her hopes of an EU trade deal unless she dramatically changes her plans over the border in the North.

It is one of the key obstacles preventing negotiations moving onto the next phase of Brexit talks.
The current political crisis has erupted at a time when Irelands stance on Brexit - in particular, its call for Northern Ireland to adhere to an EU customs framework - is threatening to thwart the UK governments desire to progress negotiations with Europe on to a future trade deal.

This morning, Employment and Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty tried to assure the public that the Government would still be able to represent Irelands best interests in Brussels.

"Regardless of what happens on Tuesday you will still have a government and you will still have a department and team of people who will go to Europe in December, despite what the political establishment is going to force us into, and make sure we get the best deal that we can," she said.

"Because absolutely that trumps everything that we are talking about - not to be disrespectful to Maurice McCabe who absolutely deserves justice for the years he has been put through, the pain and torture he has been put through."

Ms Doherty told RTEs The Week in Politics that the Taoiseach was trying to provide "confidence and comfort" to Fianna Fails "misgivings".

Fianna Fail TD Dara Calleary said his party was trying to hold the Government to account.

"We are trying to get answers - thats what our job is," he said.

Cara Calleary

Mr Calleary added: "Confidence and supply is dependent on us having confidence in the Government.

"The Government must realise that in order to earn confidence we must trust them."

He also denied claims from critics that recent events were less about the specific issue and more about the Fianna Fail base growing frustrated with propping up a government led by their arch-rivals.

Ms Doherty offered a scathing assessment of her rivals motivations.

"The reason we are here is because Sinn Fein called Fianna Fails bluff, Fianna Fail called our bluff and they thought wed react differently," she said.

Sinn Feins Mary Lou McDonald said the only way an election could be averted was for Ms Fitzgerald to stand down.

.@MaryLouMcDonald confirms she will lead Sinn Fein in the event of a snap election #twip #GE17 pic.twitter.com/sRpH6W5LCA  The Week in Politics (@rtetwip) November 26, 2017

"The ball is in Leo Varadkars court," she said.

"He has to decide does he put his party and his colleague first or is he willing to accept the fact that confidence in Frances Fitzgerald has run out and for very good reasons."
Tens of thousands of people are heading to NUI Galway today as part of the Galway Science and Technology Festival.

Among the highlights on display is a 500-year-old cold-case following the discovery of King Richard the IIIs skeleton in a car park in the UK.
A number of people have been arrested in Brussels after police officers were attacked on the margins of a protest over the recent revelations of migrant slave markets in Libya.

Fifty people were arrested last night as a group broke away from the protest, put on masks and began to damage shops and attacked officers.
Syrian government airstrikes and shelling have killed at least 23 civilians outside the capital Damascus, according to activists.

The figures were given by the locally-run Ghouta Media Centre.

But at least 25 deaths were reported by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group as residential areas of Damascus's Eastern Ghouta suburbs suffered attacks from government jets and artillery,

Civil Defense workers carry an injured man after government airstrikes hit Douma, near Damascus.

Rescuers in the town of Misraba, in the eastern Ghouta region, picked up dead and wounded from streets in a residential area, as seen in a video.

Syrian rebels attacked a military installation in the area earlier this month, seizing weapons and ammunition.

Rebels and pro-government forces were still fighting for the compound, outside the town of Harasta, also in Eastern Ghouta, today.

A major general in the army was killed in the battle on Saturday, according to the Observatory, with pro-government pages on social media announcing his death today.

Earlier today, at least 10 people were killed in an airstrike on an village held by the so-called 'Islamic State' group in eastern Syria, said an activist-run group.

The Observatory said a Russian airstrike killed at least 34 civilians, and the Justice For Life group also reported the attack on al-Shaafa, saying civilians were killed.

At least 400,000 people have been killed in the civil war that followed a violent crackdown on demonstrations in 2011 against the rule of the family of President Bashar Assad.

The UN is set to resume peace talks between the government and the Syrian opposition in Geneva on November 28. The opposition said last week it was prepared to enter into direct talks with the government without preconditions.

The talks would cover four main topics - a new constitution, governance, elections and combating terrorism, said the UN's deputy envoy to Syria, Ramzy Ramzy, after meeting Syrian deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad in Damascus.

Syria's Foreign Ministry said the government would attend Russian-sponsored talks in Sochi, due next month.

- AP
Latest News MFAA elects board members One re-elected, two newcomers welcomed

ANZ raises fixed rates Forty other lenders have hiked at least one fixed rate in the last month, data shows

Aggregator Finsure has signed an agreement for a proposed merger with Western Australian bank Goldfields Money. The move will come as a blow to Firstmac which set out its own acquisition bid in October only to have it rejected by the Goldfields board If successful, the move would see Goldfields merge with Finsure with individual shares valued at $1.50  an increase from the $1.27 to $1.39 offered by Firstmac.The directors have called the Finsure offer transformational for the bank while providing substantial value to its shareholders.The proposed transaction, if implemented, will result in Goldfields Money owning a fast growing national mortgage aggregation network and wholesale mortgage business, the directors wrote in an ASX announcement last Thursday (23 November).Shareholders have been advised to reject the Firstmac offer and will be given the opportunity to cast a simple majority vote on the Finsure offer once the Merger Implementation Agreement is brought in on 22 December.If the vote passes, Goldfields will issue just over 40 million shares to Finsure shareholders, bringing Finsures equity to around $61.1m and the merged groups equity to around $97.5m.The Goldfields Money board will consist of independent directors with Finsure shareholders permitted to nominate one Goldfields Money director. This will be the co-founder and current managing director of Finsure John Kolenda at the invitation of the current Goldfields board.The move will have several benefits for the firms including giving Goldfields access to Finsures 1,200 accredited brokers as well as a further 5,500 loan writers through Better Choice . Goldfields ADI licence will also provide additional funding for Better Choices wholesale loan products.
Latest News MFAA elects board members One re-elected, two newcomers welcomed

ANZ raises fixed rates Forty other lenders have hiked at least one fixed rate in the last month, data shows

Non-bank Liberty has partnered with market-leading mortgage insurance firm ALI Group in an effort to provide greater risk protection options to brokers and clients.Brokers know us as a leading lender to everyday Australians and families and along with that comes a responsibility to help customers understand how they can protect themselves and their families from unforeseen circumstances, said James Boyle, CEO at Liberty.Boyle, who stepped up to the CEO role just last year, said ALI had done a tremendous job motivating brokers to provide risk protection alternatives to their clients but said he was sure there was still significant opportunity for growth.Major banks routinely offer protection to customers and this is an area where savvy brokers are closing the gap, he said. I am confident that by partnering with the ALI team we can bring this important service to more customers.Huy Truong, CEO of ALI Group, also said he was excited by the deal and said the partnership is a perfect fit  both culturally and strategically.As both chief executive officer and shareholder, it was important to me that our strategic partner not only added expertise, but was culturally aligned, he said. Liberty fits that brief perfectly. Not only does it have extensive experience in, and commitment to, the broking industry as demonstrated by their twenty years of broker engagement; they are also an innovator and believer in risk protection.Established in 2003, ALI has helped to protect more than 175,000 Australian home and property buyers with almost $48bn in cover. The firms mortgage protection products are distributed by over 4,500 authorised brokers, with premiums and pay-out ratios comparing favourably to leading life insurers.Introducing a new strategic partner with extensive third party industry experience, industry commitment and shared values gives us the platform to consolidate our leadership and pursue the next phase of growth, said Truong.Through this partnership we want to support more brokers to help their customers make an informed decision around risk and mortgage protection.
The Water Will Come

Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World

Jeff Goodell

Little, Brown

340 pages; $28

Once youve read an excellent book about climate change, which The Water Will Come most certainly is, you can never un-remember the facts. Elected officials may be busy arguing about whether global warming is real. But most scientists are having other arguments entirely  about whether danger is imminent or a few decades off; about whether our prospects are dire or merely grim.

Sea-level rise is one of the central facts of our time, as real as gravity, Goodell writes. It will reshape our world in ways most of us can only dimly imagine.

Mr Goodell has little trouble imagining it. He opens with a fictional hurricane whipping through Miami in 2037. It sweeps the Art Deco buildings of South Beach off their foundations, disgorges millions of gallons of raw sewage into Biscayne Bay and eats the last of the citys beaches. Thousands scramble for bottled water dropped by the National Guard. Zika and dengue fever start to bloom (so much moisture, so many mosquitoes). Out rush the retirees and glamour pusses; in rush the lawyers and slumlords. Within decades, the place is swallowed whole by the ocean. What was once a vibrant city is now a scuba-diving destination for intrepid historians and disaster tourists.

The whole scenario seems indecently feasible by the books end.

After this years calamitous flooding in Houston and the Caribbean, The Water Will Come is depressingly well-timed, though Im guessing all good about this subject will be from now on. Political time now lags behind geological time: If we dont take dramatic steps to prepare for the rising seas, hundreds of millions could be displaced from their homes by the end of the century, and the infrastructure fringing the coast, valued in the trillions of dollars, could be lost.

Unfortunately, human beings are uniquely ill-suited to prepare for disasters they cannot sense or see. We have evolved to defend ourselves from a guy with a knife or an animal with big teeth, Mr Goodell writes, but we are not wired to make decisions about barely perceptible threats that gradually accelerate over time.

To give you an idea of why many climate scientists are so nervous: Over the course of the earths history, seas have risen drastically whenever ice sheets suddenly collapsed. And thats precisely whats happening now. Greenland is melting at a furious rate  by 2040, Goodell writes, well be able to windsurf at the North Pole  and so are the ice shelves of Antarctica.

Many of our climate reports, including the one that formed the basis of the 2015 Paris Agreement, hadnt predicted this. Their authors assumed that the most the sea could rise by 2100 was three feet, two inches. Now many scientists believe that estimate is too low. Some say the sea could rise as much as six feet; others say even more than that.

Mr Goodell has been writing about climate change for many years. (His previous include Big Coal and How to Cool the Planet.) Hes the real deal, committed and making house calls. In The Water Will Come, partly built on stories hes written for Rolling Stone, he visits cities in peril around the globe: New York; Lagos, Nigeria; Norfolk, Va.; Miami; Venice; Rotterdam. He speaks to a great many politicians, including Barack Obama, eventually asking some version of, Given what you know, arent you scared out of your wits? (Mr Obamas response: Yeah.) At an art event, Goodell buttonholes an influential developer in Miami, Jorge Perez, and asks several variations of the same question. Perez insists hes unworried. Besides, he adds, by that time, Ill be dead, so what does it matter?

Of all the American cities in this book, Miami seems least equipped to handle a rise in sea level, founded as it is on pleasure, real estate and the inalienable right to not pay state income taxes. But every coastal city faces its own obstacles to adaptation, and the problems each one faces are different.

New York City may have more climate-change realists doing its bidding and spending its dollars. But the barrier the city plans to build to protect Wall Street  youve got to protect Wall Street, right?  could deflect water into poorer neighbourhoods. (And lets not even discuss the fate of the subways.)

It is, perhaps, the worlds poor who will suffer most. Mr Goodell devotes a good deal of this book to contemplating their fate. Salty soil has already destroyed the rice crops of the Mekong Delta and Bangladesh. If the sea rises high enough, whole island nations could be washed away. The slum-dwellers of Lagos, Jakarta and other coastal cities in the developing world could be chased from their homes, many of which are already on stilts. The International Organization for Migration estimates there will be 200 million climate refugees by 2050.

Yet even countries with means cant get their citizens to focus on this problem. The average American right now, Mr Obama tells Goodell, even if theyve gotten past climate denial, is still much more concerned about gas prices, getting back and forth from work, than they are about the climate changing.



2017 The New York Times News Service
The Centre is trying to weed out more shell companies, after cracking down on more than 200,000 such entities in the first phase.
The day marks nine years since the Maximum City witnessed the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, which claimed the lives of more than 166 people.

As many as 10 Pakistani terrorists, belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, had unleashed carnage across Mumbai, on November 26, 2008.

Recalling the unfortunate day, Devika, a survivour and an eye-witness, termed the incident as traumatising and said she has still not got over it.

"The entire incident still plays in front of my eyes; it was terrifying. I can recall each and every moment," Devika told ANI.

Devika survived a bullet injury on her leg and was one of the eye-witnesses to identify the lone-captured terrorist of the attacks - Ajmal Kasab.

Having battled for almost two months for her life and praised for her bravery to speak against Kasab, Devika felt that justice has still not been served to people who lost their lives as mastermind Hafiz Saeed still roams scot-free in Pakistan.

"When I saw Kasab in the courtroom I was livid. I wished I had a gun in my hand; I would have shot him there. Anyway, Kasab was a mosquito. Hope someday the big terrorists and the mastermind are brought to book," she said.

Her journey since 2008 has not been easy, she said, adding she faced isolation from people for speaking against Kasab, as they feared the terrorist would come after her and they would also face the consequences.

Devika's father, who was also one of the deponents in the case, echoed a similar sentiment and made a heartfelt appeal to the government to bring justice to people killed in the attack by curbing terrorism harboured in the neighbouring country.

"My daughter was just nine years old when she got shot. It was traumatic. Yes, we are happy that Kasab was hanged, but we will not be satisfied till the real mastermind sitting in Pakistan is punished," he said.

Another eye-witness, Mohd Taufeeq, who sells tea at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, said the day has left a lasting effect on him.

"I still get disturbed whenever I think of that moment.

I rescued many injured people. The situation was devastating. It has been nine years, but I am just waiting for the day the real mastermind sitting in Pakistan is caught," he told ANI.

Another survivour, Rahim Ansari, lost six of his relatives in the barbaric attack and went into depression after the incident.

"My relatives had no chance to escape. I am happy that the perpetrators were either killed or punished. But the mastermind Hafiz Saeed is in Pakistan; it would be ideal if Indian Government gets him here and punishes him," Ansari said.

Meanwhile, in view of this, security has been strengthened across Mumbai. Various events will be held in the city to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attack.

Also, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Governor C Vidyasagar Rao paid tribute to the victims at a memorial on early Sunday morning.
Nine years ago today, India got its own 9/11. The 26/11 attack was neither the first nor the most damaging. The 1993 bombings killed nearly 100 more people. Nor the most provocative. The 2001 parliament attack mobilised two nuclear armies. But the 26/11 attacks were etched into our collective psyche because it met all the requirements of a textbook terror attack. Nearly a decade later, we have achieved some tactical capacity but ironically may have become more vulnerable strategically.
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over the Rafale fighter aircraft agreement and asked them to answer questions regarding the deal.

"Arun Jaitley gave a long press conference and talked extensively about the Rafale Deal. There are only few questions that I want to ask him - First what was the price of the aircraft? Was your price more or lesser than the price of the UPA?" Rahul asked while speaking to the media here.

Posing his second question, the Congress Vice-President asked that the Hindustan Aeronautical Limited, a company that from the past 60-70 years is making aircraft, was sideline on what basis and why was a contract given to an Industrialist with no experience in making aircraft?

He continued, "Third question that I want to ask is did Narendra Modiji or Arun Jaitley seek permission from the Cabinet Committee, where the Finance Minister sits as well?"

Rahul further asked whether or not Prime Minister Modi completed this work without any procedure.

"The Defense Minister at that time had said that he didn't know about this new deal, but the Prime Minister knew," Rahul Gandhi pointed out, before saying that those were simple questions that don't involve any government experience.

"The Defense Minister could not give replies to these questions. We are asking these questions to the Prime Minister because he took an arbitrated decision without following the procedure. We are just asking him whether this is true or not. This is a security issue, issue of the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives, this is a serious matter," said the Congress Vice-President.

He further claimed that the Parliament didn't reopen during the month of November because "Rafale and Jay Shah ate too much."

Rahul on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi single-handedly finalised the Rafale fighter jets deal without following the due procedure.

"When Modi ji went to France, he changed Rafale contract, without consulting anyone. Instead of giving contract to company which knows how to build an aircraft, he gave it to his industrialist friend who knows nothing about it. Defence Minister was in Goa then," Gandhi had said.

During Prime Minister Modi's visit to France in 2015, India and France announced a government-to-government deal wherein the air force would receive 36 Rafale jets in fly-away condition as soon as possible.

According to the contract, the components of the jets would be manufactured by Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence.

However, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, earlier, said the acquisition process of Rafale fighter jets got delayed because of the inaction by United Progressive Alliance (UPA), while it was in power for ten years until 2014.

The defence minister said when Modi-led government came to power in 2014, the situation was 'grim' and that they "had to move quickly forward so that the air force was not left unattended".

The Congress Party has also accused the government of buying the jets at an exorbitant price, paying three times the price negotiated by UPA-2 in 2012.
Union Minister on Sunday rebuffed the reports of introduction of Islamic banking in India, saying ours was a secular country and the existing banking system was for all.

Naqvi's remark has come days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to not pursue a proposal for introduction of Islamic banking in the country, while replying to an RTI query.

"India is a secular country and the existing banking system is for all. Therefore, we are not discussing anything on Islamic banking, neither are we planning to do so. There is neither any plan nor any proposal to allow Islamic banking," Naqvi told ANI.

Islamic banking is a finance system based on the principles of not charging interest, prohibited under Islam.
The Centre's special envoy on Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, today paid his maiden visit to district in South Kashmir, an area which was the epicentre of last year's unrest in the Valley.

The 61-year-old Sharma arrived from Jammu and met around 12 delegations which comprised youths and students from the area, an official said.

An all-girls delegation also met Sharma and urged him to improve the education sector and create avenues for employment in the state.

Some of the youth delegations requested Sharma for an early and impartial probe into the arrest of photojournalist Kamran Yousuf by NIA, the official said.

He said Sharma was likely to visit Anantnag district in South Kashmir tomorrow.

The delegations also highlighted that the media, especially electronic media, was portraying Kashmir in bad light and urged him to ensure immediate end to this biased coverage.

Some of the groups also claimed excesses by the security forces.

Earlier, the Centre's special envoy on Kashmir, visited Kashmiri Pandit camps in Jammu. He visited Jagti area, the largest township of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits and met people to understand their problems.

Sharma, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, was appointed as the Centre's interlocutor on October 23 to hold talks with all stakeholders in an effort to find lasting peace in parts of Kashmir.

Around 60,000 Kashmiri Pandit families migrated in 1990 after the onset of militancy. Of these, 39,000 families based themselves in various camps in Jammu.

Sharma's interactions with youths and students in is considered as a high point of his visit to the Valley.

along with Anantnag was the epicentre of unrest following the encounter killing of Hizbul Mujahideen's poster boy Burhan Wani on July 8 last year.

Pulwama also earned the notorious distinction of being the nerve centre of militancy with anti-insurgency operations being launched on a war footing in the area.

After his first visit to Kashmir Valley, Sharma suggested that cases against 4,500 youths involved in stone pelting for the first time be dropped in a bid to win hearts.

Over 11,500 cases against stone pelters have been registered since July last year following Wani's death. Of these, over 4,500 youths were first-time stone pelters.

In a bid to resolve the Valley's electricity crisis, especially during winters, Sharma also took the initiative of providing additional 300 MW to Kashmir this year.
Amidst reports that engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has sought more than two years for completion of the Hyderabad Metro project, industry sources said the delay has increased the cost of the project from over Rs 14,100 crore to an estimated Rs 18,800 crore.

Billed as the world's biggest metro rail project in public private partnership (PPP), it was taken up in 2012 at a cost of Rs 14,132 crore. The cost escalation is to the tune of over Rs 4,600 crore.

Both Telangana Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao and L&T officials, at a press conference in Hyderabad on Saturday, confirmed the cost overruns, but declined to give a figure or comment further, saying they were trying to resolve the issue through talks.

Despite texting questions to L&T, the company did not respond on the cost over-runs till the time the story went on the wire.

According to sources, the 72 km and 66 stations which were to be completed by April 2016 will now be rolled out in three phases.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first phase of the project -- of 30 km and 24 stations -- on November 28.

The Telangana government, however, has agreed to give L&T further time only till November 2018 to complete the project, according to sources.

The financial closure for the project was achieved in April 2011. Sources said scheduled completion date was five years from date of financial closure.

However, extension of time up to November 2018 has been given to L&T on account of delay in right of way (RoW).

The second phase of the corridor -- barring a 6 km stretch (near Charminar) -- of 66 kms and 61 stations was expected to commissioned by November 2018.

The sources said the second stretch is already behind schedule by 31 months. "As far as the date of completion for the project is concerned, that is, third phase, the final stretch of 6 km, is yet to be decided."
President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said that the Constitution was not an "abstract idea" and it has to be made meaningful for ordinary people by connecting it with their daily life and needs.

"The Constitution empowers the people as much as people empower the Constitution and what they have done to uphold the Constitutional values," the President said in his inaugural address at a function here, organised by the Supreme Court, to mark the Constitution Day.

Pointing out that the executive, legislature and the judiciary must respect each other's domain, he said at the heart of the Constitution was "trust" -- trust in each other and it is this trust that is inherent in the Constitution.

The President also released two books "The Constitution at 67" and "Indian Judiciary - Annual Report, 2016-2017" on the occasion.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said that Supreme Court believes in Constitutional sovereignty and the only religion which "all of us should follow is Constitutional religion".

Stressing that "we must accept constitutional sovereignty and we must surrender to it", he said: "Citizens right have been at the pinnacle, at the zenith, there can't be any compromise on the fundamental rights."

The CJI said that no fundamental right was absolute but fetters to it have to be scrutinised.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the public interest litigation must not become a substitute for governance which must remain with the elected people who are mandated to look after governance.

On proactive judiciary, he said that the founding father of the Constitution gave the responsibility of lawmaking and framing of policies to those elected by the people and it should be left to them.

Mentioning that judiciary has "latent accountability", Prasad said that "Independence of judiciary is important, but at the same time probity and propriety was also important" and with this comes the importance of maintaining the balance in three organs.

In his Constitution Day lecture, former Chief Justice of India Justice R C Lahoti said that judiciary must maintain self-restraint and must avoid encroaching upon the domain of the legislature and the executive.

"Judges should not assume the role of super-legislature or super-executive," he said, describing such an approach as "misadventure".

The tension between the three organs was "inevitable" and is "welcome", the former CJI said, pointing out that "democracy without discipline is democracy without future".

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal described the PIL as a "boon" which has now touched every sphere of life.

However, he said the courts must take the government on board on the question whether issues before the courts, in public interest, are achievable or what are the budgetary positions.

Stressing that it has to be "collective effort", Venugopal said that pronouncing a judgment was one thing but to implement it and achieve the results was quite a different thing.

He also said the top court can't take recourse to Article 142 to invoke powers that the Constitution has not envisaged for it.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said India had adopted a "zero-tolerance policy" towards terrorism and lamented that neighbour Pakistan was not doing enough to control the growth of terror on its soil.

"The government has made it clear on various international platforms that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism," he said at a function here to commemorate the supreme sacrifices made by the security personnel during the Mumbai terror attack nine years ago.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists reached Mumbai via the sea route and opened indiscriminate fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores of rupees.

"India has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism. I do not want to go into its details but the outline is clear," Rijiju said.

Asked about the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the Union Minister of State for Home said, "It is a matter of concern for us. We have been putting pressure on Pakistan in a bilateral way as well as through multilateral forums."



Saeed is also the founder of terror outfit Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT). The UN anUS-designateded terrorist, who has a USD 10 million American bounty on his head, was freed by Pakistan on Friday.

Rijiju said, "On various international forums, we are making it absolutely clear that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism and it is not doing enough to contain the growth of terrorism on its soil. They must do much more than what they had said."



Asked about the neighbouring country being reluctant to cooperate in the Pathankot terror attack probe, the BJP leader said, "Our stand is clear and efforts are going on. I cannot disclose certain aspects of the attack or our efforts."



In January 2016, terrorists had sneaked into an Indian Air Force base in Punjab's Pathankot. The attack had claimed the lives of seven security personnel, while four terrorists were killed.

Rijiju said the coastal borders of India were much more secure now.

"We have taken a series of measures to secure the coastal borders. We have adopted a series of integrated coastal security schemes which are effective," he added.
Led by party chief Amit Shah and several Cabinet ministers, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers across poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday made the most of Prime Minister Narendra Modis broadcast to reach out to voters.
It will cost about Rs 11,000 crore ($1.7 billion) to increase the train speed up to 200 km per hour on the Delhi-Chandigarh route so that a passenger can travel the distance in two hours, according to the draft final report submitted by SNCF, the French railway, to Indian Railways.

The 245-km Delhi-Chandigarh corridor, one of the busiest routes in north India, is slated to be the first semi-high speed project being taken up by the state-owned transporter to run trains at maximum speeds of 200 kmph with French help.

The 1,700-page detailed report will be taken up for finalisation in Indian Railways on Monday for preparing tendering documents and drawing out an action plan as a way forward.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit India in January 2018 when the project will be formally launched.

The railways will sign a MoU with SNCF next year expanding the scope of cooperation in the rail sector, including training of drivers of semi-high speed trains and safety and security of train networks.

The total travel time will be 2 hours and 2 minutes at a maximum speed of 200 kmph with two stoppages at Panipat and Ambala, according to the report.

Currently, the Shatabdi Express covers the distance in about three hours and 30 minutes travelling at a maximum speed of 110 kmh.

SNCF has submitted the execution strategy and implementation model with detailed project cost involving an upgrade of the the route with details of cost analysis and technical parameters.

The report has pegged the total estimated cost at Rs 11,218 crore, which includes the cost of signals upgrade, main civil works and rolling stock among others.

Senior officials from both sides will examine the report and a final cost will be decided after the discussion on Monday, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

There will be re-alignment as there are about 20 major curves spanning over 32.7 km on the existing Delhi-Chandigarh rail route. However, there will be no acquisition of fresh land for the re-alignment as it will be done within the Railways right of way.

Beside Delhi-Chandigarh, there will be upgrades of seven more routes totalling about 4,000 km, including Mumbai-Goa, Chennai-Hyderabad, Mysuru-Chennai, Delhi-Kanpur and Nagpur-Secunderabad.

The Delhi-Chandigarh route is expected to be a demonstrative project by France.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday issued a show-cause notice to NRI businessman C C Thampi for alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to the tune of Rs 1000 crore.

Earlier, the ED had booked Thampi under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with alleged wrongful approval for an engineering college in Thrissur by All India Council for Technical Education in 2009.

Thampi is the chairman of Holiday Group whose businesses extend across India and UAE.

According to the ED's earlier revelations, Thampi was accused of buying huge tracts of land via Foreign Direct Investment.

Following that there was also a look-out circular issued against him, after which Thampi had approached the Kerala High Court with a plea to revoke the circular.
At a time when the Narendra Modi government at the Centre is espousing the cause of greater defence indigenisation under its Make in India programme, the Yogi Adityanath-led dispensation in Uttar Pradesh is also gearing up to showcase the state as an ideal destination for domestic defence manufacturing.
A Customs circular has raised fears of the government imposing integrated goods and services tax (GST) twice on goods lying in customs bonded warehouses.

These goods would attract integrated goods and services tax (IGST) twice  once at the time of import and again while being cleared from bonded warehouses by importers.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has issued a circular clarifying that any supply of imported goods taking place before the goods cross customs frontiers of India should be treated as an inter-state supply and such transaction for sale and transfer would be subject to IGST. This is without prejudice to the levy of customs duty and collection of duty at ex-bound stage.

PwC said the circular recognised the possibility of double taxation when goods stored in bonded warehouses were transferred to another person. The rationale seemed to be a tax on value addition accruing on an in-bond sale, which is subject to customs duty (including IGST) on the original import value.

It said the industry should assess the impact of this clarification (mainly on cash flow and compliance) on the warehousing models, including impact on supplies from special economic zones.

The industry should represent to the government to provide a mechanism to address this anomaly of double levy on the same transaction, by way of exemption or levy only on value addition or other possible options, it suggested.

This circular might lead to litigations and might be challenged primarily on the grounds of jurisdiction since it was issued as a customs circular, the consultant said.
Despite government's decision to promote Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and Remission of State Levies (RoSL) for textile sector, textile exporters said they continue to witness a shortfall of 2.7 per cent in incentives compared to pre-GST era.
PM addresses valedictory session of National Law Day - 2017

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today addressed the valedictory session of the function to mark National Law Day  2017, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. He described the Constitution as the very soul of our democratic structure. He said the Day is an occasion to pay homage to the makers of the Constitution. He said the Constitution has stood the test of time, and proved the naysayers wrong. The Prime Minister quoted extensively from leaders including Dr. B. R Ambedkar, Dr. Sachidanand Sinha, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, during his address. These quotations were used to highlight several important facets of the Constitution, and governance. These themes included the longevity (or immortality) of the Constitution, its workability and flexibility. The Prime Minister said that the Constitution has been a guardian for us. He emphasized that we, the people, must also work as per the expectations that our guardian  the Constitution  has from us. He said that keeping in mind the needs of the country and the challenges facing it, the various institutions of governance should support and strengthen each other. He said that in the next five years, we should channelize our energies to build the New India  the nation that our freedom fighters dreamt of.

The Prime Minister said that the Constitution has also been described as a social document. He said it is indeed unfortunate that the weaknesses that had been identified in our country at the dawn of independence, have still not been entirely eradicated. He said the current time can be described as a golden period when India is full of self-confidence. He said this constructive atmosphere should be used to move swiftly towards the creation of New India.

Emphasizing the importance of "Ease of Living," the Prime Minister said that the role of the Government should be one of a facilitator, more than a regulator. The Prime Minister gave several examples of "Ease of Living" that have been brought about in the last three years, such as quicker income tax refunds, quicker passport delivery etc. He said these initiatives have had a positive impact on all sections of the society. He said about 1200 archaic laws have been repealed. He said ease of living has also had a positive impact on "ease of doing business." He said Lok Adalats can play a key role in reducing pendency of cases in the judiciary. He outlined several other steps that are being taken to improve "ease of access to justice."

Mentioning the massive expenditure that has to be borne by exchequer on account of frequent elections, and other related issues such as diversion of security forces and civil staff, and impact on development programmes, the Prime Minister called for a constructive discussion on the possibility of holding simultaneous elections for the Union and State Governments.

The Prime Minister emphasized that balance between the executive, legislature and judiciary has been the backbone of the Constitution. In this context, the Prime Minister also quoted from judgements of the Supreme Court.
President of India Inaugurates Constitution day Celebrations; Urges Liberty, Equality and Fraternity Among three Branches of State

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the Constitution Day celebrations, organised by the Supreme Court to mark the anniversary of the adoption of our Constitution on November 26, 1949, today (November 26, 2017) in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that our Constitution is not static but is a living document. The Constituent Assembly was conscious that the Constitution would need to be interwoven with new threads. In a dynamic world, this would be the best way to serve the people and the nation as a whole. As such, over the years, many amendments have been carried out to the Constitution by Parliament.

The President said that the Constitution is not just an abstract ideal. It has to be made meaningful to the lives of ordinary people in every street, every village and every mohalla of our country. It has to somehow connect with their everyday existence and make it more comfortable.

The President said that at the heart of the constitutional project was trust  trust in each other, trust between institutions, trust in the goodness of fellow citizens, and trust in the wisdom of future generations. This sense of trust is inherent in constitutional governance. When the Government trusts citizens to attest their documents themselves, it is in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution. When the Union government trusts state governments by devolving financial powers to them, and taking ahead the mission of cooperative federalism, then too we are working in the spirit of the Constitution.

The President said that our Constitution framers realised that a Constitution, no matter how well written and how detailed, would have little meaning without the right people to implement it and to live by its values. And in this, they placed their faith in generations that would follow. The Constitution empowers the people as much as the people empower the Constitution.

When individuals and institutions ask what the Constitution has done for them and how it has built their capacities  they must also consider what they have done to uphold the Constitution. And what they have done to support its value system. The Constitution is We, the People as much as We, the People are the Constitution.

The President said that our Constitution builds a superstructure of political, economic and social democracy. This superstructure rests on three principles or pillars: liberty, equality and fraternity. It is critical to keep this intricate and delicate balance in mind when exploring the relationship between the three branches of the state  that is, the judiciary, the legislature and the executive. They are all equal. They should all be conscious of their liberty and strive to protect their autonomy. And yet, they should be careful not to disturb the fraternity of the separation of powers by even unknowingly intruding into the domain of either of the two other branches. Sobriety and discretion in communication between the three branches is also extremely advisable. This will promote and enhance fraternity between three equal branches of the state, all of which have a certain responsibility to the Constitution.

The President said that our fundamental commitment must continue to be to take the values of our Constitution  and the fruits of our social, economic and political development  to the very grassroots of our society. For this we must make constant efforts to raise standards of subordinate institutions and bring them at par with apex institutions in all spheres.

The President received the first copies of books  The Constitution at 67 and Indian Judiciary: Annual Report 2016-17 from the Chief Justice of India, Mr Justice Dipak Misra.
Nepalis began voting for a new parliament on Sunday with the army on alert as a series of small blasts blamed on a rogue Maoist group reminded the Himalayan nation of the violence and instability it is hoping to leave behind.
Around 65 per cent votes were cast today as polls opened in Nepal for a historic round of provincial and parliamentary elections that many hope will bring the much-needed political stability to the Himalayan nation.

Of the total 15.4 million voters, 3.19 million were eligible to cast their votes in the first phase of the polls today while the rest will exercise their franchise during the second phase on December 7.

The polling was held more or less in peaceful manner, with exception of sporadic incidents in a few places, and the voters cast their votes enthusiastically, according to officials of the Election Commission.

Around 65 per cent of the 3.19 million voters cast their votes today to elect amid tight security lawmakers in 32 districts, mainly hilly and mountain regions in the northern part of the land-locked country, the officials said.

The turnout was lower than the votes cast during the local-level polls, when more than 70 per cent voters exercised their franchise.

Bajura district situated in far West Nepal witnessed the highest percentage of polling with 80 per cent people casting their votes, the EC officials added.

The voting took place in 37 electoral constituencies of 32 districts. Altogether 702 candidates were in the fray for 37 seats of Parliament and 74 of provincial assemblies. Voting started at 7 AM and continued till 5 PM (local time).

This is for the first time that elections for Parliament and provincial assemblies are being conducted under the new Constitution promulgated in September 2015.

The second phase will see elections in 45 districts including Kathmandu valley and southern plains of Nepal, also known as Terai.

The elections will elect 175 Members of Parliament and 350 members of provincial assemblies in seven provinces for a five-year term.

A large number of security personnel including the army were mobilised to ensure security.

The EC authorities visited several remote areas on helicopters to assess poll preparations.

Chief Election Commissioner Aydohee Prasad Yadav visited Dolpa in the North-East mountain region and Nuwakot in the central Nepal, respectively, to have a direct observation of the poll preparations.

"I am also excited for the polls as most people whom I met today in various parts of the country are really excited. Unlike them I am a bit worried if any force disturbs the elections. Thus, let's first make this election a success and we all will celebrate it together," CEC Yadav had told reporters on the eve of the election.

"The election will complete the implementation of the first Constitution promulgated through the Constituent Assembly and federal democratic republic will be further strengthened ending the protracted political deadlock," he had said.

Two major communist parties -- CPN-UML and former rebel CPN (Maoist) now rebranded as CPN (Maoist Center) -- have forged an electoral alliance against the ruling Nepali Congress.

The two parties have vowed to garner a majority in the elections and forming a communist government.

The Nepali Congress has also forged an electoral alliance with pro-Hindu Rastriya Prajatantra Party in certain electoral constituencies.

There are also some electoral alliances between the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, a key Madhesi party and Nepali Congress in some constituencies to counter the communist alliance.

"It's an important step to implement the Constitution. Let's hope, this election will pave the way for political stability and development in the coming days," said former chief election commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel, who successfully conducted elections in 2008.

The elections are billed as the final step in Nepal's transition to a federal democracy following a decade-long civil war till 2006 that claimed more than 16,000 lives.
Saudi Arabia's assertive crown prince on Sunday opened the first high-level meeting of a kingdom-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism, vowing that extremists will no longer "tarnish our beautiful religion."



Mohammed bin Salman's words come as the Islamic State group, which sparked the creation of the alliance, has been driven out of Iraq and lost its self-described capital in Syria.

However, the alliance doesn't include Iran, Iraq or Syria, while member nation Qatar sent no one to attend the one-day Riyadh gathering amid a diplomatic standoff between Doha and four Arab nations led by the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia announced the alliance in December 2015, when the crown prince was still only the kingdom's defence minister.

Since then, his father King Salman has elevated the 32- year-old prince to be next in line for the throne in the oil- rich kingdom. The crown prince also recently put a number of wealthy princes, businessmen, military leaders and under arrest over corruption allegations at various luxury hotels in Riyadh.

The alliance initially announced with 34 nations, now includes 41, according to the Saudi government. Addressing the defence ministers and other high-ranking officials, Crown Prince Mohammed said today's meeting sends "a strong signal that we are going to work together and coordinate together to support each other."



"The biggest danger of this terrorism and extremism is the tarnishing of the reputation of our beloved religion. ... We will not allow this to happen," he said. "Today we start the pursuit of terrorism and we see its defeat in many facets around, the world especially in Muslim countries. ... We will continue to fight it until we see its defeat."



The crown prince also offered his condolences to Egypt, which suffered an attack Friday by Islamic militants on a mosque in northern Sinai that killed 305 people.

"This is indeed a painful event and it is a recurrent and strong reminder the dangers of this terrorism," he said.

The meeting did not include Iran, which has aided embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad in his country's civil war and backed Shiite militias crucial in pushing the Islamic State group out of Iraq.

The Sunni kingdom is the Shiite power's archrival in the Mideast and remains concerned about its influence in the region after Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Saudi Arabia also leads a coalition of nations fighting in Yemen against Shiite rebels there who have Iran's backing. Saudi Arabia also made a point to put Qatar, absent from the gathering, at the end of the list of 41 countries that belong to the anti-terrorism alliance.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties to Doha in June, partly over allegations that Doha supports extremists and has too-close ties to Iran. Saudi Arabia also closed its land borders, seaports and airspace to Qatar.
Pakistan's government has called in the army to restore order after clashes between police and protesters belonging to hardline religious groups killed six people and injured more than 200 in the capital.

The police aided by paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary yesterday lunched a massive operation against activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and Sunni Tehreek Pakistan religious groups who had blocked a key highway to Islamabad for nearly three weeks.

Police and paramilitary forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters to disperse them. However, the security forces pulled back after the crackdown turned deadly.

At least six people were killed in clashes yesterday, Dawn reported. It also said that no security personnel was killed but at least nine senior police officers were injured including Rawalpindi city police chief Israr Abbasi.

According to health officials, more than 200 people, including at least 95 security personnel, were injured in the clashes and shifted to various hospitals.

The Interior Ministry last night issued a statutory regulatory order to authorize the deployment of the army to control the law and order situation in the capital.

Official sources said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa are expected to hold a meeting to discuss the situation after the government sought deployment of the army in the capital.

However, the army said it needed clarification on some points before moving in to control the situation.

General Bajwa was on a visit to the United Arab Emirates and cut short his trip to reach the country last night.

Earlier, he spoke to Abbasi over telephone and suggested to handle the protests peacefully "avoiding violence from both sides as it is not in national interest and cohesion."



Meanwhile, all news channels have been off-air and access to popular social media blocked since yesterday.

Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) representing electronic media condemned the action against media.

The protesters have been laying siege to the capital for about three weeks demanding removal of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for changes in a law related to the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat (finality of prohpethood) oath in the Elections Act 2017.

They alleged the action undermined Islamic beliefs and linked it to blasphemy. The government has already amended the law and restored the original oath but the hardline clerics refused to call of the protests until the minister is sacked.

The unrest also spread to several cities where protesters have blocked major roads, resulting in clashes with police. Dozens of people were injured in Karachi and at other places.

Minister of Interior Ahsan Iqbal chaired a high-level security meeting on Friday night but failed to reach at any decision about further operation as senior officials of Islamabad administration and police warned to loss of human lives, according to sources in the interior ministry.

The protesters emboldened by failure of government upped the ante and demanded resignation of the government, according to report on Geo TV website.

There are reports that ruling Pakistan Muslims Leauge- Nawaz was discussing the option of removing law minister to pacify the protests. But it may be too late now. The minister is already under immense pressure after an attack yesterday at his residence in Pasroor area of Sialkot district in Punjab.

Opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf have also increased pressure on government and its secretary general Jehangir Tareen demanded resignation of interior minister for mishandling the operation.
Pakistans government ordered paramilitary forces known as the rangers into Islamabad to clear protesters from a right-wing religious party, who have held the capital city under siege for three weeks, after the army called for a peaceful solution.
"The whole thing started with a grenade thrown from the window, then masked militants rushed into the mosque, showering us with bullets, leaving dead bodies everywhere," Mohamed Ali said, recalling the Friday attack on a mosque that killed 305 people in Egypt's North Sinai.

It was a real inferno, said the 33-year-old man who suffered two bullet wounds in the legs, reports Xinhua news agency. He is now receiving medical treatment in Ismailia province by the Suez Canal, southwest of the terror-stricken North Sinai.

Ali, a father of four who works as salesman at a grocery in al-Rawda village where the attack took place, said he still could not believe that he survived the "heinous massacre".

The militants attacked the mosque minutes after the preacher started his sermon, he said with a low fatigued voice as he grappled with pain.

"The terrorists threw bombs from the windows and doors of the mosque, besieging us inside and started to shoot randomly," Ali said. "Bodies of the dead and panicked injured worshippers were everywhere, blood splattered across the mosque."

Ali said he was praying on the frontline chairs near the preacher's rostrum, which he used as a cover from the terrorist showers of gunshots.

Bir al-Abd : A blood trail on the veranda of Al-Rawda Mosque in Bir al-Abd northern Sinai, Egypt a day after attackers killed hundreds of worshippers, on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017 | AP/PTI

"The pulpit did not protect me as I was injured with two bullets but at least it saved my life," Ali said, looking at the central venous line placed into his arm.

When some worshippers attempted to get out of the mosque, he said, some masked men finished them off with rounds from their machine guns.

"It was horrible and chaotic... They showed no mercy, it was an act of genocide," he said, tears rolling down his pale cheeks. "Three brothers from my neighborhood were killed in cold blood."

On Saturday, the Egyptian general prosecutor announced that the death toll in the mosque attack had climbed to 305, including 27 children, while 128 were wounded.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian military spokesman said air force jets hit a number of vehicles loaded with terrorists involved in the deadly attack.

In addition, the air forces targeted a number of hideouts containing weapons and ammunition that belong to the extremists, the spokesman added.

The airstrikes came hours after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi vowed to respond fiercely against terrorists who carried out the attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bloodbath.

However, fingers are pointed at a Sinai-based group loyal to the Islamic State which has claimed most major terrorist operations in Egypt over the past few years and whose affiliates are currently facing a massive security crackdown in Syria and Iraq.

It is the first time a mosque was targeted by militants in Egypt.

The North Sinai province, a mostly desert area bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, has been experiencing waves of anti-security attacks that have killed hundreds of police and soldiers since an army-led ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
At least 20 civilians were killed in attacks coordinated by the Syrian regime in Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus on Sunday.

According to the Anadolu Agency, the attacks were targetted at the Opposition-held residential neighbourhoods of Douma, Misraba, Ein Tarma, Medeira and Harasta.

The sources said 13 civilians, including three children, were killed in Misraba, five people, including a child, were killed in Medeira and two in Douma.

However, the death toll may rise as scores of people got injured in the attacks.

Last week, at least 12 civilians were killed in shelling by the Assad regime forces in Damascus on Saturday.

According to a Syrian civil defense source, Madyara, Haresta, Arbin, Hamuriyyah, Zamalka and Hazze regions were hit in the shelling.

A number of people also got injured, who were later rushed to the nearby medical facility.

A civil defence report has claimed that at least 45 civilians have lost their lives due to Syrian regime's intense attacks on Eastern Ghouta between November 14-17.
Last year Erin Bligh, the proprietor of Dancing Goats Dairy in Newbury, Mass., planned to introduce a new  hard, with spicy peppers  called Madam President, in what she assumed would be a fromage homage to a historic election.
While pattern for 2017, the entrance test for Indian Institutes of (IIMs) and over 110 non-IIM business schools, was the same, logical reasoning and data interpretation (LRDI) section proved to be a nemesis for aspirants again as last year.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who visited Rajkot ahead of Gujarat Elections, criticised Rahul Gandhi and said the Congress party will lose in the state, the same way it did in Uttar Pradesh.

"He (Rahul Gandhi) visited all the streets of Uttar Pradesh during the state elections, but what happened to Congress? We all know that and the same thing will happen in Gujarat as well," he said.

On his visit to Rajkot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said Gujarat is moving ahead with development and that he likes "coming to Gujarat".

He added that Gujarat development has happened due to Prime Minister Modi's magic.

"When we work in Chhattisgarh, we consider the Gujarat Model as our inspiration," Chief Minister Singh added.

Raman Singh also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought "so much honour to Gujarat and the country" adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is asking to vote for development and not on the basis of caste.

"I hope that people of Gujarat and Rajkot are wise and will vote for BJP," he said.

On allegations that there is a mood of anti-incumbency in Gujarat and that is the reason of BJP calling for Union Ministers and other important leaders for campaigning in Gujarat.

Chief Minister Singh said, "We have come here before as well. I like coming to Gujarat and understand the working for BJP workers here."

The elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday lauded the positivity drive initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the nation via his 'Mann Ki Baat' radio programme.

"We have a new idea and new direction to follow in 2018. The prime minister, on account of the anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, spoke of starting the New Year on a positive note. This is something that the country should adopt, as it is essential for our growth," Pradhan told reporters here.

Supporting this stance, Union Minister Vijay Goel also lauded the prime minister's efforts in creating a New India through various measures, a recognition of the same being the recent upgrade of India's rating by global credit rating agency Moody's. He also opined that if more states were brought under the rule of the NDA Government, there would be synced developmental activities between the states and the Centre.

Further, retaliating to the Congress' recent jibe on Prime Minister Modi using memes, Goel claimed that the grand old party's leadership should have condemned such behaviour of their cadet, adding that the level of politics should not be degraded to such an extent.

"Just because our prime minister sold tea to make a living in the past, this cannot be a subject of mockery. Politics should not lose its stature with such behaviour. Our prime minister has worked very hard in introducing schemes in almost every field for the betterment of the countrymen. The Congress should have opposed such behaviour," Goel said.

Prime Minister Modi, in his 38th Mann Ki Baat episode urged the nation to spread positivity in 2018.

"At the end of every year, we recall events of the year gone by. Let us begin 2018 with a message of positivity. I urge you to compile around five positive things from this year and share with me. With '#PositiveIndia', share your positive moments from 2017; this will inspire others," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Egypt Mosque attack, which claimed over 300 lives and wounded scores of worshippers on Friday, was carried out by dozens of men wearing military combat uniforms and armed with automatic machine guns.

Twenty-five to 30 attackers arrived in five SUVs at the al Rawdah Sufi mosque in Bir al-Abed on Friday. Some wore masks and at least one was carrying an ISIS flag, reported CNN, citing the state prosecutor as saying in a statement to the state-run media outlet.

They positioned themselves at the building's entrances and the front of the mosque shortly before the massive gunfire and loud explosions rang out.

On Friday, terrorists stormed a packed mosque in the Bir al-Abd region of Egypt's north Sinai.

An explosion reportedly took place inside the mosque when worshippers were carrying out their afternoon prayers.

Following the explosion, gunmen arrived in cars and opened fire at the fleeing crowd.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

The al Rawdah Sufi mosque is known as the birthplace of an important Sufi cleric.

Sufism is a branch of Islam that some jihadists consider heretical.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tushar, an eight-year-old 'Divyang' boy of Madhya Pradesh's Kumhari village, made headlines on Sunday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his 'Mann ki Baat' narrated an account of the lad's single-handed efforts in making his village open defecation-free (ODF).

The honour of being mentioned by the Prime Minster has brought joy to the whole village, and especially the parents of the boy.

"It's a matter of pride for us that my son, who is mute and deaf, brought laurels to our village," Tushar's mother, Anju Urade told reporters.

Since Tushar is a differently-abled boy, his mother also appealed to Prime Minister Modi to help in his treatment.

"We can't afford his treatment. We appeal Modiji if he can help us in getting him operated in India or outside, if his condition can be treated," she said.

Tushar's mother wants him to reach greater heights in life, and requested the government to also provide money to help in his education.

Santosh Urade, the proud father of the child, said that Tushar's achievement would be an inspiration to all.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister in the 38th edition of his 'Mann ki Baat' address, shared the boy's story with the country.

"You will be amazed to know that Tushar, an eight year old differently-abled, Divyang boy from Madhya Pradesh, had taken a firm resolve to make his village Open defecation free. Such a young child, but his grit and determination were larger and mightier. He cannot speak but he made a whistle his weapon," Prime Minister Modi said.

He told that Tushar woke up every morning at 5 am, and awoke everyone else by visiting households of his village and using gesticulation to convey the message to others of not defecating in the open.

"He visited 30-40 households each day, and gradually Kumahari village became open defecation free," PM Modi continued.

"Our Divyang brothers and sisters are firm in their resolve; they are competent, capable, courageous and determined. Today, they are doing well in every field," the Prime Mnister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The first food aid has been allowed to dock at a port in Yemen, after a three-week blockade by a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition.

About 25,000 tonnes of wheat will be offloaded on Monday for starving people in Yemen, reported Al Jazeera.

The shipment landed on Sunday at the Houthi rebel-controlled Red Sea port of Saleef in western Yemen, said a spokesperson for the Food Programme (WFP), Abeer Etefa.

Planes carrying medical supplies were allowed to land in the capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, but this is the first shipment of food aid to be let in.

UN officials have warned Yemen could face the world's largest famine in decades unless the crippling blockade by the coalition is lifted.

The impoverished Middle East country is highly dependent on imported wheat.

The blockade was imposed on November 6, after a missile attack on Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supplying arms to the Houthis, which Tehran denies.

On Saturday, about 1.9 million doses of vaccines were also flown into Yemen, a UN children's agency official said on Sunday.

But two UNICEF vessels carrying food, water purification tables, and medicine heading to the Hodeida port have not yet received clearance to dock.

Yemen's civil war has raged since 2015 when the Houthis stormed the capital, Sana'a, and deposed the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
France won their tenth Davis Cup title when Lucas Pouille squashed Belgian's Steve Darcis by 6-3 6-1 6-0 to give the hosts a 3-2 victory in the final against Belgium on Sunday.

This was their first title since they beat Australia in 2001 before three defeats in the final in 2002, 2010 and 2014.

Belgium, on the other hand has yet to win the title, having now lost three finals after defeats in 1904 and 2015.

Yannick Noah, the last Frenchman to win a grand slam title, celebrated his third title as captain after leading France to victory in 1991 and 1996.

"It was a victory we had been dreaming off. It's a united group. It was a tough weekend against a good Belgian team. Lucas played a fantastic final match," the Independent quoted Noah as saying.

France took the lead when the pair of Richard Gasquet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, beat Belgian's Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore in four sets.

However, Belgian's David Goffin on Sunday levelled for 2-2 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with a 7-6(5) 6-3 6-2 win as the world number seven sent the tie into a decider.

The final match saw Pouille going for the throat, racing to a 3-0 lead against Darcis.

"There's nothing more beautiful than winning as a team in front of my friends and family. Now we're going to celebrate and enjoy it," said Pouille.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Gujarat Police has seized 75,968 bottles of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) worth Rs 2,20,88,000 in Gandhinagar, a few days ahead of the upcoming Gujarat elections.

The state police also captured five vehicles worth Rs 24,15,000 on Saturday.

According to the Election Commission, liquor is a popular incentive used to persuade voters in Gujarat, which is a dry state.

The seize has come after the Gujarat Police launched a special drive against distribution of alcohol illegally ahead of the forthcoming assembly elections in the state, scheduled for December 9 and December 14.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress party on Sunday released the third list of 76 candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly Elections.

Congress, in a press statement, released the names of 76 candidates for the second phase of elections.

Earlier on November 21, the Congress party released its second list of 13 candidates for the upcoming elections.

The list was released by senior party leader Oscar Fernandes.

Apart from revealing candidates for nine constituencies, the Congress party has replaced four candidates previously announced in the first list, for Junagadh, Bharuch, Kamrej, and Varachha Road.

Earlier, the party also released its first list of 77 candidates.

The elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14.
Union Minister Arun Jatiley on Sunday launched a veiled attack at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi saying he should maintain the dignity of the position he is expected to be accorded with.

Jaitley, who was in Surat to attend "Mann Ki Baat: Chai K Sath" Programme, said that the Congress is campaigning in Gujarat on anti-development agenda.

"When a person is given a higher position then he should maintain its dignity. But some people have not learnt this," he told media.

The Union Minister also slammed Rahul for criticising Gujarat model and said development in India and Gujarat has earned global appreciation.

"The development in India and Gujarat under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji leadership is being globally hailed. The truth will not change if the Congress campaigns on the basis of false facts," Jaitley added.

He also expressed confidence about the BJP sweeping the Gujarat polls.

"Gujarat is a very important state for BJP. Here since 22 years BJP is ruling. It is natural that we will put all our efforts to win," he said.

With the Gujarat election date inching closer, campaigning is in the poll-bound state is in full swing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Haridwar-based spiritual guru, Govindadev Giriji Maharaj, has sparked a row saying a Hindu couple should have four children.

Addressing a public gathering on Saturday in Karnataka's Udupi, he said, "We have seen that India lost those territories wherever Hindu population reduced, resulting in demographic imbalance. Every Hindu couple should have four children then only the population of Hindus will be stable. Many followers have followed my preaching."

This is not the first time when such statements have been made to maintain 'demographic balance'. Earlier, BJP leader Sakshi Maharaj had also raised eyebrows after making a similar remark.

The BJP MP from Unnao, Sakshi Maharaj, had said that every Hindu woman must produce at least four children to "protect" the religion.

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Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday urged the judiciary to ensure the separation of powers between the judiciary, legislature and executive.

Speaking on the occasion of Law Day at Vigyan Bhawan here, the Union Minister said, "The separation of power is equally bounding upon the judiciary and is the law of the land. People of India entrust Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the obligation to secure unity and integrity of the country."

"But, if the Prime Minister and law minister cannot be trusted to have a fair judge's appointment, it is a huge question and somewhere or the other the judiciary and polity of the country will have to look upon that," he stressed.

He added that independence of judiciary cannot be invoked in a manner that undermined importance of separation of power as both were part of basic structure of the Constitution.

The law minister also voiced concern over frivolous PILs hindering governance, saying, "PILs cannot become and should not be allowed to become a substitute for governance".

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on people to work unitedly for "New India" and said that the country will lead the world in the 21st century.

The Law Day is marked on November 26. On this day, the Constituent Assembly agreed on the final draft of the constitution in 1949.

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A woman has been allegedly raped at a knifepoint in a moving train in Madhya Pradesh.

The accused, identified as Jeetu Malviya, raped the woman, a popcorn vendor, in the toilet of Amarkantak Express, plying between Bhopal and Itarsi, on Saturday.

A complaint was filed by the victim's husband with Budni Police on Sunday, who then registered a zero FIR and transferred the matter to Habibganj Government Railway Police (GRP) station.

Both the victim and the accused know each other, as Malviya is also a popcorn vendor, police said.

GRP police officer B.L. Sen told ANI that the accused was booked under Section 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal code (IPC) and efforts were on to nab him.

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Pakistan Rangers have taken control of the sit-in area after reportedly a clash erupted between protestors and paramilitary forces at Islamabad's Faizabad Interchange in Islamabad early on Sunday.

According to Radio Pakistan, Rangers have cordoned off the IJP Road, Expressway, Murree Road and the Faisal Avenue.

As per reports, the situation now is calm in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

Earlier, at least six people were killed and hundreds injured after the police crackdown on the protestors, who had camped outside Faizabad Interchange for nearly three weeks, turned violent.

According to Dawn, those killed were identified as Hafiz Mohammad Adeel, Jahanzaib Butt, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Sharjeel, Zohaib Ahmed and Mohammad Irfan.

According to a senior police official, no security personnel was killed in the clashes, however, a number of senior police officials sustained injuries.

Meanwhile, the media blockade continues in the country, pushing it behind a virtual wall. The series of events have left Pakistan isolated and nobody seems to know what is happening in the country.

According to reports, even after the civilian government asking the Army for help, the Commander 111 brigade, which generally takes minutes to enter the capital, was not seen anywhere.

The army's reluctance in showing competence, when the nation perhaps needs it the most, may be encouraging the hardliners more with assurance of protection.

The civilian government had requested the Commander 111 Brigade directly, as per the mail that was leaked to the Pakistan media, violating the protocol. The proper channel would have been through the Chief of Army Staff General (COAS), Qamar Javed Bajwa, according to the sources. Several hours later, there was no sign of any army movement in Islamabad or Rawalpindi.

The 'Faizabad dharna' started after the cleric, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, and his followers were demanding resignation of Pakistani law minister Zahid Hamid, as they saw the change in the words of an oath taken by the lawmakers as blasphemy.

Though the change has been reversed, the protesters continue to demand Hamid's resignation.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) had warned it would not cover Faizabad sit-in during a police crackdown on the protestors. Following the PEMRA order, there was a media blackout in Islamabad, where almost all leading private TV channels went off air.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded the Indian Navy for their glorious service and humanitarian ventures they indulge in for the people of the country.

"We, Indians, always nurture the feelings of pride and respect towards our security forces - the army, the navy and the air force. The countrymen salute courage, bravery, valour, chivalry and sacrifice of our soldiers," Prime Minister Modi, while addressing the nation through his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat'.

The prime minister also congratulated the Indian Navy for the upcoming Navy Day to be celebrated on November 4.

He further said this year, a campaign would be observed from December 1 to 7, to mark the Armed Forces Flag Day on the 7th, by the Ministry of Defence in order to disseminate information and increase awareness about the Armed Forces.

The prime minister also talked about the growing contribution of women to the security forces of the country and remembered women warriors of the Chola Dynasty.

"India's glorious naval tradition dates back to times of the Chola Empire and the empire of Shivaji Maharaj. It is not known to the world but in Chola Navy women worked in prominent posts before 800-900 years," he said.

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At least six people were killed and hundreds injured after the police crackdown on the protestors, who had camped outside Islamabad's Faizabad Interchange for nearly three weeks, turned violent.

According to the Dawn, those killed were identified as Hafiz Mohammad Adeel, Jahanzaib Butt, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Sharjeel, Zohaib Ahmed and Mohammad Irfan.

According to a senior police official, no security personnel was killed in the clashes, however, a number of senior police officials sustained injuries.

Earlier, there were reports of the death of a police official in the clashes.

Meanwhile, the media blockade continues in the country, pushing it behind a virtual wall. The series of events have left Pakistan isolated and nobody seems to know what is happening in the country.

According to reports, even after the civilian government asking the Army for help, the Commander 111 brigade, which generally takes minutes to enter the capital, was not seen anywhere.

The army's reluctance in showing competence, when the nation perhaps needs it the most, may be encouraging the hardliners more with assurance of protection.

The civilian government had requested the Commander 111 Brigade directly, as per the mail that was leaked to the Pakistan media, violating the protocol. The proper channel would have been through the Chief of Army Staff General (COAS), Qamar Javed Bajwa, according to the sources. Several hours later, there was no sign of any army movement in Islamabad or Rawalpindi.

The 'Faizabad dharna' started after the cleric, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, and his followers were demanding resignation of Pakistani law minister Zahid Hamid, as they saw the change in the words of an oath taken by the lawmakers as blasphemy.

Though the change has been reversed, the protestors continue to demand Hamid's resignation.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) had warned it would not cover Faizabad sit-in during a police crackdown on the protestors. Following the PEMRA order, there was a media blackout in Islamabad, where almost all leading private TV channels went off air.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Sri Lankan Navy on Sunday apprehended two Indians with 750 kg Glyphosate near South of Mannar lighthouse.

The arrested Indians have been handed over to the Mannar Police for further questioning.

The consignment of Glyphosate, the fishing dhow and other equipment were taken over by the police.

An inshore patrol craft attached to the North Central Naval Command, recovered the Glyphosate consignment along with the two Indians, when they attempted to smuggle the herbicide into Sri Lanka via sea in the guise of fishermen.

Further details are awaited.

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At least 13 militants belonging to the Islamic State (IS) were killed in an airstrike by the United States forces in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.

According to the Khaama Press, the 201st Silab Corps in the East, confirming the attack, said the hideout of the terror group was wiped-out and at least 13 militants were killed.

No local or security personnel were harmed in the airstrike, the officials added.

The provincial government media office, in a statement, also confirmed that 13 militants were killed in the airstrike conducted in the Gagari area.

Earlier this week, at least eight persons were killed in an explosion that struck Jalalabad in the province.

Nangarhar is among the relatively calm provinces, however, the Taliban and IS militants have increased their insurgency activities in few its remote parts during the recent years.

Both - the Taliban and Islamic State - have, of late, been targetted by sustained US airstrikes.

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In its continuous effort to highlight the deteriorating human rights situation in Balochistan province of Pakistan, the Baloch Organisation (WBO) has launched a mobile awareness campaign in London city.

Several mobile vans with huge billboards are roaming around prominent locations in the city, including the embassies of Pakistan and China. The WBO also opposes the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion development project which passes through Balochistan.

A WBO statement said, "We also paid a visit to their embassies to remind them of their crimes against humanity".

The billboards on mobile vans read, "Raise your voice against extra-judicial killings, disappearances and torture in Balochistan by Pakistan Army".

Some billboards also read, "Free Balochistan from human rights abuses."

In its Twitter message, the WBO said, "Despite efforts from Pakistan to censor our campaign, the pursuit of peace and justice continues".

Bhawal Mengal, a representative of WBO told ANI, "Our awareness campaign continues in London despite Pakistan's efforts to suppress our voices internationally. Pakistan has failed; the voices of the oppressed cannot be suppressed for long. We have reached out to a lot of people with this campaign which has got Pakistan to panic and send their delegation to the U.K. in an attempt to further deceive the U.K. government into believing its lies about Balochistan".

It was noted that Pakistan recently opposed #FreeBalochistan campaign by WBO and messages from taxis and buses were removed by Transport for London (TfL).

The advertisements in London are similar to ones put up in Geneva in September. The timing coincided with a United Nations meet on human rights.

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A woman constable met Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to complain about the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), who allegedly sexually harassed her.

The woman constable working in Bhopal alleged that she was sexually harassed by Additional SP Rajendra Verma and hence, reached the Chief Minister's house to talk about the negligence in her case.

"I met Madhya Pradesh CM and asked him why no action had been taken. The Chief Minister assured action against the culprits," she said.

She further said that her mental status is disturbed due the incident, post which Chief Minister Chouhan advised the constable to go on a three to four month leave.

An FIR has also been lodged against the accused.

However, the woman constable has also alleged that the investigation was not taken seriously and has complained to the CM.

The victim narrating her ordeal said, "I wanted him (ASP) suspended as he is still sitting in office."

She also said the people are blaming her and looking at her as if she has "done something wrong."

Earlier this month, a 19-year-old civil services aspirant was allegedly abducted by four men and gang-raped near the Habibganj Railway Station in Bhopal. All the four accused are in custody.

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AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a convention to mark the party's 5th Foundation Day at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

Delhi Chief Minister on Sunday accused the BJP of dividing India on Hindu-Muslim lines and said it had done in three years what Pakistan and its ISI could not do in 60 years.

"Pakistan's biggest dream is to divide Hindustan on the lines of Hindus and Muslims. Those who're dividing the country on the lines of Hindus and Muslims are ISI agents," the Aam Aadmi Party leader said at the party's Conference here.

"Under the veil of patriots, they're anti-nationals. They want to weaken the country. This dream has been harboured by Pakistan. What Inter-Services Intelligence could not do in 60 years, the BJP has done in three years," he said and asked voters in Gujarat to defeat the BJP.

Thousands of party workers participated in the conference at the Ramlila Maidan here, from where the India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare started and later gave birth to the AAP party in 2012. The event drew participation from 22 states.

Talking about the December Gujarat elections, Kejriwal said: "I request the people of Gujarat to give your vote to the candidate or party who can defeat the BJP."

"If somewhere, the AAP is winning, give your vote to AAP. If any other party is winning, give the vote to them. But defeat the BJP," Kejriwal said.

Speaking on the occasion, AAP founder-member Kumar Vishwas said the party had moved away from the path it set out on and has to find the right way forward.

"Don't you think we have gone somewhere else from where we were moving to five years ago? We have to find the right way," the AAP leader said.

He also called for introspection on the part of the AAP leadership and cadres. "We should think about ourselves as to where we started five years ago and where we are now."A

Vishwas said some party leaders do not talk about social activist Anna Hazare, under whose leadership many of them participated in the 2011 anti-corruption movement. "Anna was the creator of this campaign."

Referring to the AAP Council meeting held this month, he said his name was not in the list of speakers at the event. However, he said, he will not go anywhere and stay in the party.

In October, AAP revoked the suspension of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, who had accused Vishwas of being a traitor. In May, Khan was suspended, days after making the accusation and Vishwas was named AAP incharge of Rajasthan.

While thousands of party volunteers in the crowd sported the trademark AAP white cap with the party symbol "broom", many like Munesh Rani, 53, had the broom symbol and "AAP" painted on their cheeks.

AAP party flags with Kejriwal's face and party symbol dotted the ground as volunteers waved them as AAP leaders spoke from the stage.

Party leaders, including Delhi Ministers Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai, AAP Spokesperson Ashutosh, Secretary Pankaj Gupta, as well as Punjab MP Bhagwant Mann spoke on the occasion, as were a large number of AAP MLAs from Delhi and Punjab as well as AAP corporators from the national capital.
Two events happening in Hyderabad on Tuesday underscore the importance of this southern city as a booming tech hub, a key centre for entrepreneurship and the top ranking city in terms of quality of life.

Hyderabad will not only achieve the distinction of becoming the first Indian city to host Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) but will also get a swanky metro rail.

The city, which hosted two US Presidents, Bill Clinton and George Bush, in 2000 and 2006 respectively, is all set to welcome President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump for GES.

The White House advisor is leading the US delegation at the three-day event, which will bring together 1,500 entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem supporters from 150 countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Hyderabad Metro before joining Ivanka for the GES inaugural.

While GES is the latest in the long list of major international events hosted by the city during last few years, industry leaders hope the event will give further boost to Brand Hyderabad.

Billed as the most happening city, Hyderabad is recognized as go-to destination for the investors.

"Five most valued companies in the world have their largest presence outside the US, in Hyderabad. No other city in the world enjoys this distinction," says Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, IT, Industry and Commerce in the Telangana government.

When the US government decided to organise the GES in India, ANITI Ayog invited eight cities to pitch for it. Hyderabad scored over others for having good MICE infrastructure, pleasant weather and for being an important centre for entrepreneurship and start-ups.

The Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), the venue of GES, has hosted several global conferences since 2006. It is considered as the best convention centre in South Asia.

"Hosting a global event is not a new thing for Hyderabad. It is already on the global map but GES will underline the potential of the city," Srikanth Badiga, Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana chapter of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) told IANS.

He believes the event would give boost to US investment into Telangana and increase the number of US companies having their presence here.

Hyderabad, which emerged on the global IT map in late 1990s, is home 130 American companies including giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Uber and Qualcomm.

"The city has a different level of relations with US companies. The number can grow manifold in days to come," Badiga said.

According to officials, the companies make investment or expand their presence in Hyderabad as it was a very liveable city, the quality of infrastructure was good while the cost was low and it had good quality of life.

For the third year in a row, Mercer ranked Hyderabad as the best city in terms of living standards among Indian cities.

"GES is a great opportunity for Hyderabad. It will give boost to brand Hyderabad," V. Rajanna, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Telangana, told IANS.

He believes Hyderabad is unique with its infrastructure, talent and good eco-system.

Rajanna, who is also Vice President and Regional Head and Global Head-Technology Business Unit at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), said the investor-friendly policies of Telangana government had given further push to the growth.

Telangana last year enacted the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self Certification System - TS-IPASS - to encourage investors for quick implementation of their projects and to streamline the regulatory process.

The city's IT exports were a mere Rs 274 crore in 1997-98, which have now grown to over Rs 85,000 crore. The sector today employs over 4.30 lakh people.

Hyderabad is also considered the bulk drug capital of India, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the production in the country. It is expected to further cement its position with the launch of Pharma City, a special cluster.

Home to a large number of defence research laboratories, the city is emerging as the aerospace and defence industry hub. The facilities which have come up here in recent times include those manufacturing cabins of the helicopters that fly the US President and F-16 fighter jets.

--IANS

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As the world talks about crimes in cyber space and the need for a universal law to fight these, a British Minister is of the view that the Budapest Convention can be the foundation for such a global law to ensure cyber security.

"If you go back in recent history, you would have seen that within the Council of Europe, there was a convention called Budapest Convention which set certain conventions and certain premises in place on how this space can be managed," Lord Tariq Ahmad, Britain's Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations, told IANS in an interview here.

"That was with a particular focus on issues of cyber security," said Ahmad, who was here to attend the Fifth Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS).

The Convention on Cyber Crime of the Council of Europe, known as the Budapest Convention, serves as a guideline for any country developing comprehensive national legislation against cyber crime and as a framework for international cooperation between member-states of this treaty. It is supplemented by a Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism committed through computer systems.

The Convention was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at its 109th session in 2001 and came into effect in 2004.

With people talking of a single global convention, or a digital Geneva Convention, Ahmad said that his and his government's view was "very clear" and that "there are certain governing rules already in place".

"As we look to build for the future, we should take the common learning, the common principles applied through the Budapest Convention and see how they apply to the wider community," he said.

"So, I am looking forward to greater collaboration building upon the common principles that have been provided by Budapest, to see how we can build them."

Asked what the global challenges are in terms of cyber security, Ahmad said, "It is not only the challenges, it is also the opportunities."

He referred to how different sections of Indian society -- from farmers to students, from academics to business people -- have been e-enabled through a variety of applications that provide for all.

"And on the other side of the coin, of course, are the challenges we face in terms of cyber security," he said.

Stating that Britain, as also other countries, have been targeted in cyber attacks, he noted: "But equally, what has been demonstrably shown is why the impact that has taken place, the assessments that have been made, and simple steps in terms of ensuring greater security and greater international collaboration to prevent those who seek to cause destruction through cyber attacks were prevented from doing so."

Asked how governments can come together in framing a common international law, the British Minister, who is of Indian origin, said that there should be a consensus that "we have the opportunities here of what cyber space is all about, the enabling opportunities it provides".

"But at the same time those common principles also need to ensure the elements of security are addressed" and we can ensure that action is collectively taken against "those who seek to (destroy) us, those who may use the cyber space to promote terrorist causes, extremist causes".

Ahmad said that at this year's GCCS, ministers from different countries have laid out a vision "that there is a common cause we need to come together with".

"You cannot build a house with the roof first, you need the foundation. And I think we have the foundation. That is why I referred to the Budapest Convention," he added.

(Aroonim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in)

--IANS

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According to state law, fines, penalties, and license money shall be appropriated exclusively to the use and support of the common schools ... . An exception is fines for overloaded vehicles. Seventy-five percent of those funds go to state highways; 25 percent go to the county general fund where the fine or penalty is paid. Fifty percent of money forfeited or seized in enforcing drug laws goes to counties for drug enforcement. Vehicles seized in drug law cases may be used by law enforcement agencies or sold with the proceeds going to schools.
The Congress on Sunday stepped in to woo the Communist Party of India (CPI), the second-largest constituent of Kerala's ruling LDF, as its relationship with the front major, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), blew hot and cold.

At a public meeting in Kottayam, senior Congress legislator Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, in the presence of CPI's Assistant State Secretary Prakash Babu, recalled the glorious days of Kerala were when the state was led by Chief Minister C. Achutha Menon, who headed a CPI-Congress combine 1969-77.

"No one has any doubt on what is often described as the golden period of Kerala. Numerous development initiatives were flagged off during this period. If not today, let us all hope that there arises an occasion tomorrow that we (Congress and CPI) can stand together, for the good of our state," said Radhakrishnan, a two-time state minister.

Former state Finance Minister and former Maharashtra Governor K.Sankaranarayan was another Congress leader who heaped praises on the CPI on Sunday.

"The CPI is a party that has credible leaders and all of them conduct themselves in a very decent way and have high regards for them, as I have worked with them in the seventies," he said at a public function in Kasargode.

The CPI and the CPI-M have been frequently skirmishing since the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front assumed office in May last year, with a flashpoint over fate of state Transport Minister Thomas Chandy, who faced charges of land grab encroaching on government land, leading to the four CPI ministers boycotting the weekly cabinet meeting on November 15.

As the spat between the two Communist parties was at its height, CPI's state Secretary Kanam Rajendran had reminded the CPI-M that they should not forget that whenever the CPI-M ruled the state, the CPI was always with them and they should not forget that they were sitting on the sidelines, when the CPI ruled in the 1970s.

In the 140-member Kerala Assembly, the has 91 members, with the CPI having 19 legislators.

--IANS

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Amid a controversy over the renaming of Dyal Singh (Evening) College, its governing body on Sunday warned of a criminal case against the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders for harming Hindu-Sikh brotherhood.

These remarks came a day after the SAD said it would raise in Parliament the issue of the college's renaming as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya.

The college governing body Chairman Amitabh Sinha, in a statement on Sunday, said he would file the case against the Akalis for hurting Hindu-Sikh brotherhood by quoting certain documents that claim that changing the name is illegal.

"The documents they are talking about are not available in the university records. They must submit the documents or deposit these with the college administration by 5 p.m. on November 28.

"Otherwise, a case will be filed against them for forging the documents and intending to use the same as genuine for creating disharmony among the Hindus and Sikhs," said Sinha.

It is a non-bailable offence, which invites imprisonment of up to seven years, he said.

"Those who wish to divide the Hindus and Sikhs have been communicated directly as well as through various channels that they must furnish the relevant documents, but they failed to do so. Now, I am serving them the ultimatum," he said.

Sinha said he was upset about the conduct of a section of the governing body who are spreading misinformation without cross-examining the claims vis-a-vis the original documents.

"I am disgusted and fed up with the entire controversy. It is not only malicious and mischievous, but also a dangerous and notorious design to drive a wedge in the Hindu-Sikh unity worldwide.

"They are misquoting and misrepresenting everything from the documents. They are claiming things not available in the university record. And that's very dangerous."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid protests against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming film "Padmavati", the Congress' Kerala unit on Sunday asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to ensure that the film is released in the state.

Questioning the Chief Minister's silence on the issue, state Congress president M.M. Hassan told IANS: "What baffles me is the silence of Vijayan."

"We all expected Vijayan would come out strongly against the present opposition against this film, but surprisingly he has not uttered a word.

"I have now written to him to see that the state government should ensure that the film is released here and, if need be, security should also be given wherever the film is released in Kerala," said Hassan.

In his letter, Hassan also pointed out that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also promised to release the film in her state.

"The opposition to this film from fascist forces is a clear example of curbing expression of freedom," said Hassan, adding that Vijayan's silence is meant not to ruffle the "good" relations that he has with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Bhansali's historical drama "Padmavati" has been facing protests from Hindu groups and some critics have even issued violent threats over claims that the movie distorts various historical facts.

The film was scheduled to be released on December 1 but has been deferred by the makers amid the controversy.

--IANS

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the Syria situation and Sochi summit on phone, the media reported.

Citing Anadolu Agency, Xinhua reported that during the phone call on Saturday, Erdogan told Macron about the trilateral Sochi summit held on November 22 with the participation of Turkey, Iran and Russia, underlining the importance of holding an independent and fair election in Syria.

The two leaders stressed that Syria's territorial integrity must be respected, and the region should be protected from other terrorist organisations after the defeat of Islamic State (IS).

Moreover, they also agreed to strengthen bilateral relations in the areas of economy, energy and defence industry.

On Friday, Erdogan had a "fruitful' conversation with US President Donald Trump on current Syria issues, achieving consensus on stopping the delivery of weapons from the US to the Kurdish militia in Syria, People's Protection Units (YPG).

--IANS

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A ship carrying 5,500 tons of flour arrived at Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Sunday, after 20 days of military blockade by Saudi-led coalition, a security official at the port said.

"It is the first commercial ship docked in the port after 20 days of blockade," Khalid Jomaey told Xinhua by phone.

He said "another aid ship carrying wheat from the United Nations World Food Programme is sailing near the port and is set to dock within hours."

--IANS

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Members of French rock band Colt Silvers know very little about Indian music, but they find it -- especially Bollywood songs -- "exotic".

"We know very little about Indian music, it's very exotic for us, the Bollywood music. But we love the sounds, the sitar. We are here to discover the country and learn more about the music," Nicolas, the band's bass player, told IANS in an email interview.

"Sometimes, when we create music on computers, we can access Indian sounds and use them, it gives us access to new sounds as rock musicians," he added.

Hailing from the city of Strasbourg, Colt Silvers also comprises vocalist Tristan, guitarist Florian and drummer Julien. Termed as the French Alt J by the popular magazine Les Inrockuptibles, the band produces intense indie electro rock which is inspired by pop culture.

The band started gaining popularity beyond France within a year of their inception with the debut release "Night of the Living Robots" in 2009. Their latest album "Swords", co-produced and mixed by the Grammy nominated Fab Dupont, filled with danceable and feel-good tracks received rave reviews.

The band was in India as part of the Bonjour India Rock tour, presented by the French Institute in India.

Bonjour India Rock Tour brings together youth from France and India to take French rock to new audiences and allow new collaborations in lesser explored parts of India. With the aim to strengthen Indo-French ties, the platform aims to promote innovation and creativity.

Talking about how they plan to extend their association with India, Tristan, the vocalist, said: "We don't know yet but we hope so... We would like to come back."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics knocking at India's doors, the country needs to sow the learning seeds early -- in the classroom -- and China and Turkey can show the way, top global Intel executives have said.

The world has realised what is coming its way in the next 10-20 years and has already begun modernising classrooms at schools to prepare a technology-ready workforce.

"The Chinese and Turkish authorities have given kids IoT-enabled devices in millions of schools. Every student has a device connected to an intelligent whiteboard at the front of the classroom. There are teacher-controlled devices too. The curriculum is designed for that kind of environment. This is the future of education," Joe D. Jensen, Vice President, Internet of Things (IoT) Group, and General Manager, Retail Solutions Division at Intel, told IANS.

"Intel has installed 400,000 IoT-enabled connected devices for schools in Turkey, a million-and-a half in Chinese schools and another million to go in China in the next two years," Jensen informed.

Technology can do wonders in providing a great educational experience and create a pool of talent for these disrupting technologies.

"In China, the newest innovation is that there are eight video cameras and a series of microphones in a classroom at certain private schools and colleges. The videos of the classroom activities are recorded daily. Parents can later log on and see the student-teacher interaction," Jensen told IANS.

For Lisa Davis, Vice President and General Manager, IT Transformation for Enterprise and Government at Intel, while India is at the cusp of dramatic changes in delivering next-generation education, it is also set to learn new ways to infuse technology in many other sectors.

"Not just education, we are looking at the financial services, transportation, retail and health-care sectors too in India. The next big wave is coming in video surveillance and the security sector, and our teams are engaged with the stakeholders in the country," Davis told IANS.

Intel has also pushed the envelope towards creating a modern workforce in India. In April this year, Intel made a commitment to democratise AI in the country by training 15,000 developers and engage with not just businesses but also the government and academia to enable the adoption of AI.

Intel India has trained 9,500 developers, students and professors in the past six months.

The chip giant has collaborated with 40 academic institutions that are using the technology for scientific research and 50 public and private organisations across e-commerce, health-care, technology, defence, and banking and financial services.

Intel India has also launched an initiative to strengthen the use of technology in the country's education ecosystem. It is collaborating with leading device manufacturers, education digital content publishers and education solution providers to build end-to-end solutions that promote the use of technology.

The company will then help deploy management solutions for schools, classrooms, content and learning, and also manage student information systems.

There is an Intel India Maker Lab in Bengaluru to drive the innovation ecosystem in the country. The lab offers access to start-ups of hardware and software development kits, reference boards, design collaterals, test and debugging equipment. It provides technical support for design, development and testing products.

"India is at the cusp of a technology boom, but needs training and teaching right from the beginning to prepare a future digital workforce," Davis stressed.

(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@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.)
A Madhya Pradesh journalist has been booked for "disrespectful" comments directed at rape victims after state Home Minister Bhupendra Singh hinted at giving a rape victim the Padmavati award.

Neemuch-based senior journalist Jinendra Surana wrote on his Facebook wall: "Get raped in Madhya Pradesh to get the Padmavati award. The government's new announcement." A lot of people commented on it.

Khargone Deputy Inspector General A.K. Pandey told IANS: "Surana's post was obscene and could have instigated others to commit similar crimes. Consequently, taking suo moto cognizance of the incident, we registered an FIR."

He said the probe is on and police is trying to see what action can be taken against those who commented on the post.

Surana has defended his post saying he was being "sarcastic", and said if sarcasm and humour are treated as criminal offences, people will stop speaking their mind.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit poll-bound Gujarat on November 27 and 29 to spearhead the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign for the Assembly elections.

On Monday, he is scheduled to visit Kutch and Saurashtra region to address four public meetings ahead of the December 9 and 14 elections.

He will arrive in Bhuj on Monday morning to address a public gathering at R R Lalan College's ground around 9 a.m.

Thereafter, he will visit Saurashtra region's Jasdan and address a public meeting at Vichhiya Road at 11 am.

Around 1 pm, he will visit Chalala and address a public gathering at the Gayatri Mandir Maidan on the Chalala-Dhari Road.

His last public address will be at Kadodra Aankdamukhi Hanumanji Mandir at around 3 pm, after which he will fly back to Delhi. He will return to the state on Wednesday.
That's not what they are saying.

Nobody is giving up free insurance.



There are people who are paying who will drop insurance. Millions of people.

And some of those people will be fine, and pocket the difference.

And some of those people will incur huge medical bills.

Which will bankrupt them, and then, after they are bankrupt, the taxpayer will pick up the tab.



The net effect will be to increase the deficit.
Former "Glee" star Naya Rivera has been arrested for domestic violence in Kanawha County, West Virginia.

The Kanawha Sheriff told eonline.com that Rivera, 30, was arrested on Saturday night and was waiting to be arraigned.

Media outlet WSAZ first reported the news: "Investigators say she's charged with domestic battery. They tell us it involves her husband at their home."

Later, a video showed the teary actress in front of a judge.

According to a reporter's tweets, criminal complaint stated that Rivera's husband Ryan Dorsey told police that she struck him on the head and the bottom lip when they were on a walk with their child.

The reporter tweeted that Rivera was released on bond and picked up by her father-in-law.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two lawyers from Mumbai have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking cancellation or postponement of the upcoming December 3 All India Bar Examinations, conducted by the Bar Council of India (BCI).

The reasons cited by the petitioners -- Mukesh G. Gupta and Pooja S. Pandey -- is the short notice given by the BCI to the candidates to upload their documents for appearing for the crucial examinations which would qualify them to practice law all over India.

The registration process for the AIBE started on September 1, and closed on October 31, and thereafter all online and offline registrations closed on November 13.

The candidates were due to be issued their Admit Cards for the AIBE by November 18, and extended by another two days.

On November 20, the BCI said that Admit Cards for all cities except Nanded (Maharashtra), Delhi, Gurugram, Jodhpur, and Sawantwadi (Goa), had been released, but for these five (cities) it would be released by November 22 by 5 p.m., but was actually released late in the night of November 22.

Meanwhile, suddenly on November 18, the BCI released a notification giving a 'last call' for candidates to upload (online registrations) or send (offline registrations) their correct documents and declared a list of those (candidates) who had failed to comply. The time-limit to comply was 12 noon of November 19.

Gupta and Pandey said most of the 2,500-odd candidates received the emails very late in the evening, and many others especially living in the mofussil areas failed to even see it due to power cuts or internet problems, and the BCI has now debarred all such candidates from appearing for the AIBE.

Now, despite paying their examination fees of Rs 3,560, they could lose the opportunity to appear for the AIBE for delays on the parts of the BCI and no fault of the candidates.

Accordingly, the petitioners Gupta and Pandey have urged the Bombay High Court to quash the BCI notification of November 18, order extension of the time-limit to enable all candidates submit their documents, cancel or postpone the December 3 examinations, or alternatively refund the examination fees collected from all such debarred candidates or treat it as advance payment for next year's examination.

The PIL is likely to come up for hearing before the high court on Tuesday, the petitioners said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A case of stalking and criminal intimidation was registered after a 22-year-old woman resident of Delhi filed a complaint against two unidentified miscreants riding a motorcycle, police said on Sunday.

The woman was on way to her home in west Delhi's Chawala from office in Gurugram around 5 p.m. on November 18, when the miscreants riding a red Royal Enfield motorcycle allegedly passed lewd remarks and followed her car in Chawala area on the Badusarai-Kanganhedi road.

"She initially ignored them but they continued to stalk her and gesture at her for about two km," Deputy Commissioner of Police Shibesh Singh said.

The woman was in shock and told her parents about her ordeal. following which a police complaint was lodged.

The officer said police teams were set up to apprehend the culprits.

Details of motorcycles similar to the one involved in the case are being verified in villages neighbouring Delhi and Gurugram and a few suspects rounded up.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Imagine how it would be if you can enjoy a chilled US-based brewing company Anheuser-Busch is all set to make "Budweiser" the first brand of beer on the Red Planet.

Budweiser is upholding its commitment, announced earlier this year at an event "South by Southwest" that "it would create a beer suitable for drinking in space... and when people get there they will toast on Budweiser...", the company said in a statement this week.

"Budweiser is always pushing the boundaries of innovation and we are inspired by the collective American Dream to get to Mars," said Ricardo Marques, Vice President, Budweiser.

"We are excited to begin our research to brew beer for the red planet," Marques added.

The company also plans to send 20 barley seeds -- a core ingredient in Budweiser's recipe -- into space.

Twenty Budweiser barley seeds will be sent to the International Space Station (ISS), packaged in two Space Tango CubeLabs -- shoebox-sized facilities that host small-scale experiments.

They will be sent to space on the upcoming cargo supply mission SpaceX's CRS-13 scheduled to be launched on December 4 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

The seeds will be in orbit for approximately 30 days to see how they react in a microgravity environment, before being brought back to earth for Budweiser's innovation team to analyse.

The two barley experiments will focus on barley seed exposure and barley germination.

Not only will the research offer insights on steps to creating beer on the Red Planet, but it could also provide valuable information on the production of barley and the larger agricultural community here on earth.

These experiments on the ISS are the first of many steps Budweiser will take to reach its larger goal of creating a microgravity beer for Mars, the statement said.
A US drone killed five operatives of the Yemen-based al-Qaeda offshoot in an overnight strike as they were travelling on a mountainous road in the southeastern province of Shabwa, media reports said on Sunday.

A Yemeni official based in Shabwa told Xinhua that missiles fired by unmanned US aircraft destroyed a vehicle and left five bodies badly burnt in the area late on Saturday.

A tribal chief confirmed the strike, saying "a drone kept hovering for hours and then struck a car carrying five al-Qaeda operatives in Markhah area of Shabwa".

"The vehicle was completely destroyed" and no citizens approached the scene to see "for fear of new air bombings", the tribal source added.

An intelligence source said that "the attack aimed at killing a high-ranking member of the al-Qaeda terrorist group. But investigators were unable to identify those killed because only charred remains of the terrorists' bodies" were left at the scene.

The southeastern province of Shabwa, now under the control of newly-recruited Yemeni troops backed by the United Arab Emirates, has recently witnessed a number of anti-terror offensives against hideouts of al-Qaeda in the past weeks.

The US military has carried out several airstrikes against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in different provinces of the war-torn Arab country since US President Donald Trump approved expanded military operations against the group.

That included intensified overnight airstrikes and ground military raids against the al-Qaeda hideouts in the mountainous areas of al-Bayda and the southeastern province of Shabwa.

The Yemen-based al-Qaeda branch, seen by the US as the global terror network's most dangerous branch, has exploited years of deadly conflict between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence, especially in the southeastern provinces.

Yemen's government, allied with a Saudi-led Arab military coalition, has for years been battling Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels for control of the impoverished country.

UN statistics showed that more than 8,000 people have been killed in Yemen's conflict, most of them civilians, since the Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in 2015.

The impoverished country is also suffering the world's largest cholera outbreak, where about 5,000 cases are reported every day.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the new party President will be elected through a free and fair electoral process and that party workers felt a strong connect at a personal level with its Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

"... there will be free and fair elections among Congress workers. In case of Rahul Gandhi, any Congress member is free to put forth his nomination for the top post. The election will be held... there is an entire procedure," he said.

"Sonia Gandhi had Jitendra Prasad running against her (for the Congress President's post). An election was held and she won," he added.

Asked about the eligibility criteria, the former Union Minister said: "The honest answer is -- electability. Not just me, if any senior party leaders were to contest against Rahul Gandhi...."

"Workers do feel a very strong loyalty and attachment to the Gandhi-Nehru family... to Rahul Gandhi personally," Tharoor said at an interactive session at the Times Lit Fest here.

Tharoor said: "The only reason we are expecting Rahul Gandhi to be elected unopposed is that no one has come ahead and said he intends to oppose Rahul Gandhi's election."

"As Congress men, we all know there is no other candidate," he said.

As for Gandhi having no connect with the people, Tharoor said: "We are seeing the kind of connect that he has been able to build with the people in Gujarat... there is a terrific connect. Ultimately, in a democracy, voters will decide."

The Congress Working Committee has approved the road map for what looks like an unopposed elevation of Vice President Rahul Gandhi as party chief, barring an unexpected contest.

His election will pave way for passing of the party leadership to him from his mother, who has helmed the Congress for 19 years.

It would be clear on December 11 whether there would be a contest for the top party post. Nominations can be filed till December 4, followed by scrutiny on December 5.

The last date for withdrawing nominations is December 11 and the date of poll, "if necessary", would be December 16. Counting of votes will be done on December 19.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
World leaders have strongly condemned the deadly terrorist attack on a mosque in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Friday which claimed the lives of at least 305 people.

Some 25 to 30 assailants bombed and opened fire at the mosque during Friday pryers, killing 305 worshippers, including 27 children, and wounding 128 others, according to Egyptian authorities. It was the first terrorist operation to target a mosque in modern Egyptian history, Xinhua reported.

US President Donald Trump offered condolences to the people of Egypt after the "heinous" attack.

"There can be no tolerance for barbaric groups that claim to act in the name of a faith but attack houses of worship and murder the innocent and defenseless while at prayer," said the White House.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that "the murder of civilians in the course of an act of worship is striking with its cruelty and cynicism", and Russia was ready to further enhance cooperation with Egypt in fighting international .

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message to his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offering his deep condolences and sympathy to Sisi, the families of the victims and the injured.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned "the barbaric terrorist attack on a place of worship in Egypt", saying that "India resolutely supports the fight against all forms of and stands with the people as well as Government of Egypt".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also condemned the attack while European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that he was "appalled by the attack on a mosque in North Sinai".

Sebastiano Cardi, President of the United Nations Security Council, said "the members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack", and he wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker "condemned in the strongest possible terms this barbaric and cowardly act," adding that "Europe stands beside you in solidarity just as you have stood with us in the past".

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also denounced the attack.

Pakistan also condemned "in the strongest term the heinous terrorist attack against innocent worshipers," saying its people stand in "full solidarity with their Egyptian brethren in this moment of anguish and tragedy".

A statement released by Israeli Prime Minister's Office denounced "the horrific and criminal terrorist attack" which occurred close to Egypt's border with Israel, saying that " will be defeated even more quickly if all countries work against it together".

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said: "I strongly condemn the heinous attack in Egypt and offer condolence to the Egyptian people... Attacking people during Friday prayer is against humanity and Islam."

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry confirmed the country's solidarity with Egypt and extended sincere condolences to the families of the martyrs and wishes swift recovery of the wounded.

King Abdullah II of Jordan and Morocco's King Mohammed VI also voiced their full solidarity with Egypt and the Egyptian people.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted: "Once again the cowardly hand of terrorism targeted the dear nation of Egypt... It does not differentiate between places even if they are mosques and place of worship."

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah condemned the attack that violates all religions, norms and human values, and voiced his country's solidarity with Egypt and his full support to all measures taken by Egypt to maintain its security and stability.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) strongly condemned "this terrorist crime, which is contrary to all human values and principles, the teachings of Islamic law and divine religions," the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement.

Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister, Fayez Serraj, "strongly condemns the cowardly treacherous terrorist attack", saying "this terrible crime against a house of God can only be carried out by those who have no human or religious morals".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On October 12, 2017, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a discussion paper that proposes to establish a spot and allow retail consumers access to it. Today, retail consumers are largely at the mercy of banks when dealing in foreign exchange. Banks often decide the buying and selling rates for foreign exchange at the opening of business hours and retain the same rate through the day. Resultantly, buyers and sellers of foreign exchange end up missing the benefits of intra-day price movements. Moreover, most banks do not transparently disclose their charges for currency dealings. Hence, allowing direct access to an exchange-like platform for currency trading is a welcome move. This essentially means when one goes to buy or sell foreign exchange from or to a bank, the buyer or seller dictates the price. The bank will place the order on the exchange platform for execution. This is a good thing, as it places more control in the hands of the consumer and will bring down the costs associated with the forex service. However, the scheme for setting up the platform is riddled with three problems.
In his weekly column on November 18 (Rating the raters), T N Ninan narrates the story of a CEO who had to chase for five long years all the permissions needed to build his corporate office in New York on a piece of land which his company already owned in Manhattan. It took 51 years for a Gandhi statue to be put up on federal land opposite the Indian embassy in Washington. The process started in 1949 and it was only in September 2000 that Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Bill Clinton jointly unveiled the statue. The penultimate step in the long process was completed in 1988 when the US House of Representatives passed a Bill authorising the memorial. Like most American legislation, it then required the creation of a lobbying group  the Coalition for a National Memorial for India  for the US Senate to adopt the same Bill 10 years later. After all this and President Clinton signing the Bill, the unveiling ceremony was very nearly scuttled because the National Park Service found to be inadequate an undertaking given by the Indian embassy that they would protect a 117-year-old Weeping Beech tree next to the new statue.
It was cold Saturday morning, and later it rained, but groups of happy shoppers nonetheless browsed the downtown shops in Albany, as they do in cities across the nation, finding local goods, drink and food as part of a commerce movement that seeks to escape the big box stores and the online buying trends.

Small Business Saturday is daylong national movement that seeks to amplify the value of shopping local, supporting the brick-and-mortar strongholds that still offer the service and community that draws from more traditional holiday gift buying. This year's event was the eighth.

Nineteen downtown Albany businesses participated, each displaying the blue and white national logo, with employees sporting a pin that reads, "Shop Small."

"It's our best day of the year," said Barb Schoonober, co-owner of Bolts to Blocks fabric store at 133 Broadalbin St. SW.

Schoonober's "Shop Small" pin and her store are a testament to the movement: She worked for 20 years in management with Costco Wholesale, and for the past four years has applied her energy to her local shop. She added that shopping locally keep the money in local hands, rather than "going off to giant corporations."

Over at the Natty Dresser at 425 1st Avenue W, Ronnie Gribble wrapped up a bright red package while talking about the value of "service, not sales" at the store.

"I think it's great to see people come out and support our local stores like this," she said.

While Schoonober and many others tout the local commerce experience, something of a massive shift in retail habits has swept the country: An April story in the Atlantic, called, "The Great Retail Apocalypse," sought answers for why so many retailers are falling by the wayside, going bankrupt, or shrinking. The easy answer is e-Commerce.

The story cites the fact that half the nation's households are Amazon prime members. Forbes Magazine puts that number at 64 percent. Another factor is the over-abundance of shopping malls: There are 1,200 of them nationwide, and in the face of online options, many are struggling.

But another element from the Atlantic article lends itself to the shopping districts in Albany and other downtown retail areas: More Americans are trading material consumerism for eating out with friends. According to the report, 2016 marked the first time that Americans spent more money at restaurants than at grocery stores. This is attributed to what some call a "Restaurant Renaissance."

In Albany, Novak's Hungarian restaurant and Growler Garage & Taphouse are participating. Of course, there are more than a few other eateries downtown, and the food element could be the part that keeps the movement growing. Because for some it's decidedly more festive to head out and have some food, maybe a pint or two, and then stroll the shops, see your neighbors and buy gifts.

"I just love seeing everyone coming in, enjoying themselves, holding their cups of cocoa and shopping," said Julie Mendenhall, a sales associate at Emma Downtown, 422 1st Avenue W.

In that store, the Christmas music wafted through the air, and the warm glow of Christmas lights and pine boughs decorated the store.

Shop Small is the motto. The result could be big, on a local level at least.
Taking a jibe at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief on Sunday said people from Amethi have been coming to Gujarat for jobs.

Gandhi represents Amethi in Lok Sabha and Shah's remark comes in the wake of continued criticism of 'Gujarat Model' of development by the former at election rallies in the poll-bound state.

"Rahul Gandhi asks for accountability. For last many decades, Gandhi scions have been representing Amethi, but even the foundation stone of collectorate office was laid by the BJP government. People from Amethi come to Gujarat for jobs," BJP's president said while addressing a rally in Gujarat's Bharuch.

The BJP president recalled the 10 years of governance of Congress at the Centre to target Gandhi, and claimed that his party did not work for the welfare of the people of Gujarat.

"Rahul Gandhi asks where is 'vikas' (development) in Gujarat? I want to ask him while you were in power for 10 years what you did for the people of Gujarat. People in Gujarat were not getting electricity while the Congress was in power. There were only caste based in Gujarat," Shah said at the election rally.

"We have given electricity, roads and water to the state," he added.

In the run up to the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections, Gandhi has continually cornered Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP government in the state over the development achieved in the last 15 years.

He has often reiterated his assertion that "Vikas pagal ho gaya," wherein he likened the development of Gujarat to a person and said it has gone berserk.

Claiming the Congress' offensive in Gujarat's election campaign to be lacking a firm ground, Shah said, "What is the base for Congress' fight in these polls? They say Congress would be promoting Rahul Gandhi to the top post of Congress and this we have been listening from 2010. They have been losing every election, so how they will promote him to the top post?"

Rahul Gandhi is likely to succeed Sonia Gandhi as the president of the grand-old-party in the next election for Congress' top post.

.
UP Deputy Chief Minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya shows his ink-marked finger after casting vote during second phase of municipal corporation elections at a polling station, in Allahabad. Photo: PTI)

Union minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma on Friday cast their votes in the second phase of the civic polls, polling for which is underway in 25 districts.

The fate of the candidates would be decided by 1.3 crore voters in the districts of Lucknow, Varanasi--Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, Allahabad, Mathura, Muzaffarnagar and Etawah among others.

In the state capital, Rajnath Singh cast his vote along with his wife and family members, including son Pankaj Singh who is a legislator.

Sharma voted with his wife in Aishbagh area and said, "The BJP is committed to work for the people and opposition should realise that it was the people's love and trust which ensured the party's victory in the assembly polls. In civic polls too, the party is going to win."



State Election Commissioner SK Agarwal also exercised his franchise and appealed to the people to cast their votes.

"If you want basic amenities in your city, you should come out of your home and vote in large numbers," he said.

Besides them, state ministers Swati Singh, Mohsin Raza and others prominent personalities cast their votes in the first four hours.

The voting would continue till 5 pm.

While the polling for first phase was held on November 22, the last and final phase would be held on November 29.

The counting would be held on December 1.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After last years damp squib, the forthcoming Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS), scheduled for January next year, is poised to host top industrialists such as steel magnate LN Mittal, Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, and JSW Chairman and Managing Director Sajjan Jindal.
More than 10,000 security personnel would be deployed during the (GES), which begins on Tuesday and would be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump.

Modi, on his day-long visit to the city on Tuesday, would inaugurate the Hyderabad Metro Rail project and the three-day GES, to be organised at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre.

"A total of 10,400 security personnel drawn from various wings will be deployed for the summit," Telangana DGP M Mahendar Reddy said today.

Apart from Law and Order police, personnel from Traffic Police, Central Armed Reserve, Telangana State Special Police, Intelligence Security Wing, commandos of Greyhounds anti-naxal force, elite OCTOPUS anti-terror force, and dog squads would be deployed in Hyderabad as part of the security arrangement.

Hyderabad and Secunderabad police commissioners would be incharge of security arrangements in the areas under their jurisdictions, Reddy said.

Ivanka Trump, an adviser to the US president, would attend the eighth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which this year has been themed 'Women First, Prosperity for All'.

Leading the US delegation, Ivanka Trump would focus on supporting women entrepreneurs and fostering global economic growth at the summit.

Modi and Ivanka Trump, along with 100 special guests, would also attend a special dinner at the Falaknuma Palace, now a plush hotel, in the Old City on Tuesday, Hyderabad Police Commissioner V V Srinivasa Rao has said.

The dinner will be served on a Nizam-era table around which 101 guests can sit at a time. A separate dinner would be arranged for 1,500-2,000 delegates on the lawns of the palace.

Officials of the Special Protection Group and the US Secret Service have visited Hyderabad and reviewed the arrangements, a police commissionerate official said.

The official said a five-tier security would be provided to Ivanka Trump.

More than 2,000 police personnel would be deployed around Falaknuma Palace, he said, adding the police has conducted a door-to-door search campaign at 3,500 houses in surrounding areas of the palace.

"We have sanitised the areas and we have instructed the citizens of the localities not to give shelter to strangers in their houses. People are supporting the security measures," the official said.
The two men who had voluntarily handed themselves in at a police station over an "altercation" that triggered a lockdown in the heart of London's shopping district of Oxford Circus were today released without any charge.

The British Transport Police (BTP) said the men, aged 21 and 40, had been questioned over what was initially feared as a terrorist attack on Friday evening but will face no criminal proceedings.

"There are no criminal proceedings against them. They have not been arrested or charged," a BTP spokesperson said.

The incident, believed to have involved an altercation between the two men on the platform of Oxford Circus underground train station, caused widespread panic as people rushed out of the station amid rumours of shots being fired.

Sixteen people were injured, including one with serious leg injuries, in the chaos.

Armed officers from the Metropolitan Police along with BTP officers had rushed to the scene after numerous emergency calls to the 999 number from members of the public, many of whom reported hearing gunshots.

People were told to seek refuge in nearby buildings and shoppers were barricaded inside stores on Oxford Street as armed police officers were deployed.

"Given the nature of the information received, the Met responded in line with our existing operation as if the incident was terrorism, including the deployment of armed officers," the Met Police had said.

Following a thorough search of the area, the police reported no casualties, evidence of any shots fired or any suspects. The heightened armed presence was "stood down" within 90 minutes.

Britain's terror threat level is set at severe, which means an attack is highly likely and security forces are trained to treat any reports of feared attacks as terrorist incidents.

Officers are still trawling through CCTV footage and speaking to witnesses in an attempt to establish a picture of exactly what happened on Friday, but no further suspects are being sought.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has deradicalised 86 people in the last two years as a part of its efforts to wean away misguided youth from the path of extremism in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, an official said.

Those brought into the mainstream include well-educated people like a young couple, both post-graduates in pharmacy, an aeronautical engineer and an IT professional, he said.

The deradicalisation is done to bring back to normal life persons who had strayed in the name of 'jihad', a senior official of the ATS said.

He said all these people, including eight women, had come in contact with their handlers via social networking sites and were radicalised online.

They were on the verge of joining the terror outfit ISIS or planning to work for it, but the law-enforcement agencies silently monitored their activities and successfully brought them back to the normal life, he said.

The ATS approached the family members of these people, their community's spiritual leaders and counsellors were also roped-in. After continuous efforts for more than two months in each case, all these people were deradicalised and now they have been brought back into the mainstream, he said.

Among the many other initiatives of tackling terrorism post the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, one of the important programmes of the ATS was to keep a close watch on the online activities of young minds of the minority community, he said.

A young couple, who completed their post-graduation in pharmacy, got radicalised online following which the duo crossed the country to join the terror outfit. But, the law enforcement agencies, which were keeping a watch on them, brought them back successfully, he said.

"We have deradicalised these people and are also helping them in leading a normal life. But, we also monitoring their activities constantly because there could be some attempts from the other side to trap them again," the official said.

In 2011, four men from Kalyan township in the adjoining Thane district left the country in the name of pilgrimage and went to Iraq allegedly to join the ISIS. All of them were allegedly radicalised for jihad by their handlers, according to police.

Considering this as alarming, the law enforcement agencies became more vigilant on the online activities.

In December 2015, the ATS identified a Pune-based girl, who was indoctrinated by an ISIS sympathiser. During investigation it was found that the girl had decided to leave the country and join the terror outfit, according to police.

In an attempt to bring back these people, the ATS, with the help of the government, has taken some important steps.

These include offering training for suitable jobs and small loans with the help of banks under schemes of the Ministry of Rural Development to start their own business, so that they can live with honour and dignity, the official said.

"It is our duty to bring them on the right track by counselling and all other efforts of deradicalisation," Maharashtra's ATS chief Atulchandra Kulkarni told PTI.

Apart from this, the ATS is maintaining a strict vigil to avert any kind of terror-related incidents and activities of sleeper cells on the field. We are also providing training to our officials to update their knowledge to tackle terrorism, Kulkarni said.

"We are also translating some important books about terrorism, like of Al Qaida, ISIS, into Marathi, so that our men get an idea of the latest trends (of how to tackle such terror activities)," he said.

The ATS has modern equipment, weapons, gadgets and "we are capable enough to handle any kind of eventuality," he claimed.

In the next two-three months, the agency is expected to get more equipment from the government worth around Rs 15 crore. "These all will help in building our capacity," the ATS chief said.

The financial capital was attacked by 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, who came here by the sea route, on November 26, 2008.

In the mayhem that followed for the next three days 166 people, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos, were killed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Terrorism has become a constant global threat and humanitarian forced will have to fight unitedly to defeat it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today as the country paid tributes to those who sacrificed their lives during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

Today is the ninth anniversary of the gory attack, carried out by 10 terrorists from Pakistan over three days, that left 166 people dead.

Recalling the sacrifices of brave citizens, Modi, in his radio address 'Mann ki Baat', said that even a few years ago, when India talked about the threats of terrorism, not many in the world were ready to take it seriously.

"Now that terrorism is knocking at their doors, every government in the world, those who believe in humanity, governments with faith in democracy, are seeing this as one of the biggest challenges," he said.

He said that terrorism had taken an ugly shape and had become a global threat "almost as a daily routine".

"Terrorism has challenged humanity. It is bent upon destroying humanitarian forces. So not only India but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism," he said.

Modi said that while November 26 was observed as Constitution Day, the nation could not forget that on this day nine years ago, terrorists launched attacks across Mumbai.

"The country remembers and bows to those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives then. This country can never forget their sacrifice," he said.

Union ministers, Kiran Rijiju and Hansraj Ahir, meanwhile, hit out at Pakistan on the issue of terrorism.

Rijiju accused Pakistan of not doing enough to control the growth of terror on its soil, while his colleague Ahir claimed that the neighbouring country had released the 2008 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed from "house arrest" to increase terror activities in India.

Saeed is the founder of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The UN and US designated terrorist, who has a USD 10 million American bounty on his head, was freed by Pakistan authorities on Friday.

"The government has made it clear on various international platforms that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism," Rijiju said at a function in Mumbai to commemorate the sacrifices made by the security personnel.

India has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism, he said.

Asked about the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Saeed, the Union minister of state for home said it was a matter of concern. We have been putting pressure on Pakistan in a bilateral way as well as through multilateral forums, he said.

"On various international forums, we are making it absolutely clear that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism and it is not doing enough to contain the growth of terrorism on its soil," Rijiju said.

He, however, said the Indian coastal borders were much more secure now as the government had taken several measures.

Ahir lashed out at Pakistan claiming it was uncomfortable with the way Indian forces were eliminating terrorists.

"Even Saeed's relative, a terrorist, has been killed by our security forces. To give a boost to terrorist activities, Saeed has been released by the Pakistani government," Ahir claimed in Mumbai.

The minister said the Indian government had increased the amount it spends on equipment and modern weapons for security forces to improve internal security.

"Terrorism is not letting us live. I can say it clearly that Kashmir's enemy is Pakistan. Even the Kashmiris agree to this," Ahir said.

Union ministers Smriti Irani and Rajyavardhan Rathore also paid homage to the victims of the 26/11 attack.

"They brought terror to our shores & were met with the sheer will of our forces to protect the sovereignty & integrity of India," Irani, the information and broadcasting minister, tweeted.

Homage to all victims of 26/11 & gratitude to those who protected us then and continue to do so now, she added.

Rathore, the minister of state for information and broadcasting, asked people to resolve to eliminate terrorism.

"On the 9th anniversary of #MumbaiTerrorAttack, a humble prayer for security personnel who gave their lives protecting us," he tweeted.

As we share the grief of the families who lost their loved ones, let us all resolve to eliminate terrorism in all forms and make India a safer, better nation, he said.

In south Mumbai, Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and others laid wreaths at the police memorial this morning and observed silence in memory of the bravehearts.

Family members of those killed were among those who paid respect to the departed souls. DGP Satish Mathur and Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar also paid tributes.

"To the 166 lives lost...to over 239 injured...to the innumerable memories etched on the firmament forever and to Mumbai, the city which picked up its pieces and started stronger than ever - A Salute and A Bow of Gratitude from Mumbai Police!" the Mumbai Police tweeted.

The financial capital was attacked by 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, who came here by the sea route, on November 26, 2008. In the mayhem that followed for the next three days, 166 people, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos, were killed.

Nine of the terrorists were gunned down by security personnel, while the tenth one, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive. He was tried in a court and sentenced to death. He was hanged in November 2012.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Four people, including three of a family, were killed today in an accident when their car collided with a motorcycle in Punjab's Barnala, police said.

The family, from Haryana's Panipat, was travelling to Bathinda to attend a marriage function, Sub-Inspector Rashpal Singh, of Tapa Mandi police station, said over the phone.

The incident took place near Ghunas village, about 6 km from Tapa Mandi in Barnala, he said.

"The motorcyclist was killed on the spot. The SUV later dashed against a tree, killing three people, including a child," he said.

The driver of the SUV survived the crash, he added.

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A man wearing Army uniform was arrested with eight kilograms of heroin worth nearly Rs 40 crore in the international market, a top police officer said today.

"Mohammad Anwar, a resident of Lam village of Nowshera in Rajouri district was arrested yesterday and eight kilograms of pure quality heroin worth Rs 40 crore in the market, bearing Afghan markings, was found in his possession," Inspector General of Police (Jammu) S D Singh Jamwal told reporters while he presented the accused before the media.

The consignment, which was headed for Delhi, was the second major haul recovered in the past three days, IG Jamwal said.

The accused claimed to be an Army official belonging to 17 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry regiment and attached with the Army headquarters in Delhi, he said, adding "his claims are being verified". He was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Anwar was travelling in a Delhi-bound bus which was stopped in Kunjwani and the narcotic consignment concealed inside a box of apples was seized from him, the IG said.

Terming the seizure a "major success" and the "second surgical strike" against drugs peddlers, Jamwal said it is premature to say anything about the end user but it was being transported from Srinagar to Delhi via Ludhiana.

"The consignment bore Afghan labels, indicating that the drugs were smuggled into the state from Pakistan," he said, adding that the drugs were being produced in Afghanistan- Pakistan region.

Jamwal said simultaneous raids were conducted in different parts of Jammu leading to the recovery of 110 grams of heroin from Rajouri, 350 grams of charas from Kishtwar and 1.2 kg of charas from Kathua besides 2,400 banned capsules from Jammu city.

"Our efforts will continue with the same vigour to eradicate the menace of drug trafficking," he said.

Jamwal said the quantity of heroin and the amount of money seized in the recent past was indicative of the nefarious designs of the people involved in drug trafficking.

He said the quantity of heroin and the volume of money which was seized in the recent past was indicative of the nefarious designs of the people involved in drug trafficking.

"The money could have been utilized anywhere but our effort is to break the whole nexus," the IG said.

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How this Trump thing is going to finally end is anybody's guess. The worst and most destructive way would be a second American Civil War. Too far-fetched? He and his inner circle-- including his children-- are headed for indictments, possibly prison sentences for the cronies and kids. Is a plateful of them headed to Russia seeking political asylum more far-fetched? Unimaginable? There are reasons why a federal judge confiscated Pau; Manafort's passports. I wonder if they got them all.





Aside from being the head of Tibetan Buddhism, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was the head of state of Tibet before China swallowed it up in 1959. India granted him asylum. The U.S. granted Stalin's daughter, Svetlana asylum in 1967. Earlier, one of the original heads of the Russian Revolution, Trotsky, was granted political asylum by Turkey (1929), France (1933), Norway (1935) and finally Mexico (1937), where he was assassinated in 1940. Who remembers Anastasio Somoza, the fascist dictator of Nicaragua? He was granted political asylum in Paraguay in 1979. And speaking about fascists who were American puppets-- Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Iranian dictator, was given temporary asylum by Egypt, Morocco, the Bahamas, Mexico, the U.S., Panama and, finally, Egypt again; and overthrown Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, who was given asylum first by the Dominican Republican (1959) and then by Portugal (both fascist states at the time). Currently Ed Snowden has found political asylum in Russia. So what about the Trump menagerie? Can you visualize it? I certainly can.













Newsweek, wrote a post yesterday from a very different, but not unrelated, perspective-- Anna Nemitsova, a Moscow-based journalist writing for the Daily Beast and, wrote a post yesterday from a very different, but not unrelated, perspective-- An Arrest in France Freaks Out the Kremlin Kleptocracy . 51 year old Russian oligarch (and, like all Russian oligarchs, criminal), Suleiman Kerimov, was counted as the 21st richest man in Russia, a Putin creation, like all the Russian billionaires. He's a member of Russia's Federation Council (roughly the equivalent of a U.S. Senator). She wrote that he's "part of the circle of businessmen known for their loyalty to President Vladimir Putin and the benefits theyve reaped as a result, a billionaire member of Putins United Russia party who has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in important state projects to curry favor. Such 'pocket oligarchs' earn official status, even diplomatic immunity when they travel. When he was arrested when he de-planed in Nice this week, he didn't have his diplomatic passport with him. The charges: tax evasion and money laundering, crimes all Russian oligarchs are guilty of shocked the oligarchs back in Russia since "many of them, like Kerimov, have gotten used to keeping their fortunes, their luxury properties, their yachts, and indeed their families abroad."
Women-oriented films and strong female characters may be the latest trend in Bollywood, but Bhumi Pednekar believes society still holds regressive views towards a heroine.

The 28-year-old actor, who delivered a Masterclass on 'Breaking Stereotypes' at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI), says a strong and confident woman is always labelled as "difficult".

In an interview with PTI, Bhumi says, "Everywhere in the society, even my extended family, when they got to know that I am going to be an actor, they were very worried because there is a lot of negativity attached to my craft or being a heroine.

"I feel in our culture, the girl, with any sort of power is called difficult or various words that are demeaning just because she has a voice, has confidence and stands for her rights. It is sad, but it is the truth of our country. Our culture hasn't evolved much and we need to do something about it."



The actor believes cinema for long has also failed women by viewing female characters according to the male gaze.

"In terms of the treatment of a female actor on-screen, we have gone backwards and how. We had actors like Devika Rani when cinema started in India and suddenly things became regressive. Women had nothing to do in films except praying for their husband's well-being.

Bhumi, however, adds, "I am not against traditions, but they are not meant to be regressive... It is heartbreaking to see the kind of atrocities women are suffering across the globe. As human beings, we need to evolve with time and if you fail to do that, your existence will suffer."



After her successful debut with "Dum Laga Ke Haisha", the actor says she rejected around 23 scripts as the female character had nothing to do in the proposed projects.

Bhumi, however, is glad that after featuring in the role of an overweight woman in the Sharat Katariya-directed movie, she was not stereotyped.

"Cinema has the power to change the society. Through my films, the kind of characters I have played and will play, I am trying to do my bit in changing the patriarchal mindset. I am vocal about my thoughts which I think will somewhere help in bringing about a change."



This year she delivered two hits - "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha" and "Shubh Mangal Saavdhan" and Bhumi will soon start filming director Abhishek Chaubey's next, titled "Chambal".

The movie also features Sushant Singh Rajput.

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Following the abduction and killing of a Territorial Army jawan by militants, NC chief Farooq Abdullah today expressed concerns over the "worsening security situation" in Jammu and Kashmir and said the Centre has to frame its response vis-a-vis Pakistan for bringing peace in the region.

A 23-year-old Territorial Army jawan was abducted and killed by militants in Shopian district of south Kashmir while he was on leave. His bullet-riddled body was recovered from an orchard in Watmullah Keegam area of the district.

Abdullah also termed the meetings of Centre's special envoy on Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, with people as a "formality" and said peace would be achieved only when "sincere and serious efforts" were made.

"Claims of peace (in Jammu and Kashmir) are falling flat in the face of increased killings. Yet another jawan has been abducted and killed," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Kathua district.

The NC president attributed the grim security scenario to infiltration by militants from across the border and said the Centre would have to frame its response vis-a-vis Pakistan for the larger interest of peace in the region.

All problems are originating from across the border and the life of those living along the border has become pitiable due to intermittent shelling, he said.

"The nation should be taken into confidence as to how the Centre is sorting out issues with the neighbouring country," Abdullah said.

Unfazed by the criticism of his remarks that PoK belonged to Pakistan and "this won't change" no matter how many wars India and Pakistan fight, he reiterated his stand saying this was the only realistic solution to herald a new era of peace and trust in the region.

"Conversion of the Line of Control (LoC) into a line of peace will improve the living conditions of people on both sides and promote interaction and goodwill," Abdullah said.

On the appointment of the Centre's special representative for Kashmir, he said, "Meetings of the interlocutor with the people are just a formality and peace will emerge only when sincere and serious efforts are made."



Border skirmishes and violence in the state has pushed the people backwards, Abdullah said, adding, "The border dwellers are suffering due to fear psychosis and uncertainty."



About the proposed withdrawal of cases and release of stone-pelters, the NC president said, "The coalition is itself uncertain about all this... At times they say the stone- pelters would be released and at times they talk about sending juveniles to rehabilitation centres."



The former Chief Minister alleged that the present dispensation has failed on the deliverance front.

"The scale of rations has been reduced and food-grains are scarce in ration depots. Prices are sky-high and essentials like LPG are going beyond the reach of the poor. Salaries of various categories of employees are being delayed," he said.

Claiming that the state is faced with a "development inertia", Abdullah sought answers regarding "utilisation of the claimed funding from the Centre".

He also alleged that elected representatives and ministers belonging to the BJP, which is a partner of the PDP in the coalition government, were being ignored by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

"The coalition partners have failed the people, who are realising the futility of their mandate," the NC chief said.

On the upcoming panchayat elections, Abdullah blamed the coalition government for trampling democracy by introducing "indirect election of Sarpanchs" and said "it is against the spirit of democracy at grass roots level".

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The Ahmadiyya community in the UK is introducing airport-style security at its many mosques and centres across the country after receiving death threats from other Muslim groups.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK (AMC), which represents an estimated 30,000 Ahmadis, launchedwalk-through metal detectors, identity checks and bag searchesto screen visitors and worshippers for knives and firearms recently at the Baitul Futuh mosque in south London.

The minority Islamic sect, which is disowned by some Muslims, has also sought Scotland Yard's intervention over the death threats to its leader Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, The Sunday Times reports.

Farooq Aftab, a spokesperson for the AMC, told the newspaper that while it was common for Ahmadis to be persecuted in countries such as Pakistan, similar violent and divisive behaviour should not be tolerated in Britain.

"People who don't think we are Muslims are entitled to their own point of view, but a line must be drawn because violence cannot be justified. We can disagree, but we have a right to freedom of religion," said Aftab.

"Our community is under attack by extremists but our commitment to peace and love is unshakeable. We appreciate the work of the authorities and they must continue to work diligently for the protection and safety of all citizens," he added.

Ahmadis, who make up 1 per cent of the UKs 3 million followers of Islam, are persecuted in some countries because of their religious beliefs.

While a majority of the recent threats against the Ahmadi community in Britain have been sent via social media and text messages, some of the groups mosques have also been daubed with words such as 'kaffir', meaning non-believer or infidel.

"It is, frankly, sickening that some think they can openly harass, intimidate, vandalise and create a sense of fear within minority Muslim communities while shouting out about Islamophobia and the need to challenge it," said Fiyaz Mughal, director of interfaith organisation Faith Matters.

Fears among the Ahmadi community in Britain have heightened following the murder of Asad Shah, a member of the Ahmadiyya sect who was stabbed to death in Glasgow in March last year by a Sunni Muslim taxi driver from Bradford.

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Leaders of several political parties in Odisha today hit out at the central government for not forming a tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi water dispute between the state and neighbouring Chhattisgarh and decided to move a censure motion against the Centre in the Winter Session of the state Assembly.

The decision to move a censure motion was among the five major proposals mooted at an all-party meeting, held here under the banner of "Mahanadi Bachao Andolan", to discuss steps to ensure the flow of sufficient Mahanadi river water to Odisha to safeguard the interest of the people of the state.

The meeting decided that a censure motion would be tabled in the Assembly against the BJP-led central government as it showed "disrespect" towards the Constitution by "failing" to take steps to set up the Mahanadi river water dispute tribunal.

It was also decided to stage protests in the state Assembly and Parliament against the "unilateral" construction of dams and barrages on the Mahanadi river by Chhattisgarh, to intensify the agitation on the Mahanadi issue in a democratic way, to explore the judicial remedies and to stage an all- party dharna in Bhubaneswar and New Delhi.

The meeting decided that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik would be requested to convene another all-party meet on the issue and lead the agitation to save the Mahanadi river.

Leaders of 11 political parties, including the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Congress, the Left parties and Trinamool Congress (TMC) attended the all-party meeting. However, no BJP leader was present at the meeting.

"We will continue with our fight for Mahanadi river water through judicial, democratic and legislative means. We have already taken legal steps and raised the issue in the state Assembly and Parliament, besides staging demonstrations," BJD MP Pratap Deb told reporters.

Senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik said it was important to secure Odisha's legitimate share of Mahanadi river water to safeguard the interests of its people.

"Instead of playing politics over the issue, it will be right to start working for the people of the state with a vision for the future," he added.

BJP leaders, on the other hand, defended their absence at the meeting.

State BJP chief Basant Panda told reporters that the BJD government had stated in the Assembly that Odisha would not be affected even if 100 dams were constructed on the Mahanadi as it was getting excess water.

Therefore, the state government should first offer an explanation on this statement, he added.

Senior BJP leader Prithviraj Harichandan claimed that the Centre had already agreed to constitute a tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi river water row and that the all-party meeting had no relevance.

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AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan may make a comeback as the chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board following his election as its member last week.

The Okhla MLA, who held the post for nearly 6 months, had in September last year resigned amid allegations of irregularities.

The process for constituting a new board having seven members is on. Khan was elected as a member of the body last week.

Sources said Khan's election as chairman was "almost certain" and would materialise after nomination of four members of the Board by the Delhi government.

"A file on nominated members, including a government officer, Islamic scholar, social activist and one Bar Council member, is lying with the Lt Governor. After his nod, the Board will elect its chairman," the source said.

Only one of the three elected members of the Board can become chairman.

Two other elected members of the Board are Congress Rajya Sabha MP Parvez Hashmi and Chaudhary Sharif. The latter has been elected from the Mutwalli (manager) quota.

Khan's previous stint as Waqf Board chairman was marred by allegations of corruption and investigation and raids by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB).

He was elected chairman in March 2016 and had resigned 6 months later after an ACB raid on the Waqf Board office in connection with an alleged recruitment scam.

Thereafter, a case was registered by the CBI to probe alleged irregularities during Khan's chairmanship of the Board in November 2016.

Khan's fortunes have seen an impressive turnaround after a public spate involving him and senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, said a party leader.

"Although he was suspended over the issue, Khan has now not only regained his previous posts and status, he is just about to be the chairman of the Board," he said.

BJP's Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said he will raise the matter with Lt Governor Anil Baijal.

"The Kejriwal government is set to make Amantullah Khan the next Waqf Board chairman even as the CBI is probing a case of criminal breach of trust against him," Gupta said.

A delegation of BJP legislators will soon meet the LG in the matter, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali has rumbled into life with a series of eruptions that temporarily disrupted some international flights to the popular tourist destination.

Australian airline Jetstar, which cancelled nine flights to and from Bali yesterday, said most of its Bali flights will operate normally today after its senior pilots assessed it was safe to fly.

However it warned that the movement of ash cloud is highly unpredictable and flights could still be cancelled at short notice.

Mount Agung erupted yesterday, hurling ash 4,900 feet above the crater, and again twice early today, lighting its cone with an orange glow and sending ash 9,840 feet into the atmosphere.

The ash clouds have been moving away from Bali's airport, where nearly all scheduled domestic and international flights were continuing today.

Disaster officials said ash up to half a centimetre (less than an inch) thick has settled on villages around the volcano and soldiers and police were distributing masks.

Authorities said anyone still in the exclusion zone around the volcano, which extends 7.5 kilometres from the crater in places, should leave the area.

Agung also had a minor eruption on Tuesday but authorities have not raised its alert status from the second highest level, which would widen the exclusion area and prompt a large evacuation of people.

About 25,000 people have been unable to return to their homes since September, when Agung showed signs of activity for the first time in more than half a century.

The volcano's last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.

Indonesia sits on the "Pacific Ring of Fire" and has more than 120 active volcanoes.

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A man, who was supposed to board a flight to Bangkok, was apprehended at the airport here for allegedly trying to smuggle foreign currency worth over Rs 19 lakh out of the country, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said today.

D R Tharwani (37), a resident of Maharashtra, was intercepted by the on-duty CISF personnel at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBI) here last night, officials said.

During his frisking, the CISF officials found that something was concealed in his socks and hence, the passenger was subjected to a thorough checking.

"A total of 25,500 euros and USD 700 were recovered from the passenger. The man has been handed over to the Customs authorities for further investigation," CISF spokesperson Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Hemendra Singh said at the force's headquarters in Delhi.

Tharwani, a resident ofMaharashtra, was travelling to Bangkok, he added.

The value of the seized foreign currency was over Rs 19.74 lakh, Singh said.

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Thirty years after the Chernobyl disaster spewed radioactive clouds into the sky and sent shockwaves across Europe, Belarus is building a nuclear reactor on the doorstep of the EU despite fears in neighbouring Lithuania.

Construction of the facility, located in the northwestern Belarusian town of Ostrovets only around 20 kilometres from the Lithuanian border, is entering its final stages.

Its two reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, will be operational from 2019 and 2020 respectively.

The project, approved by strongman Alexander Lukashenko's government in 2008 and spearheaded by the Russian state energy corporation Rosatom, is being nearly completely financed by Moscow with a USD 10-billion loan.

The construction of the reactor initially revived bad memories in a country that had a quarter of its territory covered with radiation from the 1986 explosion at the Soviet- era plant in Chernobyl, in present-day Ukraine.

"When we heard that a plant was being built literally outside our windows, we were scared," said Nina Rybik, a writer who was one of tens of thousands evacuated from contaminated zones 30 years ago.

"But then the fear passed: we were told that advanced technology is being employed to build the station and that every single thing is being controlled," she told AFP.

She said that even those who had gathered signatures against the construction of the plant were now trying to find work there.

As worries about nuclear safety had been magnified by the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, the local authorities and the Russian contractor actively worked to reassure the nearby population.

To showcase their commitment to safety, Belarusian authorities demanded in 2016 that Rosatom replace equipment damaged during a fall, even though the Russian corporation insisted that the 330-tonne shell had merely touched the ground after sliding down from a four-meter height.

Rosatom calls the reactors "the most modern in the world" and says that they "respect all international norms".

Belarusian sociologist Elena Martishchenkova said that around half of Belarusians support the development of nuclear energy, with the figure reaching 65 percent in the Ostrovets district this year.

But there is little optimism for nuclear energy on the other side of the border.

Vilnius denounced the project as a violation of "international nuclear and environmental safety requirements", as it is located 20 kilometres from the EU border and only 40 kilometres from the Lithuanian capital.

Rosatom has repeatedly denied that the project violates international norms.

But Russia's long silence about a leak of a radioactive isotope in September, first made public by French authorities, has revived memories about the Soviet Union's initial denial then downplaying the danger the Chernobyl accident posed.

Rosatom denied last week the ruthenium-106 came from its facilities after Russia's meteorological service confirmed "extremely high" concentrations of the isotope about 30 kilometres from a site where the firm reprocesses spent nuclear fuel.

In an interview with AFP, Lithuania's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Rasa Jakilaitiene, accused Minsk of trying to conceal information and minimising the consequences of "at least six incidents" that occurred at the Ostrovets plant in 2016.

In May, the Lithuanian government even flew EU energy chief Maros Sefcofic in a hot air balloon over Vilnius so he could see how close the Belarusian plant was to the city, in an attempt to convince EU officials that the plant represented a health hazard.

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said the greatest homage to those who sacrificed their lives during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai would be to learn lessons from what happened on that day and not letting it occur again.

He was speaking at '26/11: Stories of Strength- A unique memorial' held at the iconic Gateway of India here.

"I think, there won't be any greater homage to our martyrs than learning lessons from what had happened and not letting it happen again," Fadnavis said.

"I think, if all of us come together and become the eyes and ears of the forces, we will surely beat them. We will prevent any such tragedy in future," the chief minister said.

Today is the ninth anniversary of the gory attack, carried out by 10 terrorists from Pakistan over three days, that left 166 people dead, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos.

On the preparations and enhancement of security measures, Fadnavis said, "I feel Mumbai has changed now. We have third eye-CCTV network, 'Sagar Kavach', joint-exercise with Navy, elite 'Force One' on the lines of NSG and bullet resistant jackets among others. We have technical intelligence, with state and Centre working together."



"I think, we still require a resolve from the people. They should be the eyes and ears of our (security) forces, our police," Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, said.

"The forces we are fighting have no principles and no state of laws. They are enemies of humanity. They want to create an atmosphere of fear.

"They are bombing all parts of the globe, ramming vehicles in public places, they are firing in theatres, all they want to tell humanity is that we can win, we can terrorise you," he said.

Anant Goenka, Executive Director, the Indian Express Group, said, "The attack on parliament and 26/11 are the two events that have shaped the way modern India thinks of terrorism and violence."



"As a group that has been documenting a changing India for over 80 years, we recognised that we have rarely ever heard from those directly affected the survivors of 26/11.

"From our interviews, we have been touched, inspired and awe struck at the courage, the positivity, the maturity and realised that there are many inspiring stories that needed to be told, and it's our role as a responsible media group, to give voice to these remarkable individuals," Goenka said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP MP Prabhatsinh Chauhan, who is reportedly unhappy because his daughter-in-law, and not his wife, has been fielded by the party from the Kaalol Assembly seat in the upcoming Gujarat polls, allegedly pushed a cameraman and warned a reporter in Panchmahal district today, when the scribes asked for his reaction to the development.

Video clips being telecast on local television channels purportedly showed the MP pushing the reporter at the venue of a BJP event at Mora village in Morva Hadaf taluka of Panchmahal.

Chauhan had come to the village to take part in the 'Mann ki Baat, Chai ke Saath' programme of the BJP.

On Friday, the ruling party, in its fifth list of 13 candidates for the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls, dropped the name of sitting MLA Arvindsinh Chauhan and instead, fielded Prabhatsinh Chauhan's daughter-in-law Suman Chauhan from the Kaalol seat in Panchmahal district.

Reportedly upset over the announcement, the Panchmahal MP wrote a letter to BJP chief Amit Shah, urging him to replace his daughter-in-law with a "local" candidate.

Although, in the letter, Chauhan did not specifically demand that his wife Rangeshwari be given the party ticket, the MP had recently told reporters that she was the best candidate for the Kaalol seat.

In the letter, Chauhan also alleged that his son Pravinsinh was a "bootlegger" and that he and his wife had even gone to jail.

Today, at the venue for the BJP event, Chauhan allegedly grasped a television reporter's hand when the latter asked him a question over the ticket allocation issue. The MP also allegedly talked to the reporter in a warning tone and pushed him back.

The entire episode was captured on cameras.

Chauhan was subsequently pacified by his supporters, who took him away from the mediapersons.

Later, as he was leaving the venue, the MP reportedly got angry again at being asked questions by the media and allegedly hit one of the television cameras and pushed the cameraman. This incident was also captured by the television crew.

The journalist, Hanif Bhagat, claimed that Chauhan not only grasped his hand, but also threatened him.

"When I asked Chauhan to explain his side as regards the controversy, he got angry and grasped my hand. He then warned me saying, 'do you want to get beaten up?' Later, he attacked our cameraman outside the venue when another reporter tried to ask him a question," said Bhagat, who works with "ABP Asmita", a Gujarati channel.

Despite several requests to clear his stand over the issue of ticket allocation, Chauhan did not say anything and left the venue.

In his letter to Shah, the MP had reportedly warned that he would not guarantee a victory for the saffron party from Kaalol or any of the seven Assembly seats under his Lok Sabha segment, if daughter-in-law Suman Chauhan was not replaced with someone of his choice.

Chauhan, a prominent Rajput face in the region, who had joined the BJP in 1992, claimed that though he had single- handedly established the BJP's dominance in Panchmahal district over the years, he was ignored by the party and not given any post in the organisation.

The MP claimed that the BJP would not get even a single vote from the tribals in the upcoming Assembly polls. While Chauhan's wife Rangeshwari is a tribal, his daughter-in-law is a Rajput.

On Friday, after Rangeshwari came to know that she had been ignored in the ticket allocation, she targeted her husband in a fiery Facebook post, in which she dared him to enter Kaalol for poll campaigning.

However, the post was deleted yesterday.

Despite repeated attempts, Chauhan could not be reached for comments on today's incident.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases -- on December 9 and 14. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP)  Hunting guide Mike Clark normally has more than 20 clients lined up each fall for trips deep into Wyomings western wilderness to shoot mule deer, prized by hunters for their size and impressive antlers.

But unusually cold weather and heavy snowfall that blanketed much of the Western U.S. last winter killed off many young deer. And that prompted wildlife officials throughout the Rocky Mountain states to take measures such as reducing the number of hunting permits to try to help devastated wildlife populations rebound.

Clark took only six mule deer hunters out in September and October who were lucky enough to get permits. He estimated that he lost 40 percent of his income as a result. If it wasnt for the hunters he was guiding this year to shoot elk that generally survived the brutal winter, Clark said, Wed pretty much be selling out.

In one remote part of Wyomings backcountry where peaks soar to 11,000 feet, state wildlife managers documented the loss of all fawns they had been monitoring in a mule deer herd.

To help the herd recover, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission reduced the number of deer permits for out-of-state residents from 600 to 400 in the area where Clark operates, cut the hunting season to 22 days and limited hunters to killing older bucks.

Officials wont know how effective their efforts will be until hunting season ends in January and hunters submit reports saying how many deer they killed.

Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington state also imposed hunting limits to help isolated wildlife herds recover from the winter. Deer were hit hardest in most of those states, while Washington had severe losses among several of its elk herds.

In southern and central Idaho, last winters fawn survival rate was just 30 percent, prompting a reduction in deer hunting permits to help herds boost their numbers, said Mike Keckler, spokesman for the Idaho Fish and Game Department.

Were trying to bring them back up, he said.

And in Washington, the number of elk hunting permits was cut drastically in some parts of the state where elk died in droves, said Brock Hoenes, statewide elk specialist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The area of Wyoming where Clark takes hunters is known as one of the best places in the world to hunt mule deer, state Game and Fish spokesman Renny MacKay said. He added that the decision to limit permits was difficult for state officials to make.

Clark said his business will survive the downturn but that his future guiding hunters is uncertain if wildlife managers reduce the number of mule deer hunting permits for nonresidents again next year.

Otherwise, none of us are going to have any deer hunters, he said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today launched a broadside against the BJP, accusing it of "polarising" the country, and said the saffron party has realised the goal of Pakistan of dividing the nation in just three years of its rule.

Without naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, Kejriwal said the AAP is "not like a Napolean" whose intention is to win every state election, but its real purpose is to change the system.

"The country is going through a difficult time. The BJP is trying to divide the country by pitting Hindus against Muslims and Muslims against Hindus. What could be the biggest dream of Pakistan other than seeing India divided?" Kejriwal said.

He said the BJP is trying to weaken the country by polarisation.

"What Pakistan and ISI could not do in 70 years, the BJP has done in three years," he said, adding that those who were trying to create this divide were "ISI agents and traitors disguising as nationalists".

Kejriwal was addressing Aam Aadmi Party volunteers at the party's national convention on the occasion of its fifth anniversary at the Ram Lila Maidan here.

Scores of AAP volunteers and party leaders from several parts of the country were present for the national convention. Kumar Vishwas, who has had an uneasy relationship with the party leadership, also addressed the crowd.

The chief minister also raised questions about the death of CBI court judge B H Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case in which Amit Shah was prime accused, and said even judges were not safe under the BJP rule.

"The circumstances in which Loya was found dead have raised various questions," he said.

Urging people in the poll-bound Gujarat to "uproot" the BJP, Kejriwal said the entire nation was looking at Gujarat and praying for the BJP's defeat. The AAP is contesting in a few seats in the western state.

"Voters should vote for a candidate or party that is winning and capable of defeating the BJP. Our aim is to uproot the BJP. Make sure that the BJP loses," he told the gathering.

Kejriwal claimed that the BJP is the "father" of the UPA in corruption.

"We gathered five years back in the same place and protested against the UPA for its corruption. Nothing has changed. The BJP has become the father of UPA in terms of corruption," Kejriwal said citing the Panama Papers revelations and the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A bag containing a bride's gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 80 lakh was stolen during her wedding ceremony at a hotel near the Gurgaon-Delhi expressway here, police said today.

The incident happened last night at Hotel Leela Ambience and the matter was reported to the police this morning, they said.

A police investigation found that the bag containing the ornaments has gone missing from the ballroom of the hotel in the upscale DLF-III area.

S D Bhushan Sawhney, a resident of Sector 45 in Noida, has filed a complaint with the police against the hotel management for security lapses. He has said that many CCTV cameras at the hotel were either defunct or had limited range.

Sawhney said the bag was stolen when the wedding of his niece was on. Only two CCTV cameras were installed in the 9,000-sq ft hall, where the main function was held, he said.

"We sought the immediate closure of all exit points at the hotel but the security staff did not listen," he alleged.

Gurgaon Police PRO Ravinder Kumar said: "We have registered a case and are investigating all angles. The ground staff of the hotel are being questioned. We suspect a gang of women or child robbers behind it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today met representatives of Surat's textile industry and assured them that the Centre will look into their concerns.

Jaitley's outreach to Surat textile traders comes ahead of polls. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had spent a full day, November 8, the first anniversary of demonetisation, here and had heard the problems of the textile workers.

Surat textiles industry body made representation before the finance minister seeking ease in procedures related to Goods and Services Tax (GST). Both the association and Jaitley said that the meeting was positive.

Jaitley, who was here to attend the BJP's 'Mann ki Baat - Chai Ke Saath' programme, took time out to meet the textile traders and heard their concerns regarding the provisions in GST which they said was hurting the industry.

Jaitley said the textile industry in Surat is "very positive about government's economic policies and supports GST."



He added the industry has demanded that the procedures should be made simpler, especially for small textile industry, and he has invited their representatives to meet concerned officials in Delhi to sort out their problems.

"I am happy that the textile industry of Surat, which is very progressive and which has made a name for itself in the entire world are very positive about government's economic policies and are in support of GST," Jaitley told reporters.

"They expect the procedures should be made simpler, especially for small textile industry, so that they are not overburdened with procedural compliance. I have invited a small representatives in Delhi and put their facts before the concerned officials. The GST Council is trying for the same and we will also certainly do our best," he said.

He further said he was happy that GST Council has solved issues raised with "historic tax reforms".

"Other countries have praised India for addressing issues regarding GST at a very fast pace," he said.

Talking to PTI, president of Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association Manoj Agarwal, who made representation before Jaitley, said, "We told Jaitleyji that Surat's textile industry is badly hurt due to GST and asked him to address our problems. We said we want GST, but we are not able to follow GST rules."



"He assured us to solve our problem and asked four of us to meet him in Delhi regarding this along with Surat MP Darshanaben Jardosh who was also present in the meeting," he said, adding the meeting was attended by around 300 textile traders and members of the Association.

Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, Navsari MP C R Patil, and Union Minister Jitendra Singh were also present for the meeting.

Agarwal said textile traders raised issues regarding GST at one point for saree processing and expressed concerns over e-way bill and reverse charge mechanism.

"We are glad that the finance minister listened to our concerns and assured us that he will try to address them. He even invited us for discussions. We have made several representations before as well but this meeting was very positive, may be because of the upcoming elections," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A powerful blast in China's port city of Ningbo in the Zhejiang province today killed two persons and injured nearly 20 others, officials said, the country's worst industrial explosion in three years which also damaged nearby buildings and vehicles.

The explosion occurred early morning at a demolished factory in Jiangbei district of Ningbo City and also left two persons missing.

The site of the blast was without residents, but the nearby residential communities were affected, with some houses being damaged, local media reported.

Two people were killed and two others went missing in the explosion, State-run Xinhua agency reported.

The report quoting the district authorities said that 19 people were injured of which the condition of four was stated to be serious.

Fire fighters discovered a pot hole at the site, which is believed to be the source point of the explosion.

The cause of the blast is still under investigation, the report said.

Two temporary relocation sites with quilts, food and medicine were arranged for the affected people, it added.

Earlier, reports said more than 30 people were taken to hospital, with two injured seriously, after the blast.

Ningbo is one of China's major international cargo and container shipping ports.

The area resembled a war zone as a video footage posted on social media after the explosion showed enormous devastation with floors of several building blown off.

Scores of vehicles parked in the area were damaged.

Rescuers were seen trying to pull the people out of the rubble from flats whose roofs were blown off.

The restaurant owner, surname Feng, said his restaurant located near the explosion site suffered damage and glass windows broke when the explosion occurred.

He said the blast took place inside a roadside house that was used for commercial purposes and was due to be demolished soon.

A restaurant owner near the explosion site, surnamed Dong, told the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post when that his shop was about 500 metres away from the explosion site and all windows facing the scene of the blast had been shattered.

China had a number of industrial accidents in the course of its massive economic growth.

Today's explosion resembled a series of explosions in 2015 in Tianjin port city which ripped through a warehouse, leaving 165 people dead, eight missing and 798 injured.

The majority of those killed were firefighting crews who had gone to douse the flames.

The blasts also damaged 304 buildings, 12,428 cars and 7,533 containers, incurring economic losses amounting to 6.87 billion yuan (USD 1.01 billion).

A year later courts in Tianjin Municipality sentenced 49 people to prison, including 25 government officials for the deadly warehouse blasts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cities are picking up the concept of bicycle sharing following the success of such a project in Bhopal under the Centre's Smart City Mission for last mile connectivity and to fight pollution and congestion, a senior official said.

"Bhopal's public bike sharing programme is setting a new trend in India. Bhopal's concept is bringing back the bicycle as an alternate to private motor vehicle, not only contributing to user's health but to the environment," the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry official added.

He said there are around 30 similar programmes being undertaken cross the country under the Smart City Mission, out of which about 20 are in various stages of finalising detailed project report.

In June, Bhopal had launched the nation's first completely automated bicycle sharing programme with a fleet of around 500 bicycles.

It comprised 12 km of dedicated bicycle tracks around 50 locations within the city where bicycles are placed and from where the customer can hire a bicycle using a phone app, which allows the users to register themselves, select a plan and pay for the same.

The programme, costing about Rs 7 crore, has been rolled out on a public private partnership model. Around Rs 3 crore was financed through the Smart City Mission's funds and the rest by a private company, the official said.

As part of this completely automated system, users can pick up a cycle from any of the stations and deposit it at any another station after use.

Over 25,000 bikers are already registered with the programme and one new registration takes place every 5 minutes, the official added.

"It has shown that not only bike sharing is possible in India but also that it can be fully automated and profitably run with minimum human intervention," he added.

Launched on June 25, 2015, the Smart City Mission aims to develop 100 smart cities across the country in a five-year period. The government has earmarked Rs 48,000 crore for the development of these cities.

Each selected city will be given Rs 500 crore over a period of five years by the Centre with the respective states expected to make the matching contribution.

Recently, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu had pitched for promoting non-motorised transport infrastructure for walking and using bicycles which will not only act as the last mile connectivity for a well-established public transport system but also help in promoting health.

Naidu, the former housing and urban affairs minister, had said the future of the transportation lies in sustainable smart mobility and eco-friendly alternatives.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today accused the Congress of always trying to "degrade" Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and creating "hurdles" in his getting the Bharat Ratna.

Addressing a gathering at Limbayat Assembly constituency here, Adityanath also claimed that the Congress opposed the proposal put forward by Patel to restore the Somnath temple.

The UP chief minister congratulated the people for not letting Congress win a single seat in Gujarat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Referring to Mahatma Gandhi's call to disband Congress, Adityanath said the people were realising the dream of 'Bapu'.

"Gujarat feels proud of iron man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. If Maryada Purushottam Bhagwan Shri Ram united India culturally from north to east, then it was iron man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who united India politically," he said while campaigning for local BJP candidate and MLA Sangita Patil.

"You know that Congress always tried to degrade Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Congress had protested his proposal for the restoration of the Somnath temple as the party did not want it. When Sardar Patel took up the task to unite India's cultural heritage, Congress was the first to oppose," he claimed.

"Congress never hesitated in demoralising Sardar Patel at every step. It created hurdles so that he did not get (the highest civilian honour) 'Bharat Ratna'. It was made possible only when (former Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee proposed the same saying that Sardar Patel was a great son of India and has a huge contribution in India's unification," Adityanath said.

The UP chief minister also said the party that stood in opposition of Sardar Patel was today trying to stop Gujarat's development march.

"Our biggest identity is our spiritual and cultural heritage which we have received from our forefathers. India's identity and people's patriotic feeling are the characters of this country.

"The world is looking at Gujarat elections. The state will again pass through 'agni pariksha' (test by fire) and will carry forward the 'gaurav gatha' (the path of progress) which (Narendra) Modiji took up," he said.

Polling in Gujarat is scheduled to take place on December 9 and 14.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress may field former MLA Dileep Mane for the December 7 bypoll to the Maharashtra Legislative Council seat vacated by former chief minister Narayan Rane after he quit the opposition party.

"We have almost finalised the name for this election. The candidate will submit his nomination tomorrow. Dileep Mane's name has been recommended to the Congress headquarters," a senior Congress leader said tonight.

Leaders of the Congress and the NCP have been holding rounds of meetings for last few days to finalise the name of the nominee for the bypoll.

November 27 is the last day for filing nomination for the bypoll.

The scrutiny will be done on November 28 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is November 30.

BJP has not yet announced its candidate for the byelection, as the party is in a dilemma over fielding Rane due to stiff opposition by its alliance partner the Shiv Sena.

Rane had in September announced his resignation from the Congress amid indications that he was veering towards an innings in the ruling BJP. The 65-year-old Maratha leader, who was the chief minister in 1999 while in the Shiv Sena, had also resigned as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

After quitting the Congress, Rane formed his new political party Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh. Last month, he said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had invited him to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The BJP has 122 MLAs in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. Sena has 63 members in the lower house.

The opposition Congress and the NCP have 42 and 41 MLAs, respectively. Besides, PWP (Peasants and Workers Party) and Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) have three members each, AIMIM has two members, Rashtriya Samaj Paksh, CPI(M), SP and MNS have one member each, besides eight independents.

The BJP enjoys the support of four independent legislators. The Shiv Sena, another major player in the state, despite being a partner in the ruling alliance, has expressed reservations over Rane's entry into the NDA camp and his possible induction into the cabinet with a prime portfolio.

According to political observers, the Sena's role will be crucial in the upcoming byelection. If a sizable number of Sena MLAs remain absent or vote against Rane in the event of his contesting the poll the results could be shocking for the BJP, said an observer. Rane had lost the 2014 Assembly polls from Malvan. He made an attempt to enter the Assembly in April 2015 in a byelection from Bandra (East) but lost to the Sena candidate. He, however, was given ticket by the Congress to contest the Legislative Council election in June last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union minister Vijay Goel today criticised Congress' youth wing for a meme it had put out mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "chaiwala" past, and said its parent party - the Congress - should have condemned it.

Speaking to reporters after taking part in 'Mann Ki Baat - Chai Ke Saath' event in Delhi, Goel said at a time when the prime minister was trying to take India forward, the Congress' youth wing was stooping down with its tweets and memes.

"Congress should have condemned it. Politicians should not stoop down as it would be difficult to recover from that level," he said.

On November 21, the official Twitter handle of the Youth Congress online magazine 'Yuva Desh' had kicked up a row by mocking Modi's "chaiwala" past and English-speaking skills through a photograph showing him in a conversation with British premier Theresa May and US President Donald Trump.

The meme was removed soon after it was put out.

And Congress communications incharge Randeep Surjewala has said on Twitter that Congress "strongly disapproves and rejects such humour through memes. Differences on policy and opinion aside, Congress culture imbibes respect for PM and all political opponents."



"There was no prime minister who had done so much work and initiated so many schemes, which is evident from Moody's rating," Goel said, adding that the saffron party will sweep the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

"Along with the Modi government at the Centre, more BJP or NDA states should join to make India better and positive," he said.

When the BJP-led government talks about positivity and the prime minister educates people with his 'Mann Ki Baat' programmes, the opposition only engages in negativity, he added.

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Naxals have shot dead the son of a contractor whom they had abducted from a rail construction site in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, police said today.

The body of Ramesh Jain (38) was found this morning at a forest in the district's Rekhabat village, Kanker's Superintendent of Police K L Dhruv told PTI.

Darbari Ram, the father of the deceased, had the contract for cutting of trees in the forest area for laying tracks as part of the Dallirajhra-Rowghat railway project and transportation of logs to the forest department's depot, he said.

Yesterday, when Ramesh Jain was engaged in the work of transportation of timber logs in the forest close to Rekhabat between Rowghat and Tadoki, a group of armed Naxals reached there.

The rebels asked the workers to leave the place. After torching four trucks and a loader machine they took the victim along with them, the SP said.

"Later, they shot him dead in the nearby forest," Dhruv said.

Upon getting information, the SP and other officials reached the spot today and sent the body for postmortem.

A search operation was launched in the region to trace the ultras, the police official said.

The construction of Dallirajhara-Rowghat-Jagdalpur broad-gaugerailwayline,covering 235 kms, would allow transportation of iron ore from the Naxal-affected area in north Bastar.

Besides, it will provide transportation facility to the people in the Naxal hotbed.

The work in the first phase, covering a 95-km route from Dallirajhara toRowghat,is in progress with 17 kmsof tracks upto Gudum commissioned for passenger train traffic.

According to police, the Maoistshave been opposing the project since its inception, fearing that theconstruction of the rail route will speed up the development work in Bastar thereby uprooting them from the region.

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The Rachakonda Police busted an online sex racket today and nabbed three persons associated with it on charges of human trafficking.

A woman, an Uzbek national who was overstaying in India after her visa expired, was rescued during the operation, police added.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said the police, acting on a tip-off, conducted a decoy operation at a hotel and apprehended the alleged racket kingpin Jogeshwar Rao and his associates L Gopal and K Gopi.

"Rao had brought the Uzbek woman, in her mid 20s, to Hyderabad from Delhi about a week ago and pushed her into prostitution. The woman has told us she came to Delhi about nine months ago on a six-month tourist visa. Her visa had expired and she was overstaying in India," Bhagwat said.

The officer said Rao was engaging models and women of foreign nationalities in flesh trade as part of his online racket.

The three men were booked for human trafficking, the police said.

On November 23, the Hyderabad Police had arrested a 63 -year-old man and a woman on charge of running a brothel at a flat here. The police had then rescued a 27-year-old woman, who also belonged to Uzbekistan.

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Alabamas three largest newspapers wrote a joint editorial on AL.com that said: Alabamians must show themselves to be people of principle  reject Roy Moore and all that he stands for.

Principle? What an outdated, old-fashioned concept.

Moore, the Republican nominee in a special Senate election next month, stands widely accused of preying on teenage girls. Twice, he has been tossed off the states highest court for defying judicial orders. He advocates barring Muslims from public office and criminalizing gay relationships.

He is a law-breaking sexual predator who exploits his followers darkest fears about any outsider who doesnt look or act or pray like them. And yet many Alabamians seem determined to reject the Christian values of obeying the law, loving strangers and acting charitably toward others and vote for Moore anyway.

This is rank Hypocrisy with a capital H, and Gov. Kay Ivey reveals her true motives in backing Moore when she says: 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.

Trump is equally crass in his political calculation, accepting Moores denials and dismissing the accusations as ancient history that happened 40 years ago. The president denounced Doug Jones, Moores opponent, saying we dont need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, and even raised the possibility of campaigning for Moore before the vote.

Folks, dont be fooled, Trump confidante Kellyanne Conway said on Fox, and were not: Trump wants Moore in the Senate no matter what he stands for. And thats no surprise, since Trump and Moore stand for many of the same things and appeal to many of the same voters for many of the same reasons.

Last year, 80 percent of self-described evangelical Christians voted for Trump, a thrice-married billionaire living in Manhattan who bragged openly about his sexual conquests. Polls show two-thirds of evangelicals in Alabama backing Moore.

Why? Because Trump and Moore belong to Our Tribe and play on Our Team: the True Believers, not the Heretics. The Reds, not the Blues. The Republicans, not the Democrats. So ignore their many moral failings. They vote right.

Last year, 64 percent of voters said Trump was not honest and trustworthy, yet 1 out of 5 doubters supported him anyway. He might be a lying reprobate, they figured, but hes OUR lying reprobate. And Hillary would be worse.

There is plenty of hypocrisy to go around here. Many Democrats, including ardent feminists, defended Bill Clinton against charges of sexual aggression and dismissed them as part of a vast right-wing conspiracy. Like Gov. Ivey, they ignored the presidents personal flaws because he was Their Guy who would appoint the right judges and advance liberal ideals.

Moreover, these liberals are just as closed-minded as any conservative when it comes to litmus tests on key issues like abortion, condemning any Democrat who does not toe the pro-choice line no matter how reliably they vote on other matters.

But the issue today is Moore-Trumpism, not Bill Clinton, and its important to know why that ideology continues to thrive. For Christian conservatives, many of the social issues they care most about  abortion, same-sex marriage, religious rights  are adjudicated mainly by the courts, not Congress, and thats why Gov. Ivey and so many like-minded activists place judgeship nominations ahead of every other consideration.

Thats only part of it, however. Moore and Trump belong to a long and despicable tradition in American politics: hating and demonizing dark-skinned, strange-sounding others as somehow un-American. No wonder both men were key players in the birther movement that repeatedly  and wrongly  tried to marginalize Barack Obama as a foreign-born Muslim.

Moore, even more than Trump, plays the professional Christian Martyr, turning every attack against him into evidence of his virtue. The forces of evil will lie, cheat, steal  even inflict physical harm  if they believe it will silence and shut up Christian conservatives like you and me, he recently told his followers.

Heres the problem facing those editorial writers who make a plea for principle. Long ago, the Moore-Trumpists decided that political success was the highest of all values. I think what were seeing is an extreme politicization of Christianity, Marie Griffith, author of a new book on the subject, told The Atlantic. It has become so focused on power.

The money-changers have returned to the temple. And the vote counters, political consultants and power-brokers have joined them there.
The has said that courts cannot force a husband to "keep his wife" as it asked a man, a pilot by profession, to deposit Rs 10 lakh as interim maintenance for his estranged wife and upkeep of their son.

The apex court restored the bail order of the Madras High Court which was cancelled after the husband refused to comply with the compromise agreement.

"We cannot force a husband to keep his wife. It's a human relationship. You (man) deposit Rs 10 lakh with the trial court which will be withdrawn by the wife unconditionally to meet her immediate requirement," a bench of justices Adarsh Goel and U U Lalit said.

When the counsel appearing for the man said that the amount be reduced, the bench said that apex court is not a family court and no negotiations can be held.

"If you agree to deposit Rs 10 lakh immediately, the bail order would be restored," the bench said.

The counsel then agreed to deposit Rs 10 lakh but sought some time.

"We are inclined to restore the order of bail in view of the statement made on behalf of the petitioner that the petitioner will deposit a sum of Rs 10 lakh with the trial court within a period of four weeks," the bench said.

It said that the amount may be withdrawn by the wife unconditionally, so that she can meet immediate requirements for herself and the child.

"The said amount will be subject to adjustment in any future proceedings. The parties are free to reach mutual settlement for rehabilitation, as was earlier proposed. Accordingly, the order of bail will stand restored subject to above stipulations," the court said.

It directed that the pending proceedings may be completed by the trial court, as far as possible within a period of three months, as already directed by the high court.

The Madurai bench of Madras High Court had on October 11, cancelled his anticipatory bail saying the man has entered into a compromise memo with the complainant but contrary to the compromise memo, he had gone back from his promise and filed an evasive counter affidavit to wriggle out from his responsibilities.

It had noted that the very first condition of the memo that he would take her and their child to his place of working along with himself has not been fulfilled and under the pretext of reunion has made the wife to drop the departmental action that was initiated against him.

The high court had also noted that due to the false promise, the life of their child is in limbo as a transfer certificate has been obtained from the school.

It directed the police to complete the investigation and file the charge sheet before the trial court within three months.

The husband was booked under various sections of IPC including dowry harassment.
President Ram Nath Kovind said today that it was critical not to disturb the fraternity of separation of powers and maintain a "delicate balance" while exploring the relationship between the judiciary, the executive and the legislature as they are all equal.

The three organs of the state should be conscious of their liberty and strive to protect their autonomy, he said.

However, they should be careful about not disturbing the fraternity of separation of powers "by even unknowingly intruding into the domain of either of the two other branches", the president said.

"It is critical to keep this intricate and delicate balance in mind when exploring the relationship between the three branches of the state -- that is, the judiciary, the legislature and the executive. They are all equal," Kovind said while inaugurating the function organised by the Supreme Court here to celebrate the Constitution Day.

He said the Constitution is "not static but is a living document" and the sobriety and discretion in communication between these three branches of the state is extremely advisable.

"This will promote and enhance fraternity between three equal branches of the state, all of which have a certain responsibility to the Constitution. It will also reassure the ordinary citizen that the Constitution is safe -- and in mature hands," the president said.

He also emphasised that high courts across the country need to take up the task of quickly providing certified translated copies of judgements to the litigants in local and regional languages.

"Even the hearings in court, if possible, have to be in a language that is understandable to the ordinary litigant. The process of case disposal too has to be made faster," he said.

The president also said that it was upon the higher judiciary to mentor and encourage the lower judiciary and in this process, the cooperation of state governments was very much necessary.

He said it was for the state governments to ensure that the judges of the district and subordinate courts were not denied their due perquisites and facilities and high courts should urge the subordinate courts to be more efficient and conclude cases faster.

"I am glad to note, some high courts are taking steps in these directions. As of June 30, 2017, there were about 76,000 old cases, pending for five years or more, in sessions and district courts under the High Court of Jharkhand. The High Court has set a target of March 31, 2018, to dispose off almost half these cases," he said.

He also referred to the initiative of the Chhattisgarh High Court in setting a deadline of April 30, 2018, for the subordinate courts to dispose off cases pending for over 10 years and September 30 next year deadline for disposing cases pending for between five and 10 years.

"The High Court of Chhattisgarh has also started to make provision for availability of Hindi versions of judgements and orders. I commend these initiatives. I am sure other high courts are also moving ahead with a similar sense of public service," Kovind said.

He said that Constitution is not just an abstract ideal and it has to be made meaningful to the lives of ordinary people in every street, every village and every 'mohalla' of the country.

Delivering a lecture on 'constitutional value' at the function, former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti referred to the historical events related to framing of the Constitution.

He said that the Constitution is the "religion of all the religions".

Referring to the judiciary, the ex-CJI said that while other organs of the state may afford to fail and falter, the judiciary cannot "afford to fail".

However, he also had a word of caution for the judiciary and said that it should not take upon the role of the executive and the legislature while discharging judicial functions as a "judge is always on trial".

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The "Dharma Sansad", a conclave of Hindu seers, mutt heads and VHP leaders, today demanded the immediate withdrawal of a directive, which it claimed was issued by the Centre to states on the issue of cow vigilantism.

Briefing reporters on the concluding day of the three-day conclave, VHP international joint general secretary Surendra Kumar Jain said the meet passed a resolution to this effect.

"The notification was issued a few days ago by the Centre to all state governments. We want to tell the Centre it is not the cow protectors, but the cattle smugglers whose dossier is to be prepared," he claimed.

He said the conclave in another resolution urged the Supreme Court to widen the scope of nodal officers appointed to check cow vigilantes to also include those who kill cows.

"We do not want the protection of fake cow protectors. Such impostors must be brought to book. But in the process of taming fake cow vigilantes, the sincere cow protectors should not suffer. We appeal to the Supreme Court to widen the scope and area of nodal officers and include cow butchers," he said.

Jain said the meet also passed a resolution seeking the setting up of a DNA test facility at points from where beef was being exported.

The meet took a strong objection to those "intentionally" organising beef parties. "Such things irritate people and agitate the society," Jain said.

Another resolution demanded that facilities given to the religious minorities be extended to the religious majority, saying due to this discrimination, many Hindu communities want to become religious minority groups to enjoy the benefit.

More than 2,000 seers, mutt heads and other Sangh Parivar leaders attended the conclave, where the issue of building a Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya was discussed.

Addressing the meet on its inaugural day, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said only the Ram Temple would come up there and not any other structure.

Vishvesha Teertha Swamiji of Pejavar Math of Udupi, who chaired the reception committee, has said that the Ram Temple will be built in a year.

The conclave yesterday suggested a slew of measures to eradicate the scourge of untouchability and social inequality.

Stressing that untouchability has no religious backing, it was proposed that temples, houses and institutions should be open to all and there should not be any discrimination in sharing funeral grounds, lakes, wells and water taps.

The Udupi meet was significant as the first formal announcement for a Ram Temple at the Rama Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya was made here in 1985 and a year later, the doors of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya were open to public for 'darshan'.

Located in the coastal area, Udupi is famous for Lord Krishna Temple, with the idol believed to have been discovered by 13th-century Vaishnavite saint Madhwacharya, who founded the Dwaitha school of philosophy.

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In a rare surgery, doctors in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district recently removed 5 kg iron objects--a chain, as many as 263 coins and shaving blades--from the stomach of a man who they said is not in a good frame of mind.

The 32-year-old Mohammed Maqsood, who hails from Sohaval in Satna district, was taken to the state-run Sanjay Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in adjoining Rewa on November 18 after he complained of pains in stomach.

Dr Priyank Sharma, attached to the Sanjay Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (SGMCH), told PTI today that they identified the cause behind Maqsood's stomachache after conducting tests and through an x-ray.

He said a team of six doctors surgically removed 10-12 shaving blades, four big needles, a chain, 263 coins, besides pieces of glasses--collectively weighing 5 kg, from the stomach of Maqsood on Friday.

He said Maqsood had been treated for six months in Satna before he was brought to Rewa.

"The patient was not in a good frame of mind and it seems he swallowed these objects secretly," Dr Sharma said, adding that Maqsood is doing well and is currently under the observation of a team of experts.

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Even as foreign investors, primarily from the Asia-Pacific region, are expecting the country's maiden REIT to be launched in the first quarter of 2018, domestic investors are still in a wait-and-watch mode.

According to a survey by PwC and Urban Land Institute, the maiden REIT is likely to be listed towards the end of the first quarter of 2018, providing a long-awaited exit route for investment funds now active in the market or a strategy for those planning to enter the domestic market.

"Despite the lingering cynicism that the country's suffocating bureaucracy would effectively snuff out the chances of any early introduction of the first REIT, there now seems a real prospect that the maiden REIT will be listed in March 2018," says the report.

The report further says the main problem for REITs, therefore, appears no longer to be a regulatory logjam but rather how to price the assets at a level that will appeal to both sponsors as well as REIT investors.

"We've interviewed around 600 realty professionals, including investors, developers and lenders, among others, across Asia. What we noticed from them is that they're very keen on India's REITs. But, domestic investors and developers are still sceptical about the entire thing," PwC India partner for tax and regulatory services Anish Sanghvi told PTI.

He noted that government has addressed almost all the concerns raised and thus there is no reason why we should not see at least one REIT soon.

"But they still do not want to venture into this space fearing the outcome of such an issue," Sanghvi rued.

According to the report, REITs in Japan, Australia and Singapore are yielding 370-450 bps above their 10-year government bonds. Since benchmark Indian government bonds now fetch close to 7 per per cent, a REIT should fetch at least 300-400 bps above the G-secs yield.

The report further says demand there is still a high demand for a legitimate institutionalised investment opportunity at the retail level, which may persuade investors to pay up for REIT at higher levels.
Women who are afraid of violence within partnerships prefer to date less masculine men, researchers say.

The study is the first to find that violence within partnerships influences women's partner preferences.

Worldwide, 30 per cent of women report that they have experienced some form of physical and sexual violence from their partner during their lifetime.

Statistics show that 38 per cent of murders of women are committed by a male partner and violence coming from partners is a very real threat.

The new study, published in the journal Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, provides evidence that this threat shapes whom women find attractive.

The researchers from the University of St Andrews in the UK asked 83 women participants to complete a questionnaire about their health, education, access to media and feelings of danger from public violence and the likelihood of violence within partnership.

The participants then selected which male faces they considered more attractive from pairs manipulated to differ in masculinity level.

"We found that even after controlling for participant age, education, access to media (TV and internet) and health, violence within partnership had a large influence on masculinity preferences," said Martha Lucia Borras-Guevara, from the University of St Andrews.

Previous studies have suggested that masculine men may be effective protectors for women against public violence.

However, such studies have ignored the fact that when women prefer a more masculine man, they may also be putting themselves at risk from violence coming from the same partners.

"Preferring more feminine men may reflect a strategy of women to avoid partners who are more likely to behave aggressively and dangerously towards them, that is, more masculine partners," said Carlota Batres, from the University of St Andrews.

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Cases of drug smuggling to fund terror activities will be booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said here today.

He said currently such cases are booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act, 1985.

"It has been established that funds are being raised through drug smuggling and are used for terror activities. Hence the Indian government, for the first time, is going to book such activities under UAPA instead of the NDPS Act. We are going to do it for sure," Ahir said.

He was speaking at an event commemorating the bravery of security force personnel during the Mumbai terror attacks.

"In what is known as the Golden Triangle, opium and marijuana are supplied from Afghanistan to the Pakistan border and the drugs then enter India through the north-east," he said.

The minister said the government had decided to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other measures to make the border areas safer.

"We have decided to take very strong action against such activities," the BJP MP said.

Ahir said the government used high-tech sensors to detect infiltrations from across the International Border and that the prime minister had also "helped by providing funds for such modernisation".

He said many terror attacks and infiltration bids were foiled in the aftermath of the 26/11 strikes.

"We also asked for the help of respective state governments where International Border-related issues are routinely addressed. We have sanctioned Rs 5 crore for security forces," he said.

Ahir said Rohingya refugees tried to enter India through Bangladesh, but failed.

The government remained unfazed despite an attempt was made by some sections to link to religion its opposition to Rohingya refugees, he said.

"Our government has taken a firm stand of not accepting a single Rohingya in the country. Some people tried to link our decision to caste and religion, but we remained firm. We did not hide it," Ahir said.

There are some people who live in this country but they do not work to protect the interest of the country, he said.

In an apparent reference to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Ahir said, "Unfortunately, one chief minister of an Indian state claimed that they would welcome Rohingyas, but we remained firm on our stand.

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Pakistan's Punjab government today decided to close all educational institutions for two days due to worsening law and order situation in the province following widespread protests by hardline religious groups.

Activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) and the Sunni Tehreek Pakistan (ST) have been protesting and staging sit-ins on highway and railway lines in several cities of Pakistan for nearly three weeks, disrupting road and rail traffic.

"Due to current law and order situation in the country, the government has decided to close all educational institutions - public and private sector schools, colleges and universities - for Monday and Tuesday" said an official statement.

Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gilani said the decision was taken to ensure the "safety of our children".

"The situation is quite alarming...we cannot take chances to open educational institutions in such circumstances," Gilani told PTI.

"I cannot confirm whether the educational institutions will reopen after the two-day holiday. It all depends on the situation. If it improves they will open on Wednesday," he said.

Lahore remained cut off for the second consecutive day today from the rest of the country as the protesters of continue to hold demonstrations across the city, leaving no chance for commuters to travel within the city.

The barelvi sect activists have been protesting in Lahore and other parts of the country following police action against them in Islamabad that left six people dead and over 200 others injured.

They have been demanding the sacking of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for changes in a law related to the Khatm-i- Nabuwwat (finality of prohpethood) oath in the Elections Act 2017.

They alleged the action undermined Islamic beliefs and linked it to blasphemy.

The Punjab government has also called in Rangers to help control the worsening law and order situation in Lahore and elsewhere.

"In the wake of current security scenario with respect to the protests/rallies at different places in Lahore, it is requested that Rangers troops may kindly be requisitioned to avoid any untoward incident," Lahore's deputy commissioner said in a letter.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members have virtually been confined to their house at Jati Umra Raiwing in Lahore. Some 1,500 policemen and Rangers have also been deployed to guard his residence.

Meanwhile, the ruling PML-N has asked all its leaders, ministers and legislators not to come out of their homes and take security measures to protect themselves and their families.

The protesters attacked the houses of Federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid, former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali and PML-N MNA Javed Latif yesterday. Latif also suffered head injuries.

"We expect more attacks from Islamists therefore the ruling party members have been asked to take measures to guard themselves," a PML-N leader said.

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Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) in alliance with the World Bank and Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE) will host its flagship event 'INSPIRE 2017' next week in Jaipur.

The five-day event (November 27-December 1) will showcase innovation and implementation of best practices in energy efficiency technologies, policies and financing, the EESL said in a statement.

More than a hundred international delegates representing countries such as the United States of America, Singapore, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Korea, Turkey, Nepal, Thailand, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, and United Kingdom will attend the symposium, it added.

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An Egyptian court today sentenced 14 men convicted of being homosexuals to three years in jail each for "abnormal" sexual relations, a defence lawyer said.

Ishaq Wadie said the men were released on bail of 5,000 Egyptian pounds (USD 283, 230 euros) each until an appeals trial.

The trial of three other suspects was delayed over procedural reasons, the lawyer said.

Homosexuality is not expressly outlawed in Egypt, but gays have previously been charged with debauchery in the deeply conservative Muslim society.

In recent months, authorities have cracked down on people who practice so-called "abnormal" sexual relations, which in Egypt means homosexuality, or for inciting debauchery.

The stepped-up measures follow an outdoor concert in Cairo on September 22 by Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila, when the flag representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community was raised.

Thirty-one people have been arrested since the show, 10 directly linked with the event, according to judicial and security officials.

London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International said the number was more than 70 people, some of whom had been subjected to anal examinations.

On November 9, Amnesty condemned a draft bill in the Egyptian parliament that would criminalise homosexuality.

The bill lays jail terms of between one and three years for first time offenders, whether the act takes place in public or a private place. Repeat offenders would receive five years.

"This deeply discriminatory bill would be a huge setback for human rights and another nail in the coffin for sexual rights in Egypt," said Najia Bounaim, North Africa campaigns director at Amnesty.

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Sufi Muslims in Egypt plan to proceed with a major annual celebration despite a Sinai mosque massacre that killed more than 300 people and appeared to have targeted them.

While no group has yet claimed Friday's horrific attack or said why the mosque was targeted, it is widely believed in Egypt that it happened because Sufis worshipped there.

Despite mourning the jihadist attack thought to have been carried out by the Islamic State group, the Sufis say they will mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed as planned, a week to the day after the massacre.

The gun and bomb assault on the Rawda village mosque in restive North Sinai roughly 40 km west of the provincial capital of El-Arish killed 305 people including 27 children.

Another 128 people were wounded.

Authorities said up to 30 militants in camouflage flying the black banner of IS surrounded the mosque and massacred worshippers during weekly Friday prayers.

In a defiant statement late Saturday, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Sufi Orders said the annual commemoration would still take place at Cairo's Al-Hussein mosque, one of Islam's most prominent sites in Egypt, and also "across the country".

However, a procession that normally takes place has been cancelled "in mourning for the souls of the martyrs of the terrorist incident at the Rawda mosque, and to ease the security burden".

The procession from Cairo's Salah al-Jaafari mosque to the Al-Hussein mosque, named after the prophet's grandson, covers a distance that would normally be just a 15-minute walk.

But "it takes hours for the procession to reach Al- Hussein because it is attended by thousands of people", council spokesman Ahmed Kandil told AFP.

Egypt's North Sinai-based IS branch has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, as well as civilians accused of working with the authorities, since the July 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The jihadist group has also targeted Sufis and Christians since authorities cracked down on Morsi supporters, killing more than 700 in one August day in 2013 as they cleared a protest camp in the capital.

IS is suspected of being behind Friday's attack because the mosque is associated with followers of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam whom it has branded heretics for seeking the intercession of saints.

But in a separate statement yesterday, the Sufi supreme council said the sect has always been an integral part of Islam.

"Sufism is not alien to Islam. It is Islam itself with the full worship and application of what is stated in the book (the Koran) and the Sunnah" or teachings attributed to the Prophet Mohammed, it said.

Sufism "represents excellence in worship, of which the prophet -- peace be upon him -- said that you worship god as if you see him, and if you do not see him, he sees you."



In Rome, Pope Francis expressed sorrow in his St Peter's Square address Sunday. He had visited Egypt in April to support the embattled Christian community and encourage dialogue with Muslims.

"It caused us great pain, Friday's of the slaughter," Francis said.

"I continue to pray for the numerous victims, for the injured and for this whole community that has been hit so hard."



Egypt also received messages of support from the United States and France, which are among the North African country's main military backers.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack yesterday that destroyed a military bulldozer and armoured personnel carrier close to the border with Gaza, but there has yet to be any such claim issued for the mosque attack.

IS usually claims an attack within a day or two, through its self-styled Amaq agency or via the Telegram social media app.

However, in Egypt such claims have been irregular, with attacks claimed late or not at all.

This is in part because of disrupted links between IS in Egypt and remnants of the embattled organisation in Syria and Iraq.

There has also been a chorus of online condemnation of the attack by jihadists including by IS supporters.

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Ethnic lifestyle retailer Fabindia has launched a new retail format called the 'Fabindia Experience Centre', and plans to open 10 such stores by the end of 2018, according to a senior company professional.

The company recently opened a store in Mumbai, and had opened one in Delhi earlier this year.

"The Fabindia Experience Centre houses a Fabcaf, an interior design studio, organic wellness centre and an alteration studio," Fabindia Overseas CEO Viney Singh told PTI here.

While he did not reveal the investment that the company has put into the new venture, he said by the end of next year there will be 10 stores across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

"This will be the first phase, and we aim to take it to other cities as well following this," Singh said.

Fabindia currently as 268 stores in all, of which about 50 stores are through the franchise model.

"We are further exploring the franchise model as well," he said.

Asked about the overseas business, he said the company has put on hold its international expansion, as it would like to reassess the business and the markets. Presently, there are 11 Fabindia international stores.

Speaking about the Fabcafe he said, "It primarily focuses on bringing a nutritious menu highlighting India's diverse cuisine with a wide array of dishes representing various parts of the country."



Extending the focus on health and well-being, the experience centre has a designated space for Organic India's first wellness store in Mumbai.

The wellness centre allows customers to interact with trained consultants on various aspects of health, lifestyle and well-being, he said.

The interior design studio (IDS) provides a range of services such as consultancy on layouts, mapping spaces, product customisation and colour scheme coordination, among other things.

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As a young man Bidhan Kamol Rosario left his Catholic village to fight for Bangladesh's independence. Now he questions his future in the country after a rise in Islamist extremism that has left minorities living in fear.

As Bangladesh's small Catholic community eagerly awaits the first visit by a pope in more than 30 years, many say it has never been more difficult to practise their faith in the Muslim-majority country.

Christian leaders say many have left Bangladesh in recent years as the community increasingly finds itself targeted by Islamists.

Last year two converts from Islam were murdered and a Catholic grocer brutally hacked to death during a campaign by Islamist extremists that also targeted Hindus and other minorities.

"In the War of Liberation, we wanted a beautiful Bangladesh which embraced all types of people from all races, faiths, creeds and religions," said Rosario, 65, of the 1971 war that brought independence for the former East Pakistan.

"I never wanted advantages or favours for myself, only that there be equal rights for all... But now I do not believe there is any equality for us."



Christians make up less than 0.5 per cent of Bangladesh's 160 million people, but lived for centuries in harmony with the local Muslim majority.

They have played a prominent role in the country's history and even today, schools and hospitals run by Catholic missionaries provide a lifeline for poor communities.

Rosario is part of a small Catholic community descended from Portuguese traders who settled in Nagori, a small cluster of villages near the capital Dhaka, in the 17th century.

The area remains a bulwark of Catholicism and is home to a small shrine where hundreds of thousands gather every February to celebrate the life of Saint Anthony.

Local Catholics there say they feel increasingly under threat after a spate of attacks by hardline Islamists targeting religious minorities, foreigners and secular bloggers.

Tensions with Bangladeshi authorities have also risen, they say, boiling over in March when villagers accused plain clothes police of raiding the home of a local widow and stealing money.

When a group of villagers tried to prevent the plain clothes officers leaving, armed police were sent in, leading to a violent stand-off in which at least 20 people were injured. More than 100 villagers were later charged with obstructing police work.

Alcohol has also become an issue. Non-Muslims can drink legally in Bangladesh, but locals say they have come under scrutiny from police, who frequently arrest villagers they suspect of consuming alcohol.

But far more terrifying are the threats to the lives of prominent Christians, which are often anonymous.

Nirmal Rosario, a businessman who heads a major Dhaka cooperative, said he received a death threat by text message as he sat next to Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a 2015 ceremony to mark Christmas eve.

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A fire broke out at a scrap market in suburban Mankhurd this afternoon, an official said.

No casualty or injury has been reported so far.

The blaze erupted at the scrap market around 2 pm and engulfed an area of about 1,000 square feet, a senior fire official said.

Eight fire engines were pressed into service to douse the flames, he said.

The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained and further details were awaited.

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Former "Glee" actor Naya Rivera has been arrested for misdemeanour domestic battery charges after an alleged altercation with her husband Ryan Dorsey.

Rivera was arrested at a home in the Chesapeake area of Kanawha County.

A video posted on Twitter by a reporter of WSAZ, showed Rivera handcuffed and dressed down in a hoodie and dark pants while being arraigned, reported E Online.

"You have been charged with a misdemeanour domestic battery," the judge can be heard saying in the video.

"Do you know what you have been charged with?"



"Yes, your honor," the star said in a quiet tone.

WSAZ reported that Rivera was released on a 1000 dollar PR bond and picked up by her father-in-law.

Rivera had last called off her divorce from Dorsey, whom she married in 2014.

Dorsey, 34, and Rivera first dated in 2010 before going their separate ways while she starred on "Glee".

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India has a wide network of different banks to meet the financial needs of people and hence the government has no intention to consider introducing Islamic banking, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said.

Islamic or Sharia banking is a system of finance in which interest is not charged.

"In India, the government will not allow Islamic banking, because India is a secular and democratic country," the minister for minority affairs told PTI here.

"There are different government and scheduled banks and the existing banking system is for all. Hence, the government is not thinking of introducing the concept of Islamic banking," he said.

"Some organisations and some people had made a suggestion on this issue (to introduce Islamic banking), but we do not have any such intention," he said.

On the winter session of Parliament, Naqvi said the government was willing to discuss all important issues and sought the Congress's support for smooth conduct of proceedings in both the Houses.

"We will discuss all issues. We are expecting that the Congress will allow smooth functioning of Parliament. Because Parliament is for holding discussions and making decisions, and if you only want to create disruption in Parliament then it will affect its decorum," he said.

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The Election Commission (EC) has issued a notice to the archbishop of Gandhinagar for asking Christians to pray to save the country from "nationalist forces" in the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly polls.

Issuing a letter addressed to the Christians, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar, Thomas Macwan, had last week urged the members of the community to save the country from "nationalist forces" as its "democratic fabric" was at stake, amidst a growing "sense of insecurity" among the minorities.

In Gujarat's political circles, the appeal was seen as an indirect call to vote against the ruling BJP.

Gandhinagar Collector and District Election Officer Satish Patel told PTI that the EC issued the notice after taking cognizance of media reports and asked the archbishop to clarify his intention behind issuing such a letter.

"We have issued a notice to the archbishop, seeking clarity over his intention behind the letter, which was widely publicised in the media. We have given him a few days' time to respond. We will decide on the future course of action on the basis of his reply," Patel said today.

He added that the letter seemed to be aimed at "confusing" the voters of the minority communities and misguiding them when the poll code was in force in the state.

"We understand that the letter was an attempt to misguide the voters and confuse the minority community voters at a time when the model code of conduct is in force. Such a language should not be used," Patel said.

In an official communique dated November 21, Macwan had appealed to the Christians to organise prayer services at parishes and convents, "so that we may have such people elected to the Gujarat Assembly, who would remain faithful to the Indian Constitution and respect every human being without any sort of discrimination".

"The democratic fabric of the country is at stake amidst a growing sense of insecurity among the minorities, other backward classes (OBC), backward classes, poor etc.," he had said.

"The results of this election are significant and will have repercussions and reverberations throughout our beloved nation. It will influence the future course of our country.

"We are aware that the secular and democratic fabric of our country is at stake. Human rights are being violated. The constitutional rights are being trampled. Not a single day goes without an attack on our churches, church personnel, faithfuls or institutions," he said.

"The recitation of the Holy Rosary at individual, community, family and parish levels will be of great help. Encourage your faithful to pray the Rosary," he said.

In the letter, the archbishop had also cited examples of how such prayers saved Europe during the victory at Lepanto, referring to the battle of 1571, in which the Holy League of Venetian and Spanish empires had defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf of Patras, and how the "protecting hand of our beloved Mother Mary defeated communist governments and dictators in a number of countries".

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases -- on December 9 and 14. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.
Development economist and activist today said there was "no evidence" that the so-called "Gujarat Model" was a model in any sense, pointing out to the state's backwardness in social indicators.

"If you look at almost any ranking of development indicators, whether it is social indicators, human development index, child development index, multi-dimensional poverty index and all the standard poverty indexes of the planning commission...Gujarat almost always comes around the middle," said the noted economist at Times LitFest here.

It was the case much before Narendra Modi became chief minister and it remained the case after that, said Dreze, who helped draft the first version of NREGA (now called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)



Dreze, who once wrote an article titled "Gujarat Muddle", recalls that the term, "Gujarat model", was coined around the time of the last Lok Sabha elections (2014).

He describes the model as a counter-example, because of the disappointing social indicators inspite of the high growth in terms of standard economic indicators.

There is obviously, Dreze believes, something lacking and, in that sense, it can be an illustration of the limitations of relying on private-enterprising growth for development in the larger sense.

Commenting on ratings-agency Moody's recent upgrade of India's sovereign-credit rating to 'Baa2' from 'Baa3', Dreze says he doubts the credibility of such an index.

"If you dig into the methods behind these indexes, there is very little to them, except that they are taken seriously!"



He also raised concerns about the Aadhaar scheme, fearing that it will create an "infrastructure of surveillance".

Underlining that his opposition to Aadhaar was not related to welfare programmes, but civil liberties.

"Aadhaar multiplies the power of the state to keep track of everybody over time," he said, flagging apprehensions that it could lead to stifling of dissent, as a lot of the databases that are going to be linked will be accessible to the government.

Speaking about the recent agitations of Patidars, Jats and others for reservations, Dreze partly blamed the stagnation of agricultural growth for the unrest.

According to Dreze, the people, who have seen the size of their landholding shrink and with the population explosion in the last few decades, have certainly suffered.

"That probably creates a sense of grievance, which must have translated to some of these movements, but there must be other things also," he adds.

The 'Gujarat Model' has remained the BJP's favorite example of success in election campaigns over the years. Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, goes to polls on December 9 and 14.
Following are the top stories from the Western region at 2230 hrs.

BOM 10 GJ-POLLS-BJP-TEA



Ahmedabad: Countering a Congress' meme mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'chaiwala' past, BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley, tune in to his radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' while having tea with people across poll-bound Gujarat.

BOM 16 MH-ATTACKS-RIJIJU



Mumbai: Union minister Kiren Rijiju says said India adopts a "zero-tolerance policy" towards terrorism and laments that neighbour Pakistan was not doing enough to control the growth of terror on its soil.

BOM 18 GJ-ARCHBISHOP-EC-NOTICE



Ahmedabad: The Election Commission (EC) issues a notice to the archbishop of Gandhinagar for asking Christians to pray to save the country from "nationalist forces" in the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly polls.

BOM 21 GJ-JAITLEY-KASHMIR



Surat: Finance minister Arun Jaitley claims post demonetisation those who used to distribute money to stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir cannot able to gather even 100 young people to carry out the attacks.

BOM 23 MP-RAPE LAW



Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government clears a proposal to enact a law for awarding death sentence to those guilty of raping girls aged 12 or below in the state.

BOM 5 GJ-RUPANI-LD INTERVIEW



By Parag Dave



Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani accuses the Congress of seeking refuge in casteism and "outsourcing" its campaign to caste leaders while dismissing any threat to the BJP's poll prospects from the Congress-Hardik Patel tie-up.

BOM 20 BIZ-JAITLEY-TEXTILE TRADERS



Surat: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley meets representatives of Surat's textile industry and assures them that the Centre will look into their concerns.

BOM 7 MH-ATTACKS-DERADICALISATION



By Dnyanesh Chavan



Mumbai: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) deradicalises 86 people in the last two years as a part of its efforts to wean away misguided youth from the path of extremism in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

BOM 17 MH-ATTACKS-AHIR



Mumbai: Pakistan has released 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed from "house arrest" in a bid to increase terrorist activities in India, says Union minister Hansraj Ahir.

BES 13 MP-SURGERY IRON OBJECTS REMOVED



Satna: In a rare surgery, doctors in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district remove 5 kg iron objects--a chain, as many as 263 coins and shaving blades--from the stomach of a man who is not in a good frame of mind.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hondurans went to the polls today with President Juan Orlando Hernandez seeking a second mandate despite a constitutional one-term limit, sparking fears that his bid could usher a crisis in the poverty and crime-wracked country.

An estimated six million people are eligible to vote, electing not just a president but also members of Congress, mayors and members of the Central American parliament.

"We hope this will be a civic celebration," said David Matamoros, head of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, in declaring the polls open.

Hernandez's conservative National Party -- which controls the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government -- contends that a 2015 Supreme Court ruling allows his re- election.

The opposition, though, has denounced his bid, saying the court does not have the power to overrule the 1982 constitution.

Hernandez cast his vote early in his hometown of Gracias, in mountainous western Honduras, accompanied by his daughter and several National Party deputies.

"Four more years," supporters chanted as he arrived. Hernandez told reporters he had been up early, messaging with organisers to be sure the elections would take place smoothly.

This small country, in the heart of the "Northern Triangle" of Central America where gangs and poverty reign, has one of the highest murder rates in the world, though that metric has fallen under Hernandez's four years in office.

What credit he claims from that progress is counterbalanced by tensions from a 2009 coup.

That year, then-president Manuel Zelaya was deposed by the armed forces, with backing from the right and from powerful businessmen, for nudging closer to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

Zelaya was notably accused of wanting to change the constitution to vie for a second term.

Hernandez, 49, who came to power in 2013, was seen as the frontrunner going into today's election, out of a field of nine candidates.

His closest rivals are Salvador Nasralla, a 64-year-old TV anchor-turned-politician who represents the leftwing Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship coalition, and Luis Zelaya (not related to Manuel Zelaya), 50, who is the candidate of the right-leaning Liberal Party.

The streets of the capital, Tegucigalpa, were festooned with the main parties' colors on the weekend, and campaign booths were dotted around to inform voters on the ballots.

But some analysts warned the calm was deceptive, and tensions could boil over because of the president's desire to hold on to power.

"For the first time, it's not a race between conservatives and liberals, but between a dictatorship and democracy," said Victor Meza, a political analyst at the Honduras Documentation Center.

Alexander Main, an analyst at the US-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research, questioned Honduras' law-and- order achievements in an opinion piece written for The Hill, an online political outlet.

"Honduras remains among the most dangerous countries for those who dare to challenge power," he said. "In the years since the coup, hundreds of activists have been murdered while police and judicial authorities have largely failed to take action."



Hernandez's top rivals in the race accuse the electoral board of preparing poll fraud to declare the incumbent president the victor. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal denies that.

"I hope you won't get discouraged when false information starts going around. We need to stay vigilant," Nasralla told his supporters on Friday.

One of the judges on the electoral tribunal, Marco Ramiro Lobo, told AFP that "our obligation is to guarantee a transparent electoral process which has verification mechanisms."



He noted that there were 16,000 poll observers, 600 of them from abroad.

But Marvin Barahona, a political science researcher, said the elections posed the risk of a "new crisis" because of the Supreme Court decision opening the way for Hernandez's bid.

Apart from the presidential election, Sunday balloting will also decide the country's three vice presidency posts, the 128-seat congress, 20 representatives in the Central American Parliament, and the mayors of 298 municipalities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The HRD Ministry is roping in various NGOs and civil society groups to chalk out a strategy for dealing with cases of child sexual abuse at school level, as the increasing number of such cases has set alarm bells ringing in the country.

The move comes following the alleged sexual assault of a four-year-old girl in a prominent Delhi school by a classmate.

"There are several rules and guidelines in place but still several cases are reported where children are sexually abused. This issue needs to be tackled beyond the usual good touch-bad touch lessons," a senior HRD Ministry official said.

"Discussions have been initiated with several NGOs and civil society groups and we hope to have some suggestions soon to see how the problem can be addressed at the school level," the official added.

The role of school authorities has come under scanner where last week a girl's mother had approached the police and alleged that her daughter was "inappropriately touched" by a classmate.

According to the mother, when the girl returned from school she complained of pain in her private parts. She was taken to a hospital where doctors confirmed sexual assault.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan said he is feels "ashamed" of standing up for his film "S Durga", which was excluded from the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

The 40-year-old director said the I and B ministry has taken the Kerala High Court's ruling to heart, after the judiciary ordered them to screen the Malayalam movie at the ongoing movie gala.

"When I went to court, I thought I was fighting with the system. But now it has turned into an ego issue... I feel the ministry has taken it personally... I feel ashamed that I fought," Sanal told PTI.

The filmmaker, who reached here last night after attending Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane, said he tried meeting IFFI director Sunit Tandon to discuss when they plan to conduct the screening of the film but had to wait for a long time to get through him.

Sanal added he had submitted all the required documentation as demanded by the festival authorities yesterday but is still unsure if the movie would be shown at IFFI, which closes on November 28.

He said he had produced the censored version of the movie in 35mm print, along with a copy of the censor certificate, along with two DVD copies to IFFI.

"I handed over all the required things to IFFI, but I haven't got any assurance that my film will be screened," he said.

On Friday, Kerala High Court declined to stay a single bench order to screen the Malayalam film at the Panorama section.

In the appeal, the government had stated that the film, though selected by the jury, had not secured the exemption as required by the Panorama regulation in the absence of any certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

It was also contended by the Centre that the inclusion of the film is likely to upset the arrangements of the 48th IFFI.

Sanal had moved the court after "S durga" was dropped from the festival's Panorama section, along with the Marathi film "Nude".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The censored version of Malayalam film "S Durga" will be screened for the jury of the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) tomorrow.

IFFI Panorama jury head Rahul Rawail confirmed the to PTI.

One of the members, Ruchi Narain said IFFI authorities had informed the panel about the screening to be held tomorrow.

"We have been informed that tomorrow we will be seeing the film in the evening. The festival wants to us to view the recently submitted censored version of the film," Narain told PTI.

The controversy-ridden "S Durga" received a U/A certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification, along with no cuts and 22 mutes.

Directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan had moved Kerala High Court after the movie was pulled out from the Panorama by the information and broadcasting ministry.

In a relief to the filmmaker, the ministry was ordered by the court to screen the movie at the movie gala, which closes November 28.

Sanal, who reached here last night after attending Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane, said he tried meeting IFFI director Sunit Tandon to discuss when they plan to conduct the screening of the film but had to wait for a long time to get through him.

The filmmaker told PTI he had submitted all the required documentation as demanded by the festival authorities yesterday but is still unsure if the movie would be shown at IFFI.

He had produced the censored version of the movie in 35mm print, along with a copy of the censor certificate, along with two DVD copies to the festival.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union ministers Smriti Irani and Rajyavardhan Rathore today paid homage to victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

On November 26, 2008, Mumbai was attacked by 10 terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. In the mayhem that followed for three days, 164 people, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos, were killed and 308 people were injured.

"They brought terror to our shores & were met with the sheer will of our forces to protect the sovereignty & integrity of India," Irani, the information and broadcasting minister, said in a tweet.

"Homage to all victims of 26/11 & gratitude to those who protected us then and continue to do so now," she tweeted.

Rathore, the minister of state for information and broadcasting, asked people to resolve to eliminate terrorism in all forms and make India a safer place.

"On the 9th anniversary of #MumbaiTerrorAttack, a humble prayer for security personnel who gave their lives protecting us," he tweeted.

"As we share the grief of the families who lost their loved ones, let us all resolve to eliminate terrorism in all forms and make India a safer, better nation," he said.

Irani also greeted the people on the National Constitution Day and said the contribution of those who framed it, including Babasaheb Ambedkar, was "invaluable".

"Greetings to everyone on National Constitution Day. We remember Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and every individual who framed our Constitution. Their contribution towards empowering our democracy is invaluable," she said in another tweet.

Constitution Day is celebrated on November 26 every year to commemorate the adoption of Constitution of India.

On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution and it came into effect on January 26, 1950.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Weeks ahead of the expected completion of a UN database of companies that operate in Israel's West Bank settlements, Israel and the Trump Administration are working feverishly to prevent its publication.

While Israel is usually quick to brush off UN criticism, officials say they are taking the so-called "blacklist" seriously, fearing its publication could have devastating consequences by driving companies away, deterring from coming and prompting investors to dump shares of Israeli firms.

Dozens of major Israeli companies, as well as multinationals that do business in Israel, are expected to appear on the list.

"We will do everything we can to ensure that this list does not see the light of day," Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, told The Associated Press.

The UN's top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, ordered the compilation of the database in March 2016, calling on UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein to "investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on Palestinians."



The community overwhelmingly considers the settlements, built on occupied land claimed by the Palestinians for a future state, to be illegal.

Israel rejects such claims, citing the land's strategic and religious significance, and says the matter should be resolved in negotiations.

Israeli officials say that about 100 local companies that operate in the West Bank and east Jerusalem have received warning letters that they will be on the list. In addition, some 50 companies, mostly American and European, also have been warned.

The companies have not been publicly identified, but one official said they include Israeli banks, supermarkets, restaurant chains, bus lines and security firms, as well as giants that provide equipment or services used to build or maintain settlements.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

The only company to confirm receiving a warning letter has been Bezeq, Israel's national telephone company. Bezeq's chief executive, Stella Handler, posted a copy of the letter sent by Zeid's office in September on her Facebook page.

It accused Bezeq of using West Bank land for infrastructure, providing phone and Internet services to settlements and operating sales offices in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Handler angrily wrote that Bezeq provides service to all customers, regardless of race or where they live.

"The council's bias against Israel is so extreme that it has lost all relevance in the world," she wrote. "We will not cooperate with a move that is all in all anti-Israeli propaganda."



But hours later, Handler removed the post, saying she had done so at the request of the government. The Israeli official confirmed the government has asked companies not to speak about the issue. Bezeq declined comment.

Israel has long accused the United Nations, and particularly the rights council, of being biased against it. Israel is the only country that faces an examination of its rights record at each of the council's three sessions each year.

Some 70 resolutions, or about quarter of the council's country-specific resolutions, have been aimed at Israel. That is nearly triple the number for the second-place country: Syria, where hundreds of thousands have been killed in a devastating six-year civil war.
The Haryana government has appointed an additional chief secretary (ACS) and a retired IAS officer as chairpersons of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) for its Gurugram and Panchkula Benches respectively.

Their appointment will take effect from the dates they assume charge of the posts, an official release said here today.

K K Khandelwal was appointed as the RERA's chairperson for Gurugram and Rajan Gupta for Panchkula.

The tenure of the RERA chairpersons for Panchkula and Gurugram would be for five years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier, it said.

A notification to this effect was issued by Arun Kumar Gupta, Principal Secretary, Town and Country Planning Department, the release said.

Earlier, senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala had written to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar urging him not to consider the names of retired officers K K Jalan and Gupta.

He had pointed out that they were part of the committee of three officers that gave a clean chit on the land deal connected to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra.

Jalan was a strong contender for the RERA post in Gurugram.

The Leader of Opposition had said that the INLD had submitted a "charge-sheet" to the Haryana Governor in August in which several alleged irregularities committed in land deals in the state during the tenure of the previous Congress government were highlighted.

The committee comprised Krishna Mohan, Jalan and Gupta. It was set up by the then Bhupinder Singh Hooda government on October 19, 2012, and had given a clean chit on the land deal connected with Vadra, he had alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) feels automotive exports to Bangladesh has the potential to generate an additional earning of Rs 30-40 crore a year, a top official has said.

"We see a good scope of exporting automotives from our port to Bangladesh and achieving a revenue of Rs 30-40 crore a year is quite possible if things turn out as planned," KoPT chairman Vinit Kumar told PTI.

"We have already sent the first lot of 240 trucks of Tata Motors from Netaji Subhash dock to Mongla port of the neighbouring country and very shortly, another consignment of the same size will be sent," he said.

Once the truck export stabilises, KoPT will explore the option of exporting passenger cars using inland waterways.

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is carrying out a number of infrastructure projects to ensure National Waterways-I (NW-I) can be used as an economical and green highway for cargo movement.

KoPT offered solution to Tata Motors to use its land for parking and docks to export trucks out of Jamshedpur or Pantnagar (Uttaranchal) meant for Bangladesh.

"Tata Motors officials said they were unable to export about 1,000 trucks per month to Bangladesh due to Petrapole-Benapole land border congestion. They were scouting for a solution to overcome the issue and we offered them that in just a single meeting," Kumar said.

Tata Motors has been witnessing a demand of 3,000 Tata trucks per month but due to land border congestion and infrastructure limitations, it could export only about 1,800-2,000 trucks.

KoPT expects to earn revenue of Rs 10 crore a year from export of 1,000 trucks per month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today said there would be no reduction in the area of proposed Neelakurinji sanctuary in Idukki, days after Congress and BJP opposed any move to redraw it's boundaries.

Neelakurinji is a purplish blue flower which blooms only once in 12 years and the blossoming attracts a large number of tourists and nature enthusiasts from Kerala and outside.

The 'Neelakurinji Sanctuary' is proposed in a 3,200 hectare land in Munnar, which is part of biodiversity hotspot of Western Ghats.

BJP had yesterday alleged that it was "illegal" and an attempt to "legalise encroachments."



Vijayan said the government does not intend to reduce the protected area of the sanctuary. The decision was to hold a study of the flooring area of Neelakurinji.

"It is to protect and preserve Neelakurinji", Vijayan said at a function at Cheruthonny in Idukki district.

Apparently referring to criticism that the government planned to reduce the area, Vijayan said people who trigger controversies have their own agenda.

"Government will address the anxiety of the local people about the sanctuary, he added.

Slamming the government over the issue, Congress led UDF Opposition today demanded that the government not destroy the sanctuary "to help encroachers'.

Opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala wrote to Vijayan, questioning the government decision to refix boundaries of the proposed sanctuary.

He wanted government to evict 'big encroachers' who had allegedly occupied the land with fake title deeds in the declared sanctuary area and rehabilitate poor settlers.

He pointed out that the then LDF government in 2006 had declared the proposed sanctuary in two blocks at Vattavad and Kottakambur in Idukki district.

Chennithala alleged that the move to redraw the boundaries started after land title deeds of 20 acres owned by LDF independent MP Joice George and his family at Kottakambur.

He said the recent fire in this area was suspected to be the handiwork of the land mafia, to get the area exempted from the proposed sanctuary.

BJP in Kerala had also flayed the government's move and charged that it was an attempt to legalise encroachments. The party had also asked Centre to intervene on the matter.

in 2006, the then LDF government issued a preliminary notification for the proposed sanctuary. However nothing came of the project due to resistance from the local people



The CPI(M)-led LDF government recently decided to conduct a scientific study on the sanctuary and redraw its boundaries to alleviate the fears of locals.

A high-level meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister had entrusted Revenue Secretary P H Kurien with the task of carrying out the study on the status of populated areas, institutions and places of worship that fall within the territory of the proposed sanctuary.

He was also asked to submit recommendations on fixing the boundaries without shifting people from the area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 51-year-old man died today due to injuries he had allegedly suffered while trying to intervene in a clash between CPI (M) and BJP workers here, the police said.

The workers from the two parties clashed yesterday at Kaippamangalam in Thrissur district over a local issue. Satheeshan suffered the injuries when he tried to intervene and separate them, they said.

Satheeshan, who was suffering from heart ailments, was immediately rushed to the Thrissur Medical College and Hospital where he died today, the police said.

While the BJP claimed that Satheeshan was a party sympathiser, his family told the police that he was a CPI(M) worker.

BJP national executive member P K Krishnadas alleged that Satheeshan was attacked by CPI(M) workers.

The ruling party was against Satheeshan after a group of 20 Marxist party workers led by him joined the BJP six months ago, he claimed.

Krishnadas said that the BJP has called for a 'hartal' in the Kaippamangalam area over the death of Satheeshan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Market manipulators have hooked onto dark web and private chat groups on messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram for sharing 'multibagger' stock tips and unpublished price sensitive information about listed firms.

This has prompted the exchanges and the regulator to beef up the 'whistleblower' framework to encourage people, including investors and those working with various market intermediaries, to anonymously give a tip-off on such groups.

The shift to these platforms follow an enhanced vigil by the capital watchdog Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and the stock exchanges on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, while the regulator can also seek call data records from telecom firms for its probe.

According to multiple sources from the industry, regulatory authorities and exchanges, the manipulators often disguise the price sensitive information about listed firms as 'heard on the street talks', while stock tips are also shared as 'multibaggers' -- a term used for multi-fold returns.

The two leading exchanges -- BSE and NSE -- have systems in place wherein anyone can submit a tip-off through a toll- free phone number, email or directly on their websites.

The tip-off can be shared by the whistleblower with or without sharing his or her details.

As it is difficult to track the dark web platforms and several new 'secure' messaging apps that keep propping up, the regulator and the exchanges are focussing on their surveillance systems to check any manipulative activities.

One proposal being considered include some kind of reward for them, an official said. However, this idea is at a very initial stage as of now, he added.

Once a tip-off is received, the exchanges can look into the trade history and forward the matter to Sebi if any suspected manipulation is noticed.

The watchdog can seek call data records (CDRs) of all the persons involved in alleged leak of unpublished price sensitive information, the official noted.

Sebi has powers to seek call data records, excluding the exact content of the communication, from telecom firms.

CDRs generally list out the number of conversations between two or more entities and are different from phone- tapping, where an agency can snoop on or record telephonic conversations of those suspected to be engaged in some wrong- doings.

Under Sebi rules, all the financial details of listed companies should be disseminated only through exchanges as they are considered price-sensitive.

These material or rumour floating in the social media can have potential impact on the sentiments of investing population which can further impact price or volumes of securities traded on exchange platforms, officials said.

BSE and NSE have already implemented social media analytics using artificial intelligence to track rumours and reports on various web platforms including Twitter and Facebook about listed companies and their impact on the stock prices.

Alerts generated by social media solutions are closely monitored by the exchanges and are passed on to surveillance teams for any material information.

Meanwhile, Sebi and exchanges have already started examining trade details of over two dozen firms, including several listed blue-chip firms, as part of a probe into alleged leak of key financial details of these companies through WhatsApp.

The exchanges are analysing the trade data of the last 12 months of such companies in order to detect any possible breach of norms while Sebi is taking the help of data warehouse and its intelligence systems.

While the regulator has already taken action in several such cases so far, it is investigating a number of others involving similar activities, the official said.

The regulator has already taken action against several entities for providing investment advice without registration. These included MCX Biz Solutions, Moneyworld Research and Advisory, Global Mount Money Research and Advisory, GoCapital, CapitalVia Global Research and one Imtiyaz Hanif Khanda and his maternal uncle Vali Mamad Habib Ghaniwala.

Besides, Sebi has stepped up its investor awareness campaign on these issues. Further, Sebi, in August, had got the help from telecom regulator Trai to curb fraudulent bulk SMSes that entrap gullible investors with stock tips promising huge financial gains.

Last year, Sebi had floated a consultation paper to ban unauthorised trading tips through SMSes, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, as also games, competitions and leagues relating to the securities market.

However, the regulator is yet to put in place a final regulation in this regard.
A powerful blast in the port city of Ningbo in China's east Zhejiang province today killed two persons and injured over 30 others as the country's worst industrial explosion in three years destroyed nearby buildings and vehicles, officials said.

The area resembled a war zone as a video footage posted on social media showed enormous amount of devastation with floors of several buildings blown off due to the explosion.

Ningbo is one of the major international cargo and container shipping ports in the country.

Scores of vehicles parked in the area were damaged.

Rescuers were seen trying to pull people out of the rubble from flats whose roofs were blown off.

Videos and pictures on a government-run portal showed plumes of white smoke above the city, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

The accident took place at 8:50 AM (local time) in Jiangbei district, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

Several buildings saw their roofs collapse and windows shatter due to the blast whose cause was not immediately known.

Many residential communities were affected by the blast which shattered windows of buildings up to a kilometre from the blast site. The cause of the explosion was unknown.

Officials said that two persons were killed and more than 30 others taken to hospitals.

Fang, the owner of a restaurant at West Lijia road, said his that food joint, located a km from the explosion site, was damaged.

He said the blast took place inside a roadside house that was used for commercial purposes and was due to be demolished soon.

A restaurant owner near the explosion site, surnamed Dong, told the Post that his shop was about 500 metres away from the explosion site and all windows facing the scene of the blast had been damaged.

A staff at a hotel at about a kilometre away from the explosion site said that "dozens of windows" were shattered in the explosion.

China has suffered major industrial explosions in the course of its massive economic growth.

Two blasts in the port city of Tianjin in 2015 killed 173 people including firefighters and injured hundreds.

A majority of those killed were firefighting crews who went to douse the flames.

The blasts also damaged 304 buildings, 12,428 cars, and 7,533 containers, incurring economic losses amounting to 6.87 billion yuan (USD 1.01 billion).

A year later, courts in Tianjin municipality jailed 49 people, including 25 government officials, for the deadly warehouse blasts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the saffron party emerges victorious in the ongoing urban local bodies polls in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has assigned tasks to 31 MLAs, whose Assembly constituencies do not have a nagar panchayat or nagar palika parishad within their limits.

"Different tasks have been assigned to the 31 MLAs, ranging from actively campaigning for the party candidates to organising various events to galvanise public support for the party," state BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told PTI.

"Take for example Satish Chandra Dwivedi. He is an MLA from the Itwa Assembly constituency in Siddharthanagar district. But, since there is no nagar panchayat or nagar palika parishad in Itwa, he has been engaged in party activities in the neighbouring Basti district," he added.

When contacted, Dwivedi said, "From election management to other tasks, I have discharged whatever duty was assigned to me by the party."



Asserting that the saffron party's show had been "great" in the first phase of the urban local bodies election, he exuded confidence that it would "sweep" the polls.

According to the State Election Commission, 24 districts had voted in the first phase of the polls on November 22, while 25 districts went to the polls today. As many as 26 districts will go to the polls on November 29.

The counting of votes polled for 16 nagar nigams, 198 nagar palika parishads and 438 nagar panchayats will be taken up on December 1.

Over 3.36 crore voters will be eligible to exercise their franchise at 36,269 polling booths in these polls.

The civic body polls, which are being held eight months after the BJP came to power in the state with a landslide victory, will mark the first electoral test for the Yogi Adityanath government.

Though the BJP has traditionally been strong in the urban constituencies, the acid test for Chief Minister Adityanath is to match up to the saffron party's show in the Assembly polls.

In 2012, the BJP had swept the mayoral polls, winning 10 of the 12 posts of mayor in the state. Lucknow Mayor Dinesh Sharma is now a deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey, in a statement issued here, said, "The feedback we had received from the party workers, after the voting ended in the first phase (of the urban local bodies polls), was indeed very encouraging. The BJP is going to bag three-fourths of all the seats in these polls."



Exuding confidence that the ruling party was going to sweep the polls, first-time MLA Pankaj Singh said, "For BJP workers, every election is a challenge. But, I am confident that the party will sweep the urban local bodies polls, as it had done in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and the 2017 UP Assembly election."



Singh has been actively campaigning for the party in Lucknow and Bareilly.

In the first phase of polling, over 52 per cent voting was recorded, with Congress bastion Amethi logging a high turnout of 68.44 per cent and Adityanath's home turf Gorakhpur registering the lowest poll percentage.

The polling had passed off peacefully in all the 24 districts. Mayoral polls were also held for five municipal corporations -- Agra, Kanpur, Ayodhya, Gorakhpur and Meerut.

According to the State Election Commission, the overall polling percentage in the first phase on November 22 stood at 52.59. In 2012, the polling percentage in these districts was 46.1.

The highest polling in the first phase was recorded in Hamirpur, which had witnessed a 69.59 per cent turnout, followed by Amethi.

The second phase of the polls saw an average voter turnout of over 50 per cent today. A total of 1.3 crore electors in 25 districts were eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase. In 2012, the polling percentage in these districts was 43.67.

Voting was held today in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Allahabad, parts of western Uttar Pradesh and state capital Lucknow, where Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma were among the first few to vote.

Another deputy chief minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya, cast his ballot in Allahabad.

The last and final phase of polling will be held on November 29.

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Prime Minister on Sunday stressed that the legislature, the judiciary and the executive were part of the same family and should work to strengthen each other, even as the Chief Justice and the law minister sparred over the issue of judicial activism.

The prime minister also said that the three wings -- the legislature, the judiciary and the executive -- need to brainstorm on how to move forward in the changed scenario.

"They are members of the same family...we do not have to prove anyone right or wrong. We know our strengths, we know our weaknesses," he said at a gathering of judges and advocates at the National Law Day event here.

Modi pointed out that while fighting for rights, one should not forget about duties.

He emphasised that the balance between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary has been the backbone of the Constitution and it has helped the country during the Emergency.

Modi also pitched for self-regulation and a system of checks and balances for the good health of any institution and quoted B R Ambedkar to state that there should be a limit for any authority.

Before the prime minister addressed the gathering, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reminded the judiciary of the principle of separation of powers between the judiciary, the legislature and the executive.

He said the concept of separation of power is as binding on the judiciary as it is on the executive.

Responding to the remarks of the law minister, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra said that "there should be mutual respect and there cannot be any claim for supremacy by any of the wings".

The CJI said that the dream of the Prime Minister is a literate, educated and digitally-enabled India and the judiciary is "playing the role of a constitutional catalyst" to achieve the goal.

Referring to the issue of judicial over-reach, Prasad said law-making must be left in the realm of those elected to make the law.

"The founding fathers clearly meant that governance must remain in the realm of those elected to govern by the people of India and accountable to the people of India," he said.

While independence of the judiciary was "important", judicial accountability, probity and propriety were "equally" necessary, he said.

Justice Misra hit back by saying that, "We are not really interested to bring any kind of policy."



"But the moment the policies are formed, we are allowed to interpret and see that they are implemented," he said.

Misra said the judiciary follows the principle of 'judicially manageable standards' under which it does not get into realms where it can't do much. "If we can't do it, we will not get into it," he asserted.

Misra rejected the suggestion that PILs were being used as a means to formulate policies and to govern the country.

He said there had been several writs and PILs which the Supreme Court has turned down. He also said that the apex court has been going "slow" on economic matters, particularly tenders and especially global tenders.

Prasad said while the government accepts the Supreme Court decision to strike down the National Judicial Appointments Commission which sought to overturn the system of judges appointing judges, it is important to appreciate the suggestion of an audit of judicial appointments.

He referred to the contempt of court proceedings by the apex court against Justice C S Karnan.

Prasad said his records show that the then collegium had described him as an expert in all fields of law. Perhaps, he was not an expert on contempt of court, the minister said, without naming Karnan.

The CJI said whenever the law minister writes to the collegium, his observations are not ignored. The recommendations once rejected by the government are not reiterated out of mutual respect.

Earlier in the day too, the two had countered each other's assertions.

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An improved coordination between various agencies and the quick response mechanism put in place by the police are the key to Mumbai's security in the last nine years following the 26/11 attack, officials said.

The police force is capable of securing the city as its response mechanism has improved over the years, Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padasalgikar said.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people killing 166, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores.

Following the dastardly attack in the financial capital, the Maharashtra government has taken a range of measures to upgrade the police force in areas like technology, training, gadgets, weapons and coordination between all the agencies, another police official said.

To beef up the coastal security, the government has provided radio frequency identity cards and smart cards to the fishermen, he said.

The defence ministry has also installed around eight radars to catch any suspicious movement on the entire west coast, the official said.

Setting up the marine police wing and securing the coastline area with the help of surveillance through drones are among the government's ambitious projects, another official said.

The sharing of intelligence among all the agencies, including police, navy, coast guard and other central agencies, has also improved, he said.

The mega cities, including Mumbai, are covered with the CCTV network to curb criminal activities, he added.

The Maharashtra Police recently procured 4,600 bullet- proof jackets, another police official said.

The procurement was delayed as no company was willing to bid for it following allegations of purchase of substandard bullet-proof jackets, he said.

Of the 4,600 jackets, the testing of 3,000 has been done so far and these will be distributed in a few days to various police units, the official said.

"Apart from the jackets, we also purchased 1,500 bullet proof helmets which we have distributed," he said.

In last one year, the police also procured bullet- proof shields, 'morchas' (a kind of protective gear), night vision monoculars other modernised weaponry for the quick response teams, he said.

There are proposals to procure bomb suits and total containment vehicles also, the official added.

Another police official said the Maharashtra police's 'Force One' commando team has also got the permission to carry weapons in flights.

Earlier, only the National Security Guard (NSG) personnel were allowed to carry weapons in flights.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padasalgikar said, "The police is capable enough to tackle any kind of situation to secure the city as our response mechanism has improved over the years."



"We have quick response teams in every region comprising young and fit men, who can strike in case of any eventuality," the police commissioner told PTI.

The police is also regularly conducting joint exercises of the Force One and the elite commando team of NSG, which has a base in suburban Powai, he said.

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North Delhi Mayor Preeti Agarwal today held a meeting with Delhi Jal Board officials, seeking DJB's expertise in water harvesting and rejuvenation of water bodies, officials said.

"We are much concerned about natural water bodies which are deteriorating day by day," the mayor was quoted as saying in a release by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).

She sought the help of the DJB in the field of "water harvesting and recharging of natural bodies, for rejuvenating and beautifying them", the release said.

Agarwal said the NDMC wants to naturally recharge and beautify the water bodies without any concretisation in and around it.

Keeping in view the present state of things, "we must act proactively for water harvesting and protecting water bodies", the mayor said.

"We have created water harvesting system in major buildings and most of the parks. Water bodies are now next in line. We would develop one of the water bodies in natural way. Then learning from that, we would develop other water bodies ourselves," she said.

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Former RBI Governor on Sunday made a strong case for broad-basing economic growth and generating more employment opportunities, arguing that short-term political solutions to the job reservation issue can damage the fabric of the country.

On the solution to the problem of majority of people feeling discriminated, he said, "The only way to solve this is to broad-base economic growth. We need to focus on that as the ultimate solution rather than emphasise grievances... (they are) politically in short-term very convenient but have potential to bring apart the fabric of this country."



Rajan made these comments referring to rising populist nationalism and also agitation by powerful communities, including Patidar community in Gujarat which is feeling discriminated and is seeking reservation in jobs.

"It (populist nationalism) has a potential to damage. I would define very simply as the majority community feeling aggrieved that it is being discriminated against. It exists across the world. It exists in India also. There are often underlying issues, for example an issue of job," the ex- Reserve Bank governor said in a recorded interview played at the Times Lit Fest 2017 here.

Some strong communities in India have started protesting to press for reservations because they are not finding jobs, he said, adding that it is very important to tackle underlying economic issues, including unemployment.

On the issue of "illiberal democracy", he said, it is worrying and this system needs to be tackled.

"Illiberal democracy is not only function of leader, function of system which cowed out very easily to strong leader... the press, the business group, all of them tend towards bowing even though there are exceptions because their interests are all aligned," Rajan said.

There are cosy relationships between political and corporate establishments, he said adding that often press is also owned by corporate establishment and independent voices tend to get suppressed.

On increasing incidences of censorships and bans, the former central bank chief said, these are not a feature of any particular government and have happened again and again since independence.

It is important to recognise that as a tolerant society India is better off having free speech with the provision that it should not propagate violence, Rajan said.

On criticism from various quarters faced during his stint as RBI governor, he said, "We have to develop thicker skins."



Citing example of flag burning incidents in the US, he said, once the Supreme Court decided to allow this as part of protest, the incidences slowly diminished.

Rajan also said that India is a vibrant democracy and it has to be seen as a strength rather than as a weakness.

"Growth in democracy is much more stable unlike authoritarian rule. It is beneficial because it tends to be egalitarian. It tends to take people along with. Democracy gives right, allows people to protest," he said.

On the threat to Hinduism due to rising intolerance, Rajan said "it is a vast house and it can survive".

"Hinduism is a tolerant religion which is the way it has always structured or evolved. So, I think specific incidence of intolerance is overstating the risk. My sense is that we have gone through this but Hinduism has survived," he added.
A 26-year-old Nigerian national was arrested and 260-gram heroin worth Rs 26 lakh was seized from him, police said today.

The accused, Justin, used to conceal the drugs in audio speakers to avoid detection by the police.

He was arrested on November 24 from near Dada Dev Khel Parisar, Palam, Dabri Road, here when he had come to supply heroin to someone, they added.

He was earlier arrested by Punjab Police for drug smuggling. After completing his sentence, he moved to Delhi and started supplying heroin here.

During interrogation, Justin revealed that he had come to India on business visa in 2011.

He started exporting clothes to Nigeria from Ludhiana, but he suffered losses, the police said.

During this period, he came in contact of locals who introduced him to drugs, and he also started consuming heroin.

Gradually, he started supplying narcotic substance as his friends from Nigeria were also involved in drug trafficking, the police said. He was arrested by Mohali Police in 2015. He was convicted by a court there.

He came out of jail in May, 2017 and came to Delhi. Since he was unemployed and addicted to heroin, he again started supplying heroin to earn quick money.

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Finance minister Arun Jaitley today claimed that post demonetisation those who used to distribute money to stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir were "not able to gather" even 100 young people to carry out the attacks.

"On November 8 last year, we introduced note ban and it had a major impact. Those who used to distribute money to stone pelters are not able to gather even 100 youth to pelt stones in the past eight to 10 months after demonetisation," Jaitely said.

He was speaking after listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' here with BJP workers.

The minister also said that "those who orchestrated" the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks stand isolated today.

"When they (Pakistan) released the person who did it (Hafiz Saeed) two days ago, the entire world said in one voice that the country is supporting terrorism and such a country shouldn't be a member of the world family," Jaitley said.

Speaking about the Centre, he said: "Now, you have a government which works towards increasing the country's power, credibility and tries to project our case to the world with strength."



The senior BJP leader claimed that for the first time the security forces have an upper hand in Kashmir valley.

"Our biggest problem is Kashmir. Narendrabhai government inherited a situation where there was a civil disobedience- like situation three years ago. Thousands of stone pelters would gather to protest against stray incidents. Terrorists would mount attacks with impunity and Hurriyat leaders could close down the valley with one call.

"Today, the situation has changed. The person who becomes the commander of Lashkar (terrorist outfit LeT) knows he will be alive for two to three months. The intelligence network has been strengthened right down to the village level," he added.

"The Hurriyat leadership stands exposed today as it has been revealed from where they used to get money," he said, referring to money laundering cases filed against some of the Hurriyat leaders.

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Driven by overseas travel and studies, outbound forex remittances from the country has soared almost eight times since the Reserve Bank hiked the cap 10 times in June 2015.

It can be recalled that the Reserve Bank has been steadily increasing outward overseas remittances under the liberalised remittances scheme (LRS) facility. The latest revision was in June 2015, when it increased the quantum by 10 times to USD 2,50,000 a year.

"From a modest USD 140.7 million in June 2015, the outgo through the LRS has soared to USD 1.09 billion in September 2017 which is a growth of close to eight times," according to a report by InstaRem, a leader in digital cross-border payments in Southeast Asia.

On the other hand, the total outbound remittances soared to a record USD 4.6 billion in 2016, up from USD 1.6 billion in 2015, which is a growth of over 250 per cent, says the report quoting industry data.

This massive spurt is driven by foreign travel constituting almost a third of the total spend with a 31.43 per cent share, followed by forex expenses towards maintenance of close relatives outside that takes in 26.55 per cent share and overseas studies constituting 18.8 per cent of this outbound forex expenses, says the report.

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the total expenditure on outbound travel from the country is projected to cross Rs 1.60 trillion by 2024.

Since the new LRS, there was a massive spike in the outflow.

"Parents who have sent their wards abroad for studies are the single largest users of the LRS, using this window both to pay the fees as well as to regularly meet their living expenses," says the report.

Another growing area for outward remittances is to snap up overseas property. Indians bought property worth USD 23.5 million in the first five months of 2017-18.

For investors, the LRS has meant a chance to buy up a piece of luxe property in London or New York or Dubai.

"The LRS has given Indians the freedom to put their money to work anywhere in the world. The LRS data shows a 250 per cent rise in money sent overseas between 2015 and 2016 and the upward trend continues.

"Strengthening of the rupee against several global currencies including the greenback has made investments in overseas homes more affordable than earlier."



The Singapore-based InstaRem was founded in 2014, and has operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, Lithuania, India and Malaysia and powers local payments to over 60 countries across the globe.

InstaRem has received the Reserve Bank approval to begin India-outbound money transfers and it hopes to start operations next month itself.

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The Oxford and Cambridge Club, one of the UK's most elite gentlemen's clubs open to alumni of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, has called in the police and private investigators after being hit by the theft of online data of its 5,000 members.

A backup computer drive, described as the size of a toaster, was taken from a locked room inside the club's headquarters in Pall Mall, central London, earlier this month.

The information on the hard drive includes members' names, home and email addresses, phone numbers, some bank account details, dates of birth and even photographs.

Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, and son, Prince Charles, who are both honorary members, are not affected by the break-in, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Alistair Telfer, the club's secretary, has written to all members by email and followed it up with a letter seen by the newspaper urging them to check bank accounts regularly for "suspicious activity".

"We have been advised that we should write to confirm that there may have been a data breach at the Club which could possibly result in disclosure of your personal data held on the Club computer system," he wrote.

He adds: "This situation has arisen as a result of the theft of a storage disk, and not as a breach of the cybersecurity system, and although the data contained on the disk is protected by multiple layers of security and heavy password protection, we have been advised by data specialists that there is a very remote chance that information could be obtained.

"The management team would like to extend their apologies for the inconvenience caused by this unfortunate incident."



The club stressed that no credit or debit card details were contained in the database.

The club's management has called in Scotland Yard and also hired private investigators to get to the bottom of the theft.

Metropolitan Police officers are studying CCTV footage as part of their investigation.
The delayed delivery of Pratt & Whitney engine-powered Airbus A320 Neo planes along with regulatory approvals has affected GoAir's plans for international operations, which are expected to commence only early next year, an airline source said.

The Wadia group-promoted budget airline had received government's nod to go overseas in August last year with approvals to fly to nine international markets - China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Maldives and Qatar.

"The whole thing is delayed because of the delay in deliveries of aircraft due to Pratt and Whitney (P&W) engine challenges," a senior official of the airline told PTI.

He was, however, quick to add that they are "now getting a whole lot of deliveries and the P&W engine issues have also been sorted out."



The Mumbai-based airline had last week announced the induction of four A320s in its fleet, which has now grown to 31 aircraft.

was aiming to have 37 planes in operations by the fiscal-end, the airline's chief executive officer, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said earlier this year.

Significantly, GoAir's managing director Jeh Wadia had in August said that his airline "plans to start overseas operations from October."



Maintaining that everything is now back on track, a senior official of the airline today said, "Hopefully, we should be able to commence overseas flights by the first quarter of next year."



GoAir's spokesperson was not available for comments.

The city-based airline, which is one of the two domestic operators along with IndiGo flying A320 Neo (new engine option) planes with P&W engines, had to ground at least a dozen of these planes due to the frequent engine troubles.

However, P&W provided them last month 20 new engines, which helped the two airlines to make these planes air worthy.

"We are working on our international operations but then it also depends on how things fall in place because various permissions and approvals are yet to come through," the official said.

"As soon as possible we want to start it, subject to al the approvals. We will definitely start (operations) in winters some time," he said.

Without sharing the specific details of the schedule, the official said that Doha, Phuket and Male are the likely destinations to begin with, adding that "a final call on the inaugural route is expected to be finalised soon."



The official also said that the airline has already appointed its general sales agents (GSAs) in all the markets it plans to fly, who are being activated now.

GoAir, which started domestic operations about 12 years ago, currently flies to 24 cities across regions from its Mumbai hub.
Pakistan has released 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed from "house arrest" in a bid to increase terrorist activities in India, Union minister Hansraj Ahir said today.

Calling Pakistan the "enemy" of the Kashmiri people, the minister of state for home said Islamabad was uncomfortable with Indian security forces eliminating militants in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Pakistan is uncomfortable with the way Indian security forces were eliminating terrorists. Even Saeed's relative, a terrorist, has been killed by our security forces. To give a boost to terrorist activities, Saeed has been released (from detention) by the Pakistani government," Ahir said.

He was speaking at an event commemorating the bravery of security force personnel during the Mumbai terror attacks. On November 26, 2008, ten heavily-armed LeT terrorists launched co-ordinated attacks in Mumbai in which 166 people died.

Saeed is the founder of the terrorist group Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT). He has an American bounty of USD 10 million on his head for his terror activities.

Pakistan freed him from "house arrest" on Friday, two days ahead of the ninth anniversary of the horrifying attacks.

"Terrorism is not letting us live. I can say it clearly that Kashmir's enemy is Pakistan. Even the Kashmiris agree to this," Ahir said.

The minister said the Indian government has increased the amount it spends to purchase new equipment and modern weapons for security forces to improve the internal security.

He claimed the Union government has succeeded in curbing the Naxal activities and preventing terrorist attacks in the past three years.

"The Naxal attacks have come down by 20-25 per cent. The government is also working on bringing down instances of smuggling through the coastal areas," he said.

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Pakistan's tactical nuclear- weapons programme are not only dangerous for safety and security of the region but also it is the surest route to escalating the conventional war to the nuclear level, according to a report by an American think-tank.

In its report 'Asia in the Second Nuclear Age', the Atlantic Council, however, said Pakistan does not appear to have operationalised its tactical nuclear-warfare plans yet.

"Pakistan's tactical nuclear-weapons programme is dangerous for safety and security reasons, and also because it is the surest route to escalating the conventional war to the nuclear level. However, Pakistan does not appear to have operationalised its tactical nuclear-warfare plans yet," said the report released this month.

The greatest threat in the region comes not from the development of large, sophisticated, and diversified nuclear arsenals, but from the continued stability of the institutions guarding them. "In this regard, the future stability of Pakistan remains a wild card," said the report.

In the last four decades, the Pakistani deep states pursuit of low-intensity conflict in Afghanistan and India, via the vehicles of radical jihadi non-state actors, has produced terrible blowback effects on Pakistan itself.

Noting that both the Pakistani state and civil society have become the targets of terror attacks, it said some of the attacks have occurred, with insider help, on sensitive military bases where nuclear weapons are likely stored.

"The possibility that Pakistans nuclear weapons could be stolen or that schisms in Pakistans military might cause nuclear command-and-control failures is not as fantastic as it once seemed," said the report.

Authored by Gaurav Kampani and Bharath Gopalaswamy, the report concludes that in the nuclear dynamic in the Indo- Pacific region, India and Pakistan are novice developers of nuclear arsenals; the weapons in their inventory are first-generation fission weapons.

Likewise, their delivery systems are the first in the cycle of acquisitions, the report said, adding that their hardware acquisitions generate outside concern because of the scope of their ambitions.

Observing that both nations plan to deploy a triad capability, the report said nonetheless, this ambitious goal and the selection of technologies underline the central lesson of the nuclear revolution, which is force survival (to enable an assured second-strike capability).

It said force survival through secure second-strike capabilities is also China's goal.

"It is the only nuclear power among the three that is actually modernizing, i.e., replacing aging delivery systems with newer and better designs," the report said.

"Thus far, the evidence suggests that Chinese and Indian explorations of multiple-reentry vehicle technologies are aimed at reinforcing deterrence through the fielding of more robust second-strike capabilities," the report said.

It said that this conclusion is also supported by the fact that neither India nor China has, nor is developing, the ancillary intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems necessary to execute splendid first-strike attacks.
Amid signs of discord in the ruling AIADMK, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam today stressed on unity in the party and exhorted workers to ensure that 'Amma's' (Jayalalithaa's) rule continues its stride.

In a series of tweets, Panneerselvam praised Chief Minister K Palaniswami saying he was providing good governance based on the path shown by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

He, however, did not comment on the simmering discontent that came to the fore last week after his loyalist and Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan hinted at differences among the leaders of the two factions which merged earlier this year.

Besides this, Panneerselvam's supporters have said they were not invited to a key party function in Madurai yesterday attended by Palaniswami.

Panneerselvam, who was conspicuous by his absence in the event that was held in Madurai, had later batted for unity in the party while taking part in another function along with Palaniswami.

The second function was held at Ramanathapuram, about 115 km from Madurai.

In his tweets, Panneerselvam today reiterated that it was due to unity among the party workers that the Election Commission alloted the 'two leaves' symbol to them.

"With the same unity and support of Tamil people, we will face the next month's bypoll in R K Nagar and succeed in it. We will achieve great victories in all polls we are going to dedicate the victories to our beloved Amma," he said.

The deputy chief minister also lauded Palaniswami, saying he was providing good governance treading the path shown by Amma.

"This government, headed by Palaniswami, is implementing various special schemes and is also announcing new projects based on the vision of Jayalalithaa," he said.

Meanwhile, state Revenue Minister R B Udhayakumar clarified that the Madurai event was organised by a cadre to hail the retrieval of the party symbol.

Responding to reporters' question whether Panneerselvam was invited to the programme, he said it was not an event that was planned.

"The names of the leaders (Palaniswami and Panneerselvam) has been mentioned in the plaque," Udhayakumar said.

Maitreyan yesterday had said proper intimation for the event should have been sent to all party workers, functionaries and leaders.

He had said the Madurai event was important since it was the first function to celebrate the party getting back its symbol.

The Palaniswami and Panneerselvam factions merged in August after ousting jailed leader V K Sasikala and her nephew T T V Dhinakaran.

The Election Commission on November 23 allotted the 'two leaves' symbol to the unified AIADMK led by Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, dealing a blow to the Sasikala faction.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The three-day winter session of the Punjab Assembly, which commences tomorrow, is likely to be a stormy affair with the Opposition set to target the Congress government on a host of issues, including those of the farmers.

The Opposition AAP and the SAD-BJP combine are set to corner the Amarinder Singh government on the promises made to farmers before the assembly elections earlier this year.

"We have demanded for a longer winter session as we want to raise major issues concerning the state, including farmers' woes, non-implementation of poll promises and development works coming to a standstill," SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said.

On Friday, a SAD-BJP delegation, led by former minister Ajit Singh Kohar and senior BJP leader Som Parkash, met Speaker Rana K P Singh and asked him to take note of the summons issued to AAP leader and MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira by a Fazilka court in a drug case.

SAD-BJP has said it would raise Khaira's issue in the assembly.

The Opposition parties have also said they want the contents of the proposed Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act (PCOCA) to be made public.

SAD is also likely to raise the issue of renaming of the Dyal Singh College, in Delhi, as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya.

Batting for longer sessions, AAP leader Sukhpal Khaira said the duration of Vidhan Sabha sittings are decreasing every year and members get limited opportunities to express their views in the Assembly.

The AAP has extended support to sugarcane growers of the state who have announced plans to gherao the Assembly tomorrow.

Sugarcane farmers have demanded that the state-assured prices (SAP) of cane be increased from Rs 290-300 per quintal to Rs 350 per quintal.

AAP is also set to raise the issue of Jagtar Singh Johal, who arrested in connection with targeted killings in Punjab.

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India and Russia will sign two key pacts forcooperation in tackling all forms of terrorism and jointly fighting smuggling of narcotics during the three- day visit of Home Minister RajnathSingh to Moscow, officials said.

Singh, who left for Russia today, willsign an agreement on cooperation between the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Interior of the Russian Federationin combating terrorism and organised crime.

The pact willreinforce the bilateral relationship through exchange and sharing of information, expertise, best practices and help in curbing terrorism and enhancing security in the region, a home ministry official said.

The proposed pact, which will replace the agreement of October1993, is a step towards consolidating the benefits accrued in the field of security and seeks to jointly fight the new and evolving risks and threats.

The home minister will hold discussions with Vladimir Kolokoltsev, minister for internal affairs of the Russian Federation and other senior Russian leadership.

The discussions would cover the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and international matters of mutual interest, the official said.

Singh will also sign a joint action plan between India's Narcotics Control Bureau and the Russian ministry of interior.

As both the countries have a long history of close cooperation on matters of shared security concerns, this visit will provide an opportunity to further cement and strengthen the mutually beneficial bilateral ties between the two countries, the official said.

Before leaving for Russia, the home minister said India and Russia share a special relationship which has withstood the test of time over the decades.

"This year India and Russia are celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with each other. Looking forward to deepen and further India's strategic and security partnership with Russia," he tweeted.

The home minister was scheduled to visit Russia on September 18, 2016, but he had cancelled it following a terror attack on that day at the Brigade headquarters in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 19 Army soldiers were killed.

All four terrorists, who attacked the defence installation, were also killed by the security forces.

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Police today seized arms, ammunition and several "incriminating documents" from the residence of suspected arms dealer Monotosh Dey, who was arrested earlier this week along with two others with alleged links to a banned terror group in Bangladesh.

Two country-made revolvers, a huge cache of ammunition and documents including a few maps of India were seized from Dey's rented accommodation in Basirhat's Raghunathpur in North 24 Parganas district during a raid, a senior officer of Kolkata Police's Special Task Force (STF) said.

Last Tuesday, the STF arrested Dey, along with two suspected terrorists - Samsad Mia alias Tanvir Saiful and Rizaul Islam - allegedly working for Bangladesh's banned terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) from the city's Kolkata Station and seized several forged documents including Aadhaar cards, PAN cards besides arms and ammunition from their possession.

On Friday, Police arrested another person -- Mohammed Sahadat Hossain -- who was allegedly involved in helping ABT terrorists cross the border.

Dey is suspected of supplying arms and ammunition to agents of Bangladeshi terror groups, who have managed to sneak into India.

According to the senior officer of the STF, who was part of the raid, Dey's second wife Afroza Bibi was also grilled for over an hour.

"We tried to find out whether she was involved with Dey in his crime of supplying arms and ammunition. From her answers, it seems she knew what Dey was up to. We are still looking for answers to some crucial questions," he said.

Police suspect the arms and ammunition recovered from Dey's house today were part of a consignment which the accused was "preparing to deliver in November".

"Though it is yet to be clear for whom Dey was preparing the order, it seems that it was part of the arms and ammunition package he had taken on contract to the Kolkata Station for the two ABT terrorists last week," the officer said.

Dey, who was earlier living in Ichchapur in North 24 Parganas district, was earlier arrested for his involvement in an arms dealing case, besides three other cases, under different police stations in the city which are still pending, police said.

"He had used several fake names in order to get rooms on rent. In Basirhat, he used two fake identity cards to get rented accommodation at two different locations," the officer said, adding that the two women involved with Dey were also questioned as part of the investigation.

Police are examining if Dey had any links to the Ichchapur Rifle Factory, where his late father was an employee.

The police came to know the names of three terrorists -- Shopon Biswas alias Sajol Ahmed, Mohammed Aftab Khan alias Umar Faruque and Nayan Gazi alias Zafar -- after grilling Samsad and Rizaul.

"These three terrorists had entered India probably some time in mid-July with the help of Sahadat. As per our intelligence inputs, they were in the city even in October. We need to nab them as soon as possible," the officer said.

The city police has issued a lookout notice for the three suspected terrorists and shared their photographs on their Facebook page and announced a reward for individuals providing information.

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Principal of a school in Manipur's Kangpokpi district was found dead with bullet injuries, police said today.

Principal of Manipur Baptist Convention Higher Secondary School, Kangpokpi, Lenkholal Chongloi alias Helen (45) was found dead with bullet injuries at nearby forest area yesterday, the police said.

Chongloi's wife informed the neighbours about her husband not returning home. During search the bullet riddled body of Chongloi was found by the villagers in the forest area, the police said.

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Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) today lashed out at the state government over the rate of development work in Jharkhand and said the situation prevailing in this mineral-rich state is 'worse than Somalia'.

The government has failed to deliver on all fronts, newly nominated JPCC President Ajoy Kumar alleged.

"The chief minister has grabbed the headlines over his decision to table an agriculture budget last year but the intentions of the government could be judged over the fact that only 13 per cent of the allocated funds was spent in the past seven months of the current fiscal," he said at a press meet today.

Similarly, the gender budget, introduced for the first time by the government in the last fiscal, drew blank, he said while referring to a CAG report that stated that the government did not spend a penny for the purpose in 2015-16.

The situation is no different when it comes to women's skill development and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save girl child and educate them) projects, he claimed.

"Even the per capita debt in the state has increased to Rs.17,183 in 2017 from Rs 2,318 in 2001. The situation prevailing in this state was worse than Somalia," Kumar, a former parliamentarian, said.

The crisis in Somalia is the result of prolonged drought, violence and insecurity. A UN study shows that more than six million people are in dire need of food and assistance in the country.

The chief minister has been claiming that the state holds second rank in the country on account of growth rate but the per capita income of the state shows that Jharkhand figures at the sixth position from the bottom, Kumar said.

Talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious scheme "Ujjawala Yojana", the JPCC chief said the Jharkhand government could distribute only 9.41 lakh LPG connections against their target of 28.53 lakh.

As far as law and order is concerned, Kumar said, crime rate has only increased with reports of murder, loot and rape coming from every part of the state.

The JPCC president, accompanied by Zonal Coordinator Ashok Chowdhury and East Singhbhum District Congress Committee President Vijay Khan, said the chief minister has toured the state several times on a chopper but could not find an occasion to visit the government-run MGM Hospital here, where several children died of malnutrition early this year.

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Actor Ranvir Shorey says small budget movies serve as the research and development (R&D) wing for the film industry, where following a success formula blindly has become a norm.

Ranvir, 45, is also critical of the stereotyping of actors, especially the non-star kids and those from small films, have to go through and arduously prove themselves before they can be choosy about projects.

"I have been saying this for the last 10 years that these small films -- or alternative or parallel films -- they serve as the R&D department of the film industry," he told PTI.

The actor's latest release is Nila Madhab Panda's "Kadvi Hawa", a film which navigates the critical issue of climate change with Sanjai Mishra in the lead.

Citing the example of "Khosla Ka Ghosla!", Ranvir said there was a time when no film had Delhi as its backdrop, until the National Award-winning film, featuring him, released in back in 2006.

"So what happens is that, if you take 'Khosla Ka Ghosla!'... When that film came, there were no films which were being made about Delhi. Then you see, gradually, even mainstream films came to Delhi," he said.

The actor said that though commerce remains an important aspect of filmmaking, the "artistic soul" of the movie is essential to strike a chord with people.

"Since it is not a cheap medium, the number one priority for people becomes recovering the money. But the thing is, it's not business. It's not like you pump in money and add some parts (based on previous success to make a good film)...

"Then it becomes a Frankenstein monster's story, not a human story, which needs to have an artistic soul," he said.

Ranvir said, with the arrival of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, there has been a steady increase in the visibility of small-budget movies.

He lamented big-ticket films tend to eat up all the prime time shows, regardless of the occupancy of theatres.

"... Now the dependence is half on theatres and the rest on alternative platforms like Netflix to collect revenue, so it helps," he said.

Also featuring Tillotama Shome, "Kadvi Hawa" released on Friday.

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ICMR chief Soumya Swaminathan, a globally recognised researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, is set to assume the charge of deputy director-general of the WHO in Geneva next month.

Her appointment as the Deputy Director-General for Programmes (DDP), announced early last month by the World Health Organisation, elevates India's stature globally. It is the second-highest position in the WHO.

"The plan was to join WHO on December 1 but I am still waiting to be relieved from my current position. So, sometime next month I will take charge as the DDP," she told PTI.

Swaminathan, a pediatrician by training, is a daughter of agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan who is hailed as the father of the 'Green Revolution'.

As she moves from her current position of the director- general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to a global health arena, Swaminathan hopes that her stint at the WHO will be a good learning experience which she can later use in India.

Universal health coverage, addressing the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) or looking at access to drugs and diagnostics will be among her priorities, she says.

The WHO, while announcing her appointment, had said, "A globally recognised researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, she brings with her 30 years of experience in clinical care and research and has worked throughout her career to translate research into impactful programmes."



Swaminathan is also the secretary of the Department of Health Research under the Heath Ministry.

"From 2009 to 2011, she also served as Coordinator of the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) in Geneva," according to WHO.

She has sat on several WHO and global advisory bodies and committees, including the WHO Expert Panel to Review Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property, the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of the Global TB Department at WHO, and as Co-Chair of the Lancet Commission on TB, it said.

Swaminathan received her academic training in India, the UK and the US and has published more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.
Sri Lanka's election body today announced to hold local polls on a staggered basis after the government's proposal to hold them on a single day got stuck in legal technicalities.

President Maithripala Sirisena's faction of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party has been accused of delaying the election out of fear of losing them by the faction led by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The government had postponed the elections for over 330 local councils in the island nation since 2015 for electoral reforms.

In order to postpone the polls by a year, the government proposed an amendment to the Constitution to hold elections for all nine provincial councils on a single day.

The Supreme Court in September ruled that the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution to hold council elections on a single day requires two-third parliamentary majority and a nationwide referendum.

Election Commission (EC) chief Mahinda Deshapriya said that the date to file nominations in 93 councils would be announced in two weeks.

He said that the EC would rather hold elections on the staggered basis than postponing them as he cited numerous occasions when elections were held on such basis.

Deshapriya's decision followed the appeal court's stay order until December 4 covering the Local Government Minister's implementation of gazette on delimitation report.

The EC was expected to announce nomination dates for elections to 341 local councils last week.

In the history of provincial council elections since 1988, elections for the nine provinces have been always held on a staggered basis. Two of the councils end their terms this month while one of them ends on October 1.

If elections are held, they would be the first test of the unity government headed by President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

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DMK Working President M K Stalin today praised Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for his government's decision to increase the reservation for oppressed sections of society.

"DMK welcomes the decision of Thiru Chandrasekhara Rao to embrace the principles of social justice in his decision- making and his efforts to uphold the state's rights to determine the reservation policies," he said in a statement.

Stalin also said his party extended support to the likely protest by Rao at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to uphold social justice policies and rights of states.

He also appealed to the Centre for proper implementation of the 27 per cent reservation policy in Central government jobs.

Early this month, Rao said his government would raise its proposal to hike reservations to backward sections among Muslims in Parliament and could also approach the Supreme Court on the matter.

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Seeking to counter a Congress' meme mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'chaiwala' past, BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley, on Sunday tuned in to his radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' while having tea with people across poll-bound Gujarat.

The BJP organised 'Mann ki Baat, Chai ke Saath', at all the 50,128 polling booths in 182 Assembly seats.

BJP president Shah listened to the programme at a tea stall in the city's Muslim-dominated Dariyapur area in the presence of hundreds of locals and party workers.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was present at a booth in Adajan area of Surat-West Assembly constituency, said a party release.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani listened to Modi's monthly programme while having tea at Mora village in Panchmahal district, while Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel was present at a booth in his constituency in Mehsana.

The other party leaders who joined the programme at various places included Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Uma Bharti, Smriti Irani, Jual Oram and Parshottam Rupala, Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani and several state ministers, MLAs and some MPs.

Irani, who was in Junagadh to take part in the party's event, told media persons that the people of Gujarat will "teach a stern lesson to Congress in this Assembly election for having an anti-poor and anti-Gujarat mindset."



The event was organised ahead of Modi's tour of Gujarat on November 27 and 29 during which he will address eight rallies in Saurashtra and south Gujarat, where polling will be held on December 9.

The official Twitter handle of the Youth Congress' online magazine "Yuva Desh" had last week kicked up a row by mocking Modi's "chaiwala" past and English speaking skills through a photograph.

Soon after the controversy, the Youth Congress had tendered an apology and removed the controversial tweet.

Chief minister Rupani had dubbed the tweet as "blatantly classist and anti-poor".

Earlier, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections said Modi would never become the prime minister, and that if he wanted, the party can give him a place at its convention to sell tea.

The BJP had leveraged the remark to launch its then prime ministerial candidate Modi's famous 'chai pe charcha' sessions, to connect with voters around the country.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday took potshots at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's name not figuring among the star campaigners of the Janata Dal (United) for the assembly polls in Gujarat, where the party is contesting more than 50 seats.

"This is strange that Nitish was a star campaigner of his party in the Delhi municipal polls. But he is staying away from the poll campaign in Gujarat despite his party contesting more than 50 assembly seats," Yadav said in a statement here.

Recalling the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and the 2010 Bihar assembly polls, Yadav said Kumar had on both occasions "prevented then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi from coming to the state and campaigning for the BJP".

"But who is stopping Kumar from going to Gujarat. Should we assume that Modi is now avenging his past insults and preventing the Bihar chief minister from setting foot on his home turf," the former Bihar deputy chief minister asked.

Kumar, who had been a BJP ally for more than a decade, snapped ties with the saffron party in 2013 as he was opposed to Modi being named the prime ministerial candidate.

He again joined hands with the BJP in July this year.

"Kumar has repeatedly swallowed insults from Modi. He turned down the Bihar CM's request for grant of central status to Patna University at a public function last month. Kumar's arrogance may prevent him from admitting it in public, but the aggressive BJP keeps showing him his place," Yadav claimed.

After severing ties with the BJP and facing a debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Kumar joined hands with arch-rival Lalu Prasad and the 2015 assembly polls were handsomely won by the "Grand Alliance" - comprising the JD(U), the RJD and the Congress.

However, Kumar quit the alliance in July, when he resigned following differences with the RJD over corruption charges against Tejashwi, who was his deputy then.

Kumar was offered support by the BJP which he accepted and formed a new government and later rejoined the NDA.
Recalling the sacrifices of brave citizens in the Mumbai terror strikes nine years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said terrorism posed a global threat "almost as a daily routine", and stressed it had to be fought unitedly.

Modi said even a few years ago, when India talked about the threats of terrorism, not many in the world were ready to take it seriously.

"Now that terrorism is knocking at their doors, every government in the world, those who believe in humanity, governments with faith in democracy, are seeing this as one of the biggest challenges," he said in his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat'.

Terrorism, the prime minister said, threatened humanity across the world.

"Terrorism has taken an ugly shape and has become a global threat almost as a daily routine... Terrorism has challenged humanity. It is bent upon destroying humanitarian forces. So not only India but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism," he said in his address.

India, he stressed, was the land of Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavir, Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi and gave the message of love and non-violence to the world.

Modi said while November 26 was observed as Constitution Day, the nation could not forget that on this day nine years ago, terrorists launched attacks across Mumbai.

"The country remembers and bows to those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives then. This country can never forget their sacrifice," he said.

He also recalled the role of the Indian Navy in war and peace ahead of Navy Day to be celebrated on December 4.

While most navies of the world allowed women on their warships only in later years, a large number of women played leading roles in the Chola Navy, about 800 or 900 years ago, he said, referring to the Chola Empire.

He said while many recall the role of the navy in war, the force had also played a key part in extending humanitarian aid to India's neighbours.

On the Armed Forces Flag Day observed on December 7 every year, Modi said this was a day to take pride in, and to show respect to the countrys armed forces.

He said between December 1 and December 7, a campaign is being organised to spread information about the armed forces.

"Throughout the week every one, old or young, should wear the flag... Experiences and acts of valour of those from the armed forces...can be posted on a hashtag for the armed forces flag day (#armedforcesflagday)," he suggested.

He said this was also an occasion to collect funds for the welfare of jawans, for dependants of those killed and the rehabilitation of those injured during wars. He pointed out that cashless donation was also possible.

To mark World Soil Day on December 5, Modi wondered what would happen if there was no fertile soil in the world.

"The very thought is dreadful. There will be no soil, no plants and trees will grow... Serious damage is caused because of an excessive use of urea. Can our farmers... resolve that by 2022, when we complete 75 year of our independence, they will cut down the urea usage to half of what is being used presently," he asked.

Wishing people on the occasion of Id-e-milad-un-nabi, to be celebrated in the coming days, he said in the new year, people should forget their sorrows and remember their joys.

"Cant we share five of our positive life experiences of the past year? Come, let us share our positive experiences with #PositiveIndia on the Narendra Modi App or MyGov portal.

"If you remember positive events, then you will be in a mood to do good around you," he said.

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Thirty women trafficked for sex -- most from Colombia and Venezuela -- were rescued in two raids in Mexico, police have said.

The biggest operation took place in Toluca, capital of Mexico state, the most populous and one of the most dangerous states in the nation.

In that raid, authorities freed 24 women between 21 and 39 years old. Federal police yesterday said 14 of the women said they were originally from Colombia and 10 from Venezuela.

The victims were detained and the man and woman in charge of their activities were arrested.

After being promised jobs, in Mexico they were stripped of their documents and forced to prostitute themselves, under the threat that their families would be harmed.

In another operation carried out in several homes in the city of Cuernavaca, Morelos -- a popular holiday destination in the center of the country -- authorities freed another six trafficking victims, five Venezuelans and a Mexican.

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Two accomplices of an auto- rickshaw driver, accused of raping a woman a few days ago, have been arrested, police said here today.

Kismat Ali and Mohammad Garib, both 21 years old, were held from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi and Faizabad districts respectively. The auto driver, Mohd Irfan (29), was arrested on Friday.

They had together planned to commit the crime. The victim identified Ali and Garib in a test-identification parade today, police said in a release.

Police said the arrested duo, who work as labourers, knew each other. Both had come to Zirakpur in Punjab, near here, with their parents about five years ago.

The woman (22), hailing from Dehradun, was allegedly raped by the three men on November 17.

She had taken the auto rickshaw after attending a stenography class from sector 37 here. Ali and Garib were already sitting in the auto, according to a complaint filed by the woman, the police had said earlier.

The auto-rickshaw driver allegedly drove her to an isolated place in Sector 53 here, instead of taking her to Mohali where she had been staying as a paying guest, they had said.

The three men dumped the victim in Sector 53 after allegedly raping her, police had said.

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Two Tamil Nadu fishermen were injured after an Indian Coast Guard ship collided with their country boat off Mandapam sea coast today, police said.

The incident took place early this morning and under the impact of the collision, the boat suffered damage and sank, they added.

The two fishermen from Pamban were, however, rescued by fellow fishermen and admitted to a government hospital here, police said.

An investigation is underway, they said.

The incident comes days after two fishermen from Pamban were injured after being hit by a stray bullet allegedly fired during a training exercise by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) personnel in the sea off this island town.

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People flying a drone in the UK will have to register and undergo safety awareness tests as part of planned new legislation on their usage amidst growing reports of near-misses with civilian aircraft.

Police will also be given new powers to crackdown on illegal use of the unmanned aerial vehicles, the BBC reported today.

The government hopes to harness new drone technology which could see them used on oil rigs, in construction, for organ transport and parcel deliveries.

The bill has been welcomed by the pilots' union, which has warned of near misses involving drones and aircraft.

UK Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg said the government wanted to strike the right balance between harnessing drone potential and ensuring they are not misused.

"Drones have great potential and we want to do everything possible to harness the benefits of this technology as it develops," she said.

"But if we are to realise the full potential of this incredibly exciting technology, we have to take steps to stop illegal use of these devices and address safety and privacy concerns," she said in a statement.

This legislation is to ensure that drones can be used safely, while also addressing some of the safety and privacy concerns that people have, she said.

The British Airline Pilots' Association said there had been 81 incidents so far this year in the country - up from 71 in 2016 and 29 in 2015.

The union's general secretary, Brian Strutton, said: "These proposals are a step towards the safe integration of drones, but until the new rules are in place the threat of a serious collision remains."



In July, a drone flew directly over the wing of a large passenger jet as it came into land at London's Gatwick Airport, which a report said had put 130 lives at risk.

The proposed bill - to be published in spring 2018 - would ensure that owners of drones weighing more than 250 grams would need to register and sit a test, the report said.

Owners would be banned from flying them near airports or at heights above 400ft.

Police could also get new powers to ground and seize drones if they suspect they had been used in criminal activity.

Christian Struwe, head of European public policy at drone maker DJI, warned that some of the proposals may be "difficult to police" - for example the height restriction.

But he told BBC: "The good thing is that as an industry we are already working on it. We can limit how high they can fly."



Struwe pointed out that currently there is no "hard limit" on how close drones can fly to airports. "The current wording is that you should stay well clear," he said.

He welcomed the proposals to limit the "bad use" of drones, adding that it was important people are aware there is regulation they need to follow.

Aside from the Civil Aviation Authority's Drone Code, he said drone users should respect their neighbours' right to privacy and steer clear of sensitive areas, such as government buildings.

The government is also working with drone manufacturers on technology which produces virtual barriers, to stop the machines operating in restricted areas, the report said.

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The UN will try to revitalise its flagging efforts to end the war in Syria this week, after Russia's emergence as the key dealmaker in the bid to resolve the six-year conflict.

The UN-brokered talks, which open their eighth round on Tuesday, have achieved little so far, but may be bolstered by the opposition's decision to bring a unified delegation to Geneva for the first time.

UN mediator Staffan de Mistura, who describes himself as a "chronic optimist", has voiced hope that the next talks will mark the first "real negotiation".

For that to happen rival sides will need to overcome the hurdle that has derailed past discussions: the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

De Mistura, typically a cautious diplomat, has bluntly told the main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) that its demand for Assad's ouster may no longer be tenable.

In September, he said the HNC needed to be "realistic" and realise "they didn't win the war". Those comments infuriated the opposition.

But the UN envoy's position is supported by facts on the ground.

Backed by Russia's decisive military support, Assad's government has regained control of 55 per cent of the country, including major cities Damascus, Aleppo, Homs and Hama, and around two-thirds of the population lives in regime-held areas.

The rest is carved up between rebel factions, jihadists and Kurdish forces.

Meeting in the Saudi capital this week, disparate Syrian opposition groups agreed to send a united delegation to Geneva.

The hardline HNC has joined with opposition groups based in Moscow and Cairo, which take a softer approach on Assad's future.

The opposition unity bid has already rankled the Saudi-backed HNC.

Riad Hijab stepped down as the group's leader over what he called "attempts to lower the ceiling of the revolution and prolong the regime".

The HNC on Friday chose Nasr al-Hariri to lead its 36 -member delegation in Geneva.

Hariri, the HNC's chief negotiator at previous rounds, has insisted that Assad needs to go. There were no immediate signs that the new opposition grouping will row back its stance on the president.

The US State Department today called the opposition unity push "a positive step" and said now was the time for the Syrian regime "to enter into substantive negotiations in Geneva".

Initiatives spearheaded by Moscow have taken centre- stage in the efforts to end the conflict, especially as US President Donald Trump's administration has pulled back from Syrian diplomatic front.

Russia, fellow regime ally Iran and rebel-backer Turkey have hosted negotiations in the Kazakh capital Astana that led to the creation of four "de-escalation zones" which produced a drop in violence, though deadly air strikes and battles continue in some areas.

And this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a "congress" of Syrian regime and opposition figures, a move backed by Ankara and Tehran.

Putin has also said that the coming Syrian congress would be a "stimulus" for Geneva.

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The US has sought immediate re- arrest and prosecution of the Mumbai terror attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saaed, warning Islamabad that there would be repercussions for bilateral ties if it fails to act.

The banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) head, who carries a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for terror activities, walked free on Friday after the Pakistan government decided against detaining him further in any other case.

He was under detention since January this year.

In a strongly worded statement, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders yesterday said the US strongly condemns the release of the Lashkar-e-Taiba leader from house arrest and calls for his immediate re-arrest and prosecution.

"If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistan's global reputation," Sanders said, reflecting the Trump administration's outrage at Saeed's release.

She said Saeed's release, after Pakistan's failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a "deeply troubling message" about Pakistan's commitment to combating international terrorism and "belies Pakistani claims" that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil.

"As President Donald Trump's South Asia policy makes clear, the US seeks a constructive relationship with Pakistan, but expects decisive action against militant and terrorist groups on Pakistani soil that are a threat to the region. The release of Saeed is a step in the wrong direction," she said.

She said the Pakistani government now "has an opportunity to demonstrate its seriousness in confronting all forms of terrorism, without distinction, by arresting and charging Hafiz Saeed for his crimes."



The White House press secretary said LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens.

Saeed himself is a notorious terrorist who is accused of having masterminded the November 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans, she said.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the banned LeT which is responsible for carrying out the attack.

A clear international consensus exists regarding Saeed's culpability as he was designated by the United Nations under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008, she said.

The Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice, Sanders said.

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Protesting National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah's remark that PoK belonged to Pakistan, VHP members today tried to block his cavalcade here, following which 12 of the outfit's activists were taken into preventive custody, police officials said.

The prostesters from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal tried to stop Abdullah's convoy at the Rehari Chowk when he was going to visit the house of a NC youth leader Tanvir Ahmad, they said.

The police immediately swung into action and took over a dozen VHP activists into preventive custody, the officials said, adding that the protesters also raised slogans against the NC leader and his party, and showed black flags.

"We staged the protest against Farooq Abdullah for his recent anti-national statements such as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to Pakistan," VHP spokesperson Rajesh Kumar told PTI.

On November 11, the NC president had claimed that PoK belonged to Pakistan and "this won't change" no matter how many wars India and Pakistan fight against each other.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister was accompanied by senior NC leaders including the party's provincial president for Jammu and legislator Devender Singh Rana.

The protest had no impact on the programme, the officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A section of Indian Muslim women will head for Haj next year with chants of 'Talbiyah' -- a prayer invoked during the pilgrimage -- on their lips and a feeling of 'we too can'.

The Centre has for the first time decided to allow women pilgrims over the age of 45 to undertake the pilgrimage in groups of at least four sans 'Mehram' and started accepting applications under the category for next year's Haj though the Haj Committee of India (HCoI).

The term Mehram refers to a male, a woman cannot marry in her life (i.e. father, brother or son etc). Till now, women pilgrims would be required to be accompanied by 'Mehram' during the annual pilgrimage.

According to sources in the ministry, the HCoI has received 69,872 applications since November 15 when the process started. Of these, 55,001 were received online, while the remaining were submitted in hard copies.

Until now, 180 women have applied to travel without 'Mehram'. Among these, 164 applicants come from Kerala. From Uttar Pradesh, 8 women have submitted applications, while from Assam and West Bengal four women each have expressed interest in travelling without Mehram.

Kerala-based Safiya, who has applied under this category with three other members, is elated with the government's step.

She said some of her team members are widows or do not have sons and could not undertake the pilgrimage for want of a Mehram.

"But now they can go and perform Haj since there is no compulsion. Whether we all get a chance to go for the Haj or not remains to be seen, but we are happy that women are being allowed," she said.

India has a Haj quota of 1.70 lakh. But the number of Haj aspirants has always been much higher. Therefore, the applicants are short-listed through a computer-generated lottery.

The Haj Committee of India received nearly five lakh applications for Haj 2017, sources said.

Speaking to PTI, Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi called the move as a "very good reform.".

"Unfortunately, there was this ban on women pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia. The Modi government has taken initiative and lifted it. This is a very good step," Naqvi said.

The minister said the feedback the government has received from applicants till now is also "very encouraging".

The minister assured that both the governments of Saudi Arabia and India will ensure proper safety of women pilgrims.

"Smooth and safe for all Haj is our priority," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman passenger, who was to travel to Norway, was today denied boarding at the international airport here due to "unusual and abnormal behaviour", according to CISF and police officials.

The passenger, Panasenko Olena, was to take a Finnair flight to travel to Norway through Helsinki. As she created ruckus in the check-in area of the terminal building, she was not allowed to board the aircraft and was later handed over to the Delhi Police, they said.

The passenger was taken to Safdarjung hospital for medical test and since she was a Norwegian citizen, the Norwegian Embassy has been informed, a Delhi police official said.

The incident took place at around 1000 hours in the morning.

"A woman passenger namely Panasenko Olena, who was travelling to Norway via Helsinki by AY 122 was not accepted by airline due to unusual and abnormal behaviour," a CISF official said.

A spokesperson of the Indira Gandhi International Airport here confirmed the incident and said due care was taken of the passenger. She was also administered basic medication to calm her down, the spokesperson added.

A senior doctor from the Chandigarh's Post Graduate Institute, who was at the airport when the incident happened, told PTI that the woman passenger had "psychiatric fists" and needed some sedatives to control her condition.

"At times, she was lying on the floor and at times shouting at the top of her voice. She was violent also and from her condition it looked as she had psychiatric fists," the doctor said.

The doctor was travelling to Bhutan for a medical conference.

The Delhi Police official said the woman passenger has been admitted to the hospital as she was found "mentally disturbed" after the medical examination.

"We have not registered any case as she is mentally disturbed. We are trying to gather more information about her," he said. She came to India on November 10 on tourist visa and had visited Vrindavan and Rishikesh, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The commerce ministry is working on a package in consultation with the gems and jewellery industry to boost export and create jobs in this labour intensive sector, Union minister has said.

The ministry has already asked the gems and jewellery industry to work out a proper business plan to promote growth of the sector.

"We have some time left, in another few weeks we have to finalise it as Budget will be in February, so we have to work on that," Commerce and Industry Minister Prabhu told PTI.

The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has demanded cut in import duty on gold to 4 per cent from the current 10 per cent.

An official of the council said the industry body is preparing recommendations for the sector which would be submitted to the ministry.

"We have asked for cut in gold import duty to 4 per cent. We are hoping that the finance ministry will consider our demand. We also want support for technology upgradation and setting up of gems and jewellery parks in the country and streamlining of labour rules," the official said.

When asked about the demand of the industry for cut in import duty on gold, he said "there is a trade off" as too much of gold import causes problem for CAD (current account deficit) but on the other hand inbound shipments of the precious yellow metal for export purposes benefit the current account.

"So how to ensure (this balance) is something which we will have to work. How can you have jewellery without gold," he said, adding import of gold for export by making value addition is the best thing and "how to structure that, it is something which we have to work".

In general terms, CAD refers to the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange that has an impact on the exchange rate.

PC Jewellers MD Balram Garg too said that there has been demand for a significant cut in the import duty as small exporters are facing huge problem in procuring gold.

"WE need to give incentives to boost exports of the sector. We have submitted our demand. The commerce ministry is very positive on that. Export situation is not good and incentives will help enhance competitiveness of the sector," Garg said.

India is the world's second biggest gold consumer after China. The import mainly take care of the demand of the jewellery industry.

At present, gold import attracts 10 per cent duty. The gems and jewellery industry along with the commerce ministry have time and again urged the finance ministry to consider a cut in the import duty.

Talking about the diamond sector, Prabhu said he is talking to the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh to revive a diamond mine as reserves for raw material is not adequate in the country.

He said that huge diamond reserves are present in Russia and the minister has discussed the issues concerning procurement of raw material with the officials during his recent visit to Moscow.
By Reem Shamseddine

DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - State oil giant Saudi Aramco [IPO-ARMO.SE] and petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) signed a preliminary deal on Sunday to build a $20 billion complex to convert crude oil to chemicals.

The project, which the partners said would be the largest crude-to-chemicals facility in the world and the first in the kingdom, are part of the Saudi government's effort to diversify the economy beyond exporting crude.

Private investment has slowed in the kingdom in the last few years due to low oil prices and government austerity, so Riyadh wants to develop manufacturing industries, including chemicals.

After signing the memorandum of understanding, Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser told reporters a final decision on whether to go ahead with the project would be made by the end of 2019.

Investment costs for the complex, which could start production in 2025, would be shared equally.

"The two companies can pool their expertise and, given the large size of the capex, partnering hedges their risk," said Michael Arne, head of emerging technologies research at IHS Markit.

Aramco, the world's largest oil company, has been developing its downstream business as the government prepares to sell up to 5 percent of its shares next year in an initial public offering (IPO).

The CEOs of both firms said they were considering locating the complex at the Red Sea port city and industrial centre of Yanbu. But Nasser said there were also other options, with factors such as proximity to markets guiding a decision.

Yousef al-Benyan, SABIC's CEO said the two companies would examine the best technology to use, after they had been working on different technologies to convert crude to chemicals before deciding to team up.

Benyan said the project could involve two or three crackers, which are used to break heavy hydrocarbons into petrochemicals. The use of so-called flexi-crackers would enable the firms to break down a range of feeds - oil, gas or naphtha.

The complex would process crude at international prices to make polyethylene, polypropylene, xylene, benzene and other products, Nasser said.

The Saudi project would process about 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Arabian light crude oil to make about 9 million tonnes of chemicals and base oils a year, plus 200,000 bpd of diesel for domestic use.

The new complex would create an estimated 30,000 jobs directly and indirectly, adding 1.5 percent to Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product by 2030, the companies said.

The venture would help SABIC expand operations in the kingdom and give it more feedstock options, Benyan said.

SABIC has been diversifying its feed base. In China, it plans to make chemicals from coal. In the United States, it wants to build a plant with Exxon Mobil that uses shale gas.

(Reporting by Reem Shamseddine; Writing by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Keith Weir)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government should reduce GST on brokerages to 12 per cent as well as scrap taxes on securities transactions and dividends, according to a leading stock brokers' group.

As preparations for the Union Budget 2018-19 is underway, the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (Anmi) has flagged concerns about the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime creating "some difficulty" in the financial market.

Post GST, the burden of taxation on the transaction charges has increased, the grouping said in a representation to the finance ministry.

"Rate of GST applicable on brokerage for share transaction is 18 per cent which is on much higher side and has further inflated the cost of transaction. We appeal to reduce the rate of GST to 12 per cent in the ensuing Budget," it added.

Besides, the brokers' group has requested the finance ministry to do away with the securities transaction tax and abolish dividend tax for growth of the capital markets.

According to the grouping, the STT plays a detrimental role in enhancing liquidity and creation of depth in Indian capital market.

"Removal of STT will encourage more liquidity and profitability in India, which in turn will increase depth in Indian capital market as well as more participation," the grouping said.

STT is the tax on transaction of equities as well as their derivatives and accounts for a bulk of the transaction cost after deducting the brokerage fee.

Further, Anmi has suggested for rationalising the STT calculation method for option trading by removing certain anomaly.

"Dividend distribution tax (DDT) should be done away with or the rates should be brought down to be nearly negligible" and amendment to Section 14A, Rule 8(d) of the Income Tax Rules are the two other demands for reforms by Anmi.

The applicability of Section 14A has impact on dividend income. DDT is levied at almost 20 percent on the company for distribution of dividend to its shareholders.

The tax burden for brokerages has been increasing over the last three years - it has risen to 18 per cent from 12 per cent, Anmi said.

Also, the brokers' body has said market intermediaries like sub-brokers should be exempted from registration under GST as they don't raise any invoice for clients directly but only through the brokerage.

It also asked that GST return should be submitted quarterly in order to promote 'ease of doing business' instead of monthly returns.

Stating that the stock broking community is the backbone of the capital market, Anmi reiterated its demand to give an industry status to the broking business.
After Mumbai, the country's next major financial hub will be Kolkata within a few years, West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra said.

"27 banks are taking land in Bengal to create a financial hub including State Bank of India which is constructing the largest training centre on 11 acres adjacent to the hub," the minister told reporters here.

"This is an indication, that they see Bengal as a financial hub. Not only that, HSBC back office is in Kolkata today. Obviously we are moving towards competing with Mumbai. Some day because of our core competency of human capital, we will overtake Mumbai," he said.

Mitra claimed that the financial cluster that is coming up in Kolkata for various activities like banking, insurance, mutual funds and is spread over more than 100 acres of land is a "unique" example of how West Bengal is progressing.

The minister, who was in Delhi on West Bengal Day at the International Trade Fair, also claimed than 81 lakh people in the state have been provided jobs since it came to power in 2011.

Mitra said that the industrialists now feel that Bengal is the state to invest.

"As far as ease of doing business is concerned, earlier Bengal was in 15th position among the states. But now we have gone up to third position," he noted.

Regarding of launching Goods and Service Tax (GST), Mitra said he had always objected to the decision of the Centre to implement it from July 1.

He said that though his government always favours reduction of GST, "but it should have been done based on certain principles".

"28 per cent GST should have been made for sin goods like tobacco and other extreme luxury items and rest should have been under 18 per cent which could have been further reduced to 12 per cent," Mitra added.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has sought more than doubling of natural gas prices to help bring significant discoveries in KG basin and Gulf of Kutch to production.

Gas discoveries in shallow sea off Andhra Pradesh on the east, and off Gujarat on the west are economically unviable to produce at the current government-mandated price of USD 2.89 per million British thermal unit, a senior company official said.

The company wants a price of over USD 6 per mmBtu to help it produce the gas without suffering any losses. In the absence of a viable gas price, it will have to mothball the USD 1.5-billion projects, he added.

"We have made representation to the government that the current price is not enough to make the discoveries viable. We have sought special pricing dispensation," he said.

The BJP-led government in October 2014 had evolved a new pricing formula using rates prevalent in gas surplus nations like the US, Canada and Russia to determine rates in a net importing country.

While prices have halved to USD 2.89 since the formula was implemented, the government has allowed a higher rate of USD 6.3 per mmBtu for gas fields in difficult areas like deepsea.

The official said the Krishna Godavari basin block KG- OWN-2004/1 is in shallow water and does not qualify as a 'difficult field'.

On the western side, the block GK-28 in Gulf of Kutch is a nomination block which does not qualify for higher rates, he said.

While the KG block will produce a peak output of 5.35 million standard cubic meters per day, the same from Gulf of Kutch block will be around 3 mmscmd. It would take a minimum three years to bring the gas finds to production.

The combined output is about 14 per cent of the ONGC's current output of 60 mmscmd.

"If we don't get the right price, it will not be possible for us to develop the two projects. If we are forced to do so, it would be like putting in huge amount of money without expecting the same to return," the official said.

He said the KG block discoveries are in water depth of just about 8-meters, developing which is costly since ultra- shallow rigs are scarce and therefore expensive.

ONGC also has a couple of smaller fields with a total expected peak production of 1.1 mmscmd, which cannot viably produce at the current domestic gas prices.

The official said the company was in the process of preparing field development plans for all these fields but will go slow if the prices are not viable.

For more than a year now, ONGC has been petitioning the Oil Ministry for setting a floor price of at least USD 4.2 per mmBtu for domestically produced natural gas.

The new formula provides for revising rates every six months -- on April 1 and October 1, based on one-year average gas price in the surplus nations with a lag of one quarter.

When the formula was implemented, rates went up from USD 4.2 to USD 5.05 per mmBtu but fell to USD 4.66 per mmBtu in April 2015 and to USD 3.82 in October that year.

In 2016, the prices further dipped to USD 3.06 per mmBtu in April and to USD 2.50 per mmBtu in October. In April this year, they fell further to USD 2.48 but have from October 2017 risen to USD 2.89.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on March 20, had stated that the cost of production of natural gas in the prolific Krishna Godavari basin is between USD 4.99 to USD 7.30 per mmBtu.

The same for other basins is in the range of USD 3.80 to USD 6.59 per mmBtu, he had said, adding the production costs of companies vary from field to field depending upon the size of the reservoir, location, logistics and availability of surface facilities.
Only high performers like feedback. Normal people hate it, said Sanchayan Paul, Head of Rewards, Organisation Effectiveness & Change - ?Vodafone at the panel on performance appraisals at the FICCI Annual HR conference.

What is required are continuous, open conversations. Employees appreciate honest, transparent dialogues that help them do their day-to-day work better and drives their performance, and not public retribution.

Yogish Arora, Director at HR Anexi highlights the oxymoronic nature of the term 'performance management'. He says that management is about control when the motive for performance is to enhance it, not micro-manage it. There have been several studies that highlight the futility of the exercise that suggest employees think it actually hampers their productivity at work.

For that it is important for the manager to not act like a boss but a partner. This makes the whole performance appraisal exercise a collaborative process between the manager and their reports which starts right from goal setting. Individual goals and aspirations have to be aligned with the organisation's objectives which then have to be continuously reviewed, says Pooja Malik, VP HR, Anand Group. For that, she suggests it is important to delink it from HR and should be done by business heads where HR can play the role of facilitator. She says that at Anand Group they have been getting the business leaders under one roof for two days in a year for goal setting and this top-down approach has helped in setting organizational goals which is then cascaded to individual goals.

Shailesh Tiwari, GM (HRD) of Indian Oil says that each employees in their first three years in the company gets a senior as a mentor because that's also the time when attrition is the highest. If they get the right support in the initial phase of employment they stay on for much longer, he says.

These are the times of hyper-personalisation and a one-size-fits-all strategy will not work. Managers will have to guide employees where they need the support rather than scripting the talk for all of their team members, suggests Paul.
The year 2017 witnessed a huge number of cyber attacks, which includes incidents of phishing, website intrusions and defacements as well as ransomware attacks. Samir Kapuria, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Symantec's Cyber Security Services, in conversation with Business Today's Nidhi Singal talks about what is making these cyber attacks a common occurrence and what businesses can do to keep themselves safe.

Q. How many cyber attacks have happened in 2017 so far and how many of them affected Indian computers? What is the number of PCs attacked by popular cyber attacks in India this year?

A. As an increasing number of consumers, enterprises, and governments alike embraced digital in 2017, it opened equal number of avenues for cyber criminals. Globally, this year has seen an inordinate number of cyber security meltdowns across industries: from ransomware, to leaks of spy tools from US intelligence agencies, exposed voter records, several data breaches such as HBO, Equifax and so on. According to data from the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, over 27,000 cyber security incidents were reported in the first six months of this year- at least one cybercrime was reported every 10 minutes. These incidents included Around 37 incidents of ransomware attacks were reported and of these, 34 incidents were of Wannacry and Petya. Cyber-incidents of 2017 serve as a reminder of how critical the role of cyber security is in today's world.

Q. Why is India becoming vulnerable to such attacks?

A. India is as vulnerable to cybercriminals and cyberattacks as other parts of the world. As the country is undergoing digital transformation, the adoption of Information Technology, is becoming even more pervasive. Modern technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, mobile applications have become an integral part of corporate as well as consumer lifestyle. As people conduct more of their lives online, attackers are increasingly focused on using the intersection of the physical and digital world to their advantage. The new class of professional cybercriminals spans the entire ecosystem of attackers, extending the reach of enterprise and consumer threats and fueling the growth of cyber crime. According to Symantec's ISTR vol. 22, India has been ranked fifth most vulnerable country in terms of cyber security breaches in the world in 2016.

The need of the hour is intelligent, next-gen threat protection solutions that go beyond the traditional and ensure an upper hand on adversaries. By pooling in global threat intelligence tools, making efficient use of data analytics and machine-learning technologies, and by recognizing the evolution of cybercrime in today's hyperconnected age, individuals and corporations can avoid vulnerable situations and data breaches. With greater regulatory controls around individual privacy rights and corporate integrity, we can thus choose to be more secure than ever, in times when there are more security threats than ever before.

Additionally, cyber security is not just about employing the right kind of technology, it also requires good digital hygiene on the part of everyone; both at home, and at work. Education and greater awareness of cyber security issues are fundamental steps towards becoming a more digitally healthy State.

Q. With all the data moving on the cloud, what security measures should business adopt?

A. Cloud adoption is accelerating in the enterprise, but at the same time, the complexity to monitor and protect cloud data is also increasing. In fact, according to Symantec data, CIOs have lost track of how many cloud apps are used inside their organizations.

We believe an integrated approach to cyber defence spanning across information, cloud, network and endpoint is the best approach to protect against most threats, information centric approach which allows businesses to set policies that ensure critical information is protected regardless of where it goes, while easing the responsibilities of document tagging for IT and ensuring compliance with industry and regional regulations.

Limiting employees to using secure, popular file-sharing apps like Office 365 and Box cannot fully mitigate risks to cloud data from employee misuse or account compromise by hackers. Enforcing smart cloud data governance practices, such as identifying, categorizing, and monitoring the use of all cloud data, is critical to prevent data loss.

Q. What kind of loss does a business incur due to a cyber attack?

A. A cyber attack puts everything at risk - an organization's brand, reputation, and intellectual property. A cyber-attack can also lead to regulatory and compliance issue - elevating the agenda to a board-level concern. Compromise is expensive and it is essential that organisations conduct comprehensive risk assessments to identify and manage jurisdictional, governance, privacy, technical and security risks.

Q. Can you predict a future attack? If so, how do you determine the upcoming attack?



A. One of the inherent risks of adopting emerging technologies is the level of security these innovations have built into them. It can be nearly impossible to detect and respond to the unknown threats of the future because we haven't seen them before. However, technologies like Symantec DeepSight Intelligence helps enterprises to be less reactive and more predictive in making better, faster decisions about evolving threats. It provides a deeper understanding of the threat landscape, so organizations can make more informed decisions to proactively mitigate cyber security risk. Technical and strategic intelligence keeps security and intelligence teams informed of industry-specific vulnerabilities, providing advanced analysis of attacks, and sharing the motivations and techniques of threat actors.

Q. What is Symantec Cyber Security Services focusing on and how is it empowering Indian businesses?

A. Symantec Cyber Security Services prepares organizations for every stage of the attack lifecycle through global threat intelligence, advanced analytics, and a network of cyber warriors with the experience and expertise required to protect organizations from internal and external attacks. Symantec Cyber Security Services extends the capabilities of customer security teams and enables them to strengthen their cyber security posture and to detect and respond to attacks more quickly and fully - before, during, and after an attack. Bringing consistency and knowledge to each customer environment, our Cyber Security Services analysts understand global threats, device onboarding, industry and security maturity, intelligence gathering, programming, malware analysis, data mining, and threat hunting.

Symantec's Cyber Security Services has security operation centers (SOCs) across the globe that analyze 100 billion logs worldwide each day. This provides enterprise-wide protection, helping organizations bolster defenses and respond to new threats as they emerge 24x7x365. Symantec Cyber Security Services is focused on empowering Indian businesses to protect their on-premise as well as fast growing cloud environment through every stage of an attack lifecycle. Our Security Operations Centre is in Chennai with 100 dedicated security professionals servicing customers globally.

Q. Cyber attacks have been happening in the past but what has made them big in the recent years?

A. As the world is undergoing digital transformation, it is becoming more interconnected where systems are growing more complex, handling more information, and their exposure to vulnerabilities is increasing due to an increased attack surface. Add to that the proliferation of cloud which is changing the way enterprises, employees and customers use technology. In this scenario, lack of robust cyber secure infrastructures is posing immense opportunity for cyber criminals to explore newer territories and exploit systems.

While cyber crime is not a new concept, in the past few years, its scale and magnitude have increased multi-fold for various reasons - it is no longer about hacking a password or bugging a computer. Today's cyber criminals are skilled enough and sufficiently resourced to have the persistence and patience to carry out highly successful attacks on consumers, businesses and governments around the world. Furthermore, attackers are using simple techniques, but with sometimes devastating results. Their efforts have turned cybercrime into big business with private information being stolen on an epic scale - we identified seismic shifts in motivation and focus in 2016. We have seen an increase in multi-stage malware, malware disguised within encrypted traffic, and credential harvesting as a mechanism for advanced persistent threats. Zero-day vulnerabilities and sophisticated malware are now used sparingly, as nation states shift their attention from espionage to straight sabotage.

As Indian enterprises embrace new technologies, cloud applications and infrastructure, they require a deeper security understanding and strong proactive security measures to gain the upper hand on adversaries. The Cloud Generation in specific requires stronger protection, greater visibility and better control of critical assets, users and data. It is clear that Cyber Defence requires new thinking and that Traditional SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) is not sufficient. Enterprises need an intelligent next generation threat protection solution that doesn't just address one or two capabilities but provides end-to-end protection through a holistic approach.

Q. What are the security measures that businesses should adopt to keep themselves safe from cyber attacks?

A. As attackers evolve, there are many steps businesses can take to protect themselves. As a starting point, we recommend the following best practices:

Don't get caught flat-footed: Use advanced threat intelligence solutions to help you find indicators of compromise and respond faster to incidents

Prepare for the worst: Incident management ensures your security framework is optimized, measureable and repeatable, and that lessons learned improve your security posture. Consider adding a retainer with a third-party expert to help manage crises

Implement a multi-layered defense: Implement a multi-layered defense strategy that addresses attack vectors at the gateway, mail server and endpoint. This also should include two-factor authentication, intrusion detection or protection systems (IPS), website vulnerability malware protection, and web security gateway solutions throughout the network

Provide ongoing training about malicious email: Educate employees on the dangers posed by spear-phishing emails and other malicious email attacks, including where to internally report such attempts

Monitor your resources - Make sure to monitor your resources and networks for abnormal and suspicious behavior, and correlate it with threat intelligence from experts

A. Given the alarming rise in cyber attacks and crimes over the recent years, businesses and enterprises should invest in cyber insurance as a means to reduce and mitigate the overall risks and financial losses. However, there are no insurance policies that can "prevent" a cyber attack per se. The key is to understand and address cyber risks however, unlike natural catastrophes, where insurers have a geographically contained footprint, companies impacted by cyber attack cross geographic boundaries and are difficult to track. Big data analytics from major technology companies with a large install base can provide modeling for how a risk is likely to spread. Data-driven methods can help model historical events and learnings about the impact of cyber aggregation scenarios.

Understanding emerging cyber risk may seem challenging but as interconnected technologies permeate all aspects of the global economy, the problem is too important for insurers not to understand. Addressing cyber risk will require collaborations between the cyber security industry, insurers and organisations. Together, the cyber security and insurance industries can make the economy more resilient to the most important risks of the 21st century.
NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (Photo: VNA)



During the trip, Ngan is expected to discuss measures to strengthen cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the two countries legislative bodies.

Vietnam and Singapore established their diplomatic ties on August 1st, 1973. Since then, they have enjoyed development in bilateral relations, especially in politics, economics, security, defence, education, health, culture and coordination at regional and international forums.

Since 1996, Singapore has been one of Vietnams largest partners. Singapore is current the sixth largest trade partner of Vietnam while Vietnam is the 11th biggest trade partner of Singapore. Two-way trade reached USD7.1 billion last year.

Vietnam exports rice, aquatic products, coffee, pepper, vegetables and crude oil to Singapore, while importing oil and gas, computer, electronic products, and mobile phones from the country.

As of September, Singapore ranked third out of the 126 nations and territories investing in Vietnam, with 1,927 projects worth USD41.5 billion. Meanwhile, Vietnam poured USD241 million into 65 projects in Singapore.

Over the past years, the relations between the two legislative bodies have grown well. They have maintained the regular exchange of high-level delegations as well as close coordination at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum, and ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.

Meanwhile, Vietnam and Australia have enjoyed growing partnership. Australia is Vietnams eighth biggest trade partner with bilateral trade exceeding USD5 billion in 2016.

Australia is the 19th largest investor of Vietnam with 378 projects worth USD1.7 billion, while Vietnam is running 17 investment projects worth USD137 million.

Australia is also among Vietnams largest ODA providers, with over AUD130 million per year during 2010-2015.

Vietnams NA first signed a cooperation agreement with the Australian House of Representatives in 2008 on the occasion of then NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trongs official visit to Australia.

During the Vietnam visit by then Speaker of the House of Representatives Anna Burke in 2013, a cooperative agreement between the Vietnamese legislature and Australias Parliament was inked.

These documents have been served as a legal foundation to promote and deepen bilateral cooperation between the two legislative bodies./.
Wednesday, November 22, 2017 at 12:06PM

Uber has covered up a massive 2016 hack to its system that compromised the personal data of over 57 million users and drivers globally. The ride-hailing service declined to notify affected users and instead paid hackers $100,000 to hush up the hack and delete the data. This is the latest in a string of shady practices from Uber.Bloomberg reported that fired Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was aware of the hack as early as November 2016, just a month after it occurred. Uber Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan, and a key senior deputy to the CSO, have also been removed from the company this week, specifically for their roles in keeping the cyberattack secret.

Britains data protection authority said on Wednesday that concealment of the data breach raises huge concerns about Ubers data policies and ethics.

Deliberately concealing breaches from regulators and citizens could attract higher fines for companies, James Dipple-Johnstone, deputy commissioner of the UK Information Commissioners Office, said in a statement. Current British law carries a maximum penalty of 500,000 pounds ($662,000) for failing to notify users and regulators when data breaches occur. Uber is currently under investigation by the NY State Attrney General.

Source: Reuters
Professor Brown says she gambled on 160 nights from about 10pm to closing 4am, making 242 cash withdrawals from ATMs and 353 from the club's eftpos. On some nights she went back six or more times to withdraw more money, losing thousands of dollars on some nights.
"The Liberal Party of Australia - ACT division did not intend to convey any such suggestions and, insofar as the publication may have conveyed any such suggestions, the Liberal Party of Australia - ACT division withdraws them unreservedly."
Showers are very likely in the morning and the afternoon, and we're heading for a high of 25. Rain is forecast for the rest of the week, so keep that umbrella handy.
"The last photo that he had was when he was one month old. It's usually been too difficult to see Santa because of all the crowds and other kids squealing," she said.
Black Friday sale on at the Vincom Ba Trieu Shopping Centre in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)



In the US, Black Friday falls on the fourth Friday of November, following Thanksgiving Day.

In Vietnam, many online shopping websites have been preparing for their Black Friday since the beginning of the month with a series of promotions.

Lazada, the online shopping giant operating in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, is also one of the largest e-commerce sites in the Vietnamese online market.

It is calling its year-end discount programme The Raining Sale. In just three days, Lazada announced that it had sold over 1.43 million products, three-fold last years figures.

The company also plans a special four-day promotion campaign for its Black Friday sale, lasting from November 24th to 27th, reported news website enternews.vn.

The Black Friday concept has gone beyond e-commerce sites to include traditional shopping channels, but it is the former that has been more aggressive in reaching out to customers.

Other well-known local e-commerce sites like Tiki.vn, Adayroi.com, Shopee.vn and Sendo.vn have also been offering many attractive promotions for many products including household items and clothing, though the most anticipated sales are from apparels.

More convenient

The success of e-commerce has a lot to do with changes in the purchasing habits of consumers.

Hoang Chi Mai of Hanoi told Viet Nam News that she preferred shopping online. I can easily compare prices of the same products offered by various online websites within shortest possible time, and not waste time wandering into different stores.

Besides increasing the number and improving the quality of merchants and products, many online shopping platforms have also tried to reduce delivery times, which is a key factor in enticing clients. Furthermore, some sites allow customers to reject goods on receipt, if they are not satisfied. These factors are helping e-commerce platforms outdo traditional shopping channels.

Le Duc Anh of the Ministry of Industry and Trades E-commerce and Digital Economy Department told news website enternews.vn that in 2013, the number of e-commerce companies registered accounts was just 1,923. By 2016 it was 10 times higher.

As the number of enterprises involved in e-commerce increases, the e-commerce market will see increasingly fierce competition, Duc Anh said.

According to market research firm Nielsen, Vietnams e-commerce revenues reached USD4 billion in 2016. At the current growth rate, it is set to hit USD10 billion in 2020, accounting for 50 percent of the total retail sales in Vietnam.

With 45 percent of the population now accessing the Internet, the e-commerce industry is looking at a highly promising future.

Stiff competition

But, as noted earlier, the e-commerce battle is heating up, with foreign companies tipping the scales back in their favour.

In addition to lowering product prices, Lazada has announced four new centres to process orders from clients, minimising the congestion seen in previous years.

Despite being a heavyweight contestant, Lazada has said that it remains on its toes, with many new rivals coming on the scene, like Shopee Vietnam, which has been growing very fast over the last two years with a lot of supportive policies for sellers and buyers.

"We will continue to provide customers and sellers with better supporting policies in the future," Tran Tuan Anh, Operations and Chief Financial Director of Shopee Vietnam, told enternews.vn.

Lazada and Shopee have also forced local companies to fight harder to retain and expand their market share.

Tiki.vn plans to offer 3,000 incentives for orders placed during the year-end period, including 50 percent discounts, free delivery for bills over VND111,000 and delivery within 2 hours for orders of over VND599,000./.
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When Donald Trump suggested he might consider the results of the US election illegitimate, it was a shocking move. That some on the left in America have done the same since the election is every bit as shameful. There is little doubt the Trump presidency  and the response to it  have further weakened the ideals of American democracy.
"As a doctor I understand how important choice and control is for people with a terminal illness is in their final weeks of life and their families. Having provided palliative care to many terminally ill patients in the course of my career, it's clear as day to me that which side of the Murray someone lives on should not be the factor that dictates whether or not they have access to compassionate end of life care," he said.
Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos de Icaza

welcomes Vietnamese Ambassador to Mexico Nguyen Hoai Duong (Photo: VNA)



The two countries are in a favourable stage for boosting bilateral relations in all fields, the Deputy FM said, emphasising that both sides should strengthen coordination in defining and implementing specific and practical cooperation programmes and projects.

At the same time, he pledged that Mexicos Foreign Ministry will create optimal conditions for Ambassador Duong to fulfil his tasks during his term of office in Mexico.

For his part, Ambassador Duong said that Vietnamese leaders always pay due attention to bolstering traditional friendship and collaboration between the two countries.

He showed his determination to make contributions to the growth of the Vietnam-Mexico relations, matching the common interest of the two sides and for peace, stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region.

Vietnam is currently the seventh largest trade partner of Mexico in the Asia-Pacific region, while Mexico is Vietnams second biggest trade partner in the Latin America.

Mexicos statistics showed that two-way trade in the first eight months of this year hit USD3.12 billion./.
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
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
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Evidently not one to lounge around and enjoy his retirement, eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt has tested a Porsche 911 Carrera Cup in Australia.



Taking to the Winton circuit, the fastest man on earth stepped into the drivers seat of the Porsche once driven by Cam McConville from 23Red Racing. Bolt was able to land the test thanks to close friend and former Australian sprinter John Steffensen, wholl be racing with 23Red Racing in the 2018 season.

Despite his limited experience racing with four wheels Bolt performed well, Steffensen told Autosport.

Usain did a great job for his first time in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Theres a fair bit to absorb in that situation and he really did impress with his ability to get up to speed and, in the end, was turning some respectable lap times.

Former Supercars driver Cam McConville also said the Jamaican superstar showed real promise during the test.

I was actually surprised by how well he did, but like any athlete of that caliber, he has tremendous reflexes and hand-eye coordination so its just a matter of teaching him the feel of the race.

PHOTO GALLERY
Ok, I understand and see clearly your point of view Len Merchant. However from a homeowner's point of view you are wrong sir.

My family and I did not work hard to purchase a home in a nice neighborhood to have it become a free for all on our streets. Airbnb brings with it a plethora of foot and vehicle traffic. The noise can sometimes be unbearable not to mention the mess some of these people leave behind on the property. Constant parties, people coming and going (not knowing if they bring a criminal element with them) not to mention we live in a residential area that is not zoned for hotels for a reason.

If we wanted to live in a hotel zone we wouldn't live where we do and I'm sorry but if folks can't afford a hotel cost then they shouldn't come. Airbnb does not belong in quiet family neighborhoods or residential areas. I for one think Airbnb needs to go. It's out of hand with no control and I don't believe for a second it will impact tourism. Yes tourism was down this summer due to forest fire smoke and air quality. Not because of a lack of Airbnb rentals.

We have enough hotels, motels, campgrounds and Bed & Breakfast. We don't need more mayhem in our neighborhoods.

Bethany Wright
Photo: CTV Grand Chief Stewart Phillip.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip and his wife, Joan Phillip, will each be recipients of an award that recognizes environmental stewardship, Saturday afternoon.

The pair will be given the 2017 Eugene Rogers Environmental Award, awarded by the Wilderness Committee at their annual open house in Vancouver.

The Wilderness Committee is a nation-wide non-profit group that focuses on preserving wilderness and protecting wildlife.

A news release from the committee said Stewart and Joan were chosen as this year's award recipients for their "decades of commitment" to protecting the environment, noting their stance against projects such as the Site C dam, the Kinder Morgan pipeline and the Ajax open-pit copper mine.

Joe Foy, the Wilderness Committee's national campaign director, said Stewart and Joan are among the hardest working environmental activists he has met.

They are constantly attending gatherings, meetings, and rallies, visiting communities and speaking to the public and the media on the environmental issues of our time," Foy said.

The committee said this is the 25th year the Eugene Rogers Environmental Award has been handed out, and noted there is prize of $1,000 that goes along with it.

Stewart has been the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs since 1998. He was a council member of the Penticton Indian Band for 24 years  having spent 14 of those years as the band's Chief.

Joan was elected on Wednesday as a council member for the PIB.
Colton Davies

Childcare centres like Kids Connection are in high demand in Penticton.

The centre is a fully-licensed centre available for young children, and the property has ample room for the 22 to 24 children that attend the centre five days a week.

The owner, Tina Bootsma, said the centre has been at-capacity since it opened in 2015.

While the five-member staff at Kids Connection all meet requirements as child educators, a shortage of trained staff is apparent at many centres, as manager Paige Karolak noted.

"It's hard to find trained staff in the area. At least it's very rare to find an infant toddler educator, or an actual full (early childhood educator)," she said.

"Myself, I moved from the coast, and there's lots down there. But here, there's not as many."

Bootsma said a licensed daycare needs at least one person with Early Childhood Education training, noting the minimum requirement for staff is to be certified as an early childhood assistant, but getting ECE training takes longer.

Combine that with the appropriate facilities that are required, and it's no surprise that there aren't more daycare spaces in Penticton despite waitlists that exist.

Part of the demand, Bootsma noted, is to do with more jobs in the area and a thriving economy where most parents are working  resulting in a heightened need for childcare.

Ian Gerbrandt, executive director of the Penticton & District Society for Community Living, said more planning is needed in the industry to face the employee shortage.

"If you don't have a parallel workforce development strategy, you're going to be continuing to have this problem."

As for the demand for spaces, attention was brought to that matter in Penticton on Tuesday.

City staff said Circle of Friends childcare centre, which is allowed to have up to 24 children at a time, has a wait list of 95 kids aged zero to three and 18 kids aged three to five.

City council approved Circle of Friends relocation to Wyles Crescent, which wouldve otherwise meant the facility would shut down, as it is being displaced from its current home on Eckhardt Avenue.

Gerbrandt applauded that decision, and hopes a focus continues to be put on the need for kids and families to have daycare space available.

"I know the city is doing their new Official Community Plan, and it would be great to see an emphasis on supporting families with young children," he said.

"I think it's critically important to help kids grow. That's our future work force. But also it's an economic driver  the more we have childcare, the more easy it is for parents to participate in the economic fabric of our community."
All votes in the CO-3 election won't be counted until the end of this week
Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui receives an interview in Moscow, Russia, on Nov. 22, 2017. China and Russia will enhance cooperation on digital economy, including big data, the Internet of Things and smart cities, Li Hui told Xinhua in a recent interview. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)

China and Russia will enhance cooperation on digital economy, including big data, the Internet of Things and smart cities, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui told Xinhua in a recent interview.

While making continuous efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the sectors of energy, equipment manufacturing, agriculture and spaceflight, the two countries are eyeing digital economy as a new area of cooperation, Li said.

China and Russia will also continue their efforts to achieve substantial results from the alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and development programs within the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) led by Russia.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The EEU, which groups Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, is an economic bloc aiming to optimize the flow of goods and services among its members.

Li said China and Russia will work to implement the project of an international transportation corridor in the Far East and jointly explore the Arctic shipping route to make it a "silk road on ice."

According to him, strategic mutual trust between the two countries is strengthening, while political, economic and people-to-people exchanges are developing robustly, forming a solid base for the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.

The partnership plays a special role in China's "major-country diplomacy" with Chinese characteristics and both countries will never waver in their determination to develop such a partnership no matter how the international and regional situations change, Li said.

Both China and Russia are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and important parties of the G20, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Li said, adding that the two countries share similar positions on many international affairs.

"I believe as long as we keep up with the times and seize the opportunities, China-Russia relations will be very productive," the ambassador said.

Next week, the 16th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the SCO will be held in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

In Li's view, the SCO adheres to its founding values or the "Shanghai Spirit" featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and pursuit of common development.

At the Astana summit in Kazakhstan in June, India and Pakistan completed their accession to the SCO, which also groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

After the expansion, the SCO covers about 44 percent of the world's population and over a fifth of the world's gross domestic product (GDP).

The SCO members have shown a strong will to cooperate in various sectors in the SCO framework, and the Belt and Road Initiative will create new economic propellers for the SCO members and contribute to regional prosperity against a backdrop of globalization, said Li.
In his recent book entitled "How India Sees the World," former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Sharan admitted Indias interventionist policy towards Nepal had always been counterproductive.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) and visiting Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba walk towards the meeting room at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, Aug. 24, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

According to him, India interfered in Nepalese domestic affairs fearful of losing its influence, but its actions of applying "friend" and "foe" labels to various leading figures had made things worse.

Shyam Sharan, who served as an Indian ambassador to Nepal when the Maoist insurgency was at its heights, also played his role in signing a 12-point understanding between the CPN-Maoist group and parliamentary parties. His admission of Indias flawed foreign policy gives an impression the country is going to rectify its attitude on Nepal, but that is not the case.

India continues to be frantically involved in Nepals internal affairs, especially after the two big communist parties, the CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Center, formed an electoral alliance under the banner of the "Left Alliance," with a complete merger to follow the vote.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu became active to form a Loktantrik Alliance involving the ruling Nepali Congress and Madhesh-based parties (representing ethnic groups in the Eastern Terai region linked to India) to counter the Left Alliance.

However, its all-out efforts to get the Madhesh-based parties and the Nepali Congress on board went astray. The former demanded the lions share of electoral seats in the upcoming federal and provincial poll, which the N.C.rejected.

Sources claimed that the chief of the Indian intelligence section at the embassy made his last-ditch effort to iron out differences between the two groups over the sharing of electoral seats in Province No. 2 bordering India.

As the proposed electoral alliance failed to materialize, Indian ambassador Manjim Singh Puri went to Janakpur in central Terai reportedly to generate support for the N.C. candidate Bimalendra Nidhi who is facing the Rastriya Jatana Party-Nepals leader Rajendra Mahato in a tight constituency race. Puri met local businessmen and intellectuals and pledged construction of a "Ramayan Circuit" to promote religious tourism.

India is already pleased with the N.C.s election manifesto and candidate selection. The manifesto did not use the term "Indian embargo," only describing it as "obstruction on the southern border." Moreover, N.C. members defying the Indian blockade have been deprived of election tickets, while those support the Indian blockade have had their candidacies accepted.

Examples of this are leading N.C. members Gururaj Ghimire, Dhanaraj Gurung, Jiwan Pariyar and Badri Pandey all failing to be selected for their anti-Indian stance.

Meanwhile, N.C. officials like Nidhi, Minendra Rijal, Deep Kumar Upadhyay, Amresh Kumar Singh, Farmullah Mansoor and Pradeep Giri were awarded the tickets after coming out in favor of the Indian embargo.

Former speaker Daman Nath Dhungana, who has not been in active politics for over a decade, was also favored after he went to border to support the Madhesh parties in obstructing the supplies of fuel and food from India. Dhungana had also defended CK Raut, who had openly promoted a secessionist campaign in the Terai.

In its manifesto, the N.C. promised to amend the statutes to meet Madhesh demands for more autonomy, widely viewed as part of the Indian agenda to keep Nepal under "controlled instability."

In the latest episode, the N.C.-led government scrapped an agreement on the construction of the Budhigandani hydropower project with a Chinese company, claiming procedural lapses in the signing.

Chinas Gezhouba Group was awarded the contract to build the 1,200mW power project at a cost of 260 billion Nepali rupees. It was considered an important project to be carried out in Nepal under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The opposition CPN-UML denounced the decision to scrap the deal as illegal, arguing that the caretaker government had no right to make decisions having such a long-term impact.

It was widely believed the government had acted under the Indian pressure. The decision came at a time when the government had already allocated money to acquire land for the project.

Experts fear the decision risks losing Chinese investment that Nepal badly needs to build infrastructure and create jobs.

Meanwhile, the Nepal government has once again extended the deadline for the two Indian companies to achieve financial closure on the Arun III Hydropower Project and Upper Karnali Hydropower Project to ingratiate itself with India.

Ritu Raj Subedi is an associate editor of The Rising Nepal.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
 Flash

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Xinhua file photo)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday rejected new elections and wanted to form a new government quickly, as a consequence of the failed government coalition talks with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens.

"The people have voted, and I absolutely do not favor, if we can't do anything with the result, asking people to vote again," Merkel said at a party conference of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Kuehlungsborn, northeast Germany, according to Focus Online.

Merkel is facing the most serious political crisis since she assumed office 12 years ago after the breakdown of the government coalition exploratory talks on Nov. 19.

The FDP decided to withdraw the talks with the Greens, the CDU and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), for a new coalition government after the Sept. 24 federal elections. The situation is unprecedented after the WWII and snap elections are the last resort if the new government cannot be formed.

Merkel told the party conference that she wants to "come quickly to a government", adding that Germany must have a stable government, "but also a government that really advances the country".

The CDU leader also said talks with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) would have to be conducted on the basis of mutual respect, and the compromise is part of it.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has invited Merkel, SPD leader Martin Schulz and CSU leader Horst Seehofer for a meeting next week to discuss another "Grand Coalition".

The SPD has repeatedly rejected to joint hands with the Union after its landslide failure in the federal elections. However, Schulz softened the stance on Friday as he said his party was willing to hold talks with the Union.
 Flash

Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui receives an interview in Moscow, Russia, on Nov. 22, 2017. China and Russia will enhance cooperation on digital economy, including big data, the Internet of Things and smart cities, Li Hui told Xinhua in a recent interview. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)

China and Russia will enhance cooperation on digital economy, including big data, the Internet of Things and smart cities, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui told Xinhua in a recent interview.

While making continuous efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the sectors of energy, equipment manufacturing, agriculture and spaceflight, the two countries are eyeing digital economy as a new area of cooperation, Li said.

China and Russia will also continue their efforts to achieve substantial results from the alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and development programs within the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) led by Russia.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The EEU, which groups Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, is an economic bloc aiming to optimize the flow of goods and services among its members.

Li said China and Russia will work to implement the project of an international transportation corridor in the Far East and jointly explore the Arctic shipping route to make it a "silk road on ice."

According to him, strategic mutual trust between the two countries is strengthening, while political, economic and people-to-people exchanges are developing robustly, forming a solid base for the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.

The partnership plays a special role in China's "major-country diplomacy" with Chinese characteristics and both countries will never waver in their determination to develop such a partnership no matter how the international and regional situations change, Li said.

Both China and Russia are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and important parties of the G20, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Li said, adding that the two countries share similar positions on many international affairs.

"I believe as long as we keep up with the times and seize the opportunities, China-Russia relations will be very productive," the ambassador said.

Next week, the 16th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the SCO will be held in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

In Li's view, the SCO adheres to its founding values or the "Shanghai Spirit" featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and pursuit of common development.

At the Astana summit in Kazakhstan in June, India and Pakistan completed their accession to the SCO, which also groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

After the expansion, the SCO covers about 44 percent of the world's population and over a fifth of the world's gross domestic product (GDP).

The SCO members have shown a strong will to cooperate in various sectors in the SCO framework, and the Belt and Road Initiative will create new economic propellers for the SCO members and contribute to regional prosperity against a backdrop of globalization, said Li.
Any member of staff at Beijing's RYB kindergarten, if proved by a police investigation to be involved in child abuse, should be shown no leniency in terms of legal penalties. And RYB Education, a New York listed company, to which the kindergarten is affiliated, should also receive deserved punishment for its lack of proper management.

This is not the first incident of its kind. There have been similar reports concerning other kindergartens in recent years. Neither is it the first one involving a kindergarten of RYB Education. Four teachers at an RYB kindergarten in Siping, Northeast China's Jilin province, received prison sentences for jabbing 17 children with needles last year.

True, a lack of qualified teachers has long been a headache for kindergartens, whose number has been increasing rapidly. The development of preschool education in the country still lags far behind the boom in demand. It is thus natural for some kindergartens to recruit teachers who have never received the training required for the job.

Yet, it is still unimaginably horrendous that some kindergarten teachers should force the children in their care to ingest pharmaceutical drugs they are not supposed to eat, give them injections for untold purposes, and physically and psychologically abuse the youngsters.

It is not a matter of simply teachers being qualified or unqualified. It is matter of them having not a smattering of professional ethics and having lowered themselves below the standards of being a decent person with their actions.

How can a kindergarten recruit such teachers? Does a kindergarten have rules for teachers to abide by when it comes to how they should treat the children placed in their care? It is imperative that kindergartens employ those who have been trained for the work.

It is never enough to just punish the teachers once a child abuse case occurs in a kindergarten. Neither is it justifiable to cite the lack of qualified teachers as an excuse for the poor and sloppy management on the part of both kindergartens and the education authority of a local government.

Strict requirements must be in place that both public and private kindergartens have to abide by when it comes to the qualification of teachers, as well as other aspects of kindergarten care.

The investigation into the RYB kindergarten scandal is still going on. It is hoped that the publication of the results will give the lie to the rumors rampant on the internet about the scandal. It is also hoped that the supervision and management of kindergartens will be effectively tightened nationwide for children to get the care they deserve.
MEXICO CITY - Chinese car-maker BAIC, which assembles cars in the Mexican state of Veracruz, said on Friday that it plans to export cars from Mexico to the United States and Canada starting in 2018.

Yang Nanhua, director general of BAIC in Mexico, said the plan would go into action "unless something drastic happens with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)."

The landmark free trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and the United States is currently undergoing a tough re-negotiation process, at the behest of US President Donald Trump.

"We are very confident that Mexico is a market with not only a great sales potential, but also a strategic (hub)," said Yang during a press conference for the 2017 MAPFRE Carshow in Mexico City.

Yang also said that BAIC would bring four new models into Mexico in 2018, including an electric vehicle with a range of up to 200 km. He added that the company is looking to enter the Mexican aeronautical industry.

Tian Jinghai, assistant to the director general of BAIC International Development, told Xinhua that the company intends to offer its products to the Mexican market and to satisfy a broader demand.

"We intend to offer the best products and services to Mexican consumers, as well as provide a better image of Chinese brands in Mexico," said Tian.

Tian also noted that "the Mexican market is a priority," and BAIC also wants to expand its market to the rest of Latin America and North America.

"The US market is very mature and full of competition, as it is the second-largest (automotive) market. For any Chinese automotive company, this represents a great challenge, as well as opportunities, to enter this market. BAIC is no exception," said Tian.

"We are improving our product development and technological offering to meet American rules and laws," Tian added.

BAIC sells its products in countries such as Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Peru and Venezuela. Its production in Mexico is also expected to serve these markets.
Made in China 2025 strategy leads to a spate of transformative technologies

The 19th China International Industry Fair held in Shanghai earlier this month confirmed for lay people what industry insiders have known for a while: Global corporate giants as well as domestic companies operating in China are determinedly ushering in industrial cloud computing as if their future depended on it.

"Cloud platform" refers to a new type of automated manufacturing that combines advanced machines with internet-connected sensors and big data analytics.

It is designed to boost intelligent manufacturing, which is characterized by a high level of productivity, efficiency and reliability of industrial production, experts say.

Industrial cloud heralds a new era in manufacturing that will not only showcase the country's coming of age in technology, but also set the tone for the rest of the world, they say.

Cloud has become integral to companies' implementation of the Made in China 2025 strategy, which envisions industry adopting state-of-the-art technologies to upgrade and to automate, wherever possible, the manufacturing process so that emphasis is on quality as well as quantity.

Best of all, consumers will benefit ultimately by way of better, even customized, products and services.

Industrial cloud computing, intelligent manufacturing based on industrial internet (also known as the internet of things), big data, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality - for China, all are now par for the course.

He Dongdong, senior vice-president of Sany Heavy Industry Co, says intelligent manufacturing and robots are vital for the Made in China 2025 strategy to succeed.

No wonder big corporates are investing heavily on cloud platforms and related products in different forms. Their aim is to boost intelligent manufacturing in China. In the process, a healthy competition of sorts is unfolding.

Globally, the trend sprouted in 2014 when US-based General Electric launched its Predix platform. Germany's Siemens AG followed it up in 2016 by launching MindSphere, a cloud-based open internet of things operating system.

ABB Group of Switzerland and France's Schneider Electric SA also announced their own new platforms: ABB Ability and EcoStruxure, respectively, to create a whole new paradigm for the global manufacturing sector.

"An industrial cloud platform is able to enhance cross-industry digital service ability and extend from device to cloud - with devices, systems, solutions, services and a platform that enable customers to improve efficiency, add economic value and ensure precision in their products," says Gu Chunyuan, ABB's president for Asia, Middle East and Africa.

Sami Atiya, president of ABB's Robotics and Motion Division, says: "The global manufacturing industry is changing. Rising demand for individualization and customization is increasing the complexity of automation, bringing higher requirements for smart and communicating devices, flexible and efficient automation processes and seamless collaboration across the value chain."

The Swiss company offered a sneak preview this month of its new small robot, the IRB 1100, which can handle small parts and assembly functions in the manufacture of computers, communications equipment and consumer electronics.

At the industry fair in Shanghai, it became clear that other robot products aim at continuous press automation. They can speed up the production output rate, churning out up to 14 parts per minute in press lines. This has inspired several corporate moves.

In August, Siemens China set up its first research and development center in Chengdu, Sichuan province, for MindSphere.

In September, it reached an agreement with the Hong Kong Science Park to build the first MindSphere-based digitalization center for a smart city.

Earlier this month, Siemens also signed a strategic partnership with Shanghai Hytera Co, a communication equipment manufacturer, to provide digitalization design consulting and product lifecycle management software, as well as complete automation solutions to the company.

Wang Haibin, vice-president and general manager of the digital factory at Siemens China, says the partnership with Hytera represents another milestone in the company's efforts to promote digital transformation in local enterprises.

"The company will continue to leverage our advanced technologies in the electrification, automation and digitalization to create value for Chinese clients," he says.

Over the past year, Siemens has reached cooperation agreements with Chinese companies such as HBIS Group, Baowu Group, Jinyu Biotechnology, Cathay Industrial Biotech, Yunnan Baiyao and Jomoo, to provide consultation and solutions for digital upgrading, and to help customers benefit from digital transformation.

"China's growing demand for high-value products, especially automobiles and home-related services, offers many growth points," says Peter Tyroller, a board member at Robert Bosch GmbH responsible for the Asia-Pacific area.

The German mobility, industrial and software conglomerate and the Chinese search engine company Baidu signed a strategic cooperation agreement on smart mobility in China in June.

Bosch will be involved in Baidu's Apollo project, which aims to provide open software for the development of automated vehicles.

Under the deal, Bosch will contribute sensors and its Bosch Road Signature mapping service for vehicle localization. Both companies will provide technical expertise to support the drafting of legislation relating to automated driving in China.

Shi Yong, vice-president of the Beijing-based China Machinery Industry Information Research Institute, says cloud platforms will continue to push Chinese companies in many emerging as well as traditional sectors.

They will feel the need to adopt trends in digital, intelligent, service-oriented and platform-based development to enrich their operations, he says.

China has set a goal for itself to establish up to 300 demonstration projects throughout the country by 2020, including 40 system solution providers with more than 1 billion yuan ($151 million; 128 million euros; 114 million) in annual sales revenue, according to the China Information Technology Industry Federation.

Rather than waiting for government policy to stimulate the market, domestic companies China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, Sany and Haier Group have all pushed their own industrial cloud platforms to grab as much market share as possible.

CASIC, the State-owned defense giant, has been striving to promote its CASICloud website over the past two years. Launched in June 2015, the website was designed to enable users to benefit from the industrial internet.

"We thought of adopting the industrial internet several years ago, as CASIC was seeking to better coordinate its research and production in the manufacture of space products," says Shu Jinlong, chairman of CASICloud Technology Co, a subsidiary of CASIC that is responsible for operating the Chinese platform.

"With the introduction of our internal industrial internet, we have improved the efficiency and productivity of institutes and factories under CASIC. So we hope that the industrial internet can help more businesses."

So far, more than 800,000 businesses, including 3,000 foreign companies, have begun using CASICloud, and more than 90 percent of them are small, privately owned ones, according to CASIC.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 11/24/2017 page26)
China's move to further open up its financial industry will help major banks and fund managers in the United Kingdom find new markets after Brexit.

The UK is planning to leave the European Union in March 2019 and could lose its dominant role as the bloc's main financial services provider.

It is unclear whether the City of London will retain unfettered entry to EU countries and businesses.

But those fears might be offset by China's decision to give major global investment banks and insurance companies unprecedented access to the world's second-largest economy.

Earlier this month, it was announced that foreign financial companies would be allowed to own up to 51 percent of local fund managers, securities ventures and futures brokerages - an increase from the current 49 percent.

This will be for a three-year period, with a "no limit" clause kicking in after that.

"UK firms fearing a loss of access to the EU after Brexit are likely to be interested in these plans," says Ben Robinson, a senior economist at the London-based think tank Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum.

International financial players, including JP Morgan Asset Management, Standard Life Aberdeen Plc, UBS, HSBC Holdings Plc and Goldman Sachs, have welcomed the decision and confirmed their interest in China.

UBS said it would continue to grow its joint venture business in the country.

"Other financial market developments in China, including the expansion of financial products, as well as the inclusion of Chinese A-shares into the MSCI next year, are likely to tempt asset managers and investment firms," Robinson adds.

MSCI, the US index provider, will add Chinese stocks to its emerging markets index in June. Overseas funds tracking the MSCI as a benchmark are expected to buy more Chinese stocks.

The country's new policy announcements were made by Zhu Guangyao, deputy finance minister, on Nov 10. The move came after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, at which Chinese leaders set out their long-term strategic vision for the nation.

"China is committed to realizing its destiny as an economic and financial key player," says Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore Investment Management.

He believes that London's banks and asset managers will "offer real added value in the China market."

Dehn points to China's large savings base, which global banks and asset managers are eager to tap into once Beijing confirms a timetable for the regulatory changes.

"This could provide a second opportunity for foreign firms to grow their market share," says Etelka Bogardi, a partner at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.

Bogardi adds that new competition in China will also encourage domestic financial companies to update their governance standards in line with international norms.

cecily.liu@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily European Weekly 11/24/2017 page27)
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 say.

They 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 road next year, according to Baidu Chairman and CEO Robin Li.

It aims to put autonomous minibuses 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 Chery Automobile Co, Li says, adding that these vehicles will be able to reduce traffic jams endemic to Chinese cities.

Zeng Zhiling, managing director of LMC Automotive Consulting Co, says, "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."

Zeng warns that "self-driving vehicles are vulnerable to cyberattacks." He says 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 safety is the top priority, says Xu Yanhua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, who notes that US tech heavyweight Google Inc is still at 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 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 off from Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc.

The company has been operating its autonomous minivans on public roads in the US state of Arizona, without a safety driver, since mid-October. Several accidents involving Waymo self-driving vehicles have been reported.

fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn

Baidu launches smart speaker Raven

Baidu has unveiled a smart speaker, Raven H, that takes advantage of the company's advances in voice recognition and artificial intelligence.

The speaker, unveiled during the company's annual technology conference in Beijing, is the first AI hardware product produced by Baidu and will be available for purchase next month, priced at 1,699 yuan ($256; 218 euros; 193).

Raven R, a six-axis robot with emotional intelligence, was also released. It has six humanlike "joints" that allow it to move flexibly following a user's command and to express emotions to enhance the interactive experience.

Visitors take a look at a Baidu self-driving vehicle during a tech expo in Beijing. Sheng Jiapeng / China News Service

(China Daily European Weekly 11/24/2017 page29)
NINGBO -- Two people were killed and many injured in an explosion at the site of a demolished factory in the city of Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province Sunday, according to local authorities.

More than 30 people were taken to hospital, with two injured seriously, after the accident which occurred 8:50 am in Jiangbei district, local authorities said

Local police said many nearby residential communities were affected by the explosion.

An investigation is underway.
BEIJING -- Authorities are checking and handling potential safety hazards, especially fire risks, in every village, courtyard and company in Beijing, after a fire killed 19 people last week.

The main targets of the ongoing 40-day checks are buildings and factory sites simultaneously used for storage, production and housing, a Beijing Municipal Work Safety Committee spokesperson said.

He said the "blanket search and investigation campaign," launched last week, had identified over 25,000 potential safety hazards, some of which were "shocking."

The hazards were numerous, including firms using combustible materials in worker dormitories, factories renting workshop-turned-apartments that were overcrowded and contained dangerous electric wires, as well as delivery distribution sites with blocked fire access and couriers living inside.

"Once these buildings catch fire, there will be heavy casualties," the spokesperson said.

Every year, Beijing police receive around 5,000 fire reports, many of which are in winter.

The spokesperson said that removing the hazards in big cities like Beijing was a long-term task and involved the safety awareness of all residents.

Last Saturday, a fire started in Daxing district in a cold storage basement, where refrigeration equipment was being tested.

Carbon monoxide poisoning caused 19 deaths, including eight under 18.

Beijing police have detained 18 people, including seven who managed the apartment block, seven electricity workers and four construction workers at the refrigeration facility. Eleven of the workers do not hold the qualifications required by the authorities.
TOKYO -- A Chinese delegation introducing the achievements of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) ended its four-day visit to Japan on Sunday.

The delegation, headed by He Yiting, executive vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, visited Japan at the invitation of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner the Komeito party.

During its stay, the delegation met with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the LDP, Yoshihisa Inoue, secretary-general of the Komeito party, and Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren).

The delegation also held briefing sessions for Japanese political parties, friendly groups, major media, think tanks as well as economic circles on the spirit and significance of the CPC party congress and had in-depth discussions with them on the congress and the Sino-Japanese relationship.

The Japanese side congratulated on the success of the 19th CPC National Congress and Xi Jinping's re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

The Japanese side also spoke highly of the achievements and significance of the CPC congress and expressed the wishes for continued improvement and development of bilateral relations.
A man witnesses identified as the shooter who killed three people and wounded six in a township of Raoping county, Chaozhou, Guangdong province, was detained on Sunday in Dongguan, according to a police officer at the Chaozhou public security bureau.

The alleged killer, Lin Zhonghong, 40, escaped to Dongguan, a Pearl River Delta city also in Guangdong, after he shot nine people in Jingzhou township on Tuesday, the police officer said.

Police in Raoping county, which governs Jingzhou town, had doubled their reward on Saturday to 200,000 yuan ($30,300) for information leading to Lin's capture. Witnesses said Lin was the man who opened fire in the township at 7:53 pm on Tuesday.

In a statement released by the Raoping county bureau of public security, local residents and witnesses were asked to provide information on Lin's whereabouts, as he was considered dangerous. They promised not to reveal the identity of any person who provides information.

Police officers were sent to the scene after reports of gunfire. According to a witness, the first two victims were brothers, aged 47 and 49. Both were shot in the head.

The shooting reportedly took place after Lin failed to reach an agreement with the victims about opening secret casinos. The men had quarreled the previous night.

After shooting the brothers and fleeing, Lin opened fire on people chasing him, wounding seven. A 20-year-old man who was severely wounded died in the hospital.

One of the wounded was a 13-year-old boy, Lin Xuanhong. All were males and residents of Jingzhou. The oldest person wounded was Lin Yuxi, 55.
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A colorful sign welcomes visitors to Huamao, Southwest China's Guizhou province. [Photo by Anastasia Sukhoretskaya/chinadaily.com.cn]

I had the pleasure of being invited on a trip to Southwest China's Guizhou province with foreign and Chinese media experts and scholars to see the autumn beauty of Southwest China, as well as tread the road where China's greatest history was made. We learned a lot about the history of China and, visited Huamao and Gouba villages and Zunyi town.

The picturesque villages of Huamao and Gouba villages are close to the historically important town of Zunyi. In 1935 the legendary Long March of China's Red Army passed through Guizhou, where in different places they staged meetings.

These meetings were of significant importance to the people of China, as they helped shape the future of the CPC and the country on the whole. It was in Zunyi, where Mao Zedong was elected as the leader of China's Red Army, which literally meant that he became the frontrunner of the newly emerging country. Huamao and Gouba also played important roles in this fateful event  they became two of the meetings spots among other places, including Zunyi.

Starting from 2014, Huamao village has gained popularity as a tourist destination in China. Apart from that, it is included in the state program of eliminating poverty in the rural part of the country. The local government has beautified the village by cleaning the streets, removing waste and trash, and renovating locals' houses.To attract tourists, the government helped villagers to develop and merchandize local crafts, for example, pottery. However, the village became even more popular after President Xi Jinping visited in 2015. At the recent 19th Party Congress, Huamao village's delegate spoke up about the huge progress and life improvement the villagers witnessed in recent years, and also mentioned about the increase of tourism into the area.

Without a doubt, it's hard not to notice how accurate and homelike welcoming the houses in both villages look like. Their inhabitants, being inspired by these amazing changes, take good care of the neatness and order in their places, while crispy autumn air and, the beauty of mountains and nature add a special grace to the whole picture of a Chinese countryside scene.

The author is a senior blogger with China Daily.
GENEVA -- A Swiss researcher has challenged the existence of dark matter and dark energy at all, which runs counter to a century of scientific consensus, according to a press release by University of Geneva (UNIGE) on Saturday.

For close on a century, researchers have hypothesized that the universe contains more matter than can be directly observed, known as "dark matter." They have also posited the existence of a "dark energy" that is more powerful than gravitational attraction discovered by Newton.

The two hypotheses have long been used to account for the movement of stars in galaxies and for the accelerating expansion of the universe respectively.

In his study recently published in The Astrophysical Journal, Andre Maeder, a professor at UNIGE Department of Astronomy, challenges that these concepts may be no longer valid -- the phenomena they are supposed to describe can be demonstrated without them.

Professor Maeder argues that by doing away with the ideas of dark matter and dark energy, or at least the need for them to exist, the concept could contribute to "potentially solving two of astronomy's greatest mysteries."

He goes back to basics to posit a "starting hypothesis that has not been taken into account." By this, he means the scale invariance of empty space. "In other words, the empty space and its properties do not change following a dilation or a contraction," he says.

After several rounds of cosmological testing of a model based on constant empty space, Professor Maeder found that it held true in the context of both Einsteinian relativist theories and Newton's laws of acceleration.

The model predicted the accelerated expansion of the universe without having to factor in any unseen particle or dark energy. Other tests based on the speeds reached by stars in the outer reaches of galactic clusters, and stars oscillating around the plane of the Milky Way, also pointed to explanations that relied not on dark matter but on the invariant empty space hypothesis.

Maeder's discovery paves the way for a new conception of astronomy, one that will raise questions and controversy alike, according to UNIGE, but it "remains true to the spirit of science: nothing can ever be taken for granted, not in terms of experience, observation or the reasoning of human beings," he says.
HOUSTON -- Four people, including two children, were killed in a house fire on Saturday, according to the Fire Department of Garland, about 22 km northeast of Dallas, Texas, the United States.

Just after 1:00 am, firefighters were called to the house, which was engulfed in flames with people still inside.

"The fire department made rapid entry in an attempt to rescue the victims, but were unable to save them," the department said.

There were nine people inside the home at the time of the fire. Five were able to escape, but four others, including two adults and two children, did not make it.

The fire began in an enclosed back yard of the house, fire department officials said, adding while the fire did not seem to be intentional, the cause was still under investigation.
It was while trying an unfamiliar yet powerful drink, during a family trip to China and Hong Kong, that Andrew Robinson hit on the idea of bringing baijiu to the United Kingdom.

The result was FU Bar, which opened in Liverpool in 2016 and is the first dedicated baijiu bar in Europe.

The establishment is just five minutes away from the city's Chinatown and based in the Ropewalks area, which is renowned for experimental mixology.

"We wanted to bring something new to the UK that would stimulate and intrigue people at the same time," says Robinson. "After all, gin and whisky bars are so yesterday."

He says FU Bar carries about 20 brands of baijiu at any one time.

Baijiu, which means "white liquor", represents a category of Chinese spirits distilled mainly from fermented sorghum.

Known for its powerful kick, with an average alcohol by volume of 40 to 60 percent, baijiu is categorized by its aroma, with strong, light, sauce and rice as its four primary aroma categories.

"We generally use a light and a strong baijiu in our cocktails, which we feel works best with the other ingredients," Robinson says. "Sometimes, depending on the cocktail, traditional liquors such as gin and vodka can be 'lost' in the cocktail. But because of the complexity and unique flavor of baijiu, this is not the case."

Adventurous guests can sample baijiu in the traditional Chinese style: as straight shots. Glasses are clinked in the lowest position to demonstrate humbleness, and then a toast is yelled: "Gan bei", which means "empty the glass".

For those who are more interested in a more Western and modern experience, FU Bar has developed a range of unique infusions and baijiu-based cocktails. These include saffron, vanilla, pineapple and cinnamon, each bringing a new twist to the Chinese spirit.

"We find our local and European customers enjoy our baijiu cocktails, perhaps even more than our Asian customers," says Robinson. "The feedback is very good - they really enjoy the baijiu cocktails, and we probably sell roughly the same quantity of baijiu cocktails as traditional ones."

The bar prices baijiu cocktails similarly to the prices of the traditional cocktails, ranging from 7.50 ($9.90; 8.43 euros) to 9, to increase customer awareness of baijiu and to give people the opportunity to experience "something new, unique and actually delicious", Robinson says.

With Baijiu Cocktail Week planned for the UK and the success of the recent World Baijiu Day, Robinson is confident that more bars will consider offering baijiu.

But he says it is important that they learn to appreciate and understand baijiu.

"We spent weeks drinking many cocktails, developing and trying to understand which type of baijiu worked with which other ingredients," he says.

Contact the writer at wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily European Weekly 11/24/2017 page28)
Students flock to job fair in Beijing in hopes of taking advantage of the opportunities being presented by businesses going global

"Do you hire students from Ghana?"

Ebenezer Yeboah, a Ghanaian who is now in his final year of a master's degree in financial accounting program at Hubei University of Technology, posed this question in his not-so-fluent Chinese during a job fair in Beijing on Nov 15.

An African studying in China talks with a Chinese employer at the job fair in Beijing on Nov 15. Pan Mengqi / China Daily

Nearly 400 Africans studying in China attended the fair. Beforehand, about 1,000 students from 52 African countries had submitted their resumes online. They were competing for nearly 500 jobs with 66 State-owned, local and privately owned Chinese enterprises, most of them with branches or business offices in Africa.

The job fair was for African students studying in China. It was organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the University of International Business and Economics.

For Yeboah, an ideal job would be related to his major. He took a high-speed train from Wuhan, where he is studying, to Beijing to attend the fair in order not to miss any opportunities.

"China's economy is important," Yeboah says, explaining why he wants to find a job with a Chinese company. He believes that working for such a company will help him gain valuable experience from the world's fastest-growing economy. For students whose majors are in the fields of economics and finance, China offers the "best practical course", he says.

Munyemana Jean de Dieu, who is studying computer science at Northeast Electric Power University in Jilin province, also wants to find a job with a Chinese company, since many of them have expanded their business into his home country of Rwanda. He says he hopes to find a job there.

Jean de Dieu has already sent his resume to 10 companies that took part in the fair. One is China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, which has a branch office in Rwanda.

Wang Liujie, a business manager at CNHDT's African office, says: "Our company produces half of the heavy trucks exported from China to Africa. More than 70,000 have been exported there for seven consecutive years."

According to Wang, the Belt and Road Initiative has helped many companies, including CNHDT, to do business in Africa. Thus, employees who know local languages and cultural habits are "extremely welcome".

"Exploring a new market is the first thing we do, so understanding the local language, culture and habits is very important. Chinese employees have no advantage in these fields, and they will be treated as outsiders," Wang says. "In the past, we hired African employees in Africa, mostly for the most basic and low-level jobs. This is the first time we have attended a job fair for African students in China. We want to hire high-level employees with skills in language and business negotiations, and a knowledge of both China and their home country."

Language and cultural familiarity were appreciated by many companies at the fair. Gong Qian, head of the international liaison office at China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group, says interviewers first chat with the students in Chinese to test their basic knowledge of the language, then read their resume and learn about their experience.

"If Chinese enterprises want better access to overseas markets, including Africa, they must employ local employees, and foreign students in China are the best source, since they have knowledge and links to both sides," says Gong.

Linda Tefa, an African employee of Chao Wei Energy, based in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, says, "The best way for a Chinese company to get to Africa is to recruit Africans."

Tefa has worked for the company for less than a year. However, she has often visited Africa in that time, since she is a local employee who "knows the country, knows the people and knows the culture."

Tefa went to the job fair as part of the company's recruiting team, responsible for communicating with African students who could not speak Chinese.

Lin Guijun, deputy principal of UIBE, says that the Belt and Road Initiative has prompted more Chinese-funded enterprises to enter the African market and has increased the number of overseas students in China.

Lin says that hiring Africans studying in China will play an important role in promoting the localization of Chinese-funded enterprises and helping employ young Africans in China.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, China's nonfinancial direct investment in Africa was $3.3 billion in 2016, covering construction, leasing and commercial services, mining, manufacturing, wholesale, retail and other fields. The stock of various types of investments in Africa has exceeded $100 billion as the continent becomes an important destination for Chinese enterprises going global.

"Therefore, our association has built a bridge to give 60,000 African students who studied in China the opportunity to work and to give more than 3,000 Chinese enterprises that invest in Africa the opportunity to recruit local students in Africa," says Lin Yi, deputy president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

"I hope these students will take back to Africa not only the knowledge and skills they have learned in China, but also the Chinese people's warm and deep-seated friendship with the African people, so that they can build a solid foundation for future cooperation."

According to a report released by the United Nations, Africa currently has a total population of about 1.2 billion, which is increasing yearly. In southeastern Africa, people between the ages of 10 and 24 account for 33 percent of the total population, and by 2025 Africa will account for one-fourth of the world's youth population.

He Wenping, chief researcher at the Institute of West Asia and Africa Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, thinks that relying solely on education cannot solve the employment problem for many young Africans.

"The key is to create more jobs," she says.

She adds that, under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese-funded enterprises have provided more job opportunities in Africa.

"Education is one important aspect. In addition, companies must export technologies, projects and business in order to create jobs," she says.

At the job fair, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and UIBE signed a strategic cooperation agreement. Both sides will work together in the future to promote educational exchanges and youth development, at home and abroad, within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

panmengqi@chinadaily.com.cn
China's approach to continent's security issues is putting the emphasis on indirect engagement

Economic development is what China lost before the 1980s, as well as what China has achieved most since the 1980s. This sharp contrast is indicative that China understands the meaning of development, which is enshrined as developmentalism - that is to say, development is the answer to all problems of political, social, cultural and human development, as well as peace and stability.

This understanding is also being practiced in Africa regarding its enduring conflict and insecurity, with the paradigm of developmental peace. This paradigm has been the mainstream of China's position on security threats in African countries over the past decades.

However, like peace without development, development without peace will also be problematic, which has offered lessons from the Libyan crisis since 2011. Since 2012, at the FOCAC Beijing Summit, held one year after the breakout of the Libya crisis, China began to adjust its approach toward African peace and security. It initiated the "China-African Peace and Security Cooperation Partnership" at the 2012 FOCAC Summit and voiced "China's approach on hot spot African issues", and special representatives of the Chinese government on African affairs visited the continent frequently on mediation missions. It also upgraded peace and security cooperation as one of the Five Pillars of China-African Cooperation.

These initiatives demonstrate that China is showing great importance to the African security issue, and a clear picture of China's peace engagement in Africa can be discerned.

First, regarding the importance of development, security will be the very determinant of China's peaceful engagement with Africa. Generally speaking, development and security are being regarded as two sides of one coin. When investing in the economic, social and development areas, China will consider its security challenge and impact, including both the positive and the negative aspects. On the other hand, China will invest more in solving Africa's security problems to create a conducive environment for African development.

Second, China's engagement in African peace and security is mainly through indirect rather than direct ways. The agenda of Africa peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace building is mainly set up by the United Nations, the African Union, regional communities and African countries themselves. China will mainly concentrate its support on UN peacekeeping operations, African solutions, peace support operations in Africa and the peace capacity building of Africa countries.

Third, African demand, solutions, ownership and leadership will be the core principles shaping China's engagement in African peace and security. It is quite important to read from China's thinking on African ownership. On the one hand, the negative results of Western powers' intervention in Somalia, Libya and Syria, for example, have taught lessons to China. On the other hand, Africa doesn't lack the knowledge and wisdom to solve its own conflicts and security issues, but rather lacks the capability to transfer this knowledge and wisdom into agenda-setting, because of its financial, personnel and technical barriers. So it is crucial to support Africa's ownership and leadership under an African agenda, rather than under an agenda set up by outsiders. Regarding this, China strongly supports African solutions to African problems.

Last but not least important, China will maintain its noninterference policy but will also attempt to explore the appropriate way of contributing. It is clear that China will not set up its own agenda on intervening in the peace and security issues in Africa as well as other regions. However, China will probably react to these security challenges upon the request of African countries and international community, such as escorts in the Gulf of Aden and support to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development on its mediation efforts in South Sudan. Recently, China has been expressing the will to mediate the conflict between Djibouti and Eritrea, but China will only engage based on the consensus and request from these two countries.

Looking ahead, direct development intervention and indirect peace intervention will be two lines of China's engagement on African peace and security. In the areas of development investment that are vital to eradicating the roots of instability, and in post-conflict building - especially the urgent needs of quick impact projects - China can contribute more through its development peace approach.

The author is a senior fellow at the Center for West Asian and African Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 11/24/2017 page9)
McKinsey report reveals that China's engagement in African manufacturing is much higher than estimated

Kartik Jayaram says Africa is China's $440 billion business opportunity.

The 42-year-old is one of the co-authors of "Dance of the Lions and Dragons", a report by management consultants McKinsey& Co that cites this figure as the revenue that could be generated within a decade by Chinese companies working on the continent.

"Our study reveals the sheer scale of engagement. What we have been able to do is dig deeper. There have been no real large-scale studies," he says.

Kartik Jayaram, senior partner of McKinsey & Co in Nairobi. Provided to China Daily

"There is a huge discrepancy on at least what we are seeing anecdotally on the ground versus what we saw from the databases that already existed."

The report is perhaps the most comprehensive analysis to date of the economic relationship between China and the rapidly emerging continent.

Apart from the contributions of Jayaram, senior partner in McKinsey's Nairobi office, the report is also the work of Omid Kassiri, another Nairobi partner, and Irene Yuan Sun, engagement manager in the company's Washington office. Sun is also the author of the book The Next Factory of the World: How Chinese Investment Is Reshaping Africa.

Published earlier this year, the McKinsey report involved the collaboration of some 1,500 people across the continent. It also received support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

One of its main conclusions is that the revenues of Chinese companies will grow from $180 billion today to $440 billion by 2025 if they continue to expand aggressively.

To achieve this, they will have to move into five new sectors, including banking and insurance, housing and information communications technology, according to the report.

Jayaram, speaking from Nairobi, says another key finding was that there are about 10,000 Chinese companies operating on the continent - 90 percent of them in the private sector - and that all previous research had greatly underestimated this figure.

"We had a small team of researchers literally going to individual countries and almost doing detective work," he says.

"In one country, there were nine times more companies than had previously been picked up by other databases, such as those of trade associations. The average was three to four times more across a range of countries than had previously been estimated."

Jayaram says that one of the conclusions to draw from this was that the operations of Chinese companies are perhaps the most important engagement that the world's second-largest economy now has with Africa.

"The focus has been on government-to-government lending, the infrastructure deals and whether this is a neo-colonial engagement," he says.

Of the Chinese companies in Africa, nearly a third (31 percent) are involved in manufacturing, with 25 percent in services, 22 percent in trade and 15 percent in construction and real estate.

Chinese companies, in fact, make up around 12 percent of Africa's total manufacturing production of around $500 billion.

Jayaram says the findings are a strong rebuttal to those who think that Chinese manufacturing in Africa begins and ends with Huajian, the Chinese shoemaker, based just outside Addis Ababa, which is sometimes held up as a solitary success story.

"It is actually quite tragic that people think that. The presence of Chinese manufacturing firms is quite consistent across countries, with the proportion of Chinese companies being involved in manufacturing above 30 percent in most of them," he says.

Jayaram says another striking feature is that most Chinese manufacturing in Africa is there to serve the local, and not the international, market.

"They are coming to serve the domestic market because there is a huge shortage of manufacturing on the continent. Ethiopia is the exception here, with companies in its industrial parks serving the European and US markets.

"The development of manufacturing in Africa is therefore very different from the way China developed after reform and opening-up, when it mainly sold goods to international markets."

Nearly a third (30 percent) of the 1,000 Chinese companies surveyed for the report said they had profit margins of more than 20 percent, and around half make significant investment decisions in less than a month.

"No Western company could do things at that pace. One of the reasons why it is profitable to manufacture here is that there is a significant price premium on certain goods, with prices 30 to 50 percent higher than in the West," adds Jayaram.

The report also seems to undermine those who argue that Chinese companies only employ Chinese labor. Nearly nine out of 10(89 percent) of the employees of companies surveyed were African, which equates to 300,000 jobs.

Nearly two-thirds of the companies say they provide skills training and 44 percent of the managers are African.

"You hear all these stories of Chinese labor being sent here. There is so much hype and anxiety around this stuff. If you go to any construction site in Africa, you will see one or two Chinese people and 20 Africans," he says.

"So many Chinese workers are on expat packages and you have to send them back and forth. It is just too expensive to use mainly Chinese labor."

Jayaram, who has had a long engagement with both China and Africa, has been based in Nairobi for three years and now leads McKinsey's Africa Delivery Hub, aimed at helping governments and social institutions deliver the commitments they make.

Originally from Delhi, he studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee before getting an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a master's in operations research from the University of North Carolina.

He joined McKinsey in 2000 and has had a number of roles, many of them involving working with private Chinese companies, some of them multinationals.

He says McKinsey decided to do the report because there was a lack of concrete information about what was becoming a major geopolitical trend.

"We clearly noticed the big phenomenon that was happening. We had clients asking questions and they literally couldn't find any facts, so that is how it started," he says.

"We invested in the original research and then partnered with the Gates Foundation, who supported us with their connections and their intellectual capital, and some financing for the researchers we hired."

The report clearly shows how the economic relationship accelerated after the turn of the century. China-Africa trade increased from $13 billion in 2001 to $188 billion in 2015 - an annual average growth rate of 21 percent. Trade between Africa and China is now triple that of Africa's next biggest trade partner.

The increase in foreign direct investment has been even greater, rising from $1 billion in 2004 to $35 billion in 2015, an average annual growth rate of 40 percent.

It is estimated to have reached $49 billion in 2016.

At this rate, it will have the largest stock of FDI in Africa of any country, and this means it will overtake countries such as the United Kingdom, which had $71 billion of FDI in 2014, despite the former colonial power having two centuries of engagement with the continent. The United States, with $79 billion of FDI in 2014, will also be eclipsed.

"The growth of China's engagement over the past 10 to 15 years has just been phenomenal. Chinese companies are also winning a lot of World Bank and African Development Bank projects because, quite frankly, they are very competitive and they are the most cost-effective."

The report concludes with what a Chinese businessman, who had spent more than 40 years in Nigeria, told Jayaram over a lengthy dinner.

"He said: There is a wise saying in Yoruba: Should I wash my left hand or my right hand? The answer is that the right hand should wash the left, and the left hand should wash the right. That is the way to do things. Africa is one hand; China is the other. Working together is the way to do things."

Jayaram believes this sums up the potential of the relationship between China and Africa.

Nearly three-fourths (74 percent) of the Chinese companies in the survey were optimistic about their future in Africa.

"We do think this can be a wonderful partnership. We do think both sides need to do more, to make sure it is a long-term sustainable partnership, but we do believe that this can be achieved," adds Jayaram.

andrewmoody@chinadaily.com.cn

( China Daily Africa Weekly 11/24/2017 page8)
BUDAPEST -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday arrived in Hungary for an official visit to the country and the sixth meeting of heads of government of China and 16 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) in Budapest.

Leaders of the 17 countries are expected to draw a new blueprint for the 16+1 cooperation five years after the mechanism was launched. And Li's visit is also set to bring bilateral ties between China and Hungary to a higher level.

At the airport, Li was welcomed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other senior officials.

After the meeting and visit scheduled for Nov 26-29, Li is going to attend the 16th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Russian city of Sochi from Nov 30 to Dec 1.

FIVE YEARS ON, LEADERS TO DRAW NEW BLUEPRINT FOR 16+1 COOPERATION

Noting that this year marks the fifth anniversary of the launching of China-CEEC 16+1 cooperation, Li said upon his arrival that the 16+1 cooperation has been growing in the past five years, benefitting people from the two sides with substantial projects and cooperation results.

Being part of China-Europe cooperation, the 16+1 cooperation has not only boosted the development of the CEEC themselves, but also promoted a balanced development for the wider Europe, which is good for Europe's integration, Li said.

"China is willing to work with all sides to review what we have achieved in the past five years and draw a blueprint for the future to achieve greater progress," Li said.

During the meeting, Li is expected to join hands with CEEC leaders to set out an outline for future cooperation, witness the signing of a series of cooperation documents, meet the press, attend the seventh China-CEEC economic and trade cooperation forum, celebrate the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the 16+1 cooperation, and hold bilateral meetings with CEEC leaders.

Ahead of the visit, Li vowed to bring China-CEEC cooperation and China-Hungary ties to a new high.

In an article published in the newspaper The Hungarian Times, the premier said the 16+1 cooperation has been growing and the mechanism improving over the past five years, bringing about remarkable progress to cooperation in all fields.

Political mutual trust between China and the CEEC has been deepened, with the two sides having established cooperation mechanisms in about 20 areas, he said.

Economic cooperation has seen a steady growth, with bilateral trade increasing to $58.7 billion in 2016 from $43.9 billion in 2010 and the completion of a number of landmark infrastructure projects, said the premier in the article.

Chinese Ambassador to Hungary Duan Jielong told a recent think tank conference that the current ties between China and the CEEC are "at their best in history."

After a great start, the 16+1 cooperation demands a new direction and new momentum, the premier said.

VISIT FOR STRONGER CHINA-HUNGARY TIES

On China-Hungary ties, Li said on his arrival that the two countries enjoy profound traditional friendship. He also spoke highly of the development of bilateral relations since the two sides established diplomatic relations more than 60 years ago.

"I'm looking forward to discussing with the Hungarian side about cooperation and jointly fleshing out the content of the China-Hungary comprehensive strategic partnership," Li said.

In May, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Orban announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries in Beijing.

During the visit, Li will hold talks with Orban, witness the signing of documents concerning political, economic, financial and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, and meet the press.

The premier will also meet with Hungarian President Janos Ader and Parliament Speaker Laszlo Kover.

In the article on the Hungarian newspaper, Li said both countries are beneficiaries and supporters of economic globalization, and it is in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries to stick to trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

The premier hailed the strategic alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Hungary's Eastern Opening policy, adding that the Initiative and 16+1 cooperation have put the two countries' economic and trade cooperation on a fast lane, with progress made in areas of investment, finance, agriculture, scientific and technological innovation and small and medium-sized enterprises.

China and Hungary have also made strides in people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in the areas of culture, education, sports, tourism and traditional Chinese medicine, he said.

Both sides hold that China-Hungary ties have entered the best period in history, Li said.
BEIJING -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang left Beijing on Sunday morning for an official visit to Hungary and the sixth meeting of heads of government of China-Central and Eastern European Countries in Budapest.

Li will also attend the 16th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Russian city of Sochi from Nov 30 to Dec 1.
home World 13 Christians detained for questioning in China for holding church services

Chinese officials reportedly broke into a house church in southern Guangdong province earlier this month and took 13 Christians to the police station for holding unapproved religious services.

According to China Aid, a team of police officers and religious affairs bureau personnel interrupted a Sunday morning worship service at Qingcaodi Church on Nov. 5 and accused the worshippers of holding a religious gathering at unapproved sites.

The 13 Christians were brought to the Xincheng Police Station, where they were held for questioning. They were not released until their information was entered into the database and transcripts of their interrogation were filled out.

The woman who provided the venue for the worship service, Zhai Lili, had received an administrative detention sentence and had not been released.

China Aid reported that the authorities also confiscated Bibles and other Christian materials belonging to the church.

The Communist government has been stepping up its crackdown on religion ahead of the implementation of the new revisions to the Regulations on Religious Affairs in February.

In September, officials in the province of Hubei reportedly detained a pastor, along with her daughter and 3-year-old grandson, for taking part in missionary work.

Pastor Xu Shizhen, her daughter, Xu Yuqing, and Xu Yuqing's three-year-old son, Xu Shouwang, were arrested by police and religious affairs bureau personnel for taking part in Zion Church's efforts to spread the Gospel in local public parks and squares.

Family members who came to see them at the police station were told that they had separated the women from the child, keeping the three-year-old at the station while transferring his grandmother and mother to other facilities.

Xu Shizhen had previously served as a pastor of Hongqiao church, but she decided to launch a new one after her old church was acquired by the Three-Self church in April 2012.

In early September, The Association of Christian Students, an institution affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, issued a report detailing the government's plans to launch a special management program targeting private churches, "illegal" religious organizations, and preachers who have not been ordained by the state.

Under the program, smaller churches will forcibly be combined with churches registered with the state-run Three-Self Patriotic Movement, and those that refuse to register will be banned.

The government also plans to shut down churches that have been deemed by public security and religious affairs bureaus as "illegal religious organizations, organizations influenced or controlled by foreign powers intending to infiltrate [the country], or [religious] gathering places that broke the laws or are under the control of cults."
home World Amnesty: Christians were singled out for abuse in Marawi conflict

A new report produced by Amnesty International has found that a majority of the victims of the Islamic State-allied militants in Marawi were Christians, some of whom were used by the group as human shields or sex slaves.

Over 1,100 combatants and civilians have been killed, including 900 Filipino and foreign militants, and about half a million have been displaced from Marawi since the siege that began on May 23.

The U.K.-based human rights group said that it had conducted 48 interviews with survivors and witnesses to produce its report detailing the violations of humanitarian law during the siege.

The report found that nearly all of the civilians who were executed by the group during the six-month conflict were Christians.

Multiple witnesses recounted 10 separate incidents in which the militants unlawfully killed at least 25 civilians, most of whom were targeted because of their Christian faith.

"Militants often executed Christians at de facto checkpoints, which the Christians were approaching in order to exit the city," the report noted, according to The Christian Post.

"Militants usually performed the killings with a pistol, a rifle, or by cutting the victim's throat. Journalists have reported cases where civilians were beheaded. Most victims were shot and killed immediately after being questioned by the military. Most victims were shot and killed while standing or kneeling on the ground; some were shot and killed while running away," it continued.

Apart from the executions, the militants had taken numerous civilians hostages, who were physically abused, made to do forced labor, used as sex slaves or human shields and forced to make bombs and fight the military.

Amnesty had also accused government forces of committing abuse against civilians. The human rights group cited instances in which civilians fleeing the conflict were detained by members of the Philippine military and subjected to torture.

One victim of the alleged abuse recounted that he and his companions had just crossed a bridge to flee a militant-controlled area, but they were soon detained and beaten up by Philippine marines, who suspected them of being militants.

Amnesty called on the government to conduct an investigation into the allegations and ensure reparations for victims.

Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla, the armed forces spokesman, said that the military is committed to respecting humanitarian law and human rights, and vowed to respond to Amnesty's report as soon as it receives a copy of the document.

Last month, U.S. Ambassador Sung Kim had asserted that there were no credible reports or allegations that the armed forces committed any abuse or rights violations against civilians in Marawi.

"It's quite positive that the Philippines military behaved in a responsible manner in a very difficult situation," the ambassador stated.
home US Bible Museum draws criticism for leaving out texts from other faiths

The newly-opened Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. has drawn some criticism for not including other religious points of view such as Islam.

In a recent interview with The New York Times (NYT), Joel S. Baden, a professor of the Hebrew Bible at Yale University, complained that the exhibits at the museum puts too much emphasis on American Protestantism and leaves out some of the Bible's history.

"There are a number of prominent omissions that make it clear that it's not a museum of the Bible as one might imagine it from a secular perspective," Baden said.

"They don't do a good job of talking about whether parts of the Bible are historically accurate," the professor added.

Baden had admitted that he had not visited the museum in person, but he had done some research and he had questioned the lack of representation from other faiths, such as Mormonism and Islam.

The $500 million museum, located just blocks from the U.S. Capitol, opened its doors to the public on Saturday, with six floors of exhibits featuring more than 500 biblical artifacts and texts, as well as the world's largest private collection of retired Torah scrolls.

Tony Zeiss, the museum's executive director, said that the aim of its exhibits was to educate people about the Bible, noting that 100 scholars added their input to the museum during its creation.

"Things are divisive, but we will not get into any of the cultural or social debates if possible. We just want to present the Bible as it is, and let people make up their own minds," Zeiss told NYT.

Prior to its opening, some critics have noted that the exhibits at the new establishment includes "lots of tech a but not a lot of Jesus."

An article published by The Washington Post last month pointed out that while visitors can view a recreation of a first-century village in Galilee where actors will tell them what the villagers think of Jesus, the story of the crucifixion and resurrection is "almost absent."

Steven Bickley, the museum's vice president of marketing, administration and finance, explained that the museum includes a Narrative floor that is divided in half between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.

He noted that among the features of the floor is an exhibit called "The World of Jesus of Nazareth," which depicts the "sights and sounds of Jesus' day," as well as a film focused on the spread of the early church "as told from the perspective of those who knew Jesus."

Museum officials have estimated that guests would need more than a week of daily eight-hour visits to fully absorb all of the exhibits.

The administrators are hoping that the new establishment, which stands just two blocks from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and its National Museum of the American Indian, would also become a must-see stop on Washington tourists' lists.
home World Christian charity removes Bible references from Nativity story to avoid confusing unchurched children

A Christian charity has decided to omit references to the Bible in its simplified nativity booklet this Christmas in an effort to avoid confusing children who do not attend church.

The Scripture Union, one of the UK's oldest Christian organizations for young people and children, said that its annual book about the Christmas story will be trimmed down this year because many children do not know the basics.

"When we realised that children don't even know the basics of what they are celebrating, then the traditional, simple story is the best way," said Jennifer Babb, church and community fundraising manager at the Scripture Union, according to The Telegraph.

The booklets previously included references to Bible verses so that readers can compare the story to the Gospels. But this year's version is a simplified nativity which assumes that children know very little about the Jesus' birth.

The charity aims to send the booklet out to 100,000 children, and Babb said that the removal of explicit references to the bible "takes that barrier away, it makes it more of a simple story."

The Telegraph noted that the this year's version, written by Gemma Willis, includes the story of Mary's visit from an angel, Joseph's dream, the couple's journey to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus.

In previous versions, the nativity booklet included the visits of the shepherds and wise men, the family's flight to Egypt, and their first visit to the temple.

Babb said that the decision was made in response to several polls that showed the scale of the children's lack of knowledge about the Christmas story.

When the free booklet was unveiled on Thursday, Paul Stockwell, the head of fundraising for Scripture Union, told Premier: "We see surveys from different retailers where they ask children and young people what they think Christmas means. They're a bit of fun but they do show that knowledge of the Christian faith and the Christian story is slowing dwindling amongst the next generation."

The findings of a study conducted in 2014 revealed that one in three children between the ages of 10 and 13 do not know that Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus.

Figures released by the Children's Society in 2013 showed that one in 10 children believe that Dec. 25 marks the birth of Santa Claus.

"We wanted to create something new this year that was specifically designed for the audience of children who might not know the real Christmas story. This is all part of our work to invite children and young people to explore the difference Jesus can make to the challenges and adventures of life," Babb said.

According to Premier, most of the 105,000 copies that have been printed are being distributed to disadvantaged children through food banks, hospitals and a charity that supports families with a jailed parent.
home US Court finds man who destroyed Ten Commandments monument unfit to stand trial

A court has determined that the man who was charged with destroying a Ten Commandments monument in Arkansas earlier this year was mentally unfit to stand trial.

On Thursday, Circuit Judge Chris Piazza had decided that Michael Tate Reed was unfit to proceed based on the diagnosis of state doctors and ordered him committed to a state hospital to determine if he will ever be fit to stand trial.

Reed, 32, crashed a vehicle into the privately funded Decalogue display outside the Arkansas Capitol building on June 28, less than 24 hours after it was installed. He faced a felony criminal mischief charge for destroying the monument.

According to The Associated Press, he was also arrested in 2014 for destroying a Ten Commandments monument in Oklahoma. Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against him that time, but he was referred to mental health treatment.

Reed's relatives noted that he has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which can cause hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking and manic behavior.

"We met him in jail. He's a very sick person, and this is the right outcome," said Robert Hodge, an attorney for Reed.

In a live video on Facebook, Reed was heard yelling "freedom" as he crashed a vehicle into the monument outside the Capitol building.

He had reportedly posted another video in which he stated that he is a proponent of the separation of church and state and feels that "[t]here's no one religion government should support."

In July, Reed admitted to reporters that he has been diagnosed with mental illnesses that include schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but insisted that he is not "mentally insane."

"I meant to do it, fully well," he said, referring to his act. "I did it because I fully believe I'm the rider on the first white horse in Revelations," he added.

AP noted that the monument destroyed by Reed was a replica of a Ten Commandments display at the Texas Capitol that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005.

The lawmaker who introduced a 2015 measure that allows the privately funded monument to be placed on Capitol grounds said that a replacement has already been made, but did not disclose when it will be installed.

A spokesman for the secretary of state's office said the new monument will undergo another review by the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission to determine if there are any changes or additions from the original display. Several groups have expressed plans to sue for state endorsement of religion after the monument is in place.
home World Daughter of imprisoned pastor Andrew Brunson pleads for father's release so that he could attend her wedding

Jacqueline Furnari, the daughter of imprisoned American pastor Andrew Brunson, has called on lawmakers to help secure the release of her father so that he could attend her wedding and walk her down the aisle.

Brunson, who had served as the Izmir Resurrection church for over 23 years, is currently being held in a Turkish prison over allegations of espionage and membership in an armed terrorist organization.

Last week, Furnari spoke at the U.S. Helsinki Commission hearing held in Congress to testify that her father was wrongfully imprisoned and needs to be reunited with his family.

"My husband and I decided to have a civil ceremony and to postpone our wedding until my father is home. I'm still waiting for my wedding. I'm still waiting to wear that wedding dress that I got almost a year and a half ago," Furnari said, according to CBN News.

"I'm still waiting for my dad to walk me down the aisle, and I'm still waiting for that father-daughter dance," she went on to say.

In addition to the allegations of espionage and terror links, Brunson was also accused of attempting to destroy constitutional order and overthrowing the Turkish parliament.

"Pastor Brunson maintains his innocence and denies all the accusations," testified CeCe Heil, executive counsel for American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), an organization fighting for the pastor's release.

Both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have appealed to the Turkish government for Brunson's release, but their requests were ignored.

In an article published on ACLJ's website, Heil expressed hope that Congress will "do everything in its power to ensure Pastor Andrew's immediate release from Turkey and safe return to his family here in the U.S."

The pastor was visited by representatives of U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) last month, almost a year to the day when he was detained.

According to USCIRF Vice Chairwoman Kristina Arriaga, Brunson had lost over 50 pounds due to the sustained stress that he endured during his incarceration.

The pastor was initially confined to a cell meant to accommodate only eight men but was crowded with 21 prisoners. He has since been transferred to Kiriklar Prison, where he is confined 24-hours a day to a cell with two other men.

In September, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan suggested that the pastor could be released if the U.S. government hands over Muslim cleric Fethullah GAlen, who is currently living in Pennsylvania.

Turkey has been seeking the extradition of GAlen, who is accused of instigating a failed military coup in July 2016.

The U.S. State Department, however, stated that there are no plans to extradite GAlen in exchange for the American pastor.

"I can't imagine that we would go down that road," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert when asked about Erdogan's suggestion.
home US Federal judge upholds abortion clinic buffer zones in Pittsburgh

A federal judge has upheld a city ordinance that is aimed at keeping protesters away from the entrances of abortion clinics in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In a ruling issued on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon said that the 15-foot "buffer zone" outside abortion clinics in the city "imposes only a minimal burden" on protesters trying to persuade women not to terminate their pregnancies.

The judge also noted that the clinic protesters' own records had shown that they are still able to communicate with patients despite the buffer zone, and in some instances, they have accomplished their goal of persuading women not to have abortions.

Pro-life activists challenged the ordinance in court in September 2014, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned an expansive statewide buffer zone law in Massachusetts.

Bissoon had initially dismissed the case, but it was reinstated by the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2016. The appellate court had ruled that before a decision can be made about the case, the city must first show that the buffer zones served a legitimate public interest and that it had reasons not to use other approaches that might be less restrictive.

In her decision on Thursday, Bissoon pointed to a 2005 City Council testimony which noted that nine months before the passage of the ordinance, there had been "13 cases of aggressive pushing, shoving and hitting, and 30 complaints of harassing behavior" outside clinics.

The judge noted that the city had tried other approaches, such as stationing police officers at the clinics, which later proved to be impractical.

Protesters have argued that they would be able to persuade women not to abort if there were no buffer zones, but Bissoon said that they "offer no concrete evidence to support this claim."

Bissoon's decision has been hailed by city officials and other pro-choice activists. "We thank the court for this decision, which retains a great benefit for women and health care access in Pittsburgh," said Timothy McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, according to Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented the clinic protesters, said that it is currently consulting its clients regarding the possibility of appeal.

"The government can't stifle free speech simply because some pro-abortion politicians or activists demand it," said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot.

"The district court should have ruled in accordance with the appeals court, which correctly applied what the Supreme Court made clear three years ago a that free speech receives the highest protection on public sidewalks," he added.
home World French group behind lawsuit against cross on Pope John Paul II statue now fights to save mosque

The French secularist group behind the complaint against a cross on the statue of the Pope John Paul II in Brittany is now fighting to save a mosque in a Parisian suburb.

The National Federation of Free Thought (FNLP), an organization known for campaigning against nativity scenes in public places in France, is now fighting to keep a mosque at the center of a town in Clichy, rather than on a smaller premises outside the city center.

According to Breitbart News, the FNLP is now calling on the city mayor, Remi Muzeu, to reestablish the mosque at the center of the town, and is also defending the Muslims' right to pray out on the streets.

Late last month, the secularist group had proclaimed victory after the Conseil d'Etat, France's highest administrative court, ordered the removal of the cross on the memorial of John Paul II situated on public land in the Breton town of PloArmel.

The court had ruled that the cross had violated a 1905 law forbidding religious monuments or symbols in any public place that is not a museum, cemetery or place of worship.

Polish Prime Minister Beata SzydAo contended that the order to remove the cross was a kind of anti-European totalitarianism.

"John Paul II said that history teaches that democracy without freedom transforms into open or disguised totalitarianism. Our great Pole, our great European, is a symbol of a Christian, united Europe. The dictate of political correctness a the secular state a introduces a place for values that are alien to our culture, (and) which lead to terrorism to the daily life of Europeans," she said.

She has offered to save the monument from "censorship" by moving it to Poland, with the permission of French authorities and the local community.

The mayor of PloArmel, however, expressed plans to sell the town square to private investors, "thus circumventing the problem" of a cross appearing on public land.

The town was given six months to remove the cross and was ordered to pay a3000 (approx. $3,500 US dollars) to the FNLP.

Due to the FNLP's defense of Islam, critics have asserted that the group's true aim is not the separation of Church and State, but "purely and simply the disappearance of the Christian identity of France."

Other secularist groups have also denounced FNLP for its complacency toward Islam while displaying hostility toward anything Christian.

"Always vigilant concerning the intrusion of Catholicism into public affairs and its financing by public monies, the FNLP is much less attentive to Islam, where its reticence almost borders on muteness," a statement from the site atheisme.org reads, according to Breitbart.

The same group noted that the FNLP has been defending the rights of Muslim women to wear the burqa and niqab in public, even as it fights against Catholic priests going about in clerical garb.
home World Hindu father beats and evicts wife, 4 children for refusing to renounce Christianity

A Hindu father has reportedly beaten his wife and four children and evicted them from his house in in the State of Haryana, Northern India after they refused to renounce their Christian faith.

The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) reported on Saturday that the family of Ramesh Kumar, a Hindu, had been cut off financially and is now struggling to make ends meet because they had refused to abandon Christianity.

Kumar reportedly demanded that they stop observing Christian practices in February and officially repudiated them on Sept. 25.

The eldest son, Neeraj, had tried to provide for the family using his small wage as a shop clerk. However, the father had allegedly contacted the shop owner and maligned his son's character, prompting the employer to dismiss Neeraj.

Kumar had also accused his family of forcing him to attend church and change his religion and claimed that his son threatened to kill him if he refuses to convert to Christianity.

The family had denied the allegations, but the authorities had tried to settle the feud by joining the father in his demands that the Christians renounce their faith.

The mother and the children, however, have contended that the incident has only served to strengthen their faith. "We will not stop going to the Church because we know Jesus is the True God who died for us," they said.

BPCA has expressed concerns that the family would be attacked by extremists, as Kumar had placed an advertisement last week in a local newspaper alleging that his family members assaulted him. The father also noted in the advertisement that he had already disowned his family and he is not responsible for what happens to them.

"The disownment of his children by a patriarch has left this family very vulnerable. They have been targeted by a father who is caught up in the religious zeal that has become more commonplace in India since the [Narendra] Modi regime came into power," BPCA Chairman Wilson Chowdhry stated.

"Proliferation of anti-minority propaganda, and a biased national curriculum that continues to demonize other faiths, has had the effect of polarizing communities. Moreover a growing number of incidents of minority persecution, is a poor indictment of Indian society which lacks harmony and tolerance in many regions," Chowdhry continued.

The organization has started a donation drive to support the Christians and has listed the significant financial hardships they face for their commitment to their faith.

BPCA noted that Neeraj is actively seeking work as he now has the problem of having to pay for food, rent, three folding beds, warm bedding and the school fees for his younger siblings.

Neeraj's father has reportedly blamed the pastor for converting his family, and the police are now repeatedly calling the minister to the police station. The pastor's lawyer had advised him against going, fearing that they would arrest him on trumped up charges and incite other people against him.
home US Hundreds leave Paula White's church due to links with Trump, son says

The New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida has lost hundreds of members due to Paula White's relationship with President Donald Trump, according to the televangelist's son, Bradley Knight.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Knight revealed that between 200 to 300 people had left the predominantly black congregation and that giving has dropped by $10,000 weekly because of White's support for the president.

"Her relationship with the black community got really frayed because of President Trump. She got messages from black leaders, saying, 'You betrayed us,'" Knight said.

However, sources that have worked closely with the New Destiny have previously reported that church attendance had dropped dramatically when White took over the congregation when co-founder Zachery Tims died in 2011.

White, who serves as the president's spiritual adviser, had been accused of "strong arming her way as the new installed pastor" at New Destiny during the search to replace Tims.

Tims' ex-wife and co-founder of New Destiny, Riva Tims, has said that she does not know what has happened with the church since White took it over with 8,000 members, but noted that "it's very quiet over there."

When asked about how she felt about White's role as the president's adviser, Riva said that it was not a role that she would recommend for the popular televangelist.

"Honestly, I don't get the connection there. I don't know her really [but] based on the history that I have experienced with Paula White, I couldn't receive from Paula White. That's just me," Riva said, according to The Christian Post.

White said that she tries to ensure that she does justice to her adviser role by spending an hour a day in prayer and Bible study. Additionally, she also said that she tries to fast one day a week, and go on a longer fast once each month.

The popular televangelist has drawn widespread criticism after it was announced that she was one of six religious leaders participating in Trump's inauguration ceremony.

Conservative blogger and radio host Erick Erickson referred to White as a "prosperity gospel charlatan" and claimed that the televangelist has rejected "Christianity itself" by rejecting the "orthodoxy of the Nicene Creed."

White denied the accusations of heresy by saying she has always believed in the Holy Trinity, as well as the "exclusivity and divinity of Jesus Christ, his saving grace and substitutionary atonement made available to all by his death on the cross."

She also rejected the assertions that she is a prosperity preacher by saying she has preached "as much on the lessons we must learn in times of trial in our lives as I have in times of abundance."
home US Husband and wife accidentally get shot in church during discussion on gun safety

A man and his wife sustained non-lethal injuries after a gun accidentally went off at a Tennessee church during a discussion about weapons in places of worship in light of recent mass shootings.

The incident happened on Thursday afternoon as a Bible-study group decided to discuss the issue of gun safety in church during a pre-Thanksgiving lunch at the First United Methodist Church in the town of Tellico Plains.

During the discussion, an 81-year-old church member had pulled out his .38-caliber Ruger handgun, removed the magazine, and cleared the chamber before showing it to other parishioners. When he took the weapon back, he restored the magazine and put it back into his holster, according to Tellico Plains Police Chief Russ Parks.

After the discussion, a church member who had missed the demonstration approached the gun owner and asked to see his weapon. Just as he was pulling his gun back out of his pocket, the gun owner accidentally hit the trigger, firing one round.

The bullet hit the gun owner in his right hand before it struck his 81-year-old wife, who was sitting in a wheelchair next to him. It went through his wife's abdomen, exited through her right forearm and ricocheted off the wall before landing by her wheelchair.

Panic overcame church members who were unaware of the second demonstration, with some assuming that a gunman had entered the church.

"They had their backs to it. Somebody hollers, 'He's been shot! She's been shot! Call 911!' So someone grabs their cellphone and calls 911, and says we've had somebody shot at church," Parks said, according to Herald Courier.

Due to the confusion, the 911 dispatcher had reportedly assumed that there was a mass shooting. As a result, a local hospital and several schools were placed under a lockdown, but it was immediately lifted after police realized that someone had accidentally discharged a handgun.

Parks noted that the husband and wife had been flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in critical condition, but their conditions have been stabilized as of Thursday evening.

The police said that no one else was injured and no one had been charged. "This was an accident. It was not intentional. It just slipped his mind that he recharged the weapon," Parks told ABC News, noting that the man was carrying the gun legally.

"We are currently working on a program now for our local citizens on weapon safety. Sometimes we don't get enough of that for the general public," he added.
home World Irish priest laments lack of exorcism training in churches

An Irish priest has accused the Catholic Church of abandoning its flock by failing to offer exorcism training for today's clergy.

Fr. Pat Collins, a trained psychologist, has said that he is appalled by the lack of training for exorcisms in church and has insisted that it was the responsibility of the Irish bishops to put this training in place.

"The Church is rightfully admitting its sinfulness in child sex abuse, that we did not defend children. Now it has all the safeguarding measures and that's excellent," he said, as reported by Dublin Live. "But it appalls me that we have no safeguarding from the evil spirits," he added.

In his recent appearance on a documentary about evil called "Would You Believe," the priest said that he cannot rule out human explanations for evil, but he believes it would be naive to exclude the supernatural dimension.

Collins said he believes there is an increasing fascination with evil spirits in today's society, as more people lose their faith in God. The Dublin priest, however, said that he is not afraid of evil spirits because of his deep faith.

"I know who's boss. When I say Jesus is Lord, I believe he has power and authority over all these things and the evil spirits, powerful as though be, are on a hiding to nothing when we who are acting in the name of Lord with the power of the Holy Spirit come against them. We have authority over them," he said.

The cleric said he believes that priests and even lay people need proper training on how to distinguish psychological problems from spiritual problems, and how they "interconnect at times as they often do."

In response to Collins' remarks, the Catholic Communications office issued a statement saying the Catholic Church requires there should be a qualified exorcist for each of the country's 26 dioceses.

The communications office explained that the exorcist should be someone who knows how to distinguish the signs of demonic possession from those of mental or physical illness.

The statement further noted that exorcisms are very rare and that it has not been made aware of any such cases in Ireland in recent years.

The office stated that dioceses get requests for help on exorcisms from time to time, and they would refer people to one or two priests with training and expertise in the area.

In most of the cases, the priests, after conducting several meetings, would find that it may be a medical, psychiatric or psychological problem and the subject would then be referred to medics who are experienced on that field, the office said.
home US ISIS supporters call for assassination of Trump's 11-year-old son

Islamic State supporters have targeted President Donald Trump's 11-year-old son, Barron, for assassination, in the wake of the terror organization's crippling losses in the Middle East.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), ISIS supporters are calling on other adherents to assassinate Barron and have shared the location and name of his school on a well-known Telegram channel.

The initial call to assassinate the presidential son was reportedly sent by an ISIS supporter on Nov. 21. The post included a Google map pinpointing the location of the boy's school.

"Using the hashtag 'handle the son of the mule of America,' the supporter, who uses the name 'Dak Al-Munafiqeen,' Arabic for 'striking the hypocrites,' wrote: 'Barron Trump goes to this school in Washington,'" MEMRI noted, as reported by Washington Free Beacon.

"The post was followed by a photo of Barron Trump. To widely disseminate the call for assassination, several pro-ISIS Telegram channels have shared and forwarded the post," the institute continued.

ISIS has been facing severe losses in the Middle East, and its remaining fighters who have not surrendered are now being bombed mercilessly by allied forces.

Despite suffering defeat, supporters of the terror group have been issuing threats against prominent figures, including Pope Francis and members of the United Kingdom's royal family.

Earlier this week, a pro-ISIS media group released a propaganda poster depicting a beheaded Francis with the message: "I swear to avenge every single drop of blood that you spilled and every house that you have destroyed."

The gruesome poster was released just days after another image began circulating through pro-ISIS social media accounts showing a masked man behind the wheel of a car heading towards St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Late last month, ISIS followers posted a chilling threat against four-year-old Prince George on Telegram with a message saying, "Even the royal family will not be left alone."

The post included a picture of the young prince outside his school in Battersea, South London, along with its address and the comment, "school starts early."

The message also featured words from a jihadi song which was translated as "When war comes with the melody of bullets, we descend on disbelief, desiring retaliation."

In September, the terror group also released a video challenging Prince Harry to fight jihadis, and threatening to send him and his Apache helicopters "to hellfire."

Telegram has been labeled as a "breeding ground" for terrorists, and it is now being monitored by British spies in an effort to stop further attacks in the U.K.
home US Judge overturns Texas law banning dismemberment abortions

A judge has thrown out provisions of a Texas law that would have prohibited dismemberment abortions, which is commonly used in the second trimester to terminate pregnancies.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel had issued a permanent injunction against the provisions contained in Senate Bill 8, which was aimed at banning doctors from performing dilation and evacuation abortions.

In his ruling, Yeakel argued that the provisions were "facially unconstitutional" and that it "intervenes in the medical process of abortion prior to viability in an unduly burdensome manner."

Yeakel contended that women would "suffer irreparable harm by being unable to access the most commonly used and safest previability-second-trimester-abortion procedure."

The judge further stated that "dismemberment abortion" was not a medical term used by physicians, and asserted that the aim of the measure was to ban the dilation and evacuation procedure.

Yeakel's decision came just as the restraining order he placed on the legislation was set to expire on Wednesday.

He issued a temporary restraining order on the law on Aug. 30 after the Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit on behalf of several abortion facilities.

Critics of the legislation argued that dilation and evacuation is the safest method of abortion after about 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Guttmacher Institute, a research group advocating for abortion rights, noted that while the procedure is used in most second-trimester abortions, almost 90 percent of all abortions are carried out during the first trimester.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that his office had already filed an appeal, adding that the legislation was lawful and protected "unborn human life from ghastly dismemberment abortions."

Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance For Life (TAL), slammed the ruling, and commended Paxton for his "robust defense of the law."

"U.S. Supreme Court precedent does not allow states to protect non-viable unborn babies from abortion, even when the methods entails dismembering the baby during the abortion. Most people find abortion by this method to be abhorrent," he said, as reported by Life Site News.

"This court's decision shows how out of step that precedent is with common human decency," he added.

The pro-life group noted that other provisions of the law remain in effect, including a "ban on partial-birth abortion, the sale or donation of tissues and organs obtained after abortion, and research on those tissues and organs."

According to Life News, similar laws have been passed in Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. However, courts have struck down such measures in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
home US Ken Ham denounces Planned Parenthood supporter who made anonymous donation in his name

Ken Ham, president of creationist ministry Answers in Genesis (AiG), has denounced a Planned Parenthood supporter who made an anonymous donation to the abortion provider in his name.

In an article published on the ministry's website on Tuesday, Ham said that he was "quite perplexed" after he received a letter thanking him for inspiring support of Planned Parenthood.

"Because of my very public statements about this evil organization (which is subsidized by US tax dollars), someone who opposes me and the ministry of Answers in Genesis sent a donation to Planned Parenthood in 'honor' of me! I guess this person thought it was a way to rile us up because of our anti-abortion stand based on God's Word," Ham wrote.

The prominent creationist said that he was "disgusted" to read the contents of the thank you letter, in which the abortion provider touted its "commitment to reproductive justice."

"In reality, 'reproductive justice' means murder and making sure there is no justice for the unborn!" Ham exclaimed.

"Commemorating its birthday is a bit ironic. You see, while PP in our region reaches the ripe old age of 85, consider this: how many babies never saw their first birthday because of their so-called 'reproductive justice'?" he added.

Ham asserted that the donation was made in his name in protest of his ministry's strong stance against abortion and his ongoing public pro-life statements.

The same tactic has also been used by abortion activists against Vice President Mike Pence following the elections in November last year.

In December 2016, Planned Parenthood revealed that about 72,000 of more than 260,000 donations that have come since Nov. 8 that year were made in the name of Pence.

Earlier this month, actress Mila Kunis drew criticism from the pro-life community after she revealed that she makes monthly donations to Planned Parenthood in Pence's name. Some have called for a boycott against the bourbon company Beam until they remove the actress as a spokeswoman.

The actress said that she sees her donations as a way of expressing her disagreement with the vice president, rather than a prank against him.

Planned Parenthood performs about 320,000 abortions each year and receives about half a billion taxpayer dollars annually. It has reportedly spent approximately $30 million last year to elect Hillary Clinton and other pro-abortion political candidates but lost many of the races.

The abortion provider has been accused of being involved in numerous scandals, including the potential illegal sales of aborted babies' body parts, Medicaid fraud and failure to report sexual abuse of minors.
home US Little Sisters of the Poor goes back to court to defend religious exemption from HHS contraceptive mandate

The Little Sisters of the Poor are heading back to court after several states filed a lawsuit against the religious exemption from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate that requires employers to provide coverage for contraceptives in their healthcare plans.

Last month, President Donald Trump's administration issued an executive order providing broad religious exemptions for non-profits like the Little Sisters to protect them from having to pay for contraceptives and abortifacients.

According to Life Site News, the order states that the government will "provide regulatory relief for religious objectors to Obamacare's burdensome preventive services mandate, a position supported by the Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby."

Following the release of the executive order, the states of Pennsylvania and California filed a lawsuit in an attempt to take away the religious exemptions from the new HHS rule.

Xavier Becerra, the Attorney General of California, argued that the new rules allow employers to discriminate against employees and "deny them a federally entitled health benefit" by pointing to their religious beliefs.

The Little Sisters, represented by attorneys at Becket Law, are requesting the court to intervene in order to make sure they do not have to violate their faith when providing healthcare plans.

"Becket has argued all along that the government has many ways to provide services to women who want them as well as protect the Little Sisters," a case summary stated on Becket's website.

"Neither the federal government nor the state governments need nuns to help them give out contraceptives," it continued.

Mother Loraine Marie Maguire with the Little Sisters of the Poor said that members of the charitable organization only want to "continue our religious mission of caring for the elderly poor as we have over 175 years."

"We pray that these state governments will leave us alone and let us do our work in peace," she continued.

Trump's executive order had placed a limit on a rule created under the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act that required employers, including non-church religious organizations, to provide coverage for all forms of contraception, including birth control pills, abortion drugs and devices in their employees' healthcare plans.

In May 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to have ruled in favor of the Little Sisters when it unanimously ordered lower courts to review a case involving the contraception mandate.

In a separate case, the high court ruled that businesses, such as Hobby Lobby, were protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, which holds that an individual's religious expression may not be "substantially burdened" by a law unless there is a "compelling government interest."

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the ruling that the contraception rule would require business owners to make the difficult choice of either giving up their right to protection for their religious liberty or forgoing benefits available to their competitors.
home World National Geographic Museum launches 3D exhibit of burial site of Christ

The National Graphic Museum in Washington, D.C. has launched a new 3-D exhibit called "Tomb of Christ: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre Experience" to allow visitors to catch a glimpse of one of Christianity's holiest sites in Jerusalem.

The exhibit, which opened on Nov. 15, will allow people to virtually visit what some believe to be the ancient tomb where Jesus' body was laid after the Crucifixion.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre recently underwent significant renovations, which has led to some notable finds, including what archaeologists say could be the original limestone bed where Jesus was laid on.

"I'm absolutely amazed. My knees are shaking a little bit because I wasn't expecting this," Fredrik Hiebert of National Geographic said at the time.

"We can't say 100 percent, but it appears to be visible proof that the location of the tomb has not shifted through time, something that scientists and historians have wondered for decades," he continued.

National Geographic noted that the visitors to its latest exhibit will learn all about the historic renovation, which also revealed part of the bedrock from the original cave where Jesus is said to have been buried before the Resurrection.

In October 2016, the original surface of the tomb was exposed for the first time after the scientists removed the marble cladding that covered it since at least 1555 A.D.

"The marble covering of the tomb has been pulled back, and we were surprised by the amount of fill material beneath it," Hiebert said after the tomb was uncovered.

"It will be a long scientific analysis, but we will finally be able to see the original rock surface on which, according to tradition, the body of Christ was laid," he added.

The virtual tour will allow guests to see the Edicule, which is the ornate shrine within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that encompasses the remains of the rock-cut tomb.

The exhibit will also feature the cutting-edge technology that was used to document the restoration, according to The Christian Post.

The restoration work at the church started last year after Israeli authorities deemed the site unsafe. There had been fears in May 2016 that the holy site was "on the verge of collapse" due to its age.

Antonia Moropoulou, who directed the work at the site, said that the structure at the church needed reinforcement and conservation, including work on drainage network for rainwater and sewage.

The Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Orthodox churches all pitched in to help fund the $3.4 million project. Some world leaders, including King Abdullah of Jordan, also donated money for the restoration of the site.
home US New Jersey court nixes abortion buffer zone law in Englewood

A New Jersey federal court has struck down an ordinance prohibiting pro-life speech within eight feet of abortion clinics in the city of Englewood.

According to NorthJersey.com, the ordinance, passed by the City Council in March 2014, prohibits people from coming within 8 feet of the entrance, exit or driveway of a health care facility or "transitional facility," such as a shelter for domestic-violence victims.

The mandate was passed in an attempt to address the protests outside abortion clinics, where officials and activists said at the time had escalated from quiet vigils to confrontations on the sidewalk.

In 2015, pro-life advocate Jeryl Turco had filed the lawsuit challenging the buffer zones, arguing that the ordinance violated the First Amendment as well as the state constitution.

Turco, who used to make weekly visits to Metropolitan Medical Associates, also contended that the law created a double standard between protesters and the volunteers who are able to use restricted parts of the sidewalk while accompanying patients to and from the clinic.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton ruled that the measure violates the rights of pro-life protesters to free speech and free assembly under the First Amendment.

Wigenton stated in her decision that the ordinance was too broad, noting that the defendant "did not create a targeted statute to address the specific issue of congestion or militant and aggressive protesters outside of the clinic."

"Instead, defendant created a sweeping regulation that burdens the free speech of individuals, not just in front of the clinic, but at health care and transitional facilities citywide," the judge wrote.

Bonnie Shapiro, the president of the Northern New Jersey National Organization for Women, expressed disappointment with the ruling.

"We were so overjoyed when the council understood what this meant for the patients, and we feel this is really just a sad result," she said.

"The buffer helped because people's personal space was not infringed upon in the same way. The yelling was at least not in their face. A person couldn't pull them aside, which is so invasive," she added.

Pro-life protesters had been accused of shouting, pushing people and blocking entrances to clinics, but Marie Tasy of New Jersey Right to Life contended that the allegations were "not true."

Tasy pointed out that the court has found no evidence of any violence, clinic harassment, or arrests in the last five years.

Wigenton cited a June 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision, which struck down a Massachusetts law that prohibited protesters from coming within 35 feet of an abortion facility. The high court stated in its ruling that the law limited free speech more than what was necessary in an effort to further the state's interests in maintaining order and ensuring access to abortion clinics.

The judge further stated that the city had not tried less restrictive measures before enacting the ordinance, adding that no individuals were prosecuted for their actions outside the clinic in the five years before the measure was passed.
home US 'Nones' overtake Protestants, Catholics as largest social group in US, survey finds

A new survey has found that religious "nones" is now the largest social group in the U.S., overtaking Protestants and Catholics.

The American Family Survey, released on Nov. 16, has found that 34 percent of Americans now identify as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular." The findings make them the largest religious groups in the study, surpassing Protestants (33 percent) and Catholics (21 percent).

Other groups included in the research include Muslims, Jews (two percent), Mormons (one percent), Orthodox Christians (one percent), and Hindus (one percent), as well as those who said they were "something else" (four percent).

According to Religion News Service, the study, co-sponsored by Brigham Young University and the Deseret News, is aimed at measuring Americans' attitudes on a broad range of issues, including politics, health care, immigration and the challenges now facing the American family.

Christopher Karpowitz, one of the authors of the study, noted that there was a significant difference in the findings in this year's study compared to 2015 and 2016.

"When we first started doing this study in 2015, more than two-thirds of our respondents picked at least one cultural issue as being one of the three most important issues facing American families. Now there's been an 11-point increase in the percentage of people who say the biggest issues facing families are economic," he said.

The findings revealed that there is a religious divide among Americans when it comes to determining which are the most pressing issues.

Those who attend religious services regularly are more likely to point at cultural issues, with 72 percent being concerned about things like sexual permissiveness or falling religious attendance. Only 43 percent of those who attend frequently were concerned about the same issues. In contrast, almost seven in 10 secular respondents say they were concerned about the economy.

The findings also indicated a split in priorities between Trump and Clinton voters. Trump voters tend to agree with frequent religious attendees, being far more concerned about cultural issues than the economy.

Overall, the study suggested that Americans are more worried about the economy than they are about cultural decline.

Economic issues increased in importance from 51 percent to 62 percent, while cultural matters, such as sexual permissiveness, decline in religious faith, and drug use, decreased by 17 points from 68 percent to 51 percent.

The study also implied a link between mobile phone use and relationship problems. It found that more than four in 10 people who use their phones multiple times a day to check social media believe that their relationship is in trouble. In contrast, fewer than two in 10 of those who never use social media believe the same.
home World Pressure to reach church growth targets can lead to 'clergy self-harm,' Oxford dean warns

The Dean of Christ Church in Oxford has pleaded with bishops to stop acting like CEO's who are chasing growth targets as the practice can lead to "clergy self-harm."

Professor Martyn Percy, who also teaches in the theology faculty, warned that the Church of England, under Archbishop Justin Welby, has become increasingly corporate and too focused on growth.

"The church has become too organisational and bureaucratic," he told the audience at the charity Sons & Friends of the Clergy, as reported by The Telegraph.

"Sharp missional evangelistic thinking has created a culture where clergy feel like employees, chasing targets - and they feel guilty when they don't achieve those targets, or when they can no longer relate to what has become an organisation," he added.

Percy contended that Welby's business-like "renewal and reform" approach is detrimental to the clergy's duty and wellbeing.

In an attempt to stem the rapid decline in church attendance, Welby, a former oil executive, has been pursuing an approach that includes courses for bishops to learn managerial skills.

Percy said that instead of chasing growth targets, clergy should understand that the two key symbols that a bishop holds are a "chair (to teach) and a pastoral staff (a symbol of care)."

"Bishops need to be good teachers and great carers, not great leaders or CEOs or managers of organisations. We can get that from good lay leaders and diocesan secretaries," the dean asserted.

The Church had launched a new "covenant" last week with the aim of preserving clergy mental health following reports that they were struggling to cope with stress that is "fuelled by anxiety about growth and organisation and professionalism."

Jeremy Moodey, chief executive of Sons & Friends of the Clergy, said that mental health problems among vicars are increasing, with 30 percent of Anglican clergy suffering from depression since their ordination. Additionally, more than 40 percent had at some stage thought about leaving the ministry due to stress.

In response to the crisis, the 362-year old charity, which works to support clergy and improve their wellbeing, has agreed to change its objectives to include "the promotion of health" among Anglican clergy and their families.

Despite Welby's efforts to get people to attend services, the church is still struggling to fill the pews. A recent report had indicated that the number of British people identifying as Christian fell from 55 percent to 43 percent between 1983 and 2015.

In contrast, data from the British Social Attitudes Survey indicated that the total number of unbelievers in the U.K. has reached a record high, with 53 percent of the population describing themselves as having "no religion" in 2016 a up from 48 percent in 2015.
home World Pro-ISIS group releases new propaganda poster showing 'beheaded' Pope Francis

A media group allied with the Islamic State has released a new poster depicting a beheaded Pope Francis, just days after it disseminated an image featuring a masked man driving towards Vatican City's St. Peter's Basilica.

The gruesome image from the Wafa Media Foundation featured an ISIS fighter leaning over the decapitated body of the pontiff with his name, "Jorge Mario Bergoglio," written next to the head.

"I swear to avenge every single drop of blood that you spilled and every house that you have destroyed," the caption on the photo reads, according to International Business Times.

"I swear that you will taste the bitterness of the cups of death and make your feasts massacres. You will not even enjoy living in your homes, Allah Willing," it added.

In a previous poster disseminated by the same group, a masked figure is seen driving toward St. Peter's Basilica with a gun and a backpack inside the vehicle. The top of the poster was captioned with the message "Christmas blood" with the line "so wait..." written in red underneath.

Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, told Newsweek that it is not unusual for the group to issue such threats, especially during the holiday season.

"ISIS and its supporters know how to play the media game, and often time the releases of their threats to get the highest amount of attention as possible," she said.

"Though the group always issues threats to Christians, a group like Wafa may naturally want to ramp up such messages leading into Christians' biggest holiday," she continued.

PJ Media noted that the terror group had carried out several attacks during the holiday season, including the 2015 attack on San Bernardino County Christmas party by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, as well as the truck attack on the Berlin Christmas market by Anis Amri last year.

The Vatican had stepped up its security in the area surrounding St. Peters Square due to the rise of terrorist attacks across Europe.

In August, an ISIS-linked group in the Philippines released a video showing a terrorist tearing an image of Francis in half and calling on supporters to drive cars into the crowds in the Vatican.

The pope's top aide, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said at the time that he was worried about the threat, but to his knowledge, no new particular security measures were put in place as a direct result of the video.

Paloma GarcAa Ovejero, the pope's deputy spokesperson, noted that the security measures were not raised that time because the "controls are already very high."

She assured that the pilgrims and tourists at St. Peter's Square are "always very well protected," and added that the headquarters of the Catholic church are protected by "heavily qualified men."
home US Secularist group accuses Bible museum of indoctrinating visitors

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has accused the newly-opened Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. of indoctrinating its visitors and said that it has taken steps to ensure that the institution has not received any taxpayer funds.

In an article posted on Patheos.com, Andrew L. Seidel, Director of Strategic Response for the FFRF, said that the group has been monitoring the progress of the museum for years and it has filed Freedom of Information Act requests to make sure that no taxpayer funds have been received during its construction.

Seidel noted that in 2014, the FFRF had tried to prevent Steve Green, who had funded the museum, from implementing a Bible course in Oklahoma public schools.

He contended that the materials in that course had a "clear Christian bias" and said that he expects to see "more of the same in the Museum of the Bible."

"Indoctrination, not education. Preaching, not teaching. Just like the bible class, it will try to prove the truth of the bible. And while the structure may be impressive and there may be some wonderful artifacts (hopefully not purloined), the underlying arguments will likely fall as flat as the class," he wrote.

The $500 million museum, which opened to the public on Saturday, features a large collection of Christian and Hebrew artifacts, as well as exhibits on the Bible's influence on society, including media, fashion and events in American and world history.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Tony Zeiss, the museum's executive director, noted that the museum consulted with 100 biblical scholars in an effort to avoid appearing partisan.

Seidel, however, suggested that a closer look at the museum's exhibits "will reveal a disturbing bias and dearth of scholarship."

Other critics have also complained about the museum's lack of representation of other religious points of view.

Joel S. Baden, a professor of the Hebrew Bible at Yale University, lamented that the museum puts too much emphasis on American Protestantism and leaves out other faiths, such as Mormonism and Islam.

Zeiss has said that the museum's aim is to educate people about the Bible and to show the history and influence of what he described as the world's most influential texts.

"Things are divisive, but we will not get into any of the cultural or social debates if possible. We just want to present the Bible as it is, and let people make up their own minds," he said.

The administrators of the museum have said that the primary goal of its exhibits is to get the people to read the Bible not necessarily to believe in it.
home World Spanish nuns fined $199,000 for restoring priceless church organ without permission

A group of nuns in Seville, Spain have been fined $199,000 (170,000 euros) after they carried out restoration work on a priceless church organ without the state's permission.

The sisters of Santa Ines in Seville, southern Spain, had decided that the organ at their convent needed to be repaired and had accepted an offer from a local charity to restore the instrument for free.

"It hasn't worked for 30 years, and we couldn't afford the estimated cost of more than 150,000 euros (135,000). We only make enough money from the sale of sweets to cover our bills and national insurance payments," said Abbess Blanca Cervantes, defending the nuns' decision to restore the organ.

The nuns, however, did not expect that the local government would consider their actions as a criminal offense.

The regional government of Andalusia has fined the convent US$199,000 (170,000 euros) for the "unauthorized" work on the organ. However, it said that it will allow the charity to finish the restoration work in time for Christmas.

The organ, which was built by 17th-century master Perez Valladolid, had been listed by Andalusia's Ministry of Culture as an Item of Cultural Significance in 1983. The ornately-decorated instrument is thought to be the inspiration behind Gustavo Adolfo Becquer's celebrated story "Maese Peres, the Organist."

According to The Olive Press, the penalty was imposed after technicians discovered that the nuns had transported the instrument to a different workshop other than the one sanctioned by the ministry.

The ministry contended that it is only applying the law, but it said that it is willing to show mercy to the nuns by cutting the fine down to US$119,000 if they settle and pay the penalty outside of court.

But the Alqvimia Musicae Foundation, the charity that is paying for the restoration of the instrument, has insisted that the nuns should not have to pay out of their own pockets. The group has organized a charity lunch on Nov. 19 to raise money for the fine. The menu for the event reportedly included "Santa Teresa stew," drinks, snacks, and convent baked goods.

"We remain calm, because we believe we have done nothing wrong," Mother Blanca said, according to BBC, citing the ABC de Sevilla newspaper.

An article from Atlas Obscura noted that a debate has been scheduled to take place next Wednesday at the parliament over assertions that the noncompliance of the government was directly responsible for the organ's state of deterioration.
home World UK church ordered to stop ringing its bells at night following noise complaints from neighbor

A historic church in England has been told to stop ringing its bells at night after officials received a noise complaint from a neighbor who was reportedly unable to sleep because of the loud chiming.

According to Daily Mail, the bells at St. Peters Church in Sandwich, Kent, rings every 15 minutes even during the night, but the church had issued a noise abatement notice on Monday after noise pollution officers from Dover District Council deemed the chimes to be "too loud."

Church officials have been told to stop ringing the bells between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., but they have been allowed to let the chimes ring out on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

The Churches Conservation Trust, which looks after the 900-year-old church, has been given 90 days to make the changes or face legal action for breaching the enforcement notice.

The town's 5,500 residents have not previously complained about the noise, and a majority have objected to the noise abatement order, saying it threatened "traditions and history" in the medieval town.

"This is not a democratic decision, the council has ignored the vast majority of its electorate," said Carole George, who leads the campaign called "Save The Chimes."

"The church has been ringing out for centuries, it's not a new noise. It's the beating heart of this town. It is unclear what tampering with such an old mechanism will do, and there is a concern the bells may stop altogether," she went on to say.

According to the BBC, more than 3,500 residents have signed a petition to keep the bells ringing.

A resident named Alan Spears said that he was initially annoyed by the chimes when he moved to Sandwich three years ago, but he soon got used to them.

"Some people complain about anything... if it really disturbs this cretin... move!" another local, identified only as Robster, wrote online, according to the Daily Mail.

The council acknowledged that the decision went against the majority, but contended that it had a "statutory duty to investigate noise complaints."

John Hennessy, the chairman of the Sandwich Local History Society, pointed to a recent poll that reportedly found that 85 percent of nearly 300 residents who live near the church said they would not be happy if the chimes were stopped.

A spokeswoman for the conservation trust said that it does not have the funds to file an appeal, but added that it will go ahead with the plea if the community raises the money to cover the costs.

The Mayor of Sandwich, Paul Graeme, stated that he had spoken to the group campaigning to save the chimes, and noted that they are "fully aware of their obligation in respect of the cost of such appeals."
Paula Deen's Family Kitchen will open its San Antonio location inside Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World at The Rim, according to a press release.

The restaurant is expected to open in spring 2018. It will be the first of its kind to open within a Bass Pro Shops nationwide, according to the press release.
Hunger never takes a day off.

As the Cleveland community grows, so does the need for food to feed the hungry. No one understands the need in Cleveland more than Frieda White, co-pastor of Liberty Church and founder of Operation Refuge, an organization that operates a food pantry and thrift shop.

"The need never stops. Every month we help about 240-260 families per month with food. That's pretty constant," White said.

"When we first started the food pantry back in 2001, we were the only ones doing it in the area," she said. "It hasn't gotten any easier over the years. Every month we deplete our savings. It might look like we are blowing and going because we have the food pantry and thrift shop buildings, but ever month we are praying and asking for God's help."

White said the cost of paying for both buildings, with insurance, utilities and taxes, is great.

"Then we still have to buy large amounts of food every month to restock our shelves," she said.

This year, Operation Refuge has initiated a fund-raising campaign on Facebook to raise $5,000. Just days after the campaign was started, donations had already reached $800, but many more are needed to reach the goal.

White said the money will provide Operation Refuge with a cushion to carry it through the holiday season and provide Christmas dinners for food bank clients.

Donations can be made through PayPal, debit card or credit card in increments of $20, $50, $100, $250 or other dollar amounts.

To reach the Facebook campaign, search for Frieda White on Facebook and click on the link for the campaign in her timeline. To mail in a donation, send to P.O. Box 355, Cleveland, Texas 77327. Donations can also be dropped off at Operation Refuge Thrift Shop at 904 E. Houston St., Cleveland.

Operation Refuge is a 501(c)3 non-profit and all donations are tax-deductible.

For more information on making a donation or receiving assistance, call 281-592-0204. To be eligible for assistance, a person must live in north Liberty County and able to provide identification and proof of residency, such as a utility bill.
Texas bill would classify unborn children as HOV lane passengers House Bill 521 seeks to amend laws to allow solo pregnant drivers in high-occupancy lanes.

Astros mailbag: What's next for the World Series champs Houston fans chime in with questions they have about the team this offseason.
Christmas is a time of giving and this year is no different as the Care/Share food pantry of Coldspring is planning to supply needy families with a Christmas dinner to help get through the holidays.

According to Care/Share President Vicki Jowell, the pantry has worked diligently throughout the recent disaster of Hurricane Harvey.

"After the storm, we were the only disaster site in San Jacinto County," she said.

The pantry received donations from the Houston Food Bank and has remained busy since September to help provide for the needy citizens of San Jacinto County.

"We are doing our gift of produce," said Jowell.

The gift of produce is scheduled for Dec. 2 at the Jones Auditorium. The time is not yet determined.

Care/Share is also providing food for needy families throughout their scheduled days every Monday and Saturday.

"We are trying to provide chickens for all of our families for Christmas," said Jowell.

Jowell says the pantry can use donations to help provide for families.

"We can always use peanut butter and jelly," she said.

Preferred donations are those that are shelf stable such as canned goods, boxes of foods such as macaroni and cheese and other items. Frozen chickens are also welcome.

"The clients that come in, they can come get food every 30 days," said Jowell.

Those who wish to receive food from Care/Share need to prove they are residents of San Jacinto County. Residents also must inform Care/Share of how many individuals are in their family.

Chickens can be received from Care/Share starting with the first Monday in December.

Care/Share is located at 21 Butler St, Coldspring, Texas 77331. The pantry is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Monday and Saturday. For more information, call 936-653-2001.
San Jacinto County 4-H is accepting donations to creating Blessing Gift Bags, which contain personal care items intended to be donated to residents of Woodland Park Nursing Home.

"They enjoy seeing the kids so much," said Shepherd 4-H Adult Leader Rhiannon Burton. "We asked all 4-H members to donate $5 to $10."

Donors can donate either cash or personal care items such as body spray and other items.

"We're going to deliver the bags," said Burton. "The kids are going to pass them out."

Members of 4-H are also going to sing Christmas carols for the residents of Woodland Park Nursing Home.

Burton says the 4-H Club is wanting to give back to the community starting with the nursing home, which has an estimated 60 residents.

"They're very good about participating with the kids and sponsoring the youth," said Burton referring to Woodland Park Nursing Home. "These people help us so we help back."

The San Jacinto County 4-H Club is also wanting to deliver these bags to Woodland Park Nursing Home to provide a little bit of Christmas cheer that the residents may not normally get elsewhere.

"That's where they are," said Burton. "Some of them don't have family."

The members of the San Jacinto County 4-H Club are set to deliver the Blessing Gift Bags on Dec. 15. Donations can be dropped off at the San Jacinto County 4-H Club extension office located at 11 Carrier Ave Shepherd, Texas 77371. For more information, call the office at 936-628-6407 or call Burton at 281-659-5525.
China pays great attention to the peace process in Myanmar, and is willing to play a constructive role in this regard for the security and stability in their border areas, President Xi Jinping said Friday.

Xi made the remarks while meeting with Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing.

Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said the 19th CPC National Congress has adopted a blueprint for China's economic and social reform and development for the years to come.

"It will not only inject great vitality into China's own development, but also bring new opportunities for various countries, including Myanmar, in their cooperation with China," he said.

Hailing the "profound bilateral friendship," Xi called on the two countries to "strengthen strategic communication and accommodate each other's concerns."

China always respects Myanmar's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Xi said.

Considering China-Myanmar military ties as at their "best" period in history, Xi, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, vowed to support stronger military exchanges and cooperation in various areas.

He encouraged the two armed forces to work for the growth of bilateral ties as well as regional peace and stability.

Min Aung Hlaing congratulated Xi on his re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and on the success of the 19th CPC National Congress.

Calling the two countries close neighbors, he said Myanmar appreciates China's help for its national construction and military building over the years, as well as support for its peace process.

Myanmar expects to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, and cement exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields, he said.
The U.S. Navy has joined the search effort in the South Atlantic for the ARA San Juan, an Argentine Navy submarine that went missing on Nov. 15.

The Navy has a pair of P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft supporting the ongoing search efforts for the submarine and its 44 member crew, U.S. Southern Command officials confirmed.

Henry Whitmire, a member of Katy's Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9182 has an insight on what it might be like for the missing Argentine sailors.

Whitmire spent almost a decade in the Navy during the 1960s, serving primarily on submarines.

"I understand it's pretty rough there," Whitmire said.

Whitmire was an interior communications electrician on two subs - the U.S.S. Diablo and later the U.S.S. Casimir Pulaski, a nuclear ballistic missile submarine.

Argentine Navy officials said the crew might only have enough oxygen for seven to 10 days. While the Pulaski could produce its own oxygen, Whitmire's first ship was a WWII-era diesel electric submarine like the ARA San Juan.

"It didn't have a snorkel," Whitmire said. "If we ran our engines, we had to run on the surface."

After reports that an explosion occurred near the time and place where the submarine went missing, Whitmire said it was doubtful the crew members managed to survive.

"Somebody in the Argentine Navy should know about where they are," he said.

The U.S. Navy has not been immune to submarine disasters. The U.S.S. Thresher, a nuclear powered attack submarine sank on Apr. 10, 1963 during deep diving tests off the coast of Boston. All 129 crew members and dockyard personnel were lost. On May 22, 1968, the U.S.S. Scorpion was lost with all 99 crew members while returning home to its port in Norfolk, Va. Whitmire said his ship, the U.S.S. Casimir Pulaski, was returning from a long patrol at about the same time and in the same area the Scorpion was operating.

"Our family back home didn't know if that was us or somebody else. The only word they put out was that a sub sank," Whitmire said. "The families always have it hard."
A motorcycle rider who was possibly drunk and not wearing a helmet died Sunday morning in a wreck near the East End.

The 33-year-old was on his Harley Davidson headed westbound on Navigation near North York when he lost control just before 1 a.m., sliding about 150 yards and off the roadway into a vacant lot, according to Houston police.
Two months after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico remains in a state of disarray.

But 97-year-old Benigna Alers still sees it as her home, and she intends to return.

The Puerto Rico native is visiting family in La Porte and Houston after spending weeks after the hurricane in her damaged little pink house - with no power and limited food resources.

After the hurricane, her family could only watch television news and wait for word through a cousin on social media that Alers and other family members were safe.

With transportation at a halt in the days and weeks following Maria, travel was impossible.

But the wait was worth it.

"My grandmother finally arrived with my cousin, who I have been communicating with since Maria," said Iraida Brown, Alers granddaughter.

Despite the circumstances, The family reunion was a joyful one, and just in time for another celebration, said Brown.

"We decided to throw our grandmother a surprise birthday party (when she arrived)," she said. "As we all were hiding to say surprise, we saw her approaching and we were so overwhelmed with happiness. We were so grateful to see her again."

For Brown, the welcome home was special, although bittersweet.

"It's been three years since I've seen her and even though I was overjoyed I was also saddened by all that had happened in Puerto Rico. In a way you can see it in her eyes," Brown said.

Alers wants to return to Puerto Rico and her little pink house.

"It saddens me to know she wants to go back," Brown said. "I ask my dad if he is he is OK with her going home because I want her to stay.

"But he wants her to go back. To me, it's like 'Why'?

"That's her home, her people and where she feels the proudest. I was surprised how selfless my dad was being with his mom, but he just wants her to be happy and that's in Puerto Rico."

Brown's dad Heriberto Martinez said the family will have to accept his mother's wishes.

"There are mixed emotions, but my mother is strong in her determination about going home to Puerto Rico," he said.

Recovery in Puerto Rico has been slow, complicated by its struggling economy. That uncertainty troubles Brown.

"I know my grandmother will be happier back home, but my only worry is that it's going to take a very long time for Puerto Rico to come back to normal," she said.

"My grandmother may never get to see that.

"So for me it's going to be very hard to see her go back."

Martinez knows his mother's heart is in Puerto Rico, and that, he said, will make her departure from Houston easier.

"I see her happiness and that at 97 years old, she is making her own decision to go back where she is loved by so many people.

"So watching her leave won't be so hard for me," he said.

Two months after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico remains in a state of disarray.

But 97-year-old Benigna Alers still sees it as her home, and she intends to return.

The Puerto Rico native is visiting family in La Porte and Houston after spending weeks after the hurricane in her damaged little pink house - with no power and limited food resources.

After the hurricane, her family could only watch television news and wait for word through a cousin on social media that Alers and other family members were safe.

With transportation at a halt in the days and weeks following Maria, travel was impossible.

But the wait was worth it.

"My grandmother finally arrived with my cousin, who I have been communicating with since Maria," said Iraida Brown, Alers granddaughter.

The family reunion was a joyful one, and just in time for another celebration, said Brown.

"We decided to throw our grandmother a surprise birthday party (when she arrived)," she said. "As we all were hiding to say surprise, we saw her approaching and we were so overwhelmed with happiness. We were so grateful to see her again."

For Brown, the welcome home was special, although bittersweet.

"It's been three years since I've seen her and even though I was overjoyed I was also saddened by all that had happened in Puerto Rico. In a way you can see it in her eyes," Brown said.

Alers wants to return to Puerto Rico and her little pink house.

"It saddens me to know she wants to go back," Brown said. "I ask my dad if he is he is OK with her going home because I want her to stay.

"But he wants her to go back. To me, it's like 'Why'?

"That's her home, her people and where she feels the proudest. I was surprised how selfless my dad was being with his mom, but he just wants her to be happy and that's in Puerto Rico."

Brown's dad Heriberto Martinez said the family will have to accept his mother's wishes.

"There are mixed emotions, but my mother is strong in her determination about going home to Puerto Rico," he said.

Recovery in Puerto Rico has been slow, complicated by its struggling economy. That uncertainty troubles Brown.

"I know my grandmother will be happier back home, but my only worry is that it's going to take a very long time for Puerto Rico to come back to normal," she said.

"My grandmother may never get to see that.

"So for me it's going to be very hard to see her go back."

Martinez knows his mother's heart is in Puerto Rico, and that, he said, will make her departure from Houston easier.

"I see her happiness and that at 97 years old, she is making her own decision to go back where she is loved by so many people.

"So watching her leave won't be so hard for me," he said.
BUDAPEST, Nov. 26 -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has vowed to bring cooperation between China and the 16 Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) and relations between China and Hungary to a higher level.

Li made the statement in an article published on the newspaper The Hungarian Times before attending the sixth meeting of heads of government of China and the CEEC on Nov. 26-29 in Budapest and paying an official visit to Hungary.

"This is an important meeting held at the fifth anniversary of the launching of China-CEEC cooperation (16+1 cooperation). I'm looking forward to the meeting and the visit," Li said.

Noting that Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in May the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Li said he is full of confidence about China-Hungary relations and the prospect of China-CEEC cooperation.

The premier recalled that the first China-CEEC economic and trade forum was held in Budapest in 2011 and, a year later, the 17 countries established a new trans-regional cooperation platform, called the 16+1 cooperation.

Over the five years, the 16+1 cooperation has been growing and the mechanism improving, bringing about remarkable progress to cooperation in all fields, Li said.

Political mutual trust between China and the CEEC countries has been deepened, with the two sides having established cooperation mechanisms in about 20 areas, he said.

Economic cooperation has been growing steadily, with bilateral trade increasing to 58.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 from 43.9 billion dollars in 2010 and the completion of a number of landmark infrastructure projects, said the premier.

People-to-people exchanges have been strengthened in the fields of education, culture, health, tourism, media, think tank, political party and youth, and at local levels, he said.

After a great start, the 16+1 cooperation demands a new direction and new momentum, the premier said, adding that he will work with CEEC leaders to review what the two sides have achieved in the five years and draw a blueprint for the future.

On China-Hungary ties, Li said both countries are beneficiaries and supporters of economic globalization, and it is in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries to stick to trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

Speaking highly of the strategic alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Hungary's Eastern Opening policy, Li said the Belt and Road Initiative and 16+1 cooperation have put the two countries' economic and trade cooperation on a fast lane, with progress made in the areas of investment, finance, agriculture, scientific and technological innovation and small and medium-sized enterprises.

China and Hungary have also made strides in people-to-people exchange and cooperation in the areas of culture, education, sports, tourism and traditional Chinese medicine, he said.

Both sides hold that China-Hungary ties have entered the best period in history, Li said.

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has set out a grand blueprint and action guideline for future development of China, said Li, adding that a more open and prosperous China will surely bring more and greater opportunities to all countries in the world including Hungary.
China and Russia will enhance cooperation on digital economy, including big data, the Internet of Things and smart cities, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui told Xinhua in a recent interview.

While making continuous efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the sectors of energy, equipment manufacturing, agriculture and spaceflight, the two countries are eyeing digital economy as a new area of cooperation, Li said.

China and Russia will also continue their efforts to achieve substantial results from the alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and development programs within the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) led by Russia.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The EEU, which groups Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, is an economic bloc aiming to optimize the flow of goods and services among its members.

Li said China and Russia will work to implement the project of an international transportation corridor in the Far East and jointly explore the Arctic shipping route to make it a "silk road on ice."

According to him, strategic mutual trust between the two countries is strengthening, while political, economic and people-to-people exchanges are developing robustly, forming a solid base for the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.

The partnership plays a special role in China's "major-country diplomacy" with Chinese characteristics and both countries will never waver in their determination to develop such a partnership no matter how the international and regional situations change, Li said.

Both China and Russia are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and important parties of the G20, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Li said, adding that the two countries share similar positions on many international affairs.

"I believe as long as we keep up with the times and seize the opportunities, China-Russia relations will be very productive," the ambassador said.

Next week, the 16th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the SCO will be held in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

In Li's view, the SCO adheres to its founding values or the "Shanghai Spirit" featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and pursuit of common development.

At the Astana summit in Kazakhstan in June, India and Pakistan completed their accession to the SCO, which also groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

After the expansion, the SCO covers about 44 percent of the world's population and over a fifth of the world's gross domestic product (GDP).

The SCO members have shown a strong will to cooperate in various sectors in the SCO framework, and the Belt and Road Initiative will create new economic propellers for the SCO members and contribute to regional prosperity against a backdrop of globalization, said Li.
HOGP

BILLINGS, Mont. - The National Rifle Association and a sport hunting group want to ensure their members can hunt grizzly bears in the three-state region around Yellowstone National Park after the animals lost U.S. protections.

Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are considering limited trophy hunts for grizzlies outside the park in future years after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revoked the species' threatened status in July.
WASHINGTON - The crush of unfinished business facing lawmakers when they return to the Capitol would be daunting even if Washington were functioning at peak efficiency.

It's an agenda whose core items - tax cuts, a potential government shutdown, lots of leftover spending bills - could unravel just as easily as advance in factionalism, gamesmanship and a toxic political environment.

There's only a four-week window until a Christmas deadline, barely enough time for complicated negotiations even if December stays on the rails. And that's hardly a sure bet in President Donald Trump's capital.

Trump and congressional leaders plan a meeting Tuesday to discuss how to sidestep a shutdown and work though the legislative to-do list.

For the optimistic, it's plain that Democrats and Republicans have reasons to cooperate, particularly on spending increases for the Pentagon and domestic agencies whose budgets otherwise would be frozen. An additional round of hurricane aid should be bipartisan, and efforts to reauthorize a popular health care program for children seem to be on track.

Republicans are advancing their cherished tax cut measure under special rules that mean Senate Democrats cannot use delaying tactics. The measure passed the House just before the Thanksgiving break and moves to the Senate floor this coming week.

Spotlight on taxes

After the Senate GOP's failure on health care this summer, the majority party is under enormous pressure to produce a victory on taxes. Still, GOP deficit hawks such as Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona remain uneasy about the overhaul.

While Democrats are largely sidelined on taxes, they hold leverage over a mix of budget-related issues.

First, there's the need to avert a government shutdown after a temporary spending bill expires Dec. 8. The most likely scenario, congressional aides say, is for an additional extension until Christmas. On a parallel track are talks to raise spending limits that are keeping agency budgets essentially frozen unless those caps are raised. If that happens, then negotiations could begin in earnest on a massive catchall spending measure in hopes of having it signed into law by year's end.

Taxes have gotten all the attention so far, but the showdown over a potential shutdown right before Christmas could soon take center stage. Democrats are counting on GOP fears of a holiday season closure to ensure Republican concessions during December talks.

'Complicated politics'

Both sides would have to make concessions that may upset partisans in either party. Just as House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., fears a revolt on the right, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California risks an uprising on her left. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., round out the quartet of top negotiators.

"Everybody's got complicated politics. The chance of short-term failure is pretty high - short-term failure being a shutdown," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist. "But the four of them, assuming they don't want to shut the government down for a long time, are going to have to come to an accommodation."

Talks on the spending caps are stuck, however, aides say. A GOP offer to lift the Pentagon budget by more than $54 billion next year and nondefense limits by $37 billion was rejected by Democrats demanding balance between the two sides of the ledger.

Long-delayed battles over immigration and Trump's promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border are huge obstacles. Many Democrats whose votes are needed on the spending bills insist they won't vote for any legislation that includes the wall. Trump remains dead set on his $1.6 billion request for a down payment on the project.

Those same Democrats also insist that Congress must act by year's end to protect immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and whose protected status is set to lapse next year. Trump backs the idea despite issuing an executive order reversing the Obama administration protections, starting next spring. Conservatives oppose drawing in the immigration issue to legislation to keep the government running.
The grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed El-Tayyeb, has condemned the barbaric attack on a mosque in North Sinai on Friday which saw at least 235 worshippers killed.

Improvised explosive devices were detonated at Friday prayers at a mosque affiliated with Sufi groups in the town of Bir El-Abed, after which gunmen opened fire on worshippers, in what is believed to be one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Egypt in recent years.

"The shedding of blood, the violation of the sacred houses of God and the terrorising of worshippers are acts of corruption on the earth," El-Tayyeb said.

El-Tayyeb said that the targeting of mosques has followed the targeting of churches, as if terorrists want to unify Egyptians in destruction and death, but they will be beaten and the unity and strength of Egyptians will prevail with their solidarity and determination.

El-Tayyeb stressed Al-Azhar's support, and the Egyptian people's support, for the efforts of Egypt's institutions, and the armed forces and the police forces, in eliminating these terrorist gangs.

"Al-Azhar is praying to God to accept those killed as martyrs, and provide strength to their families, and bless the injured with speed recovery," El-Tayyeb added.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in a speech that the military and police will avenge our martyrs and will respond using brute force against those fragments of terrorists in the coming period to ensure stability and security.

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BEREA, Ohio -- Berea City Hall overflowed with military veterans, friends and family who attended the Nov. 20 city council meeting to honor U.S. Army veteran Staff Sgt. Russell Tobel. He received the city's Col. William H. Beyer Commendation for Outstanding Military Service for his actions during the Vietnam War.

Drafted in 1966, Tobel was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, positioned near Saigon "and outward to the Cambodian border," according to the official council resolution honoring him. He received a Silver Star for valor, two Bronze Stars for overall meritorious service, the Air Medal for participating in 25 or more combat assaults out of helicopters, and a Purple Heart for his gallantry during an operation "that left him the sole American in an enemy base camp."

"He hurled grenades and drove out adversaries, even after being hit by a grenade himself," the resolution states. "(He) then walked with a wounded leg through the dense jungle and out of danger so as not to jeopardize the lives of those who might attempt to perform a helicopter rescue. Staff Sgt. Tobel faithfully served our nation with courage and humility, ultimately risking his life to uphold the highest ideals of the United States Army and the United States of America."

"This award is almost overwhelming," Tobel told the crowd. "When I was in Vietnam, I wasn't fighting for awards or things like that. I was basically serving my country with pride, like the rest of the veterans who are in this room. I haven't forgotten my comrades I was with over in Vietnam. I think of them often, the ones who made it and the ones that didn't. For every infantryman in the field, there are 10 men in support."

Tobel is a member of American Legion Post 91 and also VFW Post 3345 where he serves on its honor guard. He called those interactions "therapy."

"It's fantastic and something I look forward to, getting with this group of people," Tobel said. "Thank you for supporting me tonight."
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill's tone deaf, sexist Facebook post, and Cleveland.com interview defending Roy Moore, were an insult to all women, including the proverbial Lady Justice.

O'Neill had posted on Facebook that with "the dogs of war...calling for the head of Senator Al Franken" he believed it was "time to speak up on behalf of all heterosexual males." He then proceeded to brag about being "sexually intimate" with "approximately 50 very attractive females" and to belittle the rash of sexual harassment and assault stories involving powerful, high profile men.

"I am sooooo disappointed by this national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago," O'Neill wrote, arguing it was distracting from discussing legalizing marijuana, which it seemed like O'Neill was on when he wrote his Facebook post.

If he had been under oath when posting to Facebook, O'Neill would have been committing perjury when he claimed to be speaking up "for all heterosexual males."

O'Neill was only speaking for judges who don't know the difference between a "sexual indiscretion" and a sex crime. Judges who don't know the difference between consensual sexual relations and sexual harassment and assault. Judges who don't know the difference between being a gentlemen and a sexual braggart. Judges who don't know the difference between an underage of consent 14-year-old and a consenting grown woman. O'Neill was only speaking for himself, and the likes of Roy Moore.

As if his Facebook post wasn't self-incriminating enough, in an interview with Cleveland.com, O'Neill defended the former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice who is accused of sexually assaulting a 14 year-old and pursuing relationships with teenage females while in his thirties and serving as a District Attorney.

"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," O'Neill said of Roy Moore, now running for Senate with the endorsement of President -Grab 'em by the *****-Trump.

O'Neill views himself as a serious candidate for governor as much has he does a legal lothario. He was never a serious contender for the governorship even before his Facebook post proved how unfit he was. O'Neill's not fit to be governor or a judge in any court, let alone on the Ohio Supreme Court. But his defense of Roy Moore just might put O'Neill on Trump's list of future U.S. Supreme Court nominees.
LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- A Cleveland Metro Parks dive team is assisting authorities in a water search and rescue operation Saturday night, according to a parks ranger.

A man fell off a cliff into the Rocky River near Emerald Necklace Marina and Detroit Avenue, she said.

The man was running from Rocky River police when he fell off the cliff, News 5 reports.

Rocky River police and Lakewood police are at the scene, Fox 8 reports.

No other information was released.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Saturday's crime and courts comments section.
LAKEWOOD, Ohio - A body has been pulled from the Rocky River Sunday afternoon, following a water search for a man who ran from police and likely fell off a cliff into the river Saturday night.

The man's body was found about 12:30 p.m. near the boat ramps in the Rocky River Reservation, Cleveland Metroparks spokesman Jeff Tolman told cleveland.com. The Metroparks Rangers Dive Team retrieved the body from the river.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office had not yet been called to the river to retrieve a body as of 2 p.m. Sunday, office spokesman Christopher Harris said.

The finding comes after a Saturday night incident where a man ran from Rocky River police. The found body is believed to be the same man, Tolman said.

A Rocky River police officer spotted a man, who he knew to be a wanted person, about 9 p.m. Saturday outside of an apartment complex near the corner of Malvern and Wooster roads, a news release from the Rocky River police department states.

After briefly interacting with the officer, the man ran and hopped over a fence, escaping police. The man then slid underneath a second fence, which "led directly to a cliff, at the bottom of which is the Rocky River," the news release says.

Local and state officials searched the river for the man until about 2 a.m. Sunday then continued the search at daylight.

The man's identity has not been publicly released.

If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Two stones resurrected from the rubble of John D. Rockefeller's churches are undergoing very different afterlives.

A block saved from the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church's first home is on reverential display in the courtyard of The Edge, a new housing complex at Cleveland State University. But a column from the church's second home has been languishing in limbo for years beneath a couple of buckets at a Cleveland State storage yard.

The first stone turned up during The Edge's construction. Steve Anrod of CRG, the complex's developers, says it deserves a place of honor. "It's a neat piece of history."

The stone is lushly decorated on two sides and bare on the other two, so it probably stood at an interior or exterior corner. One side is inscribed with notes from "The Old 100th," a tune used for several popular hymns, such as "Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow."

The Edge occupies the southwest corner of Euclid Avenue and East 18th Street. The site has a long history.

It housed the first Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, a tall Gothic structure used from 1871 to 1926. In 1965, the Jewish Community Federation built an office tower there on a slab. In 2010, the federation left downtown for Science Park in Beachwood.

Anrod says his workers tore out the slab and found scraps of the church beneath that hadn't been carted off as usual for new construction. Soon he plans to install a sign in the courtyard to explain the stone's story, including its link to Rockefeller, the church's Sunday school superintendent and Standard Oil's leader.

The stone from the second church stone is a column several feet tall, mostly octagonal, decorated abstractly and lavishly. That church was a Romanesque structure half a block north of the first one on the west side of East 18th. To make money, the congregation also built an adjoining commercial structure called the Price Building, fronting on Euclid.

The church served worshippers from 1926 to 1956 and was razed in 1961. But the column and a few other pieces of its north wall survived as part of Price's adjoining wall.

Soon Price began to host the Levin Urban College. In the mid-1990s, the building was razed for a new Levin home, now called Glickman-Miller Hall. Today, the column lies in storage next to a Levin stone, and the Ahuja College of Business straddles the church's old site.

Cleveland State spokesman Will Dube says the news about the first church's stone has prompted officials to look into ways to display the second.

The congregation goes back even further than its Euclid Avenue homes. In 1851, inspired by a revival that lasted 150 nights, some worshippers broke off from First Baptist Church, then downtown, and formed the Erie Street Baptist Church on what's now East Ninth.

Two years later, a 12-year-old Rockefeller followed his family from upstate New York to Greater Cleveland and began shuttling between downtown and the countryside, including Parma and Strongsville. Soon he became an Erie Street trustee, a Bible teacher and a persuasive fund-raiser. He threw pebbles at a church creditor's window one night, won an extension of an overdue mortgage and led a drive to pay it off.

In his memoirs, he wrote, "I hope the members of the mother church were properly humiliated to see how far we had gone beyond their expectations."

In 1868, Rockefeller took a new-ish mansion at Euclid and Case Avenue (now East 40th Street). He usually walked past the church at Euclid and what was then Huntington Street on his way to the Flats and Standard Oil, incorporated in 1870. He rose to be the world's richest man to that date, estimated as worth $900 million, and the church became widely known as "the Rockefeller church."

In the 1880s, Standard's headquarters moved to Manhattan, and Rockefeller made his legal home there. Over the decades, he spent less time in Cleveland and more at Forest Hill, an estate straddling East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights, or at homes on the East Coast. He eventually gave the Euclid Avenue house to his son, John Jr.

One hundred years ago next month, while Senior was wintering elsewhere, a mysterious fire razed the mansion at Forest Hill. He never returned to Ohio again.

By 1926, the church had more than 2,000 members. Despite fears that they'd flee to suburban sanctuaries, Rockefeller offered from afar to spring for a new building on the old one's site.

Instead, leaders bought the site northward on East 18th. It was a $1.25 million showcase by Walker and Weeks, a leading local firm, with glazed terra cotta brick, an auditorium bigger than all the members could fill and a Sunday school planned to rise five stories. Rockefeller Jr. bought the old church for $500,000, and he and his father chipped in at least $600,000 for the new one.

But the new church struggled to raise funds, especially after the Depression hit. The Sunday school ended up stopping at two stories, and foreclosure loomed again.

In 1937, on the last full day of his life, Rockefeller paid off the church's mortgage with his final check. Over the next couple of decades, the neighborhood struggled, church members quarreled over politics and the congregation finally scattered.

William Barrow, a Cleveland State librarian specializing in local history, has written the text for the sign at the Edge. He says, "Students walking down the street today don't realize that Rockefeller walked by here."

Barrow was happily surprised that The Edge saved the surprising stone. "Developers don't always think about the past."

He hopes to see similar honors for the stone in storage. "I'd love to see that stone and a sign placed near where the second church was."

For more details about the church's history, see https://case.edu/ech/articles/e/euclid-ave-baptist-church. or the book "John D. Rockefeller: the Cleveland Years" by Grace Goulder.
ROCKY RIVER, Ohio - Authorities are still searching for a man who ran from Rocky River police Saturday night and likely slid off of a cliff and into the Rocky River.

A Rocky River police officer spotted a man, who he knew to be a wanted person, about 9 p.m. Saturday outside of an apartment complex near the corner of Malvern and Wooster roads, a news release from the Rocky River police department states.

The officer pulled his cruiser alongside the man's car, and the man got out of his vehicle to talk to police, the release says. He said who he was, confirming his identity, and immediately ran from the officer.

The man hopped over a fence, escaping the officer. The man then slid underneath a second fence, which "led directly to a cliff, at the bottom of which is the Rocky River," the news release says.

Police did not find the man during an initial foot search, yet minutes later two fishermen at the Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River Reservation Emerald Necklace boat launch reported that they saw a man in the water.

One of the fishermen worked with an officer to try and rescue the man but were unsuccessful. Several regional fire departments, plus authorities from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Cleveland Metroparks Rangers searched the area until about 2 a.m. Sunday, the release states.

The search resumed at daylight Sunday morning, though no update has been given as of 10 a.m. Attempts to reach the missing man's family have been unsuccessful, police say.

If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.
After receiving condolences, President El-Sisi expressed appreciation for France's support, underlining the need for international efforts to combat terrorism

French President Emmanuel Macron offered his condolences to the Egyptian people over the deadly North Sinai mosque attack in a phone call to Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi Friday evening, Egypt's MENA news agency announced.

According to the state-owned agency, Macron expressed his country's full solidarity and support with Egypt in its fight against terrorism.

For his part, President El-Sisi expressed appreciation for President Macron's support, underlining the importance of strengthening international efforts to fight terrorism.

On Friday afternoon, at least 305 people were killed and 128 others injured in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Egypt at Al-Rawdah Mosque in Al-Rawdah village, North Sinai.

Egyptian armed forces declared late Friday that air forces launched strikes in North Sinai, killing a number of terrorists behind the attack.

No group has thus far claimed the responsibility for the mosque attack.

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The GSMA is proposing that Chile's next president implement a series of reforms to Chile's digital ecosystem.



In the first round of voting held on 19 November 2017, former president Sebastian Pinera and current senator Alejandro Guillier prevailed as the candidates with the two highest vote counts for president. A run-off election will be held on 17 December 2017.



In its newly published report, Keys to the Modernisation of Digital Ecosystem Regulation in Chile, the GSMA urges the following reforms:





Improve coverage by removing barriers to infrastructure deployment;

Level the playing field by reducing regulatory burdens on existing services;

Enhance the user experience by encouraging competition in quality of service;

Optimise the use of radio spectrum, a key input for the industry and in particular for the development of the Internet of Things; and

Create an institutional framework that can act across the digital ecosystem.


Pointing out that for this to happen, "all other religious communities - including Christians - would have to be eliminated",the report says, "According to the RSS organizations founder, M.S. Golwalker, that is exactly the plan: 'The non-Hindu people in Hindustan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and revere Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but the glorification of the Hindu religion...'"

It adds, "The first quarter of 2017 saw 248 persecution incidents wherein Christians were harassed, threatened or attacked for their faith. More recent records indicate the number of incidents in first six months of 2017 is now up to 410 incidents. This represents an enormous increase in persecution as there were only 441 incidents reported in 2016 for the entire year."

Noting that "these attacks can often be brutal", the report says, "In addition to beatings, there were also 37 incidents where Christians were socially boycotted. Others, according to 34 incident reports, were forced to leave their homes. Amongst these 34 cases, 14 of the incidents forced Christians to leave their village or cities entirely." Calling India a "Hindu nation", the study cites a report by Sarah Callighan to prove why India has slipped. Especially referring to the RSS, Callighan says, if the saffron organization "has its way, India will soon be unified under one religion, one culture, and one language."Pointing out that for this to happen, "all other religious communities - including Christians - would have to be eliminated",the report says, "According to the RSS organizations founder, M.S. Golwalker, that is exactly the plan: 'The non-Hindu people in Hindustan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and revere Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but the glorification of the Hindu religion...'"It adds, "The first quarter of 2017 saw 248 persecution incidents wherein Christians were harassed, threatened or attacked for their faith. More recent records indicate the number of incidents in first six months of 2017 is now up to 410 incidents. This represents an enormous increase in persecution as there were only 441 incidents reported in 2016 for the entire year."Noting that "these attacks can often be brutal", the report says, "In addition to beatings, there were also 37 incidents where Christians were socially boycotted. Others, according to 34 incident reports, were forced to leave their homes. Amongst these 34 cases, 14 of the incidents forced Christians to leave their village or cities entirely."

Open Doors USA, an American non-profit organization, has triggered Hornet's nest by ranking India 15th, next to Saudi Arabia (14th), among 50 top countries where Christians allegedly face "most severe persecution for their faith". Blaming the "persecution" on BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it says, "As a result, radical Hinduism, which was already present under the previous government, has increased steadily." According to the study, "While the level of intolerance continues to increase, Christians are regularly attacked by radical Hindus", adding, "The level of impunity has gone up markedly, with communities of converts to Christianity from Hinduism bearing the brunt of the persecution... They are constantly under pressure to return to their old beliefs, and are often physically assaulted, sometimes killed."Significantly, Open Doors ranked India far better -- 31st -- four years ago. Ranking North Korea No 1 in persecution of Christians, 16th year in a row, calling it the "worst place for Christians to live", the study says, "In this totalitarian communist state, Christians are forced to hide their faith completely from government authorities, neighbours and often, even their own spouses and children."Other countries ranking worse than India are all under Islamic regimes, including Pakistan, which ranks a high 4th.In Pakistan, the study says, Christians there not just face "close scrutiny and suffer frequent attacks", they are "targets for murder, bombings, abduction of women, rape, forced marriages and eviction from home and country."All other India's neighbours, however, are found to be ranking far better than India: Bangladesh 26th, Myanmar 28th, Bhutan 30th, China 39th, and Sri Lanka 45th.
The attack is one of the deadliest in Egypt's recent memory

At least 305 worshippers were killed and 128 were injured during Friday prayers at a North Sinai mosque by gunmen belonging to the terrorist group Daesh, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypts recent memory.

The victims, who were praying at Al-Rawdah Mosque in Bir Al-Abd city, include 27 children killed in the attack, Egypt's prosecutor-general announced on Saturday.

The prosecutor-general said that according to eyewitnesses, 25 to 30 gunmen in camouflage trousers and bearing the Daesh black flag rode up to the mosque in five SUVs and started shooting at worshippers.

The gunmen, some of whom wore masks, attacked the mosque as the imam was starting the Friday sermon.

No group has claimed the responsibility of the attack so far.

Most of the terrorist attacks to take place in North Sinai in recent years mainly targeted security forces, and have been claimed by the Daesh-affiliated North Sinai-based group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis.

In January 2017, the Daesh-affiliated online publication Rumiyah released an interview with an alleged leading figure in Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, who described Al-Rawdah village as a Sufi centre, adding that the group is fighting Sufism in North Sinai.

In late 2016, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for killing Sinai's oldest Sufi Sheikh Soliman El-Harez as well as the destruction of two Sufi shrines.

Sufism, often described as Islamic mysticism, involves a spiritual form of worship where adherents attempt to become close with God through meditation and asceticism.

Daesh considers Sufi Muslims to be heretics.

Al-Rawdah Mosque was built by El-Jaririyah, one of Sinai's largest Sufi orders.

Earlier today, Egypts army said that its air forces launched strikes in North Sinai, killing a number of terrorists involved in the Friday attack.

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The Best Of Cyber Monday

Thanksgiving has come and gone  although your turkey-induced food coma may still linger  which means holiday shopping season is upon us. While brick-and-mortar stores will enjoy plenty of foot traffic on Black Friday, thrifty shoppers looking to avoid the frantic crowds would be wise to search for deals on Cyber Monday.

The Monday after Thanksgiving, known as Cyber Monday, is the biggest online shopping day of the year for U.S. businesses. Tech powerhouses and retail giants like Microsoft, Dell, Walmart and Best Buy are among the many companies that have crafted killer specials for consumers looking to buy from their couch. CRN has found plenty that fit the bill.

Some retailers have released their Cyber Monday deals early, and some are extending their Black Friday deals throughout the weekend. Others are releasing special deals at different times throughout the day to entice those surfing the web for deals to stay on their sites.

For those looking to catch the best online deals this Cyber Monday, CRN has compiled a list of 25 of tech deals worth considering.
Spending just a bit more this holiday season might put a smile on a childs face.

Police and fire departments in the towns of Easton, Stratford, Fairfield and Monroe and the city of Milford are hosting holiday toy drives and asking residents to donate new, unwrapped toys to be given to children in need this holiday season.

Some departments are holding their own drives and others will host official Toys for Tots events. Toys for Tots is the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve program that collects new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December every year.

The Easton Police Department is asking for donations of toys, book and other gifts until Dec. 10. Donations to the towns Toys for Tots drive can be dropped off at the police headquarters, 700 Morehouse Road.

The Stratford Fire Department will accept Toys for Tots donations every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. until Dec. 15. Any toys brought to be donated after Dec. 15 will be accepted and kept for the 2018 toy drive.

People can drop toys off at the Stratford Fire Department Headquarters at 2750 Main Street, Company 2 at 1415 Huntington Road, Company 3 at 21 Prospect Drive and Company 4 at 200 Ornoque Lane.

The Milford Fire Departments annual Toys for Tots collection officially began on Nov. 22. The department accepts donations throughout the year. Anything not used this year will be kept for the next holiday season.

Toys can be dropped off at any Milford fire station. Other drop-off locations are: Milford City Clerks office at 70 West River St.; Cafe Atlantique at 33 River St.; Give a Dog a Bath at 284 Boston Post Road; US Remodeling Group at 354 Woodmont Road, Unit 6; and Matties Service Center at 80 Munson St.

Through Dec. 13, the Fairfield Police Department is taking donations for their annual holiday toy drive. Fairfield police personnel will deliver the toys to children on Dec. 14.

The toys in Fairfield can be dropped off at the Fairfield Police Department, 100 Reef Road; HobbyTown, 847 Post Road; Fairfield Parks and Recreation at 75 Mill Plain Road; the Fairfield Town Clerks Office at 611 Old Post Road and Cambridge Manor at 2428 Easton Turnpike.

The Monroe Youth and Police Activities Committee will host a toy drive until Dec. 15. Drop-off locations are stationed at Masuk High School, 1014 Monroe Turnpike, Jockey Hollow Middle School, 365 Fan Hill Road, and the Monroe Police Department at 7 Fan Hill Road.

The toy drive in Monroe will benefit Katies Place  an emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children.
FAIRFIELD  State Police closed a section of Route 15 in Fairfield because of a crash that a dispatcher said did not have serious injuries.

The stretch of the roadway between exits 46 and 47 of Route 15 northbound was closed around 6:25 p.m. because of a three-car motor vehicle accident, the Department of Transportation said.
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A California man who planned to launch himself 1,800 feet high on Saturday in a homemade scrap-metal rocket - in an effort to "prove" that Earth is flat - said he is postponing the experiment after he couldn't get permission from a federal agency to do so on public land.

Instead, Mike Hughes said the launch will take place sometime next week on private property, albeit still in Amboy, California, an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert along historic Route 66.

"It's still happening. We're just moving it three miles down the road," Hughes told The Washington Post on Friday. "This is what happens any time you have to deal with any kind of government agency."

Hughes claimed the Bureau of Land Management said he couldn't launch his rocket as planned on Saturday in Amboy. He also claimed the federal agency had given him verbal permission more than a year ago, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Representatives from the BLM and the FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

Hughes said he had originally intended to arrive in Amboy on Wednesday to start setting up the rocket. The BLM's denial, along with some technical difficulties - a motor in his modified motor home quit working for a day - threw a wrench into his plans, according to Hughes.

"I don't see [the launch] happening until about Tuesday, honestly," he said. "It takes three days to set up. . . .You know, it's not easy because it's not supposed to be easy."

Assuming the 500-mph, mile-long flight through the Mojave Desert does not kill him, Hughes told the Associated Press, his journey into the atmosflat will mark the first phase of his ambitious flat-Earth space program.

Hughes's ultimate goal is a subsequent launch that puts him miles above Earth, where the 61-year-old limousine driver hopes to photograph proof of the disc we all live on.

"It'll shut the door on this ball earth," Hughes said in a fundraising interview with a flat-Earth group for Saturday's flight. Theories discussed during the interview included NASA being controlled by round-Earth Freemasons and Elon Musk making fake rockets from blimps.

Hughes promised the flat-Earth community that he would expose the conspiracy with his steam-powered rocket, which will launch from a heavily modified mobile home - though he acknowledged that he still had much to learn about rocket science.

"This whole tech thing," he said in the June interview. "I'm really behind the eight ball."

That said, Hughes isn't a totally unproven engineer. He set a Guinness World Record in 2002 for a limousine jump, according to Ars Technica, and has been building rockets for years, albeit with mixed results.

"Okay, Waldo. 3 . . . 2 . . . 1!" someone yells in a test fire video from 2012.

There's a brief hiss of boiling water, then . . . nothing. So Hughes walks up to the engine and pokes it with a stick, at which point a thick cloud of steam belches out toward the camera.

He built his first manned rocket in 2014, the Associated Press reported, and managed to fly a quarter-mile over Winkelman, Arizona.

As seen in a YouTube video, the flight ended with Hughes being dragged, moaning from the remains of the rocket. The injuries he suffered put him in a walker for two weeks, he said.

And the 2014 flight was only a quarter of the distance of Saturday's mile-long attempt.

And it was based on round-Earth technology.

Hughes only recently converted to flat-Eartherism, after struggling for months to raise funds for his follow-up flight over the Mojave.

It was originally scheduled for early 2016 in a Kickstarter campaign - "From Garage to Outer Space!" - that mentioned nothing about Illuminati astronauts, and was themed after a NASCAR event.

"We want to do this and basically thumb our noses at all these billionaires trying to do this," Hughes said in the pitch video, standing in his Apple Valley, California, living room, which he had plastered with drawings of his rockets.

"They have not put a man in space yet," Hughes said. "There are 20 different space agencies here in America, and I'm the last person that's put a man in a rocket and launched it." Comparing himself to Evel Knievel, he promised to launch himself from a California racetrack that year as the first step in his steam-powered leap toward space.

The Kickstarter raised $310 of its $150,000 goal.

Hughes made other pitches, including a plan to fly over Texas in a "SkyLimo." But he complained to Ars Technica last year about the difficulty of funding his dreams on a chauffeur's meager salary.

A year later, he called into a flat-Earth community web show to announce that he had become a recent convert.

"We were kind of looking for new sponsors for this. And I'm a believer in the flat Earth," Hughes said. "I researched it for several months."

The host sounded impressed. Hughes had actually flown in a rocket, he noted, whereas astronauts were merely paid actors performing in front of a CGI globe.

"John Glenn and Neil Armstrong are Freemasons," Hughes agreed. "Once you understand that, you understand the roots of the deception."

The host talked of "Elon Musk's fake reality," and Hughes talked of "anti-Christ, Illuminati stuff." After half an hour of this, the host told his 300-some listeners to back Hughes's exploration of space.

While there is no one hypothesis for what the flat Earth is supposed to look like, many believers envision a flat disc ringed by sea ice, which naturally holds the oceans in.

What's beyond the sea ice, if anything, remains to be discovered.

"We need an individual who's not compromised by the government," the host told Hughes. "And you could be that man."

A flat-Earth GoFundMe subsequently raised nearly $8,000 for Hughes.

By November, the AP reported, his $20,000 rocket had a fancy coat of Rust-Oleum paint and "RESEARCH FLAT EARTH" inscribed on the side.

While his flat-Earth friends helped him finally get the thing built, the AP reported, Hughes will be making adjustments right up to the launch.

But he won't be able to test the rocket before he climbs inside and attempts to steam himself at 500 mph across a mile of desert air. And even if it's a success, he's promised his backers an even riskier launch within the next year, into the space above the disc. He told Ars Technica last year that the second phase of his mission might involve floating in a balloon up to 20,000 feet above the ground, then rocket-packing himself into outer space.

"It's scary as hell," Hughes told the AP. "But none of us are getting out of this world alive."

This is true. And yet some hope to live to see its edges.
Egypt's Minister of Health Ahmed Emad El-Din announced on Saturday that 88 of the 128 people injured in Fridays North Sinai terrorist attack are in stable condition, state-run news agency MENA quoted ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed as saying Saturday.

At least 305 worshippers were killed and 128 were injured during Friday prayers at a North Sinai mosque in an attack by gunmen belonging to the terrorist group Daesh, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypts recent memory.

Cairos Dar Al-Shefaa Hospital has received 12 of the injured, three of whom have been discharged and nine have undergone surgery and are in stable condition, Megahed said.

Mahad Nasser Hospital in Cairo received 17 patients, 12 of whom have undergone surgery. Four of the patients are in critical condition.

Twenty-three of the injured were transferred to Ismailia Hospital, where seven have undergone surgery and are in stable condition.

Thirty-six patients are being treated at Suez Canal Hospital in Ismailia, which the health ministry has provided with the necessary supplies to treat the injured.

Earlier on Saturday, the prosecutor-general said that according to eyewitnesses of the Friday attack, 25 to 30 gunmen in camouflage trousers and bearing the Daesh black flag rode up to Al-Rawdah Mosque in five SUVs and started shooting at worshippers.

The gunmen, some of whom wore masks, attacked the mosque as the imam started the Friday sermon.

Twenty-seven of the murdered victims were children.

No group has claimed the responsibility of the attack so far.

Most of the terrorist attacks to take place in North Sinai in recent years, which have mainly targeted security forces, have been claimed by the Daesh-affiliated North Sinai-based group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis.

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Its not exactly a strategic retreat, but the last ink-stained wretches are decamping from 410 State St. in Bridgeport, where newspapers have been produced since the Great Depression.

The news troops have been in a holding action for most of the year, since Hearst Connecticut Media opened a sleek new corporate headquarters north of the parkway on Route 7 in Norwalk that is now the nerve center for the eight daily newspapers, the many weeklies and our vast internet presence.

What can only be described as a lean crew of editors, reporters and advertising staff have holed up in this old third-floor newsroom redoubt, with its views of the federal courthouse across State Street to the south, and the gorgeous sunsets to the west. The elevator has been inoperative for months. Three floors of the building, along with a scary basement, are basically empty with little evidence of what has gone on here for nearly 90 years.

Im sitting alone, stretched out before my computer in a cubicle built for two. Where there used to be dozens of reporters and editors at this time on a Friday morning, there are five of us. People are packing boxes and various factual shades of memories.

I have to admit  having reported from the State Capitol for more than 23 years  that I dont feel the nostalgia for this place that some of the editors and reporters feel. But I can attest to the lightning-fast passage of time. It doesnt seem that long ago, when I walked into the newsroom for the first time, through the haze of cigarette and cigar smoke, the self-important yelling, the clatter of typewriters, back in the summer of 1977.

Its not-quite folk history: The editor who brought virtual meaning to the word deadline, quietly going to the big sleep at his desk one morning, face planted in one of the old glue pots, finally discovered too late for the EMS to revive; the cascade of half-pint vodka bottles when the locker of another deceased editor was opened; the late nights when the staff of The Telegram would adjourn to a downtown bar, where the owner, around closing time, would lock the door and turn off the lights and continue serving us beer and drinks until dawn.

There was the September afternoon in 1991 that an arts writer burst into the newsroom, announcing that Alan E. Schoenhaus, a reporter and columnist who covered Connecticut politics for 23 years (!!??!!), was down on State Street, in the gutter in front of the paper. I got there as a firefighter tried to give him CPR. Dont go Alan, I yelled, but he was already dead, at 61.

At some point a little later in the calendar, I had another look in that gutter, when a little farther up the street, toward the printing plant  which still cranks out tens of thousands of newspapers each night  I was attacked by a couple of opportunistic drunks. As I slipped out of a bad headlock, I briefly noticed the shards of auto-windshield glass spread along the gutter. I literally ran down to the paper and wrote a column about the failed urban assault, and how the scattered glass were State Street diamonds.

First thing this morning, I took a small flashlight out of my bag and walked to the spot in the newsroom where about 30 years ago, tragedy was averted when a cheap handgun fell from a jacket and discharged.

Story was, a news clerk had obtained the weapon for a reporter for The Telegram, the feisty morning paper now dead for more than a quarter century in the corporate squeezes and market changes that turned The Post into a morning paper. What the reporter needed the gun for, is lost in the haze of time. It was a simpler age, in that period before crack-cocaine craziness sent the murder rate soaring in the states biggest city.

Mercifully, the bullet went up, not into the newsroom. Instead of injury or worse, flakes of plaster descended on the bald pate of an editor.

For years I meant to track down the evidence of the event. So a few minutes ago I sat on a vacant desk, swung my feet around and stood up. I pushed away one of the dropped-ceiling tiles, circa 1990, and there it was: the big chip in the ceiling. Ooh. Ahh.

The Connecticut Posts editors and reporters are moving a couple blocks, right across from the Margaret Morton Building, the City Hall annex, where reporters will be able to keep an even-closer watch on local government. Back 40 years ago it was Reads Department store, the Macys of Bridgeport.

Reads, like a lot of old-time Bridgeport, is long gone. The Connecticut Post, however, rolls on, along with the other Hearst Connecticut papers in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk, Danbury, New Haven, Middletown and Torrington.

Hold it in your hand, either the print newspaper or its various digital forms, and read it.

Ken Dixon can be reached in the Capitol at 860-549-4670 or at kdixon@ctpost.com. See twitter.com/KenDixonCT. His Facebook address is kendixonct.hearst.
The British prime minister telephoned Sisi to express her condolences over the 'barbaric' mosque attack. Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika also offered his condolences, condemning the 'heinous crime'

British Prime Minister Theresa May telephoned Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday to express her condolences over the "barbaric attack" on a mosque in North Sinai on Friday, saying the UK "stands ready to help in any way possible."

The gun-and-bomb attack by Islamist militants killed more than 300 people and left tens injured during Friday prayers.

"The prime pinister offered her personal condolences and the condolences of the British people for the barbaric attack that took place at Al-Rawdah mosque in North Sinai," a Downing Street spokesperson said on the UK government's website.

He said the two leaders "spoke about the attack being a terrible example of the threat Egypt faces."

The British PM told El-Sisi that the UK "stands ready to help in any way possible," he added.

Around 30 terrorists flying the black flag of the Daesh terrorist group encircled the mosque and massacred worshippers during Friday prayers, leaving 305 people dead, including 27 children, and 128 injured.

Egypt's military responded with airstrikes against militant hideouts in North Sinai.

Friday's attack was Egypt's deadliest in recent history, prompting a flurry of international condemnation, including from the UN, US President Donald Trump and the Vatican's Pope.

On Saturday, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika sent a message of condolence to El-Sisi, condemning the "heinous crime".

According to Egypt's state-run news agency MENA, Bouteflika reaffirmed Algeria's "absolute solidarity with the brotherly Egyptian people" and renewed support for Egypt it in the face of terrorism.

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The two judges, Yahia Dakroury and Mohamed Mady, oppose the new law, which authorizes the Egyptian president to select top judges from a short-list of candidates

Egypt's administrative court has granted two of its most senior judges permission to appeal against a presidential decision to bypass them in appointing the new heads of Egypt's top judicial bodies.

The two judges will be allowed to take their case before the Supreme Constitution Court, appealing the 2017 judicial authorities law, which regulates the process of making appointments.

However, the administrative court also ruled on Saturday that the judges' appeals will be postponed to February, pending the constitutional court decision.

The appeals with the adminstrative court were filed by Judge Yahia Dakroury, the first deputy of the State Council, and Judge Mohamed Mady, first deputy of the State Lawsuits Authority, which represents the government in legal cases.

Before the judicial authorities law was passed in the spring, the two men were next in line to become chiefs of the boards of their respective bodies.

The new legislation, which was ratified by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, gave the president the right to appoint the chiefs of the country's top judicial bodies by choosing from three nominees put forward by their boards.

The law was rejected by several judicial bodies who said it undermines the independence of the judiciary and ignores long-estabilished seniority protocols in the appointment of heads of judicial authorities.

The new law applies to the countrys top judicial bodies: the State Lawsuits Authority; the Administrative Prosecution; the Court of Cassation; and the State Council.

Prior to the passing of the law, the heads of judicial bodies were selected based on seniority, with the president merely ratifying the selection.

The law states that if the boards fail to fulfill the nomination requirement, the president has the right to choose a new head from among the seven senior-most judges on the board.

The administrative court on Saturday allowed judges Dakroury and Mady to appeal against the law before the country's Supreme Constitutional Court, endorsing a report submitted by a adgvisory State Council Commissioners office which sited possible flaws in the law that could render privisions of the law unconstitutional, based on the country's 2014 constitution.

The commission's report found reasons to suggest that the law violates a number of articles in the constitution stating that the executive authority may not interfere with the jurisdiction of the judicial authority, with each judicial body appointing its head, and the president only endorsing the appointment to guarantee separation between authorities.

The appeals before the administrative court were postponed to 17 February, allowing time for the Supreme Constitutional Court to decide on appeals against the law itself.

In July, President El-Sisi appointed Judge Ahmed Abu Al-Azm, the fourth most senior judge on the State Council, as the new head of the council after the outgoing head reached the age of retirement, thus bypassing the two senior-most judges on the council's board.

In the past three months, the president appointed new heads of three other judicial bodies  the Administrative Prosecution, the State Lawsuits Authority and the Court of Cassation  after each nominated a list of three candidates following the retirement of outgoing heads.



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Egyptian air forces carried out airstrikes in North Sinai overnight against hideouts used by terrorists involved in the Friday attack on a mosque in the governorate's Bir Al-Abd city, which left 305 worshippers dead and 128 injured, the Armed Forces spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday.

The airstrikes, which were carried out based on information received from Sinai residents, destroyed hideouts containing weapons, ammunition and explosive material.

Law enforcement personnel, in coordination with the air force, are combing the area where the strikes were carried out.
Persuade Brits to leave the EU; tempt Scots to break up the United Kingdom; back Catalans who want to split from Spain; and fix who occupies the White House.

The charge sheet against the Kremlin grows longer every day and gets ever more startling. No wonder the Prime Minister has just labelled Russia a hostile state.

Theresa May has accused Vladimir Putin of trying to weaponise information to undermine democracies and warned EU leaders that Moscow is trying to tear our collective strength apart.

Theresa May has accused Vladimir Putin of trying to weaponise information in a bid to tear our collective strength apart

If she is right  there are many signs she is  it is a warning that we all need to pay heed to.

This is not a threat which can be left to the politicians to deal with. It is something that the all-powerful and all too often unaccountable social media companies need to address.

Whats more, we as citizens must start to ask questions about where our news and information comes from  and what we should trust.

Ive spoken about this threat to those who have headed intelligence agencies here and in the United States and to former National Security Advisers on both sides of the Atlantic. They couldnt be clearer. Russia is deploying information in the way it once deployed tanks and missiles. Its aim is to weaken its traditional enemies and old alliances  Nato, the US, the EU and, yes, the UK.

All this, they claim, fits with the Gerasimov doctrine of hybrid war, named after the chief of the general staff of Russias armed forces, General Valery Gerasimov.

In an essay a few years ago, he wrote of blurring the lines between the states of war and peace and using long-distance, contactless actions against the enemy, including informational actions, devices, and means that are constantly being perfected.

Why should Russia do this? One answer is her leaders have long believed that they are under assault from the West.

Another is because with an economy less than a tenth of the size of America, China or the EU, Moscow calculates it is the most efficient and effective way to flex its muscles.

Russia spreads fake news via fake social media accounts and using fake amplifiers  cyber systems that repeat and effectively turn up the volume of those messages

This is not about pushing particular brands of ideology, its about affecting your everyday life. The aim is to spread division and discord  which is why Russian Twitter accounts kept tweeting about Brexit long after the result was in.

It explains why accounts run from a Kremlin-linked operation tried to stir up anti-Islamic feeling during the Westminster Bridge terror attack in March in a bogus post claiming a Muslim woman ignored victims.

Now, Ive learned, there are concerns that Russia is even fuelling anti-vaccine campaigns on social media. What, you may wonder, would be the propaganda value of spreading concern about giving your child a measles jab? The answer, according to those Ive spoken to, is to encourage the view that the authorities cannot be trusted. Its an attempt to undermine faith in the institutions that we used to trust.

So lets be clear: this isnt just about politics or global power- plays, its something that can affect us all, even if news and politics bore us rigid. It can affect the way we live our lives day to day. To this end, it spreads fake news via fake social media accounts and using fake amplifiers  cyber systems that repeat and effectively turn up the volume of those messages.

There is now irrefutable evidence Russia interfered in the US presidential election  unless, like Donald Trump, you are prepared to take Putins word he did no such thing.

Facebook, which initially derided the suggestion it had carried Russian paid-for propaganda, has since admitted that 126 million Facebook users in the US were exposed to Russian-created political content.

The company is now creating a system so users can check whether posts should come with a Made in Russia health warning. Too little. Too late.

Facebook has admitted that 126 million Facebook users in the US were exposed to Russian-created political content

There is also proof Emmanuel Macrons emails were hacked and leaked in the run-up to the French election. Spains Prime Minister has claimed that half of the Twitter accounts that fuelled the debate about Catalan independence were registered in Russia.

There is now proof that Russian bots  automated Twitter and Facebook accounts  and troll factories posted thousands of messages in the run-up to the Brexit vote.

Furthermore, the Electoral Commission has opened an inquiry into whether the Leave.EU campaign may have been bankrolled with the help of Russian roubles  an allegation that its co-founder and financier Arron Banks has firmly denied.

So, was it the Kremlin wot won it? So far, there is no firm evidence the Kremlin tried to, let alone succeeded, in bringing about Brexit. However, we do need to ask why so many tweets and posts about the things which divide people in the UK seem to come from Russia.

In the Black Sea town of Gelendzhik, why did Svetlana Lukyanchenko sign up to Twitter a month before our EU referendum and post or retweet almost 100 messages mentioning #Brexit? Why was it that after the Scottish referendum Russian accounts spread rumours of ballot boxes being stuffed with No votes?

I am not arguing that those who backed Brexit or Scottish independence fell for a foreign plot. But we need to understand why the Kremlin might want to set up its own TV news network in London called RT, or Russia Today, and a news agency in Edinburgh called Sputnik.

Scotlands former First Minister Alex Salmond has lent his credibility to a network paid for, run by and operating in the interests of the Kremlin

RT may only have a few hundred thousand viewers in the UK, but that number may be boosted by their new talkshow host, Scotlands former First Minister Alex Salmond, who has lent his credibility to a network paid for, run by and operating in the interests of the Kremlin. RT is Russian propaganda which, unlike those bots and troll factories, operates in plain sight.

Nigel Farage was also offered a slot on RT before he got his own show on Fox News. The link between these two unlikely bedfellows is that the most ardent supporters of Ukip and the SNP are inclined to believe that what they call the MSM mainstream media  is biased against them. Through RT, the Kremlin is only too pleased to encourage that view.

The visible and invisible arms of Kremlin propaganda often work together. Soon after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over Eastern Ukraine killing 298 people, a fake tweet from a non-existent Spanish air traffic controller claimed it had been downed by a Ukrainian fighter jet. The post was retweeted by others and picked up by and promoted by RT.

We now live in an age where a large proportion of people get their news from social media  and like or share what they read. News is, as a result, increasingly being reduced to a three-letter word  OMG or LOL or WTF.

If you can game the algorithms it is all too easy to manipulate the emotions of a large part of the population.

Thats why we all need to wise up to what is going on: a state-sponsored effort to hack into our national conversation. Its why politicians, social media companies and we as citizens should do more to protect our democracy and freedoms.
The emails started dropping on Monday morning. Liz, Im sorry about David, you must be devastated. And: Liz, hope David will be OK.

I wasnt that concerned, as my relationship with my boyfriend David is pretty on/off. But I replied to one: Why, whats wrong with him now?

Organ failure. It doesnt look good. I keep singing, How can I be sure, where I stand with yoooooo. 

Oh no. They mean David Cassidy! And just like that, my heart began to break.

In the early 1970s, fans lhad to work hard to idolise him. The only thing to watch was a video of him on Top Of The Pops or pictured hurriedly at Heathrow

There have been many eulogies in the few days since he died, penned by middle-aged women who claim to have been his number one fan. Puh-lease.

Unless you were standing, as I was aged 13, at White City, wishing your platforms were higher so you could see over 35,000 other adolescent heads to get a glimpse of a slight form in a spangled jumpsuit, you were no one to David. Aged 12, I even entered a disco dancing contest to win a life-size poster. I was victorious. And Im not even an extrovert.

In the early 1970s, fans like me had to work hard to idolise him. The only thing to watch was a video of him on Top Of The Pops, hurriedly shot at Heathrow, as to travel to TV studios in Central London was deemed too dangerous because of the risk of being mobbed. To play my 45rpm copy of Cherish, I had to queue behind three brothers and three sisters to use the record player.

And there was that agonising weeks wait to get his top half as the centrefold of Jackie, having just bought part one, his bottom half.

'He made me believe  via a churning in the stomach, hair on the back of my neck doing the bus stop  that the future was not scary, but something to look forward to'

I loved David Cassidy not just for that snaggle tooth, the mini-cow-bells necklace around that girlish neck, the cow eyes, the feather cut, the breathy voice that gave the illusion he was millimetres from your ear (yikes!), but because he made me believe  via a churning in the stomach, hair on the back of my neck doing the bus stop  that the future was not scary, but something to look forward to.

We were given a glimpse of what loving a man should be like. We conceded, on dark days when we had spots and greasy hair, that we might not actually get David (I had a day off school when he married Kay Lenz; he seemed to go for women with really wide mouths, so I used to stretch mine with my hands) but if that was the case, maybe there was someone out there who could make us feel this way again.

There wasnt. I think men like David are the reason women like me end up unhappy. Every woman I know either drinks too much or is on antidepressants having been betrayed, or bored half to death.

I might have had the odd tingle in the years since, but that pre-teen intensity? Never.

David set us up for a fall (unwittingly, because nothing was ever his fault). We thought we would scream with excitement at the prospect of seeing our husband, not wish hed spend longer at the office because he gets on our nerves. We peaked, relationship-wise, aged 13.

Be careful what you wish for. Because even the real David Cassidy didnt measure up.

In 2001, I was assigned to interview him at his home in Las Vegas and, despite it being nearly three decades since White City, I had still not got over him, which meant his son, Beau, then ten, rather embarrassingly found me outside the white security gates, rummaging through the wheelie bin for a memento.

David Cassidy is mobbed by fans in London. Aged 13, Liz Jones wished her platforms were higher so she could get a glimpse of his slight form in a spangled jumpsuit

I was frogmarched inside. Unfortunately, the love of my life couldnt take his eyes off the giant screens showing horse-racing in every corner of the globe. He became annoyed at my questions, like why had he got rid of the feather cut, and did he ever date his Partridge Family co-star Susan Dey?

I asked if hed been tempted by girls like me and he said: While you were screaming outside Id be sleeping with the most beautiful women in the world. Oh.

His face was oddly shiny and smooth, hair suspiciously home-dyed, he had no sense of humour at all, and was bitter he had made no money.

He only started the heavy drinking after he retired in 1974: he told me he relished the fact that he no longer had to be up at dawn.

At the end of our talk, he gave me a ticket to that nights performance of The Rat Pack, a show he produced. I sat at a table in the front row, back straight, hoping hed show.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, so I swivelled with heart aflutter; even the fact Id found him dour hadnt dampened my ardour. I was still the optimistic schoolgirl in tie-dye cheesecloth. But it was only a waiter, bearing champagne.

With the compliments of Mr Cassidy. He had stood me up.
A few days after Theresa Mays catastrophic conference address, a Downing Street adviser walked up to the door of her office and delivered a nervous knock.

Within No 10 a blanket of silence had been draped around the nightmare of Manchester. Dont mention the speech, had become the mantra. But that was about to change.

Wed received over 750 letters, an official explained to me, and every one of them was supportive of Theresa. But we didnt know whether to tell her or not. We werent sure if she wanted to be reminded of what happened.

The luckless official tasked with delivering the news did so, then waited in trepidation for a response. It wasnt what theyd expected.

'You have to hand it to Theresa May  she doesnt know when shes beat,' writes DAN HODGES

She said, Please bring me the letters. That evening she sat down and read them. Then she started drafting a personal hand-written response to every single person.

You have to hand it to Theresa May  she doesnt know when shes beat. In the past month, shes been rocked by two Cabinet resignations, an attempted Brexit coup by her two most high-profile Ministers, a succession of parliamentary rebellions and retreats, the unravelling of her Brexit negotiating strategy, and one of the worst GDP growth projections in UK economic history.

And yet, incredibly, she now believes she might actually have turned the corner on her year of political purgatory.

This week shes finally found a bit of peace, an ally informs me. Throughout everything thats been going on shes been saying, I just wish people would get out of the way, and let me get on with it.

'And she thinks she may now just get some space to do her thing.

There are three reasons for this new-found  and given recent events, slightly staggering  sense of optimism.

The first is the Budget. Much of the focus was on the dire OBR growth forecast, and the long-eared stamp-duty rabbit Philip Hammond skilfully flourished.

But within No 10 they believe the most significant moment was when the Chancellor announced debt  not simply the deficit, but actual public sector net borrowing  would begin to fall as a percentage of GDP for the first time in 17 years.

They think this will allow Mrs May to claim with credibility she has broken the back of austerity, and produce the necessary fiscal headroom to allow for a loosening of the public purse strings over the course of the parliament.

The second cause for quiet celebration is a sense that the Prime Minister has at last found a simple, compelling offer to present to the British people.

Weve got a vision now, a Minister told me. Well be saying, The Conservatives will give you a job, and well give you a home, but well do it without handing on a massive debt burden to the next generation.

Its a vision they feel was helpfully defined by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who was forced to fall back on furious Marxist self-righteousness when journalists had the temerity to press for details about Labours own spending and borrowing plans.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell was forced to fall back on furious Marxist self-righteousness

And then, as ever, there is Brexit. Officially, the negotiations hang in the balance. But privately there is confidence within Downing Street that a grudging increase in the size of the Brexit divorce bill will prove enough to break the logjam. In fact, Mrs May is now so confident of making progress that preparations are under way for a major new Brexit speech billed as Florence II.

We think the money issue is nearly sorted, a Cabinet Minister told me, so what Theresa is planning to do now is set out precisely what she wants to secure at the end of the negotiations. Florence II will be about painting a more detailed picture of what she wants the landscape to look like once weve left the EU.

Contrary to reports, Mrs May has not yet signed up to the Singapore-on-Sea model advocated by Michael Gove and Boris Johnson in their secret memo.

While the Prime Minister accepts there will inevitably be a level of regulatory divergence, she believes the need to secure future trade agreements will preclude the Bonfire of the Vanities Brexit so cherished by some of the hard-core believers.

When I informed one of the PMs more strident backbench critics of this new mood of cautious optimism their response was succinct. Ye Gods! he said.

There is plenty to back up this unquenchable pessimism. The OBRs growth forecasts hold out little prospect of a swift end to the decade-long wage crush.

Even if the Tories have finally found a vision that aligns with the aspirations of the British people, there are still serious doubts about whether Theresa May is the person to sell it. And a final showdown with Gove, Johnson and the other hard-Brexiteers cant be deferred indefinitely.

But to be fair to Mrs May, her description of herself was right. She is indeed proving to be a bloody difficult woman. Difficult to wear down. Difficult to demoralise. And, as yet, difficult to dislodge.

The light she spies at the end of the tunnel might well prove to be an oncoming train. But the PM has finally found a moment of peace. Few can begrudge her that.

Phil calls in the murder squad

Im told one of the reasons Philip Hammond managed to avoid any major Budget missteps was because he was subjected to an old-fashioned military-style murder board.

According to a Minister who formerly served in the Armed Forces: The idea came from some of us ex-Army guys. When youre planning a major operation, you stress-test it by running a murder board.

'You get a group of junior officers to go over the plan and try to tear it to pieces. Then if it still looks viable after all that, youre good to go.

'Philip Hammond managed to avoid any major Budget missteps was because he was subjected to an old-fashioned military-style "murder board"'

Earlier this year the Chancellor was forced into a humiliating U-turn over a hike in National Insurance for the self-employed.

No one wanted to go through that again, my source explains, so Phil was happy to sit down with a few backbenchers, run them through some of the ideas, and let them try to pick holes in them.

Apparently we can expect this Blue Murder strategy to be used for other major announcements.
Move over Halal Snack Pack, there's a new carb-loaded delicacy in town.

And this time it's covered in bolognese sauce.

The Italian Snack Pack is the brainchild of Enzo Cucinotta, who only opened his family-run restaurant Enzo's Pizzeria in Melbourne two weeks ago.

And while his dish may be the newest viral hit, 54-year-old Enzo has been dipping chips into his mother's famous bolognese sauce for half a century.

'I've been eating bolognese sauce all my life,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'When I was a kid I used to put it on everything. That sauce is something else.'

The Italian Snack Pack (pictured) just requires three simple ingredients: Chips, Enzo's mother's bolognese sauce, and mozzarella cheese

His mum turned Enzo's favourite snack into a dish, pouring her sauce on top of chips and then melting cheese on top of it.

Fast-forward 50 years, and her creation has become the hottest snack in town.

The Italian Snack Pack just requires three simple ingredients: Chips, Enzo's mother's bolognese sauce, and mozzarella cheese.

'Then it gets put into the oven, to get it all nice and melted,' Enzo revealed.

The Italian Snack Pack is the brainchild of Enzo Cucinotta (pictured), who only opened his family-run restaurant Enzo's Pizzeria in Melbourne two weeks ago

Enzo's mum turned his favourite snack (pictured) into a dish, pouring her bolognese sauce on top of chips and then melting cheese on top of it

It only costs $7, and Enzo said the line has been out the door since pictures first started appearing on social media.

The popularity has been shocking to the family, especially Enzo's 78-year-old mother - who came to Australia from Italy in the 1950s.

'She can't believe the reaction!' he said. 'She goes, "My god, all you do is put some cheese and sauce on some chips! What's next, the Pope coming to visit?"'.

The popularity has been shocking to the family, especially Enzo's 78-year-old mother - who came to Australia from Italy in the 1950s (pictured)

It only costs $7, and Enzo said the line has been out the door since pictures first started appearing on social media

But the family couldn't be happier to see Enzo's restaurant find success so quickly.

'It's a little bit overwhelming,' Enzo's wife Gulsen Sipahi said with a laugh. 'You see these things on social media and you don't realise what the effect can be.'

Now everyone in the family - including Enzo's mum - is pitching in, helping serve repeat customers who can't get enough of the Italian Snack Pack.
Have you ever looked at a house in an interiors magazine and wondered why the places captured always look so well put together?

Styling has a huge part to play in why a home looks visually brilliant.

With this in mind, FEMAIL enlisted the help of Sydney-based interior design expert, Sally Bevan, to find out the five biggest mistakes you could make when styling your dream home.

FEMAIL enlisted the help of Sydney-based interior design expert, Sally Bevan, to find out the five biggest mistakes you could make when styling your dream home

Among the top mistakes are following the rules - Ms Bevan said a rug can make a great throw for a sofa for instance (pictured)

1. FOLLOWING THE RULES

While this might sound counter-intuitive, Ms Bevan explained that when you follow the rules, occasionally things don't turn out how you might like:

'Remember, you don't always have to follow the recommended use of things,' she told FEMAIL.

By way of example, Ms Bevan highlighted that often, a king-sized duvet will work better for a queen bed.

'Coverlets and bed shams, particularly ones with beautiful embroidery, also make for great sofa covers - and they have the added benefit of being really hard working,' she added.

The designer recommended you try bench seating 'for a casual dining arrangement, particularly for round tables'.

She also said that when you don't need to extra seating, they can make for 'fantastic, easy living surfaces on which to pile books, magazines or baskets'.

Finally in this category, Ms Bevan said you should use 'two side tables as coffee tables':

'They are small, take up less space - and you can drag one over to where you are sitting on the sofa, so your cup of tea or glass of wine is in reach'.

'Remember, you don't always have to follow the recommended use of things,' the expert told FEMAIL - in this regard, benches can make great casual dining set-ups

'Whatever your budget is, a rug can really set a space alight,' Ms Bevan told FEMAIL - but you have to get the sizing and the placement exactly right (pictured)

2. NOT NAILING RUG SIZING AND PLACEMENT

For Ms Bevan, a rug makes a room.

'Whatever your budget is, a rug can really set a space alight,' she told FEMAIL.

'And getting the rug sizing right is crucial - a rug that is too big for a space is impossible to fix, while one that's too small can make a space look awkward'.

The expert explained that 'people often make the mistake of thinking that a rug needs to be much larger than the furniture layout it sits under, when actually, it's more about the sizing of the rug when placed right'.

'In most cases, the right placing will be the rug set under at least two legs of edge seating,' she said.

'In most cases, the right placing will be the rug set under at least two legs of edge seating,' Ms Bevan explained (stock image)

It's also vital to strike the right balance between quality and price - you can do this by working out the 'cost per use' of various items

3. NOT STRIKING THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN QUALITY AND PRICE

It's the age old debate - should you go for quality or value for money?

Both, if you believe Ms Bevan, but it's important to know when to opt for one and when to choose the other.

'Work out which things you'll get the most use out of, and separate that from the things you will gain the most enjoyment from,' she said.

'Ideally, you should try and strike a balance between the two.'

Ms Bevan recommends working out the 'cost per use', because it will help you to figure out whether you're 'really saving money by scrimping on soft furnishings that you'll have to re-buy in six months time'.

Try making a list of items to find out what the investment buys are.

'Work out which things you'll get the most use out of, and separate that from the things you will gain the most enjoyment from,' Ms Bevan said (stock image)

'There is a tendency to overestimate the capacity of space when it comes to buying furniture,' Ms Bevan said - try and buy things which are the right size for where you're living

4. BUYING FURNITURE THAT IS TOO BIG FOR THE SPACE

Living in a two-bedroomed apartment in the city, but fallen in love with a giant, rustic table for your kitchen? Think twice before buying it.

'There is a tendency to overestimate the capacity of space when it comes to buying furniture,' Ms Bevan said.

'Chunky pieces or pieces that are too big can instantly shrink a room and make the whole setup feel cumbersome.'

She advises opting for pieces that seem smaller 'to reduce the feeling of bulk' - or pieces with what she calls 'underspace':

'If space is limited, consider going for a sofa with a little leg or foot, over a base that touches the floor,' she said.

'Also, smaller armchair varieties are more adequate than people might think - and they look great when placed correctly in a room.'

Finally, Ms Bevan said that if you're the opposite of a design expert, and have reached a wall with making decor decisions, you shouldn't rule out enlisting the help of the pros

5. NOT CONSIDERING PROFESSIONAL HELP

Finally, Ms Bevan said that if you're the opposite of a design expert, and have reached a wall with making decor decisions, you shouldn't rule out enlisting the help of the pros.

'Rather than going it alone or simply living with unresolved spaces, why not consider working with someone whose job it is to help with these very problems,' she said.

'A designer can also help you to get the most bang for your budget, thanks to their deep knowledge of pieces on the market.'

The expert concluded by saying 'your home has the potential to drain or energise your day.

'A home to love is one investment that is more than worth making.'
Her distinctive hairstyle has remained virtually unchanged since the fifties.

But while the Queen may be happy with her coiffure, her husband Prince Philip was apparently not so enthusiastic.

In the critically acclaimed royal drama The Crown, which draws on real-life events and accounts from palace sources, the Duke teases his wife about her so-called 'helmet hair'.

In the episode in question, set in 1957, the Queen is advised by her hairdresser to change her hairstyle to something 'a little shorter and rounder'.

In the critically acclaimed royal drama The Crown, which draws on real-life events and accounts from palace sources, the Duke of Edinburgh teases his wife about her so-called 'helmet hair'

In the episode in question, which covers the year 1957, the Queen is advised by her hairdresser to change her hairstyle to something 'a little shorter and rounder'. Pictured: The Queen in 1957

But the new style, which would become the Queen's trademark coiffure for years to come, didn't go down well with the monarch's husband, according to the series.

'Why on earth would you do something like that to your hair?' the Duke exclaims.

The Queen replies that the cut is 'very a la mode', describing it as 'tidy and sensible', the Sunday Telegraph reports.

'It's certainly very practical. Should you ever feel compelled to ride a motorcycle, it could always double as a helmet,' he jokes.

The Netflix drama, which launched last year, deals with the ongoing struggles of the Queen (Claire Foy) to reconcile her public and private selves

While the drama has been showered with critical praise, it has also stirred up much controversy, by reigniting rumours of Prince Philip's supposed roving eye

'I'm sure it would provide ample protection against any falling masonry. But if enlarging the family and enticing your husband to procreate is the goal, then you might take a look at Jayne Mansfield or Rita Hayworth...'

The Netflix drama, which launched last year, deals with the ongoing struggles of the Queen (Claire Foy) to reconcile her public and private selves.

And while it has been showered with critical praise, it has also stirred up much controversy, by reigniting rumours of Prince Philip's supposed roving eye.

The trailer for the new season sees the Queen say: 'I have learnt more about humiliation in the past few weeks than I hoped I would in a lifetime,' and according to the show's creator, Peter Morgan, season two features 'a lot more' of the suggestion that her husband was sometimes distracted.

Certainly it does nothing to dispel the reputation of the Prince as a seasoned flirt  with Jodi Balfour's Jackie Kennedy playing a pivotal, and receptive, role.

'The Queen and Jackie don't get off to a good start in the series because of Philip,' Balfour told Event magazine. 'The Prince is just a flirt [with her] and I don't think there's any intention behind it, but he's going through a phase of liking a lot of women, as is [her husband] JFK.'

Elizabeth's suspicions of infidelity are aroused after she finds a picture of a dancer in his bag - believed to represent Pat Kirkwood, the real-life dancer he was once linked to.

The Netflix show also suggests he was romantically involved with women on a 1956-7 tour of Commonwealth countries without his wife, aboard the HMY Britannia.

There he meets the women of Papua New Guinea and Tonga, with his private secretary writing: 'Nowhere on earth have we seen such beautiful women.

'We tear ourselves away, each of us not a little bit, but very much in love.'

At the heart of the spectacular new series of the Netflix-original drama, which chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth, lies a visit from Jackie Kennedy that allegedly sent the Queen into a jealous fury with her husband.

The scene re-imagines the night that the royal couple, who are celebrating 70 years of marriage this year, hosted the Kennedys at Buckingham Palace in 1961.

According to The Telegraph, the scene sees the Duke of Edinburgh tell the Queen that Jackie has asked him to give her a tour of their home. In response to her husband's remark, the Queen sharply replies: 'It's my house so I'll do it.'

While the guests at the banquet are making small talk, and the Queen sits a few feet away, the Prince, played by Matt Smith, is engaged in some serious flirting.

The Queen then hears rumours from her equerry, Lord Plunkett, that Jackie has been speaking ill of her behind her back.

Lord Plunkett claims that Jackie dubbed her 'a middle-aged woman so incurious, unintelligent and unremarkable that Britain's new reduced place in the world was not a surprise but an inevitability.'

In the scene, which was imagined by writer Peter Morgan, Lord Plunkett explains that Jackie also describes Buckingham Palace as 'second rate, dilapidated and sad, like a neglected provincial hotel.'

The comments leave the Queen with tears in her eyes but in a steely manner, she adds: 'Well, we must have her again soon.'

The series returns to Netflix on December 8.
This extraordinary footage captures the moment hundreds of thousands of spider crabs emerged from the deep to shed their shells in the shallows.

As the first full moon of winter arrives, an army of spider crabs travels across the seabed to the waters of the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia.

They climb on top of each other to create huge mounds which they use to protect themselves while they shed their small shells and replace them with larger ones.

Footage from this incredible annual gathering was captured on camera and will air on tonight's episode of Blue Planet II.

Annual gathering: Hundreds of thousands of spider crabs emerge to shed their shells in the shallow waters of the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia

As the spider crabs shell is unable to grow they are forced to come up to the shallows to molt their shells, allowing them to grow a bigger one.

After shedding their old shell they use the soft new one that has been growing underneath, which takes a few days to harden and keep them safe from predators like the patrolling four-metre stingrays.

Narrating the scene, Sir David Attenborough explains: 'Like all crabs, their bodies are enclosed in a hard unexpandable shell.

'So to grow they have to break out of it, and that allows the soft one that has developed beneath to expand. It will take days for the new shell to harden.'

Important ritual: The spider crabs go to the bay to shed their shells so they can use the ones growing underneath. They form mounds to protect themselves during the essential process

Safety in numbers: They climb on top of each other forming mounds of around a 100 m long

On alert: The new shells take a few days to harden and keep them safe from predators like the patrolling four-metre stingrays. Pictured, one of the spider crabs

Though the site of the crabs may seem intimidating, the crustaceans are mostly harmless.

Camera operator Alex Vail revealed how the crew found the crabs, writing on the BBC website: 'We tracked back and forth searching for hours, until we spotted a slightly discoloured area of water. ''Could this be them?'' A quick free dive confirmed  yep we had them!

'Descending towards this mass of legs and claws for the first time was breathtaking  I had never seen so much life in one place. The crabs didn't seem concerned about our presence and I would often find one or two clambering over my legs while filming.

Camouflage: This week's episode also sees an octopus hiding from a shark by pretending to be a pile of shells

The camera zooms in to the octopus'swhich darts around nervously as the predator swims by

'Their relaxed nature proved essential for getting right amongst them with our underwater probe lens and bespoke underwater sliders.'

Also on this week's episode is the incredible footage of an octopus hiding from a shark by pretending to be a pile of shells.

The female octopus is seen covering herself with shells before her hungry enemy starts swimming around nearby.

In one heart-stopping moment, the shark smacks its tail on the octopus, turns around and begins to circulate around her again.

The camera then cuts to a close up of the octopus' eye, which darts around nervously as the predator swims close by.

Blue Planet II airs tonight on BBC1 at 8pm.
Proud cat owners gathered to show off their precious pets at an annual exhibition.

The cats had their hair trimmed and claws clipped for the showcase in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

In typical fashion for this eccentric occasion, cats are paraded around, sometimes wearing bizarre outfits or accessories.

However not all of the cats looked particularly pleased to be there and were captured snarling at the camera or gazing moodily at passing children.

One sassy-looking kitty was in full fancy attire, wearing a sparkly hat and frilled collar.

Here, FEMAIL shares pictures of some of the most striking entrants...

Strike a pose: This hat wearing Scottish Straight cat gives her best 'blue steel' impression during the exhibition in Bishkek

Meow! This furry feline couldn't be more adorable as she breaks away from her brother to say hello to the photographer

Commitment: This cat owner, who has been attending the exhibition for the past few years, wears fluffy ears to get into the spirit

Don't touch me! This feline could very easily take the crown as the new Grumpy Cat with that expression

Yum: This cute Scottish Fold cat enjoys a nice treat and a cuddle in her blanket for being so well behaved during the event

An unusual looking breed, the Oriental Shorthair cat proudly shows off large ears and paws

Another ginger Scottish Fold sits patiently as she is petted gently by her young owner

Wearing a lavish hat and a frilled dress, this Scottish Fold cat has no problem looking sassy as she poses for the camera

One woman proudly holds her Scottish Shorthair cat for visitors of the exhibition to marvel at his beauty

This Scottish Shorthair kitten bravely edges towards a toddler for a closer look
When Meghan Markle jetted into London just over a week ago, it came as no shock that the first person she saw was a certain ginger-haired Prince. But the person Meghan called on next was rather more surprising.

Shed barely had time to unpack her winter woollies before she was visiting Sarah Chapman, facialist to the stars, at her Chelsea clinic Skinesis.

Sarah, a striking blonde, is the go-to woman for celebrities who want their complexions to be glowing for a red-carpet event . . . or maybe an engagement announcement.

Victoria Beckham readily admits seeing Sarah once a month and describes her facials as the best in London.

And when shes not reclining on Sarahs treatment bed, Victoria is slathering herself in products from Sarahs range.

Facialist to the stars Sarah Chapman (pictured left) was one of the first people Meghan Markle (pictured right) visited on her trip to London

She takes off her make-up with her 44 Ultimate Cleanse and confesses covering herself in the 149 Stem Cell Collagen Activator Duo. When shes hanging around the house with the kids, she keeps it casual with Sarahs Skin Insurance SPF 30 cream (49) and occasionally treats herself to a 3D Moisture Infusion Mask (43 for four). I think thats what you call a ringing endorsement.

Other famous names who flock to Skinesis, which opened its doors two years ago, include actresses Naomi Watts and Uma Thurman and supermodels Gigi Hadid and Jourdan Dunn.

Disappointingly, as you might expect, Sarah is the soul of discretion  after all, what celebrity wants a facialist blabbing about their spotty skin and oily T-zone? At our shoot, the day after seeing Meghan, Sarah apologises, but says shes not allowed to talk about the potential princess-to-be.

She does, however, admit to being mortified at seeing her own photo splashed around the world: Look at my hair!

When we meet, her hair, along with the rest of her, looks immaculate. Shes wearing just the lightest make-up, and I can confirm her skin positively glows.

Unusually for a clinic that attracts such an A-list following, Skinesis has a very public shop front entrance.

Customers must walk through a retail floor, before heading upstairs to the main reception area, where staff offer herbal teas while clients wait to be beckoned in for their procedure. A real-flame fire, set into the wall like a fish tank, is a particularly luxurious touch.

Sarah Chapman (pictured) studied beauty and aromatherapy after noticing the number of people searching for fixes for problem skin

Sitting in one of Sarahs large treatment rooms, surrounded by the latest high-tech skin gizmos, I cant help but think how facials have come a long way from the days when a bored therapist would slap half-a-dozen creams on your face before wiping them off over the course of an hour.

Facials used to be a rare treat, didnt they? says Sarah. Years ago, youd have one as a gift, once a year maybe. But its not the same now. All our clients come every month, or more often. It is part of their maintenance.

Women in America have always had dermatologists and facialists, but its taken longer to catch on here.

Very few say they want to look younger. Its about wanting to look well, fresh and sculpted

Last year, on her now-defunct lifestyle site The Tig, Meghan, now 36, revealed that her mother, Doria, drummed into her from an early age how important it was to look after her skin.

When I was 13 years old, my mom had me start getting facials in my hometown of Los Angeles, she wrote. It seemed so silly at the time, trekking in my school uniform to see a woman named Anika who slathered my skin with Yon-Ka products and chatted away about the importance of eye cream.

Now, she treks in her skinny jeans to Sarah, who claims to deliver results that are both dramatic and instant.

Some people come in to see if they can improve their skin before resorting to Botox, says Sarah, who has a six-month waiting list. Theyre so impressed with the results that they rarely go on to injectables.

Should any Skinesis clients still feel the need for a little muscle-freezing, the clinic does have a nurse available to administer the injections, although Sarah insists: People want Botox thats barely noticeable. Nobody wants that waxy, frozen-forehead look.

From right to left Joanne Evans, Sarah Chapman, Inge Theron, Teresa Tarme and Debbie Thomas are apart of Britain's generation of facialists attracting devotees

When it comes to the ladies who walk through her doors, she says they are firmly split: Some are looking for intensive performance products, others want natural and organic, and then there are the just give me the results ones.

I know which group Id fall into, but I cant help wondering what Meghan does to get her youthful glow (other than fall in love with a prince).

Hard as it is to imagine that the sort of women who frequent Skinesis are ever on their knees with exhaustion, Sarah says please make me look less tired is the request she hears most often.

Very few say they want to look younger. Its about wanting to look well, fresh and sculpted, she adds. She cites her Stem Cell Collagen Therapy treatment, the most popular at her clinic, as a particularly effective procedure.

If its 100 on a dress, Ill ask how many times they think theyll wear it. I know I would rather spend that on my face

Its a souped-up version of our bespoke facial, she explains. We do a massage, peel and extraction  all you need to get the skin healthy. Then we use an electronic needling device to push the stem cells and peptides into the skin.

You get everything you want from a facial, but taken up a notch. Afterwards, the skin looks instantly tight, plump and dewy. Could this be the treatment Meghan had when she visited?

Sarah is famed for her magic fingers that dance over skin to stimulate blood supply and circulation. So precious are those digits that theyre currently insured for a staggering 1 million.

Massage is really powerful, she says. It helps with drainage, stimulation, circulation and feeding the cells with nutrients.

We also work on the muscles and open those up to get a lifted face. OK, its temporary, but doing that on a regular basis makes a difference.

Founder of Skin Matters, Joanne Evans (pictured) started out as a nurse and now has a three-month waiting list for beauty treatments

When it comes to those tiresome middle-aged jowls, Sarah says: The best thing is radio frequency, where a device is used to heat the collagen fibres in the dermis beneath the skin.

They shrink and tighten and it gives a lift. One session will work, but will only last a short time  you need a series to get a permanent effect. But the important thing is to realise that it is never too late to change your skin.

As we get older, and the cells behaviour is slower, changes will take longer, but you can wake those cells up and see improvements.

It sounds wonderful, but the downside is that Sarahs treatments come with a hefty price tag. The stem cell facial costs up to 260. Luckily, there are cheaper options, such as a 30-minute 75 complexion-enhancing treatment. To those who baulk at such expenditure, Sarah says: The face is out there on show every day. I will often say to clients: When did you last buy a piece of clothing and what did you spend?

Neveruse cleansing wipes long-term. Its like cleaning your face with Mr Sheen!- Joanne Evans

If its 100 on a dress, Ill ask how many times they think theyll wear it. I know I would rather spend that on my face  it makes you feel so much better if your skin is good.

Unlike some of her counterparts, Sarah didnt take the traditional route into beauty. She started off doing special effects make-up for film and TV  all blood, guts and gore, she says  which took her to Australia for work.

It was while doing this that she saw the many skin problems people have and became obsessed with seeking ways to fix them. She did full beauty training and studied aromatherapy.

Back in London, she studied cosmetic science, focusing on the formulations that work best for skin regeneration.

Nine years ago, she launched her Skinesis skincare range  now sold in John Lewis, QVC and on Amazon  with her biggest seller being her Overnight Facial (49). As Meghan left with a little goodie bag, its a safe bet one of those was inside.

Inge Theron (pictured) opened her flagship studio FaceGym after a disastrous experience with cosmetic surgery

Sarah was generous enough to give me a tube. Hailed as an overnight miracle, the serum plumps and smooths, as well as boosting collagen production. It smells delicious and leaves my skin soft and hydrated. I dont look ten years younger, but that was clearly a miracle too far.

Speaking of age, Sarahs is a closely guarded secret. Its the most Googled question about me, she laughs.

Given how much she has achieved, she must be mid to late-40s, but could easily pass for mid-30s. Thankfully, shes less cagey about what she does to her own face: I cleanse, use serums, moisturise and use sun protection every day. Ill have facials when one of the girls can fit me in, and I do radio frequency for skin tightening.

With our time up, Sarah walks me out into the sleek main reception area. As I exit, the model Suki Waterhouse brushes past me  no doubt the next lucky person on the receiving end of Sarahs dancing fingers.

Sarah Chapman is just one of a new generation of British facialists who have become huge players in the anti-ageing industry, attracting devotees from all over the globe with business empires that span continents.

JOANNE EVANS

Joanne Evans, 49, is the woman behind the hugely successful beauty company Skin Matters, based in West London. She plans to open a further two clinics in 2018. Joanne started out as a nurse and has a degree in anatomy and physiology. Now, she boasts a three-month-long waiting list with clients including Elle Macpherson and Jemima Khan.

Teresa Tarmey (pictured) offers beauty treatments out of her home in Kensington. She was inspired to join the beauty industry after her own struggles with acne

Signature facial: Includes Intense Pulse Light (IPL) treatment, laser, LED and micro currents (a device that delivers a light electrical pulse to the skin to tighten and firm). Cost: 400. For those with really deep pockets, Joanne even has a 1,000 treatment. The Recharge was created for her jet-set customers and features a rubber mask that sends electrical currents into the skin.

INGE THERON

Inge Theron, 41, opened her flagship studio FaceGym on the Kings Road three years ago, investing half-a-million pounds in state-of-the-art equipment. It wasnt so much bad skin that drew Inge to opening her own facial spa, rather a disastrous experience with cosmetic surgery. Botox left her with a drooping eye, while a thread lift became swollen and infected.

I looked like an alien and had to hide away for three months, she tells me. It is Inges view that the muscles in our face need to be worked out in the same way as the ones in our body do. Like other women, I exercised my body, but all I did to my face was slap on creams.

Debbie Thomas (pictured) recently opened her beauty clinic nearby Harrods. Her clients include Sophie Dahl and Billie Piper

When that didnt work, I turned to Botox, fillers and threads, she says. I knew there had to be a way of creating a bootcamp for the face to get that same toned, tight, lifted look. Unusually, clients at FaceGym arent treated in private rooms, but on chairs next to one another, as if at a hairdressers.

Our clients like the social side, chatting to one another about what theyre having done. The reception desk at FaceGym doubles as a bar or Open Beauty Lab, as Inge calls it. Alas, the only cocktails mixed are bespoke oil tinctures, which are used in the treatments or for clients to take home. Cost: Treatments range from 40 for a 30-minute facial workout to 885 for a month-long Facecamp to rejuvenate winter skin.

TERESA TARMEY

Sheffield-born Teresa Tarmey, 41, who counts the Delevingne sisters and Sienna Miller among her clients, works from her five-storey home in Kensington. She also guests at the exclusive Huvafen Fushi resort in the Maldives, the worlds first spa built below water.

Her struggles with acne led her into training as a beauty therapist. In line with the other super-facialists, Teresas treatments are tweaked according the needs of her clients. She sees many women experiencing mid-life acne, often triggered by the menopause. This can be effectively treated with a laser that deeply penetrates, destroys bacteria and zaps the overactive sebaceous (oilreleasing) glands. And all without damaging the skin.

Signature facial: A light peel, extractions, massage and LED, UV light treatment that accelerates skin rejuvenation. Cost: 280.

DEBBIE THOMAS

Newly opened last month, Debbie Thomass clinic is a stones throw from Harrods in London. Clients include Sophie Dahl and Billie Piper. Debbie, 38, also suffered with acne, and says it was her desperation to find a permanent solution that led to her love of skincare.

Signature facial: The so-called DNA Laser Complete treatment. Using lasers, this is ideal for acne and pigmentation, as well as providing a powerful anti-ageing effect. Cost: 450, although its cheaper if you use one of the other therapists at Debbies clinic.
The party season is officially here. And with it, all too often, come the after-effects  that pounding head, nausea and mouth that feels like the bottom of a birdcage.

However, this year, it may well be easier to avoid the pain. For Britain is currently in the grip of a boom in organic booze and low-alcohol wines, with supermarkets rushing to fill their shelves with head-friendly products as we embrace cleaner living.

Lidl is restocking its hangover-free prosecco this week, after it sold out last month. Tesco launched its own 0.5 per cent alcohol wines last week and, in the New Year, Aldi will start selling two new wines at 5.5 per cent. while M&S will follow suit with two half-a-percenters of its own.

Helen McGinn (pictured) revealed the best festive tipples to avoid a hangover this season

One thing to note before you get too excited, though: anything with alcohol will give you a hangover if you drink too much of it. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it speeds up the loss of water from the body, leaving you dehydrated  hence the dry mouth and headaches.

Then there are congeners, biological compounds produced during fermentation or the ageing process that flavour and colour drinks.

Generally, clear drinks such as white wine and spirits such as vodka and gin have lower levels of congeners compared with red wine and dark spirits such as whisky and dark rum. (Tannins  the mouth-drying compounds found particularly in red wine  are congeners). Various studies suggest the more congeners consumed, the worse the hangover is likely to be.

Some people are also wary of sulphites, sulphur compounds found in all wines, but in varying amounts depending on how much sulphur dioxide the winemaker adds to the wine after fermentation to keep it fresh.

While most people have no problem with sulphites, some report everything from sneezing to facial flushing to headaches.

Bearing all this in mind, Ive collated my pick of the drinks with the lowest chance of a hangover . . .

She says drinking too much of anything containing alcohol will cause hangovers (file image)

LIDLS BARGAIN NO-HANGOVER PROSECCO

Organic Prosecco Spumante (7.99, Lidl)

Lidl recently launched this organic prosecco billed as hangover-free, which, given that it contains alcohol, sounds too good to be true.

The bottles flew off the shelves, with more due to hit Lidls stores on Thursday. I suggest you go and get some before it sells out again because, for the price, its delicious. Think lemon sherbets in liquid form.

WHITE THAT WONT WIPE YOU OUT

The Doctors Sauvignon Blanc, 9.5 per cent (8.99, Waitrose)

A brilliant, bright white, with plenty of gooseberry fruit flavour. Opting for a white, rather than a red, will always cut your congeners, but whats different about this wine is the alcohol content.

She advises lovers of white wine to try The Doctors Sauvignon Blanc because of it's lower percentage of alcohol

The man behind it, Doctor John Forrest, has used his grape-growing know-how to make a wine with just 9.5 per cent alcohol by volume (most are around 13 per cent).

So you still get the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with alcohol, without it leaving quite such a mark the next day.

RED WITH NO ADDED NASTIES

SO Organic No Added Sulphur Cabernet Sauvignon (6.50, Sainsburys)

This ones organic, so we know there are no nasties used in the vineyard. And with no added sulphur, its another one to look out for if you think sulphites make your hangover worse.

Made from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape grown in the Western Cape, its actually not too tannic, either, which, given its made from a thick-skinned grape, is quite surprising.

Helen says Beaujolais Nouveau 2017 is a real revelation for those who enjoy lighter red wines

(As a rule of thumb, the thicker the skin, the more tannic the wine, as the tannins come from the skin.)

And that might just help when it comes to minimising the effects the next day.

This is a Fairtrade wine, too. But the wine itself tastes a little like stewed jam and, at 13.5 per cent, the alcohol content might cancel out the benefits of going organic.

THE LIGHTER FRENCH FAVOURITE

Beaujolais Nouveau 2017 (8, Marks & Spencer)

No longer naff, Beaujolais Nouveau is definitely worth a go if you like your reds on the lighter side.

Made from the thin-skinned Gamay grape, this is naturally low in tannins, compared with many other French reds, and it hasnt been anywhere near an oak barrel.

Juicy and fresh with flavours of just-squashed strawberries and cherries, its a real revelation.

GIN THATS A FRIEND TO YOUR LIVER

Brighton Gin (39.95, tanners.co.uk)

As far as congeners go, white wine is a better bet than red  but best of all are clear spirits such as gin.hii

Given that Brighton Gin is one of the only gins to contain milk thistle, known for its liver- cleansing properties, this ones an obvious candidate.

She says clear spirits such as gin can be better than white wine but be sure to use lots of tonic and ice to keep hydration levels up

Mild and creamy, compared with more powerful, juniper-heavy gins, it whispers, rather than shouts.

Just make sure you use lots of tonic and plenty of ice to up your hydration levels and boost your hopes of waking up without a sore head.

VODKA WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE

UK 5 Organic Vodka (18.95, thewhiskyexchange.com)

According to the producer of this vodka, conventional vodka is made from grain thats been sprayed, on average, seven times with chemicals.

Meanwhile, this ones made from organic grain and should therefore give you less of a hard time the morning after.

In my own taste-test, it stood up well against more expensive vodkas, with a clean, pure taste.

Great packaging, too. It really looks the part.

THE HANGOVER BUSTER FROM JAPAN

Ozeki Dry Sake (7.98, japancentre.com)

Sake, the national drink of Japan, is made from fermented rice and, compared with other wines and spirits, is comparatively low in congeners and sulphites.

Helen says Ozeki Dry Sake is a good place to start for anyone who hasn't tried a sake before

This ones also labelled as dry, so is lighter in style and lower in alcohol compared with many others. Its a good place to start for anyone who hasnt tried sake before and fancies giving it a go.

Plus, sake is for sipping, rather than gulping, so it does slow down the intake. Just as well, given that its 14.5 per cent.

THE PINT THAT DOESNT PACK A PUNCH

Samuel Smiths Organic Lager (2.75, vintageroots.co.uk)

Made by a small, independent brewery in Yorkshire, this is a fresh, light ale with a lovely hoppy character and a touch of toffee about it.

All the base ingredients  malted barley and hops  are organically produced. This certainly doesnt mean it wont give you a hangover if you drink too much of it.

But you can feel better for drinking something chemical-free when it comes to the main ingredients. And at 5 per cent, you can probably have two pints and not feel terrible the next day.

AND IF ALL ELSE FAILS . . .

Tesco Low-Alcohol Cabernet Tempranillo 0.5 per cent (3)

If youre still waking up under the weather whatever you drink, heres one to try.

Theres a red, white, rose and two sparkling wines in this recently launched own-label ultra-low alcohol range, but this is by far the best of the bunch.

Made from Spanish Cabernet and Tempranillo grapes, the alcohol is taken out via spinning cone technology, which, in theory, removes the alcohol, but doesnt completely strip the wine of flavour.

This one smells of juicy bramble fruits. The taste is a little sweeter than Id normally like from my glass of red and, at just 0.5 per cent, theres no hint of the warm fuzzies, but its perfectly drinkable.

Clear heads all round. Ill drink to that!
General Tawhed Tawfik, the head of the Egyptian delegation at the first Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) meeting in Riyadh, affirmed his country's determination to fight terrorism, which he said is a cross-border threat that requires organised and comprehensive measures to counter.

Tawfik said that the armed conflicts in the region have created a fertile environment for the spread of terrorism.

"Eradicating terrorism requires a comprehensive strategy to target all sources of financial and ideological support for terrorists, and not focus solely on the military aspect," Tawfik said, stressing that counterterrorism has become more complicated due to terrorist organisations increased capabilities and access to technology.

"Terrorist organisations have moved on from having political, social or economic goals to seeking the elimination of any trace of the nation state," Tawfik said.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman said that all members of the Islamic Coalition stand by Egypt in its war against terrorism.

Bin Salman condemned the attack on an Egyptian mosque that killed more than 300 worshippers on Friday.

The IMCTC is an intergovernmental counterterrorist alliance of Muslim countries that aims to combat terrorist groups such as Daesh.

The initiative to form the alliance was first announced by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohamed Bin Salman on 15 December 2015. The alliances joint operations centre is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Jo and Sarah answer real questions from readers: to put your query, go to beautybible.com

Q My sister is about to have breast surgery (a lumpectomy) and I want to find something to help with the healing process. Is there anything you recommend?

A There are two products we suggest might help. A California-based skincare company called iS Clinical, which has close ties to breast cancer charities, offers Sheald Recovery Balm and British brand SOS, standing for Science of Skin, has formulated Solution for Scars.

For more information follow Beauty Bible online here or on Facebook and Twitter

They are both excellent but there is one key difference. Sheald, which we know well and have had glowing reports about, can be applied to open wounds. Pharmacist Shabir Daya at Victoria Health recommends cleansing the wound first with iS Clinical Cleansing Complex then applying Sheald. (Gill Sinclair, Joint MD of Victoria Health, has just sent this combi to her daughter in law to use after a C-section.)

SOS Solution for Scars is designed to use after the wound has closed. Plastic surgeon Douglas McGeorge, who founded the range with scientist Dr Ardeshir Bayat, a specialist in scar treatment, says their product  based on a green tea extract plus other botanicals  will first help to reduce inflammation and soreness.

Douglas McGeorge says: This will help the healing of the scar, as the reduction in irritation will mean that you are less likely to interfere or touch the wound. Once the irritation has been removed, the scarring will become more flush with the skin, with reduced redness. The product is clinically proven to reduce scarring by up to 40 per cent.

Additionally, Mr McGeorge says the most important step for effective healing is to keep the initial wound clean. It is a common misconception that it should always be kept dry, and if it is dried well afterwards (a cool hairdryer works well), it is perfectly acceptable to wash the wound with water. It is also a misconception that dressings should always be kept on. Immediately after surgery, the dressing supports the area (especially on breast surgery), and so should be kept on. However, leaving the wound open to fresh air can help with healing. More often than not, the dressing on a wound is there to protect your clothes from any leaking rather than protecting the wound.

We do hope this helps your sister and wish her a smooth recovery.

Beauty Bible loves An Atlas of Natural Beauty, 20. If you're looking for a gift for a friend who's into natural beauty, this makes a wonderful read. And it's a great addition to the bookshelf of anyone who (like us) occasionally likes to whip up their own products at home. (It's sooooo easy, honestly!)

Victoire de Taillac, co-author of this book with husband Ramdane Touhami, is a Paris-based entrepreneur, shopkeeper and all-round cool-girl-about-town. Together, the couple set up L'Officine Buly 1803  which is a little like stepping through the back of the wardrobe into the Narnia-like environment of an ancient apothecary store, and now has outposts in places like Tokyo and Seoul (as well as two stores in Paris), with a new boutique to open on the ground floor of Selfridges later this week.

With its marbled cover, An Atlas of Natural Beauty: Botanical Ingredients for Retaining and Enhancing Beauty (Ebury Press) looks like an old apothecary book but is brought bang up to date with easy-to-follow recipes using ingredients like marigold, chamomile, cocoa butter, rosemary, tea tree, as well as further-flung ingredients like marula, perilla and Inca inchi oils, among other fascinating botanicals. (The book also tells you where things come from, and their history.)

As authors of a natural beauty how-to book ourselves, we give this great read five gold stars.
Zelda reads all your letters but regrets that she cannot answer them all personally

My husband always criticises me

I dont know how to deal with my husband of 40 years. He has changed so much. He has always been loving, but now he is critical of me and our adult children. He often misplaces things and is argumentative with everyone. I know that it might be ageing, but it could be something worse such as dementia. He wants us to be together all the time  we have never been that type of couple. He rounds on me for trivial things and I dont know how to respond to his snide remarks. I know that we should talk, but his logic has gone out of the window and rational conversation is impossible. I go along with it for a quiet life. My father was a bully, too. I dont want to go into my later years feeling nervous and resentful. I am ten years younger than my husband, I have friends and take part in activities. Leaving isnt an option, but if he had been like this earlier, I would have left him.

I am sorry  this is an upsetting situation for you. This distressing change in your husband suggests depression, but it is more likely that he is developing dementia. It is important that he sees his doctor and that you go with him. The GP will carry out the initial physical and cognitive tests. He may then be referred to a consultant and a memory clinic where they can diagnose if it is dementia and, if appropriate, prescribe medication. You can also get advice on what further help is available, such as carers coming into the home or perhaps your husband going to a day centre to give you a break. It is not easy to cope with someone like this as they are often in denial and dont realise how difficult they have become. Remember that he is probably ill and try not to feel that it is an attack on you. Contact Alzheimers Society (alzheimers.org.uk, 0300 222 1122), which will support you, talk through your options and explore ways of coping and strategies for care.

How long should I wait for her?

I am divorced and have been good friends with a couple for two years. We went out a lot and had a good time together. I did not know that the man was a cancer survivor until, sadly, it returned six months ago. I visited him at home and in the hospice, but he died recently. Since then, I have taken his wife out for coffee and she invited me for a meal as a thank-you for visiting her husband. Now I have feelings for her, but I know that I must take my time and wait for at least six months. When do friends become lovers?

Her husband has only just died so you need to tread carefully. For the moment, you should be a good friend. It sounds as though he was a nice man so she will probably be very sad. Listen to her, let her talk about him and ask her about the times that they had together. You could also help her with practical stuff that she might need. If someone has lost a loved one, it is usually better if a year or so passes before they embark on a new relationship  especially if she has children, even adult ones, as they can resent a new relationship. Give her time to grieve, a minimum of six months. If its obvious that she enjoys being with you, then you can talk about starting a relationship. The best thing to do is to tell her openly that you like her and ask her what she thinks about being a couple. I hope that, in time, she returns your feelings as it would be lovely for both of you.

We havent been intimate for years

I met my boyfriend ten years ago. Intimacy was OK at first, though intercourse was not great. He suffers from erectile dysfunction, but we found other ways to be intimate. However, this has faded and we have not had sex for four years. He is in his 50s, ten years older than me and classified as obese, which he does nothing about. We live 30 miles apart and when I see him at weekends I have become his carer. I do all his washing, prepare meals and everything else. I feel as though I am being used. I have asked him why the intimacy has gone and told him that I dont feel as though he loves me, but he insists that he does. I want to finish with him, but last time we broke up three years ago, his friends and family stopped speaking to me.

Sadly, you are in a dead-end relationship. It sounds as though, for him, the relationship is more about needing you because of all that you do rather than loving you for who you are. He needs to tackle his obesity as it is dangerous for his health. It can affect a mans ability to get an erection by lowering testosterone levels and reducing blood supply to the penis. You cant stay in an unhappy relationship because youre afraid that his family and friends would reject you. I am sure that your relations would support you. End it and, hopefully, you will find someone else. You cant live the rest of your life like this.

If you have a problem, write to Zelda West-Meads at: YOU, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS, or email z.west-meads@you.co.uk
Budgets come and go, but fishing remains a constant refuge for enthusiasts up and down the country. There are 900,000 licensed anglers in the UK, while many more unofficial dabblers also enjoy the odd day on the water.

All told, angling is a top five pastime in Britain and Angling Direct is ideally placed to benefit. The largest specialist fishing tackle retailer in the UK, Angling floated in the summer at 64p. The shares are 78p today and are likely to increase as the company expands.

Anglings founders, Martyn Page and William Hill, started out in 1986, acquiring fishing tackle shops in Norfolk. Keen anglers both, they expanded over the years and in May 2000 launched the website Angling Direct.

Fishing for a profit: Angling is a top five pastime in Britain and Angling Direct is ideally placed to benefit

Today, the group has 20 stores and a flourishing online business. Page remains at the helm as chairman, supported by chief executive Darren Bailey, who was just 16 when he began working weekends in a Norfolk store. That was in 1986 and he has been there ever since.

Page and Bailey have big ambitions for Angling Direct. The fishing tackle business is dominated by thousands of small, one-man stores, many of which are redolent of another era. Some anglers enjoy the old-fashioned feel of these places but, for many of their owners, business is tough, not least because online competitors are driving down prices.

Angling Direct is a pioneer in the online fishing tackle world. It has had years to work out how best to make money from the web.

Today, half its revenues are generated online and there is even a Youtube channel, ADTV, to enthuse viewers about the joys of angling.

The group also uses data gleaned from the web and online customers to find out what kinds of fishing anglers are into at any given time, what products they are most keen to buy and where fishing is most popular.

This, in turn, allows Page and Bailey to assess where best to open new stores or acquire existing shops. Earlier this month, for example, they made two significant acquisitions in North-West England. Last month they opened a new store in Slough and announced the opening of another in Stoke-on-Trent.

The company is not just at the forefront of the online fishing tackle sector, it is also determined to bring stores into the 21st Century, so they are bright, well-stocked and staffed by knowledgeable anglers. Brokers expect maiden annual revenues of 27.3 million for the year to January 31, 2018, a 30 per cent increase year on year. Profits are forecast to rise by 42 per cent to 1 million, moving to 1.6 million in 2019.

On the revenue front, Page and Bailey are targeting 50 million turnover within the next few years. Further out however, they are hoping to take sales to more than 100 million by opening new stores, making selected acquisitions and driving more customers to the web.

Next year too, there are plans to increase overseas sales. Customers from Germany, France and the Benelux countries are already using Angling Direct, benefiting from sterling weakness, and multilingual websites should be up and running over the coming months.

Midas verdict: Angling is a popular hobby but it is big business too. Average annual expenditure is around 750 per head and Angling Direct expects to sell a substantial amount of tackle this weekend, through Black Friday and pre-Christmas deals. The company is well run and the management is ambitious.

At 78p, the shares are a good long-term buy.

Traded on: AIM Ticker: ANG Contact: anglingdirect.co.uk/corporate or 07496 853 413
Investor: John Ayton and wife Annoushka Ducas

Links of London founder John Ayton has invested in ethical water company Dash which plans to launch in the United States.

Ayton  who is also an investor and chairman at watch company Bremont and swimwear brand Orlebar Brown  has led a round of investment by the firm that has raised 250,000.

Dash Water uses infusions of wonky veg  misshapen vegetables often rejected by supermarkets  to create water with flavours including cucumber and lemon.

It was founded by entrepreneurs Alex Wright and Jack Scott and launched in Selfridges in May. The product is now sold in over 400 stores, including Planet Organic.

The unsweet, flavoured water category is worth about 1.5 billion in the US.

Its backers insist that Dash was ahead of the market which has already seen explosive growth in the US where, Ayton said, products combating obesity are taking off. He added: A normal fizzy drink gives you 20 per cent of your sugar intake for the whole day.

That combined with the up and coming sugar tax means there is a big focus on more healthy drinks.

The next wave will look at artificial sweeteners, which are not good for you. These guys have come up with this idea of using recycled fruit and vegetables because 30 per cent of what is grown never even makes it on to peoples plates because it is damaged or the wrong shape.

Ayton set up jewellery company Links of London with his wife Annoushka Ducas, a designer who has a jewellery brand in her own name.
Australian teenagers are running riot across the Gold Coast, in Balinese resorts and in Europe to celebrate finishing their high school years.

But the Aussie 'Schoolies' have nothing on their Norwegian counterparts.

In Norway, teenagers celebrate the end of their high school careers with 'Russefeiring' or Russ, a three-week party of drinking and shameless challenges in April before their final exams.

Challenges have included having sex in public, skinny dipping in freezing water and kissing police officers. Students on a dare once broke into a teacher's home and slept the night without the teacher noticing.

In Norway teenagers celebrate the end of their high school careers with 'Russefeiring' or Russ, a three-week party held in April before their final exams

These school leavers appeared to be having a great time in spite of their varying levels of undress

This man appeared to hog-tie his friend with sticky tape

The school leavers wear overalls for the duration of their Russ festival

Australian teenagers are running riot across the Gold Coast, through Balinese resorts and in Europe following the end of their schooling

One woman who completed her study in 2016 referred to the three-week party stint as a 'crazy graduation tradition' while explaining the reason for the challenges.

'What we do is basically to get dressed in red overalls, buy busses (or vans or cars), pimp them up and party in them for about three weeks,' she said.

'We also do lots of stupid things in public, to earn something called 'russeknuter'. There are more than 100 different 'russeknuter' and they can be anything from kissing a police officer to drink 24 beers in 24 hours to stay awake for 72 hours to eat a cheeseburger in 1 bite. In other words, a fair bit of stupid stuff.'

'The fancy thing about our graduation tradition is that it takes place BEFORE we are actually done with school, so about a week after the celebrations are over, we have all our exams coming up.'

Australians celebrate their end of schooling seven months after their Norwegian peers

The Norwegians celebrate with a series of challenges they call Russ

They also drink excessively and party in busses over three weeks

Challenges vary from having sex in public, skinny dipping in freezing water and kissing police officers to breaking into a teacher's home to spend the night without them noticing

Other more mild-mannered challenges include having breakfast in the middle of a roundabout

Other more mild-mannered challenges include having breakfast in the middle of a roundabout, being tied to a friend for the day and not washing the traditional Russ uniform for the whole month.

The celebrations traditionally start in mid-April, during the students' last Spring semester, and the events are often planned months in advance.

Students are commonly dared to sleep in trees, consume various amounts of alcohol in strict time periods and spend a whole school day crawling on hands and knees.

Other challenges include having sex in public places such as the woods, or trying to sleep with 17 people between May 1 and 17.

Skinny dipping in freezing temperatures and having sex in public are other challenges

these two school leavers look freezing as they take a dip for their challenge

Other school leavers, like the ones pictured, have to tie themselves together

The celebrations traditionally start in mid-April, during the students' last Spring semester, and the events are often planned months in advance

These girls scream through the street with various things written on their faces in black

Putting 'for sale' signs on police cars, doing naked runs through town and asking random people to 'borrow a condom', are also common challenges.

The young men and women put on overalls coloured red, blue, black or green depending on their main area of study.

Most students wear red because that represents the general curriculum, however those studying business wear blue, tradespeople wear black, and people learning about agriculture and farming wear green.

Most students wear red because that represents the general curriculum

The young men and women put on overalls coloured red, blue, black or green depending on their main area of study

Student also swap cards  and the more they get the better. The cards look like business cards, have a photo of the student and a chosen quote  which are often 'offensive, lewd or funny'

The students all travel around in party vehicles such as busses and vans, which are often painted, and filled with alcohol

The celebration is widely accepted as a rite of passage.

The students all travel around in party vehicles such as busses and vans, which are often painted, and filled with alcohol.

Student also swap cards  and the more they get the better. The cards look like business cards, have a photo of the student and a chosen quote  which are often 'offensive, lewd or funny'.

The alcohol-fuelled antics draw to a close on May 17. The students march in the national parade

Photographs and videos are often posted on social media during the celebrations and show the young people enjoying their period of debauchery

Photographs and videos are often posted on social media during the celebrations and show the young people enjoying their period of debauchery

The students march in the national parade  wearing their overalls and a hat, which features a nickname chosen by their peers written on it

These school leavers petition drivers to take part in their fun

These cards are also handed out to children in the street.

The alcohol-fuelled antics draw to a close on May 17. The students march in the national parade  wearing their overalls and a hat, which features a nickname chosen by their peers written on it.

Photographs and videos are often posted on social media during the celebrations and show the young people enjoying their period of debauchery.

These girls appeared excited to pose in what appears to be a sex shop
Sofina Nikat suffocated her 15-month-old daughter Sanaya, threw her body into a Melbourne creek then accused an imaginary barefoot African of murder.

On Thursday, the 24-year-old was sentenced to a 12-month community correction order by Victorian Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry.

The same day, in New South Wales, a 27-year-old woman faced judgement for drowning her 'evil' two-year-old daughter in the bath of their Sydney home.

In that case, Acting Justice Peter Hidden found the perpetrator not guilty of murder by reason of mental illness.

Both women killed their toddlers. Neither will serve any further prison time.

Sofina Nikat, suffocated her daughter Sanaya and dumped her body in a Melbourne lake

Sofina Nikat, who suffocated her daughter Sanaya, leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria

Sofina Nikat, pictured with toddler Sanaya, claimed a barefoot African man killed her daughter

Nikat had already spent 529 days in custody but her sentence outraged some relatives, including Zaharaa Sahib, the dead girl's aunt.

'Our stupid law disappointed us again,' Ms Sahib posted on Facebook.

'She got away with the crime, she got away with killing her blood and flesh.

'She is gonna live her life while we all still have remorse for the rest of our lives. Lost all hope in our Australian law. But i guess it's over, just praying this never happens to anyone.'

However, this has happened before and will no doubt happen again.

Both NSW and Victoria have infanticide laws which create a separate homicide offence for killing children aged under 12 months and two years respectively.

For infanticide to be accepted as a crime the offender has to prove depression. The maximum penalty in Victoria is five years while in NSW it is 25, the same as manslaugher.

The woman who drowned her two-year-old - neither can be named - immersed her daughter in a bath during a psychotic episode in September 2016.

Zahraa Sahib was outraged that the killer of her niece will not serve any more jail time

Sofina Nikat will not serve any more time in prison over the death of her toddler Sanaya

Acting Justice Hidden, who tried the woman without a jury, concluded on Thursday she was not guilty of murder.

The mother had been admitted to hospital after she crashed her car near Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. She was found sitting in the middle of the road clutching a Bible.

Justice Hidden heard the woman, then 27, asked police if they believed in God and told hospital staff her child was in the care of her grandfather.

The girl was found dead in the woman's home two days later.

The woman told police she drowned the girl 'to get rid of the evil in her', according to the Daily Telegraph. She believed the child was in heaven.

'The effect of what she recounted was that she was engaged in a deranged form of exorcism, at the expense of the child's life,' Acting Justice Hidden found.

The woman told a psychiatrist she was deeply remorseful. The psychiatrist noted the woman was 'upset and cannot believe that she killed her child'.

This young mother, who cannot be identified, admitted to police she drowned her daughter

The mother of a two-year-old who was found dead in a bath in the family's Sydney home

The two-year-old girl who was found dead in the bath of her mother's western Sydney home

Acting Justice Hidden ordered the woman be detained in a correctional facility, or a place determined by the Mental Health Review Tribunal, and released only if deemed safe to do so.

In Melbourne, Nikat had pleaded guilty to infanticide over the April 2016 death of daughter Sanaya Sahib and spent nearly a year and a half on remand.

In what Justice Lasry deemed an 'unusual circumstance', Nikat was on Thursday told she would serve no more jail time.

Nikat, who believed her daughter was possessed, initially told police her child had been kidnapped by a barefoot African man who smelled heavily of alcohol.

She later admitted she had made up the story 'because she was scared'. Nikat also thought Sanaya was possessed.

The court heard Nikat was mentally ill and needed treatment.

The mother was seen on CCTV pushing her toddler to a park at Heidelberg West where she suffocated the girl on April 9 last year.

Sofina Nikat, (centre) who killed her daughter Sanaya, leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria

Sofina Nikat (centre) suffocated her daughter Sanaya and pleaded guilty to infanticide

Sofina Nikat is shown taking her daughter Sanaya to a Melbourne creek in a pram in 2016

The Fijian-born woman was originally charged with murder but prosecutors accepted Nikat had been suffering from a depressive illness and downgraded her charge to infanticide.

Justice Lasry said Nikat's lies after killing Sanaya were a sign of shame, rather than a lack of remorse.

Justice Lasry dealt with another case of infantice earlier this year.

In May, Akon Guode was sentenced to a total 26 years and six months in jail for killing three of her children and attempting to kill a fourth when she drove them into a Melbourne lake.

The 37-year-old had pleaded guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court to the murders of four-year-old twins Hanger and Madit and the infanticide of her boy Bol, 17 months, in April 2015.

She also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of daughter Alual, 5, who survived being pulled from the water.

Akon Guode, who killed three of her children, arrives at the Supreme Court of Victoria

One-year-old boy Bol was killed by his mother Akon Guode in Melbourne in April 2015

Just 12 months of Guode's minimum 20-year sentence was for Bol's infanticide.

Justice Lasry found Guode, who escaped the South Sudanese civil war, suffered from post-traumatic stress and depression.

'As in other similar cases, this case tests the sympathy and compassion of the community,' Justice Lasry said.

In March 2014 a mother who killed her baby girl and seriously injured the two-month-old's twin sister walked free from a Melbourne court.

The 29-year-old, who was in the grip of post-natal depression, told police she would go into a daze when she attacked the girls after their birth in February 2012.

She admitted it was possible she 'shook them too hard' but could not recall how often. The twin who survived suffered permanent brain damage and cannot walk or talk.

The woman pleaded guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court to one count of infanticide and one of recklessly causing serious injury.

Justice Bernard Bongiorno sentenced the mother to a one-year community service order, saying no judicial punishment would be as severe as having to live with what she had done.

Four-year-old Madit (left) and his twin sister Hanger were killed by their mother Akon Guode in Melbourne in April 2015

Police tape off a street where a two-year-old girl was found drowned in a bath by her mother

In August this year, a Queensland mother escaped jail time after being convicted of assaulting her baby daughter by cutting off the infant's air supply, in what a judge nonetheless described as 'an attack on a defenceless victim'.

A Brisbane Supreme Court jury had found Ashleigh Meagan Watterson not guilty of attempted murder, as well as grievous bodily harm, but convicted her of assaulting four-month-old Sarah in October 2010, the Brisbane Times reported.

Sarah died in March 2012 from unknown causes that were not part of the allegations against 30-year-old Watterson.

Justice Martin Burns sentenced her to two years' jail, which he suspended for five years.

'This was an attack on a defenceless victim in your sole care and clearly constituted a gross breach of trust,' Justice Burns said.

In December 2004, Victorian woman Leanne Azzopardi received an 18-month community based order after pleading guilty to infanticide.

Azzopardi's five-week-old daughter Hayley was found in the bathtub of her family home in July the previous year.

The 31-year-old mother originally told her then husband an intruder had tied her up and drowned the baby but she later told police she had suffered post-natal depression since Hayley's birth.

Ashleigh Watterson was found not guilty of the attempted murder of her baby daughter Sarah

Sofina Nikat was sentenced to time already served for killing her daughter Sanaya in Victoria

Forensic police at the house where a 27-year-old mother drowned her two-year-old girl

Azzopardi said she had not meant to harm Hayley and wanted only to 'give her a bit of a fright'.

'I just could not stand her crying and crying,' Azzopardi said.

In sparing Azzopardi prison, Justice Murray Kellam told her: 'You were suffering a post-natal condition which affected the balance of your mind to the extent that you could not, in justice, be convicted of the crime of murder.'

In April, a mother whose eight-week-old daughter died in her and the girl's father's care escaped jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter in a Queensland court.

Michelle Catherine Leask, 26, was described by a judge as 'profoundly remorseful' and had 'not put a foot wrong' since her daughter's death, according to the ABC.

The Supreme Court in Brisbane heard Leask's daughter Lily had screamed in the care of her father in April 2012, Leask noticed the girl crying in pain and was talked out of taking her to hospital.

The child's condition deteriorated over the coming week and she died on May 8.

Prosecutor David Meredith had told the court the child suffered skull fractures, brain injuries, broken ribs and a twisted arm.

Leask, who cooperated fully with police, did not cause the injuries but pleaded guilty to manslaughter for not obtaining medical attention for Lily when it was required.

Justice Burns, who also sentenced Watterson, found a custodial sentence would hinder Leask's rehabilitation.

Michelle Leask, 26, pleaded guilty to her daughter's manslaughter and did not go to prison

Police at the home of a young mother who drowned her two-year-old girl in western Sydney

A teddy bear left outside the home where a mother, 27, drowned her two-year-old daughter

In September Daily Mail Australia revealed a South Australian woman who bashed her eight-month-old daughter with a kitchen utensil walked free from court with a good behaviour bond.

Lorien Norman, 26, pleaded guilty to causing harm with intent after beating her toddler daughter with a slotted spoon.

Although the offence carried a maximum sentence of 13 years, Norman did not spend a day behind bars.

District Court Judge Jack Costello found the baby's injuries were 'likely to resolve' and placed Norman on a two-year good behaviour bond

Judge Costello told Norman if she followed community corrections orders and did not re-offend in any way for two years she would not spend the minimum non-parole period of 10 months behind bars.

The court had heard Norman threatened to throw her daughter Evie off a balcony in Adelaide in October last year.

A paediatrician found the toddler had 'at least eight separate blows to the face and body', with bruising on her forehead, cheeks, ears, neck and arm - caused by a slotted spoon and a hand.

Evie's father, Shane McMahon, said the sentence was beyond belief.

Lorien Norman bashed her eight-month-old daughter with a kitchen utensil and walked free

Eight-month-old Evie was bashed by her mother Lorien Norman, 26, with a slotted spoon

In May this year a mentally-ill mother from NSW who believed her baby girl had dwarfism and left her to drown in a bathtub was placed on a four-year good behaviour bond.

The 41-year-old, who cannot be named, had pleaded not guilty to murder on the grounds she was suffering from a mental illness, but guilty to manslaughter.

The baby girl was found floating face down in a bathtub in a home in North Strathfield in November 2010.

The woman told hospital staff: 'Every time I look at her, she looks like a dwarf ... it's affecting my bonding with her, and everyone in the family, including my husband, thinks I'm crazy.'

Justice Robert Beech-Jones could not find the woman had planned to kill the child.

'The significant mental illness suffered before, during and after the offence permeates every aspect of these proceedings,' he said.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, or the Suicide Call Back service on 1300 659 467.
Family, friends and law enforcement officers converged on an adobe Catholic church in El Paso, Texas, Saturday to mourn a border patrol agent whose death last weekend in the rugged and remote Big Bend area has not been explained.

Bagpipes played as Border Patrol pallbearers in green uniforms carried the U.S. flag-draped coffin of Rogelio Martinez, 36, into Our Lady of Guadalupe Church for a private funeral Mass. He died in a hospital Sunday of head and other injuries.

'It honors him to see law enforcement agencies from across the United States' attend the service, Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero told reporters outside the church.

The funeral for US border agent Rogelio Martinez, 36, was held at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday. He died on Sunday due to head and other injuries

'It honors him to see law enforcement agencies from across the United States' attend the service, Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero said

Border Patrol pallbearers carry Border Patrol agent Rogelio Martinez to a graveside service at Restlawn Cemetery

Martinez was found November 18 in a culvert along with his seriously injured partner, whose name has not been released, in a rugged area near Van Horn, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the border with Mexico and 110 miles (175 kilometers) southeast of El Paso.

Attorney General Jeff Session was scheduled to attend the funeral but it was not clear if he was there. Following the funeral, a graveside ceremony was held at Restlawn Cemetery in El Paso.

Speculation about the cause of death has run rampant with several politicians saying the agent was attacked, including President Donald Trump, who used the death to highlight his support for building a wall on the border with Mexico.

Martinez was found November 18 in a culvert along with his seriously injured partner, whose name has not been released, in a rugged area near Van Hor

'Border Patrol Officer killed at Southern Border, another badly hurt. We will seek out and bring to justice those responsible. We will, and must, build the Wall!' Trump said in a tweet on November 19

'Border Patrol Officer killed at Southern Border, another badly hurt. We will seek out and bring to justice those responsible. We will, and must, build the Wall!' Trump said in a tweet on November 19.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, also publicly commented on the deadly incident that resulted in Martinez's death, characterizing it as an attack.

Cruz said in a statement the nation is grateful 'for the courage and sacrifice of our border agents.'

He also said that what happened on Sunday is a 'stark reminder' that an 'unsecured border' poses a threat to the safety of the communities and border agents tasked with protecting them.

Attorney General Jeff Session was scheduled to attend the funeral but it was not clear if he was there

The hearse carrying Border Patrol agent Rogelio Martinez arrives at Restlawn Cemetery

Governor Abbott tweeted in a similar vain: 'Our prayers are with the families of this Border Patrol Agent who was killed & the other who was injured in this attack in Texas,' he wrote. 'Our resources must be increased to prevent these attacks in the future.'

Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie Jr. in the FBI's El Paso office has said investigators were treating the incident as a 'potential assault,' but they could not rule out other scenarios.

Representatives from the border patrol's union have insisted that the incident was an attack, based on the accounts of other agents who responded to the scene. Chris Cabrera, a spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council, told The Associated Press that agents responding to the scene called it 'grisly.'

However, a U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press on Monday that the agents may have fallen, and that the surviving agent had no memory of his duty-shift. The official spoke on condition of anonymity and is not authorized to speak publicly.

After the death of Martinez, his father told the El Paso Times that his son loved his job. Jose Martinez said his son would call him every day to say goodbye for the night.

'And I would tell him, "Take care of yourself son. God bless you,"' the father said.
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Survivors of the deadliest nightclub fire in US history gathered on Saturday with families of the victims killed in the decades-old Boston blaze to share their stories of how they escaped the horror of the blaze.

Tuesday will mark the 75th anniversary of the November 28, 1942, fire at the former Cocoanut Grove club that claimed the lives of 492 people. An estimated 1,000 people were in the building at the time.

Two survivors, Joyce S. Mekelburg, 93, of Brockton, and Marshall Cole, 92, who escaped the blaze joined former Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn and others at the Revere Hotel on Saturday afternoon.

Mekelburg and Cole are two of eight living survivors from the tragedy.

Scroll down for video

Two survivors, Joyce S. Mekelburg (left), 93, of Brockton, and Marshall Cole (right), 92, who escaped the blaze joined former Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn and others at the Revere Hotel on Saturday afternoon

Tuesday will mark the 75th anniversary of the November 28, 1942, fire at the former Cocoanut Grove club that claimed the lives of 492 people

Two people, Joyce S. Mekelburg, 93, of Brockton, and Cole, 92, who escaped the blaze joined former Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn and others at the Revere Hotel on Saturday afternoon ahead of the anniversary. Pictured is the interior of the club after the bodies were removed

Dead, dying and injured lie in street outside Cocoanut Grove while civilians and doctors administer aid. This tragic scene was the aftermath of the fire

This photo shows a guest being carried to a waiting ambulance by one of the many civilians who helped police and firemen on that tragic night

Mekelburg, then 18, went to the nightspot with her fiance, Justin Morgan, according to the Boston Globe. She said a man lit a match to change a light bulb before flames broke out.

Morgan told her to leave and promised to meet her outside, she said, but he didn't make it.

'Everybody around me was screaming and crawling,' she said. 'Nobody knew where to go or how to go and everybody was crawling in a different direction.'

Cole, who was a tap dancer at the club, told the Globe that he was waiting for his second performance of the night when the fire broke out.

'The place was just mobbed. It was standing-room only,' he said, adding that because of the crowd he waited in his dressing room.

'And that saved my life because I would have been in the Melody Lounge.'

A documentary about the fire, 'Six Locked Doors,' premiered at the Saturday afternoon event on Stuart Street, where the nightclub was located.

The film features accounts from the survivors. The fire at what had been one of Boston's foremost nightspots led to new requirements for sprinkler systems and exits.

Cole also shared his story during a street sign unveiling in 2013. The street was named after the Cocoanut Grove nightclub

A documentary about the fire, 'Six Locked Doors,' premiered at the Saturday afternoon event on Stuart Street, where the nightclub was located. Two men are pictured carrying a victim out of the nightclub to safety

This photo was taken within half an hour before the tragic Cocoanut Grove fire by a photographer who escaped being a probable fire victim by going out to develop the films a few minutes before the disaster. Mickey Alpert (center) was master of ceremonies. He fled the club uninjured and the other three soldiers in this photo left before the fire started

This photo of the Melody Lounge bar in the Cocoanut Grove night club, was taken after it opened, before roaring flames swept throught the club

Barnett Welansky, the Cocoanut Grove's owner, had apparently hired unlicensed electricians to install electrical fixtures, according to the Globe.

The cause of the fire has never been officially determined, but faulty wiring was one of the many suspected causes of the fire.

Welansky was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, but was later pardoned by Mayor Maurice J. Tobin, who had become governor.

A 16-year-old busboy by the name of Stanley Tomaszewski was blamed by many for starting the blaze.

While the teen was trying to replace a bulb inside the club, he lit a match so he could see. He then extinguished the match by stepping on it. A short time later, flames were seen in the area.

Barnett Welansky, the Cocoanut Grove's (pictured after the fire) owner, had apparently hired unlicensed electricians to install electrical fixtures, according to the Globe

Welansky was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, but was later pardoned by Mayor Maurice J. Tobin, who had become governor. A 16-year-old busboy by the name of Stanley Tomaszewski was blamed by many for starting the blaze. Two unknown victims are following the tragedy

While the teen was trying to replace a bulb inside the club, he lit a match so he could see. He then extinguished the match by stepping on it. Not long after, flames were seen in the area. Victims are seen being helped outside the club

High heels and sheets of music were among the debris found on the sidewalk after the fire

United States Army Signal Corps took this photo on November 30, 1942, of the main dance floor. In 2012, The National Fire Protection Association released the stories of survivors, Marshall Cole, Ann Gallagher and Dr Saul Davis, on the 70th anniversary of the fire. Gallagher said she was on the dance floor with her boyfriend, Fred, when the fire broke out

Clouds of smoke are seen on Shawmut Street side of the club. Davis, who was interviewed for the video in 2007, said he was a 21-year-old intern at Brockton Hospital when the tragedy occurred. He was visiting the club with his wife and friends when they 'heard a lot of commotion and people running'

In 2012, The National Fire Protection Association released the stories of survivors, Marshall Cole, Ann Gallagher and Dr Saul Davis, on the 70th anniversary.

Davis, who was interviewed for the video in 2007, said he was a 21-year-old intern at Brockton Hospital when the tragedy occurred.

He said he was visiting the club with his wife and friends. They were all inside the Terrace area of the club and had just about finished their meals when they 'heard a lot of commotion'.

'People running up the stairs and away from the lounge entrance toward the front door. But by that time the lights went off and then a cloud of dense smoke invaded from that front area right through the whole of the ballroom.

'All we could hear was tables being turned over, dishes being broken, people yelling and it was total panic,' Davis said.

Davis died at the age of 89 in 2008, a year after his interview.

Gallagher, who was a cheerleader, said during the interview at the time that she was 16 years old and had gone to the club with her boyfriend Fred Sharby Jr and their families.

Sharby was a Keene High School football star who perished in the fire. The two families had just attended the football game between Boston College and Holy Cross.

Gallagher, who was a cheerleader, said she was 16 years old and had gone to the club with her boyfriend Fred Sharby Jr and their families. Sharby was a Keene High School football star who perished in the fire. The two families had just attended the football game between Boston College and Holy Cross. Pictured is in the inside of the nightclub

The United States Army Signal Corps took this photo of the New Broadway Lounge on November 30, 1942, two days after the fire

Cole was in his dressing room at the time of the fire. He said he was gathering his things and contemplating how to get out of the club when 'all of a sudden this guy came charging through the door like a mad man'. Cole said he dropped everything and followed the guy out the window and to onto the rooftop (pictured) in order to escape

Red Cross rushed more than 370 units of plasma from Washington to Boston hospitals to replace supplies in the devastated area

Caskets are pictured days after the fire being prepared for the victims of the fire. The cause of the fire has never been officially determined, but faulty wiring was one of the many suspected causes of the fire

Gallagher and Fred were dancing when the fire broke out and Fred, his mother and Gallagher were able to make it outside.

'When we saw the fire. The last thing I know Fred said to me, "get down on your hands and knees and cover your face" and the next thing I knew I was in Mass General and he was gone,' Gallagher recalled.

The football star made the heroic decision that night to go back in for his father and Ann's parents. Tragically, Fred, his father, and Ann's parents, perished in the blaze.

Gallagher died earlier this year in May at the age of 90.

Cole, one of the last living survivors, was in his dressing room at the time of the fire. He said he was gathering his things and contemplating how to get out of the club when 'all of a sudden this guy came charging through the door like a mad man'.

'He's running through the dressing room and I've got all my stuff in my hands and he goes through this glass window.'

Cole said he dropped everything and followed the guy out the window in order to escape. He said some of the chorus girls and dozens of other people soon came behind him and the guy through the window.

He said while they were on the roof of the building, someone found a ladder and he and a few others helped the chorus girls down to safety.

A short time later, the fire department arrived and helped all of the survivors from the rooftop.

The building was a former complex of garages and warehouses. It had been converted to dining rooms, bars, and lounges with fake palm trees, rattan and bamboo trim, leatherette sofas and blue satin canopies suspended from the ceilings.

The flimsy, flammable decorations disguised side exits. Other exits were bolted shut to prevent patrons from beating their checks.

The Boston Fire Department authorized the clubs seating capacity at 460. That night at least 1,000 people had flocked to Cocoanut Grove.

The building was a former complex of garages and warehouses. It had been converted to dining rooms, bars, and lounges with fake palm trees, rattan and bamboo trim, leatherette sofas and blue satin canopies suspended from the ceilings

The flimsy, flammable decorations disguised side exits. Other exits were bolted shut to prevent patrons from beating their checks
The cocaine-dealing nephew of Ita Buttrose has walked free from prison and straight into the sunshine at Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach.

Richard Buttrose was released from jail on Saturday after serving his sentence over seven kilograms of cocaine found at his Sydney home.

The 45-year-old 'drug dealer to the stars' was spotted later that day walking along the beach's famous promenade with a female companion.

Richard Buttrose has walked free from prison and straight into the sunshine at Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach

The 45-year-old 'drug dealer to the stars' was pictured walking along the famous promenade with a female companion

The cocaine-dealing nephew of Ita Buttrose contacted Roxy Jacenko (left) from behind bars to offer advice to her jailed husband (right)

Richard Buttrose (pictured at Bondi Beach on Saturday) was released from prison on Saturday after serving his sentence over seven kilograms of cocaine found at his Sydney home

Buttrose's former cellmate Steven Spaliviero is pictured with his former partner, model and socialite Charlotte Lindstrom

During his eight years and nine months behind bars, Buttrose contacted Roxy Jacenko to offer advice to her jailed husband Oliver Curtis, it has been revealed.

He phoned the PR maven and suggested Curtis should request to serve his time for insider trading at Sydney's Long Bay prison, according to Buttrose's former cellmate.

'He knew Roxy from the outside. They were friends and he decided he just wanted to help, that's just the way he is,' ecstasy cook Steven Spaliviero told The Sunday Telegraph.

But Spaliviero said prison staff were not impressed by the phone call and suddenly moved Buttrose from Long Bay to Berrima jail in the Southern Highlands of NSW.

'He wasn't happy because he felt like he didn't do anything wrong,' said Spaliviero, who shared a cell with Buttrose for six years.

Spaliviero described the convicted drug dealer as an intelligent, kind-hearted man who talked constantly about his family.

During his eight years and nine months behind bars, Buttrose contacted Roxy Jacenko to offer advice to her jailed husband

While in jail, Buttrose contacted the PR maven (right) and suggested her husband Oliver Curtis (left) should request to serve his time at Sydney's Long Bay prison

Richard Buttrose (pictured left) in Bondi with female companion after walking free from jail

Buttrose's former cellmate described him as an intelligent, kind-hearted man who constantly spoke of his family

'He is a very intelligent guy... I have never met anyone as smart as him. He was his own man. Our cell was full of photos of his kids, he was just so proud of them,' Spaliviero said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Roxy Jacenko for comment.

Buttrose, a former drug-dealer to Sydney's elite, walked free from Berrima Correctional Centre after serving eight years and nine months of his original 16 year sentence.

As he walked through the prison gates shortly before 9am, Buttrose said he felt 'fantastic' and his first stop as a free man would be at the famous Sydney beach.

'I made a big mistake a long time ago,' he said, as he walked to a waiting black Mercedes hire car, according to The Daily Telegraph.

'I have done my time. I did the best to make the most of my time, I did two university degrees and now I am out a better person.'

The father-of-two was greeted by two friends at the prison gates before shaking the hand of a prison officer for the last time.

Buttrose was sentenced to 12 years jail in 2010 after police found millions of dollars worth of cocaine and cash at his Sydney properties (pictured)

Police located more than $1.3m in cash along with around 7.7 kilograms of cocaine (pictured) during a raid on Buttrose's properties

Buttrose (pictured in Bondi on Saturday) left prison with a degree in both accounting and a Master's in business administration

He reportedly spent the afternoon at a barbecue in Bellevue Hill, surrounded by friends and family, after enjoying Saturday's warm weather at the beach.

Buttrose was sentenced in 2010 after police found over seven kilograms of cocaine, worth more than $10.8 million, during raids on his properties.

Police also discovered more than $1.3 million in cash stashed at his Paddington and Darling Point homes.

The cocaine-dealer had an A-list clientele, whose contacts he kept in an infamous little black book, the publication reported.

The 45-year-old told previously the District Court that having cocaine was regarded 'much like having a glass of wine'

The convicted drug-dealer is the nephew of Australian media legend Ita Buttrose (pictured)

The cocaine-dealer had an A-list clientele, whose contacts he kept in an infamous little black book (stock image)

Buttrose gave up his high-flying Sydney eastern suburbs clients for a reduced sentence, it is understood.

His sentence was reduced to 12 years and six months with a non-parole period of nine years and six months.

The deal to hand over his clients placed his wife and children in danger, the court heard at the time.

The nephew of media icon Ita reportedly became known as 'The Man' during cocaine dealing days, racking up millions in cash and property.

After his initial plead of guilty, the 45-year-old told the District Court that having cocaine was regarded 'much like having a glass of wine'.

Buttrose left prison with a degree in both accounting and a Master's in business administration.
A Toolie allegedly threatened and punched an 18-year-old woman in the face during end of school celebrations.

As the first week of festivities wrap up on the Gold Coast, footage of an 18-year-old yelling at a young woman before reportedly hitting her in Victor Harbor, South Australia, has surfaced online.

Police confirmed she didn't sustain any serious injuries from the attack, but the initial blow did 'knock her off her feet.'

Saturday was only the first day of revelry for south coast teenagers like the accused, who has since been arrested and charged with assault and disorderly behaviour, Nine News reports.

Saturday was only the first day of revelry for south coast teenagers like the accused, who has since been arrested and charged with assault (pictured)

An estimated 8,000 young people are expected to descend on South Australia over the next week, with many camping or hiring campervans around the Fleurieu Peninsula.

An 18-year-old was also taken to South District Hospital with back pain and lacerations to his neck after an accident at a beach on Friday morning.

It is believed the young man dived into the ocean and didn't see the sharp rocks lurking below the surface, The Advertiser reports.

The arrest comes just hours after police praised the 'chilled and relaxed behaviour' of school leavers at Victor Harbor.

The arrest comes just hours after police praised the 'chilled and relaxed behaviour' of school leavers at Victor Harbor
The Pope has led a minute of silence in St. Peter's Square for the victims of the deadly attack on a mosque in Egypt.



Francis said following the traditional Angelus greeting on Sunday that the victims "were praying in that moment. We also pray in silence for them."



The pope said the attack on Friday "brought great pain," adding that he continued to pray for the dead and the wounded "and for the whole of that community, that has been so hard hit."



The pope previously expressed in a telegram his "strong condemnation" of the attack, which killed 305 people in the deadliest assault by terrorists in modern Egyptian history.



The pontiff also asked for prayers for his six-day trip Myanmar and Bangladesh, for which he departs later Sunday.

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As many as four out of every five Indigenous souvenirs sold to tourists are fake, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

The Indigenous Art Centre Alliance's (IACA) submission towards the investigation into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander craft products, claims 80 per cent are inauthentic.

The group state many items are often misrepresented to travellers and are calling on the government to make it illegal to sell or supply them.

As many as four out of every five Indigenous souvenirs sold to tourists are fake, a parliamentary inquiry has been told (Pictured are inauthentic boomerangs)

While galleries provide documentation as proof of authenticity, few safeguards exist in the arts and crafts industry aimed at tourists (Pictured are authentic didgeridoos from Spirit Gallery in Sydney, made from native Eucalyptus trees by recognised Aboriginal craftsmen)

Places alleged to distribute the fake copies include souvenir shops Sydney's The Rocks and Melbourne's Flinders Street.

While the IACA's submission lists Cairns airport and night markets, as well as shops in nearby Kuranda and Port Douglas as 'hotspots' with 90 per cent of items inauthentic, due to a high tourist presence.

Many products lining the shelves of these stores are often made from non-traditional materials or feature designs that are not hand-painted by Indigenous artists.

Under the Indigenous Art Code, authentic items are those made by, or under licence from, Indigenous artists, which come with the artists details.

The Indigenous Art Centre Alliance's (IACA) submission to an investigation into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander craft products, claims 80 per cent are inauthentic, with many sold at souvenir shops in Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns (Pictured are fake items from Kuranda)

Deceptive labelling can trick holidaymakers into thinking the souvenir is authentic art made by Indigenous artists when it is not

'There are approximately 500 Indigenous artists in the IACA membership and many produce authentic merchandise and souvenirs that are not able to get a space on the shelves of shops across Australia due to the prevalence of fake products,' the IACA wrote.

'This fake art gains profit and sales that rightfully should go to the makers of authentic Australian Indigenous art.'

Other organisations and artist representatives backed up the claims, stating fakes are cheaper to maker and quicker to produce, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

While galleries provide documentation as proof of authenticity, few safeguards exist in the arts and crafts industry aimed at tourists.

Many products lining the shelves of these stores are often made from non-traditional materials or feature designs that are not hand-painted by Indigenous artists (pictured are fake items from Kuranda)

The IACA suggests passing laws on the illegality of products is one way to target the fake market, with the Arts Law Centre of Australia taking a similar stance (Pictured are fake items from Kuranda)

The IACA suggests passing laws on the illegality of products is one way to target the fake market, with the Arts Law Centre of Australia taking a similar stance.

'A prohibition on the sale of inauthentic products at all levels of the supply chain in the easiest and most efficient approach to address the problem,' they wrote in their submission.

'The proliferation of inauthentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and associated misappropriation of culture is an issue of national importance that should be addressed at a national level.'

Problems currently encountered include labels stating the item was 'inspired' by Indigenous art and copyright expiring 70 years after an image was first produced.

Recommendations from the inquiry will be made next year.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to bring months of fevered speculation to an end by announcing their engagement this week, Royal sources have indicated.

The couple's plans appear to have been finalised at a series of last-minute meetings between senior courtiers at Kensington Palace.

An official announcement is expected in the next few days, with Tuesday thought to be the most likely date.

This is the same day of the week that Harry's brother, the Duke of Cambridge, and his father, the Prince of Wales, chose to share their engagement news with the nation.

Downing Street has refused to comment but a Cabinet meeting is, as usual, scheduled for that day  providing Theresa May with the perfect opportunity to inform her Ministers.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's (pictured) plans appear to have been finalised at a series of last-minute meetings between senior courtiers at Kensington Palace. An official announcement is expected in the next few days, with Tuesday thought to be the most likely date

Details of the ceremony, the date and the venue would follow swiftly  along with huge speculation about the guest list for what is set to be the wedding of 2018.

Royal insiders say there has been a growing sense of urgency in Palace corridors since American actress Meghan, 36, and 33-year-old Harry appeared together at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September.

In the two months which followed, there have been multiple hints that the couple are set to formalise their 18-month transatlantic relationship.

Her role in US TV drama Suits has now come to an end, and her apartment in Toronto is standing empty.

Last week, Meghan arrived in London and was spotted looking relaxed during a shopping trip. Her beloved dogs, Bogart and Guy, are understood to be in quarantine in London.

In the past few days, a senior official from Buckingham Palace has been seen at Kensington Palace, in a breach of normal protocol.

Over the summer, it became clear Meghan's legal affairs were being looked after by Royal solicitor Harbottle & Lewis, while planned building works at Kensington Palace raised the possibility of a new home in one of the apartments.

At present, Prince Harry lives in Nottingham Cottage in the Palace grounds.

Last night,the house in the Toronto suburbs (pictured) that had been rented by Prince Harry's girlfriend looked to have been vacated for good.

It has also been suggested the couple are hunting for a country retreat in either Norfolk, close to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's home Anmer Hall, or in the West Country.

This year Meghan has spent time with Kate and William, met the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and been introduced to the Queen who must give the marriage her blessing.

In terms of Royal protocol, it is unlikely that all of these things would have happened if Meghan was not set to marry into the House of Windsor.

It's curtains for her old life in Toronto

The curtains are carefully tied up, away from the dust. There's no one at home  not even actress Meghan Markle's much-loved dogs Guy and Bogart.

Last night, the house in the Toronto suburbs that had been rented by Prince Harry's girlfriend looked to have been vacated for good.

Meghan rose to fame for her role as Rachel in the hit legal drama Suits, which is filmed in the Canadian city.

According to friends, she has now left the series  and Toronto  behind her.

He gave engagement ring to Wills and Kate

When Princess Diana died, it was her stunning sapphire engagement ring that Prince Harry chose to keep as an enduring memento.

But Harry gallantly handed the ring, right, to Prince William for his engagement to Kate. Now there is speculation that he will choose another of his mother's jewels to be turned into a ring for Meghan.

One item which would have special sentimental value, as well as a historic Royal provenance, is an emerald choker gifted by the Queen, which Diana later turned into a headband. The late Princess is also said to have favoured a set of sapphire jewels she received as a wedding present from the Saudi Crown Prince, including a pearl and sapphire choker.

The Queen's jewellery collection includes the Queen Mary's Town of Windsor ring, with three diamonds.

Harry should take note American brides appear to favour diamonds.

When Princess Diana died, it was her stunning sapphire engagement ring (pictured) that Prince Harry chose to keep as an enduring memento

A welcome watershed for Royalty

Eighty-one years ago this month, King Edward VIII was preparing to surrender his throne because of his love for Mrs Wallis Simpson.

'We will not stand for an American divorcee as the wife of our King,' wrote an angry correspondent quoted in one Canadian newspaper.

'If the Monarchy will not observe tradition, then we had better give it up altogether!'

In November 1936, most of Britain and the Empire  and certainly the British Government of the time  agreed.

How times have changed. Time was when divorced persons were not admitted to the Royal Enclosure at Ascot.

Royal insiders say there has been a growing sense of urgency in Palace corridors since American actress Meghan, 36, and 33-year-old Harry (pictured) appeared together at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September

Now the bookmakers are saying that November 2017 is the month when Britain will actively welcome an American divorcee, Meghan Markle, into the Royal Family as the future wife of Prince Harry, currently fifth in line to the throne.

There's also an extra attraction: Ms Markle is of mixed race.

'I'm half black and half white,' she explained in Elle magazine two years ago. 'My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American.'

In a world of euphemism and verbal tiptoeing around the truth, it would seem that Meghan Markle can add forthrightness to her roster of attractions.

'You create the identity you want for yourself,' she wrote of her background, 'just as my ancestors did when they were given their freedom.'

Royal families are proud of their family trees and the House of Windsor's about-to-be latest recruit feels the same pride in hers, describing in Elle how her great-great-great-grandfather on her mother's side was one of the American slaves who was freed in 1865.

Whoever doubted the ability of the House of Windsor, with its own invented name, to reinvent itself?

Meghan Markle (pictured) shows every sign of being caring, hard-working and intelligent  'all useful ingredients,' says one trusted Windsor friend, 'for members of our Royal Family.'

Meghan Markle shows every sign of being caring, hard-working and intelligent  'all useful ingredients,' says one trusted Windsor friend, 'for members of our Royal Family.'

Prince Harry first got to know his sweetheart, of course, in the way that we all did  through television.

As Rachel Zane, the para-legal assistant and would-be lawyer in the TV series Suits, Meghan Markle impressed as an actress.

Grace Kelly, the last actress to marry into high-profile royalty, was light, charming and beautiful, but her high society screen profile was of a mischievous fashion plate.

Meghan stands for sterner stuff  can there be such a thing as a self-made princess?

The essence of Rachel Zane is her determination to make her own way in the world, without fear or favour  and Meghan herself has identical ambitions.

She was a philanthropist long before she met Harry, travelling to Rwanda to work on a clean water project, and she is now developing future plans, it is reported, to set up her own foundation, helping vulnerable young women around the world.

'I've never wanted to be a lady who lunches,' she told a UN Women's Conference in 2015. 'I've always wanted to be a woman who works.'

She's certainly heading for the right place now  look at the formidable workrate of her future aunt, Princess Anne, not to mention, of course, the unremitting schedule of our 91-year-old Queen.

The infamous treatment that was handed out to Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend by press and politicians in the 1950s derived from the concept of the whole Royal Family having to 'set a good example'.

Well, in contemporary terms, Harry and Meghan are now doing precisely that  with plans for much more. Presumably, Meghan will become a partner inside the innovative and adventurous Royal Foundation created by William, Harry and Kate to support and develop creative charities such as Place2Be, with its emphasis on the mental health of the young.

People frequently give credit to Diana, the 'People's Princess', for the progressive and open instincts of her two enterprising and quietly innovative sons  and so they should.

But let us not forget the contribution of their father, Prince Charles, and the hell that he went through to win the right to marry his own divorced partner, as a divorcee himself. Prince Harry and Meghan will now be the beneficiaries of that battle.

Last week, Meghan arrived in London and was spotted looking relaxed during a shopping trip. Her beloved dogs, Bogart and Guy (pictured) , are understood to be in quarantine in London

Most of us may not think of Camilla Parker Bowles as a 'sweetheart' in the same romantic terms as we view the youthful Meghan Markle.

But in legal and dynastic terms, the two women's situation is exactly parallel.

Prince Charles fought for the freedom that his son will now enjoy to publicly acknowledge and marry the woman of his choice  and didn't we give him a hard time in the process?

This all comes back to us and to the prejudices and the stereotypes that we, the general public, impose on our public figureheads. But history moves on  and sometimes in a positive fashion.

Who would have imagined, even in the first decade of the 21st Century, that an heir to the throne (Prince William) could 'shack up' with his girlfriend Kate for the best part of eight years before making a 'decent woman' of her? When his grandmother came to the throne in 1952, that sort of

behaviour was called 'living in sin'. But his grandmother Elizabeth II  herself a deeply committed Christian who is said to kneel beside her bedside every night in the style of her own mother  blessed this potentially controversial waiting time.

All of this goes back to the open-mindedness and the tone set by our Royal head of state.

We know the Queen (tutored herself by a constitutional historian) took personal charge of William's lessons as a future King, inviting him to Windsor when he was a teenager to study confidential Government papers in her 'red boxes', and instructing him in the topmost protocols of the Monarchy.

Recently we have learned the key event triggering current expectations of an engagement announcement was the fact that Meghan and Harry went to the Palace a few weeks ago and sat down for tea with the Queen, who is said to have conferred her blessing on the match.

Was Prince Philip there as well? He was certainly there in spirit, since the free-thinking modernity of our representative Monarchy owes much to Philip's no-nonsense impatience with formality and convention.

So, will we be seeing Meghan with Harry at Sandringham this Christmas, taking her first public steps in her new life as a future princess?

The omens seem promising, with reports that she will shortly be importing her two beloved rescue dogs  a beagle and a labrador-shepherd  to Britain.

It would be marvellous if the roster of controversial Royal alliances could progress happily in the next few weeks with the smooth and non-controversial addition of its two latest names: David and Wallis, Peter and Margaret, Charles and Camilla, and now Meghan and Harry.

It looks as if the Queen and the Royal Family stand ready to smooth the way for this brilliant step forward  but what about the rest of the country?

Will a marriage to Meghan  the Monarchy's Obama moment  prove a problem for the more prejudiced among the public?

I sincerely hope not. The actress has related how her great-great-great-grandfather, the last slave on her mother's side, decided to give himself a new surname following the emancipation of 1865, picking out the word 'Wisdom'.

Let us hope that Meghan and Harry's forthcoming happy news will inspire all of us with a generous measure of that wisdom this Christmas.
Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of abusing his position in a bid to scupper controversial Labour MP Emily Thornberrys bid to succeed him as leader.

Labour insiders say Corbyn has shown favouritism by going out of his way to raise the profile of Left-wing rising star Dawn Butler  and thwart Shadow Foreign Secretary Thornberrys own ambitions.

The row flared in the Commons last week amid reports that Labour MP Paula Sherriff stormed out after Corbyn praised Ms Butler, the partys women and equalities spokesperson, for her role in fighting period poverty affecting women who struggle to afford sanitary products.

One Labour MP said there is 'huge anger' at 'relatively junior' shadow cabinet member Dawn Butler, in red to the left of Corbyn, being given a 'prime position' next to him

Allies of Dewsbury MP Sherriff said it was outrageous because it was she that had led the campaign against the so-called VAT tampon tax  not Butler. A Labour source said this was the most blatant example yet of Corbyns bias.

But frontbench colleagues are also furious that the Brent MP now sits next to the Labour leader at the weekly sessions of Prime Ministers Questions  the highlight of the parliamentary week. One said: There is a huge amount of anger over this.

Why is a relatively junior member of the Shadow Cabinet given the prime position every week next to the Leader? Its as if he favours a handful of Shadow Cabinet mates and doesnt rate the rest of them.

Emily Thornberry is tipped to become the next Labour leader and according to one backer, her support is growing among MPs

But some backers of Thornberrys hopes of becoming leader also accused 68-year-old Corbyn and his inner circle of trying to trim Emilys wings.

'He may not actually reckon Dawn has leadership potential but she may just be being used in putting Emily back in her place.

Sources close to Thornberry insist there is certainly no friction between her and Ms Butler, adding: Dawn is Emilys best friend in the party.

Islington MP Thornberry, 57, is widely tipped to be the partys next leader, despite being forced to stand down as Shadow Attorney General three years ago after tweeting a snobby picture during a by-election of a house with three England flags and a white van parked outside.

Labour insiders say Corbyn has shown favouritism by raising the profile of Left-wing rising star Dawn Butler

Since returning to the Shadow Cabinet, she has been credited for playing a key role in the partys revival. One ally said: Emilys getting growing support from Labour MPs for if and when Jeremy decides to pack it in.

But Labour MPs have been struck by how influential Ms Butler, 48, has become on the Corbyn team since the summer.

Sources close to Corbyn said it was nonsense he was favouring Butler, while a spokesman for Thornberry dismissed as fiction suggestions that friends of hers were behind the attacks on the Labour leader.

The spokesman branded it an attempt to disrupt the tremendous unity of the Shadow Cabinet under Jeremy.

But one MP hit back last night, saying: Its Jeremy or his inner circle who are doing the undermining by clearly favouring a small coterie of frontbenchers over the rest.
The fallout from Brexit has been undeniably far-reaching  but few thought its effects might reach as far as this years Christmas dinner table.

However British farmers are now warning that a shortage of seasonal workers from Europe means there may be fewer Brussels sprouts to pass round this yuletide.

The lower value of sterling since the Leave vote is putting pickers off coming here, leaving farms struggling to fill thousands of harvesting jobs.

The shortage of seasonal workers from Europe means there could be fewer Brussels sprouts to pass round the Christmas dinner table

Growers are very worried about where the labour is going to come from, said Ali Capper, the National Farmers Unions horticulture board chairman.

The worst-case scenario, she said, would be that farmers are unable to meet their orders, leading to shortages on supermarket shelves.

The crisis could also hit other vegetables, including carrots, parsnips and potatoes.

Lincolnshire farmer Mike Capps, who aims to harvest about 150 tons of sprouts for Christmas week, said it is becoming harder to recruit labourers.

The shortage could spread to other vegetables including potatoes, parsnips and carrots

The NFU estimates that 12 per cent of the 60,000 seasonal fruit and veg jobs required have not been filled.

The fall in the pound has made wages worth less when exchanged for currencies such as the euro, Polish zloty and Bulgarian lev.

If the shortage continues, farmers may have to raise pay  which in turn is likely to mean higher prices in the supermarkets.
A mother told last night how her baby was nearly taken for adoption because of a false test result from a firm at the centre of Britains biggest forensics scandal.

The woman said she was wrongly kept apart from her one-year-old daughter by social workers after a blood alcohol test mistakenly stated the mother had been drinking heavily.

She said it was only because she spotted the error herself and insisted the sample be re-examined that she was eventually reunited with her child and received an apology from Trimega Laboratories, which carried out the test.

It is just one example of a staggering 30,000 drug and alcohol tests carried out by Trimega that are being treated as unreliable.

A mother told last night how her baby was nearly taken for adoption because of a false test result from a firm at the centre of Britains biggest forensics scandal (file photo)

It is feared the suspect test results may have led to innocent people losing their jobs or having children taken into care.

Police are also reviewing another 10,000 tests carried out by two former Trimega scientists at Randox Testing Services in cases including rapes and murders.

Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday, the mother  who cannot be named for legal reasons  said last night: I am horrified to hear that so many people might potentially be victims of this and have lost their children.

'Had I not been so persistent they would have done this to me. It will haunt me for the rest of my life. I had 18 months of hell.

In another case, Trimega claimed a mother-of-two had been taking cocaine but later admitted in the High Court that its hair analysis had been erroneous and unreliable.

The Mail on Sunday first reported in February how a miscarriage of justice inquiry was under way after suspicions were raised that rogue scientists at Manchester-based Randox had tampered with evidence in 484 cases.

The police investigation led officers to extend their inquiry to Trimega and now the full extent of the scandal can be disclosed.

Trimega once boasted it was responsible for 40 per cent of the 17,000 analyses of hair for drugs and alcohol carried out in Britain each year.

The woman said she was wrongly kept apart from her one-year-old daughter by social workers after a blood alcohol test mistakenly stated the mother had been drinking heavily (file photo)

As Ministers admitted last week that all tests carried out by the firm between 2010 and 2014 are currently being treated as potentially unreliable, it could mean as many as 34,000 cases falling under suspicion.

The firm went bust in 2014 and its records are feared to have been lost. The Department for Education has written to councils asking for details of cases where they used Trimega to test parents for drugs or alcohol.

Two scientists who worked at both Trimega and Randox have been arrested by Greater Manchester Police. They were questioned on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and later bailed.

Trimegas founder Avi Lasarow said in a statement: I sold my interest in Trimega Laboratories as part of a sale of the business in its entirety to Ingemino in February 2012.

This was following due diligence undertaken on behalf of the buyer. Following the sale no issues were raised with me by the buyers.
She wants you! Rose McGowan posted a selfie to Instagram with Asia Argento and Annabella Scorria with the hashtag #RoseArmy just a day after Uma Thurman broke her silence and came out against accused sexual abuser Harvey Weinstein.

The 44-year-old posted the photo late Friday evening with the caption 'Magical moments with @asiaargento & @iamannabellascorria #WomenRise #Survivors #ROSEARMY'.

She also tagged Ronan Farrow - the journalist who has written numerous exposes on Weinstein for the New Yorker.

Argento later shared the same photo to her account, writing: 'You are my sister and I love you.

'May all your dreams come true. I want this for you. They're gonna come true @AnnaBelleScorria and @Rosemcgowan.'

Rose McGowan posted a selfie to Instagram with Asia Argento and Annabella Scorria late Friday evening with the hashtag #RoseArmy just a day after Uma Thurman broke her silence and came out against accused sexual abuser Harvey Weinstein

Anthony Bourdain was also at the get-together and posted on Twitter that it was an 'honor to cook for this meeting of the minds'

The posts came just a day after Pulp Fiction star Uma Thurman broke her silence about her experiences with Weinstein. Thurman and Weinstein are pictured together in 2016

Anthony Bourdain was also at the get-together and posted on Twitter that it was an 'honor to cook for this meeting of the minds.'

The posts came just a day after Pulp Fiction star Uma Thurman broke her silence about her experiences with Weinstein.

She had previously made a point of not speaking about any of her own personal experiences with Weinstein or any other possible predators when asked about the exec's sex scandal back in October.

'I don't have a tidy soundbite for you, because I am not a child and I have learned that when I have spoken in anger, I usually regret the way I express myself,' the actress and mother-of-three told Access Hollywood.

'So I've been waiting to feel less angry, and when I'm ready, I'll say what I have to say.'

On Thursday, Thurman was ready to share her soundbite - and there was plenty of fury.

'I am grateful today, to be alive, for all those I love, and for all those who have the courage to stand up for others,' wrote Thurman.

'I said I was angry recently, and I have a few reasons, #metoo, in case you couldnt tell by the look on my face.'

She then wrote: 'I feel its important to take your time, be fair, be exact, so... Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! (Except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspirators - Im glad its going slowly - you dont deserve a bullet)'

The actress then signed off by telling everyone to 'stay tuned.'

Thurman, pictured with Weinstein in 2016, previously made a point of not speaking about any of her own personal experiences with Weinstein or any other possible predators when asked about the exec's sex scandal back in October

On Thursday, Thurman was ready to share her soundbite - and there was plenty of fury

Alongside the photo she posted a still from the movie Kill Bill Vol. 2, which was directed by Quentin Tarantino one of the last titles produced by Weinstein at Miramax.

McGowan, Argento and Scorria were some of the first to come forward and accuse the disgraced Hollywood mogul sexually harassing or assaulting them early in their careers.

Argento accused him of forcibly performing oral sex on her in the late 90s, and in a New Yorker article told Farrow that the encounter happened after she reluctantly agreed to give Weinstein a massage in his hotel room.

She claims he pulled up her skirt and pushed her legs apart and then performed oral sex on her while she begged him to stop. She told Farrow she was 'terrified' of Weinstein.

In a separate New Yorker article Scorria told Farrow that Weinstein raped her and attempted to perform oral sex on her. McGowan also claims Weinstein assaulted her.
Criminals are hacking into computers that control worldwide shipping to smuggle drugs and weapons on a vast scale, security experts have warned.

The gangs gain remote access when a widely used system is poorly protected to alter container ship manifests, making their contraband shipment appear innocent and thereby avoiding detection.

And by hacking into the system, modern-day pirates can board ships knowing exactly where their targeted cargo is located, thanks to the digital loading plan.

Experts fear the shocking vulnerability of the technology could even open it to the risk of terrorists causing a disaster by deliberately capsizing one of the enormous vessels.

Experts fear hackers could cause a ship to capsize. Pictured: MV Hoegh Osaka ran aground in the Solent. There is no suspicion that the ships loading plans were altered or hacked

Owners of the worlds largest ships  some displacing more than 200,000 tons  use a system known as BAPLIE to tell port authorities where to put each of the vessels thousands of containers.

BAPLIE is regularly updated by its makers, but the problems arise when customers fail to make use of the latest version.

Thanks to the criminal hackers, information passed to customs authorities will obscure a containers true contents, its real weight and even its point of origin.

Law-enforcement agencies cannot examine every piece of cargo, instead targeting shipments from high- risk countries. A hacker can change this to confuse the system and make a high-risk container appear irrelevant to investigators.

Meanwhile, the system has already been abused by global pirates, who use its information to find out exactly what is being carried on a ship  and exactly where any goods they want to steal are loaded.

Security consultant Ken Munro, of renowned experts Pen Test Partners, warned the system is ripe for attack and that the consequences are financial, environmental, and possibly even fatal.

He said many high-profile ports have instituted data security measures but attacks can easily be launched from ports in the developing world which are the point of least resistance.

He added: There is evidence ship and terminal messaging systems have been exploited in the past for routing drugs and theft of valuables.

Criminals are hacking into computers that control worldwide shipping to smuggle drugs and weapons on a vast scale, security experts have warned (file photo)

Just a few minutes spent altering messages on BAPLIE could also allow explosive shipments to be treated like normal freight and result in a catastrophic accident.

The loading software is also used to make sure the ship does not capsize or lose stability. Heavier containers are placed low in the hold, while lighter ones are placed on top.

When these delicate calculations go wrong, cargo ships can capsize and sink, with the loss of millions of pounds of cargo and possibly lives. Hackers would be able to achieve this with ease, according to Munro.

In 2015, MV Hoegh Osaka ran aground in the Solent after almost capsizing due to the incorrectly reported weight of its cargo.

There is no suspicion that the ships loading plans were altered or hacked.

Mr Munro said: I strongly encourage all operators, ports, and terminals to carry out a thorough review of their systems. Already there is evidence of theft from containers in port, potentially through insider access to load information.
Britain's most endangered bird of prey is struggling to survive on land managed by the RSPB fuelling the fire of critics who say the charity has lost its way.

The numbers of hen harrier chicks per nest on RSPB reserves in England is just 1.1, crucially meaning it has fallen below the 1.2 needed to maintain the population.

Between 2013 and 2017 there were ten nests with 11 chicks surviving on land belonging to the charity, which receives almost 20 million a year of taxpayer cash.

By contrast, in non-RSPB areas there were 2.2 chicks per nest on average over the same period, according to Defra figures.

The number of hen harrier (pictured) chicks per nest on RSPB reserves in England is just 1.1, crucially meaning it has fallen below the 1.2 needed to maintain the population

Critics of the RSPB say the disparity is explained by the charity's reluctance to kill foxes and other predators.

However, the RSPB said that the poor numbers are due to illegal killing and trapping of hen harriers by gamekeepers on grouse moors.

Game And Wildlife Conservation Trust spokesman Andrew Gilruth said: 'The RSPB should be doing a lot better. They're not shooting as many predators as they should. If they were just more focused, these numbers could go up.

'They're more focused on politics and trying to send gamekeepers to prison than conserving hen harriers.'

Jeff Knott, head of the RSPB's nature policy, told The Mail on Sunday: 'The low number of breeding hen harriers highlights the desperate plight of an amazing bird.

'The reason so many nests are failing and so few chicks are reaching adulthood is primarily down to illegal killing and trapping.'
Dan Poulter, an NHS gynaecologist, has been accused of sexual harassment

An ex-Health Minister accused of sexual harassment is embroiled in a bizarre row with Whitehall over a picture on his old office wall that resembled a womans genitalia.

Visitors to the office of Dan Poulter, an NHS gynaecologist, say they were shocked at Bios And Pollination by Polish artist Tadek Beutlich.

The picture, picked from works in the Government art collection, was removed from Dr Poulters office after he quit as Health Minister.

One official tried to stop TV interviews in the office for fear viewers would mistake the picture for a sexually explicit image.

A Government source said: From a distance it looked very rude.

A spokesman for Dr Poulter said the MP was not interested in art and had nothing to do with it.

But the Health Department appeared to contradict his account, saying: Ministers choose art for display in their office from a selection provided by the Government art collection.

Dr Poulter, 39, was referred to the Tory Partys disciplinary committee earlier this month after he was accused of inappropriate behaviour against women MPs.

He vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
Sydney is sweltering through what is forecast to become the city's hottest end to spring in more than a century.

Temperatures have so far soared during the final week of November - and if the trend continues as is predicted - all sorts of records will tumble.

The final seven days of the month look set to reach well over 25C, which hasn't happened during a week in November since 1968.

'This would be only the second time in the last 118 years that Sydney has registered seven consecutive 25C days in November,' Weatherzone's Ben Domensino said.

'It would also be Sydney's warmest final week of spring in 123 years.'

Sydney is sweltering through what is forecast to become the city's hottest end to spring in more than a century. This woman is seen enjoying the sun at Bronte Beach on Saturday

Temperatures have so far soared during the final week of November in the harbour city

If the trend continues as is predicted - all sorts of records will tumble. Bronte Beach is pictured

A pool of warm and humid air that has smashed temperature records in southern Australia will move east and hit Sydney during the week.

Temperatures will reach 27C on Sunday and will remain in the high 20s all week, before hitting 30C on Friday.

It is the same system that saw Melbourne sweat through the longest-running November heatwave on record.

Lingering warm air across Victoria led to seven consecutive 28C-plus days, smashing records, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

A pool of warm and humid air that has smashed temperature records in southern Australia will move east and hit Sydney. This beachgoer is pictured enjoying the sun on Sunday afternoon

Temperatures will reach 27C on Sunday and will remain in the high 20s all week. This woman enjoys Coogee Beach over the weekend

It is the same system that saw Melbourne sweat through the longest-running November heatwave on record. This woman is pictured at Bondi

This man is pictured giving a thumbs up at Coogee Beach on Saturday afternoon

'It's been a very unusual weather pattern over the last week or so, normally late spring is known for changeable weather,' senior meteorologist Richard Carlyon said.

But the city is bracing for severe thunderstorms on Sunday, with large hail, heavy rain and flash floods expected to hit between 3pm and 6pm.

'All the ingredients are there for severe storms Melbourne falls in the area of where the storms could happen,' meteorologist Graeme Brittain told Nine News.

'There could be plenty of lightning strikes and heavy rain leading to flooding and damaging winds. Much of Victoria is likely to be affected by storms.'

These young woman enjoy Bondi as Sydney continues its warm November spell

Lingering warm air across Victoria led to seven consecutive 28C-plus days, smashing records. This woman is pictured at Sydney's Bronte Beach

Thousands have headed to Sydney's beaches over the weekend as they late spring heatwave continues

Warm weather and sunshine has sent Australians flocking to the beach across the country

There will be a cool change in Melbourne on Monday before temperatures soar into the low and mid 30s during the week.

Some rain is expected for Canberra with maximum temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s throughout the week.

Brisbane will be mostly dry and very warm, while Perth will sweat through a cloudy 33C on Sunday before temperatures drop to the mid 20s throughout the week.

An afternoon thunderstorm is predicted for Darwin on Sunday, hitting a max of 34C, while Adelaide is expected to be will be warm and sunny before a cooler weekend.

Severe thunderstorms are expected through the afternoon on Sunday in Melbourne

The warm temperatures are set to continue for the remainder of November

People in Sydney have been making the most of the summer sun by hitting the water
The amendments are necessary before Egypt and Russia lay the foundation of the first nuclear power station at El-Dabaa

Egypt's House of Representatives will discuss and vote Monday on three draft laws aimed at regulating national nuclear activities.

Parliament deputy speaker Mahmoud El-Sherif told reporters Sunday that the laws are necessary before Egypt and Russia lay the foundation of the first nuclear power station at El-Dabaa, west of Alexandria. The revision of the contracts of the Dabaa project was already finalised by the State Council.

El-Sherif said parliament's secretariat-general has asked all MPs to attend tomorrow's plenary meeting due to the importance of the three draft laws. After discussion, they will be voted upon.

"These laws will put the legislative foundation necessary in order for the construction of the first nuclear power station at El-Dabaa to begin," said El-Sherif.

El-Sherif told reporters that although parliament's plenary meetings were scheduled to be held 3 December, the urgent meeting will be held Monday.

Informed sources said Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Russia's President Vladmir Putin are expected to attend a ceremony within two months marking the beginning of the implementation phase of Egypt's first nuclear power station at El-Dabaa.

"The discussion of and vote on the three laws in an urgent meeting means that the final signing of contracts on four nuclear power stations at El-Dabaa is very near," said El-Sherif.

El-Sherif indicated that MPs will first debate amendments to a 1976 law (Law No 13/1976) which states that an entity under the name "The Authority of Nuclear Stations for Electrical Generation" will be created.

The amendments were approved by parliament's energy and environment committee in a meeting attended by head of the authority Amgad El-Wakeel Saturday.

El-Wakeel explained that the aforementioned authority will be affiliated with the Ministry of Electricity and will be mainly tasked with proposing the construction of nuclear power stations for the purpose of electricity generation in Egypt as well as establishing desalination projects.

"This authority will also take charge of conducting studies and research on nuclear stations in Egypt, and drafting the specifications of these stations," said El-Wakeel, adding: "The amendments will also pave the way for the authority to sign contracts with the private sector in Egypt and outside Egypt in the area of building nuclear power stations."

According to the amendments, the board of the abovementioned authority will comprise 10 members to be named by the minister of electricity and ratified by the president.

The laws will give the authority the prerogative to sign contracts with local and foreign entities, so long as such agreements do not harm national security.

The amendments also state that "all equipment, tools, cars, spare parts and materials to be imported by the authority will be exempted from any custom duties, and all companies and institutions contracted by the authority will be also granted the same exemptions."

They also stipulate the authority's loans and credit facilities borrowed from foreign sources to build nuclear power projects in Egypt are to be exempted from all taxes, and that contractors and sub-contractors employed by the authority to build its projects will be granted the same exemptions.

MPs will also discuss a new government-drafted law aimed at the creation of an "Executive Authority for the Supervision of Nuclear Stations for Electricity Generation."

"The authority, which will be affiliated with the Ministry of Electricity, and will be located in Cairo with possible branches inside or outside Egypt, will be responsible for the technical supervision of nuclear stations designed to generate electricity," the draft law said.

"This will include supervising the performance of contractors employed to build nuclear stations in Egypt, issue progress reports on nuclear projects, and release annual reports on the authority's finances to be revised by the minister of electricity and parliament's energy and environment committee.

"The Executive Authority will also take charge of the experimental operation of nuclear projects and make sure that they are implemented on time and in coordination with other authorities involved in building nuclear power stations in Egypt.

A third law, which is an amendment of a 2010 law (Law No 7/2010), concerns the regulation of nuclear and radioactive activities in Egypt.

The six-article law, approved by the cabinet in a meeting on 20 September, was also approved by parliament's energy and environment committee Saturday.

The law defines the tasks of the country's authority that is responsible for the supervision of nuclear and radioactive activities in Egypt and the formation of its board.

El-Sherif said MPs will stand for a minute of silence at the beginning of tomorrow's plenary session, mourning the death of 305 worshippers in a terrorist attack on Al-Rawda Mosque in North Sinai Friday.

While a large number of MPs have requested that they deliver statements during the urgent meeting on the terrorist attack, heads of some committees are expected to propose new legislative amendments aimed at fighting terrorism.



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Theresa May faced a new threat last night after it emerged that former Cabinet Minister Andrew Mitchell is threatening to join the Tory Brexit mutiny.

Mr Mitchell has told friends he believes the Prime Ministers decision to set a fixed date for Britains exit from the European Union on March 29, 2019, is ill-judged and counter-productive.

He was poised to join the Conservative rebellion in the Commons last week until the Government partially backed down over on the status of EU human rights in Britain post-Brexit.

Fifteen Tory MPs  including ex-Chancellor Kenneth Clarke and former Attorney General Dominic Grieve  are set to attempt to block the fixed exit date proposal in a crunch vote next month. Defeat would be a crushing blow to Mrs May and revive talk of Tory MPs removing her from No 10.

Theresa May faced a new threat last night after it emerged that former Cabinet Minister Andrew Mitchell (pictured) is threatening to join the Tory Brexit mutiny

Mr Mitchells threat to join the rebels comes after The Mail on Sunday revealed in July that he had declared the Prime Minister dead in the water following the General Election in June when the Conservatives lost their overall majority.

It was followed by reports that he was backing a plot led by former party chairman Grant Shapps to challenge Mrs Mays leadership.

The prospect of Mr Mitchell teaming up with the Tory dissidents is all the more alarming for Mrs May due to his close ties with Brexit Secretary David Davis.

Furthermore, as former Chief Whip, Mr Mitchells inside knowledge of parliamentary guerrilla tactics  and how the Government tries to keep its MPs in line  would be a vital asset to the dissidents.

He backed Remain in the EU referendum and, as David Camerons International Development Secretary, fiercely defended the controversial decision to spend 0.7 per cent of Britains GDP on overseas aid.

He was forced to resign as Chief Whip in 2012 after calling a Downing Street policeman a f****** pleb but has won respect by rebuilding his political career.

Brexit rebel leader Mr Grieve has said he will vote against the Governments plan to set a fixed EU exit date regardless of blood-curdling threats and arm-twisting from Tory whips.

The rebels were furious at being called mutineers by the Daily Telegraph for opposing key parts of the European Union Withdrawal Bill, which seeks to transpose EU statute into UK law after Brexit.

Mr Mitchell has told friends he believes Mrs Mays decision to set a fixed date for Britains exit from the European Union on March 29, 2019, is ill-judged and counter-productive

Mr Grieve said Brexit was an extraordinarily painful process of national self-mutilation and said he would not be ordered to vote against his conscience. He is backed by Mr Clarke and fellow Tory Remainers, Nicky Morgan, Bob Neill and Anna Soubry.

They vowed to oppose several issues  from the use of so-called Henry VIII powers to securing a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal  unless Mrs May made concessions.

The Tory rebels say that the fixed EU exit proposal was a meaningless sop to Brexit hardliners and could make it harder for Britain to secure a good deal in talks with Brussels.

Mr Grieve called it mad and said it had been made without any collective decision-making within government.

However, Ministers believe that despite the Tories precarious position in the Commons, they can win the vote with the help of a handful of pro-Brexit Labour MPs.

Mr Mitchells criticism of the Government comes amid growing optimism in No 10 that despite the Tory revolt, they are edging closer to a breakthrough in Brexit negotiations with Brussels.

One Tory Brexit rebel said: Andrew is a formidable politician and his backing shows opposition to the fatuous idea of a fixed date for departing the EU, right down to the minute and second, is growing on our backbenches despite crude intimidation by the whips.
Two of Britains most eminent surgeons today make an impassioned plea to halt the closure of a world-leading NHS heart service that has saved the lives of thousands of children.

Cancer surgeon Lord Darzi and heart transplant pioneer Sir Magdi Yacoub say it would be an unforgivable folly if health chiefs stop congenital heart surgery at Royal Brompton Hospital in London.

Former Speaker of the House of Commons Baroness Boothroyd, a patient of the hospital, has also joined the fight to save the unit.

Cancer surgeon Lord Darzi (left) and heart transplant pioneer Sir Magdi Yacoub have been joined by the former Speaker of the House of Commons, Baroness Boothroyd, a patient of the hospital, in their to save the unit

The Royal Bromptons congenital cardiac services are threatened under an NHS plan which has its roots in attempts to deal with under-performing units, in the wake of the Bristol Royal Infirmary baby deaths scandal in the 1990s.

The Royal Brompton has among the best survival rates for this type of surgery in the country, and enjoys a global reputation.

But NHS executives are expected to rule on Thursday that congenital heart surgery there should cease. They argue it does not meet a new national standard for paediatric heart surgery  that other childrens services should be co-located on the same site.

As a specialist heart and lung hospital, this is something the Royal Brompton cannot offer. However, for decades it has worked hand-in-hand with the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, which is less than half a mile away.

Diana Princess of Wales visited the world famous hospital. NHS executives are expected to rule on Thursday that congenital heart surgery there should cease

In a letter to Ministers, Lord Darzi  an influential Health Minister under Tony Blair  Sir Magdi and Baroness Boothroyd warn: To dismantle the Brompton would be an act of unforgivable folly. We urge you to save the most important heart disease hospital in Britain.

Baroness Boothroyd, who underwent major heart surgery in 2009, told The Mail on Sunday: I have great affection and admiration for the Royal Brompton and I am terribly distressed about what NHS England is going to do to congenital heart surgery.

She predicted: The bacon slicer will come in and this hospital will be totally ruined. All three signatories have received the Order of Merit, Britains most exclusive civilian award. Recipients of the Order of Merit are chosen personally by the Queen.

NHS England wants to cut the number of English hospitals performing congenital heart surgery from 13 to ten. Six years ago the Royal Brompton scuppered a previous attempt to rationalise childrens heart surgery centres when it won a High Court battle, arguing that the process was flawed.

NHS England has set standards demanding units have at least three heart surgeons, each carrying out a minimum of 125 operations a year, which the Royal Brompton easily meets

Undeterred, NHS England announced similar proposals last year. It recommended congenital heart surgery for both children and adults stop at the Royal Brompton, Manchester Royal Infirmary and Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.

It set national standards, demanding units have at least three heart surgeons, each carrying out a minimum of 125 operations a year.

The Royal Brompton easily clears that hurdle. But NHS England also said co-located childrens services were a must.

A Royal Brompton spokesman said: We believe we meet every standard set by NHS England, including the provision of co-located multi-specialty care for children.

NHS England said that its heart surgery standards were guided by organisations which concluded that isolated childrens services are unacceptable.
A same-sex couple have been sent horrific homophobic messages from a neighbour after the majority of Australians voted 'yes' to marriage equality.

Kirk Muddle shared pictures of the vile notes on his Facebook account which called out him and his partner Andrew, who live in Maroochydore, Queensland, for 'disrupting the whole neighbourhood.'

They also make reference to the pair's beloved dogs, suggesting they aren't fit to take care of them, and ask for all gay people to be 'castrated.'

Kirk Muddle (right) shared pictures of the vile notes on his Facebook account which called out him and his partner Andrew (left)

'So over the last few days Andrew has had the following messages left in our letterbox here in Maroochydore (reminder Yes vote 63%),' Mr Muddle wrote on social media.

'It's 2017, in a city of some 400,000 and in a region of over 2,000,000 and we're subjected to this, as two men in a committed relationship.

'I'm horrified and sad. This is not to garish sympathy this is just to remind everyone the fights not over and it probably never will be.'

He went on to say they weren't looking for any special treatment but just wanted the same rights as everyone else.

The horrific notes were shared on Kirk Muddle's Facebook page (pictured)

The notes called for the couple to 'piss off' despite them living in the Queensland suburb for more than 11 years (pictured)

'One of our neighbors (Who? We'll never know) doesn't think we deserve it. I'll never give up but it'll made me look at my neighbours very differently,' he continued.

The notes called for the couple to 'piss off' despite them living in the Queensland suburb for more than 11 years.

Speaking to Yahoo, Mr Muddle said he hadn't 'copped abuse' like that since he was a teenager.

Many of the Queensland local's Facebook followers were quick to call out the abuse as 'absolute disgraceful'

Even fellow 'no' voters disagreed with the note writer's approach and said 'what people do in their own houses is their business'

Many of the Queensland local's Facebook followers were quick to call out the abuse as 'absolute disgraceful'.

Even fellow 'no' voters disagreed with the note writer's approach and said 'what people do in their own houses is their business.'

The marriage equality debate turned ugly during the month-long voting process as campaigners rallied behind their stance.

But since that time there have still been outraged attacks on the LGBTI community with Christian protesters painting over murals dedicated to promoting tolerance.
Television presenter Ferne McCann has told the father of her newborn daughter that she won't ever see him again after visiting him in prison.

Ms McCann, 27, told Arthur Collins, 'This is the last time you will see either of us' as she held their daughter, Sunday, during a visit to Category A Belmarsh prison in south London.

The couple split up after Collins, 25, was arrested for throwing acid over revellers at a crowded nightclub dancefloor in Dalston, London, in the early hours of April 17.

Ms McCann, 27, told Arthur Collins, 'This is the last time you will see either of us' as she held their daughter, Sunday, during a visit to Category A Belmarsh prison in south London

The couple split up after Collins, 25, was arrested for throwing acid over revellers at a crowded nightclub dancefloor in Dalston, London, in the early hours of April 17

During the visit, the This Morning host told him: 'You have ruined our lives. This is what you have done. And this is what you are missing out on.'

Collins was convicted of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent and nine of actual bodily harm on November 13.

He has been warned he could face life behind bars when he is sentenced on December 19.

During the visit, the This Morning host told him: 'You have ruined our lives. This is what you have done. And this is what you are missing out on.'

Collins was convicted of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent and nine of actual bodily harm on November 13. He is pictured (right) as he left the nightclub after the attack

Speaking about the dramatic visit, she told Sunday People: 'I went to see Arthur and I took Sunday with me. This was because I am very angry about what has happened and I needed to communicate that and wanted to hear what Arthur had to say.

'I strongly feel for the innocent people hurt that night and I in no way condone violence as I have already made clear. It was a difficult decision to take Sunday into that environment but I felt I needed to confront him about a number of things, which I have now done.'

Friends have said Ms McCann was 'in bits' over the attack and has been attempting to come to terms with what Collins has done while raising their daughter.

The doting mother told the Sunday People: 'I went to see Arthur and I took Sunday with me. This was because I am very angry about what has happened and I needed to communicate that and wanted to hear what Arthur had to say'

Friends have said Ms McCann was 'in bits' over the attack and has been attempting to come to terms with what Collins has done while raising their daughter

A source previously told MailOnline: 'She is having a really tough time. She is putting on a brave face to the world but behind the scenes, her family are really worried about her.

'This is her maternity leave. She's really emotional and can't believe what has happened. She never thought in a million years he would do this.

'She's in bits. She's just doing the best she can but is absolutely devastated.'

McCann and Collins had a year-long on-off romance before he went on the run over the attack and was arrested by police.

She posted pictures on Instagram of them on holiday in Dubai before the incident and told OK magazine that they were planning to move in together.
Residents are furious after a Sydney apartment complex popped up with signs in Mandarin, not English, to make the real estate more attractive to Chinese buyers.

Mandarin characters were carved into a sandstone wall at the front of a new $35 million apartment complex on Cliff Road in Epping, Sydney's north.

Cliff Road resident Kate Chivers said: 'Every time we look up the street we are greeted with this glaring sign in Chinese. As far as I'm concerned the sign could say "stuff you Aussies".

Mandarin characters were carved into a sandstone wall at the front of a new $35 million apartment complex on Cliff Road in Epping, Sydney's north

Arise Constructions named its new development after ancient Chinese centre of educational excellence Han Ling Yuan.

The sign loosely translates to 'area of educational excellence'.

The development, which was finished two months ago, also features a large yin and yang sign in its courtyard and a traditional Chinese fish pond.

Arise Constructions spokesman John Zhang told The Daily Telegraph it was no secret the Mandarin sign was a direct pitch to Chinese buyers.

Mr Zhang said there were many high-ranking schools in Epping, and the apartment complex marketed itself to Chinese people who wanted to give their family the best education possible.

Mrs Chivers said the sign made English speaking residents in the neighbourhood, like herself, feel 'excluded'.

'I've been to so many of these apartments looking for a place for my son, and they will tell you that it's mainly for Chinese people,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'It's a feeling of exclusion as far as we're concerned.'

The development, which was finished two months ago, also features a large yin and yang sign in its courtyard and a traditional Chinese fish pond

Parramatta councillor Lorraine Wearne said the Mandarin sign was 'offensive'.

'This is using our schools to sell apartments to people who do not speak our language. It really bothers me and clearly bothers residents in Epping,' she said.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Sunday, Ms Wearne said she spoke to a number of residents in the community who were equally offended.

'People feel excluded from their own area,' she said.

'We're inclusive to these new residents, emigrants from China, and I believe new residents to this country need to be inclusive to us.'

Parramatta councillor Lorraine Wearne (pictured) said the Mandarin sign was 'offensive'

While she did not want the sign taken down, Ms Wearne called for developers to add an English version of the sign.

The Parramatta councillor told Daily Mail Australia the sign might be in violation of regulations.

The council said it approved an application for a Mandarin sign, but said it should not be visible from the street.

The Parramatta Council said it would continue to investigate the sign, which was clearly visible from the street.

The Epping apartment complex is in the federal seat of Bennelong, where 21 percent of the population had Chinese ancestry.

The population of Chinese residents grew from 16 percent to 21 in the electorate in the past four years.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, could face a police investigation into whether he broke the law by covering up for a paedophile bishop.

Officers are understood to be considering a formal inquiry to determine whether the former leader of the Church of England and other senior church officials should face criminal charges over their failure to pass on sex abuse complaints made against ex-bishop Peter Ball.

Such an investigation would be highly controversial and may involve 82-year-old Lord Carey being interviewed under caution.

Lord Carey, pictured with Princess Diana, could face an investigation over the church's failure to pass on sex abuse complaints made against Peter Ball

Sources say police are collecting evidence and scrutinising a scathing Church of England report commissioned by the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

It concludes that senior church figures colluded to protect Ball and says the decision by Lambeth Palace not to pass the complaints to police must give rise to a perception of deliberate concealment.

Lawyers representing victims of Ball, who have called for a police investigation, believe the former Archbishop could face a charge of misconduct in a public office, for which the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.

Ball, a friend of the Prince of Wales, was jailed for 32 months in 2015 after indecently assaulting 18 boys and young men between 1977 and 1992 in one of the biggest scandals ever to rock the Church of England.

It has been claimed, however, that he might have been convicted more than 20 years earlier had Lord Carey and his staff at Lambeth Palace not withheld from the police six letters making other claims about his behaviour. The letters were sent in by members of the public after allegations against Ball surfaced in the 1990s. Ball was arrested and subsequently resigned as Bishop of Gloucester in 1993.

But his only punishment at that time was a caution for gross indecency for molesting a teenage monk and he was later allowed a licence to work as a retired priest.

Peter Ball, pictured with Prince Charles, was jailed for 32 months in 2015 after indecently assaulting 18 boys and young men between 1977 and 1992

Last year, The Mail on Sunday revealed that Anglican officials who had privately reviewed the case suggested that had the letters been given to detectives in 1993, Ball may have been convicted of serious sexual offences.

The report commissioned by Archbishop Welby, published this summer, concluded that the greatest failure of the handling of the case was the management of the correspondence, in which Lord Carey was significantly involved.

Lord Carey strongly denies any cover-up or collusion. His supporters have also argued that Ball could still have received a caution in 1993 even if Lambeth Palace had handed the letters to the authorities.

David Greenwood, the head of the child abuse department at Switalskis solicitors and who represents a number of victims of Peter Ball, said the failure to pass them on provided reasonable grounds for the Metropolitan police to open a formal investigation.

The Met and Lord Carey both declined to comment.

Lord Carey is already facing questioning next year by the Governments independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.
A man in Canada has been found guilty of murdering three women, two of whom were his ex-girlfriends, in a shooting rampage in Ontario in September of 2015.

Basil Borutski, 60, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for shooting to death Anastasia Kuzyk, 36, and Nathalie Warmerdam, 48, and one count of second-degree murder for strangling Carol Culleton, 66 on September 22, 2015.

The jury deliberated for 14 hours before returning their verdict. According to local press Bortuski said he was 'not guilty' as the trial wrapped and deliberations began.

During the trial haunting evidence photos showed terrifying letters Borutski wrote to his victims before the murders and a sawn off shot gun.

Left to right: The bodies of 36-year-old Anastasia Kuzyk, 48-year-old Nathalie Warmerdam and 66-year-old Carol Culleton were found at three separate locations in and around Wilno, Ontario in 2015

Borutski stands in a room at the Pembroke OPP detachment shortly after his arrest, his hands tied behind his back

At his home, as he leaves his apartment to begin his murderous rampage at 7.36am on September 22, 2015

He murdered Warmerdam in under two minutes. Surveillance cameras shows Borutski walking into her house with a shotgun at 9.31am and walking out at 9.33am

A taped confession was played for the court, in which Borutski, in reference to Warderdam's murder, told an Ontario Provincial Police detective, 'I just drove in, walked in the door, she was sitting there, she went around the corner, I followed her. Boom. That was it.'

He also told police that when he broke into Culleton's house, he strangled her with a TV cable coil.

'I wrapped it around her head. And she just kept saying, "This is not you, Basil, this is not you,"' he said according to CBC. Culleton had previously rejected Bortuski's advances.

A couple of weeks before the murders, he went to Culleton's home and tore up flowers he planted after she sat on another man's knee in front of him.

'It's not to late': One of several frightening letters he wrote to his various victims shown during the trial

A picture of the sawed off shotgun used in the murders was shown during Bortuski's trial

This photo, taken from a thumb drive found in Culleton's cottage, shows flowers Borutski planted and then tore up and threw into a boat on her property after she sat on another man's knee in front of him

This is the shotgun that Warmerdam slept with under her bed after she accused Borutski of assaulting her

The convicted killer left his home on the morning of the murders, borrowing a neighbor's car, and with a sawed off shotgun, began his murderous spree at Culleton's home.

He left his neighbor's car at Culleton's home, and, after the murder, stole her car and drove it to his next victim's home.

He drove on to Kuzyk's house. Months before the murders, he had been released from jail after being convicted of assaulting her.

Borutski was supposed to sign an order barring him from contacting Kuzyk, but refused and was released anyway.

Her sister, Eva, testified that she heard her sister scream and say 'It's Basil' and then heard a gun go off. She said she ran outside the home- for her life.

'I thought, we are both going to die,' she testified.

He was also under a lifetime weapons ban.

Jurors deliberated for 14 hours before coming back with a guilty verdict for Borutski

Borutski then drove another half hour to Warmerdam's house.

Warmerdam had accused Bortuski of assaulting her and she carried a personal tracking device because of him, according to her son.

Her son Adrian testified at Bortuski's trial. He says he saw his mother being chased by Borutski inside the house, and that Borutski had a gun.

'I ran out into the bush and I called 911 and waited for police,' he said, adding he heard a gunshot as he made his escape.

Borutski told the OPP 'it was funny, it was like I wasn't even pulling the trigger on the gun, the gun was just going off. It was like, boop.'

Borutski was arrested around 2.30pm that day after the entire area was placed on lock down.
A Danish woman jailed by New York police 20 years ago for leaving her baby in a stroller outside a restaurant while she was dining inside is speaking out.

Anette Srensen was a 30-year-old aspiring actress who returned to New York City in May 1997 from Copenhagen.

She met up with Exavier Wardlaw, the biological father of her then-14-month-old daughter, Liv.

According to the New York Post, the couple decided to grab a drink at Dallas BBQ in Manhattan's East Village.

Srensen decided to leave Liv and her baby stroller outside the restaurant as she and Wardlaw were inside while keeping an eye on her from the window.

She says she was doing what any normal parents would have done in her native Denmark, where babies in strollers are left on sidewalks while their mothers and fathers shop and dine indoors.

A Danish woman jailed by New York police 20 years ago for leaving her baby in a stroller outside a restaurant is speaking out. The woman, Anette Srensen (right), is seen with her daughter, Liv, 21, who was just 14 months old at the time of the incident

Srensen was a 30-year-old aspiring actress who returned to New York City in May 1997 from Copenhagen. She met up with Exavier Wardlaw, the biological father of her then-14-month-old daughter, Liv (seen here in May 1997)

The couple decided to grab a drink at Dallas BBQ in Manhattan's East Village (above). Srensen decided to leave Liv and her baby stroller outside the restaurant as she and Wardlaw were inside while keeping an eye on her from the window

After servers and diners complained about the baby being left outside, police arrived and arrested Srensen and Wardlaw (seen far right) for child endangerment

'I had lived in New York [during school], so, of course, I knew that I didn't see prams all over the city,' said Srensen in an interview published Saturday.

'But I had been living in Copenhagen, I had given birth to my daughter in Copenhagen, I was raised myself in Denmark That's just how you do it in Denmark.'

Diners and servers at the restaurant noticed the baby was outside and asked the couple to bring her in, but Srensen and Wardlaw declined.

While witnesses at the time told the press that the baby was crying, Srensen insists that Liv was comfortably asleep in her stroller.

The charges against her were eventually dropped on condition that she leave the United States

Nonetheless, someone called 911 and the police showed up.

'The first time she woke up was when the officer took her out of the pram,' Sorensen told the Post.

Srensen said that the two police officers who initially arrived were going to allow her to leave with Liv.

But then a third officer arrived and things changed.

'I said, "I'm leaving now," and he said, "No, you're not: You're arrested,"' she said.

'It was unreal... I did not break any kind of law. I never, ever thought this could happen.'

The NYPD booked Srensen and Wardlaw for child endangerment and disorderly conduct.

She was placed in jail for 36 hours, while her daughter was put in foster care by the city's welfare services.

'I didn't know where my child was,' said Srensen.

'I don't think there's any greater punishment than to have your child taken away from you.'

Four days after she was arrested, Srensen was finally reunited with Liv.

She remained in New York for a few more weeks because of summonses to civil and criminal court.

Charges against Srensen were eventually dropped after she agreed to leave the United States.

The case made front-page news and generated headlines in the local press, which Srensen says treated her unfairly.

While the local media in America treated her as a negligent parent, the Danish press rose to her defense.

'For every Dane it was a nightmare because we are used to living like that,' said Srensen.

The case made front-page news and generated headlines in the local press, which Srensen says treated her unfairly. While the local media in America treated her as a negligent parent, the Danish press rose to her defense

In 2012, Srensen wrote a book about her experiences. She now wants to translate it into English, and she has launched a Kickstarter fund toward that end.

The book, titled A Worm in the Apple, recounts the 'traumatizing' experience.

Its about what happened before, what happened as it happened, and what happened after,' she said.

The book is a chronicle of 'all the feelings, all of the thoughts that were going on at that time.

'I always had a big longing for an apology. I probably never will get this apology [so] I want to give this [book] back.'

'It's a way of getting back what I never got,' said Srensen. 'I would like [it] if I could just say what I think.'

A year after the ordeal, she sued the city for $20million. She was awarded $66,400 by a civil jury, which found only that she should not have been strip-searched and that the city commonly failed to advise arrested foreigners of their right to notify their consulates.

Srensen now says she wants to show the American public that the Danish system of parenting is healthier.

'People live in fear [in the US]. Children are not allowed to play in the playground alone,' said Srensen.

'That's why it's important for me now to get [my book] into English, to show it's possible to live another way.'

Srensen now lives in Hamburg, Germany with her husband, Mike, and their two teenage children.

Liv, the baby in the stroller, is a 21-year-old woman living in Copenhagen, where she is studying design.
Thousands of passengers flying in and out of Bali have been left stranded as Jetstar, Virgin and Qantas announced flight cancellations.

With Indonesia's Mount Agung volcano erupting for the second time this week, major Australian airlines weren't willing to risk flying through cloudy ash to reach their destination.

But the cancellations have meant customers were forced to sleep at the airport and face long hours with little information.

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But the cancellations have meant customers were forced to sleep at the airport and face long hours with little information

Some of their frustrations were aired on Facebook, with customers either very pleased they had been moved to temporary accommodation or livid they had been left out

Qantas and Virgin took a similar stance and cancelled all flights to and from Australia travelling to the tourist hotspot

Some of their frustrations were aired on Facebook, with customers either very pleased they had been moved to temporary accommodation or livid they had been left out.

Jetstar has released a statement assuring passengers they have now recommenced international flights to and from the region.

'Our senior pilots, using information and forecasts from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, have assessed the latest conditions in Bali following the eruption of Mount Agung and deemed that conditions have improved and it is safe to fly,' it read.

Passengers aired their complaints on social media as they waited for updates from the airlines

On Saturday Jetstar diverted three flights heading to Bali and cancelled six flights ready to leave the island.

'Following an eruption of the Mount Agung volcano in Bali, Indonesia, it is not currently safe to operate flights around Denpasar Airport,' the airline said in a statement at the time.

'As a result we have cancelled flights to and from Bali this evening. Three flights that were en route to Bali have returned to Australia.'

On Saturday Jetstar diverted three flights heading to Bali and cancelled six flights ready to leave the island

Qantas and Virgin took a similar stance and cancelled all flights to and from Australia travelling to the tourist hotspot but Qantas has since reversed the decision

Customers have spent hours lining up for information about their flights

Qantas and Virgin took a similar stance and cancelled all flights to and from Australia travelling to the tourist hotspot but Qantas has since reversed the decision.

Customers are still waiting on Virgin to release an update.

Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency reminded passengers that only a small part of the island was affected by the latest eruption and their international airport in Denpasar was still operating.

With Schoolies underway, thousands of students have flocked to Indonesia or are expected to fly this week

A mere two hours after the eruption several airlines diverted or cancelled flights to and from Denpasar's Ngurah Rai International Airport

After months of observation Mount Agung erupted on Tuesday, with grey ash spewing from the peak at 5.05pm local time.

With Schoolies underway, thousands of students have flocked to Indonesia or are expected to fly this week.

The Department of Foreign Trade is advising anyone travelling to Bali to always 'exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia'.

Jetstar diverted three flights heading to Bali and cancelled six flights ready to leave the island

After months of observation Mount Agung erupted on Tuesday, with grey ash spewing from the peak at 5.05pm local time

The eruption was considered small although the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said the danger zone around the volcano was 'dynamic' and could change at any time.

They advise people to stay out of the exclusion zone, which remains unchanged, and extends 7.5km from the volcano.

About 29,000 evacuees are currently living in shelters  that's far less than the 150,000 people who fled their homes last month in fear the volcano would erupt.

A mere two hours after the eruption several airlines diverted or cancelled flights to and from Denpasar's Ngurah Rai International Airport

The eruption of Bali's Mount Agung volcano has caused major flight disruptions

The eruption has forced about 29,000 evacuees into emergency shelters (pictured)

The Australian government advises all Australian tourists in Bali to monitor local media, follow instructions from local authorities and ensure they have travel insurance.

The alert level remains at three after it was downgraded from the maximum level of four on October 29.

Agung has been rumbling intermittently since August.

The Australian government advises all Australian tourists in Bali to monitor local media, follow instructions from local authorities and ensure they have travel insurance
A 14-year-old boy has adorned his entire house in Christmas lights so his mother, who died from cancer, could see them from heaven.

Jackson Dowling's mother Rebecca died from cancer in February this year after the disease spread to her kidneys.

In honour of his late mother, Jackson decorated his family home on Sydney's Northern Beaches with Christmas lights so his beloved mother could join in the festivities.

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Jackson Dowling, pictured with his grandmother Judy, decorated the home in honour of his late mother Rebecca

'My goal is to make it so mum can see it from heaven,' Jackson told Channel Nine's Today show.

Jackson said decorating the home in lights was a family tradition, but after his mother died in February, he 'wanted to make this year our biggest ever'.

Jackson's grandmother Judy said Rebecca would have been 'so proud'.

'He's just an amazing boy, he's worked so hard every afternoon after school,' Judy said.

'She would be so proud, so proud.'

In tear-jerking footage, Jackson was captured unveiling the Christmas lights in front of family and neighbours this week

In tear-jerking footage, Jackson was captured unveiling the Christmas lights in front of family and neighbours this week.

Dressed in a Santa Claus costume, Jackson unfurled a sign which read 'In loving memory of Rebecca' on the front fence of the family home.

Jackson also hoped to raise money for children living with cancer.

Jackson's grandmother Judy (pictured with Jackson) said Rebecca would have been 'so proud'

The 14-year-old high school student said he would be outside his colourfully-decorated home every night with a donation bucket

The 14-year-old high school student said he would be outside his colourfully-decorated home on Collins Street, North Narrabeen, every night with a donation bucket.

His goal was to raise as much money as possible to donate to Redkite, an Australian cancer charity for young people.

Jackson also urged everybody to hang their own Christmas lights, to add to the 'Christmas cheer'.
The article, by columnist Simon Tisdall, raised doubts about the efficacy of Egypt's response to Friday's terrorist attack

The article, by assistant editor of the British daily newspaper and foreign affairs columnist Simon Tisdall, entitled "The 'iron fist' response to terror attacks in Egypt never works," was published Sunday.

Tisdall claimed that the Egyptian military spokesman's account of the success of air raids to eliminate the perpetrators of the Friday attack was not convincing, and probably killed more "innocent people."

He also charged that the targeted sites may have been randomly selected, without providing evidence.

"The article represents a clear violation of the United Nations Resolution 2354, which prohibits the incitement of terrorist acts and repudiating attempts at the justification or glorification of terrorist acts," Abu Zeid said.

Tisdall described the Egyptian government response to the attack as an act of revenge, criticising Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's pledge to avenge the victims and to restore security and stability with brute force.

"The article represented a blatant example of double standards," the foreign ministry spokesman said.

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Indonesian chef Wawan Pradiat (pictured) has spent the night behind bars after he allegedly filmed intimate images of his Sydney neighbours and secretly uploaded the videos online

An Indonesian chef has spent the night behind bars after he allegedly filmed intimate images of his neighbours and secretly uploaded the videos online.

Wawan Pradiat, 23, was refused bail at Sydney's Parramatta Bail Court where he was accused of recording and distributing images of four victims in Surry Hills.

Prosecutor Ben Rutzou told the court on Saturday the 23-year-old Indonesian national confessed to police the previous day.

Pradiat gave officers his username details to a website where the videos were uploaded and had been viewed thousands of times, prosecutors said.

Mr Rutzou told the court he was opposed to bail because Pradiat was a flight risk and could interfere with victims and witnesses.

Pradiat, 23, was refused bail at Sydney's Parramatta Bail Court where he was accused of recording and distributing images of four victims in Surry Hills

Prosecutors told the court on Saturday the 23-year-old Indonesian national confessed to police the previous day

The local chef started sobbing when he first appeared in court via video link and continued to hang his head as the matter was heard.

He told the court he wanted to apologise for his 'silly' behaviour.

Pradiat's flatmate was at home when police came looking for devices he may have recorded on.

'Yesterday they just came in to ask about the video. They want to check any device, any video camera or laptop,' the flatmate told Nine News.

More victims may be discovered upon further examination of a number of electronic items that were seized in the raid, the court heard.

The matter is due before Central Local Court on Wednesday.
In a statement (bottom) shared to Instagram on Tuesday, the former TOWIE star (top left), 32, admitted she was the voice in the shocking audio files, but claimed she only recorded them because she feared 'serious harm and in the face of significant threats'. She wrote in full: 'I am aware that people will have a number of questions about the voice messages being put into the public domain and purportedly sent by me. 'I feel I have no choice but to address these (to the extent that I can as there are restrictions on me which I explain below). Most importantly I want to apologise to all the victims of Arthur Collins (inset) abhorrent actions in 2017 that they have to relive that night and the pain that followed because this matter is again in the public domain. In particular I want to apologise to Sophie Hall (top right). I do not believe her to be ugly or stupid. She has been brave beyond belief.' It comes after her fiance Lorri Haines shared a series of cryptic posts with his 170k followers, amid the ongoing conflict surrounding his partner. His posts come following claims that Ferne made derogatory comments about ex-partner Arthur 's acid attack victims in a series of leaked voice notes, claiming to be of her voice.
Bryan Mitchel McGuirk, 27, was riding on the roof of a 1999 Jeep Cherokee when he was ejected 20 feet and fatally injured in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday

A man has died after a Jeep carrying him and 12 other people swerved off a road in Oklahoma and crashed.

Bryan Mitchel McGuirk, 27, died Saturday evening in Tulsa from injuries sustained from the accident on Friday when he was ejected from the 1999 Jeep Cherokee.

The Miami, Oklahoma, native was riding on the roof of the vehicle when he was ejected 20 feet.

Police add that there were passengers ranging from ages two to 27-years-old as the Jeep drove along a gravel road at high speeds.

Mitchel was taken to Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Missouri and then to St. Francis in Tulsa but died the following day.

Also on the roof were 27-year-old Adrian Diane Ellison and 20-year-old Brandon Carter, both from Columbus, Kansas.

Ellison was ejected 100 feet and is hospitalized in fair condition. Carter was treated and released.

The trooper's report says that there were nine others in the vehicle. McGuirk (right with girlfriend) was the only one who died

The vehicle (stock) swerved off a gravel road into a ditch, grazed a tree and struck another tree before landing on its top

The trooper's report says that there were nine others in the vehicle. The vehicle swerved off a gravel road into a ditch, grazed a tree and struck another tree before landing on its top.

The driver along with all the other passengers except one were admitted with good or fair condition.

An eight-year-old was admitted in poor condition and a two-year-old had no injuries.

It is said that the driver and one other passenger had seat belts on.
Furious shoppers have slammed a dog owner who allegedly locked a puppy in the boot of a car as temperatures soared to 30C.

The alarm was raised when yelps were heard coming from the back of a vehicle parked at Westfield Bondi Junction in Sydney on Saturday morning.

'Does anyone know this a***hole! He has locked his dog in the boot of his car! I can't see the dog I can just hear it crying and scratching to get out,' one witness wrote on social media.

Furious shoppers have slammed a dog owner who allegedly locked this puppy in the boot of a car as temperatures soared to 30C

'I have called the police but it's been 20 minutes now that I have been here, so who knows how long he is has been locked in there!'

Police arrived at the scene and called in the NRMA which was able to open the boot and release the three-month-old female Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

There was no light, ventilation or water provided for the puppy, police allege.

'The owner was located a short distance away and spoken to by police,' a NSW Police spokesperson said.

The alarm was raised when yelps were heard coming from the back of this vehicle parked at Bondi Junction Westfield in Sydney on Saturday morning

'After being given water, the puppy was deemed well enough to be returned to its owner.

'However, a formal notification about the incident has been made to the RSPCA.'

Police are now determining which charges may be laid over the alleged animal cruelty offence.

News of the incident quickly spread on social media, with one writing: 'Poor little baby, how can they be so cruel.'

Another said: 'Who does that to a dog?! I'd like to see them in the boot of the car for over 20 minutes in over 30 degree heat.'

'Too many people impulse buying pets with no consideration for a lifetime of care for sentient beings,' yet another wrote.
A 52-year-old man has become the third Las Vegas massacre survivor to die in a crash just weeks after the deadly mass shooting.

Roy McClellan was mowed down and killed in the hit and run while hitchhiking just outside of Las Vegas on State Route 160 in Pahrump, Nevada, on November 17.

His death occurred just over a month after California couple Dennis and Lorraine Carver were killed when their vehicle crashed outside their gated community in Riverside County, California bursting into flames, on October 16.

All three had survived the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history on October 1, when Stephen Paddock had opened fire from his Vegas hotel room on concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival below, leaving 58 dead and hundreds more injured.

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Roy McClellan was killed November 17 in a hit-and-run in southern Nevada. He is pictured with his wife, Denise

Husband and wife Dennis and Lorraine Carver, who also survived the Las Vegas massacre, died after their car crashed near their home, in California, on October 16

Their losses now seem doubly cruel for the families of McClellan and the Carvers, who were just celebrating being reunited with the shooting victims after the near miss.

McClellan's wife Denise, of Las Vegas, told KSNV that she doesn't understand why both things had to happen to him.

'I don't understand why he wasn't taken at the shooting, but a month later he was taken this way,' Denise McClellan told the news station.

The 52-year-old was one of the survivors of the October 1 mass shooting that killed 58 innocent concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas

Speaking to the network Denise, pictured with her husband, said she is consumed with anger that his lifeless body was just left on the side of the road

His wife said he was hitchhiking on State Route 160 in Pahrump when he was hit. She wrote on Facebook that prior to the fatal accident Roy had 'stormed off' after a fight with his friend

'I hope my husband found peace and he's safe now.'

The widow said the Vegas shooting was 'really messing' with her husband, and caused him to start going go therapy. She wrote on Facebook that prior to the fatal accident Roy had 'stormed off' after a fight with his friend.

Police have located the car thought to be involved with the accident, and charges are pending, according to KSNV.

Speaking to the network Denise said she is consumed with anger that her husband's lifeless body was just left on the side of the road.

'I'm angry. I feel that he was under the influence of something or drunk and didn't want to get caught, so he bailed and left my husband laying there in the street,' she said.

'He doesn't deserve that.'

The Carvers were at Route 91 Harvest music festival this month when Steven Paddock began shooting indiscriminately into the crowd from a hotel window

Lora posted this picture of flowers her husband sent her a week after the shooting. She said he shielded her body during the shooting

McClellan's family has started a GoFundMe to raise money for his funeral expenses. It had brought in nearly $2,500 by Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the Carver's 20-year-old daughter Brooke said her parents had grown even closer following the shooting.

During the onslaught, her father, 52, is said to have jumped on top of his wife, 53, to shield her from the bullets.

'After the shooting, they heard from all of the people they cared about most. They were so happy,' Brooke, told the Las Vegas Review Journal.

'We were so relieved when they got out of the shooting alive,' Brooke said. 'But I also think we've been given little pieces of them that we would've never gotten if the shooting hadn't happened right before they died.

'The last two weeks of their lives were really just spent living in the moment.'

The Carvers, of Riverside County, California. had been together for 22 years but only married in 2010 because they wanted their two daughters to be witnesses.

McClellan survived the brutal massacre of 52 people in Las Vegas on October 1, and his wife says it's unfair he was taken just seven weeks later

The Carvers also survived after Mr Carver, 52, is said to have jumped on top of his wife, 52, to shield her from the bullets

According to the couple's younger daughter, Madison, 16, there was a loud bang outside of her window on October 16.

When she ran down the street to see the source of the noise she saw her parents car engulfed in flames.

The pair died together, less than half a mile from their home.

A statement from the Riverside County Fire Department said their vehicle crashed into a metal gate outside their community at 10:50 p.m. on the 20000 block of Avenida De Arboles.

It took firefighters almost an hour to put out the flames.
A Melbourne woman is creating wheelchairs for injured roosters and hens so they can walk again on their own.

Childcare director Miranda Boulton stitches the chairs by hand in the comfort of her own garage in Murrumbeena and has made more than 100 poultry-sized devices since the start of the year.

'It's just me in the garage and in the spare bedroom doing all the sewing,' Miranda Boulton told the ABC. 'It's not profitable, it's a labour of love.'

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Childcare director Miranda Boulton stitches the chairs by hand in the comfort of her own garage

The chairs are custom made and vary depending on the type of chicken using it

She started the business after seeing a rescue chicken needed some assistance walking.

Most of her invoices come from America - where chickens often have to be brought inside during the cold winters and become part of the family - but she also sends miniature wheelchairs to New Zealand, Denmark, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom.

'You might see wheelchairs for dogs and cats, so there's a lot for our four-legged friends but nothing out there for chickens  I guess there was a gap in the market,' she said.

One of her most recent clients was retired police officer Darcy Smith who lives in Northern California (pictured is Ms Smith's chicken Roo)

The chairs come in five different colours and cost $45 each

One of her most recent clients was retired police officer Darcy Smith who lives in Northern California.

Ms Smith's chicken Roo suffered a head injury and could no longer remember how to stand on his own.

The rooster took to Ms Boulton's creation almost immediately, with the California local updating her followers on Facebook page Funky Chicken.

She has more than 30 chickens on her farm and doesn't see them as any less than her four-legged pets.

The chairs come in five different colours and cost $45 each.
It appears Salim Mehajer was telling a porky not a 'promise' when he vowed not to use Instagram as part of his bid for bail.

The 31-year-old posted two inspirational quotes to his Instagram page on Saturday night, despite being 'virtually under house arrest' at a residence in Vaucluse.

His first post read: 'Work while they sleep. Learn while they party. Save while they spend. Live like they dream' with Mehajer captioning it: 'Yep 100'.

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Salim Mehajer's Instagram post (pictured) uploaded after promising to stay clear of the app vows to 'work while they sleep' and 'learn while they party'

His second post (pictured) targeted the media and featured a black and white picture of him

The second post, uploaded within the same hour around midnight Saturday, was a black and white picture of himself alongside the quote: 'If you aren't careful enough, the media will have you hating the people who being oppressed and love the people who are doing the oppressing. In God, I trust. Fear none but He.'

He wrote in the post 'Oh yes, that must be me'.

The controversial businessman 'promised' not to use Instagram, among a string of other bail conditions, after he was charged with dangerous driving and breaching an apprehended violence order by 'stalking' his estranged wife.

Last week he was put under house arrest, and Mr Mehajer is forced to report to police three times a week and adhere to a 10pm to 5am curfew.

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Mehajer (pictured) returning to his Vaucluse residence having just been released on bail

Mehajer was arrested and charged following a car crash in Kingsgrove in Sydney's south and appeared at Burwood Local Court facing two counts of breaching an apprehended violence order and one count of dangerous driving.

It's alleged the former Auburn deputy mayor was stalking his ex-partner Aysha Learmonth in the laneway behind her Kingsgrove home in his white four-wheel drive Audi in the early hours of Monday morning.

The court heard Ms Learmonth was walking to her friend's car to get McDonald's when she saw the white car allegedly driven by Mehajer approach. She then fled into her home in fear.

Mehajer (pictured) had to hand in his passport and have someone post $10,000 to secure his bail

Mehajer (pictured) has a nightly curfew from 10pm to 5am and must report to police three times a week

Sydney magistrate says Salim Mehajer (pictured) has effectively been put under house arrest

Mehajer (pictured) allegedly breached an apprehended violence order taken out on behalf of his estranged wife

It's alleged Salim Mehajer (pictured) was stalking his ex-partner behind her Kingsgrove home

Salim Mehajer's Vaucluse home (pictured) 'where he will be virtually on house arrest'

Mehajer's barrister, George Thomas, said there was nothing to prove Mehajer was driving the car and there were 'stark and significant' inconsistencies between the evidence of the proposed prosecution witnesses.

It's alleged Mehajer also breached his AVO by publishing an Instagram post at the weekend of him and Ms Learmonth.

The post has since been deleted with Mehajer claiming his Instagram account was hacked.

Mr Thomas said that claim might have received a different reception if he was federal Liberal minister Christopher Payne who last week said his Twitter feed was hacked.

'But he's not Christopher Pyne - he's Mr Mehajer,' Mr Thomas said.

The police prosecutor opposed bail saying there were risks Mehajer would commit further serious offences and there was concern he would interfere with witnesses or evidence - namely dash cam footage inside the car during the collision.

The 31-year-old smiled when he was granted bail by Magistrate Joy Boulos who imposed strict conditions and said he'd effectively be under house arrest in Vaucluse.

Mehajer tied the knot with Ms Learmonth (pictured on wedding day together) in August 2015, in a so-called 'wedding of the century'

Mehajer's lawyer said the 31-year-old allegedly violated the AVO taken out by police on behalf of Ms Learmonth by posting an image (pictured) of the couple together to Instagram on Sunday night

'Mehajer is entitled to the presumption of innocence and I do propose to grant him bail with very stringent conditions where he will be virtually on house arrest,' the magistrate said.

Mehajer has a nightly curfew from 10pm to 5am and must report to police three times a week. He's not to use any social media sites to contact his estranged wife.

He must also stay away from the Kingsgrove area where she lives.

Mehajer had to hand in his passport and have someone post $10,000 to secure his bail.

He left court on Monday evening wearing a blue tracksuit and thongs.

He made no comment to media - except to laugh at times - before jumping into a white BMW SUV driven by a male friend.

Monday's crash was the second in less than a month for the former Auburn deputy mayor after he smashed his luxury 4WD in October on his way to court to face assault charges.

Mehajer first came to wider public attention in August 2015 when he closed a street in the suburb of Lidcombe for his glitzy nuptials.

But after less than a year of marriage, NSW police sought an AVO against Mehajer to protect his wife Ms Learmonth.

Mehajer is due to reappear at Burwood Local Court on March 26 and 27 to face the AVO breaches and dangerous driving charge.
The parents of a toddler diagnosed with an extremely rare and incurable disease, have revealed their heartbreak at learning this Christmas might be their daughter's last.

Two-year-old Kyra McKinlay, from Perth, was diagnosed with a genetic disorder which destroys the protective covering of the nervous system, just two weeks ago.

Her parents, Barry and Tammy were told this Christmas would likely be little Kyra's last.

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Two-year-old Kyra McKinlay was diagnosed with a rare and incurable genetic disorder just two weeks ago, as her parents were told this Christmas may be her last

Little Kyra was diagnosed with Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD), and her father said the disease took complete control of his daughter in October

Kyra's father Barry McKinlay said it was devastating watching his daughter's health deteriorate so rapidly.

'She can no longer crawl or sit unassisted, has trouble feeding and suffers painful leg spasms,' he told Seven News.

'It's devastating, it really is.'

Mr McKinlay said the disease, called Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD), took complete control of his daughter in October.

'She can no longer crawl or sit unassisted, has trouble feeding and suffers painful leg spasms,' Kyra's father Barry told Seven News

Kyra's father Barry McKinlay said it was devastating watching his daughter's health deteriorate so rapidly

This was when she began struggling to crawl and lost the ability to sit unassisted.

He said it took nine months for doctors to diagnose little Kyra's condition.

Mother Tammy was 34 weeks pregnant and worried her unborn son might inherit the condition as well.

WHAT IS MLD? MLD is a defective gene carried by about one person in every 100 If both parents carry the condition, there is a 25 percent chance their child will inherit it There is no cure as yet for MLD Advertisement

While she feared the worst, she said early diagnosis and treatment could mean the difference between life and death.

She called for screenings to be made available for all newborns so the symptoms of MLD were caught sooner.

In the meantime, Tammy said she wanted to give her daughter the most incredible memories before the condition stole her eyesight.

Tammy said she wanted to take her daughter, a Minnie Mouse fan, to a theme park in Queensland so she could meet the character face-to-face before it was too late.

Her parents created a GoFundMe page to help raise money for Kyra's trip to Queensland, and to give her the best possible care before she succumbed to the incurable disease.
A criminal justice college in New York City is embroiled in a battle with the Pentagon over exhibiting and helping to sell artwork by suspected al Qaeda terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.

John Jay College of Criminal Justice is displaying 36 pieces of art by Gitmo detainees but the Department of Defense wants the paintings and sculptures destroyed. The school is funded by tax payers.

Families of 9/11 victims were particularly upset to learn about the artwork. 'I can't understand how this college in particular would allow such a thing. Where's their decency? Where's their dignity? . . . It's denying and softening what happened. What's next, hanging up the art of John Wayne Gacy?' Michael Burke told the New York Post.

The art of the Guantanamo Bay detaineesUntitled (Shipwrecked Boat) by Djamel Ameziane

The art of the Guantanamo Bay detaineesMuhammad Ansi, Hand Holding Red Flowers, 2015 (color photocopy of original and reverse, showing stamps indicating approval for release from Guantanamo). Muhammad Ansi

The art of the Guantanamo Bay detaineesMuhammad Ansi, Hands Holding Flowers through Bars, 2016

The art of the Guantanamo Bay detaineesMuhammad Ansi, Drowned Syrian Refugee Child

His brother, FDNY Capt. Billy Burke, died on 9/11 and went to John Jay.

The exhibit, titled 'Ode to the Sea: Art from Guantanamo Bay,' was curated by John Jay art crime professor Erin Thompson with archivist Paige Laino and artist and poet Charles Shields.

Thompson told the Post 'I do know that only artwork of former detainees who have been cleared of wrongdoing and released, is available.'

The Department of Defense previously allowed for prisoners at Guantanamo to fill out a form to have their art reviewed by prison authorities for release to their lawyers but that process has been halted.

The change in policy has further politicized the controversial exhibit at John Jay.

A petition started by Thompson in the last few days protesting the new policy that would see the works incinerated has garnered 350 signatures.

'Let them know that burning art is something done by fascist and terrorist regimes  but not by the American people,' reads the petition to the Department of Defense, President Trump and the Joint Task Force Guantanamo, among other branches of the military. 'Art is an expression of the soul. This art belongs to the detainees and to the world.'

Thompson says she would like people to see the show as she is unsure of the certainty of the artworks' future. The show began in October.

The art of the Guantanamo Bay detainees could be destroyed by the government

The art of the Guantanamo Bay detaineesMoath al-Alwi, Model of a Gondola, 2016

'I hope that people will come visit the show and see the art, because, at this point, I don't know what will happen to it,' she told The Post. 'It might go back to the artists  or it might go into an incinerator.'

The exhibition catalog includes an e-mail address for people interested in purchasing the pieces.

'Please contact curator@artfromguantanamo.com if you are interested in purchasing artwork made at Guantanamo by artists who have since been cleared by military tribunals and released,' it reads.

While the art that is on display at John Jay is by those cleared of wrongdoing, it is not revealed what the artists in the catalog were accused of.

In the bio for Ahmed Rabbani, it does not mention he is suspected of having worked for Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks.

The art of the Guantanamo Bay detaineesUntitled (Binoculars Pointing at the Moon) by Ahmed Badr Rabbani

The art of the Guantanamo Bay detaineesUntitled (Red and Purple Boat) by Ghaleb Al-Bihani

Detainees at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay were shackled to the floors while creating their art work, pictured here in a file photo from 2002 preparing for evening prayer

'Detained and tortured by the CIA before arriving at Guantanamo, Rabbani has protested by undertaking years-long hunger strikes,' the copy reads.

'They created this art under strict regulations,' Thompson told The Post. 'They cannot produce violent images or anything that might contain a hidden message. Every blank sheet of paper . . . had to be inspected and cleared for use.'

Most of the work is paintings of seascapes and flowers created by the detainees who were shackled at the ankle to their cell floors.

Some crafted model boats were also part of the collection.

Many pieces showed an obsession with the sea- particularly by detainees from landlocked countries.

Thompson says potential buyers are referred to the detainees' lawyers.

She added prices 'were in the hundreds of dollars' for works, but she did not know if any had been sold.
An Australian tradesman has been banned from entering the United State, after his visa was denied following a trip to Syria in 2011 to visit his dying grandmother.

Michael Bucknell, his wife Karen and their baby girl were due to fly to Hawaii after saving for six months for an $8,000 dream holiday.

But just days before he was meant to fly out, Mr Bucknell was told his visa was rejected under new laws intended to keep terrorists out of America.

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Michael Bucknell, from Melbourne, was told he was banned from entering America following a trip to Syria in 2011 to visit his dying grandmother

Michael Bucknell, his wife Karen and their baby girl were due to fly to Hawaii after saving for six months for an $8,000 dream holiday

Speaking to A Current Affair, Mr Bucknell, who was born and raised in Carlton, Melbourne, said he flew to Damascus in March 2011 to see his grandmother before she died.

Six years later, the father-of-one and his wife are angry after being caught up in laws targeting those who travelled to a number of Middle Eastern countries in recent years.

Mr Bucknell, who called President Donald Trump 'selfish' for bringing in the laws, described the list of questions he needs to answer before applying for another visa, which will costs hundreds of dollars.

'It's questions that no one, even if you had done it, would admit to it,' he said.

'Ridiculous questions I've been asked on this application are "have you committed genocide? Has anyone in your family committed genocide? Are you a child trafficker?".'

Mrs Bucknell, who moved to Australia from the Philippines when she was 11 years old, said she feels as though they are being 'interrogated'

Just one day before the young family were due to fly out, Mr Bucknell's visa arrived

Mrs Bucknell, who moved to Australia from the Philippines when she was 11 years old, said she feels as though they are being 'interrogated'.

The mother-of-one was faced with the decision to travel to Hawaii with her daughter without her husband, or forfeit the $8,000 holiday.

Just one day before the young family were due to fly out, Mr Bucknell's visa arrived.

'You're not only hurting us  normal Australian people that want to travel to your country,' Mr Bucknell said to President Trump.

'You're also hurting your own people that are losing our business.'
Earlier this month, negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan broke down over how to conduct technical studies of the dam's potential impact on downstream countries

The secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Abul-Gheit, said Sunday that the pan-Arab organisation was following "with extreme concern" talks between the River Nile's downstream Arab countries Egypt and Sudan, and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

In an address to the Fourth Arabic Forum for Water in Cairo, Abul-Gheit stated that the water security of the most populous Arab country, in reference to Egypt, was a matter of Arab national security.

"We do not feel that Ethiopia was cooperating and coordinating enough. The Ethiopian plans to operate the dam and use its water in irrigation are ambiguous and concerning," Abul-Gheit said, according to Ahram's Arabic news website.

Abul-Gheit called on Ethiopia to show more openness to cooperation, transparency and participation, especially given that "there are currently 400 million people living on the banks of the Nile who will reach one billion by 2050."

"I talk here clearly about how the talks between Egypt and Ethiopia are stalled on GERD's standards of construction and operation," he said, adding that Egypt receives 85 per cent of its water from the Ethiopian highlands through the Blue Nile.

Earlier this month, negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan 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, given that construction of the dam is already well underway.

Next month, Egypt President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn are scheduled to meet in Cairo to discuss the deadlock.

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A sex shop owner and a former bankrupt One Nation candidate accused of making sexist Facebook posts appear to have let down Pauline Hanson in Queensland.

One Nation candidate Mark Thornton was on track to snatch the Townsville-based seat of Thuringowa off Labor until it was revealed the flooring business owner also operated an adult store.

In neighbouring Mundingburra, in north Queensland, Labor looked like it was finished until it was revealed One Nation's Malcolm Charlwood was a former bankrupt accused of making sexist Facebook posts, something he has denied being responsible for.

Both trouble-prone One Nation candidates in suburban Townsville came third on primary votes, after earlier polls suggested they could actually be elected on preferences.

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One Nation candidate Mark Thornton was ambushed with questions about his wife's sex shop in the awkward presence of Pauline Hanson

This sex shop in Aitkenvale was behind One Nation's vote flopping in the seat of Thuringowa

Senator Hanson, One Nation's federal leader, predicted her nationalist party would win more than 11 seats in Queensland's newly-expanded 93-seat parliament when she christened her Battler Bus with sparkling wine.

'This is going to be one hell of a campaign because I think the people of Queensland are fed up with the major parties,' she said on November 6.

'Honestly I think this is going to be bigger than it was in 1998.'

Only a week before this weekend's Queensland election, a Newspoll showed One Nation picking up Thuringowa, 54 per cent to Labor's 46 per cent after preferences.

However, Mr Thorton's campaign lost traction after a 7 News reporter ambushed him with questions about Cupids Cabin, an adult shop in Aitkenvale managed by Thornton's wife.

One Nation's Malcolm Charlwood was ex-bankrupt accused of making sexist Facebook posts

In a cringe-worthy media conference he confirmed, in the presence of Senator Hanson, a Facebook post for the sex shop which described good sex as a grey area 'between tickle fight and domestic violence'.

'I haven't seen that one mate but it probably comes back to your 50 Shades of Grey type,' Mr Thornton said.

Next door in Mundingburra, a Galaxy poll showed Labor's Coralee O'Rourke in serious trouble.

However, the Minister for North Queensland was saved after Daily Mail Australia revealed One Nation's Malcolm Charlwood was once bankrupt and had been accused of making sexist Facebook posts, something he has denied being responsible for.

One Nation's Malcolm Charlwood denied posting these sexist memes on his Facebook page

The real estate agent's chance of picking up the Labor seat of Mundingburra crashed

ELECTION COUNT Thuringowa: Labor's Aaron Harper on 32.26% followed by the LNP's Nick Martinez on 21.08% and One Nation's Mark Thornton on 20.21%. Mundingburra: Labor's Coralee O'Rourke on 31.66% followed by the LNP's Matthew Derlagen on 26% and One Nation's Mal Charlwood on 16.77%. Mirani: Labor's Jim Pearce leads on 37.33% but One Nation's Stephen Andrew on 31.5% could be elected with preferences from LNP's Kerry Latter on 27%. * Source: Electoral Commission Queensland, as of Sunday night. Final declaration subject to preference flows from other candidates. Advertisement

Mr Charlwood, a real estate agent, insisted the posts on the Mal Charlwood Facebook page, promoting his company Blue Fuel Management, weren't written by him.

In May, a Facebook page in his name had an image of a middle-aged man with the headline: 'What does your wife and a hand grenade have in common?

'Remove the ring and your house is gone.'

Last year, it shared another joke next to an image of an obese woman on top of a man at the beach.

'I would feel safe in a tsunami,' it said, under a meme with the phrase: 'Sun block. SPF 400.'

One Nation realistically stands of a chance of picking up the central Queensland seat of Mirani from Labor's Jim Pearce, a former coal miner.

It also stands a chance of taking the LNP seat of Hinchinbrook, in north Queensland, held by former minister Andrew Cripps.

Pauline Hanson predicted her One Nation party would win more than 11 seats in Queensland

Former One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts failed in his bid to take Ipswich away from Labor

Former senator Malcolm Roberts finished a long way behind Labor's Jennifer Howard in Ipswich while One Nation's state leader Steve Dickson, a former Liberal National Party minister, lost his seat of Buderim on the Sunshine Coast.

One Nation also put in underwhelming performances in Maryborough, where Labor's vote increased, and in neighbouring Gympie, where the LNP held on.

Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk appears on track to form a majority government in her own right, as Australia's first ever female premier to successfully lead a major party at two elections.

'I am confident of a Labor majority,' she told reporters on Sunday in her safe Labor electorate of Inala, in Brisbane's south.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is confident Labor will govern with a majority

'We will continue to listen and continue to deliver. Tomorrow, we will be back at work.'

Labor presently has 42 seats in its column, with election analysts predicting they will win 47 to have a majority while the LNP will have about 40.

But Ms Palaszczuk, who inherited her seat from her father Henry Palaszczuk in 2006, has warned the final results might not come through for up to two weeks.

However, if Labor falls short of a majority, it could conceivably form a minority government with the support of the Greens, who stand a chance of picking up the inner-Brisbane seat Maiwar from the LNP, and a new independent in Noosa.

Labor may also have to rely on a possible independent in Rockhampton Margaret Strelow, a former mayor who quit the party after missing out on ALP preselection.

Ms Palaszczuk, whose party put One Nation last on its how-to-vote cards, has vowed not to enter into any coalition with Pauline Hanson's party.
John Leslie has denied putting his hand up a party-goer's fancy dress tutu at a nightclub

Former television presenter John Leslie has denied putting his hand up a woman's fancy-dress tutu at a nightclub after being charged with sexual assault.

The former Blue Peter star, 52, is accused of sexually assaulting the 26-year-old reveller during a busy VIP night at Edinburgh's popular Atik nightclub earlier this year.

Police arrested Leslie after questioning him and the woman - who was on a hen do - separately at the venue, according to The Sun.

However, he claims that CCTV evidence possessed by his lawyers will clear his name - but the allegations have already forced him to turn down a 500,000 offer to be on Celebrity Big Brother and shelve a potential comeback.

He told the Sunday People: 'I totally deny the allegation that has been made. I have not done anything wrong.'

His lawyer, Mark Harrower of Edinburgh-based firm WSA, added: 'CCTV cameras captured the whole event and the footage has been submitted by us along with witness statements to the procurator fiscal for consideration.

'In my view it is entirely consistent with my clients account of events.'

Officers have now submitted a report of the alleged incident to Scotland's prosecutors, who will decide what action to take.

Leslie, who lives in Edinburgh, rose to fame in the late 1980s when he became the first Scot to host Blue Peter before going on to present Wheel of Fortune and This Morning.

Police arrested him over claims of indecent assault in 2003, and investigated him again in 2015, but in both instances all charges were dropped.Recently he has involved himself in property development.

Atik nightclub in Edinburgh where the alleged sexual assault is said to have taken place

The alleged sexual assault is said to have taken place on a night to mark the re-opening of the club, which recently appeared in the film T2 Trainspotting, after a 450,000 refurbishment at the venue.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: 'Police in Edinburgh have charged a 52-year-old man following a report that a 26-year-old woman was the victim of a sexual assault at a nightclub in the Tollcross area on Sunday 25 June.'

A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service - Scotland's equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service - said: 'The Procurator Fiscal has received a report concerning a 52 year old male, in connection with an alleged incident in Edinburgh on 25 June 2017.

'The report is currently under consideration.'
Theresa May cleared her diary on Thursday expecting an announcement on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's engagement - but the couple wrong footed the Prime Minister.

Harry, 33, and Miss Markle, 36, are set to bring months of fevered speculation to an end by announcing their engagement this week, Royal sources have indicated.

The couple's plans appear to have been finalised at a series of last-minute meetings between senior courtiers at Kensington Palace.

An official announcement is now expected in the next few days, with Tuesday thought to be the most likely date.

This is the same day of the week that Harry's brother, the Duke of Cambridge, and his father, the Prince of Wales, chose to share their engagement news with the nation.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's (pictured) plans appear to have been finalised at a series of last-minute meetings between senior courtiers at Kensington Palace. An official announcement is expected in the next few days, with Tuesday thought to be the most likely date

Mrs May had been told the announcement was timed for Thursday to coincide with the American Thanksgiving celebrations.

There were claims the news had been accidentally leaked to broadcasters who spooked Kensington Palace when they turned up to film that morning.

A source told The Sunday Times Mrs May had been 'primed' for the announcement on Thursday. Yet royal sources 'strongly deny' any suggestion that an announcement was planned for last week.

As well as palace officials briefing the PM, security chiefs are also prepared, with the event set to surpass the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton for global appeal.

Royal insiders say there has been a growing sense of urgency in Palace corridors since American actress Meghan, 36, and 33-year-old Harry (pictured) appeared together at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September

Theresa May (pictured with her husband Philip today) had cleared her diary on Thursday with a Royal announcement 'imminent'

A source told The Sun on Sunday: 'The fact Downing Street was involved is hugely significant. The word 'imminent' was used about the announcement.'

In another sign a royal wedding is imminent Miss Markle was accompanied by bodyguards from the Metropolitan Police's Protection Command on Tuesday.

It was the first time she had been spotted with taxpayer-funded security personnel.

Last night, the house in the Toronto suburbs (pictured) that had been rented by Prince Harry's girlfriend looked to have been vacated for good

Last week, Meghan arrived in London and was spotted looking relaxed during a shopping trip. Her beloved dogs, Bogart and Guy (pictured), are understood to be in quarantine in London

A welcome watershed for Royalty Eighty-one years ago this month, King Edward VIII was preparing to surrender his throne because of his love for Mrs Wallis Simpson. 'We will not stand for an American divorcee as the wife of our King,' wrote an angry correspondent quoted in one Canadian newspaper. 'If the Monarchy will not observe tradition, then we had better give it up altogether!' In November 1936, most of Britain and the Empire  and certainly the British Government of the time  agreed. How times have changed. Time was when divorced persons were not admitted to the Royal Enclosure at Ascot. Now the bookmakers are saying that November 2017 is the month when Britain will actively welcome an American divorcee, Meghan Markle, into the Royal Family as the future wife of Prince Harry, currently fifth in line to the throne. Advertisement

Bookmakers have suspended betting amid rumours an announcement was imminent.

The pair could name a date before Christmas and tie the knot early next year.

Royal insiders say there has been a growing sense of urgency in Palace corridors since American actress Meghan, 36, and 33-year-old Harry appeared together at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September.

In the two months which followed, there have been multiple hints that the couple are set to formalise their 18-month transatlantic relationship.

Her role in US TV drama Suits has now come to an end, and her apartment in Toronto is standing empty.

Last week, Meghan arrived in London and was spotted looking relaxed during a shopping trip. Her Labrador shepherd cross, Bogart, and beagle, Guy, are understood to be in quarantine in London.

According to US Weekly, the dogs will 'both have to be microchipped, given a rabies vaccination, plus a blood test 30 days after the rabies vaccination to show it has worked'.

They will also have to be treated against tapeworm and paperwork provided for all of the vaccinations.

In the past few days, a senior official from Buckingham Palace has been seen at Kensington Palace, in a breach of normal protocol.

Over the summer, it became clear Meghan's legal affairs were being looked after by Royal solicitor Harbottle & Lewis, while planned building works at Kensington Palace raised the possibility of a new home in one of the apartments.

At present, Prince Harry lives in Nottingham Cottage in the Palace grounds.

It has also been suggested the couple are hunting for a country retreat in either Norfolk, close to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's home Anmer Hall, or in the West Country.

This year Meghan has spent time with Kate and William, met the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and been introduced to the Queen who must give the marriage her blessing.

In terms of Royal protocol, it is unlikely that all of these things would have happened if Meghan was not set to marry into the House of Windsor.
A Schoolies trip to Bali to has turned into a nightmare for a bunch of teenage girls after the Mount Agung volcano erupted.

A group of nine school friends from St Clare's College Waverley, in Sydney, had been eagerly anticipating their graduation holiday all year when they boarded their flight on Saturday.

But the six-and-a-half hour flight from Sydney to Bali turned into a 25-hour-long trip from hell for passengers on board Jetstar flight JQ37.

Tilly Paterson (left) and Emily Nicholson, both 18, were part of a group of nine girls heading to Bali to celebrate Schoolies when their flight was cancelled on Saturday

Emmi Payten, 18, was also a part of the Sydney girl group who were on board Jetstar flight JQ37 to Bali when they were redirected back to Australia

Indonesia's Mount Agung erupted last week, causing chaos for those living and traveling to the area

The plane was forced to turn around just 90 minutes outside of Denpasar Airport, as ash and smoke erupting from Mount Agung posed a threat to the aircraft.

The flight then redirected to Darwin before then flying to Cairns, where passengers were forced to spend the night at the airport.

One of the teenage girls in the Schoolies group, 18-year-old Rosie Buman, told The Daily Telegraph her and her friends had each paid $800 to stay in a villa in Seminyak for a week.

'We had been on the plane for five hours, and we got turned around to Darwin and we just sat on the runway for two hours,' Ms Buman said on Sunday.

The chaotic path Jetstar flight JQ 37, bound for Denpasar, Bali, took on Saturday

Jetstar flight JQ37 was redirected to Darwin before then flying to Cairns, where passengers were forced to spend the night at the airport

Emily, Tilly and Emma (left to right) were part of a group of nine girls from St Clare's College Waverley who had each paid $800 to spend a week in Seminyak for Schoolies

After months of observation Mount Agung erupted on Tuesday, with grey ash spewing from the peak at 5.05pm local time

With Schoolies underway, thousands of students have flocked to Indonesia or are expected to fly this week

'There were 180 seats on the plane out of Cairns. They said the rest of us would just have to wait for tomorrow.'

Three of Ms Buman's friends returned to Sydney, with hopes to fly to Bali immediately, but six were diverted to Melbourne.

While Jetstar announced flights to Bali were resuming on Sunday, many passengers have expressed their annoyance at the airline's lack of communication.

Many were left stranded interstate, forced to pay for accommodation as they waited for their flights to be re-booked.

Many were left stranded interstate, forced to pay for accommodation as they waited for their flights to be re-booked

The Department of Foreign Trade is advising anyone travelling to Bali to always 'exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia'

The alert level remains at three after it was downgraded from the maximum level of four on October 29

Other Australian airlines, such as Qantas and Virgin, also cancelled flights as they were unwilling to risk flying through cloudy ash to reach their destination.

On Saturday Jetstar diverted three flights heading to Bali and cancelled six flights ready to leave the island.

'Following an eruption of the Mount Agung volcano in Bali, Indonesia, it is not currently safe to operate flights around Denpasar Airport,' the airline said in a statement at the time.

'As a result we have cancelled flights to and from Bali this evening. Three flights that were en route to Bali have returned to Australia.'

Airlines have since been issued a 'red warning' about the danger of volcanic ash in the skies, the BBC reported

An exclusion zone which extends 7.5km from the volcano remains unchanged

After months of observation Mount Agung erupted on Tuesday, with grey ash spewing from the peak at 5.05pm local time.

With Schoolies underway, thousands of students have flocked to Indonesia or are expected to fly this week.

The Department of Foreign Trade is advising anyone travelling to Bali to always 'exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia'.

While the eruption was considered small, airlines have since been issued a 'red warning' about the danger of volcanic ash in the skies, the BBC reported.

A red warning means another eruption is imminent and authorities have begun distributing masks in areas experiencing ash fall

Many Australian airlines cancelled or redirected their flights over the weekend as Mount Agung spewed ash into the sky

A red warning means another eruption is imminent and authorities have begun distributing masks in areas experiencing ash fall.

An exclusion zone which extends 7.5km from the volcano remains unchanged.

About 29,000 evacuees are currently living in shelters  far less than the 150,000 people who fled their homes last month in fear the volcano would erupt.

The alert level remains at three after it was downgraded from the maximum level of four on October 29.
Drunken British Airways cabin crew and pilots are 'risking their jobs' by repeatedly causing havoc in luxury hotels during long-haul trips.

Staff received a furious email from bosses telling them to curb their behaviour, after a flight attendant was caught running naked around their accommodation's corridors naked and a pilot tried to steal fish from a lobby pond.

Johannesburg, Las Vegas, Bangkok and Singapore are some of the cities where BA employees' behaviour has been notorious.

The controversy centres around the carrier's mixed fleet crews, which were set up in 2010 and are typically comprised of younger staff on lower wages.

Drunken British Airways cabin crew and pilots are 'risking their jobs' by repeatedly causing havoc in luxury hotels during long-haul trips

BA's head of mixed fleet, Ian Romanis, sent a memo slamming his workers for behaving drunkenly while down-route.

He said: 'In doing so, these colleagues placed their own jobs at risk, jeopardised the relationship with some of our hotel partners and potentially tarnished the reputation of British Airways cabin crew. Additionally, these examples impacted our ability to deliver the service our customers expect on the return flights to London.'

It is believed that a rule which gives staff discount prices on alcohol not used by customers is one of the key factors in their boozy sessions.

A pilot told the Sunday Times: 'It's more Towie than the old British Airways way.'

Another source added: They are packing a lot in during their 24 hours down there. Sleep, drinking, safaris. And then they are getting on the plane, absolutely knackered.

The revelations come just days after a drunken off-duty BA cabin crew manager was spared jail for twice groping a snoozing male business-class passenger between the legs on a long-haul flight to Bangkok.

Paul Speak, 47, touched the man at least three times before fainting on board the BA plane when the complaint was reported during the flight.

Speak, from Slough, Berkshire, noticed the man and 'clocked' him on the long-haul flight on October 12 last year.

A BA spokesman said: 'We are in regular contact with all our crew hotels, and have not received any complaints about behaviour for any of these destinations recently. We take the very rare reports of inappropriate behaviour extremely seriously and always investigate.'
Iran has aired more allegations against a detained British-Iranian woman which could add sixteen years to her prison sentence.

A programme aired by state TV in Iran focused on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the 'soft toppling' of Iran's government.

The programme showed pictures of a BBC pay stub and an email from 2010 showing she once worked to train Iranian journalists.

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said that the report was intended to increase pressure on the British government which is working to secure her release.

A programme aired by state TV in Iran focused on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (pictured), who is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the 'soft toppling' of Iran's government

An email reportedly sent from Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in which it appears she describes how she trained Iranian journalists. It was aired by the Iranian state TV

The programme also showed pictures of a BBC pay stub, showing Zaghari-Ratcliffe's salary

Richard Ratcliffe (left), the wife of Zaghari-Ratcliffe (right), said that the report was intended to increase pressure on the British government which is working to secure her release

The case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has gained momentum in recent weeks as British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson faces tremendous criticism at home over his handling of it.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe now faces new charges that could add 16 years to her prison term.

On Thursday, Iranian state television aired a seven-minute special report on Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

It included close-ups of an April 2010 pay stub from her previous employer, the BBC World Service Trust.

Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe who is detained in Iran, during a public demonstration to the Shia Islamic Centre of England in north London

It also included an email from June 2010 in which she wrote about the 'ZigZag Academy,' a BBC World Service Trust project in which the trust trained 'young aspiring journalists from Iran and Afghanistan through a secure online platform.'

Zaghari-Ratcliffe left the BBC in 2011 and then joined the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency.

Both her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, and Thomson Reuters repeatedly have stressed she was not training journalists or involved in any work regarding Iran while there.

The state television report comes as the British foreign minister faces criticism after he told a parliamentary committee that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was 'teaching people journalism' when she was arrested last year.

Though Johnson later corrected himself, the Iranian television report made a point to highlight them.

A BBC Media Action, which was formerly known as the World Service Trust, told MailOnline the corporation denies Zaghari Ratcliffe was a journalism trainer.

Actor Emma Thompson and Richard Ratcliffe pose for cameras in London before a march in support of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian mother who is in jail in Iran

Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe who is detained in Iran, is joined by supporters including actress Emma Thompson (left) and Tulip Siddiq MP (right) in Hampstead, north London before setting out on a march to deliver a petition calling for her release from prison

A programme aired by state TV in Iran focused on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (pictured), who is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the 'soft toppling' of Iran's government

Speaking on Sunday, Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband said the report and other Iranian comments about his wife seemed timed to exert as much pressure as possible on the British government.

He said the material appeared to be from his wife's email, which investigators from the hard-line Revolutionary Guard immediately got access to after her arrest.

'It's trying to justify the new charges,' Ratcliffe said.

A BBC Media Action spokesman said: 'As we have always made clear, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe never worked for BBC Persian.

'She was not involved in the establishment of BBC Persian TV.

'According to our records, she was employed as a projects assistant between February 2009 and October 2010 for the BBC's international development charity, BBC World Service Trust (now called BBC Media Action), which operates independently of BBC Persian.

'She further carried out some short-term contract work as an assistant for a project in Iraq for BBC World Service Trust.

'Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was never a journalism trainer but undertook administrative duties such as travel bookings, typing, and filing.'

The report comes as Britain and Iran discuss the release of some 400 million pounds held by London, a payment Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi made for Chieftain tanks that were never delivered.

The shah abandoned the throne in 1979 and the Islamic Revolution soon installed the clerically overseen system that endures today.

A woman holds a placard during a march in support of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian mother who is in jail in Iran, in London

Authorities in London and Tehran deny that the payment has any link to Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

However, a prisoner exchange in January 2016 that freed Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans also saw the United States make a $400million cash delivery to Iran the same day.

That money too involved undelivered military equipment from the shah's era, though some US politicians have criticized the delivery as a ransom payment.

Analysts and family members of dual nationals and others detained in Iran have suggested that hard-liners in the Islamic Republic's security agencies use the prisoners as bargaining chips for money or influence.

A UN panel in September described 'an emerging pattern involving the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of dual nationals' in Iran.

Others with ties to the West detained in Iran include Chinese-American graduate student Xiyue Wang, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly 'infiltrating' the country while doing doctoral research on Iran's Qajar dynasty.

Iranian-Canadian national Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani, a member of Iran's 2015 nuclear negotiating team, is believed to be serving a five-year prison sentence on espionage charges.

Iranian businessman Siamak Namazi and his 81-year-old father Baquer, a former UNICEF representative who served as governor of Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province under the US-backed shah, are both serving 10-year prison sentences on espionage.

Iranian-American Robin Shahini was released on bail last year after staging a hunger strike while serving an 18-year prison sentence for 'collaboration with a hostile government.'

Shahini is believed to still be in Iran.

Also in an Iranian prison is Nizar Zakka, a US permanent resident from Lebanon who advocates for internet freedom and has done work for the US government.

He was sentenced to 10 years last year on espionage-related charges.

In addition, former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 while on an unauthorized CIA mission, remains missing.
A second Labour Party member has been found dead in an apparent suicide after being caught up in the Westminster sexual misconduct scandal, it was today reported.

The man died 'suddenly and unexpectedly' after being suspended from his job at the Labour Party's London headquarters following porn allegations, it has been claimed.

It comes just weeks after Welsh Labour politician Car Sargeant, 48, took his own life after sex harassment claims.

The fresh revelation has plunged Jeremy Corbyn's party into fresh turmoil and sparked calls for an independent inquiry into the handling of the recent spate of harassment and abuse claims.

Labour staff were told about his death on Thursday morning but were reportedly ordered not to speak publicly about it.

John Mann, Labour MP for Bassetlaw, tore into his party's efforts to investigate the recent spate of allegations branding them 'amateurish'.

The Labour leadership have been slammed for their handling of the sex harassment allegations after another party member was found dead in an apparent suicide. Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at a rally earlier this week) has seen his party hit by a string of claims in recent weeks

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured today meeting the new Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, is facing tough questions about his party's handing of the sex harassment scandal after the latest death

The death will spark fresh concerns that men are being driven to despair and suicide after having the finger pointed at them.

Mr Mann called for the party to hand over control of investigating the complaints to an independent body.

He said: 'There isn't a coherent means of dealing with any of this in any of the parties.

MOMENTUM WANTS LABOUR CANDIDATES TO SIGN LOYALTY PLEDGE The left-wing Momentum group wants would-be Labour MPs to sign a pledge of loyalty to the group, it has been reported. The group, which was set up to back Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, want candidates to sign a contract which tied them into the group's 'political objectives'. The plan was slammed by one Labour MP who branded it 'Stalinist'. Momentum has been gaining in power since Mr Corbyn denied the Tries a majority at the election. But their activists have flooded local party branches and threatened to deselect Labour MPs who do not toe the new left-wing party line. Advertisement

'[Labour] needs to bring in external expertise and stop operating on a wing and a prayer.

'There has not been enough support for people who are coming forward as victims and there has been no support for people where allegations have been made against them.'

A Labour Party spokeswoman said: 'A member of Labour Party staff has died suddenly and unexpectedly.

'Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family, friends and colleagues, whose privacy must be respected. We will not be commenting further at this time.'

Shocked staff at Labour's headquarters were told on Thursday morning that the man, who has not been named but is believed to be in his 30s, had died.

One source told the Sunday Times the man had been caught digitally manipulating the faces of people onto the bodies of porn stars.

Labour sources told the newspaper an inquiry had only just been launched and the man had not been found guilty of nay wrongdoing yet.

One said: 'The person was suspended last week for porn-related allegations. An inquiry was in its early stages.

'No facts had been found nor was there any finding of guilt.'

The family of Mr Sargeant, a former Welsh Assembly minister, lashed out at Labour over the handling of the allegations against him.

They said he was kept in the dark about the details of the allegations against him and was not afforded 'common courtesy, decency or natural justice,' t

The man, who is believed to be in his early 30s, worked at Labour headquarters in London - pictured

Welsh Assembly politician Cal Sargeant was found dead in an apparent suicide earlier this month following claims he had groped women. His family tore into Labour' handling of the claims saying he has been kept in the dark over the details and treated 'cruelly'

His wife Bernie, 48, and children Jack, 23, and Lucy, 25, said they are 'devastated beyond words' because the family have lost 'the glue that bound us together'.

All the major political parties have been rocked by a series of sex harassment an assault claims in recent weeks.

Labour has brought in the top barrister Karon Monaghan to investigate claims by the party activist Bex Bailey that a party official warned her against going public when she was raped.

The barrister can also make broader recommendations about Labour Party procedure.

The Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke has been suspended from the party and referred to the police.
Meghan Markle is being guarded by royal protection officers as the Palace prepares to announce her engagement to Prince Harry this week.

The couple are set to bring months of intense speculation to an end by announcing their engagement this week, Royal sources have indicated.

In a sign a royal wedding appears imminent, the Suits actress was spotted with bodyguards from the Metropolitan Police's Protection Command while shopping on the King's Road in Chelsea on Tuesday.

Meghan Markle was assigned royal protection officers when she was Christmas shopping in the capital on Tuesday

Miss Markle, 36, was given taxpayer funded security while shopping in London on Tuesday

It was the first time she'd been seen with taxpayer funded security personnel, the Sunday Express reported.

The Duchess of Cambridge was only given police protection after she became secretly engaged to Prince William in Kenya, almost a month before an official announcement was made in November 2010.

Miss Markle is also reportedly being taught by specially trained officers how to escape a terrorist attack and what to do if she's taken hostage.

Harry, 33, and Miss Markle, 36, appear to have been finalised at a series of last-minute meetings between senior courtiers at Kensington Palace.

An official announcement is now expected in the next few days, with Tuesday thought to be the most likely date.

This is the same day of the week that Harry's brother, the Duke of Cambridge, and his father, the Prince of Wales, chose to share their engagement news with the nation.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's (pictured) plans appear to have been finalised at a series of last-minute meetings between senior courtiers at Kensington Palace. An official announcement is expected in the next few days, with Tuesday thought to be the most likely date

Prime Minister Theresa May had been told the announcement was timed for Thursday to coincide with the American Thanksgiving celebrations.

There were claims the news had been accidentally leaked to broadcasters who spooked Kensington Palace when they turned up to film that morning.

A source told The Sunday Times Mrs May had been 'primed' for the announcement on Thursday. Yet royal sources 'strongly deny' any suggestion that an announcement was planned for last week.

As well as palace officials briefing the PM, security chiefs are also prepared, with the event set to surpass the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton for global appeal.

A source told The Sun on Sunday: 'The fact Downing Street was involved is hugely significant. The word 'imminent' was used about the announcement.'

Royal insiders say there has been a growing sense of urgency in Palace corridors since American actress Meghan, 36, and 33-year-old Harry (pictured) appeared together at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September

Theresa May (pictured with her husband Philip today) had cleared her diary on Thursday with a Royal announcement 'imminent'

Last night, the house in the Toronto suburbs (pictured) that had been rented by Prince Harry's girlfriend looked to have been vacated for good

Last week, Meghan arrived in London and was spotted looking relaxed during a shopping trip. Her beloved dogs, Bogart and Guy (pictured), are understood to be in quarantine in London

A welcome watershed for Royalty Eighty-one years ago this month, King Edward VIII was preparing to surrender his throne because of his love for Mrs Wallis Simpson. 'We will not stand for an American divorcee as the wife of our King,' wrote an angry correspondent quoted in one Canadian newspaper. 'If the Monarchy will not observe tradition, then we had better give it up altogether!' In November 1936, most of Britain and the Empire  and certainly the British Government of the time  agreed. How times have changed. Time was when divorced persons were not admitted to the Royal Enclosure at Ascot. Now the bookmakers are saying that November 2017 is the month when Britain will actively welcome an American divorcee, Meghan Markle, into the Royal Family as the future wife of Prince Harry, currently fifth in line to the throne. Advertisement

Bookmakers have suspended betting amid rumours an announcement was imminent.

The pair could name a date before Christmas and tie the knot early next year.

Royal insiders say there has been a growing sense of urgency in Palace corridors since American actress Meghan, 36, and 33-year-old Harry appeared together at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September.

In the two months which followed, there have been multiple hints that the couple are set to formalise their 18-month transatlantic relationship.

Her role in US TV drama Suits has now come to an end, and her apartment in Toronto is standing empty.

Last week, Meghan arrived in London and was spotted looking relaxed during a shopping trip. Her Labrador shepherd cross, Bogart, and beagle, Guy, are understood to be in quarantine in London.

According to US Weekly, the dogs will 'both have to be microchipped, given a rabies vaccination, plus a blood test 30 days after the rabies vaccination to show it has worked'.

They will also have to be treated against tapeworm and paperwork provided for all of the vaccinations.

In the past few days, a senior official from Buckingham Palace has been seen at Kensington Palace, in a breach of normal protocol.

Over the summer, it became clear Meghan's legal affairs were being looked after by Royal solicitor Harbottle & Lewis, while planned building works at Kensington Palace raised the possibility of a new home in one of the apartments.

At present, Prince Harry lives in Nottingham Cottage in the Palace grounds.

It has also been suggested the couple are hunting for a country retreat in either Norfolk, close to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's home Anmer Hall, or in the West Country.

This year Meghan has spent time with Kate and William, met the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and been introduced to the Queen who must give the marriage her blessing.

In terms of Royal protocol, it is unlikely that all of these things would have happened if Meghan was not set to marry into the House of Windsor.
Zimbabwe's ousted president Robert Mugabe is 'jovial' and looking forward to spending his retirement farming, it has been revealed.

The hardline politician's wife Grace is now concentrating on plans to build a university in his honour, his nephew Leo Mugabe said.

Zimbabwe announced plans in August to build the $1-billion post-graduate university in Mazowe, 20 miles outside Harare.

The plan drew fierce criticism as Mugabe is accused of brutal repression and bringing the country to economic ruin.

Leo said today: 'He is actually looking forward to his new life - farming and staying at the rural home. He has taken it well.'

Robert Mugabe's wife Grace (pictured right) is now concentrating on plans to build a university in his honour

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe loyalist, was sworn in on Friday and attention is focused on whether he will name a broad-based government or select figures from Mugabe's era

Sources close to the hardline politician revealed he held a rosary while telling close associates and a team of negotiators at his Harare mansion that he was resigning before breaking down in tears.

He announced the decision as parliament heard a motion to impeach him.

One insider at the meeting said: 'He looked down and said 'people were chameleons'.'

Father Fidelis Mukonori, a Jesuit priest who is a close friend of the ex-president, said Mugabe's face 'just glowed' after he signed the resignation letter.

He added: 'We are not talking about a bitter man. I told him that it was good for him to see someone running the country.'

In the exit negotiations, Mugabe was reportedly granted a $10-million lump sum, full immunity and allowed to keep his assets.

He will still be paid his full salary, in line with constitution, while his wife will reportedly receive half his pay after his death.

Mugabe's nephew Leo (pictured) said today: 'He is actually looking forward to his new life - farming and staying at the rural home. He has taken it well'

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe loyalist, was sworn in on Friday and attention is focused on whether he will name a broad-based government or select figures from Mugabe's era.

But critics fear Mnangagwa - who has been accused of overseeing violence and ethnic massacres - could prove as authoritarian as his predecessor.

Mugabe's fall after 37 years in power was spurred by a battle to succeed him that pitted Mnangagwa, who had stood by him for 52 years, and Mugabe's wife Grace, who is 52.

At his swearing in ceremony on Friday, Mnangagwa said he valued democracy, tolerance and the rule of law and would tackle corruption. He has also urged citizens not to undertake 'vengeful retribution'.

The new government is already moving to bring some of Mugabe and his wife's close associates to book and former finance minister Ignatius Chombo was in court on Saturday on corruption charges.

Chombo was among several members of a group allied to Grace who were detained and expelled from the ruling ZANU-PF party after the military seized power in Operation Legacy which it said was meant to remove the 'criminals' around Mugabe.

Chombo, who told the court he was forcibly removed from his home on November 15 by armed men wearing military uniform, was detained until Monday when his bail application will be heard.

He was led away in leg irons together with ousted head of the ruling ZANU-PF's influential youth league Kudzanai Chipanga.
Australian Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson has slammed her critics who say she doesn't deserve a record $4.5 million defamation payout.

The 37-year-old thespian made history in September when Victorian Supreme Court justice John Dixon awarded her damages against Bauer Media, the German publisher of Woman's Day, Australian Women's Weekly, OK! and NW magazine.

The judge found eight articles published in May 2015 had defamed her by claiming the Pitch Perfect star was a serial liar.

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Rebel Wilson has slammed critics who want her record $4.5 million defamation payout reduced - considering the money will be going to charity

Wilson, whose defamation payout is four times the size of the previous defamation payout record in Australia, has hit back at her critics who say the amount awarded in her favour is excessive.

'They're whining about the amount they're going to have to pay me and trying to get it reduced, which is really gross considering that I'm giving the money to charity,' she told the Seven Network's Sunday Night program.

An all-female jury in June reached a unanimous verdict that Woman's Day, Australian Women's Weekly, OK! and NW magazine publisher defamed her in eight articles published in May 2015.

The articles claimed she was a serial liar about her real name, age and childhood so she could make it in Hollywood.

Rebel Wilson (pictured in June when an all-female jury concluded Bauer Media had defamed her) has spoken out against critics of her record defamation payout

Wilson described that verdict in Melbourne as 'awesome'.

'It was so, so satisfying that the jury voted with me. It was such an overwhelming, comprehensive victory that it was just amazing,' she said.

'I've proved very publicly that what I was saying was the truth and that they wrote a bunch of lies, and that I was maliciously defamed.

'So it was very, very satisfying to win.'

Wilson won $650,000 in general damages and $3,917,472 in special damages for opportunities in movie roles she lost because of the articles.

Rebel Wilson (pictured in June) said her win taught her she's more than a 'silly comedian'

'This has definitely been a long and very hard fight. I felt that I had to take a stand,' she said outside court in June. 'I had to stand up to a bully,' she said in June during a break in the trial.

Justice Dixon had said a substantial amount was required to 'vindicate' Wilson after her reputation as an 'actress of integrity was wrongly damaged'.

The publisher acted in an 'orchestrated' fashion to sell more magazines and increase circulation, the judge said.

The actress had sought $5.893 million in special damages and $1.2 million in general damages, bringing the total claim to $7.093 million.

Bauer Media branded the special damages claim 'extraordinarily large' and made on the 'most tenuous of bases'.

Wilson told the Seven Network her legal victory had taught her she was 'much more than a silly comedian'.
An Egyptian peacekeeper with the UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) was killed and three others wounded Sunday in an ambush, authorities said.

The soldier died in an attack carried out by "armed elements affiliated with the anti-Balaka movement," the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSCA said.

Anti-Balaka were nominally Christian militias organised in response to the bloody sectarian violence unleashed by Muslim-majority Seleka rebels in 2013.

Mired in poverty but rich in minerals, CAR has been battered by a three-year conflict between the rival militias that began after then-president Francois Bozize was overthrown.

During the attack on Sunday near the southern town of Gambo, three other peacekeepers were wounded and five attackers were "neutralised", MINUSCA said.



The attack happened while a MINUSCA convoy was making a run to reinforce a base.

The soldier's death raises to 13 the number of peacekeepers killed in attacks in CAR this year.

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'Townsville and Cairns are not as bad, but they will start to become like Darwin'

The problem is the worst in Darwin because the humidity makes the heat worse

Scientists recommend planting more greenery, which does not heat up the air

Excessively hot surface temperatures can raise the air temperature around them

Darwin has recorded surface temperatures nudging 70C in the inner city area

Experts have warned that Australian cities may become 'virtually uninhabitable'

Climate scientists have warned that some Australian cities could become 'virtually uninhabitable' due to a combination of blistering heat and smothering humidity.

In the past week alone, surface temperatures in parts of Darwin's inner city have been nudging 70C - and experts have told news.com.au that some regional cities in Queensland 'may not be far behind'.

This year, Bureau of Meteorology senior climate liaison officer Greg Browning warned Darwin residents that 'everything would be hotter than normal' in the lead-up to the wet season.

Average temperatures all over the country have been shattering records all year, with Hobart's recent run of six consecutive November days unparalleled in 130 years.

Heat maps reveal that almost all of Australia is experiencing high temperatures of over 30C

Darwin residents have 'suffered' through a 'hotter than average' lead up to the 2017 wet season

Sydneysiders are also in the midst of the warmest November week in nearly 50 years, ending a dismal run of rain and cooler temperatures.

A prolonged run of uninterrupted warm weather is due to hit the city with temperatures set to reach or exceed 25 degrees every day until the end of November.

'The last time this happened in November was in 1968, and it's only happened four times in the last 160 years,' Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke told Daily Mail Australia.

The last times Sydney basked in seven consecutive days of temperatures at or above 25 degrees were in 1968 and 1897.

The consistently warm weather is the result of a high pressure system - known as a 'blocking high' - that is centred over the Tasman Sea and is stopping any strong cold fronts from moving up Australia's east coast.

And it's not just Sydney that's rolling into summer - Melbourne residents have had sweltering spring temperatures for the past week, enduring the longest stretch of November days exceeding 28 degrees on record.

Sydneysiders are flocking to Bondi Beach to enjoy the hottest November week in fifty years

Australian National University's Dr Elizabeth Hanna warned that the issue would mostly affect the Top End due to the tropical humidity.

'We can cope with much higher temperatures in Melbourne because the air is drier, but in Darwin the high temperatures and humidity are oppressive.

'If it gets worse, those unpleasant times of the year (like the build-up) will extend longer and longer making it not a viable place to live,' she told the news site.

Professor Mattheos Santamouris explained that the way to combat climate change and battle rising temperatures is to 'understand what is happening at a local level'.

He warns that if Australia can't find a solution, the cities will eventually become 'uninhabitable'.

But it's not just the environment that will suffer - when it's oppressively hot, people feel 'crappy and grumpy' which impacts on people's social behaviour.

The Territory Government has launched a project to detect the hottest parts of the inner city

Professor Samtamouris recommends planting more greenery - the surface temperature of grass in the city of Darwin is only 27.4C, while bitumen can have a surface temp of nearly 70C

Three months ago, the Territory Government kicked off a project to see where Darwin's hot spots were  and what was causing them  so they could cool down the CBD.

'The study found our streets, parking lots, roofs and pavements have very high surface temperatures, ranging from 45-67C,' said Chief Minister Michael Gunner at the time.

'Areas such as the Post Office carpark, the Supreme Court car park, and the Bus Terminal are incredibly hot  Cavanagh Street (the CBD's main thoroughfare) is a river of fire.'

Professor Samtamouris told news.com.au Darwin was a 'classic case of an urban heat island' where materials used in roads and buildings 'turbocharged' temperatures.

Excessively hot surface temperatures can raise the temperature around them - for instance, black bitumen can heat the air by around 3 - which is why Professor Samtamouris recommends more greenery in the city.

He also suggests building with alternative materials, like 'cooling' asphalt which works to bring own the surrounding air temperature.

While Darwin and the Top End are currently affected the worst by the heat, the rest of the country may not be far behind as global temperatures and emissions continue to rise

Severe heatwaves are not only affecting the West but are travelling right across the nation

The urban heat island effect is being felt most strongly in Darwin, but the rest of Australia may not be too far behind.

'Townsville and Cairns are not as bad but they will start to become like Darwin. Everything is just moving to the extreme but we just don't know exactly when or how fast it will happen,'' warned Professor Hanna.

'Global temperatures are going so badly and emissions are increasing so much that it's not looking good.'

Planting more trees and creating shady streets was a good strategy to make cities more liveable, she said, but as temperatures continue to rise, there's only so much that plants can do.
Thousands have fled from the Indonesian island of Bali as the erupting volcano Mount Agung sent smoke and ash into the air over the weekend.

The emissions are the second this week alone, sparking warnings from experts that another, more powerful eruption is imminent.

The volcano first erupted on Tuesday, sending clouds of ash as high as 13,000ft (4000m) above the summit and bathing the mountain in an orange glow.

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Indonesia's Mount Agung has continued to spew ash and smoke into the air as experts warn a second eruption is imminent

The emissions are the second this week alone, igniting warnings from experts that a more powerful eruption is imminent

Thousands have fled from Bali as Mount Agung threatened to erupt once more over the weekend

The eruptions have wrecked havoc on airlines flying to and from the resort island, where many are flocking to for summer holidays.

Airlines were issued a 'red warning' over the danger of flying through the ash clouds, the BBC reports.

Mount Agung last erupted in 1963, killing over 1,600 people, and has been threatening another major eruption since August.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', an area of tectonic plates that frequently collide, causing seismic and volcanic activity.

The volcano was seen spewing large plumes of smoke and ash into the air on Sunday

The eruptions have wrecked havoc on airlines flying to and from the resort island, with airlines issued a 'red warning' for ash and smoke

The volcano continues to rumble as a bright orange glow can be seen at the summit, with smoke clouds surrounding the area

An exclusion zone of 7.5km (4.5 miles) remains in place for those near the volcano, with authorities distributing masks to those in close proximity to smoke.

Major evacuations saw more than 120,000 residents forced to flee their homes in September, when Mount Agung showed signs of erupting.

While many have since returned, more than 25,000 people remain evacuated in over 200 temporary shelters.

Major evacuations saw more than 120,000 residents forced to flee their homes in September

Authorities have begun distributing masks to those in close proximity to smoke and ash

An exclusion zone of 7.5km (4.5 miles) remains in place for those near the volcano

Indonesias National Disaster Mitigation Agency tweeted that an ash column from Mount Agung coated a nearby village in a thin layer of ash on Saturday.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said ash clouds were moving away from the international airport, which remained open, The Guardian reported.

Authorities maintain the resort island remained safe, despite several airlines cancelling flights over safety concerns.

Bali is a popular tourist destination for many in the region, with thousands traveling to the island for end of year celebrations.
Davies pleaded guilty to murder and will face a pre-sentence hearing on Monday

Man that killed Kylie Maybury, 6, in 1997 also sexually attacked 12 other children

Gregory Davies, now 75, has pleaded guilty to the 1984 murder of 6-year-old Kylie Maybury

The man who brutally raped and killed six-year-old Kylie Maybury in 1997 also sexually attacked a dozen other children in the years before and after the murder.

Gregory Keith Davies, now 75, has pleaded guilty to the 1984 murder of Kylie , and will on Monday appear in the Victorian Supreme Court for a pre-sentence plea hearing.

Kylie's murder case was cold until 2016 when the Victoria Police cold case squad had a fresh look at the murder.

Davies was previously jailed for two-and-a-half years in 1996 over sex attacks on six young girls.

He knew and had 'regular and easy access to' all of 12 of his other victims, according to the Herald Sun.

Kylie Maybury, aged 6 (pictured), was murdered on November 6, 1984, while out at the shops

Davies (right) also sexually attacked at least 12 other children before and after the 1996 murder

A family member has since come forward and accused Davies' mother Eileen of having 'blood on her hands' because she 'knew her son was sexually abusing children for decades but never dobbed him in'.

'A decision was made to keep his child sex offending quiet. That left him free to sexually abuse other girls, which he did for years,' said the family member.

Davies also spent in jail over the sexually motivated 1970 hammer attack on 14-year-old Lucy Stasiewcz, for which he was found guilty of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm.

It has also been alleged that Davies sexually abused a further four children, but never faced court because police talked the children out of pressing charges 'by saying it would be too traumatic for the children to go through the court process'.

Another two victims allegedly reached out to Davies' daughter, explaining that they hadn't reported the sexual abuse they suffered at his hands but wanted to confide in her.

After Davies' arrest in 2016, one of the victims came forward and said that she would be prepared to press sexual assault charges against Davies 'if it would help get him convicted over the Maybury murder'.

Gregory Davies was arrested and charged in June last year with abducting and murdering Kylie

Kylie's mother Julie said that she will never forgive Davies for taking her young daughter away

Despite the fact that he wasn't charged over Kylie's murder for almost two decades, 'somebody very close' to Davies reportedly told police in in 1997 that they should look at him as a murder suspect.

Davies allegedly doesn't remember murdering the young girl, but told his daughter that he must have done it 'because my DNA is a match to Kylie's killer's DNA'.

Kylie's mother Julie said that she will never forgive Davies, adding: 'I hope the other prisoners make his life hell and that he dies a painful death in jail.'

Davies' daughter has reached out to all of her father's victims as well as Kylie's parents to apologise for his despicable behaviour.

'I particularly want to say sorry to Kylie's mother,' she said on Sunday. 'I can't imagine what she's going through. If it was my child I would be absolutely devastated.'

Davies allegedly doesn't remember murdering the young girl, but says he 'must have done it'

Kylie mother's Julie Maybury n 1984 with her father John Moss, who later killed himself in 1985

While Julie said that she does appreciate Davies' daughter's gesture, she will still never forgive Davies for taking the life of her beloved daughter.

Kylie's uncle Mark Maybury and her grandfather John Moss were both wrongly accused of her murder, and both committed suicide.

Julie visited Kylie's grave on Saturday in the lead-up to Davies' sentencing and said Justice was 'almost here' for her girl.

Julie Maybury spent her life hunting for the vile man who murdered and dumped her daughter

With Davies' (pictured) sentencing, Julie believes that she will finally have justice for her child
Iran has chillingly warned it will increase the range of its missiles so their rockets could be launched into Europe. Pictured: Iranian president Hassan Rouhani

Iran has chillingly threatened Europe by warning it plans to increase the range of its missiles so rockets can be launched into the continent.

The deputy of the country's Revolutionary Guards said it could increase the range of missiles by more than 1,200 miles  far enough to strike Europe.

Brigadier General Hossein Salami said: 'If we have kept the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometres, it's not due to lack of technology  we are following a strategic doctrine.

'So far we have felt that Europe is not a threat, so we did not increase the range of our missiles.

'But if Europe wants to turn into a threat, we will increase the range of our missiles.'

General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said last month that Iran's 1,200 mile plus missile range could cover 'most of American interest and forces' within the region, so Iran did not need to extend it.

The country has one of the Middle East's largest missile programmes, including precision-guided missiles that could strike Israel.

It comes after France called for an 'uncompromising' dialogue with the Islamic Republic about its ballistic missile programme.

The country has one of the Middle East's largest missile programmes, including precision-guided missiles that could strike Israel

President of Iran Hassan Rouhani in Tehran last month. The country has repeatedly said its missile programme is defensive and it will not negotiate on it

However Iran has repeatedly said its missile programme is defensive and it will not negotiate on it.

The United States has accused Tehran of supplying Yemen's Houthi rebels with a missile that was fired into Saudi Arabia in July.

It has called on the United Nations to hold the country accountable for violating two UN Security Council resolutions.

Iran denied supplying Houthis with missiles and weapons.

The US has called on the United Nations to hold the country accountable for violating two UN Security Council resolutions

In October the National Council of Resistance of Iran compiled a report showing Iran is developing weapons of mass destruction.

Peoples Mojahedin Organisation of Iran has been monitoring Irans nuclear program since 1991.

It has accused the regime of continuing to bolster its capabilities, including working on 'various stages of enrichment, weaponisation, warheads, and delivery systems'.

The resistance has also said the Iranian military is hiding the countrys program in a bid to trick weapons inspectors.
Two Spanish firefighters risked their own lives by clambering up to a precarious steel girder above a busy road without safety harnesses to rescue a woman.

Locals called the emergency services after spotting the woman scaling a security barrier to put herself in inexplicable danger on the 15-inch girder, near an underpass in the southern city of Seville.

Astonishing video footage shows two firefighters inching towards the woman 30 feet above ground level before grabbing her and bringing her to safety.

This is the dramatic moment firefighters risk their lives to rescue a woman perched precariously on a steel girder above a busy road in Spain

They could be seen talking to her to comfort her after putting their arms round her to stop her falling.

The reasons she put herself at risk were not immediately clear today, although she was described as being 'disorientated' when she was rescued.

The dramatic incident happened overnight.

Seville councillor Juan Carlos Cabrera praised the bravery of the firefighters, saying: 'They reacted quickly and put their lives in danger to save a person who could have dragged them with her if she had fallen.'

Seville's mayor Juan Espadas tweeted: 'Congratulations to these brave men for their risky operation to save a life by putting yours in danger.'

Two firefighters without safety harnesses inching towards the woman 30 feet above ground level before grabbing her and bringing her to safety

They could be seen talking to her to comfort her after putting their arms round her to stop her falling

The Ronda Norte, the bypass the girder crosses, was shut to traffic for around 40 minutes while the woman was rescued.

A local emergency services coordinator posted a message alongside the video which said: 'Risky operation by firefighters who rescued a woman aged around 40 who was on a girder around 15 inches wide and some 30 foot above the ground. On the Ronda Urbana Norte in Seville.'

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details
Five men were wounded after UK-bound migrants were involved in a gunfight in Calais before a separate incident resulting in police opened fire on a car full of Afghans and Iraqis.

It was at around 6pm on Saturday that two groups of Afghans opened fire on each other close to a Catholic welcome centre in the town.

Two hours later, the single car rammed a police roadblock, forcing officers to shoot at them.

The terrifying incidents came as the French port increasingly descends into lawlessness because of the growing number of asylum seekers trying to get across the Channel illegally.

Customs agents monitor cars at the French side of the Eurotunnel. Five men were wounded after UK-bound migrants were involved in a gunfight in Calais before a separate incident resulting in police opened fire on a car full of Afghans and Iraqis (file photo)

A local police source said: People smugglers are still charging more than a thousand euros for a passage across the Channel, and if money is not paid, then scores are settled.

This is why it is likely that smugglers were involved in this gunfight, and why immigrants were wounded.

One of the Afghans was hit in the stomach, and had to be evacuated by helicopter to the university hospital in Lille.

The source said it was common for rival groups to fall out over smuggling routes into the UK.

Hundreds of police moved in to close down the area around the gunfight, as they looked for the weapons used.

Two hours later, soon after 8pm, a single car with nine migrants on board crashed into a police roadblock.

A police officer watches migrants who wait on a road, near the port of Calais, northern France, on August 16, 2017. At around 6pm on Saturday that two groups of Afghans opened fire on each other close to a Catholic welcome centre in the town (file photo)

A source at the prefecture that covers Calais said: The vehicle hit a CRS riot police officer, injuring him in the knee, and this led to other officers opening fire.

At least five shots were fired, and the car was brought to a standstill with no injuries. Nine migrants were arrested at the scene.

The source said people smugglers were among the six Iraqis and three Afghans taken to a secure police station before an expected appearance before a judge on Monday.

He added that the original shoot-out did not appear to be related to the incident at the police roadblock.

Judicial police in Lille are investigating the gun fight, while all those arrested will be dealt with at the criminal court in nearby Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Last week a French police officer was sent to prison for six months for slapping a UK-bound immigrant in the face while he was wearing handcuffs.

Boulogne prosecutors described how the 44-year-old officer with the PAF frontier police, who has not been named, lashed out in August last year.

A French riot police officer stands guard after migrants tried to mount several trucks on the A16 motorway near the site of the Eurotunnel in Coquelles, near Calais, northern France on January 21, 2016. The terrifying incidents came as the French port increasingly descends into lawlessness because of the growing number of asylum seekers trying to get across the Channel illegally

A year ago, the so-called Jungle refugee camp in Calais was razed, and some 8,000 migrants were dispersed to other parts of France.

Some have since returned, and continue to make efforts to reach the coast of England, where they want to claim asylum.

Police and local authorities have meanwhile reported an increasingly dangerous situation, with fights regularly breaking out.

There are not up to 1,000 migrants sleeping rough in and around Calais, the majority of them young men.
Pauline Hanson insists her One Nation party did 'extremely well' in the Queensland election despite failing to win a single seat.

The One Nation leader put on a cheerful face as veteran Sixty Minutes interviewer Liz Hayes asked her if the public's perception of her party as chaotic had cost it votes.

'No. No. Rubbish. It's not chaos when we are actually polling the second highest vote in these seats,' she said. 'We've done extremely well.'

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Pauline Hanson insists her party did 'extremely well' in Queensland despite winning no seats

The exchange became tense when Liz Hayes asked Pauline Hanson if she was personally responsible for One Nation's inability to pick up seats

The exchange became tense when Hayes asked Senator Hanson if she took any responsibility for One Nation's poor showing.

'If you don't win any seats, is that you who lost?,' the Sixty Minutes star asked.

Senator Hanson downplayed the result.

'Liz, for what we have achieved in short period of time, it is a positive,' she said.

'I'm not going to see a negative in it whatsoever and you or anyone else is not going to badger me into it.'

One Nation has failed in its bid to win a single seat in the Queensland parliament, despite a Galaxy poll in early November showing Senator Hanson's party with 18 per cent support across the state.

The party's primary vote fell to less than 14 per cent on Saturday, only two weeks after new Queensland Senator Fraser Anning, a former friend of Pauline Hanson, quit One Nation to sit as an independent.

He had replaced Malcolm Roberts, a dual British citizen forced out of federal parliament only to lose his bid for the state Labor seat of Ipswich.

Pauline Hanson appeared to suggest on November 6 One Nation would win at least 11 seats

Pauline Hanson's face was a study of disappointment as One Nation failed to win a single seat

When she launched her Battler Bus to kick off her campaign in early November, Senator Hanson appeared to suggest her party was on track to win more than 11 seats.

'Honestly I think this is going to be bigger than it was in 1998,' she said three weeks ago.

On Sunday, Senator Hanson insisted she had never put a number of the seats she expected to win in her home state.

'What I said was the feeling was stronger than what it was in 1998,' she told Sixty Minutes.

Pauline Hanson's look of disappointment after state leader Steve Dickson lost his seat

One Nation failed to win a seat in Townsville, where a Newspoll showed the nationalist party was on track to win the north Queensland electorate of Thuringowa off Labor.

The campaign suffered a setback when a 7News reporter ambushed candidate Mark Thornton with questions about his wife's adult shop.

In neighbouring Mundingburra, One Nation's Malcolm Charlwood denied posting sexist Facebook memes mocking married and overweight women.

One Nation also failed in the farming seat of Lockyer, west of Ipswich, which Pauline Hanson came within 200 votes of winning at the 2015 Queensland election.

Her party's state leader Steve Dickson, a former Liberal National Party minister, also lost his seat of Buderim on the Sunshine Coast.

One Nation's candidate for Thuringowa Mark Thornton was asked about his wife's sex shop

The party's hopes were also dashed in Maryborough and Gympie, which the party had hoped to pick up.

One Nation's only realistic hope lies in the central Queensland seat of Mirani, where Stephen Andrew could defeat sitting Labor MP Jim Pearce with Liberal National Party preferences.

It also stands a chance in the north Queensland seat of Hinchinbrook, held by LNP frontbencher and former minister Andrew Cripps.

With Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's Labor Party yet reach a majority of 47 seats in the expanded 93-seat parliament, Senator Hanson insisted One Nation could still be kingmakers.

'If we win two or three seats or even one seat, whatever, it may come down to our seat to decide who is going to govern,' Senator Hanson said.

However, ABC election analyst Antony Green predicts Labor will have 48 seats, negating the need for the government to rely on One Nation or any crossbench MP to retain power.
Liam Fox today said no decision can be reached on the Irish border until a Brexit trade deal is struck.

Britain is under growing pressure to come up with a plan to keep a soft border in time for a crunch EU summit in two weeks times.

Brussels has refused to move on to trade talks until 'sufficient progress' on the border along with the Brexit divorce bill and citizens rights is made.

But the International Trade Secretary and leading Brexiteer laid the blame for the hold up at the door of Brussels.

He pointed out that any deal on a border cannot be thrashed out until trade and customs talks properly start.

Theresa May has insisted all of Britain is leaving the single market and the customs union when we quit the Brussels bloc - meaning what happens to the border is a thorny issue.

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Liam Fox said the Irish borer issue will only be resolved by starting trade talks and looking at the broader issue of a customs union with the EU

Dublin has suggested Northern Ireland stay in the customs union - effectively pushing the hard border to the sea - and threatened to veto trade talks unless the UK caves to its demands.

THE STICKING POINTS IN BREXIT TALKS Brussels said 'sufficient progress' has to be made on citizens rights, the Irish border and the divorce bill before trade talks can start. Brexit Divorce Bill: Britain had offered 20billion for a two-year transition deal, but ministers are believed to have agreed to effectively double this in an effort to start trade talks by the new year. EU citizens rights: Theresa May has said we are within touching distance of a deal but Brussels is more gloomy. The EU wants their citizens rights to be guaranteed by the European Court of Justice, but Mrs May said getting rid of the authority of the ECJ in the UK is one of her Brexit red lines. Irish border: Both the EU, UK and the Republic of Ireland are all clear they do not want to see a return to the hard border - fearing this could reignite sectarian violence. But it remains unclear how Northern Ireland can leave the EU's customs union and single market without having a hard border crossing. The Irish Republic has suggested border checks could be pushed back to the border with the mainland of the rest of the UK, but this has been ruled out by the Government and the DUP. Advertisement

But the PM and her DUP allies have ruled out the suggestion pointing out that any plan which effectively erects a border between Britons in Northern Ireland and the mainland would not be tolerated.

And this morning Mr Fox told Sky News's Sunday with Niall Paterson today: 'We've made very clear what the outline is of our interests, that we don't want there to be a hard border but the UK Is going to be leaving the customs union and the single market.

'We've always actually had exceptions for Ireland whether it's in our voting rights, our rights of residence in the UK.

'We've always accepted a certain asymmetry and that will have to be part of whatever agreement we come to with the EU.

'But we can't get a final answer to the Irish question until we get an idea of the end state and until we get into discussions with the EU on the end state that will be very difficult.

'So the quicker we can do that the better and we're still in the position where the EU doesn't want to do that and we're getting quite close now to 2018 when we'll be talking about next year when we leave the EU.

'So for all the reasosns, international as well as European, I think we have to get there faster than we're doing at the present time.'

The EU summit on December 14 and 15 will decide whether we finally moves on to trade talks in the Brexit negotiations.

Mrs May has doubled Britain's divorce bill to 40bn in a move to unblock the talks and move on to trade.

But the Irish border now seems the issue which threatens to hold up progress.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said his country would block the tart of trade discussions unless a plan was put forward.

Theresa May, pictured with her husband Philip at church this morning, is pushing for trade talks to be given the go ahead at an EU summit next month. But Dublin has threatened to veto a talks moving on unless a fuller plan on keeping a soft border is put forward

The DUP has warned Mrs May the idea of using the Irish Sea as a post-Brexit border between the rest of the UK is 'non-negotiable'.

Nigel Dodds, who leads the DUP in Westminster, said any proposals to make special arrangements for Northern Ireland in Brexit talks should be taken off the table.

EU OFFICIALS NOT ALWAYS HONEST ABOUT BREXIT TALKS, DAVIDSON WARNS Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said it is usual for EU officials to wait until the last minute to sign off on a deal Ruth Davidson today said EU officials are not always honest about the progress being made in Brexit talks when they talk publicly. She said that deals with Brussels are always a 'five past midnight' affairs as Eurocrats wait until the final minute to sign off. But she said that behind the scenes progress is often being made - even if it is not communicated to the public. Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr show she said: 'The people who walk up to the microphones and speak to the home audience don't always reflect the negotiation and the progress which is going on in the room. 'When it comes to European negotiations it is always a five past midnight job.' Advertisement

And their Northern Ireland leader Arlene Foster today revealed that the DUP has written to European leaders to say they will not accept a Brexit that puts customs barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Mrs Foster said she has written to the governments of the remaining 27 EU nations to outline her party's red line.

She told delegates at Saturday's conference in Belfast: 'We want a sensible Brexit. A Brexit that works for Northern Ireland and for the United Kingdom.

'However, we will not support any arrangements that create barriers to trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom or any suggestion that Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the UK, will have to mirror European regulations.'

One of the loudest cheers of the speech came when Mrs Foster rejected any suggestion Northern Ireland's place within the UK was now at risk.

Irish MEP Mairead McGuinness, a member of the ruling Fine Gael party, told BBC's Sunday Politics she was 'troubled' by Dr Fox's comments.

She said: 'I hope that the UK is not holding the Irish situation to ransom in these negotiations, it is far too serious and far too critical.'

Meanwhile, Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has said that EU officials are not always honest about the progress being made in Brexit talks when they talk publicly.

She said that deals with Brussels are always a 'five past midnight' affairs as Eurocrats wait until the final minute to sign off.

But she said that behind the scenes progress is often being made - even if it is not communicated to the public.

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr show she said: 'The people who walk up to the microphones and speak to the home audience don't always reflect the negotiation and the progress which is going on in the room.

'When it comes to European negotiations it is always a five past midnight job.

She added: 'I think it is really important that we get the transitional deal nailed down, that is not for the government that is for businesses so we know what they are ding next year and are able to plan.'
A serial child sex attacker who is targeting girls as young as 11 has struck again, police believe.

A string of sexual offences against at least nine victims, including seven schoolchildren, across south-east London are all currently being investigated as linked.

In all cases, the attacker has approached the victim and touched them, before running away.

The subject runs down a road near one of the attacks (left) Police have released an e-fit of a blond-haired suspect thought to be in his 50s (right)

The victims are three girls aged 11, four girls aged 13 and two women aged 25 and 27.

The latest assault, which is believed to be linked to the ongoing investigation, was on a 13-year-old girl in Eltham, on Tuesday at 7.45am.

Detectives have previously released CCTV images of a man seen in Honor Oak Road who they want to identify.

Image captured seconds after one of the attacks, at Liskeard Gardens in Blackheath

They have also released an e-fit of the man, described as having short blond hair and a long skinny face.

ALL OF THE 'LINKED' ATTACKS 30 June in Ravens Way, SE12 [victim aged 13]

29 August in Edward Tyler Road, SE12 [victim aged 11]

27 September in Vicars Hill, SE13 [victim aged 13]

28 September in Frank Burton Close, SE7 [victim aged 13]

28 September in Alanthus Close, SE12 [victim aged 11]

5 October in Kidbrooke Park Road, SE3 [victim aged 13]

5 October in Kidbrooke Park Road SE3 [victim aged 27]

5 October in Liskeard Gardens, SE3 [victim aged 25]

16 October in Honor Oak Road, SE23 [victim aged 11] Advertisement

Following the latest attack, the suspect was described as white, tall, approximately 50 years old, with light blond hair.

Superintendent Lee Hill of Greenwich police said: 'There is a possibility that these incidents are part of a linked series of attacks as a number of victims have provided very similar descriptions of the attacker - a white man aged between 40-50-years-old, with short white or blonde hair.

'These incidents were very frightening for the victims.

'I am appealing to the public to help identify and locate this man as quickly as possible.'

The first incident was reported back in june on a victim aged jut 13 at 8.20am, and the attacker then stuck again in August on a 11 year old.

There have been a number of similar attacks on children aged 11 to 13 reported through out September and October, and also two women aged in their 20s.

Following one incident the father of one of the victims said: 'The father of one of the victims said: 'This assault has upset and frightened our 11-year-old daughter immensely.

After this image was taken the suspect runs down the alleyway at the side of Moredon College into St Germans Place and disappears into Falthorpe Road housing estate

'This type of behaviour is totally unacceptable and has had far reaching implications upon her mental state.

'Our daughter and her friends are now scared to walk to school on their own, their confidence and feeling of independence have been damaged and our daughter is wondering why she was targeted for this sort of attack.'
France is experiencing a surge in demand for private exorcisms as priests refuse to take on those who are merely anxious or trying to save their relationships.

The Paris terror attacks and nerves over global politics have spurred a major rise leaving priests struggling to keep up.

The Roman Catholic church is stringent with its criteria for who can get one of the rituals, turning away thousands of applications each year.

But the booming demand has fuelled a private exorcism industry where self-proclaimed priests charge hundreds of pounds to perform the religious ceremony.

Jean Clement advertises his services online and says that he has only ever turned away one person, reports the Telegraph.

The 57-year-old, who claims to be an ordained priest, performs as many as four exorcisms per week.

The Roman Catholic church is stringent with its criteria for who can get an exorcism, turning away thousands of applications each year (stock photo)

It is a major surge in demand from the one or two that he used to conduct each month.

The ritual costs as much as 270 and can last up to two hours - but it has led to accusations that private priests are exploiting those with psychological issues.

One client spent hundreds on sessions with Mr Clement in a bid to cure her depression after other therapy failed.

Father Georges Berson, one of only two priests in the Paris area who is authorised by the Roman Catholic church to carry out exorcisms, said no real practicioner would charge money.

He said: 'The false priests and the false exorcists and so on - they ask for money, a lot of money. One lady came here and she had spent 50,000 (45,000) with charlatans.'

The 84-year-old added: 'When someone is really possessed, we deal with it. Once the devil was inside a woman and he spoke to me in Dutch, perfect Dutch with an Amsterdam accent.

'He said he didn't want to go back to Hell. Afterwards I spoke to the woman in Dutch and she couldn't understand a thing. She asked me if it was German.'

The ritual costs as much as 270 and can last up to two hours - but it has led to accusations that private priests are exploiting those with psychological issues (stock photo)

Earlier this year it was revealed that demand for exorcisms in the US had skyrocketed.

Father Vincent Lambert of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis said that the reason for the surge was that people are becoming more susceptible to the devil.

He said: 'The problem isnt that the devil has upped his game, but more people are willing to play it.'

Since he was appointed as the Archdiocese's exorcist in 2005, Father Lambert said the number of other exorcists had grown from 12 to 50.

He claimed to have witnessed people releasing hideous odours as well as speaking in tongues and obscenities.

Father Lambert said a rise in pornography and drugs was somewhat to blame for the increase in demand.

Wavering faith in the Church may also have been to blame because it creates a void for evil to seep in to, he said.
The Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington can remain open to discuss peace with Israel and may be able to resume full operations soon, the State Department said Friday.

The comment came one week after US officials said the diplomatic mission would have to close because of a law stipulating that Palestinian leaders must not call for Israelis to face international prosecution.

The order provoked outrage among the Palestinian leadership, who threatened to cut all ties to President Donald Trump's administration if the ban went ahead, a move that would doom his hopes to revive the peace process.

But on Friday a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinians had been advised to limit their activity at the office to the peace process until a waiver to the law is renewed.

"Given the lapse last week of a waiver of statutory restrictions on PLO activity in the United States, we have advised the PLO Office to limit its activities to those related to achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians," the official said.

If after 90 days the president determines that the Palestinians are engaged in "direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel," restrictions on the PLO and its Washington office may be lifted, the official added.

Both parties have so far been "cooperative, constructive, and prepared to engage in negotiations" as the administration pushes efforts to restart substantial Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the official said.

"We therefore are optimistic that at the end of this 90-day period, the political process may be sufficiently advanced that the president will be in a position to allow the PLO office to resume full operations."

Under long-standing US law, permission for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to maintain its mission in Washington must be renewed every six months.

In September, Palestinian leaders lobbied at the United Nations for Israeli officials to be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court, which US officials said was a breach of the terms of the arrangement.

Some observer speculated that Trump's administration had allowed the waiver to lapse in order to put pressure on the Palestinians before the expected announcement of a new plan to resolve the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But the official denied this.

"The lapse in the waiver was not intended to create 'leverage' with or impose pressure on the Palestinians, with whom we have been having constructive discussions about the path to a lasting, comprehensive peace," she said.

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The FBI failed to notify scores of US officials that Russian hackers were trying to break into their personal Gmail accounts despite having evidence for at least a year that the targets were in the Kremlin's crosshairs, it has been revealed.

Nearly 80 interviews with Americans targeted by Fancy Bear, a Russian government-aligned cyberespionage group, turned up only two cases in which the FBI had provided a heads-up, according to The Associated Press.

Even senior policymakers discovered they were targets only when the AP told them, a situation some described as bizarre and dispiriting.

'It's utterly confounding,' said Philip Reiner, a former senior director at the National Security Council, who was notified by the AP that he was targeted in 2015.

'You've got to tell your people. You've got to protect your people.'

The FBI reportedly failed to notify US officials that Russian hackers were trying to break into their personal Gmail accounts despite having evidence for at least a year. James Comey (left), held the FBI Director position at the time. Christopher Wray (right) is now serving as director

Working off a list supplied by cybersecurity firm, Secureworks (pictured), The Associated Press found that scores of US diplomatic, military and government figures were not told about attempts to hack into their emails

The FBI declined to answer most questions from AP about how it had responded to the spying campaign. The bureau provided a statement that said in part: 'The FBI routinely notifies individuals and organizations of potential threat information.'

Three people familiar with the matter - including a current and a former government official - said the FBI has known for more than a year the details of Fancy Bear's attempts to break into Gmail inboxes.

A senior FBI official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the hacking operation because of its sensitivity, declined to comment on timing but said that the bureau was overwhelmed by the sheer number of attempted hacks.

'It's a matter of triaging to the best of our ability the volume of the targets who are out there,' he said.

The AP did its own triage, dedicating two months and a small team of reporters to go through a hit list of Fancy Bear targets provided by the cybersecurity firm Secureworks.

Previous AP investigations based on the list have shown how Fancy Bear worked in close alignment with the Kremlin's interests to steal tens of thousands of emails from the Democratic Party.

This image shows a portion of a phishing email sent to a Washington area-based military analyst on November 9

Previous AP investigations based on the list have shown how Fancy Bear worked in close alignment with the Kremlin's (pictured) interests to steal tens of thousands of emails from the Democratic Party

The hacking campaign disrupted the 2016 US election and cast a shadow over the presidency of Donald Trump, whom US intelligence agencies say the hackers were trying to help. The Russian government has denied interfering in the American election.

The Secureworks list comprises 19,000 lines of targeting data. Going through it, the AP identified more than 500 US-based people or groups and reached out to more than 190 of them, interviewing nearly 80 about their experiences.

Many were long-retired, but about one-quarter were still in government or held security clearances at the time they were targeted.

Only two told the AP they learned of the hacking attempts on their personal Gmail accounts from the FBI. A few more were contacted by the FBI after their emails were published in the torrent of leaks that coursed through last year's electoral contest. But to this day, some leak victims have not heard from the bureau at all.

Charles Sowell, who previously worked as a senior administrator in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and was targeted by Fancy Bear two years ago, said there was no reason the FBI couldn't do the same work the AP did.

'It's absolutely not OK for them to use an excuse that there's too much data,' Sowell said.

'Would that hold water if there were a serial killer investigation, and people were calling in tips left and right, and they were holding up their hands and saying, 'It's too much'? That's ridiculous.'

'It's curious'

The AP found few traces of the bureau's inquiry as it launched its own investigation two months ago.

In October, two AP journalists visited THCServers.com, a brightly lit, family-run internet company on the former grounds of a communist-era chicken farm outside the Romanian city of Craiova.

That's where someone registered DCLeaks.com, the first of three websites to publish caches of emails belonging to Democrats and other US officials in mid-2016.

In October, two AP journalists visited THCServers.com, a brightly lit, family-run internet company on the former grounds of a communist-era chicken farm outside the Romanian city of Craiova. Pictured is Catalin Florica who launched THCServers.com in 2013

THCServers.com (pictured is the outside of the company) was where someone registered DCLeaks.com, the first of three websites to publish caches of emails belonging to Democrats and other US officials in mid-2016

DCLeaks was clearly linked to Fancy Bear. Previous AP reporting found that all but one of the site's victims had been targeted by the hacking group before their emails were dumped online.

Yet THC founder Catalin Florica said he was never approached by law enforcement.

'It's curious,' Florica said. 'You are the first ones that contact us.'

THC merely registered the site, a simple process that typically takes only a few minutes. But the reaction was similar at the Kuala Lumpur offices of the Malaysian web company Shinjiru Technology, which hosted DCLeaks' stolen files for the duration of the electoral campaign.

The company's chief executive, Terence Choong, said he had never heard of DCLeaks until the AP contacted him.

'What is the issue with it?' he asked.

Questions over the FBI's handling of Fancy Bear's broad hacking sweep date to March 2016, when agents arrived unannounced at Hillary Clinton's headquarters in Brooklyn to warn her campaign about a surge of rogue, password-stealing emails.

The agents offered little more than generic security tips the campaign had already put into practice and refused to say who they thought was behind the attempted intrusions, according to a person who was there and spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversation was meant to be confidential.

Questions emerged again after it was revealed that the FBI never took custody of the Democratic National Committee's computer server after it was penetrated by Fancy Bear in April 2016.

Former FBI Director James Comey testified this year that the FBI worked off a copy of the server, which he described as an 'appropriate substitute.'

'Makes me sad'

Retired Maj. James Phillips was one of the first people to have the contents of his inbox published by DCLeaks when the website made its June 2016 debut.

But the Army veteran said he didn't realize his personal emails were 'flapping in the breeze' until a journalist phoned him two months later.

'The fact that a reporter told me about DCLeaks kind of makes me sad,' he said. 'I wish it had been a government source.'

Phillips' story would be repeated again and again as the AP spoke to officials from the National Defense University in Washington to the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado.

former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, retired Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes (pictured in 2004) was among the officials whose contents of his inbox was published by DCLeaks in June 2016

Among them: a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, retired Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes; a former head of Air Force Intelligence, retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula; a former defense undersecretary, Eric Edelman; and a former director of cybersecurity for the Air Force, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Schissler.

Retired Maj. Gen. Brian Keller, a former director of military support at the Geospatial Intelligence Agency, was not informed, even after DCLeaks posted his emails to the internet. In a telephone call with AP, Keller said he still wasn't clear on what had happened, who had hacked him or whether his data was still at risk.

'Should I be worried or alarmed or anything?' said Keller, who left the spy satellite agency in 2010 and now works in private industry.

Not all the interviewees felt the FBI had a responsibility to alert them.

'Perhaps optimistically, I have to conclude that a risk analysis was done and I was not considered a high enough risk to justify making contact,' said a former Air Force chief of staff, retired Gen. Norton Schwartz, who was targeted by Fancy Bear in 2015.

Others argued that the FBI may have wanted to avoid tipping the hackers off or that there were too many people to notify.

'The expectation that the government is going to protect everyone and go back to everyone is false,' said Nicholas Eftimiades, a retired senior technical officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency who teaches homeland security at Pennsylvania State University in Harrisburg and was himself among the targets.

But the government is supposed to try, said Michael Daniel, who served as President Barack Obama's White House cybersecurity coordinator.

Daniel wouldn't comment directly on why so many Fancy Bear targets weren't warned in this case, but he said the issue of how and when to notify people 'frankly still needs more work.'

'Cloak-and-dagger'

In the absence of any official warning, some of those contacted by AP brushed off the idea that they were taken in by a foreign power's intelligence service.

'I don't open anything I don't recognize,' said Joseph Barnard, who headed the personnel recovery branch of the Air Force's Air Combat Command.

That may well be true of Barnard; Secureworks' data suggests he never clicked the malicious link sent to him in June 2015. But it isn't true of everyone.

An AP analysis of the data suggests that out of 312 US military and government figures targeted by Fancy Bear, 131 clicked the links sent to them. That could mean that as many as 2 in 5 came perilously close to handing over their passwords.

It's not clear how many gave up their credentials in the end or what the hackers may have acquired.

Some of those accounts hold emails that go back years, when even many of the retired officials still occupied sensitive posts.

A former USambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul (pictured), who like many others was repeatedly targeted by Fancy Bear but has yet to receive any warning from the FBI, said the lackluster response risked something worse than last year's parade of leaks

Overwhelmingly, interviewees told AP they kept classified material out of their Gmail inboxes, but intelligence experts said Russian spies could use personal correspondence as a springboard for further hacking. Pictured is the FBI headquarters in Washington

Overwhelmingly, interviewees told AP they kept classified material out of their Gmail inboxes, but intelligence experts said Russian spies could use personal correspondence as a springboard for further hacking, recruitment or even blackmail.

'You start to have information you might be able to leverage against that person,' said Sina Beaghley, a researcher at the RAND Corp. who served on the NSC until 2014.

In the few cases where the FBI did warn targets, they were sometimes left little wiser about what was going on or what to do.

Rob 'Butch' Bracknell, a 20-year military veteran who works as a NATO lawyer in Norfolk, Virginia, said an FBI agent visited him about a year ago to examine his emails and warn him that a 'foreign actor' was trying to break into his account.

'He was real cloak-and-dagger about it,' Bracknell said. 'He came here to my work, wrote in his little notebook and away he went.'

Left to fend for themselves, some targets have been improvising their cybersecurity.

Retired Gen. Roger A. Brady, who was responsible for American nuclear weapons in Europe as part of his past role as commander of the US Air Force there, turned to Apple support this year when he noticed something suspicious on his computer. Hughes, a former DIA head, said he had his hard drive replaced by the 'Geek Squad' at a Best Buy in Florida after his machine began behaving strangely.

Keller, the former senior spy satellite official, said it was his son who told him his emails had been posted to the web after getting a Google alert in June 2016.

A former USambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, who like many others was repeatedly targeted by Fancy Bear but has yet to receive any warning from the FBI, said the lackluster response risked something worse than last year's parade of leaks.

'Our government needs to be taking greater responsibility to defend its citizens in both the physical and cyber worlds, now, before a cyberattack produces an even more catastrophic outcome than we have already experienced,' McFaul said.
Laura Brownlee was struck by lightning on Saturday night and died from cardiac arrest

The heroic man who battled to save a 25-year-old woman who went into cardiac arrest after being hit by lightning is still haunted by her face.

Brandon Cleine was driving home during an electrical storm on Friday afternoon when he spotted a man lying in the middle of the road in Chirnside Park in north-east Melbourne.

Mr Cleine pulled over to find Lauren Brownlee, 25, going into cardiac arrest and her boyfriend Ben Hollow, 23, with serious burns to his legs.

'As I got to about here, I noticed there was a guy lying in the middle of the road and a car stopped off and a guy kinda waving his hands down saying 'Don't go, don't go',' Mr Cleine told 7NEWS Sunday.

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Brandon Cleine was driving home on Friday night when he spotted the couple in need of help

Young couple Ben Hollow and Lauren Brownlee were both struck by lighting on Friday night

A Melbourne couple were hit by a bolt of lightning during an electrical storm on Saturday night

The heroic young man then spent the next several minutes performing CPR on Ms Brownlee, trying in vain to save her life.

'I was just hoping that she stayed alive And I was just screaming at the lady on the phone like 'Please just get emergency services here as quick as possible. These guys are in desperate need".'

'I just wish she would have made it, you know?' Mr Cleine added, barely holding back tears as he spoke to Channel 7 less than 24 hours after the ordeal.

Ms Brownlee was taken to hospital just before 9pm, but she succumbed to her injuries and died later that night.

'It's tragic. I can still picture her lying on the ground, I can still see Ben lying on the ground. I can still see her face. I'll never get that face out of my mind.'

Mr Cleine found Lauren Brownlee, 25 (pictured) going into cardiac arrest on Saturday night

Ms Brownlee (left, front) her partner Ben Hollow (left, middle row) were standing between their car and a tree in Chirnside Park, around 8.40pm, when they were both struck by lightning

Emergency services attend to the tragic scene where the young couple were hit by lightning

Mr Hollow survived and was rushed to the Alfred Hospital where he immediately underwent surgery on both legs.

A spokesman for the hospital confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Saturday evening that he is in a serious but stable condition.

As friends and family raise money for Ms Brownlee's funeral, Mr Cleine hopes to visit Mr Hollow in his hospital bed in an effort to help both of them heal.

Firefighters and emergency crews responded to an influx of calls between 8pm and 9.30pm on Saturday night, and SES volunteers were called out to help another 32 people.
A bishop called for conscientious objectors to be jailed in London during the First World War in the hope that the full horror of German bombing would bring about a 'sudden conversion', a fascinating letter has revealed.

Lord Rupert Ernest William Gascoyne-Cecil, who was Bishop of Exeter from 1916 to 1936, made the extraordinary suggestion in a letter to the Times newspaper in 1917.

The bishop, who was also the son of former Conservative prime minister, Lord Salisbury, had just visited Dartmoor prison, where around 1,100 conscientious objectors were jailed during the conflict.

In the missive, which is titled 'Anarchic Dartmoor', the bishop expresses his fears that the prisoners - referred to as 'conchies' - would turn the religious objectors into revolutionaries.

Lord Rupert Ernest William Gascoyne-Cecil, who was Bishop of Exeter from 1916 to 1936, made the extraordinary suggestion in a letter to the Times newspaper in 1917

'If the government desire a revolution after the war they could hardly have proceeded in a more efficient manner,' he wrote, according to The Observer.

'Eleven hundred men who have a grievance, fancied or real, against society, are assembled from all parts of England and there have ample time and opportunity to organise resistance, armed or passive, against the existing order of affairs.'

He called for the men to be moved to areas 'frequently visited by the enemy airplane', with the hope that it might 'bring about a sudden conversion'.

The letter was brought to light by Richard Batten, a historian at Exeter University, who told the paper the bishop's views reflected widely held concerns at the time.

At the time, the bishop, who was also the son of former Conservative prime minister, Lord Salisbury, had just visited Dartmoor prison, where around 1,100 conscientious objectors were jailed. Pictured: The Dartmoor conscientious objectors cultivating the soil

Pictured: Conscientious Objectors at a peace demonstration at Dartmoor, Devon, in April 1917

'It is hard for us today to understand Bishop Cecil's views, but they reflect the fact that a century ago people in Devon and other areas across the UK had become weary of the war and the increasing pressures that it continued to exert upon their lives,' he said. 'Others were fearful about the impact of the Russian revolution.'

Proposed by a German naval commander in 1914, air strikes in Britain were at first restricted to outside of London for fear of the Kaiser's royal British relatives being accidentally injured in one of the attacks.

Initially, the majority of the air raids were carried out by airships, but as the war progressed and aircraft technology improved, ever-heavier bomber aircraft were increasingly used by the Germans.

Although all German airships became to be known to the population of Britain as Zeppelins, after the name of the major German manufacturer, Count Zeppelin, other marques were also operational.

These included the wooden-framed Schutte-Lanz airship: the Zeppelin had a metal frame of the new material duralumin - a strong alloy of aluminium.

In total, German airships made roughly 51 bombing raids on England during the war, with many of these targetting London. These killed 557 and injured another 1,358 people.

More than 5,000 bombs were dropped on towns across Britain, destroying homes and businesses and causing 1.5million in damage.

British conscientious objectors leaving Dartmoor Prison in April 1917 under a gateway with the words 'Parcere subjectis' (Spare the conquered) once applicable to prisoners of war
The alleged mastermind behind Australia's biggest Ponzi scheme is reported to have used $50,000 from his late mother's estate to prop up his multi-million dollar fraud.

Tony Iervasi, 53, is alleged to have also taken savings from his girlfriend, friends and family to begin a scam which is reportedly by liquidators to have fleeced $209 million from hundreds of investors.

Mr Iervasi, from Sydney, is alleged to have duped 780 creditors, including small business owners, mums, dads, and war veterans who invested in a syndicate run out of an office in Bondi Junction's Westfield Tower.

His girlfriend, 42-year-old Nina Girsa, also claims she is owned $50,000 by Mr Iervasi, The Daily Telegraph reported.

She is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Tony Iervasi, 53, is alleged to have also taken savings from his girlfriend, friends and family to begin a scam which fleeced $209 million from hundreds of investors

Mr Iervasi, the 53-year-old alleged mastermind behind the illegal scheme, moved out of his family home two years ago and started a relationship with Nina Girsa, a Latvian-born beautician

Mr Iervasi's girlfriend, 42-year-old Nina Girsa, is listed as a creditor of the now-liquidated Courtenay House. She is not accused of any wrongdoing nor is there any suggestion that she knew about the fraud.

Mr Iervasi claims to have received death threats after his company was revealed to be operating the illegal scheme.

Liquidator Said Jahani said Mr Iervasi 'fears for his life' after being confronted by angry investors.

'He has been telling people he has $100 million stashed away in a bank account in the US. My personal view is that's not the case,' Mr Jahani told the publication.

Mr Iervasi reportedly told the investors he could pay them back once he was given back access to company finances.

Mr Iervasi moved out of his family home two years ago and started a relationship with Ms Girsa, a Latvian-born beautician.

Mr Iervasi, from Sydney, is believed to have duped 780 creditors, including small business owners, mums, dads, and war veterans who invested in a syndicate run out of an office in Bondi Junction's Westfield Tower

Mr Iervasi and Ms Girsa boasted of their exploits on social media, posting photos in first-class, enjoying resort swimming pools and sprawled out on beds surrounded by expensive brand-name shopping bags. There is no suggestion that Ms Girsa was aware of the fraud.

The couple have been pictured living a life of luxury in five-star resorts across the world, including Las Vegas, Dubai, Hawaii and Venice.

Mr Iervasi and Ms Girsa boasted of their exploits on social media, posting photos in first-class, enjoying resort swimming pools and sprawled out on beds surrounded by expensive brand-name shopping bags.

Also posing in front of super cars and the back of yachts, the pair appeared more than willing to share their extravagant lifestyle with friends, family and followers.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday, Mr Jahani described the business as a 'Ponzi scheme'.

'It was purported to be an investment scheme, but the reality was there was none, or very little investment activity,' he said.

The nature of a Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent operation which generates returns for earlier investors with money paid by new investors, rather than from profit made through legitimate trading.

Mr Iervasi reportedly told the investors he could pay them back once he was given back access to company finances

Also posing at exclusive events, the pair appeared more than willing to share their extravagant lifestyle with friends, family and followers

Mr Jahani told Daily Mail Australia the company kept no legitimate books or records which made investigations more difficult.

'We have to recreate a lot of the records, it's quite painstaking,' he said.

'But we're far enough into it that it gives us confidence to make the statement it's a Ponzi scheme.'

Mr Iervasi's business claimed to trade in foreign currency exchange markets and offered investors huge returns of up to 25 percent.

Now under investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the company was dissolved following the appointment of a liquidator.

ASIC told Daily Mail Australia it was unable to comment on the investigation because it was before court.

Mr Iervasi's (pictured with Ms Girsa) claims to have received death threats since news of his Ponzi scheme broke

Meanwhile, the company director alleged by liquidators to be behind the Ponzi scheme falsely told investors Malcolm Turnbull plunged money into the operation to persuade them to stump up cash.

David Sipina also posted a photo of himself shaking hands with Mr Turnbull on his now deleted Facebook page.

An investor who lost $400,000 in the Ponzi scheme, Mark Tobin, said David Sipina used the Prime Minister as a ploy to wrangle more investors into the illegal operation.

'He said Malcolm Turnbull is investing in Courtenay House,' Mr Tobin told The Daily Telegraph.

Malcolm Turnbull did not know David Sipina nor did he invest in the Ponzi scheme, according to a spokesman for the Prime Minister.

David Sipina (pictured) also posted a photo of himself shaking hands with Mr Turnbull on his now deleted Facebook page

Mr Sipina was the company director for Courtenay House, which was revealed by liquidators on Wednesday to allegedly be Australia's biggest ever Ponzi scheme.

A separate company with Mr Sipina as its sole director was also frozen, according to the publication.

According to ASIC records, Mr Sipina, a former Bondi and Districts Chamber of Commerce assistant treasurer, has also been banned from holding a financial services license.

Mr Sipina has declined requests by the liquidator to be interviewed about his alleged involvement in the Ponzi scheme.

While he has remained quiet, he might be one of about 20 people and institutions forced to give evidence in court.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Sipina for comment.
Two huge fireballs were widely seen across the country as they blazed across the skies this weekend.

Dozens of skywatchers reported spotting the first meteor which flew over England, Wales and northern France shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Several even said they heard rumbling and 'multiple booms lasting 2-3 seconds' as the object passed overhead although others said it was silent.

The fireball filmed in Wilcot, Wiltshire was classified as a bolide which is the term used when a meteor causes a flash as bright as the moon

Experts classified it as a bolide, which is the term used when a meteor causes a flash as bright as the moon.

Footage of the fireball, filmed in Wilcot, Wiltshire, shows a bright dot rapidly getting bigger as it travels across the sky.

It culminates in a huge flash of light before quickly reducing in size until it disappears.

Another meteor was seen flying across the same region six hours later with some witnesses reporting that it appeared to break up in the sky.

UK Meteor Observation Network member Richard Fleet said the first fireball was the second brightest the country had seen in three years.

Map released by the American Meteor Society showing where the first fireball was reported just after midnight on Saturday

Second map showing where the later meteor was spotted at around 7am on Saturday morning

He told Sky News: 'It would have been coming in at about 20km/s (44,740mph). The Space Station is moving at about 8km/s (17,896mph).

'There are multiple flashes as it breaks up. It would have happened at about an altitude of about 30km (19 miles).'

He added that the meteor would have measured about six inches across.
Sir Vince Cable sparked fury today after he said there is a one in five chance Brexit will not happen.

The Lib Dem leader repeated his vow to fight for an 'exit from Brexit' as he warned that Tory political infighting is harming the UK's chances of getting a good deal.

But the arch-Remainer, 74, ducked questions about why his party's poll ratings are so abysmal if his pledge to to keep Britain in the Brussels club is popular.

Tory MP and leading Brexiteer Peter Bone told Mail Online the Lib Dem leader is part of an establishment clique who are 'whinging and moaning' to try to keep Britain in the EU.

While fellow Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg said it shows the establishment have not 'come to terms with' the Brexit referendum result.

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Sir Vince Cable today said he thinks there is a 20% chance Brexit will not happen - reversing the decision of last year's historic EU referendum vote

Speaking on Sky News' Sunday with Niall Paterson, Sir Vince said there is a 'distinct possibility' Brexit might not happen.

He said: 'I wouldn't say it is probably that it will be stopped but there is a distinct possibility.

'I have been asked by business people in the past to put a probability estimate - I would say (there is) probably about a 20 per cent possibility that this may not happen.'

Theresa May managed to secure a major breakthrough in Brussels on Friday when EU Council president Donald Tusk signalled the block may be ready to start trade negotiations by the end of the year.

But Sir Vince lashed out at the Tories claiming Government division is hampering negotiations.

He said: 'The government is of course pressing ahead with negotiations, but the sheer complexity, the practical difficulty the government is internally divided.

Tory MPs and leading Brexiteers Jacobe Rees-Mogg (pictured left) and Peter Bone (pictured right) said Sir Vince is part of an establishment clique who are determined to thwart Brexit

'We may get to the middle of next year and find this is just a horrible mess and there will be a growing political mood within the country and within Parliament to find a way out.

'And that is why we believe that at the end of the day the public should have a choice as to whether they want to go ahead with Brexit when we have discovered what its about, or whether they want an exit from Brexit.'

He added: 'We absolutely do not know what Brexit will look like - eventually we could get an amicable divorce.

'It looks increasingly unlikely but it's possible, in which case I suspect the public will settle for that.

'But if it is a terrible mess and very divisive and very costly then I think people will want to reopen the question.'

Peter Bone said the country is lucky it is led by Theresa May - pictured at church today with her husband Philip - as he is determined to deliver BRexit

Mr Bone, Tory MP for Wellingborough, told Mail Online there is a concerted effort by some establishment figures to stop Brexit.

He said: 'He is certainly correct that Brexit might not happen.

'The Remain people - and he is certainly part of it - are determined to do everything they can to stop Brexit happening and are running a very successful campaign.

'They are stalling, whinging, moaning and doing everything but implement the wishes of the British people.'

He said the country is lucky it has Mrs May, David Davis and others to ensure Brexit does happen.

He said the Lib Dems, Labour and SNP are all trying to stop Brexit, adding: They do not want to do what the British public want, they must believe they know better than the British public c and they want to try to stop Brexit.

'If the elite manage to achieve this the British electorate will be absolutely dismayed and there would be very serious consequences for these politicians.'

Mr Rees-Mogg, Tory MP for North East Somerset, told Mail Online: 'It is a reminder that the establishment has still not come to terms with the referendum result.

'Brexiteers must stay on their guard.'
Numerous cattle fell onto passing cars on a busy highway in Utah after a semi-truck crashed on Wednesday.

The lorry, which was going 45mph crashed on an overpass in Riverdale, showering cars with at least 25 cows, reported KUTV.

The ramp from southbound I-15 to eastbound I-84 was closed on the I-84 bridge as emergency response teams arrived at the scene.

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A tipped semitrailer (pictured here) carrying cattle on the eastbound I-84 bridge over I-15 caused major delays on both interstates on Wednesday

Many of the cows died and were seen laying in pools of blood across the road. Troopers said they did not know how many cattle were killed in the crash however.

Many commuters were left dumbfounded after cows landed on their vehicles while they were driving.

Kerri Kofoed said she was commuting to work in Layton when 'a cow fell out of the sky and hit my car.'

She told KSL: 'A big, black blob came flying at my windshield and the next thing I knew my airbags deployed and I slammed into the median wall.'

Many of the cows died and were seen laying in pools of blood across the road (above)

Pictured here are some of the cows that fell from the semi-truck on the Riverdale highway in Utah

'He fell and hit me right here, smacked my windshield and bounced off. I did what anybody would do, slammed on my breaks.'

'I saw them in my mirrors as my airbags deployed, all slammed down behind and around. I'm guessing he was one of the last ones that fell, and I think he landed on top of the others and he started wandering.'

The incident caused heavy traffic on both I-84 eastbound and I-15 southbound for several hours while people cleaned the cattle from the road.
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A homeless veteran who has received hundreds of thousands of dollars after he gave a woman, 27, his last $20 for gas, has revealed he plans to pay his donations forward.

Marine Corps vet Johnny Bobbitt said he's been 'overwhelmed' by the generosity of strangers after Kate McClure's fundraising campaign smashed its initial $10,000 target. Donations currently stand at more than $360,000 as money continues to pour in to help Bobbitt get back on his feet.

Bobbitt was reunited with McClure on Good Morning America on Sunday where he pledged to pay forward his donations to help others.

'That's how I got the money to start with, from other people,' he said. '[I have to] return the favor. I can't constantly take and not give back.'

'This money was given to help me. Why not help other people in similar situations or people that are actively helping other people in different situations?' he added. 'Everybody out there is facing some kind of struggle, so if I can touch their life, the way mine was touched, [it'd be] an amazing feeling,' Bobbitt said. 'I want to feel the feeling on the opposite end.'

Marine Corps vet Johnny Bobbitt (right, on GMA on Sunday) said he's been 'overwhelmed' by the generosity of strangers after Kate McClure's (left) fundraising campaign smashed its initial $10,000 target

Bobbitt was reunited with McClure on Good Morning America (pictured left and right) on Sunday where he pledged to pay forward his donations to help others

Bobbitt's story moved the public so much that his GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $360,000

Johnny Bobbitt Jr (left), Kate McClure (right) and McClure's boyfriend Mark D'Amico posed at a CITGO station in Philadelphia. Bobbitt used his last $20 to buy gas for McClure at the station earlier this month when she became stranded

@ABC EXCLUSIVE: Veteran Johnny Bobbit reunites with the woman he helped, Kate McClure, how they're paying it forward https://t.co/1zukDDIDil pic.twitter.com/ThwtcFZ08x  Good Morning America (@GMA) November 26, 2017

McClure, 27, started the GoFundMe campaignafter she ran into trouble on Interstate 95 and Johnny Bobbitt Jr., came to her rescue with his last $20.

Speaking to the Philadelphia Inquirer, McClure said that she didn't know what to do when she pulled over on the deserted highway just before midnight. 'My heart was beating out of my chest.'

She phoned her boyfriend, Mark D'Amico, 38, and asked him to come and get her. It was then that Bobbitt Jr. emerged from the darkness and approached her car.

'Ten minutes later,' DAmico said, 'she called me and said the guy brought her gas.'

The former Marine veteran and EMT was concerned for her safety along the stretch of road and told her to lock the doors and stay in her car while he went to fetch the fuel. McClure, who works for the New Jersey Department of Transportation said she didn't have any money to repay him that night.

McClure said she didn't have any money to repay Bobbitt at the time but returned to the road (above) several times to give him cash, clothes and food. She started a GoFundMe page 12 days ago that has been inundated with donations ever since

'We drove away and went on with our lives,' DAmico said.

But over the next few days the couple returned to the road several times to give him cash, clothes and food. They also got to know him more and talked about his predicament.

'Johnny said, "Yeah, tell me about bad luck. But dont get me wrong. Im here because of my own decisions. I got nobody to blame but myself",' D'Amico said.

D'Amico and McClure were struck by how Bobbitt refused to blame others for his situation.

'I cant stop thinking about this guy. I think about him all the time,' D'Amico texted McClure. 'OMG! Me, too!' McClure replied.

The couple said they were impressed by Bobbitt's desire to share the gifts he received from them with his other homeless friends. This, they say, inspired them to do more.

'They all look out for each other,' McClure said. 'Mark and I got back in the car and we were like, "Man, if we could change this guys life." And thats when we came up with the idea of GoFundMe.'

Johnny is seen left holding a newspaper article about story of his encounter with McClure on the highway and what transpired afterward. On the right is an undated photo from happier times posted by a friend of his on social media

McClure and her boyfriend got to know Bobbitt and learned he was a former Marine veteran and EMT who had fallen on hard times. He was training to be a paramedic and is pictured above beside a medical rescue helicopter

'I wish that I could do more for this selfless man, who went out of his way just to help me that day,' she wrote on the fundraising page.

But everyone was stunned by the response as donations flooded in.

'I just got her gas to help her get back on her way. I didn't think anything about it. I wasn't expecting anything in return,' Bobbitt told Good Morning America.

Bobbitt, who is originally from the Raleigh, North Carolina area, says he and McClure have formed a friendship - something he missed when he was on the streets.

'It does get kind of lonely out there. People treat you differently ... when you're homeless,' he admitted. 'People don't look at you the same.'

McClure said during their various conversations she learned that Bobbitt, who is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, served in the Marines as an ammunition technician.

He had been training to be a paramedic before he became homeless in Philadelphia 18 months ago.

In August 2014, Bobbitt wrote on his social media accounts that he had ambitions to be a flight nurse. He had been training to be a paramedic when he fell on hard times

McClure and D'Amico said that they will manage all of the funds that have been donated to Bobbitt. The cash will go toward renting an apartment for Bobbitt and paying for necessities like food, clothing, cellphone, and transportation

Bobbitt encountered money problems, before turning to drugs and having several run-ins with the law.

He told McClure and D'Amico that he wants to live in Robbinsville, New Jersey and work at the Amazon warehouse.

'He just needs a push in the right direction. I can't imagine how hard it is. He's from the Carolinas. He's a thousand miles from home with nothing, nobody. Things probably snowballed to where he's living under a bridge,' D'Amico said.

'He doesn't want to be on the streets anymore. He wants to be a functioning member of society and not be sitting on a guard rail in Philadelphia.

'He knows where he's at and he knows what he has to do to dig himself out.

'It's almost impossible to dig himself out if he has nobody and nothing. If we can raise enough money to set him up for a few months, where he doesn't have to worry about where he's going to sleep and what he's going to eat, then he can get a job and go about his life.'

McClure said she had planned to use any donations on getting Bobbitt his first and last month rent on an apartment, a car and at least four to six months worth of living expenses.

'He is very interested in finding a job and I believe that with a place to be able to clean up every night and get a good night's rest, his life can get back to being normal,' she wrote.

Bobbitt said that he also planned on buying a used truck but didn't want to rush into anything.

'I want to change my life, but you know it just happened,' he said. 'I need to time to figure it all out.'

McClure has also arranged meetings with a financial planner and a lawyer to help the veteran.

'I just want to do the right thing,' Bobbitt added.
On Sunday, President Trump used some bombastic language to describe Democrat Doug Jones, in his latest showing of support for embattled Alabama Senate hopeful Roy Moore.

'The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY,' Trump tweeted. 'Jones would be a disaster!'

The president followed that up by reminding voters that he had backed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange in the state's Republican primary, but Strange lost to the far-right Moore, who has been accused of preying on teenage girls.

President Trump, seen giving sandwiches to service members on Thanksgiving, went after Roy Moore's Democratic opponent Doug Jones on Twitter Sunday

President Trump suggested Democrat Doug Jones would raise 'taxes to the sky' if he won the Alabama Senate seat over embattled Republican Roy Moore

President Trump also reminded American that he didn't support Roy Moore in the special election's GOP primary, instead backing Alabama incumbent Sen. Luther Strange

'I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary,' Trump wrote. 'He shot way up in the polls but it wasn't enough.'

'Can't let Schumer/Pelosi win this race,' Trump continued, name-dropping Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the Senate and House, respectively.

'Liberal Jones would be BAD!' Trump added.

Trump had sang a similar tune on Tuesday when he left the White House for Mar-a-Lago, the 'winter White House' in Palm Beach, Florida, where he spent the Thanksgiving holiday.

Then, Trump came closer to endorsing Moore, giving the Republican Senate hopeful a pass, because Moore has denied the various allegations.

'Roy Moore denies it ... And by the way, he totally denies it,' Trump said.

When asked if he planned to campaign alongside Moore, Trump said he wasn't ready to answer that question yet.

'I will be letting you know next week. But I can tell you we don't need somebody who's soft on crime like Jones,' Trump said.

Who will be campaigning alongside Moore is former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who's expected to appear at an event with the candidate on December 5, ahead of the December 12 special election.

Bannon and Trump split their endorsements in the special election with Bannon backing and campaigning for Moore and Trump picking Strange, who also had the support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

But Alabama Republicans went anti-establishment in their choice in Moore, a controversial judge who was twice removed from the state Supreme Court.

Likely getting a bump from Trump, Moore has retaken the lead in the Alabama Senate race in two new polls.

Moore has been accused of sexual assault by three women, including one who was 14 at the time, and inappropriate behavior by a number of others.

He's denied the allegations and refused to leave the race, even after a number of high profile Republicans have said he should go.
A battle has erupted over the control of Charles Manson's estate after the infamous cult leader left it to a pen pal and disinherited his family and friends.

On Friday, two unverified wills surfaced with each naming a different person to inherit the killer's estate.

Ben Gurecki, a friend of Manson, told the New York Daily News that he obtained a January 2017 will from Manson and gave it to Manson's self-proclaimed son Matthew Roberts.

According to Gurecki, Roberts was named as the main beneficiary.

But TMZ reported Friday that the convicted murderer left his entire estate to a pen pal he began communicating with just 20 years ago.

'I can assure you Matthew will be handling this,' Gurecki told the Daily News.

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A battle has erupted over the control of Charles Manson's (pictured in 1969) estate after the infamous cult leader left it to a pen pal and disinherited his family and friends

Legal document: The individual did not want to be identified and said that he began writing to Manson in the 90s, sending close to 50 letters before he responded in 1997 (will above)

One final goodbye: The pair last spoke on the phone back on October 21 the individual said

'Matthew and I will be there next week in person,' he claimed. 'Charlie will be given a headstone, a proper burial where people will be able to grieve, or deface it as they see fit.'

The pen pal, who did not want to be named, said that he began writing Manson in the 90s and finally got a letter back in 1997 from the cult leader.

Fives years later he finally visited the man in prison, and that meeting went over so well it seems that Manson drafted the will, which is dated 2002 and remains largely unchanged since that date.

It was sent to the warden at California State Prison Corcoran on Valentine's Day of that year.

Manson, who died last Sunday at the age of 83, also stated in the will that he disinherited his two known children, grandchildren, friends, other family and the state of California.

Manson wrote in the will that his wishes for his death had been stated to the pen pal, though six days after he passed away his body is still with the state of California.

If it is not claimed after 10 days he will be cremated by the state. Later in the will, Manson noted: 'I'm not in the best spot to rest in peace.'

Manson was making money of his likeness while in prison, with a New York Times article revealing back in 1993 that the man who convinced his followers to embark on a two-night murder spree that left Sharon Tate and others dead was getting 10 cents for every $17 shirt one surf shop was selling in California.

The shirts showed Manson's face on the front and said 'Charlie don't surf' on the back.

Manson also owned the rights to his music, though it is unclear if that 'exclusive catalogue' includes the Beach Boys song 'Never Learn Not to Love,' on which he was an uncredited writer.

Manson, who died last Sunday at the age of 83, also stated in the will that he disinherited his two known children, grandchildren, friends, other family and the state of California. Manson during his 1970 trial on murder charges (above)

Family: Matthew Roberts (left) claims to be the cult leader's son and Jason Freeman (right) claims to be his grandson

He wrote in the will that there are over 100 songs total he owns the rights to, though he did not name any of them in the document.

Manson identified himself as a 'single man' with two known children, sons Michael Brunner and Charles Manson Jr.

Brunner, who was named Valentine Michael Manson at birth, is still alive and has no association with his father, having been raised by his grandparents after his mother Mary was arrested along with other members of the Manson family.

Mary served a brief sentence for credit card theft and forgery before moving back to Wisconsin and changing her name.

She was present the night that Gary Allen Hinman was murdered, but played no role in the actual killing of any individuals.

Charles Manson Jr committed suicide in 1993 at the age of 37, with the cause of death a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Charles Manson Jr. (pictured) committed suicide in 1993

His mother, Manson's ex-wife Rosalie Jean Willis, changed his name to Jay White after she divorced the cult leader.

His son, Jason Freeman, is still alive, but never had the chance to visit his grandfather in prison.

Charles Luther Manson, though not named in the will, was the second-born child of the cult leader.

His mother was Manson's second wife Leona Stevens, who in 1963 divorced her husband and later changed their child's name.

It is not known if he is still alive or his whereabouts.

A fourth man, Matthew Roberts, claims he too was Manson's son, with the adopted child stating that his birth mother told him Manson raped her and she became pregnant.

Despite that fact, Roberts reached out to Manson and two became close in his final years.

The will was witnessed and signed by Roger Dale Smith, a fellow inmate who earned the nickname 'pincushion' because he was stabbed so many times while in the custody of the California prison system.

It is not confirmed, but according to some he was stabbed more times than any other prisoner held behind bars in the state.

Smith was also once called 'the most dangerous, most psychopathic inmate housed at San Quentin.'
France will vote against a five-year extension of the license for weed-killer glyphosate that the European Commission will propose on Monday, a junior French environment minister said.

The decision makes renewal more difficult for the product, which the U.N. health agency (WHO) has said causes cancer. Glyphosate is a key ingredient in Monsanto Co's top-selling weed-killer Roundup.

"The Commission will put one single proposition on the table on Monday: renewing glyphosate (license) for five years. In view of the risks, France will oppose this proposition and vote against it," Brune Poirson said in an editorial in French Sunday newspaper Journal du Dimanche.

Fourteen out of 28 countries voted in favor of extending the license when the EU voted on the issue on Nov. 9 with nine against and five abstentions. Under EU rules, 16 favorable votes are needed as a "qualified majority" for renewal before authorization expires on Dec. 15.

The Commission said after the Nov. 9 vote it would resubmit the proposal at the end of the month.

Glyphosate has been used by farmers for more than 40 years but its use was cast in doubt when WHO's cancer agency said in 2015 it probably causes cancer. The European Chemical Agency said in March this year, however, there was no evidence linking it to cancer in humans.

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Staff at ITV were in hysterics when their boss became trapped in a glass lift  that wouldn't stop going up and down.

A video of unlucky programme editor Mike Rigby shows the exasperated journalist with his hands together as if to praying to a higher power for the ordeal to end.

The hilarious footage was captured by ITV political correspondent Paul Brand, who shared it on hisTwitter account.

He wrote: 'Our Programme Editor Mike Rigby has currently been going up and down in a lift for half an hour with no sign of escape.

A video of unlucky editor Mike Rigby shows the exasperated journalist with his hands together as if to praying to a higher power for the ordeal to end

Hoping that he ordeal might have actually come to an end, it wasn't long before the journalist was on his way up once again (right)

'The bulletin tonight could be sparse without his heavy LIFTing #upanddown.'

'Lift contractor has been called out. On a serious note, we are trying to set him free, I promise!'

He later added: 'Almost an hour now... Hope he doesn't need a wee.' and shortly after: 'BREAKING NEWS: Mike has been freed!

'He does not wish to speak to the media at this time and asks that his privacy be respected. #freeMike.'
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These previously unseen colourised photos show the lengths which US soldiers went to during America's attempts to capture several Pacific Islands from the Japanese during the Second World War.

The images were published today to mark the anniversary of the America's drive across the region, showing the successful assault and capture of the Tarawa Atoll in November 1943.

Troops were photographed as they made their way through the ocean in full uniform heading to the shore, while another sees a group of soldiers taking cover behind a tank.

One of the images, restored by colouriser Royston Leonard, shows the softer side of soldiers, with one crouching beside a tank to give a kitten a drink of water.

Other images show American troops brandishing their rifles after capturing several Japanese prisoners.

A captured Japanese soldier is surrounded by American troops in full uniform and brandishing their rifles. The amazing colourised photos show the lengths which US soldiers went to during America's attempts to capture several Pacific Islands from the Japanese during the Second World War

Cpl Robert E Voorhees standing while carrying supplies during the Battle of Tarawa at Red Beach, Bieto, Tarawa. A number of other US troops lay on the beach as others sit and chat. The images were published today to mark the anniversary of the America's drive across the region

A group of fighters, led by a Marine with a wounded hand, charging from the shore around opened barbed-wire entanglement to battle firmly entrenched Japanese in pillboxes on Tarawa. The photos were restored by colouriser Royston Leonard, from Cardiff

US Marines try to make advance against Japanese positions during the invasion of Tarawa in late November 1943. The troops talk to each other and duck for cover to avoid oncoming Japanese bullets

Moving off the ramp of a Coast Guard-manned landing craft, Marines move ashore onto Tarawa. America's heavy bombardment of the island paved the way for the US to make significant gains in the area and forced Japanese forces to flee one island at a time

Royston, a 55-year-old electrician from Cardiff, said: 'These images show the moments in time when madness took over the world.

'Tarawa is the place that Marines learned the hard lessons that would help them later in the war.

'America knew that the cost in lives of every island was going to be high, but I don't think they quite expected this. And it only rose more as they got closer to mainland Japan.

'Battles like this serve as a reminder to the world that something like this should never happen again.

'At the same time, though, images like the marine feeding the cat shows that there can be hope even in the hell of battle.'

The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, which the battle of Tarawa was a large part, was the name given to the battles which took place between the US and Japan across the Pacific between November 1943 and February 1944.

US Marines wading through surf from landing boats and barges to the beach during the invasion of Tarawa. The US laid siege to the Tarawa Atoll between November 20 and November 23, and was America's first offensive in the Pacific region

This image shows the more human side to soldiers, who kneels down to give a scared kitten peeping out of a tank's track a drink of water following America's assault on the Tarawa Atoll

US Marine Corps assault party storm a Japanese stronghold on top of a mound. Japanese forces fought until the last man, with just one officer and 16 troops of the 3,500 plus enlisted men surrendering

Marines alongside an LVT-1 Alligator on Tarawa. The island was one of the less heavily defended islands but was part of a tactical ploy by Japan so they could station more men at other islands in the area

The US laid siege to the Tarawa Atoll between November 20 and November 23, and was America's first offensive in the Pacific region.

Tarawa was one of the less heavily defended islands but was part of a tactical ploy by Japan so they could station more men at other islands in the area.

The Americans knew this and bombarded the islands with islands with a barrage of air strikes, artillery and a land invasion. This paved the way for the US to make significant gains in the area and forced Japanese forces to flee one island at a time.

Japanese forces fought until the last man, with just one officer and 16 troops of the 3,500 plus enlisted men surrendering. Only 129 of the 1,2000 Korean labourers made to erect defences on the island. The US also paid a heavy price for their victory, with more than 1,000 killed and a further 2,000 wounded.

Colourised pictures such as these are featured in author Michael D. Carroll's new photo-book Retrographic, which is available to buy from Amazon for 16.85.
Two men who were questioned by British Transport Police following an altercation which sparked chaos in the heart of London's West End on Friday have been released without charge.

Police quizzed the pair, aged 21 and 40, on Saturday after they voluntarily attended a police station following an appeal by British Transport Police.

Witnesses said two men 'bumped' into each other before 'several punches' were thrown on the westbound platform at Oxford Circus.

British Transport Police had earlier released these images of two men after reports of 'gun shots' led to a stampede and several people being injured

It sparked a major panic with gun shots mistakenly reported to police who declared a terror response and stormed the station on the busiest shopping day of the year.

This afternoon British Transport Police said in a statement posted on Twitter: 'We appealed for information following an incident at Oxford Circus yesterday.

'Since the appeal two men, aged 21 and 40, attended a police station voluntarily and were interviewed.

'Thank you to everyone who helped to share the appeal.'

Passengers reported hearing 'shots fired' at about 4.40pm prompting police to storm the station and evacuate it on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Crowds were seen running from Oxford Street after gunfire was reportedly heard in or around the Underground station shortly before 5pm last night
Family members are pleading for a Brooklyn judge to go easy on the grandson of the notorious gangster.

John J Gotti, 24, is currently looking at federal time for his part in a 2012 car arson on top of the eight-year state sentence he's already doing for peddling painkillers in Queens.

However, more than 20 relatives and friends wrote relatives to Judge Allyne Ross who will be sentencing him, asking her to show mercy.

Family members are pleading for a Brooklyn judge to show mercy on John J Gotti, 24 (left and right), the grandson of the notorious gangster who is being sentenced for his role in a 2012 car arson

His uncle, John A Gotti (left), said his nephew's last name played a big role in him getting mixed up in trouble. His father, Peter (right), described his first-born son as 'a beacon of light and hope through our constant storms...'

Gotti's 75-year-old grandmother, Victoria Gotti Sr (pictured), expressed the 'fervent hope that I live long enough to see him come home again before I die'

More than 20 relatives and friends wrote relatives to Judge Allyne Ross who will be sentencing him, asking her to show mercy (Pictured, left to right: Victoria Gotti, Frank Gotti Agnello, John Gotti Agnello and Carmine Agnello Jr in April 2011)

'He is my baby, I adore him and pray he will have the opportunity to be a productive member of society again,' wrote his grandmother, Victoria Gotti, the wife of late Gambino boss John Gotti who died behind bars in 2002.

The 75-year-old, expressed the 'fervent hope that I live long enough to see him come home again before I die.'

The young man's uncle, John A (Junior) Gotti, said his nephew's last name played a big role in him getting mixed up in trouble.

'With this kind of pressure, with my nephew being a young individual of limited life experience, and subject to being easily influenced by those who might not have his best long term interests at heart, it is not surprising that he would find himself one day involved with the criminal justice system,' his uncle wrote.

Gotti's father, Peter, described his first-born son as 'a beacon of light and hope through our constant storms....Please consider the love and undying support he has from his family as we try to rise from the ashes.'

In June, Gotti and Vincent Asaro pleaded guilty in torching a man's car.

Asaro, 83, ordered Gotti to firebomb a man's car in 2012 because he was angry at the victim over a traffic dispute that occurred in Howard Beach.

Gotti and Matthew 'Fat Matt' Rullan also pleaded guilty to their part in a bank robbery in Queens in 2012, in which they allegedly made off with nearly $5,500. They were arrested in March.

In June, Gotti (left and right, August 2016) and Vincent Asaro pleaded guilty in torching a man's car. Gotti is already in prison serving an eight-year sentence for dealing drugs on the streets of Queens

Asaro, 83, ordered Gotti to firebomb a man's car in 2012 because he was angry at the victim over a traffic dispute that occurred in Howard Beach

Prosecutors say the man cut Asasro off while he was driving, after which he orderd the arson

Gotti is already in prison serving an eight-year sentence for dealing drugs on the streets of Queens.

He was discovered with 205 Oxycodone pills, 18 methadone pills, marijuana, a testosterone bottle and close to $8,000 in cash in his car after police searched the vehicle on June 30 following a traffic stop.

Prior to his arrest, Gotti owned a tattoo shop in Queens called Rebel Ink Tattoo and, according to his Facebook page, was a personal trainer and fitness model.

Problems with police and time behind bars was a big part of his grandfather's life.

Prior to his arrest, Gotti (pictured) owned a tattoo shop in Queens called Rebel Ink Tattoo and, according to his Facebook page, was a personal trainer and fitness model

He (left) is the grandson of the notorious head of the Gambino crime family, John 'Teflon Don' Gotti (right, January 1990). In 1992, he was sentenced to life in prison and died in 2002

The notorious head of the Gambino crime family turned to a life of crime at a young age, a profession that allowed him to escape the poverty of the Bronx, where he was one of 13 children born to John and Philomena.

Gotti joined a street gang before he was a teenager and eventually dropped out of school before becoming a part of the Gambino family, where he quickly rose up the ranks until he ultimately became head of the massive organized crime syndicate.

He first made inroads by running errands for members of the family as a teenager, and by his twenties was a key player in many of the biggest burglaries and heists.

Gotti was in prison three times before being arrested for the fourth and final time in 1989 for murder. In 1992, he was sentenced to life in prison.

Gotti died behind bars in 2002, one year after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
President Donald Trump is reportedly angry at his daughter for slamming embattled Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Moore, who is now 70, was recently accused by several women that while in his 30s he molested or harassed teenage girls as young as 14.

'There's a special place in hell for people who prey on children,' Ivanka said earlier this month.

'I've yet to see a valid explanation and I have no reason to doubt the victims' accounts.' She did not call for Moore to exit the race.

In response to the first-daughter's comment, Trump asked several aides in the Oval Office, 'Do you believe this?' according to the New York Times.

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President Donald Trump is reportedly angry at his daughter, Ivanka, for slamming embattled Senate candidate Roy Moore

Moore (pictured), who is now 70, was recently accused by several women that while in his 30s he molested or harassed teenage girls as young as 14. 'There's a special place in hell for people who prey on children,' Ivanka said earlier this month

On Sunday, Trump redoubled his support for Moore, ignoring the allegations of sexual harassment plaguing the politician's Alabama campaign and branding his opponent as weak on crime, the military and immigration.

In an early-morning tweet, Trump added that for Alabamians to elect Moore's Democratic rival, Doug Jones, in a special election next month 'would be a disaster!'

Many members of Trump's Republican Party have withdrawn support for Moore, with some Republicans suggesting that Moore is elected to the US Senate, he should be removed.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, has called for Moore to drop out, saying: 'I believe the women.'

McConnell reportedly has pleaded with Trump to stay out of the Alabama race, lest Moore's election sully the party's name ahead of next year's midterm elections.

One Republican senator and sometime Trump critic, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Sunday that having Moore on the ballot was a lose-lose proposition for the party.

'If he wins ... it becomes a story every day about whether or not you believe the women or Roy Moore. If you lose, you give the Senate seat' to a Democrat, he said on CNN.

In response to the first-daughter's comment, Trump asked several aides in the Oval Office, 'Do you believe this?'

On Sunday, in a tweet, Trump redoubled his support for Moore, ignoring the allegations of sexual harassment plaguing the politician's Alabama campaign and branding his opponent as weak on crime, the military and immigration

But Trump -- himself the object of allegations of sexual misconduct by several women during his presidential campaign -- on Sunday shrugged off such appeals.

He tweeted that 'the last thing' Republicans need in the closely divided Senate is a Democratic 'puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border. Bad for our Military and our great Vets. Bad for our 2nd Amendment. AND WANTS TO RAISES (sic) TAXES TO THE SKY.'

Despite the multiple allegations against Moore -- he reportedly was banned from an Alabama mall for repeatedly bothering teen girls -- Trump has defended him.

'Forty years is a long time,' the president told reporters Tuesday on the White House lawn. 'He says it didn't happen. You have to listen to him, also.'

Moore has denied any wrongdoing and insisted he will contest the December special election.

Last week, when Trump was asked about the torrent of accusations of sexual impropriety facing Moore, he said flatly: 'Roy Moore denies it ... And by the way, he totally denies it.'

And in speaking of Moore's female constituents, Trump insisted that the women 'are Trump voters. Most of them are Trump voters.'

Moore has denied any wrongdoing and insisted he will contest the December special election

The president also told DailyMail.com amid a scrum of cameras that he isn't ready to announce whether he'll campaign for Moore as the December 12 special election looms

The president also told DailyMail.com amid a scrum of cameras that he isn't ready to announce whether he'll campaign for Moore as the December 12 special election looms.

'I will be letting you know next week. But I can tell you we don't need somebody who's soft on crime like Jones,' Trump said.

Jones is a former US attorney and is known for prosecuting two KKK members behind the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.

Trump also insisted that 'women are very special' to him and expressed enthusiasm for the recent series of revelations about sexually predatory men in Washington.

'A lot of things are coming out, and I think that's good for our society and I think it's very very good for women,' he said. 'I'm very happy that a lot of these things are coming out.'

'The women are Trump voters. Most of them are Trump voters,' Trump said.

Trump also hedged on the cases of Sen Al Franken and Rep. John Conyers, two powerful congressional Democrats who have been snared in the national dragnet of sex abuse claims.

'I don't want to speak for Al Franken. ... He's going to have to speak for himself,' he said.

And he punted on Conyers, whose case has been in the public eye for nearly 24 hours.

'I just heard about Conyers two minutes ago,' Trump claimed.
The Japanese government is being urged by experts to gradually release radioactive water in to the Pacific Ocean more than six years after a tsunami overwhelmed the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The water is stored on site in around 900 large and densely packed tanks and could spill should another major disaster strike.

The government has been urged to release the water into the ocean as all the radioactive elements of the water except tritium - which has been said to be safe in small amounts - have been removed through treatment.

But if the tank breaks, the contents may not be able to be controlled.

The Japanese government is being urged by experts to gradually release radioactive water in to the Pacific Ocean

Local fishermen are extremely hesitant to this solution because many consumers are still uncertain to eat fish caught off Fukushima, despite tests that say the fish is safe to eat.

Today only about half of the region's 1,000 fishermen go out and just twice a week because of reduced demand.

Fumio Haga, a drag-net fisherman, said: 'People would shun Fukushima fish again as soon as the water is released.'

Lab technicians mince fish samples at Onahama port in Iwaki, pack them in a cup for inspection and record details such as who caught the fish and where.

Packaged fish then sold at supermarkets carry official 'safe' stickers.

Only three kinds of fish passed the test when the experiment began in mid-2012, 15 months after the tsunami.

Over time, that number has increased to about 100.

The fish meet what is believed to be the world's most stringent requirement: less than half the radioactive cesium level allowed under Japan's national standard and one-twelfth of the US or EU limit, said Yoshiharu Nemoto, a senior researcher at the Onahama testing station.

The amount of contaminated water held at Fukushima is still growing by 150 tons a day

The amount of radioactive water at Fukushima is still growing, by 150 tons a day.

The reactors are damaged beyond repair, but cooling water must be constantly pumped in to keep them from overheating.

That water picks up radioactivity before leaking out of the damaged containment chambers and collecting in the basements.

There, the volume of contaminated water grows, because it mixes with groundwater that has seeped in through cracks in the reactor buildings.

After treatment, 210 tons is reused as cooling water, and the remaining 150 tons is sent to tank storage.

During heavy rains, the groundwater inflow increases significantly, adding to the volume.

The water is a costly headache for Tokyo Electric Power Co, the utility that owns the plant.

To reduce the flow, it has dug dozens of wells to pump out groundwater before it reaches the reactor buildings and built an underground 'ice wall' of questionable effectiveness by partially freezing the ground around the reactors.

Another government panel recommended last year that the utility, known as TEPCO, dilute the water up to about 50 times and release about 400 tons daily to the sea - a process that would take almost a decade to complete.

Experts note that the release of radioactive tritium water is allowed at other nuclear plants.
New measures are being considered to protect pregnant women from being harassed and intimidated by 'aggressive' pro-life campaigners.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd is launching a review of conditions surrounding abortion clinics after some women reported being called 'murderers' and met with signs with 'distressing and graphic' images as they entered the buildings.

The review could give police, healthcare providers and local councils the power to 'protect women making these tough decisions'.

Rudd said: 'While everyone has a right to peaceful protest, it is completely unacceptable that anyone should feel harassed or intimidated simply for exercising their legal right to healthcare advice and treatment.

'The decision to have an abortion is already an incredibly personal one, without women being further pressured by aggressive protesters.'

The review will use evidence from across the country, as well as the USA, Australia and France.

New measures are being considered to protect pregnant women from being harassed and intimidated by 'aggressive' pro-life campaigners. Pro-life protesters are pictured outside an abortion clinic in Belfast

The Government said it could include 'bolstering existing or creating new police and civil powers'.

It has been fulled by a letter sent to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn by London MP Rupa Huq and 112 of her colleagues after she received reports of women being 'intimidated' and harassed' in her Ealing constituency.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd (pictured outside Downing Street) is launching a review of conditions surrounding abortion clinics after some women reported being called 'murderers' and met with signs with 'distressing and graphic' images as they entered the buildings

She reported women being faced with 'oversized signs with distressing and graphic images', branded 'murderers', and filmed as they walked into clinics in the area.

The Ealing and Acton Central MP, who is the sister of TV presenter Konnie Huq, branded her local authority powers 'insufficient' at dealing with the issue.

Ealing Council then pledged to 'prevent anti-abortion protesters from intimating and harassing women'.

Corbyn has also backed demands for 'buffer zones' outside clinics to safeguard pregnant women.

An organisation called The Good Counsel Network, who claims to 'seek an to end abortion one baby, one Mother, one family at a time', holds vigils outside the west London abortion clinic 38 hours a week.

But they have written to Rudd saying that the vigils do not involve calling any women 'murderers', reports The Sunday Times.

Director Clare McCullough told the newspaper many of the women they deal with are forced into aborting their babies, saying: 'We can help women with the basic things they need, a roof over their head, food on their table, legal problems, accessing medical care, baby things...'

Another group, Abort67, told The Times: 'Showing the truth is not harassment.'

On its website, the group describes its mission as: 'To make abortion unthinkable and to see the law give full protection to the unborn.

'The most effective way to change public policy is to first change public opinion.'
A Labour frontbencher today said Theresa May is 'no friend of women' - as she desperately tried to defend her party's failure to elect a female leader.

Dawn Butler, the shadow women's secretary, said the PM and Margaret Thatcher have done 'absolutely nothing' for women during the time in No10.

And she defended her party over its failure to ever put a woman in the top job saying policies for women are about more than just having a female leader.

Her comments will enrage Tories and Britons who saw Mrs Thatcher smash the glass ceiling by rising to become Britain's most senior - and respected - politician.

Labour has faced stinging criticism for its claims to be the only party to further women's rights while it stubbornly refuses to elect one as leader.

Labour frontbencher Dawn Butler said Theresa May and Margaret thatcher were no friend to women and did nothing to help women during their time in No10

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics, Ms Butler said: 'I always like to see women in power, that goes without saying and I am sure at some point we will have a female prime minister.

'But let me tell you something, Theresa May is female but she is no friend of women.'

She added: 'It's not just about having a female leader, it's about people that actually care about the issues and Jeremy cares about the issues and he cares about women and he cares about what happens to this country.

'So yes, I would love to see a female Labour prime minister, but the female Tory Prime ministers that we've had have done absolutely nothing for women.'

The Tories have elected two female leaders Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher. But despite never having elected a woman to their own party leadership Labour stubbornly insist they are the only part who boost women[s rights

It comes after she suggested that Parliament will only achieve true equality when there are as many 'rubbish women' as there are 'rubbish men'.

She said that female MPs 'always have to be quite spectacular' while their male counterparts can get away with being mediocre - or worse.

Many female Labour politicians have admitted their party has a problem with sexism in its ranks.

The issue rose to the fore again last year when Labour MP Angela Eagle threw her hat in the ring to challenge Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership - only to be swiftly shunted to the sidelines as Owen Smith was selected to mount the challenge.

The male Welsh MP failed woefully in his bid to unseat the left-winger and the challenge was seen to strengthen Mr Corbyn's position rather than harm it.
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A 19th century railway station that was converted into a family home has gone on sale for 380,000.

The old Innerpeffray Station house, on a disused railway line near Crieff, Perthshire, is on the market nearly 70 years after closing its doors to the public.

The three-bedroom property, with outstanding rural views, is set over two floors, with a living room, three double bedrooms and a large sun room.

The old Innerpeffray Station house (pictured), on a disused railway line near Crieff, Perthshire, has gone on the market nearly 70 years after closing its doors to the public

Innerpeffray was once a thriving station but stopped serving the public in 1951 after tourism in the area slowly waned

The station house is now a three-bedroom family home and pictured is the house's spacious living area, which also boasts pleasant rural views

One of the few remaining reminders of the house's time as an important travel link, is this commemorative plaque

An archive picture shows a steam train on the tracks running alongside the house, which have since been grassed over. But the edge of the original platform remains clearly visible.

Innerpeffray Station was opened on 21 May 1866 as part of the busy Crieff to Methven rail link.

The line enjoyed a thriving tourism boom in the late 19th Century when Strathearn became a significant visitor destination.

The kitchen also has space for a dining area, so that residents can speak to guests or loved ones as they cook up their meals

The rail house is nestled on thee acres of countryside and comes complete with a decked area so that people can soak up the sun or enjoy their rural views

The home's tree flanked drive is another example of its quaint rural charm, while a mile stone is a reminder of its time as a bustling station

The station, built in 1866, in its hey-day was used for transporting toursits around Scotland as well as delivering cargo

It was gradually scaled down over the decades and Innerpeffray closed its doors to passengers and goods traffic on 1 October 1951.

Now, the only reminders of its time as a bustling travel hub include an old mile stone and a plaque to commemorate its service.

The converted station house is being sold through SPC Scotland, inviting offers of more than 380,000.

The property is set over two floors and includes a living room, three double bedrooms and a large sun room (pictured)

Residents in of the property's three double bedrooms can enjoy beams of natural light that floods in through its windows

The rural property is surrounded by lush green gardens and is perfect for a history lover, train enthusiast or those who enjoy spending time in the great outdoors

As well as the house, the sale includes three acres of ground which covers part of the dismantled railway line.

The southern side of the platform was used for loading livestock onto trains, while the other end was for travellers who sheltered in the station's separate male and female waiting rooms.

Caroline Young, from SPC Scotland, said: 'Innerpeffray Station House is a wonderful family home with a fascinating history, not just for rail enthusiasts, and with potential for additional development.

The once bustling station boasts spacious bedrooms, including this one which has more than enough room for a double bed

The property has stunning rural views of the surrounding countryside, with fields and hills sprawling into the distance

'Set between Crieff and Auchterarder, it is surrounded by beautiful countryside and with access to good schools and outdoor pursuits.'

Planning permission was granted for an extension to the property in 2010, however this consent has since lapsed.

The Crieff and Methven Junction Railway, which cost around 66,000 to build, was shut down after passenger numbers dropped considerably in the middle of the 20th Century. In its heyday, it had stops at Crieff, Madderty and Balgowan.
Michigan Democrat Rep. John Conyers announced Sunday that he would be stepping down as the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee amid sexual harassment allegations.

'After careful consideration and in light of the attention drawn by recent allegations made against me, I have notified the Democratic Leader of my request to step aside as Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee during the investigation of these matters,' Conyers said in a statement Sunday. 'I deny these allegations, many of which were raised by documents reportedly paid for by a partisan alt-right blogger.'

Conyers statement came shortly after the Democratic Leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, appeared on Meet the Press and seemed to defend the 27 term Michigan lawmaker.

'John Conyers is an icon in our country,' Pelosi told host Chuck Todd. 'He has done a great deal to protect women,' she added.

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Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, announced Sunday that he would be stepping down from being ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee as the House Ethics Committee looks into whether he sexually harassed staff

House Leader Nancy Pelosi (left) urged caution and patience when she appeared on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd (right) Sunday, saying that John Conyers should get 'due process' before his career is topped by these allegations

Pelosi wanted Conyers to get 'due process' before the allegations toppled yet another political career.

'We are strengthened by due process. Just because someone is accused  and was it one accusation? Is it two?' Pelosi asked Todd.

BuzzFeed first reported allegations against Conyers, which included that a woman said she was fired because she would not 'succumb to sexual advances.'

Right-wing blogger Mike Cernovich was BuzzFeed's source of the documents for the story, which the news site confirmed.

Conyers admitted to the $27,000 payout the woman received, but characterized it as a severance package.

He's denied the allegations.

Another woman came out and said Conyers verbally abused her when she worked for him in the 1990s.

'I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family before the House Committee on Ethics,' Conyers said in his statement today.

During the program, Todd had asked Pelosi about whether she would allow Conyers to continue to reign high on the Judiciary Committee.

'I am not sharing that with you right now,' Pelosi replied.

However, on the heels of Conyers' statement, Pelosi released one of her own.

'Zero tolerance means consequences. I have asked for an ethics investigation, and as that investigation continues, Congressman Conyers has agreed to step aside as Ranking Member,' Pelosi said.

Pelosi, the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House, continued by saying, 'As a woman and mother of four daughters, I particularly take any accusation of sexual harassment very seriously.'

She noted that any 'credible accusation' must be reviewed by the House's Committee on Ethics 'expeditiously.'

'We are at a watershed moment on this issue, and not matter how great an individual's legacy, it is not a license for harassment,' she continued.

'I commend the brave women coming forward,' Pelosi added.

The top House Democrat also announced that the House will mandate, starting next week, that all members and aides undergo harassment and anti-discrimination training.

She also urged Congress to reform the Office of Compliance and the Congressional Accountability Act, so that secret settlements could no longer be paid out using taxpayer dollars.

'We must ensure the Congress has a climate of dignity and respect with zero tolerance for sexual harassment,' Pelosi said.
Iraq and Kuwait have reached a preliminary agreement on a price for gas exports, Kuwaiti oil minister Issam Al-Marzouq told a local newspaper on Sunday, clearing the way to a deal for a pipeline and petrochemical project.

Kuwait is waiting for the Iraqi government's final approval this week, Marzouq told al-Siyasa, without stating the price.

Iraq would agree to export 50 million cubic feet (mcf) of gas per day for ten years, increasing to 200 mcf per day during that time, he said.

The exports, to come from Iraq's Rumaila field, would pay off Baghdad's final $4.6 billion (3.45 billion pounds) in war reparations owed for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Marzouq announced the proposal last month, but talks between the two countries have faltered since then over price and the location of the petrochemical plant.

Iraq hired Japan's Toyo Engineering to help build the project.

Iraq used to supply Kuwait with gas from Rumaila. Volumes reached as much as 400 mcf per day but stopped shortly after the 1990 invasion.

In his interview, Marzouq also expressed optimism that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and others would agree to extend their agreement limiting crude production.

"There is almost agreement to extend it, but the duration is still under study," he said.

OPEC meets on Nov. 30 in Vienna to decide whether to extend global output cuts beyond March.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury today launched another outspoken intervention by claiming that Britain's booming employment rate has not stopped use of food banks.

Justin Welby said the Government must do more to boost skills and make sure that Britons are employed in high-paying jobs.

His comments come just months after he said Britain's economic model is 'broken' as he packed a report by a Blairite think-tank calling for higher taxes to tackle inequality.

The Archbishop - the most senior clergyman in the Church of England - said: 'The economy was not producing justice and equality for all.'

He admitted that unemployment in Britain is at one of its lowest rates in the past 40 years.

But he said churches are still seeing long queues at food banks as people on low-wages struggle to find the money to feed their families.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, pictured on ITV today, said Britain's churches are seeing queues of people who are in work at the UK's foodbanks. He said this showed the economy is not working for everyone

He told ITV's Peston on Sunday: 'It is obviously producing a lot of jobs at the moment, there is low unemployment, there is good news.

'But the thing we see in the Church of England and with all the other churches, together is at our foodbanks, the majority of people who come to the foodbanks are in work.

'And that is a sign that work is not lifting people out of poverty in a way we would hope in a society that is just.

'Obviously we are motivated by, and go back to, Jesus' command to care and love the poor.'

The Archbishop insisted that he is not trying to single out a particular party for an attack.

But asked about Chancellor Philip Hammond's Budget earlier this week he refused to give it a ringing endorsement.

He added: 'This is not a party political thing it goes way back beyond any particular government.'

In September the Archbishop backed a report by the Blairite IPPR think-tank which claimed Britain was stuck in the longest period of earnings stagnation for 150 years.

Theresa May, pictures heading to church with her husband Philip this morning, has seen unemployment figures plummet to some of its lowest levels in 40 years. But the Archbishop aid low wages means many are still in poverty

He faced a backlash for backing the report from critics who said he should stick to religious and spiritual matters rather than politics.

But today he again plugged the report saying it talks about how to boost investment and skills 'the things we have all known for many years but that every government has found incredibly difficult to implement'.

He added: 'It says basically that Brexit changes the context within which we are operating, but doesn't change the fundamental issues which we are facing about the need for skills growth for a strong full economy.

'For much more investment, much higher productivity, for a ,much more flexible economy to cope with the fourth industrial revolution - the whole automation, robotics and artificial intelligence.'

Asked for his views on Wednesday's Budget he added: 'I think it is dealing with issues which are very much facing people at the moment, I think there needs to be much more of a long-term cross-party approach.'
Susan Sarandon has announced that she's glad Hillary Clinton lost the election because she's 'very dangerous' and America would be 'at war.'

The outspoken actress faced a furious backlash from the left who accused her of allowing Donald Trump to win because she'd refused to vote for Clinton in the US election.

She had instead chosen to back independent Jill Stein, after Bernie Sanders lost in the Democratic primary.

But the 71-year-old says she has no regrets.

Susan Sarandon has announced that she's glad Hillary Clinton lost the election because she's 'very dangerous' and America would be 'at war'

The outspoken actress faced fierce criticism from the left after the US election, as many liberals furiously accused her of allowing Donald Trump (right) to win because she'd refused to vote for Hillary Clinton (left)

'I did think she was very, very dangerous,' Sarandon told the Guardian of Clinton. 'We would still be fracking, we would be at war [if she was president]. It wouldn't be much smoother. Look what happened under Obama that we didn't notice.'

She said that while former president Barack Obama had 'really hard about healthcare' and 'it was very important to have a black family in the White House', she says he deported even more people than Trump - he just did it 'sneakily.'

Sarandon hasn't always been such a staunch Clinton opponent. In 2001, she even backed her for the Senate and posed with the former First Lady during her run.

But that all changed when Clinton voted for the war in Iraq.

Since then Sarandon has refused to support the former Secretary of State - even if that meant alienating herself from her fellow liberals.

She'd been attacked by Clinton supporters online, including Will and Grace star Debra Messing who tweeted: 'Susan Sarandon muses tht Trump prezcy wud b better 4 the country thn Hillary.Wonder if she'd say that if she were poor,gay,Muslim or immgrnt to [sic].'

Sarandon hasn't always been such a staunch Clinton opponent. In 2001, she even backed her for the Senate and posed with the former First Lady during her run. Pictured: Sarandon greets Clinton, during a rally in 2006, on Capitol Hill

The pair got into a mudslinging match on Twitter, with Sarandon accusing her rival of 'RT-ing personal attacks' against her before finally finishing the exchange by tweeting: 'Alright @DebraMessing report me to the homeroom teacher and let's STOP.'

Their feud was revisited this year when Andy Cohen asked socialist Sarandon about the incident during an appearance on his talk show in May.

'You know, I think she's not very well informed, so sometimes she gets in areas that she really hasn't thought through,' she said. 'She's Trumpian a little bit like that, so I don't have anything against her personally. I just sometimes I have to say, 'But you don't have the information.''

The Thelma and Louise star said she's even had to change her phone number since the election after receiving a slew of violent, threatening messages.

'I got from Hillary people 'I hope your crotch is grabbed', 'I hope you're raped'. Misogynistic attacks.'

'I would much rather talk about how to keep my country unified,' said Messing, who started a Twitter feud with Sarandon last year because the 70-year-old wouldn't support Hillary Clinton

Outspoken: The Will & Grace star didn't hold back when slamming Oscar winner Susan

She said that when she recently took a stand on Dreamers, a program to allow children who entered the US illegally to gain citizenship, after Trump threatened to revoke it. But when she showed her support, she had another wave of abuse from the left blaming her for not voting for Clinton.

'How dare you! You who are responsible for this!' she said the messages read.

However, Sarandon appears to take it all in her stride.

She says it's 'flattering' that some assume her voice held so much sway over the population but she didn't find the attacks upsetting. And her friends have stood by her through it all.

'It's upsetting to me more from the point of view of thinking they haven't learned. I don't need to be vindicated.'

The actress insists her vote for Stein wasn't a 'protest vote' but she'd told people at the time, 'Get your information, I'm going to vote for change, because I was hoping that Stein was going to get whatever percentage she needed  but I knew she wasn't going to make the difference in the election.'

The Rocky Horror Show has said previously she voted 'by issues: I don't vote with my vagina.'

When asked about Harvey Weinstein (pictured) and the broader Hollywood sex scandal, she said that not every woman seduced by men 'smoother at seducing than James Toback and Harvey Weinstein' felt like a victim

'I'm sure... a lot of women felt very flattered to be sleeping with (men other than James Toback, pictured, and Weinstein), even if they didn't get the job.

Sarandon may have starred in one of the most acclaimed feminist films of all time, Thelma and Louise, but she has only just started referring to herself as a feminist.

And when asked about Harvey Weinstein and the broader Hollywood sex scandal, she said that not every woman seduced by men 'smoother at seducing than James Toback and Harvey Weinstein' felt like a victim.

'I'm sure... a lot of women felt very flattered to be sleeping with (men other than Toback and Weinstein), even if they didn't get the job.

'There's just a culture, starting in the 60s and 70s, where there was a certain amount of liberation that made it possible for those things to happen without even seeing yourself as a victim.'

But she concedes there are lots who said no, and when they tried to report it they were dealt with a shrug.

'I think the big question here is that if Harvey Weinstein exposed himself to you when you were on a yacht in Cannes and you told everybody  this is Angie Everhart's story  and everyone said: 'Well, that's just Harvey' and it wasn't a big deal  those are the people who are perpetuating it, too.'

'A lot of that has changed. And a lot of women are assessing how they feel; were they victimized or did they feel that it was their own choice?'

She says it's 'flattering' that some assume her voice held so much sway over the population but she didn't find the attacks upsetting. And her friends have stood by her through it all. Sarandon is pictured at the Emmy Awards on September 17, in LA

Thankfully, Sarandon says she was never put in a situation where 'no' wasn't enough.

She said that she had never been cornered, battered or forced against her will.

'It was an invitation: 'Yeah, why don't you spend the night now that you're here in the middle of nowhere on location?' And I said: 'No, I gotta get back to my room.' But I didn't feel super offended, because it wasn't a thing that became super difficult.'

But she has found herself rejected for roles or told she wasn't 'sexual enough' after they realized she was married.

Today, she believed that imbalance of power between the sexes is being corrected, thanks to the female directors and producers breaking through to make their own movies. But it's slow going.
A minority Islamic sect regarded as blasphemous by other Muslims has introduced airport-style security at mosques across Britain after receiving death threats.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK (AMC) has started using metal detectors and bag searches at its mosques after threats were made against its leader, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, and other group members.

The Metropolitan Police are said to be investigating the threats, which are reportedly coming from other Muslims around Britain.

Following the threats, members of the Ahmadiyya community will now have to walk through metal detectors and partake in identity checks and bag searches before entering mosques.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK (AMC) has installed metal detectors at its mosques around the UK. Pictured above, the Baitul Futuh mosque in London

Farooq Aftab, a spokesman for AMC, which represents about 30,000 Ahmadis, said that while Ahmadis are often persecuted in Pakistan, it should not be tolerated in Britain.

'People who don't think we are Muslims are entitled to their own point of view, but the line must be drawn because violence cannot be justified. We can disagree, but we have a right to freedom of religion,' Aftab told The Sunday Times.

Aftab added: 'People who don't think we are Muslims are entitled to their own point of view, but the line must be drawn because violence cannot be justified. We can disagree, but we have a right to freedom of religion.

'Our community is under attack by extremists but our commitment to peace and love is unshakable. We appreciate the work of the authorities and they must continue to work diligently for the protection and safety of all citizens.'

Fears among the Ahmadi community in the UK increased in March after a member was stabbed to death over his religious beliefs in Glasgow.

The AMC increased security at its mosques after threats were made against its leader, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (pictured), and other group members

The Ahmadi sect has 10-20million followers worldwide who face discrimination in a number of Muslim-majority nations such as Indonesia and Algeria, as well as being ostracised by large parts of the Muslim community in Britain.

There are about half a million Ahmadis in Pakistan, local leaders say, though other estimates have put the number at 2-4 million.

Ahmadis are some of the most common defendants in criminal charges of blasphemy, which in Pakistan can carry the death penalty.

By law they cannot call their place of worship mosques or distribute religious literature, recite the Koran or use traditional Islamic greetings, measures that they say criminalise their daily lives.

The legal restrictions began in 1974, when the then-Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto passed a constitutional amendment declaring Ahmadis non-Muslim.

A decade later military dictator General Zia ul Haq barred Ahmadis from identifying themselves as Muslim.

Community leaders say these moves laid the groundwork for a sectarian divide that has since seen many violent attacks on Ahmadis and birthed multiple militant organizations, including many that are now linked to Islamic State.
The mother who starved her seven-year-old girl to death has been released from prison after serving less than her 15-year sentence in Britain.

Angela Gordon, 42, admitted to killing her daughter Khyra Ishaq and subjecting five other children to horrific cruelty.

She was jailed for 15 years in February 2010, along with Khyra's stepdad Junaid Abuhamza who was given an indeterminate seven-and-a-half year minimum sentence. Both had admitted to manslaughter.

But it has recently emerged that Gordon was released from prison earlier this year- serving just seven years of her allocated time.

Seven-year-old Khyra Ishaq, pictured, was found dead in May 2008 after being starved and beaten

Khyra's father Ishaq Abuzaire, 46, pictured, cannot believe that his ex-wife has been released from prison

The victim's father Ishaq Abuzaire, 46, has slammed prison chiefs for releasing Gordon and claims no one from the Ministry of Justice warned him of his ex-wife's release.

Mr Abuzaire said: 'I got a letter from the NSPCC to say she had been released around April time but no one from the authorities has been in touch. It is ridiculous.

'I don't know where she is. I was never told. They only told me the month she would be released.

In May 2008, Khyra was found dead weighing just 2st 9lb. She had lost 40 per cent of her body weight after catching a chest infection.

Six months before, Gordon had taken Khyra out of school to be educated at her home in Handsworth, Birmingham, where Gordon's schizophrenic partner Abuhamza also lived.

Khyra's school had previously raised concerns about her diet but Gordon reportedly did not allow social services onto the property.

Angela Gordon, pictured, starved her daughter to death and has now been released from prison

Khyra, pictured, was full of life and her loss has been beyond difficult for her father, Ishaq Abuzaire

During the trial Birmingham Crown Court heard how Khyra and five other children were beaten with a bamboo cane and drenched in water before being forced to stand outside in their underwear.

The children, whose identities have not been released, were fed from bowls in their upstairs bedroom and given tiny portions, or not fed at all.

Abuhamza, a Muslim covert, said that this was designed to teach them the 'Islamic perspective about being dutiful to your parents.'

Mr Abuzaire, who is from Duddeston, Birmingham, is 'still suffering' over the loss of his daughter. He split with Gordon in 2006.

'She was manipulated and she made mistakes,' he said. 'He [Abuzaire] took advantage of the situation after we split but no one thought she would allow this to happen.'

He added: 'They should have been convicted of murder. She was smart and caring for her children until she met Abuhamza.

Mr Abuzaire explained that Abuhamza had claimed he had been abused by his own parents, which helped the pair get off lighter than they should have.

'The book should have been thrown at them,' he said.

Mourners carrying the coffin during the funeral of Khyra Ishaq the girl, pictured, in 2008

Ishaq Abuzaire, pictured, thinks that his ex-wife and her partner should have been jailed for murder

He said: 'Khyra was a very bright child, bouncy and full of life, that's the only memory I have of her, apart from when I had to identify her in the hospital.

'Seeing her go from one to the other was heartbreaking,' he said.

Mr Abuzaire said he could not attend some of the hearings due to the horrific details being described.

'I just couldn't face it', he said. 'I didn't know what my reaction would be.'

Following the sentencing, Mr Abuzaire successfully sued Birmingham Council for negligence, claiming a five-figure in compensation.

A Serious Case Review into the tragedy found the children had been let down social workers, health staff, teachers and police.

The 180 page report, published by Birmingham's Safeguarding Children's Board, said: 'Whilst a number of agencies and individuals sought to deliver effective services to the child... there were others who lost sight of the child and focused instead upon the rights of the adults, the adults' behaviours and the potential impact for themselves as professionals.'

Mr Abuzaire added: 'The events that have followed Khyra's death have kept me occupied up until now. It has been out of the media spotlight but it has been ongoing for eight years.

'Everyone thinks it ended after the court case but care proceedings continued after that for the other five children.'

Mr Abuzaire was out of the country when he received a text message informing him that Khyra had died and that the other children were in a bad way.

He said: 'I saw the children seven days before Khyra's death, they looked odd, but I hadn't seen them for such a long time before that, I knew they had changed but I had never seen signs of malnutrition before.

'They had no fat on their cheeks and they looked slim, I was frustrated that it was my lack of knowledge that meant I didn't pick up the signs.

Mr Abuzaire says he is unable to visit Khyra's grave. He is first trying to stop being angry.

'My problem was the number of opportunities the council had to step in and they did nothing, they are incompetent of carrying out their duty.'
One of the women leading the charge to help victims of sexual harassment who work on Capitol Hill said Sunday she believed the current rules were put in place to help the abusers.

'I think it was a system set up in 1995 to protect the harasser,' Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, told ABC News' Martha Raddatz. 'This is not a victim-friendly process. And one victim who I spoke with said, "You know, the process was almost worse than the harassment."'

Speier was referring to the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, which outlines the procedures Capitol Hill staffers have to follow to report sexual harassment or assault in the workplace.

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Rep. Jackie Speier, a Democrat from California, told ABC News' Martha Raddatz that she thought the current sexual harassment reporting procedure on Capitol Hill was put in place 'to protect the harasser'

Rep. Jackie Speier (right) told ABC's Martha Raddatz (left) that one victim of sexual harassment who worked on Capitol Hill told her the procedure to report what happened was more painful than the incident itself

Rep. Barbara Comstock (center) said on ABC's This Week that there's bipartisan support for a more 'victim-friendly' set of guidelines

'There's a broad consensus to get rid of a lot of that so it's much more victim-friendly,' explained Rep. Barbara Comstock, a Virginia Republican who's also been vocal on the issue, who also appeared on ABC.

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who ran for the GOP nomination in 2016, made a similar point on Fox News Sunday.

'That whole process is designed to protect politicians, Democrats and Republicans alike, to protect the institution and to make it next to impossible for a woman, or in some cases a young boy page, to come forward,' Fiorina said.

As it stands, when a victim is sexually harassed or abused on Capitol Hill they have 180 days, about six months, to file a claim through the Office of Compliance.

Once a complaint is filed, victims have 30 days of mandatory counseling in which counselors give victims information about their rights under the 1995 law.

Counselors do not, however, do not advise the victims on the merits of their case.

Once counseling is completed, victims have 15 days to decide if they want to pursue mediation.

If the victim doesn't pursue mediation, the law doesn't give victims another avenue to pursue the claim.

If the victim does pursue mediation they are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Victims are also likely still working alongside their harasser, as there's nothing in the law that forces the lawmaker or the Congressional office to improve the work culture.

Additionally, the lawyer doing the mediation is representing the congressional office and is paid by taxpayer dollars, while the victim may not have an attorney of her or his own.

Settlements have also been paid out using taxpayer dollars and victims have signed non-disclosure agreements to keep the details locked tight.

A number of lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said Sunday they would be for retroactively releasing information to the public about these cases.

In Pelosi's case she was for the release, as long as it had the victim's support.

For victims who don't settle, they're required to endure a 30-day 'cool off' period, before they can file a lawsuit or request an administrative hearing.

If they pursue this option, they'll have no support from the OCC.

Earlier this month, Speier introduced the ME TOO act to Congress to reform these procedures.

'The whole system needs to have a comprehensive shift,' she explained on ABC's This Week today.

Among the improvements, Speier said, her legislation would apply to aides, but also to fellows and interns, who currently have no way to formally wage complaints.

'You would not have a mandatory mediation if you don't want to pursue it,' she said. 'And you will not be subject to a mandatory non-disclosure agreement.'

Staffers would also be surveyed, as a way to ensure that Capitol Hill offices were making progress on this issue.

'We say zero tolerance, but I don't believe that we put our money where our mouths are,' Speier said.

Comstock echoed the sentiment.

'When this comes forward, we need to respect it and we need to protect the women to make sure it doesn't happen anymore, and there are consequences,' Comstock said.
Antonio Stampone, 39, is pictured leaving Truro Crown Court

A judge has slammed a prestigious adults-only hotel for failing to tell police that a woman had been sexually assaulted during a massage at its luxury spa.

A holidaymaker became concerned at the behaviour of her Italian masseur during a full-body treatment at The Scarlet in Mawgan Porth, near Newquay, Cornwall.

Antonio Stampone, 39, began breathing heavily as he gave the massage and brushed against the woman's exposed nipple.

Truro Crown Court was told Stampone then began massaging her breast and then her genitals, forcing her to grab Stampone's hand and demand he stop.

The court heard she reported the incident to the hotel management, but the luxury hotel did not inform the police that a sexual offence had taken place.

The offence only came to light when the woman went to report the crime herself.

Stampone admitted sexual assault and was handed a suspended prison sentence.

Judge Simon Carr said: 'I am deeply concerned by the way The Scarlet hotel chose to investigate these matters.

'It was entirely proper to conduct an internal investigation. It was improper not to report it to the police.

'It has all the hallmarks of a hotel trying to protect their reputation, rather than them protecting women using the facilities at this spa.

'I thought the days were gone when a company made a knee-jerk reaction to cover it up, rather than reporting it to the proper authorities.

'I do hope the hotel authorities will act appropriately in the future.'

Prosecutor Philip Lee said the woman came to Cornwall on holiday in the summer and stayed at the hotel.

She had a number of treatments in the spa and this was the second massage by Stampone, who had only joined the hotel a couple of months beforehand.

He had been working as a masseur for 11 years at top-end hotels in Italy and Singapore.

Stampone admitted sexual assault and was handed a suspended prison sentence by the judge

Mr Lee said the woman was alone in a dark, small room with Stampone as he administered a full-body hot poultice treatment.

He said: 'For some 20 minutes, he massaged her legs up to her upper thigh. Then he placed his right hand on her right breast area with the other hand on her abdomen.

He passed his hand across her nipple area and she noticed his breathing was getting heavy.'

Mr Lee said the woman reported the incident to hotel management and Stampone later apologised.

He said Stampone was dismissed from his job two days later, but added: 'The hotel did not report the matter to the police.'

Mr Lee said the woman was frightened and deeply distressed by the incident and still suffers from nausea, nightmares and anxiety.

Edward Bailey, mitigating for Stampone, said: 'That afternoon he succumbed momentarily to temptation and lust got the better of him.

The judge slammed hotel bosses at the Scarlet hotel and spa for not reporting the matter to police

'From the moment it happened, he was apologising. He has thrown away a career of some 11 years as a highly respected masseur.'

Mr Bailey said Stampone was back in Italy when the police launched their investigation and he flew back to meet officers.

He said he had travelled back to the UK on two further occasions for court appearances.

Mr Bailey added that Stampone intended to leave the UK and return to Italy, to care for his unwell mother and help his family in the wake of a devastating earthquake in the L'Aguila region.

He said he also intended to give up on the profession and would instead get a job as a financial agent in his brother's insurance firm.

Judge Carr told him: 'During the course of a professional massage you sexually assaulted this woman.

'She would have been very frightened by what was happening and what could have happened.'

He said such incidents typically carried an immediate prison sentence, but, given Stampone's remorse and actions since the offence, the sentence was suspended.

Stampone was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, was ordered to pay 500 court costs and be the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.
TV legend Don Burke was a 'horrible, dirty old man' who was the subject of a number of informal sexual harassment complaints by his female colleagues, according to a former Nine CEO.

David Leckie, who was chief executive at the network from 1994 to 2001, compared the Burke's Backyard host to disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

'I've been trying to think of Harvey Weinstein-type people (in Australia) and the only one I can ever come up with is Burke,' he told Fairfax Media.

'I am not going to mention any specific girls or anything like that,' he said, admitting he had heard complaints against Burke but denying hearing anything first-hand.

Leckie's predecessor Sam Chisolm agreed, describing Burke as a 'terrible grub' who was a 'disgrace because of his behaviour internally and externally'.

TV legend Don Burke has been accused of sexually harassing numerous female colleagues, as well as groping a woman and a teenage girl. He is pictured with accuser Louise Langdon

Former Nine CEO's David Leckie (left) and Sam Chisolm (right) described Burke as a 'horrible, dirty old man'. Leckie admitted he had heard complaints from female colleagues about Burke's alleged behaviour but nothing first-hand

Burke, 70, has been accused of sexually harassing numerous female colleagues, as well as groping a woman and a teenage girl.

The bombshell claims, made by the Sydney Morning Herald and the ABC, claim the host of Burke's Backyard touched women inappropriately and made lewd comments.

The Order of Australia Medal recipient's accusers included former researchers, producers, crew members, and TV hopefuls.

Burke has strongly denied the allegations of sexual harassment leveled against him and described the women as 'malcontents' who 'bear grudges against me'.

He said he was 'deeply hurt and outraged at the false and defamatory claims,' in a statement provided to the ABC.

The former TV icon slammed comparisons to disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and claimed he had a 'life-long opposition to sexism and misogyny'.

He said Burke's Backyard was a 'lone bastion of anti-misogyny' and deliberately chose the best women in their field.

They were 'not the typical media females aged under 30 with Barbie-Doll figures' and he faced opposition to having them on TV as a result.

Burke (left, and right with his wife), 70, who hosted Burke's Backyard for 17 years until it was suddenly axed in 2004, strongly denied the claims

Louise Langdon (left) and Wendy Dent (right) both made claims against Burke

Former researcher Louise Langdon claimed Burke insisted she watch a video, which turned out to be disgusting footage of a woman having sex with a donkey.

The then-27-year-old claimed Burke gained pleasure from her shocked reaction to the video, which left her 'speechless' and 'overcome', she told the ABC.

Ms Langdon, now a psychologist in the US, claimed he later indecently assaulted her.

'It was things like pulling at my bra strap, flicking a bra strap pulling up my shirt to see what colour underwear I was wearing,' she said.

Another time he allegedly pushed his toe into her backside to check how firm it was, and with disappointment noted she 'hadn't been working out'.

On a trip to Alice Springs for Burke's radio show, Ms Langdon claimed he joked it was so hot she should remove her clothing as they sat together on a shuttle bus.

'He decided that it was okay for him to put his hands on my T-shirt and try and pull my bra strap, my bra, off and somehow remove my clothing. He was trying to take my top off,' she said.

Burke denied any of these incidents occurred and said researchers were not taken on location for taping, and he found no record of her being on such a trip.

Another researcher, who asked not to be named, said Burke bragged about groping women's breasts as they smoked cigarettes on his production company's rooftop.

He told her that his favourite part of cocktail parties was using name tags as an excuse to 'grab women's t*ts' by pretending he couldn't read them.

Then she claimed he grabbed her breasts hard and when she jumped back he insulted their size and said no one would want to touch them.

'This was not a clumsy, oafish move. It was a calculated action. That is what was scary. It was premeditated,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Burke in response denied the entire incident ever occurred.

Burke denied any of these incidents occurred and said researchers were not taken on location for taping

Wendy Dent was working as a children's entertainer in the 1990s when she met Burke.

As part of her routine she had him kneel in front of her, sprinkled some 'stardust' over him and said he could have any wish once he opened he eyes.

To the then 21-year-old's shock, Burke said it hadn't worked because she was still wearing clothes, she claimed.

Ms Dent later took an opportunity to interview for a role on his show.

They talked on the phone about her being a 'featured mermaid' on the show and him helping her with her career, before the conversation allegedly turned sinister.

'Well you'll have to audition, but you'll have to be topless,' Ms Dent claimed he told her, prompting her to hang up in shock and disgust.

'I went from feeling like this talent with a future to feeling like I was just a pair of boobs to him, to be honest,' she said.

Burke did not comment on Ms Dent's claims.

Burke (pictured in 2009) did not comment on Ms Dent's claims

Bridget Ninness, a former producer on Burke's Backyard for seven years, described Burke as a 'vile human being' who 'got off on terrorising (female researchers)'.

Ms Ninness launched legal action against Burke's company over alleged 'sustained and systemic psychological abuse'. She eventually settled the case out of court.

A former crew member claimed Burke bragged about groping a teenage girl in a disturbing chance encounter on the street.

They claimed Burke chatted to the group of girls and offered to show them how to correctly hold a puppy they had.

Burke showed the girl how to nurse the puppy close to her chest and keep it warm, and when he walked back to the crew he exclaimed 'give me three!'

'He boasted that he had stroked her nipple three times while showing her how to hold the puppy,' the crew member claimed.

Burke did not address the former crew member's recollection of the alleged incident in his response.

A former crew member claimed Burke bragged about groping a teenage girl in a disturbing chance encounter on the street

He generally complained the 'untrue claims' would 'destroy' his income for the rest of his life and prevent him from performing his 'extensive charity work'.

He said recorded testimonies from award-winning author Jackie French, and showrunners Michael Freedman and James O'Sullivan would support his denials.

Mr Freedman, his former chief executive, told the SMH: 'I never observed any sexual harassment. Don's not the kind of person to engage in that type of behaviour'.

Daily Mail Australia earlier revealed Burke called in top defamation lawyer Patrick George, senior partner at the law firm Kennedys Australia.

Burke called the allegations 'false and defamatory' and appeared poised to take legal action against his accusers.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr George for further comment.
Filming of the sixth and final season of House of Cards will be delayed once again following the sexual assault revelations surrounding Kevin Spacey.

Production of the award-winning show, where Spacey previously had the lead role, has been pushed back another two weeks until December 8, The Hollywood reporter said.

Netflix already announced that the upcoming season would be the shows last following the multiple accusations against Spacey, and he is expected to be written out of the final season.

House of Cards production continues to be delayed amidst the sexual assault revelations surrounding Kevin Spacey (pictured here)

At least 15 young men have come forward to say that he sexually assaulted or attempted to rape them.

'These last two months have tested and tried all of us in ways none of us could have foreseen,' Pauline Micelli, Media Rights Capital senior vice president of television business and legal affairs, said in a letter to production crew and cast.

'The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person, and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business.'

Robin Wright, Spacey's co-star in the show continues to maintains her silence on the sex abuse scandal.

Spacey and Robin Wright play the leads Francis and Claire Underwood on the hit show

Netflix removed Spacey from the cover photo of the show and instead replaced it with a photo of Wright by herself (pictured here)

Jessica Chastain vouched for Wright as she tweeted: 'Can #RobinWright just be the lead of @HouseofCards now? We're ready for it.'

Additionally, Netflix removed Spacey from the cover photo of the show and instead replaced it with a photo of Wright by herself.

The company announced at the beginning of November they wouldn't make House Of Cards as long as Spacey was involved, and that it was dropping a biopic of writer Gore Vidal that he had been set to star in too.

The actors are pictured here during one of their scenes on the Netflix show

BuzzFeed News also spoke to three more men who accused Spacey of inappropriate conduct - including one who said the actor invited him to watch gay porn and gave him cocktails when he was 16.

'Netflix will not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey,' the company said in a statement.

'We will continue to work with [Media Rights Capital, the production house behind the show] during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the show.'

'We have also decided we will not be moving forward with the release of the film Gore, which was in post-production, starring and produced by Kevin Spacey.'

It is expected that Francis Underwood's character played by Spacey (above) will be cut from the final season of the show

Jessica Chastain vouched for Wright as she tweeted the show should continue with Wright as the lead, despite Spacey being kicked off

The statement is vague about the fate of House of Cards, but Page Six reported that production would continue without Spacey's involvement. It is unclear whether that is speculation; the claim isn't attributed to any source.

The show began with production house Media Rights Capital (MRC), but Spacey has an executive producer credit on the show, and his own company - Trigger Street Productions - has been involved in the show over the first five seasons.

It's not clear whether the first five seasons of the show will remain on Netflix.

Robin Wright is pictured here on the red carpet with her daughter Dylan Penn

Spacey's woes came after Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp claimed that Spacey had come onto him when he was just 14 years old, after a party at Spacey's, when they were the only ones in the apartment.

He said the actor had drunkenly picked him up 'like a bride,' and then lay down on top of him. Spacey said the story 'horrified' him and said he didn't recall the encounter, but said he apologized 'if I did behave then as he describes.'

Since then, a claim has emerged that Spacey made a 'gesture and remark' on the set of the first season in 2012 that resulted in him undergoing a 'training process'.

Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp was the first to make claims against Spacey, saying the actor drunkenly grabbed him and lay on top of him when he was just 14

And on Friday another three claims were fired at the Oscar-winner - one of them again involving a teenager, another one claiming that he grabbed a man's penis and chased him around a club, and the third saying he got an assistant to request sex on set.

Spacey's lawyer did not respond to BuzzFeed's request for comment on the new claims.

Justin Dawes told Buzzfeed that he was working as a 16-year-old volunteer theater usher in 1988 when he met Spacey, then 29, after a play he was appearing in.

The actor invited him and a male friend over to watch Roman Polanski's Chinatown at an apartment he was renting for the duration of the performance.

This was some 11 years after Polanski himself was infamously charged with getting a 13-year-old girl drunk and raping her.

Dawes said that he and his friend arrived at Spacey's home to find no-one else there, and the TV playing gay pornography. Spacey mixed them cocktails, he said.

'We all had a drink, and we were kind of like, "Oh, no one else is coming?" And he's like, "Oh, no one else decided to come," and he never mentioned that this porn was playing,' Dawes told BuzzFeed News. 'It was really awkward.'

Spacey (seen in 1986) allegedly approached a 16-year-old in 1988 and invited him to watch a movie. When the teen got to Spacey's home, he said, gay porn was on the TV and Spacey was making cocktails. But the now-38-year-old said Spacey was 'cringey' and 'benign'

He said it was 'cringey' and 'benign' but that it was obvious he was not an adult at the time: ''He knew that I was in high school. It was pretty clear. It's not like I was pretending to be an older, cooler person.'

Friends of Dawes, who is straight, confirmed that he had told them about the story around that time, but the friend allegedly at the party couldn't be contacted.

Friday's second accuser was an unnamed journalist who said that Spacey grabbed his crotch during an interview in London in 2009.

Spacey, who was then head of London's famous Old Vic theater, was starring in Inherit the Wind there when the journalist met him.

He said that Spacey was 'charming' during the interview, but grew lecherous after he invited the journalist out to a nighclub.

'He just kept reaching between my legs and, you know, just grabbing my d**k,' he said.

'I would move his hand away, and say something that I thought was pretending was funny or whatever at first. And then I was starting to get annoyed by it, and that was pretty clear.'

He says he repeatedly tried to move away from Spacey and shoo him off, but that Spacey kept following him, touching his legs.

Even saying he was in a committed relationship with a woman didn't put off Spacey, he said: 'He had somehow convinced himself that this was a sexual liaison that we both wanted.'

In 2009, during this production of Inherit the Wind in London, Spacey allegedly grabbed a journalist's penis and chased him around a club

The journalist said that Spacey's entourage did nothing to help, and that he felt compelled to stay because he was on an assignment.

'I was trying not to make a big scene, because I had an assignment to write about him,' he said. 'So it wasn't clear to me that I should just, like, knock his teeth out, or something. I was in a weird dynamic of I wanted to be able to do my story.'

He said he ended up not printing the story because Spacey was in the closet, and he didn't want to out him without the man's permission.

Military advisor Mark Ebenhoch (pictured) said that on the set of Outbreak, one of Spacey's 'harem' of assistants asked him to go to Spacey's trailer and have sex with him

'It has occurred to me since then that there's this weird way that Spacey had discovered that the closet would shield other things,' the journalist said.

'Being closeted has for him enabled him to use this privacy claim as a shield against anybody looking closely at his actual behavior.

'And then it may have served as this strange, protective mechanism, to say, "My whole sexual life is off limits because of my sexuality."'

Spacey came out in his response to Rapp's allegations - which empowered the journalist to speak out, but also led to a backlash from people who felt he was trying to distract from the claims against him while also selling out the LGBT community.

The third claim came from Mark Ebenhoch, who met Spacey on the set of 1995 thriller Outbreak, when he was 35 and Spacey around 36.

Ebenhoch, who is gay but was in the closed at the time, was working as a military consultant on the film, in which Spacey plays an Army virologist.

He said that Spacey had a 'harem' of young male assistants according to those on set, and one day, 'out of the complete blue', one of them propositioned him on Spacey's behalf.

Ebenhoch said there was no veiled invitation or euphemism involved: 'They asked flat out to engage in a sexual act. It was enough to stun me. It blew me away.'

Warner Bros, the film's distributor, declined to comment when approached by BuzzFeed News.

Ebenhoch said he avoided Spacey for the rest of the shoot, fearing what might happen if he was outed. 'As a military adviser the last thing you'd want anyone to know is that you were gay,' he said.

On Thursday, MRC said it 'will continue to thoroughly investigate all current claims and any new claims that are formally brought to our attention, and will continue to monitor our own production and practices to ensure that our cast and crew feel safe and supported.'
A young boy has described the moment he thought his father was going to die as he was bludgeoned by an intruder inside their family home.

Beau Lawless and his 83-year-old father Barry were inside their Perth house on Wednesday night when a man broke in and began attacking the elderly man with a grappling hook.

'He kept hitting my dad as hard as he could, like 14 times,' the 11-year-old told Nine News.

'I didn't think he'd survive, I didn't think I'd survive either.'

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A young boy has described the moment he thought his father was going to die as he was bludgeoned by an intruder inside their family home

Beau Lawless and his 83-year-old father Barry were inside their Perth house on Wednesday night when a man broke in and began attacking the elderly man with a grappling hook

Beau, who suffers from autism, was subjected to watching the merciless beating in their Mandurah lounge room, alongside his young sister.

The two ran and hid under a bed, before Beau returned to confront the criminal when the assault did not stop.

He attempted to talk to the intruder, then began screaming and threatened to call for help.

'I yelled at him to stop but he didn't care, the second time he ignored me because I said I was going to call the police.'

Beau, who suffers from autism, was subjected to watching the merciless beating in their Mandurah lounge room, alongside his young sister

The attacker then fled, leaving the two young children to medically assist their father while he lay in a pool of his own blood.

'I got a wet cloth and pushed it against his head because I didn't want to affect it too much,' the 11-year-old said.

Barry was left with a fractured skull and several broken facial bones as a result of the shocking assault.

Police have interviewed a 40-year-old man over the incident but no charges have been made.
A father-of-two has tragically died after colliding with a car at a Sydney cemetery during an morning bike ride.

Emergency services were called to Woronora Memorial Park in Sutherland around 7am Sunday, where they discovered Ron Doolan pinned beneath a Toyota Corolla.

The 39-year-old, from the nearby suburb of Como, could not be saved and died at the scene.

Father-of-two Ron Doolan (right) tragically died Sunday after he collided with a car at Sydney's Woronora Cemetery during an early morning bike ride

'His phone keeps ringing off the hook so I dare say his family is looking for him,' Sutherland Duty Officer Inspector Chris Hill told The Daily Telegraph.

Mr Doolan is believed to have been identified by his distraught sister, who kissed his forehead in an emotional goodbye after he was freed, the publication reports.

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old driver of the car provided a statement to police and was taken to Sutherland Hospital for mandatory testing following the crash.

The cyclist and driver were believed to have been travelling in the same direction inside the grounds of the cemetery when they struck each other.

Mr Doolan is believed to have been identified at the scene by his distraught sister after his phone was flooded with concerned calls

No one has been charged over the incident, however police have launched an investigation into the collision.

'Given the clothing that he was wearing, he appears to be a regular Sunday morning bike rider,' Inspector Hill said.

The cemetery has a strict speed limit of 20km/h, with Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust CEO Graham Boyd calling the area a 'safe environment'.

It appears to be a series of unfortunate events that have just culminated in something that's terrible in a very serene place,' he told 7 News.

Makes no sense because it's so quiet, there's not many people around and speed does not appear to be a factor.'

No one has been charged over the incident, with the 29-year-old driver providing a statement and undergoing mandatory tests and the Cemeterties Trust CEO Graham Boyd stating 'speed does not appear to be a factor' in the 20km/h zone

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to support the Mr Doolan's wife and two daughters, with nearly $17,000 raised so far.

'We don't always know how to express our love an appreciation for someone so this is for everyone that loves the Doolans, to give back to a man that gave so much,' the page creator wrote.

Dozens of friends and family used the campaign to pay tribute to Mr Doolan, calling him someone who was 'always so happy and friendly - a real genuine guy'.
The 150-strong delegation from the Egyptian Diplomatic Club was given a presentation on the GEM's construction history and a preview of the planned displays, including the complete treasures of Tutankhamun

A delegation of foreign diplomats visited the site of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) on Sunday, inspecting the ongoing construction work in an effort raise the project's profile ahead of its opening in 2018.

The 150 diplomats from the Egyptian Diplomatic Club were given a guided tour of the site overlooking the Giza Plateau, including the conservation and research center and the main building, which is still being built.

Tarek Tawfik, supervisor general of the GEM, told Ahram Online that the delegation consisted of foreign ambassadors, cultural counsellors in Egypt and Egyptian diplomats.

They began their visit with a minute's silence to mourn the victims of Friday's terrorist attack at Al-Rawda Mosque in North Sinai.

The delegation was provided with a presentation on the GEM's construction, which started in the early 2000s, as well as the Ministry of Antiquities' plan to open the museum in 2018.

Tawfik said the world is awaiting the opening of the GEM, which will display the complete collection of King Tutankhamun's treasures for the first time since his tomb was discovered in 1922. The treasures are currently stored in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

The GEM project is intended to provide a modern and spacious venue for the display of Egypt's antiquities, many of which are stored at the museum in Tahrir Square.





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Freight trains have killed 106 reindeer in four days after drivers didn't receive a warning from railway bosses to slow down.

The animals were hit on three occasions this week on land in Kvalforsbrua, North Norway, where 65 were killed on Saturday.

This followed the deaths of 26 on Wednesday and 15 on Thursday despite rail operator Bane Nor telling the landlord trains would drive slowly in the route.

More than 100 reindeer were killed by freight trains in just four days despite owners warning transport operator Bane Nor

The government transport group had been warned about the danger several times, according to news site Helgelendingen.

Torstein Appfjell, who has looked after reindeer since he was a boy, was at the scene on Saturday and said it was a catastrophe for people looking after the animals and the wider community.

'This is a tragedy for me and the three other reineiers,' the 59-year-old told news site Aftenposten.

'I was on the spot night to Saturday and that was a terrible sight.

'Reindeer are something special for us who do this. They mean almost everything to us and the animals form the basis for our existence. Such a big recess in our reindeer herd is catastrophic.'

One of the reindeer hit on Saturday was dragged along the track by the train according to an owner.

Many of the animals carry GPS transmitters, which told Mr Appfjell they had descended from the mountains to the railway track.

Owners have been trying to move the herd to the coast for the winter, advising Bane Nor to drive carefully until the reindeer have been moved from the mountains between Eiterstrm and Mosjen.

This reindeer torso and head was found next to the tracks after the train struck animals dead in north Norway

But Mr Appfjell says a communication breakdown meant drivers travelled at their usual speed.

'We received a confirmation from Bane Nor about business activity, but there is obviously a failure in the system,' he said.

'At least the message has not reached the driver. Why is impossible for me to say something about.'

A Bane Nor spokesperson says the message was logged and added to its system but did not appear due to a technical failure.

Area Director Thor Brkkan says the provider tried to warn the driver when it became clear the message was not appearing.

'When it was discovered that the message had disappeared, they tried to call the train,' he told NRK. 'Unfortunately, it was too late.'
Spend a bit of time with explorer Benedict Allen and his wife Lenka and it becomes clear they are not a couple prone to sentimental outbursts or unnecessary shows of physical affection.

Yet when Benedict finally returned home from the jungle of Papua New Guinea at 10pm last Tuesday, he lifted Lenka off her feet and held her tight.

Their three young children ran from their bedrooms to hug him, too. And that night they all slept together, entwined in the same bed, finally reunited as a family.

Benedict Allen, with his wife Lenka, and children, Natalya, 10, Freddie, eight and Beatrice, two

Benedict had last seen Lenka and their children Natalya, ten, Freddie, seven, and Beatrice, two, in September before he embarked on a trip that was to finish with a trek to a remote tribe on the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea.

But Lenka reported her 57-year-old husband missing after he failed to make it to a scheduled speaking engagement in Hong Kong. Days later, Benedict, who had travelled without a phone and was dangerously ill with malaria, was airlifted from the jungle by the Daily Mail.

Hed been on the brink of setting off, alone, through jungle riddled with warring tribes in a bid to reach the nearest town. Its a decision that Lenka today sums up with one word: Suicidal.

Thank God the helicopter came, otherwise, otherwise . . . she doesnt finish the sentence. To contemplate what might have happened seems too awful.

Benedict remains badly affected by malaria. In the jungle, it had triggered vivid hallucinations in which he could hear his young son calling him home.

He has also been diagnosed with Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne tropical disease that can, in rare cases, prove fatal.

TV explorer Benedict filmed a video will of himself while in the grip of malaria in the jungle

He sweats profusely in temperatures of just 10 degrees centigrade (Lenka is Czech and they live in Prague). He is also, he says, constantly cloudy-headed, suffering from disturbing lapses of concentration and memory.

He shows me his notebook from the expedition. After realising a helicopter is circling to rescue him, he writes: Whoever God or the powers that be are, I want to hug and kiss them.

It was a prescient note. That night, malarial fever  which comes and goes in cycles  once more had him in its grip.

That walk would have taken me five days, he says. Nobody would walk with me because of the ongoing war there.

If Id headed off by myself and been as ill as I was that night, Id have veered off the path or laid down in the forest with fever. I certainly wouldnt be here now.

Im so grateful to Sam [the Mails chief reporter Sam Greenhill, who hired the helicopter that airlifted him to safety] and to you, Linky. Linky is Benedicts affectionate name for Lenka, 35, his wife of ten years. He sits forward on the sofa and reaches out to her.

Left, sick and suffering, when Benedict was rescued by the Mail and right, enjoying fish and chips and a gin and tonic after he stayed in hospital

I keep my feelings inside but I do love you, Linky, he says. I dont say it enough. I need to more.

Most wives would now be tearing a strip off their husband for putting them through hell and back. During Benedicts absence, Lenka admitted she ahd not been happy when he announced he was off to Papua New Guinea.

Its exhausting looking after a two-year-old and two older children alone, she said. I need Benedicts support. So we did have a few cross words when he said he was going off for two months.

But he can be very stubborn. Once Benedict sets his mind to something, I cant convince him otherwise. He just says its work and that he needs to bring the money in, so that finishes my arguments.

Today, Lenka lights up whenever Benedict walks into the room, and her initial anger has abated through relief at having him back. Were good as we are, she tells him. Nothing matters now youre home. Its a fresh start.

She has the look of a woman newly in love. Which, in a sense, she is. For, as Benedict admits, he has returned a very different man to the one who left.

Back then, he had been suffering from a deep restlessness  some might say even life crisis.

Benedict with a tribe in Papua New Guinea, before he fell ill with malaria and faced a battle to survive

Id given up my expeditions for more than ten years for my family, but I was feeling the strain of somebody not bringing in much money, Benedict says.

I felt as if I was in exile living in Prague. I felt Id lost control.

I was beginning to think I was doing very insignificant things  that my life was very reduced. I havent written a book for years. I hadnt done anything.

I wouldnt say that my life felt pointless, because Id had years and glorious years of being with my children, but there was a lack of something. I had a hole, which I felt I needed to fill.

Benedict looks half apologetically at Lenka.

People kept telling me, Its all about the family, Benedict. Maybe I needed to get away to feel that. I had all those days marching and marching, trying to get home.

TV explorer Benedict Allen with his wife Lenka at their family home in Prague

Part of the time I was deranged with malaria. Id hear Freddies little voice saying: Come on, Daddy. Im looking forward to seeing you at home.

His voice was part memory of things hed said, part fantasy of things he might say  and the third part was a sort of rather haunting, delusional thing: Freddie out there somewhere calling me.

That was the worst. Someones calling you  calling you home  and you cant answer or get there.

He quickly pulls himself together. When I saw that helicopter I was videoing it, and said to the camera: I dont know where youre from, helicopter, but Im going home . . . and I remember choking.

Born the youngest of three children to a father who was a Vulcan bomber test pilot and a mother who encouraged his love of adventure, he wanted to be an explorer from the age of ten.

Packing books in a warehouse in Hampshire enabled him to scrape together the funds for his first expedition to the Amazon at the age of 22.

He spent five months trekking across the north-eastern Brazilian rainforest where he twice suffered malaria, almost died from starvation and only survived by eating a dog hed befriended. I killed it with my machete, he says. It was pretty awful.

By that stage I was going in and out of deliria, and I was crying quite often because I thought I was going to die.

When he told his story later, there were those who disbelieved him, in part due to his inexperience and also because of the speed with which hed trekked through the rainforest.

That did niggle, he says. If youre not believed, whats the point of your life? But Mum always said, Your day will come  and that sustained me.

Left, Benedict while filming a BBC documentary in Indonesia in 2000 and right, showing off scars from a gruelling initiation ceremony for the Niowra tribe in Papua New Guinea

He had his first encounter with the tribes of Papua New Guinea at the age of 24, undergoing a lengthy and brutal initiation ceremony with the Niowra tribe to become as strong as a crocodile.

He lifts his shirt to show me the scars. They circle each of his nipples and trail down his back and stomach.

The initiation ceremony was hell  total hell, he tells me.

Our heads were shaven and we were put into little grass skirts and led into a bamboo enclosure around the spirit hut. That first day they cut us with bamboo. These were the crocodile marks. You lost a litre or two or blood. You couldnt stand up afterwards.

Then there were daily beatings, which continued for six weeks. For the first week or so I was in shock, thinking, My God, what have I put myself through, says Benedict. There was lots of crying and wailing in pain.

But after a week or ten days you didnt want to do anything but stay because you cared so deeply for your fellow initiates.

When I returned to England with my crocodile marks, I thought, I dont belong. It was very hard for my mother. He returned to Papua New Guinea but found he didnt belong there either.

Left, Benedict relives the six-week long initiation ceremony he endured with the Niowra tribe, for a BBC documentary in 2003 and right, the adventurer during filming for a documentary along The Skeleton Coast in 1997

My fellow initiates were getting on with their lives, he says. It became clear to me the initiation ceremony had been a preparation for them to do their duty to the village, but I could never be one of them so what had the ceremony prepared me for?

I decided it was a preparation for me as an explorer.

His exploration took him for the first time to the remote Yaifo tribe  thought to be one of the last people on Earth to have no contact with the outside world.

I was travelling through Papua New Guinea, documenting things, and ended up in this area called Bisorio. Gold had been discovered there, so there was gold fever that was eclipsing everything. Id heard about this remote tribe, the Yaifo, so felt it was my duty to try to document the lives of these people that were about to be radically changed.

As it was, he stayed for little more than a week. The Yaifo were a warring people who greeted him with painted faces, bows and arrows and a menacing dance.

Benedict left, but a sense of unfinished business remained and contributed to his decision to return this autumn. In the intervening three decades, his mother had died of bowel cancer in 1994, and his father from a fall in 2006.

When he met Lenka in 2003, he was dating Jerry Hall, Mick Jaggers ex, after meeting her at a function given by an enlightment guru. I had to make the decision, who do I love? he says. I had to be honest with myself and say, what is the life I can have?

Left, Benedict with former flame Jerry Hall in London, 2003 and right, with his wife Lenka, at their home in Prague

Benedict and co-presenter Frank Gardner with members of the Kandengi village, during filming for the BBC's Birds of Paradise: The Ultimate Quest, in New Guinea

He chose a life with Lenka.

In 2007, they married  and children followed. All was going well, until Benedict went on an expedition to New Guinea with [the BBCs] Frank Gardiner and everything changed.

He learned the Yaifo were still there. Loving his family, but frustrated by the constraints of domestic life, to him it was a sign.

It was as if the forest was calling me, he says. I thought, Its not over yet, Benedict. I felt I had this opportunity and that I had to seize it.

I was offered a phone to take but theyre not as useful as people think. If youre in dense rainforest, days from anywhere, who are you going to call? Where is the helicopter going to land? I had 30 years of exploration without having a phone. I wanted to rely on the help of local people.

When the helicopter dropped Benedict at Bisorio, he was fairly jolly, he says. I was back doing what I used to do as a young man: all the smells, the fruit in the trees, the birds  I cant tell you. It took seven days to trek to the Yaifo village 9,000 ft above sea level in the remote central range. To this day, he is the only white man to have made this journey.

Id always thought they were going to end up in a shanty town or miserable in a mission station. To find them liberated was wonderful. Its a terrible word, closure, but suddenly I felt everything was okay. They were a community.

Some of the younger people were in western clothes handed along through the forest, but they were themselves. They had started to accommodate the western world  but on their terms.

Benedict smiles while on the mend from his jungle ordeal in Papua New Guinea

Benedict was planning to stay a week or two but after three days he began hearing stories of war.

I said, Do you mean a war, or a domestic struggle?

They said: No, a war. Hundreds of people leaving.

I said, Hundreds killed? They said, Plenty. Bows and arrows and rifles. I turned to my camera and said, This isnt good.

Weakened by malaria and slowed by the downpour of torrential storms, after trekking for six days and with the help of a tribe called the Hewa, he reached Piawara mission. You measure distance in the jungle in days, not miles, he says. My problem was everything was getting so soaked. The zip bags with my malaria tablets in leaked, so they started disintegrating.

His notebook charts his dire state. Scratches bites, red inflamed . . . leech bites itchy but responding to medicine . . . chill . . . chill gone . . . bit weak on march. . . urine orange. . . bit hot. . . flu?. . . sense urgency to get out . . . fighting ahead . . . roads blocked . . . no way out . . . 1pm almost fainted . . . floods this evening . . . no meds . . . no mosquito net . . . fever 8pm until 2-3am . . . legs fine . . . NOT GOOD.

The forest pulls you apart, he says. Things were starting to slip out of my control. The night before we reached the mission camp, there was a total deluge. I lost a lot of my equipment but held onto the thought we were within touching distance.

But when we arrived it was deserted and the radio wasnt working. I sent a message through the Hewa tribe. I was asking begging  for a way out. Then the fever kicked in.

During his delirium, Benedict was so convinced he would never escape the jungle he videoed a final message to his family.

I told Sam when I saw him it was like an angel coming down from heaven, he says. He was, because hes brought me to this.

Again, he gestures around the sitting room. His children are home from school now, each of them wanting a cuddle.

As Lenka says: His adventurous side is part of what I fell in love with. But we need him to be a dad and husband now.

It would seem the biggest quest of Benedicts life is finally over.

This is home, he says.
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In the polar bear capital of the world of Churchill, Manitoba, this is a sight you might expect to see.

But it is still terrifying when it happens this close.

One motorist spent a several nervy minutes inside his Ford 4x4 when confronted by one of the animals, which can grow to 10ft and weigh 1,400lb.

A polar bear staring into the passenger side of Alexandre Martina's car, pictured. Mr Martina's was on holiday in Churchill, Canada indulging in some wildlife photography when one of the curious animals decided to say hello

The bear put its face up against the glass of Alexandre Martinas passenger-side window.

Mr Martina, who is French but lives in New York, was alone in the car in Churchill, Canada, where he had travelled indulge his wildlife photography hobby.

The town, in northern Manitoba, sits in an area famous for its population of polar bears and is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World.

Alexandre Martina, pictured, is a French citizen living in New York and had traveled to Canada to engage in his hobby of wildlife photography. He got the full experience when a polar bear pressed its nose up against the passenger-side window of his vehicle

But this was the first time Mr Martina's had ever got so close to one.

Mr Martina, who is a 31-year-old IT manager, said the bear spent almost five minutes checking out his car before it pressed its nose against the glass.
Her incredible flexibility has wowed Strictly Come Dancing fans  and the judges  for weeks.

And Debbie McGee performed her most agile routine yet on Saturday night, including doing the splits three times.

The 59-year-old has credited yoga for her impressive fitness  and now her teacher has revealed exactly which moves have helped the star stay so supple.

Joelle Pettitt said Miss McGee attends her hour-long classes on Tuesdays and Sundays to practice Ashtanga yoga, in which a set sequence of movements is performed in time with the breath.

It is often seen as one of the exercise regime's most demanding forms.

Debbie McGee (pictured with partner Giovanni Pernice) performed her most agile routine yet on Saturday night, including doing the splits three times. The 59-year-old has credited yoga for her impressive fitness  and now her teacher has revealed exactly which moves have helped the star stay so supple

Joelle Pettitt said Miss McGee (pictured) attends her hour-long classes on Tuesdays and Sundays to practice Ashtanga yoga, in which a set sequence of movements is performed in time with the breath

Miss Pettitt, who has been teaching the star for almost a year, described her top poses for improving flexibility, including the 'downward facing dog'.

The challenging move involves keeping the hands and feet flat on the floor with the hips lifted, while working to straighten the arms and legs.

Miss Pettitt, 33, said: 'It builds both strength and flexibility and helps to lengthen the back, hamstrings and calves whilst strengthening upper body and core.'

Another key move for the legs and back is the wide-legged forward bend  holding the toes with the legs straight, eventually bringing the head down to the ground.

She also described the seated forward bend, which involves sitting with the legs out in front and reaching forward as far as possible.

Her top poses for improving flexibility, including the 'downward facing dog' (pictured)

The teacher said: 'This helps to open the whole back of the body  hamstrings, spine and shoulders. When paired with deep, free breathing it has a calming effect.'

Miss Pettitt  who teaches at a gym in Maidenhead, Berkshire near where Miss McGee lives  said the TV star's ballet training helped her become advanced in yoga quickly.

But she added that her commitment to practising was also key, describing her as a 'very dedicated, hard-working student'.

Devotees are urged to practise the sequence of poses six times a week, but many students struggle to do this.

Miss Pettitt added that her famous pupil is also 'very warm and friendly'.

Another key move for the legs and back is the wide-legged forward bend (pictured)  holding the toes with the legs straight, eventually bringing the head down to the ground

In her intimate Argentine Tango with partner Giovanni Pernice on Saturday, Miss McGee  the widow and former assistant to magician Paul Daniels  performed both front and standing splits as well as numerous high kicks, earning her an impressive score of 38 out of 40.

Judge Bruno Tonioli praised her age-defying legs, saying 'they were like a paintbrush in the hand of a great artist, drawing the most beautiful pictures you could imagine'.

Head judge Shirley Ballas, 57, added: 'I pride myself on my balance but I have never seen balance like that. You were outstanding.'

Comedian Susan Calman, 43, became the latest celebrity to leave the BBC1 show last night after a dance-off with Alexandra Burke.

Miss Pettitt stressed anyone wanting to try yoga poses should consult a GP first.
Police have evacuated a mall in New York's Hudson Valley amid reports of a shooting during a crowded holiday shopping day.

State police say two people have been injured but it's unclear whether they were shot.

The reported shooting happened on Sunday at about 3.15pm at the Galleria at Crystal Run in Middletown, about 70 miles north of Manhattan.

Heavily armed police were spotted running through a shopping mall in New York's Hudson Valley on Sunday afternoon following reports of a shooting

Footage posted on social media showed a dozen heavily armed police officers running through the mall.

The possible shooting was reported at an American Eagle store. A man who answered the mall security office phone declined to comment.

State police said there was no other information immediately available about the ongoing investigation.

A witness said he was grabbing a bite to eat in the mall's food court when he heard alarms and employees telling everybody to get to the exits.

Footage posted on social media showed a dozen heavily armed police officers running through the mall
She's the Hollywood actress, who is known for her self-deprecating humour and down-to-earth persona.

But before becoming a household name, the 37-year-old Australian star was just your average high-school student as seen in an epic throwback video shared to Instagram on Saturday.

The MTV Movie award-winning beauty looked unrecognisable with dark locks and a curly fringe in a clip believed to have been taken during her teen years at Tara Anglican School for Girls in Sydney's North Parramatta.

Guess who? Hollywood star looks unrecognisable in epic throwback video from her high school days

Sporting a blue and white uniform, the Bridesmaids star looked fresh-faced and focused during a home video of her graduation ceremony.

The star in question is Rebel Wilson, who told fans on Saturday that she came across the footage while watching a home videos.

'Watching home movies from high school in Australia and reminiscing x #highschoolreunion,' she captioned.

'Seeing all the old faces': The 37-year-old took to Instagram on Saturday night, sharing a home video of her high school graduation

Familiar face: In the video, a fresh-faced Rebel from before her Pitch Perfect fame can be seen sitting in the front row of her graduating cohort, in what appears to be her all-girls school's gym

In the video, a much younger Rebel, from before her Pitch Perfect fame, can be seen sitting in the front row of her graduating cohort, in what appears to be the school's gym.

The teenager has her hair styled in the ponytail-and-bangs fashion which she is often seen rocking today, albeit in her natural brunette colour.

Rebel commentated the video, saying: 'We're watching some of my home movies and reliving all the memories and seeing all the old faces.'

It's Rebel Wilson! The Bridesmaids star, who has trademark blonde locks, sported a darker mane in the throwback video

The camera then panned and brought Rebel's face into shot, causing her to begin snickering at her former appearance.

'It's all very solemn though, we're not celebrating' Rebel added, noting the surprisingly glum look on all the students' faces as they left the ceremony.

The throwback video comes after Rebel claimed Bauer Media engaged in an 'intentional take down' by publishing articles alleging she had lied about her age and real name.

'They were just absolutely brutal and bullied me': The throwback video comes after Rebel claimed Bauer Media engaged in an 'intentional take down' by publishing articles alleging she had lied about her age and real name

In an emotional interview with Channel Seven's Sunday Night, Rebel tearfully recalled how she was left devastated by the publisher's 'brutal' articles, leaving the actress feeling 'bullied' by the media.

'They have no idea how actually brutally hard it is ... yes I am an actress and I am in the public eye, but I'm a human being,' she said.

Rebel won her legal case against Bauer Media in June for eight articles published in their magazines, including Woman's Day and OK! Magazine, which claimed she had lied about her real name, age and childhood.

Victorious: In June Rebel won her legal case against Bauer Media for eight articles published in their magazines

The judge found the articles had damaged her reputation and marketability, awarding the actress a $4.5 million payout in October.

Bauer Media are appealing against the verdict and payout.
She was unveiled as the Today Show's new co-host amidst great fanfare on Thursday morning.

But Georgie Gardner struggled through a somewhat stiff and uncomfortable interview with her soon-to-be colleague Karl Stefanovic just hours later.

The two sat down together for a chat with Sonia Kruger and David Campbell on Today Extra, and things turned awkward after Georgie labelled Karl 'promiscuous.'

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Awkward: Georgie Gardner struggled through a somewhat stiff and uncomfortable interview with her soon-to-be colleague Karl Stefanovic on Thursday, after being announced as his new Today show co-host

The interview began with Sonia jokingly offering Georgie her 'commiserations' on the new job, as it would mean she would be working with Karl.

'I'm a sucker for punishment' Georgie quipped.

She then turned serious, stating: 'Jokes aside, he is such a skilled broadcaster, devilishly handsome...'

However, the beauty couldn't resist taking a dig at her new co-host, wisecracking: 'Well he's promiscuous though, he's had quite a few sitting next to him.'

'I'm a sucker for punishment': Georgie and Karl made constant joking digs at one another

Too far? Sonia and David burst into laughter after Georgie joked Karl was 'promiscuous'

Georgie was hilariously referring to the fact that Karl has sat alongside three former female co-hosts since he began his tenure on Today in 2005.

Tracy Grimshaw, Jessica Rowe and Lisa Wilkinson have all presented the breakfast program with the 43-year-old star.

Pretending to be offended, Karl then screwed up his face, protesting: 'What is WRONG! This is supposed to be a lovely feel good morning and you're calling me promiscuous!'

Co-host 1: Tracy Grimshaw was Karl's first female co-host

Co-host 2: Jessica Rowe joined Karl at the desk for a brief stint on Today in 2006

'Well you do the maths, there have been a few. But that's okay,' Georgie laughed.

The pair then turned sentimental again, with Karl gushing and saying 'It feels great to have her back after all these years'.

'It's trust and respect', added Georgie.

Co-host 3: Karl sat alongside Lisa for a decade on Today

But it appears the two are yet to find their form together, with the awkward interview then vacillating back to 'joking' jibes, leaving viewers wondering whether there was more meaning behind their constant digs.

After complimenting Georgie, Karl swung back to banter, saying: 'I mean we don't like each other.'

Georgie then rolled her eyes, and appeared tense before saying: ' Could you stop saying I've got a wicked sense of humour because I feel so pressured to be funny and I'm not'.

Stiff: It appears the two are yet to find their form together, with the awkward interview then vacillating back to 'joking' jibes, leaving viewers wondering whether there was more meaning behind their constant digs

The stiff interview comes as The Sunday Telegraph claimed the pair 'cannot stand one another.'

According to the publication, Georgie only agreed to do the Channel Nine break show 'after having been assured she would only have to do one year with Karl,' however a network spokesperson has dismissed the report as 'rubbish.'
She recently recalled the terrifying moment a masked man attempted to shoot her in the head back in 1997.

And now, Sandra Sully has shown she is stronger than ever in a stunning cover photo shoot for Stellar magazine on Sunday.

The 52-year-old cut an elegant figure as she displayed her youthful complexion during a safari-inspired photo shoot.

Stunning: Sandra Sully cut an elegant figure as she displayed her youthful complexion during a safari-inspired photo shoot for Stellar this week

Sandra cut a stylish figure in a grey pantsuit with a belt tied around her waist that accentuated her impressive physique.

The veteran journalist looked stunning with her short blonde locks swept to the side, and with her stunning facial features being highlighted by some professional touches of makeup.

She also flaunted her shapely figure while leaning against a rock wearing an off-white button-up dress, before another outfit change saw her beaming in an olive green frock with a white sash.

The Channel Ten newsreader posed for the cameras after speaking about how she has lived in fear every day since she was attacked 20 years ago by a masked assailant.

Speaking to Stellar, Sandra said she still remembers laying bloodied, screaming and thinking: 'I am going to die on the floor of a car park. This is it.'

Stunning: The 52-year-old looked as glamorous as ever on Sunday, as she offered a beaming smile and struck a pose for the cameras

Power pose: Sandra cut a stylish figure in a grey linen pantsuit with a belt tied around her waist that accentuated her impressive physique

Pulling into her Surry Hills, Sydney apartment complex car park in November 1997, a little after midnight, Sandra's life was changed forever.

Upon exiting her vehicle, she was hit with the sinking feeling that she wasn't alone - a feeling usually followed by the realisation it was just the wind, or a shadow.

But this time, it was a 'muscular, menacing' man in a balaclava, who grabbed her hair as she attempted to climb back into her car.

Sandra's brush with death: The Channel Ten newsreader posed for the cameras after speaking about how she has lived in fear every day since she was attacked 20 years ago by a masked assailant

The incident: Sandra pulled into her Surry Hills apartment car park in November 1997, only to witness a man approach her wearing a balaclava and holding a gun

'I started fighting,' the journalist recounted, as she kicked and screamed until: 'he put a gun to my head.'

'I thought, "Bloody hell, I am going to die. I am going to die on the floor of a car park. This is it."'

The assailant held the gun to her temple and fired the weapon twice - but thanks to a miracle that remains unexplained to this day, it didn't go off.

Persistent, the man began to slap her in the face with the weapon, but Sandra kept screaming, louder and louder, until he turned around and fled.

'He put a gun to my head': 'I started fighting,' the journalist recounted, as she kicked and screamed until: 'he put a gun to my head'

He pulled his balaclava off as he exited through a grate in the wall, turning to look at her as he rounded the bend.

Sandra sprinted for the lift and up to her apartment, where she banged on the door and screamed hysterically until then husband Mark Ryan woke up and let her in.

For the next ten years, she was assigned a security detail comprised of ex-Federal police officers, who would even accompany her on jogs through Centennial Park.

'This is it': 'I thought, "Bloody hell, I am going to die. I am going to die on the floor of a car park. This is it,' she remembered feeling as she lay on the floor, bloodied and screaming

Miracle: The assailant held the gun to her temple and fired the weapon twice - but thanks to a miracle that remains unexplained to this day, it didn't go off

The pain, fear and suffering eventually diminished, but it's the unanswered details that may haunt her for the rest of her life.

Among them, the handcuffs that were found at the scene, an apparent lack of motive, the fact the man has never been found and the pistol's failure to fire.

To this day, the TV veteran lives in fear, noting: 'It was at least ten years before I was ready to talk about it... and probably 15 before I felt like I could put it behind me.'

'I still dont like to be surprised. If someone makes a loud noise, I jump. I am always aware in a car park.

'You realise life can be snuffed out in an instant.'

The latest issue of Stellar is out now.

The unanswered questions: To this day, details have remained a mystery: the handcuffs that were found at the scene, an apparent lack of motive, the fact the man has never been found and the pistol's failure to fire
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

He's the next big bad guy in the DC Universe.

Joe Manganiello on Friday posted a shot of on Instagram in his costume as the character Deathstroke, who made his cinematic debut at the end of the recently-released Justice League.

In the shot, the 40-year-old Pittsburgh native is wearing an eye-patch and a black and orange outfit with metallic armor, brandishing a helmet.

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Coming soon: Joe Manganiello, 40, showed off his latest turn as Deathstroke in the Justice League series on his Instagram account on Saturday

The character was seen in a clip during the credits of Justice League, when Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg, had a pow-wow with him on a yacht after breaking out of prison.

'I was just celebrating God's return - out of the ground and back up into the sky. He and his friends are forming some kind of league,' Luthor tells the fearsome character.

'You better not be wasting my time,' Deathstroke responds.

Luthor says, 'No, I have too much to live for and more important things to do. We have to level the playing field, Mr. Wilson. To put it plainly, shouldnt we have a league of our own?'

Ready to battle: It appears as if Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Batman (Ben Affleck) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) will have another headache on their hands with Deathstroke

Rough shot: Affleck last year shared this shot of the character via Twitter

Deadly: The character is said to have superior skills in the art of warfare and combat

Deathstroke, who has an alter ego of Slade Wilson, is an expert in combat and killing, with enhanced agility and strength.

The character has been seen in past DC works battling the Teen Titans, Green Arrow and Batman, the latter of which, he might be waging war with in a future film.

Ben Affleck, who plays Batman in the series, tweeted a shot of the character in August of 2016 - but withdrew from directing the movie in January, saying he needed to concentrate on his on-screen duties, not off-screen.

Happy together: Joe and wife Sofia Vergara were snapped last month in Beverly Hills

'Performing this role demands focus, passion and the very best performance I can give,' he said. 'It has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require.'

Affleck was replaced in the director's chair by Matt Reeves, who chose to use a different script, though it was not clear how that would impact the injection of Deathstroke into the superhero saga.

Manganiello told The Hollywood Reporter in July that he wasn't at liberty to share details of the character's future in the film anthology.

Asked if he had info on the status of Deathstoke, said, 'I dont. Well, I do but nothing that I can share. I know everything but I cant say any of it.'

The True Blood star recently celebrated his two-year anniversary with Modern Family star Sofia Vergara, as they tied the knot November 22, 2015 at the The Breakers resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Theyre yet to spend a full week in the Australian jungle, but Rebekah Vardy and Vanessa White have clearly turned the outdoor environment into a regular home from home in the forthcoming episode of Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

The pair strip down to their bikinis for another soak beneath the outdoor shower as the shows sixteenth series moves towards its mid-way point.

Sporting a bold black two-piece, Rebekah, 33,  the wife of Leicester City and England striker Jamie Vardy  immerses herself while revealing her curvy physique.

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Here we go: Rebekah Vardy (L) and Vanessa White (R) have clearly turned the outdoor environment into a regular home from home in the forthcoming episode of Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

Cooling off: Sporting a bold black two-piece, Rebekah, 33,  the wife of Leicester City and England striker Jamie Vardy  immerses herself beneath the shower

Flashing her bottom, the mother of four is on fine form while scrubbing herself off following another day in the sweltering camp.

Joining her camp-mate, Vanessa, 28, is no less revealing after trading her jungle garb for a form-fitting black swimsuit.

The former Saturdays star appears to squeal as cold water cascades onto her head and across her shoulders as she tentatively stands beneath the shower.

Looking good: The mother of four is on fine form while scrubbing herself off following another day in the sweltering camp

Making a splash: Rebekah washes her hair after spending another day in the sweltering jungle camp

Putting in the leg work: The WAG gave herself a good scrub beneath the jungle shower

Don't go chasing waterfalls: Rebekah has immersed herself in camp life since entering the jungle

That hits the spot: The WAG raised her face into the pouring water during her outdoor shower

Clean living: Rebekah is in high spirits as she washes herself off during Friday's episod

Saturday's episode saw Iain Lee break down in tears after pulling out of a nail-biting underwater Bushtucker trial.

The panicked comedian, 44, was given bursts of oxygen by a medic after struggling to breathe inside a tunnel in a tank of water, which he branded 'f**king horrible'.

Iain couldn't hold back the sobs as he broke the tough news to the rest of the camp. Rebekah and Amir Khan later offered their views on crying and said it could look like a 'weakness'.

Getting involved: Rebekah has proved to be a no nonsense addition to the jungle camp

Straight talker: On Saturday Rebekah and Amir Khan told Iain Lee that his crying could look like a 'weakness' after he failed a Bush Tucker Trial

Rebekah later said: 'Iain came back from the Trial and basically as like a broken man and that was just the most horrific thing to have seen'

Rebekah later said: 'Iain came back from the Trial and basically as like a broken man and that was just the most horrific thing to have seen.'

'It's really horrible. I hate seeing people upset as it is. It just brings back the reality of how desperate people are to do well for the team bit you know we're not going to win them all. I think we all need to accept that. We all have accepted that.'

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! continues on Sunday November 26 on ITV1 at 9:00pm.

In the mix: Joining her camp-mate, Vanessa, 28, is no less revealing after trading her jungle garb for a form-fitting black swimsuit

Popular: Vanessa has been a hit with viewers since entering the Australian jungle camp
The N initiative, launched in the 1970s, has given opportunity for generations of talented Egyptian students to be educated in the German system

Wolfgang Engelhorn, director of the N Stufe initiative  one of the oldest integrative initiatives in the Egyptian educational sector  addressed an audience of several generations of directors, graduates and students at the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the launch of N Stufe.

The event took place at the premises of the German School in Cairo on 20 November.

When it started, the N initiative aimed to give students aged around eight  from government schools across the country and whose families couldnt otherwise afford it  a chance for a full scholarship to study in the German system if they pass tests in mathematics, IQ and Arabic.

"The transition these kids made until they excelled is amazing," German Ambassador to Egypt Julius Georg Luy, who was in the audience, told Ahram Online prior to the event.

Over four decades ago, an idea was formed to introduce a system that could give the academically-talented from across Egypt a chance to enter the advanced German education system.

By then, in the mid-1970s, the German Evangelical School in Cairo (DEO) had already been established for more than a century, making it the oldest German school and one of the oldest schools in Egypt. But something was still missing.

"It was already a very established and reputable educational institution, but unfortunately almost all the students belonged to a niche segment of society, says Engelhorn.

"In a system that highly valued giving an equal opportunity to all, a change had to be introduced, and the idea of the N Stufe was born."

The German ambassador says that education has always been a cornerstone in cooperation between Egypt and Germany, and that it will always hold this place of importance.

Later, the ambassador addressed the audience, hailing the success of the N initiative and emphasising that cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Education has been vital and should be acknowledged.

"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious," DEO director Roland Harkan said, quoting famous German scientist Albert Einstein, as he emphasised the importance of an education that nurtures passion for understanding and creativity, often stalled in many educational systems.

After the event, Ahram Online spoke to Nermin Abu Gazia, executive director of Al-Alfy Philanthropic Foundation, who shed light on the foundation's role in supporting free education opportunities for distinguished young Egyptian students.

"We have been providing free scholarships for Egyptian students in many fields for years, especially when it comes to excelling in science and technology. We have also been collaborating for some years with DEO to sponsor the education of a number of students through the N system. The change that we witness in those students, in terms of character, self-esteem and the quick grasp of the language, is remarkable," she said.

The Evangelical Church of Egypt was established in February 1864. Shortly after, the idea of establishing a school affiliated with the church was born.

In the spring of 1873, the school was established by the Protestant congregation on a piece of land given to the Prussian consul von Theremin by Khedive Ismail.

Interestingly, the initial formal language of education was French, with only 15 students attending.

In 1878, after a dispute about the schools ownership between the church and the school, the school became community-owned, and optional Arabic lessons were added in 1880.

Since then, the institution has expanded, moving from one location to another and undergoing various changes; surviving political upheavals that came along with two world wars, during which the school had to shut its doors before reopening later.

The school has always maintained an identity that encompasses all nationalities and religions, encouraging free thought and creativity, and emphasising the importance of obtaining a solid Arabic education and the integration of charity and community work in all its activities.

The institution has been visited by many politicians over the years, including German Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1974, Helmut Schmidt in 1978, Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat and his wife Jihan in 1981, and Germany's President Richard von Weizsacker and Johannes Rau in 1984 and 2000 respectively.

The anniversary event honoured Auni Abder Rauf, who was appointed in 1959 as the schools first Egyptian director, as well as professor Sayed Tag, dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University, and a number of other notable figures who are graduates of the N initiative in numerous fields.

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He's set to wow tens of thousands of fans during a nationwide stadium tour in April next year.

But for now, fans will be treated to a 'stripped-back' version of Harry Styles's upcoming tour, when he performs two intimate gigs in Sydney and Melbourne beginning on Sunday.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, the 23-year-old touched down in Australia on Saturday to prepare for his gigs, which will be played for 2,500 people at Sydney's Enmore Theatre.

Just a taste! Fans will be treated to a 'stripped-back' version of Harry Styles's upcoming tour, when he performs two intimate gigs in Sydney and Melbourne beginning on Sunday

The second show will be played at Melbourne's equally small Forum Theatre on November 30.

Tickets for both performances sold out in a matter of seconds, proving his formidable force as a solo artist since departing One Direction.

Fans who weren't fortunate enough to snap up a ticket will still have the chance to see the Sign Of The Times hitmaker perform in Australia this month, albeit on television.

The British heartthrob will make an appearance at the ARIA Awards in Sydney on Tuesday night.

He well then return for four stadium gigs in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in April.

In town: The 23-year-old touched down in Australia on Saturday to prepare for the first of the small shows, which will be played in-front of only 2,500 people at Sydney's Enmore Theatre on Sunday night

In his element: Harry arrived in Australia on Saturday after gracing the Victoria's Secret stage in Shanghai on Monday

Harry arrived in Australia on Saturday after gracing the Victoria's Secret stage in Shanghai on Monday,

He appeared confident and in his element as his rumoured exes Sara Sampio, 26, Nadine Leopold, 23 and New Zealand's Georgia Fowler, 25, strutted their stuff on the runway.

Before landing in Sydney, Harry also wowed crowds with music from his current self-titled album at a sold-out show in Singapore.

His debut single, Sign Of The Times peaked at number one on the ARIA charts.

Surrounded by lingerie-clad babes: He appeared confident and in his element as his rumoured exes Sara Sampio, 26, Nadine Leopold, 23 and New Zealand's Georgia Fowler, 25, strutted their stuff on the runway
She was spotted sharing a friendly kiss with Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood earlier this month - shortly before he announced his split from his wife.

But Candice Brown, 32, appeared to put all of the drama behind her on Saturday as she led a cooking masterclass at the Ideal Home Show at Christmas in London.

The stylish baking guru pulled a series of cheeky expressions as she showed off her culinary prowess during the show at Kensington Olympia.

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Cheeky: Candice Brown, 32, appeared to put all of the Paul Hollywood drama behind her on Saturday as she led a cooking masterclass at the Ideal Home Show at Christmas in London

The former PE teacher dressed casually for the occasion, rocking a chic yellow poloneck under her khaki apron.

Letting her statement knit do all the talking, she accessorised simply with a decadent pearl bracelet and matching earrings.

Sweeping her dark locks into an elegant chignon, Candice completed the polished look with her signature vampy slick of dark red lipstick.

Recently, series seven winner Candice, who recently announced her engagement to Liam Macauley, was spotted with Paul as he cupped the back of her head and kissed her goodbye following a night out at the Pride of Britain Awards in London.

Embrace: It comes two weeks after she was spotted sharing a friendly kiss with Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood - shortly before he announced his split from his wife

Looking good: The former PE teacher dressed casually for the occasion, rocking a chic yellow poloneck under her khaki apron

Loving life: The baking guru pulled a series of cheeky expressions as she showed off her culinary prowess during the show at Kensington Olympia

A spokesman for the pair said it was an 'innocent kiss on the cheek', and that it was 'untrue' to describe it as an 'intimate kiss'.

The representative, who was also there on the night, told MailOnline: 'Following The Mirror Pride of Britain Awards last Monday, seven of us including Paul and Candice were seated outside waiting for cars home.

'The photograph was taken as Paul was saying goodbye to each of us.'

Chic: Letting her statement knit do all the talking, she accessorised simply with a decadent pearl bracelet and matching earrings

Mane attraction: Sweeping her dark locks into an elegant chignon, Candice completed the polished look with her signature vampy slick of dark red lipstick

Big night out: Candice and her fiance Liam Macaulay attended the VIP launch of Hogwarts In The Snow in Watford, Hertfordshire, on Wednesday

Friendly display: Recently, series seven winner Candice, who recently announced her engagement to Liam Macauley, was spotted with Paul as he cupped the back of her head and kissed her goodbye following a night out at the Pride of Britain Awards in London

It comes as Paul has found himself newly single following his recent split from wife of 20 years Alexandra.

And hoping to show another side to him, he will be returning to the place where he and his former spouse first met in 1998, as he revisits places he holds close to his heart while showcasing his culinary talent on new show A Baker's Life.

Speaking in a new interview, the star has said he is hopeful viewers will 'get to know him more' as his new project airs on screen.

Reflecting: It comes after Paul spoke out about his new show, that will see him return to the place he first met his wife Alexandra (pictured)

Paul told TV Magazine: 'I think ultimately people will get to know a little bit more about me through this.'

Showing a different side to him has become even more important to the professional baker, as he claimed he has been portrayed in the wrong light following the backlash he was subjected to after deciding to stay with The Great British Bake Off following its channel move.

Switching from the BBC to Channel 4, Paul was the only star of the show to stick with it, with Mary Berry and hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins choosing to step down.

New venture: Paul will revisit places he holds close to his heart while showcasing his culinary talent on new show A Baker's Life, telling TV Magazine: 'I think ultimately people will get to know a little bit more about me'

Claiming he had been seen as a 'villain', Paul protested: 'But it is so different to the real me... it's time people met a bit more of me and [I] correct loads of things wrong about me on Wikipedia.'

It comes after Paul revealed he and wife Alex are set to go their separate ways.

Paul and Alex confirmed their heartbreaking split in a joint statement on Monday saying: 'It is with sadness that we have decided to separate.

'Our focus continues to be the happiness of our son, and we would ask the press and public to allow us privacy as a family during this very difficult time.'

The baking guru, who is now worth 10million, split from his wife, 53, temporarily in 2013 after admitting an affair with his US co-star Marcela Valladolid, 39.

The couple reconciled a few months later and he described the incident as 'the biggest mistake of my life' in an interview with BBC radio.

'It is with sadness that we have decided to separate': This comes after Paul and Alex confirmed their heartbreaking split in a joint statement on Monday

Former fling: The baking guru, who is now worth 10million, split from his wife, 53, temporarily in 2013 after admitting an affair with his US co-star Marcela Valladolid, 39

Speaking at the time, he told the BBC he 'was shocked about the whole thing kicking off the way it did... but I deserved it and I've taken it. It was my punishment'.

However a source told The Sun: 'Paul was totally into Marcela and threw himself in with both feet. When it all fell apart he went back to Alex with his tail between his legs, but in reality if Marcela had wanted to keep it going he was all for it.'

Paul and Alex, who is also a chef, married in 1998, and have a 14-year-old son together, Joshua. It was claimed that Paul, who is worth an estimated 10m, could lose up to 5m of his fortune in the divorce.
Jennifer Lawrence had a big fangirl moment on Friday.

The Oscar-winning actress went into meltdown after spotting Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna at a New York Restaurant.

JLaw, 27, screamed, hugged and took selfies with Rinna, 54, and it was all caught on camera and posted to social media by the reality star's 16-year-old daughter Amelia Gray Hamlin.

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Chance encounter: Jennifer Lawrence had a big fangirl moment on Friday after spotting Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna at a New York Restaurant

Rinna, who is married to actor Harry Hamlin, shared a selfie with The Hunger Games star and captioned it: 'My new best friend forever' followed by a red heart emoji.

Aspiring model Amelia wrote on the images she shared: ' This is iconic. Jennifer Lawrence looks like shes seen a ghost. Im done. Goodnight. Tuck me in.'

According to People, Rinna is in the Big Apple with her husband and Amelia to help the couple's older daughter Delilah Belle, 19, movie into an apartment.

'Motivating myself': On Saturday, make-up free Rinna, 54, also shared a bikini selfie showing off her incredibly lean figure in a tiny stripy two-piece

She's pictured wearing a stripy tiny two-piece that leaves little to the imagination.

The make-up free beauty explained in the caption that she took the picture as part of 'motivating myself.'

The following day, Rinna shared a bikini selfie showing off her incredibly lean figure.

Fangirl: The Oscar-winning actress, 27, apparently went into meltdown, screaming, hugging and taking selfies with Rinna

'I'm done': Rinna's 16-year-old daughter Amelia Gray Hamlin shared the encounter on social media adding her own take on it

Posing in a skimpy two-piece, the reality star flaunted her amazing abs and defined upper body in the envy-inducing selfie.

Meanwhile, Lawrence, who recently split from her director boyfriend Darren Aronofsky, 48, after more than a year together, told Elle she wants a break from acting.

'I want to get a farm,' she told the magazine. 'I want to be, like, milking goats.'

In the meantime, though, she has two new movies wrapped and in the can - the thriller Red Sparrow, set for a March 2018 release, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix that's not going to hit theatres until this time next year.
She earned support after publicly lashing out at shamed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

But Uma Thurman was keeping it low key as she was spotted for the first time since the attack in New York on Saturday.

The brave 47-year-old was seen as she left her home following the holidays to enjoy a leisurely morning meal.

Keeping her head down: Uma Thurman went for a low-key breakfast in New York on Saturday as she was spotted for the first time since accusing Harvey Weinstein

On Thanksgiving day the A-lister named Weinstein in a blistering post on social media, telling him: 'Im glad its going slowly - you dont deserve a bullet.'

Her message came almost two months after The New York Times and New Yorker published exposes detailing the once untouchable produce of decades of sexual misconduct.

Thurman, who is currently appearing on Broadway in The Parisian Woman, made a point of not speaking about any of her own personal experiences with Weinstein or any other possible predators when asked about the exec's sex scandal back in October.

'I don't have a tidy soundbite for you, because I am not a child and I have learned that when I have spoken in anger, I usually regret the way I express myself, the actress and mother-of-three told Access Hollywood.

Stepping out: She was looking in a sombre mood as she emerged from her vehicle

'So I've been waiting to feel less angry, and when I'm ready, I'll say what I have to say.'

On Thursday, Thurman was ready to share her soundbite - and there was plenty of fury.

'I am grateful today, to be alive, for all those I love, and for all those who have the courage to stand up for others,' wrote Thurman.

'I said I was angry recently, and I have a few reasons, #metoo, in case you couldnt tell by the look on my face.'

She then wrote: 'I feel its important to take your time, be fair, be exact, so... Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! (Except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspirators - Im glad its going slowly - you dont deserve a bullet)'

The actress then signed off by telling everyone to 'stay tuned.'

And off she goes: Uma has being flooded with supportive posts after coming out against Harvey Weinstein

Alongside the photo she posted a still from the movie Kill Bill Vol. 2, which was directed by Quentin Tarantino - one of the last titles produced by Weinstein at Miramax.

That film starred another woman who came forward to revealed she was a victim of Weinstein, Daryl Hannah.

Following Uma's post, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rose McGowan both posted the fist emoji in a sign of solidarity.

McGowan later posted on Instagram as well, sharing a video of herself waving and writing: 'Hello Uma. Welcome'

Selma Blair, Amanda de Cadenet and the actress' Beautiful Girls co-star Rosie O'Donnell also voiced their 'love' for Thurman while Amber Tamblyn tweeted: 'All eyes on Uma Thurman. Trust me.'

Solidarity: Among those praising the actress were two other Weinstein accusers including Gwyneth Paltrow (pictured with Weinstein)

Just days before Thurman's post went live,Deadline reported that the actress had parted ways with Creative Artists Agency after two years with the firm.

No reason was given for the actress' unceremonious split, and Thurman has yet to sign with another agency.

It is not the first time CAA has made its way into a Weinstein story, with both Paltrow and Courtney Love making mention of the firm in the past.

'Welcome': Rose McGowan (pictured with Weinstein) later posted on Instagram as well, sharing a video of herself waving and writing: 'Hello Uma. Welcome'

Paltrow said she felt comfortable going to Weinstein's hotel room for a private meeting because she assumed it was in fact an meeting, not an opportunity for the disgraced exec to try and lure her into giving him a nude massage or watching him shower.

'It's on the fax, it's from C.A.A,' she said of the meeting details.

And after a 2005 video of Love surfaced advising young woman not to take meetings in Weinstein's hotel room, she provided an update to the story on Twitter.

'Although I wasn't one of his victims, I was eternally banned by CAA for speaking out against #Harvey Weinstein #rape,' wrote Love.

All eyes on her: Actress Amber Tamblyn tweeted: 'All eyes on Uma Thurman. Trust me'

Supportive: Amanda de Cadenet wrote: 'Love and support to you @ithurman'

Amen: Selma Blair was another famous name to come out and support the Kill Bill actress

The actress also noted that it was while promoting Kill Bill Vol. 2 that the alleged misconduct occurred with Weinstein, saying that when she refused his advances while they were in Rome she was booted from the press trip as the cast traveled to Cannes.

Hannah said that Weinstein at one point burst into her hotel room in Rome, telling the New Yorker in an interview: 'And I know with every fibre of my being that if my male makeup artist was not in that room, things would not have gone well. It was scary.'

Later that night he asked to feel or at least see one of her breasts, which she refused over and over again claims Hannah.

The next morning she said she found out she had been kicked off the trip, and said she called Tarantino personally to complain.

Tarantino has since said he regrets not speaking out earlier about Weinstein, adding that while he did not know the full extent of his offenses that is no excuse.
She was infamously 'boned' from the Nine Network in 2006.

But more than a decade on, Jessica Rowe may have herself been behind the dumping of a powerful media figure.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Sunday the 46-year-old and her Studio 10 co-star Denise Drysdale complained about their morning show's executive producer, Rob McKnight, before he was axed by Channel Ten last week.

Report: The Daily Telegraph alleges Studio 10 stars Jessica Rowe and Denise Drysdale complained about the show's executive producer, Rob McKnight, before he was axed by Channel Ten last week

According to the report, Rob was instrumental in launching Studio 10 four years ago, which has 'reinvigorated' the embattled network.

However, the producer has allegedly 'struggled professionally' since the show extended it's running time back in July.

Whereas Studio 10 used to run for two and a half hours every weekday morning, it now stretches on for a whopping three and a half hours, from 8.30am until midday.

Gone: According to the report, Rob was instrumental in launching Studio 10 four years ago, which has 'reinvigorated' the embattled network- but has 'struggled professionally' over the past few months

An insider claims that a rogue brussel sprout was the catalyst behind the firing- after Denise reportedly hurled the leafy green vegetable at iconic co-star Ita Buttrose during filming for a recent Christmas segment.

While Denise thought it was all in good fun, the incident 'inflamed already simmering tensions on set'.

Far out, brussel sprout! It's alleged the hurling of a leafy green vegetable during filming for a recent Christmas segment caused stern words on the set

Denise and Rob allegedly had a tense conversation about her action, leading to her and Jessica approaching network bosses to complain. Executive producer Rob was axed from Ten shortly after.

The Telegraph states 'the panel of Studio 10 has been split' over Rob's departure.

Did they complain? Co-stars Denise and Jessica are said to have approached network bosses over Rob

'Sympathetic': Ita, Sarah Harris and Joe Hilderbrand are said to be 'sympathetic' to the recently-dumped producer.

Ita, Sarah Harris and Joe Hilderbrand are said to be 'sympathetic' to the recently-dumped producer. Jessica and Denise are on the other side.

Ironically, the latter stars owe their career revivals to Rob after returning to the national spotlight courtesy of Studio 10.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Network Ten for comment.
Susan Sarandon has hinted that more sexual predators in Hollywood are yet to be revealed in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

The Oscar-winning actress, 71, told the NY Daily News's Confidential that a women she knows who has already come forward about an abuser was also 'drugged and assaulted' by a different industry person, but is 'too worn out' to speak up again.

'Some of the women who have come forward have had other men, equally severe and cannot go through it again,' Sarandon told the gossip site.

'I know one who told me about a drugging situation and I said, Are you going to come forward? Are you going to do something? And she said shes just so worn out. Because this woman has already had to come forward with a lot...She said, 'I just dont have the strength to come forward.''

Susan Sarandon, pictured earlier this week in NYC, has hinted that more sexual predators in Hollywood are yet to be revealed in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal

The veteran star was among the first big names in movies to express support for Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan after they went public with their experiences of movie mogul Weinstein.

She told Confidential in a piece published Saturday that she remains angry about those who enabled predators to prey on their victims.

'I really am furious with the people that enabled, that delivered the girls because I know there were agents and managers that didnt allow people to go to a hotel room for an interview or went with them,' she said.

Back in October, after Judd shared her story with the New York Times for the article that exposed Weinstein, Sarandon took to Twitter to express support.

'Huge respect for @AshleyJudd and all the women who broke their silence for the article on Harvey Weinstein. Brave,' she tweeted.

The Oscar-winning actress, 71, told NY Daily News's Confidential she knows of one woman who has already come forward who was drugged and assaulted by another industry insider

Support: The Thelma & Louise star was among the first to support Ashley Judd after she broke her silence about her own experience with Weinstein

Claims: Rose McGowan (left) reportedly signed a non-disclosure agreement with Weinstein, settling a suit for $100,000 in 1995. Judd (right) says Weinstein asked her to watch him shower

Reversal of fortune: Movie mogul Weinstein was fired from the company he co-founded and has become a pariah in Hollywood after being accused by more than 50 women

Back in October, after Judd shared her story with the New York Times for the article that exposed Weinstein, Sarandon took to Twitter to express support.

'Huge respect for @AshleyJudd and all the women who broke their silence for the article on Harvey Weinstein. Brave,' she tweeted.

In the wake of the torrent of sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein, he was fired from the company he co-founded with his brother Bob and has become a pariah in Hollywood.

More than 50 women have now come forward with claims about Weinstein, with allegations ranging from sexual harassment to rape.

On Friday, the LA Times reported that the LAPD has 28 open sex-crime investigations linked to Hollywood and the media and it expects more will come.

As well as the investigations it currently has open, the force has also passed on 37 cases to other jurisdictions where it believes the crimes may have occurred.

'We anticipate the LAPD and other jurisdictions will receive even more high profile sex crime reports in the coming weeks and months,' Police Chief Charlie Beck told the LA Times. 'We encourage all victims of sexual assault to come forward to report these crimes.'

On Thursday, Uma Thurman shared her own anger about Weinstein. She starre din several Weinstein movies includignthe Kill Bill franchise and Pulp Fiction

On Thursday, Uma Thurman who starred in a string of hits for Weinstein including the Kill Bill franchise and Pulp Fiction, added her vice to the list of his accusers.

She had previously made a point of not speaking about any of her own personal experiences with Weinstein or any other possible predators when asked about the exec's sex scandal back in October.

On Thursday, Thurman was ready to share posting a pic of her from Kill Bill Vol. 2 and writing: 'I am grateful today, to be alive, for all those I love, and for all those who have the courage to stand up for others. I said I was angry recently, and I have a few reasons, #metoo, in case you couldnt tell by the look on my face.'

She then wrote: 'I feel its important to take your time, be fair, be exact, so... Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! (Except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspirators - Im glad its going slowly - you dont deserve a bullet)'

The actress signed off by telling everyone to 'stay tuned.'

McGowan posted a selfie to Instagram with fellow Weinstein accusers Asia Argento and Annabella Scorria late Friday evening with the hashtag #RoseArmy

Anthony Bourdain, who is dating Argento, was also at the get-together and posted on Twitter that it was an 'honor to cook for this meeting of the minds'

McGowan, Asia Argento and Annabella Scorria were some of the first to come forward and accuse the disgraced Hollywood mogul sexually harassing or assaulting them early in their careers.

Argento accused him of forcibly performing oral sex on her in the late 90s, and in a New Yorker article told Farrow that the encounter happened after she reluctantly agreed to give Weinstein a massage in his hotel room.

She claims he pulled up her skirt and pushed her legs apart and then performed oral sex on her while she begged him to stop. She told Farrow she was 'terrified' of Weinstein.

In a separate New Yorker article Scorria told Farrow that Weinstein raped her and attempted to perform oral sex on her. McGowan also claims Weinstein assaulted her.

On Friday, McGowan posted a selfie to Instagram with Argento and Scorria with the hashtag #RoseArmy.

She also tagged Ronan Farrow - the journalist who has written numerous exposes on Weinstein for the New Yorker.
She broke down in tears while revealing that she signed up for I'm A Celebrity to honour her beloved father Tom, who passed away in March.

And it has emerged that Jennie McAlpine is also harbouring secret heartache for her mum Linda Garner, who choked to death on Christmas day when Jennie was just 20.

The Coronation Street star, 33, has planted a tree in her mother's memory and is reportedly planning to hold a memorial for her when she leaves the jungle.

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Tragic: It has emerged that Jennie McAlpine is harbouring secret heartache for her mum Linda Garner, who choked to death on Christmas day when Jennie was just 20

Linda died of progressive supranuclear palsy, a severe degenerative illness, during a time when she and Jennie were not as close.

Her bereaved husband Robin Parker, 73, explained to The Sunday Mirror that Linda was diagnosed with the illness when Jennie was just 17.

Jennie, who played Fiz Brown on Coronation Street for 16 years, found the diagnosis 'hard' to handle after years of seeing her mother's symptoms.

'Jennie didnt see her mum much during the years she was degenerating,' Robin told the Mirror.

Memory: The Coronation Street star, 33, has planted a tree in her mother's memory and is reportedly planning to hold a memorial for her when she leaves the Australian jungle

'It was an awful illness, one of the worst things Ive ever seen. You stop being able to open your eyes properly, she had to have Botox injections.

'Jennie knew all about it and it was difficult for her  no child would want to see their mother go through that. She kept her distance, not for any nasty reason, it was just one of those things.

Linda and Jennie's dad Tom split when she was a child, and she chose to live with her father. When Jennie was eight in 1992, Linda met Robin.

Robin explained that there was 'no bad blood' between them all and that Jennie would still go round to their flat.

'They still did things together. Theyd do the normal mother and daughter things  shopping and things like that,' he said.

Awful: Linda's bereaved husband Robin Parker, 73, explained that Linda was diagnosed with a severe degenerative illness when Jennie was just 17

Jennie did not attend Robin and Linda's wedding, but she and dad Tom were there at Linda's funeral, according to Robin.

She and Robin have planted a tree for Linda at the Life for a Life memorial forest in Rochdale and have reportedly talked about building a memorial.

It comes after Jennie cried on Wednesday night'sI'm A Celebrity, after revealing she signed up for the show in memory of her late father.

And after watching Jennie McAlpine's emotional scenes, her family showed their full support for the actress by sharing a poignant snap of her son Albert with her late dad Tom.

'He will be so proud of you': Jennie's family showed their full support for the actress by sharing a poignant snap of her son Albert with her late dad Tom after she cried over his death on I'm A Celebrity

Her relatives posted a black and white Instagram shot of the pair holding hands and reassured that Tom - who passed away on March 2 - is 'so proud' of her.

They wrote in the caption: 'Oh Jennie.... He will be so proud of you #GoForItJennieWren #proud @itvimacelebrity #ImACeleb.'

Sympathetic fans flocked to the comments section to offer their condolences and send their well wishes to Jennie.

'My heart aches for her. And this is a beautiful photo. One your beautiful boy will treasure forever,' one wrote.

'I cried with Jennie. What an incredible man Tom was. So proud to have known him. He's so proud of you Jennie. Xxx,' another added.

Tribute: The snap comes after Jennie broke down in tears on Wednesday night's I'm A Celebrity, after revealing she signed up for the show in memory of her late father

A third fan claimed they met and had counselling with Tom and hailed him a 'lovely man' with a 'heart of gold'.

'Only just heard about your dad Tom,' they wrote. 'He was a lovely man with a heart of gold who did everything he could to help people with mental health issues that struggle.

'I had the pleasure of meeting him and had counselling with him. So sad to hear... god only takes the best ones! So sorry for your loss Jennie. He will be so proud of you and he thought very highly of you and it shown! RIP Tom.'

Heartbreak: She said: 'I lost my dad earlier this year. We were like best friends, so he would have told me to do it'

The touching snap comes after Wednesday's episode showed Jennie struggling to fight back her tears as she revealed her dad would have wanted her to take part, and had always encouraged her to 'do things she was not brave enough to do.'

The rest of camp were quick to comfort her after her breakdown, with Jamie assuring: 'He'd be really proud of you for doing this darling.'

The camp mates had been discussing why they chose to head into the jungle, when the upsetting incident occurred.

RIP: Jennie's father Tom passed away in March. He was a mental health campaigner, and was even awarded an OBE for his services (pictured together at the British Soap Awards in 2013)

When asked the question by Dennis, Jennie began: 'Yeah, it's been a funny old year...' before the tears started to fall.

As the rest of her co-stars rushed around her, she explained through watery eyes that her father had passed away in 2017, and was doing the show in tribute to him.

She said: 'I lost my dad earlier this year. We were like best friends, so he would have told me to do it.

Emotional: 'I said before I came, 'He would have always told me to do things that I'm not brave enough to do,' she added

Stay strong: Clearly affected by her story, her camp mates were quick to draw her in for a comforting hug

'I said before I came, 'He would have always told me to do things that I'm not brave enough to do.'

Clearly affected by her story, her camp mates were quick to draw her in for a comforting hug - with Jamie assuring: 'He'd be really proud of you for doing this darling.'

Jennie's father Tom was a mental health campaigner, and was even awarded an OBE for his services to the cause in 2012.

He sadly passed away at home on March 2, with Jennie, who is best known as Fiz Brown on Coronation Street, confirming the sad news on social media.
She stars as the rebellious Ziggy Astoni on the Channel Seven soap.

And Home And Away's Sophie Dillman cut a distressed figure, as she filmed scenes earlier this week, at Sydney's Palm Beach.

The 25-year-old's character was comforted by Summer Bay chef, Brody Morgan, played by Jackson Heywood.

SPOILER ALERT: Sophie Dillman, 25, cut a distressed figure, while filming scenes for Home And Away, at Sydney's Palm Beach earlier this week

Sophie's character sported beach attire, consisting of a blue and white tie-dye bikini top and indigo Daisy Dukes.

She teamed the look with a loose-fitting sleeveless tank with a graphic emblazoned on the front, and carried her belongings in a striped tote bag.

The blonde beauty allowed her locks to fall in loose waves, framing what appeared to be a minimally made-up complexion.

Shoulder to lean on: Sophie was joined by co-star Jackson Heywood, who plays Summer Bay chef Brody Morgan

Attire: Sophie's character sported a blue and white tie-dye bikini top, indigo Daisy Dukes and a sleeveless top with a graphic emblazoned on the front

Leading the way: Placing a protective hand on Sophie's back, the actor led the way, acting as a dear friend

Sitting lonesome on the sand and pulling her knees up to her chest, the actress was pictured sobbing, covering her mouth with her left hand in a rather dramatic fashion.

It appeared that her character had received some unsettling news, holding onto a folded piece of paper.

Sophie was comforted by Jackson's character, who also dressed casually.

Support: Outside of what appeared to be the diner, Sophie rested her head against Jackson's

A lot to discuss? The pair looked to engage in deep conversation at one stage

Animated: Sophie's character used her hands to articulate her point in a dramatic fashion

The hunk sported a slim-fitting white T-shirt, khaki shorts and held onto a pair of blue loafers.

Placing a protective hand on Sophie's back, the actor led the way, acting as a dear friend.

Outside of what appeared to be the diner, Sophie rested her head against Jackson's.

Lighter mood: Other scenes saw Sophie in a much lighter mood, enjoying a dip in the ocean with her on-screen sister Anna Cocquerel, who plays Coco Astoni

Beach beauties: The pair enjoyed a dip in the ocean and soaked up the sun's rays

Summer look: Anna's character sported an abstract triangle-style bikini and draped a striped lime green sarong over one shoulder

Other scenes saw Sophie in a much lighter mood, enjoying a dip in the ocean with her on-screen sister Anna Cocquerel, who plays Coco Astoni.

Sophie revealed her frame in a coordinating tie-dye bikini and held onto a surfboard.

Her character's sister Coco wore an abstract triangle-style bikini and draped a striped lime green sarong over one shoulder.

On the go: Sophie carried a surfboard with one arm and a tote bag in the other, as she made her way across the sand with Anna

Low-key: Anna folded her arms and bowed her head down as she walked with her on-screen sister

No dialogue? The characters stopped at one stage during filming

An embellished beige tote bag carried off her essentials.

The duo engaged in conversation and at one stage were seen frolicking on the sand.

Sophie and Anna were later joined by co-star Lukas Radovich, who plays Ryder.

Line of sight: Something or someone had the sister's attention at one stage

Familiar face: The girls were later joined by Lukas Radovich, who plays Ryder on the series

Social: The trio looked to engage in lighthearted conversation

Kestie Morassi, who plays Maggie Astoni, was also pictured on-set, alongside her on-screen husband Ben Astoni, played by Rohan Nichol.

The mother and wife appeared in a rather solemn mood and had her head slightly bowed.

Kestie sported a floral wrap dress, head scarf and tan shoulder bag on-set.

Rohan's character was close by, and dressed casually in a lightwash denim button-up shirt and khaki shorts.

The couple were pictured deep in conversation at one stage.

Solemn: Kestie Morassi, who plays Maggie Astoni, was also pictured on-set

Floral: Kestie sported a floral wrap dress, head scarf and tan shoulder bag on-set

Husband and wife duo: Kestie was accompanied by her on-screen husband Ben Astoni, played by Rohan Nichol
She travelled to Byron Bay with her boyfriend Matty 'J' Johnson this week, to attend his ex-girlfriend's wedding.

And Laura Byrne made sure all eyes were on her on Sunday, during a post-wedding beach date with her Bachelor star beau.

The 30-year-old jewellery designer flashed her pert derriere in a barely-there black and white bikini.

That's cheeky! The Bachelor's Laura Byrne flashed her pert derriere during a beach date with her beau Matty 'J' Johnson on Sunday

The makeup-free brunette showed off her toned physique as she posed for a beachside selfie after relaxing swim.

'Another day in the Bay,' she captioned on Instagram.

Meanwhile, Matty, 31, was seen enjoying a morning surf after a night of celebrations with his leading lady.

Surf's up! Meanwhile, Matty, 31, was seen enjoying a morning surf after a night of celebrations with his leading lady

The marketing manager attended his ex-girlfriend Sara Bray's Byron Bay nuptials on Friday with his new squeeze Laura.

He wore a suave suit white and grey suit for the outside event,and shared wedding snaps on Instagram.

Matty appeared to have enjoyed a whirlwind romance with brunette Sydneysider Sara, while they lived in London together.

Wedding bells! The pair put on loved-up display while attending his ex Sara Bray's Byron Bay nuptials last week

But their relationship seemed to be well in the past, as the hunky TV personality wrote on social media: 'Congrats @sarajanebray and @alexlloyd #lloydsforlife.'

Matty paraded his affection for Bachelor winner Laura by placing his arm affectionately around her slender figure in the picture.

Flaunting their love: Laura captioned a shot of the couple 'Old mate Zoolander and I are ready for another wedding', playing up on rumours that she and Matty J are already engaged

Cheers! The couple appeared in high spirits as they mingled with other guests at the reception, held at Harvest Newyrbar, drinking rose

Laura wore a stunning grey Talulah frock, with an off-the-shoulder design that exposed a glimpse of cleavage.

She captioned a shot of the couple 'Old mate Zoolander and I are ready for another wedding', playing up on rumours that she and Matty J are already engaged.

The couple appeared in high spirits as they mingled with other guests at the reception, held at Harvest Newyrbar.

One picture showed them sitting at 'table 7' raising their glasses of rose in a celebratory fashion.

Matty referenced the night of partying in his post the next day: 'Currently in bed with rose seeping out my pores... looking back at this photo and reminiscing of a time when my suit wasn't stained (apologies @mjbale), my head didn't hurt and I knew where my sunglasses were.'

Bittersweet: On Monday, New Idea claimed Matty J (left) is perhaps feeling 'a little heartbroken' after learning his ex-girlfriend Sara Bray (right) is engaged to be married

Last year, New Idea claimed while Matty was 'really happy' for his former flame and PR professional Sara's engagement, they suggested the news was bittersweet.

An insider reportedly said: 'Matty J just wants to settle down, get married and have kids. He and Sara were really close and in love, but things just didn't work out.

'And while he's really happy for her, and happy that she's getting married, I'm sure it would break his heart a little that he's struggled to find love since they broke up.

Moving on: While Matty is reportedly 'really happy' for his former flame, PR professional Sara Bray, it was claimed the engagement news was perhaps bittersweet

'He'd be feeling like he's wasted the last four years, while Sara's found lasting love,' the continued, before adding: 'He tends to stay quiet about the whole relationship.'

In previous interviews, Matty had referenced being in a relationship with a mystery lady while living in England - but her identity had remained a secret.

But sleuthing fans from the The Bachelor And Bachelorette Spoiler Forums claimed to discover she was, in fact, Sara.

The One: It appears Sara (right) is happily in a new relationship with Alex Lloyd (left), and the couple got engaged in November last year

Photos from her Instagram page dating back to 2012 showed the pair enjoying what is a 'rite of passage' for many young Australians.

From homemade dinners with friends, to relaxing at the pool and larking about at bus stops, Matty and Sara appeared blissfully happy in the UK.

In two separate Instagram posts Sara referred to Matty as 'mine' and an 'amazing human', appearing to confirm they were more than friends.

The former Bachelorette star previously told NW he broke up with his girlfriend from the UK because 'the timing was not right'.

He added: 'It's hard, because sometimes a relationship ends not because of a reason or something that's happened - say, you've cheated on each other or there's an actual event that's forced you to break up.'

Meanwhile, Sara is now a happily newlywed to husband Alex Lloyd, who proposed to her in November last year.
He's the WWE superstar that proposed in the ring to Nikki Bella, real name Nicole Garcia-Colace, at WrestleMania in April.

And in Sunday's Stellar magazine, John Cena revealed whether he and his fiancee are to become parents.

Despite describing children as 'wonderful,' the 40-year-old wrestler-turned actor said he currently does not have babies on the brain.

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'Children are wonderful': WWE star John Cena, 40, revealed in Sunday's Stellar magazine whether babies are on the cards, as he prepares to wed fiancee Nikki Bella, 34

'Children are wonderful. I get so much inspiration and energy from all sorts of kids around the world,' John, an ambassador for charity Make-A-Wish Foundation told Stellar.

That said however, the entertainer is in no means preparing to welcome children of his own.

'Speak to anyone and they'll tell you two things: it's the greatest thing that will ever happen to you, and it completely changes your life. Because you are now responsible for the well being of a being, trying to figure out life.

'If I can't do that correctly, or give the amount of time needed to do that correctly, then I wouldn't want to put somebody through that,' John went on to explain.

Ambassador role: 'Children are wonderful. I get so much inspiration and energy from all sorts of kids around the world,' John, an ambassador for charity Make-A-Wish Foundation told the publication

No to fatherhood: That said however, the entertainer is in no means preparing to welcome children of his own: 'You are now responsible for the well being of a being, trying to figure out life. If I can't do that correctly, or give the amount of time needed to do that correctly, then I wouldn't want to put somebody through that'

Meanwhile, this is not the first time the couple have been forced to address talk of children.

When quizzed by TMZ back in April whether babies are in her future, Nikki said: 'I've been getting that question a lot, let me tell you. No, there won't be.'

The busty brunette explained: 'John doesn't want kids, so we're not gonna have kids.'

Straight-shooter: Meanwhile, this is not the first time the couple have been forced to address talk of children. When quizzed by TMZ back in April whether babies are in her future, Nikki said: 'I've been getting that question a lot, let me tell you. No, there won't be'

John proposed earlier that month to Nikki in front of a packed stadium at WrestleMania, the Super Bowl of Wrestling.

Despite being caught completely off-guard, the Total Diva did admit that she'd 'heard all the speculation.'

'I saw all the rumours on the Internet (that John would propose), but I literally was like: 'There's no way my man's gonna be proposing' - he's so private.'

TV proposal: John proposed to Nikki in front of a packed stadium at WrestleMania, the Super Bowl of Wrestling, in April

Ecstatic: After accepting her beau's proposal Nikki gushed on Twitter, writing: 'My Prince Charming made me his Queen in a place we call home. Last night was truly unforgettable. A dream come true! N' she added alongside a heard and diamond ring emoji

After accepting her beau's proposal Nikki gushed on Twitter, writing: 'My Prince Charming made me his Queen in a place we call home.

'Last night was truly unforgettable. A dream come true! N' she added alongside a heard and diamond ring emoji.

John divorced his first wife, Elizabeth Huberdeau, in 2012.

He began dating Nikki that same year, shortly after.
One month after she called off her divorce from Ryan Dorsey, Naya Rvera has been arrested and charged with domestic battery against her husband.

The former Glee star was arrested at a home in Kanawha County, West Virginia, on Saturday, according to local TV station WSAZ-TV.

The news station posted a photo and video of the actress, 30, in handcuffs and being arraigned.

She has now been released on $1,000 bond and local TV reporter Jatara McGee said on Twitter that her father-in-law had been the one to pick her up.

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Naya Rivera has been charged in West Virginia with domestic battery against her husband Ryan Dorsey. She was arraigned in handcuffs after being arrested on Saturday night

Her arraignment was covered by local TV news stations with photos and video shared on Twitter

Rivera, 30, filed for divorce from Dorsey, 34, in 2016 after two years of marriage. But in October she ended legal proceedings.

The couple share a two-year-old son, Josey.

WSAV-TV and WCHS-TV reported that deputies were called to the home around 9:30 p.m. Saturday for a domestic situation.

Dorsey told the responding officers that Rivera had struck him in the head and bottom lip while they were taking their son for a walk.

According to local news reports, he provided cell phone video of the incident to law enforcement.

The former Glee star was released from custody on $1,000 bond and picked up by her father-in-law, according to local news reports

Rivera and Dorsey, who was born and raised in Chesapeake, West Virginia, married in 2014 and share a two-year-old son Josey. They're pictured in May 2016

Dorsey and Rivera first dated in 2010 but the actress called off the relationship after finding fame on Glee. She went on to date rapper Big Sean before reuniting with the Ray Donovan actor and tying the knot and having their son

Rivera and Dorsey first dated in 2010 but the actress called time on the relationship as she became famous for her role as cheerleader Santana Lopez on Glee.

Following the split, she had an abortion, something she only revealed to Dorsey in September 2016 while promoting her memoir Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up.

In November that year, they separated and Rivera filed for divorce seeking primary physical custody of their son with visitation for Dorsey.

In October, when deciding not to proceed with the end of their marriage, an insider told E! News: 'They want to make it work for the sake of their son.'

Rivera was pictured in Los Angeles November 18 attending a charity event

Following the end of Glee in 2015, Rivera want on to appear on one season of the comedy Devious Maids.

She also had a part in the big screen comedy Mad Families, released in January this year with Charlie Sheen and Leah Remini.

It was written by actor and comedian David Spade and the two were briefly linked romantically this past April.

Dorsey has had small roles in several TV shows, most recently appearing this year as the character Dime Bag in Showtime's Ray Donovan starring Liev Schreiber.
She's currently based in Sydney and has been seen frolicking at some of the most popular beaches recently.

And on Saturday, model Kendal Lee Schuler once again took advantage of the warmer weather, when she enjoyed a day out at Tamarama Beach.

The stunner - who has previously dated Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, 43, flaunted her trim post-baby figure in a green bikini, as she doted on her son Ryka, seven months.

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Beach baby! Leonardo DiCaprio's model ex Kendal Lee Schuler flaunts her trim figure in a bikini as she takes her son Ryka, seven months, to Tamarama Beach

Going makeup free, the beauty enjoyed sitting on the sand with her son in her lap.

She had her long hair out and over her shoulders and wore gold accessories, including a layered necklace and a bracelet.

She made sure her little boy stayed sun-safe, covering him in a white shirt and matching hat.

One hot mumma! She had her long hair out and over her shoulders and wore gold accessories, including a layered necklace and a bracelet

Kendal shares her tot with her surfing enthusiast partner, Jacob Pedrana.

The pair welcomed Ryka on April one.

Before finding love with Jacob, Kendal was rumoured to be dating Leonardo DiCaprio in 2011 while he was in Australia filming The Great Gatsby.

Motherhood: Kendal shares her tot with her surfing enthusiast partner, Jacob Pedrana

Former flame? Before finding love with Jacob, Kendal was rumoured to be dating Leonardo DiCaprio (seen) in 2011 while he was in Australia filming The Great Gatsby

At the time, the Courier Mail reported the pair had been spotted together at a nightclub in Sydney, after meeting in Los Angeles months earlier.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, the actor shared a steamy relationship with the then 20-year-old during his time Down Under.

Kendal had a home birth for Ryka in Sydney, later taking to social media to announce the newborn's arrival with a selfie from The Royal Hospital For Women in Randwick.
Australian actress Margot Robbie has praised the actresses who have spoken out against Harvey Weinstein, amid the sexual misconduct saga.

The 27-year-old Suicide Squad star said that she feels proud to be a woman after the 'resilient' actresses shared their stories.

Speaking to Vogue Australia, Margot said: 'Women are so resilient and I think the response to the whole Weinstein situation kind of proved that.'

'It made me even more proud to be a woman': Margot Robbie praises the 'resilient' actresses who spoke out against Harvey Weinstein

'Because it's astounding how quickly everyone pivoted from being heartbroken about the news to, how do we move forward?,' she continued.

Margot added: 'Everyone was so supportive immediately and then automatically looking to the future, which made me even more proud to be a woman.'

Hollywood star Uma Thurman has just came out against Harvey in a brutal thanksgiving post, saying he and his 'wicked conspirators...don't deserve a bullet.'

In the headlines: Pictured is American film producer Harvey Weinstein

'Stay tuned': Hollywood star Uma Thurman (pictured) has just came out against Harvey in a brutal thanksgiving post, saying he and his 'wicked conspirators...don't deserve a bullet'

She then told her fans to 'stay tuned.'

Indeed, dozens of women have recently came forward alleging that they had been either sexually harassed or assaulted by producer Harvey Weinstein.

The scandal has also touched the likes of former House Of Cards star Kevin Spacey, Arrested Development actor Jeffrey Tambor and Pixar head John Lasseter who have been accused of sexual misconduct.

This month, Australian star Mel Gibson also spoke about the scandal, saying the controversy will ultimately be good for the industry.

Speaking up: This month, Australian star Mel Gibson (pictured) also spoke about the scandal, saying the controversy will ultimately be good for the industry

The Guardian reported that Mel's comments came as he was in London to promote his new film Daddy's Home 2.

The Lethal Weapon star said that while painful, the revelations will ultimately have a positive effect on Hollywood.

'Things got shaken up a little bit and there is a lot of light being thrown in places where there were shadows and that is kind of healthy,' Mel said.

He continued: 'It's painful, but I think pain is a precursor to change.'
She's previously admitted to getting a breast augmentation, going from a A-cup to an E-cup.

And on Sunday, former escort Samantha X - whose real name is Amanda Goff - showcased her assets.

The busty blonde took to Instagram to share a sultry snap of herself in a strapless top, joking that she matched her bed sheets.

'When it looks like you're wearing bed sheets': Former escort Samantha X flaunts her surgically enhanced assets in a strapless top after packing on the PDA with TV star beau Ryan Phelan

'When your outfit clearly looks like you're wearing bed sheets,' Amanda captioned the snap.

Showing off a golden tan, Amanda smiles in the snap, with her short locks out and freshly blowdryed.

She also shared another snap that same day of salami, and joked about it looking inappropriate.

'When am I going to grow up?' She also shared another snap that same day of salami, and joked about it looking inappropriate

'Why do I find this big salami funny? When am I going to grow up?,' Amanda wrote.

On Saturday evening, she was pictured heading for dinner at China Diner in Bondi with friends and new boyfriend, TV star Ryan Phelan.

The smitten couple hugged and shared a smooch, as Ryan held a bottle of champagne.

Smitten: On Saturday evening, she was pictured heading for dinner at China Diner in Bondi with friends and new boyfriend, TV star Ryan Phelan (pictured)

The pair confirmed their unexpected romance last week.

Last week, Amanda confirmed she was dating Ryan this week after retiring from her escort work.

She told Daily Mail Australia the couple 'are very happy' and Ryan made her realise it was time to 'close the chapter' and start a new life with him.

However, the Channel Seven reporter's new controversial relationship may have had 'huge implications' for his career.

'Happy': Last week, Amanda confirmed she was dating Ryan this week after retiring from her escort work

Network executives, fans and advertisers are said to have been left fuming after he professed his love for Amanda.

The Daily Telegraph reports the announcement has 'raised more than a few eyebrows' and jeopardised his 'wholesome image'.

Ryan confirmed he first met Amanda while she was on a promotional tour for her new book Back On Top.
She's a stunning Ukranian beauty that recently wowed critics in the dramedy The Death of Stalin, which looked at the passing of the Soviet dictator in a comedic lens.

And Olga Kurylenko continued to fly the flag of Russian cinema on Sunday, attending the Golden Unicorn awards in London.

The 38-year-old actress flashed her bra in a revealing ensemble for the event, rocking a slender black dress with silver threading as she joined the star-studded lineup at the event.

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Stunning: Actress Olga Kurylenko flashed her bra in a revealing grey and silver-threaded dress as she attended the Golden Unicorn Awards on Sunday

Olga flaunted her incredible figure in the stylish look, with the high neck and sleeveless top of the dress showing off her slender arms and ample cleavage.

Flashing her bra in the revealing the dress, the actress certainly showed why she was cast as a Bond girl in Quantum of Solace.

The fabulous silver-threaded look continued throughout the dress, as the long pleated skirt dazzled as if it was covered in sequins.

Amazing: The Ukranian beauty showed off her ample cleavage in the revealing dress, which showed off the star's slender figure perfectly

Screen star: Olga kept her brunette tresses tied into a voluminous ponytail, finishing the look with a slick of pink lipgloss

Olga kept her brunette tresses slicked back into a low ponytail with a hint of volume at the routes, along with a slick of pink lipgloss on the stars lips.

The Oblivion star put on a glamorous display for the ceremony, which celebrates the best and brightest in Russian cinema.

Olga has been riding high in recent weeks after the critical success towards her latest film The Death of Stalin, which also starred Jason Isaacs and Andrea Riseborough.

On the up: Olga's latest film The Death of Stalin has received acclaim from critics and is tipped for big things in December's British Independant Film Awards

Legend: In the film, Olga plays pianist Maria Yudina, who is famously defined as the only person to refuse Stalin and live to tell the tale

The film is currently on-track for success at the British Independent Film Awards in December, as the early presented craft categories resulted in three gongs for the film.

A further five nominations in major categories could see the Armando Iannucci-directed picture scoop some major prizes during the ceremony on December 10.

In the film, Olga plays Soviet pianist Maria Yudina, who famously refused a monetary gift from Stalin after a musical piece of hers was requested by the Communist dictator, and in a shocking twist on usual proceedings lived to tell the tale.
His character is set to arrive in Albert Square with a bang on Monday.

And Patrick Bergin's first scenes as 'old-school villain' Aidan Joseph Patrick Maguire in EastEnders have been revealed.

One of his first outings on the square will see Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer, invite Aidan into the Queen Vic after he spots him being mugged.

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Villain: Patrick Bergin's first scenes as 'old-school villain' Aidan Joseph Patrick Maguire in Eastenders have been revealed (pictured above with Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer)

After Mick and Aidan get chatting, Mick opens up about his financial problems which leads Aidan to hint at his own chequered past.

This leads Mick to ask more but it is questionable whether Aidan's intentions are all that they seem.

The scenes with Danny Dyer will air on Friday, December 8 with Patrick making his first appearance in the soap on Monday.

Aidan is an old prison friend of Phil Mitchell's from his stint behind bars in 2005.

Shady past: Aidan is an old prison friend of Phil Mitchell's from his stint behind bars in 2005

The new character will also be seen receiving a warm welcome from his old pal Phil when he shows up on his doorstep - before the pair embark on a series of shady ventures.

Speaking about joining EastEnders, Patrick, 66, enthused: I am delighted to be joining EastEnders as I have watched and admired it since the days of Dirty Den.

'It is an iconic show that has the ability to shape the way people think, while also telling big explosive stories that keep the audience gripped. I am really looking forward to seeing what they have in store for Aidan as its bound to be dramatic.

John Yorke added: EastEnders deserves the very best and in Patrick we are absolutely privileged to have a truly great actor join the show.

Seen you before: Irish actor Patrick is best known for his menacing turn as Julia Robert's husband in 1991 film Sleeping With The Enemy

'Its a huge honour to have him on board, where hell be working hand in hand with Phil Mitchell and Mick Carter to carry a truly explosive storyline for Christmas and New Year. We cant wait to get started.

Irish actor Patrick is best known for his menacing turn as Julia Robert's husband in 1991 film Sleeping With The Enemy.

He also appeared alongside the likes of Harrison Ford, Anne Archer and Thora Birch in the 1992 American spy thriller Patriot Games.

The actor, who resides in a castle in Ireland's County Tipperary, is currently separated from his wife Paula Frazier. They're parents to daughter Tatiana, 21.

Acclaimed actor: He also appeared alongside the likes of Harrison Ford, Anne Archer and Thora Birch in the 1992 American spy thriller Patriot Games




She was crowned as New Zealand's first ever playmate in 2013.

And on Saturday, Gemma Lee Farrell was spotted with fellow social media sensation Abigail Ratchford on a shopping trip in Beverly Hills.

Flaunting her ample cleavage in a cut-out black bodysuit, the 29-year-old was all smiles as she enjoyed some retail therapy.

Girl's day! And on Saturday, Gemma Lee Farrell (R) was spotted with fellow social media sensation Abigail Ratchford (L) on a shopping trip in Beverly Hills

Gemma teamed her look with blue denim jeans which saw a slit at the ankle.

Giving herself some height, the stunner added a pair of black strappy heels.

Keeping her accessories minimal, Gemma was seen with her shades hanging off her busty chest and a bag over her shoulder.

Busting out! Flaunting her ample cleavage in a figure-hugging black bodysuit, the 29-year-old was all smiles as she enjoyed some retail therapy

Stylish: Gemma teamed her look with blue denim jeans which saw a slit at the ankle

Completing her glam, Gemma was photographed with a matte complexion and a sweep of blush.

She styled her brunette locks in waves.

And getting the memo, pal Abigail was seen in a very similar look.

Beauty: Completing her glam, Gemma was photographed with a matte complexion and a sweep of blush

Twinning! And getting the memo, pal Abigail was seen in a very similar look

Also in a figure-hugging bodysuit that flaunted her ample cleavage, the US native added a pair of distressed denim shorts over the top of some stockings.

Abigail kept her calves warm with suede knee-high boots.

Going for a more casual look, she added a long knit cardigan over the top of her suggestive ensemble.

Fashion-forward: Also in a figure-hugging bodysuit that flaunted her ample cleavage, the US native added a pair of distressed denim shorts over the top of some stockings

Sad loss: Earlier in the year after Hugh Hefner passed away, November pin-up girl Gemma took to Instagram to share a tribute with her 1.1 million followers

Earlier in the year after Hugh Hefner passed away, November pin-up girl Gemma took to Instagram to share a tribute with her 1.1 million followers.

'Living in the moment, thinking about the future, and staying connected to the past: That's what makes me feel whole,' she wrote.





'Hugh Hefner RIP... thank you for being a part of my life.'
She is most famously known for effortlessly gliding down runways across the globe.

But Kate Moss seemed to struggle to regain her composure after she let loose on a number of intense rollercoasters at Winter Wonderland in London on Saturday night.

Proving to be ever so stylish, the 43-year-old supermodel was seen looking slightly queasy after she enjoyed the adrenaline-packed night with her pals.

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Queasy? Kate Moss seemed to struggle to regain her composure after she let loose on a number of intense rollercoasters at Winter Wonderland in London on Saturday night

Wohoo! The supermodel, 43, proved to be a little kid in a candy store as she took to the rollercoasters with her pals

Kate lived up to her style icon status in her leopard print coat and a stylish all-black ensemble underneath.

She opted for a bronzed and glowing make-up look and tamed her unkempt blonde tresses in place with a black beanie hat.

Suitably wrapped up warm for the outdoor festivities, Kate proved to be a little kid in a candy store as she enjoyed some high energy rollercoaster rides.

With her pals in tow, Kate could be seen grinning like a Cheshire cat as she was strapped in her seat before being catapulted into the air.

Fashionista: Kate lived up to her style icon status in her leopard print coat and a stylish all-black ensemble underneath

Trendy: She opted for a bronzed and glowing make-up look and tamed her unkempt blonde tresses in place with a black beanie hat

Happy: Suitably wrapped up warm for the outdoor festivities, Kate proved to be a little kid in a candy store as she enjoyed some high energy rollercoaster rides

Clearly an adrenaline junkie, the Vogue favourite didn't sport a hint of nerves as she embarked on the fun activity.

However, it seems like her time up in the air, where she engaged in a series of twists and turns, didn't allow her to adjust well back on flat ground.

The star, whose little half sister Lottie Moss, 19, is also following in her supermodel footsteps, could be seen struggling to keep her calm.

Smiling: With her pals in tow, Kate could be seen grinning like a Cheshire cat as she was strapped in her seat

Loving it! Kate gripped onto the banister in front of her as she was catapulted into the air

Fun! Clearly an adrenaline junkie, the Vogue favourite didn't sport a hint of nerves as she embarked on the fun activity

Adrenaline packed: At one point, Kate was seen upside down on a ride

Dizzy? However, it seems like her time up in the air, where she engaged in a series of twists and turns, didn't allow her to adjust well back on flat ground

Kate has not been pictured with her beau Nikolai Von Bismarck for a while but has spoken in the past about how he and her daughter Lila Grace, 14, share the same taste in jewellery.

Speaking in an interview with the Telegraph Magazine back in July the model said: 'I can steal his jewellery; he doesnt steal mine.'

Her younger lover Nikolai is currently on a detox treatment in the America.

Yummy! She was later seen feeding her appetite with some hotdogs

'I can steal his jewellery': Kate has not been pictured with her beau Nikolai Von Bismarck for a while but has spoken in the past about how he and her daughter Lila Grace, 14, share the same taste in jewellery

The style icon has been modelling for 30 years now and is still very much in demand as a top model in the industry.

The blonde beauty has been gracing global catwalks and city billboards every since she was discovered at New Yorks JFK airport when she was 14 by Sarah Doukas, founder of Storm Models management.

As the face of Calvin Klein underwear at the tender age of 17, Kate has been modelling ever since.

Rise to fame: The blonde beauty has been gracing global catwalks and city billboards every since she was discovered at New Yorks JFK airport when she was 14 by Sarah Doukas, founder of Storm Models management
He's been on a mission to raise 60,000 in a desperate bid to raise funds to keep his family's name above the Queen Vic pub.

But it seems EastEnders' Mick Carter will resort to desperate measures in a bid to hold onto the beloved haunt in the coming weeks, as Danny Dyer was seen filming an upcoming storyline.

Donning a high vis vest and hard hat, the 40-year-old actor was seen filming an upcoming energy scam storyline with actor Danny Walters, who plays Keanu Taylor.

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New scheme: EastEnders star Danny Dyer, 40, was spotted filming scenes for the ITV soap on Sunday for a dramatic new storyline with co-star Danny Walters

In the scene, Danny can be seen arguing with the drivers of a white van as they attempt to block them from driving any further.

As the pair carry a road sign out into sight of the vehicle, it is clear they are targets in their latest scheme.

Mick has resorted to desperate measures in recent weeks in an attempt to raise money to save the Queen Vic, and prevent it from falling into the hands of Fi Browning.

Pear-shaped: In the scenes, Danny dons a high-vis vest and hard hat to film the scenes which will be part of an energy scam storyline

Tense: Both Mick Carter and Keanu Taylor can be seen arguing with the drivers of a white van as they attempt to block them from driving any further

Desperate: Mick Carter has resorted to new measures in an attempt to raise the 60k he needs to maintain ownership of the Queen Vic pub

New plan: Danny was previously spotted filming scenes which saw Mick being chased by police as his van was impounded

Despite all the Albert Square residents attempting to chip in and raise the money, it seems that Mick's latest scheme could land him in deep trouble.

Both Keanu and Mick were seen filming scenes earlier this week which saw them running away from police, with their van also impounded during the scenes.

It seems Keanu will be getting in on the action with Mick after his family were the victim of loan sharks.

After Mum Karen failed to repay her loan, the shark returned and completely cleared out the family's house, taking all the electronics as well as they beloved dog Bronson.

End of the road? This upcoming storyline is set to air in the next few weeks, and will lead into a dramatic Christmas storyline for the Carter family

Fans have also been on tenterhooks ahead of the debut of 'old-school villain' character Aidan Maguire on Eastenders in December.

Played by veteran actor Patrick Bergin, the character is set to be an old friend and former cellmate of Phil Mitchell, who strikes an unlikely bond with Mick.

The pair's new friendship will result in a huge Christmas storyline, but whether this feeds into the scenes Danny has been spotted filming remains to be seen.

Tense: Despite being in character, Danny Walters also seemed to be rocking bizarre bulldog slippers for the scenes

Woes: Keanu Taylor will also be looking to make some quick cash after his Mum Karen lost everything to a loan shark
She shot into the spotlight after appearing on ITV2's Love Island earlier this year.

But Montana Brown sparked speculation she is preparing for her second reality show on Sunday, by hinting she is set to enter the I'm A Celebrity jungle.

The 22-year-old sent fans into a frenzy with a very cheeky belfie - which not only showed off her derriere, but also sparked speculation she was joining this year's camp mates with the cryptic caption.

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'George of the jungle who?': Montana Brown sparked speculation she is preparing for her second reality show on Sunday, by hinting she is set to enter the I'm A Celebrity jungle

The brunette beauty showed off her famously toned figure in the snap, as she posed in a barely-there black swimsuit.

The one-piece plunged at both the side and back, to tease a hint of sideboob and leave most of her smooth, sun-kissed skin on show.

Making the look even raunchier, the swimsuit then cut into a daring thong style at the rear, to display her famously perky derriere to all.

Late arrival? Despite her eye-popping display, it was the caption that caught the most attention from fans - as it appeared to hint she was preparing to enter the celebrity jungle

Sparking speculation: Fans immediately began to question whether she was joining this year's camp mates

Leaving her hair in its usual sleek style and sporting minimal make-up, Montana proved her striking natural beauty as she posed for the sun-soaked snap.

Despite her eye-popping display in the snap, it was the caption that caught the most attention from fans - as it appeared to hint she was preparing to enter the celebrity jungle.

Reaching up to a tree on a ladder in the photo, Montana wrote: 'George of the jungle who? all set for the @itvimacelebrity tomorrow eeeekkkkk'

Fans immediately began to question whether she was joining this year's camp mates, writing: 'Omg no way is she coming into I'm A Celebrity' and 'Omg hope she actually comes in will make the most of it.'

Fleeting appearance: Yet, despite fan excitement (above) it was soon revealed she was in Australia to appear on the spin-off show Extra Camp, rather than the main event

Leading lady: Montana has been been riding the wave of fame following her appearance on Love Island, having bagged an MTV News hosting gig and a clothing line with PrettyLittleThing

Meanwhile others added excitedly: 'She's going in!!', 'What, is she going in!' and 'Is she going in to replace Jack?'

However, it was soon revealed that Montana was in Australia to appear on the spin-off show Extra Camp, rather than the main event on ITV.

MailOnline has contacted Montana's representatives for comment.

While she has been riding the wave of fame following her appearance on Love Island, Montana has also been using her public position for good.

The star addressed MPs at the House Of Commons earlier this month to speak about the sudden and unexpected death of her school friend Harry, to raise awareness of cardiac arrest in the young.

Doing her bit: However Montana also addressed MPs at the House Of Commons earlier this month to speak about the sudden and unexpected death of her school friend Harry (above)

Signature style: Montana stopped by the Kiehl's Thanksgiving Party at the newly-revamped Kettner House in Soho, London on Thursday

Brave: 'I felt so broken and perplexed,' she said. 'At the time, I remember feeling so much guilt, because in my head Harry was honestly the most selfless and admirable person I knew'

The brunette, who has landed an MTV News hosting gig and a clothing line with PrettyLittleThing since Love Island, was supporting the charity CRY as she bravely paid tribute to 17-year-old Harry who died in 2013 following a cardiac arrest.

'I felt so broken and perplexed,' she said. 'At the time, I remember feeling so much guilt, because in my head Harry was honestly the most selfless and admirable person I knew at school.'

She added: 'I couldnt get to grips with why something like this would ever happen to a boy like Harry.'

Internalising her struggle, Montana admitted she found it difficult to return to school and says that everything reminded her she would never hear her friend's voice again.

'My whole body ended up in shock,' she continued. 'I used to wake up every morning with a rash from head to toe, because I was in such a fight with myself about whether or not it was real life.'
She showed off her impressive form on the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai, China, on Monday.

But Sara Sampaio was nostalgic nearing the end of her well-earned break in Thailand during the Thanksgiving holiday following the exclusive show.

The 26-year-old model shared a sexy swimsuit photo to her Instagram account alongside her statuesque model friends.

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Model behavior: Sara Sampaio was nostalgic nearing the end of her well-earned break in Thailand during the Thanksgiving holiday following the exclusive show

Standing alongside supermodel pals Josephine Skriver, Lais Ribeiro and Jasmine Tookes, Sampaio kicked up her knee to pose for the photo.

'So sad to leave these beautiful place!' the Victoria's Secret Angel captioned the gorgeous image.

'Thank you @anivillas for such an incredible stay! Also love love these girls, so many beautiful memories!'

Stunning! The 26-year-old model shared a sexy swimsuit photo to her Instagram account alongside her statuesque model friends

Another cheeky image posted to the model's account showed the ladies topless and leaning over an infinity pool.

Each woman donned a large woven hat on their head, with their name embroidered in black along the outside.

The beautiful brunette showed off her washboard abs in a sporty turquoise bikini as she cooled off at a picturesque waterfall.

Bikini babe: Sara Sampaio enjoyed a well-earned break as she jetted to Thailand to spend Thanksgiving soaking up the sun with a group of friends on Thursday

Fun in the sun: The model, 26, showed off her washboard abs in a cobalt blue bikini as she posed for a smoldering selfie from her hotel room... in her socks

Alongside the snap, the Portuguese beauty wrote: 'Turkey day in Thailand.'

The Victoria's Secret Angel later changed into a bright blue two-piece as she posed for a smoldering selfie from her hotel room.

Sara spent Thanksgiving night enjoying a sumptuous 'friendsgiving' meal with a group of pals, posting various Instagram stories as the group sat at a long table set under a beautiful roof of fairy lights.

It's been a busy week for the model after she spent Monday rocking the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which was held in Shanghai, China, for the first time.

Welcome to paradise: Sara documented her envy-inducing trip throughout Thanksgiving Day

Sunning: She looked stunning in her tiny two-piece

'Happy friendsgiving': The Portuguese beauty spent Thanksgiving night enjoying a sumptuous 'friendsgiving' meal with a group of pals

In the holiday spirit: Sara posted various Instagram stories as the group sat at a long table set under a beautiful roof of fairy lights

Sara made her show debut back in 2013 in New York City, and has appeared in the presentation every year since.

The beauty revealed she forced herself to cut back on her favorite foods, as well as making sure she exercised three times a week, to make sure her body was in peak condition for the show.

Speaking to The Edit, she said: 'I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted, but now I have to be more careful.

'I would eat a burger and pizza and pancakes every day if I could. I wont stop myself from eating anything, but I try to eat cleaner.'

Wilderness: The beauty knows how to strike a pose

Kept her fans updated: She looked flawless in the pics she shared via Instagram

Heaven sent: It's been a busy week for the model after she spent Monday rocking the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which was held in Shanghai, China, for the first time

Veteran: Sara made her show debut back in 2013 in New York City, and has appeared in the presentation every year since

The model also works out two to three times a week to stay fit and toned, mixing toning classes and Pilates with runs and personal training sessions to keep herself interested.

The Angels also use their experience in front of the camera to make sure they look as good as possible once they step onto the runway, but she insisted that it's all an illusion.

Sara continued: 'People need to realize that models get [professional] hair and make-up, incredible lighting, and we know how to pose.

'I've been doing this job for almost 10 years so I know how my body looks good from different angles. But I dont look like that in real life.'

Here come the Angels: Sara (right) pictured with fellow Victoria's Secret models (L-R) Karlie Kloss, Romee Strijd, Elsa Hosk and Josephine Skriver
They confirmed their relationship with a tender Instagram post weeks ago.

And Alex Nation is ready to take things to the next level with girlfriend Maegan Luxa and start a family together, according to Woman's Day.

The 26-year-old's son from a previous relationship, Elijah, six, has reportedly been 'nagging' his mother for a sibling.

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Baby fever? Alex Nation is ready to take things to the next level with girlfriend Maegan Luxa and start a family together, according to Woman's Day

'The girls have sought advice from an IVF clinic in East Melbourne,' an alleged 'friend' of the couple's told the magazine.

'They fell in love all over again during their trip to Bali and talk got serious,' they added.

The lovebirds confirmed their romance during a getaway to Bali earlier this month.

'The girls have sought advice from an IVF clinic in East Melbourne,' an alleged 'friend' of the couple's told the magazine

Family ties: The 26-year-old's son from a previous relationship, Elijah, six, has reportedly been 'nagging' his mother for a sibling

On the day Australia celebrated a majority 'Yes' vote in the country's marriage equality postal survey, Alex shared a photo of the pair holding each other.

'Everywhere around the country, voices of the oppressed rang true. They were not silenced and love prevailed,' she gushed in the image's caption.

Previously in a high-profile relationship with Richie Strahan, whom she met on The Bachelor in 2016, Alex met Maegan, 31, playing for the same AFL Women's team.

Former flame: Previously in a high-profile relationship with Richie Strahan, whom she met on The Bachelor in 2016, Alex met Maegan, 31, playing for the same AFL Women's team

'When it comes to love, my friends and family would tell you that my heart isn't one to discriminate,' she said of their same-sex relationship on Thursday.

'I very much fall for a person and the connection that I share with them,' she continued.

Woman's Day reported the twosome are also said to be 'planning a wedding'.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Alex Nation for comment.
Since tying the knot in 2006, they're never short of loved-up displays on the red carpet.

And in Monday's Woman's Day magazine, it's been claimed that Keith Urban gave 'his adored wife Nicole Kidman the ultimate gift' - a $52 million (US$40 million) Manhattan mansion in New York.

The lavish purchase is said to have been made in order for the actress to pursue her dream of acting on Broadway.

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'He gave her the ultimate gift': Keith Urban has reportedly 'splurged on a $52 million New York mansion' in order for Nicole Kidman to pursue her dream of acting on Broadway

A source reportedly told the publication: 'Nicole is keen to do Broadway shows and get into making TV programs and New York is a much better place for them to be than Nashville.'

The insider also went on to allege that New York is perfect for their children Sunday Rose, nine, and Faith Margaret, six, especially for schooling.

'It has some of the top schools in the country and they think their girls would really benefit from moving to the Big Apple now they're getting a bit older,' they added.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to both Keith and Nicole for comment.

Lavish: The sprawling property, covering six levels, was previously owned by the late Michael Jackson and features seven bedrooms

Culinary desires: The estate contains a spacious kitchen with wooden floorboards, a marble island and state-of-the-art appliances

Luxe: Interiors take on a contemporary feel, with wooden floorboards, white-washed walls and subtle pops of colour

The sprawling property, covering six levels, was previously owned by the late Michael Jackson.

It features seven bedrooms, a spacious kitchen and a secluded outdoor patio.

An additional feature is a decadent grand oak staircase, while interiors take on a contemporary feel, with wooden floorboards, white-washed walls and subtle pops of colour.

The reported grand gesture follows Nicole's sweet tribute to her country music beau after being she was named Glamour Woman Of The Year for 2017, earlier this month.

The high life: A spacious dining area features a statement chandelier and ornate fireplace

Design: Floor-to-ceiling windows add a unique charm to the property

Entertaining: Guests can make use of a stunning outdoor area with ample space to mingle

Clad in a striking Christian Dior gown, the 50-year-old actress took the stage to thank Keith for his undying support over the years.

'He gives me so much strength at times, and he gives me so much love,' Nicole told the audience, explaining that without her 'extraordinary' man she would be lost.

'I'm very very fortunate and I know so many people in this room don't have that, but I have it, and I want to acknowledge it,' she said as a teary-eyed Keith, 50, watched on.

The lovebirds met in 2005 at G'Day LA, a Hollywood event honouring Australians, and were married a year later.

Passion: The property was said to have been purchased by Keith in order for Nicole to pursue her dreams of acting on stage in Broadway

Tribute: The reported grand gesture follows Nicole's sweet tribute to her country music beau after being she was named Glamour Woman Of The Year for 2017, earlier this month

Love story: Keith and Nicole met in 2005 at G'Day LA, a Hollywood event honouring Australians, and were married a year later
With Game Of Thrones absent from our screens, fans of epic battle scenes, bloody brutality between enemies whose rivalry has been passed down for generations, and sex-maniacs prepared to satisfy their desires at any cost turned to Sir David Attenborough and Blue Planet II.

Even though wed escaped The Deep into the shallows and Green Seas of the title, this weeks episode featured several images/ incidents as strange and sinister as anything wed seen in the Seven Kingdoms. Some of them were not that different either

An army of spider crabs for example recalled the White Walkers Army of the Dead  hundreds of thousands of them !, Attenborough gasped, sweeping relentlessly across the seabed in Australia like bony, thorny, zombies re-animating and continuing, leaving a mass of corpses behind them.

Intense: With Game Of Thrones absent from our screens, fans of epic battle scenes and sex-maniacs prepared to satisfy their desires at any cost turned to Sir David Attenborough and Blue Planet II

Their march had been triggered by the first full moon of winter (very GoT)  forming a carpet of tightly packed bodies so immense they ended up piled up, clambering over one another in mounds that resembled underwater/living rubbish dumps.

They had migrated not to breed but to grow explained Attenborough, shedding so many shells the ocean floor looked like a vast graveyard.

But waiting for their new shells to harden and be able to walk again they were sitting ducks (or crab-meat) for any predator.

Attenborough gave us no warning but the way a stingray  a colossal, smooth, black beast - suddenly came gliding into the picture like a lethal bomber to pick off its helpless prey  was familiar from endless Thrones finales. All it needed was a little blonde mermaid on its back.

If anything the stingray was even cooler and scarier than Khaleesis dragons. Perhaps the writers should get her one.

Mesmerising: Even though wed escaped The Deep into the shallows and Green Seas of the title, this weeks episode featured several images/ incidents as strange and sinister as anything wed seen in the Seven Kingdoms

Jaw-dropping: An army of spider crabs sweep across the seabed in Australia like bony, thorny, zombies re-animating and continuing, leaving a mass of corpses behind them

Throughout Blue Planet II, the battle scenes and fights have been on such an unfathomable scale youre never truly certain that they arent just CGIs.

Accompanied by thundering soundtracks, the sight of a thousand Hammerhead Sharks hunting as a (huge) pack or fleets of dolphins, tuna, and manta rays racing to charge into a massive cloud of Lantern Fish making the sea boil was more thrilling than anything involving the ships of the Iron Islands.

This time, Monterey Bay play host to one of the greatest feasts of all - hundreds of Hump Back Whales attacking millions of anchovies by launching themselves out of sea, scooping up a hundred kilos with every lunge.

One of the highlights in Thrones is when two of the main villains meet in a showdown. Here it was an octopus versus the superbly named Pyjama Shark. It was small enough to get into the hiding places of its prey, spinning into the crevices of the rocks like a drill bit.

The octopus was clamped in the sharks jaws but used its own trump card/USP to survive  slipping its tentacles into its opponents gills until it had to relax its grip to breath.

Incredible scene: Their march had been triggered by the first full moon of winter (very GoT)  forming a carpet of tightly packed bodies so immense they ended up piled up

With the (aggrieved) shark, hunting for the octopus, which was marooned out in the open, the octopus does something truly extraordinary and never recorded before ! Attenborough declared - hastily covering itself with shells to make a multi-coloured camouflage.

Bran Stark would appreciate its shape-shifting.

Arya and the Faceless Men would have admired the work  the art  of the Zebra Mantis Shrimp - the most deadly assassin in the Green Seas, according to Attenborough. Some honour, considering the competition.

A compilation of the Zebra Mantis  and its victims  soon showed why. Or rather it didnt.

All we saw was a series of small, unsuspecting fish being violently snatched almost invisibly by some kind of paranormal smoke.

The water: This time, Monterey Bay play host to one of the greatest feasts of all - hundreds of Hump Back Whales attacking millions of anchovies by launching themselves out of sea, scooping up a hundred kilos with every lunge

In fact the Zebra Mantis was buried under the sandy seabed, catapulting its tentacles up, then instantly swiping its capture down to his lair to present to the female who never left the burrow, concentrating on nurturing their eggs/offspring.

She may have been his partner for 20 years, Attenborough cooed, trying to make it sound romantic but failing when he revealed that that if the male failed to return she was so reliant she would starve.

This, inevitably, happened when he went walkabouts and left her for another (bigger) female, signalling from her (bigger) burrow that her own mate had deserted her  proof even underwater you should never trust a male.

In an earlier episode wed seen the Giant Cuttle Fish using the pulsating light show in its body to hypnotise its prey  an act of sorcery worthy of Melisandre the Red Witch.

Colourful: All we saw was a series of small, unsuspecting fish being violently snatched almost invisibly by some kind of paranormal smoke

Here, the competition for a mate was so intense one male Cuttle Fish seemed determined to try his luck with a female secured by what Attenborough christened a Goliath  a 10 kilos giant several times bigger than his rival.

The plucky smaller male prevailed though by turning its inferior size to his advantage - toning down his colours and tucking in his fins to mimic a female.

It seemed a risky tactic with Goliath around, when he was so randy, scouting for more partners.

The smaller male succeeded though, scuttling off to safety the instant he had mated right under Goliaths nose (and not just his nose).

As Attenborough couldnt resist quipping: so even with Giant Cuttlefish it seems its not all about size !

Tyrion Lannister would be proud of him.
She's been open in the past about her struggle to find love.

And speaking to Woman's Day this week, Susie Elelman admits she has all but given up on men after her latest romantic misadventure.

The magazine reports the 63-year-old TV personality was left shocked when 47-year-old Craig Lembke, a man she had briefly dated, was arrested in a dramatic cocaine bust.

'To say my jaw hit the floor with a thud is an understatement': Susie Elelman told Woman's Day on Monday she was left shocked when Craig Lembke, a man she had briefly dated, was arrested in a dramatic cocaine bust earlier this month

'To say my jaw hit the floor with a thud is an understatement,' Susie told the publication.

Susie revealed she was preparing to attend a movie when she was left gobsmacked by the news that her recent date had been arrested in a $245 million drug bust, where 700 kilos of cocaine had been seized from a yacht in Lake Macquarie, NSW.

'Then I heard Craig Lembke's name mentioned among the three alleged drug traffickers. I looked up and, to my shock, it was the Craig I'd been very casually seeing, on and off, since July,' Susie added.

Drug bust: Craig (pictured) along with Kent Jackson, 63, and Dennis Bath, 68, were arrested earlier this month after 700 kilos of cocaine were seized from a yacht in Lake Macquarie, NSW

While Susie confessed she hadn't heard from Craig in several weeks at the time of the bust, she recalled that they had met after he emailed her to ask her on a date.

She had been bemoaning the lack of potential in her love life during a segment on Studio 10 and the saxophonist and part-time model sent her a complimentary email which won her over.

The veteran star divulged the pair went for lunch and had an enjoyable time but admitted red flags appeared when he seemed to have no credit cards and 'barely enough cash to cover a $45 bill'

Failed romance: Susie said this latest relationship drama has 'shattered' her trust in men

With a string of failed romances behind her, Susie added that this latest misfortune could be the last straw.

'My last long-term relationship completely shattered my trust in men, and now I fear my romantic misadventure with Craig has iced the cake,' she said.

Craig, along with Kent Jackson, 63, and Dennis Bath, 68, were arrested earlier this month in the biggest drug seizure in the Hunter's history.

Single again: Susie's romance with her younger beau ended in heartbreak
She has fought off rumours of a split with boyfriend Stu Laundy for weeks.

But The Bachelorette star Sophie Monk nearly crumbled under pressure during a very awkward chat about her relationship on The Kyle & Jackie O Show.

The 37-year-old vehemently attempted to convince her friends Kyle Sandilands, Jackie 'O' Henderson and Guy Sebastian about the validity of their romance.

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Fighting back: Sophie Monk was in defense mode about her relationship with Stu Laundy on Monday, during an awkward chat with The Kyle & Jackie O Show

The reality star told Guy, who was briefly filling in as show host, she wouldn't be attending Tuesday night's ARIA Awards with Stu, taking her father Andrew instead.

'We are together, we're just not good at public PDA! He doesn't want to be famous,' she confessed.

'I don't think we can win at this point! You just have to live life and enjoy it,' she continued.

'We are together, we're just not good at public PDA! He doesn't want to be famous,' she confessed

'I don't think we can win at this point! You just have to live life and enjoy it,' she continued

Taking over the interview, Kyle then grilled Sophie on her relationship status with her chosen Bachelorette winner, asking where Stu was.

'He's in bed asleep,' she replied, after telling the hosts they were staying at a hotel.

'I want to hear his voice for proof!' Kyle prodded her.

'I'm not going to wake him up,' she defiantly answered. 'I can't be bothered anymore! Everyone can think what they want.'

'I think he's not there,' Kyle declared.

Controversy: Taking over the interview, Kyle then grilled Sophie on her relationship status with her chosen Bachelorette winner, asking where Stu was

'I'm not going to wake him up,' she defiantly answered. 'I can't be bothered anymore! Everyone can think what they want

'I swear I'll do an announcement when we break up, the second we do,' she replied, prompting Kyle to answer: 'You say that as if it's already predetermined!'

'Put the phone to Stu's ear, I want to talk to him!' he continued to prod.

'I'm 100 percent not doing that,' she defiantly stated, to which Kyle said: 'Because he's not there!'

Appearing to have a change of heart, Kyle then backtracked: 'Okay, I believe you. You're not a liar, that's one thing you're not.'

'She is not a liar!' added Guy, defending his longtime friend.
Rohingya refugees sit in front of their makeshift shelter in a Bangladeshi refugee camp

The top Catholic official in Bangladesh hopes Pope Francis's visit there and to Myanmar will bolster moves to alleviate the Rohingya refugee crisis that has put the neighbouring nations in the global spotlight.

Despite last week's deal to return to Myanmar some of the hundreds of thousands of people housed in the world's largest refugee camp, on the Bangladesh side of the border, Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario warns that the situation remains both explosive and tough to resolve.

"I am hopeful the Rohingya can be returned to Myanmar," D'Rozario, the Archbishop of Dhaka, told AFP in an interview ahead of Francis's visit.

"The international community wants it and the Holy Father's visit will prepare the minds and hearts of many," he said.

The UN's refugee agency has said the conditions for a safe return of Rohingya to Myanmar's Rakhine state are not in place and Bangladesh indicated Saturday that the plan was for them to be housed in temporary shelters initially.

Despite the difficult backdrop, D'Rozario is looking forward to the visit of the pontiff who made him a cardinal in 2016, in a first for Bangladesh and its tiny community of 360,000 Catholics.

- 'They have to go back' -

The top Catholic official in Bangladesh, Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario, is hopeful Pope Francis's upcoming visit will help alleviate the Rohingya crisis

Francis arrives in Myanmar on Monday and will fly Thursday to Bangladesh. His schedule does not include a visit to the vast refugee camp but he is due to meet with a small group of Rohingya in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital.

"The cries of the Rohingya are the cries of humanity," D'Rozario said. "These cries ought to be heard and addressed."

The archbishop spent two days in the camp himself, speaking to families forced from their homes in Rakhine state by a campaign of orchestrated violence and intimidation condemned as ethnic cleansing by much of the international community.

"The main thing is to tell the people 'We are on your side'," he says, adding how he takes inspiration from Francis's oft-repeated description of the Church's role as being like that of a field hospital.

Caritas, the Church's humanitarian arm, is helping to feed 40,000 families in the refugee camp, an estimated total of around 300,000 people.

"Can you imagine? A small church like ours! Working with the Rohingya and taking care of a third of the refugees... our little church!"

Despite his pride in the pivotal role Bangladesh's small Christian minority has been able to play in the crisis, the cardinal admits the outlook is not good.

"I don't think Bangladesh can take care of the Rohingya in the long term," he said.

"They have to go back but they will not go back unless there is certainty on their security, their citizenship, their right to land, right to shelter and also a mental security.

- Social tensions -

"The international response for relief has been satisfactory but how long will it last for? Generosity will not continue to flow as it did in the initial phase of the crisis."

Overcrowded, impoverished Bangladesh deserves praise for its efforts to accommodate the refugees, D'Rozario added.

But inevitably there will be tensions because of the impact of the latest Rohingya influx on local tribal groups.

"There are a lot of tensions, social tensions. Land is not available. It's a very densely populated country, physically they don't have any space.

"I admire the local people (for their restraint), the population has more than doubled.

"There are environmental issues with all the trees cut to make shelters. There will be landslides when there is big rain.

"It is not possible for Bangladesh alone to tackle this. The future looks very bleak."
More than 340,000 Syrians have been killed since civil war erupted in 2011

The United Nations will try to revitalise its flagging Syria peace process this week, buoyed by the prospect of hosting a unified opposition delegation in Geneva for the first time.

The UN-brokered talks to end the war that has killed more than 340,000 people since 2011 have achieved little through seven previous rounds, leaving them overshadowed by separate diplomatic pushes led by Russia, Turkey and Iran.

UN mediator Staffan de Mistura, who describes himself as a "chronic optimist" and highlights incremental progress where others see stalemate, has voiced hope that the eighth round, which opens on Tuesday, will mark the first "real negotiation".

For that to happen rival sides will need to overcome the hurdle that has derailed past discussions: the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

De Mistura, typically a cautious diplomat, has bluntly told the main opposition High Negotiations Committee that its demand for Assad's ouster may no longer be tenable.

In September, he said the HNC needed to be "realistic" and realise "they didn't win the war". Those comments infuriated the opposition.

But the UN envoy's position is supported by facts on the ground.

Backed by Russian military support, Assad's government has regained control of more than half the country, while the rest remains carved up between rebel factions, jihadists and Kurdish forces.

- Opposition unites? -

Meeting in the Saudi capital this week, disparate Syrian opposition groups agreed to send a united delegation to Geneva.

The hardline HNC has joined with opposition groups based in Moscow and Cairo, which take a softer approach on Assad's future.

The opposition unity push has already rankled the Saudi-backed HNC.

Riad Hijab stepped down as the group's leader over what he called "attempts to lower the ceiling of the revolution and prolong the regime".

Staffan de Mistura says he is a "chronic optimist"

The HNC on Friday chose Nasr al-Hariri to lead its 36-member delegation in Geneva.

Hariri, the HNC's chief negotiator at previous rounds, has insisted that Assad needs to go and there were no immediate signs that the new opposition grouping will row back its stance on the president.

- Geneva 'stimulus' -

Other Syria initiatives, largely spearheaded by Moscow, have in recent months outperformed the UN's effort to end the Syrian conflict.

Russia, fellow regime ally Iran and rebel-backer Turkey have hosted negotiations in the Kazakh capital Astana that led to the creation of four "de-escalation zones" which produced a drop in violence, though deadly air strikes and battles continue in some areas.

And this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a "congress" of Syrian regime and opposition figures, a move backed by Ankara and Tehran.

The UN maintains that the Astana talks compliment the Geneva process.

Putin has also said that the coming Syrian congress would be a "stimulus" for Geneva.

For Fyodor Lukyanov, who chairs Russia's Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, Moscow's diplomatic efforts on Syria will be meaningless "without their legitimisation by international organisations, starting with the UN."

"Nothing will work" unless it gets a stamp of approval in Geneva, he argued.

- Where's Washington? -

Experts have said that De Mistura's influence has also been curtailed following the election of President Donald Trump, with the US becoming less active on the Syrian diplomatic front.

Multiple rounds of peace talks have failed to end the violence in Syria

Former president Barack Obama's foreign envoy John Kerry made frequent trips to the Swiss city to boost the UN negotiations.

Trump's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made his first trip to Geneva last month and declared following a meeting with de Mistura that "the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end".

That comment marked a toughening of Washington's tone towards the Syrian regime, but the extent to which the US will seek to shape the upcoming negotiations remains unclear.

burs/bs/ser/iw
Bangladeshi Christian devotees offer prayers at a church at Nagori, near Dhaka

As a young man Bidhan Kamol Rosario left his Catholic village to fight for Bangladesh's independence. Now he questions his future in the country after a rise in Islamist extremism that has left minorities living in fear.

As Bangladesh's small Catholic community eagerly awaits the first visit by a pope in more than 30 years, many say it has never been more difficult to practise their faith in the Muslim-majority country.

Christian leaders say many have left Bangladesh in recent years as the community increasingly finds itself targeted by Islamists.

Last year two converts from Islam were murdered and a Catholic grocer brutally hacked to death during a campaign by Islamist extremists that also targeted Hindus and other minorities.

"In the War of Liberation, we wanted a beautiful Bangladesh which embraced all types of people from all races, faiths, creeds and religions," said Rosario, 65, of the 1971 war that brought independence for the former East Pakistan.

"I never wanted advantages or favours for myself, only that there be equal rights for all... But now I do not believe there is any equality for us."

Christians make up less than 0.5 percent of Bangladesh's 160 million people, but lived for centuries in harmony with the local Muslim majority.

They have played a prominent role in the country's history and even today, schools and hospitals run by Catholic missionaries provide a lifeline for poor communities.

As a young man Bidhan Kamol Rosario left his Catholic village to fight for Bangladesh's independence. Now he questions his future in the country after a rise in Islamist extremism that has left minorities living in fear

Rosario is part of a small Catholic community descended from Portuguese traders who settled in Nagori, a small cluster of villages near the capital Dhaka, in the 17th century.

The area remains a bulwark of Catholicism and is home to a small shrine where hundreds of thousands gather every February to celebrate the life of Saint Anthony.

Local Catholics there say they feel increasingly under threat after a spate of attacks by hardline Islamists targeting religious minorities, foreigners and secular bloggers.

Tensions with Bangladeshi authorities have also risen, they say, boiling over in March when villagers accused plain clothes police of raiding the home of a local widow and stealing money.

When a group of villagers tried to prevent the plain clothes officers leaving, armed police were sent in, leading to a violent stand-off in which at least 20 people were injured. More than 100 villagers were later charged with obstructing police work.

Alcohol has also become an issue. Non-Muslims can drink legally in Bangladesh, but locals say they have come under scrutiny from police, who frequently arrest villagers they suspect of consuming alcohol.

- Death threats -

But far more terrifying are the threats to the lives of prominent Christians, which are often anonymous.

Nirmal Rosario, a businessman who heads a major Dhaka cooperative, said he received a death threat by text message as he sat next to Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a 2015 ceremony to mark Christmas eve.

Bangladeshi Christians receive ommunion at a church at Nagori, near Dhaka

"I have never seen these things before. We grew up in perfect harmony with other faiths," he told AFP.

Pope Francis will bring a message of peace and religious tolerance on his visit to Bangladesh, an impoverished country that has won praise in recent months for taking in more than 600,000 Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar.

He is not scheduled to travel to the overcrowded camps in southern Bangladesh, but will meet a small group of Rohingya during an interfaith meeting in Dhaka on Friday.

Ahead of the Pope's visit Gabriel Amal Costa, a Bangladeshi missionary, said a rise in Islamist extremism was straining religious ties.

Bangladeshi Christian Bidhan Kamol Rosario offers prayers at a Catholic church in Nagori, near Dhaka

"People had always lived together peacefully in Bangladesh, but unfortunately now Islamist extremism is on the rise," he told AFP in Rome.

"This is a very recent phenomenon and the Church is trying to promote interfaith dialogue," he said in comments translated from Italian.

The attacks reached a peak last year, but the situation has improved since a major crackdown in which scores of suspected militants were shot dead and hundreds arrested.

Jayanta Gomes, priest at the Saint Nicholas Tolentino church at Nagori, said he was hopeful the Pope's visit would bring further comfort to the community.

"I am optimistic," he said as he led an open air service for about 1,000 Catholics who sang Bengali-language hymns in the sun.

"The security situation is already much better, and the Pope's visit next week will usher in peace for all of us in Bangladesh."
Pedestrians pass by an Art Deco building near Marine Drive in Mumbai

The seafront is lined with brightly coloured buildings boasting curved corners, stylish balconies and exotic motifs but this isn't Miami's famous Art Deco district -- it's Mumbai.

Bombay, as the Indian city was formerly called, is known more for its Victorian Gothic edifices than the sleeker architectural designs that swept Europe and America during the 1920s and '30s.

But now, a group of enthusiasts are making Mumbai's hundreds of Deco structures, which include residential properties, commercial offices, cinemas and even hospitals, as famous as their 19th century counterparts.

The ambitious Art Deco Mumbai project aims to document every single one and educate residents about the buildings' origins to ensure the "style moderne" architectural legacy of India's financial capital is preserved.

"Bombay has one of the largest collections of Art Deco buildings in the world. It's an incredible heritage," Atul Kumar, keen conservationist and founder of Art Deco Mumbai, tells AFP.

Mumbai Deco

Palm trees blow gently along the three-kilometre Marine Drive promenade where Soona Mahal, a symmetrical, yellow-painted building with orange vertical lines and elaborate turret, sits proudly on the street corner.

"It's an iconic building that looks like a ship pushing through waves," says 70-year-old Mehernosh Sidhwa proudly. He is the third generation of his family to live in it after his grandfather had it built in 1937.

Around the corner, five-storey buildings sporting elegant Deco fonts, marble floors and spiral staircases line the Oval Maidan playing field while nearby are the popular Eros and Regal cinemas.

- 'Aspirations' -

The areas make up the heart of Mumbai's Art Deco precinct which in 2012 was submitted to UNESCO for world heritage recognition. A short distance up the coast is Breach Candy hospital, also in Deco style.

Mumbai's Marine Drive seafront, which is lined with brightly coloured buildings boasting curved corners, stylish balconies and exotic motifs

"There's an interesting amalgamation of classical European Art Deco and Bombay Deco. You have ziggurats, rounded locomotive balconies, tropical images, streamlining, speed lines and Egyptian motifs as well as Indian designs," enthuses Kumar.

The buildings were constructed between the early 1930s and early 1950s after wealthy Indians sent their architects to Europe to come up with modern designs different to those of their colonial rulers.

They visited as Deco was taking the West by storm following the 1925 Paris exposition.

"Mumbai's Deco buildings have always lived in the shadow of the Victorian Gothic structures built by the British," such as the main railway station, museum and high court, says Kumar.

"But Art Deco is no less. It's a colourful, vibrant, free, sophisticated style that represented the aspirations of a whole new class. India was under oppressive colonial rule and this was a very unique statement through architecture."

Vehicles pass by an Art Deco building on Marine Drive in Mumbai

Tour guides are fond of telling foreign visitors to Mumbai that only Miami has more Deco structures internationally. Local legend says the coastal Indian city has 200 such buildings.

Kumar and his small team, which is not-for-profit, are working hard to come up with a precise tally for the first time by documenting the entire city and adding all the Deco buildings to a Google map on their website.

- Conservation -

"We want to establish the accurate number and therefore position Bombay's relevance correctly across the world," explains Kumar, who says they've already counted 136 in 18 months, with several neighbourhoods left to investigate.

"It's definitely going to be way more than 200," adds the finance professional confidently, before cautiously speculating that the final number could be around 300.

The team talk to owners to establish which structures are Deco. They record building and architect names, dates of construction, coordinates and Deco features.

An Art Deco building near Marine Drive in Mumbai. Bombay, as the Indian city was formerly called, is known more for its Victorian Gothic edifices than the sleeker architectural designs that swept Europe and America during the 1920s and '30s

Key specifics and photos are then uploaded to an inventory on . Images with captions are also published on and .

"We have 100 percent accuracy. If we are doubtful then we don't include the building," says Kumar, who also organises walking tours to spread the word.

He laments that a lack of awareness has led many Deco buildings to be demolished or compromised by alterations. Property developers offering lucrative sums to replace them with luxury apartments have also caused destruction.

"Ultimately our objective is to conserve this tremendous collection. As we talk to people they become fiercely proud and that translates into a desire to preserve," concludes Kumar.
A Japanese cosmetics company has apologised after a sign appeared in one of its shops banning Chinese customers

A major Japanese cosmetics maker has apologised after one of its retail shops posted a sign barring Chinese customers.

The apology from Pola came after Chinese social media users shared a photo of the red-lettered poster saying "No entry by Chinese people".

The message was hand written in Japanese, although it would be readily understandable to Chinese readers.

It was not clear where the incident took place, although it did not appear to be in a major tourist hub.

"We are sincerely sorry and regret that an inappropriate poster ... has caused unpleasant feelings and nuisance to many people," Pola said in a statement issued Saturday in both Japanese and Chinese.

The company said it had identified the branch responsible for the sign and had removed it. It did not specify where the shop was.

"Our company takes this issue seriously," it said.

"We will suspend operations at the shop and punish those responsible as soon as we confirm the facts of the matter."

Japan has seen a huge boom in the number mainland China visitors in recent years, many of whom spend large sums purchasing made-in-Japan products like make-up.

But their swelling numbers have provoked a backlash, with some Japanese complaining the crowds are unruly and ill-mannered.

Pola, a main pillar of globally operating Pola Orbis Holdings, is trying to expand in Asia and capitalise on the popularity of its skin care products among Chinese customers.
Rescuers look for survivors after an explosion in Ningbo, China's eastern Zhejiang province which killed at least two, sent dozens to hospitals, destroyed vehicles, and triggered the collapse of nearby buildings

A major explosion hit China's megaport city of Ningbo on Sunday, killing at least two people, injuring dozens and wrecking buildings, state media and local authorities said.

The Ningbo government said on a social media account that the blast occurred in a "vacant lot" but it did not provide details about what may have caused it.

Local authorities said two people died, two were seriously injured and an unidentified number were being treated for injuries in the major port city.

State media said more than 30 people were hospitalised, with the Xinhua news agency reporting that the explosion had taken place in a demolished factory at around 9:00 am (0100 GMT).

Industrial accidents are common in China, where safety standards are often lax.

Television images showed cars twisted and mangled by the force of the explosion, a plume of grey smoke rising in the sky, and debris scattered for dozens of metres (yards) around the site of the incident.

Images showed cars twisted and mangled and debris scattered for dozens of metres after an explosion in Ningbo, China's eastern Zhejiang province which killed at least two

Aerial images posted by the People's Daily on Twitter showed at least four wrecked buildings around a wasteland of concrete debris.

Footage showed rescuers wearing helmets carrying injured people away from the area, while others stood over a person lying on the ground.

Pieces of concrete, wood and glass were strewn across a large area. Metal gates were twisted open and windows blown out of buildings.

According to CCTV, eyewitnesses said there were "a large number of injured people" in the city, one of China's largest ports, which sits just south of Shanghai.

The Communist Party's People's Daily said on Twitter that no one lived at site of the explosion but garbage collectors might have been working there.

An enquiry has been launched to determine the cause of the explosion, the local police in Jiangbei district, where the blast happened, said on social media.

Ningbo is one of the country's major international container shipping ports.

- Past disasters -

An enquiry has been launched to determine the cause of an explosion in Ningbo, China's eastern Zhejiang province which killed at least two

China has been rocked by several industrial accidents in recent years.

In 2015, giant blasts killed at least 165 people in the northern port city of Tianjin, causing over $1 billion in damage and sparking widespread anger over a perceived lack of transparency by officials about the accident's causes and its environmental impact.

A government enquiry into the Tianjin accident released in February 2016 recommended 123 people be punished.

The official who was mayor at the time of the accident was sentenced to 12 years in prison for graft in September.

Huang Xingguo, 62, had also headed the disaster response committee.
Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, who is also chairman of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, waves to journalists after handing in his resignation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 26, 2017

An ultra-Orthodox minister in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government quit on Sunday in a dispute over work on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest.

But a spokesman for health minister Yaakov Litzman told AFP that his United Torah Judaism party would remain in the ruling alliance "at this stage", preserving Netanyahu's slim parliamentary majority at least for the time being.

Similar disputes have caused Israeli coalition crises in the past, but Netanyahu was reportedly seeking ways to prevent further fallout.

"I resign from my cabinet position as health minister," Litzman wrote in his resignation letter, a copy of which was sent to AFP.

"The decision follows the public works conducted on the Sabbath by Israel Railways," he added.

"I cannot bear ministerial responsibility for the severe harm to one of the eternal values of the Jewish people, which is the Sabbath."

Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party, said he regretted Litzman's decision and signalled he wanted to avoid calling for fresh elections.

"The national government headed by the Likud is the best for the state of Israel," he said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

"I think that every member of the coalition has an interest in its continued existence; I don't think, I know."

Litzman will retain his seat in parliament.

The dispute is over railway maintenance work, which is less disruptive to travellers on the Sabbath, when no trains run.

The national rail company says some Sabbath work is necessary in the interests of public safety and to avoid congestion on roads.

Litzman says that is untrue.

"To my regret Israel Railways has lately made the Sabbath day national maintenance day," he told Israeli army radio after handing in his resignation to the cabinet secretary.

"It unnecessarily does all its rail maintenance work on the Sabbath," he said.

Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opens the weekly cabinet meeting at his Jerusalem office on November 26, 2017

Netanyahu had reportedly been seeking to persuade Litzman not to resign by offering backing for various measures the health minister and his supporters favour.

Ultra-Orthodox parties have often played a kingmaker role in Israel's politics.

They control 13 seats in Netanyahu's coalition, which has 66 out of 120 seats in parliament.

They demand strict adherence to Jewish law, particularly on the Sabbath, when no work is allowed. Electricity must not be turned on or off and engines must not be operated between sunset on Friday and sunset Saturday.
Iran accused the US of responsibility for "atrocities" in Yemen through its support for Saudi Arabia, which is leading a coalition that has carried out air strikes against rebels including one in November that left this crater in the capital Sanaa

Iran on Sunday accused the United States of responsibility for "atrocities" in Yemen through its support for Saudi Arabia, which is leading a coalition fighting Tehran-backed Huthi rebels.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said a White House statement on Friday in support of Riyadh "clearly and without question proves America's participation and responsibility in the atrocities committed by Saudi Arabia in Yemen".

In its statement, Washington had said it was "committed to supporting Saudi Arabia... against the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' aggression and blatant violations of international law."

Regional arch-rivals Shiite-ruled Iran and Sunni heavyweight Saudi Arabia back opposing sides in conflicts from Yemen to Syria.

They cut diplomatic relations in January 2016 after Iranian protestors stormed Saudi diplomatic missions in reaction to Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

In early November, Riyadh accused Tehran of "direct aggression" after Saudi forces intercepted a missile fired by Huthi forces towards Riyadh's international airport.

But Ghassemi denied that Iran has "any military connection with Yemen", although Tehran says it supports the Huthis politically and regularly denounces Saudi Arabia for allegedly bombing civilians.

Accusing Washington of making "totally unfounded" allegations, Ghassemi said its statement on Friday showed it "openly supports... appalling atrocities" by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

The Saudi-led Arab military coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after the Huthis forced him into exile.

Last month, the United Nations put the coalition on its blacklist for killing and maiming 683 children during the conflict last year and carrying out 38 verified attacks on schools and hospitals.

A report published in mid-November by the Congressional Research Service showed that Riyadh had signed arms deals worth more than $65 billion (55 billion euros) with the United States between 2009 and 2016.

"Since 2015, the US-trained Saudi military has used US-origin weaponry, US logistical assistance, and shared intelligence in support of military operations in Yemen," it said.

Both parties in the Yemen conflict stand accused of neglecting civilian safety.

The United Nations has blacklisted the Saudi-led coalition over the "killing and maiming" of children.
A military counter-insurgency in Nigeria, begun in early 2015, has left Boko Haram largely reliant on smash-and-grab raids for food and supplies, and now lacks the resources or manpower to hold any substantial territory

Boko Haram fighters briefly overran a town in northeast Nigeria in a raid to loot food supplies, military and civilian militia sources said on Sunday, in the latest attack in the restive region.

The attack happened on Saturday evening when a large number of jihadists stormed Magumeri, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.

The town and surrounding area have been attacked before by fighters loyal to the Islamic State-group supported factional leader of Boko Haram, Abu Mus'ab al-Barnawi.

In July, at least 69 people -- most of them soldiers and civilian militia members -- were killed in an ambush on a heavily armed convoy escorting an oil exploration team.

"It was a huge invasion," a military source in Maiduguri told AFP of Saturday night's attack.

"They had heavy weapons and our troops were overwhelmed. After a fierce battle, they were forced to withdraw.

"Reinforcements were later deployed and they engaged the terrorists, pushing them out of the town, which is now under the full control of the Nigerian military.

"Civilians who had fled into the bushes have begun returning to their homes."

- 'Classic Boko Haram attack' -

A member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) added: "Boko Haram briefly took over Magumeri yesterday (Saturday) after pushing soldiers out of the town.

"Civilians fled as well. But later more soldiers were sent and they took over the town from Boko Haram."

Boko Haram was only in the town for several hours until early Sunday, he added.

"This is a classic Boko Haram attack: to loot supplies and assert their presence. Even if troops hadn't deployed they would have withdrawn after looting and destruction," the CJTF member said.

Boko Haram seized large parts of Borno and the neighbouring states of Adamawa and Yobe in 2014, as part of its quest to establish a hardline Islamic state in the remote northeast region.

Violence linked to the insurgency has left at least 20,000 dead and made more tan 2.6 million people homeless since 2009.

But a military counter-insurgency, begun in early 2015, has left Boko Haram largely reliant on smash-and-grab raids for food and supplies, and now lacks the resources or manpower to hold any substantial territory.

Instead, it has become more reliant on suicide bombers: this week, at least 50 people were killed in Adamawa, when a teenage boy set off his explosives at a mosque in the town of Mubi.

Both the military and militia source, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, said more details were expected as teams assessed the situation on the ground in Magumeri on Sunday.
Rescue workers search the scene of the explosion

An explosion so powerful it was heard several kilometres away killed two people and injured over 30 in China's port city of Ningbo on Sunday while toppling several disused buildings, authorities and residents said, but there was no word as to the cause.

An AFP reporter near the scene of the blast saw heaps of glass from shattered windows in adjacent residential towers, and corrugated-iron storefront security doors bent by the impact.

Local authorities said two people died and two were seriously injured, while state media said more than 30 people were treated in hospitals in Ningbo, just south of Shanghai and one of China's largest ports.

Authorities on Sunday night still had not announced a suspected cause of the explosion, which took place around 9:00am (0100 GMT) in a relatively new residential area in northern Ningbo marked by rows and rows of towering housing blocks.

The city government and state media variously described the site of the blast as a vacant lot or abandoned factory.

But nearby residents said they believed it happened in an expanse of older abandoned apartments and commercial buildings slated for demolition to make way for new housing.

On Sunday night dozens of police guarded the approaches to the area, which were sealed off with police tape, as scores of curious onlookers milled around outside.

"We have no idea what happened, we just have to wait for the leaders to tell us," said an elderly man who gave only his surname He, referring to government officials.

Cars were twisted and mangled by the force of the blast, a plume of grey smoke rose in the sky and debris was scattered for dozens of metres, according to images circulated on China's internet.

"Maybe it was a gas explosion, but I think it was probably explosives. They were going to tear down those buildings anyway," said another local resident who declined to give his name.

"I was more than 10 kilometres (six miles) away picking up my children and I still heard it."

State-run television said Sunday evening that no one else was believed trapped in rubble.

Deadly accidents are common in China, where safety standards are often lax.

- Wasteland of debris -

Aerial images posted by the People's Daily on Twitter showed at least four wrecked buildings around a wasteland of concrete debris.

Helmeted rescuers were seen carrying injured people away from the area, while others stood over a person lying on the ground. Pieces of concrete, wood and glass were shown strewn across a wide area.

The Communist Party's People's Daily said on Twitter that no one lived at the scene but garbage collectors might have been working there.

Police said the cause of the explosion was being investigated.

Some local residents told AFP they were afraid that if problems with the underground gas supply were to blame, there could be more blasts.

Ningbo is one of the country's major international container shipping ports.

China has been rocked by several industrial accidents in recent years.

In 2015 giant blasts killed at least 165 people in the northern port city of Tianjin, causing over $1 billion in damage and sparking widespread anger at a perceived lack of transparency over the accident's causes and its environmental impact.

Damaged buildings and debris at the site of the blast

A government inquiry eventually recommended 123 people be punished.

The official who was mayor at the time of the accident was sentenced to 12 years in prison for graft in September.

Huang Xingguo, 62, had also headed the disaster response committee.
A man inspects the rubble in the Syrian town of Mesraba in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region after an air strike reportedly by Syrian regime aircraft on November 26, 2017

Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire killed 23 civilians on Sunday across the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region outside the capital Damascus, a monitor said.

The deaths come despite the area falling within a so-called "de-escalation zone" put in place under a deal between government allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey.

Eastern Ghouta is already in the grip of a humanitarian crisis caused by a crushing regime siege of the area since 2013 that has caused severe food and medical shortages.

Sunday's air strikes on the towns of Mesraba and Madira killed 21 civilians, while artillery fire on the town of Douma killed two others, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

Several people were also wounded in the air strikes, and an AFP reporter who visited a hospital in Mesraba saw doctors and nurses treating those injured.

Among them was a baby whose head was wrapped in a blood-stained bandage, as well as men and children who sat on the floor as they received first aid.

A small girl cried as a doctor bandaged her head while nearby a man sat against a wall, sobbing silently with his face pressed against his folded arms, the reporter said.

In a room of the hospital a morgue staff is placing identity tags on bodies wrapped in white sheets, victims of the air strikes, the reporter added.

"The toll could rise further because of the number of wounded people in a serious condition," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Four children were among 23 civilians killed in Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire across the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, according to a monitor

Among the dead were four children, the Observatory said.

Regime bombardment of Eastern Ghouta in the last two weeks has killed more than 100 people, according to the Observatory.

Rebels have also fired from the region into Damascus, killing several people.

Humanitarian access to Eastern Ghouta has remained limited despite the implementation of the truce zone, and a United Nations official referred to the region as the "epicentre of suffering" in Syria.

More than 340,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
Millions of Nepalis are expected to cast their ballots on Sunday, the first phase of a two-stage election

Nepalis across the country's mountainous north voted Sunday in elections that could herald change after 20 ruinous years marked by a bloody Maoist insurgency, a devastating earthquake and crippling political instability.

The historic vote marks the final step of a drawn-out peace process, which began in 2006 with the end of the civil war between the Maoists and the state.

More than two million people -- around 65 percent of eligible voters -- cast their ballot for representatives in new national and provincial parliaments.

The two-phase elections will establish the country's first provincial assemblies as laid out in a post-war constitution that aims to devolve power from the top-heavy central governments to seven newly created provinces.

Nepal's tumultuous transition from monarchy to democracy has been marred by crippling instability that has seen 10 leaders hold power in 11 years -- some of them more than once -- hampering development and recovery from the earthquake that struck in 2015.

The areas that were worst hit by the quake, which killed 9,000 and destroyed half a million homes, voted on Sunday, with many expressing hope that sluggish reconstruction would be kickstarted by the political change.

"I hope to see more development and better services in our district," said first-time voter Shanta Bhujel, 18, who cast his ballot in Chautara, a town east of the capital Kathmandu.

Polling station officials in Balephi, a small town in northern Sindhupalchowk district, sealed the plastic ballot boxes as the polls closed at 5pm (1115 GMT) and loaded them into a truck to be transported to the district capital for storage.

Nepal has had 10 leaders in the last 11 years, but there are hopes this election will bring stability to the mountainous country

Counting will only begin after the second phase of elections is held in the populous south on December 7, with results expected a few days later.

Elections were suspended and will be held again at two polling stations in the western district of Rukum after acid was sprinkled on ballot boxes and damaged the papers inside, said local official Bansi Kumar Acharya.

Meanwhile, voting was temporarily halted in another polling centre in the northeast after an explosive device was found. No injuries were reported.

Sporadic violence injured dozens in the lead-up to the polls, mostly blamed on a splinter faction of the Maoist Party. The faction pledged to disrupt the election.

- 114-year-old voter -

Many in the impoverished Himalayan nation walked for hours to reach their nearest polling station, while in the remote west voters also braved sub-zero temperatures and snow.

But nothing stopped a 114-year-old woman from casting her ballot in the western district of Baitadi.

The new constitution, finally approved in 2015, mandates a sweeping overhaul of the political system, which should limit the impact of the horse-trading in Kathmandu on much-needed development in the rest of the country.

A proportion of seats are reserved for women, people from indigenous communities and members of the Dalit caste

Rules under the new charter allocate a proportion of seats in the federal and provincial assemblies to women and people from indigenous communities and the lowest Dalit caste.

The rules will also weed out some fringe parties from the parliaments and raise the bar for ousting a prime minister, leading to hopes that the next government could be the first to last a full five-year term.

"Our vote this time is in the hope that next time vote the country is in a better condition," said hotel owner Bhakta Lal Shrestha after casting his ballot in Balephi just before polling closed.

However, analysts warn that the impact of the changes could be limited, with the three parties that have dominated the political stage since the end of the conflict expected to take the lion's share of seats.

The Maoist Party of the former rebels has formed an electoral alliance with the communist CNP-UML, fielding candidates jointly in key races.

The powerful bloc has left the ruling party, the centrist Nepali Congress, on the back foot and forced to look to smaller parties in a bid to remain in power.

"Since there is no real ideological difference between the two alliances any more, what we need for stable politics is a majority government with a strong opposition to keep it in check," the English-language Nepali Times wrote in an editorial Sunday.

"At this moment, that is the best we can hope for."
A handout picture from the Saudi palace shows Saudi Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman (C) posing with defence ministers from the 41-member Saudi-led Muslim counter-terrorism alliance in Riyadh on November 26, 2017

Saudi Arabia gathered officials from 40 Muslim countries on Sunday in the first meeting of an Islamic counter-terrorism alliance, a move Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declared a "clear signal" to extremism.

"In past years, terrorism has been functioning in all of our countries... with no coordination" among them, he said in his keynote speech.

"This ends today, with this alliance."

Prince Mohammed said the 40 countries were sending a "clear signal" that they would "work together to support the military, financial, intelligence and political efforts of every member state".

The summit is the first meeting of defence ministers and other senior officials from the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, which officially counts 41 members.

The alliance was announced in 2015 under the auspices of Prince Mohammed, whose rapid ascent since his appointment as heir to the throne in June has shaken the political scene across the region.

The alliance groups largely, although not exclusively, Sunni-majority or Sunni-ruled countries.

It excludes Saudi Arabia's arch-rival, Shiite-dominated Iran, as well as Syria and Iraq, whose leaders have close ties to Tehran.

Sunday's meeting coincides with an escalation in tensions between Riyadh and Tehran, particularly over wars in Syria and Yemen and the political structure of multi-confessional Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supporting armed groups across the Middle East, including Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah and Yemen's Huthi rebels.

The meeting also comes as several military coalitions, with backers including both Iran and key Saudi ally the United States, close in on the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

The alliance meeting in Riyadh brings together Muslim or Muslim-majority nations including Afghanistan, Uganda, Somalia, Mauritania, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen and Turkey.

Retired Pakistani general Raheel Sharif has been appointed commander-in-chief.

While the alliance officially includes Qatar, which is the target of a six-month boycott led by Saudi Arabia, organisers in Riyadh said no Qatari officials were present at the meeting.

Qatar's flag was also absent.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain -- all members of the counter terrorism alliance -- abruptly cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in June, accusing the emirate of being too close to Iran and supporting Islamist extremism.

Qatar denies the allegations.

burs-ny/par
Ousted Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe was in power for 37 long years

Robert Mugabe's nephew said Sunday the ousted Zimbabwean president was in good health and "quite jovial" after being forced to resign when a military takeover ended his 37 years in power.

"He is fine. I have been to see him, he is quite jovial," Leo Mugabe, son of Mugabe's late sister Sabina, told AFP.

"He is actually looking forward to his new life, farming and staying at the rural home. He has taken it well."

Leo Mugabe declined to discuss the $10-million retirement bonus reportedly granted to the 93-year-old former president as part of a deal to persuade him to eventually resign on Tuesday.

He added that Robert Mugabe's wife Grace was now concentrating on plans to build a university in his honour.

"I like the spirit she has, she is with him all the time. She is an amazing person. She wants to continue planning the Robert Mugabe University so they have something to do," he said.

In August, Zimbabwe announced plans to build the $1-billion post-graduate university in Mazowe, 35 kilometres (20 miles) outside Harare.

The plan drew fierce criticism as Mugabe is accused of brutal repression and bringing the country to economic ruin.
A military counter-insurgency, begun in early 2015, has left Boko Haram largely reliant on smash-and-grab raids for food and supplies

At least three soldiers were killed and another six others were wounded in a Boko Haram raid in northeast Nigeria, the military said on Sunday, in the latest attack in the restive region.

The attack happened on Saturday evening when a large number of jihadists stormed Magumeri, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.

The town and surrounding area have been attacked before by fighters from the Islamic State-group supported factional leader of Boko Haram, Abu Mus'ab al-Barnawi.

In July, at least 69 people -- most of them soldiers and civilian militia members -- were killed in an ambush on a heavily armed convoy escorting an oil exploration team.

Colonel Timothy Antigha, a spokesman for 8 Task Force Division Nigerian Army, said the Islamist militants first attacked a forward operating base in Magumeri but were repelled.

"The troops fought gallantly. Unfortunately, three soldiers lost their lives while six others sustained injuries," he said in an emailed statement.

A military source in Maiduguri told AFP the Boko Haram fighters responsible were suspected to have come from Dabar Masara, an island on Lake Chad, where Barnawi faction loyalists are known to have been hiding.

- 'Classic' tactic -

The military source described Saturday's attack as a "huge invasion" and said troops were forced to withdraw after a "fierce" battle until back-up could arrive.

"Reinforcements were later deployed and they engaged the terrorists, pushing them out of the town, which is now under the full control of the Nigerian military," he said on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

"Civilians who had fled into the bushes have begun returning to their homes."

A member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) added: "Boko Haram briefly took over Magumeri yesterday (Saturday) after pushing soldiers out of the town.

"Civilians fled as well. But later more soldiers were sent and they took over the town from Boko Haram."

But he said Boko Haram was only in the town for several hours until early Sunday.

"This is a classic Boko Haram attack: to loot supplies and assert their presence. Even if troops hadn't deployed they would have withdrawn after looting and destruction," the CJTF member said.

Boko Haram seized large parts of Borno and the neighbouring states of Adamawa and Yobe in 2014, as part of its quest to establish a hardline Islamic state in the remote northeast region.

Violence linked to the insurgency has left at least 20,000 dead and made more than 2.6 million people homeless since 2009.

But a military counter-insurgency, begun in early 2015, has left Boko Haram largely reliant on smash-and-grab raids for food and supplies, and now lacks the resources or manpower to hold any substantial territory.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari said in December 2015 the group was "technically" defeated.

Yet civilians remain vulnerable from hit-and-run raids and an increased use of suicide bombers: this week, at least 50 people were killed in Adamawa, when a teenage boy set off his explosives at a mosque in the town of Mubi.

Attacks persist across the border, particularly in Cameroon's far north.
A member of the Iraqi government forces walks next to a pipeline at the Bay Hassan oil field, west of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, on October 19, 2017

Iraq is to build a new pipeline to allow oil exports to resume from the northern province of Kirkuk to neighbouring Turkey, the oil ministry said Sunday.

Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaybi has ordered documents to be prepared towards building the new pipeline to "transport crude oil from Kirkuk's oilfields to the port of Ceyhan" in Turkey, a ministry spokesman said in a statement.

An older pipeline was "too damaged by attacks by Daesh terrorist gangs to be rehabilitated," Assem Jihad said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

Iraq had exported 250,000 to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) through that pipeline before IS jihadists swept across large parts of the country in 2014.

The new pipeline is to stretch for around 250 kilometres (150 miles) from the area of Baiji, in the province of Salaheddine to the south of Kirkuk, to the Fishkhabur border post with Turkey further north.

Earlier this month, the oil minister said Iraq aimed to double the output of Kirkuk oilfields to one million bpd after retaking the province from Kurdish forces in October.

Iraqi government and paramilitary forces moved in to take over Kirkuk and its oilfields after Iraqi Kurds in September voted for independence in a controversial referendum opposed by Baghdad.

Iraqi forces have driven IS fighters from all towns they once held in the country and are pressing a final push to flush them out from the western desert bordering Syria.
Zimbabweans celebrated the swearing-in of Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe's successor

Robert Mugabe's nephew said Sunday the ousted Zimbabwean president was in good health and "quite jovial" after being forced to resign when a military takeover ended his 37 years in power.

Leo Mugabe however declined to discuss the $10-million retirement bonus reportedly granted to the 93-year-old former president as part of a deal that finally persuaded him to resign on Tuesday.

"He is fine. I have been to see him, he is quite jovial," the son of Mugabe's late sister Sabina told AFP.

"He is actually looking forward to his new life -- farming and staying at the rural home. He has taken it well."

But he added that Mugabe's wife Grace was now concentrating on plans to build a university in his honour.

"I like the spirit she has, she is with him all the time. She is an amazing person. She wants to continue planning the Robert Mugabe University so they have something to do," he said.

Zimbabwe announced plans in August to build the $1-billion post-graduate university in Mazowe, 35 kilometres (20 miles) outside Harare.

The plan drew fierce criticism as Mugabe is accused of brutal repression and bringing the country to economic ruin.

- $10-million deal? -

In the exit negotiations, Mugabe was granted a $10-million lump sum, full immunity and allowed to keep his assets, according to the respected Zimbabwe Independent newspaper.

He will still be paid his full salary, in line with constitution, while Grace Mugabe will reportedly receive half his pay after his death.

Asked about the deal, Mugabe's long-time spokesman George Charamba told AFP that "the package of a retiring president will be defined (by) law".

He earlier said immunity had never been discussed during the talks between the president and the army chiefs who briefly put Mugabe under house arrest.

Grace Mugabe, 52, was alleged to have positioned herself to be Mugabe's chosen successor, prompting the military to intervene on November 14 and usher in its preferred candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Mnangagwa, a former close ally of Mugabe for decades, has vowed sweeping changes to revive the country's moribund economy.

In his inaugural address on Friday, Mnangagwa also paid tribute to Mugabe, describing him as one of the "founding fathers of our nation".

Critics fear Mnangagwa -- who has been accused of overseeing violence and ethnic massacres -- could prove as authoritarian as his predecessor.

- Calls for justice -

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Mugabe had ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, exercising almost total authority to crush any sign of dissent during a reign characterised by brutality, rigged elections and international isolation.

Until his rule ended Tuesday with a resignation letter sent to MPs who had gathered to impeach him, he was the world's oldest head of state.

Activist pastor Evan Mawaire called on Sunday for Mugabe to face justice, saying that further demonstrations could erupt if people believe there was no accountability for decades of state crimes.

"A lot of people in this country have been wronged and oppressed, it is important they see justice playing out," Mawaire told AFP after preaching at his small church in Harare.

"(If) he is not prosecuted that takes away a sense of closure. It is important for these criminals to be followed up to show the nation that the law catches up with them."

Mugabe made a defiant televised address last Sunday two days before he resigned, but he and his wife's current whereabouts is not known.

On Friday, a high court ruled that the military takeover was legal, raising concerns about the army's future influence and the rule of law under the new administration.
More than 100 people have been arrested in Ethiopia over a string of clashes earlier this year between two of the country's largest ethnic groups that killed hundreds, the state-run broadcaster reported

More than 100 people have been arrested in Ethiopia over a string of clashes earlier this year between two of the country's largest ethnic groups that killed hundreds, the state-run broadcaster reported.

Five people from the Somali region and 98 from the Oromia region were detained on suspicion that they were involved in the violence along the border between the two federal regions, Fana Broadcasting Corporate said Saturday, citing government spokesman Negeri Lencho.

The Somali and Oromo people, who predominate these regions, are among Ethiopia's largest ethnic groups, and the fighting between them displaced tens of thousands and led to the deployment of troops to quell the bloodshed.

"The government of Ethiopia, in partnership with residents of the areas, is working jointly to rehabilitate those people displaced by the conflict," Fana reported.

Security forces are also pursuing another 24 people from the Somali region who are suspected of being involved in the fighting, the broadcaster said.

It remains unclear who started the September violence, with the Oromos blaming the Somalis for killing two officials from Oromia and the Somalis accusing the Oromos of being behind an attack on a market that killed 18 traders.

The two regions have for years argued over control of arable land along their shared border, but this conflict was far more violent than in the past, with one local official in a city near the border saying 67,800 Oromos alone fled.

Earlier this month, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency reported three other regions in Ethiopia had donated 30 million birr ($1 million, 919,000 euros) to assist people displaced by the crisis.
A malnourished Yemeni child receives treatment at a hospital in Yemen's capital Sanaa on November 22, 2017

More than 11 million children in war-torn Yemen are in desperate need of humanitarian aid, the United Nations children's fund warned on Sunday.

"Today it is fair to say that Yemen is one of the worst places on earth to be a child," said Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"Two million children today in Yemen suffer acute malnutrition (and) almost every single Yemeni boy and girl" is in acute need of humanitarian assistance, he told a press conference in Jordan's capital Amman.

"Today we estimate that every 10 minutes a child in Yemen is dying from preventable diseases."

UN officials have warned that Yemen could face the world's largest famine in decades unless a crippling blockade by a Saudi-led coalition battling Huthi rebels is lifted.

The blockade, put in place after Saudi forces intercepted a missile fired by Huthi forces at Riyadh's international airport early this month, has further tightened the coalition's stranglehold on the rebel-held port of Hodeida, the main conduit for UN-supervised deliveries of food and medicine.

A UN plane carrying desperately needed vaccines landed in the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa on Saturday after coalition forces partly lifted the blockade, after warnings that thousands of people could die.

But UN officials have said desperately needed shipments of food and medicines to Hodeida remain blocked.

Cappelaere welcomed the reopening of Sanaa airport but said much more aid was needed.

"The war in Yemen is sadly a war on children," Cappelaere said, adding that close to 5,000 children had been killed or seriously injured since the start of a Saudi-led campaign in support of the government in March 2015.

"Thousands of schools and health facilities have been damaged or completely destroyed," he said, calling for all parties in Yemen to take responsibility for the situation there.

The coalition intervened to prop up Yemen's government after the Iran-backed Huthis drove it from Sanaa.

The devastating war has since killed some 8,600 people, while a further 2,000 have died of cholera.

Yemen is highly dependent on imported wheat for its basic needs, and aid groups have warned that humanitarian deliveries cover only a small portion of what is required.
Rawda mosque in Egypt's restive North Sinai province, scene of one of the world's deadliest attacks since 9/11

Sufi Muslims in Egypt plan to proceed with a major annual celebration despite a Sinai mosque massacre that killed more than 300 people and appeared to have targeted them.

While no group has yet claimed Friday's horrific attack or said why the mosque was targeted, it is widely believed in Egypt that it happened because Sufis worshipped there.

Despite mourning the jihadist attack thought to have been carried out by the Islamic State group, the Sufis say they will mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed as planned, a week to the day after the massacre.

The gun and bomb assault on the Rawda village mosque in restive North Sinai roughly 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the provincial capital of El-Arish killed 305 people including 27 children.

Another 128 people were wounded.

Authorities said up to 30 militants in camouflage flying the black banner of IS surrounded the mosque and massacred worshippers during weekly Friday prayers.

In a defiant statement late Saturday, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Sufi Orders said the annual commemoration would still take place at Cairo's Al-Hussein mosque, one of Islam's most prominent sites in Egypt, and also "across the country".

However, a procession that normally takes place has been cancelled "in mourning for the souls of the martyrs of the terrorist incident at the Rawda mosque, and to ease the security burden".

Victims of the Rawda mosque attack are carried away from the scene on stretchers

The procession from Cairo's Salah al-Jaafari mosque to the Al-Hussein mosque, named after the prophet's grandson, covers a distance that would normally be just a 15-minute walk.

- 'Not alien to Islam' -

But "it takes hours for the procession to reach Al-Hussein because it is attended by thousands of people", council spokesman Ahmed Kandil told AFP.

Egypt's North Sinai-based IS branch has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, as well as civilians accused of working with the authorities, since the July 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The jihadist group has also targeted Sufis and Christians since authorities cracked down on Morsi supporters, killing more than 700 in one August day in 2013 as they cleared a protest camp in the capital.

IS is suspected of being behind Friday's attack because the mosque is associated with followers of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam whom it has branded heretics for seeking the intercession of saints.

But in a separate statement on Saturday, the Sufi supreme council said the sect has always been an integral part of Islam.

"Sufism is not alien to Islam. It is Islam itself with the full worship and application of what is stated in the book (the Koran) and the Sunnah" or teachings attributed to the Prophet Mohammed, it said.

Sufism "represents excellence in worship, of which the prophet -- peace be upon him -- said that you worship god as if you see him, and if you do not see him, he sees you."

Mohamed Abdel Fattah (R), the imam of Rawda mosque, in hospital after the November 24, 2017 attack

In Rome, Pope Francis expressed sorrow in his St Peter's Square address Sunday. He had visited Egypt in April to support the embattled Christian community and encourage dialogue with Muslims.

- 'Great pain' -

"It caused us great pain, Friday's news of the slaughter," Francis said.

"I continue to pray for the numerous victims, for the injured and for this whole community that has been hit so hard."

A Coptic Christian delegation on Saturday visited people wounded in the attack at a hospital in Cairo on behalf of Pope Tawadros II, the church said on its Facebook page.

Egypt also received messages of support from the United States and France, which are among the North African country's main military backers.

The Islamic State group claimed on Sunday they attacked a military bulldozer and armoured personnel carrier close to the border with Gaza a day earlier, but there has yet to be any such claim issued for the mosque attack.

IS usually claims an attack within a day or two, through its self-styled Amaq news agency or via the Telegram social media app.

However, in Egypt such claims have been irregular, with attacks claimed late or not at all.

This could be part because of disrupted links between IS in Egypt and remnants of the embattled organisation in Syria and Iraq.

There has also been a chorus of online condemnation of the attack by jihadists including by IS supporters.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said late Saturday that since the attack many countries have expressed solidarity with Egypt, "but the issue goes beyond moral support".

"What is needed is a clear political stance against all terrorist organisations," he told the private DMC television channel.

This should come from nations with the financial and political ability to counter states "which provide support for terrorist organisations", Abu Zeid said.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared three days of mourning and vowed to "respond with brutal force" to the attack, among the deadliest in the world since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The army said warplanes struck militant hideouts in the North Sinai in retaliation.
Roy Moore of Alabama, the embattled Republican candidate for the US Senate, seen here with wife Kayla at a news conference earlier this month in Birmingham, Alabama

President Donald Trump on Sunday redoubled his support for embattled Senate candidate Roy Moore, ignoring the allegations of sexual harassment plaguing Moore's Alabama campaign and branding his opponent as weak on crime, the military and immigration.

In an early-morning tweet, Trump added that for Alabamians to elect Moore's Democratic rival, Doug Jones, in a special election next month "would be a disaster!"

Many members of Trump's Republican Party have withdrawn support for Moore, who is now 70, following recent allegations by several women that while in his 30s he molested or harassed teenage girls as young as 14.

Some Republicans have suggested that if elected to the US Senate, Moore should be removed.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, has called for Moore to drop out, saying, "I believe the women."

- Losing proposition -

McConnell reportedly has pleaded with Trump to stay out of the Alabama race, lest Moore's election sully the party's name ahead of next year's midterm elections.

One Republican senator and sometime Trump critic, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Sunday that having Moore on the ballot was a lose-lose proposition for the party.

"If he wins ... it becomes a story every day about whether or not you believe the women or Roy Moore. If you lose, you give the Senate seat" to a Democrat, he said on CNN.

But Trump -- himself the object of allegations of sexual misconduct by several women during his presidential campaign -- on Sunday shrugged off such appeals.

He tweeted that "the last thing" Republicans need in the closely divided Senate is a Democratic "puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border. Bad for our Military and our great Vets. Bad for our 2nd Amendment. AND WANTS TO RAISES (sic) TAXES TO THE SKY."

Despite the multiple allegations against Moore -- he reportedly was even banned from an Alabama mall for repeatedly bothering teen girls -- Trump has defended him.

"Forty years is a long time," the president told reporters Tuesday on the White House lawn. "He says it didn't happen. You have to listen to him, also."

Moore has denied any wrongdoing and insisted he will contest the December special election.
The Mexican military and high-altitude alpine experts rescued four of five American hikers injured while climbing the tallest volcano in North America, officials said Sunday.

Initial reports said that eight people had gone missing on the country's highest peak, an inactive volcano known as Citlaltepetl, but the figure was later lowered to five.

The Mexican Navy, Puebla state medical services and a Mexican alpine rescue group participated in the search.

A navy helicopter searched for the climbers on Saturday before a ground operation took over on Sunday, as weather took a turn for the worse.

Two of the travelers were rescued by land overnight and were taken to Mexico City, according to civil protection authorities.

Two more climbers were found in the early morning and taken to the town of Tlachichuca before being hospitalized in the state capital of Puebla. They were being treated for bruises.

- Tighter rules planned -

At midday, with bad weather grounding search helicopters, workers on foot were trying to find and bring the fifth member of the expedition off the volcano.

The governments of Puebla and Veracruz states, along with the National Defense Ministry, said they planned to revise rules on access to the peak to prevent inadequately trained or poorly equipped climbers from risking their lives.

Citlaltepetl, on the border of Puebla and Veracruz states, rises 18,372 feet (5,600 meters).

Also known as the Peak of Orizaba, the mountain is popular with climbers but has proved deadly in the past.

On Thursday, the body of a US hiker was recovered from the peak during a risky operation in which a rescuer fell into a ravine and was injured.

In 2015, the mummified remains of two climbers were found at an altitude of 17,000 feet but could not be recovered because of the perilous terrain.
A ship carrying food aid docks at the port of the Yemeni coastal city of Hodeidah on November 26, 2017.

A vessel carrying the first shipment of food aid in three weeks docked Sunday at the rebel-controlled Red Sea port of Saleef in western Yemen, a United Nations official said.

Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme for the Middle East and North Africa region, said some 25,000 tons of wheat will be offloaded early on Monday.

She said "strong winds" were preventing the offloading from taking place on Sunday.

Saleef port is around 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of the key port of Hodeida, also on the Red Sea and in rebel hands.

Hodeida port is the main conduit for UN-supervised deliveries of food and medicine and vital to UN efforts as it is closest to the majority of people in need.

Earlier this month, a Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed Huthi rebels imposed a blockade on Yemeni ports and airports in response to a missile fired by the Huthis that was intercepted near Riyadh airport.

The UN humanitarian affairs office had said on Friday that it had been given clearance by the coalition that has been fighting the rebels since 2015 to resume flights into Sanaa.

But it added that desperately needed shipments of food and medicines to Hodeida remained blocked.

On Sunday, a ship did dock at Hodeida, but the WFP's Etefa said it did not belong to the UN aid agency, and that it might be a "commercial" vessel.

The deputy head of Hodeida port, Yahya Sharafeddine, confirmed to AFP over the phone that it was indeed a "commercial" ship not linked to WFP aid.

"The ship in Hodeida is for traders. The one in Saleef is for WFP," he said.

UN officials have warned that Yemen could face the world's largest famine in decades unless the crippling blockade by the coalition is lifted.

A UN plane carrying desperately needed vaccines landed in the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa on Saturday after coalition forces partly lifted the blockade, after warnings that thousands of people could die.

The coalition intervened to prop up Yemen's government after the Iran-backed Huthis drove it from Sanaa.

The devastating war has since killed some 8,600 people, while a further 2,000 have died of cholera.

Yemen is highly dependent on imported wheat for its basic needs, and aid groups have warned that humanitarian deliveries cover only a small portion of what is required.

The UN says more than 11 million children in war-torn Yemen are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
The Democratic Republic of Congo will hold its much delayed presidential and legislative elections in December 2018, the election commission announced November 11

The Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday banned rallies due this week in the capital Kinshasa over the extended rule of President Joseph Kabila despite global concern over a crackdown.

Mineral-rich but chronically poor, politically unstable and saddled with a reputation for entrenched corruption, DR Congo is facing the risk of a flare-up of violence over Kabila's decision to stay in office.

He was scheduled to have stepped down in December this year after a constitutional maximum of two terms in office.

Pressured by the international community, DR Congo has now scheduled the vote for December 23, 2018.

Authorities in the capital Kinshasa said all planned demonstrations this week were banned, in a statement carried on websites.

The pro-Kabila Presidential Majority coalition of parties had planned a march on Tuesday to voice support for the delayed elections.

The opposition coalition had planned an anti-Kabila march the same day but deferred its protest until Thursday.

The head of the opposition coalition, Felix Tshisekedi, said he would not heed the ban. "There's no question of depriving us of our rights and freedom," he tweeted.

"I call on all Congolese to massively participate in the march of November 30, 2017."

Congolese authorities made arrests ahead of an opposition march on November 15, sparking concern from the United States, Switzerland and Canada about limits on the freedom of expression.

"Rather than seeking to ban and disrupt these meetings, the Congolese government could work with civil society and the representatives of the opposition to ensure that such events can be held in all security and without incident," a joint statement said.

According to a report this month by the respected National Episcopal Conference of the Congo (CENCO), police and security forces killed at least 53 anti-government protesters between April and October.

Fifty-two people were shot dead and one other died from tear gas over the sixth month period, according to 200 observers who monitored the protests for CENCO. Three police officers were killed by demonstrators.

Two decades ago DR Congo collapsed into the deadliest conflict in modern African history.

Its two wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s dragged in at least six African armies and left more than three million dead. The east of the country remains a battleground for rival ethnic militias.

Kabila took office after his father Laurent was assassinated in 2001 at the height of the Second Congo War.

He was confirmed as leader in 2006 during the first free elections since independence, and re-elected for a second term in 2011 in a vote marred by accusations of fraud.
Smoking kills an average 1,200 Americans daily, US tobacco companies admitted Sunday in court-ordered 'corrective statements' published in newspapers.

The ads have begun appearing 11 years after District Judge Gladys Kessler, in a 1,682-page opinion, ruled in 2006 that the companies violated racketeering laws by deceiving the public for decades on the health dangers of smoking.

One such ad shows a graph of smoking-related deaths in the United States between 2005 and 2009.

And television ads are appearing as well. One ad features black text over a white background that lists the dangers of smoking.

US tobacco companies have been ordered to run television and newspapers advertisements to correct lies they told over the course of the 20th century (Pictured, packs of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company cigarette brands Pall Mall, Winston, Camel, Doral, and Kool)

One of the ads shows a graph that charts annual smoking related deaths in the United States between 2005 and 2009. The graph uses data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Kessler ordered them to publish corrective statements on five health topics, but the exact wording of those statements was held up pending tobacco company litigation.

In 2014 the companies and the government reportedly reached agreement that the ads would be published in major Sunday newspapers as well as on prime-time television for a year, and elsewhere including on cigarette packages.

'A Federal Court has ordered R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria and Lorillard to make this statement about the health effects of smoking,' said the full-page Sunday newspaper ad, consisting simply of plain black type on an otherwise bare newspaper page.

'Smoking kills, on average, 1,200 Americans. Every day,' it said.

The ad continued that 'more people die every year from smoking than from murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes and alcohol, combined,' with the last word highlighted.

It also listed various diseases and health conditions that 'smoking also causes'.

An advertisement shown on television displays black text describing the dangers of smoking over a plain white background

The tobacco companies will not be required to publish the corrections online or on social media.

Kessler's ruling was part of a government racketeering case against major cigarette companies originally brought in September 1999.

Further court-ordered ads with additional health messages will continue appearing in the newspapers of more than 50 major cities through April, said the American Cancer Society.

Along with other health groups, the Cancer Society intervened in the case and made recommendations about the corrective statements.

Their publication is 'a significant victory for public health,' the Cancer Society said on its website.

'What this case has succeeded in doing is to finally force the tobacco industry to fess up to what it has known and done for the past 50 years,' said Cliff Douglas, director of the Cancer Society's Center for Tobacco Control.

'The industry has deliberately addicted millions of people with a product it knew would kill as many as half of them years before their time.'

In 2015, $8.9billion was spent on advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco combined.

According to the CDC, more than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking and cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the US.

'The tobacco companies' basic strategy for everything, whether it's science or regulation or litigation, is delay,' Stan Glantz, an expert on tobacco company strategy at the University of California, San Francisco, told The Guardian.

'They have used a lot of arguing about what in terms of the real world are trivial issues, to delay having to make these statements for 11 years  but it is what the tobacco companies do.

'The problem is the technology has moved on, and the statements are not in social media because it didn't really exist back then. But better late than never.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a new hiking trail is "imperative in terms of tourism potential"

The Israeli government on Sunday agreed to fund the creation of a hiking trail that goes through the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision, which he hailed as "imperative in terms of tourism potential".

Israel occupied the West Bank and seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967, in moves that have never been recognised by the international community.

"The new route will pass through the Old City of Jerusalem or Shilo (north of the West Bank), places full of Jewish history," said Levin.

Following the cabinet's funding approval, a committee made up of various ministries must now submit proposals for the project whose budget is 10 million shekels ($2.8 million, 2.4 million euros).

The existing hiking route known as the "Israel Trail", which was inaugurated in 1995, was ranked by National Geographic magazine as one of the world's top 20 hikes in 2012.

Authorities in Israel have been trying for years to attract foreign tourists to the West Bank by developing historical or religious pilgrimage sites, such as the Cave of Patriarchs in the Old City of Hebron.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration is backtracking on its decision to order the Palestinians' office in Washington to close.

Last week, U.S. officials said the Palestine Liberation Organization mission had to close because the Palestinians had violated a provision in U.S. law. The provision says the office can't stay open if the Palestinians try to get the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis.

But the State Department now says the office can stay open, with restrictions. The United States has told the Palestinians to limit the office's activities to "to those related to achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians."

The restrictions can be lifted after 90 days if the U.S. and the Palestinians engage in serious peace talks. The State Department says it's optimistic that will happen.
MEXICO CITY (AP) - A human rights official in the northern state of Jalisco was found alive Saturday, a day after his apparent kidnapping generated worries about the safety of rights workers in Mexico.

A statement from Mexico's National Human Rights Commission called the news "encouraging," adding that the investigation into what happened would continue. The statement did not name the official or provide details of how he was found.

Authorities said gunmen stopped the official on Friday as he was driving to the offices of the state rights commission and apparently kidnapped him.

It was the second attack on rights workers in less than a week. On Monday, gunmen in Baja California Sur state shot to death the head of that state's human rights commission, Silvestre de la Toba Camacho and his son as they were driving.

The head of the federal commission, Luis Gonzalez Perez, said this week that the heads of three of the country's 31 state commissions had received threats. But no commission head had ever been assassinated before Monday.

"Of course we are worried, as any human being would be," Gonzalez Perez said of the attacks.

It is not clear who is behind any of the attacks or threats. The commissions have the power to issue non-binding recommendations about abuses by public servants, including police, prison guards and others.

Each state in Mexico has a governmental rights commission, and there is also one in Mexico City and one on the federal level.

Civilian rights activists have borne the brunt of the attacks; since 2006, 34 activists have been killed. Many of them had been active in efforts to locate people "disappeared" by crime gangs.

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NAGPUR, India (AP) - Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka has been fined 75 per cent of his match fee for ball tampering on day two of the second test between India and Sri Lanka in Nagpur.

The incident occurred in the 50th over of India's first innings when Shanaka was seen on television picking at the ball near the seam several times.

Shanaka was found to have breached Article 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to 'changing the condition of the ball in breach of clause 41.3.'

The player accepted the charge during a formal hearing with match referee David Boon after play on Saturday.

In addition to the fine, Shanaka has also been given three demerit points on his disciplinary record. If he reaches four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, they will be converted to suspension points and he will be banned.
HONG KONG (AP) - Australia's Wade Ormsby won the 2017 Hong Kong Open in dramatic fashion for his first European Tour win on Sunday.

Ormsby was 12 under and two shots ahead heading into the last, but bogeyed the final hole to head into the clubhouse at 11-under par, even with Rafa Cabrera Bello who was playing in the group behind.

Cabrera Bello, who started the day in the final pairing on 9 under, got off to a rocky start with a bogey on the third hole. He bounced back on the back half of the course to close on the leaders. A birdie on the 17th had him draw level with Ormsby for the lead.

Wade Ormsby of Australia holding his trophy, celebrates after winning the Hong Kong Open golf tournament in Hong Kong, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A par on the 18th would have forced a play-off but his second shot into the bunker made for a difficult putt for par that the Scottish Open champion missed, handing the win to Ormsby.

"Feels amazing, mate. Just trying to hold it together here. Yeah, pretty stoked. Well, not pretty stoked: Very stoked," said the 37-year old Ormsby. "I played solid all day. Just tried to keep pumping it out. Hit a lot of greens. Putter wasn't quite behaving but just played solid. Sometimes that's good enough. A bit disappointing to three-putt the last, but it's a tricky pin down there. Anyway, good enough."

Ormsby shot 68 for an overall total of 11-under 269, while Cabrera Bello finished in a group of four tied for second after a 69, finishing a stroke back with Americans Julian Suri (66) and Paul Peterson (67) and Sweden's Alexander Bjork (68).

"It's been a great week again. I came from playing great last year, I finished second here. I felt that I give myself a really good chance coming in today again," said Cabrera Bello. "I've been battling 'till the last hole. There's not really much more that you can ask yourself as a player than to have a chance coming up the last. The coin just didn't fall my side this time."

Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood of Britain finished sixth on 9 under 271. Previous winner Miguel Angel Jimenez, who shot the lowest round of the tournament with a 63, finished on 8-under 272 to tie with early pace setter S.S.P Chawrasia of India and American Micah Lauren Shin.

Wade Ormsby of Australia catches a ball on the 18th hole at the Hong Kong Open golf tournament in Hong Kong, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Wade Ormsby of Australia poses with his trophy after winning the Hong Kong Open golf tournament in Hong Kong, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Saudi Arabia's assertive crown prince on Sunday opened the first high-level meeting of a kingdom-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism, vowing that extremists will no longer "tarnish our beautiful religion."

Mohammed bin Salman's words come as the Islamic State group, which sparked the creation of the alliance, has been driven out of Iraq and lost its self-described capital in Syria.

However, the alliance doesn't include Iran, Iraq or Syria, while member nation Qatar sent no one to attend the one-day Riyadh gathering amid a diplomatic standoff between Doha and four Arab nations led by the kingdom.

In this photo released by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks at a meeting of the Islamic Military Counterterrorism Alliance in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017. Saudi Arabia's assertive crown prince on Sunday opened the first high-level meeting of a kingdom-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism, vowing that extremists will no longer "tarnish our beautiful religion." (Saudi Press Agency via AP)

Saudi Arabia announced the alliance in December 2015, when the crown prince was still only the kingdom's defense minister. Since then, his father King Salman has elevated the 32-year-old prince to be next in line for the throne in the oil-rich kingdom. The crown prince also recently put a number of wealthy princes, businessmen, military leaders and others under arrest over corruption allegations at various luxury hotels in Riyadh.

The alliance, initially announced with 34 nations, now includes 41, according the Saudi government. Addressing the defense ministers and other high-ranking officials, Crown Prince Mohammed said Sunday's meeting sends "a strong signal that we are going to work together and coordinate together to support each other."

"The biggest danger of this terrorism and extremism is the tarnishing of the reputation of our beloved religion. ... We will not allow this to happen," he said. "Today we start the pursuit of terrorism and we see its defeat in many facets around, the world especially in Muslim countries. ... We will continue to fight it until we see its defeat."

The crown prince also offered his condolences to Egypt, which suffered an attack Friday by Islamic militants on a mosque in northern Sinai that killed 305 people.

"This is indeed a painful event and it is a recurrent and strong reminder the dangers of this terrorism," he said.

The meeting did not include Iran, which has aided embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad in his country's civil war and backed Shiite militias crucial in pushing the Islamic State group out of Iraq. The Sunni kingdom is the Shiite power's archrival in the Mideast and remains concerned about its influence in the region after Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Saudi Arabia also leads a coalition of nations fighting in Yemen against Shiite rebels there who have Iran's backing.

Saudi Arabia also made a point to put Qatar, absent from the gathering, at the end of the list of 41 countries that belong to the anti-terrorism alliance.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties to Doha in June, partly over allegations that Doha supports extremists and has too-close ties to Iran. Saudi Arabia also closed its land borders, sea ports and airspace to Qatar.

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Associated Press writer Fay Abuelgasim in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
LONDON (AP) - Ireland's European commissioner on Sunday pressured British Prime Minister Theresa May to change course on Brexit talks to solve the issue of the post-Brexit border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland so stalled negotiations can move forward.

Phil Hogan said the border problem can easily be solved if May drops her plans to take Britain out of the European Union customs union and the single market when it departs the 28-nation bloc in 2019.

Failing that, he told The Observer on Sunday, the government should allow Northern Ireland to remain in these entities so no hard border would be required because there would be no trade barriers and no need for customs enforcement.

"If the U.K. or Northern Ireland remained in the EU customs union, or better still the single market, there would be no border issue," he said. "That's a very simple fact."

Britain's international trade secretary, Liam Fox, quickly rejected this approach. He told Sky News the resolution of the Irish border issue will have to wait until details about future trade relations have been worked out.

"We don't want there to be a hard border, but the U.K. is going to be leaving the customs union and the single market," he said.

The Irish borders issue - along with the "divorce bill" Britain has to pay for leaving the bloc, and the rights of EU citizens affected by Brexit - are key obstacles slowing negotiations between Britain and its estranged EU partners. EU leaders won't allow talks to move into critical trade areas until "significant progress" has been made on these issues.

May's government insists Britain will leave the customs union and single market when it leaves the EU. At that point, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will become a dividing line between Britain and the EU - and a new arrangement will be needed to monitor the flow of people and of goods.

Hogan argues this "hard border" won't be needed if Britain, at the very least, allows Northern Ireland to remain in the customs union. But his approach has been rejected by Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionists, a Northern Ireland party that is using its votes in Parliament to prop up May's minority government.

Foster told her party conference Saturday that the party would not back any agreement that "creates barriers" between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, in effect ruling out special status for Northern Ireland in the post-Brexit era.

EU leaders said Friday that Britain must show progress on the problem issues by Dec. 4 in time for a mid-December summit to allow the talks to progress to the next phase, which will involve substantive discussion of the future trading relationship between Britain and its former partners.
BOSTON (AP) - Murals celebrating immigrants past and present are cropping up in Boston neighborhoods as part of the city's take on the national "To Immigrants With Love" campaign.

The murals, which began cropping up this summer, juxtapose real life Boston immigrants from past generations with more recent newcomers.

One mural features a Russian couple who founded a local liquor store empire with a Dominican man who owns an electronic repair store. Another depicts an Italian catering company owner and a Mexican community activist.

In this Monday, Nov. 20, 2017 photo a passerby makes their way past a mural, in Boston's East Boston neighborhood, that is meant to pay tribute to grandmothers of East Boston from the early twentieth century up through the present, many of whom immigrated to the U.S. Murals celebrating immigrants are cropping up across Boston neighborhoods as part of the national "To Immigrants With Love" campaign. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

The works of art also include a quote translated into Spanish, Italian, Yiddish and other languages: "You will always be welcome in the city of Boston."

"It's a very powerful message of welcome," says Veronica Robles, the recent Mexican immigrant featured in one of the murals. "It makes people feel safe and appreciated. More than ever, that's an important message to put out there."

Katherine Copeland, who works in the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement and helped developed the project, says it was inspired by #ToImmigrantsWithLove, a social media campaign started by the nonprofits Define American and I Am An Immigrant to show solidarity with immigrants nationwide.

"That's what really sparked the idea," Copeland said. "We wanted to take that message one step further but more specific to Boston."

The first of three murals were completed this summer by the Mayor's Mural Crew, a long-running program paying high school students to complete public art throughout the city.

Located on the side of the Atlas Wines and Liquors in the city's Roslindale neighborhood, the brightly colored mural features Louis and Beatrice White, the Russian couple who founded the company in the 1930s following the repeal of Prohibition.

Pictured next to them is Alex Castillo, a native of the Dominican Republic and owner of Digitech Electronic Solutions, a nearby electronics repair shop.

Across town in East Boston, a second mural located on the side of a dentist office depicts Carmello Scire, an Italian immigrant from the 1930s who founded a long-running catering company now known as Sammy Carlo's Delicatessen and Catering.

The derby hat-wearing Scire is joined in the mural by a sombrero-wearing Robles, who arrived in Boston in 2000 and founded the Veronica Robles Cultural Center to promote Latin American dance and culture.

The third mural, located under an overpass along East Boston's bike path, highlights immigrant grandmothers and draws from the photos residents submitted of their own grandmothers.

Heidi Schork, director of the city's Mural Crew, says the murals are meant to evoke each neighborhood's evolution.

Roslindale, for example, was once a thriving center of the city's Jewish population and has become increasingly Latino, she said. And East Boston was once strongly Italian but today is a center of the state's Central American community.

"We want people to embrace the immigrants of today in the same way they embrace their own ancestors," said Celina Barrios-Millner, a fellow in the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement. "We just want to make that connection because it's such an immigrant city."

In this Monday, Nov. 20, 2017 photo a passerby walks past a mural that depicts Alex Castillo, left, who immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic as a child in 1996, and Beatrice and Louis White, right, a couple who immigrated from Russia and arrived at Ellis Island in the early 1900s, on the side of a liquor store in Boston's Roslindale neighborhood. Murals celebrating immigrants are cropping up across Boston neighborhoods as part of the national "To Immigrants With Love" campaign. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
LONDON (AP) - It only took 357 years, but Royal Navy sailors have for the first time performed the tradition-laden Changing of the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace in central London.

Thousands of tourists gathered outside the palace gates in crisp wintry weather Sunday as 86 sailors from 45 ships performed the familiar ritual, typically carried out by regiments of the Army's Household Division.

Warrant Officer 1st Class Eddie Wearing said he was daunted but excited by the chance to take part in the ceremony, which dates back to 1660.

Able seaman Laura Suttle takes her position in a sentry box, as sailors from the Royal Navy perform the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London, Sunday Nov. 26, 2017. Eighty-six sailors from 45 British Royal Navy ships have spent a month learning the intricate routines, and have now been deemed ready to perform the ceremony for real, for the first time in the 357-year history of Changing The Guard. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)

The Changing of the Guard has long been extremely popular with visitors to the British capital. Security has been upped in the last year because of concerns about possible extremist attacks.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - President Donald Trump said Sunday that electing a Democrat as Alabama's next senator "would be a disaster," making clear the success of his legislative agenda outweighs widespread GOP repulsion at the prospect of seating Republican Roy Moore, who is dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct.

The allegations, including claims that the 70-year-old Moore sexually assaulted or molested two teenage girls while he was in his 30s, have made the Dec. 12 election a referendum on "the character of the country" that transcends partisan politics, said GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, as the party establishment cringed at Trump's latest intervention in the closely contested race.

"In my opinion, and in the opinion of many Republicans and conservatives in the Senate, it is time for us to turn the page because it is not about partisan politics. It's not about electing Republicans versus Democrats," Scott said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, in Washington. Trump in tweets Sunday, Nov. 26, is again coming to the side of Republican Roy Moore by bashing the Democratic nominee Doug Jones in the Alabama Senate race. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

"It's about the character of our country," he said.

Trump on Sunday once again plunged himself into the race, declaring in a pair of tweets - without mentioning Moore by name - that electing Moore's Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, would "be a disaster."

"The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY," he wrote from Florida, referring to Democrats' congressional leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.

Jones, speaking to reporters in Birmingham, shrugged off Trump's criticisms, saying he would not be a partisan voter. He said Alabamians are focused on issues such as the economy, education and health care.

"My record speaks for itself ... I think I am very strong on the issues that the people of Alabama care for," Jones said.

Jones, a former federal prosecutor, said he would be an independent voice in the U.S. Senate, similarly to his political mentor, the late U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin, who represented the state for nearly 20 years.

Jones' campaign issued a more biting statement saying, "Roy Moore was unfit for office even before nine Alabama women served as witnesses to all Alabamians of his disturbing conduct."

Two women have accused Moore of sexually assaulting or molesting them decades ago, when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers. Moore has denied the accusations. At least five others have said he pursued romantic relationships when they were teenagers and he was a prosecutor. Moore has said he never dated "underage" women.

Moore has had few public appearances since the accusations surfaced earlier this month, but his campaign quickly touted the president's tweets, adding "We will defeat him on Dec. 12," a reference to Jones.

Trump had stayed silent on Moore for days until all but endorsing him while departing for Washington last week. The president dismissed questions from reporters about his willingness to back a Republican accused of sexual assault over a Democrat.

Trump, who won election despite facing more than a dozen accusations of sexual misconduct himself, appeared last Tuesday to shrug off the allegations against Moore, saying, "Forty years is a long time."

Trump has no campaign events for Moore scheduled at this time, said White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters.

Top Republicans in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, have called for Moore to leave the race, and the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee have pulled their support for his campaign.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has also called for Moore to step down, said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that Trump is "definitely trying to throw a lifeline to Roy Moore."

But Graham said when it comes to Moore, it's unclear "what winning looks like."

"If he wins, we get the baggage of him winning and it becomes a story every day about whether or not you believe the women or Roy Moore, should he stay in the Senate, should he be expelled. If you lose, you give the Senate seat to a Democrat at a time we need all the votes we can get," he said, referring to Republicans' current 52-48 majority in the Senate.

"The moral of the story is: Don't nominate somebody like Roy Moore who could actually lose a seat that any other Republican could win," Graham said.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said he'd like to see Trump "come out and support what many of us have said and that is that Roy Moore needs to step aside" and "allow somebody else to be a write-in candidate."

He said on "Fox News Sunday" that if Moore ends up winning and comes to Washington in January, he will be the immediate subject of an ethics investigation, "which is going to be a cloud that he'll be operating in and it's going to be a distraction for us and for our agenda."

Other Republican leaders worry a write-in candidate could wind up helping Jones by splitting the GOP vote.

Trump backed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange in the September Alabama Republican primary but moved quickly to embrace Moore after he won. The seat opened up after Republican Jeff Sessions was tapped as U.S. attorney general.

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Follow Colvin in Twitter at https://twitter.com/colvinj

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, file photo, Democrat Doug Jones speaks at a campaign rally for the race to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions' former Senate seat, in Birmingham, Ala. President Donald Trump in tweets Sunday, Nov. 26, is again coming to the side of Republican Roy Moore by bashing Jones in the Alabama Senate race. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The hackers' targets: The former head of cybersecurity for the U.S. Air Force. An ex-director at the National Security Council. A former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

All were caught up in a Russian government-aligned cyberespionage campaign. None was warned by the FBI.

The bureau repeatedly failed to alert targets of the Russian hacking group known as Fancy Bear despite knowing for more than a year that their personal emails were in the Kremlin's sights, an Associated Press investigation has found.

Traffic along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington streaks past the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters building Wednesday night, Nov. 1, 2017. Scores of U.S. diplomatic, military and government figures were not told about attempts to hack into their emails even though the FBI knew they were in the Kremlin's crosshairs, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

"No one's ever said to me, 'Hey Joe, you've been targeted by this Russian group,'" said former Navy intelligence officer Joe Mazzafro, whose inbox the hackers tried to compromise in 2015. "That our own security services have not gone out and alerted me, that's what I find the most disconcerting as a national security professional."

The FBI declined to discuss its investigation into Fancy Bear's spying campaign, but did provide a statement that said in part: "The FBI routinely notifies individuals and organizations of potential threat information."

Three people familiar with the matter - including a current and a former government official - said the FBI has known the details of Fancy Bear's attempts to break into Gmail inboxes for more than a year. A senior FBI official, who was not to authorized to publicly discuss the hacking operation because of its sensitivity, said the bureau had been overwhelmed by an "almost insurmountable problem."

The AP conducted its own investigation into Fancy Bear, dedicating two months and a small team of reporters to go through a list of 19,000 phishing links provided by the cybersecurity firm Secureworks.

The list showed how Fancy Bear worked in close alignment with Kremlin interests to steal tens of thousands of emails from the Democratic Party, the AP reported this month.

But it wasn't just Democrats the hackers were after.

The AP identified more than 500 U.S.-based targets in the data, reached out to more than 190 of them and interviewed nearly 80 people, including current or former military personnel, Democratic operatives, diplomats or ex-intelligence workers such as Mazzafro.

Many were long-retired, but about one-third were still in government or held security clearances at the time of the hacking attempts. Only two told the AP they learned of the hacking attempts from the FBI. A few more were contacted by the FBI after their emails were published in the torrent of leaks that coursed through last year's electoral contest. To this day, some leak victims have not heard from the bureau.

One was retired Maj. James Phillips, who was one of the first people exposed by the website DCLeaks in mid-2016. A year later, Philips has yet to hear anything from the FBI.

In fact he didn't learn his emails were "flapping in the breeze" until two months after the fact, when a journalist called him to ask for comment.

"The fact that a reporter told me about DCLeaks kind of makes me sad," Phillips said in a telephone interview.

Phillips' story would be repeated again and again as the AP spoke to officials from the National Defense University in Washington to the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado.

Among them: a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, retired Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes; a former head of Air Force Intelligence, retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula; a former defense undersecretary, Eric Edelman; and a former director of cybersecurity for the Air Force, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Schissler.

Some targets of Fancy Bear's spying said they don't blame the FBI for not notifying them.

"The expectation that the government is going to protect everyone and go back to everyone is false," said Nicholas Eftimiades, a retired senior technical officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency who teaches homeland security at Pennsylvania State University in Harrisburg and was himself among the targets.

But Charles Sowell, who previously worked as a senior administrator in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and was targeted by Fancy Bear two years ago, said there was no reason the FBI couldn't do the same work the AP did.

"It's absolutely not OK for them to use an excuse that there's too much data," said Sowell. "Would that hold water if there were a serial killer investigation, and people were calling in tips left and right, and they were holding up their hands and saying, 'It's too much'?

"That's ridiculous."

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EDITOR'S NOTE - Raphael Satter's father, David Satter, is an author and Russia specialist who has been critical of the Kremlin. His emails were published last year by hackers and his account is on Secureworks' list of Fancy Bear targets. He was not notified by the FBI.

This image shows a portion of a phishing email sent to a Washington area-based military analyst on Nov. 9, 2017. Scores of U.S. diplomatic, military and government figures were not told about attempts to hack into their emails even though the FBI knew they were in the Kremlin's crosshairs, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo)

FILE - This Feb. 3, 2012, file photo shows FBI headquarters in Washington. Many U.S. diplomatic, military and government figures were not told about Russia-linked attempts to hack into their emails, even though the FBI knew they were in the Kremlin's crosshairs, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

In this image made from video, seen though an interior window, employees work in the offices of Secureworks in Atlanta on Oct. 4, 2017. Working off a list supplied by the cybersecurity firm, The Associated Press found that scores of U.S. diplomatic, military and government figures were not told about attempts to hack into their emails even though the FBI knew they were in the Kremlin's crosshairs. (AP Photo/Marina Hutchinson)

Catalin Florica, who launched THCServers.com in 2013, poses for a portrait during an interview at the company's headquarters, outside Craiova, southern Romania, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. The company based in a remote part of the Eastern European country was used to register the website DCLeaks, which U.S. intelligence has accused of being a front for Russian spies. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2004 file photo, Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes of the Department of Homeland Security appears before the Senate Government Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill. Hughes, a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was one of scores of U.S. diplomatic, military and government figures who were not told about attempts to hack into their emails even though the FBI knew they were in the Kremlin's crosshairs, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File)

FILE - This Sept. 29, 2017 photo shows the Kremlin in Moscow. Scores of U.S. diplomatic, military and government figures were not told about Russia-linked attempts to hack into their emails, even though the FBI knew they were in Moscow's crosshairs, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)

FILE - In this May 15, 2013 file photo, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul leaves the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia. McFaul, who served as ambassador from 2012 to 2014, was angry to learn that he was sent a phishing email in 2015 - and was told nothing about it by the FBI. "Our government needs to be taking greater responsibility to defend its citizens in both the physical and cyber worlds, now, before a cyberattack produces an even more catastrophic outcome than we have already experienced," he said. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A candidate to lead an agency that oversees public lands totaling one-eighth of the U.S. says environmentalists mischaracterize her as an advocate of signing those landscapes over to state and local governments and private interests when in fact she's got no opinion on the issue.

Cheyenne attorney Karen Budd-Falen and others drew dozens of protesters when she addressed a recent land-use forum in western Montana. The protesters spoke out against the small but growing movement in the West to wrest control of public lands from federal agencies.

A land-transfer advocate invited Budd-Falen to the Ravalli County event Nov. 18 but her legal work has nothing to do with the topic, Budd-Falen said.

"It's not an issue that I was dealing with. But people just assumed that," Budd-Falen told The Associated Press in an interview Monday.

Budd-Falen apparently is or has been among those under consideration to direct the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Interior Department agency that oversees some 386,000 square miles (1 million square kilometers) of mostly arid land concentrated in a dozen Western states.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke interviewed her for the job in March, she said.

Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift declined to say whether Budd-Falen was still a candidate or when somebody might be nominated for the director job, which has been vacant since January. Still, many environmentalists have been calling Budd-Falen too extreme.

Her legal advocacy has laid the groundwork for those who now want the federal government to relinquish public land, said Greg Zimmerman, deputy director of the Denver-based environmental group Center for Western Priorities.

"She may say she has no opinion on it but her career has been spent propping up that ideology," Zimmerman said Tuesday.

Budd-Falen and her husband, Frank Falen, have a firm with four other attorneys in a house in downtown Cheyenne. The practice focuses largely on ranchers and property rights - anything from easements to oil and gas leases and how to comply with government regulations.

"I do a lot of just simply regulation-explaining to private industries. There are tons of regulations out there. They are hard to comply with. And it's not that a lot of my clients don't want to comply. It's how do you fill out this massive amount of paperwork to put in a water tank?"

Not water tanks but Budd-Falen's work helping local officials write land-use plans have made her a lightning-rod candidate to lead the BLM. The plans spell out local priorities for the BLM, U.S. Forest Service and other government agencies to keep in mind in counties where federal land covers a lot of ground - perhaps half or more of the total land area.

A recently approved Crook County, Oregon, land-use plan that Budd-Falen consulted on, for example, calls for the federal government to recognize the economic importance of logging, ranching, farming and mining.

Environmentalists and sportsmen's groups worry the plans are a slippery slope toward federal land takeovers, especially as President Donald Trump's Interior Department looks to reduce the size of national monuments in Utah and perhaps elsewhere.

Local land-use plans can't legally assert such control, Budd-Falen said.

"It's not veto power. The local government can't mandate that you cut a tree here or you graze cows there. You can't do that. But the local government can say here's this overall national policy, this is how it's going to impact my people in my county," Budd-Falen said.

Budd-Falen declined to "even venture a guess" whether wholesale transfers of federal land would help local communities, adding it's also not her area of legal expertise.

Budd-Falen's clients in the 1990s included Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher on trial for a 2014 confrontation with federal officials over grazing fees. Budd-Falen grew up on a ranch in western Wyoming's Upper Green River Basin - an area known for world-class trout fishing and some of the nation's biggest gas fields - and said she went to law school at the University of Wyoming knowing she would represent ranchers.

Today, she said, too many government officials have a say in small-scale decisions affecting federal grazing allotments they've never seen in person.

Her father used to invite local BLM and Forest Service officials over when they were considering minor, local changes. They'd drink coffee, look at maps and argue but make decisions quickly, she recalled.

"I think that's a better way to manage than we're going to have a million rules from Washington that may or may not apply, and so we're going to give all these people who have all these political ideas a say," Budd-Falen said.

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RENO, Nev. (AP) - More than 500 black bears have returned to parts of their historic range in the Great Basin of Nevada where the species disappeared about 80 years ago, scientists say.

A new study says genetic testing confirms the bears are making their way east from the Sierra ranges north and south of Lake Tahoe along the California line.

In some cases, recent generations have moved hundreds of miles to sites near the Utah line, marking a rare example of large mammals recolonizing areas where they'd been wiped out.

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2017, file photo, a black bear searches for Kokanee salmon as it walks along Taylor Creek in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. More than 500 black bears have made their way back into parts of their historic range in the Great Basin of central and northeast Nevada where the species had disappeared about 80 years ago, scientists say. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

"The recovery of large carnivores is relatively rare globally," said Jon Beckmann, a conservation scientist for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Bozeman, Montana, who co-authored the new study.

It concludes that bear populations originating in western Nevada mountain ranges have the genetic diversity necessary to sustain the new subpopulations.

The findings are the result of a partnership between wildlife management and geneticists based on bear hair and blood samples taken over 20 years, said Jason Malaney, an environmental scientist at the University of Nevada, Reno, who led the study.

He wrote that the study represents "one of the few empirical examples of genetic consequences of natural recolonization in large-bodied mammals."

Carl Lackey, a Nevada state biologist, and Marjorie Matocq, a UNR scientist, co-authored the study.

The data provides ammunition for advocates of increased protection of wildlife corridors for a number of species in the basin - a vast stretch of desert and mountain ranges that covers most of Nevada, half of Utah and parts of Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and California.

The study says the results are timely and relevant because of projected climate change and the effects of human population growth.

"As the human footprint expands over time in the region, this level of genetic connection among various mountain ranges may not last without conservation efforts to maintain connectivity," it says.

Black bears were prevalent across most of Nevada during the 1800s but had been devastated in the Great Basin by the early 1900s, primarily due to unregulated hunting, conflicts with livestock ranchers, logging and overgrazing.

Over time, bears have benefited from a reduction in logging, combined with improved land management practices and an emphasis on conservation, the study said.

"While barriers such as highways often reduce gene flow in other large-bodied mammals, black bears in the western Great Basin appear to occasionally traverse these obstacles," the report said.

Beckmann said the bears have moved into central Nevada around Tonopah and Austin.

"We're starting to see them clear over in places like Ely" near U.S. Highway 50 about 40 miles from the Utah line, he added.

Future steps to help the bears could include construction of wildlife-crossing structures at highways.

"They're expensive, but within a decade or two they pay for themselves in terms of both wildlife connectivity and public safety," Beckmann said.

A series of tunnels and bridges have been built in eastern Nevada on U.S. Highway 93 north of Wells, and there's a large passage over Interstate 80 west of Wendover, Utah.

Wyoming has them and one is planned in southeast Idaho. Grizzly bears use them at Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies.

"It may take several years but once they are comfortable with them, they're used regularly," said Beckmann, who has authored a book on the topic.
LILLE, France (AP) - For all his individual brilliance, David Goffin could not make up for the lack of depth in the Belgian team at the Davis Cup final.

Looking for its first title in the team competition, Belgium lost a second final in three years on Sunday, going down 3-2 to France.

Belgium was guided by an impressive Goffin and spurred on by its raucous fans in the northern city of Lille, close to the Belgian border. Belgium took the final to the second reverse singles where Steve Darcis was routed 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 by Lucas Pouille.

French captain Yannick Noah, left, puts his arm on Belgian captain Johan Van Herck's shoulder after France won Davis Cup at the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille, northern France, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017. France won the Davis Cup for the first time in 16 years after beating Belgium 3-2. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

The French, with a team featuring Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Pouille, Richard Gasquet and doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert, were favorites to win their 10th title.

But the seventh-ranked Goffin proved a problem for the hosts throughout the weekend, winning his two singles matches against Tsonga and Pouille without dropping a set.

"The best player this weekend was on the Belgian side," said former top-ranked player Justine Henin of Belgium.

France made a crucial step toward the title by winning Saturday's doubles, and the 76th-ranked Darcis was outclassed in both his singles matches.

After recovering from an ankle injury he sustained at the French Open, Goffin still finished the year on a personal high note. Before losing to Grigor Dimitrov for the ATP Finals title in London last week, he also claimed back-to-back titles at Shenzhen and Tokyo.

He was able to carry his great form to Lille, where he demolished Pouille on Friday and delighted the crowd with a vast array of stunning shots against Tsonga.

"I played my best tennis," Goffin said.

Goffin, who has not lost a Davis Cup singles match since losing to Andy Murray in the 2015 final, improved his singles record in the competition to 21-3.

Saddened by the loss, Goffin said he finished his season with the "sense of having done my duty."

"When the team loses, we're all disappointed. We gave it our all. It's tough to finish this way but we did a lot of good things as a team this year ... We'll see how things go (next year)."

Belgium captain Johan Van Herck said the highlights of his weekend were "the two matches of David" but insisted he was proud of his team.

"One day I'm sure we will win the Davis Cup," he said.

Darcis, the weak link of the Belgian team with two straight-set losses, submitted himself to harsh self-criticism.

"I was bad," Darcis said. "I was spanked twice. I'm appalled by my performance."

French captain Yannick Noah, center, holds the cup with players after France won Davis Cup at the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille, northern France, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017. France won the Davis Cup for the first time in 16 years after beating Belgium 3-2. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

French captain Yannick Noah, left, and the French team celebrate their victory in the cloakroom after France won the Davis Cup at the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille, northern France, Sunday, Nov.26, 2017. France won the Davis Cup for the first time in 16 years after beating Belgium 3-2. (Antoine Couvercelle, Pool via AP)

France's Lucas Pouille holds the cup as France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga applauds after France won the Davis Cup at the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille, northern France, Sunday, Nov.26, 2017. France won the Davis Cup for the first time in 16 years after beating Belgium 3-2. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French captain Yannick Noah celebrateS the French team victory in the cloakroom after France won the Davis Cup at the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille, northern France, Sunday, Nov.26, 2017. France won the Davis Cup for the first time in 16 years after beating Belgium 3-2. (Antoine Couvercelle, Pool via AP)

Belgium's David Goffin walks past the cup after France won the Davis Cup at the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille, northern France, Sunday, Nov.26, 2017. France won the Davis Cup for the first time in 16 years after beating Belgium 3-2. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French captain Yannick Noah, left, has a noce gesture towards Belgian captain Johan Van Herck after France won Davis Cup at the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille, northern France, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017. France won the Davis Cup for the first time in 16 years after beating Belgium 3-2. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
SANAA, Yemen (AP) - Yemeni security and tribal officials say a suspected U.S. drone strike has killed three alleged al-Qaida fighters in the country's central Bayda province.

They say the Sunday strike was the third of its kind in a week in the province, a stronghold for the group. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Yemen fell into chaos following its 2011 Arab Spring uprising that deposed longtime autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh, now allied with Shiite rebels from the north who have occupied much of the country and are fighting his successor. A Saudi-led coalition has been battling the rebels and Saleh's forces since March 2015.

Al-Qaida has taken advantage of the chaos to seize territory and expand operations in impoverished Yemen, which sits along strategic oil shipping routes.
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. (AP) - A crowded mall in New York's Hudson Valley was evacuated Sunday after a man shot a gun into the floor, causing minor injuries to two bystanders, police said.

It wasn't clear whether the gunfire shortly after 3 p.m. at the Galleria at Crystal Run in Middletown was accidental. Police were seeking the man with the gun.

"At this time it appears that a male wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and gray pants discharged one round from a handgun into the floor on the second level of the mall in front of the American Eagle store," Chief Robert Hertman of the Wallkill Police Department said at a briefing outside the mall.

People are evacuated after reports of shots fired at the Galleria at Crystal Run, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017, in Middletown, N.Y. (Allyse Pulliam/Times Herald-Record via AP)

Hertman said the two people were being treated for minor lacerations. He said it was unclear how they were injured.

Video posted on social media showed armed police in tactical gear running down a corridor of the mall while shoppers ran in the other direction.

Leighton Peterson was grabbing a pre-movie bite to eat in the mall's food court around 3:20 when suddenly, he heard alarms, "and all of the employees were telling everybody to get to the exits and evacuate," he told The Associated Press.

As people made orderly progress toward the exits, Peterson thought it might be a fire drill until he heard a worried-looking mall worker mention a shooting, he recalled.

Outside, holiday shoppers lingered at first to see whether there might be an all-clear and reopening. But before long, "it became pretty clear that there was an actual situation happening, so then people started leaving en masse," in a bumper-to-bumper stream out of the packed parking lot, said Peterson, 32, a video editor.

The Galleria mall is about 70 miles north of midtown Manhattan. It also was evacuated during the holiday shopping rush in December 2008, when an odor of gas at a department store forced the shopping center to close early on a Thursday evening.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Nicolas Maduro has tapped a high-ranking general to lead Venezuela's struggling state oil company.

National Guard Maj. Gen. Manuel Quevedo will be president of PDVSA and the country's minister of oil.

Since taking office in 2013, Maduro has steadily handed more power to military officers, including key Cabinet posts.

Sunday's leadership change comes amid a sweeping anti-corruption investigation ordered by Maduro into the state-run PDVSA as a fall in crude production has worsened the oil-rich country's financial crisis.

This year, Venezuelan officials have arrested roughly 60 people, including many senior managers at PDVSA.

Officials in recent days jailed six top executives of PDVSA's U.S.-based subsidiary, Citgo. Five of them hold dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizenship.

___

This story has been corrected by deleting a reference to Eulogio Del Pino, who was not the immediate past president of PDVSA.
Zimbabwes military action leading to Robert Mugabes resignation was legal, a High Court judge has ruled, in a key decision as the army seeks to show that its move was not a coup.

High Court Judge George Chiweshe ruled that the militarys actions in intervening to stop the takeover of Mugabes functions by those around him are constitutionally permissible and lawful.

The military stepped in almost two weeks ago after Mugabe fired deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa amid fears that the 93-year-old presidents unpopular wife was positioning herself to take power.

Soldiers on the streets in Harare, Zimbabwe (Ben Curtis/AP)

The judge said the army ensured non-elected individuals do not exercise executive functions, an apparent reference to then-first lady Grace Mugabe.

The judge also said Mugabes firing of Mr Mnangagwa as vice president was illegal. He was sworn in as president on Friday in a whirlwind reversal of fortunes, becoming just the second leader of Zimbabwe after Mugabes 37-year-rule.

The judges decisions were criticised by legal and rights experts and by close allies of Mugabe and his wife.

If these breathtaking High Court Orders granted in Harare yesterday represent what is being peddled as a new path, then please pray for Zimbabwe, tweeted minister of higher education Jonathan Moyo, the most vocal of the Mugabe allies.

The southern Africa director for Human Rights Watch, Dewa Mavhinga, called the rulings incredible and said on Twitter: Strange, captured judiciary?

Zimbabwes military sent tanks into the streets overnight on November 14, taking control of the state broadcaster and announcing that Mugabe had been put under house arrest. It said it was pursuing criminals close to Mugabe accused of harming the countrys economy.

The move led the ruling party to turn against Mugabe, launching impeachment proceedings before he announced his resignation on Tuesday, while tens of thousands of Zimbabweans took to the streets in a military-backed demonstration urging him to step aside.

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa (/Ben Curtis/AP)

Mr Mnangagwa, who fled the country shortly after his firing, said on his return he had been in constant contact with the military during his absence.

Many in the international community have avoided calling the militarys actions a coup, instead urging that Zimbabwes authorities respect the rule of law.

Some Zimbabweans have congratulated the military, taking selfies with soldiers and sending up a cheer for army commander Constantino Chiwenga at Fridays inauguration.

Zimbabwean lawyer Alex Magaisa said the judges rulings may come to haunt Mnangagwas government by setting a precedent in effectively legalising military intervention in the affairs of government.

He also wrote: It is interesting to note that the order was granted by consent which suggests that Mugabe agreed to it. If he did, it could be that it was part of Mugabes exit deal.

Minister @RoryStewartUK met President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition leaders including Morgan Tsvangirai as well as business representatives, human rights groups, NGO and civil society during his trip to Zimbabwe pic.twitter.com/6K2kqJbyJq  UKinZimbabwe (@UKinZimbabwe) November 24, 2017

Mugabe has not been seen in public since his speech last Sunday defying calls to resign. He will remain in Zimbabwe, and Mr Mnangagwa met him on Thursday and assured him of maximum security, the state-run Zimbabwe Herald reported.

Mugabe did not attend the swearing-in of Mr Mnangagwa, a 75-year-old former defence and justice minister blamed for a number of crackdowns under Mugabes rule.

In his first speech as president, Mr Mnangagwa spoke of reuniting the country and reaching out to the world after years of international condemnation and sanctions over rights abuses and allegedly rigged elections.

The legality of the military takeover is also under scrutiny in new cases against several officials linked to the ruling party faction of Mugabes wife. Their lawyers say they were illegally detained by soldiers for days.

Now in Zimbabwe at the time of the inauguration of a new President. A new opportunity? pic.twitter.com/beCEVgdJRJ  Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) November 24, 2017

Innocent Hamandishe, a member of the ruling Zanu-PF partys youth league who has been linked to a statement critical of the military, was abducted on November 16 and only handed over to police on Wednesday, said his lawyer, Emmanuel Samudombe. He appeared in court on Saturday.

Its a serious breach of the constitution, Mr Samudombe said. Charges against Hamandishe include causing disaffection in the security forces during the militarys intervention.

The lawyer described the case as retribution but said he would wait to see how authorities deal with it in light of Mr Mnangagwas comments urging Zimbabweans not to settle old scores.
Resolving the issue of Northern Irelands border after leaving the European Union cannot be completed until trade talks with Brussels have progressed, Liam Fox said as Dublin warned it could veto the next stage of Brexit negotiations unless there is movement on the dispute.

International Trade Secretary Dr Fox said a final position could not be reached until it was known what the end state of the UK-EU relationship after Brexit would be.

But an Irish minister indicated trade talks could be held up unless firm guarantees on the border are given by Prime Minister Theresa May.

Dublin has put fresh pressure on the Government to accept a solution which would see either the whole of the UK or just Northern Ireland remain in the single market and customs union as a deadline in the Brexit process approaches.

Theresa May has been given until December 4 to come up with further proposals on issues including the border, the Brexit divorce bill and citizens rights if European leaders are to give the green light to moving on to the next phase of negotiations covering the future trading relationship between the UK and Brussels.

Dr Fox said: We dont want there to be a hard border but the UK is going to be leaving the customs union and the single market.

Border between N Ireland and Republic of Ireland

He told Sky Newss Sunday with Niall Paterson: We have always had exceptions for Ireland, whether its in our voting rights, our rights of residence in the UK, we have always accepted a certain asymmetry and that will have to be part of whatever agreement we come to with the European Union but we cant come to a final answer to the Irish question until we get an idea of the end state.

And until we get into discussions with the EU on the end state that will be very difficult, so the quicker that we can do that the better and we are still in a position where the EU doesnt want to do that.

He blamed the European Commissions obsession with forging a closer union for the delays in the Brexit talks, which the UK hopes will move on to discussing trade after a meeting of EU leaders on December 14-15.

I think the European Union countries need to consider the welfare and the economic prosperity of their people as opposed to the obsession of the commission about the concept of ever closer union. he said.

Liam Fox

Irish European affairs minister Helen McEntee acknowledged that some of the final details would have to be dealt with in the next phase of Brexit talks but the UK must come forward with further proposals now to achieve the aim of maintaining a soft border.

Progress on to phase two of the negotiations can only happen if all 27 leaders of the remaining EU countries agree sufficient progress has been made on the first set of issues.

Ms McEntee told Channel 4 News: We cannot say that there is sufficient progress on the Irish issue when there has not been.

Theresa Mays speech in Florence was very welcome, the commitment to no return to a hard border on the island of Ireland is welcome.

However if all of the options that we feel can make that possible have been taken off the table then we need them to produce something else that will give us confidence, moving into phase two, that this can actually be achieved. To date this has not happened.

But obviously I would hope, we need to be optimistic, that negotiations can continue before the December council meeting and that we can see some solution to this.

Speaking on ITVs Peston On Sunday, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he was worried about Dr Foxs comments and said the option of remaining in the customs union and single market should remain on the table.

I think the one thing that we dont want to do is jeopardise any movement quickly, because we need movement to enable us to get into the proper trade negotiations.

So Im hoping that isnt a Downing Street sanctioned statement thats hes made.

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said that unless progress on to the next phase is made in December we are rapidly going to run out of time for a transitional deal to be put in place.

I dont think it means that the world has ended but I do think its a setback, she said.
There is at least a 20% chance that Brexit will not happen, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable has suggested.

The former Cabinet minister said there was a distinct possibility that the UK could remain in the bloc even though the process that will lead to Brexit in March 2019 is already under way.

Sir Vince acknowledged that there could be an amicable divorce with Brussels which would be acceptable to the public  but there was also the potential for a terrible mess.

Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable. (Andrew Matthews/PA)

"There's a distinct possibility Brexit won't happen" - @vincecable explains his reasoning #Paterson pic.twitter.com/eX5kjvmS3X  Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) November 26, 2017

He told Sky Newss Sunday with Niall Paterson the sheer complexity, the practical difficulties, the fact the Government is internally divided could all impact on the process.

We may get to the middle of next year and find this is just a horrible mess and there will be a growing political mood in the country and in Parliament to find a way out, he said.

Thats why we think at the end of the day the public should have a choice as to whether they want to go ahead with Brexit when weve discovered what its about or whether they want an exit from Brexit.

Why aren't the Liberal Democrats doing better? @skynewsniall asks the party leader Vince Cable #Paterson pic.twitter.com/NJpWI5ezIh  Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) November 26, 2017

He added: We absolutely do not know what Brexit will look like  eventually we could get an amicable divorce.

It looks increasingly unlikely but its possible, in which case I suspect the public will settle for that.

But if it is a terrible mess and very divisive and very costly then I think people will want to reopen the question.

Pressed on whether the Lib Dems should be performing better under his leadership, he said: Im confident that in time we will make an impact, initially probably in local government and then at a national level at the next election.
Crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace on Sunday morning to watch Royal Navy sailors perform the Changing of the Guard ceremony for the first time in its 357-year history.

Eighty-six sailors from 45 Royal Navy ships and establishments spent a month learning the intricate routines before being deemed ready to carry out the event for real.

The ceremony, which has been taking place since the restoration of King Charles II in 1660, is traditionally performed by one of the five Foot Guards Regiments from the Armys Household Division.

The sailors trained at the Royal Navys headquarters in Portsmouth, with their new skills being polished by drill instructors from the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards.

They marched through the famous gates to the theme tune of Game Of Thrones watched by thousands of tourists.

(Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Warrant Officer 1st Class Eddie Wearing, the Royal Navys state ceremonial training officer, said before the ceremony: Its daunting, but Im very excited.

To be the conducting warrant officer for the first mount ever in the Royal Navy is a massive privilege and an honour to do. Im really looking forward to it.

(Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The roots of the Changing of the Guard ceremony can be traced all the way back to the reign of Henry VII when the first royal bodyguard was created.

Lt Cdr Steve Elliott will be the first @RoyalNavy Captain of the Queens Guard since Sir Walter Raleigh in 1587 https://t.co/6ouHsbsflM pic.twitter.com/TjNgei8gkx  Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) November 25, 2017

Lieutenant Commander Steve Elliott will be Captain of the Queens Guard.

As we march out of the Wellington Barracks for the first time Im fairly sure everyone will feel an enormous sense of pride, he said.

(Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Its great to do this ceremonial piece and have the Royal Navy in the public eye in this way.

But a group of soldiers from the Grenadier Guards, one of the five Foot Guards Regiments, were not worried they would be upstaged.

(Dominic Lipinski/PA)

One said: They could be better. They wont ever be able to do it like the Grenadiers can.

Just watching the @RoyalNavy changing the guard on a live stream. It is a highly emotional moment and I am so proud of the @RoyalNavy #RoyalNavyGuard  Former Second Sea Lord (@VAdmJWoodcock) November 26, 2017

He added: We popped in to the Wellington Barracks last night and they were dead nervous. Theyve only had a month to train.

Another joked: Weve been doing it for 300 years. Its about time we let [the Navy] have a turn.

Dont let them say we never do anything for them.

(Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The Royal Navys turn in the Changing of the Guard ceremony is one of many events staged to celebrate 2017 as The Year of the Navy.

It marks the arrival of several new ships to the fleet, including the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The floor of a nightclub has collapsed in Tenerife, injuring 22 people including a number of British nationals.

Emergency services said two of those hurt suffered serious injuries, including broken legs and ankles, after clubbers plunged into the basement.

British people are believed to have been among those caught up in the incident on the island early on Sunday morning, although the number left injured and the natures of their injuries are not yet clear.

(Lauren Hurley/PA)

An FCO spokeswoman said: We are in contact with a number of British nationals who have been injured in an incident in Tenerife and are offering consular assistance.

Local authorities said other people injured include Spaniards, two Frenchmen, a Belgian and a Romanian man.
Juventus bounced back to winning ways with a comfortable home victory while Napoli returned to the top of Serie A on Sunday.

Second-half goals from Mario Mandzukic, Mattia De Sciglio and Medhi Benatia saw the reigning champions recover from their setback at Sampdoria last weekend with a 3-0 win over Crotone.

Juve could not find a way past the visitors defence in the first half but Croatian forward Mandzukic finally broke the deadlock seven minutes after the break when he headed in Andrea Barzaglis cross.

Juventus forward Mario Mandzukic celebrates scoring against against Crotone (Alessandro Di Marco/AP)

De Sciglio made his mark two minutes after coming on, arrowing in his first Serie A goal from the edge of the area, before fellow sub Miralem Pjanic crossed for Benatia to tap in the third with 19 minutes left.

Victory leaves Massimiliano Allegris men in third place, four points behind leaders Napoli, who they travel to on Friday.

Maurizio Sarris men had earlier reclaimed top spot with a 1-0 win over Udinese.

Inter Milan had moved a point ahead after Saturdays 3-1 win over Cagliari but Napoli needed a solitary Jorginho goal to make an instant return to the summit.

The only goal came in the 33rd minute when a bewildered Gabriele Angella brought down Christian Maggio in the box and though Jorginhos penalty was saved by Simone Scuffet, the midfielder tucked away the loose ball.

A penalty also cost fourth-placed Roma as they drew 1-1 at Genoa.

Contento per il gol, ma dispiaciuto per il risultato finale Happy with my gol, but disappointed with the result #LAZIOfiorentina #1-1 pic.twitter.com/1WJXfi8CYt  Stefan de Vrij (@Stefandevrij) November 26, 2017

The Giallorossi led through Stephan El Shaarawys goal but while defending a corner 10 minutes later, Daniele De Rossi was sent off for foolishly slapping Gianluca Lapadula, who scored the resulting spot-kick.

Lazio missed the chance to move level on points with their city rivals as Khouma Babacar converted a stoppage-time penalty to snatch a 1-1 draw for Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico.

The Senegalese striker calmly sent Thomas Strakosha the wrong way from the spot in the fourth minute of stoppage time following substitute Felipe Caicedos adjudged foul on German Pezzella.

Simone Inzaghis Lazio had looked on course to bounce back from last weekends Rome derby defeat with victory after Holland defender Stefan de Vrij headed home Luis Albertos 25th-minute free-kick.

In the days other game, AC Milan were held to a 0-0 draw at San Siro by Torino.
By Ian Ransom

BRISBANE, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Reviving memories of the 2013/14 whitewash, Australia's pacemen tore through England's tail in a fierce assault of short-pitched bowling on day four of the series-opening Ashes test to hasten the hosts' inexorable push for victory.

With England skittled for 195 in their second innings, openers David Warner and Cameron Bancroft then drove Australia to 114 without loss at stumps at the Gabba, and needing only 56 runs to wrap up the win.

Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc took three wickets late in the day, bouncing out Chris Woakes and having Stuart Broad caught behind.

Pat Cummins wrapped up the innings by working over fellow quick Jake Ball with a short ball as England lost their last four wickets for 10 runs.

The barrage was reminiscent of the preceding home series, when the Mitchell Johnson-led pace battery mowed through England's tail repeatedly to help secure the 5-0 whitewash.

Starc (3-51) suggested James Anderson and Co should brace for plenty more of the same.

"We've got our plans to all the English batters," he told reporters.

"We've spoken a bit about their tail, obviously. The way that our boys bowled against them in the last home Ashes, sort of used that as a bit of a blueprint.

"I'm sure they can expect some more short stuff as the series goes on."

Much has been written of the Australian quicks' endurance, with particular attention to the fitness of left-armer Starc and Cummins given the pair's history of serious injuries.

Seamer Josh Hazlewood also battled a side strain in the leadup but took 3-46 in England's second innings, including the key wicket of captain Joe Root.

There will be a tight turnaround before the second test in Adelaide starts Saturday, but Starc said he would not be resting, at least voluntarily.

"It won't be an issue backing up, all good," he said.

It has helped that spinner Nathan Lyon shouldered plenty of the burden. He took 3-67 in 24 quality overs during England's second innings, with Starc and Hazlewood bowling 16 overs apiece.

"He's been fantastic," said Starc of the offspinner, who raised eyebrows in the leadup with a big verbal attack on the England of 2013/14 and Root's side.

"He's obviously had a bit to say over the last couple of weeks, but he's backed it up with the ball.

"He's obviously enjoying himself out on the field and he's backing it up with his bowling.

"He's been bowling so well at one end, allows us to come from the other end in short, sharp spells." (Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
JERUSALEM, Nov 26 (Reuters) - A minister who heads an ultra-Orthodox Jewish party in Israel's government resigned on Sunday in protest at rail work that was done on the Jewish sabbath, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition did not appear to be in immediate danger.

Health Minister Yakov Litzman, a rabbi from the United Torah Judaism party, followed through on a threat made on Friday to step down if repairs on the country's railroads were carried out on Saturdays when, according to Jewish law, work is prohibited.

Though Litzman resigned, his party, with six of 120 seats in parliament, did not quit the government and Netanyahu maintained a coalition majority with control of 66 seats.

Ministers from other religious parties have not quit, with apparently little interest in toppling a government that has been receptive to their demands for funding for Orthodox institutions.

Political commentators cited pressure on Litzman from his faction's spiritual leader, a rabbi who heads an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic group and is strongly opposed to rail work on the sabbath, as the main reason for his resignation.

"I tried, in every way, to prevent sabbath violations by Israel Railways, but having been unsuccessful, I can no longer bear ministerial responsibility for the strong blow to one of the eternal values of the Jewish people - the sabbath," Litzman wrote in a resignation letter released to the media.

For decades, a delicate balance between modern-day life and religious observance has been maintained between Israel's secular majority and a Jewish Orthodox minority.

Under that arrangement there is largely no bus or train service in Jewish cities and villages on Saturdays, but maintenance work has been routinely allowed.

Periodically, however, ultra-Orthodox groups mount pressure and protest when they feel that status quo is being tested. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Keith Weir)
LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Three boys and two men were killed when a stolen car hit a tree in the city of Leeds, northern England, on Saturday night, police said.

The boys were aged 12, 15 and 15 and the other two victims were aged 24 and 28, West Yorkshire Police said. Another two 15-year-old boys were arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and remain in custody, police said. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
By Hamid Ould Ahmed

ALGIERS, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Algeria's lower house of parliament on Sunday approved increases in subsidised gasoline and diesel prices for the third straight year as part of the 2018 budget, amid government attempts to compensate for a sharp fall in oil and gas revenues.

The budget also includes higher and new taxes on some imported and local products in a bid to diversify funding away from oil and gas exports.

The budget calls for a 25 percent rise in spending to 8.628 billion Algerian dinars after two years of cuts. In order to cover the extra expenditure the government has amended a law to allow the central bank to lend directly to the public treasury.

The budget is widely expected to win approval from the Senate, where the government also has a majority.

Oil and gas revenues account for 95 percent of the OPEC member's exports and 60 percent of the state budget.

State finances have been hit since crude oil prices first fell in mid-2014, forcing the government to cut spending on some subsidised goods and seek and new financing alternatives.

"Your support will help us cope with the current financial problems," Finance Minister Abderrahmane Raouia told parliament.

Algeria has announced plans to reform its susidy system, which covers almost everything from basic foodstuffs and drugs to energy.

Under the new increases, the price for premium gasoline, unleaded gasoline and regular gasoline will go up by 16.65 percent, 16.84 percent and 18.20 percent per litre respectively, while diesel will rise by 11.65 percent next year.

Domestic fuel prices are very low by international standards. Unleaded gasoline costs 35.33 dinars (31 U.S. cents)per litre.

Taxes will rise by 10 percent on tobacco and 25 percent on instant coffee, LED torches, almonds and dried fruits.

The budget also includes plans to launch Islamic financial services in an attempt to attract money from the informal market and religious conservatives who oppose paying interest.

The overwhelming majority of lawmakers approved government policies in the finance bill while rejecting a proposal to impose a wealth tax.

"We want to avoid capital flight from the formal sector to informal one and abroad," said Toufik Torche, head of the finance committee, referring to a provision on wealth tax.

Opposition lawmakers criticised the budget, however, saying it would hit normal Algerians.

"The increase in taxes is an additional burden," said Djamel Messaoudi from the Party for Freedom and Justice. "This will inevitably weaken the purchasing power of citizens." (Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed Editing by Ulf Laessing, Greg Mahlich)
By Sandor Peto

BUDAPEST, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Hungary will publish a procurement tender on Monday for a modernised railway link with Serbian capital Belgrade to ship Chinese goods into Western Europe, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Sunday.

The tender will be published as politicians from China and Central European countries begin a two-day summit in Budapest, with the participation of 16 prime ministers including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

"We, in this region, have looked at China's leading role in the new world order as an opportunity rather than a threat," Szijjarto said in a news conference at Budapest's main airport ahead of the Chinese Premier's arrival.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will sign 11 bilateral agreements with China at the summit. Other participating countries and about 1,000 businessmen from the region and China plan to sign dozens of deals, the minister said.

The railway link upgrade had been agreed previously and construction of the Hungarian stretch, at an estimated cost of 550 billion forints ($2.1 billion), is expected to start in late 2020, with China's Exim Bank providing 85 percent credit coverage, Szijjarto said.

The line could become the main transport route for Chinese goods that arrive by sea at the Greek port of Piraeus and head into other parts of Europe, Szijjarto said.

Deals to be signed at the summit include a $500 million credit line from the Exim Bank of China to its Hungarian counterpart to finance lending.

China increasingly uses financing to strengthen its presence in the region.

Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic is also expected to sign a concession with the China Shandong International Economic and Technical Corporation in Budapest, the region's transport minister Nedjo Trninic said.

The deal would allow the company to charge a road toll on part of a 100 km road it plans to build and fund at an estimated cost of 320 million euros ($382 million) to connect the northwestern town of Banja Luka with the Croatian border.

It would be the first road-construction concession for China in the Balkans.

The Serb Republic railway company Zeljeznice RS is expected to sign another deal with China Shandong International Economic and Technical Corporation for the reconstruction and modernisation of a railway track alongside the planned road from Banja Luka at a cost of 241 million euros. ($1 = 261.4100 forints) ($1 = 0.8382 euros)

(Additional reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo; Editing by David Goodman)
Two weeks before the Gujarat assembly polls, India is today at its worst as far as sanity is concerned.

The ridiculousness of the country- wide protests against the movie Padmavati and the stoic silence maintained by the BJP and Congress leaders even after a bounty was offered on the head of actress Deepika Padukone, have rung alarm bells among the moderate Hindus and the countrys minorities. It is obvious that both PM Modi and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi are keeping mum for the fear that an attack against the rioting Hindu far right wingers might eat into their respective vote banks in Gujarat.



The unravelling episodes of Padmavati saga have made India the laughing stock in the eyes of the international community.The movie is yet to be released. As such, not a single protestor knows how the director has portrayed the character of Rajasthan queen Padmavati in the movie. In the years 1963 and 1964 two movies were screened on the same queen and both went on board smoothly. After all it was Nehrus India and theres a world of difference between his India and that of the BJP. That modern India can plunge into the great depths of absurdity is a fact. After all it was just a few weeks back that the international media whacked the BJP government over its treatment of Taj Mahal.



What the world is observing right now is the steady decline of law and order situation and the unbelievable degree of tolerance towards the far right-winger sunder the BJP rule. Ever since his election Prime Minister Narendra Modi made mammoth efforts to project an image of a secular leader to the world. However, his strong Hindutva line became more than apparent with the appointment of Hindu Priest Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Toeing the line with the protestors the Chief Minister also said that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has hurt the sentiments of the people with the movie.

The hardliner groups have rallied support in at least four states against the screening of the movie. However none of them have seen the movie and almost everyone is going by the rumours. When the trailer of the movie was out last month the only fault the protestors could find was a scene where the queen was seen dancing which they claim was against the tradition.



The bounty was offered for on Deepika Padukone by one Suraj Pal Amu, the chief media coordinator of the BJP in Haryana. While someone who claims to be a Bhansali fan has lodged a police complaint, Amu the latter has challenged the police to arrest him if possible. If this is not enough he has threatened to cut off the nose of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee if she allows the movie to be screen in Bengal. The BJP top brass continues to maintain silence over his behaviour.



The row over Padmavati was initiated in January by the Rajasthan based local Hindu outfit Karni Sena with an attack on Bhansali during the movie shooting. Later an undercover investigation by India Today magazine exposed that the group ran a massive extortion racket gleaning crores of rupees from movie makers.

The State of Rajasthan has very little to pride itself over today other than as a tourist destination abundant with ancient palaces and forts. Otherwise the modern Rajasthan epitomizes everything that India would want to hide. Of the 36 union states and territories it occupies the top three slots in crime, corruption and rape. It is also a state with one of the lowest female literacy rates. Surely this status quo calls for urgent good governance and law and order measures by the politicians and the civil society to improve the state.

Unfortunately this does not seem to be happening. Instead of late the state has been making headlines for the most absurd reasons. This point was brought to light by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor while BJP politician and former actor Shatrughan Sinha last week queried as to why Prime Minister Modi and Bollywood strongmen Amitabh Bachchan and Sharukh Khan are keeping quiet over the protests.

India surely has a long way to freedom.
DFCC Bank recently secured USD 30 million in funding from BlueOrchard, a leading global impact investment manager, following an agreement signed between the management of both organizations. The funds will be used to increase the levels of lending that the bank offers SMEs, whilst strengthening its micro-finance portfolio.

With a proven a track record of nurturing small businesses from their early stages, DFCC Bank takes pride in being one of the premier banking institutions in the country that promotes and supports the operations of small and medium enterprises. The bank has also set up a special unit dedicated to Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) and endeavours to fulfil the unique requirements of these businesses by providing them with customized financial and banking solutions. The recently obtained funds will be utilized to provide dedicated loans for small and medium enterprises and to enhance the banks micro financing solutions. The bank will also help these enterprises to overcome the challenges and risks that they may encounter in both local and hypercompetitive global business markets. The loan facilities have been created with MSME needs and challenges in mind, and offer a wide range of options including loans for start-ups, for expansions or relocating machinery and operational activities, as well as for working capital.

Commenting on the banks success in securing the USD 30 million in funding Lakshman Silva  CEO, DFCC Bank said: We have recognized the immense potential and demand that small scale businesses have for dependable and structured loans, over informal lending which can prove troublesome for small business owners in the long-run. We have always done our best to empower a multitude of grass root level enterprises, by providing them with a full-spectrum of tailor-made financial products and services that offer reliability and flexibility. By injecting USD 30 million over time, into our banking system, to support the needs of SMEs, we will be able to ensure that smaller enterprises across the entire island have greater access to loans and funding, and can reach their full growth potential with greater confidence and peace of mind. We also hope that uplifting local entrepreneurship and small-scale enterprises will enable us to align with and support national economic policies and contribute to the countrys long-term development and growth at large.

Also commenting, Kapila Nanayakkara  SVP, Treasury and Resource Mobilization, DFCC Bank, said: Our team is pleased to have secured a line of credit from BlueOrchard, a leading global microfinance fund based in Luxembourg. This transaction was facilitated by the Banks Treasury and Resource Mobilization unit and the funding would enable DFCC Bank to further support the growth of small business segment across the country.

BlueOrchard is a leading impact investment manager that focuses on micro financing. Since its inception in 2001, the organization has been consistently committed to providing innovative financing solutions to financial intermediaries in emerging markets, and financial and social returns to investors. By developing and offering attractive financing solutions to microfinance institutions and companies, BlueOrchard has been able to establish a strong presence in over 350 institutions across 70 countries.

TSW Capital Services served as an advising partner for the agreement and transaction between DFCC Bank and BlueOrchard. TSW Capital Services, renowned for its ability to deliver insightful analytics and provide trusted transaction advice, is a Mumbai based Indian financial advisory company. The company shares an excellent affinity with a cross-section of financial enterprises across the world and provides advisory services primarily in South-Asian, and African markets.
This month the Sri Lankan Government made bold and unequivocal promises to ensure all our individual human rights are protected as equal citizens.

Speaking before the United Nations, Deputy Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Dr. Harsha de Silva, reaffirmed Sri Lankas commitment to the full realisation of human rights in our country.

Minister de Silva was head of the delegation at Sri Lankas Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which is a chance for the UN to review our human rights record. He said that the Sri Lanka that is participating in the UPR today is a country that is heading in a new and positive direction, ensuring that the rights of all citizens are protected and that the dignity of all is upheld.

This public assurance before one of the worlds most esteemed institutions is a welcome development to be commended and celebrated. Indeed, it is part of a generally progressive trajectory in terms of Sri Lankan human rights, which includes proposed law reform and an increase in supportive public rhetoric and international political action.

In November 2016, for example, Sri Lanka was among a majority of states that voted at the UN General Assembly to block a hostile resolution posing an immediate threat to the establishment of the UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI). In the same year, our government introduced the Gender Recognition Certificate at home, allowing transgender people to legally change their documentation. In the National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) 2017-2021, there are further proposals to include protection against discrimination based on gender identity.

"Despite social, political and cultural challenges that remain with respect to reforming law, Sri Lanka remains committed to law reform and guaranteeing non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity"



However, as I often remind regular readers of this column, there are still serious human rights issues to address in Sri Lanka. At last weeks review, there were no less thanseven specific recommendations from UN member countries to amend sections 365 and 365A of our Penal Code, which targets LGBTIQ people in consensual, adult relationships. A further six nations recommended that Sri Lanka adopt measures to combat the discrimination faced by its LGBTIQ community.

I am very grateful for the efforts of the international community, which continues to raise these valid concerns over the treatment of the LGBTIQ community in Sri Lanka: an intervention greatly appreciated.

In response to the issues raised, Deputy Solicitor General [DSG] Nerin Pulle underlined the governments commitment to reforming the Sri Lankas penal code to ensure that it meets international human rights standards.

DSG Pulle added that the right to non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity is implicit in the Sri Lankan constitution and, with the reform, will soon be made an explicit guarantee in law. This follows a recommendation made by the sub-committee on fundamental rights in Sri Lanka following a wide public consultation.

He then quoted from a recent ruling of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, which attested: The contemporary thinking [is that] consensual sex among adults should not be policed by the state nor should it be grounds for criminalisation.



In summary, the DSG told the UPR: Despite social, political and cultural challenges that remain with respect to reforming law, Sri Lanka remains committed to law reform and guaranteeing non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

This is powerful stuff. Senior members of our government could not be any clearer in their vocal commitment to improving protections for vulnerable LGBTIQ people in our country.

But these are still only words. Although Sri Lanka has international obligations and has made binding commitments by signing up to various human rights treaties, the UPR process - and indeed the UN itself  has no political power over our government and cannot therefore hold it to any promises. I believe that is as it should be; our parliament is sovereign and we remain a self-governed democracy.

So then, who will hold the government to account? The answer is, of course: us, the Sri Lankan people. We are the only ones to whom the government must answer, and it is, after all, our collective well-being and basic rights protections that are under examination.

The reform of the discriminatory elements of our law must remain a key battleground. No one deserves to be targeted by the state because of who they are or whom they love. Our government has shown significant resolve in pledging to address the criminalisation faced by the Sri Lankan LGBTIQ community and to guarantee the basic rights that have for so long been denied.



To be clear, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and questioning (LGBTIQ) people are those whose sexual orientation or gender identity does not match convention. They are doctors, politicians, street sweepers and everything in between.They are our neighbours. They are our daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents. They are ordinary Sri Lankans who are a part of every subsection of society. They are all of us. But, whether LGBTIQ or not, surely,we are all entitled to the full enjoyment of all human rights?

At our countrys last UPR, five years ago in 2012, Canada and Argentina had recommended that we scrap sections 365 and 365a and strengthen measures to eliminate all discriminatory treatment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This month the conversation was renewed, albeit with a more concrete commitment to tackling discrimination from our end.

Now all we have to look forward to is the government fulfilling on this commitment. I hope in another five years time the same conversation will be redundant.
Sri Lanka all-rounder Dasun Shanaka has been fined 75 per cent of his match fee after he admitted to ball tampering on day two of the Nagpur Test against India.

Shanaka was charged by the umpires following the second day's play, after television cameras showed him picking up an area on the ball next to the seam on several occasions.

He duly admitted to "changing the condition of the ball" and accepted the proposed sanction handed down by match referee David Boon, meaning there was no need for a formal hearing.

In addition to his fine, Shanaka has picked up three demerit points. Any player reaching four or more within a 24-month period faces a suspension.

Boon said: "These are early days in Dasun's career and I am sure this sanction will ensure he is more careful when maintaining the condition of the ball in the future."

India ended day two of the second Test in command on 312-2, thanks largely to hundreds from Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara.
In the face of danger, Donald Trump again asked for barriers. The President of the United States used his message of condolence on the attack in Egypt on Friday to claim two of his most controversial measures: the wall on the southern border and the migratory veto against six Muslim-majority countries. "I will call the president of Egypt to talk about the tragic terrorist attack with so much human loss." We have to be tougher and smarter and we'll be. We need the wall, we need the VETO! God Bless the Egyptian people, "Trump said in a tweet. The attack represents the worst attack in the history of the African country and has resulted in the death of at least 235 people in a mosque north of Sinai. Although Egypt is not among the list of countries that Trump wants to apply its veto and immigration to the U.S. across the Mexican border are at historic lows, the President made use of his habitual divisive rhetoric. This is the umpteenth time the president makes these claims. However, Justice has only authorized the launch of a slight version of the veto against citizens of Syria, Libya, Iran, Yemen, Somalia and Chad that only people who do not have personal or family ties with the United States are banned from entering. For its part, the construction of the wall has not yet begun. Both measures are directed towards their most radical base of voters, who oppose illegal immigration and believe that for years the US has been wary of securing the borders and controls of who enters the country. The latest jihadi-influenced terrorist attack occurred earlier this month. The attacker was a legal resident in the United States and had arrived thanks to a temporary visa granted by Washington years ago. Trump's critics have repeated incessantly since their election that neither the wall nor the veto would achieve their goal of ending security problems. Most of the last few years have been perpetrated by U.S. citizens or residents with legal permits, not undocumented persons.
The government should reduce GST on brokerages to 12 per cent as well as scrap taxes on securities transactions and dividends, according to Amni. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: The government should reduce GST on brokerages to 12 per cent as well as scrap taxes on securities transactions and dividends, according to a leading stock brokers' group.

As preparations for the Union Budget 2018-19 is underway, the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (Anmi) has flagged concerns about the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime creating "some difficulty" in the financial market.

Post GST, the burden of taxation on the transaction charges has increased, the grouping said in a representation to the finance ministry.

"Rate of GST applicable on brokerage for share transaction is 18 per cent which is on much higher side and has further inflated the cost of transaction. We appeal to reduce the rate of GST to 12 per cent in the ensuing Budget," it added.

Besides, the brokers' group has requested the finance ministry to do away with the securities transaction tax and abolish dividend tax for growth of the capital markets.

According to the grouping, the STT plays a detrimental role in enhancing liquidity and creation of depth in Indian capital market.

"Removal of STT will encourage more liquidity and profitability in India, which in turn will increase depth in Indian capital market as well as more participation," the grouping said.

STT is the tax on transaction of equities as well as their derivatives and accounts for a bulk of the transaction cost after deducting the brokerage fee.

Further, Anmi has suggested for rationalising the STT calculation method for option trading by removing certain anomaly.

"Dividend distribution tax (DDT) should be done away with or the rates should be brought down to be nearly negligible" and amendment to Section 14A, Rule 8(d) of the Income Tax Rules are the two other demands for reforms by Anmi.

The applicability of Section 14A has impact on dividend income. DDT is levied at almost 20 percent on the company for distribution of dividend to its shareholders.

The tax burden for brokerages has been increasing over the last three years - it has risen to 18 per cent from 12 per cent, Anmi said.

Also, the brokers' body has said market intermediaries like sub-brokers should be exempted from registration under GST as they don't raise any invoice for clients directly but only through the brokerage.

It also asked that GST return should be submitted quarterly in order to promote 'ease of doing business' instead of monthly returns.

Stating that the stock broking community is the backbone of the capital market, Anmi reiterated its demand to give an industry status to the broking business.
Mumbai: Popular TV actor Piyush Sahdev was arrested under IPC section 376 by the Versova Police Station in Mumbai after a 23-year-old fashion designer filed a complaint accusing him of rape.

Senior Inspector Kiran Kale of the police station confirmed the news to the Times of India, "Yes, he has been arrested on 22nd of November under the charges of rape. He will stay in remand till 27th of November till the court's hearing. He was arrested in the evening from his house."

The complaint was registered on 20 November, after which Piyush was produced before the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Wednesday.

Piyushs sister Meher Vij, who's riding high on the success of Secret Superstar, however, was not aware about the development till reports started making rounds.

She told the daily, "I have got to know this from you. When did this happen. I don't know anything at all."

Later, she continued, You know I haven't been able to get in touch with my father so I too do not know anything about this news. Actually, Piyush and I haven't been in touch at all ever since he got married. His wife had some issues so I chose to back off. Whatever contact we have had, has been only through our father ever since then."

Another TV actor Parth Samthaan was accused of sexual harassment in March earlier this year.
Kamal Haasan had also tweeted in support of Deepika Padukone following threats against her.

New Delhi: Veteran actor Kamal Haasan on Saturday again voiced his support for filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansalis 'Padmavati' which is facing nationwide protests, saying people are being "oversensitive" about the film.

Citing his film 'Vishwaroopam's example, the 63-year- old actor said it was wrong of people to demand a ban on the period drama before even watching it.

"I haven't seen the film (Padmavati). Nobody saw 'Vishwaroopam', still they wanted me banned. It's wrong... It should come out, and if then there is something, then I can understand.

"I think we are being oversensitive. I'm not talking as a filmmaker but as an Indian," Haasan said.

The actor was speaking at a discussion at the Times Delhi LitFest.

'Padmavati' has been facing troubles with various Rajput groups and political leaders, who have accused Bhansali of "distorting historical facts" and depicting queen Padmavati in a wrong light.

It was rumoured that there is a romantic dream sequence in the film between Padmavati (Deepika Padukone) and Sultan Alauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh), a claim which the director has time and again rejected.

Haasan said he has faced such protests with a lot of his films in the past.

He said the people in the country have become cynical and believe every negative thought when they hear it.

"What happened with 'Hey Ram'? Some Congress leader, just by looking at the poster, thought there is something wrong in it. They don't know what I'm making and they are saying that it should be banned. They judged a film without even seeing it.

"We are ready to believe the negativity. We have become cynical," he said.
KOCHI: The police team probing the abduction and sexual assault of a woman actor will approach the Angamally sessions court to restrict media from publishing and broadcasting the details of the supplementary charge-sheet filed by the probe team against Dileep in connection with the case. The probe team is of the opinion that the discussion of the contents in charge-sheet in the media is likely to have an adverse impact on the case as well as the possibility of the accused influencing the key witnesses listed by the probe team.

The police is approaching the court under section 327 (3) of the CrPc, sources said. The prosecution will also point out that nearly 50 persons from the field of cinema have given their statements and most of them have requested to keep the details intact. The probe team has received a favourable legal opinion to approach the trial court for restricting the discussions in the media about the contents.

The supplementary charge-sheet submitted in the case on Wednesday has arraigned Dileep as the eighth accused in the case. The list of witnesses in the charge-sheet included Manju Warrier, ex-wife of Dileep and Kavya Madhavan his present wife. The 1,450 charge-sheet has accused Dileep of hatching the conspiracy to attack the woman actor and entrusting the job to Sunilkumar aka Pulsar Suni. Dileep however deny the charges and says the police had framed him in the case as part of a conspiracy.
The legs and wings show the highest microbial diversity in the fly body, suggesting that bacteria use the flies as airborne shuttles. (Photo: Pixabay)

Flies can be more than pesky picnic crashers, they carry hundreds of different species of harmful bacteria and may help to spread disease, a study warns.

Researchers at the Pennsylvania State University in the US have warned the public to avoid eating food during picnics.

In a study of the microbiomes of 116 houseflies and blowflies, they found that these flies carry hundreds of different species of bacteria, many of which are harmful to humans.

"We believe that this may show a mechanism for pathogen transmission that has been overlooked by public health officials, and flies may contribute to the rapid transmission of pathogens in outbreak situations," said Donald Bryant, from the Pennsylvania State University.

The researchers were able to investigate the microbial content of individual fly body parts, including legs and wings.

The legs appear to transfer most of the microbial organisms from one surface to another, said Stephan Schuster, from the Pennsylvania State University.

"The legs and wings show the highest microbial diversity in the fly body, suggesting that bacteria use the flies as airborne shuttles," said Schuster.

"It may be that bacteria survive their journey, growing and spreading on a new surface. In fact, the study shows that each step of hundreds that a fly has taken leaves behind a microbial colony track, if the new surface supports bacterial growth," he said.

Blowflies and houseflies - both carrion fly species - are often exposed to unhygienic matter because they use feces and decaying organic matter to nurture their young, where they could pick up bacteria that could act as pathogens to humans, plants and animals.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, also indicates that blowflies and houseflies share over 50 per cent of their microbiome, a mixture of host-related microorganisms and those acquired from the environments they inhabit.

Surprisingly, flies collected from stables carried fewer pathogens than those collected from urban environments.

The researchers found 15 instances of the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori, a pathogen often causing ulcers in the human gut, largely in the blowfly samples.

The known route of transmission of Helicobacter has never considered flies as a possible vector for the disease, said Schuster.

"It will really make you think twice about eating that potato salad that's been sitting out at your next picnic," Bryant said.

"It might be better to have that picnic in the woods, far away from urban environments, not a central park," he said.
According to IISC, Malleswaram has clean ground water compared to areas near Bellandur and Varthur where presence of heavy metals including arsenic.

Bengaluru: If you believe packaged water in 20-litre cans and sachets is safe to drink, think again. An IISc study warns that most of the samples of canned water tested in the city do not have necessary minerals and are, in fact, dangerous to ones health and in some cases, carcinogenic.

There are over 500 illegal water packaging units operating in the city, and they do not treat water as per norms and sell it with fake ISI logos.

Unfortunately, there is no agency to check the quality of water and ensure that the people get safe drinking water.

Across the city, grocery stores are stocked with 20-litre cans and one is not sure whether they have the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) certification, which is mandatory. The experts point out that water with less than 100 ppm TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) dissolves some amounts of plastic, causing cancer. Also, the reverse osmosis process, which most of these water units employ, robs water of almost all the essential minerals.

DC Expos:

Mr Srinivas, a senior official at Classic Choice packaged mineral water unit, told Deccan Chronicle that over 1,500 packaged water units have been issued licences in the city, but another 500 units operate illegally.

A majority of these units thrive with the help of politicians. The raids conducted by various government departments are just for show. Licensed units, however, submit monthly reports. Still, there should be a mechanism to keep a check on illegal water units, he said.

During a visit to grocery stores at Kumarswamy Layout, DC found that a lot of them sell 20-litre cans without BIS mark. The largest consumers of canned water here are students from a nearby college.

In Yelahanka and other rural parts of the state, mineral water is sold in polythene sachets. An expert warned that the poor quality of plastic used in sachets turns water carcinogenic as it contains a chemical, Bisphenol, which can also lead to neurological disorders.

Mr Siddaiah, a former BBMP commissioner, had banned the use of packaged water at all BBMP offices. Water expert Kshitij Urs too wants the government to issue a blanket ban on packaged water as added minerals are not healthy.

Recently, the Maharashtra government banned the sale of packaged water at all government offices as the quality was a major concern.

Grandmother knows best

Follow your grandmother's advice and boil water before drinking, suggested lead scientist at IISC, Mr T.V. Ramachandra. The study conducted by him in the lab revealed that most packaged water samples not only lacked essential minerals, but in places like Jigani near Anekal taluk, they alsocontained dangerous heavy metals. These water units just can the raw water and do not carry out mandatory processes. In reverse osmosis, all the minerals are lost. If calcium, magnesium and potassium are absent in water, people are bound to suffer from arthritis. The water supplied by the BWSSB is better than the packaged water, he said. He stressed that for the people who receive Cauvery water, just boiling would remove all the contaminants. But with packaged water, the people are under the illusion that they are getting healthy water, which is not the case.

Alarming numbers

According to IISc study, Malleswaram has clean groundwater, compared to areas near Bellandur and Varthur, where the presence of heavy metals, including arsenic, is found

In 2009, over 100 licenses were issued to packaged drinking water units in Bengaluru. Today the number has surged to 1,500

Over 500 packaged water units in the city are illegal

The TDS level in drinking water set by Bureau of Indian Standards is 500 ppm. Most of the packaged water brands have zero TDS, which can lead to health complications.

Over 500 packaged water units in the city are illegal

If TDS is less than 100, it may result in hair fall and even dissolves a small quantity of plastic in which it is packed.
Maqsood had been treated for six months in Satna before he was brought to Rewa (Photo: AFP)

Satna: In a rare surgery, doctors in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district recently removed 5 kg iron objects--a chain, as many as 263 coins and shaving blades--from the stomach of a man who they said is not in a good frame of mind.

The 32-year-old Mohammed Maqsood, who hails from Sohaval in Satna district, was taken to the state-run Sanjay Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in adjoining Rewa on November 18 after he complained of pains in stomach.

Dr Priyank Sharma, attached to the Sanjay Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (SGMCH), told PTI today that they identified the cause behind Maqsood's stomachache after conducting tests and through an x-ray.

He said a team of six doctors surgically removed 10-12 shaving blades, four big needles, a chain, 263 coins, besides pieces of glasses--collectively weighing 5 kg, from the stomach of Maqsood on Friday.

He said Maqsood had been treated for six months in Satna before he was brought to Rewa.

"The patient was not in a good frame of mind and it seems he swallowed these objects secretly," Dr Sharma said, adding that Maqsood is doing well and is currently under the observation of a team of experts.
Beyond just serving up more fast food and frozen dinners, parents are also more likely to pressure kids to clean their plates. (Photo: Pixabay)

On days when parents feel stressed or depressed, kids are less likely to get homemade food for dinner, a US study suggests.

Beyond just serving up more fast food and frozen dinners, parents are also more likely to pressure kids to clean their plates on days when theyre not in a great mood.

One potential explanation for these findings is that parents who have a stressful day at work, school or home or who feel depressed throughout the day may be overwhelmed and not feel like making a family meal, and so they opt for pre-prepared foods and make less homemade foods, said lead study author Jerica Berge of the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis.

In addition, if parents feel stressed or depressed, they may also pressure their children to eat more at the meal because they dont want them to waste food, or because they are worried their child is not getting enough food to eat, Berge said by email.

For the study, researchers observed 150 children ages 5 to 7 years at home with their families and used several methods to assess how parents moods influenced what foods went on the table.

Among other things, researchers did home visits to observe meal planning and preparation and examined data from food diaries, surveys and interviews.

Most of the adult participants were mothers (35 years old on average). More than half worked at least part-time, and 61% of them had no more than a high school diploma.

Approximately half of the mothers were married, and 64% of the households had two parents.

More than two-thirds of the families had a household income of less than $35,000 a year.

Overall, stress levels were low and depression was uncommon, the researchers report online November 21 in Pediatrics.

However, their statistical analysis found that each one-unit increase in stress levels or depression was associated with a small decrease in the proportion of dinners that included homemade foods, the study found.

With each one-unit increase in stress levels, parents were also 45% more likely to pressure kids to eat. Each one-unit increase in depression, meanwhile, was linked to 42% higher odds that parents would pressure kids to clean their plates.

The study was small, and it wasnt a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how parents mood or mental health influences what kids eat.

Even so, it offers fresh evidence of the connection between stress and eating behaviors, said Nancy Zucker, a psychologist and eating disorders specialist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

It is really tough to make homemade cooking a priority when one is overwhelmed, Zucker, who wasnt involved in the study, said by email.

Just knowing that stress or depression might lead to less healthy meals isnt enough on its own to help parents change what they put on the table, Zucker added. To change, parents need support, she said.

To the extent that families can have a greater sense of community - cooking with each other, getting young children to feel part of the meal process - can help take away some of the demands and the loneliness that may arise from a stressful, depressing day, Zucker said.

Planning ahead may also help, said Myles Faith, a psychology researcher at the University at Buffalo in New York who wasnt involved in the study.

This might include tuning in to certain times of the day or week when stress levels or depression peak, and then choosing different times to make grocery lists, go shopping and prepare meals, Faith said by email.

It may be better to get all meal decisions set up in advance so that healthier feeding routines become more automatic and require less mental energy the moment kids charge to the dinner table, Faith advised.
The company said it had identified the branch responsible for the sign and had removed it (Photo: AFP)

Tokyo: A major Japanese cosmetics maker has apologised after one of its retail shops posted a sign barring Chinese customers.

The apology from Pola came after Chinese social media users shared a photo of the red-lettered poster saying "No entry by Chinese people".

The message was hand written in Japanese, although it would be readily understandable to Chinese readers.

It was not clear where the incident took place, although it did not appear to be in a major tourist hub.

"We are sincerely sorry and regret that an inappropriate poster ... has caused unpleasant feelings and nuisance to many people," Pola said in a statement issued Saturday in both Japanese and Chinese.

The company said it had identified the branch responsible for the sign and had removed it. It did not specify where the shop was. "Our company takes this issue seriously," it said.

"We will suspend operations at the shop and punish those responsible as soon as we confirm the facts of the matter." Japan has seen a huge boom in the number mainland China visitors in recent years, many of whom spend large sums purchasing made-in-Japan products like make-up.

But their swelling numbers have provoked a backlash, with some Japanese complaining the crowds are unruly and ill-mannered.

Pola, a main pillar of globally operating Pola Orbis Holdings, is trying to expand in Asia and capitalise on the popularity of its skin care products among Chinese customers.
Mumbai: The newly crowned Miss World, Manushi Chhillar, arrived in Mumbai in the wee hours of Sunday.

The 21-year-old model's win at the pageant comes 17 years after Priyanka Chopra won the crown in 2000.

A medical student hailing from Haryana, Chhillar competed against 108 contestants from various countries at a glittering event held at Sanya City Arena in China to grab the title.

Manushi has been showered with praise for her answer in the final round. On being asked, "Which profession deserves the highest salary and why?", she replied, "I think a mother is of the highest respect. I don't think its 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."

She was crowned the new queen by Miss World 2016 winner Puerto Rico's Stephanie Del Valle.

Besides Chhillar, the first runner-up was Stephanie Hill from England, while Andrea Meza, hailing from Mexico, was announced the second runner-up.
BENGALURU: Two gangrapes on the outskirts of Bengaluru in just 10 days have sent shockwaves across the city. While a 28-year-old destitute woman, who is from Nepal, was raped by five unidentified men at a deserted house in Avadi Devanahalli in Anekal, a 24-year-old garment factory worker was allegedly raped by a gang of four men, including a 32-year-old rowdy, at her house in Dombarahalli in Madanayakanahalli police limits.

The destitute woman has been staying in the city since 2003 doing odd jobs for a living and sleeping at bus-stops and public places around Anekal. On Thursday night, as she was asleep at a bus stop at Avadadevanahalli in Anekal, the five unidentified men dragged her to the deserted house near the bus stop in and raped her. The woman was also assaulted badly until she fell unconscious and the men left the house thinking she was dead. The woman, who regained her consciousness on Saturday morning, limped out of the deserted house and sat at the bus-stop. It was then the woman was rescued by Parijata and Shankar - two volunteers of a city-based NGO - after they saw her semi-nude sitting and sobbing. After she narrated the ordeal to the volunteers, they rushed her to the Bowring Hospital and informed the police, Amit Singh, SP, Bengaluru Rural, told Deccan Chronicle.

"A special team has been formed to nab the accused and we will check for CCTV footage from the locality to identify the culprits. We suspect that it was committed by the men who stay in the same locality," he said, adding that the woman has suffered multiple fractures. In another gang rape in Dombarahalli village in Madanayakanahalli police limits, the police have arrested three accused, including the rowdy who barged into the house of garment factor worker and raped her. The incident took place on the night of November 16, but came to light on Saturday after the arrest. Another accused in the case is at large whom police are searching.

The police said that the arrested accused  Raghavendra, a history-sheeter in Rajagopalnagar police station, and his friends Venkatesh, an auto driver, Puneeth and another accused Vijay Kumar, who is absconding, forced themselves into the woman's house in search of her husband. When they did not find him and saw that the woman was alone, they raped her and fled. Later, the woman and her husband filed a complaint with the police, who arrested Raghavendra along with Puneeth and Venkatesh.
They added the cameras in the building had not been working for the past 10 days. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: A trio robbed three people of Rs 1.24 crore on Saturday night and fled with the cash. The victims had been given the money by their employer, a gold merchant from Mysore, and asked to give it to an associate of his at an apartment in Narayanguda.

In the meantime, the three men snatched the cash bag and fled on an Activa, said Abids DCP G. Biksham Reddy.

The employees immediately informed their employer of the incident. Mr Rajendra flew to the city on Sunday afternoon and lodged a case with the Narayanguda Police.

We have booked a case of robbery and started an investigation. We are accessing CCTV footage from the area to look for clues, said the police. They added the cameras in the building had not been working for the past 10 days.
Hyderabad: A trio robbed three people of Rs 1.24 crore on Saturday night and fled with the cash. The victims had been given the money by their employer, a gold merchant from Mysore, and asked to give it to an associate of his at an apartment in Narayanguda.

The merchant, M.H. Rajendra, had sent the money to purchase gold. He sends his men to cities where gold rates are low, to make purchases. After procuring the gold, he sells it at the local market in Mysore, a police official said.

Sanketh, Swapnil and Thangappa, three employees of the goldsmith, arrived in the city on Saturday afternoon. They left to meet the associate at Skyline Apartments in Narayanguda at around 9.30 pm.

They got there and were awaiting instructions when they get a call from their employer asking them to return because the deal had been cancelled, said Narayanguda B. Ravindar.

The employees then proceeded to enter the lift, where they were joined by three other men. The men stopped the lift on the first floor and started accusing them of theft.

The trio dragged the employees out of the building. Upon noticing the commotion, people in the apartment building went to call for help.
In his last 'Mann Ki Baat' address, Prime Minister Modi emphasised that families needed to pay closer attention to the health of their children. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday exhorted humanitarian forces to fight unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism.

Addressing the 38th edition of 'Mann Ki Baat', the Prime Minister said, "Terrorism has threatened and challenged humanity across the globe and is bent upon destroying the humanitarian forces. It is therefore not only India, but all humanitarian forces across the world, which will have to unite to defeat the menace of terrorism."

The Prime Minister also remembered the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack on its ninth anniversary.

"26/11 is our Constitution day but how could we forget that nine years ago, on this day the terrorists attacked Mumbai, Modi said.

We remember and salute all those brave citizen, policemen, security personnel who lost their lives in the gruesome attack. We will never forget their sacrifice," he added.

Stressing that terrorism is a threat to humanity, the Prime Minister said that the world is now realising the destructive aspects of terrorism.

"For over four decades, India has been raising the issue of terror. Initially the world did not take us seriously but now the world is realising the destructive aspects of terrorism. Today we accept it as the biggest challenge," he added.

Earlier on Sunday, seeking to exploit a crude meme tweeted by the Congress mocking the Prime Minister's 'chaiwala' past, BJP leaders, including Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah, listened to 'Mann ki Baat' while having tea with people across poll-bound Gujarat.

The event held at all 50,128 polling booths in 182 Assembly seats was named 'Mann ki Baat - Chai Ke Saath'.
The legislature, the judiciary and the executive need to brainstorm on how to move forward in the changed scenario, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says. (Photo: AFP)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday stressed that the legislature, the judiciary and the executive were part of the same family and should work to strengthen each other, even as the Chief Justice and the law minister sparred over the issue of judicial activism.

The prime minister also said that the three wings -- the legislature, the judiciary and the executive -- need to brainstorm on how to move forward in the changed scenario.

"They are members of the same family...We do not have to prove anyone right or wrong. We know our strengths, we know our weaknesses," he said at a gathering of judges and advocates at the National Law Day event in Delhi.

Modi pointed out that while fighting for rights, one should not forget about duties.

He emphasised that the balance between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary has been the backbone of the Constitution and it has helped the country during the Emergency.

Modi also pitched for self-regulation and a system of checks and balances for the good health of any institution and quoted BR Ambedkar to state that there should be a limit for any authority.

Before the prime minister addressed the gathering, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reminded the judiciary of the principle of separation of powers between the judiciary, the legislature and the executive.

He said the concept of separation of power is as binding on the judiciary as it is on the executive.

Responding to the remarks of the law minister, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra said that "there should be mutual respect and there cannot be any claim for supremacy by any of the wings".

The CJI said that the dream of the Prime Minister is a literate, educated and digitally-enabled India and the judiciary is "playing the role of a constitutional catalyst" to achieve the goal.

Referring to the issue of judicial over-reach, Prasad said law-making must be left in the realm of those elected to make the law.

"The founding fathers clearly meant that governance must remain in the realm of those elected to govern by the people of India and accountable to the people of India," he said.

While independence of the judiciary was "important", judicial accountability, probity and propriety were "equally" necessary, he said.

Justice Misra hit back by saying that, "We are not really interested to bring any kind of policy."

"But the moment the policies are formed, we are allowed to interpret and see that they are implemented," he said.

Misra said the judiciary follows the principle of 'judicially manageable standards' under which it does not get into realms where it can't do much. "If we can't do it, we will not get into it," he asserted.

Misra rejected the suggestion that PILs were being used as a means to formulate policies and to govern the country.

He said there had been several writs and PILs which the Supreme Court has turned down. He also said that the apex court has been going "slow" on economic matters, particularly tenders and especially global tenders.

Prasad said while the government accepts the Supreme Court decision to strike down the National Judicial Appointments Commission which sought to overturn the system of judges appointing judges, it is important to appreciate the suggestion of an audit of judicial appointments.

He referred to the contempt of court proceedings by the apex court against Justice C S Karnan.

Prasad said his records show that the then collegium had described him as an expert in all fields of law. Perhaps, he was not an expert on contempt of court, the minister said, without naming Karnan.

The CJI said whenever the law minister writes to the collegium, his observations are not ignored. The recommendations once rejected by the government are not reiterated out of mutual respect.

Earlier in the day too, the two had countered each other's assertions.
In Gujarat's political circles, the appeal was seen as an indirect call to vote against the ruling BJP. In picture: Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar Thomas Macwan. (Photo: archgandhinagar.org)

Gandhinagar: The Election Commission (EC) has issued a notice to the archbishop of Gandhinagar for asking Christians to pray to save the country from "nationalist forces" in the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly polls.

Issuing a letter addressed to the Christians, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar, Thomas Macwan, had last week urged the members of the community to save the country from "nationalist forces" as its "democratic fabric" was at stake, amidst a growing "sense of insecurity" among the minorities.

In Gujarat's political circles, the appeal was seen as an indirect call to vote against the ruling BJP.

Gandhinagar Collector and District Election Officer Satish Patel told PTI that the EC issued the notice after taking cognizance of media reports and asked the archbishop to clarify his intention behind issuing such a letter.

"We have issued a notice to the archbishop, seeking clarity over his intention behind the letter, which was widely publicised in the media. We have given him a few days' time to respond. We will decide on the future course of action on the basis of his reply," Patel said on Sunday.

He added that the letter seemed to be aimed at "confusing" the voters of the minority communities and misguiding them when the poll code was in force in the state.

"We understand that the letter was an attempt to misguide the voters and confuse the minority community voters at a time when the model code of conduct is in force. Such a language should not be used," Patel said.

In an official communique dated November 21, Macwan had appealed to the Christians to organise prayer services at parishes and convents, "so that we may have such people elected to the Gujarat Assembly, who would remain faithful to the Indian Constitution and respect every human being without any sort of discrimination".

"The democratic fabric of the country is at stake amidst a growing sense of insecurity among the minorities, other backward classes (OBC), backward classes, poor etc.," he had said.

"The results of this election are significant and will have repercussions and reverberations throughout our beloved nation. It will influence the future course of our country.

"We are aware that the secular and democratic fabric of our country is at stake. Human rights are being violated. The constitutional rights are being trampled. Not a single day goes without an attack on our churches, church personnel, faithfuls or institutions," he said.

"The recitation of the Holy Rosary at individual, community, family and parish levels will be of great help. Encourage your faithful to pray the Rosary," he said.

In the letter, the archbishop had also cited examples of how such prayers saved Europe during the victory at Lepanto, referring to the battle of 1571, in which the Holy League of Venetian and Spanish empires had defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf of Patras, and how the "protecting hand of our beloved Mother Mary defeated communist governments and dictators in a number of countries".

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases  on December 9 and 14. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.
Arun Jaitley said, the reservation formula for the Patel community is legally and constitutionally untenable. (Photo: PTI File)

Ahmedabad: Stating that the reservation formula agreed upon by the Congress and Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel was constitutionally untenable, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday accused both of them of cheating the people of Gujarat on the issue.

He also accused the Congress of dividing the society for political gains ahead of the Assembly polls next month.

Speaking in Ahmedabad, Jaitley, who is the BJP's election in charge for Gujarat, claimed that Congress's attempt to gain political ground through such tactics would eventually push Gujarat into anarchy.

He said the reservation formula for the Patel community is legally and constitutionally untenable.

"Whatever promised under that reservation formula prepared by them (Congress) is not possible as per the Constitution. Neither the Constitution nor the law permits it (reservation above 50 per cent). Both of them, those who promised it and those who accepted it, are cheating the people of Gujarat," the Union Finance Minister said.

He added that the people of Gujarat are smart and will never fall prey to such "deception".

Three days ago, Hardik Patel pledged his support to the Congress for the Gujarat Assembly polls after accepting the reservation formula prepared by the opposition party. The party promised to find a legitimate way to provide quota to the Patidar community over and above the 50 per cent cap set by the Supreme Court.

Without taking any names, Jaitley said the Congress leadership is falling prey to the anarchist forces.

"As the election is nearing, Congress is now trying to gain some ground by dividing the society. In a way, Congress has become dependent on those forces, which will bring nothing but anarchy. But, since the people of Gujarat saw such anarchy in the past (during the Congress rule), they will never go in that direction," he said.

"In the end, this election will be fought on two core issues. On one side, there is stability and governance, while on the other side, there is anarchy. There are two main combinations...Congress's combination has become a representative of anarchist forces. That is the reason why the Congress leadership has lost its way," he added.
Hyderabad: The inaugural programme of Global Entrepreneurship Summit at HICC on November 28 will last for 45 minutes. The programme will begin at 4.30 pm and end by 5.15 pm. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the summit for 20 minutes, while Ivanka Trump who has been allotted five minutes will also talk to the audience and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will have three minutes for his inaugural address.

Ivanka Trump

The CMO had prepared a 20-minute-speech for the CM, but the GES schedule released by organisers has upset their plans. The CM was all geared up to showcase TS as the youngest state in the country leading in IT, industrial sectors and empowerment of women in his speech. But going by the schedule, the CM will now have to confine his speech to welcoming dignitaries to Hyderabad and Telangana in his three-minute slot.

Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao

Mr Modi will reach the auditorium at 4.30 pm. He will watch an audio-video presentation on the GES main theme of the meeting. The 10-minute film will last till 4.30 pm, after which the CM will deliver his inaugural address for 3 minutes from 4.40 pm to 4.43 pm. The summit will then be officially declared as inaugurated. Ms Trump will address the summit for five minutes from 4.45 pm to 4.50 pm.

Later, Mr Modi will address the summit for 20 minutes from 4.50 pm to 5.10 pm. This will be followed by a vote of thanks by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj for three minutes from 5.10 pm to 5.13 pm. This will be followed by a 15-minute tea break. Later, the PM will interact with three women entrepreneur groups. He will present mementos to dignitaries from 5.48 pm to 5.56 pm and follow it with group meetings.

Mr Modi will have one-to-one meetings with four top industrialists too. A round-table meeting will be conducted from 6.32 pm to 7 pm. The PM will leave for Falaknuma Palace from HICC by 7.30 pm to host a dinner for Ivanka Trump and other visiting dignitaries. A special exhibition Treat of Life showcasing Indian Arts and traditional wear will be organised at Falaknuma Palace from 8.05 pm to 8.20 pm. A live show on Indian historic heritage will also be held from 8.20 pm to 8.35 pm. Dinner will be hosted for dignitaries from 8.45 pm to 9.50 pm and PM will leave for New Delhi at 10 pm.
Hyderabad: Visually impaired entrepreneur Srikanth Bolla will be participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit-2017 being held in Hyderabad from November 28 to 30. He will be one of the panellists of the master class on the topic Easy Entrepreneurship: The Entrepreneurs Perspective. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle about his participation in GES, Mr Bolla said, I keep getting invites to various events. But this surely stands out as it is a good event and such an important one.

Rejected by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) for being blind, Mr Bolla became the first international blind student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In his company Bollant Industries, which manufactures eco-friendly and disposable consumer packaging solutions, he employs persons with disabilities and the uneducated.

Speaking about the theme of the summit Women First, Prosperity for All, he said women in entrepreneurship roles manage their families and finances well. They also dont let negativity rule, which is a very important quality for entrepreneurs. But on the off-putting side of it, they have to come out of their comfort zone and that is when they will succeed. They have to think outside the box, that is when they will succeed.

Resident of Hyderabad, he comes originally from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. He is going to share his views on what policies or programmes have been put in place to allow entrepreneurs to thrive. Mr Bolla advises entrepreneurs to manage their finances efficiently and not get bogged down when there is a financial crunch. They should not overdo nor underdo.
BJP president Amit Shah listened to the programme at a tea stall in the city's Muslim-dominated Dariyapur area in the presence of hundreds of locals and party workers. (Photo: Twitter/Amit Shah)

Ahmedabad: Seeking to counter a Congress' meme mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's past, BJP leaders Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley on Sunday tuned in to his radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' and had tea with people across poll-bound Gujarat.

The BJP organised 'Mann ki Baat, Chai ke Saath', at all the 50,128 polling booths in 182 Assembly seats.

BJP president Shah listened to the programme at a tea stall in the city's Muslim-dominated Dariyapur area in the presence of hundreds of locals and party workers.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was present at a booth in Adajan area of Surat-West Assembly constituency, said a party release.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani listened to Modi's monthly programme while having tea at Mora village in Panchmahal district, while Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel was present at a booth in his constituency in Mehsana.

The other party leaders who joined the programme at various places included Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Uma Bharti, Smriti Irani, Jual Oram and Parshottam Rupala, Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani and several state ministers, MLAs and some MPs.

Irani, who was in Junagadh to take part in the party's event, told the media that the people of Gujarat will "teach a stern lesson to Congress in this Assembly election for having an anti-poor and anti-Gujarat mindset."

The event was organised ahead of Modi's tour of Gujarat on November 27 and 29 during which he will address eight rallies in Saurashtra and south Gujarat, where polling will be held on December 9.

The official Twitter handle of the Youth Congress' online magazine "Yuva Desh" had last week kicked up a row by mocking Modi's "chaiwala" past and English speaking skills through a photograph.

Soon after the controversy, the Youth Congress had tendered an apology and removed the controversial tweet.

hief minister Rupani had dubbed the tweet as "blatantly classist and anti-poor".

Earlier, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had, ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, said Modi would never become the prime minister, and that if he wanted, the party can give him a place at its convention to sell tea.

The BJP had leveraged the remark to launch its then prime ministerial candidate Modi's famous 'chai pe charcha' sessions, to connect with voters around the country.
Responding to Rahul Gandhi's allegation that a certain industrialist was favoured and due procedures were not followed, Jaitley implied that Rahul Gandhi may not understand such issues because he has no experience. (Photo: PTI File)

Ahmedabad: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday hit back at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for questioning the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, saying unlike during Congress regimes when middlemen ruled the roost, there was no "Quattrocchi" in the contract for the fighter jet.

Jaitley, who is the BJP's election in-charge for Gujarat, was referring to Ottavio Quattrocchi, the Italian businessman believed to be involved in the Bofors scam which came to light when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister.

"It (Rafale deal) was a government-to-government transaction, between two governments. It wasn't like what used to happen during Congress governments, when middlemen used to be there in every transaction. There wasn't any Quattrocchi in this transaction," Jaitley said.

The Rafale deal was made to boost the combat ability of the Indian Air Force, he said.

"I wonder why the Congress leader is raising this issue now, as the transaction was done almost two-and-a-half years back. The very fact that it is being raised after two- and-a-half years indicates it is a motivated campaign linked to the election," Mr Jaitley said.

Responding to Rahul Gandhi's allegation that a certain industrialist was favoured and due procedures were not followed, Jaitley implied that Rahul Gandhi may not understand such issues because he has no experience.

"Since it was a government-to-government transaction, the procedure was different. Another procedure is of tendering. He (Rahul Gandhi) is not having any experience of running a government. And, it is up to the company (Rafale) to choose its partner (in India). Government of India does not decide that," Jaitley said.

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not want the "truth" behind the multi-crore Rafale deal to come out before the Assembly election, therefore delayed the winter session of Parliament.

"I would ask PM Modi three questions. First, is there a difference in the cost of planes in the first and the second contracts (signed with the French firm) and did India pay more or less money as per the second contract?

"And, has the industrialist (whose company has formed a joint venture with the French firm), who was given the contract, ever manufactured planes?" Gandhi asked while addressing a rally in Gandhinagar district in the morning.

"And a more important question, did you follow the due government procedure? Why the (then) defence minister was seen catching fish in Goa? And, was an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security taken (for the mega deal)?," he asked.

Meanwhile, responding to the Congress vice-president's Twitter jibe at Modi over the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, Jaitley advised Gandhi to refrain from such "immature behaviour".

"He is a big leader and such immature behaviour and use of such immature words do not suit him," Jaitley said.
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Sunday refuted the allegation that the judiciary was encroaching upon the legislature or the executive and said there can be no compromise in the enforcement of the fundamental rights.

The CJI said every citizen, irrespective of their background and status, must follow and practice constitutional religion to strengthen rule of law and democracy. One single religion that everyone must follow is constitutional religion, he said.

On the Union law ministers remark that PILs cannot become a substitute for governance, the CJI said the apex court believed in and practised constitutional sovereignty.
Over 10,000 police personnel have been deployed for the two big events  Metro Rail inauguration and Global Entrepreneurship Summit  to be held in the city this week. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: Undercover cops disguised as labourers, drivers or sales executives will be guarding the routes travelled by delegates, and the important places in the city they visit, during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017.

These spotter teams will provide information about the movements of suspicious persons; local police units can then approach the subjects and verify their antecedents.

Spotters are trained police officers drawn from various intelligence units in the state. They wear civilian dress and move among the public.

A sizeable number of officers are being deployed as spotters. They will be positioned in crowded places and keep a watch on the movement of unsocial elements, abandoned bags, vehicles and attempts to create unrest, confirmed Director-General of Police M. Mahendar Reddy.

Spotters are generally deployed during terror alerts issued by central agencies, or on communally sensitive occasions.

They are apart from the general mufti police officers (police officers in civilian dress) who move around in the area but detain or frisk persons moving under suspicious circumstances, a police official said.

About 10,400 personnel, drawn from the city and state police units, will be deployed for the Metro Rail inauguration and the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 that is being held in the city this week.

Mr Mahendar Reddy promised there would be minimum inconvenience to the public. Traffic police will work round the clock to ensure no inconvenience is caused to the public.

Police teams will work in three shifts. Round the clock surveillance will be maintained at all the venues, hotels, and routes taken by the delegates. Right from arrival to departure of the VVIPs and delegates we will be monitoring the entire activity from a special command and control centre being set up at the DGP office. This apart, the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police will be monitoring from their command and control centres, he said.

Access control, anti sabotage checks, surveillance cameras and security vetting of staff and workers will be done at the venues and hotels where delegates will stay. Quick response teams will deal with emergencies. He said there were no specific terror alerts to the events.
Kochi: The Government Railway Police (GRP) has issued an alert about possible threat of extremist outfits targeting passengers, especially Sabari pilgrims, at railway stations across the state and handed over a letter to the railway authorities seeking strict monitoring to ensure foolproof security. A senior railway official confirmed that the GRP had handed over a letter in this regard.

The GRP intelligence officials handed us a letter about the threat from sympathisers of Islamic State. The cops asked us to take steps against poisoning of drinking water sources and food. We have alerted and handed over the letter to top railway officers for suitable action, the officer posted at Thrissur said. Hundreds of inter-state pilgrims arrive at Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam and Chengannur railway stations en route their pilgrimage to Sabarimala.

The railway police in association with railway authorities take stringent security measures like deployment of dog squads and surprise inspections to preempt any security threats. The railways is operating a total of 223 special services to facilitate pilgrims visiting the holy hill shrine during the Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival season.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Parents of Hadiya, 25, whose marriage to a Muslim has been annulled by the Kerala High Court, allege that she is incapable of taking independent decisions because she is mentally unstable. The crucial disclosure came hours before Hadiya was to appear before the Supreme Court case on Monday, on a petition filed by Shefin Jehan challenging the annulment of their marriage and questioning a probe conducted by the NIA, whose report is now with the apex court.

Parents counsel C. Rajendran told the media in New Delhi that the High Court had annulled the marriage after the justices themselves were convinced of her mental status. Hadiya behaves cruelly to her parents, abuses them... which shows her behaviour is not normal. What she told the media before (emplaning for Delhi) cannot be taken as being voluntary, Mr Rajendran said, referring to her statement that she is a Muslim, there was no coercion in the marriage and want to be reunited with her husband.

He said he would produce medical evidence to prove that she is not in a proper frame of mind. Hadiya had said she embraced Islam on her own and the court should her ensure adequate protection to live with her husband. Ever since the HC annulled her marriage in May, Hadiya has been under virtual house arrest at home in TV Puram, Kottayam. The case has triggered another bout of debate in Kerala, with a section alleging that Hadiya was the victim of Love Jihad.

Muslim outfits had marched to the High Court, questioning the judicial intervention in a question of adult choice. Hadiyas father K.M. Ashokan, mother Ponnamma and a police team were put up at Kerala House, which resembles a fortress. The Delhi police has restricted visitors even denying free access to the canteen and barred the media from the House. Hadiya was whisked away through a different gate after she arrived at Delhi airport on Sunday, denying the national media a chance to meet her.
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Sunday refuted the allegation that the judiciary was en-croaching upon the legislature or the executive and said there can be no compromise in the enforcement of a citizens fundamental rights.

The CJI, while speaking on the Law Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court at Vigyan Bhavan, denied Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasads remarks that probity and propriety in the judiciary is as important as judicial independence.

Earlier the law minister said the fine balance between the judiciary, executive and legislature should be maintained to avoid any strain. He said law making must be left to the realm of those elected to make the law. The founding fathers clearly meant that governance must remain in the realm of those elected to govern by the people of India and accountable to the people of India, he said.

This was for the second day that the government had criticised the judiciary for its overreach.

On Saturday finance minister Arun Jaitley wanted the judiciary to maintain a delicate balance without encroaching into the policy domain of the executive. On Sunday Mr Prasad reiterated the same charge.
New Delhi: Asserting that all the three branches  Judiciary, Legislature and Executive  are equal, the President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said that the delicate balance of separation of powers among the three branches should not be disturbed.

Speaking at the Law Day celebrations here at Vigyan Bhavan, the President said that it is critical to keep this intricate and delicate balance in mind when exploring the relationship between the three branches of the state. Law Day is observed on November 26 every year when the Constitution was adopted in 1949 on this day.

The President said the three branches are all equal. They should all be conscious of their liberty and strive to protect their autonomy.

He cautioned that they should be careful not to disturb the fraternity of the separation of powers by even unknowingly intruding into the domain of either of the two other branches.
Kurnool: Telugu Desam district president Somisetty Venkateshwarlu accused Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of driving away investors from entering Andhra Pradesh. He said that Jagan was writing letters to National and International investors not to invest in Amaravati as that would bring credit to AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. He said that while Mr Naidu was globetrotting in search of investment, the Opposition leader was indulging in mudslinging against the state leadership.

He said that in the Praja Sankalapa Yatra, what Jagan was doing was identifying lands that had good mineral resources and maintaining a diary village-wise to grab them. Jagans intent, he said, was only to profit from peoples miseries. He was sitting with huge government lands full of minerals taken for the industrialisation of the state. But what Jagan did was to use those factories and resources and rope in foreign entities at a huge profit.

He was referring to Bharathi Cements, which was given limestone reserves over hundreds of acres in Kadapa for captive consumption. But Jagan sold these reserves to a French Company, he added. Mr Somisetty also said that the weekly ritual of appearing in CBI courts at Hyderabad has taken the sheen out of Jagans Padayatra. He said someone should advise Jagan to wind up his yatra as it had lost its appeal.
Hyderabad: Political issues concerning Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states are linked to the Gujarat Assembly polls in many ways.

The two key BJP leaders  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah  are deeply involved in the Gujarat poll campaign, keeping all other decisions pending. Only if the BJP loses or gets a simple majority will it start to think about strengthening allies and start listening to us, the senior TD functionary said.

Apart from the delimitation Bill, the AP government wants the Centres financial assistance urgently for several of its projects, including the prestigious Polavaram project and the construction of the new capital city.

Without help from the Centre, we cannot run the show in AP; we need the PMs wholehearted support, said a senior minister in the AP Cabinet.

He pointed out that more than 18 months have passed since Mr Modi gave an appointment to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Besides, the TD is concerned about the talk of a possible tie-up between the YSRC and the BJP in Andhra Pradesh. Relations between the TD and BJP in the state are not as friendly as they were a few months ago.

Whether we need to take an aggressive stand on some issues is dependent on the outcome of the Gujarat polls, admitted the AP minister.

Though not an ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, the TRS in TS wants the BJP to be strengthened in TS to counter its main rival, the Congress.

We know the BJP is not growing in the state as was anticipated. We are concerned that the outcome of the Gujarat polls should not lead to the rise of the Congress. Our main political enemy is the Congress, a senior TRS functionary opined.

While admitting that its not all rosy for the BJP as the Gujarat poll campaign progresses, a state spokesperson of the party said the rise of the BJP in Telangana state will get a boost once the party gets over 115 seats in Gujarat.

As far as the Congress is concerned, the rise of Mr Rahul Gandhi as AICC president and the improvement of the partys prospects in Gujarat will strengthen it in TS.
Hyderabad: The Congress on Sunday charged that the delay in the execution of Hyderabad Metro Rail and cost escalation of Rs 4,000 crore was due to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Metro Rail was conceived and executed by the previous Congress government.

Giving a powerpoint presentation at Gandhi Bhavan, Mr Reddy and chief spokesperson Dasoju Sravan explained various issues connecting to Metro Rail since 2012.

Mr Reddy said neither the TRS government nor the BJP government at the Centre had made any significant contribution to the project. Mr Rao had acted as a trouble maker, he said.

He said former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had secured approval for Metro Rail from the Centre in 2007 and inaugurated Metro Rail Bhavan during his tenure. He said after Maytas dropped out of the project, the Kiran Kumar Reddy government signed the concession agreement on September 4, 2010, and work was launched on December 25, 2012.

The project cost got escalated by over Rs 4,000 crore and two-and-a-half years were lost. Is it not criminal waste of public money and is KCR not responsible for this, he asked. He also found fault with Mr Rao for not inviting the Opposition parties for the HMR launch.

He said the ticket fares were in violation of tariff agreement. He said there was a 300 per cent increase in the upper slab, and the number of slabs increased from six to 10.

Dr Sravan, showing an extract from the L&T annual report, which stated, As there have been delays from the governments side in providing RoW (Right of Way), the company has applied to the government for interim extension of time of scheduled completion date up to November 2019.

He also produced a letter that Mr Rao had written to Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy objecting to Metro Rail destroying historical monuments, heritage and culture of the city and had sought change of alignment of Corridor-2. However, becoming Chief Minister, Mr Rao delayed the project for over two years before agreeing to implement the original plan.
Chennai: Putting to rest speculation about differences in the ruling AIADMK, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneeselvam on Sunday asserted that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami is delivering good governance on the path shown by Amma (late CM J. Jayalalithaa).

Apparently indicating that there is no disharmony between the factions led by him and Mr Palaniswami, Mr Panneerselvam said, Annan Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami is providing good governance on the path laid down by Amma. He has initiated several developmental schemes.

The Deputy CM, who took to a series of tweets on Sunday, said AIADMK was able to regain the victory symbol of MGR only because the cadres remained united. Dreams of those who wanted to take over AIADMK have been shattered by the ECs order. We got back Two Leaves symbol only because we stood united, he said.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Kanchipuram near here, Mr Panneerselvam said the December 21 by-poll to R.K. Nagar Assembly constituency would prove that the ECs decision to allot the Two Leaves to their group, was right. Not only in R K Nagar by-election, the Two Leaves symbol will register historic victories in all forthcoming elections be it local body or other elections, he added.

The Two Leaves symbol allotted to the ruling AIADMK will shatter the opposition parties dream of defeating the party in forthcoming elections, he said. The Deputy Chief Minister said out of the 45 years during which the Two Leaves symbol remained in the electoral fray, the voters authorised the party to rule the state for 27 years. Pointing out that the people of Tamil Nadu welcomed the allocation of Two Leaves symbol to the party, he said they are waiting for the R.K. Nagar by-polls to prove that Election Commissions decision was correct.
The Pakistan government had to call in the Army to quell the Islamabad blockade as the police clashed with Islamist hardliners. This happened just before November 26, when India mourned the victims of the 26/11 carnage nine years ago. It is risible, of course, that official Pakistan blames India for events in its capital as supporters of the fledgling Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan erupted, accusing the law minister of blasphemy against Islam. The issue arose from a missing clause in the election law that threatened to bring about a fundamental shift in the Islamic belief in the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, or finality of Prophet Muhammad, in an oath. A cornered government blamed it on a clerical error, but that convinced no one, least of all Opposition leader Imran Khan, who blamed an incompetent and dithering administration.

As protests spread to other big cities, the administration had to ease its crackdown on followers of one of two ultra-religious Islamist political movements of recent vintage. Its beyond comprehension why the government or the law minister would tinker with a basic law when Islam is Pakistans state religion. The ruling PML(N) has been under siege ever since its leader Nawaz Sharif was disqualified over the Panama Papers leaks and had to go as Prime Minister. His successor, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, blacked out private TV channels and social media to prevent live coverage of the Army action. We cant say this was unwarranted, as we know from our 26/11 experience nine years ago how terrorist handlers benefited from the live coverage. Airing the crackdown could well have further inflamed passions instead of dousing the flames.
At a time when Communism appears to be in terminal decline, it was amazing to see its founder Karl Marx alive and kicking on a British stage. Written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman, this effervescent production on the Young Marx  full of satirical references  depicts a 32-year old Marx on the run from the law in London. Ducking in and out of his home on Dean Street, Soho, pursued by law enforcers and bailiffs  Marx is energetically pursuing his own consumption of liquor at the all the pubs down the road. There is nothing of the staid-faced, white bearded intellectual that was to emerge in later years. In fact  he sleeps with his wifes maid, fathers an illegitimate child  runs around in careless havoc whilst being persuaded by the definitely more wealthy and infinitely more stable Friedrich Engels to write. This is London in the 1850s, still mired in misery, where children and women starve on the streets both here and in Manchester.

Marx himself is struggling  albeit with great abandon, but with a childlike dependency on those around him. The play is both an insight as well as a slice of history  about how he, as a penniless immigrant, even tries to pawn his long-suffering wifes silver heirlooms  and is almost thrown into jail for that. It is the kind of play that is strong and refreshing, and in fact should be staged in India  just to demonstrate how feet of clay or foibles do not destroy reputations. In fact, it makes Marx ever more interesting  to see the wild youth he had, the near ceaseless and rather merry fashion in which he exploited those around him to reach his own goals. Indeed were it not for the steadfast belief that Engels had in him, or the support that his wife Jenny von Westphalen gave to him  one wonders if he could have survived in those parlous conditions.

A wonderfully, well-woven play  a must-see for all those who have placed him at near God-like levels. It was a full house at the beautifully constructed Bridge Theatre  just near the Tower Bridge. Meanwhile, there is little doubt that for me and the team which has set up a museum in Amritsar on the events around Partition (before and after) the challenge has always been to gather material  because the very active officers of the East India Company and later the British government carried shiploads of very crucial material away. Much of that information lies abroad  and of course at the British Museum as well  where indeed centuries of Indian inheritance are scattered all over various galleries. At a visit this week to the British Museum, I once again gritted my teeth because apparently we must be grateful that the Brits preserved our culture  much of which would have been lost, otherwise as we (Indians) were so indifferent about preservation.

Of course now times have changed  and we have a young generation (as I have found) in India anxious to preserve our own culture and tell our own stories, and so our Partition Museum at Amritsar is growing into a reflection of contemporary India. And I would now urge all to please send us any archival material, specially from the late 19th century onwards. In this context I was taken aback to see a new gallery coming up on South Asia at the British Museum  in which there is a section on Independence and Partition. And now to my utmost despair  I see contemporary material being donated to them as well. Though this section is a recent and rather haphazard addition (we could have given some very good advice on how to do it)  I now request everyone (both from India as well as the diaspora)  to please send any archival material they have to us at the Partition Museum, Town Hall, Amritsar, where it would add immense value rather than become a small section in a large and undoubtedly grand museum.

Did that sound too impassioned? Well only because at a recent talk I gave last week at the London School of Economics (organised by the London-based Migration Museum Project) on What we have learnt 70 years after the Partition of India  it was wonderful to see a packed hall  with a really engaged audience. Again there were suggestions that the Partition Museum should be in London  as it would be easier for members of all communities to visit. But fortunately, there were also equally strong voices who agreed that it is about time we have local museums and the Partition Museum could become the definitive space for the building of community memories and preservation of culture. It was really very heartening to see the number of people who immediately pledged to go to Amritsar and visit the museum there. It is this spirit that convinces me that while it might be too late for reparation  and we might never get the Kohinoor back  it is time for each of us to pledge that any more historical and archival material does not flow out of India. And somewhere the reverse process must begin. Wouldnt you agree?
A Tepco official wearing radioactive protective gear stands in front of Advanced Liquid Processing Systems during a media tour at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in November 2014. Photo:AP

More than six years after a tsunami overwhelmed the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan has yet to reach consensus on what to do with a million tons of radioactive water, stored on site in around 900 large and densely packed tanks that could spill should another major earthquake or tsunami strike.

The stalemate is rooted in a fundamental conflict between science and human nature.

Experts advising the government have urged a gradual release to the nearby Pacific Ocean. Treatment has removed all the radioactive elements except tritium, which they say is safe in small amounts. Conversely, if the tanks break, their contents could slosh out in an uncontrolled way.

Local fishermen are balking. The water, no matter how clean, has a dirty image for consumers, they say. Despite repeated tests showing most types of fish caught off Fukushima are safe to eat, diners remain hesitant. The fishermen fear any release would sound the death knell for their nascent and still fragile recovery.

"People would shun Fukushima fish again as soon as the water is released," said Fumio Haga, a drag-net fisherman from Iwaki, a city about 50 kilometers (30 miles) down the coast from the nuclear plant.

Fall is high season for saury and flounder, among Fukushima's signature fish. It was once a busy time of year when coastal fishermen were out every morning.

Then came March 11, 2011. A 9 magnitude offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people along Japan's northeast coast. The quake and massive flooding knocked out power for the cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Three of the six reactors had partial meltdowns. Radiation spewed into the air, and highly contaminated water ran into the Pacific.

Today, only about half of the region's 1,000 fishermen go out, and just twice a week because of reduced demand. They participate in a fish testing program.

Lab technicians mince fish samples at Onahama port in Iwaki, pack them in a cup for inspection and record details such as who caught the fish and where. Packaged fish sold at supermarkets carry official "safe" stickers.

Only three kinds of fish passed the test when the experiment began in mid-2012, 15 months after the tsunami. Over time, that number has increased to about 100.

The fish meet what is believed to be the world's most stringent requirement: less than half the radioactive cesium level allowed under Japan's national standard and one-twelfth of the US or EU limit, said Yoshiharu Nemoto, a senior researcher at the Onahama testing station.

That message isn't reaching consumers. A survey by Japan's Consumer Agency in October found that nearly half of Japanese weren't aware of the tests, and that consumers are more likely to focus on alarming information about possible health impacts in extreme cases, rather than facts about radiation and safety standards.

Fewer Japanese consumers shun fish and other foods from Fukushima than before, but one in five still do, according to the survey. The coastal catch of 2,000 tons last year was 8 percent of pre-disaster levels. The deep-sea catch was half of what it used to be, though scientists say there is no contamination risk that far out.

Naoya Sekiya, a University of Tokyo expert on disaster information and social psychology, said that the water from the nuclear plant shouldn't be released until people are well-informed about the basic facts and psychologically ready.

"A release only based on scientific safety, without addressing the public's concerns, cannot be tolerated in a democratic society," he said. "A release when people are unprepared would only make things worse."

He and consumer advocacy group representative Kikuko Tatsumi sit on a government expert panel that has been wrestling with the social impact of a release and what to do with the water for more than a year, with no sign of resolution.

Tatsumi said the stalemate may be further fueling public misconception: Many people believe the water is stored because it's not safe to release, and they think Fukushima fish is not available because it's not safe to eat.

The amount of radioactive water at Fukushima is still growing, by 150 tons a day.

The reactors are damaged beyond repair, but cooling water must be constantly pumped in to keep them from overheating. That water picks up radioactivity before leaking out of the damaged containment chambers and collecting in the basements.

There, the volume of contaminated water grows, because it mixes with groundwater that has seeped in through cracks in the reactor buildings. After treatment, 210 tons is reused as cooling water, and the remaining 150 tons is sent to tank storage. During heavy rains, the groundwater inflow increases significantly, adding to the volume.

The water is a costly headache for Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that owns the plant. To reduce the flow, it has dug dozens of wells to pump out groundwater before it reaches the reactor buildings and built an underground "ice wall" of questionable effectiveness by partially freezing the ground around the reactors.

Another government panel recommended last year that the utility, known as TEPCO, dilute the water up to about 50 times and release about 400 tons daily to the sea - a process that would take almost a decade to complete. Experts note that the release of radioactive tritium water is allowed at other nuclear plants.

Tritium water from the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States was evaporated, but the amount was much smaller, and still required 10 years of preparation and three more years to complete.

A new chairman at TEPCO, Takashi Kawamura, caused an uproar in the fishing community in April when he expressed support for moving ahead with the release of the water.

The company quickly backpedaled, and now says it has no plans for an immediate release and can keep storing water through 2020. TEPCO says the decision should be made by the government, because the public doesn't trust the utility.

"Our recovery effort up until now would immediately collapse to zero if the water is released," Iwaki abalone farmer Yuichi Manome said.

Some experts have proposed moving the tanks to an intermediate storage area, or delaying the release until at least 2023, when half the tritium that was present at the time of the disaster will have disappeared naturally.

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The countdown to launch creeps closer and theres still plenty for self-taught rocket scientist Mad Mike Hughes to do: Last-second modifications to his vessel. Pick up his flight suit. Leave enough food for his four cats  just in case anything happens.

Hughes is a 61-year-old limo driver whos spent the last few years building a steam-powered rocket out of salvage parts in his garage. His project has cost him $20,000, which includes Rust-Oleum paint to fancy it up and a motor home he bought on Craigslist that he converted into a ramp.

His first test of the rocket was supposed to be the launch date  Saturday , when he straps into his homemade contraption and attempts to hurtle over the ghost town of Amboy, California. He will travel about a mile at a speed of roughly 500 mph.

However Hughes told the Washington Post, Government has thrown a few obstacles in his way. The Bureau of Land Management has confirmed it had no record of giving Hughes verbal permission to hold the rocket launch on public lands as he had previously claimed, meaning that the rocketeer has decided to delay the launch date and move the location three miles down the road.

I dont see [the launch] happening until about Tuesday, honestly, Hughes told the Post. It takes three days to set up... You know, its not easy because its not supposed to be easy.

If youre not scared to death, youre an idiot, Hughes added . Its scary as hell, but none of us are getting out of this world alive. I like to do extraordinary things that no one else can do, and no one in the history of mankind has designed, built and launched himself in his own rocket.

The daredevil/limo driver has been called a little bit of everything over his career  eccentric, quirky, foolhardy. Doesnt bother him. He believes what he believes, including that the Earth is flat. He knows this thought is a conundrum, given that hes about to launch himself into the atmosphere.

Down the road, hes intending to build a rocket that takes him to space, so he can snap a picture and see with his own eyes.

I dont believe in science, said Hughes, whose main sponsor for the rocket is Research Flat Earth. I know about aerodynamics and fluid dynamics and how things move through the air, about the certain size of rocket nozzles, and thrust. But thats not science, thats just a formula. Theres no difference between science and science fiction.

This will actually be the second time hes constructed and launched a rocket. He jumped on a private property in Winkelman, Arizona, on Jan. 30, 2014 , and traveled 1,374 feet. He collapsed after that landing  the G-forces taking a toll  and needed three days to recover.

That distance, though, wouldve been enough to clear the Snake River Canyon, which is a jump daredevil Evel Knievel made famous when he failed to clear it during his attempt in 1974. Stuntman Eddie Braun did successfully zoom over the canyon  using Knievels original blueprints  in September 2016.

Just dont mention Knievel around Hughes. Hes not a fan.

He was an average stunt guy, said Hughes, a former motorcycle racer. He stole his look from Elvis.

Hughes constructed his latest rocket at the Rocket Ranch in Apple Valley, California. Its a five-acre property he leases from Waldo Stakes , the CEO of Land Speed Research Vehicles whos currently working on a project to make a car travel 2,000 mph.

Their relationship formed a few years ago when Hughes approached Stakes about building a rocket. Stakes receives plenty of these sorts of requests, but this one stood out because Hughes was building it himself.

Nothing is out of reach, Stakes said. Anything can be done. You just have to put enough money, time and thought into it.

Heres the thing: Hughes doesnt make all that much money  $15 per hour as a limo driver, plus tips. Thats why hes scrounged for parts, finding the aluminum for his rocket in metal shops and constructing the rocket nozzle out of an aircraft air filter. He gave it a good varnish of cheap paint, and his launch pad is attached to a motor home he bought for $1,500.

I want to inspire others  and you have to do something incredible to get anybodys attention, Hughes said.

The location of the jump will be Amboy , a ghost town in the Mojave Desert and along historic Route 66. The fictional town of Radiator Springs in the Disney movie Cars was loosely based on Amboy.

Hughes got permission from the towns owner, Albert Okura, who purchased the rights to Amboy in 2005 for $435,000. The launch will take place on an air strip next to a dilapidated hangar.

It is absolutely the most wacky promotional proposal I have had since I purchased the entire town in 2005, said Okura, whos also the founder of the Juan Pollo restaurant chain. He is a true daredevil and I want to be part of it.

On the morning of the launch, Hughes will heat about 70 gallons of water in a stainless steel tank and then blast off between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. He plans to go about a mile  reaching an altitude of about 1,800 feet  before pulling two parachutes. Theyre discouraging fans  safety issues  but it will be televised on his YouTube channel . He said hes been in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Bureau of Land Management.

Following his jump, he said hes going to announce his plans to leap into the race for governor of California.

His future plans include an excursion into space. He and Stakes have already brainstormed on a Rockoon, which is a rocket that, rather than being immediately ignited while on the ground, is carried into the atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon, then separated from the balloon and lit. This rocket will take Hughes about 68 miles up.

But Plymouth State University's David Starbuck, who is leading the dig at the Enfield Shaker Village, was more cautious. He argued the technology could be good for historical sites but questioned whether it could be much benefit for prehistoric sites that go much further back and lack markers like foundations

"With Jesse's work in a place like Enfield Shaker Village where on one side of the highway there, they have lots and lots of buildings that were removed, drones and cameras should be able to pick out just where those foundations used to be," he said. "If his techniques can take us directly to where the buried foundations are, your crew is a going to be a whole lot happier."

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Last month, the flagship XZ Premium also got updated to Android 8.0.

Sonys struggles over the years in the mobile space are apparent, still, they have been one of the more robust OEMs as far as software updates are concerned. The current flagship lineup Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact launched with Oreo out of the box unlike so many other flagships these days/

Then the Xperia XZ Premium got the update last month. Now two other Sony smartphones are getting Android 8.0 Oreo love, the standard Xperia XZ and Xperia XZs.

Launched about a year ago, if you own either of the two smartphones, then you should be looking for a new software update with firmware version 41.3.A.0.401, weighing around 1.2GB.

The update includes Reminders, very useful for unfinished work, as well as Xperia Actions, suggested settings based on your usage. Then, there's App Shortcuts, Smart text selection, notification dots and Autofill API.

Aside from all the new features and improvements in the Android 8.0 Oreo, Sony also included the November security patch, so Xperia XZ, and XZs should be up to date when it comes to security.

As we noted earlier, there's a high chance that the next Sony smartphone to receive Android 8.0 Oreo is the Xperia X Performance. Now if only Sony can fix their terrible image processing.

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LeT chief Hafiz is accused of having masterminded the November 2008 Mumbai terror attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: Describing the release of Hafiz Saeed as a step in the wrong direction, the US on Saturday said Pakistan now has an opportunity to "demonstrate its seriousness" in the fight against terrorism by "arresting and charging" the 26/11 mastermind for his crimes.

"The United States strongly condemns the release of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) leader Hafiz Saeed from house arrest in Pakistan and calls for his immediate re-arrest and prosecution," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.

In a strongly worded statement, the White House said Saeed's release, after Pakistan's failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a "deeply troubling message" about Pakistan's commitment to combating international terrorism and "belies Pakistani claims" that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil.

"If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistan's global reputation," Sanders said in a statement, reflecting the Trump administration's outrage at Saeed's release.

"As President Donald J Trump's South Asia policy makes clear, the United States seeks a constructive relationship with Pakistan, but expects decisive action against militant and terrorist groups on Pakistani soil that are a threat to the region. The release of Saeed is a step in the wrong direction," she said.

"The Pakistani government now has an opportunity to demonstrate its seriousness in confronting all forms of terrorism, without distinction, by arresting and charging Hafiz Saeed for his crimes," Sanders said.

The White House press secretary said LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens.

JuD chief Saeed himself is a notorious terrorist who is accused of having masterminded the November 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans, she said.

A clear international consensus exists regarding Saeed's culpability as he was designated by the United Nations under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008, she said.

The Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice, Sanders said.
US President Donald Trump has hit out at CNN International, the global broadcast wing of popular CNN, alleging that the news channel does not portray the correct picture of his administration. In a lengthy tweet, Mr Trump on Sunday alleged that CNN represents United States to the world very poorly. Fox News, he said, is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the US, CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news.

They (CNN International) represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them! said Mr Trump, who has been critical of several mainstream American media outlets, including The New York Times, CNN and The Washington Post. The CNN was quick to respond. Its not CNNs job to represent the US to the world. Thats yours. Our job is to report the news, the public relations account of the channel tweeted. Soon thereafter several of CNNs top journalists came to the defence of their colleagues in their international wing.

Thinking about @cnni and my brave and hard-working colleagues there who cover famines and wars and politics and terrorism and everything else. Amazing men and women, thank you for your continued excellence, tweeted Jake Tapper, a popular CNN anchor. @realDonaldTrump My @CNNi & @CNN colleagues regularly risk their lives in #Syria #Iraq #Afghanistan #Niger and beyond, following the US Troops into war-zones, chronicling natural disasters, holding dictators to account & profiling everyday heroes, tweeted Jon Sciutto, CNNs national security correspondent.
Jafari said the ballistic missile range was based on the limits set by the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the head of armed forces. (Photo: AP)

London/Tehran: The deputy head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned Europe that if it threatens Tehran, the Guards will increase the range of missiles to above 2,000 kilometres, the Fars news agency reported on Saturday.

France has called for 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.

Iran has repeatedly said its missile programme is defensive and not negotiable.

"If we have kept the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometres, it's not due to lack of technology. ... We are following a strategic doctrine," Brigadier General Hossein Salami said, according to Fars.

"So far we have felt that Europe is not a threat, so we did not increase the range of our missiles. But if Europe wants to turn into a threat, we will increase the range of our missiles," he added.

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards military force, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said in October that Iran's 2,000-kilometre missile range could cover "most of American interest and forces" within the region, so Iran did not need to extend it.

Jafari said the ballistic missile range was based on the limits set by the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the head of armed forces.

Iran has one of the Middle East's largest missile programmes and some of its precision-guided missiles have the range to strike Israel.

"Political and spiritual" support

The United States accused Iran in November of supplying Yemen's Houthi rebels with a missile that was fired into Saudi Arabia in July and called for the United Nations to hold Tehran accountable for violating two UN Security Council resolutions.

Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with missiles and weapons.

"Yemen is in total blockade. How could we have given them any missile?" Salami said, according to the Fars report on Saturday. "If Iran can send a missile to Yemen, it shows the incapability of (the Saudi coalition). But we have not given them missiles."

Salami said the Houthis managed to increase the range and precision of their missiles in a "scientific breakthrough."

Jafari, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, said on Thursday that Iran only provides "advisory and spiritual" assistances to the Houthis.

Iran long denied sending fighters to Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad in the fight against the rebels, and said the Revolutionary Guards' presence on the ground was advisory.

In what seemed to be a correction of Jafari's comments, Salami said on Saturday that Iran's support for the Houthis was "political and spiritual."

The United States has imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, saying its missile tests violate a UN resolution that calls on Tehran not to undertake activities related to missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

The United States says Iran's missile programme is a breach of international law because the missiles could carry nuclear warheads in the future.

Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear programme is for civilian uses only.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets and demonstrators blocked roads and burned police vehicles around the site of the sit-in. (Photo: AFP)

Islamabad: Pakistan's government called on the powerful military to deploy in the capital Islamabad Saturday after deadly unrest broke out when police moved to dislodge a protest that has paralysed the city for weeks.

At least six people were killed and around 200 injured - around 137 of whom were security personnel - in fierce clashes as police tried to disperse the demonstration earlier on Saturday.

Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets and demonstrators blocked roads and burned police vehicles around the site of the sit-in. As the violence intensified, protests sprouted in the major cities of Lahore and Karachi, as well as smaller towns across the country.

"According to figures we have, at least six people were killed in violence," Deeba Shahnaz, a spokeswoman for the Provincial Rescue department, said. A security official also confirmed the death toll.

Authorities had been attempting to clear a relatively small protest by the little-known hardline group Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLYRAP) that has blocked a main highway into Islamabad since November 6, causing hours-long traffic snarls and enraging citizens.

It was not clear how many protesters remained in the streets of the capital late on Saturday.

There had been roughly 2,000 as the operation began, but AFP reporters said dozens more were arriving throughout the day. Many were galvanised by posts on social media, despite apparent efforts to block sites including Twitter.

Police and paramilitary forces retreated following the clashes, with the Islamabad Capital Territory authorities making the request for the army to step in soon after.

An interior ministry order said the federal government had authorised the deployment of "sufficient troops" to "control law and order" in the city until further notice.

There was no immediate comment from military officials and no sign of troops in the streets late on Saturday.

The demonstrations have threatened the beleaguered Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) government ahead of a general election due to be held in 2018.

The PML-N is already reeling from a Supreme Court decision to oust former prime minister Nawaz Sharif over graft allegations in the summer, while finance minister Ishaq Dar - also embroiled in a corruption scandal - has taken indefinite medical leave.

Sharif had repeatedly clashed with the military, which has ruled Pakistan for half of its 70-year history.

Analysts and critics accused the government of bungling its response to the protests, with authorities hesitating for days over fears of violence as the city's commuters seethed in the traffic choked streets.

During the unrest Pakistan's media regulator barred local TV channels from broadcasting live images.

Twitter said it was "monitoring" reports of the government blocking the site, adding "We... hope service will be fully restored soon".

Alarmed residents

The TLYRAP are demanding that Pakistan's law minister Zahid Hamid resign over a hastily-abandoned amendment to the oath that election candidates must swear.

Demonstrators have linked it to blasphemy - a highly contentious issue in Pakistan - and claim the oath was softened to enable the participation of Ahmadis, a long-persecuted Islamic minority sect.

Earlier, police in Karachi said some 200 protesters had blockaded a major road in the southern port, with at least 27 injured - including 22 people with gunshot wounds - brought to hospital, according to doctors.

Markets and shops were shuttered in the megacity, Pakistan's commercial hub, as alarmed residents stayed inside, while hardline clerics urged more people to take to the streets.

An AFP journalist in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, said a main artery road was closed by police due to protests. Smaller rallies were reported in other towns across the country.

Earlier in the day Pakistan's powerful military chief phoned the prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to urge the situation be handled "peacefully".

General Qamar Javed Bajwa called for both sides to avoid violence "as it is not in national interest", army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said on Twitter.

'Explosive' situation

The protesters come from the Barelvi sect of Islam that has strong ties to Sufism, a mystical branch of the religion that is seen as moderate.

However the execution in 2016 of Barelvi follower Mumtaz Qadri - who assassinated liberal Punjab governor Salman Taseer over his stance on the country's blasphemy laws - led members of the group to take a more hardline stance against any moves to reform the legislation.

"These people already had a grudge against the government and the government just provided them the opportunity to vent out their anger," said political analyst Hasan Askari.

But weeks of inaction from authorities sparked the wrath of Pakistan's judiciary, with the Supreme Court issuing a blistering statement earlier in the week and the Islamabad High Court threatening to hold government officials in contempt.

Analysts said the government had allowed a minor issue to grow into a headline-grabbing and potentially dangerous situation.

Even before Saturday's clashes the sit-in had cost the life of an eight-year-old child whose ambulance could not reach a hospital in time due to the blocked roads.

"Politically driven procrastination has its own costs and this is what the government is paying," analyst Imtiaz Gul said, adding that the situation was "explosive".
Nepals tumultuous transition from monarchy to democracy has been marred by crippling instability that has seen 10 leaders hold power in 11 years, hampering development and recovery from the 2015 earthquake. (Representational Image)

Nepalis across the countrys mountainous north voted on Sunday in elections that could herald change after 20 ruinous years marked by a bloody Maoist insurgency, a devastating earthquake and crippling political instability.

The historic vote marks the final step of a drawn-out peace process, which began in 2006 with the end of the civil war between the Maoists and the state. More than two million people  around 65 percent of eligible voters  cast their ballot for representatives in new national and provincial parliaments.

The two-phase elections will establish the countrys first provincial Assemblies as laid out in a post-war constitution that aims to devolve power from the top-heavy Central governments to seven newly created provinces. Nepals tumultuous transition from monarchy to democracy has been marred by crippling instability that has seen 10 leaders hold power in 11 years, hampering development and recovery from the 2015 earthquake.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has accused the Congress of seeking refuge in casteism and "outsourcing" its campaign to caste leaders while dismissing any threat to the BJP's poll prospects from the Congress-Hardik Patel tie-up.



He alleged that the Congress was "deceiving" the people over the issue of reservation, while the agitators were lining up for poll tickets.

Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel's open support to the Congress in the December Assembly polls is not an electoral alliance but a "deal" between two sides, Rupani told PTI in an interview.

Dubbing Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who is extensively campaigning in Gujarat, as "gappidas" (teller of lies), the chief minister accused him of dishing out fabricated statistics about the BJP-ruled state.

"From what I understand, I can say it (Congress-Hardik alliance) won't have any effect (on the BJP) as they are exposed. They have kept aside the original demand of reservation and agitators have lined up to get Congress tickets," he said.

Rupani was replying to a question on the impact of Hardik Patel pledging support to the Congress in the Gujarat polls.

"While the Congress is not speaking a word on how it will give reservation to the Patidars (if it comes to power), he (Hardik Patel) is declaring support to the Congress. This shows there is 'saudebaazi' (deal) (between them)," he claimed.

"The Congress formula on giving reservation above the 50 percentcap is an attempt to deceive the people and it won't work. This exposes the deal," he further said.

"As the opposition does not have any issues with us they are taking refuge in casteism. The Congress is outsourcing its campaign by bringing in symbols of casteism like Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor (OBC leader), Jignesh Mevani (Dalit activist) and tribal leader Chottu Vasava," Rupani said.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases -- on December 9 and 14. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.
Pakistan's government has called in the army to restore order after clashes between police and protesters belonging to hardline religious groups killed six people and injured more than 200 others in the capital.



The police aided by paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary yesterday launched a massive operation against activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and Sunni Tehreek Pakistan religious groups who had blocked a key highway to Islamabad for nearly three weeks.

Police and paramilitary forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters to disperse them. However, the security forces pulled back after the crackdown turned deadly.

At least six people were killed in clashes yesterday, Dawn reported. It also said that no security personnel was killed but at least nine senior police officers were injured including Rawalpindi city police chief Israr Abbasi.

According to health officials, more than 200 people, including at least 95 security personnel, were injured in the clashes and shifted to various hospitals.

The Interior Ministry last night issued a statutory regulatory order to authorize the deployment of the army to control the law and order situation in the capital.

Official sources said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa are expected to hold a meeting to discuss the situation after the government sought deployment of the army in the capital.

However, the army said it needed clarification on some points before moving in to control the situation.

General Bajwa was on a visit to the United Arab Emirates and cut short his trip to reach the country last night.

Earlier, he spoke to Abbasi over the telephone and suggested to handle the protests peacefully "avoiding violence from both sides as it is not in national interest and cohesion."

Meanwhile, all news channels have been off-air and access to popular social media blocked since yesterday.

Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) representing electronic media condemned the action against media.

The protesters have been laying siege to the capital for about three weeks demanding the removal of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for changes in a law related to the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat (finality of prophethood) oath in the Elections Act 2017.

They alleged the action undermined Islamic beliefs and linked it to blasphemy. The government has already amended the law and restored the original oath but the hardline clerics refused to call off the protests until the minister is sacked.

The unrest also spread to several cities where protesters have blocked major roads, resulting in clashes with police. Dozens of people were injured in Karachi and at other places.

Minister of Interior Ahsan Iqbal chaired a high-level security meeting on Friday night but failed to reach at any decision about the further operation as senior officials of Islamabad administration and police warned to loss of human lives, according to sources in the interior ministry.

The protesters emboldened by the failure of government upped the ante and demanded the resignation of the government, according to report on Geo TV website.

There are reports that ruling Pakistan Muslims Leauge- Nawaz was discussing the option of removing law minister to pacify the protests. But it may be too late now. The minister is already under immense pressure after an attack yesterday at his residence in Pasroor area of Sialkot district in Punjab.

Opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf have also increased pressure on government and its secretary general Jehangir Tareen demanded the resignation of interior minister for mishandling the operation.
A group of progressive thinkers and activists on Sunday staged a protest in front of the main stage (Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Vedike) of the 83rd Kannada Sahitya Sammelana at Maharaja College Grounds here, condemning the demand by Pejawar seer Vishwesha Thirth Swami seeking amendment to the Constitution.



The octogenarian seer, during his speech at Dharma Sansad in Udupi, demanded that the government amend the Constitution to do away with special provisions for minorities in order for equality in the society, and to protect cows.

The agitating activists raised slogans against Pejawar seer.

Dr Meenakshi Bali said, "Pejawar seer's statement is against the principles of Democracy. He (seer) does not believe in pluralistic society. He is misleading the people by spreading lies."

The seer is trying to reestablish the Chaturvarna (Varna system). It is unfortunate that the Dharma Sansad, chaired by Pejawar seer, passes a resolution on the dead cattle, but they do not have time to discuss the assassination of rationalist Gauri Lankesh, the agitators complained.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday had a word of praise for some children from Karnataka, who had written to him on various problems the country is facing.



In his monthly radio programme, Mann ki Baat, he said the children were conversant with many issues. The children's letters to the prime minister were part of a newspaper initiative.

Modi referred in particular to a child named Kirti Hegde from Uttara Kannada, who appreciated the Digital India and Smart City schemes.

"She put forth a suggestion that we need to transform our education system, saying that present-day children do not like classroom reading - they love to know more about nature. And if we impart knowledge about nature to our children, then in the future they may prove very useful in protecting the environment," the prime minister said.

Modi also mentioned Reeda Nadaf from Lakshmeshwara in Gadag district, who wrote that she is the daughter of an armyman and feels proud of being so.

"Which Indian would not be proud of our soldiers? And you being a soldier's daughter should naturally take pride in that," he told her.

Irfana Begum from Kalaburagi wrote to the prime minister that her school is 5km away from her village, so she has to start early in the morning and it gets quite late in the evening by the time she returns home.

"She says that as such she does not find time to spend with her friends and has suggested that there should be a school nearby. My countrymen, I liked this initiative taken by a newspaper that helped these letters reach me and I got an opportunity to go through these. This was a very good experience for me," he said.
The commerce ministry is working on a package in consultation with the gems and jewellery industry to boost export and create jobs in this labour intensive sector, Union minister Suresh Prabhu has said.



The ministry has already asked the gems and jewellery industry to work out a proper business plan to promote growth of the sector.

"We have some time left, in another few weeks we have to finalise it as Budget will be in February, so we have to work on that," Commerce and Industry Minister Prabhu told PTI.

The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has demanded cut in import duty on gold to 4 per cent from the current 10 per cent.

An official of the council said the industry body is preparing recommendations for the sector which would be submitted to the ministry.

"We have asked for cut in gold import duty to 4 per cent. We are hoping that the finance ministry will consider our demand. We also want support for technology upgradation and setting up of gems and jewellery parks in the country and streamlining of labour rules," the official said.

When asked about the demand of the industry for cut in import duty on gold, he said "there is a trade off" as too much of gold import causes problem for CAD (current account deficit) but on the other hand inbound shipments of the precious yellow metal for export purposes benefit the current account.

"So how to ensure (this balance) is something which we will have to work. How can you have jewellery without gold," he said, adding import of gold for export by making value addition is the best thing and "how to structure that, it is something which we have to work".

In general terms, CAD refers to the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange that has an impact on the exchange rate.

PC Jewellers MD Balram Garg too said that there has been demand for a significant cut in the import duty as small exporters are facing a huge problem in procuring gold.

"WE need to give incentives to boost exports of the sector. We have submitted our demand. The commerce ministry is very positive on that. Export situation is not good and incentives will help enhance competitiveness of the sector," Garg said.

India is the world's second biggest gold consumer after China. The import mainly takes care of the demand for the jewellery industry.

At present, gold import attracts 10 per cent duty. The gems and jewellery industry along with the commerce ministry have time and again urged the finance ministry to consider a cut in the import duty.

Talking about the diamond sector, Prabhu said he is talking to the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh to revive a diamond mine as reserves for raw material is not adequate in the country.

He said that huge diamond reserves are present in Russia and the minister has discussed the issues concerning procurement of raw material with the officials during his recent visit to Moscow.
The Rachakonda Police busted an online sex racket today and nabbed three persons associated with it on charges of human trafficking.



A woman, an Uzbek national who was overstaying in India after her visa expired, was rescued during the operation, police added.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said the police, acting on a tip-off, conducted a decoy operation at a hotel and apprehended the alleged racket kingpin Jogeshwar Rao and his associates L Gopal and K Gopi.

"Rao had brought the Uzbek woman, in her mid 20s, to Hyderabad from Delhi about a week ago and pushed her into prostitution. The woman has told us she came to Delhi about nine months ago on a six-month tourist visa. Her visa had expired and she was overstaying in India," Bhagwat said.

The officer said Rao was engaging models and women of foreign nationalities in flesh trade as part of his online racket.

The three men were booked for human trafficking, the police said.

On November 23, the Hyderabad Police had arrested a 63 -year-old man and a woman on charge of running a brothel at a flat here. The police had then rescued a 27-year-old woman, who also belonged to Uzbekistan.
The Telangana Police has drafted 10,400 uniformed men and women to provide security for the three-day Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), 2017, which is being attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Advisor to US President Ivanka Trump.



The security is also extended to all the 21 hotels in which the delegates will be staying, two airports, three main venues of the GES and the Miyapur metro station.

Addressing the media on arrangements, Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy on Sunday said the security arrangements are at par with international standards as per the guidelines.

"We have involved the US Secret Services, Special Protection Group, Niti Aayog and other stakeholders while making security arrangements," the DGP said.

He added that for three days anti-sabotage, extreme vetting of suspected individuals and traffic regulations will be in place without causing trouble to people on the move.

The DGP said the police have the additional responsibility of three official dinners hosted by Indian, Telangana and US governments on November 28, 29 and 30, respectively.

In addition to the Hyderabad police, over ten senior police officers from various districts have been drafted for supervision of Metro, Hyderabad International Convention Centre, Falaknuma, Golconda and Shamshabad and Begumpet airports. Around 50 dog squads are also on the prowl.

"The prime minister will be arriving at Begumpet airport and will take a chopper ride to Miyapur to inaugurate the metro. From there, he will be again flying to the GES venue. However, while returning, he will be going by road from Falaknuma palace to Shamshabad airport," the DGP said.

It has been reported that Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan will be joining Ivanka on the inaugral day of the summit representing Indian cinema.

Khan is also expected at the dinner hosted by the Government of India at Falakunuma palace's 101 seat dining hall.
A woman from Vamanjoor in Mangaluru, who was in distress in Saudi Arabia, finally returned to her hometown on Sunday.



Thanks to the efforts of Indian Social Forum, Vijaya, wife of Balappa Balakrishna was able to return to her native. She was working as a domestic help and was freed from her employer who has allegedly kept her captive in his house.

Vijaya's family members heaved a sigh of relief after she landed in Mangaluru International Airport.

After the Indian Social Forum (ISF) intervened, she was handed her over to Saudi emigration officials at Dammam airport on Saturday. After completing due procedures, she returned to Mangaluru via Mumbai.

Vijaya's relieved family members, along with ISF members Nasir Ulaibettu, Salim Mudigere and Athaulla Jokatte, accorded her a warm welcome at the airport.

Vijaya had left for Saudi Arabia on July 15, 2015. Initially, Vijaya could be contacted over phone. Over a period of time, there was no news from Vijaya.

After working for two years, Vijaya wanted to return home because of the health condition of her husband. However, her sponsors at Saudi Arabia did not allow her.

Riyaz Farangipet, an SDPI activist, came to know about the issue. He passed on the information to a group of young men hailing from coastal Karnataka based in Saudi Arabia, who in turn sought the help of Indian Social Forum.

Vijaya thanked the ISF for helping her to return to her native and hoped that the ISF will help others who are in distress in Saudi Arabia and help them to return home.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday called for "sobriety and discretion" in communication between the three branches of the state - the judiciary, legislature and executive.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his 'Maan ki Baat' that citizens and the administration must work in accordance with the Constitution and the message it conveys is that "no one should be harmed in any way."

His statement was seen in the backdrop of the controversy relating to Padmavati and cases of vigilantism.

"It is our duty that we abide by our Constitution in letter and spirit," the prime minister said.

Kovind said all branches of the states should be careful not to disturb the fraternity of the separation of powers by even unknowingly intruding into the domain of the two other branches.

"It is critical to keep this intricate and delicate balance in mind when exploring the relationship between the three branches. They are all equal. They should all be conscious of their liberty and strive to protect their autonomy," the President said.

The President was inaugurating the Constitution Day celebrations, organised by the Supreme Court to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution on November 26, 1949.

"Sobriety and discretion in communication between the three branches is also extremely advisable. This will promote and enhance fraternity between three equal branches of the state, all of which have a certain responsibility to the Constitution," he said.

The President also said the Constitution is not just an abstract ideal. "It has to be made meaningful to the lives of ordinary people in every street, every village and every mohalla of our country. It has to somehow connect with their everyday existence and make it more comfortable."

Kovind reminded everyone that "at the heart of the constitutional project was trust - trust in each other, trust between institutions, trust in the goodness of fellow citizens and trust in the wisdom of future generations. This sense of trust is inherent in constitutional governance."

When the government trusts citizens to attest their documents themselves, it is in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution, he said.

"When the Union government trusts state governments by devolving financial powers to them, and taking ahead the mission of cooperative federalism, then too we are working in the spirit of the Constitution," Kovind said.

The President said the Constitution framers realised that a Constitution "no matter how well written and how detailed, would have little meaning without the right people to implement it and to live by its values."
Militants attacked the residence of Congress district president Imtiyaz Paray in Hajin area of north Kashmir's Bandipora district on Sunday.



Sources said that militants lobbed a grenade and fired around 10 rounds towards Imtiyaz's house.

Central Reserve Police Force personnel guarding the house fired in retaliation. However, there was no report of loss of life in the exchanges.

A police official said that the militants in fact lobbed two grenades towards the house of Parray at around 2 am on the intervening night. "There are also some bullet marks on the back side of the house. We are ascertaining the facts," he said.

Imtiyaz is the son of the notorious Ikhwan (counter-insurgent) commander Kuka Parray, who contested two Assembly elections on Congress ticket in 2008 and 2014.

Imtiyaz, who is the district president of the Congress for Bandipora, polled more than 12,000 votes in 2014.

Hajin recently made headlines when security forces gunned down six Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, including the nephew of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

Earlier, on October 11, two Air Force commandos and two LeT militants were killed while four security personnel were injured in an encounter in the same area.

Hajin, 32km from Srinagar, was once known as the epicentre of the pro-government militia, Ikhwan, who broke the back of the militancy in 1990's.

From the mid 90s to the later part of last decade, Hajin was out of bounds for militants as it was the home town of the most dreaded renegade Kuka Parray, a star anti-militancy commander.

However, over the last two or three years, the area has emerged as a hub of LeT as most of the Pakistani militants find the area suitable for carrying out the attacks.

The vast swathes of orchards, huge clusters of villages, close proximity to Srinagar on south and Bandipora on the north makes Hajin an important transit point for militants as it is also connected to highway.
In a major goof-up, a lower court in Dhanbad has issued arrest warrant against former legislator Suryadeo Singh who passed away in 1991.



Singh was named as an accused in a case filed against him at Jharia police station (then in undivided Bihar, but now in Jharkhand) in February 1987 (case No 99/1987).

Even though the trial was on, the police failed to inform the court, in all these 26 years, that Singh died in 1991.

Unaware, the court recently issued arrest warrant against him, besides other accused.



The court also fixed the next date of hearing on December 8.

"The court order is a result of lapses on the part of the police which neither informed the court about Singh's death nor ever submitted his death certificate to the judge concerned," the late MLA's family-lawyer Jawed Khan told local media in Dhanbad (now in Jharkhand).

What is the case?

The case relates to a complaint filed by a miner-loader Ramgarh Bind, who claimed that Singh recruited men of his choice in the coal mines. The case remained under wraps for years. Jharkhand High Court in 2015 asked the case to be reopened and probed.

Singh's widow Kunti Singh, who later succeeded him as legislator from the coal belt twice, said her late husband had been framed.

Who is singh?

Singh was a muscleman-turned-legislator and also a trade union leader in the coal belt. He was the founder president of Janata Majdoor Sangh and was quite close to former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today cited a media report on a drop in the production of 'Nano' cars at a Gujarat plant and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet 'Make in India' project "just died" turning Gujarati tax payers' Rs 33,000 crore into "ash".



Gandhi also asked who should be held accountable for the money becoming "ash".

The Congress vice president has reportedly been saying that the Gujarat government had proffered "benefits" worth Rs 33,000 crore to the car project in Sanand.

"PM's pet 'Make in India' project just died. 33,000 crores of Gujarati taxpayer money turned to ash. Who is accountable?" Gandhi said on Twitter.

The Congress vice president is currently campaigning in the poll-bound state, which has been under the BJP's rule for 22 years.

The media report claimed that the average daily production of Nano cars at the Tata Motor's Sanand plant was down to "just two".
'Agni Sakhi', a boon to village home-makers in the taluk, has entered the kitchens of the women of Shidlaghatta taluk, thanks to the scientists of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).



The institute will soon design and supply 'Agni Sakhi' 130 bio-gas ovens to homes where homemakers have so far been using traditional stoves that use wood as fuel. The fumes from wood-fuel stoves have always been a health hazard to housewives.

With Agni Sakhi, housewives will have the same comfort as cooking with LPG stoves. As a result these eco-friendly stoves, have been considered a blessing by village homemakers.

It is possible to use locally available agricultural waste as fuel and that too in a limited quantity with the 'Sakhi' stove. As a result, Sakhi has the benefits like zero price of fuel, no smoke, minimum space requirement, safety and simplicity.

As the Sakhi stove is insulted, it is fire safe. The Sakhi stove has been developed by Prof H S Mukunda of IISc. The third version of the stove has been introduced in the taluks' kitchens.

The Agni Sakhi stove has been introduced by Bengaluru's Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE). It is being manufactured by Bengaluru's Sustain Tech.

The Sakhi stove can burn local wood as well. The biogas for cooking can be used without producing smoke or soot. It is possible to regulate the air and heat in this stove and cooking takes lesser time said the Taluk's silk manufacturing firm's CEO Janardhana Murthy.

Among the villages where the stove is being installed are, Abloodu, Malamachanhalli, S Deveganahalli, Sadahalli, Yananguru, Belutti, Hithalahalli, Anuru, K Muthagadahalli, Kuthandahalli, Bodaguru, Taledammanahalli, Varadanayakanahalli, Meluru and others. The stove is given at a discounted price of Rs 4500 each.

Swathi Bhogle, CEO of TIDE said that Sakhi stove was a better option than LPG stoves because it is clean fuel and the fuel expense is zero. "It can be used heating water, cooking, silk coccon extraction and to heat up rural homes in the winter season," she added.

Senior Project Manager of TIDE Ashik Ahmed said the task of taking the Sakhi stove to rural homes was a noble one. "Providing a healthy stove at zero fuel cost which also eco-friendly to rural women is a what we envisioned," he added.

"I am using the Agni Sakhi stove for 3 months now. I can easily cook for seven people at home. I can cook all kinds of food quickly and that gives me more time for other work. Cleaning vessels is also easier as there is no soot," said Shivamma a beneficiary.
The Winter Session of the Madhya Pradesh assembly commencing tomorrow is likely to be stormy with the opposition Congress planning to take the BJP government to task over the probe into the Vyapam scam.



The opposition party expressed unhappiness over the way the CBI is probing the admission and recruitment scam and alleged "big fish are being let off".

"We are going to take the state government to task over the Vyapam scam. We are unhappy over the way the CBI is probing it. The small fry are being prosecuted and the big fish are being let off," Leader of Opposition and senior Congress legislator Ajay Singh told PTI.

He said the Congress would ensure influential people involved in the scam do not get away. "We are going to put (Chief Minister) Shivraj Singh Chouhan on the mat over the Vyapam scam."

The CBI, investigating the Pre-Medical Test (PMT) in 2012 conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, also known by its Hindi acronym Vyapam, filed its chargesheet on Thursday last.

The chargesheet named as many as 592 people, including four promoters of private medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh.

On October 31, the central probe agency had filed a chargesheet in connection with the alleged regularities in PMT held in 2013.
Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said the Centre will support Apple to set up a manufacturing unit in the country, and is currently awaiting a formal proposal from them.



"Let us get a good proposal from them. We will be very happy to receive Apple, one of the top brands in the world. We are willing to find out if there is any difficulty they may face. We will be more than happy to resolve that difficulty. So we will await a formal proposal," Prabhu said, adding that the Centre is willing to call all state chief ministers who are willing to give them the best deal.

The iPhone and Mac manufacturer has asked for certain concessions for setting up a manufacturing unit in India.

The government had sought details about investment and job creation from the company to facilitate setting up of its proposed facility.

Apple India had sought concessions, including duty exemption on manufacturing and repair units, components, capital equipment and consumables for smartphone manufacturing and service/repair for a period of 15 years.

The company also wants relaxation in the mandated 30% local sourcing of components besides reduction in customs duties on CKD and SKD units of devices that are to be assembled in the country.
Over 300 people, including 20 women, were detained and later released in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh today during a protest against Bollywood film 'Padmavati', which is mired in a major controversy.



"The locals held a protest rally from Padanpole to the collector's office but the police prevented them and 304 persons courted arrest. These included 20 women," SHO, Chittorgarh police station, Om Prakash said.

He said the action was taken under section 129 of CrPC (Dispersal of assembly by use of civil force) and those detained were taken to the Indira Gandhi stadium and released.

The protest was peaceful and elaborate security arrangements were in place for maintaining the law and order, he added.

Chittor was the scene of the battle that took place between Alauddin Khilji and Rajput king Ratan Singh.

Amid rumours of a romantic dream sequence between Rajput queen Padmavati and Khilji's characters in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed film, many Rajput groups have been up in arms against the movie, alleging that it distorts history.

Historians, however, are divided on whether Rani Padmavati existed.
The Election Commission (EC) has issued a notice to the archbishop of Gandhinagar for asking Christians to pray to save the country from "nationalist forces" in the run-up to Gujarat Assembly polls.



Issuing a letter addressed to Christians, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar, Thomas Macwan, had last week urged the members of the community to save the country from "nationalist forces" as its "democratic fabric" was at stake, amidst a growing "sense of insecurity" among minorities.

In Gujarat's political circles, the appeal was seen as an indirect call to vote against the ruling BJP.

Gandhinagar Collector and District Election Officer Satish Patel said the Election Commission issued the notice after taking cognizance of media reports and asked the archbishop to clarify his intention behind issuing such a letter.

"We have issued a notice to the archbishop, seeking clarity over his intention behind the letter, which was widely publicised in the media. We have given him a few days' time to respond. We will decide on the future course of action on the basis of his reply," Patel said on Sunday.

He said that the letter seemed to be aimed at "confusing" the voters of the minority communities and misguiding them when the poll code was in force in the state. "Such a language should not be used," Patel said.

Call for prayers

In an official communique dated November 21, Macwan had appealed to Christians to organise prayer services at parishes and convents, "so that we may have such people elected to the Gujarat Assembly, who would remain faithful to the Indian Constitution and respect every human being without any sort of discrimination".

"The democratic fabric of the country is at stake amidst a growing sense of insecurity among the minorities, other backward classes (OBCs), backward classes, poor etc.," he had said.

"The results of this election are significant and will have repercussions and reverberations throughout our beloved nation. It will influence the future course of our country.

"We are aware that the secular and democratic fabric of our country is at stake. Human rights are being violated. Not a single day goes without an attack on our churches, church personnel, faithfuls or institutions," he said.

"The recitation of the Holy Rosary at individual, community, family and parish levels will be of great help. Encourage your faithful to pray the Rosary," he said.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to polls in two phases - on December 9 and 14. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.
India and Russia will sign two key pacts for cooperation in tackling all forms of terrorism and jointly fighting smuggling of narcotics during the three-day visit of Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Moscow, officials said.



Singh, who left for Russia on Sunday, will sign an agreement on cooperation between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Interior of the Russian Federation in combating terrorism and organised crime.

The pact will reinforce bilateral relationships through exchange and sharing of information, expertise, best practices and help in curbing terrorism and enhancing security in the region, a home ministry official said.

The proposed pact, which will replace the agreement of October 1993, is a step towards consolidating the benefits accrued in the field of security, and seeks to jointly fight the new and evolving risks and threats.

The home minister will hold discussions with Vladimir Kolokoltsev, minister for internal affairs of the Russian Federation, and other senior Russian leadership. The discussions would cover the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and international matters of mutual interest, the official said.

Singh will also sign a joint action plan between India's Narcotics Control Bureau and the Russian Ministry of Interior.

As both the countries have a long history of close cooperation on matters of shared security concerns, the visit will provide an opportunity to further cement ties between the two countries, the official said.
How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? Kenneth Chang, who covers space for The New York Times, discussed the tech he's using.



What has stood out about how tech in the space race has changed in recent years?

The fundamentals of rocket science have not changed in the last 50 years. We don't have "Star Trek" transporter beams. We don't have antigravity. We don't have electromagnetic rail guns. We don't have space elevators. To escape the planet, it's still the explosive churning of fuel and oxygen, igniting the mixture and blowing the exhaust out of the engine nozzle.

Tech moguls like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are now involved in the space industry. Do you give the edge to Bezos or Musk and why?

The innovation in the space business has occurred in the business side. Take Musk's SpaceX. His company's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule offer, more or less, the same capabilities as the decades-old Russian Soyuz. What Musk did was figure out how to build and launch the rockets at a lower cost. I like to joke that SpaceX is the Southwest Airlines of the rocket industry.

In the last couple of years, SpaceX has also accomplished something new and different: landing the booster stage of a Falcon 9, refurbishing it and launching it again. That has the potential for huge cost savings if rockets are not being thrown away after one flight.

Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, has a similar approach toward reusable rockets. Blue Origin has not yet finished its New Glenn rocket, which will take payloads to orbit, but it has been testing and launching a smaller vehicle, known as New Shepard, that will take space tourists on a short up-and-down ride to the edge of space.

Do you have a favourite space app or a piece of technology for covering space?

I don't use any space-specific apps. But the interconnectedness of everything today is awesome.

Early one morning a few years ago, I interviewed astronauts on the International Space Station while sitting at my kitchen counter. Just oldfangled technology: a landline telephone. But it's something that I wouldn't have imagined possible 20 years ago. It's easier than ever to connect Point A to Point B even when Point B is 250 miles up, speeding at 17,000 mph.

Rocket launches are routinely webstreamed now. And I can watch a launch on my phone while going to pick up my family at the airport, as I did this month when the latest cargo rocket, an Orbital ATK Antares rocket, headed to the space station. SpaceX has gotten really good at showing video from its rockets, even the boosters descending back to Earth.

That all makes it easier to cover space without going anywhere. The downside is not being at launches. Space shuttle launches were Earth-rattling.

Back on Earth, how do you keep on top of the space industry? Are there publications or websites that you routinely turn to?

Jeff Foust at SpaceNews somehow manages to do four things simultaneously (tweet, respond to tweets, file his story, ask questions). When Elon Musk did a Reddit AMA ("Ask Me Anything"), instead of wading through the AMA, I took a glance at Jeff's Twitter feed to see if there were any big revelations. There weren't.

Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society presents wonderfully insightful dives into the latest data from NASA's planetary probes. Eric Berger, a former Houston Chronicle space reporter, has been freed from the chains of shrinking newspapers and is now at the Ars Technica website. He has his ear to the ground for D.C. whisperings of space policy, and he has great yarns, too. Among the many other reporters worth mentioning: William Harwood, Robert Pearlman, Miriam Kramer, Loren Grush, Lee Billings, Nadia Drake and Marcia Smith.

Two similar-sounding websites - spaceflightnow.com and nasaspaceflight.com - are ones I turn to often.

Outside work, what tech product are you currently obsessed with using in your daily life and why?

I guess I'm not obsessed with the iPhone X. I just returned it, even though I had gotten up at 2:45 a.m. to order it at the moment it went on sale and then received it a week later on the first day it was available.

Gorgeous phone. Gorgeous screen. Great camera. FaceID works really well (except when I was lying in bed). I found the new gestures easy to learn. It worked great. But with a case, it was wider than I liked. I decided I preferred the smaller iPhone SE. It wasn't worth $1,000 for something I merely liked quite a bit.

Once upon a time, I used a microrecorder for capturing interviews and lectures. Then I used an iPod with a microphone attachment. Now it's all on my phone.

What could be better about your iPhone?

Maybe Apple will cram the guts of the X into the body of the SE with an all-screen front. Here's hoping.

However, the quick pace of change in tech makes it hard to maintain a functional work flow. It's the curse of app rot. I've cycled through several voice memo apps. The one that Apple provides works fine, except it's inconvenient to get the recordings off the phone.

I found a different app that worked well; then it didn't work as well. I found another app I really liked. Then it started losing entire interviews, and that was unacceptable. I am currently using Just Press Record, which works across the Mac, iPhone and Apple Watch and stores the recordings in iCloud, so it's easy to get at them wherever I am. I'm hoping the developer won't lose interest in it anytime soon.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Sunday alleged that the BJP was working towards abolishing the reservation system by going in for large-scale privatisation of government-run institutions.



Speaking at a BSP convention organised as part of the party's campaign in South India, Mayawati said the BJP-led NDA government was working with an anti-reservation mindset.

"There is no reservation in the private sector. The government's move in going for privatisation of public sector units is a step towards doing away with caste-based reservation," she claimed.

Mayawati said that the NDA government was targeting opposition leaders by conducting CBI and Income-Tax raids on them. "The NDA wants to portray the opposition leaders as corrupt when the fact is they themselves are the most corrupt," she said.

Mayawati accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of spoiling the communal harmony in the country for electoral gains. Atrocities against SC/STs were also on the rise in the Modi regime, she said. Mayawati said the BJP had been making baseless charges against her, including she being an "agent" of the CIA and selling the party's Rajya Sabha seats for cash.

Party workers from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry participated in the convention.
Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has taken up restoration of roads in Sanjaynagar after DH published a report titled 'GAIL fails to restore roads properly after digging them to lay pipelines' on November 13.



GAIL, which is laying network for distribution of piped natural gas (PNG), had failed to restore the roads properly earlier. Residents complained about its shoddy work.

Pedestrians and motorists were facing inconvenience without proper roads and footpath due to this.

"After DH reported the issues, immediate action was taken and the roads have been restored. Now the pedestrians can walk on the stretches without any worries and dust has also reduced," said Pavithra V, a resident of Sanjayanagara.

Speaking to DH, Partha Jana, General Manager (Projects), GAIL, had promised to solve the issues and direct GAIL contractors to restore the roads soon.
The Common Admission Test (CAT), termed as the gateway to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other top B-schools was smooth and glitch-free on Sunday.



IIM Lucknow conducted the CAT 2017.

Hundreds of students appeared for the CAT at Dayanand Sagar College, Don Bosco College of Sciences and Management and other colleges in the city.

At a few centres, there were small technical glitches in the morning session which were immediately addressed.

According to a few students, the CAT 2017 as challenging.

Manidar Singh, who appeared at the Dayanand Sagar College, Banashankari said that the pattern of the forenoon slot of CAT2017 was very much along the lines of CAT2016.

"The number of questions across sections didn't change compared to the previous year. This is, in fact, the biggest relief," he said.

Sharadhi, who appeared for the test at a private college in RR Nagar said the IIM Lucknow had not disclosed the number of questions per section.

"The exam was challenging and needed the best efforts from us to excel," she said.

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) in the morning session had 34 questions.

This was followed by the Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI) section which had 32 questions. The last section was Quantitative Ability which had 34 questions.

Singh said the LRDI section once again proved to be the nemesis.

A few other students said that the LRDI section had tough questions.

The pattern of the afternoon slot was similar to that of the morning slot. There were no surprises in the paper in terms of the pattern. The number of questions across sections was same as against the last year, candidates said.

Questions in QA and VARC were easy compared to the previous year. In Verbal Ability, the absence of options in the non-MCQ questions made the questions tougher than usual, as was expected, they added.

The cut-off in this section is expected to be slightly lower than that in CAT2016.

Security check at entry at all centres was rigorous.
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The Donegal Democrat has been informed of the following deaths:

- Jim Shiels, Drumenon, St Johnston

- Kathleen Smith, Mount Marion, Milford

- Philip Foggy Doherty, 1 Ardravan, Buncrana

- Elizabeth (Betty) Russell, Ivy Cottage, Coolboy

- James Doherty, Magheraboy, Liscooley

Jim Shiels, Drumenon, St Johnston

The death has occurred at his home of Jim Shiels, Drumenon, St Johnston.

Reposing at his late residence. Funeral leaving his home on Monday, November 27th at 10.15am for Requiem Mass in St. Baithin`s Church, St Johnston at 11am.

Interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.

Donations in lieu of flowers please to the Oncology Ward, Letterkenny University Hospital c/o Quigley Funeral Directors, 1A Newtown Place, Strabane.

Family time please from 10p.m. to 11a.m.





Kathleen Smith, Mount Marion, Milford

The death has taken place at the Mater Hospital, Dublin of Kathleen Smith, Mount Marion, Milford.

Remains reposing at her late residence.

Removal from this morning, Saturday, going to St Peters Church, Milford to arrive at 7.15pm to repose overnight.

Funeral mass on Sunday at 11am with burial afterwards in Milford Cemetery.

Philip Foggy Doherty, 1 Ardravan, Buncrana

The death has taken place in Letterkenny University Hospital of Philip Foggy Doherty, 1 Ardravan, Buncrana.

Funeral from there on Sunday November 26th at 10.15am going to St Marys Church, Cockhill for 11am Requiem Mass with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.

Family time from 11pm until 11am.

Elizabeth (Betty) Russell, Ivy Cottage, Coolboy

The death has taken place at Saint Josephs Hospital, Stranorlar of Elizabeth (Betty) Russell, Ivy Cottage, Coolboy, Letterkenny.

Leaving home on Monday, November 27th at 1pm for Funeral Service at 1.30pm in Trinity Presbyterian Church, Main Street, Letterkenny.

Interment after the service in Gortlee Graveyard.

Family time in home from 10pm until 11am and on the morning of the funeral.

Family flowers only. Donations if desired in lieu of flowers for Finn View Ward to Mr. Ernie Gibson or any family member.

James Doherty, Magheraboy, Liscooley

The death has taken place in Letterkenny University Hospital of James Doherty, Magheraboy, Liscooley, formerly Palace House, Letterkenny.

His remains will be reposing at Letterkenny Funeral Home, Port road, Letterkenny from 3-5pm on Sunday, November 26th and 3-5pm on Monday November 27th with removal at 5pm going to the Cathedral to repose overnight.

Requiem Mass on Tuesday at 10am.

Interment afterwards to the family Plot in Castlefin Cemetery.

Enquiries to Con McDaid & Sons, Funeral Director, Oldtown, Letterkenny.



If you wish to have a death notice included here, email us at editorial@donegaldemocrat.com. Please include a telephone number for verification.


For those entrepreneurs who envision their business as the next big thing, it will pay dividends to take cues from forward-thinking leaders, such as Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk, and surround themselves with inspirational peers.

Likewise, its incumbent on entrepreneurs seeking to both disrupt the market and avoid being disrupted to continually leverage  or at the very least trial  new, emerging and potentially transformative technologies. For example, 3D printing is enabling manufacturers to develop and test prototypes quickly and customise products on demand while virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are being trialled by businesses, including retailers, to create unique, immersive customer experiences.

Meanwhile, the Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling businesses to generate efficiencies via a network of interconnected devices, where data is shared and exchanged. Myriota, 2017 Telstra South Australian New Business Award winner, has developed a satellite IoT communications platform that is enabling businesses across a range of industries, including agriculture, logistics, maritime and defence, to transmit small amounts of data from most locations, globally, between assets and devices remotely.

With our low-cost, low-power satellite technology were addressing a major roadblock to numerous industries taking advantage of the fourth industrial revolution  namely, cost-effective communications infrastructure for small amounts of data, Tom Rayner, Myriotas Business Development manager told Dynamic Business.

For example, we provide connectivity that allows a farmer to monitor a remote asset, such as a water tank in outback Australia, from any location on earth. We enable them to do this through the use of small, low-cost transmitters, which communicate directly with low earth orbit satellites. These satellites then relay data back down to Earth, where we decode messages and send them to the end user. In the past, tasks such as monitoring a water tank have been very manual due to the fact that a vast majority of Australias agricultural land is outside of existing communications infrastructure range.

Its going to become a competitive disadvantage for companies in some industries if they are NOT exploiting IoT. In many industries, IoT will effectively become a license to operate as it will enable businesses to prove their practices are ethical and sustainable, which is what consumers will demand in the long-term. In food production and agriculture, youll be able to provide assurance that the food you are selling is what you say it is, is being produced where youre saying it is and its being produced in line with your stated practices. Thats because IoT enables the sharing of data from the paddock right through to the plate.

While IoT, VR, AR and 3D printing are some of the hottest emerging technologies right now, businesses mustnt overlook other technologies with the potential to facilitate significant process innovation.

According to Holly Cardew, founder and CEO of Pixc  an image optimisation service for e-commerce businesses  business owners must not be afraid to trial new technology, especially if the alternative is missing out on efficiency gains and new customers. The Telstras muru-D accelerator graduate gave the example of Squares point of sale solutions, noting the companys POS app is empowering retailers to better engage with their customers.

The app allows you to take payment from customers, yes, but it also allows you to add their details, including their email, at the point of sale, which means you can retarget them with content such as a newsletter or Facebook advertising, she told Dynamic Business. With a traditional POS system, the business would have no idea who their customers are  once the customers card has been swiped, and theyve walked out, the credit card company has all their details, and the business has nothing. Businesses can use technologies, like Squares, to know who their customers are and retarget them.

Asked what technologies she employs in her own business, Pixc, to generate efficiencies, Cardew  who operates between San Francisco and Brisbane  identified software solutions that enable her geographically-dispersed team of more than twenty staff to communicate and collaborate effectively.

The team is distributed across multiple countries so, as a result of not being in the same place at the same time, weve had to rely on a key suite of technologies, she explained. We use online communication tools as well as a file-sharing and cloud storage service and software that enables us to comment on and update shared documents in near real-time. This is crucial due to the central role of documentation collaboration in Pixc. We make sure we do everything in the cloud, so that nothing gets lost, shared files remain up-to-date and everyone in the team has access to the documents they need to access.

Given the rapid pace of technological change, its understandable that businesses might have a tough time determining exactly which technologies will have application in their business. Cardews advice is for businesses to research relevant technologies and contact vendors whose tools are not just within their budget but are likely to provide the best, long-term value. As part of this exercise, Cardew said a business owner might ask a software company, for example, about the features they have on their product roadmap, to determine if their future solutions will enable the business to scale. She commented, If they dont have the features you need right now, its always worth asking what is on their product road map to determine whether they can, potentially, scale with you. If they dont currently have the features or capabilities youll need down the line, perhaps they can grow with you.

Noting that small businesses cannot afford to spend a lot of money on implementing technologies that might not create internal efficiencies or resonate with customers, Cardew said businesses can turn to scrappy ways of trialling technology. She explained, By scrappy, I mean that when you implement a new technology, it doesnt always need to be done perfectly. Try it quickly to determine what works and what doesnt. Furthermore, as technology futurist Dr Jeffrey Cole has pointed out, being an early adopter isnt necessarily as expensive an undertaking as it once was, meaning business owners must not be afraid to play with new technologies to determine the potential application in their business, especially if their core mission is to do what they do better than anybody else  in perpetuity.

Just as ambitious business owners must leverage new technologies, so too should they seek to leverage the strategies, wisdom and attitudes of successful leaders.

At Myriota, we admire Elon Musk because he gets things done that havent been done before and he thinks outside the square, Rayner revealed. Not being constrained by pre-conceived ideas about what can and cant be done, and thus not settling for no, is one of his qualities we seek to emulate  this is especially important when it comes to innovation because there arent any precedents. We like to think that, with our communications platform, were solving IoT problems in the same way that Musk, in the case of both Tesla and SpaceX, is driving change in transportation.

While looking to the stars and cherry-picking their best qualities is a good habit, Cardew said business owners should also seek to surround themselves with like-minded go-getters whove been around the block and can stretch them to achieve their goals while offering valuable counsel.

The great thing about being part of the startup community in the San Francisco Bay Area is that its populated by people who consider no problem too big to tackle, she said. If you have a big, seemingly crazy idea, such as mining minerals on the moon (FYI  Moon Express), you wont be shutdown, youll be supported to realise it. Having this sort of community behind you also helps provide clarity. If youre going through a challenging period, for instance, its assuring to have a like-minded founder say, Ive been there, its normal. Its also useful when youre able to learn from the mistakes of other founders or leverage their industry connections as this helps you fast-track what youre setting out to achieve. It pays to surround yourself with inspirational people, whether its in a co-working space or by attending events, as opposed to operating in isolation.

The spectrum device and  are trade marks and  are registered trade marks of Telstra Corporation Limited ABN 33 051 775 556.

Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of Telstra or its staff.
The draft of the Bill may come up before the next Cabinet meeting.
Latest News

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Accenture, IBM, TCS are hiring students from Christ Universitys Department of English Studies The department is focusing on providing students with the necessary skills and knowledge to fit industry

NEET SS 2022 counselling schedule released, find details here The counselling process will begin on November 22, 2022 and will end on December 18, 2022
Kailyn Lowry revealed last week that she was dating another woman. However, she has yet to reveal who that woman is.

That said, a woman named Dominique Potter is rumored to be her mystery girl and on Instagram, Potter continues to share photos of them together.

Kailyn Lowry Totally In Love

After the Teen Mom 2 star and her rumored girlfriend enjoyed a number of trips together, including a recent visit to New York City, a source claims Lowry and Potter are totally in love.

Kailyn and Dominique are deeply in love, and spend all of their time together. Dominique hasnt officially moved in to Kailyns place yet, but she might as well have, as shes always there, a source close to the Teen Mom 2 star told Hollywood Life on Nov. 23.

Lowry lives in Delaware with her three kids. As fans of the reality star well know, Lowry shares 7-year-old son Isaac with Jo Rivera, 4-year-old son Lincoln with Javi Marroquin, and 3-month-old Lux Russell with Chris Lopez.

Lowry's most recent relationship with Lopez, which began just after she split from former husband Marroquin in May 2016, ended just weeks into her pregnancy. Then, months later, Lowry told the reality series' reunion host, Dr. Drew Pinsky, that he had cheated on her throughout their relationship and forced to endure her pregnancy alone.

Romantic Relationship Going Strong

Although Lowry hasn't had much luck in love in the past several years, the Hollywood Life source said that she and Potter are going strong. As for Lowry, she recently said that she and her new girlfriend were friends before their romance began.

We were friends for a year and so it kind of just turned into [a romantic relationship]. So, its not like she was trying to wine and dine me to ask me to be her girlfriend, she reportedly said.

Kailyn is really happy and content, Dominique is great for her, and takes a lot of the pressure off of Kailyn when it comes to the kids," the insider added.

Lowry and her co-stars including Jenelle Evans, Leah Messer, Chelsea Houska, and Briana DeJesus are believed to be in production on the next installment of the show but a premiere date has not yet been set.

For the time being, Kailyn Lowry can be seen currently at 9 p.m. every Friday night on WEtv's Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars
Three of Harvey Weinstein's accusers united this holiday weekend in the spirit of sisterhood and strength. Rose McGowan, Asia Argento, and Annabella Sciorra were treated to a home-cooked meal by Argento's boyfriend, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, as the dynamic trio came together for a 'meeting of the minds'.

The actresses are three out of the eighty alleged victims that have spoken against the once-celebrated Hollywood mogul. McGowan, Argento, Sciorra have all recounted their horrific experiences with Weinstein and the effect it had on them and their careers.

McGowan claimed that Weinstein raped her in a hotel room at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997. Sciorra said the producer forced his way into her home and raped her in the early 90's. Argento says that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him at the Cannes Film Festival, and then she succumbed to a damaging relationship with him for a few years.

Each one of the actresses posted on their social media accounts the same photo and wrote that the meeting was 'magical' and claiming each other as 'sisters'.

The Weinstein Effect

Weinstein was the subject of an expose article written in the New York Times back in September of this year. The article stated that three women accused Weinstein of sexual harassment or abuse. Since then, actresses Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, and most recently, Uma Thurman, have all spoken out against Weinstein and named him as their attacker.

In response to this epidemic, McGowan's former co-star, Alyssa Milano, created the hashtag 'me too' on Twitter in order to let victims of sexual assault or abuse know that they weren't alone. The hashtag has since gone viral with people across the globe joining in on the trend.

In addition to Weinstein, several others in the industry were accused of being sexual predators. Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, James Toback, and Louis C.K. are a few of the men who have been singled out and accused of rape, abuse, or harassment of some sort. While Spacey has sought treatment after being accused of groping young actors since the 80's, Ratner and Toback, like Weinstein, have denied all allegations against them. C.K. has issued a lengthy apology to his accusers and to his family members and colleagues.
Mammals ancestors evolved in size and appearance throught millions of years to avoid predators. Researchers from the University of Witswatersrand are on ID19 this weekend to find out whether whiskers played a role in this evolution.

Therapsids were mammal-like reptiles, ancestors to todays mammals, and evolved throughout time. They started off being diurnal animals, of around the size of a dog, some 270 million years ago. Then, with the uprising of the dinosaurs, around 190 million years ago, they became much smaller, around the size of mice, and became nocturnal as a way of surviving these huge predators. Their eyes became larger, the ears presumably more developed and they possibly grew whiskers to compensate their poor eyesight in the dark.

Paleontologist Julien Benoit and physicist Kudakwashe Jakata, both from the Evolutionary Studies Institute (University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa), together with Vincent Fernandez, scientist at the ESRF, are on beamline ID19 this weekend looking for the evidence of whiskers in 8 specimens brought straight from South Africa. Whiskers play a critical role in sensing the environment in mammals. Their sensitivity allows the animals to feel the presence of predators in the area even by just noticing the vibrations in the air. They also help them to move and orientate in the dark.

Julien Benoit, Kudakwashe Jakarta and Vincent Fernandez (from left to right) in the control hutch of ID19. Credits: C. Argoud.

How do you study whiskers in 200 million years old fossils? There is a nerve, called the trigeminal nerve, which is responsilbe for the innervation of whiskers and facial sensitivity, and it is encapsulated in a bony canal, called the maxillary canal. In specimens with whiskers, the nerve should come out of the canal and ramifies inside the lips, whilst it stays enclosed in bone in those without whiskers. The nerve leaves a trace on the bone, and this is exactly what Benoit, Jakata and Fernandez are looking for using X-ray tomography.

We had done some scans in our CT-scan lab in Johannesburg but we really need the capabilities of the synchrotron to find the evidence, especially in the smallest samples, explains Benoit. Jakata, who is the manager of the CT-scan facility in the University of Witswatersrand, says coming here has been an eye-opening experience: The images are really outstanding, Ive been blown away by the resolution you get here. There is so much you can do here, it is a really formative experience.

Two moments of the experiment: setting up the sample (left) and arriving in the control room with the specimens. Credits: C. Argoud.

South Africa is a Scientific Associate of the ESRF at a level of 0.3%, funded the National Research Foundation (NRF), and, since the beginning of their membership the collaborations between the country and the ESRF have flourished, especially in the paleontology domain. In South Africa we have wealth of fossils and the paleontology community is very strong. For years, we could only guess many of the features that they hide. But today this has changed thanks to synchrotron developments throughout the last decade. For paleontologists like me, being able to apply for beamtime is an unmissable opportunity that can lead to carry out experiments that I couldnt do anywhere else, says Benoit. And hopefully well shed light on the fascinating evolution of these mammals, and the origin of hair and warm-bloodedness, he concludes.

Text by Montserrat Capellas Espuny
I am estimating total low CRS points around 350-360. IT experience (Business Analyst/Managerial role)..I have masterss from US with overall 15 years experience (includes 10 years US experience)I have gone through the sites of different Provinces ... Ontario needs 400 points and rest Provinces are either closed or IT occupation not in demand list.. NOCs 2171 (Information systems analysts and consultants) are in NSNP Demand occupation list. I have checked the NSNP site and as per the link Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry | NSOI category B is closed currently.Also I have checked the minimum points requirement is 67 and unfortunately I am getting 66 points (includes spouse 5 points for IELTS) with no points for "Arranged employment in Nova Scotia" and "Adaptability" . I am 40 years so less points due to age.Even if category B opens, I don't think any chance with 66 points. Could you please advise if any other province I could check if I am missing something ?I know this is forum for Canada but please let me know how and where to check any other country open with better chances of migration as myself and my spouse has both given IELTS recently so atleast thinking to put application in queue for if Canada almost zero chance.
Of course it is your decision, but IMHO getting into debt in Dubai as soon as you land here is not a good idea. Buying an apartment costs 25% down payment + c. 7% in transaction expenses (so you need cash for at least 32% of the apartment price). Then they make you sign undated cheques etc. with the amount of mortgage. If you fall back on payments, banks will have the option of enforcing security (they will own the apartment - they do not like it as it is a hassle for them, they will need to manage it and then auction it off, and then they may not get the full recovery on the mortgage), or they will present the cheque for payment - of course it will bounce, then they can file a case against you, and prevent you from leaving the country.



This is not the UK when it comes to debt, so you need to be careful, and think it through, and take time. The local newspapers are full of sob stories from expats like you and I, who got into debt, circumstances changed, and they are in a difficult spot. Similarly, there are expats who abuse the system, take on huge loans, and then run away with the money and/or just run away without repaying.



Your salary is not particularly high - just stay in a shared apartment with other flatmates (many of them in the Marina), and take your time to see how the job pans out and how your stay in Dubai turns out to be.
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A building with a sign AL Thrift House sits tucked between a strip mall and an auto shop along West Avenue, but its not just a shoppers emporium.

Like the sign says, there is a thrift store, but its also the headquarters of the nonprofit Assistance League of San Antonio, where roughly 440 volunteers help administer 10 philanthropic programs that work with schools, governmental agencies and non-governmental groups to help children and adults in San Antonio, according to Catherine Campion, vice president of marketing communications for the Assistance League of San Antonio.

The 30-year-old Assistance League of San Antonio is one of more than 120 nationwide and one of 10 in Texas. It is 100-percent volunteer-based, which keeps overhead down, Campion said. From June 2016 through May 2017, the Assistance League and its auxiliary, Bexar Hugs, had a positive effect on the lives of more than 61,000 children and adults in San Antonio, according to Campion.

The Assistance Leagues flagship program is Operation School Bell, which helps kindergarten through fifth-grade students from low-income Title 1 schools. The students are bused to the building, at 2611 West Avenue, to shop for two new, complete head-to-toe outfits. Last year, the program provided 4,548 children with new clothes or school uniforms, shoe vouchers, books, and a personal safety booklet.

Campion said another 5,672 children were served through Togs for Tots, a program that clothes newborns to children 4 years of age. Members also sewed more than 600 gowns for the newborns.

Through Watch Me Grow, the Assistance League had a positive effect on 33,709 children and adults with a booklet in English and Spanish designed to help parents understand childrens developmental stages.

Members also delivered a personal safety program called Im In Charge to 10,177 children from kindergarten through 5th grade. It provides information on things such as dealing with cyberbullying, according to Campion and Murrell.

The Assistance League also provided scholarships to five junior and senior college students in Bexar County last year. Members also decorated 2,056 fishing and ball caps for acutely ill patients  children and adults  through its CAPS program. Adopt A Resident served 124 senior citizens at a local nursing home. And, through the Bexar Hugs Auxiliary, the ALamo Bears program provided 500 stuffed bears to children in the court system and ALamo Totes provided 480 duffel bags filled with personal care items and toys to children in shelters.

The Assistance League also has the Enhanced Learning Awards, which provide supplements to local teachers to help cover the costs of activities and projects  like a large whiteboard for the classroom, an educational field trip or a science fair, for example.

We have a program that impacts almost every area in the San Antonio community, said Kay Murrell, one of the volunteers. We really try to make a positive impact in San Antonio.

About half of the Assistance Leagues funding comes from sales at its Thrift House, at 2611 West Ave., Campion said. The Thrift House takes donations of clothes, household items, books, jewelry and artwork.

The organization also gets grants and contributions from businesses, foundations, and benefactors. The Assistance League also conducts fundraisers and takes monetary donations from the public.

The Assistance Leagues primary fundraiser is its annual Lit n Lunch, which is also an SA300 event and will be held Jan. 31, 2018, at the Witte Museum Mays Family Center. The keynote speaker is June Scobee Rodgers, widow of Challenger Commander Dick Scobee and founder of the Challenger Centers  one which is located at San Antonio College. At this event, the Assistance League will also recognize a Harlandale ISD high school student with the Rising Star Award for literary achievement.

Assistance League of San Antonio members proudly serve the San Antonio area community with enthusiasm, commitment, and a loving spirit, Campion said. In addition to volunteering for the philanthropic programs, which is really the heart of our organization, our members volunteer in the Thrift Store  packing up estate sales, taking in donations, sorting and marking items for sale, stocking the shelves, and serving store customers. Our members also volunteer their time and talents to making each of our fundraisers successful events. They do these things because they know that it is through this work that Assistance League of San Antonio is truly transforming lives and strengthening community.

For more information, visit www.assistanceleague.org/san-antonio or call 210-732-1200.

gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland
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An Arizona death row inmates Supreme Court case could force an end to capital punishment in Texas and across the country.

The appeal, filed by the powerhouse attorney behind the Hawaii federal case fighting President Donald Trumps travel ban, challenges the overly broad qualifying factors that can make a murder conviction death-eligible in Arizona. But if the court chooses to take up the question, a ruling could affect the Lone Star States death chamber  or shut it down entirely.

Its a broken system, said Ben Cohen, a lawyer with the Promise of Justice Initiative, which filed an amicus brief supporting the appeal. I think the Supreme Court will ultimately come to the place that the vast majority of Americans have come to, which is that the death penalty is unnecessary and excessive.

Attorney Neal Katyal is representing Abel Hidalgo, who was convicted in a gang-related $1,000 contract killing in 2001. His petition, filed in August, asks the court to consider two factors: whether Arizona law is not narrow enough to be constitutional and whether the death penalty as a whole is unconstitutional.

The court can choose to take up either or both questions  or refuse to hear the case altogether. If the justices accept the case, itll head to oral arguments and a decision could come by mid-2018.

The issue of the breadth or narrowness of crime statutes involving capital punishment is a decades-old legal debate. In 1972, a groundbreaking Supreme Court decision eliminated the death penalty, deeming existing laws too arbitrary.

States responded by revising their laws to include specific aggravating circumstances that could make a case capital  and the justices validated the new statutes in a 1976 decision.

In Texas, those aggravating factors include multiple murders, slayings of children under the age of 10, murder-for-hire and murders committed in the course of other crimes such as rape or burglary.

In Arizona, a slightly broader set of aggravating factors includes killings involving a stun gun, especially heinous slayings, murder-for-hire, murders committed in a cold, calculated manner with pretense of moral or legal justification and more.

The court hasnt really looked at the death penalty as a whole since 1976, Cohen said.

But it looks at cases about the death penalty and the machinery of the death penalty, he continued. And every year, it tinkers with that machinery and every year it fails to yield a system that accurately identifies the worst of the worst.

The justices could have announced a decision on whether to take the case this month, but a conference slated for Tuesday was called off. The earliest a decision could come now is in December.

Even if the court doesnt rule on the broader question, the Arizona-specific question could end up affecting Texas, where almost every murder is eligible for the death penalty, according to Jessica Brand, legal director at the Fair Punishment Project.

Having a case heard by the Supreme Court is always a long shot. But some experts are optimistic the time is ripe for a reconsideration of the nations harshest punishment  especially since Justice Stephen Breyers 2015 landmark dissent calling for a full briefing on the matter.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy and Sonia Sotomayor have all expressed concerns about capital punishment in different contexts  and it only requires four votes for the Supreme Court to take up a case.

I dont know which case theyll take and I dont know when theyll take it, Cohen said. But I do know that its coming.
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EL PASO  A giant American flag atop a firetruck ladder waved over the adobe Catholic church where the funeral Mass for U.S. Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez was celebrated Saturday afternoon.

Fellow Border Patrol agents, dressed in olive green uniforms, poured into Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in this border city alongside Martinezs mourning family and friends as his flag-draped casket was carried inside.

Its sad to lay down one of our own to rest, said Ramiro Cordero, a spokesman for the Border Patrol. Its sad to see that he made the ultimate sacrifice. But it honors me, and it honors every single law enforcement agent that he was willing to do that  to protect our nation, to protect our borders and to protect those who serve.

The roads surrounding the 80-year-old church were closed and lined with numerous vehicles from various El Paso County and Texas law enforcement agencies, including from Dallas and Odessa.

A funeral program stated that U.S. Border Patrol acting Chief Carla Provost served as the speaker at the service.

Several elected officials also attended, including Congressmen Will Hurd and Beto ORourke, who represent El Paso. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was also there. They didnt give any comments immediately following the services.

As the agents family requested privacy, media were not allowed inside the church for the hourlong Mass or inside Restlawn Memorial Park for the burial that followed.

Dozens of reporters from local and national media outlets watched from across the street of the Mass and burial, zooming camera lenses to capture a glimpse of the services.

Countless federal law enforcement vehicles with flashing lights took part in the 6-mile procession from the church to the cemetery as Border Patrol helicopters hovered over and near the cemetery.

At Restlawn, flags and bagpipes ushered the white hearse toward the burial site, which was lined with saluting law enforcement officers, Martinezs loved ones and countless flowers. Border Patrol agents carried the casket to Martinezs final resting place.

Martinez, 36, of El Paso was found injured Nov. 18 near the West Texas town of Van Horn alongside his partner, who has not been identified. U.S. Border Patrol officials do not identify agents injured in the line of the duty.

The agents were found in a culvert along Interstate 10 about 12 miles east of Van Horn  about 30 miles north of the Mexican border. The two suffered traumatic head injuries and broken bones in the incident, according to FBI officials.

Martinez died Nov. 19 at a hospital in El Paso. The unnamed agent was hospitalized and later released.

The FBI is still investigating whether the agents were ambushed or attacked, or if they may have accidentally fallen in the desert in the dark of night.

The incident has reignited debate over border security and President Donald Trumps proposed border wall, but politics appeared left behind at least for the day.

Martinez, a 1999 graduate of Irvin High School, is survived by his son and fiancee as well as his parents and two brothers.

Following Martinezs death, his father told the El Paso Times that the agent loved his job and unfortunately had a very dangerous work shift.

Jose Martinez said his son would call him every day to say goodbye for the night.

And I would tell him, Take care of yourself, Son. God bless you, the father said.
With the opening of deer season each fall, more than a half-million hunters take to the Texas woods with dreams of bagging a monster buck, and the jobs of the states 550 game wardens quickly become far busier and more complicated.

Over the summer, its water-related, things like lost boaters, boating while intoxicated, drug offenses, but in November it heats up with deer violations. Theres a serious uptick in the reports I get, said Steve Lightfoot, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Departments press office manager.

Twice a month, Lightfoot, a former newspaper reporter, compiles and edits Game Warden Field Notes, a lively collection of noteworthy arrests and encounters filed by the wardens, some of which almost defy credibility.

Theres usually one or two that reflect total Darwinian stupidity. And theres always someone trying to avoid following the rules, he said.

The latest Warden Notes, published Nov. 22, is no exception, with the lead item featuring a hunter in Upshur County in East Texas who was operating in his birthday suit.

He was arrested by a Gregg County game warden while hunting in the nude along a state highway. Obviously he did not have a hunting license on him, begins the wardens notes.

The well-known nudist/activist later contested the charges. During the trial, his case fell apart when the wardens bodycam footage was played to the county judge. After hearing testimony and viewing a few seconds of the undressed violator in action, the judge abruptly stopped the video and walked out, ruling in the states favor, it continued.

The activist promptly canceled all appeals and settled the citations, which included hunting without a license, shooting across a property line and disorderly conduct, the piece concluded.

The most recent Warden Notes also included a report from a game warden in Titus County who responded to a report of a deer attack in a mobile home park.

The deer was well-known in the community after one of the residents had illegally taken possession of it as a fawn, reads the report, referring to the area just north of Upshur County.

When the buck became too large to keep as a pet, the owner released it on a nearby ranch after attaching white tags on its ears.

Absent natural instincts to avoid humans, the deer returned to its home except now with a full set of antlers and raging hormones, read the report.

The problem was solved when the warden captured the deer, removed the ear tags, and took it to a high-fence game ranch.

On opening night in Sabine County on the Louisiana border, wardens employed an age-old tactic for catching road hunters, Bucky the deer decoy.

Eventually a white SUV slowed to a stop, a man got out and took a shot at Old Bucky, and then, after realizing it was a fake, started driving away.

When a game warden jumped out and ordered the motorist to stop, he fled the scene, with other game wardens in pursuit. The chase ended on a dead-end road where the vehicles occupants were detained and a rifle was found in the back seat. The male driver was cited with four offenses.

Warden Notes also includes accounts of poachers or hunters without licenses being caught red-handed with dead deer, as well as cases where wardens were able to connect deer remains with the guilty parties. Other cases involved hunters shooting too many deer, some of which were sold to deer processors.

Sometimes, Lightfoot said, the lawbreakers actually draw attention to their misdeeds with boastful posts on Facebook.

They post a photo of the deer on social media, and thats where our game wardens get a lot of intelligence. Other people will rat out these guys who they think are poachers, he said.

In Comal County, the discovery of a dumped blood-stained cardboard box containing deer remains led to a surprise ending.

A shipping label on the box led wardens to a nearby homeowner, who adamantly denied permitting hunting on his property despite the presence of deer corn spilled in the driveway. Further investigation revealed a pop-up blind, a mineral block and a 50-pound bag of deer corn on the property.

The homeowner was completely flabbergasted by the findings, the report reads.

When the investigation led to the homeowners son, he eventually admitted to allowing a friend to hunt on the property. The 20-year-old friend admitted to killing the 11-point buck and dumping the carcass after it spoiled. He was cited for three offenses.

A recent poaching case in Hardeman County near Wichita Falls began a week before deer season when a concerned citizen reported seeing deer legs sticking out of the back of a pickup. One thing led to another, and after tracking down and arresting two men linked to the dead deer in the pickup and several others, things got really interesting.

During interviews, the suspects admitted to shooting six deer the previous night and selling five of them to a local deer processor, reads the report.

A sting operation was set up using the two suspects, and after they sold the sixth deer to the processor, the wardens made the bust. The processor eventually admitted that such illegal sales were common. A total of 60 citations and warnings were issued, and the case is still under investigation, according to the wardens notes.

Lightfoot drew on his experience as a reporter in turning out Warden Notes twice a month.

My best friend covered the cop shop, and I thought the police blotter was the most tedious, boring stuff in the world, but I appreciated it as a critical component of the news. So when I was tasked with revising and editing the raw notes that came in, I tried to make them as informative and entertaining as possible, he said.
Naya Rivera has been arrested for misdemeanour domestic battery.

Naya Rivera

The 30-year-old actress has reportedly been charged with the criminal offence after she was allegedly involved in an altercation with her husband Ryan Dorsey on Saturday evening (25.11.17) in Kanawha County, West Virginia.

PEOPLE has reported that Naya has been accused of striking the 'Blood' actor over the head and in the mouth during a walk with their two-year-old son Josey in Chesapeake over the weekend.

And Ryan is believed to have video footage of the incident on camera.

The incident was first reported by local news station WSAZ, and the site have since shared footage of Naya in handcuffs being arraigned.

The former 'Glee' star has since been released on bond and she has been picked up by her father-in-law.

Naya and Ryan's relationship has been on the rocks over the last few months, as the pair had filed for a divorce in November last year.

However, last month the 'Devious Maids' star was believed to have filed a request to dismiss the legal paperwork as her and Ryan - who wed in 2014 after dating on and off since they first met in 2010- had moved on and their relationship was on the mend.

Speaking at the time, a source said: "She is back together with Ryan Dorsey. They want to make it work for the sake of their son."

And the trio put on a happy display as they celebrated Thanksgiving as a family.

Alongside an image of Naya with her child on the American holiday, she wrote: "Josey is the cuteeeest!! #joseyhollisdorsey #nayarivera #ryandorsey #thanksgiving. (sic)."
Georgia Kousoulou is "really struggling" to cope with the harsh criticism surrounding her cosmetic surgery.

Georgia Kousoulou

The 26-year-old television personality has recently gone under the knife to have her nose reshaped because she was unhappy with her appearance, but after pictures emerged of the 'The Only Way Is Essex' star filming with her new facial feature she has received a large amount of negative comments, which is highly "upsetting" for the star.

A source told The Sun Online: "Georgia is really struggling with the criticism.

"People comments are so hurtful she is struggling with the criticism. It's upsetting for her."

The reality star feels "forced" to show off her new feature before it has fully healed because she is due to film the upcoming festive series of the ITVBe show, although her face is still "very bruised".

The insider continued: "She feels like she has been forced to reveal her new nose before it has 100 per cent healed because she is filming and has to work.

"It is still very bruised and will take another few weeks till you see the final results.

"Right now she's not ready to talk about her procedure but in time she'll want to discuss why she had it done."

And Georgia's boyfriend and fellow co-star, Tommy Mallet, has taken to social media to defend his girlfriend after trolls have slammed her for having the procedure.

Alongside an image of Georgia, which she posted on her Instagram account, Tommy wrote two lengthy comments.

The fashion designer said: "Comments like that are the reason people in Georgias positions change themselves.. Every time she had a argument on the show she had people pointing out insecurities that she already had so she changed it... That is your opinion.. You should just keep it to yourself if you feel like it's going to bother someone... It's her body, her life, her Instagram she can do what she wants... If it makes her happy

"She still is a advocate to young girls and older girls... it's 2017 and if you feel strong about something and feel like you need a change then do it!! Get with it people she wanted to do it now she done it.. Have a opinion but atleast be respectful enough to keep it to yourself she is a normal young woman with feelings just because she's in the public eye I feel like people forget this and have to have a opinion (sic)."
Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo has a crush on Stanley Johnson's son.

Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo

The 23-year-old reality star has made it known she has a soft spot for politicians, but she has revealed the males she admires the most and are placed highly on her rankings list is Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and former Mayor of London Boris Johnson, although Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith takes the "number one" spot.

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, the 'Made in Chelsea' star said: "My number one is a guy called Zac Goldsmith and he's so fit. Number two because he's got an absolutely smashing haircut is Boris Johnson.

"Anyone with a good lid can come in my room."

During her time on 'I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!' Georgia has sparked up a great friendship with Boris' 77-year-old father, but this friendship was nothing out of the ordinary for her E4 co-stars.

Georgia's ex-boyfriend and co-star Sam Prince - who dated the blonde beauty for three months from March this year - explained: "I always thought Toff and Stanley would have something in there, they have the same humour.

"And they sort of bounce off each other, which is really entertaining. They are funny together and even after the show I think they will have a friendship.

"It's a blossoming relationship, which is great. I am definitely Team SOFF, as far as I'm concerned it's the Toff and Stanley show."

And the 20-year-old television personality hopes Georgia's relationship with Stanley on the ITV programme will help her get closer to her crush.

The 20-year-old said: "And maybe Toff will finally get to meet Boris, who knows?

"A lot of the girls I know are only interested in their next blow dry. But she was passionate about Westminster, and even said she fancied politicians.

"She has mentioned to me in the past how much she admired Boris, which is why I wasn't surprised when she recognised Stanley. That was classic Toff.

"Some people might think she is faking her interest, but she isn't. She understands politics, she loves it, and she has massive, strong, opinions."
With a view to fulfill current market demands more effectively, the Hohenstein Group in Bonnigheim has restructured its divisions. Services at Hohenstein range from functionalised textiles and life sciences and comparative product testing to quality verification and textile certification. The expansion is aimed at offering reliable quality to customers.Our customers from industry and retail have considered us a reliable partner in the field of textiles and many other associated areas for years, says owner Prof Dr. Stefan Mecheels. Shared expertise across individual disciplines and its unique Full-Service ranging from research and development, verification and certification to inspections and labels for product marketing are the hallmark of this globally operated, family-owned company.

With a view to fulfill current market demands more effectively, the Hohenstein Group in Bonnigheim has restructured its divisions. Services at Hohenstein range from functionalised textiles and life sciences and comparative product testing to quality verification and textile certification. The expansion is aimed at offering reliable quality to customers.#

The industry increasingly requires our expertise as an application-orientated centre of excellence for product development. We offer a quick response time for testing. And prominent brand names use our independent certification as evidence of their product stewardship and to strengthen their product labelling, Mecheels adds. To be able to optimally support our customers in all issues in the future, we have streamlined our organisational structure and closely merged our operational areas that focus on similar issues.Services at Hohenstein range from functionalised textiles and life sciences and comparative product testing to quality verification and textile certification. The managing directors Dr. Stefan Droste, Florian Girmond, Dr. Timo Hammer, Prof Dr. Dirk Hofer and the owner Prof Dr. Stefan Mecheels are responsible for the various branches with immediate effect.Dr. Christof Madinger was appointed as the COO for the testing and certification of clothing, home textiles, technical textiles and raw materials as well as the evaluation of production facilities and product quality during inspections. From November 1, Dr. Stefan Droste assumed responsibility for the international subsidiaries of the Hohenstein Group alongside his duties as managing director. Thus, the company is accounting for the increasing importance of their global laboratory sites. To offer the same reliable Hohenstein quality to customers across the globe is the aim of this constant expansion. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Editor's note: This is the final part in a series on translation efforts in India. In part one, we looked at some contemporary efforts. In part two, we read about the power of the vernacular pen. In part three, we tried to understand why people translate. This week, we take a look at all the translated works making news.

Ambais A Night With A Black Spider, translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, is a new collection from Speaking Tiger featuring short stories translated from Tamil. The stories range from the mythological to the real, and present an intimate look at the authors many worlds.

Blaft Publications which has previously brought out two volumes of Tamil Pulp Fiction translated to English and deservedly has a cult following, is out with the third volume, The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction Volume 3. Cherrie Lalnunziri Chhangtes The Blaft Book of Mizo Myths, from the Chennai-based Blaft Publications, which was out last year, is also a fantastic book that brings stories from the misty mountains of Mizoram to the English language. The thin volume of six stories seems a right introduction to folk stories rich with beasts and beauties from the northeastern state.

The Goat Thief by Perumal Murugan, translated by N Kalyan Raman, is recently out from Juggernaut. Perumal Murugan is an important voice in contemporary India throwing light on the Tamil society in the Kongu region. This is his second book since being resurrected from his literary suicide. One that he was forced into by mobs that sought to stifle his voice.

The prolific Kannada writer Jayant Kaikinis No Presents Please, Mumbai Stories is all set for release later this month from HarperPerennial. Kaikini is one of Kannadas most important contemporary voices. The collection has been translated by Tejaswini Niranjana. Kaikinis stories are set in contemporary India while his style is classic.

Aleph publication brought out The Greatest Urdu Stories Ever Told selected and translated by Muhammed Umar Memon. With 25 jewels that showcase the fine traditions of the Urdu literary landscape the book is a must-have for both, those interested in the Urdu world of words as well as the Indian translation story.

Earlier in the year, the fantastic Malayalam writer KR Meeras The Poison of Love was translated by Ministhy S. The book is a look at love and cruelty from the author of the award-winning Hangwoman, that came out in 2014.

The Glory of Patan by KM Munshi, translated from Gujarati by Rita Kothari and Abhijit Kothari earlier this year, is the first book in the epic trilogy. With a vulnerable throne and schemes abound, this expansive novel about the quest for control in the Patan fort is from a writer whose historical novels have contributed profoundly to the sense of past that Gujarat lives with. With the battle for Gujarat growing loud, as elections near, and a Prime Minister who talks about the Gujarati Asmita (pride), what better time than now to try and understand a part of that?

Broken Man by prominent Marathi poet Loknath Yashwanth is forthcoming from Panthers Paw Publications translated to English by Dr. K Jamnadas and Yogesh Maitreya. Loknath Yashwanth is himself a translator and has translated Mansur Eizaz Josh, Jayant Parmar and Nida Fazli to Marathi.

Arunava Sinha, who translates from Bangla to English, was recently awarded the 2017 PEN Translates grant for his translation of Sangeeta Bandhopadhyays The Yogini. Shakti Chattopadhyays Very Close to Pleasure, Theres a Sick Cat translated by Sinha from Bangla is also all set to release soon from Seagull Books.

Also read parts one, two and three.

The writer is the founding editor of The Madras Mag
Reality might inspire popular Hindi cinema, but rarely in the way that events actually occurred. Perhaps that could be the reason why a brazen terrorist attack on Indian soil captured by the omnipresent 24x7 media still does not inspire filmmakers as much as it should. There is no reason why what we now know as the 26/11 terror attacks shouldn't serve as inspiration for Bollywood. Although it has just about all the elements of a story that Bollywood would appreciate and a decade has passed since the attacks, there hasn't been a single sensible piece of cinema which chronicles what really happened.

The celluloid journeys of wars, terror and other realities unfolding around us often take long to translate to the big screen. Sometimes, an entire generation grows up before such events become cinema  a decade in the case of Gulzars Maachis (1996) which explored Punjab terrorism, or nearly two and a half decades in the case of Madras Cafe (2013), which highlighted the role of Indian intelligence agencies during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka, which was carried out in 1987.

What separates 26/11 from the rest is that a film on the events was being planned even as the attacks were underway.

The images of Ram Gopal Varma accompanying the late Vilasrao Deshmukh, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, on an inspection of the locations of the terror attacks a few days after the events were suggestion enough that the auteur's mind was in motion. Varmas The Attacks of 26/11 (2013) painstakingly recreated the events and was described watchable at best. Varma claimed to have based the lead character, Nana Patekar, on what he learnt from the testimonials given by Mumbai's Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria to the Ram Pradhan Inquiry Committee, as well as Ajmal Kasab's confession, but he refused to take any other account into focus. Through an RTI request, Vinita Kamte, the widow of slain officer Ashok Kamte, had proved that Maria had not given enough importance to the instructions of the then ATS Chief late Hemant Karkare. These instructions, given to the to the Control Room, could have potentially saved lives. Varma was accused of being more keen on salvaging Rakesh Maria's image.

While questioning the lack of popular films depicting 26/11, one must also examine the gap in time between when an event has occurred and when a film based on it is made, especially when this gap is small because it seems to impact fictional portrayal. Oliver Stone's take on Vietnam in his Oscar-winning Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and even Heaven and Earth (1993) riveted the audience, but the same filmmaker couldnt manage to elicit such a response with World Trade Center (2006), a film he made on 9/11 just four years after the attacks. Unlike the events which inspired Stones Vietnam films, 9/11 unfolded right in front of his audiences eyes. Although he set his film in the shadow of the breaking news, it still failed.

Could Varma's film convincingly take an anti-establishment stand when he may have used his familiarity with the then CM's actor son, Ritesh Deshmukh, to get a guided tour of the Taj hotel? The 'terror tourism', which allowed him to view and perhaps even click reference photographs of the site, set the tone of what was to follow.

The film might have suffered as a result of poor treatment of subject matter, inaccurate detailing and sheer tackiness  such as an Ajmal Kasab who cackles every now and then  but what really matters is that it suffered most on account of intentions.

One of the possible reasons why making films based on real events in India always seems to be an uphill task is the intricacies of the bureaucracy involved. Perhaps this is the reason Bollywood produced five films on Bhagat Singh and not a single one of these even scratched the surface when it came to the revolutionarys icy relationship with Mahatma Gandhi. This may also be the reason why Bollywood never really cared about making a thoughtful enough film on the Emergency for a long time. Keeping red tape aside, it is also getting extremely difficult to venture into the historical fiction genre, because opposition in the form of protests have become commonplace.

While filmmakers have the right to express themselves, protesters also have the freedom to oppose films, as long as this dissent is in accordance with the law of the land. But even if we were to take all aspects into consideration, films on the Indian Peace Keeping Force, the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, the liberation of Bangladesh, the Emergency and also the 26/11 attacks are acceptable only if they are based on information which is available in the public domain. In spite of this, popular films that are supposedly fictional accounts suffer due to intent to circumvent ruffling feathers. This fogs the prism through which we view contemporary social and political history, as was the case with Madras Cafe. Director Shoojit Sircar suggests that there was conspiracy within conspiracy but doesnt make this point outright.

But is the fear of protest or political arm-twisting the only reason why Bollywood fails miserably at both depicting history or interpreting it in terms of historical fiction? The manner in which JP Dutta botched up the Kargil War in L.O.C. Kargil (2003), where nearly every character was put under the spotlight at the risk of making the narrative repetitive, is a testimony to the approach Bollywood takes when it comes to real events.

For Bollywood, it is usually all or nothing. It looks at 26/11 in extremely simplistic terms; it can either be the story of an upright man or of the miscreant.

"Its too political", "It's too real", or even "You know how it ends" are the reasons most contemporary filmmakers would cite for not attempting anything meaningful or insightful on 26/11.

As a result, the brave staff of the hotels, the hostage, the heroic men and women who took on the terrorists and the victims in a collective sense, as seen in Paul Greengrass United 93 (2006), would be missing. The first Hollywood film to draw its narrative directly from the September 11 attacks, United 93 chronicled the events that transpired in the United Airlines Flight 93 which was hijacked. The film was praised for its precision in recounting the events even though there was a disclaimer that some imagination had to be used.

Such a film, or Zero Dark Thirty (2012) the multi-layered film where a dedicated operative (Jessica Chastain) continues the search for Osama Bin Laden over the course of two Presidential terms, or even Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close (2011), where a poignant tale is woven around a painful event would be very difficult to execute in the Hindi film industry. In the process of seeking similar stories of our own, are we to feel happy with an Emraan Hashmi calling a stray dog he found on a platform of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus 'Kasab' in Madhur Bhandarkars Dil To Bacha Hai Ji (2011)?
Here goes a simple Bollywood pop quiz  what connects BR Chopras Dhund and Raja Nawathes Gumnaan besides being commercially blockbusters? Ardent readers wont take much time to figure out the connect. Both Dhund and Gumnaan were based on Agatha Christies novels.

The magic of Agatha Christies literary prowess is set to charm us once again with Kenneth Branaghs Murder On The Orient Express in Indian theatres this week. Truth be told, had there been no Agatha Christies mystery novels, filmmakers would be running helter-skelter for their thriller plots and would face a really grim scenario for their whodunit flicks.

While Hollywood has time and again milked the work of Agatha Christie in form of films and television series, Bollywood lags far behind. Despite a 100-year history of Indian cinema, how is it that we've churned out only two films based on novels of Agatha Christie? While the Manoj Kumar and Pran starrer Gumnaan was based on And Then There Were None, BR Chopra based his Zeenat Aman and Danny starrer Dhund on The Unexpected Guest. Its also prudent to note that while Gumnaan released in 1965, Dhund had its commercial release in 1973, which means in the past 40 years Bollywood has not based any of its flick on the works of the worlds favourite story teller.

So what could be the reasons that forced Indian filmmakers to shy away from carving a cinematic piece out of the work of the most acclaimed writer the world has ever seen? One reason could be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. In India, Sherlock remains a more popular figure when vetted against the likes of Poirot and Miss Marple. The number of cinematic and TV adaptations based on Doyles works will any day outnumber the films which are based on Christies work.

Indian filmmakers are not exactly known for their skills at adapting foreign literary works. There are only a handful of filmmakers who have given novels and short stories their due diligence. So while one could find number of Indian films lifted straight from foreign films or made after rights were procured in a legal fashion, there would be only a handful of literary adaptions to film.

One must not forget that Gumnaan and Dhund released in an era when filmmakers took the trouble to source material for their film plot from literary work. Most of the films, which were made in the 60s came from Bengali literature. Writers like Bimal Mitra, RK Narayan, Gulshan Nanda Manu Bhandari, Fanishwar Nath Renu and Rabindranath Tagore were in vogue in the era of 60s and 70s. This movement also forced filmmakers keen towards making mystery thrillers look to the west.

While Feluda and Byomkesh were already being churned out by Bengali cinema in large numbers, the automatic progression was towards Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyles works. One of the most loved whodunits from that era  Ittefaq  has its roots in a Gujarati play.

The trend died a natural death after stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra descended on the horizon. What followed next was an era, which transformed the very fabric of the Indian film industry. Basing films on literary works and defined scripts took a back seat and scripts that kept in mind the persona of stars became the order of the day.

While most of Agatha Christies work has seen a cinematic adaptation, Bollywoods report card remains dismal. The fact that a similar film is being made after 39 years, which has most of Hollywoods top stars, says a lot about attitude of both the industries. The murder mysteries of Agatha Christie are a treasure trove and its high time Bollywood take a note of it?
In Mental Madhilo, Telugu cinemas latest addition to wedding-themed films, theres a scene where Aravind Krishna (Sree Vishnu) goes to meet Swetcha (Nivetha Pethuraj) for the first time at the latters house at the behest of his parents. Its an arranged marriage scenario (called Pellichoopulu in Telugu).

Few moments later, when the girls father tells Aravind that Swetcha is waiting outside in the balcony, he replies, Its okay uncle. We can wait for her. Aravinds father is stunned with his sons reply and reprimands him saying, You are such an idiot. When they say shes waiting in the balcony, they want you to go talk to her. Once Aravind begins talking to Swetcha, she realises that theres nothing in common between them. Hes too shy, an introvert, has led a normal life, barely adventurous, and more importantly too confused, among many other things. Aravind is quite forthright about his inability to talk to women and he asks her for tips to overcome his shyness. She smiles, and asks him, Are you serious? You have never spoken to women before? He nods. She smiles again. She might have fallen in love with him at that very moment, although she doesnt quite say it aloud, but much later, when Aravind asks her why did she say yes to him, Swetcha says, I know what I want. And you are the one for me.

It might sound like a simple scene, perhaps a more logical one, but it holds a lot of significance, especially in the context of Telugu cinema.

For far too long, there have been far too many films, which have entrusted this decision-making power to the male protagonist. Its almost always he who falls in love first, its he who proposes (if the girl doesnt say yes immediately, then he stalks and stalks for days altogether before she gives up and says yes), its he who fights for her and turns into a living example of Atlas trying to lift a planet full of worries and issues that come along with a relationship.

And the female protagonist, whos there alongside him throughout the journey, is right there in the frame - without much to say, either about how their relationship is evolving or what she wants. She exists, but we arent sure if shes alive or a prop in the mans life. We barely get to know what she wants, or thinks, from the relationship and life, and if she voices any concerns, then its more often than not brushed aside by the man because he knows whats the right thing.

It goes without saying that the imbalance in the gender dynamics has been taken for granted, and thats exactly why some of recent Telugu films like Mental Madhilo, Fidaa, Ninnu Kori, and last years runaway hit Pellichoopulu need a closer look because, to be frank, these films have made way for fresh ideas about how to treat the female protagonists.

Shekhar Kammulas Fidaa, one of the biggest hits of 2017, has a fiery female protagonist Bhanumati, played by a terrific Sai Pallavi, who has her own ideas about the life she wants to live. She loves the place she spent her whole life in, and shes so worried about her fathers failing health that the idea of leaving him alone after she gets married worries her a lot. Although Bhanu does fall in love with Varun (Varun Tej), an NRI, she decides to say no to him when he overhears him convince another girl to leave India for good because there isnt much to do here. In the end, when she is told that it was a clear case of misunderstanding, she agrees to marry Varun; however, its only when he tells her that he has decided to respect her decision and stay back in her village that shes truly happy about choosing the right one.

The beauty of this narrative lies in how carefully Sekhar Kammulas turns the tables and makes Sai Pallavi the central character of the romantic drama. One of the underlying themes of Fidaa was how much do you trust and have faith in the person you are going to marry. And this is underlined in a conversation between Bhanu and her elder sister Renuka. When Renuka meets Raju (Varuns elder brother) for the first time, their conversation is awkward in the beginning. She knows that hes a bit tensed and so, she asks him, Do you want to smoke?. She offers him an ashtray, and as they get talking, it doesnt take too long for both of them to realise that they are made for each other. When Bhanu asks her how did she know that hes the right one, she says, Nammakam (Faith). The only difference is that it takes a long time for Bhanu to develop this sort of faith in Varun.

Its a new world order, often disguised as a romantic comedy or a romantic drama, where the protagonists, especially the male character, talk about their deepest insecurities and how they end up drawing strength from the women they meet. For instance, take Tharun Bhasckers wonderful debut Pellichoopulu, starring Vijay Devarakonda and Ritu Varma. When they first meet, they tell each other about their love stories and how life has taken a different turn following a breakup respectively. Its quite evident that Vijay is still clueless about what to do in his life and is lazy to a large extent, but Ritu, on the other hand, is a confident young woman who wants to be an entrepreneur. Despite their first conversation, Vijay still sticks to his way of life; however, as they get to know each other, he begins to appreciate the person she is and that brings about a huge change in him in the end. He even apologises to her when he commits a big mistake, a feat that doesnt quite occur as often as it should in Telugu films.

For the longest time, stories about jilted lovers have been a mainstay in films, and Nani, Nivetha Thomas starrer Ninnu Kori went a step further to put a different spin on it. After Uma (Nani) comes to know that the girl he loved, Pallavi (Nivetha Thomas) has gotten married to someone else, he convinces himself that shell never be happy in her life and that its his responsibility to convince her to leave her husband.

Although Pallavi acknowledges that she got married reluctantly, she isnt the same person anymore and shes actually in love with her husband Arun (Aadhi Pinisetty). Pallavi tells Uma that shes very content and happy with her life, but shes equally worried about Umas current state of mind. As a result, she invites him home to prove how happy shes with Arun. Soon, the film explores the concept of marriage, and how strong the commitment is, even a character from a previous chapter of someones life walks into the their current one.

Marriage has been a dominant theme in cinema from its early days, and in the 60s and 70s, there were scores of films which showcased how families struggle to keep the relationships between all of them together. What has changed now is the approach and in the context of millennials, where theres no dearth of aspirations, the aforementioned films has given us plenty of insights into how relationships are slowly changing. Theres no fear of society anymore and people dont mind walking out of a relationship, if it doesnt respect equality of the two partners; however, this still is a growing trend with more voices supporting the need to give the power to make decisions to women as much as men do.

With more films, such as Rahul Ravindran-Sushanths Chi La Sow among several other films in the making set in a similar space, theres a lot more to come in Telugu cinema in near future. This theme isnt restricted to films alone. While TV serials have long toyed with ideas of marriage and how female protagonists move heaven and Earth to keep the family together, the latest entrant is the web-series medium where hit shows like Muddhapappu Avakai have fiddled with similar ideas for the Youtube generation.

In another recent series, Mana Muggiri Love Story, the female character Swathi (Tejaswi Madivada) freaks out when her parents bring up the topic of marriage at home, and she goes to Hyderabad to work, because shes too young to even think about getting married. Although its a romantic comedy, the concept of a girl being approached by prospective suitors is a running theme throughout the series.

Whether a film is set in the backdrop of a wedding or in the run-up to a wedding, its also interesting that filmmakers have found this space to explore how men and women interpret relationships. Naturally, their deepest fears about their life partners become a fertile ground to build a conflict between the characters; however, no one has dared to question the institution of marriage.

Perhaps, its part of the evolution process which has led the filmmakers and writers to choose this middle path for now. After all, how would we know what change feels like if women arent allowed to speak their mind and men, smart enough, to listen without judging them? Its about power, not dominance, and contentment that ones solace lies in choosing the right one. And that cant be a one-sided process, whether its in real life or in films.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati has taken the nation by storm, with a new controversy around the film every day. Fringe and vigilante groups, politicians, members of royal families have vehemently opposed the film's release as they assume that Padmavati might have depicted Chittorgarh's 13th century queen Padmavati in a bad light.

Deepika Padukone in a still from Padmavati. Facebook

A new controversy arose when the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) got miffed at Bhansali after he showed the film to news personalities without even getting the film duly certified by the censor board. A few days back, the CBFC had rejected the certification application of Padmavati citing it "incomplete". Beyond that, the reasons remained mostly unknown.

The Hindustan Times got in touch with the CBFC CEO Anurag Srivastav and he explained what exactly were the parameters on which Bhansali's film failed to get certification.

"The disclaimer had not been mentioned by the makers. We need an official thing from the makers about what your stand on this actually is. Is it based on fiction, or based on historical facts - you have to put it completely. By leaving that out, the document was (deemed) incomplete, because, for examination purposes, we need to know what they (makers) are saying," said Srivastav.

Padmavati stars Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles. The film was supposed to release on 1 December, but the makers decided to voluntarily defer the release of the film till the controversy around it settles.
A dead body was found hanging in Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur along with a Padmavati protest message engraved close to it, that read, "We don't burn effigies. We kill."

Shri Rajput Karni Sena, which seeks a ban on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film and had also issued violent threats against the director and Deepika Padukone, condemned the violence and denied involvement in the incident.

The family of the deceased, who was later identified as Chetan Saini, alleges murder, as per a report in Hindustan Times. The police, however, had termed it a suicide on 25 November. According to the police, the marks on the neck of the deceased resemble with the marks sustained in a suicide but Saini's family says that he could not have committed suicide. Chetan's brother also spoke to the Hindustan Times and said that "some people are trying to suppress the matter".

The police have also pointed out that Chetan owed a large amount of money to some people in Delhi, and are trying to probe whether that could have something to do with his death.

His relatives claim that Chetan was an affable person and usually kept to himself. He did not have any inclinations towards films and books, therefore the possibility that he wrote the message on the rock is highly unlikely, according to his brother-in-law.

In the CCTV footage, Chetan can be seen walking towards the fort at around 4pm, without a rope in his hand.
Popular TV actor Piyush Sahdev, who rose to fame with shows like Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev, Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke and Beyhadh, was arrested on the charges of rape of a 23-year old fashion designer.

In an interview given to DNA, the actor's brother Gireesh Sahdev who is also a TV actor said he hopes the verdict is in his brother's favour. He tells the publication, I dont think my brother can be involved in these kind of activities. He is not like that. But if theres a .1 percent of him being in the wrong, we will accept it, but I still believe he is innocent."

Gireesh also reveals that he hasn't been in touch with his brother for the last four to five years. However, they did speak approximately four months ago, owing to some personal problems, and thus rekindled communication.

The two have not been able to speak to each other since the accused is in custody at the Versova police station. The judicial proceedings in the case are to begin in some days. Gireesh, says he does not want to speak of the victim, since his brother's safety is on his mind right now.
Many films like The Hurt Locker, Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, First Blood, Three Kings, and Jarhead are based on the hardships faced by soldiers. But few of them have dealt with the issue by using the kind of realistic and nuanced approach that Thank You for Your Service employs.

This is mainly what adds unique character to Thank You for Your Service, a film based on David Finkels non-fiction book of the same name. In the movie, a group of US soldiers return home from Iraq only to struggle with family and civilian life because of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

For a film about soldiers and mental disorder, there is not a lot of loud drama or action taking place in Thank You for Your Service. But that is how director Jason Hall (who also wrote the screenplay for American Sniper) has decided to tell a hard-hitting story about mental illness.

Even in the calmest of scenes in the movie, there is always this sense of unease present among the characters. The soldiers in the movie are not brutish grunts who are always either screaming for help, shouting in anger or hitting stuff around them. On the contrary, they are mostly dealing with their issues quietly or by calmly talking to someone, trying to live in denial of the demons in their minds. There are, of course, scenes in which they snap or break down to reveal their shattered selves beneath the surface. But the general composure which they try to maintain, even in those loud scenes, makes things much more real.

Miles Teller (who also played Andrew Neiman in Whiplash) plays Adam Schumann, a soldier silently being torn apart from the guilt of not being able to safely rescue his fellow men during combat in Iraq. Teller successfully depicts the extent of the mental damage his character has suffered by expressing just the right amount of discomfort required for a scene. Schumann appears extremely disturbed and jaded when he hallucinates in one scene or accidentally drops his infant son from his bed in another. But he also gets more frustrated than usual with small issues, like when he realises he didnt know that his daughter doesnt like chocolate or because of the bureaucratic red tape of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Equally powerful yet subtle is the performance of Beulah Koale, who plays Solo Aeiti  one of Schumanns closest friends. Aeiti suffers from PTSD and frequent memory loss to such an extent that he needs drugs to escape the mental turmoil. Koales facial expression during a scene which shows a brutal organised dog fight is what mainly makes the viewer realise the analogy being drawn in that scene.

Haley Bennetts portrayal of Schumanns wife Saskia is also commendable. Her characters internal conflict arising out of a desperate desire to help her husband while being occasionally frightened of or alienated by him at the same time evokes instant empathy. And Joe Cole has a short but crucial role in the film, as he plays a soldier abandoned by his fiancee.

Thank You for Your Service also never paints the system and the society as some sort of villain which completely neglects soldiers. The system, with institutions like Department of Veterans Affairs and its counselors and psychologists, genuinely tries to help the veterans. But the film shows that there are just so many disturbed veterans out there that the overburdened system cannot efficiently handle them all.

This film also relies more on good acting, direction and screenplay than visuals to drive its point home. But there are some scenes portraying the hallucinations of Schumann or Aeiti whose excellent visuals will shock or scare you.

Despite its realistic storytelling and distinct identity, Thank You for Your Service feels unnecessarily slow and a bit repetitive at times. There are only so many scenes of soldiers slowly descending into PTSD that you can watch before you start correctly predicting what will happen in the scenes to come. The lackadaisical pace takes away some of the intensity of the movie.

Also, because the movie only portrays the problem without even trying to come up with some solutions, the point being made in some scenes seems pretty obvious and dull.

Nonetheless, Thank You for Your Service is an honest, well-intentioned and unique film which treats mental illness with the seriousness and sensitivity that it deserves.
Mumbai: Rich tributes were paid on Sunday to those who laid down their lives fighting terrorists during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

Sunday is the ninth anniversary of the carnage, carried out by 10 terrorists from Pakistan over three days, that left 166 people dead.

Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and a few state ministers laid wreaths at the police memorial in South Mumbai this morning and observed silence in memory of the bravehearts.

DGP Satish Mathur, Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar and top police officials also paid tributes to the bravehearts.

Family members of those killed were among those who paid respect to the departed souls.

"To the 166 lives lost...to over 239 injured...to the innumerable memories etched on the firmament forever and to Mumbai, the city which picked up its pieces and started stronger than ever - A Salute and A Bow of Gratitude from Mumbai Police!" the Mumbai Police tweeted.

To the 166 lives lost...to over 239 injured...to the innumerable memories etched on the firmament forever & to Mumbai, the city which picked up its pieces & started stronger than ever - A Salute & A Bow of Gratitude from Mumbai Police! pic.twitter.com/TQrGHjewbp  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) November 26, 2017

The financial capital was attacked by 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, who came here by the sea route, on November 26, 2008.

In the mayhem that followed for the next three days, 166 people, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos, were killed.

The terrorists targeted prominent places like the iconic Taj Mahal hotel, the CSMT railway station and the Nariman House.

Nine of the terrorists were gunned down by security personnel, while the tenth one, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive. He was later tried in a court and sentenced to death.

The 25-year-old was hanged in November 2012.
Mumbai: In the memory of those who lost their lives in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack on its ninth anniversary, various events have been organised in the city on Sunday, including a `Salutation Ceremony' by the city police.

The Mumbai police have organised `Salutation Ceremony' at Shahid Smarak at the Police Gymkhana at Marine Lines at 9 am on Sunday, said an official.

Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, DGP Satish Mathur, city police commissioner Datta Padsalgikar, ministers, senior bureaucrats, police officials and family members of those killed will pay homage to them.

Tributes will also be paid at the memorial of assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Ombale at Girgaum Chowpatty. It was at this spot that Ombale caught Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab alive while getting killed himself.

Hundreds of people are also expected to offer tributes at the city landmarks targeted by Pakistani terrorists, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Taj Hotel at the Gateway of India, Cafe Leopold, Rang Bhavan Lane near Cama Hospital and St Xavier's College where then ATS chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte and Inspector Vijay Salaskar were killed.

Family members of the deceased will be felicitated at the Bombay Stock Exchange in the presence of chief minister Fadnavis, RSS leader Indresh Kumar, Union ministers Hansraj Ahir and Kiren Rijiju and Lieutenant-General Vishwambhar Singh, General Officers Commanding, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa.

Seventeen jawans of the Border Security Force, who set out for Mumbai on 14 November on `Martyrs' Ride', are expected to reach the Gateway of India on Sunday.

'Still feel papa will return home'

The daughter of policeman Tukaram Ombale, who was killed while trying to capture terrorist Ajmal Kasab, says her family still awaits his return, nine years after the Mumbai terror attacks.

"We feel papa will come home any moment, although deep in our heart we know that he will never be amongst us now," says a teary-eyed Vaishali Ombale, the eldest daughter of the Mumbai terror attacks hero.

"We always think that Papa has gone out on duty and will return home. We have kept his belongings at the place they used to be in our home. Our family is proud of his supreme sacrifice," Vaishali Ombale, who has completed her M.Ed (Masters in education) and aspires to be a lecturer, told PTI.

Ombale, an assistant sub-inspector, was killed by Kasab's bullets in the early hours of 27 November, 2008.

In a daring act, he had pounced on Kasab without thinking much about the consequences. His bravery had made it possible for the police to overpower Kasab, the only 26/11 terrorist to be captured and hanged.

"Not a day has gone by in the last nine years that we have not remembered him," said Vaishali Ombale, who stays at the Worli Police Camp with her mother Tara and sister Bharti, who is an officer in the state GST department.

"For how long will police or armed forces personnel continue losing their lives in the name of supreme sacrifice," she asked.

"This should stop somewhere. There should be a change in this scenario. Every citizen should always be alert and foil incidents in which we are losing our men," she said, ahead of the 26/11 attacks anniversary.

Vaishali Ombale said citizens should know their responsibilities and must understand that when policemen or armed forces personnel get killed in the line of duty, it is not only the family's loss but also that of the country.

"Satara district in Western Maharashtra from where my family hails has a long history of martyrs. Among the recent ones are CRPF head constable Ravindra Dhanawade, who was killed while fighting terrorists in Kashmir in August and Colonel Santosh Mahadik, who died while fighting terrorists in Kashmir in 2015. The list is unending, which disturbs me a lot," she said.

"We treat every member of a martyr's family like our own family and we help them overcome the grief," she said.

Vaishali Ombale gives tuitions to students from Class 8 to junior college, which keeps her busy and makes her forget the pain of losing her father.

On November 26, 2008, 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) arrived in Mumbai by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people on different locations. In the mayhem that followed over the next three days, 166 people were killed, including 18 police officers and two NSG commanders, and 308 people injured, besides property worth crores left damaged.

Attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed released

The man who engineered these attacks, JuD chief and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed was released before dawn on Friday after a three-judge panel in Pakistan ended his house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore. The move outraged both US and Indian authorities.

The White House on Saturday warned that serious repercussions are in store for US-Pakistan relations unless Islamabad detained and charged Saeed. "(Hafiz) Saeeds release, after Pakistans failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a deeply troubling message about Pakistans commitment to (combating) international terrorism and belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil, the White House said in a statement.

If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation, the Trump government said.
Mumbai: As Mumbai commemorated the 2008 terror attacks that left 168 people dead, relatives of the victims said Sunday that they're angry Pakistan has released a militant linked to the massacre.

Swati Ajay Gavande, the widow of a slain police officer, said Hafiz Saeed should never have been released from house arrest. She said his release makes her sad for all the grieving families.

Her husband, Ajay Gavande, was among those shot and killed after 10 gunmen fanned out across Mumbai and attacked hotels, a major train station and a Jewish center on 26 November, 2008.

People across Mumbai gathered Sunday to mark the ninth anniversary of the attacks by laying wreaths and lighting candles.

Shyam Bihari, who was working at a railway station stall when the attacks began and was shot in the shoulder, said Saeed was responsible for the deaths.

"I feel really sad, but I can't do anything," he said. "I prayed they would put him behind bars for his lifetime, so that no more innocent people would die."

Indian and US authorities were also outraged at Friday's release of Saeed. He ran an organisation widely believed to be a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, which India believes was behind the attack.

In a statement Saturday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the US "strongly condemns" Saeed's release and urged that he be re-arrested and prosecuted.

"Saeed's release, after Pakistan's failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a deeply troubling message about Pakistan's commitment to combatting international terrorism and belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil," Sanders said.

She said further inaction by Pakistan would have "repercussions" for bilateral relations and for Pakistan's global reputation.

Maninderjeet Singh Bitta, chairman of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front, said the release by Pakistan was adding salt to India's wounds. He said he would ask India's government to raise the matter with the United Nations.
Days after Gandhinagar archbishop Thomas Macwan's letter against "nationalist forces" saying that minorities in the country felt insecure became public, the state Election Commission in Gujarat served a notice to the priest on Saturday seeking an explanation, according to media reports.

Served through the District Election Officer of Gandhinagar, the notice seeks an explanation on why his letter should not be viewed as a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, according to The Indian Express.

The report added that the notice was sent after the Election Commission of India received a complaint from an organisation called Legal Rights Observatory.

The complaint sought "immediate action" against the archbishop, as Macwan's letter "was an attempt to generate fear among voters to divide people on the basis of caste and creed", The Financial Express reported.

Citing examples from history where communist governments and dictators were toppled in the past, Macwan through his letter had urged the Christian community to pray together during the election.

The archbishop also claimed that there was no "malicious" intent behind the letter. "We can always pray for good humans to be elected as leaders. Where do we Christians stand in Gujarat, at a bare 0.5 percent of population? It has not been issued with any bad intention. If anyone uses the letter to divide the society or polarise voters, it will be unfortunate, Macwan said.

Macwan had confirmed to Firstpost that he wrote the letter and added, "Every time an election takes place we write letters to guide people. I dont have mala fide intention against anyone".

He claimed he was not referring to the BJP when he wrote of nationalist forces, explaining that in his view, nationalist forces were narrow-minded people, as against those who would protect the country and the Constitution.

The letter starts with the following paragraph on the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections:

"The dates of Gujarat state Assembly have been declared. The results of this election are significant and it will have its repercussion and reverberation throughout our beloved nation. It will influence the future course of our country. We are aware that the secular and democratic fabric of our country is at stake. Human rights are being violated. Constitutional rights are being trampled. Not a single day goes without an attack on our churches, church personnel, faithful or institutions. There is a growing sense of insecurity among the minorities, OBCs, BCs, poor. Nationalist forces are on the verge of taking over the country. The election results of Gujarat state Assembly can make a difference."
Udupi: A senior Hindu seer on Saturday said Hindus must bear at least four children till the Uniform Civil Code is implemented to check "demographic imbalance".

Swami Govindadev Giriji Maharaj of Bharat Mata Mandir in Haridwar said the two-child policy should not be restricted to Hindus alone, noting that India had lost those territories wherever Hindu population reduced, resulting in demographic imbalance.

He was speaking to reporters on the second day of the three-day Dharma Sansad organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, in the temple town of Udupi of coastal Karnataka.

The Swami said the government was insisting on a maximum of two children, but till the time the Uniform Civil Code is implemented, Hindus should have at least four children. India lost many of its territories wherever Hindu population reduces, he said.

"We have seen that India lost those territories wherever Hindu population reduced, resulting in demographic imbalance. The two-child policy should not be restricted to Hindus alone," he added.

On cow-vigilantism, the seer said some criminals were settling personal scores under the guise of 'Gau Rakshaks'.

"Gau Rakshaks are peace loving people. They have been defamed by some vested interests. Some criminals are settling scores under the guise of Gau Rakshaks," said Giriji Maharaj.

The mega religious event is being attended by over 2,000 Hindu seers, matt heads and VHP leaders from all over the country.
Hyderabad: The Rachakonda Police busted an online sex racket on Sunday and nabbed three persons associated with it on charges of human trafficking.

A woman, an Uzbek national who was overstaying in India after her visa expired, was rescued during the operation, police added.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said the police, acting on a tip-off, conducted a decoy operation at a hotel and apprehended the alleged racket kingpin Jogeshwar Rao and his associates L Gopal and K Gopi.

"Rao had brought the Uzbek woman, in her mid 20s, to Hyderabad from Delhi about a week ago and pushed her into prostitution. The woman has told us she came to Delhi about nine months ago on a six-month tourist visa. Her visa had expired and she was overstaying in India," Bhagwat said.

The officer said Rao was engaging models and women of foreign nationalities in flesh trade as part of his online racket.

The three men were booked for human trafficking, the police said.

On 23 November, the Hyderabad Police had arrested a 63-year-old man and a woman on charge of running a brothel at a flat here. The police had then rescued a 27-year-old woman, who also belonged to Uzbekistan.
The Azim Premji Foundation has been working to contribute to improving quality of government schools through its field institutes across a number of districts in six states. The author visited nine schools in the Ganga Valley blocks of Uttarkashi district between 21 and 24 August and ten schools in Yamuna Valley between 11 and 15 September.

On a rainy Sunday evening in the hill town of Uttarkashi, while most people were sitting snug and warm inside their homes, 105 teachers travelled several kilometres to attend a lecture by Devendra Mewadi, a philosopher of science from Kumaon. Mewadi had drawn a full house the previous evening as well, in Chinyalisaur, a small town in the same district, where over 130 people listened to his talk titled 'Shikshan Mein Vaigyanik Chintan'.

To understand the significance of such enthusiastic participation by teachers in academic meetings, perhaps a short background would help. Over the past few years, the concept of a voluntary forum where teachers get together periodically, either on holidays or in the evenings after school, to discuss academic and pedagogic issues has taken root in every district where the Azim Premji Foundation has introduced it.

In these districts, the foundation has also established a number of "teaching learning centres" that serve as hubs for teachers to meet informally, browse books, access material on the internet, and so on. The attendance for these voluntary forums is usually around 20, depending on the subject or the topic being discussed (themes such as the aim of education, school leadership, or the Constitution of India have been discussed).

The teachers invest their personal time and their own money for transport to attend these forums. It is well recognised that self-development initiatives are effective when participation is voluntary, and not because of some instruction from the department. Based on this principle, 'Voluntary Teacher Forums' were established as a platform for self-motivated teachers to discuss academic and pedagogic topics that will help them become better at their profession.

A key reason for the gradual increase in the number of people attending these voluntary teacher forums in recent times is the role of WhatsApp groups that teachers have formed. The 'Math resource group', the first to be formed, now has over 150 teachers. The science teachers of Uttarkashi district, after attending a workshop two years ago, formed the 'Innovative science group', and this group now has over 100 teachers. In 2017, language teachers created their own group called 'Culture of reading and writing'. Teachers have also formed groups for their respective blocks, cutting across lower primary and upper primary schools and across subjects, such as 'Purola block teachers group' and 'Naugaon block teachers group'.

The full house in attendance to hear a lecture by a philosopher of science on a holiday is evidence that these WhatsApp group formations do help galvanise teachers' interest in self-development. How did 105 teachers attend Mewadi's lecture at Uttarkashi and 130 at Chinyalisaur? The answer lies in the reinforcement of a desire to learn through regular academic dialogue that take place on these WhatsApp groups. In the distant villages of Sunali or Bhatwari, when some respected teachers informed 200 colleagues on their WhatsApp groups that they were looking forward to a lecture by Mewadi, two things happened: Every teacher received intimation of such a lecture (in case s/he had missed earlier announcements) and it also served as an endorsement that these talks will be useful and relevant.

However, even the best of training workshops face a limitation, in that teachers may love the programme and give great feedback to facilitators, but then go back to their routine practices at schools. In an unexpected way, these WhatsApp groups help the longevity of training workshops and courses, as the teachers continue discussing elements of the programmes and their applications in their WhatsApp conversations.

The key to the sustainability of these groups is the richness of academic and pedagogic issues that are discussed. For example, a teacher initiates a query on the best way to introduce the subject of data, frequency and graphs. A teacher in another block 100 kilometres away responds saying how she does it in her class and also uploads pictures of the material that she used. This helps not only the teacher who posted the query but also perhaps many others. Puzzles and problems are often shared  from books, question papers, internet  followed by solutions.

Some conversation threads can get long as several ideas are offered on the teaching of a concept. The group is usually not satisfied by just the correct answer and probe each other for the "how" and point out if any step is not correct. Multiple ways of cracking the same problem emerge by this collective effort. It seems to be a great way to spread local solutions and approaches. A Mathematics educator might critique some of their models but what is important is that they are thinking and designing instead of buying readymade material for their classrooms.

The nature of academic exchanges are similar in the Science group as well. In the generic Block Teachers groups, the exchanges include government circulars and such relevant information, the announcement of workshops and events or news of the achievements of their colleagues, especially if s/he receives an award. If a Hindi version of a good article is available, this is immediately shared in the group.

Teaching English is perhaps the most stressful, as even the better teachers are inadequately prepared. Shanthiprasad, a very experienced teacher, explained how the internet and WhatsApp groups are helping teachers like him. "After Azim Premji Foundation conducted a workshop on English teaching in 2016, around 50 teachers from Tehri and Uttarkashi formed a 'Project English' WhatsApp group. This has become the platform for us to ask queries, look for solutions and exchange information. Smartphones are the biggest change makers. Now we don't have to be computer savvy because we access the internet on our smartphones. We have instant references there. Our group's reading has increased significantly, as also our mutual sharing and learning. Although our conversations are mostly in Hindi, our discussion is on the teaching of English. None of us has an opportunity or occasion to talk in English, so you can imagine how useful such a forum is for us," he said.

There is perhaps a lesson here for all of us  technology in education works best as a natural solution for teacher networks here rather than as a forced input.

WhatsApp groups can descend to inane conversations or as forums for hot tempered political arguments. But thus far, the teachers' groups in Uttarkashi have kept such things out of their exchanges through stern moderation. Trends are encouraging: Groups are focussed on their academic purpose; key resource persons who are good at their subjects are contributing to conversations without dominating the exchanges. What is equally critical is that the teachers who are not visible in these group exchanges are also engaged. We know that a large number of teachers have always had a desire to learn and develop, but do not possess the initiative for their self-development. By joining these WhatsApp groups, these teachers are now learning and developing their understanding.

We can leave the final word to one of the senior teachers, a veteran with over 30 years of teaching experience. "A sense of comradeship has developed. It seems that these WhatsApp groups are paving the way for teachers to be in touch with each other professionally and learn and grow in a continuous manner. It is also a window through which they connect to the outer world and share their work," he said.

Part 1 of the series: Rural school teachers are trailblazers, ensuring students' scientific temper is not confined to rote-learning

Part 2 of the series: In Uttarkashi schools, a poem inspires teachers to reflect on classroom interactions, make learning fun for students

Part 3 of the series: Scraped knees and spirited minds: How an Uttarakhand girls' school defied odds to become kabaddi champion

The author is the chief operating officer of the Azim Premji University. He can be reached at giri@azimpremjifoundation.org
Jammu: The Centre's special envoy on Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, on Saturday met the migrant families living at Talwara camp in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir who appraised him about their problems and demands.

Over 2,200 migrant families are living at Talwara camp since 1996 when they were forced to flee their homes in Udhampur, Reasi, Doda, Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu region at the height of militancy.

Sharma, who visited Srinagar and Jammu earlier in November, met Kashmiri pandits at Jagti township on Friday and would be in the state for four days.

The Centre's special representative on Saturday visited Talwara camp and met militancy-affected people of Jammu region and heard their issues, officials said, adding Sharma also took stock of the amenities at the camp.

According to the residents of the Talwara camp, this was for the first time that an interlocutor visited the camp in the last two decades.

The residents said they welcome the visit of Sharma and hope that all their grievances would be addressed in a time-bound manner.

Accusing the successive central and state governments of meting out "step-motherly treatment" to them, the residents said their demands included construction of flats, better living facilities, renovation of government school building and an employment package for the jobless youth.

They demanded the same facilities being provided to Kashmiri Pandits living in different parts of Jammu.
Srinagar: Militants attacked a Congress leader's house in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district on late Saturday, officials said on Sunday.

Police said a few shots were heard on late Saturday evening near the house of Imtiyaz Parray, Congress leader and the son of slain counter-insurgent commander, Kuka Parray, in Hajin area in Bandipora district.

"We are ascertaining the facts," police said.

Imtiyaz Parray, who was at home when the attack took place, told reporters the militants opened fire and also hurled a grenade at his home.

"Fortunately, nobody was hurt," Parray told reporters.

On 2 November, the body of 30-year-old BJP youth wing leader Gowhar Hussain Bhat, who was kidnapped by militants, was recovered from an orchard in Kiloora in Shopian district of south Kashmir with his throat slit.

Bhat, a resident of Bonagam in Shopian, 52 kilometre from Srinagar, was the district president of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha.

Reacting to the incident, Union minister Vijay Goel had said that the killing of BJP leader strengthened the resolve of the government to stamp out terrorism from the state.

In March, militants had attacked the ancestral home of a Jammu and Kashmir minister in South Kashmir's Anantnag district and injured two policemen. Armed militants stormed into Jammu and Kashmir Minister of State for Hajj and Auqaf Farooq Andrabi's house in Dooru Anantnag.

With inputs from agencies
Mumbai: Union minister Kiran Rijiju on Sunday said India had adopted a "zero-tolerance policy" towards terrorism and lamented that neighbour Pakistan was not doing enough to control the growth of terror on its soil.

"The government has made it clear on various international platforms that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism," he said at a function to commemorate the supreme sacrifices made by the security personnel during the Mumbai terror attack nine years ago.

On 26 November, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists reached Mumbai via the sea route and opened indiscriminate fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores of rupees.

"India has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism. I do not want to go into its details but the outline is clear," Rijiju said.

Asked about the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the Union Minister of State for Home said, "It is a matter of concern for us. We have been putting pressure on Pakistan in a bilateral way as well as through multilateral forums."

Saeed is also the founder of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The UN and US-designated terrorist, who has a USD 10 million American bounty on his head, was freed by Pakistan on Friday.

Rijiju said, "On various international forums, we are making it absolutely clear that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism and it is not doing enough to contain the growth of terrorism on its soil. They must do much more than what they had said."

Asked about the neighbouring country being reluctant to cooperate in the Pathankot terror attack probe, the BJP leader said, "Our stand is clear and efforts are going on. I cannot disclose certain aspects of the attack or our efforts."

In January 2016, terrorists had sneaked into an Indian Air Force base in Punjab's Pathankot. The attack had claimed the lives of seven security personnel, while four terrorists were killed.

Rijiju said the coastal borders of India were much more secure now.

"We have taken a series of measures to secure the coastal borders. We have adopted a series of integrated coastal security schemes which are effective," he added.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will begin hearing a case on Monday that prosecutors say shows how Islamic State sympathisers are using Love Jihad  marrying Hindu women and converting them to Islam  to win recruits and spread their message.

Over the past 28 months, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has picked up dozens of interfaith couples in the southern state of Kerala to question them about their marriages.

The women - all Hindus who married Muslim men  were asked extremely personal questions during the interrogations, two police officers from the agency said: Did you sleep with your husband before getting married? Did he suggest you visit Islamic shrines before marriage? Did he blackmail you before you converted to Islam?

They were looking for cases of Love Jihad, a term publicized by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other hardline Hindu groups soon after they helped propel Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power in 2014. It refers to what these groups say is an Islamist campaign to convert Hindu women through seduction and marriage.

Police investigations at the time found no evidence of any organised strategy, and the claim was widely ridiculed. But since then, the NIA began focusing on Kerala - a southern state along the Arabian Sea with strong economic links to West Asia.

It investigated 89 cases of Love Jihad and found nine to be alliances planned by people linked to the Islamic State, two NIA sources said, requesting anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The NIA plans to present evidence in all nine cases to the Supreme Court. The agency declined to disclose the evidence they have. But in two of the cases the agency was examining money sent from an Islamic school in Iraq to the womens bank accounts, and in another case a woman and her husband had shared Islamic State videos among people in their Kerala village, the sources said.

RSS EXPANDING INFLUENCE

Opposition parties say the investigation shows the government is allowing the RSS and others to use the state apparatus to further an agenda of establishing Hindu dominance in India, where 13 percent of the population is Muslim.

MB Rajesh, a federal lawmaker and member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which rules Kerala, said the NIA and the RSS are trying to prove that marriages between Hindus and Muslims are forced unions.

The NIAs probe is creating religious fault lines to help Modis party win (Keralas) state elections, but we will defeat them.

J. Nandakumar, an RSS leader who oversees the groups activities in the state, said the NIA probe vindicates the Hindu rights campaign against religious conversions.

Their first step is to convert Hindu boys and girls, hypnotise them and prepare them for jihad, he said.

The RSS, which founded the first iteration of Modis ruling Bharatiya Janata Party six decades ago, believes India is fundamentally a Hindu nation. Since Modis election in May 2014, the RSS has expanded its membership and influence across India and either it or its affiliates now run key ministries, such as the home ministry that supervises the NIA and the finance ministry.

Muslims  who account for 172 million of Indias 1.32 billion citizens - have been under increasing pressure from the Hindu right. Muslims have been lynched for killing cows - considered sacred in Hinduism - and some of their slaughter houses forced to shut down.

Neither Modis office nor the NIA would comment because the issue is before the Supreme Court.

SIMPLE LOVE STORY

One of the Muslim men, whose marriage to a Hindu woman was annulled by Keralas High Court, has appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

The NIA has accused the man, Shefin Jahan, in court of trying to recruit people for the Islamic State, a charge he denies.

The 24-year-old woman, who converted to Islam before marrying him and changed her name from Akhila to Hadiya, was placed in her fathers custody by the high court after he said he feared for her well-being. There is no criminal case against her.

Indias chief justice has summoned Hadiya to New Delhi to testify on Monday on whether she was converted forcefully. The lower court had rejected her husbands request to have her testify.

Slideshow (3 Images)

This is for the first time in the history of India the top court will be asking a woman the validity of her marriage and her religious conversion, said Kapil Sibal, a lawyer and a leader of the opposition Congress party. Sibal is representing Jahan.

Jahan, 26, told Reuters he met Hadiya through a matrimonial website for Muslims while he was working in a pharmaceutical factory in Oman. He said he wants to live with his wife, with whom he stayed for only 48 hours before her father complained to the police.

Our simple love story has turned into an ugly religious and legal battle, Jahan said.

IS HOTBED OF RECRUITMENT

The NIAs probe started in 2015 after the government identified Kerala, which sends tens of thousands of workers to West Asia, as a potential hotbed of Islamic State recruitment. Nearly half of Keralas 33 million people practice Islam and Christianity. Local police and the NIA said at least 100 people from Kerala have joined the Islamic State in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The NIAs nine Love Jihad cases were based on complaints lodged by the parents of the Hindu girls and all were found to have links with Islamic State, the NIA police sources said. The agency dropped the investigations into the other 80 cases because no links to militants were found, the sources said.

Across India, over 270 men and 20 women have been arrested for working directly or indirectly with the IS, according to data at the federal Home Ministry. But Kerala was the only state where the NIA found a direct link between cases of Love Jihad and the Islamic State, the NIA sources said.

The agency says it has uncovered attempts by IS sympathizers to possibly send the women in Love Jihad marriages off to marry or stay with fighters from the militant group, the NIA sources said.

Two couples, who were questioned by the NIA last year, told Reuters that police searched their homes.

I was shocked when they said maybe my husband was a jihadi, and he could be planning to send me to Syria, said one woman who married a Muslim information technology professional in 2015.

Police questioned her for six hours, she said, and before leaving, took pictures of her wedding album.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government is planning to launch a website on medical tourism in the state and provide necessary information about treatments and costs to foreign patients.

The website, which is expected to serve as a single window for information, is likely to be functional in a month's time, said a statement issued by state health minister Dr Deepak Sawant on Saturday.

The portal will provide details of various services related to medical tourism as well as other important information, like the administrative procedures to be followed for procuring visa and the documents required.

The representatives from private and charitable hospitals were earlier invited by the health department for a discussion regarding the portal, said the statement.

The need to develop standard operating protocols was felt when Egyptian woman Eman Ahmed, who weighed around 500 kgs, left Mumbai's Saifee Hospital in May this year amid a row, after receiving free treatment for 83 days.

Noting that exaggerated expectations can sometimes give rise to misunderstandings, Sawant said the aim of the portal is to give a realistic picture to patients about the hospitals, facilities, expenditure, duration of treatment, visa and cost.

The government also plans to set up kiosks at the international airport to ease travel and logistics for those visiting the state for medical tourism, he said.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on 26 November, 2017. It is being republished on the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the terror attacks that rocked the city of Mumbai

As I remember, it was a short burst we heard first: the noises staccato, abrupt  so sharp we were off our feet and at the verandah, the dog already there, ears forward, alert. Peering into the darkness of late-evening November, my first thought turned to fire crackers, though Diwali was long over by then. But my husband wasnt smiling. His Rajput upbringing meant he understood the sound of gunshot better than others, and as it turned out his instinct was spot-on.

The television was already on, news reporters piecing together the story that would ultimately and bizarrely be broadcast live over three agonising days, not just to a horrified nation and the world, but also to the very agents responsible for this brutality  the terrorists themselves.

It wasnt as if random acts of terror were new to us. Terror attacks had already been changing our perspective of the world as a safe place for a while. Then came the 9/11 attacks, which crossed all boundaries of what we had believed probable. So what if they had happened abroad? The fact that a plane could fly into a building, then a second time for real, not in the movies  seemed unbelievable.

In a newsroom at the time, I recall the disbelief in a colleagues voice as he tracked the first plane crash on the internet. Still early, we didnt know what had happened then. But later, the unforgiving horror hit, past all beliefs of unreality, of random acts of cruelty. My husband narrated how the cops, playing rugby with his team, were called off the pitch mid-game  summoned to arms, their departure silent, immediate. There was a sinister force changing the world, and those in the forces had gone on high alert as the news unfolded  globally. But if we believed the boundaries of what we trusted as safe or normal or even moral had been crossed by 9/11, if all things sacred were defiled then  we had yet to see what unforgiving lengths terror could go to, up close and personal. 26/11 was our nemesis.

The word audacious has always irked me, when used to describe terror assaults.

Audacious implies something daring, bold, and implicit in the word is the quality of bravery. Yet terror attacks are an act of supreme cowardice  unable to target soldiers/those in power, they target civilians, the weak, the defenceless, the unequally equipped. How can they be audacious as so many reports insisted at the time?

Mumbai was under siege. We had witnessed terror earlier. Bomb blasts in 1993, the blast at the Stock Exchange so close to home, my building trembled for a heart-stopping instance. I had felt it. Multiple train blasts in 2006, and dear friends from work travelling on trains bound for self-same destinations. I, heavily pregnant and sick with worry for their safety, had felt it. But this attack, this attack that did away with the illusion of safety in places we considered the most secure, where we brought children and the elderly, where we let down our guardthis was a whole new world of madness. Restaurants, a theatre, even a hospital had not been spared in this one  for three long days we were a city literally at war.

My husband and I, we never did find out exactly how we heard those gunshots in our home. Later there were several theories of echoes from the Taj across the bay to where we lived. There were also theories that some from the party had landed on our side and made their way up, firing as they went...

What changed after? Everything. For those in South Mumbai, many survived at great personal cost. Dear ones lost, lives altered just like that. I will not dwell on this part, it is heart breaking.

By way of the collective  every hotel, every theatre in the city has security at the entrance now. You cannot enter a restaurant without being searched first.

The gate at the Times of India building, VTs heritage landmark turned fortress immediately after; this was the bastion that some of the terrorists had almost entered.

On the state and centre level, restructuring, resizing, re-grouping of forces. Coastal watches, more weapons for the police, better training et al. A work in progress, so many gaps were pointed out. So much still needs to be done.

Perhaps we havent had such an awakening to evil since then. But that is not to say it will never happen. We need to be prepared, regardless.

Heres the truth: Even years later, I find myself praying before going for something as simple as a movie. A couple I know travels separately to the same place of work. That way, should there be an act of terror in the city, at least one parent might be left alive to care for their infant daughter.

There has been also been a lot of attention given to a book written by foreign journalists, capturing the horror and its aftermath. Maybe we, as a collective, are still are too close to what happened to be objective about it, some say.

But how to be objective? Terror had already been wearing us down each time it has happened. 26/11? Something broke then. Something we considered alive and resilient and impervious to despair. Lets call it the heart of a collective consciousness. Change is required in the way forward, to protect us all from similar situations. Change in the citys defence procedures for sure, we need to equip ourselves better. That terror attacks havent occurred again is no guarantee that they might not in the future.

Dont take it so personally, friends say when I express outrage over lines crossed, whatever the area.

Terror is not some far away notion, happening to other people, the wolf who may or may not be at the door. It was among us, its cruelty and evil ravaging everything. It has taken away friends and loved ones, it has changed the way we eat and pray and work and think  it has changed the way we live. It has taken our freedom to move without fear. I would ask you to introspect, then answer this: how can it not be personal?

Gauri Sinh is a writer and former editor of leading dailies
With Constitution Day or Samvidhan Divas being marked across the country, politicians took to Twitter to wish the citizens on the occasion.

The 26th day of November was declared "Constitution day" or "Samvidhan Divas" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015.

On Sunday, he paid respect to "the great women and men who gave India a Constitution we are proud of."

On Constitution Day, we salute the great women and men who gave India a Constitution we are proud of. pic.twitter.com/koTBZIIgam  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 26, 2017

Finance minister Arun Jaitley extended greetings to citizens and appealed to cherish "the core principles of our constitution".

#ConstitutionDay greetings to everyone. On this day in 1949 Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly. Let us cherish the core principles of our constitution, remember its framers & rededicate ourselves to the ideals of our constitution on this historic day.  Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) November 26, 2017

Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar took to Twitter to appeal people to join the digital signature campaign affirming faith in Indian Constitution.

This #ConstitutionDay let us all join the Digital Signature campaign affirming faith in Indian Constitution. Click at this https://t.co/oceOGqhBYq and Digitally Sign by filling the form.  Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) November 24, 2017

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari cautioned the country saying, "any nation that looses Tolerance to bold,daring,outrageous & even provocative creativity ultimately fossilises intellectually & Socially"

On Constitution Day what has happened to the Preambular Value-Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith & Worship. Any nation that looses Tolerance to bold,daring,outrageous & even provocative creativity ultimately fossilises intellectually & Socially . We are almost there  Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) November 26, 2017

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah pledged to uphold the constitution.

On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution of India. Today, I renew my pledge to uphold the Constitution. #ConstitutionDharma  Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 26, 2017

The principles of equality, justice, liberty & fraternity enshrined in the Constitution inspire our government to build a New Karnataka. CM @siddaramaiah renews the Constitutional pledge today. #ConstitutionDharma pic.twitter.com/1pJADQvKV7  CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) November 26, 2017

President Ram Nath Kovind paid his tribute to Dr BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution.

On this day, we recall with gratitude the members of the Constituent Assembly who gave us this vibrant and inspiring Constitution. And in particular we pay tribute to Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the Chief Architect of our Constitution #PresidentKovind  President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 25, 2017

Constitution Day was earlier commemorated as National Law Day, after a resolution by the Supreme Court Bar Association, a lawyers body, in 1979.

In 2015, according to Mint, the Centre declared 26 November as Constitution Day by a 19 November gazette notification.
Jerusalem: Overwhelmed with emotion, Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg tried to avoid sharing his feelings. He had spent the past week remembering his loved ones who were killed by Pakistan-based LeT terrorists in a brutal attack in Mumbai nine years ago.

Rosenberg is the grandfather of Moshe Holtzberg, who was a two-year-old toddler when the 26/11 attacks happened and he lost his parents, Gavriel and Rivka. Little Moshe survived the terror onslaught because of his brave Indian nanny Sandra Samuels.

The attack by 10 heavily-armed LeT terrorists killed 166 people and injured more than 300. The terrorists launched co-ordinated shooting and bombing attacks at several landmarks in Mumbai, including the Chabad House at Nariman point.

Samuels, who now lives in Israel and was felicitated with an honorary citizenship by the Israeli government, escaped the brutality at Chabad House with baby Moshe.

She later moved to Israel to help in bringing up the boy.

"It was a moment that shook us all completely, and of course also the Indians. This is a week when we try to keep to ourselves," Rosenberg told PTI.

"We offered our prayers at the cemetery in Mt Olives in Jerusalem on Sunday. Because for us that was the ninth anniversary as per the Jewish calendar. We paid our respects to the departed souls in Afula. It was a quiet and personal affair, limited to the family only," he said.

Rosenberg appeared aware of the responsibility he and his wife Yehudit share, in bringing up Moshe, after the attack devastated their family. He said the family was determined to return to Mumbai to celebrate bar mitzvah for Moshe, now 11.

Bar mitzvah is a ceremony performed for Jewish boys at the age of 13. Some Israeli scholars compare it with upnayana, or the thread ceremony.

"Moshe celebrated his 11th birthday this week as per the Hebrew calendar and we talked about the plans for bar mitzvah in Mumbai. We want him to see where his parents lived and worked. He feels a strong connection with Mumbai," said the grandfather.

In August, India issued 10-year multiple-entry visas to Moshe and his grandparents to ease their travel to the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his maiden visit to Israel in July, had promised the family about the visas.

In an emotional meeting with Modi on 5 July in Jerusalem, Moshe had expressed his wish to be able to visit Mumbai.

"I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there. I will be the director of our Chabad House," he had told Modi, who embraced the young boy on seeing him.

"With God's help, this is my answer," the little boy had said, reading from a prepared script, and concluded, "I love you and your people in India".

Modi had responded, "Come and stay in India and Mumbai. You are most welcome. You and your all family members will get long-term visas. So you can come anytime and go anywhere".

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu promptly asked Moshe to accompany him when he travels to India in 2018.

Moshe and his grandparents are expected to join Netanyahu during his four-day visit to India, likely from 14 January.

"We have received such a communication and are awaiting confirmation," Rosenberg said.

Moshe's parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed along with six others at Chabad House. Moshe was saved in a daring act by his nanny, who, without caring for her safety, rushed inside the Chabad House on hearing him cry.

The 26/11 attacks were one of the bloodiest in the history of India and lasted for three days.

Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive was hanged after trial. The nine other terrorists were shot dead during the attacks.

The LeT founder and chief of Jamaat-Ud-Dawa, Hafiz Saeed, is said to be the mastermind of the attacks.

Saeed carries an American bounty of $10 million on his head for terror activities. He was freed by Pakistan on Friday, just ahead of the anniversary of the attacks, after several months in "house arrest".
New Delhi: A woman passenger, who was to travel to Norway, was on Sunday denied boarding at the international airport due to "unusual and abnormal behaviour", according to CISF and police officials.

The passenger, Panasenko Olena, was to take a Finnair flight to travel to Norway through Helsinki. As she created a ruckus in the check-in area of the terminal building, she was not allowed to board the aircraft and was later handed over to the Delhi Police, they said.

The passenger was taken to Safdarjung hospital for a medical test and since she was a Norwegian citizen, the Norwegian Embassy has been informed, a Delhi police official said.

The incident took place at around 1000 hours in the morning.

"A woman passenger namely Panasenko Olena, who was travelling to Norway via Helsinki by AY 122 was not accepted by airline due to unusual and abnormal behaviour," a CISF official said.

A spokesperson of the Indira Gandhi International Airport here confirmed the incident and said due care was taken of the passenger. She was also administered basic medication to calm her down, the spokesperson added.

A senior doctor from the Chandigarh's Post-Graduate Institute, who was at the airport when the incident happened, told PTI that the woman passenger had "psychiatric fists" and needed some sedatives to control her condition.

"At times, she was lying on the floor and at times shouting at the top of her voice. She was violent also and from her condition, it looked as she had psychiatric fists," the doctor said.

The doctor was travelling to Bhutan for a medical conference.

The Delhi Police official said the woman passenger has been admitted to the hospital as she was found "mentally disturbed" after the medical examination.

"We have not registered any case as she is mentally disturbed. We are trying to gather more information about her," he said. She came to India on 10 November on tourist visa and had visited Vrindavan and Rishikesh, he added.
New Delhi: India and Russia will sign two key pacts for cooperation in tackling all forms of terrorism and jointly fighting smuggling of narcotics during the three-day visit of Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Moscow, officials said.

Singh, who left for Russia on Sunday, will sign an agreement on cooperation between the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Interior of the Russian Federation in combating terrorism and organised crime.

The pact will reinforce the bilateral relationship through exchange and sharing of information, expertise, best practices and help in curbing terrorism and enhancing security in the region, a home ministry official said.

The proposed pact, which will replace the agreement of October 1993, is a step towards consolidating the benefits accrued in the field of security and seeks to jointly fight the new and evolving risks and threats.

The home minister will hold discussions with Vladimir Kolokoltsev, minister for internal affairs of the Russian Federation and other senior Russian leadership.

The discussions would cover the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and international matters of mutual interest, the official said.

Singh will also sign a joint action plan between India's Narcotics Control Bureau and the Russian ministry of interior.

As both the countries have a long history of close cooperation on matters of shared security concerns, this visit will provide an opportunity to further cement and strengthen the mutually beneficial bilateral ties between the two countries, the official said.

Before leaving for Russia, the home minister said India and Russia share a special relationship which has withstood the test of time over the decades.

"This year India and Russia are celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with each other. Looking forward to deepen and further India's strategic and security partnership with Russia," he tweeted.

This year India and Russia are celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with each other. Looking forward to deepen and further Indias strategic and security partnership with Russia.  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) November 26, 2017

The home minister was scheduled to visit Russia on 18 September, 2016, but he had cancelled it following a terror attack on that day at the Brigade headquarters in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 19 army soldiers were killed.

All four terrorists, who attacked the defence installation, were also killed by the security forces.
Shillong: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit poll-bound Meghalaya on 7 December to meet booth-level BJP workers, party officials said.

Singh will also inaugurate a party office in the state.

"The Union home minister will address about 3,000 party workers at the booth-level 'karyakarta sammelan' covering assembly constituencies of East Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi, West Khasi Hills and Shillong City," BJP state president Shibun Lyngdoh told PTI.

The state BJP, which is gearing up to contest in all 60 seats in the state, is also preparing the visit of its national president Amit Shah and other top party functionaries this year, Lyngdoh said.
Hyderabad: India has a wide network of different banks to meet the financial needs of people and hence the government has no intention to consider introducing Islamic banking, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Sunday said.

Islamic or Sharia banking is a system of finance in which interest is not charged.

"In India, the government will not allow Islamic banking, because India is a secular and democratic country," the minister for minority affairs told PTI in Hyderabad.

"There are different government and scheduled banks and the existing banking system is for all. Hence, the government is not thinking of introducing the concept of Islamic banking," he said.

"Some organisations and some people had made a suggestion on this issue (to introduce Islamic banking), but we do not have any such intention," he said.

On the Winter Session of Parliament, Naqvi said the government was willing to discuss all important issues and sought the Congress's support for smooth conduct of proceedings in both the Houses.

"We will discuss all issues. We are expecting that the Congress will allow smooth functioning of Parliament. Because Parliament is for holding discussions and making decisions, and if you only want to create disruption in Parliament then it will affect its decorum," he said.
The White House has warned that serious repercussions are in store for U.S.-Pakistan relations unless Islamabad detains and charges freed Islamist militant Hafiz Saeed accused of masterminding a shocking, multi pronged assault on several locations in India's financial capital Mumbai in 2008. "(Hafiz) Saeeds release, after Pakistans failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a deeply troubling message about Pakistans commitment to (combating) international terrorism and belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil, the White House said in a statement. If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation, the Trump government said late Saturday afternoon Eastern Time.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. is urging Saeed's "immediate re-arrest and prosecution."

Saeed is (allegedly) the founder of a banned group linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 168 people. He has been designated a terrorist by the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. has a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

Saeed was released before dawn on Friday after a three-judge panel in Pakistan ended his detention in the eastern city of Lahore.

The move outraged both U.S. and Indian authorities. Saeed's spokesman Yahya Mujahid called it a "victory of truth."

"Hafiz Saeed was under house arrest on baseless allegations and jail officials came to his home last night and told him that he is now free," he said.

Saeed ran the Jamaat-ud-Dawa organization, widely believed to be a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, which India says was behind the Mumbai attack.

Pakistan has been detaining and freeing Saeed off and on since the attack.

The Trump administration has been intensifying pressure on Pakistan to fight extremists and drive them from hideouts in Pakistani territory.

The campaign appeared to produce some success this year when Pakistani security forces assisted with the release of a Taliban-held U.S.-Canadian family after five years in captivity. However, U.S. officials cautioned that move needed to be followed by additional measures to prove the country's commitment.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said during a visit to Washington in October that Pakistan was willing to cooperate fully with the Trump administration. He said Pakistan had wiped out militant hideouts with little help from the U.S., which has restricted hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance to Pakistan in recent years.

The U.S. in August said it would hold up $255 million in military assistance for Pakistan until it cracks down on extremist groups that threaten neighboring Afghanistan.

President Donald Trump's tough words about Pakistan, a troubled U.S. security partner, infuriated Islamabad and triggered anti-U.S. protests that Pakistani police have had to use tear gas to disperse.

Reactions came thick and fast after the Trump-style stinger to Pakistan. State Department officials, for years, have reacted with horror but stuck to polite diplomatic talk despite "Pakistan's terrorists travelling in open trucks on public roads as free men."

Pakistan has harbored terrorists for years and provides sanctuary to the Taliban. It is a mystery why they are designated and treated as a Major Non-NATO Ally when the reality is Pakistan is anything but. https://t.co/fZUb1Rfhql  Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) November 23, 2017

On several occasions at White House press briefings, especially after Trump took over, officials have reinforced the clear distinction between the US government's relationship with India and the one with Pakistan. Before Prime Minister Modi's visit to the US, a top aide of the US President said the "nature of the relationship with Pakistan is very different from the one we share with India and we all know that". This before the official went on to explain why India was getting the red carpet treatment in the Trump White House and the rich and layered engagement between the two countries over several decades. India enjoys the "major defense partner" tag in the US system and is treated "on par with America's strategic allies" although it is not a formal military ally. Within Trump's team, the number of strong India hands have grown in the last year. Trump's South Asia policy is driven by people who have not just expertise on the region but have spent several years there on the ground.

Here is the full text of the White House statement on Hafiz Saeed released earlier today:

The United States strongly condemns the release of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) leader Hafiz Saeed from house arrest in Pakistan and calls for his immediate re-arrest and prosecution.

LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens. Saeed himself is a notorious terrorist who stands accused of having masterminded the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including six American citizens.

A clear international consensus exists regarding Saeeds culpabilityhe was designated by the United Nations under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008. The Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the United States, since 2012, has offered a $10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.

Saeeds release, after Pakistans failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a deeply troubling message about Pakistans commitment to combatting international terrorism and belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil. If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation.

As President Donald J. Trumps South Asia policy makes clear, the United States seeks a constructive relationship with Pakistan, but expects decisive action against militant and terrorist groups on Pakistani soil that are a threat to the region. The release of Saeed is a step in the wrong direction.

The Pakistani government now has an opportunity to demonstrate its seriousness in confronting all forms of terrorism, without distinction, by arresting and charging Hafiz Saeed for his crimes.

(With additional reporting by Nikhila Natarajan, Firstpost, US)
Bhopal: The Congress on Saturday alleged that the CBI was acting as a "puppet" in the hands of the Centre in the Vyapam scam and was "helping" Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The Congress' allegations come two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet in a special court in Bhopal in the multi-crore Vyapam scam.

"The CBI is acting as a puppet of the central government in Vyapam scam," Congress general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, Deepak Babaria, told reporters in Bhopal.

"The CBI is helping Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who, everyone knows, is its 'sutradhar'. Vyapam scam involves massive corruption. Small fishes are being prosecuted, while the sharks are being let off," he alleged.

As many as 592 people, including four promoters of private medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh, have been named as accused in the charge sheet filed on Thursday, in connection with the CBI's probe into the PMT exam in 2012 conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, also known by its Hindi acronym Vyapam.

On 31 October, the central probe agency had filed a charge sheet in connection with the Pre-Medical test for 2013, in which it had rejected allegations that computer hard disc drives seized from an accused purportedly carrying reference of the letters "CM" have been tampered with.

The agency had said forensic analysis of the hard disc drives seized from Nitin Mohindra, an official at Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, by the Madhya Pradesh Police has shown that no files having letters "CM" were stored in them.

The CBI charge sheet came as a major relief to Chouhan as he was given a virtual clean chit by the probe agency.

Deepak Babaria, on Saturday, also alleged that the media was not giving proper coverage to the Vyapam scam.

The Congress leader said his party would make the issues of rise in rape cases and women trafficking its main poll plank for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections scheduled next year.

He expressed confidence that the Congress will sweep the state elections.
New Delhi: A Private Member's resolution on job reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes as well as other backward classes in the private sector is listed for discussion in the winter session of Parliament.

The resolution, tabled in the last Parliament session by CPI Rajya Sabha member D Raja, could not come up discussion then.

"I strongly feel that if the private sector is getting so much of help from the government, it should also help. They are getting a concession from the government on water, electricity and land. But they do not follow any recruitment policy (on reservation)," Raja told PTI.

Raja said the government should bring in legislation on his resolution as job opportunities in the public sector and the government had either stagnated or reduced during the past few decades while private sector jobs were on the rise.

In the resolution, Raja said SCs/STs or OBCs had been provided with reservation in jobs in the government on the basis of constitutional and statutory provisions to "fulfil the vision of the framers of the Constitution for addressing the problems of discrimination, inequality and deprivation caused by castes".

He argued that government jobs were now shrinking because of privatisation and most of the jobs in any case were contractual, for which reservation was not applicable.

"Reservation is being taken away through the back door," he said.

"In a market-driven economy where the corporate sector is the dominant engine of economic growth, most employment opportunities are now available in the private sector where reservation is not applicable." he added.

The Left leader further argued that the "constitutional provision of positive discrimination"... is being negated by "neo-liberal policies", centred on market forces and the withdrawal of public sector enterprises.

Raja quoted former President KR Narayanan to press for the resolution.

Narayanan, in a Republic Day eve speech, had said, "Indeed, in the present economic system and of the future, it is necessary for the private sector to adopt social policies that are progressive and more egalitarian for these deprived classes to be uplifted from their state of deprivation and inequality and given the rights of citizens and civilised human beings".

Raja will urge the government for the reservation of jobs for SCs/STs and OBCs in the private sector on the pattern of quotas in the government.
A group of artists sat around a bonfire and spontaneously began sketching on a wall with a burning piece of wood, hardly realising something 'big' and meaningful could emerge out of this laidback activity. Nevertheless, this group of artists put their heart and soul over the last six months to create a new set of paintings of enormous dimensions  with a height of eight feet, and a width of 12. These canvases were part of an exhibition titled Nouveau 8/12 held at the Chitramayee Telangana State Fine Art Gallery, Hyderabad, between 11-21 November 2017.

It was evident that the largeness of the canvas provided each artist a greater scope for expression and to include even subtle details of the urban-rural or imaginary landscape. The artists were able to depict themes of their choice and retain their individual styles but their works blended harmoniously in the group show. They masterfully managed to lend their canvases a profound balance, where both unnecessary gaps and cluttered spaces were non-existent.

Shankar Pamarthy engaged most visitors as he peppered his diptych Luv Hyderabad with (Mario) Miranda-esque caricatures of scenes from the daily life and culture of the city, including the most familiar landmarks. Though Nirmala Bikula had also chosen the city as her subject in Mapping my City, she used old maps of Hyderabads Walled City as a reference, also bringing out the adverse impact of urbanisation on the Hussain Sagar lake and river Musi, once the lifelines to the city.

The Royal Gaze by Ravikanth Masuram stirred a sense of nostalgia with a montage of three paintings. Three seated women adorned in traditional jewellery in one, a younger prince holding a sword in another, and a third (other) woman gazing back at the viewer  all of which were layered with motifs in his trademark style. The adjacent wall was filled with a canvas presenting two larger-than-life portraits of rural story tellers in vibrant attires. Aptly titled Tale, Teller and Told, Laxman Aelays canvas is an extension of his research on traditions of folk art and seemed to capture the imagination of almost every spectator.

It was at Laxman Aelays farmhouse where the artists had initially met, and later floated an informal group called the Coal Group. A subsequent trip to the Kochi Bienniale worked like a shot in the arm, inspiring them to collaborate and bring to the art scene in Hyderabad an experience that would challenge the conventional. Keen to push their own boundaries, the group came up with an ambitious idea to have an art show, mounting canvases of 8' x 12', a size none of them had ever attempted.

Manvinder Dawer from the India Fine Art Gallery, Mumbai was entrusted the crucial responsibility of curation of this proposed art-show. I love Hyderabad and the team of artists here are all my friends, so I jumped at the opportunity to help curate and showcase this fine group of young talented artists from the city, revealed Manvinder.

In Crowded Isolation, Bharath Sayam, a 2015 National Award winner, fills his painting with energetic buffaloes in various postures. This particular work echoes the urban milieu of loneliness where one is always surrounded, yet so isolated, explains Bharath. He attributes his affinity to the forms of buffaloes, bulls and goats to his childhood experiences, and they have become a mainstay in his art. The details of a construction site on the periphery are suggestive of an undesirable effect of modernisation on livestock.

Narsimulu Kandi, pointing to his diptych titled Concurrent trends in my village explains, This a typical scene at a village centre with a cross-section of people waiting for a bus and a tea-stall in the background. In addition to the obvious differences in attire and jewellery of the young, old, rural and urban characters across his canvas, Narsimulu subtly highlights changes caused by development in the rural setting. I have tried to portray how life in a village has changed over the last 15 or 20 years. The autorickshaw in the background, suggests reducing number of bullock-carts while small signboards of telecom companies hint at prepaid recharges being cheaper and more easily available than vegetables and groceries.

Behind the scenes, this path-breaking show was not without its share of challenges. Drawing on these enormous canvases was like creating a mural, we needed to be clear about what we were doing, and plan accordingly. We all met often, shared ideas and offered feedback and suggestions, says Bharath while Narsimlu was quick to add that Laxman Aelay was the driving force and mentored them throughout.

Jayaprakash Doma, who has consistently featured the recurring motif of tiger in his creations, had always mulled over a possibility of a grand 18-tiger formation for his earlier shows. And Nouveau 8/12, he felt, was the perfect occasion to realise it. But he took on a huge challenge by choosing not to use a diptych. Since I work with animal forms, there is a liberal use of sweeping lines and there is the risk of losing continuity and rhythm on diptych. Besides, it would be a futile effort if the lines did not align accurately in the end, he reasoned. His canvas One Self in All Forms was created to inspire a sense of universality, echoed in Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma despite the outward differences, we are all essentially the same.

There is more to look forward to for the Hyderabadi art connoisseurs in the near future, Manvinder assures, A retrospective of Surya Prakash, perhaps another show with the Coal Group, and a couple of solo-shows sometime next year, he disclosed.

Anand Gadapa, Bharath Sayam, Bolgum Nagesh Goud, Jayaprakash Doma, Kumaraswamy Bhaktala, Laxman Aelay, Narsimlu Kandi, Nirmala Biluka, Ravikanth Masuram, Priti Samyukta, Priyanka Aelay, Shankar Pamarthy and Shivaramachary Yerraginnela had participated in the Nouveau 8/12 exhibition held at Chitramayee Telangana State Fine Art Gallery, Hyderabad, from 11-21 November, 2017.
Ahmedabad: Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday hit back at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for questioning the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, saying unlike during Congress regimes when middlemen ruled the roost, there was no "Quattrocchi" in the contract for the fighter jet.

Jaitley, who is the BJP's election in-charge for Gujarat, was referring to Ottavio Quattrocchi, the Italian businessman believed to be involved in the Bofors scam which came to light when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister.

"It (Rafale deal) was a government-to-government transaction, between two governments. It wasn't like what used to happen during Congress governments, when middlemen used to be there in every transaction. There wasn't any Quattrocchi in this transaction," Jaitley told reporters in Ahmedabad.

The Rafale deal was made to boost the combat ability of the Indian Air Force, he said.

"I wonder why the Congress leader is raising this issue now, as the transaction was done almost two-and-a-half years back. The very fact that it is being raised after two-and-a-half years indicates it is a motivated campaign linked to the election," Jaitley said.

Responding to Gandhi's allegation that a certain industrialist was favoured and due procedures were not followed, Jaitley implied that Gandhi may not understand such issues because he has no experience.

"Since it was a government-to-government transaction, the procedure was different. Another procedure is of tendering. He (Rahul Gandhi) is not having any experience of running a government. And, it is up to the company (Rafale) to choose its partner (in India). Government of India does not decide that," Jaitley said.

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not want the "truth" behind the multi-crore Rafale deal to come out before the Assembly election, therefore delayed the winter session of Parliament.

"I would ask Modiji three questions. First, is there a difference in the cost of planes in the first and the second contracts (signed with the French firm) and did India pay more or less money as per the second contract?"

"And, has the industrialist (whose company has formed a joint venture with the French firm), who was given the contract, ever manufactured planes?" Gandhi asked while addressing a rally in Gandhinagar district on Saturday morning.

"And a more important question, did you follow the due government procedure? Why the (then) defence minister was seen catching fish in Goa? And, was an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security taken (for the mega deal)?," he asked.

Meanwhile, responding to the Congress vice president's Twitter jibe at Modi over the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, Jaitley advised Gandhi to refrain from such "immature behaviour".

"He is a big leader and such immature behaviour and use of such immature words do not suit him," Jaitley said.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday asked people in Gujarat to vote for any party which they think can defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming Assembly elections.

"If somewhere the AAP is winning, then give your vote for AAP. If any other party is winning, give the vote to them. But defeat the BJP," Kejriwal said at the convention.

Kejriwal was speaking at the Aam Aadmi Party's National Conference at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on the occasion of the AAP's fifth anniversary. "I request the people of Gujarat to give your vote to that candidate or party who can defeat the BJP," the chief minister added.

The event was held at Ramlila Maidan, where the India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare began, later giving birth to the AAP in 2012.

Kejriwal also spoke on the rise in anti-Muslim violence in India. He said that by dividing India on the Hindu-Muslim line, the BJP has done in three years what Pakistan and its ISI could not do in 60 years.

"Under the veils of patriots, they're anti-nationals. They want to weaken the country. That dream that Pakistan has been seeing, which ISI could not do in 60 years, BJP has done in three years," Kejriwal asserted.

Apart from the "five years of revolution" by AAP, farmers issues were also discussed during the convention, along with other current social, economic and political developments in the nation.

Party leaders including Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai as well as Bhagwant Mann, an MP from Punjab, spoke on the occasion.

Also present were AAP spokesperson Ashutosh, National Secretary Pankaj Gupta and a large number of AAP MLAs from Delhi and Punjab as well as AAP corporators from Delhi. The anniversary event saw participation by 10,000 AAP volunteers and representatives from over 22 states.

With inputs from agencies
Agartala: BJP National general secretary, Ram Madhav on Sunday said the ruling CPI(M) would face the real opposition in the Tripura assembly election scheduled to be held in February next year.

"This time election in Tripura would be a different election. Earlier, at least for the last 25 years the state has witnessed elections without opposition. CPI(M) did not face any opposition because it had always a clandestine link with the opposition Congress," Madhav told reporters.

But this time (2017) they (CPI-M) would face the real opposition, he said.

Madhav said after the Gujarat assembly election, the BJP would launch a vigorous election campaign in Tripura and top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi would hit the campaign trail.

Madhav said "we have recently moved the Election Commission to rectify the electoral rolls through an intensive revision before the elections. There is huge number of fake and dead voters in the rolls which need to be cleaned."

A delegation of the party led by partys central observer Sunil Deodhar met the full bench of Election Commission of India (ECI) in Delhi on Friday and alleged that more than one lakh fake and Bangladeshi voters were included in the electoral rolls.

Madhav said the BJP has also demanded that the state administration should work impartially so that election could held in a free, fair and fearless atmosphere.

Asked, if they (BJP) wants to delay the election process in the name of intensive revision, Madhav said, "We do not want election to be delayed. We want election to be held on time, but we want an error free electoral roll."
Ahmedabad: Seeking to counter a Congress' meme mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'chaiwala' past, BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley, on Sunday tuned in to his radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' while having tea with people across poll-bound Gujarat.

The BJP organised 'Mann ki Baat, Chai ke Saath', at all the 50,128 polling booths in 182 Assembly seats.

BJP president Shah listened to the programme at a tea stall in the city's Muslim-dominated Dariyapur area in the presence of hundreds of locals and party workers.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley was present at a booth in Adajan area of Surat-West Assembly constituency, said a party release.

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani listened to Modi's monthly programme while having tea at Mora village in Panchmahal district, while Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel was present at a booth in his constituency in Mehsana.

The other party leaders who joined the programme at various places included Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Uma Bharti, Smriti Irani, Jual Oram and Parshottam Rupala, Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani and several state ministers, MLAs and some MPs.

Irani, who was in Junagadh to take part in the party's event, told media persons that the people of Gujarat will "teach a stern lesson to Congress in this Assembly election for having an anti-poor and anti-Gujarat mindset."

The event was organised ahead of Modi's tour of Gujarat on 27 and 29 November during which he will address eight rallies in Saurashtra and south Gujarat, where polling will be held on 9 December.

The official Twitter handle of the Youth Congress' online magazine "Yuva Desh" had last week kicked up a row by mocking Modi's "chaiwala" past and English speaking skills through a photograph.

Soon after the controversy, the Youth Congress had tendered an apology and removed the controversial tweet.

Chief minister Rupani had dubbed the tweet as "blatantly classist and anti-poor".

Earlier, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections said Modi would never become the prime minister, and that if he wanted, the party can give him a place at its convention to sell tea.

The BJP had leveraged the remark to launch its then prime ministerial candidate Modi's famous 'chai pe charcha' sessions, to connect with voters around the country.
Gandhinagar: Polls pulverise political parties, making them explore the range of antics from about turns to headstands.With love at a discount, all is fair in war and elections.

Gujarat, where elections are due in less than a month, is a case in point. Here we have the sanctimonious spectacle of the Congress vice-president going temple-hopping and the prime ministers partymen courting maulvis to canvass for them. In what is increasingly veering towards a tight battle with the Congress playing the caste card as well if not better than the BJP, the ruling party is realising to its chagrin that there can be no pariahs in this poll, where every vote will count.

Moreso with the Congress strategising to neutralise the BJP propaganda of Muslim appeasement through a conscious resort to soft Hindutva. If the BJP is perturbed about Rahul's temple visits (20 in the past 50 days), the Congress seems disturbed over news that a team of maulvis will be campaigning for the BJP in minority-dominated areas of Gujarat. On 10 November, a meeting of the Congress minority cell was held to chalk out a plan to deal with the situation. Thereafter, it was decided that teams of their cell would resort to 'Gandhigiri' in areas where the maulvis descend for campaigning.

"We will go to the area and with folded hands and urge the clerics to concentrate on performing their religious duties and keep away from politics," said a cell member who did not want to be identified. Sources within the Gujarat BJP also indicate that the Rashtriya Muslim Manch, an affiliate of the RSS is sending in a contingent of Muslim clerics from BJP-ruled states to reach out to minority voters.

Although the BJP has shied away from fielding Muslim candidates, it has already dispatched a contingent of Muslims from Maharashtra  owing their allegiance to their minority morcha  to campaign in Surat. The contingent is led by their national vice-president Irfan Ahmed. Surat and the surrounding areas including neighbouring Bharuch have a fair concentration of Muslims. A central Gujarat Muslim cleric who had joined the BJP with his followers, however, has reservations about the efficacy of imports with the local Muslim populace."The local leaders have a better understanding of the people and their bent of mind and will therefore be more effective than that of those who come from outside," he said.

In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first-ever visit to the Sidi Saiyyed Mosque along with Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in September needs to be seen in the critical context of the ensuing elections and the need to leave no stone unturned to score points. The entire visit of the Japanese prime minister, the Modi-Abe road show in Ahmedabad, the foundation stone-laying for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train and the Indo-Japanese business summit  all just three months before the elections  are seen as part of the party's pre-poll propaganda.

Modi, as chief minister, had refused to wear a skull cap offered by a Muslim delegation during his Sadbhavana fast in September 2011 at Ahmedabad. Interestingly, earlier this month, the prime minister received a Muslim delegation which also placed a headgear on him.

Help for the besieged BJP may also be forthcoming from the Uttar Pradesh-headquartered Rashtriya Ulema Council (RUC) that has already gone to town claiming that if the BJP and Congress do not meet its demand for allotting at least 18 seats it will put up its candidates in Gujarat. The RUC had put up 50 candidates in the Uttar Pradesh election and indirectly aided the BJP by splitting the Muslim vote. A similar scene may follow suit in Gujarat to split the anti-BJP vote.

Modi earned encomiums as the 'Hindu Hriday Samrat' (Hindu heartthrob) in post-Godhra Gujarat, moreso after his statewide Gaurav Yatra that saw rabid Muslim-bashing, but brought him bountiful seats in the election that followed in 2002. However, no sooner did he acquire national ambitions manifested in the three-day Sadbhavana fast in September 2011, that he sought to open a line to the minority community through Ahmedabad-based businessman Zafar Sareshwala, who was subsequently appointed chancellor of the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad after Modi became prime minister.

None of this has however prevented covert attempts at communalising the situation as voting day nears. A cyber campaign is underway, built around communal issues. The campaign goes with the tagline "Congress is coming to fool you". A few sample lines follow:

"Once Indira Gandhi won elections with the cow as the poll symbol. Today, Congress seeks to win an election eating cow. Stay alert, Congress is coming to fool you."

"Congress had said Ram is imaginary, and is now visiting temples and seeking votes. Stay alert, Congress is coming to fool you."

"Rahul Khan (sic) had said temple goers tease women, and now he is going to temples in Gujarat. Stay alert, Congress is coming to fool you."

"Congress, which called 100 crore Hindus 'saffron terrorists' today speaks of harmony. Stay alert, Congress is coming to fool you."

"Congress did not pay heed to the plight of Kashmiri pundits and now goes to court for the Rohingya. Stay alert, Congress is coming to fool you."

These and many such messages are floating around cyberspace through WhatsApp and other such apps. As polling day nears, the messages get more vicious. A video clip doing the rounds shows the anxiety of a couple waiting for their daughter to return. Then it switches to the scared daughter walking home in the backdrop of aazan being heard. As the daughter walks into the home, the worried parents breathe a sigh of relief and are heard saying, "Twenty-two years ago, this was the state of affairs when women were not safe." Then the daughter is heard saying that such a situation will never occur again as Gujarat has Modi. The clip ends with a tagline "Your vote, Your safety".

Sources say more such clips are doing the round, playing on the fear of Muslims and the strong Hindu leader image of Modi. The BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya has however denied that the party has anything to do with this campaign, although the Congress claims it is indeed the work of the ruling party. "It is quite simple. Who seeks to gain by sowing fear and creating insecurity in the minds of the people? Obviously, the BJP," countered Dr Manish Doshi of the Congress.

His party has launched an official counter-campaign that includes numerous memes with the tagline "Gujarat ne daraoso nahin (Dont scare Gujarat)". It talks of atrocities on Patidars, Dalits, sexual exploitation of women in Naliya, Kutch and numerous other issues as well.

A scare was generated recently when red cross marks were noted outside the gates of Muslim societies in the Paldi area of Ahmedabad.Complaints to the Election Commission had the police swinging into action and coming up with an explanation that it was the handiwork of an overzealous municipal corporation supervisor who had marked stoppage locations for the civic garbage truck. Muslim residents remain unconvinced, but would prefer to wait and watch.
Indraneel Rajyaguru, the Congress candidate challenging Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, is applying choona... literally.

Seated inside his office on Rajkot's Racecourse Road, he is rubbing tobacco wrapped in polythene on his palm. As he does this vigorously, Rajyaguru looks at the concoction with dissatisfaction and adds some lime powder to it. Then, he scoops out a pinch, opens his mouth and places the mixture between the lower lip and premolars. You can see from his relaxed demeanour that he is enjoying what Mirza Ghalib referred to as fursat ke din. The challenger to the chief minister is chilling out.

"I am in a very comfortable position. Vijay Rupani is losing by a huge margin," he says, relishing the calmness induced by the tobacco masala in his veins. When the juice from the masala fills up his mouth, he spits it out into a bottle kept next to him. From another bottle, he sips water, rinses his mouth and explains why he is beating the chief minister.

Rajyaguru had won the previous election from Rajkot (East) constituency. He was among the three lucky winners for the Congress from the 38 urban constituencies in Gujarat's three big cities  Ahmedabad, Surat and Rajkot. But, acting on his promise of chasing the chief minister, he decided to shift to Rajkot (West) last year.

"I decided to contest against Rupani the moment I heard he would be named chief minister. He is not a good man, he needs to be defeated," he says. Prima facie, Rajyaguru seems inspired by the story of the hare and the tortoise. Unlike Rupani, who is now making whirlwind tours of the constituency, Rajyaguru has been working tirelessly for months, covering ground inch-by-inch. Now, he says, he doesnt have to look over his shoulder.

Rajyaguru says he has personally contacted more than two lakh out of the 3.19 lakh voters in the constituency. "They have understood my feelings, they realise Rupani should lose."

Rajkot is the heart of Saurashtra region. Across India, it is famous for automobile spare parts and diesel pumps. Its enterprising people are so busy during daytime that politicians hold their election rallies only after sunset, when people are free to listen to them. Pehle dhanda, baad mein politics is the defining motto here.

Rajyaguru, 50, himself has a robust business. He is known for deep pockets and wide network. In his affidavit, he has declared assets worth Rs 140 crore, making him the richest candidate in the fray. "People know Rupani is corrupt. They know I didnt enter politics to make money. I am here to serve people not my political masters in Delhi," he says.

That Rajyaguru is a formidable opponent is evident in the kinetics within the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Rajkot twice. Amit Shah too has been visiting frequently. Before he filed his nomination, Rupani went to seek the blessings of Keshubhai Patel, the former chief minister known for his influence in Saurashtra. Rajyaguru says the chief minister is now like Humpty Dumpty  all the king's men can't save him from a great fall.

On the ground, Rupani appears to be in trouble because of the Patidars in the constituency and Rajyaguru's people connect. But he is keeping a brave face, saying that he has better things to do than worry about his challenger. The Patidars in his constituency are affluent entrepreneurs, and unlike the immigrants in Rajkot (East), are considered traditional supporters of the BJP. The aura of an incumbent who could be chief minister again is also helping him. But unlike Modi, the current chief minister is not seen as a heavyweight. His reputation is that of a puppet on Delhi's strings. Allegations of malpractices against him and his family have also diminished his stature in a state where the BJP has always boasted of incorruptible leaders.

"People have realised the BJP is a lie factory. They will reject it and its products like Rupani. I dont have to do anything, this election is people versus BJP," Rajyaguru says.

Obviously, he can afford to relax and rub some more choona into his masala.
Ahmedabad: Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani has accused the Congress of seeking refuge in casteism and "outsourcing" its campaign to caste leaders while dismissing any threat to the BJP's poll prospects from the Congress-Hardik Patel tie-up.

He alleged that the Congress was "deceiving" the people over the issue of reservation, while the agitators were lining up for poll tickets.

Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel's open support to the Congress in the December Assembly polls is not an electoral alliance but a "deal" between two sides, Rupani told PTI in an interview.

Dubbing Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who is extensively campaigning in Gujarat, as "gappidas" (teller of lies), the chief minister accused him of dishing out fabricated statistics about the BJP-ruled state.

"From what I understand, I can say it (Congress-Hardik alliance) won't have any effect (on the BJP) as they are exposed. They have kept aside the original demand of reservation and agitators have lined up to get Congress tickets," he said.

Rupani was replying to a question on the impact of Hardik Patel pledging support to the Congress in the Gujarat polls.

"While the Congress is not speaking a word on how it will give reservation to the Patidars (if it comes to power), he (Hardik Patel) is declaring support to the Congress. This shows there is 'saudebaazi' (deal) (between them)," he claimed.

"The Congress formula on giving reservation above the 50 percent cap is an attempt to deceive the people and it won't work. This exposes the deal," he further said.

"As the opposition does not have any issues against us they are taking refuge in casteism. The Congress is outsourcing its campaign by bringing in symbols of casteism like Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor (OBC leader), Jignesh Mevani (Dalit activist) and tribal leader Chottu Vasava," Rupani said.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases - on 9 and 14 December. The counting of votes will be taken up on 18 December.
Academic institutions, hospitals and businesses that were involved in controversies or were facing accusations of violating rules, which should have ideally been settled in a court of law, have encountered the wrath of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) mobs in Kerala ever since the party came to power last year.

In the latest incident, five cottages of Niraamaya Retreat, owned by Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is also the NDA's vice-chair in Kerala, were vandalised in the famed backwater getaway of Kumarakom. The attack followed a report in CPM mouthpiece Deshabhimani that alleged encroachments on the lake.

Chandrasekhar has said that a series of stories done on Asianet News, of which he is the chairman, which forced the resignation of Transport Minister Thomas Chandy over land-grab charges, had provoked the CPM.

Last week, CPM activists enforced a shutdown against government officials evicting encroachments in Munnar, waylaid a group of foreign tourists, and beat up their driver. They wanted to settle scores with the Communist Party of India (CPI), the second largest partner in the ruling coalition that holds the revenue portfolio, which is at odds with the senior partner over a host of issues triggered by a battle for supremacy.

Three months ago, restaurant chain Dhe Puttu and the D Cinemaas multiplex, both owned by film star Dileep, witnessed acts of vandalism when the police arrested him on charges of hiring a rapist to seek revenge on his former co-star. Further, reports of attacks on colleges, hospitals and similar establishments come at regular intervals  in case a patient dies, or an institution flouts rules or cracks down on student politics bordering hooliganism.

Hospitality providers feel the return of "jungle justice" would severely affect tourism, the only industry that thrives in the state  apart from the export of skilled labour to West Asia that earns Rs 1.5 trillion a year.

In the case of alleged encroachments by Niraamaya Retreat, the revenue department and the village council initiated proceedings against them only after vandals had ransacked the resort and caused substantial losses to properties, thereby sending out a wrong message to investors.

"Faced with legal consequences after the vandalism, the (village) panchayat, also controlled by the CPM, has now issued a hurried notice that talks of encroachments, all of which are insignificant in size," Chandrasekhar said. "The company has declared that it has complied with all laws, has legal titles to all its land, and will vigorously fight these false allegations in the court of law," Chandrashekhar said.

The hospitality industry is yet to recover from a flawed, partial prohibition enforced by the previous UDF government, which the present dispensation has reversed, and hiccups caused by demonetisation and changeover to the GST regime. Unleashing party workers on this sector is only worsening the investment climate in the southern state.

The police had booked 20 activists and arrested four of them, who are now out on bail. A crowd of some 150 slogan-shouting men had gathered, and the local police had a tough time managing the mob. "They came from different places, making it difficult to identify them," sub-inspector Rejan Kumar told Firstpost. "They barged into the compound from different sides before we could do anything and ransacked five cottages. The resort authorities estimate the losses at Rs 5 crore."

Resort officials have blamed the "ghastly and barbaric attack" on activists of the CPM-backed outfit DYFI, saying they were armed with deadly weapons and left their "employees and patrons shellshocked". "Stones were pelted with the intent to kill and maim; cottages and walls were razed with impunity, and valuables were robbed," it said in a statement. "We are in a state of absolute fear, and the law and order machinery has completely broken down."

They allege the police escorted the attackers out after their repeated pleas. The vandals had by then "hoisted a DYFI flag over the debris they had just created to mark their victory", they said.

Accusing the police and the state machinery standing idle "while criminal acts of dacoity, trespass and violence were being unleashed on a responsible law abiding investor", Chandrasekhar's Jupiter Capital, the financial services and investments company, shelved its Rs 200-crore investment plans for his home state. It was planning to acquire two more properties.

Ever since the CPM came to power last year, there have been several instances of mobs led by local politicians taking the law into their own hands. Kerala now receives fewer investments, and has also slipped in the ease of doing business indicators further.

"This year, since the peak tourism season started last month, there's a 20 percent slump in tourist arrivals, and we don't expect a recovery in the next two years," said Abraham George, the managing trustee of KTM Foundation, which holds the biennial Kerala Travel Mart supported by the state government. "This kind of violence and people taking the law into their own hands will only contribute to the alarming trend. We have taken this up with the government many times, but to no avail. We cannot take to streets and shout from the rooftops."

Even during Diwali, when north Indians used to throng Kerala in abundance, the situation was terrible. George said the industry employs an estimated 15 lakh educated youth and generates Rs 30,000 crore annually. It also helps bring in many more indirect jobs. But violence is driving high-end tourists away, leaving only the backpackers behind.

Also contributing to the crisis are hartals that leave tourists stranded at airports and railway stations, and deny them food and drinking water. There were more than 100 shutdowns this year, both at local levels and across the state, causing an estimated loss of Rs 2,000 crore to the state, and it's the CPM and BJP which are to be blamed for most of them.

Diplomat-turned-politician Shashi Tharoor once described an incident involving BMW executives from Germany who landed in Kochi in 2004 to explore chances of setting up their manufacturing base in the state after much persuasion, at a time when Congress' Oommen Chandy was chief minister. But they landed on a hartal day. "They saw cars being blocked on the streets, shops were closed, and stones thrown at windshields. The executives went to Tamil Nadu and set up their plant there," the MP told a recent meeting of entrepreneurs in Kochi.

"That was a state-wide bandh on some marginal political issue. But these stories are truly worrisome. People are driven by a 19th Century ideology," he said, while adding that the state's strengths like its social indicators and per capita income still compare favourably to developed nations.

He feels that Keralites are "tremendously entrepreneurial abroad but completely State-dependent at home". While the youngsters waste their energy on such activities, 22 lakh migrants from states like West Bengal replace the Gulf-bound workforce. "We tell ourselves and all the tourists that we are 'God's Own Country', but many business leaders and entrepreneurs I have spoken to seem to see us as the devil's own backyard," Tharoor said.

He fears that Kerala's economy will crumble without remittances from the Gulf that started in the early 1970s and sustained it despite a poor record of industrial investments. But he suggests the state needs to change its mindset and stop clinging to the outmoded form of protests to attract investors and instead create quality jobs back home.

"We have a reputation for hard work and are extremely reliable (the world over). But in Kerala, we are often seen as intolerant and strike-prone," he said. "The politicised environment back at home has not helped. It's an absolute disgrace to the state that led to so many entrepreneurs having to petition the government for protection from political parties."
Patna: The Janata Dal (United) on Sunday said it is fighting the Gujarat Assembly elections to build base in the western state and that party president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar will not take part in electioneering.

"A total of 52 candidates of our party have filed nomination papers in Gujarat so far. Our party men in the state wanted that we contest the polls and we honoured their wish," JD(U) national general secretary RCP Singh told reporters here.

Singh was speaking after the party's state executive meeting held at the chief minister's official residence 1, Anne Marg, in presence of Kumar.

Asked if the JD(U) was "fighting to lose" in a state where Kumar himself had predicted a comfortable victory for the BJP, Singh said: "We are not fighting to lose. We are fighting to preserve our party's presence in Gujarat and to build our base there."

On whether the Bihar chief minister would take part in the campaign for JD(U) candidates in Gujarat, Singh replied in the negative, saying: "How can he be involved when we are not sufficiently prepared in that state."

About allegations by opposition parties that the JD(U) was trying to cut into anti-BJP votes in Gujarat to help the party with which it shares power in Bihar, Singh quipped: "It means they admit that we can get votes in Gujarat."

About Bihar, Singh, the party's leader in the Rajya Sabha, said, "We are working towards strengthening our organisation at the grassroots level. There are 62,470 polling centres across the state, out of which we have our agents at more than 31,000."

JD(U)'s state unit president Bashishth Narayan Singh said "We are working in Bihar according to a roadmap. We recently held district-level workers' meets across the state where we have spread awareness about our campaigns against social evils like liquor consumption, dowry and child marriage."

"We have asked our workers to highlight efforts made by the Nitish Kumar government to eradicate these social evils," he said.
Chennai: Amid signs of discord in the ruling AIADMK, Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam on Sunday stressed on unity in the party and exhorted workers to ensure that 'Amma's' (Jayalalithaa's) rule continues its stride.

In a series of tweets, Panneerselvam praised Chief Minister K Palaniswamy saying he was providing good governance based on the path shown by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

He, however, did not comment on the simmering discontent that came to the fore last week after his loyalist and Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan hinted at differences among the leaders of the two factions which merged earlier this year.

Besides this, Panneerselvam's supporters have said they were not invited to a key party function in Madurai on Saturday attended by Palaniswamy.

Panneerselvam, who was conspicuous by his absence in the event that was held in Madurai, had later batted for unity in the party while taking part in another function along with Palaniswamy.

The second function was held at Ramanathapuram, about 115 kilometres from Madurai.

In his tweets, Panneerselvam on Sunday reiterated that it was due to unity among the party workers that the Election Commission alloted the 'two leaves' symbol to them.

"With the same unity and support of Tamil people, we will face the next month's bypoll in RK Nagar and succeed in it. We will achieve great victories in all polls we are going to dedicate the victories to our beloved Amma," he said.

The deputy chief minister also lauded Palaniswamy, saying he was providing good governance treading the path shown by Amma.

"This government, headed by Palaniswamy, is implementing various special schemes and is also announcing new projects based on the vision of Jayalalithaa," he said.

Meanwhile, state Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar clarified that the Madurai event was organised by a cadre to hail the retrieval of the party symbol.

Responding to reporters' question whether Panneerselvam was invited to the programme, he said it was not an event that was planned.

"The names of the leaders (Palaniswamy and Panneerselvam) has been mentioned in the plaque," Udhayakumar said.

Maitreyan yesterday had said proper intimation for the event should have been sent to all party workers, functionaries and leaders.

He had said the Madurai event was important since it was the first function to celebrate the party getting back its symbol.

The Palaniswamy and Panneerselvam factions merged in August after ousting jailed leader VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran.

The Election Commission on 23 November allotted the 'two leaves' symbol to the unified AIADMK led by Palaniswamy and Panneerselvam, dealing a blow to the Sasikala faction.
New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind said on Sunday that it was critical not to disturb the fraternity of separation of powers and maintain a "delicate balance" while exploring the relationship between the judiciary, the executive and the legislature as they are all equal.

The three organs of the state should be conscious of their liberty and strive to protect their autonomy, he said.

However, they should be careful about not disturbing the fraternity of separation of powers "by even unknowingly intruding into the domain of either of the two other branches", the president said.

"It is critical to keep this intricate and delicate balance in mind when exploring the relationship between the three branches of the state  that is, the judiciary, the legislature and the executive. They are all equal," Kovind said while inaugurating the function organised by the Supreme Court here to celebrate the Constitution Day.

He said the Constitution is "not static but is a living document" and the sobriety and discretion in communication between these three branches of the state is extremely advisable.

"This will promote and enhance fraternity between three equal branches of the state, all of which have a certain responsibility to the Constitution. It will also reassure the ordinary citizen that the Constitution is safe and in mature hands," the president said.

He also emphasised that high courts across the country need to take up the task of quickly providing certified translated copies of judgements to the litigants in local and regional languages.

"Even the hearings in court, if possible, have to be in a language that is understandable to the ordinary litigant. The process of case disposal too has to be made faster," he said.

The president also said that it was upon the higher judiciary to mentor and encourage the lower judiciary and in this process, the cooperation of state governments was very much necessary.

He said it was for the state governments to ensure that the judges of the district and subordinate courts were not denied their due perquisites and facilities and high courts should urge the subordinate courts to be more efficient and conclude cases faster.

"I am glad to note, some high courts are taking steps in these directions. As of 30 June, 2017, there were about 76,000 old cases, pending for five years or more, in sessions and district courts under the High Court of Jharkhand.

The High Court has set a target of 31 March 2018, to dispose off almost half these cases," he said.

He also referred to the initiative of the Chhattisgarh High Court in setting a deadline of 30 April 2018, for the subordinate courts to dispose off cases pending for over 10 years and 30 September next year deadline for disposing cases pending for between five and 10 years.

"The High Court of Chhattisgarh has also started to make provision for availability of Hindi versions of judgements and orders. I commend these initiatives. I am sure other high courts are also moving ahead with a similar sense of public service," Kovind said.

He said that Constitution is not just an abstract ideal and it has to be made meaningful to the lives of ordinary people in every street, every village and every 'mohalla' of the country.

Delivering a lecture on 'constitutional value' at the function, former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti referred to the historical events related to framing of the Constitution.

He said that the Constitution is the "religion of all the religions".

Referring to the judiciary, the ex-CJI said that while other organs of the state may afford to fail and falter, the judiciary cannot "afford to fail".

However, he also had a word of caution for the judiciary and said that it should not take upon the role of the executive and the legislature while discharging judicial functions as a "judge is always on trial".
New Delhi: Union minister Vijay Goel on Sunday criticised Congress' youth wing for a meme it had put out mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "chaiwala" past, and said its parent party  the Congress  should have condemned it.

Speaking to reporters after taking part in 'Mann Ki Baat - Chai Ke Saath' event in Delhi, Goel said at a time when the prime minister was trying to take India forward, the Congress' youth wing was stooping down with its tweets and memes.

"Congress should have condemned it. Politicians should not stoop down as it would be difficult to recover from that level," he said.

On 21 November, the official Twitter handle of the Youth Congress online magazine 'Yuva Desh' had kicked up a row by mocking Modi's "chaiwala" past and English-speaking skills through a photograph showing him in a conversation with British premier Theresa May and US President Donald Trump.

The meme was removed soon after it was put out and Congress communications incharge Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter that Congress "strongly disapproves and rejects such humour through memes. Differences on policy and opinion aside, Congress culture imbibes respect for PM and all political opponents."

"There was no prime minister who had done so much work and initiated so many schemes, which is evident from Moody's rating," Goel said, adding that the saffron party will sweep the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

"Along with the Modi government at the Centre, more BJP or NDA states should join to make India better and positive," he said.

When the BJP-led government talks about positivity and the prime minister educates people with his 'Mann Ki Baat' programmes, the opposition only engages in negativity, he added.
The second phase of civic polls in Uttar Pradesh saw large-scale faults in voters lists in almost all the districts, giving rise to allegations that the state Election Commission was not prepared for polling.

In the second phase, polling took place at 25 districts in the state, and 48.65 percent of the electorate exercised their franchise. The third phase will be held on 29 November, and results will be announced on 1 December.

Missing voters' names from lists was a common complaint across all 25 districts that went to polls. Even political heavyweights like Union minister Kalraj Mishra and Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi had their names missing. In fact, Mishra had travelled all the way from Delhi to cast his vote.

Former election commissioner GVG Krishnamoorthy, who lives in Ghaziabad's Kaushambi, also had his name missing. Acting swiftly on this, the district administration ordered an inquiry. The name of Rashtriya Lok Dal's (RLD) mayor candidate Prateek Chaudhary was also missing from the voters' list. Chaudhary alleged that there was a conspiracy behind this, and blamed the ruling BJP state government for this.

The issue of names missing from the voters' list also led to much ruckus in many wards. In Muzaffarnagar, angry voters erected a hoarding in the city when they learnt that more than 20 families had their names missing from the list. The police also arrested many, including women, on charges of attempting bogus voting.

Much like in the first phase, technical glitches were also found in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at many places. Voters in Ghaziabad's Kavinagar complained that the EVM's display unit was defunct. Polling in five wards of Allahabad, two wards of Lucknow, one ward of Bagpat and four wards of Ghaziabad started half-an-hour after the scheduled time.

A clash between supporters of two mayor candidates was also reported in Sasnigate area of Aligarh district over the issue of fake votes. Supporters also pelted stones on each other. Additional police force from two police stations was summoned to bring the situation under control. Firing was reported in Takshshila school polling booth in Shahjahanpur and saw heavy police deployment. The Shahjanapur Police said it had taken three people into custody for firing.

A similar incident was also reported in Lalitpur and Santkabeer Nagar districts.

Ten people, including eight women, were taken into custody by the police in Varanasi after they were caught with fake Aadhaar cards. The incident came to light from Meja Tehsil of Allahabad. Three people were arrested in Deoria and Farrukhabad for bogus voting.

One youth was arrested in Farrukhabad with Rs 52,000 in cash during police checking and was taken into custody. Later, it came to light that the person was a close aide of an independent mayor candidate.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh general secretary of Aam Aadmi Party Vaibhav Mahesvari said that by not taking any action on the issue of malfunctioning EVMs, the election commission is admitting that it is "working as an agent of BJP". "Fault in voter lists, 50 names from one house, and other issues have cropped up. They show that the Election Commission has completely failed. This also shows that there is some nexus between the BJP and the Election Commission. This is an attack on democracy," he said.

Congress spokesperson Surendra Singh said the Election Commission should consider repolling in all districts. BJP spokesperson Shalabh Mani Tripathi refused to comment.

The author is a Lucknow based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.
Mathura: Drones fitted with cameras would be used for the first time in Mathura during the civic body polls on 26 November to maintain law and order situation and for proper monitoring of the election process.

According to an official, 85 polling centres have been selected for web casting, while videography would be done in 95 polling booths.

"Five drones fitted with cameras would be used for proper monitoring of election process," he said.

The official said 290 polling booths have been identified as oversensitive and 280 as sensitive.

SSP Swapnil Mamgai said polling centres would be guarded by the Provincial Armed Constabulary.

Two company CRPF, five company PAC, 300 sub-inspectors, 500 constables and 800 homeguards from Agra have also been deployed for the election process, he said.

Campaigning for the second phase of Uttar Pradesh civic elections on 26 November ended on Saturday in 25 districts, including Varanasi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a member of the Lok Sabha.

Over 52 percent voting was recorded in the first phase on 22 November which covered 24 districts.

Polling for the third and final phase covering 26 districts will take place on 29 November. Counting of votes for all the three phases will be on 1 December and results will be declared the same day.

Follow LIVE updates on Uttar Pradesh civic polls Phase 2 here
Lucknow: Union minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma on Sunday cast their votes in the second phase of the civic polls, polling for which is underway in 25 districts.

The fate of the candidates would be decided by 1.3 crore voters in the districts of Lucknow, Varanasi  Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency  Allahabad, Mathura, Muzaffarnagar and Etawah among others.

In the state capital, Rajnath Singh cast his vote along with his wife and family members, including son Pankaj Singh who is a legislator.

Sharma voted with his wife in Aishbagh area and said, "The BJP is committed to work for the people and opposition should realise that it was the people's love and trust which ensured the party's victory in the assembly polls. In civic polls too, the party is going to win."

State Election Commissioner SK Agarwal also exercised his franchise and appealed to the people to cast their votes.

"If you want basic amenities in your city, you should come out of your home and vote in large numbers," he said.

Besides them, state ministers Swati Singh, Mohsin Raza and others prominent personalities cast their votes in the first four hours.

The voting would continue till 5 pm.

While the polling for first phase was held on 22 November, the last and final phase would be held on 29 November.

The counting would be held on 1 December.

Follow LIVE updates on Uttar Pradesh civic polls Phase 2 here
AP

The Federal Communications Commission formally released a draft of its plan to kill net-neutrality rules , which equalized access to the internet and prevented broadband providers from favoring their own apps and services.

Now the question is: What comes next?

RADICAL DEPARTURE

The FCCs move will allow companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon to charge internet companies for speedier access to consumers and to block outside services they dont like. The change also axes a host of consumer protections, including privacy requirements and rules barring unfair practices that gave consumers an avenue to pursue complaints about price gouging.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai says his plan eliminates unnecessary regulation. But many worry that his proposal will stifle small tech firms and leave ordinary citizens more at the mercy of cable and wireless companies.

It would be a radical departure from what previous (FCC) chairs, of both parties, have done, said Gigi Sohn, a former adviser to Tom Wheeler, the Obama-era FCC chairman who enacted the net neutrality rules now being overturned. It would leave consumers and competition completely unprotected.

During the last Republican administration, that of George W. Bush, FCC policy held that people should be able to see what they want on the internet and to use the services they preferred. But attempts to enshrine that net-neutrality principle in regulation never held up in court  at least until Wheeler pushed through the current rules now slated for termination.

Pais proposals stand a good chance of enactment at the next FCC meeting in December. But there will be lawsuits to challenge them.

MORE DETAILS

The formal proposal reveals more details of the plan than were in the FCCs Tuesday press release. For instance, if companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon decide to block a particular app, throttle data speeds for a rival service or offer faster speeds to companies who pay for it, they merely need to disclose their policies for doing so.

The FCC also says it will pre-empt state rules on privacy and net neutrality that contradict its approach. Verizon has noted that New York has several privacy bills pending, and that the California legislature has suggested coming up with its own version of net neutrality rules should the federal versions perish.

The plan would leave complaints about deceptive behavior and monitor privacy to the Federal Trade Commission, which already regulates privacy for internet companies like Google and Facebook.

BEST BEHAVIOR

Broadband providers are promising to be on their best behavior. Comcast said it doesnt and wont block, throttle or discriminate against lawful content. AT&T said that all major ISPs have publicly committed to preserving an open internet and that any ISP foolish enough to manipulate whats available online for customers will be quickly and decisively called out. Verizon said that users should be able to access the internet when, where, and how they choose.

Some critics dont put much weight on those promises, noting that many providers have previously used their networks to disadvantage rivals. For example, the Associated Press in 2007 found Comcast was blocking some file-sharing. AT&T blocked Skype and other internet calling services on its network on the iPhone until 2009.

But others suggest fear of a public uproar will help restrain egregious practices such as blocking and throttling. Im not sure theres any benefit to them doing that, said Sohn. Its just going to get people angry at them for no good reason. They dont monetize that.

FAST LANES, SLOW LANES

Sohn, however, suggests theres reason to worry about more subtle forms of discrimination, such as paid prioritization. Thats a term for internet fast lanes, where companies that can afford it would pay AT&T, Verizon and Comcast for faster or better access to consumers.

That would leave startups and institutions that arent flush with cash, like libraries or schools, relegated to slower service, said Corynne McSherry, legal director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital-rights group. In turn, startups would find it harder to attract investors, Sohn said.

Michael Cheah, general counsel of the video startup Vimeo, said broadband companies will try to lay groundwork for a two-tiered internet  one where cash-strapped companies and services are relegated to the slow lane. To stay competitive, small companies would need to pony up for fast lanes if they could  but those costs would ultimately find their way to consumers.

The view is different at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank funded by Google and other established tech companies. Doug Brake, a telecom policy analyst at the foundation, said theres little chance broadband companies will engage in shenanigans, given how unpopular they already are with the public.

Brake likewise played down the threat of internet fast lanes, arguing that theyll only be useful in limited situations such as high-quality teleconferencing. Like the FCC, he argued that antitrust law can serve to deter potentially anticompetitive behavior by internet providers.
IANS

With services driving the economy, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday advocated quality revolution in the lead sector as it also provided more jobs.

"A quality revolution in the services sector is a priority for us, as the economy is increasingly driven by it... it also provides more jobs than other sectors," he said in a video address to the 25th National Quality Summit of the Indian industry here.

According to a joint report of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and global audit services firm KPMG, the services sector contributed 61 percent to India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in fiscal 2015-16.

"Quality movement has been the cornerstone of the competitiveness of India's economy. Businesses in services and manufacturing must benchmark their quality performance with the best in the world and serve the domestic and global markets," said Prabhu.

Echoing his call for quality benchmarks even in the services sector as in the manufacturing sector, Karnataka IT and Biotech Minister Priyank Kharge said skill development played a key role in promoting quality and innovation.

"Our government is training 1.1 lakh students in developing skills to provide software and hardware services in emerging technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data, animation and blockchain," he said at the inaugural session of the two-day summit on "Quality Evolution - Journey through Innovation".

Export-Import Bank of India Managing Director David Rasquinha said lack of quality culture was proving to be a non-tariff trade barrier for the Indian industry.

"In a competitive environment, quality is the only way to gain market share. Exports should invest not only in their brands but also in the quality of their products," he said in his special address at the event.

Highlighting the importance of quality in customer service, ASI Consulting Group Chief Technical Officer Shin Taguchi said there were three types of quality in such a service - basic quality, without which a customer would be upset; performance quality, which would surprise a customer; and excitement quality, which excites a customer.

"Successful companies are good at innovating to create the excitement quality in the market by focusing on the robust design of products and services," he said in his keynote address.

CII Institute of Quality Chairman & Tata Chemicals Managing Director R. Mukundan said that as technology was at the heart of doing business, it must be harnessed for improving the quality of goods and services.

"Developments in data-driven quality, self-organising productivity, robot-assisted productivity and predictive maintenance should make progress in quality improvement," he said.
AP

Uber has managed to hold the title of worlds largest ride-hailing service despite its seemingly endless string of scandals.

Its latest misbehaviour involving a data breach cover-up revealed this week could be the impetus for people to ride elsewhere  or keep looking the other way.

Hackers were able to steal data of 57 million riders and drivers, and Uber concealed it for a year after paying $100,000 in ransom for the stolen information to be destroyed.

Riders and business experts say that while Ubers problems such as workplace sexual harassment, drivers with criminal records and other past infractions are serious, stolen data hits people directly and could make them mad enough to delete the app. Then again, riders have fled from the service before, but enough have stayed because of the Ubers convenience so the latest scandal-of-the-week may not make much of a difference. The brand is so well-known for quickly responding to ride requests that its often used as a verb for such trips, no matter which service is summoned.

Michael Pachter, a technology analyst based in Los Angeles, said he uses Uber five to 10 times a month.

I dont blame the drivers for the company transgressions, and view Uber as the glue that facilitates drivers willing to drive me around, he said.

But for Vermont resident Jay Furr, the breach was the final straw. He had stuck with Uber despite recent problems because of the service. But now hell use Lyft, Ubers main competitor when he goes to the airport for frequent business trips.

Why to reward crooked behaviour? he asked. The only way they will learn is if they lose business.

For much of the past year, Uber has been mired in well-publicized problems. A female former engineer blogged that her boss had propositioned her for sex, exposing widespread sexual harassment. A federal judge urged prosecutors to investigate allegations that Uber stole technology from Waymo, Googles autonomous vehicle unit. The Justice Department is investigating whether Uber used a bogus app to deceive inspectors in several cities, and in London, authorities decided not to renew Ubers operating license in part for failing to report crimes.

Earlier this week the state of Colorado fined Uber $8.9 million for allowing employees with serious criminal or motor vehicle offenses to drive for the company. Then came the stolen data, which has touched off more government inquiries.

The scandals have damaged Ubers brand reputation over time, said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys Inc., a New York-based customer research firm. The companys polling has found that in 2015 Lyft passed Uber as the most trusted of ride-hailing brands, and trust in Uber has been eroding ever since. Consumers will give technology companies the benefit of the doubt for a long time. But with Uber, That well of forgiveness isnt bottomless, Passikoff said.

Passikoff doesnt measure the impact on ridership and Uber wont discuss it. But Lyft says its share of the US market has risen 3 percentage points since August to 33 percent. Its up from 12 percent two years ago as Lyft has expanded with more drivers in major US cities.

In the data breach, Uber has said that for riders, hackers got only names, email addresses and telephone numbers. They did not get personal information such as trip details or credit card and Social Security numbers. For about 600,000 drivers in the US, hackers got drivers license numbers, and the company has offered them free credit monitoring services.

While Uber drivers lost personal data and face uncertainty over identity theft, it appears theyll stick with Uber. Many drive for Lyft as well.

Nate Tepp, who drives Uber in Seattle, said he doesnt plan to leave, nor does he think other drivers will.

All they are doing is cutting out 60 to 65 percent of their income, Tepp said of drivers who might consider leaving. That estimate is based on his own split between Uber and Lyft fares.

Tepp also thinks the last three to four months at Uber have been different and things have started to go in drivers favor. This includes adding an option for riders to tip.

He is also somewhat forgiving about the hacking  and the subsequent cover-up. After all, companies are hacked often, he said.

Does it make me happy? No. Does it (make me angry) to the point that I am going to stop making money through that company? No, he said.

New Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi could do little but admit the problem and promise ethical behavior in the future. We are changing the way we do business, putting integrity at the core of every decision we make and working hard to earn the trust of our customers, he wrote in a blog post.

Marlene Towns, a professor at Georgetown Universitys business school who studies brand values, said Uber is testing the boundaries of how many scandals people will endure. While data breaches are personal to people, she still thinks Uber will get through this scandal as well.

We have a short memory as consumers, she said. We tend to be if not forgiving, forgetful.
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba took another step on Sunday toward the end of the Castro era, with millions of residents placing paper ballots in cardboard boxes for ward delegates to municipal assemblies. A view of a polling station decorated with an image of late Cuban President Fidel Castro moments before its opening to the public in Havana, Cuba November 26, 2017. REUTERS/Alexandre MeneghiniThe vote comes the day after the first anniversary of revolutionary leader Fidel Castros death and precedes another election early next year for provincial and national assembly deputies. The new national assembly, where 50 percent of the deputies must be ward delegates elected on Sunday, is expected on Feb. 24 to select a new president to replace Raul Castro, Fidels 86-year-old younger brother, who has said he will step down after serving two five-year terms. The Castro brothers have headed the government since the 1959 revolution. Raul Castro will remain head of the Communist Party until 2021, the only legal party in Cuba. Nearly 27,000 candidates are running for 12,515 ward positions in Sundays election, the only part of the electoral process that is contested publicly and with direct participation by ordinary Cubans. The results will be announced on Monday. The candidates for the provincial and national assemblies are nominated by commissions composed of representatives of Communist Party-controlled organizations, such as the trade union federation, then presented as a slate for a public vote. Those slates have had the same number of names as seats in previous elections. Fifty percent of those names must be ward delegates. The electoral cycle comes at a tricky time for the Caribbean nation as the revolutionary generation passes, an economic reform program appears stalled, aid from key ally Venezuela shrinks, and the Trump administration threatens. Yet candidates debated none of these issues before Sundays vote. First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is expected to succeed Castro, lauded the electoral process and refused to speculate about his future. Today is a day to talk about what we are doing and Fidel, he told reporters after casting his ballot. Asked about relations with the United States, he said Cuba remained interested in improving them, but reiterated its position that negotiations would have to be based on mutual respect and equality and without dictates. The future depends on them, not us, he said. Campaigning is prohibited in Cuba, and candidates for the ward posts were nominated at neighborhood meetings based on their personal merits, not policy positions. They need not belong to the Communist Party, and many candidates are independents, but only a few government opponents have ever competed. I am happy to vote, but I must say, like most young people I do not think it makes any difference, said a young woman, who requested anonymity because she holds an important government job. She added that there was an ongoing discussion on how to reform the electoral process and make government more responsive. This year a coalition of opposition groups ran more than 160 pre-candidates, but most were blocked by state security from nomination meetings, and none are running on Sunday.

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Cairo: The death toll from the deadliest terrorist attack on Muslim worshippers at a mosque in Egypt's restive North Sinai region was on Saturday raised substantially to 305, which included 27 children, the state prosecutor said.

General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek said in a statement that another 128 people were wounded in the attack, when heavily-armed militants bombed the al-Rowda mosque in Al-Arish city and opened fire on people attending the Friday prayers.

The death toll was reported at 235 on Friday.

Sadek said the number of terrorists involved in the attack varied from 25 to 30, some of whom had raised the Islamic State flag during the attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The Egypt government announced three days of mourning, even as President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi chaired an emergency meeting with officials to review security after the attack.

Egypt's army said in a statement that a number of terrorists have been killed in air strikes in North Sinai since the attack on Friday. The army was conducting raids in the troubled region to eliminate terrorist hideouts.

The Al-Ahram newspaper, citing a military source, reported that a military operation was underway in North Sinai. The unnamed source did not reveal the details of the operation, but told the daily: "The response will be on the ground and will not stop until the elimination of everyone involved in the attack. We are taking our revenge now."

Sisi has vowed a "brute" response to the mosque attack.

During the attack, the terrorists took positions near the door and the 12 windows of the mosque and then opened fire on the worshippers, the statement said.

They had come to the mosque in five SUVs and torched another seven vehicles parked outside the mosque and owned by the worshippers there, the prosecutor said.

According to people injured in the attack, some of the terrorists had masked their face and all of them wore military-like dresses. After the bomb ripped through the mosque, the gunmen on four off-road vehicles opened fire on worshippers who tried to escape from the site after the blast.

Nearly 50 ambulances were rushed to the site to shift the injured to hospitals.

Speaking to state-run Masriya TV, Egypt's health ministry spokesman Khalid Mujahid described it as a "terrorist attack."

One report said the target appeared to be the supporters of the security forces who were praying at the mosque. Local residents were quoted in news reports saying that followers of Sufism, or Islamic mysticism, often gathered at the mosque.

Islamist jihadist groups, including the Islamic State, see Sufis as heretics.

The Sinai peninsula has endured many attacks blamed on the Islamic State and other terrorist groups since the January 2011 revolution that toppled president Hosni Mubarak, but this was the deadliest assault of its kind.

The attacks against police and military officials increased after Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was ousted in 2013 by the military following massive protests against his rule. More than 700 security personnel have been reported killed since then.

In May this year, gunmen attacked a bus carrying Coptic Christians in central Egypt, killing at least 28 people.

In April, two suicide bombings at Palm Sunday service at churches in the northern cities of Alexandria and Tanta killed 46 people.
Islamabad: Pakistans government on Saturday called on the army to help clear a sit-in by Islamist hard-liners blockading the capital after police clashed with activists and religious protests spread to other cities.

Dozens of people were injured in Saturdays clashes, including many police, according to reports from hospitals. Protesters said four of their activists had been killed, but police said there had been no deaths.

By nightfall, protests spread to other main cities with activists brandishing sticks and attacking cars in some areas. New demonstrators had joined the camp in Faizabad, just outside Islamabad, in a stand-off with police.

Private TV stations were ordered off the air, with only state-run television broadcasting.

Activists from Tehreek-e-Labaik, a new hard-line Islamist political party, have blockaded the main road into the capital for two weeks, accusing the law minister of blasphemy against Islam and demanding his dismissal and arrest.

We are in our thousands. We will not leave. We will fight until end, Tehreek-e-Labaik party spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told Reuters by telephone from the scene.

Tehreek-e-Labaik is one of two new ultra-religious political movements that have risen up in recent months and seem set to play a major role in elections that must be held by summer next year, though they are unlikely to win a majority.

Chaos and 'conspiracy'

Interior minister Ahsan Iqbal told Reuters in a message on Saturday night that the government had requisitioned the military assistance for law and order duty according to the constitution.

The ruling party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif  who was disqualified by the Supreme Court in July and is facing a corruption trial  has a fraught history with the military, which in 1999 launched a coup to oust Sharif from an earlier term.

Earlier in the day, Iqbal said the protests were part of a conspiracy to weaken the government, which is now run by Sharifs allies under a new prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

There are attempts to create a chaos in (the) country, Iqbal said on state-run Pakistan TV.

I have to say with regret that a political party that is giving its message to people based on a very sacred belief is being used in the conspiracy that is aimed at spreading anarchy in the country, Iqbal added, without saying who he considered responsible.

Pakistans army chief on Saturday called on the civilian government to end the protest while avoiding violence from both sides. Opposition leader Imran Khan called for early elections, saying the incompetent and dithering administration had allowed a breakdown of governance.

The clashes began on Saturday when police launched an operation involving some 4,000 officers to disperse around 1,000 activists and break up their camp, police official Saood Tirmizi told Reuters.

Television footage showed a police vehicle on fire, heavy curtains of smoke and fires burning in the streets as officers in heavy riot gear advanced. Protesters, some wearing gas masks, fought back in scattered battles across empty highways and surrounding neighbourhoods.

The protesters have paralysed daily life in the capital, and have defied court orders to disband.

Tehreek-e-Labaik blames the law minister, Zahid Hamid, for changes to an electoral law that changed a religious oath proclaiming Mohammad the last prophet of Islam to the words I believe, a change the party says amounts to blasphemy.

The government put the issue down to a clerical error and swiftly changed the language back.

Tehreek-e-Laibak was born out of a protest movement lionizing Mumtaz Qadri, a bodyguard of the governor of Punjab province who gunned down his boss in 2011 over his call to reform strict blasphemy laws.

The party won a surprisingly strong 7.6 percent of the vote in a by-election in Peshawar last month.

More join protests

The government had tried to negotiate an end to the sit-in, fearing violence during a crackdown similar to 2007, when clashes between authorities and supporters of a radical Islamabad mosque led to the deaths of more than 100 people.

Despite the police crackdown, the protesters were largely still in place by nightfall and Tehreek-e-Labaik leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a prominent cleric, remained at the site, party activist Mohammad Shafiq Ameeni said.

Four protesters had died in the police crackdown, he added.

By late afternoon, Tehreek-e-Labaik supporters were coming out on the streets in other Pakistani cities in support.

Police fired tear gas in Karachi, the southern port that is Pakistans largest city, to try to disperse about 500 demonstrators near the airport.

Outside the northwestern city of Peshawar, about 300 protesters blocked the motorway to Islamabad and started attacking vehicles with stones and sticks.

In the eastern city of Lahore, party supporters blocked three roads into the city.
Islamabad: Pakistan's government has called in the army to restore order after clashes between police and protesters belonging to hardline religious groups killed six people and injured more than 200 others in the capital.

The police aided by paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary on Saturday lunched a massive operation against activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and Sunni Tehreek Pakistan religious groups who had blocked a key highway to Islamabad for nearly three weeks.

Police and paramilitary forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters to disperse them. However, the security forces pulled back after the crackdown turned deadly.

At least six people were killed in clashes on Saturday, Dawn reported. It also said that no security personnel was killed but at least nine senior police officers were injured including Rawalpindi city police chief Israr Abbasi.

According to health officials, more than 200 people, including at least 95 security personnel, were injured in the clashes and shifted to various hospitals.

The interior ministry last night issued a statutory regulatory order to authorize the deployment of the army to control the law and order situation in the capital.

Official sources said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa are expected to hold a meeting to discuss the situation after the government sought deployment of the army in the capital.

However, the army said it needed clarification on some points before moving in to control the situation.

General Bajwa was on a visit to the United Arab Emirates and cut short his trip to reach the country on Saturday night.

Earlier, he spoke to Abbasi over telephone and suggested to handle the protests peacefully "avoiding violence from both sides as it is not in national interest and cohesion."

Meanwhile, all news channels have been off-air and access to popular social media blocked since Saturday.

Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) representing electronic media condemned the action against media.

The protesters have been laying siege to the capital for about three weeks demanding removal of law minister Zahid Hamid for changes in a law related to the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat (finality of prohpethood) oath in the Elections Act 2017.

They alleged the action undermined Islamic beliefs and linked it to blasphemy. The government has already amended the law and restored the original oath but the hardline clerics refused to call of the protests until the minister is sacked.

The unrest also spread to several cities where protesters have blocked major roads, resulting in clashes with police. Dozens of people were injured in Karachi and at other places.

Minister of Interior Ahsan Iqbal chaired a high-level security meeting on Friday night but failed to reach at any decision about further operation as senior officials of Islamabad administration and police warned to loss of human lives, according to sources in the interior ministry.

The protesters emboldened by failure of government upped the ante and demanded resignation of the government, according to report on Geo TV website.

There are reports that ruling Pakistan Muslims Leauge-Nawaz was discussing the option of removing law minister to pacify the protests. But it may be too late now. The minister is already under immense pressure after an attack on Saturday at his residence in Pasroor area of Sialkot district in Punjab.

Opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf have also increased pressure on government and its secretary general Jehangir Tareen demanded resignation of interior minister for mishandling the operation.
GENEVA/SANAA (Reuters) - Humanitarian aid workers and medical supplies began to arrive in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Saturday, U.N. officials said, after the easing of a nearly three-week-old military blockade that caused an international outcry. Workers unload aid shipment from a plane at the Sanaa airport, Yemen November 25, 2017. REUTERS/StringerInternational aid groups have welcomed the decision to let aid in, but said aid flights are not enough to avert a humanitarian crisis. About 7 million people face famine in Yemen and their survival depends on international assistance. First plane landed in Sanaa this morning with humanitarian aid workers, WFPs regional spokeswoman Abeer Etefa told Reuters in an email, while officials at Sanaa airport said two other U.N. flights had arrived on Saturday. The United Nations childrens fund (UNICEF) said one flight carried over 15 tonnes of vaccines that will cover some 600,000 children against diphtheria, tetanus and other diseases. The needs are huge and there is much more to do for #YemenChildren, the world body said on its Twitter account. Airport director Khaled Al Shayef said that apart from the vaccinations shipment a flight carrying eight employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross had also landed. Sanaa airport was closed from Nov. 6 until today, more than 18 days and this closure caused an obstruction to the presence of aid workers, Shayef told Reuters television in Sanaa. There are more than 500 employees trapped either inside or outside being denied travel as well as 40 flights that were denied arrival at Sanaa airport, he added. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the armed Houthi movement in Yemen said on Wednesday it would allow aid in through the Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Salif, as well as U.N. flights to Sanaa, but there has been no confirmation of any aid deliveries yet. FAMINE A spokesman for the U.S.-backed coalition said in a statement issued on Friday that 82 permits have been issued for international aid missions since Nov. 4, both for the Sanaa airport and Hodeidah, the countrys main port where some 80 percent of food supplies enter. That includes issuing clearance for a ship today (Rena), carrying 5,500 Metric Tons of food supplies, to the port of Hodeidah, coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al Maliki said in a statement issued in a status update published by the Saudi embassy in Washington. Officials at the port said on Saturday that no ships have arrived yet and they were not expecting any to dock soon. The coalition closed air, land and sea access in a move it said was to stop the flow of arms to the Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, from Iran. The action came after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired toward Riyadh. Iran has denied supplying weapons. The blockade drew wide international concern, including from the United States and the United Nations secretary-general. Sources in Washington said that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had asked Saudi Arabia to ease its blockade of Yemen before the kingdom decided to do so. The heads of three U.N. agencies had earlier urged the Saudi-led military coalition to lift the blockade, warning that untold thousands would die if it stayed in place. The coalition has asked the United Nations to send a team to discuss ways of bolstering its UNVIM programme which was agreed in 2015 to allow commercial ships to enter Hodeidah. The coalition joined the Yemen war in March 2015, after the Houthis forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government to flee their temporary headquarters in the southern port city of Aden into exile in Saudi Arabia. The Yemen was has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced more than two million, caused a cholera epidemic that had affected nearly one million people, and drove Yemen to the verge of famine.

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REUTERS - Momentum in Germany is building for a new grand coalition between Chancellor Angela Merkels conservative bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD) to end the political instability created by the collapse of her coalition talks with other parties. Leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) Martin Schulz leaves after talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin, Germany, November 23, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal HanschkeThe conservatives and SPD have ruled together for the last four years and most ministers are keeping their posts in an interim government until a new coalition or minority government is formed. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier hosts a first meeting of Merkel, the head of Bavarias CSU conservatives, Horst Seehofer, and SPD leader Martin Schulz on Thursday. Here are some of the overlaps and differences in policy areas likely to be discussed in any coalition talks. FINANCES Merkel has stressed she wants to maintain Germanys solid finances. Germany has run a budget surplus since 2014 under the stewardship of her hardline conservative finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble. She has also said she wants some tax cuts, mainly for low and medium earners. The SPD is far more focused on boosting spending and has in the last few days said it wants to increase investment in education and homes as well as on infrastructure. The SPD wants to increase inheritance tax, some in the party want to insist on raising the minimum wage and it fought the election on a pledge of keeping pensions stable. The conservatives and SPD both want to increase spending to expand broadband. MIGRATION/SECURITY An area of possible conflict. German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a news conference after a Eastern Partnership summit at the European Council Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, November 24, 2017. REUTERS/Eric VidalSince the election, Merkel has bowed to pressure from her Bavarian allies to put a cap on the number of people Germany will accept on humanitarian grounds. Merkel repeated on Saturday that she wanted to limit the number to about 200,000 a year. The SPD opposes this, arguing it breaches the constitutions guarantee of asylum to people who are persecuted for political reasons. Some leading party members have said they will not agree to a cap. EUROPE The SPD is more positive than Merkels cautious stance towards French President Emmanuel Macrons proposals for a euro zone budget and a euro zone finance minister. The SPD also backs the idea of turning the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund into a European Monetary Fund along the lines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). There is little difference on approach to Brexit talks. FOREIGN POLICY Broad agreement on most areas of foreign policy, including with the United States and Turkey. The SPD puts greater emphasis on mending ties with Russia which have been hurt by the conflict in Ukraine, but this is more a matter of nuance than a deep policy rift. Also agreement on armed forces missions abroad although the SPD is more sceptical on NATO demands to move towards increasing defence spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2014. SOCIAL JUSTICE The SPD fought its election on the platform of social justice and wants to improve the lot of the less affluent. A long-standing commitment which several senior SPD members have repeated recently is the idea of making health insurance fairer for everyone by introducing a citizens insurance. The SPD also wants to ensure men and women have equal pay and working conditions.

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law on Saturday new measures allowing authorities to list foreign media outlets as foreign agents in response to what Moscow says is unacceptable U.S. pressure on Russian media. Russian President Vladimir Putin talks with Sudans President Omar al-Bashir (not pictured) during their meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, November 23, 2017. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS The new law has been rushed through both Russian houses of parliament in the last two weeks. It will now allow Moscow to force foreign media to brand news they provide to Russians as the work of foreign agents and to disclose their funding sources. A copy of the law was published on the Russian governments online legislation database on Saturday, saying it entered into force from the day of its publication. Russias move against U.S. media is part of the fallout from allegations that Russia interfered in last years U.S. presidential election in favour of Donald Trump. U.S. intelligence officials have accused the Kremlin of using Russian media organisations it finances to influence U.S. voters, and Washington has since required Russian state broadcaster RT to register a U.S.-based affiliate company as a foreign agent. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied meddling in the election and said the restrictions on Russian broadcasters in the United States are an attack on free speech. The Russian Justice Ministry last week published a list of nine U.S.-backed news outlets that it said could be affected by the changes. It said it had written to the U.S. government-sponsored Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), along with seven separate Russian or local-language news outlets run by RFE/RL.

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Dubai: Saudi Arabia's crown prince has opened the first high-level meeting of a kingdom-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism.

Mohammed bin Salman spoke briefly at the gathering of the Islamic Military Counterterrorism Alliance in Riyadh on Sunday. The 32-year-old son of King Salman says the coalition won't allow extremists "to tarnish the name of our religion."

He says the members have gathered to pledge to do "all that we can until terrorism is uprooted and is erased from the face of the Earth."

The alliance, which first formed in December 2015 with 34 nations, now includes 41 countries, though it apparently does not include Iraq, Iran or Syria.

Also not attending were any officials from Qatar. Saudi Arabia and three other Arab nations cut ties to Doha in June.
RIYADH (Reuters) - Powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman condemned the attack on an Egyptian mosque that killed more than 300 worshippers and said it would galvanize an Islamic military coalition he convened in Riyadh on Sunday. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the meeting of Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition defence ministers in Riyadh November 26, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al NasserTop defence officials from some 40 Muslim-majority countries met for a summit aimed at countering terrorism. The alliance was announced two years ago by Prince Mohammed, who also serves as defence minister of the country which claims the mantle of leadership in the Islamic world. This year he has pledged to restore the ultra-conservative kingdom to a more moderate and tolerant version of Islam. (The attack) was a very painful occurrence and must make us contemplate in an international and powerful way the role of this terrorism and extremism, Prince Mohammed said. Gunmen attacked a mosque on Friday in Egypts North Sinai killing more than 300 worshippers, including two dozen children. The coalition has yet to take decisive actions but officials have described it as a grouping that would allow member states to request or offer assistance among themselves in fighting groups they designate as terrorists. Such assistance could include military force, financial aid, materiel or security expertise, and will have a permanent base in the Saudi capital. The coalition will focus not only on a military, security and intelligence track but also efforts to combat terrorist financing and ideology. The biggest threat from terrorism and extremism is not only killing innocent people and spreading hate, but tarnishing the reputation of our religion and distorting our belief, Prince Mohammed said in opening remarks. Iraq and Syria, which have been fighting Islamic State for the past three years, are not part of the coalition. Neither is Saudi arch-rival Iran, which Riyadh accuses of supporting terrorism. Qatar, which has been isolated by Saudi Arabia and Arab allies for the past six months over alleged support of terrorism, was originally part of the coalition but did not appear to be in attendance at Sundays meeting.

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I am writing this from Istanbul, where I am attending a terrorism trial in court as an observer. The trial is that of the chair and director of Amnesty International Turkey. Some readers may know that I am also part the global movement, and am the executive director of Amnesty India. My colleagues Idil Aser and Taner Kilic are part of a group of people standing trial on charges of being members of a terrorist organisation.

Idil was given bail a few weeks earlier and I met her outside the court, but Taner is still in prison in Izmir, which is around 500 kilometres from Istanbul. He joined the trial by video link. He has been in jail since June.

The activists were charged after a workshop on digital security that was held in a hotel. The government claims, absurdly, that this was a secret meeting that was organised to spy and participate in a coup. Two foreign nationals, a German and a Swede, are also on trial in the matter but out on bail. The case is thin on substance and the main accusation against Taner is that he had downloaded an app on his phone.

This app, called Bylock, is used for encrypted communication, like WhatsApp. The Turkish government claims that Bylock was used by supporters to communicate secretly before a coup attempt last year. The claim about Taner is without foundation. Amnesty conducted two forensic examinations of Taner's phone, including one by the international technology firm SecureWorks, and found zero trace of the ByLock app on the phone. This was confirmed by an expert in the court hearing at which I was present at and I'll give some more details about that.

We began the day in the morning, when a group of us organised a protest outside the Justice Palace (as it is called)  a large and modern circular building with many courtrooms. The protest was well-attended by different civil society groups and individuals despite the fact that it was bitterly cold and windy. The foreign observers included the Amnesty chairs of Brazil and the UK, and also diplomats from the European Union and the United States.

A statement was read out in support of the human rights defenders. Taners 19-year-old daughter Gulnihal was with us and we were in good spirits.

The court could hold around 120 people in it, besides the lawyers and other officials. Every seat was taken and there were people outside who could not get in. The court had three judges  two men and a woman  in black robes with an upturned red collar. They sat on a raised platform, as judges do in India. Interestingly, the prosecutor also sat with them, to one side. I heard this man speak once and briefly during the entire hearing that went on for more than six hours.

Most of this time was taken up by the defence of Taner. The defence had an expert witness who spoke at length on the issue of the app Bylock. Taners phone had been returned to him by the police after they had made a copy of the software on it. The expert concluded that there was no chance that he had ever downloaded Bylock. In his witness statement, Taner said he had not even heard of the Bylock app until after the coup attempt.

Despite this, during the first hearing, he had not been granted bail. After that hearing, my colleague John Dalhuisen said that "it took the prosecutor more than three months to come up with nothing. It should not take the judge more than half an hour to dismiss the case against them". The case was not dismissed, and continued into the second hearing that I am describing. The senior judge, who sat in the centre, had a few questions of the expert, and it seemed to us that the day had decisively gone in favour of the truth.

The trial was conducted entirely in Turkish, with the exception of a very few English words (like "IP address" and of course "Bylock", but it was not difficult to gauge the impact the experts testimony had made). Taner made a direct and unemotional plea to be released on bail, given that there was no evidence against him. The prosecutor spoke the one line I heard him speak the entire day. He said the State opposed bail.

At the end of the six-or-so hours, the courtroom was emptied of all but the lawyers and the accused. We were asked to wait outside. We were informed later that bail had been denied, and the news hit all of us, but it devastated young Gulnihal.

I have been a court reporter for many years and have not seen such blatant suppression of those who are fighting for human rights, suppression of freedom of expression, and linking it to terrorism. I wish the Indian government had sent a representative also to the trial and I hope it does it for the next hearing. This is an issue we must take up with Turkey.

As an Indian and as a student of history, I was disappointed by what I saw in Turkey. We have close cultural ties with the Turkic people, from before that time that the Turks actually came to Turkey around 1,000 years ago. Most of the Islamic rulers of India were actually Turkish. Mahmud Ghazni was of Turkish origin, Babur was a Chaghatai Turk and Tipu of Mysore called himself 'Sultan' because he also claimed Turkish ancestry.

I wish the government representing such a great and storied group of people had conducted itself better in the matter of the trial of my colleagues, who are working for the rights and the betterment of the Turkish people.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Saturday there would be repercussions for U.S.-Pakistan relations unless Islamabad took action to detain and charge a freed Islamist militant accused of masterminding a 2008 assault in Mumbai. Hafiz Saeed speaks with supporters after attending Friday Prayers in Lahore, Pakistan November 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza(Hafiz) Saeeds release, after Pakistans failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a deeply troubling message about Pakistans commitment to (combating) international terrorism and belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil, the White House said in a statement. If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation, it added.

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Harare: Zimbabwe's former finance minister testified Saturday that armed, masked men in uniform abducted him from his home during the military operation leading to the ouster of longtime leader Robert Mugabe and held him for a week in an unidentified location, fueling debate about the legality of the popular, mostly peaceful takeover by the armed forces.

The account by Ignatius Chombo came a day after a high court judge, a retired general, ruled that the military's actions last week, which commanders described as a move against "criminals" around Mugabe, were legal. While some critics said it set a dangerous precedent, the decision by Judge George Chiweshe reinforced the military's assertion that it acted within the law even though it set off events, including impeachment proceedings and street demonstrations against the 93-year-old Mugabe, that ended his 37-year rule.

The joyful inauguration on Friday of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former top aide to Mugabe, showed that most Zimbabweans are happy to have a new leader who might take steps to revive the shattered economy and grant them more freedoms. Even so, perceptions that the abrupt political transition was constitutionally sound are important to Zimbabwe's new leadership, which must prepare for 2018 elections and seeks to attract foreign investment.

However, Chombo and two leaders of the ruling ZANU-PF party's youth league who said they were abducted by the military before being handed over days later to the police described experiences reminiscent of human rights violations that were a routine occurrence during Mugabe's rule. The three men have been linked to a party faction loyal to Mugabe's wife, Grace, whose presidential ambitions triggered the military intervention.

"I was in the custody of armed persons who were dressed in soldiers' uniforms," said Chombo, who has been charged with corruption. "I don't know where I was taken to."

He described in court how the raid in the early morning of 15 November began with two explosions, one of which shook his home. Men entered his bedroom with AK-47 assault rifles pointed at him, his wife and his maid, then handcuffed and hustled him out of the house through a smashed living room window, blindfolding him with his own T-shirt, Chombo said.

A one-hour drive to an unidentified location led to days of custody during which interrogators told him that he had performed badly in his role as a government official and ruling party leader, he said. He said he was blindfolded most of the time and never saw his captors' faces. He was not assaulted and saw a doctor after requesting pills, but suffered lacerations during the forced exit from his home, falling several times while barefoot.

Several days ago, his captors told him to pack his things and they drove him home, he said. There, two cars with police were parked.

"They said, 'You are under arrest,'" Chombo said.

Defense lawyer Lovemore Madhuku said it was obvious that Chombo was originally taken by state agents, likely the military, and that his constitutional rights had been violated because he was not taken to court within 48 hours of his detention. The police arrest, he said, was designed to provide legal cover for an illegal act.

"The military must know that there is a constitution in this country," Madhuku said. "There's no such thing as a military arrest."

However, state prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba said the police arrest of Chombo was lawful and that there was no evidence the "armed men" who previously held him belonged to the military.

The detained youth leaders, Kudzanai Chipanga and Innocent Hamandishe, have been accused of denigrating the military. All three men are now in police custody.
As part of a deal negotiated before the resignation of Robert Mugabe, the ousted president of Zimbabwe and his wife will receive a "golden handshake" worth not less than $10 million, besides getting immunity from prosecution, according to media reports.

Mugabe, who has also been granted a guarantee that no action will be taken against his familys extensive business interests, would receive a "cash payment of $5 million" right away, with the remaining to be paid in the following months, The Guardian reported.

The $1,50,000 salary of the 93-year-old former president will also be paid until his death, the report added. The 52-year-old first lady, Grace Mugabe, reviled for her extravagance, will receive half that amount for the rest of her life.

"Government will give him $5 million lump-sum and then the remainder to be paid out in installments," an official told Zimbabwe Independent. "Mugabe will also enjoy full medical cover as well as his full monthly salary. In the event of his death, his wife will be given half salary per month."

The report added that that Mugabes negotiators managed to strike a deal with the generals to enable him not to go into exile but rather enjoy his retirement in Zimbabwe with all his benefits.

On 24th November, Mugabe was granted immunity from prosecution and assured that his safety will be protected in his home country under a deal that led to his resignation. Mugabe, who had led Zimbabwe from independence in 1980, stepped down on Tuesday after the army seized power and the ruling party turned against him.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, the former vice president sacked by Mugabe earlier in November, has sworn in as president on Friday.

A government source said Mugabe, who was the worlds oldest serving head of state, told negotiators he wanted to die in Zimbabwe. "It was very emotional for him and he was forceful about it, a source told Reuters. "For him it was very important that he be guaranteed security to stay in the country...although that will not stop him from travelling abroad when he wants to or has to."

With inputs from Reuters
Back when Apple launched the iPhone X, Samsung mocked it with an Ad taking all the past features that Apple iPhones were missing leading back to the iPhone X top-notch. Now it is Moto who takes a dig at Samsung with their Projector mod for the Moto Z2 series.

The new Motorola clip is a continuation of the Samsung ad where a person is seen watching a video on the Samsung Galaxy Note8 and is being interrupted by his partner who is seen taking out her new Moto Z2 Play and plugging in the Projector mod to project the video on to a wall in a bigger size thus giving an edge to the Moto Z2 Play. The ad is titled up-upgrade with the Moto z2 and Moto asks Why settle for edge-to-edge, when you could project your screen up to 70?

The new clip basically is a savage from Motorola and a neat showcase of the modular connectivity of the Moto Z-series phones. The Galaxy Note8 is the Samsungs latest flagship that is being well received all over the world, but today though, Motorola savage reply comes out as a winner. Watch the Motorola clip below.

Source
A Russian bill recently approved by lawmakers requiring all American news organizations to register as foreign agents, may be expanded to include fast food chains as well.

On Friday, a Russian politician proposed labeling American fast food chains like McDonalds and KFC as foreign agents because of marketing materials deemed manipulative or misleading.

"The food sold by American fast food restaurants, according to some studies, negatively affects the body and human health," Boris Chernyshov, a Moscow lawmaker in the federal Russian Assembly, said to RBC. "In advertising, a positive image of consumption of these products is presented."

BURGER KING RUSSIA WANTS TO BAN 'IT,' CLAIMS IT ADVERTISES FOR MCDONALD'S

"The first step is to recognize the advertising of American fast food by the messages of foreign agents and to introduce the appropriate marking," he said. "The second step will be the legislative initiative to include American fast food networks in the appropriate registry."

The State Duma deputy also added that the increased popularity of American fast food chains are contributing to the decline of the nations cuisine, Newsweek reported.

Chernyshov, who pushed this into motion by sending a letter to Russias food and media monitoring agency requesting that ads for American fast-food chains be labeled as coming from a foreign agent, has targeted these restaurants before. In 2014, several McDonalds locations were closed due to sanitary violations that some felt was just part of a sanctions war.

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Under the proposed law, which Putin is expected to sign, those registered as foreign agents will be required to file quarterly reports detailing their funding sources and activities to the Russian Justice Ministry. All advertisements will have to say they are foreign agents in the country.

Several backers of the bill say it is a retaliation to the Trump administrations financial disclosure requirements imposed on Russias state-funded TV channel, RT.
An Ohio hunter was charged on Friday after he fired at a brown pickup truck when he thought it was a deer in western New York  the second hunting incident in the area within a week, authorities said.

Marvin C. Miller, 26, of Middlefield, was hunting near Snake Forest Road in North Harmony around 11:20 a.m. when he thought he spotted a deer, but it turned out to be a brown pickup truck, Chautauqua County Sheriffs Office said in a news release. He fired his 7-mm. high-powered scoped rifle at the truck, striking the front fender of the drivers side. Sheriff Joe Gerace told The Post-Journal Miller was absolutely irresponsible.

Firing this weapon at first blush with no target, its absolutely irresponsible, Gerace said. Its very concerning. We should be able to get through a hunting season without tragedy. This kind of thing just shouldnt happen.

HUNTER SHOOTS, KILLS WOMAN AFTER MISTAKING HER FOR A DEER, OFFICIALS SAY

The bullet missed the unidentified driver and the passenger, Robert Merritt, of Springboro, Pa., by just a few feet, according to The Post-Journal. The bullet also punctured the engine compartment and disabled the vehicle.

Miller came out of the woods to check on Merritt and the driver. He was arrested and charged with discharging a firearm across a public roadway and second-degree reckless endangerment. He was released on bail and could face additional charges after an investigation.

Fridays incident was the second hunting accident in western New York within a week. Thomas Jadlowski was hunting on Wednesday when he thought he saw a deer and fired his high-powered pistol  but struck 43-year-old Rosemary Billquist instead. Jadlowski rushed to the womans side and called 911 while applying pressure to her wound. She later died in the hospital.
It was my first trip to Amsterdam, having landed at the Schiphol airport after an all-night flight from New York. Boarding an early-morning train to the Rai convention center, I was already tired, though it would be many hours before I would have the opportunity to sleep. It was Amsterdam 2000, a conference for evangelists hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Some 10,000 evangelists and Christian workers were there from more than 100 nations. We would spend more than a week learning about ministry and recommitting ourselves to Christs Great Commission. I was one of the few American attendees who had opted to lodge at Jaarbeurs, rather than in one of the expensive hotels in downtown Amsterdam. Signing up months prior, it wasnt hard to choose to stay at this much-more-economical place.

At the end of my first day, hundreds packed into trains for a 40-minute ride out of the city of Amsterdam to our place of lodging. I anticipated getting a shower and lying down for my first real sleep in more than 24 hours. The trains were jammed with men who didnt look, sound or smell like anything I was used to. Though they were fellow ministersbrothers in Christ, for sureculture shock was creeping up on me.

Shock fully set in when I arrived at Jaarbeurs, part heavy-equipment warehouse and a sort of steel behemoth that doubled as an exhibition hall. It was so large inside you could barely see from one end to the other, with a floor partly paved and partly dirt. It had been fitted with nearly 8,000 steel cots to accommodate the most basic sleep needs of evangelists from every corner of the globe. There were 400 temporary showers, very spartan, and with long lines of men waiting. I did not get to bathe until my third day! By that time, a shower was indeed a resurrection of sorts.

I reflected on the surreal experience of seeing one humble servant shed tears of gratitude for bread, cheese, water and a cotliving arrangements that were unacceptable to me.

The Jaarbeurs warehouse had become the largest mens dorm in Amsterdam, complete with all the noises, odors and lack of decorum you might imagine. The only thing scarcer than privacy was hot waterand I was going to spend 10 days there. Following a map on the long walk to my sleeping area, I discovered my room to be a steel cot, adjacent to countless others. Lying atop its wafer-thin mattress was a small loaf of bread, a block of cheese, and several bottles of water. Exhausted, unshaven and wondering where to store my luggage, I thought, Why didnt I spring for a hotel?

Not far away was a sloped, trough-type device approximately 80 feet long with water dribbling into one end from a suspended tube. This was a lavatory. As the wait for a shower would be hours-long, I joined others at the makeshift sink who were brushing teeth, scraping tongues, gargling and spitting. Wanting to score a mouthful of water to rinse with, I leaned over toward a dangling spigot. Inches below my face, the trough conveyed a river of saliva, toothpaste foam and grey-brown backwash that gently oozed by. My mouth accidently gulped its aroma and I fought back nausea. What really made my stomach churn was that one confused conference attendeeclothed in rags and coming from who-knows-wherebent down and washed his face in the troughs gooey water.

Then and there I resolved to return to Amsterdam and rent myself an actual hotel room, no matter the cost. But arriving back at my cot, I was stopped in my tracks. At the bed next to mine stood a short, bearded man, wrapped shoulders-to-ankles in a type of toga that stopped about 6 inches above his sandaled feet. He was holding his loaf of bread with outstretched arms, staring at it. The man slowly picked up the block of cheese from his bed and gazed down at it. He rotated it around, staring at the cheese the way a careful jeweler might examine a diamond. Bottles of water were knocked to the floor as the man suddenly fell against the cot, weeping. Though his language contained only bits of English, through this mans sobbing I could hear the words, Thank you, Jesus! Thank you! He almost panted, Jesus, I praise You for this  bounty.

Conviction fell over me. I backed away quietly. Turning around, I came upon a conference assistant who kindly offered to help me find where I was supposed to go. We quietly talked about the scene I had just witnessed. He explained, Most of these men are Christian workers whove come from developing nations, third-world countries or regions of terrorism and civil war. I reflected on the surreal experience of seeing one humble servant shed tears of gratitude for bread, cheese, water and a cotliving arrangements that were unacceptable to me. The man said, Alex, for many of these brothers, the accommodations here will be some of the best they will experience for their entire life.

I never left for a hotel. Instead, I felt unworthy to bunk among these holy men of God. While I groused about having to brush my teeth over a trough, these men were bursting with joy to have a week of Bible trainingfor many, the only formal theological training they would ever receive.

So, what might this have to do with Thanksgiving 2017?

The rigors of Amsterdam 2000 were one of the first times my sense of American entitlement was stunted by exposure to other cultures. It certainly wouldnt be the last. Since then I have been to other parts of the world that would make that Netherland warehouse look like a fine hotel. But here is my point: In America, we have it good.

Our infrastructure is reliable, our gasoline is cheap, our food is affordable, and the choices endless. We should be thankful that America is a nation whose backbone wasand largely still isthe family.

Americans enjoy amenities that people from other eras would have fainted overhot water on demand, the ability to maintain personal hygiene, smartphones, paved roads, hospitals and backyards not roaming with dangerous animals. We are blessed to be a nation of over 300,000 churches, and we still enjoy the ability to freely broadcast Christian content via the airwaves and online. America was founded on Christian principles. In our country, problems may be addressed with peaceful elections without violent revolutions.

Regarding the proliferation of churches throughout the colonies, Thomas Paine in 1776 said, Where, say some is the King of America? Ill tell you, friend, He reigns above! As God has uniquely blessed America, it is only prudent to consider how to keep America in this position. We do not deserve Gods hand of blessing. But this Thanksgiving season, lets be grateful for it and humble enough to pray, realizing that the sins of this nation are causing His hand of blessing to be removed.
Convicted felons in Virginia may determine whether newly elected governor Democrat Ralph Northam can successfully carry out his progressive agenda of a higher minimum wage, gun control and Medicaid expansion. Did Virginia voters see that coming?

Democrats and Republicans continue to fight for control of Virginias House of Delegates. State-wide elections on November 7 gave the GOP a razor-thin edge in several districts and a resulting 51-49 lead in the states chamber. The leader in the 94th House District race in Newport News, for example, is ahead by only 10 votes. Democrats are demanding a recount in at least three contests where the GOP margin of victory is under 0.5 percent. The stakes are high; Northams liberal to-do list has much higher odds of success if Democrats take over the House. Republicans still lead the states Senate, but only by two seats.

The New York Times, jumping on early indications that Democrats might have seized control of the states government, described those contests as the purest test of grass-roots anger at the president. Further, they speculated that, If the past is a guide, they may also prefigure nationwide congressional voting in 2018.

In other words, to quote Joe Bidens description of ObamaCare, this is a big f**king deal. Imagine, then, how significant it was that last year Democrat Governor Terry McAuliffe gave voting rights to more than 168,000 convicted felons, some 42,000 of whom registered to cast a ballot in the recent election.

And in the main, most probably, voted for Democrats.

By April of this year, Gov. McAuliffe was able to announce that he had conferred the right to vote on more than 156,000 criminals. The governor declared it his proudest achievement.

McAuliffes predecessor Republican Robert McDonnell made it easier for convicted felons to vote in 2013, though violent offenders still had to wait five years and all candidates had to pay any outstanding fines and court costs. McAuliffe, elected in 2014, junked that latter requirement and in the spring of 2016, in time for the presidential election, issued a series of executive orders restoring voting rights to over 200,000 people with felony convictions who had completed their sentences.

Republicans contested the 2016 move, which gave voting rights to, among others, more than one hundred still-incarcerated sex offenders and a number of convicted murderers who were at large in other states. The court ruled that Virginias constitution allowed restoration of voting rights only on a case-by-case basis; McAuliffes orders were overturned.

Undiscouraged, in August last year McAuliffe started rapid-fire re-awarding of voting rights to large numbers of individuals even if they had not requested it; the only standard was that the persons involved had to have completed their sentence or, in the case of multiple felonies, sentences.

By April of this year, the governor was able to announce that he had conferred the right to vote on more than 156,000 criminals. Not only would those people immediately be allowed to register to vote, they would also be allowed to run for office, to serve on a jury and to serve as a notary public. The governor declared it his proudest achievement.

In a recent op-ed, the New York Times celebrated McAuliffes move, noting that the change was especially beneficial to blacks, who are incarcerated at a higher rate than whites. They describe the pointless cruelty of felon disenfranchisement laws, which block more than six million from voting. As they report, before McAuliffe stepped in, more than one in five black Virginians were barred from voting.

This conversation should not be about race. The writers of Virginias constitution had a reason for barring those guilty of breaking the law from voting for politicians who write those laws or judges and law officials who enforce them. They presumed that if people cared about their right to vote they might avoid criminal acts -- that losing the right to vote would be a deterrent. It turns out they expected too much.

In the recent campaign, voting rights became a hot topic. Republican Ed Gillespie ran a controversial ad blasting McAuliffe and his would-be successor Ralph Northam for giving the vote to a convicted pedophile who had his rights restored two months after being found with one of the largest child pornography collections in Virginias history. The repeat offender again lost his right to vote when convicted for the second time and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Gillespies opponents accused him of sensationalizing the issue, which indeed he was, but his claims were on point. He simply personalized the mass restoration that McAuliffe had allowed.

During the election, activist groups like New Virginia Majority scurried to register those freed criminals newly allowed to vote. It is no surprise that the group endorsed thirteen candidates in the recent election  all of them Democrats.

As is its custom, the Times pontificates that restoration of voting rights to convicted criminals should not be a partisan issue, and we might agree. But lets also be honest enough to agree that it became just that in Virginia, and with upwards of six million such votes at stake across the country, will surface again when races are tight.

The argument over restoration of voting rights has been cast as one of social justice. Most people think it makes sense that someone who has served their time should get a fresh start. But with recidivism rates of 77 percent among felons, requiring a wait-and-see period makes sense, too. As does the requirement that an official review each case, to allow for consideration of extenuating circumstances such as plea deals or multiple offenses. Demanding payment of court costs and fees also seems a reasonable standard.

Bottom line: this decision should not spring from the mind of a self-interested politician in an election year, but rather be argued in the court of public opinion, and perhaps put to voters.
Im one of 3.5 million professional truck drivers on Americas roads working to safely deliver the goods that keep our lives and economy moving, but on my latest trip, my truck is longer and heavier than usual and I couldnt be prouder. With a 79-foot-tall Engelmann Spruce in tow, Im the driver whos been safely traveling across the country to deliver this years Christmas tree to the U.S. Capitol.

Ive been hauling for 49 years through 49 states and am proud to say Ive traveled 3.5-million accident-free miles. But this is the proudest job Ive had so far in my career. For over 50 years, a Christmas tree has been put on display at the Capitol each holiday season, and this year, Ive been proud to be a part of it, along with Whitewood Transport, who was selected from over 500,000 trucking companies in the U.S. to haul the 2017 tree to Washington.

On November 13th, I departed Montana for a two-week adventure to make the 3,460-mile journey from the Kootenai National Forest to our nations capital. Day after day, Ive been rolling across the country, with stops in Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia, where thousands of people have gathered to take part in this annual and festive journey.

I am grateful and proud of my job. Trucking really moves America. The industry provides one out of every 16 jobs. Some may be surprised to know that 80 percent of our communities in America rely solely on trucking for the delivery of their goods that keeps us running. The trucking industry also makes investments to improve safety and protect the environment, providing billions of dollars to develop the most modern trucks to keep us all safe, which is our highest priority.

For me, the best part about trucking is being able to see America. As I travel from one corner of our country to another, I have been inspired at how the nations Christmas tree is truly the peoples tree.

For me, the best part about trucking is being able to see America. Most jobs dont offer that opportunity. Luckily, on this journey, Ive had the privilege to provide thousands of people across several states the opportunity to view the beautiful spruce tree before it makes its arrival to Washington. As I travel from one corner of our country to another, I have been inspired at how the nations Christmas tree is truly the peoples tree.

As I reach Washington and anticipate the lights that will shine from the grand holiday tree onto the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, I am reminded of the true value that trucking provides to America as well as the unique and special opportunities it provides. This season, the holiday gifts under the tree, the sweaters on your back and the food on the kitchen table wouldnt be possible without trucking. I am proud to help deliver the holidays.
This Thanksgiving I find myself thankful for something that is roiling our country. I am glad at what has happened with the recent, much-discussed and continuing sexual-harassment revelations and responses. To repeat the obvious, it is a watershed event, which is something you can lose sight of when youre in the middle of it. To repeat the obvious again, journalists broke the back of the scandal when they broke the code on how to report it. For a quarter century we had been stuck in the He Said/She Said. Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas gave their testimonies, each offered witnesses, and the fair minded did their best with the evidence at hand while sorting through all the swirling political agendas. In the end I believed Mr. Thomas. But nobody knows, or rather only two people do.

What happened during the past two years, and very much in the past few months, is that reporters and news organizations committed serious resources to unearthing numbers and patterns. Deep reporting found not one or two victims of an abuser but, in one case, that of Bill Cosby, at least 35. So that was the numbers. The testimony of the women who went on the record, named and unnamed, revealed patterns: the open bathrobe, the running shower, the Lets change our meeting from the restaurant to my room/your apartment/my guesthouse. Once you, as a fair-minded reader, saw the numbers and patterns, and once you saw them in a lengthy, judicious, careful narrative, you knew who was telling the truth. You knew what was true. Knowing was appalling and sometimes shocking, but it also came as a kind of relief.

Once predators, who are almost always repeat offenders, understood the new way of reporting such stories, they understood something else: They werent going to get away with it anymore. Theyd never known that. And they were going to pay a price, probably in their careers. Theyd never known that, either.

Why did this happen now? It was going to happen at some point: Sexual harassment is fairly endemic. Quinnipiac University released a poll this week showing 60 percent of American women voters say theyve experienced it. Maybe the difference now is that the Clintons are gonemore on that in a moment. And maybe theres something in this: Sexual harassment, at least judging by the testimony of recent accusers, has gotten weirder, stranger, more brutish. The political director of a network news organization invites you to his office, trains his eyes on you and masturbates as you tell him about your ambitions? The Hollywood producer hires an army of foreign goons to spy on you and shut you up? It has gotten weird out there. These stories were going to blow up at some point.

To continue reading Peggy Noonan on The Wall Street Journal click here.
Occurring largely behind the scenes, President Trumps most significant contribution to a more prosperous America is also his least understood: his assault on the administrative state.

The administrative state is the manifestation of a form of government that invests power in an unelected bureaucracy that can write the rules, enforce the rules and sit in judgment on the rules  essentially combining the power of three branches of constitutional government into one.

The administrative state and danger it poses to self-rule were evident 180 years ago. After studying Americas character and system of government in the 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville, the French author of Democracy in America, issued a prescient warning about soft tyranny.

De Tocqueville wrote that excessive regulation by government compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.

When de Tocqueville wrote these words in 1835, the Federal Register  the federal governments official journal of rules  was still 100 years off.

A little more than 40 years after the Federal Registers creation, former U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy, D- Minn., quipped that the only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.

In the last full year of President Obamas term, the Federal Register contained more than 185,000 pages of regulations. Many of these regulations can, if not followed to the letter, lead to imprisonment and financial ruin. Moreover, bureaucrats lacking accountability to the voting public wrote these rules.

According to the Competitive Enterprise Institutes annual publication Ten Thousand Commandments  An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State, we spent some $63 billion in 2016 to pay for regulations and regulators.

We are funding an army of 220,000 highly trained people, many of them lawyers, to develop new and more complicated ways to tell the rest of us how to work and live our lives. Were these regulators an actual army, theyd outnumber the army of France.

These 220,000 regulators deploy 185,000 pages of regulations that drain about $1.9 trillion a year out of the economy  about the same amount of money as the federal government collects in individual and corporate income taxes and equal to a little more than one-tenth of the nations economic activity.

While regulations largely operate out of sight, taxes  especially the personal income tax hits people directly in their pocketbooks. Over decades, the federal tax code has grown to 2,600 pages of complex interactions that take another 70,000 pages to explain.

Employing progressive rates, loopholes, and credits, the tax code rewards some financial behavior while discouraging other behavior. The tax code thus guides economic decisions in the same way the road network channels vehicle traffic.

President Trump has asked Congress to reduce and simplify our tax system in what would be the first major tax reform in 31 years. If successful, it would unshackle the American economy as much as will regulatory reform.

While regulators, their rules, and a complex tax code take their toll on jobs and prosperity, excessive federal spending also plays a part in misallocating scarce resources.

Every dollar directly spent by the federal government represents a priority, not of individual consumers and taxpayers, but of elected and unelected officials, corporate lobbyists and advocates for big government. As government spending grows, it crowds out voluntary economic activity, often picking winners and losers in the process.

Combining the four previously discussed factors can give a sense as to the soft tyranny exerted on society by the federal government.

Since 1960, soft tyrannys natural trend has been to expand progressively. But encouragingly, there have been four periods of retrenchment where liberty beat back government power: President Kennedys tax cuts of the early 1960s; President Reagans tax and regulatory reforms of the early 1980s; the years of spending restraint following the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994; and today, with the advent of President Trumps battle against the swamp in Washington.

Should President Trump and his legislative allies win this battle against the administrative state, the decade of economic growth, jobs and higher wages that will surely follow will be unprecedented.
Sen. Al Franken broke his silence Sunday on sexual misconduct allegations, reportedly saying hes embarrassed and ashamed but will not resign from the Senate.

I've let a lot of people down and I'm hoping I can make it up to them and gradually regain their trust," Franken, a two-term Democratic Minnesota senator, told the Star Tribune of Minnesota.

Franken spoke to Minnesota news media eight days after the first allegations surfaced.

"I am just very sorry," Franken told WCCO in an interview Sunday, reiterating that he has "a long way to go to win back the trust of the people of Minnesota."

Four women have publicly said Franken groped them, including one who said he forcibly kissed her.

"I'm looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow," Franken, on Congress week-long Thanksgiving break, also said in the phone interview with the newspaper.

The first claim against Franken emerged nearly two weeks ago, when Leeann Tweeden, a Los Angeles radio host, said the senator forcibly kissed and groped her during a 2006 USO tour, before he was elected to the Senate.

She said Franken kissed her while rehearsing a sketch. And later on the tour, Franken was photographed with his hands over Tweedens breasts, grinning at the camera, as she slept.

Franken told Minnesota Public Radio on Sunday that he apologized to Tweeden, and called the photo "inexcusable."

"She ... didn't have any ability to consent. She had every right to feel violated by that photo," Franken said. "I have apologized to her, and I was very grateful that she accepted my apology."

A second allegation was reported Monday. Lindsay Menz told CNN that Franken grabbed her buttocks in 2010 when they posed together for a picture at a Minnesota state fair, while he was a senator.

Two other women have since anonymously reported such incidents to the Huffington Post. One woman said Franken groped her in 2007, during a photo at the Minnesota Women's Political Caucus. The other said he cupped her backside with his hand in 2008 and suggested that they go to the bathroom together at a Democratic fundraiser in Minneapolis.

Frankens office said last weekend that the senator will not resign, amid calls for him to step down.

The senator has repeatedly apologized to Tweeden. He also said he feels badly that Menz felt disrespected but that he does not remember the photograph being taken.

Franken has said he has posed for "tens of thousands of photos" over the years but does not remember any in which he cupped a woman's backside, as several women have alleged.

The senator also told the newspaper on Sunday that he has spent the past week "thinking about how that could happen and I just recognize that I need to be more careful and a lot more sensitive in these situations."

He said he didnt expect such allegations would follow the first one. I certainly hope not, he said about the possibility of similar allegations surfacing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A top Senate Republican argued this weekend that President Trumps interim pick to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, not the outgoing directors choice, will be in charge Monday morning amid a growing partisan standoff over the controversial agency.

Agency Director Richard Cordray, in resigning Friday, effectively made Chief of Staff Leandra English acting director. That set up a fight with the Trump White House, which later Friday named Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, as interim director.

I think Mick Mulvaney will be in charge, South Dakota GOP Sen. John Thune, a member of Senate Republican leadership, told Fox News Sunday.

Thune argued the Justice Department supports the presidents position and that the agency has very little accountability and really no oversight to Congress.

Its an agency that needs to be reformed, he told Fox. So I expect that Mick Mulvaney will be on the job and be calling the shots over there.

He suggested that Trump hastily announced a permanent replacement whom the Republican-controlled Congress can promptly confirm, though he acknowledged that the courts might ultimately have to decide the issue.

We'll process [the nomination] as quickly as we can in the Senate and get somebody installed as soon as possible, he said. That ultimately is the best way to resolve this.

Cordray, a Democrat, in fact named English deputy director before resigning, so she would become acting director when he quit.

Cordray and the White House have cited different laws to support their positions. Administration officials on Saturday acknowledged that some other laws appear to clash with the one they cited, said that in this case the president's authority takes precedence.

The consumer watchdog agency has enmeshed in partisan politics since its creation after the 2008 financial crisis.

Cordray was an Obama appointee often criticized by banks and congressional Republicans as being too aggressive.

The CFPB was proposed by now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in her previous job at Harvard Law School, and it was created as part of the laws passed following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession.

Under Cordray, the first CFPB director, the agency implemented or proposed myriad new rules and regulations for the banking industry. Nearly every American who deals with banks or a credit card company or has a mortgage has been affected by rules the agency put in place.

Facing Republican opposition, former President Barack Obama had used a congressional recess appointment to install Cordray to lead the agency. When Trump was elected, Cordray became one of the highest-level political appointees to remain, and some congressional Republicans had urged Trump to fire him.

Cordray announced this month that he planned to resign his office by the end of November. Many thought his early resignation would give Trump a chance to appoint his own director, who could remake the agency and potentially roll back the protections Cordray and his staff put into place.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the chambers top Democrat, said Sunday that federal law makes clear English serves as acting director until the Senate confirms a permanent one.

All Americans should be deeply concerned about the White Houses cynical decision to flout the law and attempt to put the ringleader of its dangerous, anti-consumer protection policies in charge of the CFPB, said Pelosi, of California. Democrats will be firm in defending the rightful appointment of Leandra English as acting director.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michigan Rep. John Conyers on Sunday stepped aside as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, but again denied recent allegations of sexual and inappropriate conduct.

In light of the attention drawn by recent allegations made against me, I have notified the Democratic leader of my request to step aside as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee during the investigation of these matters, Conyers said in a statement.

The 88-year-old Conyers, starting last week, was hit with several allegations of misconduct while in Congress that are now being investigated by the House Ethics Committee.

The news website BuzzFeed reported Monday that Conyers' office paid a woman more than $27,000 under a confidentiality agreement to settle a complaint in 2015 that she was fired from his Washington staff because she rejected his sexual advances.

The ethics committee announced the following day that it had begun an investigation into Conyers, after receiving allegations of sexual harassment and age discrimination involving staff members and about the congressman using "official resources for impermissible personal purposes."

And later in the week, Melanie Sloan, a lawyer who worked with Conyers on the House Judiciary Committee, said she was called into the long-serving congressman's office to discuss an issue and found him walking around in his underwear.

I deny these allegations, many of which were raised by documents reportedly paid for by a partisan alt-right blogger.  Rep. John Conyers

Sloan worked on the committee in the 1990s, but it was not clear when the alleged incident occurred. She also claims Conyers often screamed at her, fired and re-hired her, criticized her for not wearing stockings and once even ordered her to baby-sit one of his children.

I deny [all of] these allegations, many of which were raised by documents reportedly paid for by a partisan alt-right blogger, Conyers, the long-serving active House member, also said in his statement Sunday. I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family.

He also said he wanted to remain the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee but I have come to believe that my presence as ranking member  would not serve these efforts while the Ethics Committee investigation is pending. I cannot in good conscience allow these charges to undermine my colleagues in the Democratic Caucus.

The blogger to whom Conyers seems to be referring is President Trump supporter Mike Cernovich.

Cernovich reportedly gave BuzzFeed the settlement documents, which the news outlet says it independently verified.

Cernovich purportedly said in a series of recent but now-deleted tweets that he would pay $10,000 for details of the settlements.

After Conyers announcement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said : Zero tolerance means consequences. As a woman and mother of four daughters, I particularly take any accusation of sexual harassment very seriously.

"Any credible accusation must be reviewed by the Ethics Committee expeditiously. We are at a watershed moment on this issue, and no matter how great an individuals legacy, it is not a license for harassment. I commend the brave women coming forward.

Before the announcement, Pelosi, the Houses top Democrat, called Conyers an American icon, but reserved judgment about recent sexual allegations against the congressman until the chambers Ethics Committee completes its review.

John Conyers is an icon in our country, she told NBCs Meet the Press. He has done a great deal to protect women."

Fox News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Trump on Sunday weighed in again on the fast-approaching Election Day in the Alabama Senate race, calling Democratic nominee Doug Jones weak on crime and other conservative issues, but stopping short of backing embattled GOP candidate Roy Moore.

The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES [sic] TAXES TO THE SKY, Trump tweeted. Jones would be a disaster!

Trump is in a tough political position. He and fellow Republicans desperately need to keep the Alabama Senate seat left open after GOP Sen. Jeff Session became U.S. attorney general, considering they now have just a narrow 52-46 member majority in the chamber.

Moore, a Christian conservative, has been accused in recent weeks of sexual misconduct with teenage women roughly four decades ago. He has denied the allegations and refused to quit the race, with Election Day on December 12.

Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., unsuccessfully backed Moores rival in the Alabama GOP primary, Luther Strange, a more moderate Republican appointed to Sessions seat until the election.

Trump has said Moore should step aside if the allegations are true. However, the president, before leaving on Thanksgiving break, appeared to soften his position, telling reporters, I can tell you one thing for sure: We dont need a liberal person in there, a Democrat Jones.

He also said Moore denies the allegations.

"He says it didnt happen, Trump said. He said 40 years ago this did not happen."
More than 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of marijuana have been discovered inside luggage at Tennessee's Nashville International Airport.

INDIAN AIRPORT STOPS 29 PASSENGERS SMUGGLING GOLD IN THEIR RECTUMS

WZTV-TV reports that an affidavit says airport police seized 44 pounds (20 kilograms) of marijuana from luggage unclaimed at a carousel Tuesday night. The luggage came from a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle.

The affidavit says the bags belonged to 43-year-old George Nellans, who was arrested when he arrived at the airport Wednesday afternoon.

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Nellans was being held at the Davidson County Jail on $20,000 bond for the felony drug offense, and is due in court Nov. 29. It's unclear if he has a lawyer.
Friends, family and fellow law enforcement officers converged on El Paso Saturday to mourn a Border Patrol agent who died last weekend after what his union insists was an ambush.

Bagpipes played as Border Patrol pallbearers in green uniforms carried the U.S. flag-draped coffin of Rogelio Martinez, 36, into Our Lady of Guadalupe Church for a private funeral Mass. He died in a hospital Sunday of head and other injuries.

"It honors him to see law enforcement agencies from across the United States" attend the service, Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero told reporters outside the church.

BORDER PATROL AGENT APPEARED TO BE AMBUSHED, BASHED WITH ROCKS

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was scheduled to attend the funeral but it was not clear if he was there. Following the funeral, a graveside ceremony was held at Restlawn Cemetery in El Paso.

Martinez was found Nov. 18 in a culvert along with his seriously injured partner, whose name has not been released, in a rugged area near Van Horn, about 30 miles from the border with Mexico and 110 miles southeast of El Paso.

On Tuesday, Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, told Fox News that it appeared the agents were "ambushed" by a group of illegal immigrants.

"We dont know exactly what happened because we werent there. However, just from agents that were working in the area, reports are saying it was an attack and it would appear to be an ambush," said Judd, who added, "there's a high likelihood this was an assault on the agents."

However, Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie Jr. in the FBI's El Paso office has only said investigators were treating the incident as a "potential assault" and could not rule out other scenarios.

After the death of Martinez, his father told the El Paso Times that his son loved his job. Jose Martinez said his son would call him every day to say goodbye for the night.

"And I would tell him, 'Take care of yourself son. God bless you,"' the father said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A woman in Florida was arrested after she allegedly pulled a knife on her son and mother after a fight over a missing iPad, the Palm Beach Post said.

Lisa Metzger, 41, of Boca Raton, told police on Tuesday that she got into a fight with her mother after discovering her son had lost a school-issued iPad, the Post said. Because the device was lost, they reportedly had to pay the school $400 to buy a new one.

Metzger told police she believed her son should have to take responsibility and pay the fine himself, the Post said. Her mother reportedly offered the money instead, at which point Metzger said she got mad. In order to prove a point, the woman said she threatened her son with the weapon because he was being verbally abusive, the Post said.

Police said the womans mother claimed she didnt witness that part of the fight but when she returned to the room, she reportedly saw the weapon in her daughters hand.

2 INJURED IN POSSIBLE ROAD RAGE SHOOTING ON FLORIDA TURNPIKE

According to an arrest report obtained by the Palm Beach Post, Metzger then told her mother, I will kill you.

The older woman left and reported the incident to the police, who arrived at the residence, the Post reported. The woman claimed she never saw Lisa so angry, police said.

The son took the weapon from his mother and left, according to the Post. But when questioned by police, he reportedly didnt tell them anything about the knife.

Authorities arrested Metzger and charged her with aggravated battery on a person 65 years and older and battery on multiple law enforcement officers, the Palm Beach Post said. The latter charge was given because the woman reportedly kicked two of the arresting officers in the legs.

She was released from jail on a $6,000 bond on Wednesday, the report said.
An Indiana high school teacher got more than detention when she was arrested after a video posted to social media allegedly showed her doing drugs in an empty classroom.

Samantha Cox, a 24-year-old teacher at Lake Central High School in the town of St. John near the Illinois border, was arrested on Wednesday for possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

The English teacher was allegedly caught doing drugs after students filmed her with a phone from outside the classroom, according to Fox 32 Chicago.

"It's absolutely, I can't' really describe it. It's just atrocious," Kasia Firlej, a parent of a child at the school said to the local news channel.

The video, which made rounds on social media, shows a woman alleged to be Cox sitting in the corner of the classroom using narcotics. It was not immediately clear which substance she was taking.

Police in St. John responded to a call late Wednesday morning about the situation.

A second cellphone video shows the teacher being led out of the school wearing handcuffs.

The incident led Lake Central superintendent, Dr. Larry Verraco, to send out a recorded message on Wednesday afternoon to parents.

"Earlier today, Lake Central administration was made aware of a situation regarding a teacher at Lake Central High School, Dr.Verraco said in the message. Swift and forceful action was taken in conjunction with St. John and Dyer police departments. The safety of all students remains the top priority of our school staff and a full investigation is ongoing."

Cox is being held at a local jail pending charges.

The investigation is ongoing.

Click here for more from Fox 32 Chicago
A man who survived the Oct. 1 mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas was killed last week in a hit-and-run in southern Nevada.

Roy McClellan died Nov. 17 while hitchhiking on State Route 160 in Pahrump, about 50 miles west of Las Vegas.

"I don't understand why he wasn't taken at the shooting, but a month later he was taken this way," McClellan's wife, Denise, told KSNV. "I hope my husband found peace and he's safe now."

The McClellans were attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip when Stephen Paddock began shooting from his 32nd-floor suite at the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel-casino. In all, 58 people were killed and more than 500 were injured in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Denise McClellan told KSNV that the shooting "was really messing with [Roy's] head and he was going to therapy."

On Friday, Denise posted on Facebook that Roy had "stormed off" after a fight with a friend the night before he died.

KSNV reported that investigators had located the car believed to be involved in the accident and charges were pending.

A GoFundMe to support McClellan's family had raised $1,640 as of Saturday evening.

Click for more from News3LV.com.
A large brawl outside a New Jersey bar ended with four people under arrest and two police officers injured.

Hoboken police say as many as 40 men and women were involved in the fight that broke out around 4 a.m. Saturday.

Officers who happened to be nearby tried to break up the crowd. But as they started to separate combatants, smaller pockets of fights formed.

Authorities say one man threw officer Michael Losurdo to the ground. But Losurdo was able to arrest the man despite suffering leg, ear and head injuries.

Two other men then tried unsuccessfully to pull the man away from Losurdo and ran off, but both were captured.

Another officer suffered a back injury when another man jumped him from behind.

Authorities haven't said what sparked the brawl.
Authorities arrested a Northern California man they say was behind a multi-car pileup that killed four people and injured six others.

Fred Lowe of Sacramento was arrested on suspicion of felony vehicular manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and felony DUI, California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Matthew Hamer told the East Bay Times .

Hamer said Lowe, 47, left the crash scene at Interstate 80 in the San Francisco area's east bay and was apprehended after Contra Costa County Sheriff's deputies spotted a blue Mercedes reported to be involved in the crash.

The blue Mercedes Lowe is suspected of driving collided with a white Nissan sedan Saturday night, causing the Nissan to flip over and crash into three vehicles traveling in the opposite direction.

All four passengers in the Nissan died at the scene. The driver was hospitalized.

Details of the arrest were not available and CHP authorities did not have information on the six people who were hospitalized.

Lowe was at the Martinez Detention Facility on Sunday in lieu of $1.15 million bail.

It was not immediately known if he had an attorney, and attempts by The Associated Press to reach family and associates for comment were unsuccessful.
A man shot and killed a suspect during an attempted home invasion Saturday in a suburb of St. Louis, officials said.

The St. Charles Police Department told FOX 2 they were called to an apartment complex around 5:45 p.m. after the suspect broke into the home while the man and two children were inside.

The homeowner then shot and killed the man, who has not yet been identified by police.

Lt. Chad Fisk with the St. Charles Police Department told FOX 2 the children were not injured in the incident.

CALIFORNIA POLICE INVESTIGATE SURVEILLANCE VIDEO AFTER LOOTERS STEAL 1,800 GALLONS OF VODKA

"They were actually in a back bedroom, it's my understanding," Fisk said. "They may have heard some things, so we'd like to speak with them obviously also."

The children are now under the care of family members, he added.

Authorities are investigating if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the incident, according to KSDK. Officials are also not sure if the suspect knew the homeowner.
A New York City high school teacher had illicit sex with a 17-year-old student after becoming her sugar daddy and showering her with gifts, cash and a taxpayer-funded no-show job, the New York Post reports.

Spanish teacher Martin Howfield, 56, who is also a lawyer, was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with the student last year at North Queens Community High School, the paper reported Saturday. The school offers students in danger of flunking out a last chance to graduate.

As part of the scheme, Howfield was accused of arranging a $2,000 paid internship for the girl in his law office through a NYC Department of Education work-study program, but her only duties consisted of performing sexual favors, according to the paper.

The Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation, which investigates alleged wrongdoing at New York City public schools, conducted the investigation and found that Howfield approached the student at the school and asked whether he could be her sugar daddy, the paper reported.

He agreed to pay her $300 a month and asked what she would do for the money, the paper reported.

She offered to have sex with him, the student told investigators, according to the paper.

The Post reported that the investigation found that Howfield asked the girl to send him nude photos of herself which she did.

She told investigators that Howfield took her shopping at a mall, the paper reported. He was accused of buying her two pairs of expensive sneakers and panties from Victorias Secret.

At first, the student told police and school investigators that Howfield only fondled her beneath her clothing, the paper reported. Later, she admitted to the investigators that she had intercourse and oral sex with the teacher in his car after the shopping trips.

The students mother told a detective that her daughter texted her she went to the mall with her sugar daddy, Marty, who gave her money, according to the paper.

The Post reported that the investigation also revealed that Howfield asked the student to set him up with another girl.

That girl, a 17-year-old former student, said Howfield had her engage in phone sex with him and sent her a naked photo of himself, according to the paper.

Howfield was supposed to give her money for the phone sex but never did, she told the investigators.

Howfield declined to speak to investigators. He did not return messages from the Post.

The paper reported that Howfield quit his $85,000 job in November 2016 shortly after the investigation was completed.

Click for more from the New York Post.
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A volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali erupted several times over the weekend, emitting thick plumes of smoke that covered nearby resorts and villages with ash and prompted airport closures and flight cancellations that left thousands of tourists stranded.

Mount Agungs cone lit up in orange when it erupted once Saturday evening and three more times early Sunday, the second time in less than a week. Ash shot up 13,000 feet into the atmosphere and drifted to the neighboring Lombok Island, forcing its airport to close on Sunday until at least 6 a.m. the next day, an official at the airport told The Associated Press. Balis airport remained open on Sunday with flights expected to take off after a slew of cancellations on Saturday.

"Tourism in Bali is still safe, except in the danger (zone) around Mount Agung," Indonesias Disaster Mitigation Agency said in a statement, adding that people within the 4.6-mile exclusion zone to immediately evacuate in an orderly and calm manner, according to the BBC.

Airlines were also issued a red warning, meaning an eruption can be imminent and large amounts of ash could be emitted into the air. Several thousand people were affected by Saturday's flight cancellations.

"We weren't notified by Jetstar in advance of us getting here (to Bali's airport)," said Australian tourist George Bennick. "So we are very disappointed about that."

Nearby resorts and villages were covered with less than half an inch of volcanic ash as of Sunday, disaster officials said. Local soldiers and police distributed masks for people on the islands.

Made Sugiri, an employee at Mahagiri Panoramic Resort, located around 6 miles from the crater, said a thin layer of volcanic ash reached the area.

"We are out of the danger zone, but like other resorts in the region, of course the eruptions cause a decrease in the number of visitors," he said.

"I think these latest eruptions are more dangerous, given the thick clouds it's releasing," he said. "Certainly we worry, but we have to wait and see. Hopefully there is no significant eruption."

More than 140,000 people fled Bali in September when Mount Agung showed signs of activity for the first time in more than half a century. Many residents returned home after the alert was lowered on Oct. 29, but about 25,000 residents are still in temporary shelters.

A possible major eruption has detered many travelers from visiting Indonesias top tourist destination. More than 5 million visitors travel to Bali for its Hindu culture, surf beaches and lush green interior. Nearby Lombok is relatively undeveloped as a tourist destination, receiving fewer than 100,000 international visitors a year. However, Bali has lost at least $110 million in tourism after major evacuations were ordered in September, the BBC reported.

Agung also had a minor eruption on Tuesday, but authorities have not raised the alert status from the second-highest level that would include more people in the exclusion area, forcing them to evacuate. Though ash from the volcano could rain down for at least another month, no major eruption is expected, government volcanologist Gede Suantika said. A red-yellow light visible in ash above the mountain was the reflection of lava in the crater.

Indonesia sits on the "Pacific Ring of Fire" and has more than 120 active volcanoes. The volcano's last major eruption, in 1963, killed about 1,100 people.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
At least 22 civilians were killed in government airstrikes and shelling outside Syria's capital of Damascus, activists reported Sunday, as the fighting continued ahead of U.N. peace talks in Geneva.

The government's jets and artillery launched a wave of strikes on residential areas in the Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group. By midday, 23 people had been killed.

The locally-run Ghouta Media Center said 22 civilians had been killed.

Rescuers arriving at the scene in Misraba, a town in the eastern Ghouta region, picked up the wounded and the dead from where they'd fallen, in streets in a residential area in the town, as seen in a video posted by the Ghouta Media Center and the Syrian Civil Defense search-and-rescue group.

Conditions have deteriorated inside the region, which is suffering from shortages of food and medicine due to a government-enforced blockade. The U.N. says there are some 350,000 people in need of immediate humanitarian aid in Eastern Ghouta.

Rebels in Eastern Ghouta have held out against government forces throughout the nearly seven years of the country's civil war.

TRUMP TELLS TURKEY'S LEADER: US TO STOP ARMING SYRIAN KURDS

Earlier this month, Syrian rebels attacked a nearby military installation in the area, seizing weapons and ammunition.

The U.N. is slated to resume peace talks between the government and the Syrian opposition in Geneva on Nov. 28. The opposition announced last week it was prepared to enter into direct talks with the government without preconditions, in a departure from earlier positions.

The government has not yet named its delegation to the talks.

The U.N.'s deputy envoy to Syria, Ramzy Ramzy, said after meeting Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad Saturday in Damascus that the talks would cover four main topics, a new constitution, governance, elections and combating terrorism.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The pope has led a minute of silence in St. Peter's Square for the victims of the deadly attack on a mosque in Egypt.

Francis said following the traditional Angelus greeting on Sunday that the victims "were praying in that moment. We also pray in silence for them."

The pope said the attack on Friday "brought great pain," adding that he continued to pray for the dead and the wounded "and for the whole of that community, that has been so hard hit."

The pope previously expressed in a telegram his "strong condemnation" of the attack, which killed 305 people in the deadliest assault by Islamic extremists in modern Egyptian history.

The pontiff also asked for prayers for his six-day trip Myanmar and Bangladesh, for which he departs later Sunday.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince has opened the first high-level meeting of a kingdom-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism.

Mohammed bin Salman spoke briefly at the gathering of the Islamic Military Counterterrorism Alliance in Riyadh on Sunday. The 32-year-old son of King Salman says the coalition won't allow extremists "to tarnish the name of our religion."

He says the members have gathered to pledge to do "all that we can until terrorism is uprooted and is erased from the face of the Earth."

The alliance, which first formed in December 2015 with 34 nations, now includes 41 countries, though it apparently does not include Iraq, Iran or Syria.

Also not attending were any officials from Qatar. Saudi Arabia and three other Arab nations cut ties to Doha in June.
South Korea is making sure North Korea doesnt forget about the regimes soldier who defected to the South in a daring escape earlier this month -- by blasting updates about the defectors health through its militarys loudspeakers at the Demilitarized Zone, a report said on Sunday.

South Korean troops broadcasted an update on Sunday about the North Korean soldiers nutritive conditions, taking a hit at the Hermit Kingdoms alleged health issues, Yonhap News Agency reported. The broadcasts are reportedly so loud that people within 12.4 miles from the DMZ are able to hear it.

"The nutritive conditions of the North Korean soldier who recently defected through the Panmunjom were unveiled," an official told Yonhap News Agency.

Consistent updates have been broadcast through South Korean militarys loudspeakers since the soldier, identified by his surname, Oh, was shot at least five times while dashing across the Joint Security Area -- a strip of land at the DMZ where North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face -- on Nov. 13. The broadcast operation is part of an ongoing psychological warfare between the North and the South. The gigantic loudspeakers were switched back on in January 2016 after North Koreas fourth nuclear test.

The loudspeakers are also reportedly used to blast propaganda to persuade North Korean soldiers to doubt Kim Jong Uns regime and even convince them to defect to the South, the BBC reported. Those speakers have been used sporadically since the end of the Korean War.

The 24-year-old North Korean defector is currently recovering from the gunshot wounds he endured when his fellow comrades fired dozens of rounds at him to stop him from defecting to the South. Video of Ohs dash to freedom released on Wednesday showed him speeding down a tree-lined road as stunned North Korean soldiers began running after him. He fell into a pile of leaves against a small wall before being dragged to safety by South Korean troops.

Days after the defection, North Korea has reportedly replaced all of its security force of 35 to 40 men at the JSA, Yonhap News Agency said, citing an unnamed intelligence source. The source also told the South Korean news site the North seems to have temporarily closed a bridge over which the defector drove a military jeep to reach the border before his dramatic escape on foot last Monday. The source said the North could be preparing to install a security gate at the bridge for strengthening its screening of personnel coming in and out of the area.

Surgeons operating on Oh discovered an enormous number of parasites slithering in his body, including an 11-inch long worm entrenched in his digestive tract. Lead surgeon John Cook-Jong Lee said on Thursday the defector is a pretty nice guy who has repeated nightmares about returning to the volatile regime, Reuters reported.

He told me that he is so thankful for South Koreans for saving his life and giving him that much blood, Lee said, according to Reuters.

The defector remains in the intensive care unit, but has regained full consciousness after two major surgeries. But the efforts to save the defector came with a price. Medical bills have mounted to more than $92,260, according to Yonhap News Agency. Government agencies are expected to decide who will pay for the medical care.

South Korean officials are reportedly planning to interrogate Oh when he recovers from his wounds.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The head of Germanys Christian Social Union gave his support for an alliance with Germanys Social Democrats on Sunday, raising hope of a grand coalition in the country and throwing a political lifeline to its embattled Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Although Merkel won a fourth term in late September, political deadlock set in since three-way coalition talks collapsed a week ago between her party, the pro-business Free Democrats and the Greens.

An alliance of the conservatives and SPD is the best option for Germanybetter anyway than a coalition with the Free Democrats and Greens, new elections or a minority government, Horst Seehofer, head of Bavarias CSU, told Bild am Sonntag, reports Reuters.

YEMEN OFFICIALS SAY SUSPECTED US DRONE KILLS 3 MILITANTS

The SPD was under intense pressure to preserve stability and avoid new elections -- analysts believe they would boost the far-right Alternative for Germany, which won 94 seats in the Bundestag in the elections -- and be detrimental to Merkel.

Reuters reports that Merkel said the acting government under her leadership can keep working until a new coalition is formed, while an Emnid poll on Sunday showed that 52 percent of Germans back a grand coalition.

Even so, the road ahead for Merkel and her party wont be easy.

As things stand, Merkel is not in a position in which she can set conditions, prominent Social Democrat Malu Dreyer told the daily Trierscher Volksfreund on Saturday, reports the Washington Post.
This plan follows a ruling by Israels High Court of Justice in August which sanctioned the controversial forced relocation policy introduced by the Israeli Government in March 2015, provided that certain safeguards were put in place in third countries.

From the start of this programme in December 2013 until June 2017, some 4,000 Eritrean and Sudanese were relocated under the Governments voluntary departure programme to two African countries, named in media reports as Rwanda and Uganda.

Due to the secrecy surrounding this policy and the lack of transparency concerning its implementation, it has been very difficult for UNHCR to follow up and systematically monitor the situation of people relocated to these African countries. UNHCR, however, is concerned that these persons have not found adequate safety or a durable solution to their plight and that many have subsequently attempted dangerous onward movements within Africa or to Europe.

As party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, Israel has legal obligations to protect refugees and other persons in need of international protection, said UNHCRs Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Volker Turk. UNHCR and the international community have been assisting Israel to meet its international obligations, including by resettling or finding other durable solutions for 2,400 refugees who have departed from Israel in the last couple of years.

There are some 27,500 Eritreans and 7,800 Sudanese in Israel. Since Israel took over refugee status determination from UNHCR in 2009, only eight Eritreans and two Sudanese have been recognized as refugees by the authorities. Another 200 Sudanese, all from Darfur, were recently granted humanitarian status in Israel.

Media contact:

http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/press/2017/11/5a0f27484/unhcr-concerned-israels-refugee-relocation-proposals.html
They wore their walking shoes and their holiday leggings. They brushed elbows and bumped shopping bags on sidewalks about as busy as store owners can remember on a Saturday after Thanksgiving. Or any Saturday, for that matter.

Scarlett Pons propped open the doors of her Ponshop Studio and Gallery on Caroline Street in downtown Fredericksburg as frigid morning temperatures gave way to mild weather, welcoming shoppers looking for limited edition and one-of-a-kind works of art.

Terry Owsley watched as his stock of gloves made from baby alpaca fiberand as soft to the touch as they sounddwindled to two pairs and then disappeared at nearby Latitudes, a fair trade store featuring unique items from more than 50 countries.

And Faylee Hydorn, who has operated Rocking Horse Gallery for 35 years, carefully wrapped a handmade dolls dress that reminded one customer of her wedding gownwhile greeting a steady flow of foot traffic and gasping over the days turnout.

This was Small Business Saturday, a sort of Black Friday for local retailers, restaurants and other businesses that opened early and offered discounts, special buys and free stuff.

American Express first designated Small Business Saturday in 2010 to encourage shoppers to buy local. For many, the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas can mean the difference between profitability or otherwise.

In 2014, Fredericksburg VA Main Street began organizing the event downtown. More than 60 stores participated this year, making it the most sweeping since it began. Based on anecdotal evidence, it may also be the most successful.

Participating businesses were easy to find: They had bundles of blue and white balloons by their doorways. What they offered was less easy to locate: Nativities carved from found olive wood in Bethlehem and glass ornaments imported from Egypt.

If the Friday after Thanksgiving is for national retailers, the Saturday after is for shops like his, Owsley said from a corner of his crowded store. Its our biggest day of the year by far.

Sure enough, Hydorn had planned to come in at 10. She arrived at her shop an hour early and was glad she did. As lunchtime came and went, she had yet to slow down.

Shoppers, like shop owners, mostly had a similar story to tell. They like the idea of supporting local shops. And they want to find something unique.

For Shelby Livingston and Kristen Case, who traveled from Virginia Beach and Haymarket, respectively, that was old postcards, coins and antiquesstuff you dont see every day, they said.

Liesl Yeskey of Stafford County and her mom, Jane Wagner, who was visiting from Erie, Penn., have made Small Business Saturday a new tradition.

I come down for Thanksgiving, Wagner said. At 9 a.m. Saturday, they head for downtown.

This year, Yeskey and Wagner had reusable, blue and white bags looped over their arms, having snagged a pair of the alpaca gloves from Latitudes, plus some books and handmade soaps for gifts.

Three generations of women and girls from both coasts were breaking up their downtown Christmas shopping with lunch at Foode Saturday.

Ann Doyle lives in Fredericksburg. Her sister was visiting from Washington state; her daughter and two granddaughters joined them to make a day of it.

Doyle had about a dozen people to shop for. Every one of them would get something from a local shop, she said. There were games and books and toys and vases and ornaments made in Germany, and that was all before lunch. The group still planned to stop by Monkees after.

After playing bongo drums for tips until a resident downtown tired of the noise, 10-year-old Liam McCormick took his bag full of dollar bills and coins into his favorite downtown shop to buy gifts for his dad and sister: fair trade chocolate, a hand-felted dog, a notebook made from elephant poopthings hed be hard-pressed to find just anywhere.
ONGOING

Open Enrollment for the Affordable Care ActHealth Insurance Marketplace is through Dec. 15. Free, in-person assistance is available by appointment. Call 540/741-2447 to schedule an appointment to review plans available, to see if you qualify for a subsidy to help lower the cost of premiums and deductibles and for help enrolling using the HealthCare.gov website.

NOV. 29

Fredericksburg Visiting Angels will provide the presentation Aging Gracefully from noon to 1 p.m. at Cardinal Village, 4621 Spotsylvania Parkway. Aging Gracefully, will touch on five focus areas important to the aging process. The presentation will also include discussions on what characteristics centenarians exhibit that have contributed to them living to the age of 100. The public is invited.

Truong Rehabilitation Center (10340 Spotsylvania Ave., Fredericksburg) will host a presentation from 5:306:30 p.m. on platelet-rich plasma therapy, a natural approach to healing ligament, tendon and joint injuries. Call 540/374-3164 to RSVP by Tuesday. Visit truongrehab.com.

NOV. 30

Greenfield of Stafford will host a free workshop about the VA Aid and Attendance benefit at 6 p.m. at 30 Kings Crest Drive, Stafford. Call 571/289-1069 to register.

DEC. 2

The Fredericksburg Vegetarian Group will host a vegan potluck lunch followed by a talk and Q&A at Unity of Fredericksburg, 2217 Princess Anne St., No. 1011A, Fredericksburg, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Gwyn Whittaker of Greenfare Organic Cafe will discuss Finding Optimal Health. Attendees should bring a vegan dish or a donation.

DEC. 5

REVIVE! Opiate Overdose & Naloxone Lay Training will take place from 12:30 p.m. at England Run Library, 806 Lyons Blvd., Stafford. The free training teaches how to recognize an opioid overdose and how to use naloxone to reverse an overdose. Each attendee will receive a free REVIVE! kit provided by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The kit includes the supplies needed to administer naloxone.

The opioid antidote can be purchased at pharmacies without a prescription in Virginia. The Rappahannock Area Health District will provide a free dose of naloxone to individuals who have completed the training by going to the local Rappahannock Health District Office with their REVIVE! training certificate or card. These trainings are offered monthly at various locations and and times, please follow the link for future dates.

DEC. 6

The Fredericksburg regional office of the Alzheimers Association Greater Richmond Chapter will offer a program on caregiver stress and preparing for the holidays to the general public from 12:30 p.m. at Dorothy Hart Community Center, 408 Canal St., Fredericksburg. Advance registration is required by calling 540/370-0835, ext. 8407.

DEC. 7

The Rappahannock Summit on Suicide Prevention: A Message of Hope will be held from 5:308 p.m. at the John F. Fick, III Conference Center (1301 Sam Perry Blvd., Fredericksburg). Mary Washington Healthcare, Rappahannock Area Community Services Board and Rappahannock United Way will sponsor the event, which will include a workshop for community stakeholders during the day.

Mental Health America of Fredericksburg, Rappahannock Area Health Department and the Community Collaborative for Youth and Families teamed up to support this community conversation. The keynote speaker will be Colleen Carr, director of policy and national partner initiatives for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. The town hall will also feature a panel of local experts. Refreshments will be served at 5:30 p.m. and the program will begin at 6 p.m. To register, call 540/741-1404.

DEC. 9

A Tacky Sweater Fun Run 2017 will take place from 911 a.m. at Old Mill Park on Caroline Street in Fredericksburg. This family-friendly event will feature walking/running the Canal Path and Heritage Trail. Prizes will be given for tackiest sweaters. There will be hot chocolate at the finish line. All paying participants will receive a Owen Lea Foundation beanie hat. Cost to participate is $20. Proceeds will benefit the the Owen Lea Foundation, a local nonprofit supporting families living with Neuroblastoma (a rare pediatric cancer). Visit owenleafoundation.org.

JAN. 16FEB. 8

Rappahannock Area Community Services Board is enrolling families for its next DARE To Be You session. Workshops begin Jan. 16 and include games, crafts, parenting tips and dinner. There are specialized classes for children ages 3 and older. Participants would attend workshops on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. and classes will be from 67:30 p.m. The workshops will take place at Kenmore Club, 623 Kenmore Ave., Fredericksburg. Adults who complete the program will receive a $50 gift card. DARE To Be you is a family-based prevention program that focuses on positive behavior to help parents develop self-esteem, communication skills and stress management techniques. The sessions are appropriate for parents with children of all ages. For details or to register for the training, contact Jennifer Bateman, Prevention Specialist, at 540/374-3337, ext. 100, or jbateman@rappahannockareacsb.org.

HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS

To list an event, email anrussell@freelancestar.com. Include a phone number. Calendar appears every Sunday. Deadline for items is noon the preceding Tuesday before publication.
I was not giving much thought to the childhood experiences of the disheveled old guy I was treating for emphysema and excess alcohol consumption at the clinic the other daybut I should have been.

This realization was brought home to me by a presentation at the annual conference of the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics I just attended in Virginia Beach.

Usually the agenda is a lot of organizational and logistical stuff. But, this time, social worker John RichardsonLauve, LCSW, from the organization ChildSavers, gave a clinically orientated presentation about the effects of adverse childhood events, or ACEs. It was an interesting deviation.

I have heard occasional references to ACEs before, but didnt appreciate the profound and lifelong effects of these events. Some can even influence the functioning of the immune system and longevity.

The idea of ACEs having bad effects in adulthood came from an analysis of women dropping out of an obesity/weight loss program being run by Kaiser Permanente in California. When interviewed, it was found the majority had experienced sexual abuse as a child.

Common, damaging

Adversity is any event or series of events or circumstances that mentally or physically threaten and overwhelm the emotional coping abilities of a child. This includes things like:

Abusewhether physical, sexual, within the household, or within the community

Neglecteither physical or emotional (which includes poverty)

Substance abuse in the household

Divorce/separation loss or incarceration of a parent.

The effects are multiple, many of which you might be surprised as being stress-related. Stuff like:

Emphysema

Cancer

Heart disease

Obesity

Some consequences one can understand better, as the result of developing poor emotional coping skills, aberrant thinking and pathological behaviors, like:

Drug and alcohol abuse

Depression, with increased risk of suicide

Risky behaviors and promiscuity leading to accidents, increased risk of HIV and unintended pregnancy

Criminality and being violent, and becoming an abuser.

The final consequence is people with high ACE scores have a significantly reduced longevity. We saw an interesting map of Richmond with higher socioeconomic districts like Westover Hills having a life expectancy of 83 years. More economically distressed areas, like Gilpin, had an expectancy of just 63.

The scary thing is how prevalent ACEs are. Nearly one in four kids experience either physical or sexual abuse. And the higher your score the worse the effect. If you have four risk factors, you are 222 percent more likely to be obese, or 555 percent more likely to develop alcoholism.

Trauma-informed care

Mitigating the effects of these adverse events is tough. Treating requires therapist and patient to know and understand the effects of adversity in childhood, so-called trauma-informed care.

It requires breaking down and changing behaviors ingrained in childhood into the developing mid-brain the part of the brain in control of emotional responses.

This is based on the four Rs:

Realize and understand ACEs

Recognize the signs of trauma

Respond, using treatments that address the abnormal response.

Avoid retraumatization, steering people away from situations that reactivate old stresses.

A key enquiry is to not ask the person whats wrong with them, but ask what happened, noted RichardsonLauve. Look beyond the immediate health problem for what might be motivating unhealthy behavior. Then work on building resilience.

Resilience comes from attachment to someone or some organization that will show consistent love and validation. This will teach how to work on and regulate psychological and behavioral responses. Learn competence and how to act rather than react, and so make good, reasoned choices, rather than emotionally motivated impulsive ones.

The disheveled guy I was seeing in the clinic after attending this conference is homeless and has lived in a tent in the woods around Fredericksburg for the last 12 years, so has probably experienced deprivation trauma. But I probably should have been enquiring into his childhoodthough I wonder if he would think I was some kind of screwy if I did.

He, and so much more of the population need to become trauma aware. Aware of what the combined research teams from Kaiser and the CDC have found, and what RichardsonLauve and ChildSavers are promoting.

Aware of how even years later, the effects of kids being mistreated can have profound health consequences, and get them to understand and change that behavior and how they are seen by the world.

How you treat yourself is how you are inviting the world to treat you, said RichardsonLauve.

Patrick Neustatter is the medical director of Lloyd Moss Free Clinic in Fredericksburg and the author of Managing Your Doctor: The Smart Patients Guide to Getting Effective Affordable Healthcare. Visit managingyourdoctor.com.
Patrick Jett had been waiting most of his young life for the moment he could climb into the front of an ambulance and respond to whatever emergency awaited.

For two years, hed been running calls with the Spotsylvania Volunteer Rescue Squad, responding to vehicle accidents or drug overdoses, general illnesses or diabetic reactions. Because he was underage, he sat in the back and followed directions from an adult.

Jett was determined to change that. He took all the mandatory courses and got the necessary certifications to be the attendant in chargethe one who would call the shotsthe moment he was old enough to do so.

He knew what he had to do, and he put in the dedication and effort to make it happen, Kimberly Madison, the organizations rescue chief said in the days before Jetts 18th birthday. I have no qualms or reservations about him being released. Hes totally ready to be out on his own.

Jett is the only child of registered nurses Allen and Kathryn Jett of Spotsylvania County. Their combined DNA solidified his interest in all things related to the care of the sick or injured.

Even before he turned 1, Jett was fascinated by sirens. His father was a volunteer with Fredericksburg Rescue Squad, and Jett would wave to Dada whenever an ambulance passedeven if his dad was right beside him.

His first party was at the squad building and included a fire-truck cake, which he promptly destroyed.

A photo of him at age 2 shows the towheaded boy with a stethoscope around his neck, poised to listen to his fathers heartbeat.

Jett had little interest in the G.I. Joes or Matchbox cars his father tried to play with him, or in video games as a teenager.

But he did have a favorite stuffed bear named Mr. Bo. As a boy, Jett would put an oxygen mask over Mr. Bos nose and try to give it the same kind of breathing treatment he got for asthma.

He was born like a 32-year-old man, his dad said.

I WANT TO BE THERE

Jett was about 11 when a nearby greenhouse blew upand exploded his interest in emergency services. He felt the house shake and saw the plume of smoke from his front door.

Then he heard the sound of help on the way.

Within two or three minutes, there was a whole fleet of fire trucks on the scene, Jett said. They turned chaos into something manageable.

So many resources, Jett thought, all activated in so little time.

I want to be there, he told himself.

At 14, he was old enough to volunteer for non-medical duties at Spotsylvania Medical Regional Center, so he joined his dad on 12-hour Sunday shifts. He changed the sheets on hospital beds and answered phones and call bells.

At 15, he piloted a floating program so trained volunteers could work throughout the hospital.

By 16, he had put in almost 1,000 hours.

During slow times, doctors in the Intensive Care Unit showed him patterns on electrocardiograms and how to interpret different values. They explained the contractions of the atrium, the correlation of the ventricles to what he saw on the printouts.

I learned a lot of great things from a lot of great people, Jett said.

PHENOMENAL JOB

At 16, Jett volunteered at Chancellor Volunteer Fire Department with Kevin Dillard, who had run calls with his father in Fredericksburg. The teenager also signed up for paid shifts as an assistant field technician at LifeCare Medical Transports in Stafford County, where Dillard is president and CEO.

Jett was the third person on the ambulance and helped get patients to medical appointments or other non-emergency meetings. Dillard was impressed with the young mans caring attitude and the phenomenal job he did.

Its really refreshing to see that in somebody his age, Dillard said.

Jett came to realize the fire service wasnt for him, so he switched to the Spotsylvania Volunteer Rescue Squad. He became certified as an emergency medical technician and spent as much time as he could on calls or in the classroom.

He took all the mandatory courses in hazardous materials, incident command and emergency situations to qualify as the person in charge of the ambulance.

Ive never met a kid with such a singular focus, his father said.

BOY, HAS HE STUCK TO IT

Jett even arranged his school schedule around his medical commitments.

The teen attended classes at Riverbend High School during his freshman and sophomore years, then enrolled in the Virginia Department of Educations Virtual Virginia program.

The full-timeand freeprogram offers students in public, private or home-school classes the chance to earn a standard or advanced studies diploma through web-based courses.

Jett graduated from high school in August, a year ahead of time. Hes got a full-time course load at Germanna Community College while working at LifeCare and volunteering with the rescue squad.

Jett hopes to be accepted in its nursing program next fall and would like to be a nurse practitioner. Hed love to work with patients with acute needs, preferably in an intensive care unit.

So many people graduate from high school, go to college and have no idea what they want to do with their lives, Dillard said. With Patrick, he set his mind to it, and boy, has he stuck to it.

KEEP A LEVEL HEAD

On Nov. 8, his 18th birthday, Jett worked the 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. volunteer shift at Spotsylvanias Company 4 station off Falcon Road near Fredericksburg Academy.

His jump bag at the rescue squad was packed with all the necessary gear, and he checked and rechecked it. He told himself that he wouldnt be alone, that a more experienced paramedic could be dispatched as needed.

Theres calls you never want to get, and theres calls you run all the time, he said, trying not to look at the clock too often. Youre just a little intimidated, but you keep a level head and do what you need to do.

Heather Wilson, the driver, was the only volunteer on the squad with him. She also works with him at LifeCare and knew all about his countdown to adulthood.

Trust me, Ive heard about it every day, she said.

Then, on a serious note, she added that Patrick is pretty awesome.

With patients, hes very understanding and empathetic, she said. He definitely knows his stuff.

GOT WHAT HE WANTED

The first two hours of the shift were uncharacteristically quiet. Jett suggested the crew go to McDonalds, where he got a soda since hed had a birthday dinner earlier in the day.

At 8:06 p.m., the tones rang out for Company 4, and Jett announced: Thats us.

He sprang from the break room, ready for his first call as an adult.

He was nervous as the squad responded to an assisted living facility, where a resident had an altered mental status. He started asking the patient questions, but wasnt making much progress in getting answers, so a paramedic took over.

Jett listened and wrote down, on his own hand, the mans vital signs.

When the resident finally agreed to go to the hospital, Jett loaded him up and sat in the back with him. He listened to the patient rant for a while, nodded and said yeah in all the right places, and relayed the necessary medical information to the hospital.

Once there, Jett handed the patient over to the on-duty nurse, answered her questions and filled out the paperwork.

Before he headed back to the station, a security guard came over to say hello. David Holmes had seen Jett around the Spotsylvania hospital for about four years and often watched, from afar, as squads rolled up to the emergency room.

Holmes saw the familiar face, the young man he describes as top flight, in the back of the ambulance. He was excited to hear that Jett had earned his place in the front seat.

He was always wanting to learn more so he could help people, Holmes said. I guess he got what he wanted.
A fire in a Fredericksburg basement apartment killed eight cats Saturday afternoon.

Fredericksburg Fire Department spokesman Mike Jones said units were dispatched to a fire in a two-story brick apartment building in the 1200 block of Kenmore Avenue about 1 p.m. Saturday.

Responders found smoke throughout the building and located the fire in a basement apartment fronting on Cornell Street. All residents and pets were evacuated from the building as firefighters extinguished the fire and checked to make sure it had not extended into the apartment above.

The fire was contained within 10 to 15 minutes, Jones said, but units remained on the scene for several hours to clear smoke and make sure no dangerous chemicals were lingering in the building.

Jones said several residents were checked for injuries, but no people were harmed by the fire. He said he was not sure whether the eight cats were killed by the fire or by smoke inhalation.

Residents were permitted into the building after two hours.

Jones said the fire marshal was investigating the cause of the fire and would release information on Monday or Tuesday.
Graham O'Neil Graham O'Neil, 72, of Montgomery, Texas died unexpectedly Saturday, November 18, 2017 while on vacation. He had a long and meaningful career as an aerospace engineer having received numerous professional and community awards and honors. He had a lot of engagement with local education spreading his love of science and providing support for numerous charities. Graham was born in Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Benedictine College Preparatory School followed by the University of Richmond. He began his professional career at Dahlgren which then allowed him to focus on his professional calling with NASA until the end of the shuttle program with United Space Alliance. Graham is survived by a loving family. In lieu of flowers, please send charitable donations in Graham's name to the United Negro College Fund or Spina Bifida Association of Georgia.
THE HOLIDAY season is upon us and countless Americans are still suffering the after-effects of a devastating hurricane season coupled with raging wildfires out West.

Puerto Rico, for instance, just requested $94 billion in federal aid to address massive power outages and damage to homes and infrastructure, which contributed to an already-serious financial crisis.

The recovery process is still very much in its critical phase for many communities full of people trying to piece their lives back together. In American states and territories, the process for obtaining disaster assistance is complex and daunting, and these shortcomings are particularly harmful to some of our most vulnerable populations.

In order for a community to recover quickly, residents need timely access to emotional, financial and physical support. This can come in multiple forms, including family support, insurance payouts, formal federal assistance and nonprofit donations. The ease with which people can acquire such resources determines the success of recovery.

In a recent study, we found that the complexities of the federal aid application process after Superstorm Sandy hit the northeastern United States reduced the ability of foreign-born residents and individuals with low levels of education to receive funds.

In other words, FEMA individual assistance was less likely to go to immigrants or people who did not finish high school.

This does not mean FEMA officials intentionally withheld aid to anyone. Its far more likely that those in need were unable to navigate the bureaucratic process because of complicated paperwork and having less political capital to appeal decisions or petition for resources.

Similar criticisms have been made about the confusing nature of the application process for FEMAs Road Home program following Hurricane Katrina.

Government regulations intended to protect citizens during normal times can also hinder the recovery process. After Katrina, several regulatory roadblocks increased the amount of time it took to rebuild.

For instance, the city of New Orleans required residents to obtain official approval from city inspectors for any repairs made to wind- and water-damaged homes.

Such requests helped the city determine which neighborhoods should receive utilities first, but it also meant residents had to wait weeks before rebuilding.

Likewise, the citys redevelopment plans added uncertainty for residents. Because their neighborhoods could be designated to become greenspace, people had to wait for more information before investing their time and money into the arduous rebuilding process.

If our most vulnerable populations cannot turn to government, how can they receive the help they need?

On the bright side, our research has also found that local leaders and entrepreneurs can step up to this challenge by finding ways to share information and best practices on how to apply for, petition for, and ultimately receive resources from government, nonprofits and businesses.

For example, when the Vietnamese population in New Orleans East found out that their community was designated to become greenspace in the aftermath of Katrina, they turned to a community leader named Father Vien for help.

He personally visited parishioners scattered across different states, documented who planned to return, and appealed to the media to demonstrate that his community was worth saving.

Father Vien also petitioned for FEMA trailers for the communitys elderly. Without his leadership and knowledge of the political process, his community may not have been able to recover as quickly as it did.

In the months ahead, the diverse array of disaster-affected communities should seek reforms that help those who need assistance the most. Such reforms should include simplifying the application process and offering services to help residents navigate government bureaucracy.

In addition, we should look to empower residents and local leaders to discover unique solutions on their own.

Rosemarie Fike is an instructor of economics at Texas Christian University. Stefanie Haeffele is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. They wrote this for Inside Sources.
AS CONGRESS and the current admin- istration seek to reduce poverty, policymakers should be wary of wasteful programs that do little to help poor Americans.

Agricultural subsidiesespecially popular with the largest and wealthiest farm business operationslargely fall into that category.

Those subsidy programs are often marketed by farm interest groups as helping the rural poor, many of whom voted for the current president in key Electoral College states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina and the Florida panhandle.

In fact, farm subsidy programs do little for the rural poor and even less for the urban poor.

The subsidy programs that the House and Senate agricultural committees are defending, and would like to expand, include the federal crop insurance subsidy program, direct payments to farm businesses through so-called supplementary farm income safety net initiatives, and outlays on conservation programs.

Taken together, these programs cost about $20 billion every year.

Crop insurance subsidies alone cost $8 billion, 30 percent of which goes to private insurance companies. Two additional safety net programsprice loss coverage and agricultural risk coveragecost taxpayers between $6 billion and $8 billion in annual payments.

Farm businesses also receive $5 billion a year in subsidies for adopting or simply continuing farming practices (such as soil conservation and protecting the environment) that are already being used because they are profitable.

Who gets all that federal money? About 70 percent of all crop insurance and other farm income safety net payments flow to 10 percent of the largest crop-producing farm businesses. This group comprises fewer than 100,000 farm operations, each of which on average receives more than $140,000 every year.

Those farms are owned by households with annual incomes and levels of wealth that are multiple times higher than those of the typical American family, and certainly far higher than those of families in poverty.

Conservation subsidy payments also predominantly flow to the largest farm operations and wealthiest farming households.

In contrast, 10 percent of the smallest farms receive a mere pittanceon average no more than about $50from the federal crop insurance and safety net programs. And the bottom 80 percent, including mid-size farms, receive less than 10 percent of all subsidy payments.

Subsidy advocates have also argued that farm subsidies increase employment opportunities in rural areas, but there is no substantive evidence to support that claim. Labor needs continue to decline within and beyond farm households, and among farms that receive most of the subsidies.

For example, about 70 percent of all crop insurance subsidies and other safety net program outlays are paid to the producers of three crops: corn, soybeans and wheat. The production of those crops is heavily mechanized and very little unskilled labor is needed.

Conversely, farm enterprises that are more labor intensive, such as those that raise livestock and grow fruits and vegetables, receive very little in the way of direct farm subsidies.

Effectively, these programs do nothing to alleviate poverty in rural areas. As Dan Sumner, Joe Glauber and Parke Wilde point out in their study Poverty, Hunger, and U.S. Agricultural Policy, those programs also do little for the urban poor, as their effects on the price of food in supermarkets and inner-city bodegas are negligible.

If a major objective of Congress and the Trump administration is to develop and sustain programs that help many low-income households, then continuing these programs is not the way to go.

While far from perfect, the supplemental nutrition assistance program targets 43 million Americansincluding 13 million childrenwhose family incomes fall below the poverty line. Many of those families and children do not have adequate access to food.

Programs that increase food availability for those families, and feed children in need who would otherwise go to bed and to school hungry, are far more effective tools in the fight to mitigate hunger and improve nutrition.

In the present, they would improve the health of those in need, and in the future, they would improve childrens learning outcomes.

One current problematic idea that is being given serious consideration by some lobbyists and legislators is the proposal to cut nutrition programs to provide more farm bill revenues for expanded farm safety net subsidy programs. The reality is that those programs would continue to favor financially advantaged farm business owners.

Instead, improving the cost-effectiveness and targeting of SNAP and other nutrition programs makes better policy sense.

Robbing anti-poverty programs to fund farm subsidy initiatives for the benefit of high-income, wealthy households should be of concern to all legislators and voters.

Vincent H. Smith is the director of agricultural studies and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He is also professor of economics and the director of the Agricultural Marketing Policy Center at Montana State University. Ryan Nabil is an economic and agricultural policy researcher at the American Enterprise Institute. They wrote this for InsideSources.com.
THE NAME of the Washington to Richmond Southeast High Speed Rail (DC2RVA) project, which would add new railroad tracks between Richmond and Washington at an estimated cost of $5 billion, is a misnomer.

High-speed it is not. The maximum train speeds between D.C. and Fredericksburg would nominally increase from 69 mph to 79 mph, and up to 90 mph between Fredericksburg and Richmond.

Unlike Italys Frecciarossa 1000, the fastest of Europes truly high-speed trains with a top speed of 400 km/h (248.5 mph), DC2RVA is not about speed. Its about moving more freight and more passengers through a transportation corridor that is already maxed out.

Were never going to have high-speed rail in Virginia; were going to have higher-speed rail, state Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne told The Free LanceStars editorial board last year. Thats a bit of an understatement, since the higher speeds would reduce the time it takes to travel the 123 miles between Richmond and Washington by train by only 15 or 20 minutes, not nearly enough to justify the high price tag.

But the project would allow for nine additional passenger trains per day, which is the equivalent of a new lane on Interstate 95. Since the existing rail corridor is currently at capacity, a third rail would support expanded Amtrak passenger, VRE commuter and CSX Transportation freight service.

The question is where to put it.

On Sept. 8, the Federal Railroad Administration published its Tier II Draft Environmental Impact Statement in the Federal Register, moving the project one step closer to construction. The public comment period ended on Nov. 8.

The three Fredericksburg alternatives include the most expensive option: adding a new two-track freight train bypass east of Fredericksburg; a second option: adding a third track that runs through the city near the existing CSX tracks; and the cheapest alternative: not building any additional tracks, but making improvements to crossings and signals.

The boards of supervisors in Hanover, Caroline, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties all voted to oppose the bypass alternative, noting that building a new track along the existing rail lines would be far less disruptive.

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation also recommends building a third track through the city at an estimated cost of $506.9 million. DRPT points out that this option, which would generally be within the existing right of way, would require keeping the existing speed limit at 40 mph in some areas.

However, the FRA says the additional capacity will reduce congestion, improve on-time performance, and accommodate the addition of four new Virginia Rail Express trains and the expected doubling of freight train traffic in the corridor by 2045.

FRA will issue a Final Environmental Impact Statement before it releases its Record of Decision sometime next year, but there is little doubt that the Fredericksburg region needs additional transportation capacity.

Rail is by far the cheapest, most efficient and cleanest way to transport goods across long distances. It also keeps large tractortrailers off the road.

There are also advantages in adding more passenger rail capacity as an option for Washington- or Richmond-bound travelers who either dont like to fly or want to escape the increasing hassle of going through an airport, and for commuters whose jobs make it possible for them to take the VRE to work.

DC2RVA wont get them to their destinations much faster, but the added capacity it will bring to the I95/rail transportation corridor will help ensure that they wont get stuck in total gridlock on the way.
Total agricultural output fell by 2.8% (6bn) to 405bn (360bn) across the EU in 2016 compared with the previous 12 months, according to European Commission figures.

The figures are based on a combination of production volumes and prices, compiled by the EU Commissions statistical department.

The main downward pressure on the total figure was on livestock output which across all sectors dropped by an average of 3.3%.

This was due to a 4.9% decrease in prices which was partly offset by a 1.7% increase in production volume. Within the livestock sector the major declines in prices were 5.2% for milk and 3.6% for cattle.

Crop output fared better but still declined by 2.5% compared with 2015 figures. Prices were down by 1.8% across the EU and volume fell by 0.7%.

Cereals

The major fall in arable farming was in cereals where output fell by 13.5 %. But other crops  potatoes (+23.5%), fodder (+4.5%) and industrial crops (+2.7%)  all increased.

See also: Trading with China: Opportunities for livestock producers

The impact of the falling output figures on farm incomes was reduced across EU member states by a drop in agricultural input costs.

Overall input costs went down by 3.4% in 2016 compared with figures a year earlier. The major reductions in costs were seen in fertilisers (-8.6%) energy (-7.8%) and animal feed (-2.7%).

Across the EU states fortunes varied widely. France remains the EUs biggest farmer with an output of 62.6bn in 2016 but this represented a decline of 6.5% compared with 2015  the third largest drop of all member states. The UK is in fifth place, producing 23.9bn worth of agricultural goods. The UK also saw a drop in total output of 3.3%.

EUs top 8 producers Country Output Percentage of total EU output 1. France 62.6bn 17 % 2. Italy 47.5bn 13% 3. Germany 47.0bn 13% 4. Spain 41.6bn 12% 5. UK 24.9bn 7% 6. Netherlands 24.0bn 7% 7. Poland 19.9bn 6% 8. Romania 13.7bn 4%

The largest decline of any member state was Estonia which saw output drop by almost 20% (19.8%). Latvia recorded the second highest decline of 8.3%.

The highest rises in agricultural output were seen in Slovakia where production and prices rose to record an overall increase of 10.7%, Poland saw output rise by 4.6% and Hungary at 4.1%.
News

Recovering mayor keeping up with city business

STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News League City Mayor Pat Hallisey sits with his wife Janice in his hospital room at the rehabilitation center where he is recovering Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017. Hallisey, whose left leg had to be amputated as a result of a major heart attack he suffered in October, hopes to return home soon. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Janice and Pat Hallisey hold hands while speaking of the outpouring of support they received after of Pats heart attack. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News League City Mayor Pat Hallisey speaks Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017, about his recovery from a major heart attack last month. Hallisey, whose left leg had to be amputated as a result of the heart attack, is recovering at a rehabilitation center in Webster and hopes to be home soon. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Get well cards are displayed in League City Mayor Pat Hallisey's room Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017. Hallisey, who suffered a major heart attack in October, is recovering at a rehabilitation center in Webster and hopes soon to return home. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Janice Hallisey listens as her husband, League City Mayor Pat Hallisey, speaks Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017, about his recovery from a heart attack last month. Hallisey, whose left leg had to be amputated as a result of the heart attack, is recovering at a rehabilitation center in Webster and hopes to be home soon.

LEAGUE CITY

A draft of the agenda for Tuesdays League City council meeting landed at the edge of Mayor Pat Halliseys hospital bed.

I cant wait to get back, he said, sitting straighter and gripping the bed rails above his head.

Hallisey missed the Oct. 10 council meeting because he suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized. A loss of circulation led surgeons to amputate part of his left leg. He is still hospitalized at a rehabilitation center where he goes to physical therapy and continues to recover.

Hallisey wants to be back in council chambers by January, he said.

Im getting a prosthetic, Hallisey said. Ill be walking again soon.

MANY VISITORS

City Manager John Baumgartner, council members and other city officials have visited him to talk some business and offer get-well wishes. City council members have stopped by as well.

Hallisey was and is a true leader, Councilman Keith Gross said. Theres a degree to which the council misses his leadership.

Gross, who doesnt always vote the same way as Hallisey, misses having a chance to confer with Hallisey on particular issues, he said.

Hes always abreast of everything, Gross said.

Mayor pro tem Todd Kinsey ran all the October and November council meetings in Halliseys absence and will continue to do so until he returns.

Things are going about as well they can, Kinsey said. Weve all been really concerned.

CHAOS OF 2016

About a year ago, the tone of the council was not one of concern for cohorts. The council was in chaos. Six members of the council, including Gross and Kinsey, signed a letter in June 2016 accusing Hallisey of unethical behavior. An ethics review in October 2016 decided Hallisey did not commit any ethics violations, including accusations of sexual harassment.

City council members Heidi Hansing and Geri Bentley had decided a few months earlier not to run for re-election in the November 2016 council race, and voters elected Larry Millican and Greg Gripon to fill their positions. Millican and Gripon were part of the Green Team that had support from the League City Proud organization that helped elect Hallisey as mayor in March 2016.

And in December 2016, the council voted to fire City Manager Mark Rohr, who butted heads with Hallisey soon after his March 2016 election to mayor, and the two continued to butt heads until Rohrs last night on the job. Rohr is now suing League City and Hallisey, saying that Hallisey violated his civil rights in a retaliation campaign.

A year after the council fired Rohr, things have shifted at city hall.

Weve had a cohesive group since the council retreat, Kinsey said.

The decision to have a council retreat in February at South Shore Harbour Resort was one of the first actions of the new council. It was a daylong, getting-to-know-you session that several members have said let them understand each other a little better.

The tide has changed, Hallisey said.

HARVEY AFTERMATH

Halliseys heart attack came about six weeks after Hurricane Harvey, the largest natural disaster in League City history.

Harvey made landfall Aug. 25 in Rockport, about 200 miles south of League City, but in the 72 or so hours that followed, it dumped more than 50 inches of rain in some parts of the area, swelling creeks and bayous and flooding 7,700 homes in the community.

Those 7,700 flooded homes represent about 23 percent of the citys residences. Of the 7,700 homes, 1,450 had major damage with at least 18 inches of water inside, city officials said.

Halliseys house in Clear Creek Village had a few inches of floodwater in places and more than 1 foot in others. He spent most days busy helping League City residents figure out where to get help and what was ahead.

He started putting out daily videos on social media to let residents know what was happening as he got updates and heard concerns. He drove through hard-hit neighborhoods and listened to residents vent about garbage and drainage. He arranged a deal with Kroger to open a distribution center for victims in a vacant grocery store. Trucks of donations rolled in from all over the country, and about 10,000 people went to the center to get canned food, bleach and diapers.

His leadership through Harvey was impressive, Kinsey said.

Hallisey was so busy talking to residents and trying to find answers about Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance and other help for them that he didnt take the time to eat right and grabbed snacks that didnt help his Type 2 diabetes.

The message in it is if you dont take care of yourself, you cant take care of others, his wife, Janice Hallisey, said. She sees this experience as an opportunity to remind others to watch their health and pay attention to their own needs, she said.

CABIN FEVER

In coming months, the city council will vote on some big drainage projects to help prevent future flooding. The city council already took the immediate action needed after Harvey to make sure the city could get federal money to cover some cost of the disaster response, including overtime for first responders and debris pick up.

We are ahead of pace taking care of Harvey, Kinsey said.

Hallisey has been keeping up with the city council, and said he is proud of every member for passing the city budget and being leaders during the citys worst disaster ever. And hes thinking about the coming drainage projects, he said.

Whether we can afford it or not, our focus has to be drainage, Hallisey said. Government is there to do for people what they cant reasonably do themselves.

And even though the council had the positive retreat in February, Hallisey knows the council members wont always agree on the best way to solve the post-Harvey challenges of the fastest growing city in Texas.

People who show an ounce of ambition and who want to make League City a better place  Ill be the first supporter, Hallisey said.

He is suffering from cabin fever, Janice Hallisey said. She has plans for Hallisey to lead the Holiday in the Park parade Saturday night, an event he helped start with her 20 years ago.

Im anxious to get back to work, he said.

If You Go What: League City council meeting When: 6 p.m. Tuesday Where: 200 W. Walker St., League City
Mike Duncan rolled up his pant leg to reveal the scars on his left leg  scars where bullets had entered his thigh and knee while he was serving in Afghanistan in 2009.

Duncan was at the end of his nine-month tour and set to fly home when his Special Forces team learned of an American soldier who had walked off his post and was missing. Instead of returning to the United States as planned, the men were sent to a remote town south of Kabul to gather intelligence on the soldier's whereabouts.

While patrolling the town, the team was ambushed by Taliban fighters. Duncan took two bullets to his leg and one to his hip, which shattered his communications radio and sprayed battery acid across his stomach. He would later receive a Purple Heart for his injuries.

Duncan had been searching for Bowe Bergdahl, a young Army sergeant who had deserted his base. But although he was shot during the search, Duncan said he doesnt hate Bergdahl.

I forgive him now, the 33-year-old said while sitting on a couch in his Corvallis home earlier this month. But it was really irritating that I could have been home. I could have been with my new wife at the time. I could have been doing stuff. But no, I was dealing with this crap because of him and his stupid mistake.

That mistake cost Bergdahl five years in Taliban custody. In 2014, President Barack Obama traded five Taliban detainees at Guantanamo for Bergdahl, bringing him back to the United States. On Nov. 3, a military judge ordered Bergdahl be demoted and dishonorably discharged from the military. He imposed no jail time. Bergdahl had pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

Im sure he paid a significant price for his mistake, Duncan said. And thats why I dont hold it against him.

'People at risk'

Duncan grew up an Army brat. He was born at Fort Rucker in Alabama and lived wherever his fathers service took the family. His dad was a pilot with the Armys Special Operations Aviation Command. He served in Panama and Germany, among other places, Duncan said.

When he was 19, Duncan decided he wanted to join Special Operations as well. He chose nursing and began several years of training before settling at Fort Bragg in North Carolina with his team.

Duncan left for his first Afghanistan deployment in 2007. His team of Green Berets worked primarily in the Kandahar province to help train indigenous soldiers in the Afghan National Army Commando Corps, an elite force of the nation's Army. Duncan received his first Purple Heart during that deployment after the armored vehicle he was riding in drove over a bomb, which blew up the vehicle. Duncan suffered a traumatic brain injury in the explosion, he said.

A year later, Duncan returned to Afghanistan for his second deployment. His team worked in Kabul to establish a school for the Afghan commandos. On July 1, 2009, Duncan and his team were ready to fly home. They had already packed their bags, which had been inspected and banded by customs. But then they got word about Bergdahl, who had gone missing the day before from an outpost in the Paktika province south of where Duncans team was.

Duncans superiors decided to send his team to an outpost for Bergdahls unit, the 25th Infantry Division, to help in the search for the missing soldier.

There were no instructions, Duncan said. We did not know what we were getting ourselves into.

While at the outpost, he and his 12 team members asked around, trying to find out more about Bergdahl.

There was a lot of vague ambiguity about what happened to him, Duncan said.

After a few days there, a Chinook helicopter dropped off Duncans team and a platoon of commandos in a rural area of Ghazni. They were tasked with knocking on doors, talking with the local police and visiting the local school. They were seeking out anyone who might have information on Bergdahl.

Under the assumption that Bergdahl had been captured, the soldiers were trying to put pressure on those who had taken him to start talking on their radios, Duncan said. This communication could then be used to track down Bergdahl or the people who took him, he said.

Duncan said his commanders were putting people there to stir stuff up.

I think thats a pretty logical way of doing it, he said. "But it put a lot of people at risk, obviously.

For several nights, Duncan and his team slept in a defunct girls school.

After a few days patrolling the area, Duncan and his team visited the bordering towns. They were returning back to the school when they were ambushed in the middle of a field, Duncan said. He took one shot to the leg before dashing behind a building. There had been three commandos with him and two had not followed him, so he stepped from behind the building to wave them over. Thats when he was shot at again.

The battery acid went all over my stomach and I thought I was on fire, Duncan said. I didnt know what it was. I thought I got shot in the stomach.

He said he fell to the ground and stayed there, feeling the ammunition from a machine gun fly over his head. Duncan made sure his stomach wasnt bleeding and wrapped his knee with a bandage. One of the Afghan commandos he was with had started crying. Duncan put his arm around his shoulders and the man helped him walk away from the gunfire. They returned to the team and called for a medevac, which flew Duncan to the Ghazni hospital.

He underwent surgery and then flew to Kabul, where he spent a day before departing for Germany. While on the medevac flight to Germany, Duncan said he met a Navy SEAL, who told him his own legs had been seriously injured by gunfire while searching for Bergdahl.

Duncan flew into Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, where he met his parents. Since Duncan is a medical practitioner, he was able to do much of his wound care himself. After spending some time with his parents, he returned to Fort Bragg, where he underwent physical therapy for about a year.

'A dangerous place'

Though hes now forgiven Bergdahl, Duncan said he was very angry at first.

We were held longer than we were supposed to be in country, Duncan said. He caused that. Thats where its very different. If Im just walking around a casual outpost and I get shot, yeah, well, thats expected. Because its Afghanistan, its a dangerous place. But would we have been there? No. Should we have been there? No. It was all because of Bergdahl specifically doing that.

The exact circumstances of Bergdahls disappearance are unclear. Duncan said it was the consensus among the command of the 25th Infantry Division that he had left on his own volition. Some alleged he was drunk. Bergdahl has publicly said he intended to leave his remote post and walk to a larger base in order to inform commanders of what he saw as problems with his unit.

To an extent, Duncan chalks up Bergdahls mistake to his youth. Bergdahl was 23 years old when he deserted his outpost.

We all make mistakes in life when were young, he said. We think were going to be invincible and we get some stupid ideas sometimes.

But Bergdahl went too far, Duncan said. If this was any other time in military history, Bergdahl probably would have been shot for what happened, he said.

Luckily, thats not the case and we can all be understanding and grown up about that, Duncan said.

He doesnt think politicians should be using the Bergdahl case to advance their platforms. During his campaign for president, Donald Trump repeatedly called Bergdahl a traitor who deserved to be shot. Prior to sentencing, Bergdahls defense team argued that comments made by Trump, who is now commander in chief, had tainted the case.

I really dont like people using this as some kind of political fodder for themselves, Duncan said.  They werent there. They didnt take a bullet for Bergdahl. They dont give a s--t about people like me  They just want to use us for their political agenda.

Following Bergdahls sentencing, Trump posted on Twitter, The decision on Sergeant Bergdahl is a complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military.

Duncan said it was the right thing for the government to bring Bergdahl home.

Because hes an American citizen, he said. Thats what we should do.

Bergdahl could have been sentenced to life in prison for the charge of misbehavior before the enemy, which was levied against him for endangering his comrades by leaving. However, an Army judge at Fort Bragg imposed no time behind bars, considering the leniency factors of Bergdahls five years of captivity by the Taliban, as well as Trumps remarks.

At the start of the sentencing hearing, Bergdahl apologized to the military personnel who were wounded while searching for him.

"I would like everyone who searched for me to know it was never my intention for anyone to be hurt, and I never expected that to happen," he said. "My words alone can't take away their pain."

Retired Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer James Hatch testified at the sentencing hearing. He said hes undergone 18 surgeries after being injured while searching for Bergdahl. The wife of National Guard Master Sgt. Mark Allen, who was wounded on a mission to gather information about Bergdahl, also testified. Allen suffered a traumatic brain injury and now uses a wheelchair, is unable to speak and needs help with everyday tasks, his wife testified.

Many other soldiers described the exhaustive search for Bergdahl in the weeks following his disappearance. Duncan said he was not asked to testify at the sentencing.

The soldiers who were hurt, who hate him, theyre right to be mad, Duncan said. They have every right because they gave up something for him, so thats completely reasonable. But anybody else, they had no stock in it.

Duncan said hes not upset about the lenient sentence Bergdahl received. He just wants Bergdahl to own up to the mistake he made and be grateful hes alive. But Duncan said, he hopes Bergdahl isnt considered a victim or some kind of war hero.

About a year after returning from his second tour in Afghanistan, Duncan was honorably discharged from active duty. He got a job at a medical device firm making tourniquets for the Army, but he didnt find the work fulfilling and he wanted to return to Afghanistan.

I love it there, he said. I missed my friends, my Afghan friends.

He returned to Afghanistan as a private contractor with Fluor Corp. doing work with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. But he didnt like that job very well either. Through a friend of a friend, he heard about the Pony Express, a group of contractors who truck the mail through Afghanistan to United States bases. He joined them for nine months, living on a compound near Kabul and delivering mail to Jalalabad, Shank, Ghazni and other areas.

But he had a wife and young daughter at home, so eventually it was time to return to the United States. He had previously completed the nursing program at Fort Lewis in Washington State and liked the Northwest. So he moved to Oregon to complete a masters in physician assistant studies at Pacific University. He graduated in October 2016 and works as a physician assistant with Samaritan Health Services.

Duncan said he continued to serve with the Army National Guard Special Forces until 2016.

He said returning to Afghanistan in a separate capacity than the military helped dissolve his anger for Bergdahl.

"My thought process on the entire war changed, and I think that's why I could forgive him," Duncan said. "Because I realized that the war had good intentions."

"We believed  well, I believed  in Afghanistan," he added. "I believe in the people. Thats why I was there. I wanted to make a better country for them."
While national headlines about the first weekend of holiday shopping focused on the battle between big box stores and large online retailers over Black Friday shoppers, local retailers in Corvallis were focused on Small Business Saturday.

Lonnie Drouhard, owner of Corvallis Outlet Store, which offered discounts on Saturday, said he hoped the day encouraged people to shop more at local retailers.

What matters more is what happens after today, he said.

He said small businesses are run by local people, employ people in the community and give back to local schools and nonprofits. But they can only do that, he said, if they are in business.

In todays retail landscape its a struggle to compete with box stores and online, particularly Amazon. (Small Business Saturday) is a way to highlight small businesses and what we do for the community, he said.

Kaitlin Rudolph, a manager with Inkwell Home Store in Corvallis, said the store offered discounts on items such as candles and jewelry for Small Business Saturday.

Rudolph said Inkwell also supports the community, through initiatives such as selling tickets to Fridays Winters Eve event, a fundraiser for the Assistance League of Corvallis.

She added that the store carries products made by local artists and many products made in Oregon.

Being able to support your community stores in turn supports your community, she said.

Rudolph added that Small Businesses Saturday was a positive addition because there were many people out shopping, and she likes seeing so many people enjoying downtown.

Its that small town Corvallis you really get to experience today, she said.

Jonathan Brownell, owner of Gearbox Unlimited, said the store offered Black Friday deals on things such as jewelry and board games through this weekend.

He said he is excited to be taking the store into its first holiday season.

We expected Black Friday to be really about big box stores, but we had our best day ever, he said.

He said small businesses like his can offer customers a unique product selection and service box stores cant.

Because we are so familiar with the products we are able to help people find gifts, he said.

Melinda Haigh, who went out shopping Saturday, said she deliberately chose to go out shopping in Corvallis before going to big box stores.

I dont want small businesses to suffer, she said. I want them to thrive.
Article

Protecting the worlds oceans  an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy

The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs.
ABC News(NEW YORK) -- A former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he is concerned about retired or active generals serving in high-level roles in the White House at a time of sharp partisan divisions in the nation.



Retired Adm. Michael Mullen told ABC News' This Week co-anchor Martha Raddatz that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general; National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, an active-service Army general; and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, are all "great Americans" who want to do the best for their country.



But Mullen pointed to concerns such as when Kelly stepped in to defend President Donald Trump after the presidents phone call to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, who was among four soldiers killed in an ambush in Niger.



Kelly made a surprise appearance at a White House press briefing in October to defend the president against criticism over the phone call. He also attacked Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., for listening in on and sharing the details of Trumps call to Gold Star widow Myeshia Johnson.



It stuns me that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation -- absolutely stuns me, Kelly said. And I thought at least that was sacred.



Mullen said Sunday that Kelly's comments were "really a sad moment for me."



The episode indicated, Mullen said, that Kelly "clearly is very supportive of the president no matter what.



"That doesn't mean generals and admirals can't serve" in the White House, the retired admiral said. "They certainly have in the past. But it's particularly difficult right now because of the politics of the town. And there's nothing that seemingly is not able to be politicized in the current environment."





Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
With sunshine and temperatures in the 60s, holiday shoppers flooded small retail establishments in Danville for Shop Small Saturday following a Black Friday of unusually brisk sales as well.

Its going great so far, Sam Rippe, assistant store manager of Rippes, said Saturday at about noon. But what surprised us was a busier Black Friday than is typical.

Asked why he felt there was an upsurge in Friday shopping, Rippe said he thinks it is because many of the big box stores were opening earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving, so shoppers were wrapping up that phase of shopping and could get to specialty stores sooner.

Rippes attracts a following of long-time shoppers.

Mary Ellen Stokes, of Roanoke, is originally from Ringgold and shopped at Rippes when she lived here. She was browsing through the racks on Saturday.

I always stop by Rippes when Im here to see what they have, Stokes said.

Rippes was one of 18 River District merchants participating in Small Business Saturday. Shoppers could stop in at the River District Association building on Main Street and pick up a shopping passport. If they visited at least five stores and got the passport stamped, they were entered into a free prize drawing. No purchase was required, Diane Schultz, executive director of the River District Association, said.

Shoppers who showed receipts adding up to at least $10 were given a free ticket to Saturday nights Cabin Fever concert, and those who spent at least $25 also had a package gift-wrapped for free.

Schultz said most of the downtown merchants signed up for a program offered through Main Street America, a national program that encourages the growth of small businesses, particularly in downtown areas.

Main Street America teamed with American Expresss Small Business Saturday Neighborhood Program.

We applied and were accepted, Schultz said. Sometimes stores sign up individually, but were seeing more and more groups like ours work together to promote their businesses.

As part of the program, shoppers also got special Shop Small shopping bags and pens when they picked up their shopping passports.

Its a great program, and it was all free, Rippe said. We got signs and advertising. iIts great.

The push to attract shoppers appears to have worked. Vintages by the Dan and Lizzy Lou Boutique were both packed with customers at about 1 p.m., while River District Artisans said they were seeing a fairly steady stream of customers.

Lori and Berkeley Bidgood had a special showing of their Impottery Clayworx pieces at River District Artisan, featuring their hand-built and wheel-thrown pottery.

Weve had a lot of lookers and have sold a couple of pieces, Lori Bidgood said.

Sarita Gusler, manager of River District Artisans, nodded.

Weve had a steady stream of people in all morning, Gusler said.

Sarah Rodden, owner of Lizzy Lou Boutique, had customers looking through all of her racks of clothing on Saturday, and, like Rippe, said she had a busier than usual Friday as well.

Yesterday was our best day yet; it was great, Rodden said Saturday. Overall this whole weekend has been great.

Toni Harvey, of Danville, was one of the people at Lizzie Lou, and said she had not shopped much downtown.

Im not a regular shopper, but its a beautiful day and we had no trouble parking, Harvey said, as she looked over a sweater. Its been nostalgic for my mom, who worked down here  its been great.

Commonwealth Silver & Goldsmiths was going through a lull at noon, but Melissa Prevette and Eden McCall said the store had been busy earlier.

Weve seen a lot of new faces, Prevette said. That was nice. And a lot of our regular customers have also been here.

Stores, shopping centers and the Danville Mall  along Riverside and Piedmont drives  had plenty of cars in parking lots on Saturday, but plenty of parking was still available.

Abdulla Nesmith is co-owner of Main Source Fashion, which opened about three months ago in Ballou Park Shopping Center.

Like some other businesses, Nesmith said his store was very busy on Friday and was seeing slow-but-steady business Saturday.

Its been a little slow so far today, Nesmith said at about 2 p.m. Saturday. It will probably pick up later this evening  people are just tired.

Sidney Foster, at Linden Rose Boutique in Schoolfield, also reported a busy Friday and a steady Saturday.

Youd think people would have been at the big stores yesterday instead of shopping at small stores, so this is good, Foster said.
The FIA is standing firm on the move from four to three engines per driver in 2018.

The rule change is actually highly controversial, with Red Bull's Christian Horner saying giving drivers less engines amid the frenzy of grid penalties is "barking mad".

McLaren's Eric Boullier agrees, arguing that the rule change will not lower costs as intended.

"There are fewer engines but the cost to customers is the same and the manufacturers spend a lot of money to make the engine reliable," he told Spain's Movistar in Abu Dhabi.

"Not only Honda but also Renault suffered many penalties for their engines this year and it's not good for F1," Boullier insisted.

"We should be more sensible and understand that we have reached the limit. But the decision needs to be unanimous and the manufacturers are not," he added.

For the FIA's part, president Jean Todt insists the rule is now set in stone.

"There are some people who suggest using only one power unit," he said in Abu Dhabi.

"The decision about the three engines is taken, and if we want to return to four engines then we need the unanimous decision of all the teams," said Todt.

"We do not have that, so the three engines remains in place."

(GMM)
German fans could find that formula one is not on television in 2018.

Even the pay broadcaster Sky is currently in talks with Liberty Media, with that deal as well as the one with free-to-air network RTL running out after Sunday's Abu Dhabi grand prix.

"Losing free TV in Germany would be quite a blow," said Mercedes' Toto Wolff.

"We would like to maintain the status quo," he told SID news agency.

F1 chief executive Chase Carey told DPA news agency in Abu Dhabi: "Every market is different and we have more and more platforms, from free to pay TV and various digital services."

Asked about rumours Carey is working on a deal similar to the one in Britain, where only some of the races are live on free TV, he answered: "I don't want to speculate on that.

"We want to get things done first and then talk about it with you."

(GMM)
PHOENIX  Charlie Rose, who was fired this week by CBS News and whose program was canceled by PBS in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations from multiple women, had accolades from two universities rescinded Friday.

Panels at both Arizona State University and the University of Kansas met this week and coincidentally came to the same decision on the same day.

Arizona's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication gave Rose an award for journalism excellence in 2015. But the actions reported about Rose were too "egregious" to ignore, according to Dean Christopher Callahan.

"The actions victimized young women much like those who make up the overwhelming majority of Cronkite students  young women who deserve to enter workplaces that reward them for their hard work, intelligence and creativity and where they do not have to fear for their safety or dignity," Callahan said in a statement.

Callahan said the action was mostly symbolic. But he hoped it would send a message that sexual misconduct would not be tolerated. The award has never been revoked since it was created in 1984. Past recipients include Bob Woodward, Diane Sawyer and Christiane Amanpour.

The William Allen White Foundation, which supports journalism education at the University of Kansas, presented Rose an award last spring. The National Citation award has been bestowed on a journalist annually since 1950. Other recipients include Bob Woodward and Gwen Ifill.

After the allegations against Rose surfaced, the foundation's board of trustees voted to revoke the honor. In a news release, officials said Rose "does not exemplify the ideals of this award."

Eight women who worked for or wanted to work for Rose told the Washington Post Monday that the veteran newsman groped them, openly walked around nude or said sexually inappropriate things on the job.

The fallout for Rose was swift. After initially suspending him, CBS News fired Rose from its morning show Tuesday. Three women at the network have since come forward with complaints with two saying he grabbed them inappropriately.

PBS, which broadcasts his eponymous interview program, cut ties with Rose.

In a statement earlier this week, Rose apologized for his actions and said he was "deeply embarrassed."
The North Carolina State Board of Elections received one incident report involving a party-appointed poll observer on Election Day, and seven more during one-stop early voting. Election officials were on high alert for unruly observers after the board received reports of more than a dozen conduct violations during the May primary. Overall, the board received reports of 21 conduct violations during the general election, involving both observers and campaigners. They included 12 instances of alleged voter intimidation, one instance of possible voter interference and eight instances of potential election official intimidation. Campaigners were the most common perpetrators. Board spokesperson Patrick Gannon said there may be additional incidents that have not yet been reported.
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What do you want to happen to your remains after you die?

For the past century, most Americans have accepted a limited set of options without question. And discussions of death and funeral plans have been taboo.

That is changing. As a scholar of funeral and cemetery law, Ive discovered that Americans are becoming more willing to have a conversation about their own mortality and what comes next and embrace new funeral and burial practices.

Baby boomers are insisting on more control over their funeral and disposition so that their choices after death match their values in life. And businesses are following suit, offering new ways to memorialize and dispose of the dead.

While some options such as Tibetan sky burial  leaving human remains to be picked clean by vultures  and Viking burial via flaming boat  familiar to Game of Thrones fans  remain off limits in the U.S., laws are changing to allow a growing variety of practices.

In 1963, English journalist and activist Jessica Mitford published The American Way of Death, in which she described the leading method of disposing of human remains in the United States, still in use today.

She wrote that human remains are temporarily preserved by replacing blood with a formaldehyde-based embalming fluid shortly after death, placed in a decorative wood or metal casket, displayed to family and friends at the funeral home and buried within a concrete or steel vault in a grave, perpetually dedicated and marked with a tombstone.

Mitford called this absolutely weird and argued that it had been invented by the American funeral industry, which emerged at the turn of the 20th century. As she wrote in The Atlantic:

Foreigners are astonished to learn that almost all Americans are embalmed and publicly displayed after death. The practice is unheard of outside the United States and Canada.

Nearly all Americans who died from the 1930s, when embalming became well-established, through the 1990s were disposed of in this manner.

And its neither cheap nor good for the environment. The median cost of a funeral and burial, including a vault to enclose the casket, was $8,508 in 2014. Including the cost of the burial plot, the fee for opening and closing the grave and the tombstone easily brings the total cost to $11,000 or more.

This method also consumes a great deal of natural resources. Each year, we bury 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde-based embalming fluid, 115 million tons of steel, 2.3 billion tons of concrete and enough wood to build 4.6 million single-family homes.

Mitfords book influenced generations of Americans, beginning with the baby boomers, to question this type of funeral and burial. As a result, demand for alternatives such as home funerals and green burials have increased significantly. The most common reasons cited are a desire to connect with and honor their loved ones in a more meaningful way, and interest in lower-cost, less environmentally damaging choices.

The most radical change to how Americans handle their remains has been the rising popularity of cremation by fire. Cremation is less expensive than burial and, although it consumes fossil fuels, is widely perceived to be better for the environment than burial in a casket and vault.

Although cremation became legal in a handful of states in the 1870s and 1880s, its usage in the U.S. remained in single digits for another century. After steadily rising since the 1980s, cremation was the disposition method of choice for nearly half of all deaths in the U.S. in 2015. Cremation is most popular in urban areas, where the cost of burial can be quite high, in states with a lot of people born in other ones and among those who do not identify with a particular religious faith.

Residents of western states like Nevada, Washington and Oregon opt for cremation the most, with rates as high as 76 percent. Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky have the lowest rates, at fewer than a quarter of all burials. The National Funeral Directors Association projects that by 2030, the nationwide cremation rate will reach 71 percent.

Cremations dramatic rise is part of a huge shift in American funerary practices away from burial and the ritual of embalming the dead, which is not required by law in any state but which most funeral homes require in order to have a visitation. In 2017, a survey of the personal preferences of Americans aged 40 and older found that more than half preferred cremation. Only 14 percent of those respondents said they would like to have a full funeral service with viewing and visitation prior to cremation, down from 27 percent as recently as 2015.

Part of the reason for that shift is cost. In 2014, the median cost of a funeral with viewing and cremation was $6,078. In contrast, a direct cremation, which does not include embalming or a viewing, can typically be purchased for $700 to $1,200.

Cremated remains can be buried in a cemetery or stored in an urn on the mantle, but businesses also offer a bewildering range of options for incorporating ashes into objects like glass paperweights, jewelry and even vinyl records.

And while 40 percent of respondents to the 2017 survey associate a cremation with a memorial service, Americans are increasingly holding those services at religious institutions and nontraditional locations such as parks, museums and even at home.

Another trend is finding greener alternatives to both the traditional burial and cremation.

The 2017 survey found that 54 percent of respondents were interested in green options. Compare this with a 2007 survey of those aged 50 or older by AARP, which found that only 21 percent were interested in a more environmentally friendly burial.

One example of this is a new method of disposing of human remains called alkaline hydrolysis, which involves using water and a salt-based solution to dissolve human remains. Often referred to as water cremation, its preferred by many as a greener alternative to cremation by fire, which consumes fossil fuels. Most funeral homes that offer both methods of cremation charge the same price.

The alkaline hydrolysis process results in a sterile liquid and bone fragments that are reduced to ash and returned to the family. Although most Americans are unfamiliar with the process, funeral directors that have adopted it generally report that families prefer it to cremation by fire. California recently became the 15th state to legalize it.

A rising number of families are also interested in so-called home funerals, in which the remains are cleaned and prepared for disposition at home by the family, religious community or friends. Home funerals are followed by cremation, or burial in a family cemetery, a traditional cemetery or a green cemetery.

Assisted by funeral directors or educated by home funeral guides, families that choose home funerals are returning to a set of practices that predate the modern funeral industry.

Proponents say that caring for remains at home is a better way of honoring the relationship between the living and the dead. Home funerals are also seen as more environmentally friendly since remains are temporarily preserved through the use of dry ice rather than formaldehyde-based embalming fluid.

The Green Burial Council says rejecting embalming is one way to go green. Another is to choose to have remains interred or cremated in a fabric shroud or biodegradable casket rather than a casket made from hardwoods or metal. The council promotes standards for green funeral products and certifies green funeral homes and burial grounds. More than 300 providers are currently certified in 41 states and six Canadian provinces.

Clearly Americans are pushing the traditional boundaries of how to memorialize their loved ones and dispose of their remains.

While I wouldnt hold out hope that Americans will be able to choose Viking- or Tibetan-style burials anytime soon, you never know.
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Bodily injury, lead, and a letter from actress Alicia Silverstone are just some of the reasons why certain toys have been banned through history.

The list of the top 10 banned toys was compiled by Gary Doss, curator of the Burlingame Museum of PEZ Memorabilia and Banned Toy Museum.

Nearly every toy that made the top 10, and the four honorable mentions, were banned for causing some sort of unexpected harm to children. One of the most notable toys was the Sky Dancers released by Galoob in the 1990s.

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The toys were a helicopter-like flying toy where a cord was pulled to launch a doll into the air. By June 2000, Galoob was forced to recall nearly 9 million Sky Dancers after the company "received 150 injury reports which include eye damage (scratched corneas and incidents of temporary blindness), a mild concussion, a broken rib, broken teeth and facial lacerations that required stitches," the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported in Oct. 2000.

Galoob settled the matter with CPSC and denied that it violated the Consumer Product Safety Act or any other law administered by commission. The company was forced to pay a civil penalty of $400,000.

Galoob was purchased by Hasbro in 1998 for $220 million, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

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One toy that did not make the list, surprisingly, was a PEZ dispenser from the 1980s designed like a small handgun.

The dispenser, which has become a popular item on eBay where a used gun can go for $324, captured Reddit's attention Sunday with many people wondering why the company thought this was an appropriate design.

"Pez made three different styles of guns. All of them worked like a real gun," Doss told Chron.com Tuesday. "There was a 'clip' that was loaded with PEZ candy. You would slide the clip into the handle, like a real gun, and fire out Pez candy. You could easily hit a target 10 feet away."

The PEZ guns were ultimately discontinued because, Doss believes, consumer interest fell.

A request for comment was left with PEZ regarding its guns.

Swipe through the gallery above to learn about the other toys that were banned through history.
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GREENWICH  When Rev. Richard DenUyl was 8, he helped his father with a barbecue. The night sky blanketed the scene, and his dad  a philosopher by training and businessman by chance  paused from grilling to ask one of those questions one never quite forgets, because the answer is so firmly out of reach.

Out of the blue, he said, Look up, Richard. Look at all those stars. Where do they end, and if they end, whats on the other side?  DenUyl remembered. I think then, I realized that theres something so mysteriously beautiful  that it surrounds us and shrouds us.

Eventually, DenUyl attended divinity school and served as a minister in a number of New England communities before landing at Greenwichs oldest church three years ago. As senior pastor at First Congregational, he stands behind the pulpit almost every weekend preaching his conscience.

But his road to the clergy was anything but a straight shot.

Between the time of his first communion and his 30th birthday, DenUyl  who was born in Arizona and grew up in Michigan  rarely stepped inside a church. As a young adult, he instead found fellowship behind a counter, and he still maintains that bar stools look a lot like pews.

Because his family was in the hospitality industry and had businesses across the country, a young DenUyl started his career by flipping what had been a not so profitable high-end restaurant in Michigan into a cafe that served upwards of 500 meals per weekend.

At 9 p.m. every evening, the restaurant transformed into a club. Night after night, regulars trickled in to share anecdotes from their daily lives.

It was those stories that really captured me, he said. You know, the heartbreak and the joy. It was all sort of there.

The Michigan town had an 18 percent unemployment rate, according to DenUyl, and his clientele was decidedly blue collar. In a place where so many struggled for survival, he found that the restless tried to satisfy their unquenchable thirst with a few drinks at his bar.

A religious wine drinker himself, DenUyl has nothing against alcohol. But he still noticed that for so many, some spiritual something was missing in their lives, and that void couldnt be filled by liquid spirits.

Thats when I kind of got the call to go to divinity school, was in the bar, he said. I wouldnt trade my bar experience for anything. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

DenUyl is far from a typical pastor, and it took time for his Greenwich congregants to grow accustomed to his out-of-the-box style, he said.

Perhaps his largest divergence from a more traditional Christianity is his perspective on heaven. Though he would never want to deny others the comfort they get from their beliefs and he does accept that there is some form of an afterlife, he personally doesnt buy into the theory of a utopian dream-state.

What would it be like without any blood, sweat and tears, you know what I mean? he asked. Would we be happy? What would it be like without struggle?

DenUyl also diverges from less progressive churches through his messaging. For each of his sermons, he uses either personal experience or a news item as his guide, and he focuses on topics that usually speak to the countrys larger context, with an eye toward human rights.

If it doesnt talk to my heart or my soul, I dont want to preach it, he said.

DenUyl has lectured on sensible gun control no less than three times, and after the Harvey Weinstein allegations leaked, he devoted one of his sermons to sexual assault and gendered expectations.

Over the years, he has faced criticism for his political bent from behind the pulpit. Pointed emails and angry phone calls have flooded in to point out that a pastors role has nothing to do with the state.

But he doesnt accept that there is a division between religion and ideological beliefs.

Christianity is all about politics, he said. From day one, Behold the newborn king. It wasnt Behold the newborn rabbi. It was a counterculture movement from its inception, and weve lost it. Weve completely lost that.

Part of the problem  especially in Greenwich, DenUyl said  is an obsession with me Christianity. This self-centeredness, according to the reverend, stems from one reading of the New Testament that implies Jesus Christ died for peoples individual sins.

But DenUyl offered another interpretation of the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, which to him symbolize that evil  even within the establishment  will never truly win.

To me, religion is we. Its about justice, he said. What will make me walk away from Christianity ... is if I cant express that, because Im not going to do this me as religion.

I think theres a lot of in-reach but not a lot of outreach, he added. Now, its the main line ministers like this church who need to speak up. And we cant shy away from social justice issues and human rights issues.
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Far from the village greens and train platforms of Connecticut, a handful of Republicans strayed this week beyond the traditional campaign trail to make their case why the national party should back them for governor.

Their destination: the Republican Governors Association conference in Austin, Texas, a confluence of sitting GOP governors, Vice President and former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and a raft of candidates.

It was by invitation only, which some of the attendees publicly boasted in an effort to distinguish themselves from rivals who were snubbed by the RGA.

At least five gubernatorial hopefuls said they were invited to the Lone Star State for the Wednesday/Thursday confab and to a previous RGA summit in Nashville, Tenn., in August. Among them was Dave Walker, the former U.S. comptroller general and a Bridgeport resident, who questioned whether one of his rivals was on the guest list for the summertime meeting.

There was one other candidate, but Im not sure they were invited, Walker said. They came to one session and spent the rest of the time out by the pool. Ill not mention the name to protect the guilty.

While Walker omitted the name of Tim Herbst from the other attendees, the Trumbull first selectman told Hearst Connecticut Media he was in Nashville and Austin.

I was invited to Nashville back in the summer and I didnt bring my bathing suit, and I was certainly in several sessions, Herbst said from Austin. I dont know where Walker the stalker gets his information.

There are 36 governors races on the calendar in 2018, including 21 open seats. Connecticut presents an opportunity for Republicans, who suffered losses last week in New Jersey and Virginia, to reclaim the Governors Residence in a blue state.

The Republican and Democratic governors associations can render aid to candidates in multiple ways, from funding super PAC opposition groups in the state to bringing in surrogates from other states. When New Jerseys Chris Christie was at the helm of the RGA, he campaigned for Republican Tom Foley against Democrat Dannel P. Malloy, who won races against Foley in 2010 and 2014. Malloy, who is not seeking re-election next year, is the current head of the DGA.

Mark Lauretti and Mark Boughton, the Republican mayors of Shelton and Danbury, skipped the RGA confab.

Yeah, I get invited to that stuff, but I really have no interest, Lauretti said. I think sometimes these guys go to these things because they think its going to raise their profile. Good luck. Im not convinced that the RGA has any interest in a state like Connecticut. Theres not a strong history there.

A request for comment was left with an RGA spokesman Wednesday.

Boughton hasnt declared himself a candidate yet and is getting over surgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor from his brain.

The mayor was invited, but is still exploring a run for statewide office and is in the state for the week, said John Kleinhans, a political adviser to Boughton.

Westport businessman Steve Obsitnik went to Nashville and Austin, while state Rep. Prasad Srinivasan, R-Glastonbury went to the first and skipped the second.

Theyve been on my case, Srinivasan said.  Arent you coming? I said, No, thank you. Austin, Texas is not our backyard and with Thanksgiving coming...

State Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, who is still exploring a run for governor, and Greenwich businessman Peter Thalheim, a declared candidate, said they have spoken to RGA officials about the race.

Theyre not taking sides, Boucher said.

I was not invited to the Republican Governors Association meeting, Thalheim said. I did, however, meet with a representative of the RGA at the GOP headquarters in Southington, Connecticut, last month and delivered my proposal for policies to broaden the size of the Republican tent.

Bob Stefanowski, a Madison businessman and former UBS executive, said he had a full schedule in Connecticut this week.

Mike Handler, the city of Stamfords chief financial officer and gubernatorial candidate, met with RGA representatives a month ago, said his spokesman, Chris Cooper.

Our understanding is that any candidate can go to this meeting, Cooper said. I dont know if there were any specific invites.

Requests for comment were also left for Peter Lumaj, a Fairfield immigration lawyer, and Greenwich hedge fund manager David Stemerman.

Its safe to say Herbst and Walker wouldnt be grabbing a couple of ice cold Lone Star Beers on Austins Sixth Street.

I also try to keep my distance from people who are a legend in their own mind, Herbst said.

Walker said last weeks municipal election triumph by Democrats in Trumbull, where Herbst opted against running for re-election as first selectman, spoke volumes.

Many people speculated that Tim was going to have a tough time getting re-elected, and I think the election results pretty much confirmed that, Walker said.

Herbst harkened back to Walkers unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2014, which is also when Herbst got the GOP nomination for state treasurer and narrowly lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Denise Nappier.

I have done something that Mr. Walker has never been able to do, and thats win an election, Herbst said of his four terms as Trumbulls top office holder. The one election he did run in, he came in dead last in a three-way primary.

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Local politicians are struggling with the changing dynamics and growing ineffectiveness of Greenwichs Republican and Democratic town committees.

Republican First Selectman Peter Teseis narrow victory on election night obscured the full impact of the Democratic Partys strong showing in under-ticket races.

This year, Democrat Howard Richman beat the incumbent Republican tax collector. The Democratic Board of Estimate and Taxation slate outpolled its Republican opposition, giving the Democrats control over town spending and tax rates. And even though the Representative Town Meeting candidates are not identified on the ballot by political party affiliation, many of the newly elected delegates are either Democratic or unaffiliated voters.

Losing control of town purse strings, and seeing longtime RTM members denied their seats, has Republican leadership reeling. The party, led by Tesei and RTC Chairman Steve Walko, ran an ineffective campaign; Teseis campaign was virtually invisible, and the two leaders even broke party ranks to support primary challenges to their partys endorsed slate of candidates.

The GOP failure at the polls will likely bring to a head a long-simmering disillusionment among a growing faction of town committee members who think the local GOP establishment is not sufficiently aligned with Republican values. Two years ago, this group united behind Riverside delegate Randall Smiths candidacy for party chairman. It was only Teseis last minute recruitment of his old ally Walko to run against Smith that saved the day for old line Republicans.

Those two groups will likely face off again in January when the RTC elects its members for the next two years. The party cannot afford to spend much time re-living this year elections. The towns four-member General Assembly delegation, solidly Republican for 80 years or more, has to be concerned that their safe seats are vulnerable to a newly engaged electorate that has promised to focus heavily on the 2018 state races. State politics have never been a high interest subject in this town that more closely identifies with the goings on in New York City than the relatively provincial politics in the states far off capital. A closer look by groups such as Indivisible Greenwich and March On will shine a spotlight on the delegations positions on such issues as voter suppression and womens rights that might not play very well with unaffiliated voters, which are the largest plurality of Greenwich voters.

Local Democrats face a leadership battle of their own. While Democratic Town Chairman Jeff Ramer toasted his partys success at the polls, the Democratic standard bearer, Selectman-elect Sandy Litvack, clearly placed on target on Ramers and other party leaders backs when he criticized the DTCs commitment and dedication to voicing a clear Democratic vision.

I think the committee has got to stand up and take assessment of itself and say, what do we want to be and who are we as a party, Litvack said at a post-election DTC meeting. If our mission is, as I have always understood it to be, to promote Democratic ideals and promote social values that we cherish, then we have got to do something about that. And what we have done to date, I tell you in this past election, has not been adequate and will not cut it for the future. You will not get candidates to run.

That last sentence was directed squarely at Ramer, who before last summers nominating convention was telling party faithful he was fine with not fielding a candidate for first selectman. Litvack grabbed the nomination at the last minute and ran a strong race. But that race was neither funded by, envisioned nor energetically supported by the local Democratic organization, such as it is. Expect Indivisible Greenwich and other organizations in town to seek significant DTC membership and leadership changes in the new year.

The changes under way in town are a microcosm of the two parties fight for relevance and primacy at the national level. All President Trump needed from the national GOP was its access to ballots in all 50 states. He and his organization took care of everything else. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clintons money raising ability effectively bought control of the Democratic Party machinery. Trump won with messaging; Clinton won with money. All the parties really have left is their automatic presence on every state ballot.

That is increasingly becoming the case in Greenwich as well. But getting on the local ballot is much easier than coordinating a national effort across all 50 states. And Connecticut has a history of supporting new parties. Former Governor Lowell Weicker (a former Greenwich first selectman) started his own party to win his gubernatorial race. And U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman successfully held onto his seat after losing the Democratic primary to former Greenwich selectman Ned Lamont. So even if the current leaders of Greenwichs major political parties hold onto their posts, they will have little sway over the newly organized and empowered voters who came to the polls this year.

Bob Horton can be reached at bobhorton@yahoo.com.
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Haiti - Politic : President Moise against gender discrimination





Saturday, as part of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, President Jovenel Moise reiterated his will and that of his administration to fight against discrimination of all kinds and inequalities between the sexes. The Head of State took the opportunity to advocate for a constant effort to empower women and girls legally and socially, to significantly reduce the gender discrimination that undermines our society "On the occasion of this International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, I want to reiterate the total determination of my administration to sensitize the population to join this movement in a broad mobilization and to reject the silence. Let us restore to the fight against violence against women the political and social impulse that it demands. We all have a role to play in changing the attitudes and beliefs that tolerate violence against women."



He announced the establishment by his administration of mechanisms to enable the inclusion of women in economic and political activities to build a country that promotes gender equity and scrupulous respect for the fundamental rights of women and girls, who represent more than half of the Haitian population.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Environment : The management of water soon a reality in the country





On Friday, as part of the "Fridays of the Environment", the new Director Astrel Joseph of the Directorate of Water Resources (DRE) of the Ministry of Environment (MDE), explained that the primary mission of its Directorate, was to ensure equitable management of these resources with a view to ensuring sustainable development and facilitating cooperation and protection of the environment.



Astrel Joseph, recalled that the actions of the DRE created by Decret in 2005 and in the framework of the organic law of the MDE, revolve around 4 main axes :



(a) Quantitative assessment of surface water and aquifers;

(b) Qualitative assessment of surface waters and aquifers;

(c) The development and implementation of a consultative process for the integrated management of the country's hydrographic watersheds;

d) Planning for water resources security according to variations (scenarios) for the future.



Director Joseph said he was aware that daily water management, to meet basic needs and the right to health and a quality environment in Haiti, is facing a series of obstacles that it is necessary to overcome. To achieve this, he advocates a synergy of actions between the various state entities involved in the water sector and intends to start by structuring its Directorate by setting up in particular :



A Hydrometeorology Service (SHM) to deal with Climatology and Meteorology ;



A Hydrology and Sedimentation Service (SHS) to collect data on climate and surface water ;



A Hydrology and Geophysics Department (SHG) ;



A Laboratory Quality Control Service (SLCQ).



The Directorate of Water Resources intends to strengthen its structure by also acquiring expertise capable of responding adequately to needs. Director Joseph, despite a difficult task, reiterated his firm commitment to carry out his mission at the head of the DRE.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2017/11/26 | Source

The construction site of the Apple Store in Garosu-gil in Seoul

Apple plans to open its first fully owned and branded Korean store in trendy Garosu-gil in Seoul's Gangnam next month. The 1,297 sq.m shop will sell Apple merchandise and local SIM cards.

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The builders said Tuesday that major work has been completed and exterior and interior finishing is in progress. Construction started in August and is scheduled for completion on Dec. 23.

The U.S. company operates 500 Apple Stores in only 22 countries while the rest are authorized resellers. The first Apple Store in Asia opened in Japan in 2003 but Korea had none so far.

One industry insider said Apple is still in talks about the business license to offer mobile phone services from the nation's three telecom service providers, but the green light is expected as early as next month.

Currently iPhone buyers have to go to SK Telecom, LG Uplus or KT mobile operators to get their devices activated.

Loyal customers welcomed the development because the Apple Store will have a tech support station where trained technicians will help customers with their products.

But owners and staff of authorized resellers are upset. A staffer at the Korean Mobile-Device Distribution Association said, "At a time when there is a shortage in the supply of iPhone X, existing dealers could take a hit if Apple sends shipments mainly to its own store".

Read this article in Korean
Published on 2017/11/26 | Source

The National Human Rights Commission has ruled that banning cell phones in schools violates Article 18 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the "privacy of correspondence of no citizen shall be infringed".

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The rights watchdog also said the ban violates youngsters' right to the pursuit of happiness.

The commission on Friday told the principal of a middle school in Gyeonggi Province to revise a ban on the use of mobile phones by pupils during school hours and also urged other schools in the province to follow suit.

The school collected the phones of students in the morning and returned them at 4 p.m., when classes end, but an eighth grader filed a complaint to the NHRC.

School officials told the NHRC that the ban is necessary to protect the rights of teachers to carry out lessons.

Many parents got behind the ban because they fear that smartphone addiction is so prevalent among youngsters that a total ban is needed to get them to focus in class.

The NHRC agreed that restricting mobile phone use is justified but said other ways must be found, such as stopping mobile phone use only during class time. It recommended that schools teach ways of using smartphones wisely rather than banning them altogether.

The NHRC's recommendations are not legally binding, but they carry more weight since the inauguration of President Moon Jae-in, who has revived the powers of the NHRC to report directly to him.

Read this article in Korean
Published on 2017/11/26 | Source

Koreans spent a record amount of money overseas in their summer holidays this year.

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The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that Koreans spent US$4.39 billion overseas in the third quarter from July to September, up 15.9 percent from the same period of 2016 and 4.9 percent from the second quarter.

But at home, credit card spending grew only 4.4 percent on-year. The main reason is that more and more people travel abroad.

According to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, 7.01 million Koreans traveled abroad in the third quarter, up 14.8 percent on-year and surpassing 7 million for the first time.

At the same time, credit card spending in Korea by foreigners shrank. Foreigners spent $2.1 billion here in the quarter, down a whopping 23.6 percent from a year earlier, mainly due to a Chinese boycott. But the figure rose 11.7 percent from the previous quarter.

In the first three quarters combined, foreigners spent $6.4 billion in Korea on their credit cards, down 20 percent on-year.

Read this article in Korean
Published on 2017/11/26 | Source

Six months have passed since President Moon Jae-in came to power vowing to fight youth unemployment, but there has been almost no progress.

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Job growth is stuck at around 200,000-300,000, and the youth unemployment rate scales fresh records every month. Critics fear the worst has yet to come when welfare policies like the minimum wage hike and conversion of temporary workers to regular employees kick in next year.

 Soaring Youth Unemployment

Statistics Korea said last week that 26.9 million people were employed in October, up 279,000 from the same period a year ago. But unemployment among people aged 15 to 29 stood at a whopping 8.6 percent in October, the highest in 18 years. And real youth unemployment is estimated at 21.7 percent, the highest since the government began tallying the figure in 2015.

A growing number of people are simply giving up. Last month, 483,000 people gave up searching for jobs, up 34,000 people on-year. Some 1.69 million Koreans opted not to work even though they are physically capable of having jobs, an increase of 228,000.

The Ministry of Strategy and Planning said, "Amid a shortage of jobs favored by young Koreans, downsizing in the construction industry is threatening to put more jobs at risk".

Even though the economy is expected to grow to the three-percent range this year thanks to booming exports, job growth remains below two percent. "As long as growth continues to center on the IT industry, which requires fewer workers than other sectors, unemployment will remain high", said Kim Soo-hyun at Hyundai Research Institute.

 Gov't Miscalculation

The government has taken several risky gambles. It increased the minimum wage for next year by 16.4 percent at W7,530 per hour, with the aim of bringing it to W10,000 by 2020 (US$1=W1,100). In addition, it is pushing private businesses to grant regular employment to irregular or contract workers.

The extra financial burden on companies could discourage many businesses from hiring or prompt them to lay off staff. One business source said, "Except for semiconductors and a few other industries, financial conditions are extremely tight, so the added wage burden will make it tougher to hire more workers".

Small and mid-sized companies will be hit hardest by the measures. One self-employed businessman said, "Real economic conditions are not good, and our liabilities are increasing all the time. Even if the government provides subsidies, I wonder if I'll be able to continue my business after paying my workers' wages".

Experts recommend drastic labor reforms. The International Monetary Fund said last week that the government must give businesses more flexibility in hiring and firing if it wants to reduce youth unemployment.

But the government insists on labor-friendly policies alone. Park Ji-soon at Korea University said, "I doubt that the employment policies of the Moon Jae-in administration will be sustainable. Rather than allocating taxpayers' money across the board, the government needs to tackle fundamental issues like overhauling labor regulations".
Are Car Rentals Tourism Related Services?

by Tom Yamachika, President, Tax Foundation Hawaii

In the last few weeks Ive been discussing the Foundations involvement in litigation involving online travel companies and the States attempts to wrest more general excise taxes out of them. The Foundation has limited its involvement with the case to the res judicata issue. This article describes the other issue: whether car rentals are tourism related services.

This issue is significant because tourism related services have favorable treatment under the general excise tax (GET). Lets suppose that Travel Agent T sells a car rental for $50. For the car rental, it pays Rent-A-Car Company R $40. Then T pays 4% GET on the $10 and R pays 4% GET on the $40. If the special treatment for tourism related services werent there, T might have to pay 4% GET on the $50, which is what it collected, and R pays 4% GET on the $40, which is what it collected.

The tax law defines tourism related services as catamaran cruises, canoe rides, dinner cruises, lei greetings, transportation included in a tour package, sightseeing tours, admissions to luaus, dinner shows, extravaganzas, cultural and educational facilities, and other services rendered directly to the customer or tourist.

Now, you and I know that tourists rent cars. They need to get themselves to the luaus, dinner shows, or extravaganzas, and their own vehicles are hundreds or thousands of miles away, and lots of water is in between. So, why wouldnt rental cars be transportation included in a tour package or other services rendered directly to the customer or tourist?

According to the Attorney Generals briefs filed with the Supreme Court of Hawaii, there are plenty of reasons. Here are some of them:

First, the Legislature easily could have included car rentals in the list of tourism related services written into the law, but didnt. Because car rentals are a big part of the tourism industry, one would expect that car rentals would be written into the law if they were supposed to be included.

Second, there is a significant difference between transportation included in a tour package, generally a bus with a driver, and a rental car that the tourists would need to drive themselves.

Third, T may be a travel agent, but wheres the tour package?

Fourth, to make sense, other services rendered directly to the tourist needs to have something in common with the other ten services spelled out in the law. The common thread between the ten services is that they are for pleasure or recreation, while car rentals are only utilitarian  you need them to get around, but theres no pleasure or recreation involved.

There are of course other reasons, but those seem to be the big ones.

The problem, of course, is that many in the tourism industry believed for a very long time that car rentals were, and are, tourism related services. Not only online travel companies are affected. Many hotels and airlines offer fly-drive or hotel-car packages and priced them assuming that the favorable GET treatment would apply. These packages and more would be impacted if the Hawaii Supreme Court rules in the Departments favor.

Furthermore, court rulings generally are retroactive, primarily because the job of the court system is to interpret laws that already exist instead of making new law. Here, the Tax Appeal Court already has ruled in favor of the Department as to standalone car rentals sold by a travel agent (the fact pattern presented in the example above) for tax years 2000-2013. So, taxpayers should now be making some decisions. Should they re-evaluate their tax filings now that the Departments litigation position is out in the public for all to see? If so, how far back should they go? If not, what financial measures can they take to protect themselves if the decision goes south? Tough questions, to be sure!
THE Thames Traditional Boat Festival has been rebranded.

The event, which is held at Fawley Meadows in Henley every summer, has a new logo which the organisers says it is more elegant and traditional than the previous branding.

They want the Trad to be reconised as being as important to Henley and the surrounding area as the royal regatta and the festival.

The new look was launched at a lunch party at the Fawley Hill home of Lady McAlpine, who co-chairs the Trad, that doubled as a thank-you to sponsors, members and supporters of the festival.

The logo was designed by Strength and Honour, a Marlow advertising agency owned by Clive Hemsley, of Hart Street, Henley.

Lady McAlpine said it was very well received by the 100 guests present and that she and her co-chairman Adam Toop were now eager to start marketing and drumming up support for next years event. She said: It is as an important event in the boating world as Henley Royal Regatta. It is not a sporting event, it is about the history of the river in Britain, it is about conservation and people using boats and enjoying them.

While the regatta is about rowing and is a very expensive event, we are about expensive boats but people can get close to them, go on them and enjoy them. It is a festival of boating but there is something for everyone. It is a family event.

The Trad is so important because it is the biggest collection of traditional river craft anywhere in the world and could get bigger if we can find more riverbank space.

Lady McAlpine said the committee had been in talks with the River & Rowing Museum about working more closely together, which could involve moving the event to Mill Meadows.

She said: There are options but either way we do feel that the Trad is such a significant event which people from all over the world come to.

Among the sponsors at the lunch were directors of Shanly Homes, who have supported the event for many years, and newer supporters including Grundon, Bremont Watches, the Rug Company and Kreos Capital. Lady McAlpine said the event produced several new sponsors and promises of support.

Event patron Sir Steve Redgrave was unable to attend but has assured the committee that he will continue to support the event in 2018.

Next year's festival will take place from July 20 to 22.
Local Bristol shop owner Hugh Testerman welcomed guests at Blakley-Mitchell on Saturday as residents and out-of-town visitors shopped small.

Testerman, who owns the Blakley-Mitchell mens clothier on State Street in Bristol, Virginia, was busy Saturday, fitting customers for new outfits. Each Saturday after Thanksgiving, shoppers visit small businesses to support their local communities. Its part of Small Business Saturday, which is sponsored by American Express.

Its been a great day, Testerman said as he assisted one man.

Customers of small businesses expect good personal service, Testerman said, adding that people were purchasing all types of items in the clothing store.

Were going to have a good year, he said, expecting brisk sales to continue through Christmas.

People began pouring into the store about 11 a.m. Saturday, Testerman said, and they continued shopping through the afternoon.

Down the street at Cranberry Lane, store owner Karen Hester was also busy Saturday as she worked the checkout counter.

Small Business Saturday is a banner day for us, said Hester, who also owns Hesters Country Store, a new shop in downtown Marion. Its the busiest day of the entire year.

While Hester said she appreciates everyones support on Small Business Saturday, every day is important to the business. She noted that 7,600 small businesses have closed nationwide this year.

These folks coming in and shopping with us today helps us keep our doors open, Hester said. Theres so much competition with Amazon and eBay, and all of those things, we have to constantly stay on the cutting edge. So we pride ourselves with excellent customer service. Weve been here for 18 years, and we plan to be here another 18. Were in it for the long haul.

Although Small Business Saturday means Hester and her staff would have a long, hard day, it was rewarding, she said.

Cranberry Lane, described as a country decor store, features Santa Claus through Christmas.

Its a tradition, Hester said. Folks come from all over. I had a little girl that came in a few minutes ago, and she has had her picture with me every year since she was born. It means a lot for the adults and the kids.

Families shopped at many stores in downtown Bristol on Saturday, including Shoozies on State Street.

Its a fun day, Shoozies owner Peggy Wilson said. Its a good day. We see a lot of families and out-of-town people. It seems like everybody is in a good mood.

Wilson said her store had a successful Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.

A lot of people are becoming more aware of what local businesses mean, Wilson said. I think theres more awareness now than in the past. It is growing. I think if you want to make it pleasant, shopping local is more pleasant.

Wilson added that there are a lot of advantages of shopping local and in downtown Bristol.

Its a nice experience, she said. Its not a big-box-type thing. Its interesting. Theres different things downtown. Theres more one-on-one with the customer. People come and congregate and talk and meet someone they know. Its a friendly social atmosphere.

American Express reports that there are 706,626 small businesses in Virginia and 580,453 small businesses in Tennessee.

Last year, an estimated 112 million consumers reported shopping at small businesses on Small Business Saturday  more than ever before, and a 13 percent increase from 2015, according to a survey released by American Express and the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Consumers spent an estimated $15.4 billion at independent retailers and restaurants.
Every day, Richie Jefferson thinks about his sister, 38-year-old Janina Jefferson, who was shot to death one year ago at the town of Appalachia water plant.

Its been hard on me, Jefferson said.

He and his older sister were close.

She was like a mother to me, he said during a recent interview leading up to the one-year anniversary of her death on Nov. 27, 2016. We were really, really close.

Meanwhile, the man charged with capital murder in her death, her ex-husband, Eric Monroe Jones, 46, remains at large. The Wise County Sheriffs Office and U.S. Marshals Service have spent the last year searching for Jones, who has not been seen since.

Sheriffs Office Col. Grant Kilgore said police are doing everything possible to locate and apprehend Jones. A $5,000 reward has been set for any information leading to the Jones arrest and conviction.

We continue to follow every lead and piece of information we receive, Kilgore said.

Richie Jefferson said he visited his sister the night of her death.

I just went to check on her, he said. I was there less than an hour before it happened.

The family had been concerned for Jeffersons safety. Court records reveal Jones was previously charged in a domestic violence case against Jefferson. She had even placed an order of protection against him.

Before leaving that night, Jefferson recalls telling his sister that he loved her.

Every time I left, we always told each other that we loved one another, he said.

Jefferson left the water plant between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m.

Later, the Wise County Sheriffs Office received a request to conduct a welfare check on Janina Jefferson, who worked the evening shift. When they arrived, officers found her body on the gravel driveway.

Richie Jefferson recalls receiving a phone call that something had happened at the water plant. He returned to the plant and discovered a number of police officers at the scene.

His sister was dead from multiple gunshot wounds, police said.

We kind of knew it was going to happen, the man said.

The year before her death, Janina Jefferson and Jones went through divorce proceedings. Wise County Circuit Court issued a final decree of divorce on Sept. 8, 2016, the same day Jones was charged in a domestic violence case, which listed Jefferson as the victim, according to court records. They were married in August 2013 and lived in Big Stone Gap, the document states. The couple separated in 2015.

In the domestic violence case, Jones was charged with assault and battery of a family member, strangulation and trespassing. The case is pending court proceedings.

A protective order had been in place against Jones and the man was on unsupervised probation from a previous attempted murder-for-hire case, records reveal.

In early November, the case was featured on Crime Watch Daily, a nationally broadcast show. One of the shows reporters visited Wise County to speak with police, friends and family.

[Jones is] out there walking free while this family suffers, Investigator Charles Curry said on Crime Watch Daily.

Kilgore described Jones as charismatic. He got along with everyone from gang members to church members, he said. Jones is the son of a pastor in Big Stone Gap.

Richie Jefferson said his sisters three children are doing well, under the circumstances.

I do have closure, the womans oldest son, Trey Lomax, told Crime Watch Daily. I dont let it eat at me every day just because I know that shes in a better place.

Earlier this year, authorities charged Jacob Seth Rowland as an accessory in the case. He is accused of dropping Jones off at the water plant, according to a criminal complaint. Rowlands next court hearing is scheduled for April 8.

Wise County Sheriff Ronnie Oakes said police will charge anyone who helps Jones.

This isnt the first time Jones has avoided apprehension. In 1990, he was arrested in Texas after fleeing from police in Wise County when he was wanted on attempted murder charges. In that case, court records show Jones was hired to murder a woman and her children. Emergency responders saved the family from a fire that Jones and an accomplice were accused of setting, records state.

Jones apparently fled to Mexico, but was captured when he started driving back through Texas.

Jeffersons brother said he believes Jones has returned to Mexico, but he couldnt answer when asked if he thought Jones would ever be captured.

Jones should be considered armed and dangerous, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriffs Office at 276-328-3566, a local police agency or 911.
CATAWBA COUNTY  The North Carolina Guardian ad Litem program (NCGAL) for the 25th Judicial District is launching a food drive Tuesday to collect plastic jars of peanut butter and jelly.

The kickoff for the fundraiser falls on Giving Tuesday and includes Catawba, Burke and Caldwell counties.

Peanut butter is something all food banks need, NCGAL District Administrator Sydney Smith said. We added the collection of jelly because we were all once children, and we fondly remember peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as a staple of a happy childhood.

It is estimated food banks across the nation provide emergency food for about 59,200 people in any given week, according to the Hunger in America 2014 study completed by Feeding America.

The same study found 50 percent of those served by a food bank are children and seniors, 21 percent of households include grandparents who have responsibility for grandchildren, and 77 percent of households report having to choose between paying for medicine or groceries.

Although food banks are making a difference, Smith said food insecurity remains a serious problem in North Carolina; more than 651,000 people struggle to access nutritious and adequate amounts of food necessary for an active and healthy life.

We believe that our peanut butter and jelly drive will help us mobilize and engage our neighbors, friends and community groups to help us in getting these items to food banks and will also give our program a higher profile, Smith said.

Since 1983, NCGAL programs have equipped community volunteers to serve abused and neglected children by advocating for their best interests in court.

In the 2016-17 year, NCGAL served 752 abused and neglected children, and had approximately 90 community volunteers serve as court appointed guardians ad litem.

Volunteers donate their time to provide a voice for abused and neglected children in all 100 counties in the state. They protect and promote the best interests of juveniles, conduct independent investigations, and determine the wishes of the child and report those to the court.

In Catawba County, there are about 280 children in need, and about 200 of those children are uncovered cases who do not have an assigned volunteer, Smith said in a previous interview with the HDR.

In Burke County, there are about 280 children in need, but the group only has 10 volunteers, Smith said. In Caldwell County, there are about 30 volunteers and about 190 children.

Of course, we want 100 percent coverage, but we will feel good if we have 80 percent coverage for our cases, Smith said in the previous interview.

The lack of volunteers is the biggest reason to raise awareness for the program in the community, Smith added.

Next year the 25th District has a goal of recruiting 60 volunteers, Smith said. This is an aggressive number, but a goal I know we can reach.

For more information about volunteering, call 828-466-6121 ext. 1 or visit www.volunteerforgal.org.

If unable to volunteer, Smith hopes residents will donate to the Peanut Butter and Jelly Campaign. The donation drop-off is at the GAL office, 1097 South Brady Ave., in Newton.

For more information about the NCGAL 25th Judicial District program, visit www.catawbacountync.gov/state/gal/.
In Panchot village, just five kilometres from Mehsana town in the home district of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a large banner lowered from the villages clock tower announces a ban on the entry of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the village premises.

Panchot is one among the several Patidar-dominated villages in Mehsana district, where many local residents have hardened their stance against the BJP ahead of state assembly polls next month.

Their biggest complaint is not about the economy, or the state of agriculture, but the violence during the

communitys protests for quotas two years ago.

We have voted for BJP for over two decades but today, it is time to signal to the party that Patidars have voted them to power and the same community can bring them down. The government hasnt bettered our lot in any way and instead of quelling the Patidar agitation, they sent police into our homes. Majority from our village will not vote for BJP, said 25-year-old Jigar Patel, an unemployed science graduate who claims to lead the youngsters.

In this village, the rebellion is led by young Patidars, who are mostly unemployed or semi-employed and the sons of marginal farmers with land holdings less than 2.5 acres.

Patidars are angry over the police firing during the protests for quotas two years ago, which resulted in the deaths of 14 youngsters. Mehsana district has seven assembly seats where the BJP has usually dominated but the party is expected to face a tough fight this time.

I am not in favour of reservation for anyone. I also can understand that the BJP government cannot promise reservation when it is legally untenable. But why did you beat up our youngsters ? Tear gas was lobbed in villages and Patidar colonies were harassed, said Bharatbhai Patel, a Patidar farmer and local fabrics unit owner from Buttapaldi village.

Kanu Patel from Panchot echoes this sentiment. If BJP thinks it will get our votes even after it enters our homes to beat our children, they are in some sort of dreamland.

Panchot, like many other villages in Mehsana, grows a wide range of crops from wheat to cotton, oil seeds such as castor and spices such as cumin.

But Jigar, much like the rest of his friends, has no intention of tilling the land. Fragmented land holdings and increased costs of cultivation have reduced farm incomes, even as urbanisation has wooed a majority of the rural Patel youth into the services and business sector. HT witnessed this across villages in Mehsana in Panchot, Ballol, Karsanpura, Lakhwad, Buttapaldi, Assanjol, where most youngsters were studying away from home or looking for opportunities outside their villages.

Why should our children even get into agriculture ? Its not paying for our generation. In my one acre of land, I grow cotton and wheat but income from the land is enough for basic subsistence not even for paying for medicines or fees, said Haribhai Patel, Jigars uncle. Haribhai also runs a local clothes shop to make ends meet.

Nearly 157,000 Mehsana farmers are marginal  with land holding of less than two acres  or small with land holding less than five acres.

The market prices of crops have remained volatile for the last three years though input costs have increased.

The next generation of Patels has moved out of agriculture into the service sector but says both the education system and job market is rigged against them. This spurred the reservation demand in 2015.

My fathers 10 bigha of land was divided between my brother and myself. In my five bigha (two acres), I try and grow two crops like wheat, castor and sometimes cotton. But profitability is too low, Bharatbhai said.

He said this year, he earned Rs 68,000 from 16 quintals of castor seeds grown on his one acre of land but spent more than half of this amount (Rs 37,500) in cultivating the crop.

The cost of cultivation, from hiring a tractor and paying for its diesel to labour, seeds, pesticides, fertilisers is high. If we want better yields, we need to invest more money in better quality fertilisers or natural manure and pesticides. I havent put manure in my fields for years because its cost is Rs 2000 for one basket. One bigha of land requires 10 such baskets. You do the maths of whether this is viable, he said. Bharatbhai says his vote will go to the Congress this year for the first time since he started voting.

But not everyone agrees that the BJP is on a poor footing and notes that the saffron party has excellent organisation on the ground  in many of the villages in the region, the sarpanch has ties to the party.

The Patidar vote is split this year. But many of us continue to be BJP supporters. The government has intervened with higher minimum support prices for crops. Irrigation facilities have improved in a big way. The youngsters may not have seen Congress regime but we have. Given the history, we believe BJP is far better, said Jayeshbhai Patel from Ballol.

Even we know that BJP will

ultimately come to power but its seats will be reduced and a message will be sent politically that Patidars are not

to be messed with, said Jignesh Patel from Ballol village, which had also

displayed anti-BJP banners recently and lined up to see Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

Who would have thought people here will queue up and crowd for Rahul Gandhi? In our area, there hasnt been a Congress party office for years, admitted Jignesh.

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Foot soldiers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party, are reaching out to voters in poll-bound Gujarat, asking them to participate in the electoral exercise and choose carefully.

RSS workers assert that they do not canvass on behalf of the party, but it is clear whose side they are on.

In Surat for instance, where small diamond and textile traders are unhappy with the BJP for the Goods and Services Tax, the RSS cadre is telling voters that the government is listening to them. The cadre also attributes some of the changes made in the GST regime to a nudge from the RSS.

The GST Councils decision to reduce the rates of 177 products and services from the peak rate of 28% to 18% is an example of the government being sensitive to traders demands. The decision itself came after (RSS supremo) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat in his annual Dusshera speech echoed the concerns of medium and small entrepreneurs, said a senior RSS official who asked not to be named.

The RSS is also reaching out to the Patidars and the Dalits to ensure their disenchantment with the BJP does not affect the election outcome. While the Patidars are demanding reservation in jobs and education, the Dalits have mobilised themselves politically after last years incident in Una, where self-styled cow vigilantes flogged a Dalit family.

In the wake of these protests, the Sangh has deployed all its resources to scotch any possibility of a fractured Hindu vote . Its workers, apart from eulogising the merits of a united Hindu electorate, are also leveraging the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Facts Shakhas in Gujarat have gone up by 10-15% annually. Daily Shakhas are held in 700 places while weekly ones are held across 1000 locations. RSS affiliates that are active in the state are ABVP, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Arogya Bharati and the Vidya Bharati. Muslim Rashtriya Manch, which canvassed on behalf of the BJP in UP, has no presence in the state.

The RSS has planned meetings across the state to assure Dalits and Patidars that the BJP will make good its promises to address their concerns.The Patidars must remember that it was the BJP that came up with reservation for the economically backward classes, the Congress is only making empty promises, said the RSS leader mentioned above.

The EBC quota, as mooted by the BJP government was stayed by the courts; it isnt clear whether the Congress formula will, if the party is in a position to implement it, pass legal scrutiny.

The RSS overtures towards the Dalits and the tribals on behalf of the BJP are also conspicuous. Romel Sutariya of the Adivasi Kisan Sangharsh Morcha said the BJPs hold on the tribal communities that comprise nearly 15% of the electorate has gone up because of the cultural movement such as Ram Kathas being organised by the RSS and involvement of sects such as the Swaminarayan sect.

At his residence in Anand, Sunil Mehta, secretary of the RSSs West Zone, said the sampark (meetings) with the electorate, including the Dalits, are only to underline the importance of the electoral exercise.

His response to a question on the rationale behind efforts to talk up a united Hindu electorate is only that developing a vertical split on the basis of caste is counterproductive. It is worrying that after all these years caste-based voting is still followed.

Mehta blames the anti-BJP sentiment among the Dalits to political machination, and says that RSS and Hindu religious leaders rushed to offer aid to the affected in Una.

For years now, the perception in Gujarat is that there is an uneasy relationship between the BJP and the RSS in the state.

Mukesh Shah, editor of Sadhna Saptahik, an RSS mouthpiece, says this wasnt the case. There was a feeling when Modi was the chief minister that the RSS and its affiliates did not have an easy relation with him. But I personally know of at least 20 RSS functions that he participated in. As chief minister, he had to accommodate many opinions and each of these (RSS) organisations would have had their own agenda, some of which could have caused an uproar. They perhaps had a feeling that they were not being heard, he said.

Theres no such feeling now. People say the RSS inputs on the performance of sitting legislators was taken before deciding the final list of candidates. This is in contrast to the differences that surfaced during the Uttar Pradesh assembly poll when the RSS cadre in some districts disagreed with the choice of candidates.

In Gujarat, in the home-stretch to the elections, the RSS has redoubled its efforts to cover maximum ground. There is nothing that can make up for personal contact. The younger lot relies on social media and technology, but we still insist on going door-to-door, says Mehta.

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In a rare surgery, doctors in Madhya Pradeshs Rewa district recently removed 5 kg iron objects -- a chain, as many as 263 coins and shaving blades--from the stomach of a man who they said is not in a good frame of mind.

The 32-year-old Mohammed Maqsood, who hails from Sohaval in Satna district, was taken to the state-run Sanjay Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in adjoining Rewa on November 18 after he complained of pains in stomach.

Dr Priyank Sharma, attached to the Sanjay Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (SGMCH), said they identified the cause behind Maqsoods stomachache after conducting tests and through an x-ray.

He said a team of six doctors surgically removed 10-12 shaving blades, four big needles, a chain, 263 coins, besides pieces of glasses -- collectively weighing 5 kg, from the stomach of Maqsood on Friday.

He said Maqsood had been treated for six months in Satna before he was brought to Rewa.

The patient was not in a good frame of mind and it seems he swallowed these objects secretly, Dr Sharma said, adding that Maqsood is doing well and is currently under the observation of a team of experts.
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta is a fan of Rajkummar Rao. Mehta, who has collaborated with the actor in films such as CityLights (2014), Aligarh (2015), and Omerta, says the actor succeeds in surprising him with every performance.

I have always said that Rajkummar is a gift. We have been working together for quite some time now, and every time he works with me, or plays different characters, he has always surprised me. And the experience of working with him again, for Bose: Dead/Alive, was no different, he says.

My two favourite people. My family. My favourite city. My favourite show. #BoseDeadorAlive #Kolkata #Promotions @patralekhaa @rajkummar_rao A post shared by Hansal Mehta (@hansalmehta) on Nov 13, 2017 at 8:09am PST

The director has also been excited about being associated with the web series, which highlights Netaji Subhas Chandra Boses life and contribution to the cause of Indian freedom. One is understandably curious why Hansal chose a subject that has so far been guarded, and controversial, but he clears the air on it. I think controversy is in the minds of people. Its a perception. And it is because of ignorance that people see controversies. We have made a web series for the digital medium which is being consumed heavily by so many people. Our intention is to highlight the fact that the freedom that we enjoy today is because of people like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and their passion, and its been an exciting exploration on the man, the legend, and the mystery, he explains.

#BoseDead/Alive New trailer. Part 2. @patralekhaa @hansalmehta @ektaravikapoor @filmybastardpulkit A post shared by Raj Kummar Rao (@rajkummar_rao) on Nov 12, 2017 at 5:46am PST

But does the possibility of a backlash at all bother him? If after watching the show people want to discuss and debate, I am open to it but I cant tolerate controversy for the sake of attention. It is the work of the ignorant. We have put in a lot of research and Ekta [Kapoor] and her team had worked really hard. More importantly, the show is for the younger generation who are far more removed from what has given them the freedom they enjoy today, he says.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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When Ranbir Kapoors name was announced as the actor who will play Sanjay Dutt in the biopic being made by Rajkumar Hirani, people scoffed. How would an actor who is lean and looks nothing like Sanjay play the part? Every single look and mannerism of the Khalnayak actor are etched in the minds of the audience and would Ranbir be able to do justice to the role? While the jury is still out till the film releases, Ranbir has managed to root out the scepticism with effortlessly taking on the looks and style of the beefy actor.

We saw him become the Sanjay of Saajan days with the lean frame and long hair, we then saw him shooting at the Bhopal jail with the same pointy moustache and world-wise air that the actor had when he was incarcerated and now Ranbir has done it again. The Rockstar actor was seen shooting in Mumbai with a French beard and more weight we have seen him sporting. The shooting seems to be dealing with present-day Sanjay and Ranbir sure looks the part.

The film is being directed by Hirani who is Sanjays friend and has directed him in blockbuster Munna Bhai series. The film is yet to announce a release date.

This is Ranbir Kapoor shooting for Dutt biopic

Now compare him with Sanjay himself...

Talking about the biopic, Ranbir earlier told media, We worked really hard at it, doing four months of prosthetic (make-up) trials, lots of disappointments, thinking that its not going to work out. But you need to put in that time and effort. Its a daunting task to play someone like Sanjay Dutt, who everybody knows anyway.

There have been moments that Sanjay was watching Ranbir playing him. It was surreal for me. Youre acting like him, and the director calls cut, you look up, and suddenly theres Sanjay Dutt actually sitting behind the monitor! But then Id got so obsessed with him. Every time Id see him, Id start observing him like a hawk  the way he scratches his beard, twitches his eye, drinks water, hugs Itd become a bit of a sickness for me. But that obsession is necessary for acting, or any form of art  that madness to get something right. You may still fall flat on your face, but its necessary.
Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu said the Centre will support iPhone maker Apple to set up manufacturing unit in the country and is awaiting a formal proposal from them.

Let us get a good proposal from them...We will be very happy to receive Apple, one of the top brands in the world. We are willing to find out if there is any difficulty they may face. We will be more than happy to resolve that difficulty. So we will await a formal proposal, Prabhu told PTI in an interview.

He also said the Centre is willing to call all chief ministers who are willing to give them the best deal.

The Cupertino-based iPhone and iPad manufacturer Apple has asked for certain concessions for setting up manufacturing unit in the country.

The government had sought investment and job creation details from the iPhone maker to facilitate setting up its proposed manufacturing facility in India.

In March, then commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman had informed the Rajya Sabha said the government has not accepted most of the demands of the company, which wants to set up manufacturing unit in India.

Apple India had sought concessions, including duty exemption on manufacturing and repair units, components, capital equipment and consumables for smartphone manufacturing and service/repair for a period of 15 years.

The company also wants relaxation in the mandated 30% local sourcing of components besides reduction in customs duties on completely-knocked-down and semi-knocked-down units of devices that are to be assembled in the country.

Apple does not manufacture devices on its own but gets the job done through contract manufacturers. It sells its products through company-owned retail stores in countries like China, Germany, the US, the UK and France, among others.

It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro.
"Sometimes when words ring true, I'm like a lone fox dancing,In the morning dew." Author Ruskin Bond recited his poem 'Lone Fox Dancing' to thunderous applause from an audience that was mostly formed of schoolchildren sitting on grass from which the morning dew had still not dried.

But the adults were not far behind as they joined in to welcome one of India's most loved authors who took to the stage on Day 1 of Chandigarh Literati 2017 at Lake Club on Saturday. With his anecdotes on nature, people and ghosts, Bond reinforced nostalgia for many who have grown up reading his books. Nostalgia weaves in and out of the narrative of his works, sometimes telling his own stories and at other times of the imagined.

"Nostalgia in writing is trying to preserve something from the past. We're mostly inclined to forget unpleasant things, trying to preserve happy memories," said the author, who was in conversation with festival director Sumita Misra.

Bond came out with an autobiography 'The Lone Fox' in June. His writing hasn't stopped and his passion remains intact even at the age of 83. The humour is self-deprecating, drawing a connect with the young minds in the crowd. He is primarily a children's writer. But, school work, internet and television keep kids away from reading.

Bond disagrees, "Children never did read, even 50 to 60 years back. We did not have the distractions you blame today, but we had others. Reading was a minority pastime; times have changed now. We have more children's writers who are getting published. Also, illustrations have made a big difference."

However, the Q&A session with the author proved that children will never stop reading stories that open their minds to newer possibilities, bind them to nature and speak to their inner selves. When asked by a student, Anhad, of Yadavindra Public School, Mohali, whether the character Rusty from 'Room on the Roof' was based on him, Bond said, "Yes, to an extent. Though my other characters are fictitious and sometimes genuine, Rusty is my alter ego. You can call me Rusty."

Rusty came to life when Bond was 17 and writing a journal to record his daily experiences. That was also a time when he was away in England and was desperate to return to India, the country that is his "land and my own, as much as anybody else's. This is the country my parents and my grandparents grew up in".

Born in Kasauli and schooled in Shimla, the author's books are set in the Himalayas, amidst its flora and fauna, talking about the simple and uncomplicated life in the mountains. His writing has been autobiographical to a large extent and his new book is only a closer glimpse into his life.

Bond said, "Many writers go back to their youth when writing novels or short stories. In autobiographies, you may feel that the writer is not always truthful or is holding something back. So this book maybe a lot of genuine lies. In the next one, I might make up things and it will all be genuine."

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Why is there such an outcry over a film about queen Padmavati that has not even released? For some time last week I broke free from answering this question as I walked through my beloved city Allahabad. This city, while being rebellious by nature, has become a victim of destruction by destiny.

It is not possible that you walk the citys streets and history doesnt knock on the windows of your mind. I remembered the place where Hindu Hostel used to be located. This is the hostel Chandra Shekhar Azad emerged from and went to Company Bagh before the police surrounded him. After a long and fierce encounter when he realised he was running out of bullets, he shot the last one through his temple so that the British could not capture him alive. Even today, the statue of Azad twirling his moustache appears to be challenging the British colonialists.

What an incredible setting! Located next to each other, the Hindu Hostel, Company Bagh, Indian Press and Mayor College together recount innumerable stories of education, culture, colonialism, protests and repression.

For the uninitiated, Mayor College is now better known as the Science Faculty of Allahabad University and Indian Press shut down more than half a century ago. This is the place from where the monthly magazine Saraswati, edited by Pandit Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, was brought out and played an important role in helping Indians get conversant with literature, culture and values. Some distance away from Indian Press are located the Anand Bhavan and Swaraj Bhavan. Motilal Nehru contributed to strengthen the Congresss nationalistic character from here. This is where Jawaharlal Nehru learned the alphabet of politics and Indira Gandhi first opened her eyes. As a young journalist, it is here that I met a grief-stricken Rajiv Gandhi after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. On the first floor, Rajiv couldnt hold back his tears looking at the childhood toys of Priyadarshini Indira.

At that time the multicultural character of Allahabad was still alive.

In one part of the city stayed Firaq Gorakhpuri and in another Mahadevi Verma. Naresh Mehta, Bhairav Prasad Gupt, Jagdish Gupt, Shailesh Matiyani stayed in different parts of the city but all of them strived towards reaching a common destination: Allahabadiyat.

During my Allahabad trip I also discovered that very few people knew about Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla. During the 1971 war, the Pakistanis had sunk our warship Khukri. Mulla was its captain. In true naval tradition he went down along with the vessel he was commanding. At one time he was a hero for our generation, but today few people remember him. Compared to him, many more are aware of the family associated with Anand Bhavan. But these days through the university of WhatsApp, an assortment of ridiculous stories are is being spread about them. Not just Allahabad, this is the misfortune of every Indian city. In order to create a new identity, weve destroyed the old, but couldnt create anything that future generations can be proud of.

It is true Indians dont know how to keep the sanctity of our history intact. If we knew how to do that, so much outrage wouldnt have been unleashed over Padmavati. Till now around six state governments have said that they wont allow the films release. Before I left for Allahabad, I remembered watching an interview with Arvind Singh Mewar, a descendent of Rana Kumbha, on YouTube. Sitting in his impressive palace, in an interview given to an English magazine, he conceded that he doesnt have any photograph of Padmavati in his possession. The reason? There was no convention of clicking photographs at that time. We are fighting over what happened more than 700 years ago since we dont have any documentary proof about it. However, the memories of the leading lights of Allahabad and many other Indian cities are still fresh in peoples minds. Why stir up controversies over them?

The reason is clear. Rather than nurture what history has given us, we want to kill it with our own hands. Why do we forget that humans cannot obliterate history? We should nurture it with care so that we can receive wisdom, advice and guidance from it when the need arises. But the exact opposite is taking place. For petty gains our politicians are ready to change the names of cities, roads, playgrounds and memorials. Going a step further, some of them even talk about demolishing the Taj Mahal or the Viceroys canopy. Irrespective of which political party gains from this, the common man gets caught in an intellectual cesspool. This is doing injustice to the nations heritage.

Why cant we Indians understand such a simple fact?

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief Hindustan

letters@hindustantimes.com
Following public resentment and media reports over closure of a trek route in Vyans Valley, the Pithoragarh district administration on Sunday extended the deadline by two days.

Villagers of the valley sought 15 days from the district administration to descend to their residences in the lower valleys as part of their annual winter migration, citing delay in the onset of the cold season.

HT had highlighted the demand in its edition on November 26.

On Sunday, Pithoragarh district magistrate C Ravishankar ordered the trek route between Mangti and Gunji be closed on December 3, instead of the earlier deadline of December 1.

Residents of more than 10 villages of the valley in Pithoragarhs Dharchula sub-division have been asked to move to the lower reaches by November 30, so that construction work on a rocky stretch of the road from Ghatiabagar to the Lipulekh Pass--the last Indian post at the border with China--can start.

This extension will give two more days to villagers of Vyans Valley to come down to their winter settlements, Ravishankar said.

Villagers said the extension was too short. The period is very short, but we will try our best to finish the migration in the given time, Laxmi Raippa, chief of Bundi village, told Hindustan Times.

The trek route that links villages in the Vyans Valley with the rest of the district, will remain closed until April 3, 2018, for the Border Road Organization to finish constructing the rocky stretch that will link the state to the last security post on the India-China border.

The construction of the road started in 2002 and was scheduled to be completed by 2007, but due to ragged nature stretch, the work got delayed. Authorities now aim to complete it by 2019.
Statehood activists criticised the BJP government for its decision to hold the Uttarakhand assemblys next session at Gairsain saying the move aims to skirt the sensitive issue of the states permanent capital that has been eluding it since its formation 17 years ago.

The week-long assembly session commences at Gairsain on December 7.

This (BJP) governments move to hold an assembly session at Gairsain is nothing but a ploy to skirt the contentious issue of the states permanent capital, said Prof Shekhar Pathak, a veteran statehood activist. The ruling party is playing a petty politics over such a sensitive issue much like the previous Congress regime, he added.

Pathak criticised the two main parties alternately ruling the hill state since its formation for failing to honour the public sentiment. People have been demanding right from day one that Gairsain, the hill states centrally located hill town, should be made its permanent capital, he said, clarifying it was not a case of just their identity. They (the people) strongly feel that a permanent capital there (Gairsain) will also pave the way for growth in the long neglected hills, he added.

Pathak said the previous Congress regime that built a Vidhan Sabha Bhawan at Gairsain confined itself to holding a Cabinet meeting or a couple of assembly sessions there. It avoided taking a call on setting up a permanent capital in that town, he said, adding that the Congress regime could be given a benefit of doubt that it dithered because it had a wafer thin majority in the House.

The present (BJP) regime doesnt have any such excuses to offer. It can declare Gairsain as the states permanent capital, as it came to power with a massive mandate, Pathak said and added it was still maintaining ambivalence on such a contentious issue.

Shamsher Singh Bisht, another veteran statehood activist, felt the BJP and the Congress have been evading the permanent capital issue fearing that such a move might accentuate the hill-plain divide. According to him, both the parties feel naming Gairsain as the permanent capital could evoke a huge backlash from the plain districts. They fear similar reaction from the hills, if Dehradun, (a plain area and the states provision capital) or any other plain area is declared as the permanent capital, Bisht said.

Bisht said the issue of permanent capital would have been resolved if the BJP that had been ruling both at the Centre and the state had taken a timely call on the issue at the time of its formation. Its (BJP) leaders dithered, as they felt announcing the permanent capital at that point in time could evoke backlash from the plains.

Pathak felt the two main parties harbouring fear of a backlash from the plain districts was a clear sign of their mental bankruptcy.

Sarita Negi, a statehood activist from Pauri agreed. Such fears are absolutely baseless because like the people from the hills those from the three plain districts too actively participated in the long-drawn agitation for a separate hill state, she said.

Veteran statehood activist PC Joshi cited the states demographic imbalance that has tilted in favour of the plains as the reason behind the two main parties hesitating to name Gairsain as the permanent capital. This (demographic) imbalance has its root in the forced migration from all the 10 hill districts to the plains, for which those who have been helming the state are responsible, he said.

Activist Sarita Negi agreed that forced migration had its root in the political leaderships failure to boost development in the hills. Had that hill town (Gairsain) been named the permanent capital of the hill state, it would pave the way for a hill-centric development, she said. Most statehood activists agreed to her view.

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The deadly attack on policeman-turned-gangster Devpal Rana on Roorkee court premises on November 20 has put the spotlight on the rise in crime graph in Haridwar district, known for its pilgrimage importance.

Three assailants fired at Rana who had been brought to the court from Deoband prison in Uttar Pradesh for a hearing; he succumbed to his injuries. The attack was allegedly orchestrated by another gangster Rishipal Rana.

Haridwar appears to have turned a safe haven for criminals from western UP because of its proximity with crime-sensitive districts of Muzaffarnagar, Bijnore and Saharanpur.

Three major gangs run by Sunil Rathi, Chinu Pundit and Jeeva are active in western UP, and Roorkee-Haridwar-Dehradun belt of Uttarakhand. Notorious criminals Praveen Valimiki, Sachin Khokhar, Pappu and Vishu from western UP also operate in the belt, police said.

In many crime incidents, the name of Sunil Rathi has come to light; police will file cases against Rathi after investigations, Haridwar SSP Krishan Kumar VK told Hindustan Times. A major clampdown on gangster activities will be done; past criminal records and activities of gangsters were being scrutinised.

Apart from extortions, the three gangs are involved in selling lands through forged documents and forcefully occupying commercial plots. Roorkee has become an epicentre of crimes in recent times as its rural segment borders western UP.

Devpal Rana had emerged as a manager of Rathi gangs illegal property business, police said. Uttarakhand police arrested last week Sunil Rathis mother Rajbala from Baghpat in connection with an extortion threat to a Roorkee-based doctor. She is kept in Roorkee jail where Rathis bete noire Chinu Pundit is also imprisoned. Rathi is now lodged in Baghpat prison.

Sharpshooter Sachin Khokhar, who is currently manning Sunil Rathi gang activities, has also been named along with Rajbala in the case of extortion threat to Roorkee-based doctor ND Arora, said Manikant Mishra, superintendent of police (rural).

Many businessmen in Roorkee and Haridwar have also got extortion threats from Amit Bhura and Chinu Pundit gangs.

Devpal had denied share to Jeeva in a Dehradun property sale recently; it was possible that Rishipal Rana, Chinu Pundit and Jeeva gangs had come together to eliminate Devpal, a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity.

After Devpals killing, Rathi gang has become weaker; in this situation, gang war may intensify as its now a matter of survival and revenge for Rathi gang. This can come handy for police as it will be easier to know gangsters hideouts and nab them, the officer said.

In the recent past, gang war claimed a deputy jailor, a police station in-charge and two police personnel in Roorkee.

DIG (Garhwal Range) Pushpak Jyoti said policemen had been asked to bring criminals to court with fool-proof security.

Additional force has been deployed at Roorkee and Haridwar prisons after the Monday incident. Hardened criminals and gangsters are put under watch. All district police chiefs have been briefed about the measures to be taken to prevent Roorkee-like incidents, Jyoti told HT.

Extortion threats need to be taken seriously as involvement of gangsters has come to light. District-wise updates on criminals  jailed, on bail, underground or released -- will be done.

After Uttarakhand became a state in 2000, police launched special operations against criminals and gangsters during the early years and curbed crimes, said JP Pandey, president of statehood agitators committee. In recent years, western UP-based criminals have become active again.

Bar council district association secretary Ajay Chauhan said, Lawyers and petitioners coming to court remain in fear as most of gang attacks have taken place on court premises.

Major gangster-related incidents

December 23, 2000: Nahar police station SHO Mangu Singh Verma was killed in encounter with gangsters

September 12, 2003: Police shot dead three criminals when they tried to run away from court premises in Roorkee

May 31, 2005: Five criminals fled from Roorkee prison

September 12, 2011: Roorkee sub-jailor Narendra Khampa shot dead by criminals outside the prison

August 14, 2013: Gangsters shot dead constable Sunit Negi during a robbery at a nursing home

August 5, 2014: Members of Sunil Rathi and Chinu Pundit gangs were involved in shootout at Roorkee prison gate; 3 gangsters killed. Devpal Rana was present during the incident.

November 20, 2017: Devpal Rana, brought to Roorkee court from Deoband prison in UP, killed after firing by assailants
With each passing day, the level of political discourse on social media is falling to a new low. With all the noise about non-issues such as Hindi film, Padmavati, memes about Nehrus imagined transgressions and, internationally, the ever-entertaining United States President Donald Trumps regular outbursts, social media has enabled a troll-level discourse in politics across the world. With no need to engage with the press or have a two-way conversation on important issues, leaders prefer the one-way transmission of opinion, self congratulation and hate that such a platform allows. Their followers are happy to follow.

Social media may have given leaders the ability to speak directly to people, but it has also encouraged the worst tendencies of instinctive repartee made without thought or consultation. The past few years have seen a definite rise in leaders using social media, with more politicians taking to platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate with their constituents, and give opinion. But the amount of effective communication has mostly been overshadowed by the low level of discourse. The reigning monarch of this behaviour is Mr Trump, who calls out on Twitter everyone from TV anchors to Opposition members, from actors to athletes.

The 2017 Twiplomacy study by Burson-Marsteller found that 92% of all UN member countries have a presence on social media with 856 Twitter accounts belonging to heads of state in 178 countries having a combined audience of 356 million followers. Even as Twitter feeds of influential leaders, both domestic and international, become sources for news, the efficacy of such diplomacy remains in doubt. Social media  owned and governed by private corporations  has become the tool of choice for leaders to lash out, ridicule, and even threaten, is a dangerous low in the quality of public discourse around the world.
Nearly 87% candidates appeared for the Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted by the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIM-L) on Sunday.

A total of around 1,99,600 candidates appeared for the exam for which 2,31,067 students had registered.

The CAT was conducted in 381 test centres spread across 140 cities in India.

The exam was conducted by and large smoothly in majority of the test centres, claimed Prof Neeraj Dwivedi of IIM(L), the convener of the examination.

There were 43 test centres in Uttar Pradesh and 7 test centres in Lucknow. The test was conducted in two shifts. The CAT was a three-hour exam comprising of three sections  each of one-hour duration.

The CAT 2017 results will be tentatively available online on the second week of January next year. The list of candidates shortlisted for the next level of selection will be made available on the website of the respective IIMs.

Each IIM will send interview letters to the shortlisted candidates directly. The criteria for shortlisting vary among IIMs. Candidates will have to visit the admission hotlinks of the respective websites of IIMs for further information.

This year the number of women candidates registered for the CAT increased by 1.16% over last years figure. As against 231, 067 applicants, this year 78,009 women candidates took the examination.

Last year 76,000 women had appeared in the exam. The number of male candidates this year is 153,027.

This year the number of transgender candidates also increased to 31 from 22 last year, said Prof Dwivedi. The number of physically challenged applicants is 910 against last years 921.
A crucial report that will help determine whether the juvenile accused in the Ryan murder case could be tried as an adult or juvenile will be submitted before the Juvenile Justice Board, which is hearing the case.

The board that is the arbiter in cases concerning juvenile accused, had asked for a social investigation report from Nisha Saini, the legal-cum-probation officer from the district child protection unit. The report will be submitted on Monday.

When Hindustan Times contacted Saini, she refused to comment saying it is a matter between her and the JJ Board and she did not wish to tak to the media about it.

Besides social investigation, a psychologist will be submit the report by the first week of December. These two reports will be the key to the decision, to be taken by the Juvenile Justice Board, on whether the accused should be tried as an adult. He is 16 plus. The accused is lodged in an Observation home, Faridabad since November 11.

Barun Chandra Thakur, father of Pradhyumn Thakur who was found with his throat slit at Ryan International School, Bhondsi, on September 8, had moved an application seeking trial of the 16-year-old as an adult.

Meanwhile, Sushil Tekriwal, counsel of Barun Chandra Thakur, said no decision on whether the juvenile should be tried as an adult was taken during the proceedings on November 22.

The juvenile accuseds state of mind is already of an adult, as he planned the murder and executed in a professional manner. He was well aware of what he was doing and even bought the knife a day before. The statements recorded by the CBI officials indicate that he had planned this murder to delay the exams and the parent-teachers meeting. His motive was clear before the execution of the crime, Tekriwal said.

The local body (doctor) analyzing the same could be prejudicial and an independent analysis may be warranted from other district or state level medical officer, so that examination is not influenced, said Tekriwal.

These reports are very crucial to this case. It is also very important to ensure that the reports are not influenced. The accused in the present case should be tried as an adult. He had the requisite mental and physical capacities to commit the crime and also the ability to understand the consequences of the offence, said Tekriwal.

Read I Ryan school case: Accused in Pradhyumn murder sent to custody for 14 days

The boy has been apprehended on the basis of CCTV footage, but he is innocent. They (the CBI) tortured him to confess to the crime and his state of mind is of a child. He was the prime witness in the case and has been framed by the CBI, said Sandeep Aneja, lawyer for the juvenile accused, said.

If my son had committed the crime, he would have hidden his mobile phone or changed it. He would have also junked his school uniform and bought new one. He is religious and down to earth, said father of juvenile

According to a source associated with the case, no local psychologist will assess the juvenile and there is a possibility that a doctor from Panchkula will meet the juvenile in the observation home this week.

The CBI, which took over the case from the Gurgaon police, arrested the juvenile on November 7.

The juvenile was last produced before the board on November 11 and was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. He has since been lodged at an observational home in Faridabad.

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The juggernaut of Indias charm offensive in the neighbourhood is continuing despite many odds. At a time when every major power is enunciating a policy that puts their country first, India advocated neighbourhood first, and has been steering regional dynamics towards more stable, prosperous and democratic outcomes. This is quite a contrast to Chinas progression recently of setting up a different kitchen.

With a huge geographical land mass, ensconced in the vast oceanic littorals, and the demographic dividend of a younger population profile, India is today unravelling its growth story with over 7% GDP increase, while China is entering a new normal phase of lower growth rates.

Many a credit rating agency has given a thumbs-up as India jumped in the ease of doing business rankings. Moodys recently downgraded China. Direct investments are increasing year-on-year compared to those in once-favourable destination China. Public debt is under 70% of GDP compared to a whopping 272% for China. However, India has a lot of catching up to do with China in other aspects.

Indias neighbourhood-first policy is delivering goods and services in a sustainable manner, with infrastructure projects funded with low-interest loans such as in the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) and BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) projects. This is, again, in stark contrast to the debt-ridden projects of Hambantota and Gwadar ports financed by China. Indias Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreements with Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea are transforming ties with trade deficits, labour and local concerns in mind.

Territorial dispute resolutions with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, including observing the UNCLOS provisions and handing over islands to Bangladesh, have raised the Indian stock and are in sharp contrast to Chinas position on The Hague Tribunal ruling last July on South China Sea or the Chinese attempt to grab territory in Doklam recently from tiny Bhutan.

The gradual unfolding of free and open Indo-Pacific with rule of law, peaceful resolution of disputes, connectivity with the Japanese idea of Partnership for Quality Infrastructure, counter-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, counter-terrorism and the like have been positing alternatives to the neighbourhood in a powerful coalition of the willing. This is bound to lead to tectonic shifts in the region in near future.

The main challenges are going to come from China, which has set about widening its footprint globally and regionally. Its assertion in the East China Sea with transgressions on Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands is increasing and its hold strengthening over the crucial Miyako Straits with the Air Defence Identification Zone and military exercises.

Beijings foray into South China Sea is resulting in sharp differences in the once-united ASEAN. Chinas nuclear and conventional arms transfers to Pakistan and its double standards on terrorism are destabilising South Asia. Its One Belt One Road is intruding into Indian-claimed Kashmir.

The just-concluded 19th Communist Party Congress at Beijing suggested China wants to be at the Centre Stage by 2050 with an elaborate road map aimed both at economic diversification -- increasing domestic consumption, the spreading of the services sector and turning state-owned enterprises into global entities -- as well as an integrated joint military operations build up. Moreover, in a reversal of its policy of keeping a low profile, the Party Congress suggested China showcase its authoritarian development model to other developing countries to emulate.

Chinese scholars have derided Indias combining of democratic values with modernisation of caste and communal society and took pride in Chinas authoritarian development model. This will be an area of much ideological conflict between India and China in the coming years. This is also the time for India to showcase its Mumbai Consensus model of democratic, sustainable development with social concern.

While India shied away from commenting on the democratic revolutions taking place at the global level, confining itself to South Asian neighbourhood, Prime Minister Narendra Modi touched upon the subject when he spoke in Japan in late 2014 about the spread of democracy.

In order for India to be the beacon in the neighbourhood, it needs to sharpen up on the experiences drawn from the Uri surgical strikes on terrorism across the border and rescuing Bhutan in the Doklam case. While these suggest India is punching appropriately as National Security Advisor Ajit Doval once remarked, to be a leading power in a comprehensive sense the country needs to further scale up its developmental model by bringing in non-reciprocity and other principles.

(The author is professor in Chinese Studies at JNU, New Delhi)
On this day, nine years ago, Mumbai was under siege as members of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) carried out attacks at landmark places such as Taj Hotel, CST railway station, Cafe Leopold that had killed 166 and injured more than 300.

The release of 26/11 mastermind, Hafiz Saeed, from house arrest on November 24, has outraged the Indian government and has been condemned by the United States, which has been witnessing terrorist attacks recently.

Heres what had happened in Mumbai on November 26, 2008:

Guarding Mumbais 114-km coastline  used by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists to enter the city  is the focus of the government.
Arthur road jail in Mumbai will be the home of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya if he is extradited to India to face the law in connection with the Rs 9,000 crore loan default cases.

This will be conveyed to a British court next week by India through the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is arguing the extradition case against Mallya on behalf of the Indian government, a home ministry official said.

The Westminster Magistrates Court in London will be told that it is the duty of the state to ensure security of prisoners and Mallyas apprehension about threat to his life is misleading.

The court will be told that the prisons in India are as good as in any other country in the world and prisoners rights are fully protected in Indian jails, the official, who is privy to the responses prepared by the government, told PTI.

The move came after Mallyas lawyers said that the fugitive businessmans life may be in danger if he is extradited to India and there were alleged incidents of human rights violations in Indian jails.

The Westminster Magistrates Court will start hearing the extradition proceedings from December 4.

The London court will be told that there will be no threat to Mallyas life if he is lodged in Arthur road jail, which is highly secure as per the international standard, rejecting Mallyas reported apprehension that he will not be safe in Indian jails if sent back home to face trial in the Rs 9,000 crore Kingfisher Airlines loan default cases, another official said, on condition of anonymity.

Adequate medical facilities are available to treat the prisoners in Arthur road jail, where Mallya will get full security cover as an undertrial prisoner, the court will be told.

By making such allegations, Mallya is trying to save himself from getting extradited to India to face the trial in cases of cheating of a consortium of banks, the official said.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba last week had a long meeting with representatives of various authorities, including the Ministry of External Affairs, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate and discussed responses to be filed in the UK court.

The central government has already conducted an assessment of security cover given to prisoners in the Arthur road jail so that its findings could be conveyed to the UK court.

Mallya, 61, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by the Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18.

However, he was soon granted bail by the court.

If the judge rules in favour of extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallyas extradition within two months of the appropriate day.

However, the case can go through a series of appeals before arriving at a conclusion.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement.

Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent to India last October to face trial in connection with his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge.
A Madhya Pradesh constable, arrested for stalking and passing obscene remarks at a woman here, has been dismissed from service, a top officer said on Sunday.

Bhopal Deputy Inspector General Santosh Kumar Singh told reporters here that the action was taken after a probe proved the womans charges against constable Nischal Tomar.

Tomars record isnt good either as he has earlier faced charges of indiscipline, he added.

Around midnight on Thursday, the woman was going home on a scooter when two persons started following her from Habibganj area and passed obscene comments. Despite the womans protests, they followed her till her home.

Later, the two were overpowered by locals who handed them over to police.

According to police, an illegal weapon has also been seized from the car they were travelling in. Both the accused constable and his accomplice are in jail.
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday met representatives of Surats textile industry and assured them that the Centre will look into their concerns.

Jaitleys outreach to Surat textile traders comes ahead of polls.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had spent a full day on November 8, the first anniversary of demonetisation, here and had heard the problems of the textile workers.

Surat textiles industry body made a representation before the finance minister seeking ease in procedures related to Goods and Services Tax (GST). Both the association and Jaitley said that the meeting was positive.

Jaitley, who was in Surat to attend the BJPs Mann ki Baat - Chai Ke Saath programme, took time out to meet the textile traders and heard their concerns regarding the provisions in GST which they said was hurting the industry.

Jaitley said the textile industry in Surat is very positive about governments economic policies and supports GST.

He added the industry has demanded that the procedures should be made simpler, especially for small textile industry, and he has invited their representatives to meet concerned officials in Delhi to sort out their problems.

I am happy that the textile industry of Surat, which is very progressive and which has made a name for itself in the entire world are very positive about governments economic policies and are in support of GST, Jaitley told reporters.

They expect the procedures should be made simpler, especially for small textile industry, so that they are not overburdened with procedural compliance. I have invited a small representatives in Delhi and put their facts before the concerned officials. The GST Council is trying for the same and we will also certainly do our best, he said.

He further said he was happy that GST Council has solved issues raised with historic tax reforms.

Other countries have praised India for addressing issues regarding GST at a very fast pace, he said.

Talking to PTI, president of Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association Manoj Agarwal, who made representation before Jaitley, said, We told Jaitleyji that Surats textile industry is badly hurt due to GST and asked him to address our problems. We said we want GST, but we are not able to follow GST rules.

He assured us to solve our problem and asked four of us to meet him in Delhi regarding this along with Surat MP Darshanaben Jardosh who was also present in the meeting, he said, adding the meeting was attended by around 300 textile traders and members of the Association.

Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, Navsari MP C R Patil, and Union Minister Jitendra Singh were also present for the meeting.

Agarwal said textile traders raised issues regarding GST at one point for saree processing and expressed concerns over e-way bill and reverse charge mechanism.

We are glad that the finance minister listened to our concerns and assured us that he will try to address them. He even invited us for discussions. We have made several representations before as well but this meeting was very positive, may be because of the upcoming elections, he said.
There can be no compromise on a citizens fundamental rights, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra said on Sunday while responding to the assertion of Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad that governance must remain with those elected to govern.

On Prasads remark that PILs cannot become a substitute for governance, the CJI said the Supreme Court believed in and practised constitutional sovereignty.

The fundamental rights are in the core value and the bedrock of the Constitution. An independent judiciary with the power of judicial review has been conferred with the power of the ultimate guardian of the Constitution to strike a balance ... to ensure that respective governments are functioning as provided by the law within their respective domains, he said.

There can be no compromise with the citizens fundamental rights, he said at a function organised by the apex court to celebrate Constitution Day.

The citizens rights have to be at the pinnacle, Justice Misra asserted.

Calling the Constitution a lucid and living document, he said, The Supreme Court of India today believed that we are only under Constitutional sovereignty and we shall practise it.

Though no right was absolute, there should be no fetters which destroy the central dogma of the constitution, the CJI said at the function, inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Justice Misra said the focus of the judiciary should be on reducing pending cases, rejecting frivolous litigations and stressing on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to settle cases.

Speaking at the function, the law minister said though PILs served the purpose in dispensing justice to the poor, they should not be used as a substitute for governance and the law-making powers of the executive and the legislature.

PILs should not become a substitute of governance and the government because the founding fathers gave this right to those elected to govern, Prasad said.

He said law-making must be left to the realm of those elected to make the law.

The founding fathers clearly meant that governance must remain in the realm of those elected to govern by the people of India and accountable to the people of India. he said.

While independence of the judiciary was important, judicial accountability, probity and propriety were equally necessary, he said.

In the case of the judiciary, the accountability is latent... Independence (of judiciary) is most important, but probity and propriety are equally important, he said, while adding that reckless allegations should not be made or paid heed to.

Attorney General KK Venugopal termed a boon the evolution of the public interest litigation by the Supreme Court and said it had served poor citizens of the country.

He referred to a judgement in a PIL that had led to the mass release of undertrial prisoners who had served the maximum jail terms prescribed for offences during the trial itself.

The top law officer, however, had a word of caution for the judiciary and said the question was if the purpose sought to be achieved by PILs had been attained.

It is one thing to deliver a judgement in a PIL but to implement it and to achieve results is a totally different thing. Therefore... there has to be collaborative effort, he said.

The government has to be given the opportunity to consider the various pro and cons (of an issue). The government has to come forward with solutions. The government has to be heard ... what their budget allows..., he said.

He suggested that one or two special benches hear PILs and said there should be adequate guidelines to deal with the pleas.

Moreover, there should be collaborative efforts on the part of the judiciary and the executive to ensure that the judgements are implemented keeping in mind the limited resources.

Referring to the humble background of President Kovind, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president and senior advocate RS Suri said it was the power of democracy and the Constitution that a person from a poor section of society had reached the very top.

The Bar head then raised the issue of delays in appointment in the judiciary and suggested that lawyers practising in the apex court and retired judges be considered and appointed judges in the highest judiciary as mandated under the Constitution.
While the coastal security has improved after the 26/11 terror attacks, according to experts, the authorities need to do more.

D Sivanandhan, former director general of police (Maharashtra), said, More police stations are needed. Boats need to be maintained well. The status of the marine academy is not known yet. The police have made investments, but they need to be maintained and revived, and latest technology needs to be brought in.

Sivanandhan said most police vomit out of sea sickness when they go into the sea, so fishermen should be used for marine policing. Apart from radars, we need boats to go into shallow waters, he said.

Former IPS KP Raghuvanshi, who was one of the first to respond during 26/11 attacks, said, The police were not prepared for the attack. A lot of steps have been taken now. The NSG has trained the quick response team (QRT) and Force 1 . Coastal patrolling has improved, but a lot more vigilance is needed. We need to use drones for marine policing and patrolling.

The government needs to focus on smaller creeks and isolated areas, said former director general of police (Maharashtra) Praveen Dixit. We need to link Mumbai to Goa via a coastal road so that it becomes more vibrant, active and is under observation, he said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled on Sunday the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, saying the world will have to come together to battle terrorism.

For over 40 years, the country has been facing the menace of terrorism, Modi said in his monthly Mann Ki Baat programme.

Here are five issues PM Modi spoke about in his radio address:

1) Terrorism:

November 26 is our Constitution Day... The Constitution of India is the spirit of our democracy... Equality for all and sensitivity towards all is the unique characteristic of our Constitution. It guarantees fundamental rights to each and every citizen, whether underprivileged or oppressed, backward or deprived, a tribal or a woman. It protects their fundamental rights and safeguards their interests. It is our duty that we abide by our Constitution in letter and spirit.

2) Constitution Day:

26/11 is our Constitution Day but how can the nation forget that on this very day nine years ago, terrorists had launched an attack on Mumbai. The country remembers and bows to those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives then. This country can never forget their sacrifice. Terrorism has taken an ugly shape and has become a global threat almost as a daily routine. We, in India, are facing to lot for the last 40 years on account of terrorism... Terrorism has threatened humanity across the globe. Terrorism has challenged humanity. It is bent upon destroying the humanitarian forces. So, not only India but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism.

3) Indian Navy:

...We shall observe Navy Day on the 4th of December... Our civilisation developed along river banks. Be it the Indus, the Ganges, the Yamuna or the Saraswati  our rivers and seas are both economically and strategically important... As we peep into our history, we come to know that about 800 to 900 (eight to nine hundred) years ago, during the rule of the Cholas, the Chola Navy was considered one of the strongest navies. This navy had a big role in the expansion of the Chola-rule and in making it an economic super power... In the Chola Navy, a large number of women played leading roles and that too about eight to nine hundred years ago; to the extent that women actively took part in battles.

4) Farmers:

We all feel proud of the fact that the farmers of our country are rooted to traditions and also take interest in modern science, they keep trying and resolve... Our farmers across the country have got more than 10 crore soil health cards made so that they may understand their soil better and accordingly sow the crop.

The farmer is the son of the soil, how can a farmer see the mother Earth falling sick? The need of the hour is to revive the mother-son relationship. Can our farmers, the sons of our soil make a resolve that by the year 2022, when we complete 75 year of our independence, they will cut down the urea usage to half of what is being used presently? If this son of the soil, my farmer brother once make this resolve then we will see the health of mother Earth improve and production will increase.

5) Cleanliness push:

You will be amazed to learn that Tushar, an eight year old differently - abled, divyang boy from Madhya Pradesh had taken a firm resolve to make his village open-defecation free. It was a young boy vis-a-vis an enormous task at hand. But his grit and determination were exponentially greater and mightier. The eight year old is speech impaired, but he used a whistle as an armament. He would wake up at 5 in the morning, visit households one by one, awaken them and used gesticulations to wean them away from open defecation. Covering 30 to 40 homes every day, spreading the message of cleanliness, this boy transformed the village into open defecation free... This proves that cleanliness suffers from no barriers of age; there are no boundaries. A child or an elderly person, a woman or a man, everyone needs cleanliness. And everyone should contribute towards the cause of cleanliness.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said it was critical not to disturb the fraternity of separation of powers and maintain a delicate balance while exploring the relationship between the judiciary, the executive and the legislature as they are all equal.

The three organs of the state should be conscious of their liberty and strive to protect their autonomy, he said.

However, they should be careful about not disturbing the fraternity of separation of powers by even unknowingly intruding into the domain of either of the two other branches, the president said.

It is critical to keep this intricate and delicate balance in mind when exploring the relationship between the three branches of the state -- that is, the judiciary, the legislature and the executive. They are all equal, Kovind said while inaugurating the function organised by the Supreme Court in New Delhi to celebrate the Constitution Day.

He said the Constitution is not static but is a living document and the sobriety and discretion in communication between these three branches of the state is extremely advisable.

This will promote and enhance fraternity between three equal branches of the state, all of which have a certain responsibility to the Constitution. It will also reassure the ordinary citizen that the Constitution is safe -- and in mature hands, the president said.

He also emphasised that high courts across the country need to take up the task of quickly providing certified translated copies of judgements to the litigants in local and regional languages.

Even the hearings in court, if possible, have to be in a language that is understandable to the ordinary litigant. The process of case disposal too has to be made faster, he said.

The president also said that it was upon the higher judiciary to mentor and encourage the lower judiciary and in this process, the cooperation of state governments was very much necessary.

He said it was for the state governments to ensure that the judges of the district and subordinate courts were not denied their due perquisites and facilities and high courts should urge the subordinate courts to be more efficient and conclude cases faster.

I am glad to note, some high courts are taking steps in these directions. As of June 30, 2017, there were about 76,000 old cases, pending for five years or more, in sessions and district courts under the High Court of Jharkhand. The High Court has set a target of March 31, 2018, to dispose off almost half these cases, he said.

He also referred to the initiative of the Chhattisgarh High Court in setting a deadline of April 30, 2018, for the subordinate courts to dispose off cases pending for over 10 years and September 30 next year deadline for disposing cases pending for between five and 10 years.

The High Court of Chhattisgarh has also started to make provision for availability of Hindi versions of judgements and orders. I commend these initiatives. I am sure other high courts are also moving ahead with a similar sense of public service, Kovind said.

He said that Constitution is not just an abstract ideal and it has to be made meaningful to the lives of ordinary people in every street, every village and every mohalla of the country.

Delivering a lecture on constitutional value at the function, former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti referred to the historical events related to framing of the Constitution.

He said that the Constitution is the religion of all the religions.

Referring to the judiciary, the ex-CJI said that while other organs of the state may afford to fail and falter, the judiciary cannot afford to fail.

However, he also had a word of caution for the judiciary and said that it should not take upon the role of the executive and the legislature while discharging judicial functions as a judge is always on trial.
Ban on tobacco consumption by legitimate and underground governments just does not work. Assam and Manipur are prime examples.

These two north-eastern states and Tripura have bucked the downtrend in Indias tobacco use  from 34.6% in 2009-10 to 28.6% in 2016-17.

According to round two of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS2) for the region, tobacco consumption in Assam has increased from 39.3% to 48.2% in six fiscals since 2009-10. Tripura registered an increase from 55.9% to 64.5% and Manipur from 54.1% to 55.1% during this period.

The data is ironical for Assam where the government had passed the Assam Health (Prohibition of Manufacturing Trade, Advertisement, Storage, Distribution, Sale and Consumption of Zarda, Gutkha, Panmasala etc. containing Tobacco) Act in 2013.

That year, the Manipur Cabinet too had decided to ban sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in the state, where some of 62 extremist groups had already imposed a ban on smoking and consumption of zarda and gutkha.

This shows that awareness campaigns work better than crackdowns and other punitive measures, Arup Saikia of Voluntary Health Association of Assam said.

Anti-tobacco campaigns and warning labels on cigarette and smokeless tobacco packets have had a positive impact. For instance, the mean age of initiation to tobacco has increased from 17.9 in GATS1 (2009-10) to 18.9 years in GATS2.

Similarly, 68.9% cigarette smokers thought about quitting because of warning label on cigarette packets compared to 36.8% during GATS1. Warning labels seemed to have worked more for bidi users with 58.6% during GATS2 deciding to quit compared to only 11% during GATS1.

Findings from GATS2 have added substantially to the knowledge about tobacco use in the north-eastern states and will be a valuable source of information for strengthening tobacco control policies and prevention programmes in the region, Assams health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

But Sarma was unhappy when the Gauhati high court had in October struck down a four-year-old anti-tobacco law. He labelled it as a major blow to cancer prevention.

Tobacco is believed to be one of the primary reasons of high cancer prevalence in the Northeast. Mizoram is often called Indias cancer capital, as the disease has been killing more than 700 people there annually since 2012-14.

The state has the highest incidence of four types of cancer  hypopharynx, tongue, stomach and esophageal  in the world.

According to Population Based Cancer Registries, Mizoram records an average 1,552 new cancer cases annually, which is 0.14% of the states total population of 1,091,014 according to the 2011 census.

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Development economist and activist Jean Dreze on Sunday said there was no evidence that the so-called Gujarat Model was a model in any sense, pointing out to the states backwardness in social indicators.

If you look at almost any ranking of development indicators, whether it is social indicators, human development index, child development index, multi-dimensional poverty index and all the standard poverty indexes of the planning commission...Gujarat almost always comes around the middle, said the noted economist at Times LitFest here.

It was the case much before Narendra Modi became chief minister and it remained the case after that, said Dreze, who helped draft the first version of NREGA (now called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)

Dreze, who once wrote an article titled Gujarat Muddle, recalls that the term, Gujarat model, was coined around the time of the last Lok Sabha elections (2014).

He describes the model as a counter-example, because of the disappointing social indicators inspite of the high growth in terms of standard economic indicators.

There is obviously, Dreze believes, something lacking and, in that sense, it can be an illustration of the limitations of relying on private-enterprising growth for development in the larger sense.

Commenting on ratings-agency Moodys recent upgrade of Indias sovereign-credit rating to Baa2 from Baa3, Dreze says he doubts the credibility of such an index.

If you dig into the methods behind these indexes, there is very little to them, except that they are taken seriously!

He also raised concerns about the Aadhaar scheme, fearing that it will create an infrastructure of surveillance.

Underlining that his opposition to Aadhaar was not related to welfare programmes, but civil liberties.

Aadhaar multiplies the power of the state to keep track of everybody over time, he said, flagging apprehensions that it could lead to stifling of dissent, as a lot of the databases that are going to be linked will be accessible to the government.

Speaking about the recent agitations of Patidars, Jats and others for reservations, Dreze partly blamed the stagnation of agricultural growth for the unrest.

According to Dreze, the people, who have seen the size of their landholding shrink and with the population explosion in the last few decades, have certainly suffered.

That probably creates a sense of grievance, which must have translated to some of these movements, but there must be other things also, he adds.

The Gujarat Model has remained the BJPs favorite example of success in election campaigns over the years. Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, goes to polls on December 9 and 14.
The Jat-belt of Haryana once again remains on the edge a day ahead of parallel rallies of Jat leader Yashpal Malik and BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini in Rohtak and Jind, respectively. Fearing clashes, Haryana has requested for 25 companies of Central Paramilitary forces. The state government has also cancelled leaves of police officials.

Jat leader Malik, the president of All-India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), will lay the foundation stone of an educational institute, being built exclusively for the Jat community in Jassia village on Sunday.

On the other hand, BJP MP Saini, who hopes to be the CM with the help of votes of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), may announce the formation of a new party during his rally.

Security has been beefed up in view of the opposition both leaders have been facing from various sections of the society.

In the case of Malik, he is facing opposition to the rally from within the Jat community itself. Jats have accused him of bungling crores of rupees in the garb of fighting for reservation for the community.

MP Sainis rally faces stiff opposition from the Jats for his vocal stand against granting any reservation to the community. Yashpal Malik collected crores of rupees in donation from the Jat community making false promises. Our prime demand was job reservation and withdrawal of cases against Jat men arrested during the violent agitation of 2016. But Malik is starting his business by opening some education institute, said Sumit Arya, president of Rohtak Sarpanch Association, a body that has opposed Malik.

Jats protesting against Sainis rally in Jind had clashed with the olice on Friday, after which cops resorted to lathicharge and arrested four men for pelting stones.

Section 144 imposed in neighbouring Sonepat and Charkhi Dadri

The situation remained volatile in Jind on Saturday as well, with protesters blocking Jind-Chandigarh road giving ultimatums to police and administration to cancel Sainis rally in their citadel. In neighbouring Sonepat and Charkhi Dadri districts, from where people are likely to reach the rally venues, the administration has imposed Section 144 of the CrPC barring assembly of more than four people at a public place. Mobile internet and SMS services have been suspended in 11 districts of the state till Sunday midnight to control rumours and exchange of inflammatory messages.

In Rohtak, the police have advised commuters to avois travelling via NH-71 A (Rohtak-Gohana) as it is likely to be closed due to the massive crowd expected to take part in the Jat rally.

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Security agencies in Haryana were put on high alert on Saturday by the state government ahead of two rallies, one of the Jat community and another of the Saini community, to be held on Sunday.

The Haryana government has asked the Central government to send 25 companies of central armed police forces (CAPFs) to deal with the situation.

The two rallies have been called by the All Indian Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti (AIJASS) at Jassia near Rohtak and the BJP MP from Kurukshetra and Saini community leader Raj Kumar Saini at Jind.

While the Jat community is demanding reservation for itself in jobs and admissions, the Saini community is opposed to reservation to the Jats.

Apprehending breach of law and order problems in view of two public rallies, the Haryana government on Friday ordered the suspension of mobile internet services in 13 districts of the state for three days.

Mobile internet services on mobile networks, except voice calls, in the territorial jurisdiction of districts of Jind, Hansi, Bhiwani, Hisar, Fatehabad, Karnal, Panipat, Kaithal, Rohtak, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri shall remain suspended for the next three days until midnight of November 26 beginning Friday, an official order said.

The orders were issued by Haryanas additional chief secretary, home, S S Prasad.

Keeping in view the public meeting of by AIJASS at Jasia, Rohtak and public meeting of Rajkumar Saini, MP, at Jind, and also the call by Sandeep Bharti and his group to protest the rally of Saini, elaborate arrangements have been made by the Haryana police to maintain law and order in state in general and in the districts of Kaithal, Rohtak and Jind specifically, a state government spokesman said on Saturday.

Detailed instruction have already been issued to all field units to keep a vigil on situation, coordinate with other departments and ensure maintenance of public order, he said.

Several companies of state police have been moved to Rohtak and Jind, apart from maximum deployment of local district police. Senior offices from Chandigarh have already been stationed in Rohtak, Jind and Kaithal to keep a watch on the situation and ensure maintenance of law and order.

In view of the incident of village Shahpur in Jind yesterday (Friday), demand of 25 CAPF companies has been raised by state government from the Central government, the spokesman said.

Haryana director general of police B S Sandhu has asked all field units to be vigilant and ensure the safety and security of common man, while maintaining law and order in their respective jurisdictions.

Haryana had witnessed a major violence during the Jat agitation in February 2016 and in the aftermath of Dera Sacha Sauda sect chiefs conviction in rape cases in August this year.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday snubbed Pakistan for supporting terrorism.

Those who carried out the Mumbai terror attack nine years ago have been left isolated in the world... The whole world is saying that a nation which supports terrorism has no place in the world, Jaitley said here ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections.

He said the situation in Jammu and Kashmir had improved. Today, the situation is such that whoever becomes the commander of Lashkar knows he will not survive more than two-three months.
The Madhya Pradesh government on Sunday approved a bill to award capital punishment to those convicted of raping girls aged 12 and below.

The bill came up for discussion in the cabinet following a recent announcement by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that laws will be strengthened to protect girls.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, state finance minister Jayant Malaiya said the bill known as Public Safety Bill would be introduced in the assemblys winter session beginning Monday.

Asked if the law extended to punish those who victimise minor boys, he told HT, We have done this for girls first. We will discuss expanding the scope later.

On the capital punishment move, Malaiya said, To ensure death sentence to a rape and gang rape convicts in cases of minor girls of 12 years of age or below, necessary amendments will be required in the sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC). After the required amendments in IPC, the accused will be booked under section 376 AA and 376 DA of IPC.

According to the proposal, the public prosecutor will be mandatorily heard before an accused moves bail petition, he added.

On the other cabinet decisions to crack down on crimes against women, Malaiya said, If a woman accuses a man of raping her on the pretext of marrying her, the crime will be treated as a cognisable crime and an amendment will be proposed in section 493 (a) of IPC.

He added, If an accused is caught stalking a girl a second time and his crime is proved, he would face a fine of Rs 1 lakh. The habitual offender will be booked under section 110 IPC for non-bailable offence.

Madhya Pradesh has topped sexual offences list in the country over the last decade.

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report 2016, Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases  4,391  in 2015. Maharashtra followed, with 4,144 cases.

According to the report, in sexual offences against children, Madhya Pradesh registered the second highest number of cases  1,687  under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act in 2015. Maharashtra registered the highest number of cases, 3,078.

Death penalty in India

In India, death penalty is prescribed for murder, gang robbery with murder, abetting the suicide of a child or insane person, waging war against the government and abetting mutiny by a member of the armed forces.

Capital punishment is also awarded under some anti-terror laws for those convicted of terrorist activities.

Generally, courts award life imprisonment to convicts in a murder case. Only in rarest of rare cases, murder convicts are given death penalty.

According to a Supreme Court ruling, Death penalty should be imposed when a murder is committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting or dastardly manner so as to arouse intense and extreme indignation of the community.

If the motive betrays depravity and meanness, or if a backward or minority community member is killed not for personal reasons but to arouse social wrath.

According to the top courts guidelines, offences such as bride burnings and dowry deaths, a child victim, the assassination of a public figure for political reasons, or killing a defenceless person because of old age or infirmity also attract the death penalty.

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The hotbed of militancy not so long ago, Manipur is trying to shake off the dangerous tag to be Indias hub of trade with Southeast Asia as envisaged in New Delhis Act East policy.

The BJP-led coalition government headed by chief minister Nongthombam Biren Singh is determined to change the image of Manipur from a state associated with bloodshed and human rights violations to one that is investor-friendly. The first North East Development Summit organised in state capital Imphal last week was a step in that direction by the eight-month-old government.

Here are excerpts from an interview with the chief minister.

Where does Indias Act East policy put Manipur?

President Ram Nath Kovind said Manipur is not on Indias periphery but has historically been at the heart of the countrys imagination. Manipur, specifically Moreh, is the gateway to Myanmar and Southeast Asia beyond for trade and cultural relations. Also, the state is almost at the centre of the (20,557 km) Asian Highway 1 from Tokyo to Instanbul. These make Manipur the hub of Act East policy.

But Manipur has a history of extremist, ethnic violence and rights violation

Things are changing in Manipur. Our government is reaching out to everyone, trying to bridge the psychological and developmental gap between the (Imphal) Valley dwellers and tribes in the surrounding hills. A majority of the extremist groups are under ceasefire agreement. Today, Manipur is as peaceful or as allegedly dangerous as any other place on earth. Unlike in the past, Imphal has a night life where people go boating, holding music concerts and eating out around the Kangla Fort (the capitals centerpiece).

How are investors viewing this change?

We are working very hard on the image makeover that Manipur needs. That Indian and foreign policy makers and firms attended the first North East Development Summit, facilitated by Ram Madhav (BJPs national general secretary) and his India Foundation, last week shows our efforts are working. The success of this summit can be gauged by the fact that our government signed 49 deals worth Rs 5,000-crore. Development of Manipur is crucial for business with ASEAN.

The Manipur government is often accused of neglecting the hills, one of the main reasons behind extremism.

There are reasons for our hill dwellers to feel aggrieved. We are trying to undo the past and give them the development they deserve. Our government has made it clear that we, the Nagas, Kuki-Zomis, Meiteis and other communities, have to progress together. Accordingly, we are working on time-bound targets to bridge the hills-plains divide.

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Missing names of voters and faulty voting machines in Lucknow and some other districts blighted the second round of polling on Sunday for the high-stakes elections for urban local bodies in Uttar Pradesh that saw a turnout of 48.65%.

State election commissioner SK Agarwal said barring a few incidents of violence, polling was peaceful. The statewide poll percentage increased from 43.67% in 2012 to 48.65% this year, he said.

The second phase includes 25 districts, covering 1.29 crore voters in all. The third and final phase of the elections will take place on November 29.

There were reports of violence and protests from Shahjhanpur, Mainpuri, Aligarh and some other districts.

I have sought a report from Mainpuri district administration over the incident of firing. Strict action will be taken against the district administration officers if they fail to arrest the culprits. The District Magistrate told me that probe has been ordered if anti-social elements fired to scare the voters or someone burst crackers, Agarwal said.

One person was arrested in Varanasi and another in Bhadohi for presenting fake Adhar cards, he said.

Former Union minister Kalraj Mishra and the former Lucknow mayor Dauji Gupta were among the hundreds of people who could not vote since their names were missing from the list in polling stations in Lucknow.

In Varanasi, the name of Virbhadra Nishad, the proponent of PM Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections, was missing from the voters list.

Mishra went with his family to cast vote at Ganna Sansthan. After searching for a while, the polling staff could not find his name. Mishra voted at this station in the Vidhan Sabha elections on February 19 this year.

Read more: One lady cop always posted at each polling booth during ongoing civic elections: SEC

Similarly, former Lucknow mayor Duji Guptas name was not found. Three times mayor of Lucknow and former MLC, Gupta said, I have been regularly voting since 1962 in all the elections held so far in Lucknow. But my name is not there in the voters list. Thus I have been deprived of my fundamental right to cast my vote along with my joint family of 20 people whose names are also not there while all of us have our voter ID and Aadhaar cards.

At Mall Avenue, Dilkusha Colony and Gomti Nagar too, several people shared similar stories, saying they had voted in February but their names were now missing from the list.

Some of the voters whose names were missing were incensed.

If we do not exist (in the voter list), why should we pay municipal taxes? said one voter whose name did not figure in the list.

On the discrepancies in voters list, Agarwal said the SEC had deleted names of a large number of voters whose names also figured in voters lists of the rural local bodies election.

Large number of voters having houses in villages as well as cities got themselves enrolled in both electoral rolls, he said.

The deletion of names prompted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to take a swipe at the BJP government.

Media reports that a lot of voters names are missing from the voting list of todays election. This type of digital India cannot take us forward, said former UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief

Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet.

Earlier, reports from polling stations across Lucknow suggested that voting was halted after machines started malfunctioning. In the first phase as well, many voters complained of faulty voting machines.

Similar reports came in from at least seven other polling booths of Lucknow.
Missing voter entries and problems with voting machines blighted the second round of elections on Sunday in Uttar Pradesh to select new representatives for urban local bodies.

Former Union minister Kalraj Mishra and the former Lucknow mayor Dauji Gupta were among people who could not vote since their names were missing from the list in polling stations in Lucknow.

The second phase includes 25 districts, covering 1.29 crore voters in all.

Mishra went with his family to cast vote at Ganna Sansthan. After searching for a while, the polling staff could not find his name. Mishra voted at this station in the Vidhan Sabha elections on February 19 this year.

Similarly, former Lucknow mayor Duji Guptas name was not found.

At Mall Avenue, Dilkusha Colony and Gomti Nagar too, several people shared similar stories, saying they had voted in February but their names were now missing from the list.

Media reports that a lot of voters names are missing from the voting list of todays election.This type of digital India cannot take us forward, said former UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet.

Earlier, reports from polling stations across Lucknow suggested that voting was halted after machines started malfunctioning. In the first phase as well, many voters complained of faulty voting machines.

We are standing since 7:30am but officials say the EVM machines are out of order, it will take another few minutes for the other EVM machines to reach, said Suresh Kumar, a voter in queue at

Prathmik Vidhyalaya Barauli, Khalilabad in ward 14 near Nagram Nilmatha Road of Lucknow.

Similar reports came in from at least 7 other polling booths of Lucknow.

Besides Lucknow, the districts going to polls in the second phase include Varanasi, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Amroha, Rampur, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Aligarh, Mathura, Mainpuri , Farrukhabad, Etawah, Lalitpur, Banda, Allahabad, Sultanpur, Ambedkarnagar, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Sant Kabirnagar, Deoria, Ballia and Bhadohi.
A group of Muslims came together to fund the marriage of a Hindu woman in a West Bengal village, which has only eight Hindu families and around 600 Muslim households.

Led by Motiur Rahaman, a local madrassa headmaster, the Muslims helped Saraswati, daughter of late daily-wager, marry Tapan Chowdhury in their Khanpur village of Malda district on Thursday.

Saraswatis father, Trjilal Chowdhury had died three years ago leaving his wife Sovarani in financial crisis with her five daughters and a son.

Sovarani had managed to arrange Rs 2,000 dowry demanded by the grooms family, but was left penniless after that to arrange the wedding.

On coming to know of Sovaranis problem, I had discussions with my neighbours Abdul Bari, Imadul Rahaman, Jalaluddin, and Sahidul Islam, among others. We all agreed that since Saraswati is our daughter only despite being of different religion, it is our duty to arrange a proper wedding, Rahaman told HT.

He and his group then approached Sovarani and assured her the amount, which they collected soon after and helped conduct the marriage.

A reception ceremony was also held on November 25 where Rahaman stood at the entrance of Sovaranis residence, greeting the groom and his family members.

Had Trjilal been alive, he would have done that. In his absence, I did it since Saraswati is nothing less than my own daughter, Rahaman said.
Over 300 people, including 20 women, were detained and later released in Rajasthans Chittorgarh on Sunday during a protest against Bollywood film Padmavati, which is mired in a major controversy.

The locals held a protest rally from Padanpole to the collectors office but the police prevented them and 304 persons courted arrest. These included 20 women, SHO, Chittorgarh police station, Om Prakash said.

He said the action was taken under section 129 of CrPC (Dispersal of assembly by use of civil force) and those detained were taken to the Indira Gandhi stadium and released.

The protest was peaceful and elaborate security arrangements were in place for maintaining the law and order, he added.

Chittor was the scene of the battle that took place between Alauddin Khilji and Rajput king Ratan Singh.

Amid rumours of a romantic dream sequence between Rajput queen Padmavati and Khiljis characters in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed film, many Rajput groups have been up in arms against the movie, alleging that it distorts history.

Historians, however, are divided on whether Rani Padmavati existed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis mention of a differently abled boys passion to make his village open defecation free (ODF) in his Sunday radio address has brought the family of a marginal farmer under the spotlight in a remote village in Madhya Pradesh.

Speech and hearing impaired Tushar Uradae of Kumhari village in Balaghat district, some 450km southeast of the capital Bhopal, will turn nine on December 25. He has a younger sister.

Modi in his Maan ki Baat said: You will be amazed to learn that Tushar, an eight year old differently abled lad from Madhya Pradesh had taken a firm resolve to make his village open defecation free. It was a young boy vis-a-vis an enormous task at hand. But his grit and determination were exponentially greater and mightier. The eight year old is speech impaired, but he used a whistle as an armament.

Thanks to Tushars commitment he had already been made brand ambassador of the district in 2016, but the national recognition has made his family doubly proud. Now, Modis mention of Tushar has pitchforked the family from obscurity to limelight.

Talking to Hindustan Times over phone, Tushars father, Santosh, who is a marginal farmer with 2.5 acre of land, said his son was very delighted that his work had been recognized. I am getting calls from various people and the villagers have flocked to our house congratulating me and my family. We are all feeling so proud of him.

But it was less a feeling of pride and more of irritation when Tushar started taking part in the open defecation drive in the village in 2016. He used to get up before 5 am, forcing everyone to get up and open the door for him. Initially he was the only young lad in the group that consisted of the sarpanch and others. Soon he attracted other children and they too joined the drive. But Tushar was the most sincere and was given the crucial job of blowing the whistle to warn anyone defecating in the open.

IAS officer Bharat Yadav, who was earlier posted as the collector of Balaghat, said, We were searching prominent personality of Balaghat to appoint as a brand ambassador of the district. When I came to know about Tushar, I visited his village and I found he really did commendable job. He was very passionate about this work. We appointed him as an ambassador and he became source of inspiration for others in the district.

Tushar studies in Class IV in the local school in the village. His father is worried about his future. He does not go to any special school, and has a tough time coping with his studies. I am worried about his future, but also hopeful that his determination will stand him in good stead, Santosh said.
Most of the 90 cities selected for the smart city programme have not spent the money given to them by the Narendra Modi government since the signature urban overhaul project was launched in June 2015.

India plans to have 100 smart cities by 2022 and the central government has released Rs 9,824 crore since 2015-16 to the selected cities as its share to spend on

projects.

State governments are supposed to provide matching funds to complete the projects, which are meant to change the way urban India lives  from overhauling a citys public transport system and providing uninterrupted power and water supply to internet connectivity, e-governance, modern healthcare and better education.

But a major chunk of central funds is lying idle with state governments. There are instances of the special purpose vehicle (SPV)  the entity set up each city to execute the projects  investing the money in sweep accounts to earn more interest, a government official told Hindustan Times, asking not to be identified.

Sweep accounts automatically transfer money exceeding a certain limit into a higher interest-earning investment option such as fixed deposits.

This means that in most of the cities not much work has happened on projects. Only preparatory work such as readying DPRs (detailed project reports) and inviting tenders has begun. Its a worrying trend, another official said.

Under the smart city programme, 60 cities were selected between January and September 2016 and another 30 this June.

The Union finance ministry is worried about the idling funds.

On September 13, finance minister Arun Jaitley wrote to his housing ministry counterpart

to review the completion of the preparatory work under smart cities mission in various states. It has been generally observed that large unspent balances (which have a cost to GoI) have been parked idle with the implementing agencies of various ministries/departments, Jaitleys September 13 letter to Hardeep S Puri says.

A housing ministry review shows state governments did not transfer the funds  either theirs or the Centres share  to the SPVs for most of the 60 cities selected last year. Cities such as Faridabad, Udaipur, Jabalpur are exceptions, though.

The Centre and the states are partners in the Rs 1 lakh crore urban upgrade programme launched by Prime Minister Modi. The plan envisages a contribution of Rs 48,000 crore over five years from the central government, to be matched by en equal contribution from states and municipalities.

As on October 4 this year, the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for the smart cities mission shows that the SPVs have a closing balance of only Rs 1,797 crore, though the Centre released Rs 9,824 crore. That indicates that only some states have fully or partially transferred theirs and the Centres share to these entities.

Smart city SPVs have to mandatorily register with the PFMS, an electronic fund tracking mechanism started by the government last October to get real-time information on use of money across central schemes.

Till date, only 58 SPVs have registered with the PFMS.

Sameer Sharma, additional secretary (urban affairs) who is in-charge of the programme in the housing ministry, said his department has raised the matter with the states.

We have told the states that unless they utilise the first instalment, we wont release the next tranche, he said.

According to Sharma, another major issue is the delay in releasing payments by the states.

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Police on Saturday evening registered a case of murder in the Amity University students death that took place on November 17. Earlier, the FIR was lodged under Section 174 (unnatural death) of CrPC, but another FIR was lodged under Section 302 (murder) after a complaint from the students father.

Stanly Benny, a student of MBA final year, vomited and collapsed on the evening of November 16 at the university hostel. He was taken to a private hospital later in the night but passed away the next evening.

His father, CR Benny, alleges that his son was beaten by a dozen students studying law and mass communication on November 14 that led to his sons death three days later. He was hit on his head, which resulted in internal injury and blood. He told me about the incident on the evening of November 16 when I was in Shillong, said CR Benny, who is a civil engineer from Patiala, Punjab.

The father added that even after his son gave a written complaint to the university authorities about the incident, they did not take any action against the offenders, nor did they inform him. At the time of admission they make tall promises about taking care of the students but when the situation arose, he was not given due and timely medical care. Had the university not been negligent, my son could have been saved, said the father.

He also accused the police and the college authorities of hiding the cause of death and suppressing the matter. In the complaint, that was lodged after he met senior police officials, he has named one Gunjit Kunja and 3-4 others as the assaulters.

Amir Hasan, station house officer of Chandwaji police station said that a post mortem has been conducted but the cause of death has been reserved as the doctors are waiting for the viscera report. Police, however, had earlier said that prima facie it appeared to be a case of cardiac arrest.

CR Benny said that he was willing to get a re-post mortem done to get justice for his son.
He fought terrorists in the 26/11 attack in Mumbai and succeeded in his mission and now fighting social evils in his hometown and is determined to succeed in his new found target  to free village youths from alcohol addiction.

Meet Keshav Singh Gurjar, 36, a former commando of the National Security Guard (NSG), who has taken VRS (voluntary retirement scheme) from the army and serving the society. Gurjar, a resident of Tyohari village under Bayana sub-division in Bharatpur district, joined the army on January 10, 2001 and was selected for the NSG training in 2007. After successfully completing the three-month training, he joined as the NSG commando.

The Mumbai attacks had claimed more than 156 lives. (HT Photo)

Recalling the 26/11 incident, Gurjar said that a 32-commando team of NSG, led by company commander Major Riyan Chakravarti, was asked to move to Mumbais Taj hotel following orders from the higher authorities. We reached there (Taj hotel) on November 27, 2008, and started our mission. We killed all four terrorists at Taj hotel during the operation that continued till November 29, 2008, but Havaldar Gajendra Singh and Major Sandeep Unni Krishnan were martyred during the operation, he recalled.

Later, the commando took VRS from the army on April 1, 2016, and decided to spend time with his family. It was during his stay in the village Gurjar saw youths falling victim to alcohol and decided to do something for society.

I was disappointed to see youths consuming alcohol, while a large number of them were being killed due to this bad habit, Gurjar said. Alcohol just not ruined their financial condition, but also caused tension in their families, he said, adding that he decided to start an initiative to get rid of the problem.

Keshav Singh Gurjar in Rajasthan. (HT Photo)

My efforts have brought a change in society and alcohol has been banned in many villages in Bharatpur and Dholpur, the ex-serviceman said.

The alcohol ban has been in force in Mahloni, Kanwar, Umrain, Bhagoria, Naya Gaon, Nagla Rupram, Tyohari,Nagla Mahloni, Kanchora, Imliya, Biskhori, Damdama, Vilkaua, Nahchora, Nagla Marila villages of the district. Under the alcohol ban, the local panchayat charges 11,000 fine on those consuming alcohol and 21,000 on those found selling alcohol in villages, Gurjar said.

He said he has been influenced by Harigiri Baba, who has been campaigning for a ban on alcohol in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar. Gurjar said he convinces people about the bad effects of consuming alcohol.

He blames politics for the terror problem in the country. Army does not have free hand to take action against terrorists, he said. The ex-armyman, who has two sons, want to send them to the army to serve the country.
A peregrine falcon, the fastest animal in the world, caught by villagers a few kilometres off the Pakistan border has triggered a flutter among security agencies after discovery of a chip inside its body, Rajasthan police said on Sunday.

Bordering villages of Rajasthan and security agencies are accustomed to seeing birds, including pigeons and eagles, flying in from over the border and have trapped a few over the years, suspecting they were being used for spying, but this one was different, police added.

An X-ray done on Saturday revealed there was some kind of a chip inside the bird. It is under one of the birds wings, said Deeksha Kamra, additional superintendent of police of the criminal investigation department (CID), Sriganganagar.

The X-ray plate which revealed some kind of a chip inside of the bird. (HT Photo)

Residents of Kesrisinghpur village in Sriganganagar district caught the bird on November 18 after spotting a strange thing protruding from it, said police. The bird was fitted with a transmitter, an antenna and rings stamped with some numbers around its claw, police added. Ringing of birds is common to keep track of them, but the chips discovery has security agencies worried.

The X-ray inspection was done to check if it possessed any objectionable spying instrument inside its body or wings. This was done as a precautionary measure as the bird could have been used to send across a message across the border, said Kamra.

Police are verifying information from a bird conservation activist that the falcon belongs to a Qatari in Pakistan. The activist told the police details of the falcons owner are stamped on the transmitter and the rings are tagged. He claimed to have contacted a Qatar-based nature history group over email and acquired details including a phone number, said police.

When the activist called the number, a person who identified himself as the Qataris son answered and said his father was in Pakistan and their falcon was missing, said a police officer privy to the developments around the birds capture.

Police have handed over the falcon to wildlife authorities in Bikaner, where the X-ray scan was conducted at a veterinary hospital.

Wildlife authorities are waiting for instructions to operate on the bird to remove the chip. Peregrine falcons are known to reach speeds in excess of 320 km per hour while diving.
Giving up the idea of privatising it, the government is considering to revive the Rajasthan State Flying School (RSFS) -- non-operational since 2008.

In 2008, the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) exposed a scam where trainees of the RSFS were given certificate for more flying hours than the actual.

Earlier, the state government was considering running the flying school on public private partnership (PPP) mode and had decided to invite expression of interest but it did not materialise. In places such as Orissa and Nagpur, schools are successfully running on PPP.

We are making efforts to revive the flying school. The state government has asked to prepare an action plan, whether the flying school can self sustain or not. Till date, the state is providing annual aid for its operations, a senior aviation department official told HT on condition of anonymity.

A senior general administration department official, demanding not to be named, said the government was making a scheme to revive the flying school and have asked the RSFS to prepare a project on how to operationalise the defunct school.

At present, the Rajasthan State Flying School has aircrafts such as Cessna-152, Cessna-172 and Sinus-912 motor glider.

The flying school used to have good number of students till 2005 but thereafter the numbers started decreasing and finally it was closed.

In view of the non-operational RSFS, the Aero Club of India had even urged the Rajasthan government in 2016 to direct to handover aircraft/motor gliders allotted by them.
Union minister of state for MSME, Giriraj Singh, has said that Muslims in India are descendants of Lord Ram and not that of Babur, so they should have no problem in extending support for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Singh was talking to reporters during a visit to Jodhpur on Sunday.

Our Shia brothers are cooperating in this matter and we expect that Sunni Muslims will also come forward. We will put one brick and they will put one brick. If Ram temple is not built in India, then where else will it be built  Pakistan? he said.

Singh also asked the views of the reporters present on the building of Ram temple in Ayodhya saying he was taking feedback from journalists on the matter.

On the controversy surrounding the film Padmavati, he said that filmmakers take a lot of liberty as Hindus are tolerant. He challenged Bhansali to make films on other religions and said, Does Sanjay Bhansali or anyone else has the guts to make films on other religions or comment on them? They only make films on Hindu gods and warriors. We wont tolerate this anymore.

On goods and services tax (GST), he said that there have been some teething troubles but it will be beneficial for the MSME sector in the long run. The Congress is two-faced about GST. The Congress state ministers support it in GST council meeting while Rahul Gandhi opposes it, he said.

Singh has been known to make controversial remarks in the past. In September this year, he had said that Pakistan should take away Rohingyas as Jaish-e-Mohammad (Jem) chief Masood Azhar was fond of them.

Singh has stirred up a major controversy in April 2014 in the run-up to the general election when he had said that those opposing the then prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will have to go to Pakistan after the elections.
Two days after the mysterious death of a man at the Nahargarh Fort, his family members slammed the police for inaction and for terming the incident as a suicide.

My husband couldnt have committed suicide and there is no doubt that he was murdered. The police are deliberately trying to cover up the issue and all we want is a fair investigation, said Neetu Saini, wife of Chetan Kumar Saini.

The body of Chetan was found hanging from the ramparts of the Nahargarh Fort on Friday morning with strange messages scribbled on nearby stones.

The writings linked the death to the ongoing protests against the film Padmavati with one of the messages reading, Those of you protesting against Padmavati, we dont just hang effigies at forts. We have guts.

His family on Sunday rubbished suggestions that Chetan could have written the messages before committing suicide.

My husband had no interest in history or Padmavati and its absolutely impossible that he could have written those messages. We demand a CBI enquiry into the matter, said Neetu.

She also contradicted the police, who had said that Chetan was under heavy debt. He had taken no loans and was behaving perfectly normal till the time he went missing. His death is a conspiracy, said Neetu.

Ram Ratan Saini, brother of the deceased, said he didnt know why the police havent registered an FIR of murder even after a complaint has been submitted by the family.

What has surprised many is that the name of the deceased is similar to that of a character from Malik Mohammad Jayasis epic Padmavat that was inked in 1540. Chetan Tantrik is dead, read the particular message.

Raghav Chetan is a fictional character from Padmavat, who is a sorcerer banished from the court of Ratan Sen (Rawal Ratan Singh, in reality), the husband of Padmavati. Raghav Chetan visits Alauddin Khilji and tells him about the queens incredible beauty, resulting in the siege of Chittor by the Delhi sultan.

Some of the messages also have alleged communal undertones possibly to incite people.

Several of our teams are trying to ascertain the sequence of events and to recreate the situation. If we find any evidence of foul play, then the FIR under section 174 CrPC (unnatural death) will be converted to relevant sections, said Rajesh Meel, additional deputy commissioner of police, north.

The Congress has also criticised the police for not lodging the FIR of murder in the matter.

So far no evidence is with the police on the basis of which it can be said that this is a case of suicide. We want fair investigation in the case and if the administration fails to act, then Congress will also raise the issue, said district Congress president Pratap Singh Khachariawas, who met the family of Chetan on Sunday.
The larvae of Culex mosquitoes, collected by a team of entomologist, epidemiologist and microbiologist from Keshoraipatan, have been kept at the health directorate for observation. Recently, a case of Japanese encephalitis (JE) has been found at Keshoraipatan in Bundi district. Once the larvae grow into mosquitoes, they will be tested for the JE virus.

In Keshoraipatan, a 30-year old woman, Manju Panchal, was admitted to the government hospital in Kota on October 8 with complaints of fever, but soon she went into a coma and she died while undergoing treatment on October 16. The hospital sent her blood samples to NIV, Pune, which on November 10 confirmed that it was a case of JE. The team visited the area to collect samples of larvae of Culex mosquitoes, which carry the JE virus.

Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) nodal officer Dr SN Dholpuria said that on November 13, the team brought back the larvae samples and they are growing at the health directorate. Hopefully, the larvae will grow in adult mosquitoes by November 27, after which they will be sent to Desert Medicine Research Centre in Jodhpur and National Centre for Disease Control in Delhi to check if the mosquitoes are carrying the JE virus.

The team also collected samples from seven humans and six pigs. The human samples were sent to Sawai Man Singh Medical hospital in Jaipur and National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. Dr Dholpuria said that they have received the report from SMS hospital and it stated that one sample was positive for dengue and the report from NIV Pune will be received by the end of the month. Similarly, samples of pigs have been sent to Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Bareilly and the report is expected by the first week of December.

Additional director rural health Dr Ravi Prakash Mathur said that this is not the first case of JE. A total of four cases have been reported so far in the state Udaipur and Rajsamand in 2009, Rajsamand in 2016 and now in Keshoraipatan.

Earlier, there was no facility for diagnosing JE in Rajasthan and samples were sent to NIV, Pune, but after this incident in Bundi, the central government (under the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme) has issued three kits each to Sawai Man Singh Medical College in Jaipur and to New Government Medical College in Kota, said Dr Mathur.

He said that all joint directors, chief medical and health officers, principal medical officers and block chief medical and health officers have been asked to remain alert. They have also been made aware of JE through powerpoint presentations.

Dr Mathur added that microbiologist, pathologist and two lab technicians working at Bundi district hospital have been sent for training to the Kota Medical College.

Most JE infections are characterised by rapid onset of high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, seizures, spastic paralysis and others. JE is transmitted to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes of the Culex species (mainly Culex tritaeniorhynchus). The virus exists in a transmission cycle between mosquitoes, pigs and water birds.

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The second phase of civic body polling in Uttar Pradesh was interrupted in several booths in Lucknow on Sunday due to technical glitches in electronic voting machines (EVM) which were replaced after some time.

We are standing since 7:30am, but officials say the EVM machines are out of order, and it will take another few minutes for the other EVM machines to reach, said Suresh Kumar, standing in a queue at Prathmik Vidhyalaya Barauli, Khalilabad, in ward 14 near Nagram Nilmatha Road of Lucknow.

Polling was also interrupted in Ibrahimpur ward-1, booth number 284 and 285 of Sarojini Nagar ward number 14, Indira Nagar ward 86 in New Way convent polling centre, Indira Nagar sector 18 Community Hall and at Rani Lakshmi Bai School due to technical snags in EVMs.

Faulty EVMs were reported in the first phase of the polls on November 22 in Meerut and Kanpur. Voters had complained that the EVMs were recording votes only for the BJP candidates irrespective of the button pressed, prompting parties to raise the issue.

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Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate for mayors post, Bulbul Godiyal on Friday filed a petition in the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court demanding fair civic polls.

I have demanded use of voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) along with the EVMs to ensure fair elections. This will also ensure transparency in the civic polls, said Godiyal.

The petition will come up for hearing on Monday. However, by then the second phase (November 26) of polling will be over, said Godiyal. But my petition will be helpful for the third phase, which is scheduled on November 29, added Godiyal.

Launching a scathing attack on the Centre over alleged EVM tampering, the Aam Aadmi Party had on Friday demanded a comprehensive probe into the matter by an independent agency.

The party has also demanded that the Modi government must come up with a white paper on this issue.

Reports of tampering with the EVMs had also come in from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, he added.
Nine years after the November 26 terror attacks, guarding Mumbais 114-km coastline  used by the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists to enter the city  may become the responsibility of a police force under the central government.

The government plans to form the central marine police force (CMPF) to exclusively patrol Indias 7,000-km coastline. Although the Maharashtra police beefed up the security after the attacks by upgrading infrastructure and deploying more staff, policing the states 700-km coastline is an additional burden on the state force. Taking this into account, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis came up with the suggestion, which has got an in-principle nod from Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

The loopholes in the security came to light in 2008 after 10 LeT terrorists came from Pakistan to Mumbai in a boat, using the porous coastline. The terror attacks killed 166 people. Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Deven Bharti said, There has been a lot of advancement in manpower and quality infrastructure has been put in place on all fronts since the 26/11 attacks.

Read | 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks: How events unfolded in the city

Currently, the Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Thane rural, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg police have to man the sea. The state has more than 50 police stations and 70-odd boats of various types, including patrol boats and interceptors.

For long, senior officials in the state police have raised several issues  from sea sickness and lack of expertise in swimming to spare parts for boats  over patrolling the seas. The police tried to overcome some of them by reducing the height of the constabulary by a few centimetres for coastal policing to suit the local koli community. While the police got the spare parts for boats from vehicles, they tied up with Navy and coast guards for training in swimming.

A senior official of the state police said the actual implementation of the proposal could take years, and till then the coastal policing will remain with the state police. The formalities over the jurisdiction and the powers of the central force could become tricky, with the state not wanting to give away power, he said.

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Students appearing for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2017 on Sunday will not be allowed to wear shoes or any metal objects, including jewellery, inside the exam centre, according to instructions released by the Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow (IIM-L), the convening institute for CAT 2017.

Candidates were informed about these rules through admit cards that they received over this week. The admit card clearly states that we should not wear any metal jewellery for the exam and that all candidates will be asked to remove their footwear before entering the hall, said Akshit Thakkar, one of the candidates. Metal detectors will be used to scan candidates before they enter the examination halls to ensure that they have complied with the directions.

While no official reason has been given for this rule, experts said this was done to avoid any kind of malpractice during the examination. This is not the first time such stringent rules have been enforced for CAT candidates. Last year, IIM-Bangalore  the CAT convening authority  directed students to not wear closed shoes, or even socks to the exam centres. Slippers, sandals and other open footwear were permitted.

Many candidates took to social media to indicate their displeasure at such stringent rules being introduced. The CAT convening body clearly has no idea about temperatures in north India. How do they expect students to sit for exams without any footwear? asked one of the candidates on Twitter. Like last year, students will also not be allowed to carry mobile phones, watches, calculators and papers inside the exam hall. Only the admit card and the candidates identity card is permissible.

Around 2.31 lakh candidates across the country will appear for the exam on Sunday, which will be conducted across 140 test cities. As many as 78,009 women candidates will take the examination, compared to 76,000 women who had appeared for CAT 2016. The number of male candidates this year is 1,53,027. The number of transgender candidates has also increased from 22 last year, to 31 this year. Around 910 physically challenged applicants will appear for this years exam, as against last years 921.

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Defence and paramilitary personnel came to the citys aid by donating more than 600 units of blood in a day after the KEM Hospital, Mumbais largest public hospital, faced shortage of blood. Officials from KEM Hospital said 15 blood donation camps held this month has taken care of the shortage.

In a camp organised by the hospital at Mazgaon Dock, 668 units of blood were collected from officers of Central Industrial Security Forces, navy cadets, and coast guards on Friday. The hospital had faced acute shortage of blood during Diwali owing to fewer blood donation camps.

Hospital officials said the blood that goes unused from planned surgeries was being used in emergency procedures. The super speciality KEM Hospital needs around 200 units a day.

We organise the camps every year in November, but this time, we did it at two locations in the docks. To our surprise, the turnout was extremely positive and everyone including top ranked officers to labourers working at the docks participated to help us resolve the blood shortage issue, said a blood bank official at the hospital.

The officials added that they held about 15-16 blood donation camps this month to completely replenish the blood stock of the hospital. Similarly, a busy schedule is planned for December to avoid such emergency situations. We had received a notice from the State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC) asking us to organise blood donation camp in the city to overcome the shortage, said a doctor.

SBTC officials told HT that festive and vacation period is usually when there is a shortage of blood across the city. We had informed all the blood banks and hospitals in October to start conducting camps so the issue of shortage doesnt occur. But at times it does happen that they dont get a favorable response, said Dr Arun Thorat, assistant director, SBTC.

Vinay Shetty, founder, Think Foundation, said the shortage this year was worse than last year. Around 900 donors need to give blood every day to meet the citys daily blood requirement. The only way to overcome the shortage is to organise more blood donation camps, he added.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for releasing Patidar leader Hardik Patels sex CD to win the Gujarat elections.

During his last leg of the western Maharashtra tour, he termed the state and Central government a failure.

Mocking the BJP for using unsavoury tactics to gain an upper hand in the state polls, he said, Dont you have any shame in showing the CD of Hardik Patel of his private moments? If you have guts, show the CD of your 22-year-rule. Answer the questions raised by Hardik and then release the CD, said Thackeray, referring to BJPs two-decade rule in Gujarat.

The Prime Minister is planning 50 public meetings and all BJP chief ministers would also be campaigning there and their only aim is to win the Gujarat elections, he added. The Sena chief said in the last three years, the Modi government had failed to solve the China and Pakistan issue. In fact, the terrorist attacks in Kashmir have increased, he claimed.

Thackeray also trained his guns at the state governments Me Labharthi (I am the beneficiary) campaign. The only people who have benefitted are those elected by the people, he added.

The tour comes in the backdrop of the BJPs plan to induct Senas sworn rival and former Congress leader Narayan Rane into the state cabinet. Rane was a former Shiv Sena member and also served as a chief minister. Since his defection from the Sena, he has spared no opportunity to target Thackeray.

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The citys three most wanted chain snatchers have finally been nabbed. Police estimate that Abbas Khan, Mustafa Sajid Shaikh and Tahir Shaikh Ali have snatched more than 30 chains so far.

Officials of the anti-chain snatching squad said their seniors asked them to form a team to trace the accused after undetected cases of daylight chain snatching began to rise in the eastern suburbs. Although cases of chain snatching have dropped this year, the number of cases solved also dropped, said officials.

On Saturday, the officers got a tip-off that the three men were hiding in a flat in Mumbras Nusrat Chawl. They conducted a raid and arrested Khan and Shaikh, who were involved in four recent chain snatching cases in Vikhroli, Panta Nagar and Navghar. The men revealed the name of their accomplice, Ali, saying he would dispose of the booty after they had stolen it, said an officer from the anti-chain snatching squad.

The police said Ali confessed to participating in 30 chain snatchings, led by Khan. He added that he had been arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 Act in the past.

After being released in August, he fled to Andhra Pradesh, where he committed two chain snatchings. He then went to Bangalore and snatched four more chains. The gang is involved in more than five cases of chain snatching in Thane district, added the officer.
The New York Times (NYT) has been criticised for publishing a poorly researched report that called the sari a Hindu garment, and suggesting that the national government was promoting the garment for parochial reasons.

The author has been accused of prejudice and ignorance, and rightly so. Fashion designers have said that campaigns to convince women to wear the sari more often, predates the current government. The sari is a South Asian garment  Sri Lanka has its Osari and Bangladesh has its Dhakai weave, among other variations. In Pakistan, the garment has its ebb and flow depending on who is ruling the country  the sari was fashionable among the elites till military ruler Zia-ul-Haqs Islamisation experiment in the late seventies. Indian soap operas have created a renewed interest for the draped clothing.

Not all Hindu women used the sari as their traditional dress  in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, for example- but there are non-Hindu groups that considered the sari as de rigueur wear. Parsi-Zoroastrians treasure as heirlooms their embroidered saris called the gara, specimens of which can cost over Rs 100,000. Mumbais native Christians, called East Indians, have their version which they call the lugra. A variation of the Maharashtrian nine-yard sari, it is distinctive because each sub-caste  the East Indians are descendants of groups like Kolis, Agris, Bhandaris which were converted to Roman Catholicism by the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries  had their own style and colour preference, with red and green predominating.

Fashion designer James Ferreira who is an East Indian, said that every community has its sari style. In a Manglorean (Catholic) wedding the bride wears a red sari, said Ferreira. What that man (the NYT author) is saying is rubbish and even a piece of cloth is given a communal tinge.

The East Indian sari was on the verge of extinction as the communitys villages  spread along the coast between Alibaug and Palghar  were pulled into Mumbais urban embrace. While the sari persisted in the semi-urban areas of Thane and Raigad districts, it had disappeared in the communitys villages  called gaothans - Mumbai. Slowly because of westernisation people had abandoned the lugra; only the older generation wore it and the tradition was dying out, said Godfrey Pimenta of the East Indian Association.

In 2003, the community started a movement to revive the garment. Lot of East Indians still wears the sari; they are proud of the garment. In fact, we are in the midst of reviving it, said Ferreira, whose boutique is located in Khotachiwadi, a gaothan in south Mumbai.

Community associations played a big role in making the lugras popular among the young generation. We started a fashion event in Marol (a locality in Andheri) where young people did a catwalk wearing a lugra and in 2005, at Bandra festival, East Indian women came dressed in the saris, said Pimenta. Slowly it started catching on.

Pimentas daughter is getting married in December and one of the events at the wedding will include a family gathering where the women will be dressed in lugras.

Joyce Mendonca, a resident of Bhayandar, said that her mother and aunt wore lugras and her grandchildren will wear the saris to the Pimenta wedding in December. It is coming back to traditional mode; girls are wearing it to community functions, said Mendonca who added that men are stitching shirts from fabric that have traditional lugra patterns. We are proud of our lugra.

The saree will be on display at the East Indian singing competition to be held in Chimbai village, Bandra, this week.

According to Pimenta there are now at least five shops in the city where the sari is sold. The lugras are less regularly seen in the East Indian villages but shops continue to stock them. Jigar Parikh, who is the third generation in his family to run a cloth store in Mahim, said that his shop will continue to keep supplies. My grandfather started the business, going to villages like Uttan and Gorai to sell the saris. My father did not want to do that and sold the saris at the shop, said Parikh. Sales may be down but this is an old shop and people continue to come here for the saris.

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A new study has found that a decrease in dust particulates  the largest constituents in the air during the pre-monsoon season over the sub-continent translated into clearer skies over the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) with the scattering and absorption of light at the earths surface also getting low at 3% per year during the same period.

Local dust is also declining over the Indian region. This can alter the early monsoon rainfall we depend on, said V Vinoj, lead author and assistant professor, School of Earth, Ocean, and Climate Sciences, IITBBS .

What the study found Mineral dust is among dominant natural aerosol species in the atmosphere globally. It is generated by wind erosion over arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Aerosols over north India are about three times higher than the global mean values, and have been rising by about three percent every year annually. Aerosols can be natural or anthropogenic  generated by human activity. Dust comprises 60% of aerosols. The study found a decrease of up to 20% dust during pre-monsoon with the maximum decline recorded over the Thar desert and extending through the Indo-Gangetic Plains.

A previous study by Indian Institute of TechnologyBhubaneshwar (IITBBS), had shown how dust from West Asia, combined with local factors, influences the summer monsoon rainfall that India is heavily dependent upon.

The study showed that when dust absorbs solar radiation over the Arabian Sea, it warms the area and strengthens winds carrying moisture eastward. This leads to India receiving more rain a week later. According to the new study, the reduction in extinction  or cleaner sky  was spread from Lahore in Pakistan to Kanpur in the east.

With these new findings, researchers said it is yet to be studied whether the increase in pre-monsoon showers, decrease in dust emissions, and weakened winds will affect total rainfall.

Researchers said clear skies, owing to a decrease in dust emissions, was strong over the arid and desert regions over north-western part of Indian subcontinent, including the Thar Desert.

The three-member team said weakening winds over the IGP also reduced the amount of fine dust travelling over long distances  in addition to an increase in pre-monsoon rainfall.

It is difficult to say that the frequency and intensity of dust storms have decreased based on season. They are episodic events, Ramesh P Singh, professor, earth system science and remote sensing at Chapman University, who was not part of the study told HT.

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Security has been strengthened in Mumbai on Sunday in view of the various events being held on the ninth anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks by Pakistani terrorists that left 166 people dead in the city.

Barricades have been put up across the city and police deployed at every junction, inspector Nutan Pawar said, adding that action would be taken if any suspicious vehicle or person was found.

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists landed on Mumbai shores via sea and launched attacks at prominent spots, killing 166 people and injuring over 300 on November 26, 2008.

As Sunday marks the ninth anniversary of the attack, Mumbai police is leaving no stone unturned in keeping the citizens safe and secure.

Various events will be held in the city to observe the anniversary of the terrorist attack that shook the whole nation.

The attacks that lasted four days had exposed the lack of preparedness of the police force.

The Mumbai police had lost three of its best officers  anti-terrorism squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, additional commissioner of police Ashok Kamte and senior police inspector Vijay Salaskar  who died after bullets from the terrorists assault rifles pierced through their sub-standard bullet proof vests designed to withstand the fire of only small arms.
On the ninth anniversary of the 26/11 attacks, people paid tribute to the terror attacks forgotten heroes, who were the four police dogs  Sultan, Max, Caesar and Tiger.

Fizzah Shah, owner of the retirement home in Virar, and her friends, an officer and handler from the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) and three other retired dogs paid homage to the dogs. We usually remember the officers who lost their lives in the terror attack. These dogs were officers too, they too deserve the respect that other officers get. Also, since they spent last few days on my farmhouse, it is also my duty to honour them, said Shah.

Shah also went on add that the officers present appreciated the efforts put in by animal activist to pay respect to these police dogs.

The four dogs were sent to Shahs farmhouse after their retirement in 2015. While Max died in April 2016, Sultan died in June the same year followed by Tiger and Caesar.

Apart from 26/11, all four of them were part of the team which worked during major bomb blasts in the city, including the 2006 serial blasts and bomb blasts at Zaveri Bazaar.
If I had to describe my childhood, I would say plenty of Enid Blytons and ample of Agatha Christies and loads of Amar Chitra Kathas, said Krupali Shah, a resident of Malad, who along with her four friends, has set up a library at school in Kurar village, Malad (East) for underprivileged children.

The book shelves of the Jyotsna Dhirajlal Talakchand High School library, which barely had 50 books, now have more than 1,800 titles  fiction, non-fiction, encyclopedia and comic books .

Shah and her friends say they grew up on a high appetite for reading and wanted to set up the library so that the children could access the same books they had enjoyed during their formative years.

Reading was never a part of my home environment, but it grew on me. But it happened because I had access to books, said Shah. It also gave me an exposure to places I had never travelled and people I never met.

Together, they set up five book donation drives in Mumbai and collected more than 4,000 books between August 29 and September 10. Some of the books that got repeated were sent to a tribal school in Shahapur taluka, Thane district.

Bharat Kekadia, 39, a resident of Borivli, who donated three bags full of books, said he is an avid reader and had maintained his collection. We shifted to a new house and didnt have place to keep so many books. Moreover, I thought selling them to a scarp dealer was incorrect, he added.

After collecting the books, the group digitally cataloged them. The entire idea behind barcoding the books and creating a digital catalogue was to allow children to browse the library online, said Kuntal Bheda, one of the organisers of the book donation drive.

Dr Vidhi Vinchhi, principal of the school, said the children are very excited to have new books in the library. Now that so many books are available, we have planned a series of activities such as story discussions during library classes to inculcate the habit of reading, she said.

Shah and her friends plan to expand the initiative to other schools in the coming months. We want children to have at least this one privilege  of having as many books available for them to read, she said.
Commuters complaining about traffic woes at Versova, they are set to get some relief as the Mumbai civic body plans to connect Versova to Lokhandwala Complex and Goregaon (West) directly, via flyovers. The plans are likely to start taking shape by October next year.

According to the authorities, a 210-metre-long flyover will reduce the travel time from New Yari Road to Lokhandwala. Andheri (West) committee chairman Yogiraj Dhabhadkar said the bridge would help take the load off arterial roads such as New Link Road and Swami Vivekananda road.

The travel time is expected to be cut from the current 45 minutes, to just five.

The tendering process for the Yari Road flyover got delayed owing to the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST), after which we had to refloat the tender. The process is currently ongoing and the work order should be out by March or April, legislator Dr Bharti Lavekar told HT.

In the next six months, Yari Road will be widened to 120 feet, according to the development plan, he added.

The other two flyovers will connect Seven Bungalows and Lokhandwala Complex and are currently being planned, said officials.

Assistant municipal commissioner Prashant Gaikwad said Andheri/West ward officials will start work on an extension to the Mrinaltai Gore flyover from SV Road to Relief Road, which is expected to cost Rs135 crore.

While residents welcomed the move, they said the civic body must clear Yari Road of encroachments first. The BMC was supposed to build the flyover five years ago. If they are unable to clear the encroachments, we will continue to stage protests, said Shashi Rajan, who has been spearheading the Yari Road Bachao Andolan.

For motorists, the commute from Versova to Lokhandwala Complex takes at least 45 minutes during peak hours. Traffic is the worst between Four Bungalows and Lokhandwala Circle. An underpass or tunnel would be the most viable option, but the civic should plan these only with public consensus, said Lokhandwala resident and environmentalist Rishi Agarwal.
Polling in sensitive areas of Khoda remained peaceful on Sunday, the day of its first local body elections. Officials said the nagar palika recorded a final voter turnout of around 51%, an improvement from the 14.06% recorded in the morning.

Khoda was declared a nagar palika in 2016 and has a voter base of nearly 1.55 lakh voters. A majority of shops and small business establishments remained shut as the locality witnessed hectic polling activity amid huge police presence.

Tucked among the borders of Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad, Khoda is spread over a 12-square kilometre area with an estimated population of over 10 lakh, comprising mostly migrants. Khoda is touted as the largest unauthorised colony of Uttar Pradesh with around 2,200 by-lanes in the neighbourhood.

Khoda has remained in the news as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Gajendra Bhati, was gunned down by two armed assailants on September 2. Former MLA Amarpal Sharma is in jail for allegedly conspiring to murder Bhati.

The contest among 12 contenders for the post of chairperson of Khoda was the centre of attention, as Gajendras wife Reena Bhati and Amarpals wife Mohini Sharma went up against each other in the polls.

A majority of streets in different localities of Khoda were studded with banners and posters of Reena, along with her late husband.

Many believe that the two contenders will have a tough fight. Locals here know about the rivalry and both women have campaigned hard to outperform the other. I think that Reena has an edge over Mohini as people came out to listen to her wherever she spoke. I feel she has been wronged, said Satish Kashyap, a resident.

However, Khoda also has other contenders from the Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress. The Samajwadi Party did not field a candidate but gave support to Mohini a couple of days before her campaign ended.

I feel that the main contest is among Mohini, Reena and the BSP candidate, as they have marked their presence in different wards of Khoda. It could be anybodys seat, said Pramod Srivastava, a resident.

Police, provincial armed constabulary (PAC) and PCR vans remained deployed in every ward of Khoda.

Khoda became sensitive in the wake of elections as both rival groups campaigned hard. However, we deployed nearly 1,250 police and security personnel and kept a tight watch on the 41 polling centres and 173 polling booths. Armed personnel were posted at all such places. A round-the-clock vigil was maintained by the police and polling took place peacefully, said Prem Ranjan Singh, returning officer, Khoda.

Apart from the post of the chairperson, 227 candidates are in the fray for the post of councillors from all 34 wards in the locality.

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The six municipal constituencies in Gautam Budh Nagar, which went to polls on Sunday, is witnessing a three-way contest among Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) for the post of chairperson.

A total of 60 candidates are contesting for the post of chairperson in the six municipal bodies of Dadri, Jewar, Rabupura, Dankaur, Bilaspur and Jahagirpur.

Apart from that, a total of 333 candidates are eyeing the posts of councillors in these bodies. It is the second phase of civic polls in UP and a total of 25 districts, including Lucknow, went to polls on Sunday.

In GB Nagar, polling was done through ballot boxes unlike the other districts in UP where it was done through electronic voting machines.

In Dadri constituency, the contest is between BJP and BSP as both parties are expecting to garner maximum votes. The BSP has fielded Ayyub Malik, who is a popular figure among the Muslim population of Dadri.

The BJP has fielded Geeta Pandit, who is riding high on a sympathy wave after her husband Vijay Pandit was shot dead by unknown assailants in 2014.

Meanwhile, Manoj Goyal, a BJP veteran leader, who acted as a turncoat and joined SP recently, has got a ticket by latter. Pandit had won the last municipal elections in Dadri and it will be interesting to see the results on December 1. A total of 11 candidates are eyeing the chairperson post in Dadri.

While Pandit still has a stronghold in Dadri among her loyalists, it will be interesting to see how the Muslim votes play out. It will be a close contest, said Ifroz Ahmed, a BSP supporter.

In Jewar, the contest this time is between the BSP and BJP as both parties have fielded their candidates with a strong backing of supporters.

The chairperson seat in Jewar is reserved for a scheduled caste woman and the BSP has fielded Satyawati Devi whereas BJP has fielded Mohini Devi and Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Soni Nirmal.

I am confident of my victory this time as BSP has a strong backing of people from all strata. I want to work for the people of my constituency, said Satyawati Devi, BSP candidate.

In Rabupura, the contest for chairperson seat becomes interesting as it has the least number of candidates  just three of them.

Jewar member of legislative assembly Thakur Dhirendra Singh has fielded his brother Virendra Pratap Singh from the BJP whereas the SP has fielded Thakur Vishal Singh and BSP has fielded Farayem Khan.

I am confident of my brothers victory as there are a total of 7,000 votes and we have a strong support from all sections of society. The Muslim population will also vote for us as we have remained connected to them at all times, said MLA Singh said.

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The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro)s loud thinking on outsourcing the manufacture of satellite launch vehicles is not surprising. Work is in progress to put the mechanism (for outsourcing) in place, Isro chairman AS Kiran Kumar told media-persons in New Delhi last Tuesday. This, he said, has been done to balance the growing demand for satellites with the need for adequate numbers of launch vehicles. While a roadmap for the extent and scope of private participation in Isros new scheme of things may take a while to unfold, the basic idea seems to be for the agency to provide training for industry at its centres and allow private players wider access to its design, drawings, and testing facilities.

Isro already uses industry manpower and facilities to build small to mid-sized satellites  ranging from 300 kg to 2,000 kg  for domestic use and export. The latest move gives the agency room to focus on its primary goal of becoming a leader in the highly competitive global satellite launch market, particularly for nano- and micro-satellites. The international market for these satellites is expected to touch $3 billion in the next couple of years, as thousands of satellites for space-based applications like navigation and surveillance line up for launch by 2025. This is unlike the heavier (plus 2.5 tonne) communication satellite market where Isros Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) seeks to make a mark.

Isro is keen on private operators like Godrej & Boyce taking over its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) programme altogether. The PSLV has recorded more successful missions, 39, than any other space agency with comparable launchers and Isro is now developing a compact booster along the lines of the PSLV. This new avatar can be assembled in just 72 hours as against the 40 day-turnaround time a standard PSLV would take, and can launch payloads up to 700 kg into a near-Earth orbit of 700 km.

While energising Isros partnership with private players in satellite fabrication is one thing, subcontracting private industry to build launchers is a potential game changer that could stimulate R&D and help absorb enterprise and innovation into Isros missions. This has been proven by Nasa and the European Space Agency where private players like SpaceX and aerospace majors like Boeing play key roles in launches. In any case, corporate giants like Godrej, Tatas, L&T, Mahindras and the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have been supplying critical systems and spacecraft parts to Isros launch vehicles. So opening the door wider to private participation would encourage more big players to join in the effort to bolster Indias launch capability. Private companies are not hamstrung by bureaucratic tangles that often stall government projects, and they are magnets for funding from various sources since high-tech companies automatically attract investment.

This could not happen sooner as Indias current launch rate of three satellites a year for domestic use is set to jump to 20 satellites from 2018. As satellites get smaller and cheaper, there is a corresponding need to develop more cost-effective launch vehicles to keep the number of launches higher and costs lower. India currently boasts 30 to 35% cheaper launches than other countries. The 2008 Chandrayaan 1 mission (which helped scientists confirm the presence of water on the Moon) and the 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission (carried out on a ridiculously low budget) have established Isros credentials as a low-cost, high-technology service provider par excellence in the satellite launch market.

As Isro wades deeper into the fiercely competitive global launch market dominated by the American, Russian, European, and Chinese launchers, it is imperative to have another cost-effective space transportation system like the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) for smaller satellites. The RLVs booster and upper stage are reusable, so it would bring down launch costs dramatically with a corresponding increase in launch capability. Having successfully test-flown the RLVs technology demonstrator version last year, Isro should try to realise the technology as soon as possible. Along with a small-scale version of the PSLV, this could provide an ideal launch configuration for Isro to find its place in the sun.

Prakash Chandra is a science writer

The views expressed are personal
Chief minister Nitish Kumar, on Sunday, directed the police and excise department officials to initiate a comprehensive crackdown on bootleggers and benefactors of the illegal liquor trade, for taking the enforcement of total prohibition to the next level.

There can be no half measure in the implementation of total prohibition. Even benami (backroom) operatives of illicit liquor trade have to be brought to book, Kumar said, while asking director general of police (DGP) PK Thakur to zero in on the powerful people involved in fuelling the illegal trade.

Speaking at a function organised to mark Prohibition Day, now rechristened Nasha Mukti Diwas, Kumar said common wisdom had it that the police were in the know of people involved in bootlegging, manufacture of country liquor and, even, the patrons of such trades in a particular area.

Yet, it cannot be said for sure that 100% action is ensured in all reported matters. The village level chaukidar, who is also part of the system, will also have to be brought in the loop for stepping up the vigil, he said, while soliciting greater public participation in weeding out unscrupulous elements.

As for tightening the monitoring mechanism, he said the post of IG (prohibition), under the CID, had been created for this purpose. While big cases were dealt by economic offences unit (EOU), IG (prohibition) could take over a police case for accelerating its progress. Even action, including dismissal, against excise and police officials had been taken, he said.

Countering detractors, who said prohibition would drive away tourists, he said that the number of foreign tourists coming to Bihar had increased. The question is whether people visiting Bodh Gaya, Gaya and Rajgir come here for drinks or for other specific purposes, he asked.

The focus on prohibition would not take a backseat, as was being made out by some, with the inclusion of campaign against evils of child marriage and dowry in the list of public initiatives for societal change, he said.

The CM also asked Bihar livelihood project Jeevikas members to highlight the recent hooch tragedy for creating an atmosphere against the consumption of illegally brewed country liquor.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi was all praise for Kumar for taking the bold step, which he said, would not have been possible 10-15 years down the line. Fortunately, liquor consumption had not become a part of our culture as in the case of some states. Total prohibition was rolled out just at the right time, he said.

In fact, it could be termed as a much stronger move than demonetization, which was like a one-off surgical strike on high currency notes. But prohibition was like a 24x7 surgical strike (war) against bootleggers and illegal country liquor manufacturers, Modi said.

Gujarat is still grappling with attending problems of relaxation (permit). He added.

Only determined persons like Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar could muster the courage for implementing such strong measures. Every section of the society is experiencing the positive impact of prohibition. We must keep a watch, whether elite sections are trying to circumvent the law, he said.

Earlier, excise minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav, chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, DGP PK Thakur and principal secretary excise Amir Subhani also spoke on the occasion, while excise commissioner Aditya Kumar Das proposed a vote of thanks.

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Writers at the Chandigarh Literati International Litfest 2017 discussed about the situation and reception of literature in Chandigarh. Sumita Misra, chairperson, Chandigarh Literary Society, said the residents of Chandigarh are not as thrilled about literature and art as they are about shopping and eating out.

Misra was in conversation with authors Neel Kamal Puri and Vandana Shukla at the festival.

Misra said, "People love to shop at a mall and are excited when the new cafe opens in the city but they're not excited about literature and art in the same way."

She said that the people of Chandigarh have their love for celebrity authors but are not much excited about what is being written by other authors.

Shukla said, "Chandigarh has a good art college but people here do not understand the interconnectivity of art. The fine art should work with the theatre departments and so on. There should be book clubs and poetic societies here."

Misra said that there was no place like Chandigarh which could offer such ambience where the literati come to speak.

Women know what they want to do now

The authors also talked about the changing scenario from a woman's point of view. They pointed out the women of today are more confident and clear about their choices.

Shukla said, "Nowadays women are far more clear about what they want to do."

Puri added that the young women now do not have any guilts and inhibitions that we had. Misra added to it, saying that it was because of the mothers like them who have created a space for their daughters to express themselves fearlessly.

The session ended with Misra reciting a poem from her collection.
Operation Bluestar is what it was called. Why that and not Operation Pie in the Sky, or Operation Cow Jumps Over the Moon?

This is a line from Kanwaljit Deols novel The Year of the Hawks and there is a sense of deja vu to those who were witness to the turbulent Punjab of the 1980s. One recalls a conversation by two men in a bus with one of them asking But why do they call it Bluestar? What does it mean? Why blue?

There is remarkable recreation of the period down to minute details and the author says, The novel brewed in my mind for three decades. I read everything that was written on the period and kept making notes so that memory does not fail. When I retired in 1914, I started writing it and completed it in a little less than two years.

The novel opens in Moranwale village where adolescent boys Fareed, Shera and Jeeta are in a pond, playing games and quarrelling over small things, but soon the bigger disasters engulf them. One by one they are drawn and manipulated as recruits in the violent separatist movement headed by Bhindranwale who is raising a force of radicalised young men across Punjab. The last to join them is the reluctant Fareed, who grows up in a home with a drunken father who beats his wife.

The story is told through Fareed and a Delhi journalist Sikand, born to a Sikh mother and a Hindu father. Fareed and Sikand are together in the Golden Temple at Amritsar when the tanks roll in what is to be remembered as a decisive moment in the history of Punjab with repercussions that are still not a closed chapter. Kanwaljits writing is characterised by a sincerity in which she tries to look at recent history with a dispassionate mind.

The writers disquiet is visible on happenings of the 1980s which were to follow like the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the killing of innocent Sikhs at different places in the country. Another reason for taking time to pen the novel, says Kanwaljit, was that I did not want it to be an emotional outpouring. My first concern was the manipulation and goading of young boys into the terror mill. My second concern was the political use of a person like Bhindranwale without any care for the implications. It was the complete lack of vision that appalled me.

Fareed, who survives the Operation of June 1984, sees that the only escape will be in getting a visa to the US and moving away from his past. However, when the moment comes, he has a change of heart. When all the preparation is done and it is time to buy the tickets, he tells Sikand: I am not going to America. I have decided to return to my village. What for? His answer to this question is: I am going to put the green back into my land again. Thus the narrative closes on a note of hope. One wishes it comes true for Punjab some day.

This is the debut novel by the author, though she had earlier penned a book 101 Tips to Survive the City, which was concerned with her profession for she was known as a cop to have worked significantly for well-being of women. She joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) after an MSc in Physics from Panjab University, Chandigarh. She has served in Goa, Delhi and Arunachal Pradesh, among other places. She was also on deputation with the National Human Rights Commission.

nirudutt@gmail.com

Strap: Former Police officer Kanwaljit Deol looks back with anguish at what happened in those troubled times of Punjab
A GRASSROOTS HERO

I am a wildlife lover, not a bird photographer. About that, Sonu Dalal is emphatic. I had asked what impelled him to display pluck and initiative to take on four poachers suspected to have poisoned one migratory Northern Shoveler and 34 Common teal at the wetland outside his village of Mandouthi (Jhajhar, Haryana) on November 21.

Sonu went on to underscore an uncomfortable but truthful distinction between himself and the burgeoning tribe of photographers and hobby birders: For some bird photographers and watchers, it is just a pastime. They are least bothered about the species and the threats they face. Some even disturb birds to get photographs of them flying, or in unusual postures etc. After that, they turn their backs and return to their homes in the city. However, bird species are declining and if Mandouthis villagers wont protect their winged guests, who else will?

Sonu maintains a vigil on the 150-acre wetland. Just a day before the poaching incident, Sonu invited district forest/wildlife officers to visit the wetland, where 3,000 migratory birds were in attendance, to secure official patronage as it falls outside the protected area network. At 5pm the next day, Sonu spotted poachers and summoned his brother, Vicky. The siblings pinned down the gang before cops and wildlife staff could reach there and arrest them.

Sonus passion for wildlife conservation was sparked by Discovery Channel documentaries on snakes. He took to snake rescues from neighbouring villages  a dangerous, tedious task  saving both humans and serpents from fatal conflicts. That led to an association with the Nature Conservation Foundation and his interest expanded to birds and motivating youths to lend a shoulder to his noble cause.

BIRD WHO SAVED MANY

The Great Crested grebe is grace personified, a reticent migrant that appears out of the blue every winter at Sukhna Lake. This winter a lone female grebe also landed at Dhanas lake, a first record for the species at the neglected and polluted water body. The bird prefers deep and prolonged dives into icy waters to rake in fish. The grebe is no ordinary bird; it is an inspirational figure that has risen Phoenix-like from the ashes of a deeply-troubled history. It was the plight of the grebe, amid the then routine and accepted plunder of nature, that led to the first organised efforts to save the bird and the foundation of the modern-day conservation movement.

History tells us that the grebe was hunted to near-extermination in 19th century England for pluming ladies hats with ornate crests and feathers. However, a group of English women, moved to copious tears by the plight of the fledglings left orphaned in their nests, formed the Fur, Fin and Feather Folk in 1889 to stop the slaughter. That group led to the birth of the worlds biggest bird conservation NGO, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

The RSPB has an India connection. It has partnered the Bombay Natural History Society since the 1990s by funding and lending technical support to the vulture conservation breeding programme at Pinjore, establishment of the Indian Bird Conservation Network, and assistance in saving the critically-endangered Jerdons courser.

THE PARTRIDGE PM

Not only has political will to conserve nature waned but a definitive hypocrisy has come to pervade the mighty establishment. Leaders wax eloquent on Indias ancient ethos of environment protection when abroad and spare time to plant saplings back home when media is in good attendance. However, when it boils down to decision-making, thousands and thousands of hectares of natural forests are diverted by executive fiat to facilitate ease of business. It would be instructive to recall, in the current green gloom, the passion and commitment of the then Prime Minister (PM) Indira Gandhi to nature conservation.

A champion of creatures, mute trees and stones, Gandhis birth centenary fell on November 19. Her abiding legacy has been detailed in a seminal volume by former Union minister Jairam Ramesh, Indira Gandhi: A Life in Nature. It includes hundreds of her personal directives to chief ministers (CMs) on wildlife, environment and pollution. However, Ramesh missed out on Gandhis missives to the then Punjab CM Darbara Singh over the plight of what would seem a minor, humble species. Partridges!

In the book, Wildlife in Punjab (published in 1984, edited by AS Atwal, SS Bains and MS Dhindsa), the then Principal Secretary to Darbara Singh, Tejendra Khanna, stated: We have issued a large number of hunting licences and despite certain specific seasons being notified for hunting, there are a very large number of infringements. In fact, you may recall there was a (news) report that for a particular feast in Chandigarh, some hundreds of partridges were killed....he (CM) received very agitated letters from the PM asking for a detailed report as to how this thing had happened and that, too, in a season when shooting is disallowed by government.

Khanna, who later rose to hold office of Delhi Lieutenant Governor for two terms, recalled Gandhis disapproval of obsessive (and persisting) monoculture. The PM, when she was in Chandigarh 2-3 days ago, pointed out that the effort in many states was to go in for plantations under eucalyptus or subababul but that was not the correct approach at all vis-a-vis afforestation providing multi-species forest cover... as you find absolutely no shrubs growing underneath these trees. Low shrubs, grasses and creepers, which grow in natural forests, provide shelter to many kinds of bird species and small animals. There can be mice and snakes there, which have their own part in the total balance of nature, wrote Khanna.
Indian Panorama jury members on Sunday said they are yet to hear from the IFFI officials on the matter related to the screening of Sanal Kumar Sasidharans film S Durga, a day after he submitted copies to festival director Sunit Tandon as directed by Kerala high court.

Ruchi Narain, one of the jury members for the Indian Panorama section of the 48th International Film Festival of India, said she had not been informed by the IFFI officials about a screening for the jury members yet.

There has been no intimation from IFFI yet. We are waiting for them to contact us, Narain said.

The last few days saw a standoff between the makers of Malayalam S Durga and IFFI authorities over screening of the controversial movie, which was one of the two films to be dropped.

Three members, including head of jury panel Sujoy Ghosh, resigned in protest while six jury members wrote to the information and broadcasting ministry raising concerns over the move.

On Sasidharans petition, the HC directed IFFI to screen the film after its censored version was screened for the jury.

An appeal by the ministry to stay the direction was rejected by the high court on Friday.

Narain said after the court order she was one of the first jury members to write to IFFI seeking to know when the film will be screened for the jury.

I am in Mumbai now. But if IFFI wants me to be in Goa for the jury screening, I am willing to go, Narain told IANS.

Another member, on the condition of anonymity, said he too had not been informed by IFFI about a jury screening.

Sasidharan said it was unfortunate the festival authorities were dragging their feet. They are actually treating us like dogs, Kumar said, adding he was made to wait for over an hour while submitting the film copies to IFFI director Saturday.

IFFI spokesperson Manish Desai said it was up to the festival authorities to schedule a screening for the jury.

ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop
Meet Rob from Town Hill, Pennsylvania and Joli from Manila. The two met at a travel party in the Philippines years ago. They kept in touch and started a long-distance relationship. Since they were in different continents, travel became their way of meeting each other in different parts of the world.

Right from the highest point in West Virginia, at the Cherry Blosson festival in Japan and the hot air balloon festival in New Mexico, the couple has travelled to six continents and have taken the same photo at different locations.

In 2013, right around the time when everyone was taking jump shots, we thought about creating our own signature pose just for kicks. On a whim, we decided that the dipkiss should be it, the couple says on its blog.

Now, the two are married and continue to travel. Rob works as an engineer and Joli is a corporate communications specialist. Currently, the couples base is in Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC, USA.

San Francisco, USA

Boracay Island, Philippines

Lisbon, Portugal

Hanging Bridge, Bohol

Hanging out and hanging onto the Hanging Bridge in Bohol :) #dipkiss #dipkisstravels A post shared by Dipkiss Travels  (@dipkisstravels) on Nov 11, 2017 at 5:32pm PST

Happy travels, you two!

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more
Forty people were injured after a section of floor at a packed nightclub on Spains holiday island of Tenerife collapsed Sunday, sending revellers plunging into the basement, officials said.

Rescuers rushed to the Butterfly Disco Club in Adeje at about 2:30 am (0230 GMT) after a roughly four square metres (43 square feet) of its floor gave way.

The injured included two French men aged 38 and 40, two British men aged 57 and 59, a 45-year-old Romanian man, and a 23-year-old Belgian woman, the regional government of Spains Canary Islands said in a statement.

After the floor collapsed, the people who were inside fell to the basement from the height of approximately one floor, it said.

Video posted by the local fire department on Twitter showed firefighters picking through rubble with their hands in the basement of the nightclub located in a shopping mall.

This handout picture released on November 26, 2017 by the Bomberos de Tenerife (Tenerife firemen) shows the floor of a nighclub that collapsed early on November 26, 2017 in Adeje on Spain's holiday island of Tenerife. (AFP)

Firefighters remained at the scene until 6:00 am to search the basement in case anyone was trapped inside.

Authorities said the basement was not in use and so was empty at the time of the collapse.

The club is in Playa de las Americas, an area popular with tourists on the Spanish island.

Britains foreign office said it was in contact with a number of British nationals who had been injured in the incident.

Videos posted on social media showed emergency services workers attending to people on the ground or on benches outside of the nightclub.

Checking other buildings

Emergency services took 21 people to hospital and treated another person at the scene who was released, the regional government said.

Another 18 people went to hospital by their own means to be treated, the mayor of Tenerife said.

The injuries included broken legs, ankle sprains and bruises. Two of the injuries were deemed serious.

The Butterfly, a popular gay nightclub in Tenerife, features drag shows and Go-Go dancers on Saturday nights, according to its Facebook page.

Video posted by Tenerife firefighters showed a gaping hole in front of the clubs stage.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident.

The club had its licence in order and did not appear to be overcrowded when the floor caved in, Tenerife mayor Jose Miguel Rodriguez Fraga told a news conference.

All establishments in the shopping centre where the nightclub is located have been ordered shut as a precaution, he added.

We are evaluating the three adjacent shopping centres to see if they were affected even though they are structurally independent, said Fraga.

Located off the west coast of Africa, the Canary Islands welcomed 13.3 million foreign tourists last year, making it Spains second most visited region after Catalonia. Over half of the foreigners who visited the archipelago came from Britain and Germany.
The Archbishop of Canterbury says he doesnt understand why so many Christians in the US support President Donald Trump.

Justin Welby told ITVs Preston on Sunday program that he really genuinely cant comprehend why fundamentalists have provided such a strong base for Trump.

Welby did say he would be willing to attend a state dinner in Trumps honour if the president comes to Britain on an official visit.

He said part of his job is to meet with people he disagrees with and to testify with the love of Christ to them and to seek to draw them in a different way.

Trump has accepted an invitation for a state visit to Britain, but no date has been set.
The FBI failed to notify scores of US officials that Russian hackers were trying to break into their personal Gmail accounts despite having evidence for at least a year that the targets were in the Kremlins crosshairs, The Associated Press has found.

Nearly 80 interviews with Americans targeted by Fancy Bear, a Russian government-aligned cyberespionage group, turned up only two cases in which the FBI had provided a heads-up. Even senior policymakers discovered they were targets only when the AP told them, a situation some described as bizarre and dispiriting.

Its utterly confounding, said Philip Reiner, a former senior director at the National Security Council, who was notified by the AP that he was targeted in 2015. Youve go to tell your people. Youve got to protect your people.

The FBI declined to answer most questions from AP about how it had responded to the spying campaign. The bureau provided a statement that said in part: The FBI routinely notifies individuals and organizations of potential threat information.

Three people familiar with the matter  including a current and a former government official  said the FBI has known for more than a year the details of Fancy Bears attempts to break into Gmail inboxes. A senior FBI official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the hacking operation because of its sensitivity, declined to comment on timing but said that the bureau was overwhelmed by the sheer number of attempted hacks.

Its a matter of triaging to the best of our ability the volume of the targets who are out there, he said.

The AP did its own triage, dedicating two months and a small team of reporters to go through a hit list of Fancy Bear targets provided by the cybersecurity firm Secureworks.

In this image made from video, seen though an interior window, employees work in the offices of Secureworks in Atlanta on Oct. 4, 2017. (AP)

Previous AP investigations based on the list have shown how Fancy Bear worked in close alignment with the Kremlins interests to steal tens of thousands of emails from the Democratic Party. The hacking campaign disrupted the 2016 US election and cast a shadow over the presidency of Donald Trump, whom US intelligence agencies say the hackers were trying to help. The Russian government has denied interfering in the American election.

The Secureworks list comprises 19,000 lines of targeting data. Going through it, the AP identified more than 500 US-based people or groups and reached out to more than 190 of them, interviewing nearly 80 about their experiences.

Many were long-retired, but about one-quarter were still in government or held security clearances at the time they were targeted. Only two told the AP they learned of the hacking attempts on their personal Gmail accounts from the FBI. A few more were contacted by the FBI after their emails were published in the torrent of leaks that coursed through last years electoral contest. But to this day, some leak victims have not heard from the bureau at all.

Charles Sowell, who previously worked as a senior administrator in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and was targeted by Fancy Bear two years ago, said there was no reason the FBI couldnt do the same work the AP did.

Its absolutely not OK for them to use an excuse that theres too much data, Sowell said. Would that hold water if there were a serial killer investigation, and people were calling in tips left and right, and they were holding up their hands and saying, Its too much? Thats ridiculous.

Its curious

The AP found few traces of the bureaus inquiry as it launched its own investigation two months ago.

In October, two AP journalists visited THCServers.com, a brightly lit, family-run internet company on the former grounds of a communist-era chicken farm outside the Romanian city of Craiova. Thats where someone registered DCLeaks.com, the first of three websites to publish caches of emails belonging to Democrats and other U.S. officials in mid-2016.

DCLeaks was clearly linked to Fancy Bear. Previous AP reporting found that all but one of the sites victims had been targeted by the hacking group before their emails were dumped online.

Yet THC founder Catalin Florica said he was never approached by law enforcement.

Its curious, Florica said. You are the first ones that contact us.

THC merely registered the site, a simple process that typically takes only a few minutes. But the reaction was similar at the Kuala Lumpur offices of the Malaysian web company Shinjiru Technology, which hosted DCLeaks stolen files for the duration of the electoral campaign.

Catalin Florica, who launched THCServers.com in 2013, poses for a portrait during an interview at the company's headquarters, outside Craiova, southern Romania, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. (AP)

The companys chief executive, Terence Choong, said he had never heard of DCLeaks until the AP contacted him.

What is the issue with it? he asked.

Questions over the FBIs handling of Fancy Bears broad hacking sweep date to March 2016, when agents arrived unannounced at Hillary Clintons headquarters in Brooklyn to warn her campaign about a surge of rogue, password-stealing emails.

The agents offered little more than generic security tips the campaign had already put into practice and refused to say who they thought was behind the attempted intrusions, according to a person who was there and spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversation was meant to be confidential.

Questions emerged again after it was revealed that the FBI never took custody of the Democratic National Committees computer server after it was penetrated by Fancy Bear in April 2016. Former FBI Director James Comey testified this year that the FBI worked off a copy of the server, which he described as an appropriate substitute.

Makes me sad

Retired Maj. James Phillips was one of the first people to have the contents of his inbox published by DCLeaks when the website made its June 2016 debut.

But the Army veteran said he didnt realize his personal emails were flapping in the breeze until a journalist phoned him two months later.

The fact that a reporter told me about DCLeaks kind of makes me sad, he said. I wish it had been a government source.

Phillips story would be repeated again and again as the AP spoke to officials from the National Defense University in Washington to the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado.

Among them: a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, retired Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes; a former head of Air Force Intelligence, retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula; a former defense undersecretary, Eric Edelman; and a former director of cybersecurity for the Air Force, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Schissler.

Retired Maj. Gen. Brian Keller, a former director of military support at the Geospatial Intelligence Agency, was not informed, even after DCLeaks posted his emails to the internet. In a telephone call with AP, Keller said he still wasnt clear on what had happened, who had hacked him or whether his data was still at risk.

Should I be worried or alarmed or anything? said Keller, who left the spy satellite agency in 2010 and now works in private industry.

FILE - This Sept. 29, 2017 photo shows the Kremlin in Moscow. (AP)

Not all the interviewees felt the FBI had a responsibility to alert them.

Perhaps optimistically, I have to conclude that a risk analysis was done and I was not considered a high enough risk to justify making contact, said a former Air Force chief of staff, retired Gen. Norton Schwartz, who was targeted by Fancy Bear in 2015.

Others argued that the FBI may have wanted to avoid tipping the hackers off or that there were too many people to notify.

The expectation that the government is going to protect everyone and go back to everyone is false, said Nicholas Eftimiades, a retired senior technical officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency who teaches homeland security at Pennsylvania State University in Harrisburg and was himself among the targets.

But the government is supposed to try, said Michael Daniel, who served as President Barack Obamas White House cybersecurity coordinator.

Daniel wouldnt comment directly on why so many Fancy Bear targets werent warned in this case, but he said the issue of how and when to notify people frankly still needs more work.

Cloak-and-dagger

In the absence of any official warning, some of those contacted by AP brushed off the idea that they were taken in by a foreign powers intelligence service.

I dont open anything I dont recognize, said Joseph Barnard, who headed the personnel recovery branch of the Air Forces Air Combat Command.

That may well be true of Barnard; Secureworks data suggests he never clicked the malicious link sent to him in June 2015. But it isnt true of everyone.

An AP analysis of the data suggests that out of 312 US military and government figures targeted by Fancy Bear, 131 clicked the links sent to them. That could mean that as many as 2 in 5 came perilously close to handing over their passwords.

Its not clear how many gave up their credentials in the end or what the hackers may have acquired.

Some of those accounts hold emails that go back years, when even many of the retired officials still occupied sensitive posts.

Overwhelmingly, interviewees told AP they kept classified material out of their Gmail inboxes, but intelligence experts said Russian spies could use personal correspondence as a springboard for further hacking, recruitment or even blackmail.

You start to have information you might be able to leverage against that person, said Sina Beaghley, a researcher at the RAND Corp. who served on the NSC until 2014.

In the few cases where the FBI did warn targets, they were sometimes left little wiser about what was going on or what to do.

Rob Butch Bracknell, a 20-year military veteran who works as a NATO lawyer in Norfolk, Virginia, said an FBI agent visited him about a year ago to examine his emails and warn him that a foreign actor was trying to break into his account.

He was real cloak-and-dagger about it, Bracknell said. He came here to my work, wrote in his little notebook and away he went.

Left to fend for themselves, some targets have been improvising their cybersecurity.

Retired Gen. Roger A. Brady, who was responsible for American nuclear weapons in Europe as part of his past role as commander of the US Air Force there, turned to Apple support this year when he noticed something suspicious on his computer. Hughes, a former DIA head, said he had his hard drive replaced by the Geek Squad at a Best Buy in Florida after his machine began behaving strangely. Keller, the former senior spy satellite official, said it was his son who told him his emails had been posted to the web after getting a Google alert in June 2016.

FILE - In this May 15, 2013 file photo, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul leaves the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia. McFaul, who served as ambassador from 2012 to 2014, was angry to learn that he was sent a phishing email in 2015 - and was told nothing about it by the FBI. (AP)

A former US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, who like many others was repeatedly targeted by Fancy Bear but has yet to receive any warning from the FBI, said the lackluster response risked something worse than last years parade of leaks.

Our government needs to be taking greater responsibility to defend its citizens in both the physical and cyber worlds, now, before a cyberattack produces an even more catastrophic outcome than we have already experienced, McFaul said.
Crackers were burst across the suburbs of Toronto this year even as Diwali fireworks were banned in Delhi.

A bylaw that allowed such celebrations on Victoria Day and Canada Day allowed that activity on private property without a permit. And in recent times, in the towns of Brampton and Mississauga, with large Indo-Canadian populations, it has been extended to the festival of lights, for which two days have been designated.

Days later, Canadas most populous and politically significant province, Ontario, also observed the first-ever Hindu Heritage Month through November. While a motion for that observation was passed in the provincial Assembly last December, it also points to the growing clout of the Hindu community in the province.

At the centre of that rising political profile is Dipika Damerla, the first, and so far only, person from the community to even become a provincial cabinet minister (none has yet achieved that at the federal level).

Damerla, in fact, was a prominent figure at the Ontario Liberal Caucus celebration of Hindu Heritage Month in Torontos Queens Park, the seat of the provincial government and legislature. Its not a frill any more, not just a nice thing to do, I think its fundamental to making a multicultural society, she said during an interview there.

Ontario, with between 400,000 and 500,00 Hindus, accounts for over 70% of the communitys population in Canada. Immigration patterns have boosted their numbers significantly in the last decade.

Damerla, Ontarios minister of seniors affairs, said it was natural progression that the community was becoming increasingly politically relevant.

That has resulted in other measures like permission to immerse ashes in provincial parks, and by spring next year, structures may be provided there for ceremonies or contemplation.

The fact theres a spotlight on an issue like the ashes is because theres an elected member who understands it and is able to champion it, Damerla said.

Damerla, who was born in Secunderabad and grew up in Pune, may be a pioneering figure, but many others could join her as provincial elections due next year.

To me interestingly, theres a Conservative nomination taking place in Scarborough (a part of Toronto), but both candidates are Hindu. Ive never seen something like that. That just shows you the communitys becoming very active, she said.

She made it clear, however, that as a member of the provincial parliament or MPP, it doesnt matter what my faith is, my job is that the aspirations of my constituency is reflected in my agenda. So there is a balance.

But there is a cross-party trend in reaching out to the community, as even Jagmeet Singh, the Sikh leader of the New Democratic Party, and until he was elected to that post, a member of the Ontario Parliament, has sent out messages wishing people on Dussehra and Diwali.

The outreach, particularly from the Liberal Party, has been aggressive since a motion in the Ontario Parliament in April terming the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as genocide was passed. Since then, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has performed aarti on the 10th anniversary of the consecration of a temple in Toronto in July, and attended Diwali celebrations on consequent days in Ottawa and Toronto last month.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne was at multiple Hindu Heritage Month events as she attempts to woo back the community.

Damerla voted against the genocide motion but will not comment directly on the matter, though she did say, If youre not democratically engaged, then you will cede issues that are important to you to somebody else.

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Iran and Turkey signed a deal Sunday with Qatar aimed at boosting commercial ties with the Gulf state which is under blockade by its Arab neighbours, Iranian state television said.

The broadcasters website said the agreement provides for the creation of a joint working group to facilitate the transit of goods between the three countries.

It also said the three nations aimed to tackle obstacles to sending goods from Iran and Turkey to Qatar.

Qatars relationship with Shiite-dominated Iran, seen as the major rival to Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, is one of the major factors underpinning the crisis between Qatar and its former allies.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt all cut ties with Qatar in June, accusing Doha of backing extremism and fostering ties with Iran, charges that Qatar denies.

Since the crisis erupted, Iran and Turkey -- whose relations have warmed considerably in recent months -- have sought to help break Qatars isolation, including by increasing food exports to the emirate.
Protesters belonging to hardline groups clashed with security forces for a second day on the outskirts of Pakistans capital on Sunday, burning vehicles before withdrawing to a camp they have occupied for more than two weeks, police said.

At least six people were killed on the previous day, when several thousand police and paramilitary tried to disperse a sit-in protest by the religious hard-liners, who have blocked the main route into Islamabad from the neighbouring garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Here is how the clashes began:

The protesters

About 2,000 members of the Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan began a sit-in in Islamabad on November 6. They are a little known hardline group led by a firebrand cleric named Khadim Hussain Rizvi who has been widely mocked for heaping abusive language on his opponents.

Tehreek-e-Labaik is one of two new ultra-religious political movements that became prominent in recent months.

A passerby photographs police prison vans destroyed during clashes with protesters near the Faizabad junction in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Reuters)

While Islamist parties are unlikely to win a majority they could play a major role in elections that must be held by summer next year.

Tehreek-e-Laibak was born out of a protest movement lionising Mumtaz Qadri, a bodyguard of the governor of Punjab province who gunned down his boss in 2011 over his call to reform strict blasphemy laws.

The party won a surprisingly strong 7.6% of the vote in a by-election in Peshawar last month.

According to their Facebook page, they seek shariah law in Pakistan and will run in more elections.

The violence

The protesters torched a car, three motorcycles and a guard post erected near the rally site.

About 3,000 demonstrators were seen gathered at the site on Sunday.

A passerby takes a selfie in front of a police prison van destroyed during clashes with police near the Faizabad junction in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Reuters)

The security forces failed to disperse the protesters when riot police moved in with tear gas and batons on Saturday. Hospital officials said nearly 200 people were hurt, most of them police. They confirmed six people were shot and killed around the Faizabad crossing in clashes with police.

Late Saturday evening, Islamabad administration requested the help of the army to control the law-and-order situation in the capital.

The sit-in became increasingly frustrating for commuters trapped for hours daily by the road blockade. As the judiciary blasted officials for their inertia, conspiracy theories swirled over who was supporting the small number of protesters.

The demonstrations also spread to Pakistans two biggest cities, Karachi and Lahore, as well as smaller towns countrywide before security officials were ordered to suspend the operation and the government sought help from the army.

Media blocked

Key social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were blocked and government officials were not immediately available for a comment.

Pakistans commission that regulates electronic media continued to keep broadcasts off the air for a second day, allegedly because the media had violated the government policy banning live coverage of security operations.
More than 65% of eligible voters cast their ballots as Nepal held historic elections on Sunday for the first time since the declaration of the new constitution in 2015.

Over 65% votes were cast and elections was largely peaceful, chief election commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav told a press conference.

Of the total 15.4 million voters, 3.19 million were eligible to cast their ballots on Sunday in the first of two phases of elections to the federal and provincial assemblies, in a major step towards implementation of the new constitution. Voting was held in 32 districts and the remaining 42 will go to polls on December 7.

Two major communist parties--CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist) now rebranded as CPN (Maoist Center) -- are contesting against the ruling Nepali Congress.

Voting started at 7 AM and continued till 5 PM (local time). At least four people were injured in polling booths after clashing with security personnel. Election in west Rukum was postponed after an unidentified group hurdled acid on ballot boxes. Re-polls were ordered only in two out of 4,465 polling stations. The district of Bajura witnessed the highest turnout of 80%.

Except for minor scuffles, the elections was peaceful, said Yadav.

Sporadic violence and bomb blasts were reported in many districts in the run-up to the elections.

Sundays polling percentage was lesser than the 73% recorded in the local body elections held earlier this year. This is being attributed to the violence, attacks against candidates and freezing cold in hill and mountain areas which voted in the first phase.

Yadav said that ballot boxes were being collected from various polling booths and being ferried to district headquarters.

The counting will begin after the second phase is concluded, he said, adding that the security of the ballot boxes has been ensured.

The voting took place in 37 electoral constituencies of 32 districts. Altogether, 702 candidates are in the fray for 37 seats of parliament and 74 of provincial assemblies.

Overall, a total of 175 members of parliament and 350 members of provincial assemblies will be elected in seven provinces for five-year terms.

The second phase will see elections in 45 districts including Kathmandu valley and southern plains of Nepal, also known as Terai. (With inputs from agencies)
Nepalis were voting on Sunday for a new parliament in an election that is the first in the country since it turned into a federal republic and abolished monarchy in 2008.

More than a decade after the end of a civil war between Maoists and security forces, the country is hoping this election will complete its long journey to become a federal republic.

Nepals slow path to democracy began in 2006, when protesters forced the king to give up his rule. Two years later, it officially abolished the centuries-old monarchy and decided that a federal system would best deliver services to all corners of the nation, which remains one of the poorest in the world.

Nepal voted in 2008 and 2013 for a Constituent Assembly, which doubled as parliament, to write a post-monarchy charter that plotted the course to becoming a federal republic.

But bickering among political parties delayed until 2015 the implementation of the new constitution, which declared Nepal a republic.

The two-phase elections for national and provincial parliaments are the first under the new post-war constitution born out of a peace deal that ended the 10-year Maoist insurgency in 2006.

Soon after the constitution was implemented in 2015, protests by ethnic groups in southern Nepal turned violent and left some 50 people dead.

The ethnic Madhesi groups protested for months saying they did not get enough territory in the province assigned to them. They said they deserved more land because they represented a bigger population. Their protest blocked the border with India for months, cutting off fuel and other supplies in Nepal.

Lawmakers reject a government proposal to amend the constitution to meet some of the demands of the Madhesi minority.

Nepals new constitution lays out a sweeping overhaul of the political system and aims to devolve power away from the central government to the seven newly created provinces.

Rules laid out in the new charter will weed out some fringe parties from the parliaments and raises the bar for ousting a prime minister, leading to hopes that the next government could be the first to last a full five year term.

Nepal has cycled through 10 leaders in the last 11 years and corruption has flourished, hampering growth as well as the recovery from the 2015 earthquake that destroyed half a million homes.

However, analysts warn that the impact of the changes could be limited, with the three parties that have dominated the political stage since the end of the conflict expected to take the lions share of seats.

Under the new constitution a proportion of seats in the federal and provincial assemblies are allocated to women and people from indigenous communities and the Dalits.
The Pakistan Rangers took control of the area occupied by anti-blasphemy protesters in Islamabad on Sunday while police and the Frontier Corps personnel were deployed in other parts of the city, Radio Pakistan reported, as peace gradually returned to the capital and other cities after a day of violent clashes left at least six people dead.

The paramilitary forces moved in as the law and order situation deteriorated when police clashed with the radical Islamist protesters who had been blocking key highways in Islamabad for over two weeks, demanding the resignation of the law minister.

Though security personnel deployed around the venue of the sit-in vastly outnumbered the protestors, weak planning on the part of the authorities and guerilla tactics from the demonstrators helped turn the tables on law enforcement personnel.

The Rangers also cordoned off the IJP Road, Expressway, Murree Road and the Faisal Avenue, the main thoroughfares of Islamabad, giving the impression that the force has taken over the city, local media reported.

Protesters remained at the sit-in site on the outskirts of Islamabad in defiance of the government action a day earlier. There is no traffic movement in the area of I-8 and Faizabad that border Islamabads twin city of Rawalpindi.

Earlier in the day, there were clashes between the protestors and law enforcement, with at least one car and five motorcycles set on fire. Islamabad police used tear gas to disperse the mob.

Some normalcy returned to intercity travel as the government opened the M1 motorway leading to Islamabad from Peshawar. However, Motorway M2 near Chakri and Pindi Bhattian was closed for travellers.

The countrys top military and civilian leadership held a meeting on Sunday as the army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa cut short a trip to UAE and returned home.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired a consultative meeting on the Faizabad operation, which was attended by Gen Bajwa, director general of Interservices Intelligence Naveed Mukhtar, Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and interior minister Ahsan Iqbal.

The role of the army came under discussion but so far the military has stayed away from the issue.

Hours after the government called the army for help, the General Headquarters asked for clarifications on a few matters before they stepped in.

In a statement, the army noted that the police have not been optimally utilised while dealing with the protesters belonging to the newly formed organisation Tehreek-e-Labbaik.

It said the Rangers have not been given written instructions for their deployment in contrast to the agreement that such an order would be required. Citing the Islamabad High Court order, the statement also said that the court had barred the use of firearms against the protestors and calling the army implies the use of force. The statement then asked for a clarification on these matters.

The army chief had called on the prime minister on Saturday to advise him against the use of power on the protestors.

In a tweet, Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor, the chief of Pakistan Armys public relations wing, had said that violence would be against national interest, and quoted Gen Bajwa as saying that the issue should be resolved peacefully.

The Punjab government has also ordered all educational institutions to remain closed for the next two days owing to the law and order situation in the province.

The Pakistan Goods Transporters Association has complained that police and administration have seized a number of containers from its members. Police seized containers across Punjab to create blockades to prevent protests.

.
Pakistani hardline protesters pressed ahead with their rally near Islamabad in even larger numbers on Sunday, a day after clashes with police left six dead and dozens wounded.

The protesters clashed with Pakistani security forces outside the capital, burning vehicles before withdrawing to a protest camp they have occupied for more than two weeks.

Police fire tear gas during clashes with protesters at Faizabad junction. (Reuters)

Despite order from the civilian government to the army on Saturday night to help restore order, no troops were at the scene around the protest camp in Faizabad, on the outskirts of the capital, witnesses said.

A policeman retrieves his motorcycle that was burned during clashes with protesters. (Reuters)

The demonstrators have camped out at the Faizabad intersection for the past three weeks, demanding the resignation of the countrys law minister over an omitted reference to the Prophet Muhammad in a parliamentary bill. The minister, Zahid Hamid, apologised for the omission  a phrase saying that Muhammad is the last prophet in Islam  and said it was a clerical error that was later corrected.

Rangers stand guard at a flashpoint with protesters near the Faizabad junction in Islamabad. (Reuters)

But the Islamists continued the rally, adamant that Hamid resign.

A passerby photographs police prison vans destroyed during clashes with protesters. (Reuters)

God willing we will get victory and will disperse with honour, cleric Mohammad Shahid Chishti told The Associated Press.

A policeman takes a picture of a car burned during clashes near the Faizabad junction. (Reuters)

Supporters of Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah gather around a pile of empty tear gas canisters and rubble bullets fired by police during clashes in Islamabad. (AP Photo)

A demonstrator detained by a policeman gestures in Islamabad. (Reuters)

Pakistani protesters from the Tehreek-i-Labaik Yah Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLYRAP) religious group gather around the coffin of a protester who was killed during clashes with police at a blocked flyover in Islamabad. (AFP Photo)

Pakistani rangers stand guard near protesters from the Tehreek-i-Labaik Yah Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLYRAP) religious group on a blocked street in Islamabad. (AFP Photo)

A Pakistani protester of the Tehreek-i-Labaik Yah Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLYRAP) religious group throws a tear gas shell back towards police. (AFP Photo)

A protester pours water on a tear gas shell fired by police during a clash in Islamabad. (AP Photo)
Polls opened on Sunday in Nepal for a historic round of provincial and parliamentary elections that many hope will bring the much-needed political stability to the Himalayan nation.

Under the first round of elections, 3.19 million voters were choosing lawmakers amid tight security in 32 districts, mainly hilly and mountain regions in the northern part of the land-locked country.

This is for the first time that elections for Parliament and provincial assemblies are being conducted under the new Constitution promulgated in September 2015.

The voting is taking place in 37 electoral constituencies of 32 districts. Altogether 702 candidates are in the fray for 37 seats of Parliament and 74 of provincial assemblies. Voting started at 7 AM and would continue till 5 PM (local time).

Out of the total 15.4 million voters, 3.19 million voters are eligible to cast their votes today while the remaining ones will exercise their franchise on December 7.

The Election Commission (EC) has urged voters to reach their respective polling centers and exercise their democratic rights in a free and fearless manner.

The second phase will see elections in 45 districts including Kathmandu valley and southern plains of Nepal, also known as Terai.

The elections will elect 175 Members of Parliament and 350 members of provincial assemblies in seven provinces for a five-year term.

A large number of security personnel including the army have been mobilised to ensure security.

The EC authorities visited several remote areas on helicopters to assess poll preparations.

Chief Election Commissioner Aydohee Prasad Yadav visited Dolpa in the North-East mountain region and Nuwakot in the central Nepal respectively to have a direct observation of the poll preparations.

I am also excited for the polls as most people whom I met today in various parts of the country are really excited. Unlike them I am a bit worried if any force disturbs the elections. Thus, lets first make this election a success and we all will celebrate it together, CEC Yadav told reporters on the eve of the election.

The election will complete the implementation of the first Constitution promulgated through the Constituent Assembly and federal democratic republic will be further strengthened ending the protracted political deadlock, he said.

Two major communist parties - CPN-UML and former rebel CPN (Maoist) now rebranded as CPN (Maoist Center) - have forged an electoral alliance against the ruling Nepali Congress.

The two parties have vowed to garner a majority in the elections and forming a communist government.

The Nepali Congress has also forged an electoral alliance with pro-Hindu Rastriya Prajatantra Party in certain electoral constituencies.

There are also some electoral alliances between the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, a key Madhesi party and Nepali Congress in some constituencies to counter the communist alliance.

Its an important step to implement the Constitution. Lets hope, this election will pave the way for political stability and development in the coming days, said former chief election commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel, who successfully conducted elections in 2008.

The country is holding provincial and parliamentary elections in two phases on November 26 and December 7.

The elections are being seen as the final step in Nepals transition to a federal democracy following a decade-long civil war till 2006 that claimed more than 16,000 lives.
Saudi Arabias powerful crown prince vowed to pursue terrorists until they are wiped from the face of the earth as officials from 40 Muslim countries gathered Sunday in the first meeting of an Islamic counter-terrorism alliance.

In past years, terrorism has been functioning in all of our countries... with no coordination among national authorities, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the Saudi defence minister, said in his keynote speech at the gathering in Riyadh.

This ends today, with this alliance.

The summit is the first meeting of defence ministers and other senior officials from the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, which officially counts 41 countries and identifies as a pan-Islamic unified front against violent extremism.

The alliance was announced in 2015 under the auspices of Prince Mohammed, whose rapid ascent since his appointment as heir to the throne in June has shaken the political scene across the region.

The alliance groups largely, although not exclusively, Sunni-majority or Sunni-ruled countries.

It excludes Saudi Arabias arch-rival, Shiite-dominated Iran, as well as Syria and Iraq, whose leaders have close ties to Tehran.

Sundays meeting coincides with an escalation in tensions between Riyadh and Tehran, particularly over wars in Syria and Yemen and the political structure of multi-confessional Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supporting armed groups across the Middle East, including Lebanons Shiite Hezbollah and Yemens Huthi rebels.

The meeting also comes as several military coalitions, with backers including both Iran and key Saudi ally the United States, battle to push the Islamic State group from its last remaining bastions in Iraq and Syria.

The alliance meeting in Riyadh brings together Muslim or Muslim-majority nations including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Uganda, Somalia, Mauritania, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen and Turkey.

Retired Pakistani general Raheel Sharif has been appointed commander-in-chief.

Distorted image of Islam

The alliance aims to mobilise and coordinate the use of resources, facilitate the exchange of information and help member countries build their own counter-terrorism capacity, Sharif said.

While the alliance officially includes Qatar, which is the target of a six-month boycott led by Saudi Arabia, organisers in Riyadh said no Qatari officials were present at the meeting.

Qatars flag was also absent.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain abruptly cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in June, accusing the emirate of being too close to Iran and supporting Islamist extremism.

Qatar denies the allegations.

Egypt, which sent a military official and not its defence minister to the Sunday meeting, is reeling from a Friday attack on a mosque that killed more than 300 people during prayer time.

While IS has not claimed responsibility, Egyptian authorities say the organisation is the main suspect as the mosque is associated with followers of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam, whom IS has branded heretics.

Prince Mohammed said Fridays painful event was a reminder of the danger of terrorism and extremism.

Beyond the killing of innocent people and the spread of hatred, terrorism and extremism distort the image of our religion, he said.

Since his sudden appointment as crown prince, Prince Mohammed has moved to consolidate power, announcing crackdowns on both terrorism and corruption.

A corruption purge saw around 200 Saudi elites including princes, ministers and business tycoons arrested or sacked earlier this month.
Jared Kushner had come to be called the Secretary of Everything as President Donald Trump dumped everything from the West Asia peace process to fixing the government on his table. He was the all-powerful, trusted son-in-law and senior adviser to the president. But his influence and role has shrunk lately.

So has his wife Ivanka Trumps, according to The New York Times, which said in a report that the power couple is in the cross-hairs of Trumps chief of staff John Kelly, a retired marine corps general who has sought to bring discipline and order to a free-wheeling, chaotic White House.

White House watchers around the world, and specially in India that hosts Ivanka Trump later this week at the Global Entrepreneurial Summit in Hyderabad, will take note as they struggle to understand an administration that has seemed unpredictable with shifting power centres.

Kelly has denied he wants to oust Kushner and Ivanka Trump but, according to aides cited in multiple news reports, he wants them, at least Kushner, to find a place in the chain of command in the White House, and report to him. That was the condition he had put forward for accepting the job, said the reports.

Kushner is seen and heard a lot less, which his allies have said, according to The Washington Post, is in line with his natural inclination to stay in the background and not seek the limelight. And that the order instilled by Kelly has, in fact, been liberating for Kushner, letting him focus on his work.

The order allows this place to function, Kushner said about his changing role in a rare interview to The Washington Post. My number one priority is a high-functioning White House because I believe in the presidents agenda, and I think it should get executed.

And he still has the backing of the president, who told the Times, Jared has been very effective since the earliest days of the campaign and the same is true today. He understood the movement then and has been helpful implementing the agenda the American people voted for since.

For a time in the early days of the Trump presidency, Kushners expanding role in the administration  as he was assigned the West Asia pease process that has defied a resolution for decades now, the office of innovation, Canada, Mexico and China  had earned him the snarky sobriquet Secretary of Everything.

Also, as someone close to Trump, he was instrumental in decoding the unpredictable and mercurial president for aides, and, in later months, took on the White House group led by the then chief strategist Steve Bannon that was pushing the president towards hardline isolationist policies.

But his role has also come under scrutiny in relation to the ongoing Russia investigations. Though he has not been interviewed by the FBI probe being conducted by the special counsel, which has handed out three indictments so far, Kushner has been questioned in congressional hearings.

But he is not going anywhere, for now. He told the Washington Post that when he and his wife reassessed their situation past July, they reached a decision: Were here to stay.

He added: My wife asked me the other day if we should be looking at new houses, so thats a good sign.
Zimbabwes former president Robert Mugabe cried and lamented betrayal by his lieutenants when he agreed to step down last week under pressure from the military and his party after 37 years in power, the Standard newspaper said in its Sunday edition.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe loyalist, was sworn in on Friday and attention is focused on whether he will name a broad-based government or select figures from Mugabes era.

The newspaper quoted sources within Mugabes inner circle as saying the devout Catholic held a rosary as he told his close associates and a team of negotiators at his Blue House mansion in Harare that he was resigning. He announced the decision as parliament heard a motion to impeach him.

He looked down and said people were chameleons, one of the sources was quoted as saying.

The state-owned Sunday Mail quoted Father Fidelis Mukonori, a Jesuit priest who is a close Mugabe friend and mediated his resignation with the military, as saying Mugabes face just glowed after he signed the resignation letter.

So we are not talking about a bitter man. I told him that it was good for him to see someone running the country..., Mukonori told the Sunday Mail.

Neither Father Mukonori nor Mugabes close aides were immediately available for comment.

Mugabes fall after 37 years in power was spurred by a battle to succeed him that pitted Mnangagwa, who had stood by him for 52 years, and Mugabes wife Grace, who is 52.

The privately-owned Standard newspaper, which has been critical of Mugabe and his government over the years, urged Mnangagwa to walk the talk on graft.

Emmerson Mnangagwa addresses supporters in Harare on November 22, 2017, two days before he being sworn in as Zimbabwes president. (Reuters)

At his swearing in ceremony on Friday, Mnangagwa said he valued democracy, tolerance and the rule of law and would tackle corruption. He has also urged citizens not to undertake vengeful retribution.

The new government is already moving to bring some of Mugabe and his wifes close associates to book and former finance minister Ignatius Chombo was in court on Saturday on corruption charges.

Chombo was among several members of a group allied to Grace who were detained and expelled from the ruling ZANU-PF party after the military seized power in Operation Legacy which it said was meant to remove the criminals around Mugabe.

Chombo, who told the court he was forcibly removed from his home on Nov. 15 by armed men wearing military uniform, was detained until Monday when his bail application will be heard. He was led away in leg irons together with ousted head of the ruling ZANU-PFs influential youth league Kudzanai Chipanga.
You might think your band were having a few problems when you couldnt get your one from Sweeneys to return your phone calls but it could have been worse, you could be a musician from Mali. Ive written previously about Tinariwen, and Songhoy Blues have had a similar troubled path. The militant Islamic group, Ansar Dine (defenders of the faith), took control of the northern region of the country around 2012. Under this group, alcohol, cigarettes, and music  anything fun in general, it would seem  were all banned. Aliou Toure (vocals), Garba Toure (guitar), and Oumar Toure (bass) (not related) were all involved in music before the imposition of Sharia law in Goa and Timbuktu (about 200 miles apart). Along with many others, they moved south to the Malian capital, Bamako, where they met up with drummer Nathanael Dembele, forming Songhoy Blues, named for the Songhai ethnic group from which they came. Their aim was to allow, refugees relive those northern songs.

As their popularity grew in Bamako, Marc-Antoine Moreau, head of Africa Express, a company set up with the aim of promoting African music and culture in the west, perhaps best known through the patronage of Damon Albarn, saw them play and found a spot for them on 2013s Maison De Jeunes compilation. This in turn led to working with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs Nick Zinner on their debut album, the appropriately titled Music In Exile (2015). Critical acclaim was instant, and they havent looked back since, touring constantly, including Body & Soul appearances here. Earlier this year saw the release of their second album, Resistance, which built on the infectious combination of desert blues and lethal groove that made the first record such a delight. It features highly in most end of year best of lists, including Hot Press Folk Albums of the year recommendations.

All of which brings us to a packed Button Factory on a bloody freezing night in Dublin. All grumblings about the inclement conditions are instantly dispelled once the sparkling opening bars of Alhakou hit the air. The lolloping groove has an instant effect on those present; try as you might, remaining stationary is not an option. The audience  not as many hipsters as you might have expected, although theres still more moustaches than a musketeer movie  get down and stay there for the duration. One bloke in front of me dances like hes in the greeting party for a Queen Elizabeth colonial visit, and never lets up for the evening, fair play to him. Aitchere Belle begins with a guitar line thats pure Ali Farka Toure before the hypnotic groove kicks in, prompting Aliou Toure to break into some freaky dancing that makes Bez look like someone recuperating from a serious illness. Toure then invites us all to visit Mali before launching into Sahara. On record, this features the slightly incongruous presence on of one Iggy Pop, but, if anything, its more effective here, without him. One Colour is introduced by way of an explanation of how difficult international travel has become if you happen to be African, but the joyful way the songs message of togetherness is delivered proves the effort made is worth it. It sways with an almost Jamaican lilt.
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Andrew Pasek grew up playing in the reservoir that would eventually take his life.

Pasek, 26, died Aug. 29, at the height of flooding in west Houston's Bear Creek neighborhood.

His sister Alyssa's apartment near the Addicks Reservoir had started to flood; without a carrier, she couldn't take her cat, d'Artagnan, with her.

Wading in knee-deep water, Pasek felt an electric current and warned a friend not to touch him. He stumbled into the water, grabbed onto a mailbox for support and was electrocuted.

That Pasek lost his life a hero came as no surprise to his mother, JoDell Pasek.

"He's just a great young man," she said, her voice breaking.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Citizens for Animal Protection are both presenting him with posthumous awards for his sacrifice in the flood.

"The world lost a kind soul when Andrew Pasek lost his life to keep an animal from suffering," PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said. "PETA hopes his legacy of compassion will inspire people to care for animals during times of crisis."

Pasek was a lifelong member of the Boy Scouts of America, going from a Tiger Cub to an Eagle Scout in his teen years. A lover of the outdoors, he spent his childhood playing in the local wilderness of the Addicks Reservoir, which backed into his west Houston neighborhood.

"It's kind of ironic that that's what took his life," JoDell Pasek said.

Above all, his mother said, Andrew Pasek was kind and always looking out for others.

He was gifted at everything he did, JoDell Pasek said. Pasek dabbled in theater at Westchester Academy for International Studies in Spring Branch and was a talented drummer and piano player and loved working on cars, enrolling in Spring Branch ISD's Guthrie Center automotive program.

The student council of his high school plans to dedicatea bench in Pasek's honor. The students will build it themselves, JoDell Pasek said, under the supervision of their art teacher and the Paseks' neighbor, Marialice Lindig.

Pasek's ashes will be scattered at Mount Rushmore. With his love of travel and the outdoors, it was always a place he talked about visiting, his mother said.

"We never made it there," she said.
The four-bedroom house listed for sale on Imogene Street in Meyerland boasts cathedral ceilings, a fireplace and a "lagoon-style pool" with waterfall. But the online listing also notes that the property flooded in Hurricane Harvey and two years earlier. Pictures of the inside of the house show empty rooms where drywall has been ripped out halfway to the ceiling.

Still, the house has a buyer and is set to close next week. There's even a backup offer, according to the agents who are listing the property at its $310,000 lot value.

"Most of our lot properties are getting multiple offers if they're priced competitively," said Teresa Lewis with Coldwell Banker United.

Two months after Hurricane Harvey, buyers are returning to the housing market in impressive numbers. Some are moving on from neighborhoods that flooded to buy in ones that didn't. Others are buying storm-ravaged homes to fix up and flip. And then there are those relocating here for jobs, needing more space for a growing family or voicing any number of reasons people typically buy homes.

"I'm even busier after Harvey," real estate agent Matthew Guzman said. "We have clients that are rebuilding, clients that are purchasing and selling homes as is."

Buyers in October closed on 6,381 single-family homes, a 7.5 percent jump over the same time last year, the Houston Association of Realtors said Wednesday in a monthly report.

The median price of a home sold last month was $226,491, up 3.9 percent from last year and a high for any October in Houston.

Demand, combined with flood-damaged homes that have been pulled off the market, constrained inventory that had been loosening in recent months.

Down from a 4.3-month pre-Harvey peak, inventory fell to 3.9 months at the end of October. Months inventory estimates the time it would take to sell all the homes listed for sale based on the previous year of sales activity.

The figure continues to classify Houston as a seller's market. Yet in a place as large as Houston, the market can fluctuate wildly by neighborhood.

97,000 homes affected

Harvey dealt a serious blow to Houston's single-family housing market with 97,000 homes affected by the storm, Bill Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston, said earlier this week in a semi-annual economic symposium.

Of those homes, 36,000 had major damage and 3,000 were destroyed, Gilmer said, citing figures from the state.

Before Harvey, housing inventory had begun to loosen in parts of town, helping to moderate recent prices increases that had led to affordability concerns, he said.

It's too early to tell how the flood will ultimately impact neighborhoods and the overall housing market, he added.

Plans to shore up Houston's infrastructure will offer some answers when they are clear.

Other unknowns relate to home construction. Builders are concerned about the availability of labor, the cost of materials and potential new flood control and drainage requirements that may be imposed on them.

In October, all segments of the housing market experienced sales gains except for homes priced below $150,000. Homes priced from $750,000 and up saw the greatest increase in sales volume.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales remain 2.8 percent ahead of the 2016 volume, according to the association's Multiple Listing Service, which tracks residential property and new home sales listed by Realtors primarily throughout Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

Stress from flooding

Even though the housing market has rallied over the past couple of months, Houstonians whose homes flooded are facing further stress.

"We're going to see foreclosures hit people that financially were in a tight spot already," said Guzman, a Re/Max agent in New Caney, referring to flood victims who didn't have flood insurance.

Others are struggling to navigate the process of receiving insurance proceeds when they still owe money to a lender.

Many Houstonians affected by Harvey are still deciding their next moves.

The rental market continued to rise in October, bolstered by flood victims seeking temporary housing.

Single-family home leases jumped 13.6 percent while townhome/condominium leases spiked 34.8 percent.

The average rent for single-family homes was up 2.8 percent to $1,776 while the average rent for townhomes/condominiums increased 2.9 percent to $1,533.

Lewis and her sales partner Jackie Zehl are confident the Meyerland and southwest Houston areas will be revitalized as "hopefully" infrastructure improvements are made.

They've sold and closed several flooded homes there since Harvey.

"It's a myriad of buyers," Zehl said. "It's either individuals tearing them down and building anew, remodelers or investors that may fix them up and sell them."
The visual key to Amedeo Modigliani's self-conscious Jewishness, says Mason Klein, the curator of "Modigliani Unmasked," an exhibition at New York's Jewish Museum, is a small sketch called "Self-Portrait With Beard."

Since the original drawing was stolen in 1977, the image in the show is a copy. But it serves Klein's point handily. It looks nothing like Modigliani's most famous portraits, those languid nudes with elongated, masklike faces. Indeed, the "self-portrait" looks little like the actual Modigliani, who was Byronically handsome. It portrays an almost circular head with heavy-lidded eyes above a largish nose and a full beard.

"If you're looking for a smoking gun, you've found it," Klein said. "He's depicting himself as an Orthodox Jew."

In the decades since he died penniless of tubercular meningitis in 1920, two things about Modigliani have remained indisputable: his works' popularity and their immense market value. His paintings, which began selling around the time he died, hang in prime spots in top museums, and (when available) sell for fantastic sums - one that went for $204 million in 2015 is routinely listed among the world's 10 most expensive canvases.

His reputation, however, has undergone waves of rehab. He was the bad boy's bad boy in the bohemians of Paris' Montparnasse neighborhood in the second decade of the 20th century: overdrinking, womanizing, dying young and leaving a ravishing body of work.

Some years ago Klein and others set out to establish him as something beyond a self-destructive hunk with a magical brush, and succeeded. Modigliani recited Dante at length, admired Nietzsche and enjoyed an intense meeting of minds (as well as bodies, as drawings in the current show attest) with one of Russia's greatest poets, Anna Akhmatova.

On view through Feb. 4, the Jewish Museum exhibit would be a must-see for Modigliani lovers even if it had no thesis: It is the first U.S. showing of a cache of drawings, many wonderful, never before seen.

But with the aid of the bearded self-portrait and some 150 other works, Klein is delving further into the artist's identity, particularly his brand of Judaism and its artistic expression.

The Montparnasse circle included a number of Jews, among them Marc Chagall and Modigliani's protege Chaim Soutine. They were from Eastern Europe and bore the scars of centuries of marginalization and persecution. In a France fascinated by ethnic identity, they didn't look or sound "French."

"Modi," the son of a French mother and Italian father, was different. Modigliani was raised in Livorno in northern Italy, which had welcomed Jews for centuries. The Modiglianis, cultured and upper-class, identified both as Italians and Jews and followed the teachings of the rabbi Elia Benamozegh, who preached a utopian universalism looking ahead to the uniting of all faiths in one Jewish-flavored brotherhood.

Although Modigliani's religious education was traditional - he would sometimes chant the kaddish prayer for mourners when he was depressed - he was essentially secular, spoke fluent French and looked gentile: He easily could have "passed."

But he chose not to. The France he discovered when he arrived in 1906 was bitterly divided between open-minded Republicans and Nationalists obsessed with purging the country of Jewish and colonial "foreign" influence. His response was to introduce himself with "I'm Modigliani; I'm Jewish," or, in one famous story, to a table of loudly singing Nationalists, "I am a Jew and to hell with you!"

Modigliani also described himself as a "Jewish artist." But, mused Modigliani expert Ken Wayne, "We don't know exactly what that means" - he may have been identifying himself as an artist who happened to be Jewish, or as one whose work was somehow Jewish, too.

Chagall idealized Eastern European shtetl life, and Soutine's expressionism could be attributed to his outsider status. Modigliani's paintings and sculptures have no obvious Jewish referents and project a stylized serenity. One biographer, Jeffrey Meyers, wrote that artistically, "Rembrandt (the great 17th-century master, a gentile who knew and painted Jews) was much more 'Jewish' than Modigliani."

Samantha Baskind, co-author with Larry Silver of "Jewish Art: A Modern History," also has thought about Modigliani's Jewishness quite a bit.

"We just couldn't find very much evidence in the end, so we talked about him as a modern artist who was Jewish," she said.

Klein, however, looks at the same works and sees them as deeply Jewish - but Modigliani's kind of Jewish. At about the same time as the self-portrait, the artist sketched page after page of heads, recording different hairstyles, tattoos, jewelry and facial features. Viewed collectively, they bear a superficial resemblance to ethnic charts from the pseudoscience of physiognomy then being revived.

But while even Picasso co-opted African masks for "primitivist" imagery such as the terrifying faces of the prostitutes in his revolutionary "Les demoiselles d'Avignon," Modigliani used his heads in a spirit of inclusivity, approaching diverse ethnic features in a more respectful way, Klein said.

In fact, they helped form the face familiar from many of his late paintings. Benign, almond-eyed, resonant both of Botticelli virgins and Gabonese masks, the signature visage represents what Klein called "noncolonialist multiculturalism," a portraitist's version of Rabbi Benamozegh's universalism.

Klein finds other expressions of Modigliani's Jewish-derived rebellion against idealized European identities. Stunning drawings for caryatids (sculpted women serving as architectural supports) are based not on classic or European models, but Asian types, and are not downtrodden, but graceful and somehow free. About the show's display of several of the artist's monumental stone heads, Klein said, "The emphasis on the nose is a focal point of his sculpture and a self-referential facet of his Jewishness."

Until now, it might have been possible to use Modigliani's art as an example of art for art's sake, work that somehow floated above the political and religious frays, luxuriating in the glory of line and of the human form. That will be harder after "Modigliani Unmasked."

"As an artist, he was very much involved in responding to his moment in history," which in his case meant "addressing his Jewishness in his art, which he did quite explicitly," Klein said. "At a time of great anti-Semitism, self-identification is important."
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For decades, the term "Black Friday" has conjured up distinct images: Turkey-stuffed consumers awake at insanely early hours of the morning, bursting into big-box stores to fight over flat-screen TVs.

But in a muzzle flash, it seems, a new image may be replacing that stereotype. It involves a trigger and, possibly, a scope.

On Friday, the FBI received 203,086 requests for instant gun background checks, according to USA Today  nearly a 10 percent increase from the year before and a new record for background checks in a single day.

That's not an anomaly. According to the FBI, the previous two records for background checks were also set on the day after the federal holiday in which Americans give thanks for the year's blessings.

The FBI didn't provide any analysis behind the spike, but the biggest shopping day of the year may come at a moment of worry for people who fear someone from the government may knock on their door someday and confiscate their guns.

In the Houston region, Joseph Beck, owner of the Liberty Armory in Bellaire, said he saw substantially more foot traffic through his store this year compared to previous years during the Black Friday weekend. He declined to provide weekend sales numbers.

Beck credited the increase to a few factors, including a recovering economy and worries about legislation that would restrict access to firearms.

"There's been a lot of aggression in the media" and from some lawmakers in the wake of recent shootings, Beck said. "And so people have become concerned."

Joe Bargas, owner of Warthog Firearms in Spring, said the holiday and tax-refund seasons are typically the busiest for his business, where he sells about 50 firearms during an average week.

Bargas said his sales were relatively steady compared to past post-Thanksgiving weekends, with about 15 firearms sold. He surmised that larger corporate retailers drove the record numbers.

"Black Friday has really been just like any other day for us, but some of the big people blow things out at unbelievable prices," Bargas said. "That could be why people are buying so much."

Industry worth 'blood'?

On Wednesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed the FBI and ATF to look at potential problems in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Sessions wants the agencies to fix problems with how the military and other federal entities report convictions that could keep someone from having a gun.

The database "is critically important to protecting the American public from firearms related violence," Sessions wrote in his memo. "It is, however, only as reliable and robust as the information that federal, state, local and tribal government entities make available to it."

The directive comes after the U.S. Air Force conceded it had never submitted the domestic abuse conviction of Devin Kelley to the NICS database. Kelley purchased a Ruger AR-556 rifle with a 30-round magazine and used it to mow down parishioners in a Sutherland Springs church earlier this month. It was the largest mass shooting in Texas history.

And a month before that, a man using a "bump stock" to make his rifles fire at a much faster rate killed 58 people and injured hundreds more in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas sheriff said Stephen Paddock fired more than 1,100 rounds, according to the Associated Press. Investigators found 4,000 unused rounds in his hotel suite.

Gun-safety advocates routinely push for greater restrictions on gun purchases after such shootings.

"As my colleagues go to sleep tonight, they need to think about whether the political support of the gun industry is worth the blood that flows endlessly onto the floors of American churches, elementary schools, movie theaters and city streets," Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said after the Texas shooting.

'Ban your guns'

And gun-rights advocates routinely take equally strong stances on the other side of the issue.

After the Newtown, Conn., shooting that left six educators and 20 children dead, the National Rifle Association described then-President Barack Obama's gun-violence reduction proposals as an effort to ban millions of guns.

"The main goal of the gun banners in Congress is not to make schools safer, but to ban your guns and abolish every last sacred right you have under the Second Amendment ... until they reduce your freedom to ashes," the NRA said in an alert.

But consumers with strong opinions on guns don't have to wait for the debate to play out. They can just take their wallets to gun stores  and routinely after mass shootings, they do.

As the Washington Post reported, the U.S. experienced "a record run on military-style assault weapons" in 2013, especially in the months after the Newtown shootings.

But this year, one mass shooting was different. Even the NRA said there should be additional regulations on devices like Paddock's bump stocks. Investigators should "identify any additional measures that should be taken to prevent firearms from being obtained by prohibited persons," the association's memo says.

Meanwhile, it appears the FBI will have to figure out how to deal with the onslaught of background checks.

According to USA Today, the agency has "struggled to keep pace with the volume of firearm transactions and still properly maintain the databases of criminal and mental health records necessary to determine whether buyers are eligible to purchase guns."

Last year, when it processed some 27.5 million background checks, it had to bring in personnel from other units.

Jacob Carpenter and Robert Downen contributed to this report.
A month ago, Jared Kushner - President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser - made a surprise trip to Riyadh to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the fellow son of a world leader who is making waves with crackdowns and modernization efforts.

Kushner, 36, flew commercial and the White House only announced the visit once he was already on the ground. There were no news releases touting the specifics of his meetings, which included two days of one-on-one and small private audiences with Salman, 32. White House officials said the trip was part of Kushner's effort as Trump's adviser to build regional support for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Just days after Kushner landed back in Washington, Salman launched a purge of allegedly corrupt Saudi officials also seen as rivals to the prince and his father, King Salman. Kushner had no knowledge or advance warning of the move, and the topic was not natural for the two to discuss, a White House official close to him said. "Jared's portfolio is Israeli-Palestinian peace, and he respects what his lane is," the official said.

The journey revealed Kushner as a figure who seems both near the center of power and increasingly marginalized at the same time. His once sprawling White House portfolio, which included walk-in privileges to the Oval Office, has been diminished to its original scope under Chief of Staff John Kelly, and he has notably receded from public view.

His still-evolving role in the investigations of Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice also make him a potential risk to Trump, even as he enjoys the special status of being married to the boss's daughter, Ivanka, and serving as one of the president's senior confidants. Kushner's family faces additional pressures over a troubled New York City skyscraper at 666 Fifth Ave., which he purchased in his role as head of his family's real estate business but which he has divested from since entering the administration.

In a rare interview in his West Wing office earlier this month - a silver bowl of Halloween candy still on the table - Kushner offered his own version of the fable of the fox, who knows many things, and the hedgehog, who knows one important thing.

"During the campaign, I was more like a fox than a hedgehog. I was more of a generalist having to learn about and master a lot of skills quickly," he said. "When I got to D.C., I came with an understanding that the problems here are so complex - and if they were easy problems, they would have been fixed before - and so I became more like the hedgehog, where it was more taking issues you care deeply about, going deep and devoting the time, energy and resources to trying to drive change."

This portrait of Kushner comes from interviews with Kushner himself, as well as 12 senior administration officials, aides, outside advisers and confidants, some of them demanding anonymity to offer a more candid assessment.

Allies say Kushner's subtle shift into the background of the West Wing reflects his natural inclination to work hard and eschew the limelight, while his enemies gloat that it stems from a series of avoidable missteps that are the result of his political naivete. Following recent reports, which the White House denied, that the president privately blames Kushner for Mueller's widening probe, Breitbart, the conservative website, snarkily dubbed him, "Mr. Perfect."

Some aides scoff at the notion that Kushner isn't still whispering to the president about official business. But one of Kelly's conditions for taking the job was that everyone, including Kushner and his wife, had to go through him to reach the president, and Kelly has made clear that Kushner reports to him, aides said.

The new hierarchy is part of Kelly's effort to sideline Kushner, said one Republican in frequent contact with the White House, though others say the order Kelly has imposed has simply liberated Kushner to focus on his own portfolio - and eased some of the animosity his colleagues felt toward him.

Kushner said he welcomes the change. "The order allows this place to function," Kushner said. "My number one priority is a high functioning White House, because I believe in the president's agenda, and I think it should get executed."

He still maintains the broad portfolio he took on at the beginning of the administration that made him a punchline among aides on Capitol Hill: Peace in the Middle East, as well as Canada, Mexico and China, and overseeing the Office of American Innovation, an in-house group that focuses on tackling longer-term government challenges.

He attends meetings of his innovation group once a week, often on a Tuesday or Wednesday for an hour-long check-in and progress update. The innovation office launched with great fanfare in March, but some aides recently said they could not pinpoint exactly what it has accomplished.

Kushner and his allies reject that assessment, saying the office is focused on long-term projects. They say, for example, that the group helped the Department of Veterans Affairs launch their electronic medical records initiative in June, with Kushner expediting the process by calling Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and asking him to send over people from his department to help.

"If I ever get into a roadblock, we just elevate it to Jared," said Chris Liddell, a senior White House official who works in the innovation office. "He's great at saying, 'Can't we get so-and-so to come over?' and we get it done on the spot."

Kushner is one of the advisers helping on negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement, and he accompanied Trump on the first half of his Asia trip earlier this month.

But the main focus for Kushner, an Orthodox Jew, is working to bring peace in the Middle East - a task that has bedeviled negotiators far more experienced in the region for generations. What Kushner brings to the effort, say several senior White House officials, is personal relationships with players on all sides and a willingness to bet on long shot outcomes.

Before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Trump at the White House in September, Kushner and Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt met him at the Mandarin Oriental for a two-hour breakfast. More recently, on Halloween, Kushner suggested that he and Greenblatt visit Saeb Erekat, the lead Palestinian peace negotiator, at the apartment in Virginia where he is recuperating from a lung transplant. After briefly considering, and then nixing, wine - Erekat is Muslim - Kushner ultimately brought chocolate.

"This is very much a human conflict and a human-to-human relationship," Greenblatt said. "When you're able to touch somebody and talk about it, it's a meaningful engagement. It takes a certain personality and Jared has that touch."

Yet snags persist. A week ago, the Palestinians threatened to freeze all contact with the Trump administration after the State Department said the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington could not remain open - a decision it backtracked on Friday.

And Kushner's friendship with Mohammed bin Salman raised questions after the crown prince's anti-corruption campaign - which critics paint as an attempt to consolidate power, but devotees say is part of his efforts as a reformer - as well as concerns from some that Saudi Arabia now feels further emboldened within the region.

The Mueller probe, meanwhile, is entering a new phase, with the special counsel announcing two indictments at the end of last month - including for Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort - while investigators begin to interview people close to the president's inner circle. Kushner has turned over documents to the House and Senate committees investigating possible collusion between Russia and Trump's campaign, though in a letter, the Senate Judiciary Committee recently complained that Kushner had not been fully forthcoming - a charge his lawyer denies.

So far, Mueller has filed no court documents to suggest Kushner is in legal jeopardy, but people close to the case say investigators have been looking at his meetings with Russians before and after the election, as well as his role in discussions that led to the firing of FBI director James Comey.

The news on Thanksgiving that former national security adviser Michael Flynn's lawyers had notified Trump's legal team that they could no longer share information about the Russia probe prompted speculation that Flynn may now be cooperating with Mueller - a potentially perilous sign for the president and his associates.

But friends say Kushner is even-keeled about the investigations. For him, they said, the most stressful moments came in May, amid news reports that he had tried to establish a secret back-channel with Russia during the transition, and that the FBI was probing his actions. He was frustrated, a White House official said, that he couldn't respond to the allegations until he went to be interviewed by Congress.

"Jared is an extraordinary calm person," said H.R. McMaster, the White House national security adviser. "I have never seen him distracted."

He huddled with his lawyers for hours in the run-up to his testimony before Congress but is in less frequent daily contact now unless something from Mueller's probe specifically requires his attention, one White House official said.

Kushner's detractors point to his role in the Russia probe as another sign of his poor political skills and continued risk to the president. A Republican close to the White House said that Kushner "has no judgment - never has and never will."

But in some ways, Kushner appears more protected from the daily sniping that plagued the early months of Trump's presidency. Over the summer, a trio of advisers who were rivals to Kushner were pushed out of the West Wing: Stephen Bannon, then the president's chief strategist who now runs Breitbart; Reince Priebus, the chief of staff; and Sean Spicer, the press secretary.

"He no longer is in an environment where he has an actual predator," said one White House official, likening Kushner to Bannon's regular prey. "That has probably helped his working environment some."

Kushner, with his whispery voice, has also proven one of the few people adept at absorbing Trump's anger. He can speak to Trump in a shared language of transaction from their days in the New York real estate world.

"I don't try to manage him," Kushner said. "I try to give him my honest feedback. If he asks my advice on something, sometimes I'll give it, sometimes I'll say, 'Let me go call a few people,' and then I'll give it."

McMaster said Kushner sometimes acts as a translator between his father-in-law, the president, and his senior advisers. "He helped a lot of us learn faster what's important to the president," McMaster said. "His relationship with the president makes Jared valuable as an adviser to the president, and also as an adviser to the president's advisers."

When Kushner's family first arrived in Washington, they agreed they would assess after six months whether they intended to stay. Trump himself has mused privately about the hit his daughter and son-in-law's reputation is taking because of their White House roles and about what a great and easy life they had back in New York. Others have questioned why someone like Kushner would put himself in Mueller's crosshairs by remaining in government.

But when the couple reassessed in July, they reached a decision. "We're here to stay," Kushner said. "At the current moment, we're charging forward."

He added, "My wife asked me the other day if we should be looking at new houses, so that's a good sign."
On Friday, at least 305 Egyptians were killed by terrorists who detonated a bomb in a crowded mosque, then sprayed frantic worshippers with gunfire as they fled. It was deadliest attack in the country's modern history.

It "was horrific," local Ibrahim Sheteewi told The New York Times. "The bodies were scattered on the ground outside the mosque."

The assault shocked Egyptians for another reason: Attacks on mosques are unusual in Egypt. "I can't believe they attacked a mosque," a Muslim cleric in Bir al-Abed told The New York Times.

But to understand why this mosque was targeted, it's important to understand how Sunni extremists see Sufism.

Sufism is a strand of Islam that eschews materialism and emphasizes the inward search for God. Sufi adherents are responsible for some of Islam's most famous and beloved literature, including the poems of Rumi. Followers promote values such as tolerance and pluralism.

Sufi believers can be Sunni or Shiite, though the majority are Sunni. They see Sufism less as a sect than as a way of being, a set of beliefs and practices that lead followers closer to God. "It is nothing more than the spiritual dimension," Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf told The New York Times. "It is Islam, but we focus on meditation, on chanting sessions, which enable the Muslim to have his or her heart open. The myths people have about Sufis are analogous to the myths people have about Muslims."

A University of Michigan scholar on Islam, Alexander Knysh, summed up the tenets of Sufism as: "love, peace, tolerance."

It's an interpretation of Islam that's radically different from what Sunni extremists believe. Many extremists see Sufism as heretical, followed only by apostates.

Though no group has claimed Friday's assault, the attackers reportedly carried the banner of the Islamic State.

More and more, extremists are willing to target Sufi mosques. "Opponents of Sufism see the shrines and these living saints as idols," Knysh told The New York Times. "Their existence and their worship violates the main principle of Islam, which is the uniqueness of God and the uniqueness of the object of worship."

When al-Qaeda captured northern Mali in 2012, militants destroyed the ancient mausoleums of Sufi saints in Timbuktu. In fall 2016, the Islamic State's local affiliate claimed to have executed a 100-year-old Sufi cleric in Egypt. Last February, militants allied with the Islamic State attacked worshippers who'd come to pray at the tomb of a Sufi philosopher in southern Pakistan. More than 80 people were killed.

Not all Muslim extremists believe that Sufis should be targeted. In Mali, the assailants had acted without the permission of their leaders, and they were reprimanded. In general, al-Qaeda has shied away from conducting attacks on Sufis, though the group has been willing to destroy Sufi sites.

The Islamic State, though, sees things differently. Its followers have targeted Sufi people, lumping them in with other nonbelievers. In an interview with an Islamic State magazine in January, one of the organization's top commanders in Sinai outlined his hatred for Sufism. He labeled Rawda, the district where Friday's attack occurred, as one of three areas dominated by Sufis that his group hoped to "eradicate."
First, Hurricane Harvey devastated the home of Ken Akre's youngest daughter, 32-year-old Erin, in Port Aransas. Two days later, its floodwaters chased his second oldest, 34-year-old Megan, from her house in west Houston. On the fifth day, it was Akre's oldest daughter's turn: The murky deluge from overflowing reservoirs crept up 36-year-old Jennifer's street and into her living room.

Akre, 65, could do nothing but watch on TV from his hospital bed at Houston Methodist, where he'd been since July, awaiting a new heart. Then, in the midst of the chaos, the storm seemed to deliver him one. He called Megan first: "The doctors think they've got a heart for me."

Later, they named it Harvey.

Akre cannot say for sure if the person whose heart now beats in his chest died as a result of the hurricane that devastated his daughters. Privacy laws prevent doctors from revealing those kinds of details. But some of the storm's 77 victims were organ donors, officials said, and based on the timing, it is plausible  if not likely  that Akre's donor was among them.

"It's almost too much to wrap your mind around," Akre said.

Dr. Tom MacGillivray, the surgeon who performed the operation, said Methodist closed the transplant program for a few days when Harvey's flooding made it impossible to safely transport organs from other parts of the state. When they got the unit back up and running, it was on a limited basis, only accepting organs that easily could be moved from nearby hospitals.

That means Akre's donor would have been local, and it means he or she would have died in the storm's aftermath. Even after performing hundreds of transplants over the years, MacGillivray was moved by the symbolism.

"One of the things I find incredibly uplifting about being in the transplant business, is that in the midst of someone's greatest tragedy, they are willing to be thoughtful and generous," he said. "I think this is a perfect example of that on a grand scale: Someone who, in the middle of a hurricane, a terrible tragedy, reaps the benefit of someone's incredible generosity."

At first, Akre thought his family was the tragedy.

In Port Aransas, Harvey blew out the windows and doors of Erin Johnson's home, tore off a section of her roof and filled the house with rainwater. Megan Hebert escaped her home by kayak with her husband and three children as the storm pummeled Houston with more than 50 inches of rain. By then, Jennifer Akre thought she'd made it through unscathed, but then engineers started releasing millions of gallons of water from the overflowing Addicks and Barker reservoirs.

"I felt truly helpless," Akre said, with a catch in his voice. "Here I was, my daughters all struggling through one of the hardest weeks of their lives, and I was tethered to a hospital bed."

Then, early on the morning Sept. 5, one of his doctors stopped by with the official word: His new heart was on the way.

Erin was in the midst of scraping storm sludge out of her garage. Megan was sheltering with her in-laws in Sugar Land. Jennifer was with a group of volunteers who'd come to help her rip out drywall. They all dropped everything and headed for the hospital.

"I don't think I slept for 24 or 36 hours," said Erin, who made the four-hour drive from Port Aransas in the sweaty clothes she'd been working in that morning. "That week was probably the longest week of my life."

The whirlwind continued after Akre was released from the hospital in September, following a successful transplant. His daughters were committed to ensuring one of them stayed with him, 24 hours a day, for a month. That left their spouses to carry much of the load in piecing their hurricane-damaged homes back together while also caring for their children and pets. Other family members, friends, even strangers stepped forward to help.

"It was tough juggling it all, but we were committed to making sure he was never left alone," Jennifer Akre said. "He's been taking care of us for a long time. This was our turn to take care of him."

Like many who have come close to death, Akre has begun to reevaluate what is important. He used to pride himself on being self-sufficient; now he strives to be humble enough to accept help when he needs it. As the longtime owner of a small business, he used to worry about what might go wrong; now when things go wrong, he searches for positives.

That's why they named his new heart Harvey.

"After all that my family went through that week, I said, let's find the positive in this," Akre said. "I've got a new shot at life."

A year from now, once Akre has been eased off anti-rejection medications and his immune system is healthy enough to be around large groups of people, he and his daughters plan to throw a big party. They'll invite everyone who made a meal or swung a hammer or did anything to help them through their crisis over the past few months.

If it's possible, they would love to send an invitation to the people who helped most of all: They hope the donor's family would be willing to meet.

"Having lost my wife, seven and a half years ago, I understand that you don't come to grips with this in a few weeks," Akre said. "I get that. But I would love to meet them when they are ready."

He wants them to know that some good came from their tragedy. And to say thanks.
An overnight blaze killed an elderly woman and severely burned her adult son at their northwest Houston home.

Fire crews rushed to the 6600 block of Granite just after 2 a.m. and found heavy fire and smoke billowing from a one-story wood frame house.
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With emergency responders across the Houston area overwhelmed by the scope of Hurricane Harvey's devastation, the 911 system overburdened and outside help stymied by high water, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett went on television on Aug. 27 to make a public plea.

Wherever you are, if you have a boat, Emmett said, get out in the neighborhood and help evacuate people trapped by floodwaters.

Now, local officials are working up a plan that would better coordinate response - ahead of time - among volunteers during disasters such as Harvey.

Emmett and other county officials want to create a database of residents across the county who own boats, vehicles that can travel in high water, and other rescue equipment to efficiently target volunteer response, which studies show are critical lifelines during disasters.

"We have to get all that coordinated," he said.

There is no timeline yet, but discussions to create such a force are ongoing, Emmett said.

"The fleet could not have been big enough to accommodate the need during Harvey, that's why volunteers were so critical," said Jason Spencer, spokesman for Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. "We're looking at how do we coordinate that in the future."

Harvey showed the five boats and three high-water rescue vehicles the sheriff's office operates were insufficient during Harvey, he said.

Millions to renew fleet

The push for a more organized volunteer force is part of a greater effort to address limitations in the region's ability to handle a storm on Harvey's scale.

In the largest storm the Houston area had ever seen, Harvey dropped more than 51 inches of rain across the county, flooded more than 100,000 homes and structures and killed dozens of people.

A Houston Chronicle investigation in October found that inadequate training, aging evacuation boats and a lack of resources such as high-water rescue vehicles hamstrung the city's response, despite years of warnings. Voters passed a city bond measure on Nov. 7 that will give the department $10.8 million a year for five years to renew its fleet.

Spencer said the sheriff's office is still conducting an after-action report.

"We're evaluating our marine fleet," Spencer said.

While volunteer response was "successful through the county," a more organized force could help alleviate at least two problems, Emmett said.

In one case, volunteers with flat-bottom boats showed up to help flooded Kingwood residents, but more powerful boats with motors were needed to handle the currents.

In another case, volunteers from the Cajun Navy - a similar volunteer disaster response team based in Louisiana - had difficulties in finding specific addresses of homes that had residents who needed to be rescued during the storm.

"Clearly there were some issues," Emmett said.

A database would allow emergency responders to summon volunteers with the proper equipment to areas most in need faster, even if the storm isn't as severe or widespread as Harvey.

Volunteer team in the works

An August 2017 study published in "Environment and Urbanization" surveyed volunteer response to disasters worldwide, including hurricanes, earthquakes and even 9/11. The study, which was unrelated to Harvey, showed that volunteers play a widespread and significant role after disasters.

The study found that while "disaster management agencies have generally been reluctant to include emergent groups and spontaneous volunteers in their counter-disaster plans," that "disaster response plans and procedures need to be adapted, not only to acknowledge that voluntary action by citizens will inevitably take place, but also to integrate those citizens into the response effort."

In September, Precinct 3 Constable Sherman Eagleton wrote a letter to Harris County Commissioners Court, seeking the authority to create a volunteer response force in his precinct.

The "Volunteer Disaster Response Team" would provide privately owned boats and vehicles to help search and rescue operations, providing that volunteers have a boater education certification from the state and pass a background check, among other qualifications.

"I have personally experienced the lack of resources available to the rescue and recovery operations throughout Harris County," Eagleton wrote in a letter to Commissioners Court.

Jorey Herrscher, chief inspector for Eagleton, said precinct officials are still working up the plan, which they hope to implement next year.

"Really we couldn't have done what we did without the volunteers, and we're grateful for everything everybody did," Herrscher said. "But there really wasn't a great way to organize the local volunteers that popped up and wanted to help."
SAN ANTONIO - Afghan troops sent to the United States for training have disappeared from Joint Base San Antonio in higher numbers than 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.

A deepening gloom

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 country's 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 don't think it's a stalemate anymore," said Jonathan Schroden, director of the special operations program at the Center for Naval Analyses in Arlington, Va., 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 we're 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.

'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 absconded 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 Department's response to the report deemed the rate of AWOL cases "unacceptably high." Yet agency officials dismissed SIGAR's 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, SIGAR's director of special projects, called the State Department's unwillingness to reinforce the screening process "a bit ridiculous."

"It's fair to say they're doing everything that's required but not everything they can" to evaluate trainees, he said.

Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report.
One word kept coming up as I walked from lawn to lawn in Harvey-stricken neighborhoods interviewing people whose worldly treasures sat rotting in the sun.

"Blessed."

This is how many people described their feelings as they processed the loss and destruction Harvey wrought. A woman in Denver Harbor told me she was blessed to have so many friends bringing water and food, and that a previous storm had prompted her to get flood insurance.

Others said they were blessed for the strangers who came to help with cleanup. Some were simply blessed that they got out alive.

At first, I shook my head at the emotional strength of these people. And surely, they were strong. But their response made rational sense, too. In trying times, we need hope like a drowning person needs a life raft.

A natural antidote to loss is to count your blessings. Even without the loss, it's a good ritual that deserves regular practice, with or without a side of cranberry sauce.

Science tells us there is a strong link between gratitude and happiness. This past year, I've seen evidence of it in my own life.

We were fortunate that our 90-year-old bungalow in the Heights didn't flood. But there were plenty of other challenges I never imagined, from battling an insurance company after my father's cancer diagnosis to navigating my own divorce.

When I hit a dead end, when the pain wouldn't relent, when the path turned dark, I would take a deep breath, look around and scour the grimness for the cracks of light seeping in. It is always there.

I saw my two amazing daughters, the rock of family support, the endless hearts of friends. I saw my job, which brings meaning to my life, and readers who inspire me every bit as much as they say I inspire them.

And I saw something unexpected: the precious gift of vulnerability.

Anyone familiar with bestselling author and University of Houston professor Brene Brown knows what I mean.

There was once a time when I found it hard to ask for help, or to cry on a friend's shoulder for fear of burdening her. There was a time I would have been mortified to share with you what I am sharing now.

What Brown's books have taught me is that true strength doesn't come from walling ourselves in, but from opening up. For some of us who find it hard to trust, that means lowering the drawbridge we didn't realize we had constructed.

Vulnerability is the opposite of weakness, Brown argues. It is the foundation of courage because it requires the ability to navigate uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure.

"In all my research's two-hundred-thousand-plus pieces of data, I can't find a single example of courage that didn't require vulnerability. Can you, in your life?" Brown writes in her latest book, "Braving the Wilderness."

Without vulnerability, we can't confront the pain that may be eating at us. We turn to anger, rage or denial instead. And by denying emotion, Brown writes, we allow it to own us.

'Foreboding joy'

We also can't experience true joy, either, she says, because some of us  myself included!  do something in the happiest moments that Brown calls "foreboding joy." This is the mom waving goodbye to the child leaving for prom while silently fearing "car crash!" We fear the joy will be interrupted by disaster and disappointment so we waste our happiest moments bracing for the worst.

Most profoundly, vulnerability allows us to confront loneliness. It's a growing problem in this country, as we sort, silo and wall ourselves off from others with the help of technology that promises convenience but only ends up killing connectedness.

Consider these startling findings Brown cites from researchers Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Timothy B. Smith and J. Bradley Layton, who study social relationships and mortality risk.

"Living with air pollution increases your odds of dying early by 5 percent," Brown writes. "Living with obesity, 20 percent. Excessive drinking, 30 percent. And living with loneliness? It increases our odds of dying early by 45 percent."

In my case, the hardest thing about divorce is the loneliness that comes from being away from my children. They have an amazing father and we agreed that splitting custody was best for the girls.

On lonely nights without them, I coped by picking up books I'd been meaning to read. I got reacquainted with my Pilates mat. I started dancing again - salsa, merengue, even took up tango on Monday nights.

My friends listened

But I would not have made it without my friends. In low moments, they stepped in like my own family with love and generosity - and without judgment.

So many helped in the fight to get Dad the best cancer treatment at MD Anderson, and in doing so, they helped save his life. He is cancer-free and adjusting surprisingly well to life with one lung. The week of Dad's surgery, one friend drove my nephew to his internship in Houston so I could be at the hospital. Another friend and her husband opened up their home to my parents for weeks while Dad recovered.

Others have watched the girls on short notice and cooked impromptu dinners for us. One recently surprised me with third-row tickets to "Hamilton" the musical in Los Angeles - an experience so profound it left me battling a minor soundtrack obsession. But hey, at least I'm vulnerable enough to admit it.

Above all, my friends listened, sometimes for hours. Over the phone or over a glass of wine. At noon and in the middle of the night. Through laughter and through tears. Simply, they were there.

But for them to help me, I had to let them. I had to open up, to trust, and in moments when I wanted to hide, I had to reach out and look for the light.

It was there for me. And I know it is there for you, too. It's a gift only one word can describe.

Blessed.
Out of respect for the many Americans whose pro-life political views are grounded in sincere convictions, I'd like to say that in my opinion, such voters are adults with moral agency, not pawns or children.

And in the wake of the recent revelations about Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, I think their leaders should take a moment to reflect on the risks of pandering to them.

Moore continues to deny any misconduct in his interactions with teenage girls. But the accusations are credible, in part because some of Moore's defenders have effectively corroborated some of them, by arguing that the behavior described is appropriate, or that the girls seduced him.

For many Alabamians, the decision at hand is therefore between "a choice of evils," as Ramesh Ponnuru put it in a recent column for Bloomberg View. Moore appears to be a sexual predator, he explains, but his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, is also profoundly flawed, from their perspective.

"If you take seriously the view that abortion is the unjust taking of human life, as many Alabamians do, then Jones's position on it is a nearly insuperable barrier to voting for him," Ponnuru notes.

Jones is pro-choice, in other words. And although his position on the subject is not as extreme as Moore's defenders have claimed, he has declined to equivocate about it.

"I'm not in favor of anything that is going to infringe on a woman's right and her freedom to choose," he told Chuck Todd in September, in an appearance on Meet the Press.

This explains why Moore's supporters have been touting his pro-life beliefs in the run-up to the election, which will be held Dec. 12.

In a piece for Politico Magazine, Michael Wear, who worked on evangelical outreach for Barack Obama, warns that despite the accusations against Moore, Jones' views on the subject are a serious obstacle to his chances of winning, given that 58 perfect of Alabama voters believe that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

"The stakes of this election might justify an extraordinary step," Wear writes. "He could pledge to vote "present" on abortion-related legislation and amendments."

A justification

I was intrigued by this idea, because although I've never heard of a candidate making such a pledge, I can see why they might consider doing so even under normal circumstances, if there's a clear disjunct between their personal views on a subject and those of their constituents.

I'm not sure how effective such a pledge would be in this case, though, because for voters who see restricting access to abortion as a top priority, and are willing to set all other considerations aside, a candidate who would vote for any such measures would still be more appealing than one who has merely pledged not to vote against them.

And I was saddened by Wear's comment that Jones should, at least, commit to working with pro-life groups on common goals, such as supporting adoption, as a way to give pro-life voters who would like to support him a justification for doing so - "something they can use as a response when their pro-life friends question their fidelity to the cause."

I know what Wear means, but there is literally nothing Jones can do that would give pro-life voters a response that would prove persuasive to any friends who might question their decision to vote for him.

The premise of that question is that, from a pro-life perspective, voting for a pro-choice candidate has to be justified. And any pro-life voters still asking it in this context will never actually be satisfied.

The litmus tests

It's telling that Moore's defenders are misrepresenting Jones' position on the subject, as his wife Kayla did last week, when she said that Jones was for "full-term abortion," among other things. There would be no reason for such hyperbole, if not for the fact that Moore himself has such a demonstrably spotty record when it comes to respecting the inherent worth and dignity of human life.

I can understand why the choice at hand is a difficult choice for voters in Alabama who seek a candidate "with pro-life views and at least average moral rectitude," as Ponnuru puts it. He suggests that such voters might write in a candidate instead, which always strikes me as a reasonable decision for voters who aren't satisfied with their options.

But Ponnuru's column made me deeply uncomfortable, because I don't agree that voters who may be considering doing so, in this case, are facing an "impossible" choice, although they may feel that way, or that the political parties have "failed" them, if they do.

Jones' pro-choice views may be disqualifying, for some pro-life voters. But it would be unreasonable to argue that Democrats should have considered that before they nominated him. And it would be wrong to say that Jones' views are inherently disqualifying, from a pro-life perspective.

Many Republican leaders do say that, of course, about pro-choice candidates - or they have, at least, done so in certain contexts. The party has cast abortion as an evil and an appropriate subject for litmus tests.

Not 'impossible' choice

That's why they are currently in such an awkward predicament. No one has accused Jones of sexual misconduct, or any of the other forms of misbehavior that have characterized Moore's adventures in public life. But he is pro-choice. Having pandered to voters about the moral imperative of supporting pro-life candidates, Republicans can't fairly object that Moore and his defenders are doing the same. Nor can they easily explain why the behavior he's been credibly accused of is as wrong, from a moral perspective, as Jones' belief that women should have the right to seek an abortion under certain circumstances.

The voters who decide to rule Jones out on that basis are free to do so, of course, and some might consider that the right decision, from a moral perspective. But it does all pro-life voters a disservice to describe the choice between Moore and Jones as an "impossible" one, as if none of them could arrive at a different conclusion, or as if it isn't clear that Republican leaders should hope they do.
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The seven Texas lawyers President Donald Trump has so far proposed to fill 13 vacant federal judgeships in Texas are a varied group, and several have stirred up controversy including one designated for a seat on the New Orleans-based appeals court.

One of the nominees to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is Don Ray Willett, a former bull rider with a long resume including his current post as a Texas Supreme Court justice. Willett earned degrees at Baylor University and Duke University and later burnished his conservative bona fides as deputy attorney general to then-Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, adviser to President George W. Bush in the U.S. Justice Department as well as during Bush's time as governor.

In appointing him to a Texas Supreme Court vacancy in 2005, Abbott said in a statement, "Don Willett's brilliance, work ethic and integrity are legendary," and highlighted his "keen analysis and writer's stroke" in the open records division.

The judge's social media prowess has earned him the nickname of "Twitter Laureate," and has drawn accolades as well as controversy, most recently when members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned him about tweets that appeared to be mocking a transgender teen athlete.

"Willett has radical views on corporate rights and property rights that would render unconstitutional congressional efforts to protect the public health, the environment, workers' rights and even civil rights," said Kyle Barry, senior policy counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Solid conservative

Trump has proposed James Chiun-Yue Ho of Dallas for the second vacancy on the appeals court.

Ho, born in Taiwan, is not as well known nationally but is considered a solid conservative. Ho earned an undergraduate degree at Stanford University and his law degree at University of Chicago in 1999. He worked for the Bush Justice Department, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, took U.S. Sen.Ted Cruz's spot as Texas solicitor general and served as a legal adviser to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Ho, a partner at the Gibson Dunn & Crutcher firm in Dallas, specializes in appellate and constitutional law.

Trump has advanced five nominations for Texas' 11 district court vacancies, including two lawyers selected by former President Barack Obama but never got a vote from the full Senate.

Trump tapped Fernando Rodriguez Jr. to take the bench in Brownsville, one of the longest standing court vacancies in the country. Rodriguez director the International Justice Mission's operations in the Dominican Republic, where the group supports government efforts to prosecute those who traffic children to the sex trade.

Rodriguez, a Harlingen native, graduated from Yale in 1991, taught at Houston ISD's Scarborough Elementary with Teach for America. He earned his UT law degree in 1997 and worked for 12 years at Baker Botts LLP in Dallas, handling patent infringement, trade secrets, contract and deceptive trade practice cases.

He has been working with the mission in Latin America since 2009, first in Bolivia and then in the Dominican Republic.

"Fernando is a man of exceptional integrity and excellent credentials," said Tim Durst, his former partner at Baker Botts in Dallas. "He's a very diligent and careful lawyer and his litigation skills run deep."

The Texas district court nominee who has prompted the most attention nationally is Jeffrey Carl Mateer, whom Trump wants to install in the Eastern District of Texas. Mateer got his education at Dickinson College and at Southern Methodist University School of Law. He oversees litigation as first assistant to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and is still listed as general counsel at First Liberty, a Dallas law firm devoted religious liberty.

Mateer made public statements castigating a transgender child, protecting states' rights to use conversion therapy for LGBT people and equating same-sex marriage with bestiality.

'Down the middle'

Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, another attorney at First Liberty, was nominated by Trump to take over a vacant judgeship in the Northern District. He graduated from Abilene Christian University and received his law degree from UT in 2003. Kacsmaryk previously worked as a federal prosecutor in the same north Texas judicial district, handling criminal appeals and terrorism trials. He also worked as an associate in Baker Botts LLP in Dallas in commercial, constitutional, and intellectual property litigation.

Also awaiting a confirmation to a North Texas district court Karen Gren Scholoer, a former state district judge in Dallas County when Democrats swept the elected seats on the local bench. Her speciality at the Carter Scholer Arnett Hamada & Mockler, PLLC, firm is business law, complex tort litigation, and alternative dispute resolution. She received her bachelor's from Rice University and her law degree from Cornell University.

Scholer received high ratings from retired U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson, the outgoing dean at University of North Texas Dallas College of Law. "Karen's kind of what you want in a judge: she's down the middle, not controversial, has a reputation for being fair and she's active in the bar supportive of the courts," he said.

'Straight shooter'

U.S. Magistrate Walter David Counts III has been tapped for a district court judgeship in the San Antonio-based Western District of Texas. Counts, a graduate of Texas Tech University and St. Mary's University Law School, was an assistant district attorney in Fort Worth. After working as a federal prosecutor, Counts left to become a judge advocate with the U.S. Army and the Texas National Guard and now manages a heavy docket of criminal cases as a federal magistrate judge in Midland.

Furgeson also lauded Counts as a "straight shooter."

"He is fair minded, evenhanded, noncontroversial and smart and he knows the rhythms of criminal trials and knows how to handle them in a straightforward way," the former judge said.

The president had not yet nominated attorneys for the remaining vacancies on federal benches in Texas, including two each in the eastern and northern districts, and one federal court in both the western and southern districts.
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Eleven federal courtrooms in Texas with some of the heftiest criminal and civil case loads in the country have sat empty for years amid political wrangling, including a judgeship in Brownsville that has been vacant since 2011. Texas also has two appeals court seats empty since 2012 and 2013.

Now, the Trump administration has been moving swiftly to fill these Texas vacancies, along with 51 others all considered judicial emergencies on district and appeals courts around the country.

And while President Donald Trump has struggled to sign landmark legislation in his first year, his most enduring legacy could be in the federal judiciary. Court watchers of all persuasions say he has rebuffed procedural customs and is on track to fill dozens of lifetime slots where judges have a daily hand in determining sentences, fines and remedies for misconduct, retaliation and environmental threats and deciding who may seek help in the nation's courts.

Given the number of vacancies and the clear path before him, Trump has the potential to pack the courts and flip the balance for the judiciary from liberal to conservative, observers say.

And the pace of approving these appointments has been dizzying. In all, the president has put forth 59 names for these critical positions.

While former President Barack Obama seated three appeals court judges in his first year, Trump has filled eight appeals court seats in just 10 months, with another nominee likely to be confirmed after the Thanksgiving holiday. That includes the confirmation of 50-year-old Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who because of his age could preside over cases for several decades.

Trump's picks for the bench are predominantly white, male and conservative, with critics claiming some harbor extremist views.

That includes a religious Texas lawyer and top lieutenant of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was caught on video referencing a transgender first-grader as "part of Satan's plan" for destruction.

Trump's choices for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench include 11 women, one African-American and three Asian-Americans, two of whom are slotted for Texas jobs on the district and appellate courts.

And the only Latino nominee is a Yale-educated Rio Grande Valley native tapped for the Brownsville vacancy, a top litigator who once taught at a Houston elementary school and now works for a global justice organization combating sex trafficking.

'Hyperpartisan' records

But the majority of Trump's selections are white and have backed virtues in their public lives that some see as troubling.

"The pattern we see in his nominations so far is unprecedented in the modern era in its lack of diversity," said Kyle Barry, senior policy counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Barry said the list of nominations to the federal judiciary stands out in the candidates' extreme opposition to civil rights and their "hyperpartisan records."

The tenor of the nomination process has also shifted, given the GOP has majority control of both legislative branches and the executive branch, observers say.

The nominees to Texas vacancies so far are reflective of a broader national trend, said Stephen Vladeck, who teaches about the federal courts at University of Texas law school.

"There's been a much more aggressive effort to quickly confirm nominees that will likely have the support of the majority but will have very little support across the aisle," the professor said. "They're not the kind of nominees designed to create bipartisan consensus but to take advantage of the fact that the Republicans right now don't need a consensus."

Vladeck said Trump's choices for the bench tend to be more skeptical of rights of criminal defendants and more hostile to civil litigation by private plaintiffs.

'Originalist' candidates

Groups pushing for "originalist" candidates in the mold of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia are glad that Trump followed through on his promise not to compromise.

"It's been thrilling to see the types of judges picked by this administration - some of the brightest legal minds out there - and we're thrilled particularly in the circuit court where this administration has had the freest hand to chose people," said Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director the Judicial Crisis Network in Washington, D.C.

The White House has named state court judges, academics and "people who are the rising legal stars," she said. Severino said the nominees share a principled commitment to intent of the Constitution.

But critics say the slate of would-be judges will hinder the courts' ability to deliver justice.

"They all share an ideology and a commitment to erode rights for women, LGBTQ Americans, minorities, workers and consumers," said Daniel Goldberg, legal director at the Alliance for Justice, a progressive group dedicated to a fair and independent judiciary.

"They're all individuals being placed on the bench because they have an agenda and have biases," he said. Goldberg said the president's nominees represent a concerted effort by the White House to push a one-sided agenda.

"Conservatives in the Republican party want to achieve through the courts what they're unable to achieve through the democratic process," Goldberg said.

For Lambda Legal, a civil rights organization devoted to protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, Trump's picks and the swiftness with which they've advanced through the confirmation process portend dire consequences.

"If you poison the judiciary, that's not something you can just fix," said Sharon McGowan, strategic director for the organization. "That's something that will be in the bloodstream of the judiciary for generations and all of us will suffer as a result."

Broken with tradition

Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, foresees the on-the-record histories of some Trump nominees could hinder the functioning of the courts.

"So many of the appointments nationwide are extreme thinkers, who from their records, from their statements, are not fit to sit on the federal courts," he said. "They're clearly outside the mainstream of legal thinking and they will precipitate more work for the rest of the judicial officers." He said actions by lawyers to disqualify these partisan judges would clog up the courts because other judges will have to spend time vetting their peers' work.

In selecting judicial nominees, Trump has broken with tradition on several fronts, streamlining the process and parting with optional checks and balances other presidents strictly observed.

For example, Trump has not observed the tradition of securing blue slips - which signify support - from both state senators before putting a candidate in that state forward for Senate approval. Similarly, he has ditched the practice of allowing nominees to be quietly vetted in advance by non-partisan legal reviewers at the American Bar Association on their character, temperament and likelihood for bias.

As a result, four nominees were scheduled for committee hearings and then after the fact rated "not qualified" by a majority of their peers.

Other procedural changes by Republicans lawmakers have sped up the nomination process. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who heads the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, has taken heat from Democratic colleagues for opting to schedule multiple candidates for question-and-answer sessions on a single panel.

Some of these candidates may require the senators to scour tens of thousands of pages of legal records.

The vetting process

When Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Ray Willett and Dallas attorney James Ho appeared for questioning about their suitability for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 15, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, took Grassley and his peers to task, noting it was the third time since May that two circuit court nominees were being vetted at the same hearing.

The California Democrat wondered aloud why Texas GOP Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz were in such a hurry to push these candidates through after they'd sat on the vacancies up since 2012 and 2013.

"Having waited four or five years respectively to come to agreement with the White House on nominees for these vacancies, it would seem that there is no need to rush these nominees through," Feinstein said, explaining that "both Justice Willett and Mr. Ho have extensive and controversial records and senators deserve to ask questions about them."

For Lena Zwarensteyn, an expert on the nomination process at the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, not allowing enough time for vetting is problematic.

"The administration is taking judicial nominations and confirmations seriously but not the nominees themselves," she said. "This administration and this Senate is trying to do everything they can to speed up the confirmation process."

She added, "It's not to say these nominees don't deserve a hearing, but with these lifetime appointments it makes sense to have the T's crossed and the I's dotted to the extent it's possible."
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Patricia Mejia gathered her three young children and made the arduous journey through Mexico to the U.S. border to escape El Salvador's often deadly violence.

When Border Patrol agents found the family near El Paso's international bridge this fall, Mejia had the children's birth certificates and said she wanted to ask for asylum and join her sister in Houston. She told the agents that a gang had threatened to kill her.

Up until a few months ago, the family would most likely have been detained together and released with instructions to appear in immigration court. There they could argue for asylum through a civil proceeding.

But under President Donald Trump's clampdown on immigration, Mejia was imprisoned for the criminal charge of illegally crossing the border, and her children were taken away and placed in federal foster care.

The White House threatened earlier this year to separate parents and children at the border, but backed off amid outrage. Then, in April, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered federal prosecutors to ramp up criminal charges for immigration offenses such as crossing the border without authorization. The effect, advocates say, was tantamount to a de-facto policy of family separation.

The Houston Chronicle has identified 22 cases since June in which parents like Mejia with no history of immigration violations were prosecuted for the misdemeanor crime of improper entry and had their children removed. Minors cannot be kept in federal prison.

Defense attorneys cite dozens more such cases. Groups who care for unaccompanied children report hundreds of recent separations, in which parents often lose touch with children in an opaque federal system involving a litany of agencies. The government declined to release its own statistics.

By the time Mejia discovered her kids were in a New York shelter for migrant children, she was frantic. She pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor and told an attorney she was abandoning asylum.

"Her biggest concern now is how to get the children back so that they can return with her," said Iliana Holguin, who consulted the mother in prison.

She remains in a West Texas immigration facility and it's unclear what happened to her children, though they likely were released to Mejia's sister.

The administration has promised to end the practice of "catch and release" in which migrants are freed to wait until their cases are heard in the immigration courts. But it has been constrained by a landmark 1997 federal settlement, known as the Flores Agreement, that bars the prolonged detention of migrant children even when they are with their parents. In an October speech in Austin, Sessions blamed such "loopholes" for a record surge of migrant families requesting asylum over the past eight years.

"After their release, many of these people simply disappeared," the attorney general said. "President Trump is going to fix that."

More Information Keep up with the latest immigration coverage here. To see more stories about the crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally, go here. See More Collapse

Advocates for migrants say prosecuting asylum seekers and taking their children violates international treaties that hold countries shouldn't punish refugees who enter unlawfully to ask for protection.

At a hearing Monday in El Paso, the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Texas will also argue that prosecuting asylum seekers and removing their children violates the U.S. Constitution.

"Parents are being denied access to their children without any due process," said Maureen Franco, the federal public defender. "Even the worst drug addicts still have rights to their children, but here we are just removing them without even a hearing."

The office has asked a federal court to dismiss improper entry charges against four Central American parents and one grandmother who have never been in the United States, but whose children were removed after the adults were imprisoned. The argument could spur dismissals elsewhere if a judge agrees.

The Trump administration says dismissing criminal charges because parents have been parted from their children could encourage adults to bring minors to avoid such prosecutions. "Not only is the Defendants' request unprecedented," government attorneys wrote in pleadings for Monday's hearing, "it is bad policy that could endanger more children."

***

Central American families and children make up the fastest-growing demographic of migrants here illegally, one-quarter of all apprehensions at the southern border this year. In all, about 29,800 unaccompanied children and 67,200 members of family units from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were detained between October 2016 and August 2017, according to the latest federal figures available.

Shortly after taking office, the Trump administration unveiled a series of policies to discourage families from making the dangerous journey north. It threatened to prosecute parents if they paid smugglers to bring children and, if necessary, to separate parents and children at the border. The number of families coming here plummeted. Facing intense criticism from advocates, then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly backed away, saying separations would occur only in extenuating circumstances such as an illness.

This summer, however, as family arrivals rose once more and Kelly left to become Trump's chief-of-staff, federal officials in certain areas along the border began the prosecutions for illegal entry, detaining parents while requiring their children go to federal shelters. The practice appears particularly pronounced in west Texas, where Border Patrol agents at an October meeting in El Paso acknowledged they were separating families.

"They were unabashed that they were doing it," said Franco, the federal public defender.

The following day, an attorney with Customs and Border Protection's Office of Assistant Chief Counsel e-mailed a "clarification" to attendees.

"The Border Patrol does not have a blanket policy requiring the separation of family units," wrote the lawyer, Lisa Donaldson. "Any increase in separated family units is due primarily to the increase in prosecutions of immigration-related crimes."

The broad prosecution of parents is at odds with what CBP has said publicly about its policy. In an interview this summer, assistant Border Patrol chief Carlos Villarreal said agents do not refer family units for criminal charges unless an adult has a prior conviction.

"We don't prosecute family units," he said.

But that has clearly begun to change.

In November, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection in El Paso, Roger Maier, wrote in an email that the policy was a matter for officials in Washington. Carlos Diaz, an agency spokesman in Washington over the southwestern border, pointed to 2015 procedures that instruct agents to maintain family unity "to the greatest extent operationally feasible "

He referred further inquiries to the Office of Refugee Resettlement in charge of children, which deferred questions back to CBP.

Lora Makowski, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, said in a statement that the office is following the Sessions' memorandum. "It neither targets nor exempts defendants based on their parental status," Makowski said. "Any increase in prosecutions stems from an increase of cases brought by Border Patrol to the U.S. Attorney's Office."

***

Monday's hearing in El Paso on the separation of families crossing the border is before U.S. Magistrate Judge Miguel Torres, who has asked prosecutors and defense attorneys for more information after expressing alarm at recent cases in his courtroom.

He referred in a recent order to the defendants' "limited and often non-existent lack of information about the well-being and whereabouts of their minor children from whom they were separated at the time of their arrest. Because of the Court's concerns regarding the possible impact of these issues on the defendant's rights  further briefing is necessary."

The federal public defender's office contends such separations violate migrants' rights to due process by forcing them to plead guilty in order to quickly join their children, essentially making their pleas involuntary.

Among the five defendants whose cases will be reviewed is 69-year-old Natividad Zavala from Honduras, who was with her 7-year-old grandaughter when federal agents found them near El Paso in October. Agents imprisoned Zavala and took away the girl, giving the grandmother a piece of paper she did not understand, according to court documents.

Another is Blanca Vasquez, who was with her son. The Salvadoran woman said Border Patrol agents told her he would be placed in a juvenile facility, but she told Torres at an earlier hearing that she was worried.

"I would be very worried as well if it was me," Torres responded from the bench.

The judge later told government and defense attorneys that he was troubled by migrants who face the misdemeanor improper entry charge, but are unable to obtain information about their children before having to plead guilty.

Most migrants plead guilty a few days after being arrested and following interviews with attorneys that can last just five minutes. There are few defenses to the crime, and thousands of such prosecutions a year, so the pleas unfold in speedy mass hearings lasting roughly an hour.

"Going to trial is simply a legal fiction for these parents," the public defender's office said in its motion. "The only choice is for them to enter a guilty plea and reunite with their minor children as soon as possible."

The government responded that migrants could, like any other defendants in criminal proceedings, pay the $5,000 bond and be released until trial. It said receiving information about their children isn't contingent upon the guilty plea, but a matter between parents and the Office of Refugee Resettlement overseeing minors. Dismissing charges could endanger children.

"The relief the Defendants request would have the disastrous effect of encouraging aliens to traffic or use children when making illegal entries into the United States," the prosecutors wrote.

***

Federal defense attorneys across the southern border say they are fielding unprecedented requests from migrant clients to find their children.

"When you hear that," said Chris Carlin, an assistant federal public defender in Alpine, "you really sit up and take notice."

The requests come from parents who have what advocates and attorneys consider legitimate asylum claims. In one of Carlin's cases, a Venezuelan husband and wife with a completed asylum application were imprisoned for improper entry.Their 15-year-old daughter was put into a federal shelter, and later released to an aunt. The couple was eventually freed to pursue asylum regarding the man's persecution for attending an anti-government protest.

In El Paso, Rebecca Reyes described seven recent clients without prior violations who told Border Patrol agents that they sought asylum. The parents were imprisoned and their children removed. Among them was 38-year-old Karla Portillo, who said she'd been threatened with death by Salvadoran gangs. The attorney was unable to find Portillo's 14-year-old daughter before the mother had to plead guilty.

"These people are already in crisis, already with so much trauma, the one thing they want to do is be with their kid," Reyes said. "And they're not just separated. They don't even know where they're at."

Nora Nunez, an assistant federal public defender in Yuma, Ariz., said her office has seen a rise in the prosecutions of parents coming here with their children for the first time.

"They are scared to death because they have no idea where their child is," Nunez said. "They ask me, and I'm like, 'I don't know.'"

Serena Premjee, an assistant federal public defender in San Diego, said she spent two weeks recently trying to locate her client's 5-year-old.

"This is a huge problem," she wrote in an email.

Advocates who work with migrant children similarly report an influx of minors who were separated from their parents after they were imprisoned for crossing.

"We have seen a dramatic spike in the number of cases, nearly a hundred of those cases in the past couple of months, sometimes involving children as young as 2," said Laura St. John, legal director of the Florence Project, an Arizona nonprofit serving unaccompanied children.

Bob Owen/Staff

***

Once parents and children are separated, it can be extraordinarily difficult to reunite them.

The process involves three federal departments, including Health and Human Services overseeing the Office of Refugee Resettlement in charge of unaccompanied children. The Department of Justice houses migrants charged with federal crimes. The Department of Homeland Security detains immigrants awaiting civil proceedings.

The agencies lack comprehensive procedures to track families, according to a report this year by advocacy groups including the Women's Refugee Commission.

"There aren't mechanisms in place to systematically allow a parent or child to locate one another once they have been separated," said Katharina Obser, a program officer at the commission who co-authored the study. "Family members lose track of each other."

Parents like Patricia Mejia, the Salvadoran mother, who are apprehended within 100 miles of the border are subject to a procedure known as expedited removal after they have pleaded guilty to illegal entry. Once they have served a typically short sentence of a week or two in federal prison, they are transferred to immigrant detention where they can make their case for asylum.

Even when migrants' initial asylum claims are approved by a hearing offier, they face the prospect of months in detention awaiting the final outcome of their cases before they can be reunited with their children.

Some parents have even chosen to abandon successful asylum claims and return home to dangerous situations with their children, rather than being separated from them for so long, said Jessica Jones, policy counsel for the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a nonprofit providing foster care for unaccompanied minors.

"Parents are put into impossible situations," she said.

If their asylum claims are rejected, the migrants can be quickly returned home without seeing an immigration judge, often before they have even located their children.

"What's terrifying is it doesn't seem as if the parent is asked, 'If you go right back, do you want your child to go with you?''' said Jennifer Nagda, policy director for the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, which provides guardians ad litem. "They are being separated and the parent is deported."

Sometimes parents are able to locate their children before they are removed from the country and can coordinate their return home together.

But in some cases, advocates for migrant children in federal foster care say they have been unable to find parents prior to their deportation. By then, the advocates say, the children have their own immigration cases and cannot simply be returned without court procedures, particularly if caseworkers argue it is against their best interest.

"What we are looking at is a separation of days and weeks and months, and some cases even years, because of the length of time a child's case can take," Nagda said. "Parents turn over every stone to find their children."

The government contends parents chose to bring their children, even though they have been warned they could risk more serious charges.

"Although the Defendants are only currently charged with the misdemeanor offense of illegal entry, their admitted conduct satisfies the elements of the felony offense of alien smuggling," prosecutors wrote in pleadings before Monday's hearing.

Sergio Garcia, the assistant public defender over the case in El Paso, responded that the migrants before Judge Torres on Monday are potential refugees with the right to keep their children with them until their asylum claims have been heard.

"Instead of giving them due process rights to a hearing on asylum, or refugee status, the government is just kidnapping their children," he said.
AUSTIN - For the first time, collectors of the official Texas Capitol ornaments can this year buy a 14-karat gold replica of the storied statehouse, from the dome to the chiseled granite facade.

An exact model, right down to the large Texas flag hanging at the south entrance.

Price: $125.

"We've never offered a complete 3-D of the Capitol in an ornament, and we expect this limited edition to sell out quickly," said Erin Christensen, director of retail sales for the State Preservation Board that manages and maintains the 1888 landmark.

"I think they will go fast. It's a limited edition ornament. We only have 500 of them."

She said initial sales of the ornament, a first-ever initiative, have been brisk.

In another first for the holiday season, the regular Capitol ornament has a transportation theme: A white carriage that's delivered the official state Christmas trees to the statehouse, led by a white horse.

The Capitol got its first holiday tree in 1917, a 25-foot, locally grown cedar that was placed in the Senate Chamber and decorated on Christmas Eve.

"Such a wonderful Christmas tree as this glorious cedar did make!" declared the Austin American, reporting that the tree was given in honor of Texas soldiers who were fighting abroad in World War I.

After the tree was decorated, visitors sang carols and donated gifts and then moved to the House Chamber for a holiday dance that, according to the story, "made complete the evening's pleasure."

In the decades since, holiday trees have been displayed in the Rotunda, Governor's Reception Room and both legislative chambers, as well as various spots on the lawn.

In recent years, the Capitol's holiday trees - now pines, delivered to the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker - have been delivered in a white carriage the week after Thanksgiving - a tradition memorialized in the 2017 ornament. It sells online and at the Capitol gift shops for $20 each.

"This is the second year that we've highlighted traditions at the Capitol as part of the ornament series," Christensen said. "Last year, the ornament was a decorated Capitol tree, featuring ornaments from the past 20 years. This year, we're honoring the tradition of the delivery of the Capitol trees."

The official Capitol ornaments have been issued since 1996, launched by Nelda Laney, wife of then-Speaker Pete Laney, D-Hale Center, as a way to raise money for maintenance of the historic landmark and fund educational programs on site for schools.

In the first two decades, ornaments mostly featured architectural features of the storied center of state government, including the Capitol's distinctive dome, its chiseled entryway, ornate doors and signature brass hinges, the "Lone Star" designs on its ceilings and fences, and the Goddess statue at the top of the dome.

More than $18 million in ornaments have been sold since the program started, said Chris Currens, a spokesman for the State Preservation Board.

Proceeds from the ornament program have gone to pay for painting the dome, new carpet in the legislative chambers that replicates the early-day floor coverings and restoration of historic paintings in the statehouse, officials aid.

From the time the first Capitol ornament was sold 21 years ago, just as a top-to-bottom restoration and expansion of the Capitol was completed, the tree-hangers have become collector's items.

Three years ago the 1 millionth Capitol ornament sold on eBay for $5,176 to a collector.

"We have every one of them on our tree at home, part of our family tradition," said Rae Giovanni, a Dallas resident and native Houstonian who was standing in line on a recent afternoon to buy the 2017 edition - as well as a limited-edition ornament.

"They're gorgeous, and they say Real Texas. What more could a Texan want at Christmas?"
In early November, the University of Houston hosted a conference and commemoration of the National Women's Conference called Taking 1977 into the 21st Century. It's been 40 years since that groundbreaking conference, where between 17,000 and 22,000 people met to organize for women's rights. This month, women from across the country reconvened to look back at the fruits of that historic gathering's labor: Second Wave Feminism, its failures, successes and the women of the Second Wave's role in supporting the work of today's feminist movement.

One of those returning attendees was Martha Cotera. Cotera delivered the John P. McGovern Endowed Lecture and keynote of the recent conference, recounting her experiences as one of the principal organizers for the Texas Latinas delegation at the 1977 conference.

In 2010 I was studying archives and academic librarianship at the University of Texas at Austin's School of Information. That's where, I first stumbled across the name Martha Cotera. Her name immediately caught my attention because it was just so rare to encounter a Latino surname in an archive - neither as a professional working in the field nor as the subject of an archival collection.

I was perusing the collection inventories at the Benson Latin American Collection at UT, one of the world's most comprehensive collections of Latin American and Latin materials. And there she was. Cotera's papers, held at the Benson, provided a description of Cotera's life but not the full breadth of her significance and trailblazing work. It was revolutionary for me to see that a Latina had come before me, merging the ethos of activism with archives, and dedicating her life's work to the inclusion and preservation of underrepresented Latin histories - particularly the histories of women.

Even today, those who work in libraries and archives fail to include the diversity of the communities and individuals we aim to document and preserve in our collections.

Cotera, who was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, immigrated to El Paso in 1946 with her family. It was in that border community where she began her career, but her most significant contributions to the Chicano Movement and the feminist movement would take place throughout Texas, notably in Austin, Crystal City and Houston. In 1964, Cotera moved to Austin to take a position with the Texas State Library, and there her activism for both Mexican-Americans and women began.

She became involved with the Political Association of Spanish Speaking Organizations, known by the acronym PASSO, the farmworkers movement and, alongside other Texas educators, formed Texans for the Educational Advancement of Mexican Americans.

Cotera had the foresight to realize that Latin people needed to mobilize for their place in society, but also for their place in education and history.

Cotera's activism and contributions to the Chicano movement would continue for the next half century.

Notable contributions and highlights of her career include establishing Mujeres Por La Raza, the women's caucus of the Raza Unida Party, a radical political party founded in Crystal City in the 1970s. In 1975, she began working as a consultant for the Benson Latin American Library and, for the next 25 years, worked to locate, preserve and raise awareness of Latin archives and history. Alongside her activism and work in archives and libraries, Cotera extensively published on the history and contributions of Mexican-Americans and Mexican-American women in books and in public education curriculum.

When remembering the 1977 National Women's Conference, Cotera notes the event's "unfulfilled mandate" and restates the conference's call to action from both men and women:

"Aqui estamos, y no nos vamos." (We're here, and we're not leaving.)

For me this battle cry resonates, in and out of the archive.

Lisa Cruces is the Hispanic Collections Archivist at the University of Houston.
An estimated 70 million to 200 million people worldwide have hepatitis C. The number of people newly infected each year ranges from 1.75 to 11 million. In the United States, 3.5 million people have hepatitis C, which causes 20,000 to 40,000 deaths every year. The shocking news is that hepatitis C is curable. At least six drug companies have developed curative treatments that are available today. Simply stated, drugs that cure hepatitis C can save half a million lives every year, but they are not accessible or affordable.

Hepatitis C is a virus most often transmitted through exposure to contaminated needles or, before 1992, blood transfusions. It causes the death of 350,000 to 500,000 individuals every year from complications such as liver cancer (50,000 to 200,000 cases) and liver cirrhosis (120,000 to 325,000 cases). Is this health care tragedy a "medical genocide?"

Genocide is a combination of a Greek word "genos" (birth/genus/kind/race) and a Latin word "-cide" (murder/kill/massacre). It refers to acts committed with intent to destroy groups with particular characteristics (national, ethnic, racial, religious, economic or others). The United Nations Genocide Convention does not recognize "medical genocide," but history is replete with acts committed with the intent to destroy a group with specific medical conditions (genetic disabilities, medical disabilities, low IQ). In this instance, people with hepatitis C are a large, well-defined group with a deadly disease; cure is available but at exorbitant prices; withholding therapy for economic profiteering is causing the death of half a million of them every year - a medical genocide.

Sofosbuvir is a highly active hepatitis C drug that costs $90,000 to $100,000 for one course of therapy. The drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2014. After just 27 months on the market, the drug had generated some $36 billion in revenue for its owner, the biopharmaceutical company Gilead, surpassing by far the cost of research and development, which was likely less than $500 million.

In India and some other countries, generic forms of sofosbuvir cost $200 to $500 for a full course of therapy. The cost of production of the drug is low, less than $100. Good profits can be generated from deeper penetration of an affordable treatment rather than from profiteering. In the United States, if Gilead and health-care authorities (aiming to eradicate hepatitis C) agreed to even a high price of $5,000 for a full course of therapy, this would generate immediate profits of $15 billion to Gilead, which could be reinvested in other profitable endeavors.

Gilead would "do good and do well." The disparity in the price of a course of sofosbuvir among different countries is caused by many factors. The price is highest in the United States, even though the drug was developed here with taxpayers' money. Our elected representatives state that "no American will die from lack of access to health care," but more than 20,000 Americans are dying every year from this one disease.

How can we prevent death from hepatitis C? One possibility involves a little-known law that allows the U.S. government to buy a drug at a reasonable cost to address a health-care crisis, such as hepatitis C. The law was used in the 1960s and '70s to buy several medications at a lower cost. However, the increasing power of the drug industry and its lobbies has prevented similar, more recent attempts.

Another possibility involves what is commonly known as "march-in rights." This law gives the federal government the right to license a patent itself if the patent owners received federal funding for their research. March-in rights can be exercised when there is a threat to public safety (as hepatitis C clearly is) that the patent owner is not equipped to handle. In this case, pharmaceutical companies pose a threat to the American people by setting high drug prices, preventing the eradication of a curable disease.

What is also shameful is the paralysis of our nation and the world when facing the powerful drug industry and its lobbies, allowing the death of up to half a million people worldwide every year. This is also allowing the persistence of a situation where hepatitis C infects more people than are cured with the drugs every year. By 2015, the number of people treated for hepatitis C was 5.5 million, but only half a million had received the new, curative drugs referred to as "direct-acting antivirals." Could the drug industry be setting conditions that allow them to secure an indefinite source of profit?

A lesser-discussed aspect of this issue is the responsibility of people who are aware of the situation but remain silent, including American and international health-care regulators and physicians who are entrusted with the lives of hepatitis C patients. We have become passive participants in the ongoing medical genocide of patients with this dread disease perpetrated by a drug industry unwilling to "do good while doing well" and withholding curative treatments for the sake of merciless profiteering.

Kantarjian is chairman of the Department of Leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a Baker Institute Special Fellow for Health Policies at Rice University. An extended version of this editorial will be published in the journal Cancer.
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government has launched a new health and safety toolkit in an effort to improve performance across the country and bring down the multi-billion-dollar bill incurred by employers every year.Available to every employer across New Zealand, SafePlus consists of three products: Resource and Guidance, Onsite Assessment and Advisory Service and the Online Self-Assessment Tool.New Zealand has an unnecessarily high rate of serious workplace accidents, said Malcolm MacMillan, SafePlus program manager. The social and economic cost of this in New Zealand workplaces is conservatively estimated at $3.5 billion each year, and inflicts an enormous emotional toll on the people affected.MacMillan added that SafePlus digs deep into a business to assess workers practices, behaviours, attitude and culture towards health and safety.This behavioural approach helps them identify opportunities and strive for excellence, he said.Businesses will also be able to directly engage with assessors by registering at the SafePlus Register of Independent Accredited Assessors.They have been trained to deliver SafePlus and carry sector-specific and also a generalist experience.This public register can be found at www.safeplus.nz The services [the assessors] provide during an Onsite Assessment and Advisory Service will change the way businesses view their health and safety in the workplace, MacMillan said.He added that their approach focuses on people and their practices rather than written policies and procedures.They engage at all levels of a business, from senior leaders to front line workers, then use these insights to measure a businesss health and safety performance, and provide them with advice and guidance.SafePlus is a voluntary performance improvement toolkit that defines what good health and safety looks like in the workplace, and sits above minimum legal compliance.It is a joint harm-prevention initiative developed by WorkSafe New Zealand, ACC and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).SafePlus has been developed in direct response to the Independent Taskforce into Health and Safety, and the Working Safer Reforms.Working Safer seeks to reduce New Zealands workplace injury and death toll by 25 per cent by 2020.




iciHaiti - Politic : The work of the Irois micro-power plant progresses





Friday, for the third time, President Jovenel Moise, went to Les Irois, in the department of Grand'Anse, to follow the progress of the work of the first micro-central mixed power plant in Haiti : wind, solar and diesel https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21723-haiti-technology-irois-power-plant-a-first-in-the-country.html which will provide electricity 24/24 to the inhabitants of Irois and Tiburon



The plant will operate 4 blocks of 36 wind turbines each of 166 watts and a solar system of 380 panels, for a total combined output of 145 to 160 kilowatts, will have a diesel emergency generator with a capacity of 150 Kilowatts.



The Head of State was satisfied with the progress of the work, recalling once again his promise to set up a national grid to interconnect the 10 departments of the country, saying that the Government is also moving to install an individual solar system program in remote areas with low population density, to allow citizens from all over the national territory to benefit from electricity.



IH/ S/ iciHaiti


















Imperial Valley News Center

Border Patrol Assist Victim of Domestic Violence

Ysleta, Texas - Border Patrol Agents working in the area of Ysleta, Texas observed an assault this week which led to an arrest of one male subject.

Agents from Ysleta were performing patrol duties in the Lower Valley when they witnessed what was believed to be a vehicle carjacking and assault. Upon seeing Border Patrol Agents, the assailant attempted to flee. Border Patrol Agents sprang reacted by activating their emergency equipment in an attempt to stop the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle failed to yield, and proceeded to evade the Agents through the city. Agents contacted the El Paso Police Department (EPPD) and Sheriffs department for assistance.

Agents continued following the vehicle until the driver eventually yielded voluntarily near Eastlake, along Interstate-10. After further investigation, it was revealed the passenger had been involved in a domestic assault. Agents contacted a Border Patrol Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) to evaluate the passenger, but she denied any medical attention. EPPD arrived and arrested a 37-year-old U.S. Citizen, charging him with domestic violence. The victim was placed in the care of the El Paso Police Department.
Border Patrol Discovers Meth in Vehicles Spare Tire

Indio, California - U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Centro Sector arrested two women last night, suspected of smuggling narcotics in their vehicle.

At approximately 11:30 p.m., Border Patrol agents conducted a vehicle stop on a 2011 Jeep Patriot, occupied by two women and a minor child, near Dillon Road and Highway 86. As agents interviewed the driver, a Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the undercarriage area of the womans vehicle.

Agents searched the spare tire of the Jeep and discovered 10 packages concealed inside. The contents of the packages were tested and proved positive for the characteristics of methamphetamine.

The combined weight of the packages totaled 11.4 pounds with an estimated street value of $39,900.

The two women, child, narcotics, and vehicle were turned over to the Riverside County Sheriffs Office pending further investigation.

In fiscal year 2018, El Centro Sector Border Patrol has seized more than 120.32 pounds of methamphetamine.
Tobacco companies must start running court-ordered ads telling the truth about their lethal products

Washington, DC - Starting today, the major U.S. tobacco companies must run court-ordered newspaper and television advertisements that tell the American public the truth about the deadly consequences of smoking and secondhand smoke, as well as the companies intentional design of cigarettes to make them more addictive.

The ads are the culmination of a long-running lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice filed against the tobacco companies in 1999. A federal court in 2006 ordered the tobacco companies to make these corrective statements after finding that they had violated civil racketeering laws (RICO) and engaged in a decades-long conspiracy to deceive the American public about the health effects of smoking and how they marketed to children. The ads will finally run after 11 years of appeals by the tobacco companies aimed at delaying and weakening them.

View the full text of the corrective statements and details on when and where they will run.

Make no mistake: The tobacco companies are not running these ads voluntarily or because of a legal settlement. They were ordered to do so by a federal court that found they engaged in massive wrongdoing that has resulted in a staggering number of deaths per year, an immeasurable amount of human suffering and economic loss, and a profound burden on our national health care system, as U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler wrote in her 2006 final opinion.

This case and the corrective statements are timely reminders both that tobacco use remains an enormous public health problem in the United States  it is the No. 1 cause of preventable disease and death  and that tobaccos horrific toll stems directly from the harmful practices of the tobacco industry.

Tobacco Companies Havent Changed

Despite their claims to the contrary, the tobacco companies have not changed. Their continuing aversion to the truth is clear from how hard they fought the corrective statements, going so far as to seek removal of the phrase here is the truth. Their main business is still to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products, and the Federal Trade Commission reports they spend $8.2 billion a year to market cigarettes in the U.S., the bulk of it spent on price discounts that research has found increases youth smoking. The tobacco company defendants in this case sell the three most popular cigarette brands among youth, which are Philip Morris Marlboro and R.J. Reynolds Newport and Camel.

The tobacco companies also continue to attack efforts to reduce smoking and other tobacco use. Last year, for example, Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds spent more than $90 million against three ballot initiatives to increase state cigarette taxes. As Judge Kessler concluded in her 2006 opinion, Defendants could significantly reduce adolescent smoking by withdrawing their opposition to tax increases and stopping all price related marketing. Instead, the tobacco companies have done the exact opposite.

In her opinion, Judge Kessler found that there is a likelihood of present and future violations of RICO. She added, The evidence in this case clearly establishes that Defendants have not ceased engaging in unlawful activity.

Bold Action Needed to Win Fight Against Tobacco

Despite tremendous progress in reducing smoking, tobacco use still kills more than 480,000 Americans and costs our nation about $170 billion in health care expenses each year. The corrective statements are an important step forward, but we also need bold corrective action to accelerate progress and win the fight against tobacco.

At the federal level, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must fully utilize the authority it received under a 2009 law to regulate all tobacco products. In particular, the FDA should take several actions that can make an enormous difference in reducing smoking and other tobacco use. It should implement its plan to limit nicotine in cigarettes to minimally addictive or non-addictive levels, and it should include other combustible products. It should require graphic warnings covering at least half of cigarette packs, as the 2009 law mandated. And it should prohibit the use of menthol in cigarettes and flavors in other products, which have been shown to promote youth use of these products. In addition, Congress must reject pending proposals that would weaken FDA oversight of tobacco products and cut funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions critical tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

At the state and local levels, elected officials should support strong policies including: significant tobacco tax increases; comprehensive smoke-free laws; increasing the legal sale age for tobacco to 21; coverage for comprehensive quit-smoking benefits; well-funded prevention and cessation programs; and, in the absence of FDA action, prohibitions and restrictions on flavored tobacco products, including menthol-flavored cigarettes.

It is within our reach to win the fight against tobacco, but only if policymakers at all levels stand up to the tobacco industry and put the nations kids and health first.

Background on the Case and Corrective Statements

Judge Kessler issued her verdict against the major tobacco companies on August 17, 2006a decision that has repeatedly been affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals, as recently as last year. In a 1,683-page opinion, she detailed how the tobacco companies have marketed and sold their lethal products with zeal, with deception, with a singled-minded focus on their financial success, and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted.

Judge Kessler ordered the tobacco companies to publish corrective statements on five topics about which they had deliberately deceived the public:

the adverse health effects of smoking;

the addictiveness of smoking and nicotine;

the lack of significant health benefit from smoking low tar, light, ultra light, mild and natural cigarettes (products that have been deceptively marketed as less harmful than regular cigarettes);

the manipulation of cigarette design and composition to ensure optimum nicotine delivery; and

the adverse health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke.

Starting November 26, the tobacco companies must place full-page print ads in the Sunday editions of more than 50 newspapers specified by the court (newspapers without a Sunday edition must run the ads on the previous Friday). Five ads  one on each of the corrective statements  will be published over a four-month period. The ads must also appear on the newspapers websites.

The TV ads will air on the major networks for one year, Monday through Thursday, between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. The tobacco companies must also publish the corrective statements on their websites and cigarette packs, but the implementation details are still being finalized.

Tobacco company defendants in the case include Altria, its Philip Morris USA subsidiary and R.J. Reynolds.

Our six public health organizations  the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Americans for Nonsmokers Rights, National African American Tobacco Prevention Network and the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund (a 501c4 affiliate of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids)  joined the case as intervenors in 2005 to ensure the public health interests were effectively presented to the court.

The public health intervenors are represented by the Washington, D.C., public interest law firm of Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks.
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Rance Howard father of actors Ron Howard and Clint Howard, grandfather of Bryce Dallas Howard and Paige Howard  has died, aged 89.

Ron announced the news on social media, writing: Clint and I have been blessed to be Rance Howards sons. Today he passed at 89.

"He stood especially tall for his ability to balance ambition with great personal integrity. A depression-era farm boy, his passion for acting changed the course of our family history. We love and miss you Dad.

Rances own career as an actor spandex many decades, landing his first Hollywood movie role in 1956s Frontier Woman, later appearing in A Beautiful Mind, Chinatown, and The Lone Ranger.

He also appeared in many of the films Ron directed, including Angels & Demons, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Apollo 13, and directorial debut Grand Theft Auto.

Granddaughter Bryce  best known for appearing in Jurassic World and Black Mirror  paid tribute by sharing the Henry Van Dyke's poem Gone From My Sight along with the message: "My grandfather, the patriarch of our family's favourite poem, he could recite it from heart."

Notable deaths in 2017 Show all 28 1 /28 Notable deaths in 2017 Notable deaths in 2017 Hugh Hefner, the creator of Playboy magazine, died 28 September 2017 aged 91 Central Press/Stringer - Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Liz Dawn as Vera Duckworth in Coronation Street, pictured with co-star Bill Tarmey who played her husband Jack. Dawn died 25 September 2017, aged 77 ITV Notable deaths in 2017 Walter Becker, one of the founders of the band Steely Dan, died September 3 aged 67 Rex Notable deaths in 2017 David Tang, one of Hong Kong's most famous businessman, died of liver cancer aged 63 on 29 August AFP/Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington died July 20 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Holocaust survivor and stateswoman who fought for abortion rights, Simone Veil, died July 4 Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Michael Bond, author and creator of Paddington Bear, died June 28 PA Notable deaths in 2017 TV's Batman, Adam West, died June 12 AFP/Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Peter Sallis, who starred in Last of the Summer Wine and voiced Wallace and Gromit, died on June 5 Rex Notable deaths in 2017 John Noakes, The action hero of Blue Peter, died May 29 Rex Notable deaths in 2017 Former MotoGP world champion, Nicky Hayden, died age 35, on May 26. He was knocked off his bicycle by a car in Italy. Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Sir Roger Moore died on May 23 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Soundgarden singer, Chris Cornell, who helped define grunge music died May 17 Kevin Winter/Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Moors Murderer Ian Brady died May 15 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Powers Boothe, star of Deadwood and Sin City, dies, aged 68 on May 15 Todd Williamson/Invision/AP Notable deaths in 2017 Robert Miles, Trance DJ behind hit track 'Children', died from cancer aged 47 on May 12 PA Notable deaths in 2017 Happy Days child star, Erin Moran, died at the age of 56 on April 24 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2017 Ex-player and Tottenham U23 coach Ugo Ehiogu died after he suffered a cardiac arrest at the training ground, aged 44 on April 21 Getty Notable deaths in 2017 British athlete Germaine Mason, silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics, died following a motorcycle crash, aged 34 on April 21 Rex Notable deaths in 2017 Actor Tim Pigott-Smith star of TV, film and theatre died on April 7 Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Rupert Cornwell an award-winning foreign correspondent who embodied the spirit of The Independent died on April 1 Notable deaths in 2017 Morse creator Colin Dexter died on March 21 PA Notable deaths in 2017 Rock and roll legend Chuck Berry died on March 18 Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Sir Howard Hodgkin, one of Britain's greatest abstract painters of the post-war period died on March 9 Rex Notable deaths in 2017 Sir Gerald Kaufman was the oldest of the longest-serving MPs and Father of the House of Commons when he died on February 27 PA Notable deaths in 2017 Joost van der Westhuizen died at the age of 45 on February 6 Getty Notable deaths in 2017 John Hurt died aged 77 on 28 January Getty Notable deaths in 2017 Lord Snowdon, husband to Princess Margaret died on January 13 Getty

The poem about death ends: "Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, 'There, she is gone," there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, 'Here she comes! And that is dying."

Actors including Russell Crowe, Corey Feldman and Josh Gad have since paid tribute to Rance, Crowe writing: "He was a fine man indeed was Rance Howard. Fine man, fine actor. Being in his company was always a pleasure."

Lance also appeared on numerous television shows, including Seinfeld, Murder She Wrote, NCIS: Los Angeles, Grey's Anatomy and Happy Days. His wife, Judy Howard, died earlier this year in January.
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From leading chats of f**k Donald Trump to writing entire songs against the former Celebrity Apprentice host, Eminem has been consistently vocal about his hatred for the current President.

Earlier this year, the rapper launched a fierce attack on Trump in a freestyle broadcast at the BET Hip Hop Awards. During the explosive 4 minute rap, Eminem labelled the President a "bitch", a "racist" and a "kamikaze".

Speaking on the American radio show Shade 45, the Detroit-born artist spoke candidly about Trump once more, expressing annoyance the President hadnt yet commented on the freestyle.

I was and still am extremely angry, and I cant stand that motherf**ker, and I feel like hes not paying attention to me, he said. And I was kind of waiting for him to say something and for some reason, he didnt say anything,

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

Trumps silence on the subject has come as a surprise to many people, not just Eminem  the Twitter-using leader of the free world is known to use social media to speak out against his high-profile critics.

Recommended Donald Trump supporters furious after Eminem slams President in rap

Perhaps Trump has remained silent because he once endorsed Eminem to be President. I know a winner when I see one, he said in 2004. And Donald Trump is telling you right now, Slim Shady is a winner.

Meanwhile, Eminem released his first single off the upcoming album, Walk on Water featuring Beyonce, earlier this month.
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Following a wave of sexual harassment allegations made against Hollywood bigwigs, dozens of actors have started speaking publicly about their own experiences.

During a talk at Vulture Festival, Natalie Portman spoke candidly out about the harassment she has received and the normalisation of such behaviour.

When I heard everything coming out, I was like, wow, Im so lucky that I havent had this, she told an audience.

And then, on reflection, I was like, okay, definitely never been assaulted, definitely not, but Ive had discrimination or harassment on almost everything Ive ever worked on in some way.

I went from thinking I dont have a story to thinking, Oh wait, I have 100 stories. And I think a lot of people are having these reckonings with themselves, of things that we just took for granted as like, this is part of the process.

Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Show all 42 1 /42 Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein Harry Weinsteins reputation as one of Hollywoods leading executives was long cemented in stone. The acclaimed movie mogul, who produced Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and The Artist, clocked up box office successes and accolades aplenty. But this has quickly changed since a chorus of women have come forward to accuse the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault. Since the New York Times bombshell report disclosed sexual harassment and rape allegations against the film mogul dating back decades, Weinstein has been fired from his namesake company, expelled from the Oscars and has had his wife leave him. Weinstein has apologised for having caused a lot of pain but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Annabella Sciorra The Sopranos actor alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced. Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorra's apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt. He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled. Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her. After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying 'We heard you were difficult', something the actor claims was because of the 'Weinstein-machine'. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Natassia Malthe The model and actress, who has appeared in around 50 films, said she met Weinstein at a BAFTA after party in 2008 while she was working as a spokeswoman for LG. She told a press conference in New York that she felt pressured into telling Weinstein she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel after being put on the spot. Malthe, now 43, said after her shift on February 10 she went back to her room and went to sleep, but was awoken by "repeated pounding" on her door, from someone yelling: "Open the door Natassia Malthe, it's Harvey Weinstein." Feeling humiliated, she said she opened the door. She alleged Weinstein began implying sex would get her a role in an upcoming film while semi-undressed and then he began to masturbate. "I was sitting on the bed talking to Harvey when he pushed me back and forced himself onto me. It was not consensual. He did not use a condom," she said. AP Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sean Young The actor, best known for her role in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, said that Weinstein exposed himself to her in the early 1990s, when she was starring in the Miramax-produced Love Crimes - a production company that Weinstein headed at the time. "I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really dont think you should be pulling that thing out, its not very pretty.'" Young never worked with Weinstein again after the incident. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lupita Nyong'o In an op-ed for The New York Times, the Oscar-winning actor said she was invited to Weinsteins family home in Connecticut on the premise of watching a film shortly after they met in 2011. But she said shortly after it started he "insisted" in front of his children that she follow him and she was led to his bedroom. The Kenyan-Mexican actress, now 34, said she felt pressured into giving him a massage after he offered her one. "Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants," she wrote."I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that." Over the years that followed, he continued to get in touch, Nyong'o said, and when she declined another proposition she felt her career was threatened. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lena Headey Writing on social media, the Game of Thrones actor claims she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he made some suggestive comment and gesture. Headey claims she bumped into Weinstein years later where he kept asking her questions about her love life. She alleges that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the "energy shifted. The actor notes how, after saying she was not interesting in anything but the work, Weinstein was furious, apparently marching her back to a lift, "grabbing and holding tightly to the back of [her] arm." She claims that, after paying for her car, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. Headey finished the post, writing: I got in the car and I cried. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Laura Madden Madden, a production assistant who worked at Miramax for a decade, told the Times that Weinstein allegedly prodded her for massages at hotels, a common theme among the sources the Timess reporters spoke with. On one occasion, she claims she locked herself in his hotel bathroom, sobbing Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Judd recounted for the Times how Weinstein allegedly harassed her while she was filming Kiss the Girls in 1996, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her for a massage, then inviting her to watch him shower. Judd first went public with the allegations in a 2015 interview with Variety during which she discussed the experience without naming the producer involved. She described Weinsteins alleged behaviour as coercive bargaining; I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask, she told the Times AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rose McGowan McGowan reportedly reached a previously undisclosed $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, over an incident that occurred in a hotel room Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emily Nestor Nestor had been temping at the Weinstein Company for only one day in 2014 when Weinstein allegedly offered to boost her career in return for sexual favours, according to the Times. She declined and reportedly complained of his behaviour to colleagues, who later passed the information on to senior executives. An internal Weinstein Company document cited by the Times describes Nestors encounter with Weinstein as follows: She said he was very persistent and focused though she kept saying no for over an hour Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ambra Battilana In March 2015, Battilana, an aspiring model and actress, was reportedly summoned to Weinsteins office on a Friday night to discuss her career. According to a police report cited by the Times, Battilana claimed she was assaulted by Weinstein, who grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt. Weinstein later claimed that Battilana had set him up, according to colleagues of his who were interviewed by the Times. The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, later declined to press charges, and according to the Times, made a payment to Battilana. On 5 October, the International Business Times reported that after Vance dropped the charges, he received $10,000 from Weinsteins lawyer Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lauren OConnor Lauren OConnor, an employee of the Weinstein Company, penned a memo to executives alleging a toxic environment for women at the company. The memo cited numerous incidents of Weinstein harassing or coercing women who worked for him. She expressed fear that Weinstein was using her and other female employees to facilitate liaisons with vulnerable women who hope he will get them work. That same year, Weinstein allegedly reached a settlement with OConnor Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Kate Beckinsale The actor, who starred in the Weinstein Company films Serendipity and The Aviator, alleges that she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room at the age of just 17. When she approached the door, the producer reportedly greeted her dressed in just a dressing gown. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote on Instagram. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Gwyneth Paltrow The actor alleges that after he cast her in the title role of the film Emma when she was 22, he took her to his hotel room, placed his hands on her and suggested massages. I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, Paltrow told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Asia Argento Italian actress Asia Argento has alleged that in 1997 Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak, Argento told The New Yorker. After the rape, he won. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Cara Delevigne The British model and actress penning an Instagram post claiming that Weinstein had ordered her to kiss another woman in his hotel room, and tried to kiss her on the lips. AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Ashley Judd said she rebuffed Harvey Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances by offering to consent only after she had won an Oscar. When she was initially invited to a meeting with Weinstein, Judd said, she was surprised to learn the producer was in his hotel room - a tactic that recurs in other womens accounts. Echoing the accounts of other women, Judd said Weinstein suggested she give him a massage and then invited her to watch him shower. After a volley of nos she said she would only after she wins an Oscar, fleeing after making the comments. Reuters/Mike Segar Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Judith Godreche French actress Judith Godreche said when she was 24 Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked to give her a massage. The next thing I know, hes pressing against me and pulling off my sweater, she told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mira Sorvino The Oscar-winning actor said she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein in 1995 where he started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around. According to an interview in The New Yorker Weinstein subsequently arrived at her apartment late at night and she had to call a friend to come over to pose as her boyfriend in order to get Weinstein out of the house. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Katherine Kendall The actress said Weinstein undressed and chased her around a living room when she was just 23. She subsequently felt that telling others meant Ill never work again and no one is going to care or believe me, she told the New York Times. WireImage Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Tomi-Anne Roberts As an aspiring actress and working in a restaurant in New York, Tomi-Ann Roberts encountered Weinstein who encouraged her to audition for one of his films back in 1984. She subsequently went to meet him and found him naked in the bath and invited her to get naked and get into the bath with him, she told the New York Times. She said she left feeling manipulated. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Myleen Klass It has also been alleged that the disgraced film producer propositioned Myleene Klass with a sex contract at Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One of the singer and television personalitys friends reportedly told The Sun, Klass had told Weinstein to f*** off. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sophie Dix Sophie Dix, best known for her role as Captain Sadie Williams in Soldier Soldier, described her encounter with Weinstein when she was 23 as the single most damaging thing thats happened in my life. She told The Guardian Weinstein had pushed her to her bed and was tugging at her clothes. She rushed to the bathroom to escape, but when she came out she found him standing there masturbating. I quickly closed the door again and locked it, she said. Then when I heard room service come to the door I just ran. Rex Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lea Seydoux The actor and director claims she had to fight off Weinstein after he brought her to his hotel room during what she remembers to be 2012. He suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted, she wrote in The Guardian. AFP/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Claire Forlani British actress Claire Forlani wrote on Twitter that she had evaded Weinsteins advances on five occasions at the age of 25. At meetings with the Hollywood a-lister, she says massage was suggested, and that Weinstein had boasted of all the women hed had sex with. Mark Douet Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Florence Darel French actress Florence Darel claimed Weinstein relentlessly pursued her in the mid 1990's and propositioned her while Eve Chilton, his wife at the time, was in the hotel room next door. I was astonished, she told People magazine. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony, who starred as Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks, has claimed Weinstein raped her in the late 1980's after turning up to her London home in the late 1980s. She described the disgraced film producers alleged attack as pathetic and revolting and said it left her feeling disgusted and embarrassed. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Dawn Dunning Dunning said she met Weinstein in 2003 when she was 24-years-old and the disgraced film producer suggested she have a threesome with him and someone else. She told the New York Times Weinstein got angry when she refused. Youll never make it in this business, she said he told her as she left. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Arquette was already well known for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan, when she said she met Weinstein at his hotel to pick up a script in the early nineties. Weinstein was dressed only in a dressing gown, and tried to put her hand on his erect penis. Speaking to the New York Times, Arquette said as she left she told him: I will never be that girl. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emma de Caunes Caunes, a French actor, claimed Weinstein took her to his hotel room in 2010 supposedly to retrieve a book he was making into a film, but once there he went into the bathroom. De Caunes said he then emerged naked, with an erection and told her to lie on the bed. She fled the room. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Zoe Brock Model Zoe claimed that she had to lock herself in a bathroom at Weinsteins hotel in 1997, after the mogul had sent all of the assistants out of the room, and then appeared naked. I was alone with Weinstein, she told ITVs This Morning programme. He very quickly left the room and came back naked. He chased me naked. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Barth Actress Jessica Barth described an encounter with Weinstein in 2011 in an interview with The New Yorker in which she said Weinstein veered between offering her roles in films and demanding a naked massage. She alleges the producer said to her: So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? When she tried to leave, he then promised to give her the number of a female executive at the company. He gave me her number, and I walked out and I started bawling, Barth said. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Romola Garai The actress told The Guardian she felt violated after she went to a meeting with Weinstein at the age of 18 and he met her in his hotel room wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Heather Graham Graham claimed that during a casting opportunity in the early 2000's Weinstein had told her he had an open relationship with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy, Graham told Variety. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there. Graham was never hired to work in a Weinstein film. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Hynes Spaced and W1A star Jessica Hynes tweeted about an encounter with Weinstein earlier this week, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louisette Geiss The former actress said she met Weinstein to pitch a film script she was working on. During the meeting, Weinstein allegedly went out and reappeared naked and got into a jacuzzi where he masturbated in front of her and said he would make the script into a film if she stayed and watched. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Liza Campbell Liza Campbell, a British writer and artist, alleged that Olympically ugly Weinstein asked her to join him in the bath and began getting undressed at a hotel. In a piece for The Times, Campbell claimed she was forced to sprint to the door to escape. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louise Godbold Writing in a blog post, Louise Godbold, a non-profit director in Los Angeles, said her encounter with Weinstein took the form of an office tour that became an occasion to trap me in an empty meeting room. She said then Weinstein was begging for a massage, his hands on my shoulders as I attempted to beat a retreat.

Portman detailed one incident where she was invited to fly with a producer on a private jet. However, when she got on board, she found that only one bed had been prepared for the two of them.

Nothing happened, I was not assaulted, the actor continued. I said: This doesnt make me feel comfortable, and that was respected. But that was super not okay, you know? That was really unacceptable and manipulative and could have been  I was scared, you know?

But just the fact of any woman, if youre walking down the street alone at night, you feel scared, and Im not sure guys know what that [feels like].

The actor also spoke about the lack of diversity on most film sets, saying its rare to have female crew members apart from stereotypical departments for women such as hair, makeup and wardrobe.

If you do get the opportunity to work, youre often the only woman in the room. I hear this from friends of mine who are lawyers, business people, writers on shows.
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A team of scientists who found an array of sea life not found before in an area they explored beneath an Antarctic ice shelf believe the dramatic change may be caused by global warming.

Research divers who inspected the seafloor below the Ross Ice Shelf for the first time in eight years ago said in the past marine creatures here were sparse because it was usually in darkness.

But they think the thinning of the ice shelf explains why this time they found organisms such as deep-sea sponges, sea stars, brittle stars and sea cucumbers, The Washington Post reported.

They suspect the change is due to sunlight now being able to filter through the frozen mass due to climate change  allowing plankton to form and sustain a wider variety of underwater life.

The team of scientist divers - three from Finland and six from New Zealand  are currently camping on the ice shelf near New Harbour in the Ross Sea from where they embark on their underwater expeditions.

Two of the researchers noted how the marine life had changed since the groups first trip below the frozen mass on a previous venture, one of the group reported.

Two days ago, [two of the researchers] did the first dive of the year under the ice in crystal clear water, and much to everyones surprise, the animal community on the seafloor had changed dramatically since the last visit in 2009, Finnish scientist Patrick Degerman wrote in a dispatch. Surprisingly big changes in the coastal seafloor communities have occurred in only a few years."

The first diver observations show that the changes can be unexpectedly rapid, even in Antarctica, where everything is expected to happen very slowly due to the low temperature, he added on the expeditions Facebook page, 'Science Under the Ice'.

What used to be a very stable, sparse and food-deprived animal community on the seafloor under the thick ice in New Harbour is now much richer, with more species and higher densities of animals, Mr Degerman wrote. Some species rarely observed at this site now appear to be relatively common.

The scientists are based at two camps on the Ross Ice Shelf where they will be stationed for six weeks. They are comparing their discoveries to findings made during the previous mission.

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 aim of this expedition is to explore how climate change will affect the marine biodiversity in Antarctica, Mr Degerman said.

The rich community now observed is most likely a rapid response to the sea ice breaking out two years in a row, resulting in more light and higher productivity in the ecosystem.
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Activists were calling on Pope Francis to speak out for the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state as he arrived in Burma on Monday, as part of a state visit to that country and Bangladesh which was organised before the latest violence began.

Human Rights Watch told The Independent the pontiff must "express the outrage of the international community" during his stay in the capital Yangon.

But other advisers, including a Burmese Catholic cardinal and former UN chief Kofi Annan, warned Pope Francis against even using the word "Rohingya" in the presence of his hosts.

The Burmese government refers to the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled the country citing a campaign of persecution, as "Bengalis" - painting them as illegal immigrants.

Rohingya is "a very contested term, and the military and government and the public would not like him to express it, Burmese Cardinal Charles Maung Bo said earlier this month, following a meeting with Pope Francis.

Catholics inside the country have also expressed concern about a backlash. Like other people, Im afraid of what he will say about Rakhine state, a priest called Father Paul said. I dont think he will say anything.

Mr Annan, who headed a commission of inquiry into the Rakhine persecutions, said using the term could be incendiary.

The word is so emotional, he said.

However, Pope Francis has already used the word: in one of his weekly addresses in February, the pontiff said he wanted people to pray particularly for our Rohingya brothers and sisters.

They have been thrown out of Burma, moved from one place to another because no one wants them. But they are good people, peaceful people, he said. They are our brothers and sisters. For years they have suffered, they have been tortured and killed simply because they practice their own traditions, their own Muslim faith.

Last week, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke refused to confirm whether Pope Francis would utter Rohingya during his trip, adding that its not a prohibited word.

Lets just say its very interesting diplomatically, he told reporters.

The UN dubbed the Rohingya the most oppressed people on Earth even before the latest military offensive began in August. More than 600,000 have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh over the past three months.

Last week, the US labelled the ongoing violence against the Rohingya ethnic cleansing.

Considering the scale of the violence and displacement faced by the minority group, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, told The Independent he believes the pontiff should make a point of using the word Rohingya.

[He] should express the outrage of the international community and all people of faith about the brutal ethnic cleansing campaign against the Muslim Rohingya of Rakhine state, and make a point of using the word Rohingya to maintain faith with those long-suffering people who the Burmese government refuses to allow citizenship or the right of self-identification.

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

Mr Robertson also called for the pontiff to speak out against Burmese laws which allow discrimination towards Christians.

[He should] press the government to repeal the four so-called race and religion laws that enshrine discrimination on the basis of religion in marriage and family matters, and mandates intrusive government oversight of persons seeking to convert to another religion.

Just over one per cent of Burmas 53 million people are Catholic. Though they are not persecuted like the Rohingya Muslims, Christians still face discrimination in mostly Buddhist Burma.

To be honest, if you are a Christian in this country, you will never get promoted, Reverend Mariano Soe Naing, a spokesman for Burmas Bishops Conference, told the Associated Press.

There are no Catholics in the government administration or in any significant leadership positions.

While in Burma, Pope Francis is scheduled to hold a mass in a stadium in Yangon, spend time with Buddhist leaders and meet Burmas de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and president Htin Kyaw.

The pontiff will also be introduced to Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmars commander-in-chief and the man responsible for the military operation in Rakhine state.

Pope Francis is then expected to go to Bangladesh and spend time in the refugee camps along the Burmese border.
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Online anonymous bots are helping to spread and amplify Islamophobia, a new study has found.

Researchers from non-profit organisation Hope not Hate monitored several anti-Muslim figures and blogs to see how they used bots, image manipulation and fake news were used to increase the size of their audiences.

One example who benefited from fake accounts was Pamela Geller, whose views were found to be automatically propagated on Twitter by 102 bots.

Her blog, the Geller Report, reportedly doubled its monthly audience to two million viewers between July and October.

Patrik Hermansson, researcher for Hope not Hate, told The Guardian: The growth among Twitter accounts and websites spreading anti-Muslim hate is alarming. In such a key area of public interest, it is an indication of increased interest in these views and, as each account or site grows, more people are exposed to deeply prejudiced anti-Muslim views.

The recent spate of terrorist attacks have also helped to push Islamophobic figures and Twitter accounts in the UK and US into the spotlight and gain followers. Between March and November this year, these accounts saw an average 117 per cent increase in followers.

Tommy Robinson, former head of the English Defence League, saw his follower count rise by 17 per cent in the days after the Manchester attack earlier this year. The majority of new followers came within two days of the explosions at the Ariana Grande concert.

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

One common tactic is to manipulate or digitally alter images to express Islamophobic views.

After the Westminster attack in March, far-right activists shared an image of a woman in a hijab appearing to walk away from a victim across Westminster Bridge.

The Twitter user @Southlonestar who first used the image to express Islamophobic sentiment was revealed to be a fake account created in Russia, designed to influence UK politics.

The Hope not Hate research reportedly said that bots tend to be recognisable as anonymous accounts, tweeting and sharing the same content at the same time.

While simple bots follow and retweet other users, helping those they follow to appear more legitimate, more sophisticated bots can be difficult to detect.
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Thousands of pounds have reportedly been paid to the family of three Afghan farmers believed to have been gunned down in their home by SAS soldiers, though the Ministry of Defence is denying it is compensation for wrongdoing.

Documents viewed by the Sunday Times show 3,634 was paid to the mens mother, Bebe Hazrata, 16 days after the 2012 incident happened. The case was then marked settled.

In July, Ms Hazrata described what happened the night her sons were killed. She told the newspaper she watched as Nor Mohammad, 33, Din Mohammad, 30, and Sher Mohammed, 27 were shot dead in the courtyard of their home in Gereshk district, Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Before it happened, she said they were cooperating with the soldiers and holding their hands in the air.

As they came out from the rooms they told them to hold up their hands, she told the newspaper. The soldiers were aggressive and shouting but my sons didnt say a word to them. Then they opened fire and killed them.

They arrived into the compound and opened fire again on the dead bodies and after that they started a search operation into the rooms. They couldnt find any weapons. Any ammunition. Nothing at all. After that they left. They are civilians. Farmers. They have no links with the Taliban.

When she went to the British Army base the next day, Ms Hazrata said officers claimed to have no knowledge of the deaths.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

A Ministry of Defence source told the Sunday Times the payment wasnt compensation, instead referring to it as an assistance payment, which did not constitute an admission of liability.

Chris Green, a former British Army captain who was responsible for meeting with villagers after the attack in an attempt to cool tensions, said the payment constitutes significant evidence of wrongdoing.

The local population turned against us for killing three innocent farmers, he recalled in a message to the Sunday Times.

As far as we were concerned we had absolutely no intelligence to suggest or corroborate that they were bad guys who needed to be killed.

[The elders] were very clear that their position was that it was an execution. I personally believe that they were probably right.

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

Mr Green said when he attempted to investigate what happened himself, special forces told him to desist.

I was told to stop pursuing lines of inquiry, he said. I was basically told I was not going to get the information. I was going to have to accept their explanation that it was too top secret to share with me.

The mission is currently being investigated by Royal Military Police (RMP) officers under Operation Northmoor, which looks at allegations of misconduct by British forces in Afghanistan.

In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said: Our armed forces served with great courage and professionalism and we proudly hold them to the highest standards. The RMPs Northmoor investigation has discontinued the vast majority of the allegations made and only a small number of ongoing investigations remain. It would be inappropriate to comment further on any ongoing lines of inquiry.
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Theresa May could be banned from every pub in her constituency following anger from bar owners over police cuts.

Landlords have reportedly banded together to keep the Prime Minister away from all licensed venues in Maidenhead after she slashed police budgets by 413m in the last 12 months.

The group said it could now take up to one hour for police to respond to incidents at their pubs, which endangered their staff and customers.

 Budget 2017: May brings cough sweets for Hammond in case of a repeat of her conference speech

The towns Pub Watch, a group which normally deals with troublemakers, will reportedly table a call to ban Ms May at this weeks meeting.

David Kimber, manager of the Off the Tap pub, told The Mirror: This seems to be the only way shell get the message.

He added that there were very few officers at the weekends.

It takes half an hour minimum for them [police] to arrive but weve waited an hour before, he told the newspaper.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. 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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 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in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA

Its not much use after a fight has broken out.

Ms May could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Prime Minister, who has been an MP for the Berkshire constituency since 1997, faced further humiliation during the June election when she was forced to stand beside independent candidate, Lord Buckethead.
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Parts of Britain woke up to a warning about the risk of ice on roads and pavements after biting temperatures hit overnight.

The mercury dipped to -2C in some places, while others barely managed to get above freezing.

Forecasters warned of the risk of ice, especially on untreated roads and pavements, and issued a yellow "be aware" weather warning for the length of the western side of Britain.

The warning remained in place until 10am on Sunday.

The chilly weather is expected to continue throughout the day, with temperatures struggling to rise above 7C and feeling even colder in the wind.

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

Luke Miall, a forecaster for the Met Office, said: "We're going to continue seeing showers feeding in, alongside a brisk north-westerly wind.

"It will be drier the further south and east you are.

"The temperatures are a bit below normal for this time of year, so it will be a case of wrapping up warm."

Recommended UK facing second night of freezing temperatures as cold snap continues

On Saturday there were smatterings of snow in parts of Scotland and the West Midlands, while a mixture of sleet and snow fell overnight around parts of Wales, the west of England and Scotland, mainly on higher ground.

Public Health England has warned those most at risk in cold weather to take precautions.

Dr Thomas Waite, from the body's Extreme Events team, said: "We're well used to winter in this country so most people know what to do to protect their health before and during cold spells.

"But there are people who may not take precautions and who are at a very real risk.

"We know that every winter thousands of people fall ill and many die because of exposure to cold both in the home and while outdoors.

"Those most at risk include older people, very young children and those with conditions like heart and lung disease."

Figures earlier this week showed there were more than 34,000 "excess deaths" across England and Wales over the last winter period, the second highest level in eight years.

A milder day is expected on Monday, before a prolonged period of low temperatures across the country throughout the coming week and the one after it, with further widespread frosts.

Additional reporting by Press Association
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Two men have been taken to hospital after a light aircraft crashed into a field in North Yorkshire.

Emergency services were called to the incident near Hambleton, in the Selby area, shortly after 11.50am on Saturday.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: It is believed the aircraft crashed into a field near the end of the runway.

Two men, the only occupants, had to be recovered by firefighters and paramedics.

The spokesman said the more seriously injured man was flown to Leeds General Infirmary by air ambulance.

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 other casualty was taken to the same hospital by conventional ambulance, he said.

Both are thought to have suffered back and pelvic injuries.

The spokesman said: The aircraft has been made safe and security measures have been put in place at the crash scene.

Officials from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch are carrying out inquiries to establish the full circumstances surrounding the collision.

The accident comes just a week after four people were killed in a mid-air collision between a helicopter and a two-seater plane over Buckinghamshire.

Helicopter pilot Captain Mike Green and an 18-year-old student Saavan Mundae were among those killed in the crash, which is under investigation by aviation officials.
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Theresa May is facing fresh pressure to change course over plans for the Northern Irish border after Brexit as Irelands EU commissioner stepped up threats to veto trade talks.

Rows over the prospect of a hard border on the island of Ireland are threatening to derail negotiations as the EU has said sufficient progress must be made before talks can begin on a UK-EU trade deal after Britain leaves the bloc.

Commissioner Phil Hogan called for the UK to remain in the customs union and single market  or allow Northern Ireland to do so  but the Prime Ministers DUP allies have vowed they will not tolerate any attempts to keep Northern Ireland within the trade agreements.

Recommended DUP leader writes to 27 EU countries to reject customs union

It comes as leaked papers seen by The Independent revealed fresh challenges for Ms May as EU negotiators are already laying the groundwork to hit the UK with demands that will be unacceptable to members of her Cabinet.

The Prime Minister has been given until 4 December to come up with further proposals on issues including the border, the Brexit divorce bill and citizens rights if European leaders are to give the green light to moving on to the next phase of negotiations covering the future relationship between the UK and Brussels.

Mr Hogan, the EUs agriculture commissioner, said Ireland would "play tough to the end" over the border issue, and said it was a very simple fact that if the UK or Northern Ireland remained in the EU customs union, or better still the single market, there would be no border issue.

In a swipe at the Governments approach to Brexit he told the Observer: I continue to be amazed at the blind faith that some in London place in theoretical future free trade agreements.

First, the best possible FTA with the EU will fall far short of being in the single market. This fact is simply not understood in the UK.

Most real costs to cross-border business today are not tariffs  they are about standards, about customs procedures, about red tape.

These are solved in the single market, but not in an FTA.

My May has ruled out remaining in the single market and customs union and any arrangement which appeared to give Northern Ireland a separate status would be strongly resisted by the DUP, whose 10 MPs are effectively keeping Mrs May in Downing Street after she lost her majority in the general election.

DUP leader Arlene Foster told her party conference on Saturday: We will not support any arrangements that create barriers to trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom or any suggestion that Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the UK, will have to mirror European regulations.

Meanwhile it emerged the UK could be required to follow new rules implemented by the EU during a Brexit transition period.

The position set out by Michel Barnier in leaked documents would make the application of new EU rules a condition of a transitional deal, meaning Britain could be subject to further Brussels regulations for about two years after leaving the bloc.

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 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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 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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

Ms May hopes to secure an implementation period between the UKs formal exit date and the commencement of any post-Brexit trade deal in order to give businesses time to adjust to the new arrangements, but accepting the imposition of new rules could trigger a revolt by Eurosceptics.

It would also go against the approach to an implementation period set out by the Prime Minister in her Florence speech, where she said the framework for this strictly time-limited period ... would be the existing structure of EU rules and regulations.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has already indicated that accepting further regulations from Brussels would cross a red line.

The Prime Minister was also under pressure not to water down a red line on the European Court of Justices jurisdiction ending when the UK leaves the EU, with lobbying from senior Tories over plans to push a "voluntary referral" of cases to the ECJ.
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No deal can be secured on the Irish border after Brexit until trade negotiations are settled with the EU, Liam Fox has said.

The International Trade Secretary raised further uncertainty over Northern Ireland as rows over a potential hard border threaten to derail Brexit talks.

Irelands EU Commissioner Phil Hogan was the latest voice from Dublin to call for the UK to remain in the customs union and single market  or allow Northern Ireland to do so  as the Republic has threatened to veto moves to trade negotiations without further reassurances there will not be a hard border.

However the Prime Ministers DUP allies, who are keeping her in Downing Street after she lost her parliamentary majority, have vowed they will not tolerate any attempts to keep Northern Ireland within the EU trade agreements.

Dr Fox told Sky Newss Paterson on Sunday the final decision on the border could not be made until a UK-EU trade deal had been agreed  despite warnings from Brussels that trade talks cannot proceed until the border issue is settled.

He said: We dont want there to be a hard border but the UK is going to be leaving the customs union and the single market.

We have always had exceptions for Ireland  whether its in our voting rights, our rights of residence in the UK, we have always accepted a certain asymmetry and that will have to be part of whatever agreement we come to with the European Union.

We cant get a final answer to the Irish question until we get an idea of the end state.

And until we get into discussions with the European Union on the end state, that will be very difficult so the quicker we can do that the better  and we are still in the position where the EU doesnt want to do that.

He maintained the Government position that the UK would leave the customs union and the single market but insisted there would be no hard border  which would be traditionally required if Northern Ireland had different customs arrangements to its neighbours south of the border.

The ardent Brexiteer blamed Brussels for deadlocked talks, hitting out at the European Commissions obsession with forging a closer union.

Dr Fox added: I think the European Union countries need to consider the welfare and the economic prosperity of their people as opposed to the obsession of the commission about the concept of ever-closer union.

I think this needs to be an economic Brexit, not a political one.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell reacted with concern to the comments, saying: Im worried about this news from Liam Fox this morning.

I think the one thing that we dont want to do is jeopardise any movement quickly, because we need movement to enable us to get into the proper trade negotiations.

So Im hoping that isnt a Downing Street sanctioned statement thats hes made.

Brexit: the deciders Show all 8 1 /8 Brexit: the deciders Brexit: the deciders European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier Getty Brexit: the deciders French President Emmanuel Macron Getty Brexit: the deciders German Chancellor Angela Merkel Reuters Brexit: the deciders Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker EPA Brexit: the deciders The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt Getty Brexit: the deciders Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May Getty Images Brexit: the deciders Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond PA Brexit: the deciders After the first and second appointed Brexit secretaries resigned (David Davis and Dominic Raab respectively), Stephen Barclay is currently heading up the position PA

Earlier, Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner said that Labour had not ruled out staying in the single market or a customs union with the European Union after Brexit.

He told BBC Ones Andrew Marr Show: Its not our call and it would be foolish of an opposition to actually put out there and say this is the solution, when were not in the negotiating table itself.

If were at the negotiating table, we can have those discussions. Id be very happy if Theresa May wanted to move over and call that election and let us do that.

But until were round that table, its not sensible to say what you can get out of the negotiations, because youre not sitting there like you and I are, looking at the whites of each others eyes and getting a deal.

The Prime Minister is under pressure to get EU leaders to approve her withdrawal offer at a crunch meeting of the European Council on 4 December, where she will need to address the key issues of citizens rights, the Irish border and the so-called divorce bill.

If she is successful then talks will shift to the future trade relationship and settling the transition, likely to be between 2019 and 2021.

But the documents handed to The Independent show trouble ahead for the Prime Minister, as chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier wants to make giving the UK a good transition deal conditional on accepting EU regulations  a move likely to infuriate Brexiteers.
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A lush and picturesque vista, rolling hills, rich and fertile soil watered by a deep dam, the greenery pitted with seams of gold being mined, all within striking distance of the markets of the capital Harare. Mazowe was a very attractive place to work and live, and that was the reason Grace Mugabe was determined to get her hands on it.

Robert Mugabes wife normally got what she wanted. Zimbabwes First Lady focused on turning this piece of Mashonaland into her domain.

She had farmers evicted from their land, got the owner of a dairy to sell it to her at a knock-down price, had her minions muscle in on the goldmines, and even took over the state-run dam.

 Zimbabwe's 'military takeover' explained

Ms Mugabe also opened an orphanage with much publicity and complemented it with an expensive private school.

And, of course, there was the need for a home for herself, a lavish mansion in a secure complex.

Graceland, as it became known, took shape with the police and hired thugs acting as her personal force and descending on those who had the temerity to object.

It just went on and on. We had enough of this bullshit ... the harassment, the intimidation, says Colin, the white owner of a goldmine. We were going to flood the mines, pack up what could and move to Zambia, he adds. But now, of course, things are changing. We are going to wait and see how things turn out. Maybe things will improve after all.

Mugabe resignation celebrations  in pictures Show all 7 1 /7 Mugabe resignation celebrations  in pictures Mugabe resignation celebrations  in pictures Zimbabweans celebrate in the morning sun after President Robert Mugabe resigned in Harare Reuters/Mike Hutchings Mugabe resignation celebrations  in pictures Zimbabweans celebrate in the streets of Harare, after President Robert Mugabe resigned in Harare AP Mugabe resignation celebrations  in pictures People and soldiers celebrate after the resignation of Zimbabwe's president AFP/Getty Mugabe resignation celebrations  in pictures People holding Zimbabwean flags celebrate in the street after the resignation of Zimbabwe's president. Car horns blared and cheering crowds raced through the streets of the Zimbabwean capital Harare as news spread that President Robert Mugabe, 93, had resigned after 37 years in powe AFP/Getty Mugabe resignation celebrations  in pictures Zimbabweans celebrate in Harare after the resignation of President Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe says he is resigning immediately and voluntarily in order to have a "smooth transfer of power" after 37 years in charge AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi Mugabe resignation celebrations  in pictures Zimbabweans celebrate in the streets after hearing that President Robert Mugabe has resigned in Harare AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi Mugabe resignation celebrations  in pictures Zimbabweans celebrate after hearing about the resignation of President Robert Mugabe in Harare AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

He was one among many in Mazowe relieved and delighted at the departure of Robert and Grace Mugabe from power, although he is not yet confident enough to give his full name.

The farmers, who are black, have started drifting back to their properties.

There has even been a march of celebration by local people, something which would have been unthinkable in the past.

Ms Mugabe, Gucci Grace or DisGrace as she is known to her many critics, has not been seen since the military coup 12 days ago.

She is believed to be at Blue Roof, the former presidential couples home on the outskirts of Harare.

Ms Mugabes Mazowe home is still under police guard, but people can now congregate near the front without being chased away.

 Robert Mugabe in 60 seconds

At the dairy farm uneasy workers are unsure about what will happen to their jobs, the gates of the school and the orphanage are locked; Ms Mugabe had not been there to see the children for a while even before the dramatic recent events.

People talk now about what they have endured, if with hesitation. The Mugabes have been given immunity from prosecution by the military and the new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, nicknamed The Crocodile because of his political cunning.

What Mr Mnangagwas long-term plan may be for the Mugabes is yet to emerge. The new president was an ally of Mr Mugabe until he was sacked, reportedly at the request of the First Lady. Many of those likely to be in his new cabinet will have been part of the previous regime.

What happened became so much part of our lives that it is difficult not to keep feeling tense. The police set up roadblocks where they find excuses to fine you. They were always aggressive, they knew they were untouchable and they were, says Colin.

People were kidnapped and beaten up by thugs, that happened to me with a couple of my workers. The police were filling their pockets while Grace was filling her bank accounts abroad and, all the time, grabbing more and more land around here.

The attempts to grab Arnold Farm, also known as Manzoe Farm, led to resistance and became a cause celebre. It had been taken from white farmers around 17 years ago under Zimbabwes indigenisation programme, and redistributed to black families. After opening her private school Ms Mugabe decided she wanted to turn it into a wildlife area and told the residents they had to leave.

Grace Mugabes decision about the farm led to clashes between the police and local residents (Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

There were regular confrontations between the police and the 146 families living on the farm. Stella Nikisi showed scars on her legs from injuries she sustained during an attempted eviction. The 65-year-old said: We were like prisoners at Arnold Farm because of Grace and Robert Mugabe. They had the police tear down the huts we built, the police threw our food on the ground and trampled on it. We had to sleep on the ground with our children and grandchildren while the Mugabes lived like Gods and looked down on us poor people.

Human rights groups took up the case of the farmers. Although many judges were fearful of the Mugabes, they managed to obtain a court order allowing the farmers and their families to stay. The legal papers presented implicated minister of commerce Ignatius Chombo and the countrys head of police Augustine Chihuri. Mr Chombo was arrested after the coup and appeared in court on Saturday on corruption charges. Mr Chihuri had been heckled and booed at the inauguration of the new president the day before.

Grace Mugabe never respected that court order, she just kept sending police here to try and force us out, says Innocent Dube, a community leader. Things were very difficult, we were being targeted constantly. Not only did Grace not obey the court we heard that she was angry we had dared to do this.

The First Lady did not hide her anger. She claimed the dispute was being used by political opponents to damage herself and her husband. I might have a small fist, but when it comes to fighting I will put stones inside to enlarge it. Do not doubt my capabilities she warned. I will not tolerate people who want to harm me.

Ms Mugabe is accused of not respecting court rulings (Getty)

The farmers were not using the land properly, Ms Mugabe claimed, and their real reason they wanted to hang on was because they were panning for gold.

She did not mention, of course, that she had taken a deep interest in this: people close to her had started a campaign to take over the smaller goldmines.

Denboy Chaparadza, chairman of the Arnold Farm Residents Association said: It was a ridiculous situation, people were having to live under trees because of Grace. Our homes were destroyed and food stolen and ruined and we could not even use the Mazowe Dam for fishing because officials told us that Grace had put her fish in it and everything in the dam belongs to her.

There were these youths, her supporters who put a curfew on between 10 at night and four in the morning around the dam, said Chaparadza. Anyone caught just walking around that time would be detained and fined. We have had so many wrong things happening around here. All that should change, it must change.

Last week protestors picketed the school set up by Ms Mugabe and then staged a rally in Mazowe, singing and dancing and calling for justice.

Many blamed Mr Mugabe for allowing the abuse by his wife. Power Should Not Be Sexually Transmitted, read one of the placards.

A sign remains at the entrance to Arnold Farm stating: Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted, but the police who would enforce the edict were keeping out of sight. Just think, I can do anything I want to with my land now, Innocent Dube says, shaking his head in wonder. I wont have to worry about police coming and destroying everything again. It is such a good situation now, we are all very happy this big change has taken place.

 Mugabe resigns: Zimbabwean Parliament celebrates as decision is announced

Stopping to buy supplies at the Mazowe Dam Kiosk, Ian Ross, a 59-year-old engineer, a white Zimbabwean, is also positive about the future despite the turbulence of the past.

The situation throughout Zimbabwe had become pretty disastrous, especially in the last five years, he says. We have been praying for something to happen and we are glad that prayer has been answered.

On things like land redistribution I think it is important to understand that was necessary but the way it was done led to all kinds of mistakes and tragedies.

People should have been given land to farm on generous leases with state help, the funding and expertise.

But instead of the state owning the land, greedy powerful individuals like Grace Mugabe took over so much of it.

But that can be changed, this country has tremendous resources, best of all its people. We can start rebuilding now, all we need is the political will to do it.
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Deposed Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace are to receive 7.5m as well as immunity from prosecution as part of a reported golden goodbye package.

The 93-year-old autocrat, who finally bowed to pressure to resign after 37 years in power, is said to have struck a bargain with the military to allow him and his wife to enjoy their retirement in the lap of luxury in Zimbabwe rather than being forced into exile.

Although ousted by a military takeover, Mr Mugabe will continue to enjoy full military protection as a former head of state as well as his full presidential salary of 112,500 a year until his death, local media reported.

Dubbed Gucci Grace, Ms Mugabe is known for her extravagant shopping habits, particularly her love of designer shoes. More than 40 years younger than her husband, she will continue to receive half of his salary after his death.

Recommended Zimbabwe looks to future as President Emmerson Mnangagwa is sworn in

According to reports, Mr Mugabe negotiated the exit package for himself and his 52-year-old wife through a team of mediators who included a Catholic priest.

An unnamed source told the Zimbabwe Independent: Government will give him a 3.75m lump sum and then the remainder will be paid out in instalments.

Mugabe will also enjoy full medical cover as well as his monthly salary. In the event of his death, his wife will be given half (of his) salary per month.

Sources claimed that shortly after Mr Mugabe tendered his resignation following the takeover and impeachment proceedings against him, Commander of the Presidential Guard, Brigadier-General Anselem Sanyatwe, called for an emergency Joint Operations Command meeting with uniformed officers.

We were told that the President had resigned, but that he was granted full immunity. Sanyatwe informed us that Mugabe will continue to enjoy protection as a former head of state, the unnamed source reportedly told the newspaper.

Mr Mugabes 37-year rule, characterised by corruption and oppression, left Zimbabwe with an impoverished population, an unemployment rate of 80 per cent, a virtually worthless currency and crippling debts.

Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty Show all 9 1 /9 Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty 47458.bin AFP/Getty Images Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty 47417.bin Reuters Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty 47413.bin AFP/ Getty Images Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty 47412.bin AFP/Getty Images Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty 47419.bin AFP/Getty Images Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty 47422.bin Reuters Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty 47423.bin Getty Images Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty 47418.bin AP Farewell my beautiful Zimbabwe: how paradise turned to poverty 47420.bin AP

His successor, 75-year-old Emmerson Mnangagwa, a long-time Mugabe ally in the ruling Zanu-PF party, was sworn in on Friday promising a new era, despite widespread fears he will offer more of the same.

He has urged Zimbabweans not to carry out any type of vengeful retribution against the former president and praised the immense contribution Mugabe had made to the country.

Opposition politicians blasted the deal which will allow the Mugabes to remain in their sprawling mansion, known as the Blue Roof, in Harare, complete with domestic and security staff.

We are not privy to any deal reached with Mugabe, and if there is any deal on money or anything else it is unconstitutional, said Douglas Mwonzora, secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change, the main opposition party.

In terms of the constitution, Mugabe is a retired president and does not have immunity to criminal or civil wrongdoing committed while in office. In Zanu-PF, they can grant each other immunity, but the law does not authorise that.

Ms Mugabe, her husbands former secretary who married him and became First Lady in 1996, recently spent millions of dollars buying property and luxury cars in her native South Africa.

Although there remains a certain level of respect for Mr Mugabe among some people in Zimbabwe, particularly for the contribution he made to the countrys wars of liberation in the 1960s and 1970s, there is widespread disgust for his wife and their children due to their lavish spending.

The couples son, 25-year-old Bellarmine Chatunga, recently posted a clip on social media taken in a Johannesburg nightclub showing him pouring a 200 bottle of champagne over a 45,000 watch, bragging that daddy runs the whole country.

Ms Mugabes ambitions to succeed her husband as President finally led to his undoing, triggering the military overthrow after the First Lady and those around her orchestrated the firing of Mr Mnangagwa as Vice President.

At his swearing-in ceremony, Mr Mnangagwa vowed to hold free and fair elections by next August, telling the cheering crowds: The peoples voice will be heard.
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At a senior staff meeting early in President Donald Trumps tenure, Reince Priebus, then White House chief of staff, posed a simple question to Jared Kushner: What would his newly created Office of American Innovation do?

Kushner brushed him off, according to people privy to the exchange. Given that he and his top lieutenants were paid little or nothing, Kushner asked, What do you care? He emphasized his point with an expletive.

OK, Priebus replied. You do whatever you want.

Few in the opening days of the Trump administration dared to challenge Kushners power to design his job or steer the direction of the White House as he saw fit. But 10 months after being given free rein to tackle everything from the federal governments outdated technology to peace in the Middle East, the do-whatever-you-want stage of Kushners tenure is over.

Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and senior adviser, has lately disappeared from public view and, according to some colleagues, taken on a more limited role behind the scenes. He is still forging ahead on a plan to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and he has been credited with focusing attention on the governments technological needs. But he is no longer seen as the primary presidential consigliere with the limitless portfolio.

The new White House chief of staff, John F. Kelly, has proved less permissive than his predecessor. Kelly has made clear that Kushner must fit within a chain of command. According to three advisers to the president, Kelly has even discussed the possibility of Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, departing the West Wing by the end of the year.

In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP

Kelly disputed that in an interview Friday. There was honestly never a time when I contemplated getting rid of Jared and Ivanka, Kelly said. He also said the Office of American Innovation, run by Kushner, had demonstrated its value, noting that he had recently sent some members of its team to Puerto Rico to report back on conditions on the hurricane-ravaged island.

And in an email forwarded by the White House, the president said Friday that he still relied on Kushner. Jared is working very hard on peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and the last thing I would ever do is get in the way of that possibility, Donald Trump said.

New York Times
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President Donald Trump has come out fighting for Republican candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused of child sex abuse.

Mr Moore, currently running for Alabamas Senate seat in a special election against Democrat Doug Jones, has vehemently denied all the allegations against him.

Mr Trump tweeted: The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster!

 Roy Moore says he doesn't 'generally' remember dating teenage girls while in his 30s

Recommended Democrat uses Ivanka Trump quote to attack his opponent Roy Moore

Representative Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer are the Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively.

Mr Trump has appeared to back Mr Moore, putting him at odds with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has called for Mr Moore to remove himself from the Alabama Senate race.

In another tweet on Sunday, the President said: I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasnt enough. Cant let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!

Mr Jones is a former US Attorney who spearheaded the prosecution of two Ku Klux Klansmen involved in the deadly 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.

Mr Moore is alleged to have pursued underage girls while he was in his 30s and an assistant district attorney in Alabama.

Last Tuesday, after weeks of silence regarding the claims against Mr Moore, the President finally weighed in on the issue: I can tell you one thing for sure: we dont need a liberal person in there, a Democrat  [Doug] Jones, Mr Trump told reporters, referring to the Alabama Senate seat.

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... 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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... 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[Mr Moore] denies it. Look, he denies it. I mean, if you look at what is really going on, and you look at all the things that have happened over the last 48 hours, he totally denies it.

Mr Moore and Mr Jones are competing to fill the seat left vacant when Mr Sessions was appointed to be Attorney General. Republican Luther Strange was chosen to temporarily hold the position until a special election could be held.

Mr Strange - who had the backing of the Republican establishment - ran against Mr Moore in the primary but ultimately lost.

Allegations against Mr Moore first surfaced earlier this month when four women told The Washington Post that he had pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. One of the women was just 14 at the time.

Multiple other women between the ages of 16 and 22 have since come forward and accused him of unwanted sexual contact.

Much of the alleged sexual misconduct is said to have occurred in the late 1970s, while one alleged instance of him groping a 28-year-old woman is said to have taken place in 1991.

Mr Moore has ardently denied all allegations against him, saying he has not been guilty of sexual misconduct with anyone.
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Representative John Conyers Jr, the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, has stepped down as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee amid an investigation into claims that he sexually harassed former aides.

After careful consideration and in light of the attention drawn by recent allegations made against me, I have notified the Democratic Leader of my request to step aside as Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee during the investigation of these matters, Mr Conyers said in a statement.

But the 88-year-old continues to deny the allegations and has indicated he hopes to reclaim his spot atop the committee, which oversees federal laws and other legal issues. The House Committee on Ethics has launched a probe into the issue.

I deny these allegations, many of which were raised by documents reportedly paid for by a partisan alt-right blogger, the Michigan Democrat said. I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family before the House Committee on Ethics.

The announcement came less than a week after a report saying that Mr Conyers had settled a complaint in 2015 brought by a former employee. The ex-staffer said she was fired because she had rejected his sexual advances.

Mr Conyers has said the payout, reported to be more than $27,000, was meant to resolve the issue and did not constitute an admission of culpability.

BuzzFeed first reported the news of the settlement, saying it received documents about the case from Mike Cernovich, a right-wing online commentator who has pushed conspiracy theories. The news outlet says it independently confirmed the authenticity of the documents.

BuzzFeed has also reported that a second woman has accused Mr Conyers of sexual harassment.

To be clear, I would like very much to remain as ranking member, Mr Conyers said in his statement. But I have come to believe that my presence as ranking member would not serve these efforts while the ethics committee investigation is pending.

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. 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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. 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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement shortly following Mr Conyers announcement.

I particularly take any accusation of sexual harassment very seriously. Any credible accusation must be reviewed by the Ethics Committee expeditiously, Ms Pelosi said. We are at a watershed moment on this issue.

This week, the House is expected to approve a resolution mandating that all members and their staffs participate in anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training.

Next, Congress must move swiftly to reform the Office of Compliance and the Congressional Accountability Act to put an end to the days of secret settlements paid for by taxpayer dollars, Ms Pelosi said in her statement. We must ensure the Congress has a climate of dignity and respect with zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

The announcement followed a Sunday morning filled with the discussion of sexual harassment and assault on the political news shows.

On NBCs Meet the Press, Ms Pelosi was asked whether Mr Conyers should resign.

We are strengthened by due process. Just because someone is accused  and was it one accusation? Is it two? I think there has to be  John Conyers is an icon in our country, she told host Chuck Todd, pointing out that the congressman has done a great deal to protect women.

Ms Pelosi declined to say whether Mr Conyers would suffer any immediate penalty over the allegations.

I believe he understands what is at stake here and he will do the right thing, she said.

Members of Congress have complained about the due process system, saying it is outdated and biased toward insulating lawmakers from suffering penalties for misconduct.

The whole system needs to have a comprehensive shift, Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier told ABCs This Week.
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The mayor of Osaka has said he plans to cut a six-decade tie with its sister city, San Francisco, after a sculpture showing controversial comfort women was named as an official statue.

The issue of so-called comfort women, the phrase used to describe the women who were forced in Japans military brothels during war time, has long strained relations with neighbours such as China and Japan.

The statue has three figures holding hands, representing girls from Korea, China and the Philippines. Alongside them is a likeness of the Korean activist Kim Hak-sun.

The San Francisco Chronicle said the sculpture was idea of two retired San Francisco judges, Lillian Sing and Julie Tang, who wanted to remember the estimated 200,000 women from Asian-Pacific countries who forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces from 1931 until the war ended in 1945.

The newspaper said it was the first sculpture to honour comfort women in a major American city and comes as historians seek to gain a broader understanding of the atrocities carried out during the war. There are dozens of such statues in South Korea and a handful in small cities around the United States.

 South Korea: 'Comfort women' foundation launched amid protests

Ed Lee, the mayor of San Francisco, which has 18 sister cities, signed a resolution on Wednesday that accepted the transfer of the statue as city property.

This is highly regrettable, Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters in Japan, according to Reuters.

The relationship of trust has completely been destroyed."

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 January, Japan temporarily recalled its ambassador to South Korea over a comfort women statue put up near its consulate in the southern city of Busan.

In 2015, Japan and South Korea agreed the issue of would be irreversibly resolved if both sides fulfilled their obligations, including a Japanese apology and a fund to help victims.

But South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said many South Koreans did not accept the deal reached by his conservative predecessor and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Ms Tang, one of people behind the statue said she was after hearing Mr Yoshimuras comments.

I think its a shame Theyre turning history on its head, she said.

Yoshimura is turning this into a geopolitical issue. Its not. Its a human rights issue. This is a global womens issue to fight against sexual violence and using women as sex objects as a strategy of war.
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The Republican Party has passed on the responsibility of Roy Moores candidacy onto Alabama voters.

The Republican, who has been accused of child sex abuse, is running against Democrat Doug Jones to fill Alabamas Senate seat. The special election is scheduled for 12 December.

Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, said Alabama voters will have to be the judge and jury on whether Mr Moore is elected. The former judge has vehemently denied all the allegations against him.

Recommended Democrat uses Ivanka Trump quote to attack his opponent Roy Moore

In an interview with John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York, Ms McDaniel said the claims against Mr Moore are concerning - but that Alabama officials have maintained he cannot be replaced on the ballot.

The allegations were obviously very concerning, concerning to the degree that we [the RNC] pulled our resources, McDaniel said.

[But] Roy Moore cannot be replaced on the ballot, she continued. He is the candidate. The Alabama [Republican] Party has stood by that. Now the Alabama voters are going to have to be the judge and jury on this.

Ms McDaniel's comments came just days after RNC officials said they would continue to deny Mr Moore financial support from the national Republican Party.

Allegations against Mr Moore first surfaced earlier this month when four women told the Washington Post he had pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. One of the women was just 14 at the time.

Multiple other women between the ages of 16 and 22 have since come forward and accused him of unwanted sexual contact.

Much of the alleged sexual misconduct is said to have occurred in the late 1970s, while one alleged instance of him groping a 28-year-old woman is said to have taken place in 1991.

Mr Moore has said he has not been guilty of sexual misconduct with anyone.

In the wake of the allegations, Republican leaders scrambled to find a way to block Mr Moore as a candidate. But they were unsuccessful.

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 matter has been further complicated by Donald Trumps apparent endorsement of the controversial candidate last week - a move that puts the President at odds with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has called for Mr Moore to withdraw from the Alabama Senate race.

On Tuesday, after weeks of silence regarding the claims against Mr Moore, the President finally weighed in on the issue: I can tell you one thing for sure: we dont need a liberal person in there, a Democrat  [Doug] Jones, Mr Trump told reporters, referring to the Alabama Senate seat.

Then on Sunday, Mr Trump came out swinging for Mr Moore, tweeting that Jones would be disaster!

The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY, he exclaimed.

Representative Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer are the Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively.

Senator John Thune, the No 3 Republican in the Senate, has said he would like to see Mr Trump reverse his backing of Mr Moore.

If Moore wins, there will immediately be an ethics investigation and he will be working under a cloud. He is a distraction, Mr Thune told TV host Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

I would like to see the President come out and do what weve done, saying Moore should step aside, he said.

The South Dakota legislator suggested that while ultimately the decision is up to the people of Alabama, Mr Trump can use his power to get Mr Moore to pull out of the race.

The president can speak for himself, as far as Im concerned, the president can use his influence and do what he can to get Moore to step aside, Mr Thune said.
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Thousands of people have taken to the streets to continue their protest against the Government after hundreds were injured and six killed as police failed to disperse the Islamist rallies earlier this week.

The 3,000-strong rally near Islamabad is braced for another military crackdown, and protesters have reportedly torched several vehicles and a guard post. No casualties have yet been reported.

Tensions escalated after Islamist party Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah demanded that Pakistans law minister to resign as he did not include a reference to the Prophet Muhammad in a parliamentary bill.

Recommended Army called to restore order following violent Pakistan protests

Despite Zahid Hamid apologising for his error, the new and extreme political party is calling for his arrest.

Unrest has spread to multiple cities, including Karachi, Lahore and Multan, and protesters have staged sit-ins and blocked roads into the capital for two weeks.

God willing we will get victory and will disperse with honour, cleric Mohammad Shahid Chishti told The Associated Press.

Police clash with protesters in Pakistan Show all 11 1 /11 Police clash with protesters in Pakistan Police clash with protesters in Pakistan A Pakistani police officer aims his gun towards the protesters AP Police clash with protesters in Pakistan A protester throws a tear gas shell back towards police AFP/Getty Images Police clash with protesters in Pakistan Pakistani riot police face off with protesters AFP/Getty Images Police clash with protesters in Pakistan Pakistani police officers carry an injured protester AP Police clash with protesters in Pakistan A policeman walks with armoured personnel carriers REUTERS Police clash with protesters in Pakistan Protesters burn Police vehicles EPA Police clash with protesters in Pakistan A protester gestures after blocking the main road leading to the airport REUTERS Police clash with protesters in Pakistan Pakistani security officials clash with supporters EPA Police clash with protesters in Pakistan Supporters of religious groups burn tires at a rally to express solidarity with protesters AP Police clash with protesters in Pakistan Protesers burn a police vehicle EPA Police clash with protesters in Pakistan Police fire tear gas REUTERS

The military tried to break up the protests over the weekend, wielding batons and firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowds.

Around 200 people  many of them police officers  were taken to hospital with injuries and respiratory problems. Six people were killed near the Faizabad crossing, a main intersection outside Islamabad.

 Pakistan protests: army called in after clashes with Islamist protesters

Pakistan has shut down access to social media websites and stopped media broadcasts for two consecutive days, claiming the media violated government policy of showing live coverage of security operations.

In the wake of unrest, Pakistans opposition party leader Imran Khan has called for elections sooner than the planned election next summer.

The country is still being governed by the party of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif  removed by the supreme court in July over financial irregularities.

Ultra-religious groups are unlikely to gain a majority in the upcoming election but they could have a major influence on politics and are gaining ground in local elections.



Agencies contributed to this report
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Scientists have managed to artificially breed baby coral from larvae on damaged patches of Australian Great Barrier Reef in an environmental breakthrough.

Researchers have collected coral eggs and sperm off the reef's Heron Island before allowing them to reproduce and mature in tanks.

More than a million larvae were produced in a mass spawning last November, then developed, with more than 100 surviving and growing successfully on settlement tiles on the reef.

The projects lead, Professor Peter Harrison of Southern Cross University in New South Wales, told Australian media it was an exciting development.

The success of this new research not only applies to the Great Barrier Reef, but has potential global significance.

The results are very promising and our work shows that adding higher densities of coral larvae leads to higher numbers of successful coral recruits.

It may be one of the answers to some of the problems in the Great Barrier Reef. Its a glimmer of hope.

Coral reefs in danger of being destroyed Show all 2 1 /2 Coral reefs in danger of being destroyed Coral reefs in danger of being destroyed 327443.bin ALAMY Coral reefs in danger of being destroyed 327442.bin ALAMY

The Australian Government is injecting funding to focus on better collection techniques and to expand the project.

Located off the Queensland Coast, the Great Barrier Reef is the worlds largest coral reef system, made up of almost 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands.

Climate change and consequential sea temperature rises are believed to have led to widespread coral bleaching - with the reef also under threat from pollution.

Bleaching is not always fatal for coral but a study last year found the largest die-off of corals ever recorded with about 67 per cent of shallow water coral found dead in a survey of a 700km stretch.

The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Show all 17 1 /17 The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst The fish are still living around the reef Reef Encounter Cruises The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Underwater at the Great Barrier Reef Quicksilver Group The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Underwater at the Great Barrier Reef, May 2017, showing healthy coral alongside bleached coral Jenny Peters The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Underwater at the Great Barrier Reef showing a bleached coral Queensland Tourism The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst The iconic heart reef at the Great Barrier Reef Queensland Tourism The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Underwater at the Great Barrier Reef Mark Geddes/Quicksilver Group The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst There's still beauty to be found Reef Encounter Cruises The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef Queensland Tourism The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Great Barrier Reef coral garden Queensland Tourism The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst An aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef Queensland Tourism The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst The Quicksilver Silversonic ship departing for the Great Barrier Reef from Port Douglas, Australia Quicksilver Group The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Underwater at the Great Barrier Reef Reef Encounter Cruises The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Reef Encounter Cruises The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Reef Encounter Cruises The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Reef Encounter Cruises The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Reef Encounter Cruises The Great Barrier Reef at its best - and worst Jenny Cheetham getting to grips wth the reef Reef Encounter Cruises

Unesco has resisted calls to return the reef to its endangered list, although it has expressed serious concerns and urged the Australian government to improve water quality.

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation managing director, Anna Marsden, said the research is valuable but does not lessen the urgent action needed to combat climate change.

There is much more to be done, but this is definitely a great leap forward for the reef, and for the restoration and repair of reefs worldwide, she said.

Its time to be bold and take some calculated risks because thats the way well make a change in how we can help restore our coral reefs.
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Iran has threatened to increase the range of its missiles so they could hit Europe.

The deputy head of the countrys Revolutionary Guard warned if Europe threatens Tehran, it would increase the range of missiles to above 2,000km (1,250 miles).

If we have kept the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometres, its not due to lack of technology ... We are following a strategic doctrine, Brigadier General Hossein Salami said, according to the Fars news agency.

So far we have felt that Europe is not a threat, so we did not increase the range of our missiles. But if Europe wants to turn into a threat, we will increase the range of our missiles, he added.

France has called for an uncompromising dialogue with Iran about its ballistic missile programme and a possible negotiation over the issue separate from Tehrans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

 Tom Tugendhat condemns government for 'lack of policy' on Iran

Last month, the head of Irans Revolutionary Guards military force, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said Irans 2,000-kilometre missile range could cover most of American interest and forces within the region, so Iran did not need to extend it.

Mr Jafari said the ballistic missile range was based on the limits set by the countrys Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the head of armed forces.

Iran has one of the Middle Easts largest missile programmes and some of its precision-guided missiles have the range to strike Israel.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The US has imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran. Washington maintains missile tests violate a UN resolution calling on Tehran to refrain from activities related to missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

The US says Irans missile programme is a breach of international law because the missiles could carry nuclear warheads in the future.

Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear programme is for civilian uses only.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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Iranian state TV has aired further allegations against a detained Iranian-British mother.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffes husband said the claims appeared to be timed to further pressure the Government as it considers making a payment of around 450m to Tehran.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffes case has gained momentum in recent weeks after Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, was heavily criticised for erroneously telling a parliamentary committee she had been teaching people journalism when she was arrested last year.

 Jailed in Iran: Richard Ratcliffe calls on the government to bring Nazanin home

The 38-year-old charity worker is already serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the soft toppling of Irans clerical government while travelling to the country with her 22-month-old daughter.

The new charges could add 16 years to her prison term.

Last week, Iranian state television aired a seven-minute special report on Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe which included close-ups of an April 2010 pay stub from her previous employer, the BBC World Service Trust.

It also included an email from June 2010 in which she wrote about the ZigZag Academy, a BBC World Service Trust project in which the trust trained young aspiring journalists from Iran and Afghanistan through a secure online platform.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe left the BBC in 2011 and then joined the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency.

Both her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, and Thomson Reuters, have repeatedly stressed she was not training journalists or involved in any work regarding Iran while there.

Although Mr Johnson later corrected his remarks, the Iranian TV report made a point of highlighting them.

Mr Ratcliffe said the report and other Iranian comments about his wife seemed timed to exert as much pressure as possible on the British government.

 Michael Gove says he doesn't know what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing in Iran

He told the Associated Press the material appeared to be from his wifes email, which investigators from the hard-line Revolutionary Guard immediately got access to after her arrest.

Its trying to justify the new charges, Mr Ratcliffe said.

A spokesperson for BBC Media Action clarified Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe never worked for BBC Persian.

They said she was employed as a projects assistant between between February 2009 and October 2010 for the BBC World Service Trust charity.

She further carried out some short-term contract work as an assistant for a project in Iraq for BBC World Service Trust, the spokesperson added.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was never a journalism trainer but undertook administrative duties such as travel bookings, typing, and filing.

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 report comes as Britain and Iran discuss the release of some 400m held by London, a payment Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi made for Chieftain tanks which were never delivered.

The shah abandoned the throne in 1979 and the Islamic Revolution soon installed the clerically overseen system which endures today.

Authorities in London and Tehran deny the payment has any link to Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

However, a prisoner exchange in January 2016 which freed Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans also saw the United States make a $400m cash delivery to Iran the same day.

That money too involved undelivered military equipment from the shahs era, although some US politicians have criticized the delivery as a ransom payment.

Analysts and family members of dual nationals and others detained in Iran have suggested hard-liners in the Islamic Republics security agencies use prisoners as bargaining chips for money or influence.

A UN panel in September described an emerging pattern involving the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of dual nationals in Iran.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press
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From the public entrance at London City airport, its an eight-minute walk along the airfield perimeter to the private jet terminal opposite the Travelodge. When I went to check it out early on Friday morning, the main point of interest en route was a group of five young men sharing a joint. Fortunately they did not appear to be pilots.

I wanted to take a look at the business aviation terminal because it is about to become a hub for an intriguing new enterprise: Surf Air.

The premise of this Californian start-up is that travellers dont much like busy airports and crowds, and the way that time is devoured at either end of the journey. Surf Air offers the well-heeled (or generously expensed) the chance to join a handful of other elite passengers at an executive aviation terminal, depart speedily and, on arrival, leave the airport while those of us on normal commercial flights are still waiting for the person blocking the aisle to sort out their implausible expansive cabin baggage from the overhead locker.

With a maximum of eight passengers flying from London City to Zurich (and incurring 76 each in Air Passenger Duty), it sounds expensive. But that all depends how much you use it. Because Surf Air isnt so much an airline as a club, which offers unlimited flights to members: an all-you-can-fly aviation buffet.

Surf Air began in California in 2013, and now operates in Europe as well. The idea is you pay a subscription of 3,150 a month, and can then fly as often as you like. You book flights on the Surf Air app, a process the firm says takes only 30 seconds.

A few catches. The only UK flights at present are to Zurich (from Luton currently, switching to the London City private jet centre next month). Surf Air says thats the route that most of its members have asked for. The sort of cash-rich, time-poor travellers who would be tempted by Surf Air are also, in my observation, people who relish plenty of choice. At present members have just one flight a day, from Monday to Friday only, between Luton and Switzerlands largest city. In comparison, there are dozens of flights each way between Londons assorted airports and Zurich.

Next, there could be other people ahead of you. Each plane has only eight seats on it. With a membership of 4,000 (albeit most of them in the US), demand could outstrip supply.

Simon Talling-Smith, chief executive of Surf Air Europe, tackles that issue head-on: We aim in our business model for five or six people on average. There are a small number of services which are full. But what is important to us is that our subscribers keep subscribing, and the inability to make bookings switches people off very quickly.

So its more important to have availability than to fill every day.

Subscribers can hold only two forward reservations at any one time, which constrains a lot of booking until two or three days out.

The typical passenger, says Mr Talling-Smith, makes one return flight a week. The each-way fare on that basis works out at around 400 per one-way trip. For comparison, British Airways typically wants 439 for a short-notice, one-way business-class flight from London City to Zurich. And, says the Surf Air boss, a subscription can pay dividends: You sit there with four or five other people, business contacts are made. Our members have found new customers and funding on our flights.

The concept may work for the passengers, but it wont do much for the environment. The pressure on the skies over London means that many flights must fly awkward, circuitous routes, with the extra environmental damage involved. Surf Air will be adding to the impact with a per-passenger footprint far in excess of the travellers on normal commercial flights.

An uncharitable traveller might speculate what the Californians were smoking when they decided to export Surf Air to the Docklands airport. But Simon Tolling-Smith says it is all about the most precious commodity of all: Surf Air gives them back more time to enjoy their lives instead of queueing and waiting around in airport terminals.
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Lauri Love is an activist, a physicist, a computer scientist, an angel and the person I want to spend my life with. He is stubborn and smart, near to the point of arrogance, and he fights every battle he can against injustice. Next week Lauri will be in court appealing against extradition to the United States where he faces a 99-year prison sentence on allegations British authorities investigated and decided not to charge him for.

Lauri is a much nicer person than I am and he is a much more positive and hopeful person. Where I see climate destruction and oppressive regimes, he sees opportunities to overcome. His hacker mind is hard-wired to solve problems and this world has many.

When you spend time with Lauri, you realise that it is much harder for him to fight against the injustices he is facing personally. He would much rather be fighting for someone else and helping to create a better world.

Most of the time Lauri either is, or would rather be, at home reading papers on quantum physics and cryptography and all the other similarly abstruse subjects that his brain is uniquely configured to solve. Lauri should be in a university working on inscrutable mathematical problems but, because of his Aspergers, he does not have the luxury of seeing the political problems of the world as separate from him.

Lauri was studying physics and computer science at Glasgow University in 2010 when he got involved in the Occupy movement. This started a spiral of events which culminated in a mental breakdown and him having to return to his parents house in Suffolk. A social conscience combined with mental health problems has always been Lauris Achilles heel.

 Man who accidentally halted global cyber attack: 'I'm no hero'

Lauris Asperger syndrome is a gift. It gives him his genius and it gives him his logical outlook on the world, from which his stubbornness arises.

Lauri wont do anything that goes against his ethics or how he sees things should be. He will fight for what is right even if it kills him. His neurodiversity presents him considerable problems in the world as it is currently calibrated. This is not a kind world to those who are different and the criminal justice system especially so.

US prosecutors accuse Lauri of being part of #OpLastResort, the round of online protests that followed the death of American internet pioneer Aaron Swartz.

The internet wept when Aaron died. There was an enormous public outcry and calls to reform Americas hacking law, the notorious Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Questions were asked in Congress and new laws proposed. #OpLastResort was part of that public outcry.

The US government know that their claims against Lauri will never be tested in court. The way extradition works means that prosecutors do not have to show any evidence to the British authorities. And because those US prosecutors reserve the right to try Lauri three times, in three different districts, with a potential sentence of 99 years, they know he would be under enormous pressure to accept a plea bargain.

Ninety-seven per cent of federal defendants in the United States never get a trial because they are offered a choice of either accepting years in prison if they plead guilty or risking decades to have their day in court. What Lauri is being offered in the United States is not a trial but blackmail with a potential life sentence attached.

Lauri would not be granted bail if he were extradited and there is no doubt that his human rights would be violated in US custody. All the experts testify to it and even the district judge who approved Lauris extradition last year accepted that his life is at risk if extradition goes ahead.

What would Lauris life have been for if that happens? The US wants his life to be an example to scare anyone who might embarrass the government or launch an enthusiastic campaign to reform draconian laws.

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

I can see that Lauris life is worth more than that, not just to me but to the public at large. The UK judicial system can see it too. All the members of hacking collective LulzSec were prosecuted here in the UK and are now pursuing very fulfilling lives contributing to society, getting PhDs, teaching and working in computer security. At least 13 people have been tried in the UK in the past few years for computer offences that involved foreign servers, including American ones.

Lauri Love cannot become the first UK citizen extradited to the United States on extraterritorial computer crimes charges. He should be able to continue his work improving online security, and be able to finish his university studies.

Earlier this year when the Wannacry virus affected the NHS and closed hospitals, Lauri and his hacking compatriots worked on analysing the malware and compiling a fact sheet. (Another security researcher, Marcus Hutchins, who activated a kill-switch curtailing WannaCrys spread, is now being prosecuted by the US, who waited until he was on holiday in Las Vegas to arrest him, seeking to avoid the headache of extradition.) Lauri is currently working to formalise this process as a social enterprise, Bogaty Hack, to create a volunteer reserve of people to fight the next major cyber-attack which could take lives.

All we are asking for is a trial in the UK, a trial at home. Lauris life is worth more than to be a casualty of the US vindictive justice system, another young life like Aarons with so much potential thrown away for nothing.
How Colonial Violence Came Home: The Ugly Truth of the First World War



The Great War is often depicted as an unexpected catastrophe. But for millions who had been living under imperialist rule, terror and degradation were nothing new.



By Pankaj Mishra

November 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Today on the Western Front, the German sociologist Max Weber wrote in September 1917, there stands a dross of African and Asiatic savages and all the worlds rabble of thieves and lumpens. Weber was referring to the millions of Indian, African, Arab, Chinese and Vietnamese soldiers and labourers, who were then fighting with British and French forces in Europe, as well as in several ancillary theatres of the first world war .

Faced with manpower shortages, British imperialists had recruited up to 1.4 million Indian soldiers. France enlisted nearly 500,000 troops from its colonies in Africa and Indochina. Nearly 400,000 African Americans were also inducted into US forces. The first world wars truly unknown soldiers are these non-white combatants.

Ho Chi Minh, who spent much of the war in Europe, denounced what he saw as the press-ganging of subordinate peoples. Before the start of the Great War, Ho wrote, they were seen as nothing but dirty Negroes  good for no more than pulling rickshaws. But when Europes slaughter machines needed human fodder, they were called into service. Other anti-imperialists, such as Mohandas Gandhi and WEB Du Bois , vigorously supported the war aims of their white overlords, hoping to secure dignity for their compatriots in the aftermath. But they did not realise what Webers remarks revealed: that Europeans had quickly come to fear and hate physical proximity to their non-white subjects  their new-caught sullen peoples, as Kipling called colonised Asians and Africans in his 1899 poem The White Mans Burden .

These colonial subjects remain marginal in popular histories of the war. They also go largely uncommemorated by the hallowed rituals of Remembrance Day . The ceremonial walk to the Cenotaph at Whitehall by all major British dignitaries, the two minutes of silence broken by the Last Post, the laying of poppy wreaths and the singing of the national anthem  all of these uphold the first world war as Europes stupendous act of self-harm. For the past century, the war has been remembered as a great rupture in modern western civilisation, an inexplicable catastrophe that highly civilised European powers sleepwalked into after the long peace of the 19th century  a catastrophe whose unresolved issues provoked yet another calamitous conflict between liberal democracy and authoritarianism, in which the former finally triumphed, returning Europe to its proper equilibrium.

With more than eight million dead and more than 21 million wounded, the war was the bloodiest in European history until that second conflagration on the continent ended in 1945. War memorials in Europes remotest villages, as well as the cemeteries of Verdun, the Marne, Passchendaele, and the Somme enshrine a heartbreakingly extensive experience of bereavement. In many books and films, the prewar years appear as an age of prosperity and contentment in Europe, with the summer of 1913 featuring as the last golden summer.

But today, as racism and xenophobia return to the centre of western politics , it is time to remember that the background to the first world war was decades of racist imperialism whose consequences still endure. It is something that is not remembered much, if at all, on Remembrance Day.

At the time of the first world war, all western powers upheld a racial hierarchy built around a shared project of territorial expansion. In 1917, the US president, Woodrow Wilson, baldly stated his intention, to keep the white race strong against the yellow and to preserve white civilisation and its domination of the planet. Eugenicist ideas of racial selection were everywhere in the mainstream, and the anxiety expressed in papers like the Daily Mail, which worried about white women coming into contact with natives who are worse than brutes when their passions are aroused, was widely shared across the west. Anti-miscegenation laws existed in most US states. In the years leading up to 1914, prohibitions on sexual relations between European women and black men (though not between European men and African women) were enforced across European colonies in Africa. The presence of the dirty Negroes in Europe after 1914 seemed to be violating a firm taboo.

In May 1915, a scandal erupted when the Daily Mail printed a photograph of a British nurse standing behind a wounded Indian soldier. Army officials tried to withdraw white nurses from hospitals treating Indians, and disbarred the latter from leaving the hospital premises without a white male companion. The outrage when France deployed soldiers from Africa (a majority of them from the Maghreb) in its postwar occupation of Germany was particularly intense and more widespread. Germany had also fielded thousands of African soldiers while trying to hold on to its colonies in east Africa, but it had not used them in Europe, or indulged in what the German foreign minister (and former governor of Samoa), Wilhelm Solf, called racially shameful use of coloureds.

These savages are a terrible danger, a joint declaration of the German national assembly warned in 1920, to German women. Writing Mein Kampf in the 1920s, Adolf Hitler would describe African soldiers on German soil as a Jewish conspiracy aimed to topple white people from their cultural and political heights. The Nazis, who were inspired by American innovations in racial hygiene, would in 1937 forcibly sterilise hundreds of children fathered by African soldiers. Fear and hatred of armed niggers (as Weber called them) on German soil was not confined to Germany, or the political right. The pope protested against their presence, and an editorial in the Daily Herald, a British socialist newspaper, in 1920 was titled Black Scourge in Europe.

This was the prevailing global racial order, built around an exclusionary notion of whiteness and buttressed by imperialism, pseudo-science and the ideology of social Darwinism. In our own time, the steady erosion of the inherited privileges of race has destabilised western identities and institutions  and it has unveiled racism as an enduringly potent political force, empowering volatile demagogues in the heart of the modern west.

Today, as white supremacists feverishly build transnational alliances , it becomes imperative to ask, as Du Bois did in 1910: What is whiteness that one should so desire it? As we remember the first global war, it must be remembered against the background of a project of western global domination  one that was shared by all of the wars major antagonists. The first world war, in fact, marked the moment when the violent legacies of imperialism in Asia and Africa returned home, exploding into self-destructive carnage in Europe. And it seems ominously significant on this particular Remembrance Day: the potential for large-scale mayhem in the west today is greater than at any other time in its long peace since 1945.

W hen historians discuss the origins of the Great War, they usually focus on rigid alliances, military timetables, imperialist rivalries, arms races and German militarism. The war, they repeatedly tell us, was the seminal calamity of the 20th century  Europes original sin, which enabled even bigger eruptions of savagery such as the second world war and the Holocaust. An extensive literature on the war, literally tens of thousands of books and scholarly articles, largely dwells on the western front and the impact of the mutual butchery on Britain, France, and Germany  and significantly, on the metropolitan cores of these imperial powers rather than their peripheries. In this orthodox narrative, which is punctuated by the Russian Revolution and the Balfour declaration in 1917, the war begins with the guns of August in 1914, and exultantly patriotic crowds across Europe send soldiers off to a bloody stalemate in the trenches. Peace arrives with the Armistice of 11 November 1918, only to be tragically compromised by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which sets the stage for another world war.

In one predominant but highly ideological version of European history  popularised since the cold war  the world wars, together with fascism and communism, are simply monstrous aberrations in the universal advance of liberal democracy and freedom. In many ways, however, it is the decades after 1945  when Europe, deprived of its colonies, emerged from the ruins of two cataclysmic wars  that increasingly seem exceptional. Amid a general exhaustion with militant and collectivist ideologies in western Europe, the virtues of democracy  above all, the respect for individual liberties  seemed clear. The practical advantages of a reworked social contract, and a welfare state, were also obvious. But neither these decades of relative stability, nor the collapse of communist regimes in 1989, were a reason to assume that human rights and democracy were rooted in European soil.

Instead of remembering the first world war in a way that flatters our contemporary prejudices, we should recall what Hannah Arendt pointed out in The Origins of Totalitarianism  one of the wests first major reckonings with Europes grievous 20th-century experience of wars, racism and genocide. Arendt observes that it was Europeans who initially reordered humanity into master and slave races during their conquest and exploitation of much of Asia, Africa and America. This debasing hierarchy of races was established because the promise of equality and liberty at home required imperial expansion abroad in order to be even partially fulfilled. We tend to forget that imperialism, with its promise of land, food and raw materials, was widely seen in the late 19th century as crucial to national progress and prosperity. Racism was  and is  more than an ugly prejudice, something to be eradicated through legal and social proscription. It involved real attempts to solve, through exclusion and degradation, the problems of establishing political order, and pacifying the disaffected, in societies roiled by rapid social and economic change.

In the early 20th century, the popularity of social Darwinism had created a consensus that nations should be seen similarly to biological organisms, which risked extinction or decay if they failed to expel alien bodies and achieve living space for their own citizens. Pseudo-scientific theories of biological difference between races posited a world in which all races were engaged in an international struggle for wealth and power. Whiteness became the new religion, as Du Bois witnessed, offering security amid disorienting economic and technological shifts, and a promise of power and authority over a majority of the human population.

The resurgence of these supremacist views today in the west  alongside the far more widespread stigmatisation of entire populations as culturally incompatible with white western peoples  should suggest that the first world war was not, in fact, a profound rupture with Europes own history. Rather it was, as Liang Qichao, Chinas foremost modern intellectual, was already insisting in 1918, a mediating passage that connects the past and the future.

The liturgies of Remembrance Day, and evocations of the beautiful long summer of 1913, deny both the grim reality that preceded the war and the way it has persisted into the 21st century. Our complex task during the wars centenary is to identify the ways in which that past has infiltrated our present, and how it threatens to shape the future: how the terminal weakening of white civilisations domination, and the assertiveness of previously sullen peoples, has released some very old tendencies and traits in the west.

N early a century after first world war ended, the experiences and perspectives of its non-European actors and observers remain largely obscure. Most accounts of the war uphold it as an essentially European affair: one in which the continents long peace is shattered by four years of carnage, and a long tradition of western rationalism is perverted.

Relatively little is known about how the war accelerated political struggles across Asia and Africa; how Arab and Turkish nationalists, Indian and Vietnamese anti-colonial activists found new opportunities in it; or how, while destroying old empires in Europe, the war turned Japan into a menacing imperialist power in Asia.

A broad account of the war that is attentive to political conflicts outside Europe can clarify the hyper-nationalism today of many Asian and African ruling elites, most conspicuously the Chinese regime, which presents itself as avengers of Chinas century-long humiliation by the west.

Recent commemorations have made greater space for the non-European soldiers and battlefields of the first world war: altogether more than four million non-white men were mobilised into European and American armies, and fighting happened in places very remote from Europe  from Siberia and east Asia to the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and even the South Pacific islands. In Mesopotamia, Indian soldiers formed a majority of Allied manpower throughout the war. Neither Britains occupation of Mesopotamia nor its successful campaign in Palestine would have occurred without Indian assistance. Sikh soldiers even helped the Japanese to evict Germans from their Chinese colony of Qingdao.

Scholars have started to pay more attention to the nearly 140,000 Chinese and Vietnamese contract labourers hired by the British and French governments to maintain the wars infrastructure, mostly digging trenches. We know more about how interwar Europe became host to a multitude of anticolonial movements; the east Asian expatriate community in Paris at one point included Zhou Enlai, later the premier of China, as well as Ho Chi Minh. Cruel mistreatment, in the form of segregation and slave labour, was the fate of many of these Asians and Africans in Europe. Deng Xiaoping, who arrived in France just after the war, later recalled the humiliations inflicted upon fellow Chinese by the running dogs of capitalists.

But in order to grasp the current homecoming of white supremacism in the west, we need an even deeper history  one that shows how whiteness became in the late 19th century the assurance of individual identity and dignity, as well as the basis of military and diplomatic alliances.

Such a history would show that the global racial order in the century preceding 1914 was one in which it was entirely natural for uncivilised peoples to be exterminated, terrorised, imprisoned, ostracised or radically re-engineered. Moreover, this entrenched system was not something incidental to the first world war, with no connections to the vicious way it was fought or to the brutalisation that made possible the horrors of the Holocaust. Rather, the extreme, lawless and often gratuitous violence of modern imperialism eventually boomeranged on its originators.

In this new history, Europes long peace is revealed as a time of unlimited wars in Asia, Africa and the Americas. These colonies emerge as the crucible where the sinister tactics of Europes brutal 20th-century wars  racial extermination, forced population transfers, contempt for civilian lives  were first forged. Contemporary historians of German colonialism (an expanding field of study) try to trace the Holocaust back to the mini-genocides Germans committed in their African colonies in the 1900s, where some key ideologies, such as Lebensraum , were also nurtured. But it is too easy to conclude, especially from an Anglo-American perspective, that Germany broke from the norms of civilisation to set a new standard of barbarity, strong-arming the rest of the world into an age of extremes. For there were deep continuities in the imperialist practices and racial assumptions of European and American powers.

Indeed, the mentalities of the western powers converged to a remarkable degree during the high noon of whiteness  what Du Bois, answering his own question about this highly desirable condition, memorably defined as the ownership of the Earth for ever and ever. For example, the German colonisation of south-west Africa, which was meant to solve the problem of overpopulation, was often assisted by the British, and all major western powers amicably sliced and shared the Chinese melon in the late 19th century. Any tensions that arose between those dividing the booty of Asia and Africa were defused largely peacefully, if at the expense of Asians and Africans.

This is because colonies had, by the late 19th century, come to be widely seen as indispensable relief-valves for domestic socio-economic pressures. Cecil Rhodes put the case for them with exemplary clarity in 1895 after an encounter with angry unemployed men in Londons East End. Imperialism, he declared, was a solution for the social problem, ie in order to save the 40 million inhabitants of the United Kingdom from a bloody civil war, we colonial statesmen must acquire new lands to settle the surplus population, to provide new markets for the goods produced in the factories and mines. In Rhodes view, if you want to avoid civil war, you must become imperialists.

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Rhodes scramble for Africas gold fields helped trigger the second Boer war , during which the British, interning Afrikaner women and children, brought the term concentration camp into ordinary parlance. By the end of the war in 1902, it had become a commonplace of history, JA Hobson wrote, that governments use national animosities, foreign wars and the glamour of empire-making in order to bemuse the popular mind and divert rising resentment against domestic abuses.

With imperialism opening up a panorama of vulgar pride and crude sensationalism, ruling classes everywhere tried harder to imperialise the nation, as Arendt wrote. This project to organise the nation for the looting of foreign territories and the permanent degradation of alien peoples was quickly advanced through the newly established tabloid press. The Daily Mail, right from its inception in 1896, stoked vulgar pride in being white, British and superior to the brutish natives  just as it does today.

A t the end of the war, Germany was stripped of its colonies and accused by the victorious imperial powers, entirely without irony, of ill-treating its natives in Africa. But such judgments, still made today to distinguish a benign British and American imperialism from the German, French, Dutch and Belgian versions, try to suppress the vigorous synergies of racist imperialism. Marlow, the narrator of Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness (1899), is clear-sighted about them: All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz, he says. And to the new-fangled modes of exterminating the brutes, he might have added.

In 1920, a year after condemning Germany for its crimes against Africans, the British devised aerial bombing as routine policy in their new Iraqi possession  the forerunner to todays decade-long bombing and drone campaigns in west and south Asia. The Arab and Kurd now know what real bombing means, a 1924 report by a Royal Air Force officer put it. They now know that within 45 minutes a full-sized village  can be practically wiped out and a third of its inhabitants killed or injured. This officer was Arthur Bomber Harris , who in the second world war unleashed the firestorms of Hamburg and Dresden, and whose pioneering efforts in Iraq helped German theorising in the 1930s about der totale krieg (the total war).

It is often proposed that Europeans were indifferent to or absent-minded about their remote imperial possessions, and that only a few dyed-in-the-wool imperialists like Rhodes, Kipling and Lord Curzon cared enough about them. This makes racism seem like a minor problem that was aggravated by the arrival of Asian and African immigrants in post-1945 Europe. But the frenzy of jingoism with which Europe plunged into a bloodbath in 1914 speaks of a belligerent culture of imperial domination, a macho language of racial superiority, that had come to bolster national and individual self-esteem.

Italy actually joined Britain and France on the Allied side in 1915 in a fit of popular empire-mania (and promptly plunged into fascism after its imperialist cravings went unslaked). Italian writers and journalists, as well as politicians and businessmen, had lusted after imperial power and glory since the late 19th century. Italy had fervently scrambled for Africa, only to be ignominiously routed by Ethiopia in 1896. (Mussolini would avenge that in 1935 by dousing Ethiopians with poison gas.) In 1911, it saw an opportunity to detach Libya from the Ottoman empire. Coming after previous setbacks, its assault on the country, greenlighted by both Britain and France, was vicious and loudly cheered at home. News of the Italians atrocities, which included the first bombing from air in history, radicalised many Muslims across Asia and Africa. But public opinion in Italy remained implacably behind the imperial gamble.

Germanys own militarism, commonly blamed for causing Europes death spiral between 1914 and 1918, seems less extraordinary when we consider that from the 1880s, many Germans in politics, business and academia, and such powerful lobby groups as the Pan-German League (Max Weber was briefly a member), had exhorted their rulers to achieve the imperial status of Britain and France. Furthermore, all Germanys military engagements from 1871 to 1914 occurred outside Europe. These included punitive expeditions in the African colonies and one ambitious foray in 1900 in China, where Germany joined seven other European powers in a retaliatory expedition against young Chinese who had rebelled against western domination of the Middle Kingdom.

Dispatching German troops to Asia, the Kaiser presented their mission as racial vengeance: Give no pardon and take no prisoners, he said, urging the soldiers to make sure that no Chinese will ever again even dare to look askance at a German. The crushing of the Yellow Peril (a phrase coined in the 1890s) was more or less complete by the time the Germans arrived. Nevertheless, between October 1900 and spring 1901 the Germans launched dozens of raids in the Chinese countryside that became notorious for their intense brutality.

One of the volunteers for the disciplinary force was Lt Gen Lothar von Trotha, who had made his reputation in Africa by slaughtering natives and incinerating villages. He called his policy terrorism, adding that it can only help to subdue the natives. In China, he despoiled Ming graves and presided over a few killings, but his real work lay ahead, in German South-West Africa (contemporary Namibia) where an anti-colonial uprising broke out in January 1904. In October of that year, Von Trotha ordered that members of the Herero community, including women and children, who had already been defeated militarily, were to be shot on sight and those escaping death were to be driven into the Omaheke Desert, where they would be left to die from exposure. An estimated 60,000-70,000 Herero people, out of a total of approximately 80,000, were eventually killed, and many more died in the desert from starvation. A second revolt against German rule in south-west Africa by the Nama people led to the demise, by 1908, of roughly half of their population.

Such proto-genocides became routine during the last years of European peace. Running the Congo Free State as his personal fief from 1885 to 1908, King Leopold II of Belgium reduced the local population by half, sending as many as eight million Africans to an early death. The American conquest of the Philippines between 1898 and 1902, to which Kipling dedicated The White Mans Burden, took the lives of more than 200,000 civilians. The death toll perhaps seems less startling when one considers that 26 of the 30 US generals in the Philippines had fought in wars of annihilation against Native Americans at home. One of them, Brigadier General Jacob H Smith, explicitly stated in his order to the troops that I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn. The more you kill and burn the better it will please me. In a Senate hearing on the atrocities in the Philippines, General Arthur MacArthur (father of Douglas) referred to the magnificent Aryan peoples he belonged to and the unity of the race he felt compelled to uphold.

T he modern history of violence shows that ostensibly staunch foes have never been reluctant to borrow murderous ideas from one another. To take only one instance, the American elites ruthlessness with blacks and Native Americans greatly impressed the earliest generation of German liberal imperialists, decades before Hitler also came to admire the USs unequivocally racist policies of nationality and immigration. The Nazis sought inspiration from Jim Crow legislation in the US south, which makes Charlottesville, Virginia, a fitting recent venue for the unfurling of swastika banners and chants of blood and soil.

In light of this shared history of racial violence, it seems odd that we continue to portray the first world war as a battle between democracy and authoritarianism, as a seminal and unexpected calamity. The Indian writer Aurobindo Ghose was one among many anticolonial thinkers who predicted, even before the outbreak of war, that vaunting, aggressive, dominant Europe was already under a sentence of death, awaiting annihilation  much as Liang Qichao could see, in 1918, that the war would prove to be a bridge connecting Europes past of imperial violence to its future of merciless fratricide.

These shrewd assessments were not Oriental wisdom or African clairvoyance. Many subordinate peoples simply realised, well before Arendt published The Origins of Totalitarianism in 1951, that peace in the metropolitan west depended too much on outsourcing war to the colonies.

The experience of mass death and destruction, suffered by most Europeans only after 1914, was first widely known in Asia and Africa, where land and resources were forcefully usurped, economic and cultural infrastructure systematically destroyed, and entire populations eliminated with the help of up-to-date bureaucracies and technologies. Europes equilibrium was parasitic for too long on disequilibrium elsewhere.

In the end, Asia and Africa could not remain a safely remote venue for Europes wars of aggrandisement in the late 19th and 20th century. Populations in Europe eventually suffered the great violence that had long been inflicted on Asians and Africans. As Arendt warned, violence administered for the sake of power turns into a destructive principle that will not stop until there is nothing left to violate.

I n our own time, nothing better demonstrates this ruinous logic of lawless violence, which corrupts both public and private morality, than the heavily racialised war on terror. It presumes a sub-human enemy who must be smoked out at home and abroad  and it has licensed the use of torture and extrajudicial execution, even against western citizens.

But, as Arendt predicted, its failures have only produced an even greater dependence on violence, a proliferation of undeclared wars and new battlefields, a relentless assault on civil rights at home  and an exacerbated psychology of domination, presently manifest in Donald Trumps threats to trash the nuclear deal with Iran and unleash on North Korea fire and fury like the world has never seen.

It was always an illusion to suppose that civilised peoples could remain immune, at home, to the destruction of morality and law in their wars against barbarians abroad. But that illusion, long cherished by the self-styled defenders of western civilisation, has now been shattered, with racist movements ascendant in Europe and the US , often applauded by the white supremacist in the White Hous e, who is making sure there is nothing left to violate.

The white nationalists have junked the old rhetoric of liberal internationalism, the preferred language of the western political and media establishment for decades. Instead of claiming to make the world safe for democracy, they nakedly assert the cultural unity of the white race against an existential threat posed by swarthy foreigners, whether these are citizens, immigrants, refugees, asylum-seekers or terrorists.

But the global racial order that for centuries bestowed power, identity, security and status on its beneficiaries has finally begun to break down. Not even war with China, or ethnic cleansing in the west, will restore to whiteness its ownership of the Earth for ever and ever. Regaining imperial power and glory has already proven to be a treacherous escapist fantasy  devastating the Middle East and parts of Asia and Africa while bringing terrorism back to the streets of Europe and America  not to mention ushering Britain towards Brexit.

No rousing quasi-imperialist ventures abroad can mask the chasms of class and education, or divert the masses, at home. Consequently, the social problem appears insoluble; acrimoniously polarised societies seem to verge on the civil war that Rhodes feared; and, as Brexit and Trump show, the capacity for self-harm has grown ominously.

This is also why whiteness, first turned into a religion during the economic and social uncertainty that preceded the violence of 1914, is the worlds most dangerous cult today. Racial supremacy has been historically exercised through colonialism, slavery, segregation, ghettoisation, militarised border controls and mass incarceration. It has now entered its last and most desperate phase with Trump in power.

We can no longer discount the terrible probability James Baldwin once described: that the winners of history, struggling to hold on to what they have stolen from their captives, and unable to look into their mirror, will precipitate a chaos throughout the world which, if it does not bring life on this planet to an end, will bring about a racial war such as the world has never seen. Sane thinking would require, at the very least, an examination of the history  and stubborn persistence  of racist imperialism: a reckoning that Germany alone among western powers has attempted.

Certainly the risk of not confronting our true history has never been as clear as on this Remembrance Day. If we continue to evade it, historians a century from now may once again wonder why the west sleepwalked, after a long peace, into its biggest calamity yet.

This article was originally published by The Guardian -

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Fascism Came To America Wrapped In A Rainbow Flag And Wearing A Pussyhat

By Caitlin Johnstone

November 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Theres a popular quote of unknown origin that usually goes something like When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.

Its a good quote, whoever said it. It warns that if manipulative oppressors are going to seize control of a nations government, they will obviously need to do so by appealing to the spirit of the times, the current values system of the masses. Theyre not going to make their entrance screaming Freedom is slavery! while a band plays the Darth Vader theme. This is obvious to anyone who possesses any insight into how people think and behave.

But its a quote from a bygone age. Christianity and flag-waving patriotism still hold value in red states, but theyve become largely invisible to the major culture factories of New York and Los Angeles, and thus to the dominant culture of the greater United States. If fascism came to America wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross today, it wouldnt have enough broad public support to implement its agendas, because crosses and flags dont hold that much sway over Americas dominant value system. In order to rope in those who dont value the old cultural value symbols, something more is needed.

So when fascism came to America, it came wrapped in a rainbow flag, and wearing a pussyhat.

Do you know why Democrats fixate so much on the completely unsubstantiated narrative that Donald Trump colluded with the Russian government to steal the 2016 election? We know that the loose tangle of alliances between the intelligence communities, the military-industrial complex, defense agencies, corporate media and plutocrats collectively known as the deep state advance that narrative because it helps manufacture public support for new cold war escalations with Chinas right arm Russia, but why do Democrats advance it? Why do they work so hard advancing a weird McCarthyite psyop when there are so many actual horrific things that this administration is doing ?

Russia makes a fine distraction for the corruption that was exposed in WikiLeaks releases of Democratic party emails last year, but more importantly, attacking the Trump administration on the actual, non-imaginary evil things that it is doing would expose the fact that Obama was doing those evil things too . Even more importantly, it would draw attention to the fact that the entire Democratic party is devoted to the continuation and expansion of Bush and Obamas wars, the continuation and expansion of Bush and Obamas Orwellian domestic surveillance programs, the continuation and expansion of Bush and Obamas militarized police state, and the continuation and expansion of Bush and Obamas soul-crushing and planet-killing neoliberal economic policies.

So they collaborate with the deep states world-threatening scheme to take down Russia, because the idea of Russia has been successfully married to the idea of Trump. One of the ways that they have done this is to demand a drastic increase in online censorship to protect them from Russian propaganda and fake news, and a drastic increase in online censorship is exactly what they are receiving . Trump fear was used to manipulate rank-and-file Democrats into asking for this fascism, while cheering for the US intelligence community to keep fighting Americas enemies.

So while Trump leads his American flag-wrapped, cross-carrying supporters into consenting to more war, more domestic surveillance, more militarization of the police force, and more soul-crushing, world-killing neoliberal economic policy, the goons of the Democratic establishment are leading their rainbow flag-wrapped, pussyhat wearing base into consenting to the exact same thing. The noose gets ever tighter, the censorship gets more and more severe, the spectrum of acceptable debate gets smaller and smaller, the rule of the oligarchs grows ever more totalitarian, and neither the flag-wrapped cross carriers nor the rainbow flag-wrapped pussyhat wearers do anything about it. This was intended.

Have you ever noticed that Democrats will eagerly advance agendas which cause no inconvenience for Americas oligarchs, but when you ask about fixing the economic injustice those oligarchs thrive on or scaling back the war machine that props up their empire, Democrats are nowhere to be found? They claim to stand up for people of color, but suggest pulling some money away from the plutocrats and military-industrial complex to make slavery reparations and youll get laughed out of the room. Theyve got no problem advancing gay marriage or trans rights, but try getting Americans the social safety nets afforded to everyone else in every major country on earth and they babble about ponies and unicorns. They dont care if you get an abortion, but dont you dare try to stop them from bombing other civilizations into the stone age on the other side of the planet.

They put a smiley face on the tyrannical oligarchs. They put a pussyhat on Big Brother.

And people see through the bullshit. Not everyone, but a lot of people. It doesnt take that much insight to be able to smell a lie when its being shoved down your throat. For that reason, very real social justice issues get entangled and confused with social engineering manipulations. I try to talk about the very real problem of rape culture , and I get readers shaking their heads in dismay telling me Ive swallowed deep state propaganda. LGBT rights activism has been soiled with homophobic smears against Trump and Putin. Black activists try to address institutional racism and police brutality, and their activism gets smeared with association with Russian internet trolls . Addressing real problems gets harder and harder because establishment manipulators have us so psychologically fixated on fake things.

Americans would never consent to being dominated by forces they viewed as openly fascistic, so they are dominated by forces with pretty faces painted on them instead. Sure, Trump is doing his part in advancing the interests of the corporate slave state, not as the Orange Hitler we were promised he would be, but as a more overt version of his neoliberal, neoconservative, ecocidal omnicidal predecessors.

That said, the painted face of enlightened coastal liberalism has facilitated the agendas of the oppression machine far more. The drop in healthy suspicion of the US intelligence community, the demand for online censorship, the manufactured support for world-threatening cold war escalations  these things didnt come from the red states. This willing complicity with Orwellian agendas was birthed into existence by those bastions of progressive values in Americas cultural hubs on either side of the continent. It is maintained by NPR-listening, latte-sipping liberals who view themselves as open-minded and woke.

By allowing socially liberal values to become the dominant culture, and then hijacking those values by clothing fascism in a rainbow flag and a pussyhat, the elites who are ruining our world were able to trick rank-and-file Democrats into cheering for their own enslavement. And now here we are, trying our damndest to yank that pussyhat off of Big Brother to show them all whats really happening. Well find out if its working in due time.

Hey you, thanks for reading! My work is entirely reader-funded so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook , following me on Twitter , and maybe throwing some money into my hat on Patreon or Paypal .

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Home ISIS Last Stand; End Times for the Caliphate



By Mike Whitney There can be no doubt about it, the ISIS of just two years ago was the most powerful, well-led, generously-armed and resource-efficient paramilitary force in modern history, having carved out for itself an empire between two sovereign states and devastating their armies in the process. However, this is no longer so. The days of the Islamic State consuming Syria like a cancer are over. The Defeat of ISIS, Andrew Illingworth, Almasdar News November 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Russia and its allies have expelled ISIS from its last urban stronghold in Syria. Now the Syrian coalition will turn its attention to the numerous hotspots around the country where al Qaida-linked groups have dug in waiting for the Syrian Army to make its final push. On Monday, Lebanese media reported that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), joined by combat troops from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah, recaptured the city of Abu Kamal in Deir Ezzor province. The city was the last bastion for the terrorist group, ISIS, which, at one time, controlled a vast swathe of land stretching from northern Iraq to central Syria. Now the group has been chased from its last urban hideaway and scattered across the arid wastelands like a nomadic tribe wandering the dessert. Abu Kamal was ISISs last stand, the final chance to fend off the advancing loyalist forces and reverse the course of the war. But the three-pronged attack proved to be too much for the demoralized jihadists who fled the city northward or surrendered to Syrian troops on the perimeter. Thus, ISIS no longer occupies any of the major towns or cities that once comprised the emerging Wahhabi proto-state. The group has been soundly defeated, its leadership is in tatters and the star-crossed Caliphate has met its end. What happens next in Syria is of critical importance. Although large parts of the country remain under the control of al-Qaida-linked groups and the other Sunni militias, Russian President Vladimir Putin believes the combat part of the war is nearing its end and wants to begin preparations for a political settlement. This view is shared by the entire Putin administration including Deputy Defense Minister Valery Gerasimov. On Monday, Gerasimov said: The active phase of the military operation in Syria is nearly over. Thanks to our joint efforts, terrorists are being wiped out in the Al-Bukamal area in eastern Syria and along the Syrian-Iraqi border. It will only be a matter of time before the other militant groups are completely eradicated which will allow us to move on to a post-conflict settlement. Its worth noting, that the western media has entirely ignored the defeat of ISIS at Abu Kamal mainly because it was the Russian-led coalition that delivered the final blow. In the current climate in the US, any facts that fail to support the anti-Russia hysteria that has swept the country, are scrubbed from publication. So while the headlines at the New York Times should have read: Russia Crushes ISIS in Syria, they instead focused on the trivial details of the latest sex scandal. Post-ISIS Meetings Begin On Monday, Putin met with Bashar al Assad in the Russian resort city of Sochi to discuss the winding down of military operations and the next phase of the 7 year-long war. The Syrian President expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the man who, by any measure, saved Syria from a fate similar to that of Libya or Iraq. I have conveyed to Mr. Putin and to the Russian people, our gratitude for their efforts to save our country. In the name of the Syrian people, I greet you and thank you all, every Russian officer, fighter and pilot that took part in this war. Putin thinks the defeat of ISIS at Abu Kamal creates an opportunity for the warring parties to hash out their differences and reach an agreement that will put an end to the fighting. Theres no doubt that Assad will be asked to make concessions he wouldnt otherwise make to satisfy the objectives of his Russian allies. But Putin does not want Syria to become his Vietnam, he has no intention of using the Russian airforce to recapture every square inch of sovereign Syrian territory. As hes said from the very beginning, his plans involve the annihilation of the terrorist forces operating in the country; nothing more and nothing less. This is why the outcome at Abu Kamal is so important in shaping the agenda. ISIS has been vanquished and the enclaves where the other insurgent groups are currently located, will be part of a wide-ranging mop-up operation that will end the terrorist threat in Syria for good. Security will eventually be reestablished and the government will move on to the arduous task of rebuilding its decimated cities and infrastructure. But first a settlement must be reached. Later in the week, Putin will meet with leaders from Iran, Turkey and (maybe) Saudi Arabia. The geopolitical interests of all the parties are vastly different but not necessarily irreconcilable. Turkey, for example, might agree to withdraw its troops from Northern Syria if they are given assurances by Putin that the Kurds will not be allowed to set up an independent state on Turkeys southern border. The Kurds might also be willing to settle for something less than full statehood if they are allowed sufficient autonomy to operate as a culturally independent entity. The main problem is the United States and its Israeli-Saudi allies who still want to topple Assad, partition the country, and transform Syria into another US garrison state at the heart of the worlds largest energy reserves. The defeat of ISIS has not changed Washingtons strategic ambitions or its determination to occupy Syria even after the hostilities have ended. Defense Secretary James Mad Dog Mattis has already stated that the US will not leave Syria after ISIS is crushed. Heres what Mattis said at a recent press briefing on November 13: Were not just going to walk away right now before the Geneva process has crackedWere going to make sure we set the conditions for a diplomatic solutionWe have to get the UN-brokered effort in Geneva to take this thing forward. When Mattis was asked to provide the legal justification for the ongoing US occupation of east Syria, he said: You know, the UN said that ISIS  basically we can go after ISIS. And were there to take them out. The United Nations never approved US intervention in Syria, but thats probably a moot point given Washingtons abysmal record of shrugging off international law. From the look of things, the US is planning to stay in Syria for a long time, and thats going to dampen the prospects for peace. Check this out from NPR: A rising number of Syrians who fled are returning to their homes, with more than 600,000 going back in the first seven months of this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The U.N. migration agency says that number is comparable to the number of returns spanning the entire year in 2016. The Syrian government has been stressing that people are coming home, NPRs Ruth Sherlock reports, and state media have been posting photos and accounts of such returns Most of those going home  84 percent  were displaced within Syria. The next highest number of people  returned from Turkey, followed by Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, the IOM adds. (U.N.: More Than 600,000 Syrians Have Returned Home In 2017, NPR) The fact that Syrian refugees are returning home in droves further underscores the positive impact Russias intervention has had on restoring security across the country. The Russian president and his generals have prevented another country in the Middle East from being senselessly ravaged and plunged into fratricidal warfare. But while Putin has achieved much of what he set out to do when he launched his campaign in September 2015, US proxies in the mostly-Kurdish SDF have seized nearly all the territory east of the Euphrates creating the de facto partition that Putin hoped to avoid. How can this situation be resolved without a clash between Washington and Moscow? It cant be. There can be no political settlement unless the US relinquishes control over Syrian territory and abandons its misguided project to redraw the map of the Middle East. But is that really going to happen? It all depends on Donald Trump. If Trump really wants to end the conflict, then the Saudis and Israelis will probably comply. But if Trump is convinced that Syria is merely a skirmish in a much broader war with Iran, then he might opt to double-down by establishing bases east of the Euphrates while escalating tensions in other parts of the region. Is this what the recent flare-up in Saudi Arabia was all about? Did the Crown Prince collude with Trumps people in detaining Saad Hariri? Is the administration trying to throw more gas on the ME fire hoping to shift the attention to Tehran? Never Miss Another Story Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Its possible. Trump has never tried to conceal his hatred for Iran, but how far is he willing to take it? Is he willing to take the country to war? Heres a clip from an article by Josh Rogin at the Washington Post which helps to illustrate how members of the media (and their think tank colleagues?) are using events in Syria to make their case against Iran. He says: the Assad regime and Iran are preparing for the next phase of the long-running war, in which they will attempt to conquer the rest of the country. Whether Iran succeeds depends largely on whether the United States acknowledges and then counters that strategy. Tehran is pouring thousands of fighters into newly acquired territories and building military bases. Although U.S.-supported forces hold territories east of the Euphrates River in Syrias southeast, as well as along the borders of Israel and Jordan in the southwest, Iran has stated its intention to help Bashar al-Assad retake all of Syria. (The U.S. must prepare for Irans next move in Syria, Washington Post) Does Trump believe this nonsense? Iran has not conquered Syria. It was invited to help support the sovereign government in its fight against jihadist outsiders who destroyed the country and killed tens of thousands of its people. Rogins analysis is completely divorced from reality. Heres more from the same article: [A] task force of senior former U.S. diplomatic and military officials has come up with suggestions for how Trump could prevent Iran from taking over whats left of liberated Syria and fulfill his own promise to contain Iranian influence in the region. By liberated Syria, Rogin is presumably referring to the territory in east Syria that is currently occupied by US Special Forces and their Kurdish proxies. Heres more: Most urgently . . . the United States must impose real obstacles to Tehrans pursuit of total victory by the Assad regime in Syria,. the Trump administration must increase its assistance to Sunni communities lucky enough to live outside Assads rule and help U.S.-supported local groups hold valuable territory in Syrias southeast (WA Post) Escalate the conflict? Is that what Rogin wants: More war? And, on what grounds? On the basis that the enemies of the Syrian government must be given carte blanche in their battle for regime change. Isnt that the gist of what hes saying? Rogin again;  the United States should work with regional allies to stop Iran from moving weapons and troops into Syria. That would require interdicting shipments by sea and ensuring that U.S.-supported forces control key border towns in Syria and Iraq. Such moves could check Iranian aggression without triggering armed conflict with Tehran. (The U.S. must prepare for Irans next move in Syria, Washington Post) Rogins analysis reads like a science fiction novel. He wants the United States to engage in clearly illegal acts of piracy to prevent a sovereign government from assisting a neighbor in its fight against foreign terrorists. He also wants Trump to block critical land-routes that connect Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad and Tehran, effectively imposing a military cordon around the country. Rogin thinks the US has the right to arbitrarily decide these matters without United Nations approval. This is lunacy, and yet, this is the neocon rationale for expanding the war beyond Syrias borders. More than anything, the neocons want to drag the United States into a war with Iran. That is their Number 1 priority. But what about Trump? What does Trump want? Does he want to be the exalted leader who plunges the country into another bloody world war or does he want to implement the non-interventionist policies he supported during his campaign? Which is it? Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition . He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com . This article was originally published by Counterpunch - ==== Note regarding comments You spoke and we listened. It is no longer necessary for ICH readers to register before placing a comment. This website encourages readers to use the "Report" link found at the base of each comment. When a predetermined number of ICH readers click on the "Report" link, the comment will be automatically sent to "moderation". This would appear to be the most logical way to allow open comments, where you the reader/supporter, can determine what is acceptable speech. Please don't use the report feature simply because you disagree with the author point of view. Treat others with respect, remembering that "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."- Benjamin Franklin. Please read our Comment Policy before posting - Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.
Home How Will Iran, Russia And Turkey React To U.S. Decision To Stay In Syria By South Front November 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Following the meeting of Russia, Iran, and Turkey in Sochi, where the end of the war was announced and the beginning of the post-war regulation process meant to decide Syrias future took place, the US media began reporting on the fact that the US plans to stay in Syria despite the collapse of ISIS, and also will use the Kurds to pressure al-Assads government. This has been mentioned repeatedly: despite officially supporting Syrias territorial integrity, unofficially they try to strike back for their strategic failure at toppling al-Assads government, which was unsuccessful mainly thanks to Russia and Iran. Washington repeatedly voiced its dissatisfaction with the way war in Syria went, along with anxieties regarding the consequences for the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia concerning the growing role of Russia and Iran in the region. The White House does not state this officially, as the US understands the tenuity of its positions in Syria, because as far as international law is concerned, this is just another case of US aggression against a sovereign state. On the other hand, the US couldnt care less about international law and sovereignty other than its own. But some things shouldnt be said as they are out loud or youll look bad. You have to camouflage what you say, like inviting the unrecognized government of Rojava or inventing a non-existent UN permission to invade. The reporting mentioned above is useful, because it demonstrates real US intentions, and not declarative ones. This is useful because it shows there is no point in hoping that the US wants to negotiate and show goodwill. Russia has led an informational and diplomatic campaign with the intent of driving the US forces out of Syria. The accusations by Russias Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense are officially supported by Syria, Turkey, and Iran as they are also interested in driving out the Americans out of Syria, because the US is the main obstacle to ending the war. Besides having common goals linked to keeping al-Assad in power and keeping Syrias territory intact, Turkey and Iran pursue their own goals. Iran wants to secure the Shiite bridge between Tehran and Beirut (which may be hindered by the Syrian Kurdistan project), and Erdogan wants to weaken Kurdistan Workers Party and stop the Syrian Kurdistan from forming under control of Kurdistan Workers Party-affiliated organizations. Nobody wants to go to a full-fledged war with the US, but the now popular hybrid wars leave many avenues of combating the hegemon. For now, the main strategy is involving reasonable Kurdish Rojava leaders in the conversation, so that the Kurds will be represented in the negotiations allowing them to find contact points with al-Assad regarding the future of the Kurds as a part of Syria. Thats why Russia put a stop to Erdogans ambitious plans regarding Afrin and tries to persuade Turkey that the Kurds can be negotiated with, and that nothing bad will come out of sitting with the Kurds, when you already sit down with much more radical organizations, which are considered moderate terrorists due to current political climate. Compared to them, some Kurdish groups are much more reasonable and legal, but only until the situation escalates past the point of no return. Never Miss Another Story Get Our Free Daily Newsletter If negotiations with the Kurds fall through, and the US will be successful in cultivating Kurdish separatism, than Plan B comes into action, which entails pressuring the Kurds with the following: Syria, Turkey and Iraq can block the oil exports from Rojava, and ban imports to it, the very same threats previously used for trying to keep Iraqi Kurdistan in line. The US wont be able to provide Rojava with all necessary supplies by air.

The Kurdish-Arab conflict can be escalated on the territories under the Kurdish control with the majorly Arab populace. This will sow disarray in Rojava, with possible creation of SDF opposed forces.

The Kurdish groups involved in the US plans can be designated as terrorist organizations (this will also lead to improving Russias and Syrias relations with Turkey).

Russia can stop protecting Afrin. Iran and Iraq can block the border crossing at Faysh Khabur and cut economic and logistic ties between Iraqi Kurdistan and Rojava.

The Syrian Army and Shiite units can do a repeat of Iraqi Kurdistan: they will make a deal with the reasonable organizations, and unreasonable ones will be crushed like Barzani.

The final solution: they can release the Kraken by letting the Turkish Army into Rojava under the pretense of fighting terrorism. This is an undesirable option, as it would make friend Recep stronger, but it isnt out of the question completely. In the end, there is a considerable amount of options to put pressure on Rojava if the US escalates the situation up to the level of unavoidable conflict, which, as the US periodically demonstrates, it seems to hope for, despite all the claims that they have no hidden agenda in Syria. So far Russia and friends try to persuade the Kurds that they shouldnt follow Barzanis example and risk a scenario they will regret. You can yell America is with us and photograph girls holding assault rifles all you want, but when push comes to shove, the situation will escalate to a conflict completely out of the Kurds depth. As far as the US is concerned, the Kurds are only a means to an end, a fact that Washington doesnt even hide anymore. The US wants to use the Kurds as fuel for the continuation of the war in Syria, showing no concern over the losses among the Kurds. From this perspective, it would be best for everyone, including the Kurds, if Russia can make the Kurdish chiefs see the things the way it does. And if al-Assad and Erdogan soften their stances regarding the Kurdish question, they may find a compromise that would satisfy all sides. Whether this is possible well see in 2018. Russia is not interested in prolonging the Syrian war. Quite the opposite: the successful results should be diplomatically secured as soon as possible, which the US tries to hinder. This conflict demonstrates that despite the military collapse of ISIS, Syria still has a lot of problems that will have to be solved with the help of Iran and Turkey. But nobody said it would be easy. Translated from Russian. Originally appeared at colonelcassad blog ==== Note regarding comments You spoke and we listened. It is no longer necessary for ICH readers to register before placing a comment. This website encourages readers to use the "Report" link found at the base of each comment. When a predetermined number of ICH readers click on the "Report" link, the comment will be automatically sent to "moderation". This would appear to be the most logical way to allow open comments, where you the reader/supporter, can determine what is acceptable speech. Please don't use the report feature simply because you disagree with the author point of view. Treat others with respect, remembering that "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."- Benjamin Franklin. Please read our Comment Policy before posting - Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.
Syria War, Sochi Peace



In a well choreographed Sochi summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin defines a peaceful future for Syria after the liberation of the country from militants



By Pepe Escobar

November 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The main take away of the trilateral, two hour-long Russia-Iran-Turkey summit in Sochi on the future of Syria was expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin:

The presidents of Iran and Turkey supported the initiative to convene an All-Syrian Congress for national dialogue in Syria. We agreed to hold this important event at the proper level and ensure the participation of representatives of different sectors of Syrian society.

In practice, that means Russian, Iranian and Turkish foreign ministries and defense departments are tasked to gather delegates from various political parties, internal and external opposition, ethnic and confessional groups at the negotiating table.

Putin stressed that in our common opinion, the success on the battlefield that brings closer the liberation of the whole of Syrian territory from the militants paves the way for a qualitatively new stage in the settlement of the crisis. Im talking about the real prospects of achieving a long-term, comprehensive normalization in Syria, political adjustment in the post-conflict period.

So many red lines

Diplomatic sources confirmed to Asia Times much of the discussions in Sochi involved Putin laying out to Iran President Hassan Rouhani and Turkey President Recep Erdogan how a new configuration may play out in a constantly evolving chessboard.

Behind diplomatic niceties, tensions fester. And thats how the current Astana peace negotiations between Russia-Iran-Turkey interconnect with the recent APEC summit in Danang.

In Danang, Putin and Trump may not have held a crucial bilateral. But Sergey Lavrov and Rex Tillerson did issue a joint statement on Syria  without, crucially, mentioning Astana; instead, the emphasis was on the slow-moving UN Geneva process (a new round of talks is scheduled for next week).

An extremely divisive issue  not exactly admitted by both parties  is the presence of foreign forces in Syria. From Washingtons perspective, Russian, Iranian and Turkish forces must all leave.

But then theres the Pentagon, which is in Syria without a UN resolution (Russia and Iran were invited by Damascus).

Theres no evidence the Pentagon plans to relinquish military bases set up in territory recaptured by the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), contiguous to Syrian oil and gas fields. Defense Secretary James Mattis insists US forces will remain in Syria to prevent the appearance of ISIS 2.0. For Damascus, thats a red line.

Then there are Ankaras red lines. For Erdogan, its all about the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its Peoples Protection Units (YPG), who lead the SDF. Erdogans spokesman Ibrahim Kalin takes no prisoners; The question of the PYD-YPG remains a red line for Turkey.

Unlike Ankara, Moscow does not consider the PYD/YPG as terrorist organizations. The PYD will certainly be invited to Sochi. And theres not much Ankara  which is under tremendous economic pressure  can do about it.

On the Iranian front, what Tehran wants in Syria is not exactly what Moscow-Washington may be bargaining about.

Lavrov has strenuously denied there has been a US-Russia deal to expel Iranian-supported forces from southwestern Syria  stressing they were legally invited by Damascus. Since July the official position of the Iranian Foreign Ministry is that the current cease-fires should be extended to the whole nation , but taking the realities on the ground into account. No word on Iranian forces leaving Syria.

A well-timed affair

The Sochi summit was choreographed to the millimeter. Previously, Putin held detailed phone calls with both Trump and Saudi King Salman (not MBS); the emir of Qatar; Egypts Sisi; and Israels Netanyahu. Parallel to a meeting of Syria-Russia military top brass, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dropped in; a non-surprise surprise Sochi visit to tell Putin in person that without Russias military campaign Syria would not have survived as a sovereign state.

The facts on the ground are stark; the Syrian Arab Army (SAA)  fully expanded, retrained, re-equipped and re-motivated  recaptured Aleppo, Palmyra, Deir Ezzor and almost the whole southeast; borders with both Iraq and Lebanon are open and secured; cease-fires are in effect in over 2,500 towns; Turkey desisted from years of weaponizing and supporting moderate rebels and is now part of the solution; ISIS/Daesh is on the run, now no more than a minor rural/desert insurgency.

Daesh is almost dead  although there could always be a Return of the Walking Dead, with some obscure neo-al-Baghdadi posing as Caliph-in-exile. Iranian President Rouhani has declared the end of Daesh. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi was more realistic, saying Daesh has been defeated militarily but he will only declare final victory after jihadi goons are conclusively routed in the desert.

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The final showdown will be the Battle of Idlib  where thousands of Jabhat al-Nusra remnants/cohorts are holed up. Turkey has troops in idlib. Putin and Erdogan have certainly negotiated Ankaras stance. So its up to the Turkish Ministry of Defense to convince opposition outfits not allied with the Nusra nebulae to be sitting on the table in Sochi.

On an operational level, as I ascertained in Baghdad earlier this month, this is whats happening; IRGC advisers; the Iraqi Army; Hashd al-Shaabi, known as the People Mobilization Units (PMUs); the SAA; and Hezbollah have been working in synch, as part of the 4+1 mechanism (Russia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, plus Hezbollah). Their counter-terrorism HQ is located in Baghdad.

Pipelineistan all over again

Putin told Rouhani and Erdogan in Sochi about the commitment of the Syrian leadership to the principles of peaceful settlement of the political crisis, its readiness to carry out constitutional reform and stage a free, UN-supervised election.

This tall order will be open to vast scrutiny. And that brings us to the key opposing party; the House of Saud, and more specifically MBSs stance.

The so-called High Negotiations Committee (HNC)  which is essentially the Syrian opposition factions regimented by the House of Saud  is in disarray. Its leader, Royad Hijab, was recently fired in murky circumstances. These factions met again in Riyadh, parallel to Sochi, with the Saudis basically reduced to screaming Assad must go.

MBSs war on Yemen is a disaster  not to mention creating a horrendous humanitarian crisis. The blockade of Qatar degenerated into farce. The blatant interference in Lebanon via the Hariri-as- hostage saga also degenerated into farce. Saudi Arabia lost in both Iraq and Syria. MBSs next foreign policy moves are wildly unpredictable.

Capping it all up, a key dossier apparently was not discussed in Sochi; whos going to finance the rebuilding of Syrias economy/infrastructure.

Turkey and Iran cant afford it. Russia might help only marginally. China has made it clear it wants Syria as a Levantine hub in the New Silk Roads, known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)  but thats not a priority compared to Pakistan or Iran. The EU is focused on its massive internal psychodrama. And the Gulf  essentially Saudi Arabia and the UAE  are fiercely anti-4+1.

With Sochi in mind, a further joker in the pack is how a Trump-Putin possible entente will be regarded by the Pentagon, the CIA and Capitol Hill  which will always refuse the notion of a Putin-led peace process and no Assad must go to boot.

Most of what lies ahead hinges on who will control Syrias oil and gas fields. Its Pipelineistan all over again; all wars are energy wars. Damascus simply wont accept an energy bonanza for the US-supported SDF, actually led by the YPG.

And neither would Russia. Apart from Moscow holding on to a strategic eastern Mediterranean base, eventually Gazprom wants to be an investment partner/operator in a newly feasible Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline, whose main customer will be the EU. Beyond Sochi, the real  Pipelineistan  war has only just begun.

Pepe Escobar is an independent geopolitical analyst. https://www.facebook.com/pepe.escobar.77377?

This article was originally published by Asia Times -

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The $47mn Question of Trumps Friendly Words to Putin

By Finian Cunningham

November 25, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Each time US President Donald Trump meets Russias Vladimir Putin, the talk is cordial and committed to establishing friendly relations between the two countries. Moreover, partnership is in fact the expressly-stated intention.

This week while Putin was hosting a major conference in Sochi to kick start the peace process in war-torn Syria, the Russian leader also had an hour-long telephone conversation with Trump, calling from the White House.

According to reports, Trump gave his backing to the Russian-led peace efforts going forward for Syria. The US president later described the phone call with Putin as great.

Notably, the White House said the two leaders discussed ways to ensure the stability of a unified Syria free of malign intervention. In a wide-ranging conversation, Trump and Putin also talked about how to implement a lasting peace in Ukraine.

This all sounds well and good, but how much importance or substance can be imputed to Trumps friendly words?

When President Trump held his first face-to-face meeting with Putin in July during the G20 summit in Berlin, the two men seemed to share an upbeat rapport; both leaders expressed interest in the US and Russia working together to combat terrorism in Syria and to find peace in Ukraine , among other issues.

Again, when the two leaders met on the sidelines of the APEC conference in Vietnam earlier this month, they also registered a friendly encounter and later issued a joint statement declaring partnership in combating extremist violence in Syria.

The question is though: what value is there in Putin seeming to have Trumps support on these and other foreign policy matters?

Does Trump even have control or knowledge of what his military and intelligence agencies are doing in Syria and elsewhere?

Embarrassing reports have emerged of his National Security advisor General HR McMaster deriding President Trump as a dope on international relations  a put-down which echoes earlier reported comments by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling Trump a moron. Of course, denials have subsequently been issued, but the doubts remain.

Moreover, theres plenty of evidence US forces have been colluding with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists in Syria, giving the militants safe passage or air cover from advancing units of the Syrian Arab Army backed by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. The Russian ministry of defense has been one of the sources providing evidence of collusion between the US military and terror groups in Syria.

The Pentagon denies it is working covertly with proscribed terror networks in Syria, asserting that it only supports vetted moderate insurgents like the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces. The Pentagons claims are hardly credible, given the abundant evidence of links to terror groups like IS and Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (formerly Al-Nusra). The covert war and US dirty dealings are all part of Washingtons overt aim of regime change in Syria.

Therefore, what does it mean when Trump vows to work with Russia to combat terrorism in Syria or anywhere else? The contradiction with what is known about covert US military practice in Syria suggests that either Trump is clueless or disingenuous.

In his latest phone call with Putin regarding Syria, the White House said Trump wanted to ensure the stability of a unified Syria free of malign intervention.

However, that aspiration is confounded by other reports of a military buildup in Syria by US forces, including the operation of major airbases in the northern part of the country. So much for Trumps stated desire to Putin of maintaining a unified Syria free of malign intervention.

Russias foreign ministry has denounced the US military presence in Syria as  an illegal occupation . It also signals the intended break up of Syrian territorial integrity with the establishment of US-backed Kurdish enclaves.

The Washington Post this week reported: US moves toward open-ended presence [sic] in Syria after Islamic State is routed.

It added: US officials say they are hoping to use the ongoing presence of American troops in northern Syria, in support of Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to pressure Assad to make concessions at United Nations-brokered peace talks in Geneva.

That rationale sounds a lot more consistent with Washingtons real and illicit objective of forcing regime change in Syria, not the advertised supposedly noble pretext of fighting terrorism.

If thats the reality, then Trumps words are worthless. He may have some vague notion of sincerity in saying those words, but in practice, the putative Commander-in-Chief is nothing more than a talking head being fed with a dud script.

In all this confusion and mixed messaging, it may be difficult to discern what the real policy in Washington is, and whos setting it. But here is one specific test to dispel the fog. President Trump was last week presented with a proposal from his National Security team for the US to officially begin sending lethal arms to the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the control of official Kiev.

The $47 million arms package centers on the supply of Javelin missiles also referred to as the American militarys anti-tank killers. It will be up to President Trump to sign off or not on this lethal arms plan to equip the UAF against rebels in the self-declared breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.

The US has already sent $750 million worth of military equipment to the Kiev regime since it seized power in February 2014, according to reported remarks by Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

However, up to now, the military equipment has officially been labeled as defensive and non-lethal, such as armored vehicles, communications, night-vision goggles, and so on..

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There are also credible reports that the US has already been supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine. Those weapons include Precision Shoulder-fired Rocket Launchers (PSRLs) and Barrett sniper rifles with a range of two kilometers. One of the private US arms companies, AirTronic USA, told US government-run Voice of America that the State Department has closely coordinated on the shipments.

The big difference is we now have pending on President Trumps desk in the Oval Office an official request for $47 million worth of lethal Javelin missiles to be sent by the Pentagon to the Kiev regime.

The Russian government has repeatedly warned against such a move. The Kremlin says that supplying lethal weaponry will unleash large-scale conflict in eastern Ukraine where a shaky ceasefire has been in place for the past two years under the Minsk agreement brokered by Russia, Germany, and France.

Thus, watching what President Trump does in the coming weeks with regard to the supply of weapons to Ukraine will be a key test. If Trump signs off on the lethal arms shipment, then that would tend to answer the question about whether the American president is someone whose words of peace and partnership with Russia can be counted on.
Trumps Secret War?



U.S. Militarys Presence In Middle East Has Grown 33 Percent In Past Four Months



By John Haltiwanger

November 26, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - President Donald Trump has increased the number of U.S. troops and civilians working for the Department of Defense in the Middle East to 54,180 from 40,517 in the past four months, representing a 33-percent rise.

This number doesn't even account for the big rise in troops stationed in Afghanistan since Trump announced his new strategy for the fight against the Taliban in late August.

These figures, first pointed out on Twitter by Dr. Micah Zenko, a foreign policy expert, come from the Pentagon's quarterly reports on personnel . In other words, these numbers are no secret, which raises concerns about the apparent lack of discourse over the expansion of the U.S. military in a region in which it already has a long, complicated history.

Based on the latest report, published November 17, here are the number of U.S. troops and Department of Defense civilians in each Middle Eastern country: Egypt, 455; Israel, 41; Lebanon, 110; Syria, 1,723; Turkey, 2,265; Jordan, 2,730; Iraq, 9,122; Kuwait, 16,592; Saudi Arabia, 850; Yemen, 14; Oman, 32; United Arab Emirates, 4,240; Qatar, 6,671; Bahrain, 9,335.

As a comparison, here are the numbers from June: Egypt, 392; Israel, 28; Lebanon, 99; Syria, 1,251; Turkey, 1,405; Jordan, 2,469; Iraq, 8,173; Kuwait, 14,790; Saudi Arabia, 730; Yemen, 13; Oman, 30; United Arab Emirates, 1,531; Qatar, 3,164; Bahrain, 6,541.

As the numbers show, there was not a single country where the presence of U.S. military personnel did not increase during this period.

The Trump administration has been quite vocal about the recent increase in troops in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has made major gains over the past year or so. Currently, there are roughly 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan .

But the rise in the presence of the U.S. military elsewhere in the Middle East has been relatively under the radar.

"The expansion in overseas troop deployments and vast increase in airstrikes (and tolerance for civilian harm) everywhere [former President Barack Obama] was bombing, was totally consistent with what Trump promised as a candidate," Zenko, a Chatham House Whitehead senior fellow, told Newsweek. "Yet, I think it now has more to do with long-standing preferences of [Defense Secretary James Mattis] and senior military officials. That's why Mattis uses 'annihilationist' phrases to describe ISIS, and contends all America's enemies can be militarily defeated, by doing more of everything."

In short, Zenko seems to believe the recent increase is largely linked to some of Trump's closest advisers being retired generals and individuals who tend to look for military solutions to global issues.

"We have already shifted from attrition tactics, where we shove [ISIS] from one position to another in Iraq and Syria, to annihilation tactics where we surround them," Mattis said in May . "Our intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to North Africa, to Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa. Were not going to allow them to do so. Were going to stop them there and take apart the caliphate."

The Islamic State is on its last legs in Iraq and Syria and has been for some time, recently suffering a major defeat by losing its de facto capital of Raqqa . Meanwhile, the number of troops and civilians the Pentagon has sent to the two countries has increased by nearly 1,500 in the past several months. This raises questions about why such a jump was deemed necessary.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment on this but did not hear back by the time of publication.

Some in the U.S. military even seem to be unaware of the recent increase in personnel in the region. On November 16the day before the newest numbers were made publicJoint Staff Director Lieutenant General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. was asked about troop numbers in Syria and Iraq at a press briefing, and he said, "In Syria, we have fiveabout 503 operating in Syria. And in Iraq, we have approximately 5,262, I believe is the number. So those are the numbers." Based on the new report, however, the U.S. has 1,720 troops in Syria and 8,892 in Iraq.

With Trump in the White House, there has been an increase in U.S. troops killed in action overseas as well as a large spike in civilian deaths from airstrikes. This year marked the first time in six years that more U.S. troops were killed in action abroad than the year prior (31 killed in 2017; 26 killed in 2016; 28 killed in 2015). Moreover, as of August, Trump had already killed more civilians while fighting ISIS than Obama did.

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Trump has also increased airstrikes in Afghanistan dramatically in addition to U.S. troop presence there. As of October 31, the U.S. has dropped 3,554 bombs in Afghanistan in 2017 so far, which is almost three times the 1,337 it dropped in 2016 and almost four times the 947 bombs dropped there in 2015. A United Nations report in October claimed civilian deaths had increased by 50 percent in Afghanistan compared to the same point last year, suggesting Trump's new strategy in the country has been taking a huge toll on noncombatants.

Beyond the Middle East, Trump also doubled America's troop presence in Somalia this year, bringing the total number in the African country to roughly 500. In May, a U.S. Navy SEAL was killed in Somalia during a raid on an Al-Shabab compound, marking the first time a U.S. service member was killed there since the notorious "Black Hawk Down" incident in 1993, when 18 Americans were killed. The U.S. has also increased airstrikes in Somalia under Trumpconducting one as recently as Tuesday , which the U.S. military claimed killed over 100 militants. Moreover, the first-ever airstrike against ISIS in Somalia was conducted under Trump in early November.

As Trump expands U.S. military operations in multiple theaters, there's been hardly any public discussion, and questions remain about whether Americans truly know what is being done in their name overseas.

Some in Congress are now demanding their colleagues grant these developments far more attention and hold the Trump administration accountable.

"This quiet increase in deployment of American troops and contractors fighting unauthorized wars poses a significant security risk for the United States and the future of the Middle East. Americans have a right to know what the [Trump] administration's plans are. What is our mission and what is our exit strategy? Congress needs to recall past 'mission creeps' and start asking more questions," Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who sits on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, told Newsweek.

This article was originally published by Newsweek -

US Provides Military Aid To More Than 70 Percent Of Worlds Dictatorships

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The Myth Of The "Clean War"

By Paul Rogers

Trump's worldview promises low-cost military success. The blasting apart of civilian lives in Iraq says otherwise.

November 26, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Many previous columns in this series focus on the transition in the western way of war since 9/11 from tens of thousands of boots on the ground to "remote warfare". This has mainly involved a much more intensive use of air-power, including armed-drones; the utilisation of long-range artillery and ground-launched ballistic-missiles; and the much wider use of special forces and privatised military corporations.

The change has been consistently analysed by a few non-government organisations, most notably the Remote Control project and Drone Wars UK , whose specific concern is armed drones.

The states pursuing this kind of offensive war see three advantages, two military and one political:

* Their own forces take minimal casualties, meaning fewer bodybags and funeral corteges

* They believe that the tactic works in practice

* There is very little media coverage of this type of war, and in the case of some countries, most notably Britain, there has been a long-term political convention that the role of special Forces should not be subject to public debate or even scrutiny.

The U.S. Air Force is on track to triple the number of bombs dropped in Afghanistan this year compared with last year.

Warfare by "remote control" also seems to be working, not least in the three-year war against Islamic State. It is now clear that Donald Trumps policy of devolving more authority to the United States military in the wars it is fighting is having a much wider effect. For example, the Pentagon has quietly increasing its forces in Somalia by adding several hundred special-forces troops (as Politico reports ) and ratcheting up airstrikes (as Military Times reports ), while airstrikes against an al-Qaida offshoot in Yemen are continuing .

In Afghanistan, the build-up of forces is even more substantial. More US troops have arrived amid concern over the Taliban's ability to extend its territorial control. But less noted is the substantial increase in the US use of air-power and armed-drones since Trump took office. A US media outlet states :

The U.S. Air Force is on track to triple the number of bombs dropped in Afghanistan this year compared with last year, new figures reveal as the White House opens a new front in Americas longest war. The military dropped 3,554 weapons against the Taliban as of Oct. 31  already nearly three times the 1,337 dropped in 2016 and nearly four times as the 947 fired in 2015.

Operation Jagged Knife, a recent offensive by the US airforce, included B-52 strategic bombers and  for the first time in Afghanistan  the advanced F-22 stealth strike-aircraft.

Promise and reality

All this is in the context of the presumed defeat of ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria , which is seen within the Trump team as proof of victory. Since 2014, the Pentagon believes it has killed over 60,000 ISIS fighters, but acknowledges fewer than 500 civilian casualties. This is the way to fight future wars, it believes. The expanded operations in Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia are further examples of the path to be taken.In this Trumpian worldview, clean wars will be the order of the day. But a closer look shows that things are not so simple, in two distinct aspects: the outcomes of the " war on terror ", and its more recent reality. A brief digest of principal events since 2001 illustrates the first point:

* On 29 January 2002, George W Bushs state-of-the-union address was akin to a victory speech in the wake of the termination of the Taliban regime and the suppression and dispersal of al-Qaida after 9/11  yet the war in Afghanistan has just entered its seventeenth year

* On 1 May 2003, the US president gave his mission accomplished speech after the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq  yet that very month a nascent insurgency began to spread across the country, which would also last years

* In 2008, when Barack Obama was elected, the war in Iraq looked sufficiently under control for him to order wholesale troop withdrawals, but in 2014-17 the US has again been at war in the country

* In 2011, Nato chiefs thought that the downfall of Libya'a Muammar Gaddafi they had engineered would be followed by peace and stability, but it provoked more conflict, while the US's SEAL-team killing of Osama bin Laden that year didn't mark the end of al-Qaida, a scion of which the US is now bombing in Yemen.

On the ground

The dangerous myth of the "clean war" should be seen in a second aspect. The results of military action in the last three years illustrate the second point, and expose the dangerous myth of the "clean war". Airwars , the monitoring group, finds the US-led wars in Iraq and Syria have involved over 28,000 airstrikes, split more or less evenly between the two countries, using over 103,000 bombs and missiles. Airwars has done its best to assess the likelihood of civilian casualties, and currently puts these at a minimum of around 6,000  far larger than any Pentagon figures. Where Iraq is concerned, Iraq Body Count says that over 179,000 civilians have died in the last fifteen years.

ISIS's loss of most of its territory has been followed by reports of a concentrated air-war ranged against its forces, whose effects include the widespread destruction of both western Mosul and Raqqa. The extent of damage is hardly surprising. In the last part of the Raqqa campaign, Airwars says:

Between October 1st and 17th  when the last strike was reported  the US-led alliance says it fired 2,384 munitions at Raqqa, much of it the result of US artillery strikes. Between 266 and 355 more civilians were credibly reported killed in the city as a result according to local monitors  including more than 90 women and children.

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Yet it has been hard for analysts to assess the more general claim of the clean war with any accuracy, in that they were dependent largely on data provided by US Central Command (USCC). The best efforts of NGOs like Airwars and Iraq Body Count notwithstanding, their findings could be discounted or ignored.

One in five of the coalition strikes we identified resulted in civilian death, a rate more than 31 times that acknowledged by the coalition.

That is at last beginning to change, as these groups' work is supported by on-the-ground assessments from experienced journalists who have gone at great pains to travel to areas now controlled by government forces after ISIS's retreat. Their reports confirm sceptics of the "clean war" myth. The most substantive account available so far is a long report in the New York Times (see Azmat Khan & Anand Gopal,  The Uncounted , NYT, 16 November 2017).

Over a fourteen-month period to July 2017, they visited 150 sites of attacks across northern Iraq, and interviewed hundreds of witnesses, survivors and family members. They later compared their findings with data from USCC itself. In all, they were able to coordinate data from 103 airstrikes. Their conclusions warrant a longish extract:

We 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. It is at such a distance from official claims that, in terms of civilian deaths, this may be the least transparent war in recent American history. Our reporting, moreover, 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. While some of the civilian deaths we documented were a result of proximity to a legitimate ISIS target, many others appear to be the result simply of flawed or outdated intelligence that conflated civilians with combatants. In this system, Iraqis are considered guilty until proved innocent.

The fighting against ISIS, especially in the densely packed streets of Raqqa and western Mosul, was intense. In Mosul in particular, the Iraqi armys special forces took very heavy losses. It was not just the utter determination of the ISIS paramilitaries to fight, but their willingness to die for their cause that proved so difficult to counter. It was in those circumstances that air-power was used relentlessly. In an objective sense it may be what you would expect, even if you may question the war as a whole.

That, though, is not the point, which is that the entire air-war has been presented as a clean operation - which it evidently was not. If we think that remote warfare is the way to go because it kills neither our people nor innocent civilians, then we are deluding ourselves. And that delusion in turn makes it even less likely that we will get the kind of scrutiny and political debate we need on the direction and long-term consequences of this new way of war.

Paul Rogers is professor in the department of peace studies at Bradford University, northern England. He is openDemocracy's international security adviser, and has been writing a weekly column on global security since 28 September 2001; he also writes a monthly briefing for the Oxford Research Group . His latest book is Irregular War: ISIS and the New Threat from the Margins (IB Tauris, 2016), which follows Why Were Losing the War on Terror (Polity, 2007), and Losing Control: Global Security in the 21st Century (Pluto Press, 3rd edition, 2010). He is on Twitter at: @ProfPRogers

This article was originally published by OpenDemocracy -

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Routed in Syria, the US Should Admit Its Crime, Face Punishment



The Western alliance of aggressors should not think they can just skulk away with their weapons, like their Da'esh proxies did from Raqqa. They must admit guilt, and face appropriate punishment for this crime of the century.



By David Macilwain

November 26, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Now the day of reckoning has arrived, marked by the meeting of Presidents Bashar al Assad and Vladimir Putin in Sochi. Their conference was also a meeting of militaries, whose cooperation and success on the battlefield against Western-backed terrorists has brought us to this point. So we need to be clear about what happened, and what did not happen.

Syria has been under siege for six and a half years  longer than the siege of France in WW2  to which the siege of Syria bears some superficial similarities. Such analogies can be misleading  France was under collaborative occupation by Germany, while Syrias situation more resembles that of France in World War One - the similarities are rather in the question of guilt.

In both World Wars, there was little debate or doubt over who was the aggressor; France was not invaded because of preceding provocations or attacks on Germany, or seizure of its territory. Western powers who came to Frances aid in both wars did so to defeat German forces and restore French sovereignty over its own territory.

Such is the case with Syria, and this crucial point is now emphasised by the successful defeat of the invading and occupying forces. Syria played no part in starting the war in March 2011, either by provocations against its neighbours or in abuse of its own population that might justify humanitarian intervention (though noting that such infringement of another states sovereignty may in any case not be authorised under international law).

Both militarily and politically, the conflict was not a civil war in the sense that it arose from internal disputes between different ethnicities, religions or even political and economic conflict. Supporters of the government and the Syrian Arab Army or opponents of the Opposition could be found amongst all of these different groups, though the converse was not the case. Defying their claims to represent the Syrian People and democracy, the armed opposition and its support base within Syria were almost exclusively Sunni and hostile to everyone else, an extremism defined by the slogan Christians to Beirut and Alawites to the grave.

Although in some sense the war developed into a civil war, as sectarian tension was stoked by the increasingly jihadist nature of the insurgency, this may be seen as the cornerstone of the Syrian conspiracy. As happened in Bosnia twenty-five years earlier, mixed ethnic communities who had peacefully coexisted for centuries were turned against one another by foreign actors in a fundamentally malicious plan to divide and rule.

It is frankly astonishing, and barely comprehensible, that today we can still see the very same actors  the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and their supporters  continuing to pursue the same illegitimate agenda practically unchanged, even as the victors of the Resistance define the terms of a settlement in Sochi and Moscow.

Those terms, as the culmination of the series of meetings in Astana and their work on deconfliction zones and ceasefire agreements, have shut the US and its Gulf partners out of the settlement. After years of pointless negotiations in Geneva achieved nothing because of US duplicity, the Astana meetings have been a remarkable success, such that cooperation and reconciliation between nearly all Syrian groups on the ground is now moving ahead very rapidly.

Appropriately enough, the only remaining groups who continue to fight the Syrian Army and launch attacks on civilians around Damascus and Idlib are also the only ones supported by the malignant Friends of Syria and their Syrian National Opposition club, now holding their own me too gathering in Riyadh. This club of losers is a sorry sight, even as it is displayed to the world through the Western media, and given legitimacy by the presence of the UNs Stephan de Mistura.

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The pronouncements from The 2nd Expanded Syrian Opposition Meeting in Riyadh, made by its Saudi spokesperson and apparent mastermind Adel al Jubair, now have no relevance or authenticity, though they retain an air of menace, backed by six years of lies and unstinting support for takfiri mercenaries in Syria. The calls from these anti-Syrians for a political transition excluding Assad has become a parody, while the true leaders in the defence of Syria stand proudly in front of their people, in Damascus, Moscow, Tehran and Beirut.

It reminds one of a small town council meeting, where amongst the motions on car parking spaces and plastic waste collection there is a resolution to support a mission to Mars.

But this is not such a meeting, and the continuing support of the UN both for the members of the SNC  some of whom are directly linked to terrorist groups still killing people in Syria  and for the illegitimate and corrupt agenda of this fake Syrian Opposition group, is highly disturbing. Even Turkey, whose partnership with Saudi Arabia in supporting the Army of Conquest accompanied its long support for the SNC, has changed sides to join Russia and Iran in Sochi. That the UN could still put its weight behind the conspirators responsible for the war on Syria, when the true depths of their collusion and cooperation with terrorist groups including Islamic State has now been exposed, is a credit to the stranglehold the Western propaganda narrative has over its subject populations, including the UN.

This narrative can no longer be sustained, particularly following the most recent exposure of collaboration between the US and IS in the liberation of Raqqa by the BBC, that most influential voice of the UK establishment.

However, those in the centres of Western power who pretend they can just retreat from the virtual battlefront under the protection of the Geneva conventions afforded to surrendering forces, are deceiving us yet again. Unlike Germanys forces in World War Two, who were forced to accept the terms of trial and punishment, followed by decades of penance and reparations, the aggressor nations neither accept nor even recognise their responsibility for the Syrian catastrophe.

But this grand deception  a well-planned and ruthlessly executed scheme to push the interests and agenda of the US and its local allies at any cost, simply cannot go unrecognised and unpunished. It is not enough for them simply to retreat, and keep their powder  and that of their terrorist proxies  dry till the next opportunity arises or is created.

Syrias President is not a vengeful man, and the current straightened circumstances in Syria dont allow such a luxury; his governments recent demand that US coalition forces immediately leave Syrian territory may have to suffice so long as it is enforced. That coalition includes Australia, and while the Australian government refuses to confirm its role in assisting Islamic State in Eastern Syria as part of the US coalition operations, enforcement must mean its forces will be targeted without warning if they are on or over Syrian territory. The strong support Australia is already giving to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE also amounts to proxy aggression against Syria in this context.

While it may be a hollow threat to make the aggressor nations pay for what they have done to Syria while a state of delusion and denial is entrenched across the Western cultural and political hemisphere, it cannot simply be forgotten or overlooked. Even though Syrians have already shown themselves capable of forgiving their own brethren for being swept up by the fake revolution and even for committing terrible atrocities against each other, they must not be expected to be so generous to those foreign criminals who knowingly and intentionally inflicted so much pain and destruction on them.

As intermediaries in this war, it is now up to us to relentlessly pursue our own governments on behalf of Syrians until our leaders guilt in planning or colluding in this terrible crime is proven and admitted and some sort of penance imposed. At the very least our efforts through alternative media platforms such as this one must prevent such a monstrous and murderous conspiracy from being hatched ever again.

If that seems almost impossible, then we must go further  confronting our leaders directly, publicly demanding that they reject the Saudi-backed Syrian Opposition as illegitimate, and support Russias forthcoming Syria conference and settlement plans unambiguously.

This article was originally published by RI -

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Where is Zionism Taking Us?

By Lawrence Davidson



The Inevitable Apartheid Nation

November 26, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - We know where Zionism has taken Israel. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 led the way. In that imperial and colonial document, the British promised the World Zionist Organization a Jewish National Home in Palestine. They did so, as Edward Said put it, in flat disregard of both the presence and wishes of the native majority residents in that territory.

Right from the start the Zionists understood national home to mean an eventual Jewish state. Actualizing that assumption has had enormous implications not only for the Palestinians but also for the Jews. And, as it turns out, for the rest of us as well.

You cannot introduce one people, in this case a large number of Europeans who happen to be Jewish, into a territory populated by hundreds of thousands of non-Europeans, without negative consequences. And, if the incoming Europeans have the goal of creating a state exclusively for their group alone, those consequences are going to be dire indeed. Surrounded by the other, the only way you can achieve your exclusive state is through discriminatory practices and laws ultimately producing an apartheid nation. And that is what happened.

While this has meant, and continues to mean, segregation, ethnic cleansing and Bantustans for the Palestinians, for the Jews it means that their religion is tied to a racist political ideology. There is no instance of Israeli prejudice exercised against the Palestinians, no act of violence committed against them, that does not simultaneously dishonor and debase the Jewish religion and people.

Worldwide Consequences

How about the rest of world? The consequences of Zionism are threatening both security and equality everywhere. Here is how this is happening:

As the Balfour Declaration indicates, Israel and its society are products of a colonial era. That is an era when the people of both Europe and the U.S. openly practiced racist policies and behavior toward non-Europeans. They regularly trampled of the rights of alleged inferiors. Israel continues to operate in this fashion into the present.

Following World War II, it became understood that these behaviors and attitudes are morally indefensible and their consequences should be remedied. And so, the United Nations was established, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued, and a number of treaties embodying international laws designating crimes against humanity were signed. With this process the world entered a potentially more civilized, post-colonial age.

When this happened the Zionist project instantly became an anachronism. In fact, Israel became a state that defied the modern norm the moment it was proclaimed.

However, Israel does not want to be outside the norm. It wants to be accepted as a normal nation, particularly within the Western state system. There are only two ways this can happen: either (1) Israel must either give up the racist ideology of Zionism and embrace a form of democracy accessible to all its people regardless of religion or ethnicity, or (2) the world must revert back to an acceptance of at least some of the colonial practices of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries.

You would think that choosing the anti-racist option, and therefore seriously pressuring Israel  as the world had done with white-ruled South Africa  to fundamentally change, would be the obvious choice for todays statesmen. But it seems not. Why is that?

There is now an ongoing effort, we might call it the updated Zionist project, to move the world backward so as to accept racist past practices as normal. It consists of (a) an attack on international law protecting human rights (despite the fact that much of this law was created as a reaction to the anti-Semitic crimes of World War II), (b) an attempt to undermine the International Criminal Court, and (c) an attack on the United Nations and its efforts to protect the human and political rights of Palestinians.

Enter BDS

It is clear that very few of the worlds governments are willing to confront Israel, even though it is an apartheid state existing in an era that claims to detest such racist regimes. This has a lot to do with the financial and special interest strength of Zionist supporters both Jewish and Christian, and the strategic use of such power to corrupt policymaking. This can be seen most plainly in the United States.

There are also Israels extensive high-tech and weapons-trading networks in Europe, Africa and South America that lead important political and economic institutions and individuals to support, or at least turn a blind eye to, the Zionist state. And then, of course, there are a growing number of states that themselves have plans to marginalize their own minorities.

Does this mean that there is no defense against the insidious effects of this reactionary regime  one which, according to its own past Prime Minister Ehud Barak, is i nfected with fascism ? No, there are options to oppose Israel. However, at present they are to be found outside of the realm of government action and, at least for the moment, outside occupied Palestine as well.

The latter is so because inside Palestine, 70 years of Israeli colonial savagery has worn down much of the indigenous population. This does not mean that resistance from within the Occupied Territories does not continue. It does, but at relatively low levels and at a high cost .

Since the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004, too many of the Palestinian leaders have been co-opted into playing the role of modern-day Quislings . The Palestinians within Israeli-controlled territory are now fragmented into Bantustan -style enclaves, and their own security forces often work hand-in-hand with the Israeli oppressors.

As a consequence of these circumstances, right now the greatest pressure can be put on apartheid Israel through the activities of organized civil society. This pressure by itself may or may not be able to force fundamental change on Israel, but it can certainly raise the cost of its racist behavior and impact public opinion.

Here we are talking about the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement that urges both individuals and organizations (be they economic, cultural or intellectual) to avoid interacting with Israel and its state-sponsored institutions and projects. To date this has proved to be an effective weapon against Israeli racism and colonialism. For instance, if you go to the website of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, you can find a list of 200 recent victories falling within the Boycott and Divestment categories. State-based sanctions are still in the future.

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Israeli Pressure

Success in this regard has, of course, generated a fierce reaction from the Zionists. According to a Huffington Post article , The Israeli government has reportedly committed tens of millions of dollars, one government ministry and its military and security intelligence assets to the fight.

Israeli Minister of Transport, Intelligence and Atomic Energy, Yisrael Katz, recently called for targeted civil eliminations of BDS leaders. Actually, such a reaction reflects not only the fact that the cost of Israeli racism is on the rise, but also that the Zionists have lost the public (if not the governmental) debate when it comes to their behavior toward the Palestinians.

Put broadly, BDS is an effort to help save the positive potential inherent in modern post-colonial society: the civilizing potential to be found in international law, in human and civil rights, in a benevolent and egalitarian rule of law for all of us.

So successful has BDS been to date, and so much potential does it have to help force Israel down the same road as white-ruled South Africa, that Israel and its surrogates in the U.S. and Europe are willing to undermine the very laws and rights that help uphold what freedoms there are within the public realm. For instance, in the U.S., the very right to engage in such a boycott is under Zionist attack, and by extension, so is the constitutional protection to free speech. American Zionists seem willing to subvert their own constitutional protections in order to support a racist foreign state.

Zionism can be seen as a strange twist on the Spanish philosopher George Santayanas warning that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The Zionists certainly remember the persecutions suffered by European Jews. But they forget that this mistreatment was most often organized by racist states that sought to ethnically cleanse the Jews.

Having forgotten about this state-based aspect of their own past, the Zionist state now commits this same offense against the Palestinians. It also needs the rest of us to forget the sins of past racism if it is to carry on its effort to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians. Our response should be to embrace the motto, Never Again! It is time to direct this demand to the shameful behavior of Israel and the Zionists.

Lawrence Davidson is a retired professor of history from West Chester University in West Chester PA. His academic research focused on the history of American foreign relations with the Middle East. He taught courses in Middle East history, the history of science and modern European intellectual history. http://www.tothepointanalyses.com

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Note regarding comments
The 2015 governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, in Abia State, Alex Otti, has said he believes his party will win the 2019 election in the state.

Mr. Otti asked the incumbent governor, Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party, to prepare for his handover note in 2019.

Mr. Otti said this in Umuahia during a rally by the Abia State chapter to celebrate last Saturdays victory of Governor Willie Obiano in the Anambra State governorship election.

Mr. Obiano of APGA won the Anambra election by over 50 per cent. Anambra is the only state in the South-east and indeed in Nigeria governed by APGA.

Mr. Otti said Mr. Obianos crushing defeat of his opponents at the poll had rekindled his hope APGA could win Abia State.

The ex- Diamond Bank chief executive declared that APGA had been revived in South-east and is now set to sweep the polls particularly in Abia come 2019.

Some PDP members from Governor Ikpeazus Obingwa Local Government Area also defected to APGA during the rally.

Receiving the defectors, Mr. Otti said the PDP administration in the state had failed to address the basic needs of the people, describing Abia as the least developed state in the South-east zone.

He said his emergence in 2019 would liberate Abia State from the clutches of underdevelopment and maladministration which he blamed on PDP.

Mr. Otti called on his supporters and APGA faithful to remain steadfast in their support for him until his dream of superintending over the affairs of the state was realised.

Therefore let every Abia resident here today realise that to break the jinx of underdevelopment ravaging Abia state, we must show an extraordinary kind of altruism, think outside the box and do something extraordinary for the good of our state and our people.

On my side, I want to assure you that the burning desire to replicate and even surpass the Anambra leadership example in Abia State is very much alive; hence the need for all of us to remain optimistic, committed and steadfast in our quest to herald Abia state of our dream, as thats the only way my lofty leadership vision for Abia can be actualised.

In his remarks at the rally, Secretary to Anambra State Government, Solomon Chukwulobelu, said Mr. Obianos victory was not for Anambra State alone but for the entire Igbo.

He said Mr. Obianos victory marked the liberation of Anambra from political godfatherism and bad influence.

The SSG who represented Mr. Obiano thanked Anambra electorates for their massive support to APGA, saying it was a strong indication that Igbos are now determined to redeem their lost ground on the political equation of the country.

He said APGA is the party to beat in 2019 elections, and urged Igbos to stay with the party as a platform to advance their regional interest.

We (APGA) stand for the best, to give Ndigbo the best. We have consolidated as a political party to take over South-east and later Nigeria, he said.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
Anette Srensen was jailed by New York police 20 years ago for leaving her baby in a stroller outside a restaurant while she was dining inside. Now the Danish woman who made headlines in 1997 is speaking out about her ordeal in the hopes that her story will be told to an American audience.

Srensen was a 30-year-old aspiring actress who returned to New York City in May 1997 from Copenhagen. She met up with Exavier Wardlaw, the biological father of her then-14-month-old daughter, Liv (seen with her mother in 1997 in the left photo). The couple decided to grab a drink at Dallas BBQ (inset) in Manhattans East Village.

Srensen decided to leave Liv and her baby stroller outside the restaurant as she and Wardlaw were inside while keeping an eye on her from the window. Thats when diners and servers notified police, who arrested her for endangering a child. Her daughter was put in foster care for days. The city eventually dropped charges, but only after she was kept in jail and separated from her child

Srensen (seen with Liv in the present day in the center photo) said that the entire ordeal was a misunderstanding because parents in Denmark frequently leave their babies on the sidewalk while shopping or dining.

I had lived in New York [during school], so, of course, I knew that I didnt see prams all over the city, said Srensen in an interview published Saturday.

But I had been living in Copenhagen, I had given birth to my daughter in Copenhagen, I was raised myself in Denmark Thats just how you do it in Denmark.

The first time she woke up was when the officer took her out of the pram, Sorensen told the Post.

Srensen said that the two police officers who initially arrived were going to allow her to leave with Liv.

But then a third officer arrived and things changed.

I said, Im leaving now, and he said, No, youre not: Youre arrested, she said.

It was unreal I did not break any kind of law. I never, ever thought this could happen.

The NYPD booked Srensen and Wardlaw for child endangerment and disorderly conduct.

She was placed in jail for 36 hours, while her daughter was put in foster care by the citys welfare services.

I didnt know where my child was, said Srensen.

I dont think theres any greater punishment than to have your child taken away from you.

Four days after she was arrested, Srensen was finally reunited with Liv.

She remained in New York for a few more weeks because of summonses to civil and criminal court.

Charges against Srensen were eventually dropped after she agreed to leave the United States.

The case made front-page news and generated headlines in the local press, which Srensen says treated her unfairly.

While the local media in America treated her as a negligent parent, the Danish press rose to her defense.

For every Dane it was a nightmare because we are used to living like that, said Srensen.

The charges against her were eventually dropped on condition that she leave the United States

In 2012, Srensen wrote a book about her experiences. She now wants to translate it into English, and she has launched a Kickstarter fund toward that end.

The book, titled A Worm in the Apple, recounts the traumatizing experience.

Its about what happened before, what happened as it happened, and what happened after, she said.

The book is a chronicle of all the feelings, all of the thoughts that were going on at that time.

I always had a big longing for an apology. I probably never will get this apology [so] I want to give this [book] back.

Its a way of getting back what I never got, said Srensen. I would like [it] if I could just say what I think.

A year after the ordeal, she sued the city for $20million. She was awarded $66,400 by a civil jury, which found only that she should not have been strip-searched and that the city commonly failed to advise arrested foreigners of their right to notify their consulates.

Srensen now says she wants to show the American public that the Danish system of parenting is healthier.

People live in fear [in the US]. Children are not allowed to play in the playground alone, said Srensen.

Thats why its important for me now to get [my book] into English, to show its possible to live another way.

Srensen now lives in Hamburg, Germany with her husband, Mike, and their two teenage children.

Liv, the baby in the stroller, is a 21-year-old woman living in Copenhagen, where she is studying design.

Source: Dailymail
Aero contractors have been accused of refusing to pay about 600 of its workers it sacked in March.

The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) on Sunday said more than 600 employees sacked by Aero Contractors Ltd. in March were yet to get their severance packages.

Mr Olayinka Abioye, the General Secretary, NUATE confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

NAN reports that the airline, which is presently being managed by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), had sacked more than 600 of its workers representing 60 per cent of its workforce.

The Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Capt. Ado Sanusi, had assured the affected workers that they would be paid their pensions and gratuities.

Abioye, however, noted that the unions in the sector had met with the airlines management to see how the workers could be paid all their entitlements.

The truth of the matter is that none of them have been paid the negotiated redundancy benefits but they have received their gratuities which were ware-housed by Stanbic IBTC.

We just had a meeting with the CEO, and arrangements are in top gear to ensure that no matter how little it is, that whatever the management has been able to raise, will be disbursed to the beneficiaries.

Let us begin this process of payment to rekindle hope in others that management is desirous of paying them their entitlements and this will be done as quickly as possible, he said.

Abioye also confirmed that the management of the airline had reabsorbed some of its technical staff, following the approval given to it recently by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to carry out C-Check on series of Boeing 737 aircraft.

The positive side of it is that Aero management has expanded their Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility and they are expecting more monies from there when third party airlines bring their machines there.

This is a good thing for us because even when that was going on, the management has been able to recall some of our people in technical department and given them contract employment.

According to him, the recalled workers have been employed with the proviso that immediately there is a silver lining in the sky that some of them will be reconverted to permanent employees.

So, there is hope in this direction which therefore means that the number of those declared redundant will lessen which will enable management to focus on only those affected and pay them as soon as possible, he said.

However, one of the affected workers told NAN on the condition of anonymity that it was unfortunate that the management had reneged on its promise to pay the severance packages.

Most of us that were declared redundant by Aero management are yet to be paid our severance packages months after.

AMCON management is not willing to pump money into the airline and without the injection of funds by AMCON, the present management cant get resources to carry out most of the projects they already mapped out.

AMCON and the management took the right decision to allow the airline to continue operation, but it is unfortunate that they dont want to pay us the severance packages as promised earlier.

Reacting, the media consultant to Aero Contractors, Mr Simon Tumba, told NAN in a telephone interview that he was not aware if the affected workers had been paid or not.
An associate of former Vice president of Nigeria,Mr. Ahmed Lawan has confirmed that Atiku Abubakar might pick up his membership card of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Lawan, who is the Organising Secretary of the All Progressives Congress in Adamawa State, told one of our correspondents on Saturday that Atiku would formally register as a member of the PDP at his Jada ward 11, in Yola, the state capital.

He said Atikus return to his former party was based on the motivation he received from the PDP leadership towards the realisation of his ambition to contest the 2019 presidential election.

Lawan, however, warned, Atiku to have a rethink of his action because his resignation might mark the end of his political career.

He said, He (Atiku) told the whole world that he was in the APC to stay, and that even if anything would make him to leave the APC, he would retire from politics.

He noted that Atiku did not see the possibility of defeating President Muhammadu Buhari in the primary of the APC.

He said, He is making a grave mistake because Buhari has yet to make any statement as to whether he will contest the 2019 presidential election or not. So, why is he in a haste?

Also, another associate of the former vice-president, Mr. Umar Ardo, who is a member of the PDP in the state, also confirmed to one of our correspondents that Atiku had made up his mind to join the PDP.

He accused Atiku of allegedly conniving with the national leadership of the PDP to hijack the party in the state.

He said, Atiku knows that the real Adamawa PDP is not with him; that is why he connived with Ahmed Markafi (the PDP National Caretaker Committee chairman) to dissolve the exco and set up a new caretaker committee.

Meanwhile, the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Media Office, Mr. Paul Ibe, dismissed the report, that Atiku will return to the PDP on Sunday.

He, however, said the former vice-president was currently engaged in a high level discussion that would enable him to return to the PDP.

He said, What I know is that there are ongoing discussions for him (Atiku) to return to the PDP. It is something that a timeline cannot be attached to. But I know that there are engagements in that direction.

Also, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim (APC, Kwara South), has faulted the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, for downplaying Atikus exit from the ruling party. He described the resignation as a major threat to the APC in the 2019 presidential election.

My opinion is, let us be strategic in the APC. We should not take it from the angle of the Governor of Kaduna State who said he (Atiku) is a serial defector.  This is how the problem with the PDP started. And whether you like it or not, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Waziri of Adamawa, is not somebody you can take for granted.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
Three soldiers of the Nigerian Army have been confirmed dead after facing off in a fight with Boko Haram members after the insurgents invaded an army base and Magumeri community in Borno State.

An army spokesperson, Timothy Antigha, said the attack occurred on Saturday evening, with six other soldiers injured in the incident.

At about 6.00 p.m. yesterday, 25th November 2017, suspected elements of Boko Haram terrorists attempted to attack Magumeri. As a prelude to the intended attack on the town, the terrorists attempted to dislodge the Forward Operational Base in Magumeri, Borno State, the colonel said.

However, soldiers of 5 Brigade Garrison located in the town repelled the attack. The troops fought gallantly.

Unfortunately, three soldiers lost their lives, while six others sustained injuries. The bodies of the late soldiers and the wounded have been evacuated. The wounded are receiving medical attention. Some platforms were also attacked and damaged by the terrorists. Further developments regarding the incident will be communicated accordingly.

The 8 Division wishes to assure all residents of Magumeri that everything is being done to ensure their safety and security. To this end, they are to continue pursuing their legitimate activities without any fear.

Kaka Audu, a member of the Civilian-JTF, in the area, said that the insurgents attacked the town from the military check point and Bengel area of the town.

Mr. Audu disclosed that some of the insurgents that attacked from the Bengel axis managed to enter the town and torched some buildings before they were finally pushed back.

We came back from a joint patrol with the military around 6 p.m. because intelligence report showed that the insurgents were gathering at the outskirt of the town.

Few minutes later, the insurgents attacked with full force from two directions. There was reinforcement from the military and the attack was repelled.

Mr. Audu noted that powerful echoes of gun shots and explosive devices prompted residents to flee to nearby forest.

The local militia official added that most of the residents, who had earlier run to the bush, returned to their homes later.

Such attacks on communities and military formations appear to be on the increase this year despite the efforts of the security agencies.

The Boko Haram insurgency has caused about 100,000 deaths mainly in North-eastern Nigeria.

Source: ( Premium Times )
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The Egyptian government has blamed ISIS fighters for the attack carried out during Friday prayers at a mosque in the countrys Sinai Peninsula.

The Egyptian government placed the blame on the group citing witnesses who saw the attackers carrying ISIS flags.

Egypts Chief Prosecutor, Nabil Sadeq, had also accused ISIS of carrying out the attack.

Mr. Sadeq also said that the death toll has witnessed a dramatic increase from the previously announced 235 fatalities to 305 worshipers, including 27 children, while another 128 were injured.

He also said that the attack was carried out by 25-30 militants who arrived at the mosque in five all-terrain vehicles and destroying seven cars parked outside belonging to the worshipers.

Worshipers told Sadeqs office that some of the attackers wore masks, but all wore military-like uniforms.

One of the survivors of the attack said that some of the inscription on the ISIS flags read, There is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God.

A witness described the perpetrators as having stationed themselves at the mosques three exits and deliberately attacking people who tried to escape the building, as well as passing vehicles, after first shooting some who were kneeling in prayer.

The sight was horrific, the witness, Ibrahim Shetewy, told ABC News in Arabic, adding, We carried whomever we found alive and took them in pickups and private cars until more ambulances could come and help.

Mr. Shetewy described the mosque in question as one frequented by travellers on their way in and out of the area. He said the building is huge and was lined with bodies and a large quantity of shell casings following the attack.

There was a woman waiting outside for her husband and young child to finish praying; she came inside and found them dead next to each other, Mr. Shetewy said.

He added that people are lined up at a local hospital to donate blood.

Since the attack, the Egyptian military has carried out multiple airstrikes on bases it says are used by ISIS militants in the restive North Sinai region.

Source: ( ABC News )
Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has lambasted the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), for linking him to a N1bn property located at 43 Gana Street, Maitama, Abuja.

The embattled former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, had accused Falana of buying the building which was one of the properties he helped to seize from pension thieves and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Malami had while testifying before the National Assembly last week, echoed the allegation, saying the property was sold to a Lagos lawyer.

However, Falana said, I have decided to take issue with Mr. Malami over his false claim that the EFCC had sold the property in question to me. Contrary to Mr. Malamis claim, I never bought any property from the EFCC.

If Mr. Malami had conducted a search on the property in question, he would have found that it was one of the assets used to collaterise a loan obtained from Bank PHB by A Group Properties over 10 years ago.

He would also have found that the property is a subject matter of a suit which is currently pending before the Federal High Court sitting at Abuja. (See Suit No /2015 between Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria v A Group Properties Limited).

The human rights lawyer added that the suit was instituted by AMCON due to the failure of the company to liquidate the loan.

Falana said in granting the ex parte application, filed by AMCON in the matter, the court ordered an interim forfeiture of the assets of A Group Properties Limited including No. 42 Gana Street, Maitama District, Abuja.

He added, The said order was granted on November 11, 2015. However, in a bid to pay the loan, A Group Properties Limited decided to sell some of the properties. The sale of the property in question to me was made subject to the setting aside of the order of interim forfeiture which had been obtained by AMCON.

Up till now, the case has not been concluded as the parties have asked for time to resolve the dispute amicably and file terms of settlement. To that extent, the transaction on the property remains inchoate.

Although the said order of interim forfeiture was granted in favour of AMCON over two years ago, Mr. Malami has not deemed it fit to disclose to the Federal High Court that the property at 42 Gana Street, Maitama District, Abuja, was recovered by the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has not applied to the International Police for the arrest of fleeing former Chairman of the Presidential Task Team on Pension Reform, Abdulrasheed Maina.

It was gathered on Saturday in Abuja that the anti-graft commission had not made a formal request to the Nigerian bureau of the INTERPOL for the fugitive to be placed on the agencys wanted list.

A highly-placed source explained that Maina had not been declared wanted because no agency had made a formal request to the INTERPOL on the issue.

A check on the INTERPOL website also showed that the former pension reform chairman had not been placed on the wanted list of the international agency.

This is coming almost a month after the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, claimed that INTERPOL had issued a fresh warrant for the arrest of the embattled director.

He had told newsmen to on October 26, 2017 that Mainas investigation has been expanded.

This is beyond reinstatement. It has gone beyond that. You know that the INTERPOL has just issued an international warrant on him. A Nigerian court has also issued yet another warrant of arrest, he had said.

But sources said the EFCC might not be keen on arresting Maina, which is behind its reluctance to re-apply for him to be placed on the wanted list.

From the look of things, the EFCC or those in government are not keen on arresting Maina and that is why no formal request for his arrest had been made to the National Central Bureau of the INTERPOL, a source explained.

It was learnt that the process for issuing an arrest warrant involved a formal request from a national investigative agency to the INTERPOL, which would, after consideration of the request, mandates its member states to issue red notices for the suspect.

It was further gathered that the international wanted notices were usually issued by the INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France, at the request of a member country.

It was gathered that the INTERPOL would not issue a wanted notice against Maina until the Federal Government had fullfilled certain conditions, including proving he had committed a crime and tendering the warrant of arrest his arrest by any law enforcement agency and the court.

The government, it was gathered, was also expected to present an assurance that the fugitive would be extradited if arrested anywhere in the world.

Efforts to get the EFCCs spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, did not succeed as he had yet to return calls to his telephone and had yet to respond to a text message sent to him as of the time of sending this report.

Meanwhile, facts have begun to emerge that Mainas reinstatement might have been facilitated by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Abubakar Magaji, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.

Investigations by our correspondent in Abuja indicated that the permanent secretary had allocated an office to Maina before he received a directive from the Head of Service, Winifred Oyo-Ita, to reinstate the embattled ex-pension task team chairman.

A source in the ministry said, From all indications, it was the permanent secretary, who allocated an office to Maina without waiting for the letter of reinstatement from the head of service.

It is true he (the PS) was not in the ministry when the decision to reinstate Maina was taken at a senior staff committees meeting just as he told the House of Representatives committee last week, but when he resumed in July, he was aware of all that happened.

Following a letter to the Federal Civil Service Commission dated April 27, 2017, by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, which directed that Maina should be reinstated into the civil service, the commission asked the interior ministry to convene a senior staff committee meeting.

At the meeting, it was agreed that Maina should be reinstated as a deputy director. It was gathered that the meeting, which was held on June 22, had in attendance two commissioners from the FCSC, Hassan Sokodabo and Ibrahim Kehinde, and a representative of the HoS, Sebastian Nalok.

The director overseeing the permanent secretarys office, Dr. Rufai Attahiru, now retired, presided over the meeting because the interior ministry had no permanent secretary then.

Our correspondent learnt that the SSC meeting recommended that Maina be reinstated and placed on Level 16 as deputy director which was his grade level before he fled the country.

He said, After the decision to reinstate Maina was agreed upon at the senior staff committee meeting of the ministry, the recommendation was sent to the FCSC which approved it.

It will be noted that the recommendation from the ministry was not binding on the FCSC and the commission was also not also expected to carry out the AGFs directive because it doesnt take instructions from him.

As it is the practice in the civil service, the HoS was expected to send the letter of reinstatement to the ministrys Permanent Secretary or Mainas immediate boss who will then present the letter officially to him, but Oyo-Ita withheld the letter because she felt the proper procedure was not followed.

The source explained that Maina had not officially received the letter before Magaji, who had resumed in the ministry as permanent secretary, allocated an office to him.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
The Kwara State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Iyiola Oyedepo, and the youth wing of the party have demanded that a former Governor of Kwara State and the incumbent Senator, representing Kwara North, Shaaba Lafiagi, be recalled from the Senate.

According to them, the killing of three persons and injuries sustained by several others during a protest penultimate Saturday indicated that the Senator was poorly representing the people.

About 300 youths of Lafiagi had blocked the Senator, who was en route to Lafiagi from Ilorin with his associates, to protest the non-completion of a culvert near Sodo River along Lafiagi Road.

Following military resistance to the protest, a part of Lafiagis residence was burnt down, leading to three deaths.

Oyedepo, during a media briefing in Ilorin, Kwara State, said it was sad and undemocratic that the former governor allegedly invited the military into a civil matter.

He said Lafiagi should be recalled.

The PDP youth leader in the state, Haliru Mahmud, in a statement, also described the deaths and injuries as sad.

He said, The youth wing of the PDP, Kwara State chapter, received with a heavy heart (news of) the killing of three promising young men in the Edu Local Government Area by the Nigerian Army under the instructions of the Senator representing Kwara North Senatorial District, Alhaji Shaaba Lafiagi.

It is very unfortunate that the Nigerian Army, whose constitutional responsibilities are to protect lives and property and defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria against external aggression, allows itself to be used by a civilian to kill and maim those he derived power from to become a senator.

This gross abuse of power is not only barbaric, undemocratic, irresponsible, condemnable and unacceptable, but has further exposed the desperation of the APC-led Kwara State government to forcibly perpetuate itself in power, despite its inability to deliver democratic dividends to Kwarans.

But the Deputy Director, Public Relations, 2 Division, Ibadan, Nigerian Army, Col Ezindu Idima, had said soldiers were not involved in the shooting.

Idima said, The shooting had already taken place before our soldiers were deployed when the situation was getting out of hands.

Our soldiers only came to bring the situation under control. They were not there before and during the shooting. What our soldiers did there was just to bring the situation under control. They were not involved in the shooting.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
The Nigerian troops on Saturday repelled an attack by Boko Haram insurgents at Magumeri town, headquarters of Magumeri Local Government Area of Borno.

A source said that the insurgents attacked a military formation at Magumeri, about 32 km from Maiduguri the state capital.

The source revealed that the troops and other security personnel engaged the insurgents and successfully repelled the attack.

The insurgents could not infiltrate the town and they were forced to flee after hours of gun battle.

No one can ascertain the level of casualties at this time, he said.

However, Kaka Audu, a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force in the area, said that the insurgents attacked the town from the military check point and Bengel area of the town.

Audu disclosed that some of the insurgents that attacked from the Bengel axis managed to enter the town and torched some buildings before they were finally pushed back.

We came back from a joint patrol with the military around 6 p.m. because intelligence report showed that the insurgents were gathering at the outskirt of the town.

Few minutes later, the insurgents attacked with full force from two directions. There was reinforcement from the military and the attack was repelled.

Audu noted that powerful echoes of gun shots and explosive devices prompted residents to flee to nearby forest.

The local militia added that most of the residents, who had earlier run to the bush, returned to their homes later.

The military authorities are yet to comment on the incident.

Source : ( NAN )
A 42-year-old OAP with a radio station in Ekiti State identified as Abulganiyu Lawalvwas shot dead by a yet to be identified person, while hunting at Araromi-Oke area of the state.

The deceased has been buried according to Islamic rites. The incident occurred on Thursday night November 23rd, along Apepe farm settlement in Araromi-Oke.

It was gathered that Lawal, after holding a meeting with his hunter friends, decided to go into the bush to hunt and promised to return before 10pm. Friends and relatives became worried when he didnt return. .

His phone was also not going through when they tried calling him. The matter was reported at Ilasa Police station. His body was later discovered along the bush path by villagers heading to the farm on Friday morning. He is survived by a wife and three children.

Source: ( Linda Ikeji)
Senator Olamilekan Adeola, representing Lagos West at the National Assembly, declared his intention to contest the Ogun State governorship election in 2019 on the platform of Nigerias ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

The lawmaker also replied to alleged criticism of his ambition by incumbent Ogun Governor, Ibikunle Amosun.

He said he was aware Mr. Amosun was opposed to his ambition, but that would not stop him.

It is my strong conviction that God and the good people of the state would crown me a governor and not a single individual, he said.

Mr. Adeola, however, thanked Mr. Amosun for attacking him, which he said made him more popular in the state and environment.

Mr. Amosun, has earlier said he would not hand over to a non-indigene pretending to be a son of the soil.

While addressing journalists on Sunday in Abeokuta, Mr. Adeola said he would still pay a courtesy call on Mr. Amosun, to convince the governor that he was his best possible successor.

Speaking on the governors insinuation that he was not an indigene of Ogun West, Mr. Adeola said that assertion was false.

My father is from Ago-Isaga in Yewa zone, while my mother is from Kemta community of Abeokuta and am comfortable at home, he said.

Mr. Adeola, Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, also challenged other APC governorship aspirants to a public debate.

I challenge them. I challenge Akinlade, I challenge Tolu, I challenge Suraj, I challenge Gboyega Nasir Isiaka. I challenge them to a public debate. If you are sure of yourself and you believe you have what it takes to govern our state and take Ogun State to the next level, come out for a public debate, he said.

Let Ogun State listen to us and let Ogun State take its decision and let everybody stop hiding under the finger of one individual. The media can be the observer, you (journalists) can call for the debate, you can organise it and let all of us come and talk to you, Mr. Adeola said.

Speaking further, he said if elected governor, he would improve on the revenue base of the state and consolidate on the good works of past and current governors.

I have what it takes to take Ogun State to the next level by the special grace of God. If you are embarking on such a journey, one thing you must seek for is the face of God and once God says there is a way, then there is nothing else you can do, he said.

Ive decided to run or contest for the governor of the state, I have no regret. I am standing by my words that 2019 is sacrosanct.

Source: ( Premium Times)
Some policemen in Berger area of Lagos might have found themselves in trouble after allegedly drowning a tricycle rider to death in a river.

The widow of Adama Onikoyi, the slain tricycle rider, and one of the couples children, spoke about the familys predicament with AFEEZ HANAFI, narrating how their father, Onikoyi was killed by policemen in Lagos state.

What is your name?

I am Biliki, widow of Adama.

How old are you?

I am 33 years old.

Can you narrate what led to your husbands death?

My husband was a tricycle rider and he shuttled between Isheri and Berger. He came back from work around 10pm on Thursday, November 16. Our last child, Zainab, woke up and said she was hungry. I was very tired and could not cook for her. Her father said he would buy noodles for her and he left.

Thirty minutes later, he did not come back. I felt may be he met many customers at the shop. But I became afraid when he did not return after an hour. I called his mobile and it indicated that it was switched off. I was in fear throughout that night.

Early the following day, I started searching for him. A resident told me policemen raided the community the previous day and chased a man to the riverside. The person said he saw some policemen beating one man and that they tore the mans clothes when he insisted that he would not follow them. I went to the riverside and found my husbands clothes and ID card there.

I went to the station to know if he was among those arrested during the raid. A policeman I met said he was not arrested. While he was attending to me, another policeman came and said a stubborn boy was pushed inside water.

Around 8am on Saturday, some youths came to tell me that his corpse had floated. I went there and saw injuries in his head and face. Blood were in his eyes. One of his hands was also broken.

Those policemen killed my husband because he refused to follow them. That does not mean they should kill him. The law does not allow such. They did not find anything incriminating on him. They beat him to death. They pushed him into the river.

The police said your husband was a traffic robber and a drug addict. Is that true?

It is a complete lie. My husband did not smoke and he was not a robber. Let them ask the residents, okada (commercial motorcycle) riders and his co-tricycle riders. They will all testify that he was a responsible and decent man. Policemen at the division knew him very well. They have his phone number. Whenever any of them wanted to go to Berger, they called him and he would not collect money from them. They were not supposed to pay him back this way. They have turned me to a widow at this age. Whoever killed my husband will face the wrath of God. The DPO is covering up because he does not want the policemen that pushed him into the river to lose their jobs.

What memories did he leave behind for the family?

My husband was a loving man. He could come home five times in a day from work to ask after his children. He bought a lot of things for them. If he took a passenger to an eatery, he would buy something for his children too. He never allowed our children to go hungry. It pains me when I remember that the person who did all of these things is no longer alive. He did not take the upkeep of our children lightly.

What do you think is the way forward for your family?

I am confused. This is a burden forced on me overnight. I dont know the way forward. I dont know where to start from with four children. I dont know who to turn to. I have to pay rent, their school fees and ensure their well-being. We have been left to our fate. Who will help me to take care of four children with the present economic situation in the country? It is not easy for a family to take care of four children, let alone catering to other peoples children. Look at what those policemen have caused. We may now have to be going from one relative to another to beg for money to eat and pay school fees. The upbringing of the children is beyond my means and I am worried.

What do you want the government to do?

I want to know those that killed my husband. The police should stop telling lies. The culprits should be charged to court. My husband must not die for an offence he did not commit.

As it is, government killed my husband and they should not abandon the family. We dont have anybody to run to.

Police have turned us to nobodys children  Daughter

What is your name?

I am Mulikat Onikoyi.

How old are you?

I am 11 years old.

What class are you?

I am in Primary Six.

What is your position in the family?

We are four children and I am the second child.

What can you say about your family?

We are a happy family. My father made home lively for us with his jokes. He really loved us.

What do you know about your father?

My father was a responsible and caring father. He always tried to satisfy us his children and he used to buy many things for us. He loved us so much and we loved him too. Whenever he went out to work, he would come back home with gifts for me and my siblings.

How did you feel when you heard that he was dead?

I felt very bad. His death was very painful. His body was found in the water last Saturday. My mother begged me to go to school on Monday so that I would not be crying at home. But when I got to school, I cried seriously. It was my friends who hugged me and told me to stop crying.

What were things that your father used to do for you and your siblings?

Any time daddy went out and we told him to buy things for us, he would surely buy them. Despite the condition of the family, he never let us suffer. He promised to give me money for Common Entrance examination and sport wears on Monday, before he was found dead in the river.

How do you think you and your siblings will cope without your father?

I dont know how we are going to cope. I hope our family will assist our mother to take care of us because she only has a small shop.

The policemen that killed my father have done badly to us. They have turned us to children of nobody. We will now be calling somebody elses father before we can get care. They have denied us the things our father was doing for us when he was alive.
The Police rescued about thirty women who were trafficked for sex  most from Colombia and Venezuela  were rescued in two raids in Mexico.

The biggest rescue mission took place in Toluca, capital of Mexico state, the most populous and one of the most dangerous states in the nation.

In that raid, authorities freed 24 women between 21 and 39 years old. Federal police said 14 of the women said they were originally from Colombia and 10 from Venezuela.

The victims were detained and the man and woman in charge of their activities were arrested.

After being promised jobs, in Mexico they were stripped of their documents and forced to prostitute themselves, under the threat that their families would be harmed.

In another operation carried out in several homes in the city of Cuernavaca, Morelos  a popular holiday destination in the center of the country  authorities freed another six trafficking victims, five Venezuelans and a Mexican.

Source : ( AFP )
There were absolute scenes on Friday when word got out that the BBC had been primed for a royal announcement  about Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys engagement.

And now its been reported that employees were indeed informed of an engagement, and got given details about the actual wedding too.

According to the Daily Star , staff from Buckingham and Kensington Palaces were called to a meeting on Friday afternoon, where, in front of the Queen, they were told that Harry and Meghan are engaged and that theyll be having a non-traditional wedding.

Her Majesty said Harry hasnt got the same responsibility as William which I know Harry is very happy with, a source told the paper of their desire to shun a big state affair.

However, the insider said it was also confirmed that the engagement wont be announced until next week at the earliest, and that it could actually happen AFTER Christmas.

They are engaged but they are trying to sort a few things out now, like house hunting for a retreat and other things, added the insider.

It will be up to them to decide when to announce it as they want to do it their own way, which Her Majesty agrees with.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace has responded to the mounting engagement chatter, insisting to Hello! magazine that they will not give a running commentary on Harrys love life.

However, Meghan is believed to have touched down in London earlier this week, and has even shipped her dogs over ready for her new life as a royal.But it seems she is certain she and Harry will marry soon  meaning shell no longer be able to continue acting.

Meghan knows she cant really act at the same time as being a princess and is happy to make this career sacrifice, a source told the Daily Star.

She really enjoys her charity work with Unicef and will broaden out her charity commitments when she becomes a full-time royal.

source: Stargist
A Redeemed Christian Church of God Pastor, Victor Kanayo, was murdered in Offin, Igbogbo area of Ikorodu in Lagos state today Sunday, November 26th.

According to the statement released by the Lagos state police command spokesperson, Chike Oti, the command has made a couple of arrests and suspects are being questioned with a view to discover the author of the heinous crime.

Oti added that the state Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, has dispatched a team of crack detectives to unravel those behind the murder; dig into the past of the victim and see if there is a correlation between his past and his fate.

The issue of his past before he became a born again christian is of interest to the police because of a human skull tattoo drawn on his left arm which gives the victim away as one who may have belonged to any of the dreaded cult groups.

Meanwhile investigation into case is ongoing, findings will be made public as usual by the Cp Lagos State.

Source  Gistreel
As many as five persons have perished after a stolen car reportedly crashed into a tree on a bright Sunday morning.

The police in West Yorkshire, England, have revealed that no less than five people including three children have been killed after a stolen Renault Clio crashed into a tree in Leeds.

According to Daily Star UK, two 15-year-old boys are currently in custody  but officers have not released any details as to why they are being held.

The collision happened on Stonegate Road, Meanwood, at 9.54pm last night.

The youngest victim in the crash is believed to be a 12-year-old boy.

And two 15-year-old boys and two men aged 24 and 28 have also died.

The families of the dead have all been informed, police said.

A spokesperson for the West Yorkshire Police told Daily Star Online: The roads remain closed.

Our major collision enquiry team are conducting an investigation into the exact cause of the collision.

Witnesses are urged to come forward with any information.
Popular artiste, Chinagorom Onuoha, aka African China, speaks about his experience in Switzerland

Where is the most interesting place youve travelled to?

That would be Switzerland.

What was the purpose of your trip and where did you stay while there?

I went for two things  to shoot a musical video and to perform at a musical show. I stayed at two different places while there. When I arrived at Switzerland, I stayed at Zurich. Then, I later moved to Basel, and it was a beautiful and memorable experience.

Did you travel alone or you travelled with a group?

I travelled with my manager.

What was the first thing that impressed you about Switzerland?

I was impressed by how clean Switzerland is despite the fact that it is a small country. You will hardly find a policeman on the streets but they are always keeping watch since there are cameras everywhere.

Did you visit any interesting place while you were in Switzerland?

Not really. I just visited some African bars, and I had a nice time hanging out with some of my African brothers. We also went on a boat cruise just to relax and enjoy ourselves.

Did you try any of their local food?

Yes I did, but I cannot remember the name now.

How does their hospitality compare with what we have in Nigeria?

I think Nigeria is better because this is home. I think I was treated well in Switzerland because I was a visitor. If you have stayed at a place for years and you get good hospitality there, I think you should be proud of that place more than any other place you visit for a short period. You get treated well in other countries only because you are a visitor and you are only there for a short period of time.

Do the Swiss know much about Nigerian music?

Just a few of them, especially the ones married to Nigerians who also attended the show where I performed. Aside from those connected to Nigerians, I think the Swiss are indifferent to Nigerian music.

What can Nigerian learn from Switzerland?

I think what Nigeria needs to learn from Switzerland is continuity and cleanliness. As Nigerians, we are fond of starting projects and failing to follow it through.We allow what we have built get destroyed before our very eyes. Look at Switzerland, the country is small but yet very clean and peaceful.

Did you see anything that reminded you of Nigeria?

It was when I saw some of my Nigerian brothers that I had a nostalgic feeling. Also when I went to those African bars, the reception was warm and they showed me lots of love. I felt special.

What is your dream travel experience?

My dream travel experience will be to visit the Bahamas. I really love that place.

Did you buy any artefact?

No, but I got a very beautiful towel. I loved the design on the towel, so I had to buy it.

What is the best travel advice you can give to anyone?

My advice to anyone who wants to travel out of the country is to make sure that your reason for travelling is genuine. This will give you ample opportunity to enjoy the trip

source:Punch
A Nigerian lady who reached out when a man made a twitter appeal to find a wife for his brother, is now getting married to the said brother. She saw the tweet, reached out via DM as requested and it looks like all went well after. See more details below.

Source: Linda Ikejis blog
Governor of Adamawa State, Abubakar Bindow, has said he has no plan to join the former vice president to leave the APC.

The governor spoke through his Commissioner for Information, Ahmad Sajo, in a telephone interview on Saturday.

Sajo was reacting to specific question about whether or not the governor was planning to dump the APC as Atiku did on Friday.

He said, Our governor has no plan to leave the APC. It has a lot of respect for the former vice-president but he is not leaving the APC.

He was elected on the platform of the APC and he is focused on delivering on the mandate given to him on the partys platform.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
Zimbabwe's former finance minister has testified that armed, masked men in uniform abducted him from his home during the military operation leading to the ousting of Robert Mugabe and held him for a week in an unidentified location.

His account has fuelled debate about the legality of the popular, mostly peaceful takeover by the armed forces.

The evidence of Ignatius Chombo came a day after a High Court judge, a retired general, ruled that the military's actions last week, which commanders described as a move against "criminals" around Mugabe, were legal.

While some critics said it set a dangerous precedent, the decision by Judge George Chiweshe reinforced the military's assertion that it acted within the law even though it set off events, including impeachment proceedings and street demonstrations against 93-year-old Mugabe, that ended his 37-year rule.

The joyful inauguration on Friday of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former top aide to Mugabe, showed that most Zimbabweans were happy to have a new leader who might take steps to revive the shattered economy and grant them more freedoms.

Even so, perceptions that the abrupt political transition was constitutionally sound are important to Zimbabwe's new leadership, which must prepare for 2018 elections while it seeks to attract foreign investment.

However, Mr Chombo and two leaders of the ruling Zanu-PF party's youth league who said they were abducted by the military before being handed over days later to the police described experiences reminiscent of human rights violations that were a routine occurrence during Mugabe's rule.

The three men have been linked to a party faction loyal to Mugabe's wife, Grace, whose presidential ambitions triggered the military intervention.

"I was in the custody of armed persons who were dressed in soldiers' uniforms," said Mr Chombo, who has been charged with corruption. "I don't know where I was taken to."

He described in court how the raid in the early morning of November 15 began with two explosions, one of which shook his home.

Men entered his bedroom with AK-47 assault rifles pointed at him, his wife and his maid, then handcuffed and hustled him out of the house through a smashed living room window, blindfolding him with his own T-shirt, Mr Chombo said.

A one-hour drive to an unidentified location led to days of custody during which interrogators told him that he had performed badly in his role as a government official and ruling party leader, he said.

He said he was blindfolded most of the time and never saw his captors' faces. He was not assaulted and saw a doctor after requesting pills, but suffered lacerations during the forced exit from his home, falling several times while barefoot.

Several days ago, his captors told him to pack his things and they drove him home, he said. There, two cars with police were parked.

"They said, 'You are under arrest'," Mr Chombo said.

Defence lawyer Lovemore Madhuku said it was obvious that Mr Chombo was originally taken by state agents, probably the military, and that his constitutional rights had been violated because he was not taken to court within 48 hours of his detention.

The police arrest, he said, was designed to provide legal cover for an illegal act.

"The military must know that there is a constitution in this country," Mr Madhuku said. "There's no such thing as a military arrest."

However, state prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba said the police arrest of Mr Chombo was lawful and that there was no evidence the "armed men" who previously held him belonged to the military.

The detained youth leaders, Kudzanai Chipanga and Innocent Hamandishe, have been accused of denigrating the military. All three men are now in police custody.

AP
The landlord of a historic pub in England has described how a man "escorted from the premises" was the driver of a car which then crashed into the front door, injuring four people.

UK police were called to the Cinque Ports Arms in Kent, at 9.52pm on Friday, after the silver Vauxhall Corsa crashed into the front of the building, pushing in the door.

Owner Kevin Gibbons said that at about 9.30pm a man in his 20s was escorted from the premises before he got into a car which hit "the front of the pub, subsequently causing injuries to some of our patrons and staff".

Photo: Cinque Ports Arms/PA Wire

Mr Gibbons added: "We would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff who not only remained calm but acted in a highly professional manner to ensure that our customers and children above the pub were safely evacuated while assisting the emergency services.

"We would also like to thank the emergency services for their rapid response and the service they provided.

"We have had builders working throughout the night to make the pub structurally safe and will be carrying on with business as usual."

A Kent Police spokesman said: "A 24-year-old man from New Romney, reported to be the driver of the car, has been arrested in connection with the incident and remains in custody.

"Four other people are reported to have been injured, with three men taken to a local hospital for treatment to injuries that have not been reported to be life threatening.

"The fourth injured person did not require hospital treatment."
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A CAMPAIGN to shame councillors who have not had criminal record checks is to be launched by the Isle of Wight Council's Green councillor.

After losing a vote to insist that all 48 members are Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checked, Cllr Michael Lilley said: "I believe as elected members we could have made an historic decision and sadly the opportunity was lost.

"I will bring a motion back in the future and in the meantime residents of Ryde East which I represent know I have a valid and current DBS certificate."

At last week's meeting Cllr Lilley highlighted the issue of councillors being part of corporate parenting when a child came into care due to neglect or abuse but only those involved in decisions relating to children and vulnerable adults being checked.

"We sadly live in a world where it is becoming a less safer place for our children and we as councillors need to reassure the people we represent that we are safe," he said.

Cllr Lilley said it was a sad fact that there had in the past been locally elected representatives convicted of child abuse.

"That is why the DBS is important," he said.

"My certificate states the words: 'Police records of convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings - None recorded'.

"I am sure all my colleagues would have the same words. It is sad that we need to undertake this exercise - but it is our duty."

But council leader Cllr Dave Stewart said the council was fulfilling its legal obligation. The authority would be acting illegally if it insisted members were DBS checked.

Councillors were automatically disbarred if they had a conviction which resulted in three months' or more in prison.

He urged voluntary checking.

"If members want to they can pay 25 and have their own DBS check," he said.
A NINETY-six year old war hero has lost his independence following the theft of his mobility scooter.

Arthur Wade went out to charge his scooter at 5pm on November 15 only to discover it had been taken from outside his flat.

The retired army veteran, who was born and married in East Cowes, manned the East Cowes search-light during the Cowes blitz. There were 11 people on shift that night and only four alive by the time it finished.

He retired after working as an operating department practitioner at Ryde hospital and has lived in his flat on George Street, Ryde, for more than 30 years.

His daughter, Linda Hodgson, said her father used the scooter to go out on his own - using the basket on the front for shopping and to visit the seaside in the summer.

She said: "He cannot go out without the scooter unless we take him - they have totally taken away his independence.

"He didn't use it every day, but he used it when no one was available to take him out.

"He feels so angry about it, but he has resigned himself to it being gone."

Arthur, who has 20 grandchildren and more than 20 great-grandchildren, was a key holder at his local baptist church until a few years ago.

Despite the theft, he is still able to walk to church, although circulation problems mean he can only walk short distances at a time and needs to be accompanied at all times.

Police confirmed the scooter, a maroon colour with Haverstock on the rear of the seat and supplied by the Royal British Legion, was taken at some point between midday on November 14 and 5pm on November 15.

Investigations are ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call the police on 101, quoting 44170444837.
Cigarette advertising returns to network television today for the first time in two generations.

Instead of marketing Marlboro, Newport or Winston, however, the 30- to 45-second spot ads on the ABC, CBS and NBC television networks feature federal court-ordered corrective statements about the dangers of smoking combustible cigarettes.

The five broadcast TV ads will run weekly for an entire year, with the manufacturers having the option of when the ads run between 7 and 10 p.m. and between Mondays and Thursdays.

Full-page newspaper ads will run in major U.S. metropolitan areas, including Charlotte in North Carolina. The newspaper ads will appear in the front section of the Sunday edition on four additional dates: Sunday, Dec. 10, Jan. 7, Feb. 4 and March 4.

The ads are projected to cost several millions of dollars for each manufacturer. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has said that compliance could cost $20 million.

Each statement will begin: A federal court has ordered Altria, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard and Philip Morris USA to make this statement ... The manufacturers will take turns being the first listed in the statement.

The agreement settles an 18-year-old federal lawsuit about the marketing of the manufacturers and their various affiliates and acquisitions going back to the 1950s.

However, as the ads debut, it remains unclear whether the statements will have a significant impact on persuading smokers to quit and non-smokers to not begin. The question is whether the ads will carry little weight in a society where the dangers of smoking have been known and accepted by adult smokers for decades.

This case and the corrective statements are timely reminders both that tobacco use remains an enormous public health problem in the United States, said a coalition of public-health and anti-tobacco advocacy groups.

It is the No. 1 cause of preventable disease and death  and that tobaccos horrific toll stems directly from the harmful practices of the tobacco industry.

A similar argument has been made against expectations of a game-changing impact coming from proposed graphic warnings labels on cigarette advertising, such as cadavers and diseased lungs.

The legal use of corrective advertising transcends its impact, said John Sweeney, a marketing professor at UNC Chapel Hill. It holds advertisers to a standard of truth-in-advertising no matter the success or failure of a particular corrective campaign.

Sweeney said the issue of tobacco has been largely decided in the court of public opinion. I believe smokers will tune out the campaign and the reputations of the tobacco companies are fixed.

That reality, Sweeney said, does not make the corrective campaign a waste.

There is always a new generation of young non-smokers who may be affected when they make the critical decision to smoke.

Legislative and legal background

In 1970, Congress banned cigarette advertising from radio and television, a ripple effect from the Surgeon Generals warning about the public health risk of consuming combustible cigarettes.

The 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between 46 state attorneys general, including North Carolina, and the major U.S. tobacco manufacturers led to significant changes that included banning cigarette billboards, stadium advertisements and brand-name merchandise.

Those changes contributed to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. exiting its 32-year sponsorship of NASCARs Winston Cup after the 2003 season to reduce marketing expenses.

At that time, the Winston-Salem Journal cited several causes for the decision: the slumping economy in 2001-03; higher state excise taxes affecting profits; societal changes spurred by anti-tobacco groups; expensive legal battles that include the MSAs tighter restrictions on marketing options; a changing corporate culture; and NASCARs expanding television package.

However, some critics said the MSA did not have the overall impact they envisioned because states diverted billions of dollars from covering smoking-related healthcare expenses to their general funds.

In 2006, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled the manufacturers had concealed the dangers of smoking for decades. The U.S. Justice Department filed a civil case in 1999 under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, or RICO.

A federal appeals court ruled in May 2015 that proposed federal corrective statements on cigarette advertising exceeded their legal reach with some parts of their language, particularly that tobacco manufacturers lied to consumers.

In April 2017, a federal appeals court reaffirmed that the manufacturers are required to include corrective warning statements.

However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit also ruled the statements cannot include the phrase that Kessler required: Here is the truth.

Assessing the impact

Twenty percent of adult Americans, or nearly 49 million, used some form of tobacco product in 2015, federal health care officials said in a report Nov. 12.

However, the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration also stirred again the public-health debate of what is a tobacco product, particularly when it comes to electronic cigarettes and vaporizers.

I think that they serve as a reminder to users of cigarettes and the public that cigarettes are deadly and still the single most preventable cause of death, said Scott Ballin, past chairman of Coalition of Science or Health.

Yet they tend to re-enforce the notion that nothing has changed when much has changed. What has changed is that we now have an FDA that is considering new strategies for dealing with how we approach the problem.

This includes giving smokers significantly lower risk, regulated, alternative products to help them get off the deadly cigarette habit.

Restrictions became more extensive in 2009 when Congress gave the FDA broad regulatory authority over nearly every aspect of tobacco product manufacturing and marketing.

However, tobacco manufacturers continue to spend more than $8 billion annually on the marketing avenues they are allowed to pursue, which include discounts to retailers.

The fact that tobacco manufacturers continue to spend billions of dollars on their products, as well as the siphoning off of the MSA funding, remains a particularly prickly point for anti-tobacco advocates despite the appearance of the court-mandated statements.

Despite their claims to the contrary, the tobacco companies have not changed, the public-health coalition said. Their continuing aversion to the truth is clear from how hard they fought the corrective statements.

Their main business is still to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products ... the bulk of it spent on price discounts that research has found increases youth smoking.

Last week, the American Medical Association said the debut of the statements has spurred the group to set a new anti-tobacco policy that emphasizes educating the public and policymakers about the background for the need for the statements.

That includes encouraging state and medical specialty societies to work with public health organizations to help identify public policies that may have been directly or indirectly-influenced by tobacco companies, and encourage lawmakers to reject any potential tobacco industry influences on future policy.

We will do everything we can to ensure the public is aware of the negative health consequences associated with tobacco products and help deter more people from using them, said Dr. Albert Osbahr III, an association board member.

David Sweanor, an adjunct law professor at the University of Ottawa and the author of several electronic-cigarette studies, said there is a recognition in social science that such messages (corrective statements) need to be paired with clear, actionable steps people can take to deal with the danger.

The scary messages on risks, like the ones about industry misbehavior, will likely increase dissonance among people who smoke, Sweanor said.

This situation is aggravated by the lack of other good information on issues of relative risk from government health bodies.

For example, Sweanor said that despite the ground-breaking announcement of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in late July on the importance of the continuum of risk (with tobacco products), there has been no follow-through; no concerted effort to inform people who smoke of the range of options for giving up cigarettes.

For instance, these agencies continue to demonize vaping and smokeless tobacco rather than point out to people who smoke that cigarettes are massively more hazardous.

If the goal is to say, tobacco companies misbehaved, these messages are fine, Sweanor said.

If the goal is to reduce the carnage resulting from that misbehavior, these messages and the overall approach of government health bodies comes up tragically short.
RALEIGH  Most voters in North Carolina and the rest of America cast ballots reliably for either Democratic or Republican politicians  even if the voters themselves dont belong to a party. Thats pretty much the definition of political polarization, and a well-established fact of current voter behavior.

But it is also obvious that voters dont just come in two categories. There are Democrats who favor restrictions on abortion, Republicans who favor higher taxes on the wealthy, partisans who disapprove of their leaders personal behavior and lots of disagreements across the two political coalitions on many other specific issues.

So what truly separates Democratic-leaning voters from Republican-leaning ones? According to the latest voter-typology study from the Pew Research Center, one of the strongest predictors of partisan leanings has to do with the size of government.

If you had to choose, the Pew questionnaire reads, would you rather have a smaller government providing fewer services, or a bigger government providing more services? In most of the recent past, smaller government has been the more popular answer to this question, although this year the responses have been closer to even. More to the point, the response bear a strong relationship to party preference.

The 2017 Pew typology of voters consists of eight different voting groups  two core Republican constituencies, two core Democratic ones, two that lean Republican and two that lean Democratic. I dont have room here to describe these eight typologies in great detail, but perhaps thumbnail sketches will suffice to make the point.

On the Republican side, disproportionately upscale Core Conservatives and disproportionately rural Country First Conservatives are the most reliable GOP voters. Their primary areas of disagreement are on foreign policy, trade and immigration. Two other groups, the mostly pessimistic Market-Skeptic Republicans and the mostly optimistic New Era Enterprisers, contain lots of unaffiliated voters and express plenty of disagreements with the Republican platform. But they vote Republican most of the time.

On the Democratic side, Pew calls the most loyal groups Solid Liberals (disproportionately wealthy and secular) and Disaffected Democrats (disproportionately poor). A third group, Opportunity Democrats, are notably more optimistic about the future and favorable to business than the first two. Slightly more of them identify as unaffiliated or leaners than as Democrats. A final group, Diverse and Devout, is just what the name implies  racially diverse, older than average and often in disagreement with Democrats on social issues and other matters. Still, most vote blue most of the time.

Political junkies love to read and digest these kinds of studies. They are typically drawn to the differences, the variations, the surprises.

I freely admit to the same bias. I was fascinated to discover from the new Pew data that only one of the four GOP-leaning groups, the Country First Republicans, is clearly opposed to same-sex marriage. Another notable finding is that the Democratic groups are starkly divided on how much America ought to be engaged in international affairs and whether regulations on business do more good than harm.

But when it comes to the size of government, the two coalitions are easy to differentiate. All four GOP groups say they want smaller government, by at least a 22-point margin (Core Conservatives are nearly unanimous at 93 percent). All four Democratic groups say they want larger government, by at least a 21-point margin (Solid Liberals are solidly in favor at 80 percent).

Naturally, there are tensions between what these voters say they want in abstract and what they favor in particular instances. Nevertheless, what the government-size question reveals is that the broad philosophical differences are real and politically significant.

For the foreseeable future, Democratic politicians will talk a lot about how government programs help people and solve problems. Republican politicians will talk a lot about how government programs often cost more than advertised and make problems worse by producing unintended consequences. Politicians will say these things because they believe them, for the most part  but also because those are the messages that unify their respective electoral coalitions.
HARTFORD, Conn.  Driving out of town on Albany Avenue I was struck by the speed with which neighborhoods shifted before my eyes, from the handsomely rebuilt downtown to some of the saddest poverty in urban America. And then, just as quickly, I turned onto Bloomfield Avenue and was staring at lush fairways lining the Hartford Country Club.

It was so tightly situated; the contrast so great. Yet, there were no signs warning Keep Out, nor any saying All Are Welcome.

It seems for all our progress socially and politically, we are in many ways more divided than ever. We have a shrinking middle class and our neighborhoods reflect that.

We are stuck at political extremes, unwilling to even consider opposing points of view. And we are frightened, making us suspicious of those who appear to be different.

As I drove on I was reminded of a recent column by my colleague Clarence Fanto, writing in the Berkshire Eagle. It was about a small town of about 11,000 people in north central Massachusetts called Groton. Seems that over the summer, the town installed large stone markers along eight roads leading into Groton. Each was engraved with the words: ALL ARE WELCOME.

The brouhaha that resulted would be flat-out funny if it were not so frighteningly reflective of our times. At a town meeting in October, a motion was introduced to remove the markers, or at least change the wording on the stones.

Some of the 400 residents who showed up for the meeting insisted that the wording should be Welcome to Groton, or simply Welcome.

The crux of concern was the word all. One resident complained that all conveyed a pro-immigration viewpoint, not shared by everyone in town. Others went so far as to suggest that by using the word all, Groton was identifying itself as a sanctuary town. Heaven forbid.

According to the Boston Globe, Facebook posts  some of which might have been from people living outside Groton  said All Welcome signs would attract a criminal element, pedophiles and terrorists.

Adding heat to the debate was that one sign, on Route 119, happens to be next to the site of a Hindu temple, due to open Nov. 19. Was that it? Were residents skittish about ap-pearing to welcome Hindus?

Groton sits on land that once belonged to the Nipmuc and Nashaway Indians, who eventually were forced to accept that they were not welcome either.

Today, the town has an almost equal number of Republicans and Democrats, with the majority of residents having registered as unaffiliated, for what thats worth.

Fortunately, the motion to change the road signs in Groton was defeated. The message, All Are Welcome, remains.

Regrettably, although many Americans are conceptually in favor of such a message, in practice, the concept nowadays is hardly set in stone.
In September, Gov. Pete Ricketts was elated after Vietnam ended a nine-month ban on American distillers grains. Vietnam had banned distillers grains after the discovery of warehouse beetles.

This news will help create marketing opportunities for distillers grains, and provide opportunities for Nebraskas ethanol industry and our corn farmers, he said.

Nebraska is the second largest ethanol-producing state, producing 2 billion gallons each year. Every bushel of corn produces about three gallons of ethanol and 18 pounds of distillers grain.

In 2015 Nebraska exported more than $19 million in distillers grains to Vietnam. Vietnam was the third largest market for American distillers grains.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) noted the arrival of the first DDGS containers in Vietnam. The ban had been put in place in October 2016.

USGC said Vietnam received 7,850 metric tons of U.S. distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). It filled the first orders placed following Septembers announcement. Vietnam also agreed to ease fumigation requirements for U.S. corn and wheat imports.

We are glad to see the first shipment and arrival of U.S. DDGS back into the Vietnamese market, said Manuel Sanchez, USGC regional director for South and Southeast Asia. The council collaborated closely with our own government, the Vietnamese government and industries in both countries to resolve this trade disruption.

DDGS is an important feed source for Vietnams swine and poultry sectors. Before the ban, Vietnam has increased its use of DDGS. It became one of the largest markets for U.S. DDGS.

Vietnamese Plant Protection Department (PPD) issued its decision in October 2016 to suspend DDGS importation. As a result, Vietnam purchased 50 percent less U.S. DDGS in 2016-17 at 495,000 tons, compared to almost 986,000 tons the year prior.

USGC, the U.S. Department of Agricultures Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative worked together to address the Vietnamese governments concerns. Their efforts helped open access to one of the fastest growing feed markets in the world.

Any disruption to the supply chain has a tremendous impact on market price, Sanchez said. The arrival of U.S. DDGS on Vietnamese shores signals a return to business as usual, benefitting both the Vietnamese feed sector and U.S. farmers and agribusiness.
Central Platte NRD board to meet Nov. 30

The Central Platte Natural Resources Districts (CPNRD) board of directors will hold its November meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday at CPNRDs office at 215 Kaufman Ave. in Grand Island.

Among board action and agenda items:

-- The Board Officer Nominating Committee will elect a three-member, Board Officer Nominating Committee to make recommendations for secretary and treasurer. Board officers may serve two two-year terms. Barry Obermiller of Grand Island has served two full terms and is not eligible for re-election as secretary. Charles Maser of Grand Island has served one full term and is eligible for re-election as treasurer.

-- Allison Petr, Lutz Accounting, will present the 2016-17 audit report.

-- Natural Resources Conservation Service district liaison Joe Krolikowski will report to the board.

-- Middle Platte Basin representative Mick Reynolds will report for the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission,

-- For the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (NARD), Jim Bendfeldt will offer a report.

Harvest analysis indicates high mycotoxin levels

A recent Alltech 2017 harvest analysis indicated high levels of mycotoxins in corn silage across the U.S.

According to Alltech, the 2017 growing season was challenging for growers across the country. Different regions experienced varied weather conditions that not only reduced yield, but also increased plant stress, leading to challenges with mycotoxins.

Corn silage samples from across the U.S. have shown extremely high levels of mycotoxins, particularly deoxynivalenol (DON), type A trichothecenes (T-2), fusaric acid and fumonisin.

Alltech said once there are mycotoxins in the crop, they will not go away. There will be higher levels of mycotoxins on farms practicing monocropping of corn, as opposed to those farms that are rotating crops or using deeper tillage methods.

Samples submitted to Alltech between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1 show that grains contained mixtures of mycotoxins. Forages such as corn silage, barlage and haylage also contained multiple mycotoxins this year.

Fumonisin is trending higher across all states. It can have a negative impact on feed intake, gut health, liver function and immune response. Swine and horses are particularly sensitive.

Mycotoxins are a regular concern for producers. They influence feed quality and animal safety. They are produced by certain species of molds and have toxic properties that impact animal health and performance.

Understanding the risk of mycotoxins and combinations of mycotoxins, even at lower levels, allows livestock owners and managers to institute a management program for more optimum performance and health, said Max Hawkins, Alltech nutritionist. Testing feedstuffs and finished feeds is paramount to putting this management program in action.

Mycotoxins are seldom found in isolation, and when multiple mycotoxins are consumed, according to Alltech, they may have additive, or even synergistic, interactions that increase the overall risk to performance and health.

For feedstuffs harvested this year that are currently being fed, Alltech said it is important to conduct aan analysis that identifies the storage mycotoxins  including Penicillium and Aspergillus mycotoxin groups  because there is potential for additional mycotoxins to develop during storage.

Johner to serve as FSA state executive director

The Trump administration recently appointed Nancy Johner as the new state executive director for the USDA Nebraska Farm Service Agency (FSA).

Johner will join the Nebraska FSA team on Monday.

She comes to FSA from Pathfinder Support Services, where she has served as chief executive officer since 2014. She previously served on U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns staff as deputy chief of staff and state director. From 2006 to 2009, she served as under secretary for USDAs Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services.

Johner has a bachelor of science degree in social work from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

State layer production down in October

All layers in Nebraska during October totaled 7.7 million, down from 8.96 million the previous year, according to the USDAs National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Nebraska egg production during October totaled 193 million eggs, down from 230 million in 2016. October egg production per 100 layers was 2,513 eggs, compared to 2,564 eggs in 2016.
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Mexican businessman Alfonso Romo, who presented and helped design the platform of the left-wing party Morena, overlooks Mexico City from his office tower on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017. While the countries re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement huddled quietly in a Mexico City hotel this week, a neighbourhood away a noisy political event unfolded that could affect the agreement's fate. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alex Panetta
In this photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense group in Damascus suburbs known as the White Helmets, Civil Defense workers carry an injured man after government airstrikes hit Douma, near Damascus, Syria, Sunday Nov. 26, 2017. Government airstrikes and shelling outside the Syrian capital killed at least 22 civilians, activists reported Sunday, as the fighting showed no signs of letting up ahead of the resumption of U.N. peace talks in Geneva. (Syrian Civil Defense in Damascus suburbs via AP)
FILE - In a Nov. 15, 2017 file photo, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., speaks during the Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Franken has agreed to talk with a handful of Minnesota media outlets on Sunday, Nov. 26, marking his first interviews since the Democrat was swept into a nationwide tide of sexual harassment allegations. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Mount Agung volcano erupts in Karangasem, Bali island, Indonesia, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017. The volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali has rumbled into life with a series of eruptions that temporarily disrupted some international flights to the popular tourist destination and dusted nearby resorts and villages with a thin layer of ash. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
Authorities have identified the two men shot and killed outside a Twin Lakes bar early Friday morning.

Richard Samuel, 28, and Kenneth Samuel III, 31, brothers from Twin Lakes, died after being shot, reportedly by a 25-year-old Trevor man who is now in custody.

While the suspect has not been identified by police, he is believed to be Nathan Adam Kivi.

Kenosha County Jail records show Kivi is the lone inmate booked into custody Friday by Twin Lakes police, where he is being held without bail pending felony charges that include intentional homicide.

He also faces possible felony charges for first-degree reckless endangerment, bail jumping and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

In addition, police are seeking misdemeanor charges against Kivi for disorderly conduct, carrying a concealed weapon and using a firearm while intoxicated.

He was booked into the jail about 6:15 p.m. Friday.

Rare occurrence

Twin Lakes Police Capt. Dennis Linn said the village has experienced cases of reckless homicide caused, for example, by heroin overdoses.

But since the 1980s, the village has not had a single intentional homicide, as appears to be the case in the fatal shootings of the Samuel brothers, Linn said.

He said the victims apparently were shot after a fight inside a bar spilled into the parking lot. He expects charges to be filed Monday by the Kenosha County District Attorneys Office.

Several people at the Beach Bar Friday afternoon said the brothers were regulars at the tavern overlooking Lake Mary and were well-liked in the community.

They are going to be missed by a lot of people, one man said. Its just a tragedy.

Early-morning shooting

Police were called to the Beach Bar, 402 S. Lake St., at about 2 a.m. Friday for the shooting outside the tavern.

When officers arrived, they found Richard Samuel dead in the parking lot. He had multiple gunshot wounds.

His brother also had multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington, where he died.

The suspect fled the scene afterward but was apprehended about 8:15 a.m. Friday by the Monroe County Sheriffs Department and the Wisconsin State Patrol.

Twin Lakes Police Chief Adam Grosz said the suspect was en route to a relatives home in Hayward when he was arrested.

Wisconsin court records show Kivi was set to appear Tuesday in Walworth County Circuit Court on a felony charge for strangulation and suffocation stemming from an incident in June. He had been released on bond in that case.
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DUBAI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Foreign investors were net sellers of Saudi Arabian equities for a third straight week after authorities launched a major crackdown on corruption, but by a smaller margin than in the previous week, exchange data showed on Sunday.

The crackdown, which has involved the arrest of dozens of senior officials and businessmen and the freezing of over 2,000 Saudi bank accounts, has alarmed investors, who fear it could damage the economy and lead to forced sales of assets.

Foreign investors sold 835 million riyals ($223 million) of Saudi stocks and bought 598 million riyals in the week through Nov. 23, resulting in net selling of 237 million riyals.

That compares with net selling of 309 million riyals in the week to Nov. 16 and 1.08 billion riyals in the week to Nov. 9, immediately after the purge was announced.

The latest data also showed selling by Saudi individual investors easing. They sold 10.5 billion riyals in the latest week and bought 9.5 billion riyals. In the previous week, they were net sellers by a margin of 2.4 billion riyals.

Some individuals have been pulling money out of the market for fear it could be seized in the crackdown, according to local fund managers. But in the latest week, high net worth individuals turned net buyers by a small margin.

Saudi institutions, mostly mutual funds and corporations, have been heavy net buyers since the crackdown was launched; regional asset managers think much of this buying was by state-linked funds deliberately supporting the market to avert a panic.

The data showed institutions were net buyers to the tune of only 1.34 billion riyals in the latest week, compared with 2.87 billion riyals in the previous week.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Alison Williams)
* Trial of gold trader Zarrab opens in New York this week

* Former Turkish minister, others also on trial

* Turkish PM suggests Zarrab may have struck plea deal

* Erdogan says trial is politically motivated

By Dominic Evans and Brendan Pierson

ISTANBUL/NEW YORK, Nov 26 (Reuters) - A trial which has strained Turkish-U.S. ties before it even started opens this week in New York despite the possible absence of a defendant who Turkey says is cooperating with prosecutors in what it calls "a clear plot" against Ankara.

Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, charged with conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran, has dropped out of sight in the last two months, prompting Turkey's prime minister to suggest he has reached a plea deal with U.S. authorities.

James Margolin, a spokesman for U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan, declined to comment on whether Zarrab was cooperating with the authorities. A lawyer for Zarrab, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment for this article.

Zarrab and eight other people, including Turkey's former economy minister and three executives of Turkish state-owned Halkbank, have been charged with engaging in transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran's government and Iranian entities from 2010 to 2015 in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions.

Only Zarrab and Mehmet Hakan Atilla, one of the Halkbank executives, have been arrested by U.S. authorities.

Ex-minister Zafer Caglayan, who has not been arrested by the United States and remains in Turkey, is also accused of receiving tens of millions of dollars in bribes from the proceeds of the scheme. The Turkish government has said he acted within Turkish and international law.

Caglayan, Zarrab and Atilla have denied all the charges against them. Victor Rocco, a lawyer for Atilla, declined to comment on the case. Caglayan could not be reached for comment. Halkbank says all its transactions fully comply with Turkish and international regulations.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's government has said the case has been fabricated for political motives. The tensions it has exacerbated between Ankara and Washington - NATO allies - have hit investor sentiment towards Turkey, and traders say it has also contributed to the lira's fall to record lows.

U.S. prosecutors claim that the defendants helped Zarrab use his network of companies to supply currency and gold to the Iranian government and Iranian entities, violating U.S. sanctions.

The prosecutors have alleged that the defendants used front companies and fake invoices to trick U.S. banks into processing transactions disguised to appear as though they involved food, which is exempt from the sanctions.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the charges were baseless, and that Turkey had not violated its own or international laws regarding exports and trade.

"PLOT AGAINST TURKEY"

"The Zarrab case is a clear plot against Turkey, a political case and lacking any legal basis," government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said last week.

Zarrab has been absent from recent court hearings. Last month Atilla's lawyers said Zarrab, who was arrested in Miami in March 2016, had "essentially not participated" in the case and that Atilla might be the only defendant appearing at trial.

"The defendants in the case are under pressure and being forced to make statements against our country," Yildirim said, without explanation.

The case is acutely sensitive in Turkey because the prosecutors say a Turkish government minister, Caglayan, was involved in the alleged conspiracy to evade the U.S. sanctions.

In a filing four weeks ago, prosecutors also included the transcript of an April 16, 2013 recorded phone call in which a speaker they identified as Zarrab discussed with another co-defendant his efforts to buy a bank to establish a conduit for Iranian transactions.

Prosecutors said Zarrab and Erdogan, then Turkey's prime minister, had spoken four days earlier at a wedding. "I explained it that day at the wedding," Zarrab told the co-defendant, according to prosecutors. "I will go back and will say, Mr. Prime Minister, if you approve, give me a licence".

Erdogan has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but has repeatedly expressed frustration with the case.

"You arrest the general manager of my bank when there are no crimes, try to use my citizen (Zarrab) as an informant, try him without having anything against him," Erdogan said in a speech to provincial governors on Oct. 12, in an apparent reference to the U.S. prosecutors.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said he sees in this case the hand of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan accuses Gulen of masterminding last year's failed military coup in Turkey and also of driving an earlier legal case involving Zarrab.

In that earlier case, Turkish prosecutors accused Zarrab and high-ranking Turkish officials of involvement in facilitating Iranian money transfers via gold smuggling.

After details of the Turkish prosecution were leaked in 2013, several prosecutors were removed from the case and police investigators were reassigned. Erdogan branded the case an attempt by Gulen's supporters to undermine his government and the investigation was later dropped.

Cavusoglu said the two legal cases were "exactly the same", and showed the extent to which Gulen had infiltrated American state institutions, including its judiciary. "Needless to say, those claims are ridiculous," acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said last week. The case has been handled by career prosecutors concerned only with U.S. law, not Turkish politics, Kim said, adding: "They're not Gulenists."

Gulen denies involvement in the failed 2016 coup or any other attempts to undermine Erdogan and his government.

ECONOMIC HIT

The Zarrab case is one of several festering disputes between Ankara and Washington, which disagree over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria and suspended visa services after the arrest of a locally employed U.S. consulate worker in Istanbul last month.

In a speech on Wednesday, Yildirim highlighted the economic fallout from the court hearings, saying they had "come to the point of harming Turkey and our global economic ties".

Turkey's bank regulator denied a report in Haberturk newspaper last month that six unnamed Turkish banks could face fines worth billions of dollars over Iran sanctions violations.

Investors are nervous. Turkish bank shares have fallen more than 13 percent in November, nearly twice the decline of the broader Istanbul market.

Jury selection is due to start on Monday, meaning the trial may begin as early as Tuesday.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)
DUBAI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Gulf stock markets may have a slightly firm tone on Sunday, buoyed by positive global trends and news of the initial public offer of the distribution unit of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.

Major global and U.S. stock indices set fresh all-time highs on Friday while Brent oil rose 31 cents to settle at $63.86 a barrel. [ID:nL8N1NT39P}

ADNOC's unit set an indicative price range for its IPO of 2.35 to 2.95 dirhams; at the top of the range, the deal could be valued at 7.38 billion dirhams ($2.01 billion), assuming it sells a maximum 20 percent. That would make it the biggest IPO in the UAE since 2007.

The company's valuation implies a 2018 dividend yield of 6 percent to 7.5 percent and a 2019 dividend yield of 4 percent to 5 percent. This could help to attract fresh funds and liquidity to the Abu Dhabi bourse.

In Saudi Arabia, Banque Saudi Fransi could come uner pressure after the central bank said it faced an unspecified fine over irregularities in an employee incentive programme. However, the investigation into the irregularities was already well-known and official action had been anticipated by investors. The market may gain some support from news that the regulator will further ease requirements for foreign institutional investors in the stock market; among other steps, the minimum value of assets under management needed for a foreign institution to qualify as an investor would fall to 1.875 billion riyals ($500 million) from 3.75 billion riyals. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a New York Times interview published at the weekend that about 95 percent of about 200 businessmen and officials implicated in a sweeping crackdown on corruption were agreeing to financial settlements of charges against them - a possible indication that the probe, which has unsettled the stock market, could start to wind down in most areas. Qatar's stock market fell on Thursday after index compiler MSCI said it might shift to using offshore exchange rates to value the market, because sanctions against Doha had made it more difficult for investors to obtain riyals.

After the close on Thursday, the Qatari central bank sought to reassure investors that it was trying to prevent a negative decision by MSCI, saying it was "coordinating regularly with all banks and financial institutions to follow up banking operations and ensure the processing of all procedures and transactions as normal." (Reporting by Andrew Torchia)
Missouri AG sets up argument to keep convicted killer from getting a hearing for his release
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By Yun Suh-young



One of the top orchestras in the world, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, will be visiting Seoul next month to perform at the Seoul Arts Center for the first time in 21 years.



The Wiener Symphoniker's visit is the first since the orchestra visited the city in 1996 with the late conductor Rafael Frubeck de Burgos for the first time. The orchestra will be performing Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor and Brahms' Symphony No. 1 in C Minor Op. 68, Dec. 5.



Other concerts will be performed Dec. 6 in Daegu and Dec. 7 in Daejeon.



The orchestra will be performing under the helm of chief conductor Philippe Jordan who has been leading the orchestra since 2014 with an extended contract until 2021.



The Vienna Symphony is lesser known in Korea than the Vienna Philharmonic, which is slightly older and more widely known globally.



Despite its long history and tradition since 1900, the Vienna Symphony had been in the shadow of Vienna Philharmonic, receiving less of the spotlight compared to its rival. The two orchestras are representative of Vienna and both legendary, yet they represent different versions of Vienna's sounds.



According to its incumbent conductor, the Vienna Symphony performs 100 concerts annually in just one season in Vienna and is known to have a clearer, lighter sound compared to the Vienna Philharmonic.



Over the 117 years of its history, the orchestra has premiered several pieces such as Bruckner's Symphony No. 9, Schonberg's "Gurrelieder" and Ravel's "Piano Concerto for the Left Hand." The orchestra's primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. The Wiener Symphoniker has been the orchestra in residence at the Bregenzer Festspiele since 1946. Since 2006, it has also backed a number of opera productions at the Theater an der Wien.



Herbert von Karajan was chief conductor of the orchestra from 1950 to 1960 while Wolfgang Sawallisch decisively shaped the sound of the orchestra between 1960 and 1970. Georges Pretre was chief conductor from 1986 to 1991 followed by Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Fabio Luisi and Jordan.



Renowned names such as Leonard Bernstein, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Claudio Abbado, Carlos Kleiber and Sergiu Celibidache have assumed the role as guest conductors.



Ticket prices are from 60,000 won to 180,000 won. For more information, call (02) 599-5743.




Seong Dong-ill, left, and Baek Yoon-sik in a scene from "The Chase" / Courtesy of NEW





Actor Baek Yoon-sik poses during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Thursday. /Courtesy of NEW

Baek Yoon-sik goes for fight scenes in The Chase'

By Kim Jae-heun

Seventy-year-old veteran actor Baek Yoon-sik has appeared in more than 26 films and 37 TV dramas since his debut in 1970, but he still has plenty more to show.

There are no young star actors in the upcoming movie "The Chase" and veteran actors such as Baek and Seong Dong-ill take the leads.

In the film, based on the webtoon "Aridong Last Cowboy," Baek plays the role of old stubborn landowner Shim Duk-soo, who has lived for a long time in the poor town Ari-dong.

One day, murders start to happen in the town, similar to an unsolved crime that took place 30 years ago. Senior citizens living alone are found dead and a female college student living in Shim's apartment goes missing. Shim and former detective Park Pyeong-dal, played by Seong, cooperate to search for the killer. In the movie, Baek rides the scooter to every suspicious crime scene and fights in the rain _ all without a body double.

"My role in the upcoming film contains action scenes that required a strong mentality from me," said Baek during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Thursday. "I've done some action scenes before that required a high level of stunt skills. But here, it is just about working it off and showing your willpower. Shim is not a good fighter and he is old but he resists and keeps getting up."

Baek decided to appear in the film after reading the original book that the story is based on.

Realistic features of his character and the context of the story attracted Baek to playing the lead role in the film.

Shim looks like a cold-hearted man in the movie, but Baek sees him differently.

"In the original story, Shim accidently kills his younger brother while covering his mouth to keep him silent when North Koreans attacked their house during the Korean War. So he has this trauma about death. Shim is not a normal person. He is a self-made man and he is very strict in his self-discipline," said Baek.

"The Chase" will hit local theaters, Nov. 29.

Q. Your character is similar to Hollywood actor Liam Neeson's role in the film "Taken," where Neeson goes after criminals to save his daughter.



A. I disagree. Liam Neeson was a former spy and he was an expert in the field of searching and eliminating his targets. I appear as a landowner and a key repairman. Of course, we both show a strong mentality in tracking down the target.

Q. Which scene was most physically demanding for you in the movie?



A. We shot an action scene in the mud on three rainy winter days. It was very cold and I lost all the heat in my body. Apart from that I did not get hurt.

Q. You are well known for your roles in films like "Inside Men" and "Tazza." This is another role that could leave a strong impression on the audience. Was there something different when you played the character Shim?



A. Not particularly. It is all about flow. I like the suffix ing' of the present continuous tense. My career is still in progress and I want it to flow naturally.

Q. You have taken on many fatherly roles. Is there any specific reason?



A. Not particularly. There is a process for me to choose a piece but I believe it is more important to look at the will of casting directors who chose me to play certain roles. I just happen to meet my characters naturally and I am still in the field.

Q. Is there certain role that you want to play in the future?



A. Acting is about taking part naturally. There is a saying that life is short but art is long. There is no end in our job. We have to keep thinking and creating new characters. When I finish one character, I will meet a new one and I will do my best to portray him. I am only grateful for it.
Envoys involved in illegal activities to earn hard currency



By Kim Jae-kyoung



More nations should expel North Korean diplomats to crack down on their illegal activities overseas and completely cut off the regime's economic lifeline, experts said Friday.



"North Korean embassies are self-financed operations. In addition, they are expected to pay revolutionary tax to the Kim Jong-un regime," said Tara O, an adjunct fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS.



"So they partake in illicit activities to earn hard currency and take advantage of diplomatic immunity to not get discovered in the first place, or if caught, still be able to get out of the situation."



She explained that diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law in which diplomats are not subject to local courts' jurisdiction to ensure the efficient and effective performance of their official missions.



"So perhaps the best way to reduce North Korean diplomats' illegal activities is to reduce the diplomatic staff as some countries have done recently, or close them," she said.



"Reducing the demand for such illegal goods in the destination countries would also help," she added. "These are measures that add to the maximum pressure strategy."



Sean King, senior vice president of Park Strategies, concurred.



"Cracking down on Pyongyang's diplomatic corps is key, as its embassies function as an overseas office network for the multinational criminal enterprise that North Korea is," said the New York-based political and East Asia specialist.



In King's view, the likes of mainland China, Russia, Cuba, Iran and Syria never will, but as many enlightened countries as possible, "should cut off diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, expel its diplomats and shut down North Korean businesses in their respective countries."



Following the North's sixth nuclear test in September, a growing number of countries, including Spain, Mexico, Kuwait, Peru and Myanmar, have taken meaningful measures by expelling envoys or reducing the number of diplomats accredited there.



"States should also freeze the assets of North Korean entities and individuals, especially those known to be connected to the North's military and weapons programs," King said.



"America should warn its trading partners that countries that keep trading with North Korea will lose their access to the U.S. market."



NK's illegal activities in spotlight






By Rachel Lee



North Korea is stepping up its effort to tighten its border security following the defection of a soldier to South Korea via the Joint Security Area (JSA).



The North has installed a gate on the so-called 72-Hour Bridge across which the soldier drove a military jeep toward the JSA, according to an intelligence source, Saturday. Border guards are placed at the checkpoint _ presumably in an attempt to check the identities of soldiers and allow passage only to those whose identities are confirmed.



On Nov. 13, the North Korean soldier drove the jeep across the bridge, but the vehicle broke down near some JSA buildings, so he got out and ran south across the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). Four North Korean guards engaged him with direct fire of about 40 gunshots, and the soldier was hit five times before collapsing.



The source said the North has also placed more machine guns at the JSA guard post.



The possession of a machine gun inside the JSA is a violation of the 1953 Armistice Agreement, but Pyongyang has recently deployed such heavy weapons.



As part of its efforts to prevent other soldiers from defecting, the country dug a one-meter deep trench at the spot where the soldier got out of the vehicle.



Marc Knapper, the acting U.S. ambassador in Seoul, tweeted a photo this week showing North Koreans digging the trench and apparently planting trees in the supervision area.



"The North Koreans have planted two trees and are digging a trench at the spot where their soldier crossed the MDL," Knapper tweeted Nov. 22, referring to the JSA.



After the defection via the JSA, North Korea replaced all border guards there.



An intelligence source said last week the North changed all of the guards, after they failed to prevent the soldier's defection. Commanders of the unit and other senior officials may also have been punished, the source said.



It is said there were between 35 to 40 North Korean guards in the JSA.



The young soldier, known only by his family name Oh, is now in stable condition after undergoing two major operations, Lee Cook-jong, a surgeon at Ajou University Hospital, said.



The U.N. Command released a dramatic video clip of the soldier's run for freedom while being shot at by his former comrades, last week.




Surgeon's remarks resonating with public



By Lee Kyung-min



The government will increase financial assistance to nationwide trauma centers, following an outpouring public support for surgeon Lee Cook-jong who drew attention to the poor conditions here while treating a North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea, Nov.13. Lee is the head of Ajou University Hospital trauma center in Suwon.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Sunday that it would allocate more financial and human resources to the 16 nationwide centers designated in 2012 to reduce the number of preventable deaths to below 20 percent from 35.2 percent in 2010.



The centers are supposed to be equipped with the necessary mobile and medical apparatus and personnel around the clock to immediately treat critical trauma victims who've sustained major injuries due to automobile accidents, falls, or wounds from penetrating objects.

The ministry said it was considering giving more state support to pay workers there, given that most doctors and medical staff remain unwilling to work in the "physically demanding and mentally exhausting" environment.

It will also revise current criteria under which it is allowed to cut the medical cost hospitals seek in reimbursement after treating patients.



Under the single-payer National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) program here, medical institutions have to treat patients first, and seek the treatment cost from the NHIS later.

If the ministry deems the expenditure unnecessary or is excessive, the NHIS doesn't give the amount sought by the medical institutions, and they have to pay out of their own revenue. Many medical institutions have claimed this was the reason for continued deficits in hospital operations, resulting in low-quality services.

The ministry said it would make new criteria identifying which medicines or treatments are to be guaranteed for reimbursement including using a helicopter to transfer victims from accident site to the centers.



Meanwhile, more than 200,000 people signed a petition on Cheong Wa Dae's website, seeking greater material support for trauma centers. The presidential office is also expected to respond to the petition in 30 days.

The groundswell of public support followed Lee's conference during which he highlighted the poor working conditions of staff there.

A six-month pregnant nurse boarded a helicopter due to manpower shortage, while it is commonplace for doctors to work 36-hour shifts.



Lee said that he understood why young doctors and medical staff would shun working in trauma centers despite the honorable mission of saving lives.

Lee's rather emotional conference came after Rep. Kim Jong-dae, a military expert-turned-lawmaker of the Justice Party, said Lee violated the human rights of the defected North Korean soldier by disclosing his stomach content and infection with parasitic worms.

Lee performed two operations on the soldier who was in a critical condition after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds while crossing the military demarcation line within the Joint Security Area. The soldier is currently in a stable condition.






/ Korea Times file



By Park Si-soo



The United States has rejected one in 10 visa requests from South Korea this year, according to U.S. State Department data.



The rejection rate for 2017 was 9.05 percent, up from 8.65 percent last year. But this is still not high enough to jeopardize a 90-day short-term visa waiver program the U.S. has applied to South Korea since 2008, say visa experts here.



The rejection rate has been a single digit for the past two years, after hitting a record 21.2 percent in 2014 and 13 percent in 2015.



Experts said the visa waiver program would remain in place as long as the rate of Koreans overstaying their visas in the U.S. stayed around the current 0.34 percent of short-term visitors without a visa, 1.2 percent of workers, and 2.5 percent of students.



"The overstaying rate is a crucial element in selecting beneficiaries of the waiver program," an expert said. "Korea's rate is half of the average. It means we don't need to worry about the U.S. abolishing the waiver program."


By Yi Whan-woo



China is increasingly pressuring South Korea to act more to ensure that the installment of a U.S. missile shield here will not pose a threat to its security, despite their recent agreement to normalize bilateral ties and resolve a row over the defense system.



Beijing appears to be interpreting the agreement unilaterally to ensure that the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery will not pose a threat to its security.



The move has baffled Seoul as it concluded the agreement completely settled the THAAD dispute and that any related issues should no longer be brought up.



Announced Oct. 31, the deal calls for an end to the diplomatic row over THAAD.



The South Korean version of the agreement states that Seoul reiterated its understanding when Beijing expressed concerns over three possibilities _ South Korea joining a U.S.-led missile defense system, the additional deployment of more THAAD batteries, and a Seoul-Washington-Tokyo military alliance.



But Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi have interpreted the agreement differently. According to Chinese media, they claimed that Seoul actually promised to say "no" to such possibilities from happening and therefore it should take measures accordingly.



The dispute over the THAAD agreement escalated last week after the Huanqiu Shibao, a daily newspaper under the auspices of the People's Daily, reported that Wang asked Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to operate the THAAD battery already deployed in South Korea in a limited manner and ensure it will not "harm China's strategic interests."






By Rachel Lee



All national parks in South Africa are now available on Google Street View, says the country's embassy.



The announcement of 170 new trails in South Africa's national parks and reserves follows on from The Mzansi Experience launched in March 2016, which showcased prominent tourist attractions, including Kruger National Park, Table Mountain and Cape Point.



The trails, launched on Nov. 6, extend the Street View imagery of South Africa's wilderness areas to include all 19 national parks, 17 previously "un-trekked" nature reserves and many sites of natural, cultural and historical significance in all nine provinces



More than 200 South African volunteers from across the country were involved in the 12-month project, mapping out the parts of South Africa they call home. Many volunteers were SANParks, CapeNature and KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife rangers and guides. Others were avid hikers, nature lovers and tech enthusiasts.



"The hundreds of volunteers who helped along the way proved to be truly passionate about showing the best of South Africa through their participation in the loan program," said Google program manager Magdalena Filak.



The project forms part of Google's Street View Camera Loan Program, which encourages anyone to apply to borrow the 360-degree camera technology and help map the planet.



The team of volunteers was coordinated by loan program partner Drive South Africa.



Andre Van Kets, outdoor enthusiast and founder of the Cape Town-based travel company, applied for the technology when he realized the potential to showcase South Africa to travellers around the globe.



"For the first time, travellers and wildlife lovers from across the globe, can explore the full spectrum of South Africa's diverse wilderness areas on Google Maps and Street View,"



South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona said, "Technology is profoundly influencing how travellers interact with the tourism and hospitality ecosystem, from booking online and sharing experiences on social media.



"In the technology sphere, insights and research-based knowledge will help drive innovation."



Street View users can now walk in Nelson Mandela's footsteps, climb seven new trails to the top of Table Mountain, hike the famous five-day Otter Trail, track cheetah on foot and walk with elephant and other wildlife.



Additionally, seven of South Africa's eight UNESCO World Heritage sites are waiting to be experienced, according to South African Tourism.



Users can see Mapungubwe Hill, home to an ancient African civilisation, the Richtersveld with its arid moonscapes, the towering Drakensberg Mountains, and iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa's oldest UNESCO site and a critical habitat for a range of species.








By Park Si-soo



A high school teacher colluded with a private institute's teacher to leak questions in the school's English test, police said Sunday.



Police said the teacher, 61, surnamed Hwang, was suspected of leaking 27 out of 30 questions of an English mid-term exam of a foreign language high school in Seoul. The tutor, 32, surnamed Cho, was arrested for alleged collusion.



Police are investigating whether the teacher received anything in return from the tutor. They are also investigating if there were other leaks involving the two.



Police began the investigation early last month after learning about an online controversy over the institute's "exorbitantly accurate prediction" of questions in the school's English test.



On Nov. 10 the school formally apologized to its students and parents over the leak.






By Jung Min-ho



An arrest warrant has been requested for a robbery suspect who allegedly targeted Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of former President Park Geun-hye's friend Choi Soon-sil.



The suspect, surnamed Lee, was apprehended Saturday after breaking into her apartment in Seoul and injuring Chung's friend who tried to protect her, according to police, Sunday.



Officers said money was his motive, denying any suspicion that someone paid him to kill her.



Police said Lee targeted Chung simply because he thought she had a lot of money.



Lee threatened a security guard at the entrance of her apartment building and forced him to lead him to her home at around 3 p.m. Then the suspect tied up the security guard and Chung's son's nanny with cables. After entering her room, Lee stabbed Chung's friend with a knife. But luckily, police arrived there when the two men were still fighting.



According to police, Chung was not hurt and her friend was hospitalized for injuries that are not life-threatening.



Chung was one of the key suspects in the massive influence-peddling scandal, which ousted Park from office in March. But since then, Chung has been cooperative with investigators, which helped the prosecution indict other suspects, including her mother.








By Choi Ha-young



The National Intelligence Service (NIS) under former President Park Geun-hye allegedly attempted to hamper an investigation into the spy agency's alleged meddling in the 2012 presidential, according to judicial sources Sunday.



In 2013, all eyes were on the NIS's alleged intervention in the election to create a favorable online atmosphere for conservative hopeful Park, which accompanied a smear campaign against her rival, Moon Jae-in.



After taking office, the liberal President Moon reopened the investigation into the scandal under the slogan of "eradicating old evils." A taskforce, which was created within the spy agency to hunt down corruption during previous administrations, discovered documents that proved the NIS's activities in 2013 to obstruct an independent counsel probe led by prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol.



The NIS reportedly proposed reassigning the independent counsel to Cheong Wa Dae in the newly discovered documents. Reportedly, they highlight some prosecutors' regional backgrounds and their past involvement in the anti-military dictatorship movement during their college days.



Possibly targeting lead prosecutor Yoon, the documents recommended the government isolate prosecutors with a specialty in investigating nationwide scandals from the special counsel team. Yoon had mainly built his career by looking into massive scandals.



The documents also warned that the investigation was likely to undermine the Park administration's "legitimacy."



The new exposures are in line with Yoon's testimony in 2013. In a parliamentary audit, Yoon revealed that people above him applied pressure to influence the probe. After these disputed remarks, he was dismissed from the investigation for unclear reasons.



Yoon was relegated to trivial jobs during Park administration before he surprisingly returned as a member of the independent counsel team to investigate the scandal surrounding Park last year, which led to her removal from office and subsequent imprisonment.



Earlier on Nov. 19, the prosecution obtained other reports from the task force that had directed "all-out efforts to conceal the election meddling scandal." The reports made in April 2013 showed the NIS was aware of the gravity of the issue. At that time, executive members of the spy agency confirmed that its psychological operations group was involved in online campaigns in favor of Park.



"The Park administration's fortune is up to our response to the issue," the reports read, according to local media. "If the truth comes to light, the spy agency could be on the verge of collapse."



Based on the material, the prosecution has questioned Nam Jae-joon, who served as a chief of the NIS from March 2013 to May 2014. Nam, who ran in the May presidential election with ultra-right slogans, was arrested last week along with his successor Lee Byung-kee on suspicion of giving millions of dollars in illicit funds to Park's aides.



The bribery scandal has spilled over into politics, following reports that some incumbent pro-Park lawmakers also received money. Another spy agency chief under Park, Lee Byeong-ho, testified that he was directly ordered by the ex-president to funnel the money, originally allocated for confidential spy activities, to them.




/ Korea Times file



By Jung Min-ho

Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday it will review the legitimacy of the nation's anti-abortion law.

Cho Kuk, the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, said the government will begin the task by collecting more facts through research next year.

The announcement came after more than 230,000 people signed a petition against the law, which carries a sentence of up to one year or a maximum fine of 2 million won ($1,850) for a woman who has an abortion.

"The fetal right to live is critical, but the current law pushes abortions underground," Cho said. "Besides, the law holds women accountable only, excluding men who are also responsible."

"Based on the outcome of the research, we can take a step forward and begin a new debate."












By Chun In-bum





During the Korean war, India realized that her national interests were affected by a possible spill over of the conflict between the U.S. and China. India sent medical units as a humanitarian gesture but more importantly played an important role in the Neutral Nation Repatriation Commission which oversaw the return of the Prisoners of War (POWs).



After the Korean War, India as the leader of the non-aligned nations of the world, mediated issues on the Korean Peninsula as an honest broker between the two Koreas. Although these political efforts did not receive the recognition of the general public, the effort in itself reflects the important role that India can play around the world's political arena.

Militarily, India has a long and rich tradition of valor and professionalism. Historically, vast and large Indian armies competed for dominance in India. India's dispute with Pakistan and the Peoples Republic of China's support to Pakistan has been an important factor in India's military to maintain a high state of readiness.



As India has grown economically, her importance in world affairs has also expanded.

All of these factors and many more contribute to Korea's interest in India. India, on the other hand should recognize the potential for Korea-India relations. The unique location of the Republic of Korea provides products and ideas from India to merge and morph into the world market much easier. Indian intellect and Korean openness to interact will be the basis for such cooperation.



From a military perspective, India's contribution during the Korean war is a sound basis for future cooperation. Especially, India's role in the armistice process is unique and important. A review of these historical contributions needs to be highlighted by both Korea and India.



India's willingness and potential for being a world player should be welcomed by regional powers as an honest broker as it was during the Korean War. Military peaceful exchanges would be a great start with port visits by ships.

A more practical idea, though, India's regional security can and will be enhanced with cooperation with Korea as well as Japan. These advances will inevitability affect relations with China in a non-confrontational aspect. Interaction with the Korean military will never be a military threat to China but could be a route to which better understanding can be formed between India and China. Korea could be a mediator for peace in this relationship.



The Korean military should expand its relationship with India. Indian professionalism aside, India's role in the non-aligned community as well as in U.N. Peacekeeping operations will provide Korea with opportunities to contribute to world peace and play a greater role in world security. Korea must realize as the Koreans contribute in these world affairs that when the time comes for Korea to need assistance in security matters, world support will be found as a result of its efforts.



Korea's arms industry would be a great bonanza where cooperation could occur between Korea and India. Korea has grown into a technologically advanced nation that can transfer technology to a large market such as India's. India, on the other hand, has achieved first class military innovations in many areas but requires a new generation of effective weapons and has room in its market for Korea. This sort of relationship is not easy but if you look at the alternatives and potential room for development, it is well worth a try.



In the relationship between India and Korea, Korea needs to look further into the future and beyond Northeast Asia. Whether the door is opened by economics or by diplomatic avenues, Indian and Korean militaries have a role to play. Recognizing this fact and working to realize this idea is the next step.





The writer is a retired ROK Army Lt. Gen. who served 39 years in combat units and recently returned from a concurrent fellowship with the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University. This is his contributing article to the Korea-India partnership.
The National Assembly passed a bill last week that will enlarge the number of assistants per lawmaker to eight from the current seven. This will enable each lawmaker's office to additionally hire a grade 8 assistant, apart from the more senior grade 4, 5, 6 aides and the lower grade 9 aides.



The plan will require the National Assembly Secretariat to spend an additional 6.7 billion won annually. Parties acted with unusual swiftness in approving the bill.



The lawmakers' offices already employ too many assistants, in comparison to legislatures in other countries.



The job descriptions for the different grades of assistants are not quite clear and some of them overlap. It is incomprehensible why lawmakers need an extra assistant. The Assembly should have made it clear to the public about why they need extra employees and how the extra hiring will improve their productivity as lawmakers.



Many taxpayers will find the extra hiring plan laughable since the Korean lawmakers have long been criticized for not doing much while collecting hefty paychecks and special allowances, not to mention abusing all kinds of other privileges. The swift action to expand the number of assistants in the legislative branch shows the lawmakers' insensitivity toward public opinion.



The additional hiring goes completely against the pledge of the 20th National Assembly, which was launched in May 2016, to reduce some of the lawmakers' privileges. Instead of expanding the number of assistants, the Assembly should have come up with measures to downsize the Assembly workforce.



The opposition parties have been adamantly protesting the Moon Jae-in administration's plan to hire more public servants. Their protest of Moon's job policy sounds hollow after the lawmakers agreed to expand their own offices.






By Lee Min-hyung



The key to Samsung's success lies in its performance-oriented reward system.



Those who generate results are promoted or receive incentives; this simple rule is more thoroughly applied for Samsung than any other firms in Korea.



For this reason, people here half-jokingly say surviving as a Samsung executive is a one-in-a-million chance. This is because, if they fail to get results within a year-long contractual period, they may have to leave the company in less than a year.



Of course, Samsung spares no financial support for its executives, providing them with industry-leading salaries, vehicles, incentives and a number of welfare packages. After its recent regular promotion, many new executives would expect far better treatment.



Once a working-level official is promoted to a vice president of the company, they can get an annual salary of around 150 million won ($136,400) without incentives. Based on their performance, Samsung also offers incentives for each executive, which amount to more than half the annual salary for best performers.



A Samsung vice president can also select a sedan worth 40 million won, with the company covering insurance, gas and other expenses required while running the car. When the executive is promoted to senior vice president, the vehicle is upgraded to an upper level one and, if necessary, it is chauffeured.



Samsung also offers business class flight tickets for executives when they take overseas business trips.



But all the benefits differ from each Samsung subsidiary, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI and Samsung Electro-Mechanics.



It is true Samsung Electronics executives enjoy the biggest financial and welfare benefits, as the company is Samsung Group's leading affiliate in terms of earnings and performance. The Seoul-based company continues to break records in sales and profits this year based on strong sales of memory chips and mobile phones. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of the two products.



"Upon being promoted to executive-level officers, they should renew their contract each year, based on their performance," a Samsung official said, asking for anonymity. "They are under extreme pressure over their performance, as no one can guarantee their position unless they prove strong performance."



Samsung executives also do not have fixed time to leave the office, as they are partly responsible for resolving unexpected troubles that can happen within their team.



"Most Samsung executives come to the office very early in the morning at around 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., as they have to take care of a number of tasks, including preparing a daily report to their higher-ranking officials," the official said. "In some teams, the first meeting starts at 7:00 a.m. or even earlier if necessary. Against this backdrop, executives don't have the luxury to arrive at office at 9:00 a.m."



But he said things differ from each team and unit.



"Executives from some operation divisions come to the office later than those from other units, and leave the office later," the official said. "The working time is flexible for each team. For example, an overseas sales team does not have to follow the same schedule of other Seoul-based business units."



One Samsung vice president who joined the company a few years ago said life at the firm is tough but rewarding.



"Compared to my previous job, I think I am working two or three times more at Samsung. I have to deal with very demanding work with great intensiveness. Otherwise, I cannot simply survive this competitive organization," said the vice president who asked not to be named.



"But there are demands for former Samsung executives or even rank-and-file Samsung workers since everybody here knows what it means to work at Samsung for years. Hence, I think it is a well-paying investment to work at Samsung."






Seen is a Salady store at Lotte Mart's Yangpyeong store in Seoul. / Courtesy of Salady



Young entrepreneurs aim to tap into overseas markets



By Park Jae-hyuk



Three young entrepreneurs are breaking down a bias that salad is just a side dish and not enough to be a whole meal.

After launching a salad franchise named Salady in 2013, they have offered salads as a healthy alternative to typical fast foods, such as hamburgers and fried chicken.



"When we first decided to start a franchise business, there had yet to be a global franchise specializing in salad, while hamburger and chicken franchise industries were dominated by McDonald's and KFC," Salady Cofounder and CEO Lee Geon-ho, 29, said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.



An Sang-won, 29, who is also a cofounder and CEO of Salady, expressed his ambition to defeat McDonald's, the world's most successful fast food chain with around 2 million employees.



The 29-year-olds met each other as members of a society of university students who aspire to found startups.



Kim Soo-kyoum, 30, who had a job at the time of the foundation, joined the business afterwards, recognizing Salady's growth potential.



"After realizing salad restaurants are promising in the United States, I suggested Lee run a salad franchise in Korea," An said. "Back then, we underwent a lot of trials and errors, as we had no experience in running a franchise business."



Lee said they took out a loan in the beginning period of the business, because investors are reluctant to bet on restaurant businesses due to the risk of rapid changes in trends.



For instance, Chopt Creative Salad, which opened a store here in 2007, pulled out of the Korean market after failing to expand its presence amid the fierce competition.





Salady CEOs speak during an interview with The Korea Times at the company's head office in Seoul, Nov. 17. From left are Kim Soo-kyoum, Lee Geon-ho and An Sang-won. / Korea Times photo by Park Jae-hyuk
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Regarding Boring Architecture? Yes, Please [Nov. 19]: Go ahead and say it. Dont be afraid. Its Frank Gehry whose time has come and gone. Even the most powerful voices in architecture are reluctant to admit Gehry is passe because so many gullible institutions and cities have invested too heavily in his useless look-at-me folderol and froufrou. Gehry has left the building.

Eve Lichtgarn

Santa Monica

::

Christopher Hawthorne provides a welcome discussion of a design direction that has been drowned out recently. The tradition of unhurriedness is a long one, as represented by the work of Louis Kahn, Luis Barragan and Kengo Kuma, to mention only a few luminaries. These architects share a profound engagement with landscape. I hope Mr. Hawthorne will be able to delve into similar trends in landscape architecture in future articles.

Lisa Gimmy

Los Angeles

Mem-ries of a difficult time

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Regarding No Challenge for a Deft Talent [Nov. 18]: Charles McNulty is obviously not a widower. Having been widowed twice, I can assure you the words and lyrics of Chasing Memries were not contrived to those of us who have traveled that path.

Dorothy Collins

Calabasas

LACMAs fees are raising ire

There are many of us fans of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art who work there as volunteers and are terribly sad that director Michael Govan is raising admission fees [LACMAs Admission Prices to Rise, Nov. 15]. What is not widely known is that many floors of the museum are closed to the public in preparation for new construction. This includes both the third floor of the Art of the Americas Building (Mary Cassatt and David Hockney exhibits) and the fourth floor of the Ahmanson Building (Art of the Middle East, Art of India and Art of Cambodia). The ticket buyers are not told this at the ticket booth. They dont learn until they arrive at the various floors of the buildings. Something is very wrong.

Liesel Friedrich

Pacific Palisades

::

This article minimized the fact that each year LACMA receives millions of dollars from county tax funds. The museums rates should better reflect that fact.

Compare: Admission to New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art is a suggested fee; a contribution in any amount will permit museum entry. Unlike LACMA, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Art Institute of Chicago are not primarily funded with taxpayer funds. The Art Institute of Chicago is free from 5 to 8 p.m. every Thursday.

If LACMAs income from admissions only represents 10% of its income, the museum should reconsider lowering its punitive admission polices.

Irene Oppenheim

West Hollywood

Doubling down on Hawkins

Regarding: The Envelope: Lead Actress Buzzmeter [Nov. 16]: Sally Hawkins receives much love from the pundits for her performance in The Shape of Water.

Tell me, is it possible for a performer to receive two best actress Oscar nominations in the same year? Hawkins certainly deserves that recognition for her role in Maudie.

John R. Grush

Mission Viejo

Need more info with addresses

As someone who lives in Playa del Rey and hates driving in traffic, I find it frustrating that many of your event articles give the street address but list the city only as Los Angeles. While I would happily attend a show in Venice or Culver City on a weeknight [and often do], it would take something special to get me out to Pasadena. But when your listing merely says Los Angeles, I have no idea if the venue is in East LA, downtown or nearby Westchester.

Please do your readers for whom location matters a favor and at least give us more information, the neighborhood or ZIP Code in the address.

Mag Parkhurst

Playa del Rey

Not a fan of the photograph

Regarding Hollywoods Next Big Star [Nov. 19]. Timothee Chalamets agent, manager or PR person who approved his picture on the front page of the Calendar section should be fired. Hes an incredible actor and deserves better.

Robert C. Thompson

Marina del Rey

Editors note: The photo referred to was taken by a Los Angeles Times photographer and was selected by The Times staff. The actors representatives did not have the option to approve or disapprove its use.

The conversation continues online with comments and letters from readers at

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GKids Presents Studio Ghibli Fest Hayao Miyazakis 2004 Howls Moving Castle is regarded as one of the animation masters lesser works, but a lesser work by Miyazaki is still a richly rewarding experience. And perhaps it is the directors theme of, gasp, women aging that was off-putting to some. Sophie, a young milliner, routinely teased by the local ruffians, is transformed by a jealous witch into an aged crone but discovers depths of wisdom and bravery she didnt know she had. Sophie joins the handsome wizard Howl in his mind-bendingly transmogrifying castle as they fight battles both large and small. Screen legends Lauren Bacall and Jean Simmons as well as Christian Bale and Emily Mortimer voice characters in the English-dubbed version. Selected AMC, Cinemark, Regal, Pacific locations and other theaters. English-dubbed version screens on Nov. 26, 12:55 p.m., and Nov. 29, 7 p.m. Japanese language with English subtitles, Nov. 27, 7 p.m.. www.fathomevents.com

L.A. Documentaries at Union Station Acclaimed director Ava DuVernays first full-length film, the 2008 documentary This Is the Life, chronicles the vibrant alternative hip-hop scene that sprung from the weekly open-mic nights at South Los Angeles Good Life Cafe in the late 1980s and early 1990s. B. Hall, co-founder of open-mic night at the Good Life Cafe, will introduce the film. Union Station, Historic Ticketing Hall, 300 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles. Dec. 1; doors, 7:15 p.m.; film, 8 p.m. Free. www.unionstationla.com

One Magic Christmas Not the instant holiday classic Disney may have been hoping for upon its release in 1985, the time may be nigh to reevaluate One Magic Christmas if for no other reason than the death earlier this year of the great Harry Dean Stanton, the films unlikely guardian angel, Gideon. Like all the best Christmas movies, this one is a bit dark. The film features Mary Steenburgen as the matriarch of a family facing Job-like trials, Arthur Hill and Elisabeth Harnois. Canadian actress-turned-director, Sarah Polley, has a small part as the sweet child Molly. Co-written and directed by Phillip Borsos. New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 938-4038. Dec. 2-3, 2 p.m. $6. thenewbev.com

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The Bishops Wife (1947) One would be hard-pressed to come up with a trio of Hollywood Golden Age stars that better embody beauty, elegance and sophistication than David Niven, Loretta Young and Cary Grant, who play, respectively, the bishop, his wife, and the suave and charming angel sent to heal some spiritual and domestic woes. A lovely film. Elsa Lanchester has a fun turn as the coquettish maid smitten with the bishops heavenly guest. Old Town Music Hall, 140 Richmond St., El Segundo, (310) 322-2592 Dec. 1, 8:15 p.m.; Dec 2, 2:30 and 8:15 p.m.; Dec. 3, 2:30 p.m. $10; $8 ages 62+; no credit cards. www.oldtownmusichall.org

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Hello! Im Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

We have started to roll out the award season roundtables for The Envelope. First up is the group of actors who sat down with Amy Kaufman and myself to talk about not only their own movies and careers, but also the upheaval over sexual harassment allegations currently rattling Hollywood to its very foundations. It was thoughtful and informative and because they all seemed to genuinely like each other, also unexpectedly fun.

Joining us for the lead actor conversation were Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour, Hugh Jackman for Logan and The Greatest Showman, James Franco for The Disaster Artist, Jake Gyllenhaal for Stronger, Jeremy Renner for Wind River and Timothee Chalamet for Call Me by Your Name.

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We also had two terrific events this past week with screenings and Q&As for Call My by Your Name followed by a Q&A and the Dutch foreign-language entry Layla M.

And weve got more coming up soon  some seriously do-not-miss titles  so for updates on future events go to events.latimes.com.

Call Me by Your Name

From when it first played at Sundance earlier this year, Call Me by Your Name has been one of the years most anticipated releases. Directed by Luca Guadagnino from a screenplay adapted by James Ivory and with performances by Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg and Esther Garrel, the film is about desire and love and the excitement and heartbreak of one summer in Italy. (And expect this to be a movie we continue talking about through awards season.)

In hs review for The Times, Justin Chang declared, to describe this as one of the years most pleasurable movies, in short, may be less a matter of critical insight than of simple observation. Pleasure isnt just Guadagninos intended effect; it is one of his defining obsessions and guiding artistic principles. He has become one of world cinemas great sensualists, a filmmaker whose sun-kissed surfaces and woozy rhythms produce an atmosphere of sweet, heady intoxication.

The Times Amy Kaufman profiled 21-year-old Chalamet, who can also be seen in Lady Bird and Hostiles. He noted how he is grappling with this flush of attention as it happens while also still experiencing it.

When I try to appreciate something, it feels like my hands are around the moment, trying to squeeze it. Its when you really release yourself of the responsibility to be enjoying things that you actually do.

For the AP, Lindsey Bahr noted, And its an aesthetic journey that pays off in a stunning third act when the endless summer quickens to light speed and is gone in a flash The characters might not be able to go back and relive those idle days, but we can.

At Vox, Alissa Wilkinson added, The way Call Me by Your Name intermingles lust and love, desire and selflessness, flesh and soul is fully in service of Eros, but it isnt just about sex, though thats certainly a big part of it... It summons an erotic orientation toward the world with all its power, and then pours it onto the audience. It is, undoubtedly, Guadagninos masterpiece.

Darkest Hour

Even if youve already seen plenty of depictions of Winston Churchill on-screen, youve never seen anything quite like Gary Oldmans energetic embodiment of the man in Darkest Hour, which depicts the British prime minister in the early days of World War II. Directed by Joe Wright, the film is also the third this year, after Their Finest and Dunkirk, to depict the events around the perilous evacuation of soldiers from the beaches of France. (And all three movies are marvelous companion pieces to each other.)

Reviewing the movie for The Times, Kenneth Turan celebrates Oldmans performance by saying, Only those who knew Churchill can say whether Oldmans fine performance is an accurate representation of what the British leader was like behind the scenes, but as a portrait of a wildly eccentric, believable human being, it succeeds beyond doubt.

Jeffrey Fleishman recently took a look at the renewed pop culture interest in Churchill, who has popped up in multiple recent television shows and movies.

As Fleishman noted, His eccentricity and breadth of talent  skilled painter, gifted writer, incisive comic  are that much more pronounced when compared with many of todays world leaders He was that rare character who was both a hero to the right (militaristic and unapologetic against fascism) and the left (an intellectual beloved by the common man).

In his New York Times review, A.O. Scott added that the film depicts Churchill as taking pleasure in his work and that, In grasping that joy, Mr. Oldman partakes of it and passes it along to the audience. He is having fun, playing the part in every sense. And his blustery, blubbery charm, backed as it is by a sly and acute intelligence, is hard to resist.

At New York Magazine, Emily Yoshida added, Everyone seems to be a walking embodiment of an essence, not cartoons exactly, but something more totemic. If all this makes Darkest Hour propaganda, then the shoe may fit, though its hard to find fault with its protagonists aims, at least in this small of a scope.

At the Village Voice, Bilge Ebiri interviewed Wright, who said of Darkest Hour that what I love about the story is that its about the importance of doubt in the search for wisdom, and the importance of wisdom in leadership.

Thelma

The filmmaker Joachim Trier is a real favorite around here, someone who is able to make films with emotional depth that also have an unexpected lightness of touch. His latest, Thelma, is an unexpected turn to genre filmmaking, as it is something of a supernatural mystery/romance/coming of age tale. In the film a young woman (Eli Harboe) struggles to fit in at college as she finds her paranormal powers growing in parallel to unexpected attraction to a classmate (Kaya Wilkins.) The film is also Norways submission for the foreign-language Academy Award, so hopefully well have some chances to revisit it in the coming months.

In his review for The Times, Justin Chang noted the impressive nuance of the film, and added that it is tense, thoughtful and beautifully composed, and it contains at least two sequences, both of them flashbacks, that tap into a vividly primal sense of terror. It also contains moments that suggest an upscale European spin on a standard-issue schlock horror movie, the kind where big revelations come courtesy of a few creepy Google searches and a trip to the mental hospital.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis was among the earliest and strongest critical voices to champion Triers work. In her review of Thelma she notes that the film works with some largely recognizable narrative ideas, but its finally too pleasurably unruly to fit into one box.

She goes on to say, Mr. Trier has a great talent for making loneliness visceral and visible, for showing how pain can make the world disappear. Thelmas anguish can shatter a wall of glass, but her story is never more frighteningly true than when shes just another lonely girl in the frame.

When Thelma played the New York Film Festival this past fall, Trier sat for an engaging talk alongside directors Claire Denis and Kevin Jerome Everson.

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Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) Talks between Taiwan and the United States under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) will likely not be held this year because the U.S. has yet to fill its vacant deputy trade representative posts, a local official has said.
Ridership on the $2-billion Expo Line has doubled since service began to the Westside 18 months ago, but the route would be an even better public investment if more Angelenos lived and worked near Metro stations, Los Angeles officials say.

A plan slowly moving through City Hall aims to address that goal by allowing denser commercial and residential buildings within a half-mile of five Expo Line stations between Culver City and Santa Monica.

The proposal could add 14,300 jobs, 6,000 new apartments and condos, and more pedestrian-friendly blocks along major corridors, city analysts say. Access to a rapid transit line, the thinking goes, would help residents run errands and get to work without getting behind the wheel.

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But the Expo Line proposal has sparked a now-familiar debate over development in Los Angeles. Soon, the City Council will be forced to weigh advocates calls for more housing amid Los Angeles Countys housing affordability crisis against the preferences of neighborhood groups and elected officials  including Councilman Paul Koretz  who say the city cannot support more density.

The Exposition Corridor Transit Neighborhood Plan would rezone about 250 acres of West Los Angeles. Planning officials considered changes to about 2,000 acres, but left 87% of the area  including most single-family neighborhoods  unchanged.

Instead, officials focused on adding bigger buildings to major corridors  including Venice, Pico and Olympic boulevards  to accommodate more office buildings, condos, apartments and shops within blocks of five Metro stations.

What were trying to do is un-gridlock the city by creating different housing options around mass transit, city Planning Commission President David Ambroz said at a recent meeting.

Some areas, including more than a dozen blocks near the Bundy station, could be converted from traditional industrial zoning to what city planners call a hybrid industrial zone. The policy would encourage developers to reuse existing buildings and add new ones that would provide office space and some housing for the clean technology, creative and media industries.

Those jobs are located in Culver City and Santa Monica right now, said Patricia Diefenderfer, a senior city planner. The city of L.A. hasnt captured as many of those jobs as we probably could.

The congestion on the Westside is partly caused by the lack of housing nearby, forcing commuters to travel long distances to work, said Westside Councilman Mike Bonin. Zoning near the Bundy station, which is in his district, should address that imbalance by offering more housing and fewer job sites, he said.

I want to strike a sensitive balance between the public policy needs for more housing, and preserving the neighborhood feel, Bonin said. Youve got some folks who dont want to see any change, and youve got some folks who are part of the pro-density movement who are pushing for the skys the limit.

The adjoining council district has taken a harder line. Koretz told the Planning Commission this month that the areas surrounding three Expo Line stations in his district simply cannot support more density without improvements to streets and other public infrastructure.

Its a view shared by advocates from Fix the City, a group that has previously sued Los Angeles over development in Hollywood and has challenged the citys sweeping transportation plan that calls for hundreds of bicycle- and bus-only lanes by 2035.

Its like when you buy a new appliance, youd better read the fine print, said Laura Lake, a Westwood resident and Fix the City board member. This is not addressing the problems that it claims to be addressing.

The Expo Line plan provides primarily market-rate housing and will do little to address the citys housing affordability crisis, Lake said. Allowing more density is growth inducing, she said, and will exacerbate traffic on the Westside.

Fix the City has not decided whether to challenge the Expo proposal. The group does support some aspects of it, including design standards for new buildings, Lake said. But they are window dressing for a plan that is making life harder for the people here, she said.

The zoning plan and the citys transportation plan, Mobility 2035, could reduce the number of miles driven per person in the project area by 3.1% over the next two decades, city analysts say  but congestion is expected to grow overall.

Rather than relying on the Expo Line plan to provide affordable housing, Lake said, Los Angeles should ban short-term rentals through companies such as Airbnb and work to provide incentives to developers to build denser housing within the current zoning laws.

Housing advocates, in contrast, have criticized city planners for not allowing denser zoning that could spur more construction.

Adding 6,000 units over two decades is a drop in the bucket for the regions housing crisis, they say, and the city should be working to add as many units as possible near rapid transit.

Most of Los Angeles is not going to change, said Brent Gaisford, the director of the advocacy group Abundant Housing L.A. Were not telling you that you cant live in a single-family home. Were just asking you not to tell us that we cant live in apartments.

laura.nelson@latimes.com

For more transportation news, follow @laura_nelson on Twitter.
When the California Supreme Court upheld a voter initiative in August to speed up executions, some death penalty advocates assumed lethal injections would resume before the end of the year.

Three months after the courts action, both backers and opponents of the death penalty concede that executions might be more than a year away.

Gov. Jerry Browns administration has yet to finalize an execution protocol, which is necessary to resolve a federal court case that has blocked lethal injection in California for nearly 12 years. An injunction stopping executions also is pending in state court.

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Brown is the shot caller in the litigation over lethal injection, said Michele Hanisee, president of the Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys for L.A. County.

Hanisee expects the state to finalize a lethal injection protocol by January, but if Brown doesnt want it to move forward quickly, it wont move forward quickly, she said.

Although no one can now predict when executions will resume, UC Berkeley law school Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said it is just a matter of time.

The uncertainty in all of this, he added, is what will Jerry Brown do.

Gov. Jerry Browns administration has not yet finalized an execution protocol, which stands in the way of the death penalty once again being carried out in California. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press )

Brown personally opposes the death penalty but enforced it as attorney general. He took no position on two recent and unsuccessful ballot measures that would have ended the death penalty.

Chemerinsky and other lawyers said it was conceivable that Brown and defense lawyers could delay executions until Brown steps down as governor in January 2019.

Brown also could try to commute death sentences to life without parole, but his power is limited by the California Constitution.

Unlike former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who just before leaving office in 2003 commuted the death sentences of all of Illinois condemned inmates, Brown would need the support of the state Supreme Court to spare inmates with multiple felonies on their records.

Lawyers estimate that at least half of all death-row inmates have committed two felonies. The governor would need the support of four of the seven California high court justices to commute those inmates sentences.

Brown has three appointees on the court and a fourth vacancy to fill. But whether his appointees would support commutations is questionable.

Two of them  Justices Goodwin Liu and Mariano-Florentino Cuellar  are moderately liberal, but Justice Leondra Kruger, the third, has voted with conservatives on criminal justice issues.

Ronald Reagan was the last California governor to commute a death sentence, deciding in 1967 to move Calvin Thomas off death row because Thomas had serious brain damage.

Under former Gov. Pat Brown, Jerry Browns father, 35 death row inmates were executed. The elder Brown commuted the capital sentences of 20 others.

Among the most famous executions under Pat Browns watch was that of Caryl Chessman, convicted of robbery, sexual assaults and kidnapping. He was sentenced to death under a law, later repealed, that made certain kidnappings capital offenses.

Chessman, who represented himself at trial, wrote four books on death row and attracted international sympathy. The elder Brown tried to commute Chessmans sentence, but the California Supreme Court refused to go along, on a 4 to 3 vote.

Jerry Brown has never faced the wrenching decisions that confronted his father over executions, and the issue also is new for Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, appointed by Brown after Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Becerra, now the top law enforcement officer in California, has testified that he supports the death penalty, but not the way it is being executed, and would enforce Proposition 66, the execution speed-up measure largely upheld by the state supreme court in August.

Becerra also has said he would run for election to continue as attorney general.

Prosecutors are expected to press Becerra to move quickly to overturn the injunctions preventing executions, but his role is to represent Browns Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in the case, a Becerra press aide said.

Prosecutors, who sponsored Proposition 66, and crime victims also are considering trying to intervene in the two court cases preventing executions.

Initiative sponsors generally have standing in state court to defend ballot measures, but obtaining entry into a federal court case is more difficult.

U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg, an Obama appointee who is now presiding over the Northern California federal case that stopped California from executing, could allow crime victims or Proposition 66 sponsors to intervene, but he is not required to do so by law, said Chemerinsky, the Berkeley law school dean.

There is no enthusiasm inside the administration to do anything to hasten executions, said Michael D. Rushford, the founder and top executive of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit that helped write Proposition 66.

Voters narrowly approved the measure a year ago. The state Supreme Court ruling that permitted its enforcement became final only a few weeks ago, delayed by an unsuccessful request from challengers for the court to reconsider.

There are laws in this state that if the administration doesnt want to enforce, they dont, Rushford said, and this is one of them.

Rushfords group sued to force the Brown administration to produce a single-drug lethal injection method, which has not yet been made final, and has warned it would sue the administration again if it does not move toward executions.

There are about 18 inmates who could immediately be executed because they have no appeals left. But these inmates have obtained federal stays to prevent their executions until the lethal injection case overseen by Seeborg is concluded.

For the stays to be lifted, Seeborg would have to decide that Californias new single-drug method of execution, once finalized, did not violate the U.S. Constitutions ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Whatever he decides could then be appealed.

Legal precedent favors those who want executions.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision in 2015 that makes it difficult for inmates to successfully challenge lethal injection methods.

Browns press office referred questions about executions and possible commutations to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which said it was revising a lethal injection protocol but declined to estimate how long that might take.

Ana Zamora, a policy director of the ACLU of Northern California, said she does not expect executions to resume soon.

The D.A.s and the proponents of Prop. 66 really sold voters a false bill of good, she said. Nothing has changed. There are still significant problems around lethal injection, and those are not going to go away anytime soon.

The ACLU opposes the death penalty, but even some supporters have little faith that the state will reopen the execution chamber anytime soon.

Its as if were all performers in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.  U.S. appeals court Judge Alex Kozinski, describing the states inaction in reinstating the death penalty.

U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski, a Reagan appointee who supports the death penalty, wrote in October that California has no functional death penalty, despite the law to speed up executions and the fact that the states death row, with nearly 750 inmates, is the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

California has failed to come up with a workable protocol for executions for more than 10 years, Kozinski wrote.

Its as if were all performers in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, the judge said. We make exaggerated gestures and generate much fanfare. But in the end it amounts to nothing.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

Twitter: @mauradolan
On his first day free in nearly four decades, Craig Coley sat at the head of a dining room table and dug into a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

There was a lot to be thankful for. Coley, who was wrongly convicted of murder and spent 39 years in prison, celebrated the holiday at the Carlsbad home of the retired police detective who was convinced of his innocence and tirelessly advocated for his release.

Coley, a former restaurant night manager, had fought unsuccessfully for years to overturn his conviction for a grisly double murder that stunned suburban Simi Valley in November of 1978. When police reopened the case, new tests found that a key piece of evidence used to convict him did not carry any of his DNA.

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Gov. Jerry Brown pardoned Coley on Wednesday, clearing him of the murders of his ex-girlfriend Rhonda Wicht, 24, who was beaten, raped and strangled, and her 4-year-old son, Donald, who was smothered in his bed. Coley, who was 31 at the time of his arrest, is now 70.

His first trial had ended in a hung jury. A second jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder in 1980, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Mike Bender was a detective with the Simi Valley Police Department in 1989 when he started reading Coleys case files after hearing concerns about how the investigation was handled.

As soon as I started reading I knew it was a bad case, he said in an interview Saturday.

Benders concerns were met with silence, though he presented the case over the years to city attorneys, congressmen, the district attorneys office, the state attorney generals office, the Innocence Project and anyone else he could think of.

In 2015, Bender submitted a clemency petition to the governors office on Coleys behalf. Brown asked the Board of Parole Hearings to investigate. A former police detective, captain and officer reported that they believed Coley was wrongfully convicted.

Simi Valley police subsequently reopened the case last year and found the key physical evidence, which was previously thought to be destroyed.

Bender praised Simi Valley Police Chief David Livingstone for spending the time and money on a new investigation. They could have swept it under the rug, he said.

After Thanksgiving dinner at Benders Carlsbad home, Bender and Coley walked to the beach to smell the fresh air. On Friday, he took Coley shopping and to get a haircut.

On Saturday, Coley visited his late parents grave at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Hollywood Hills cemetery, where he broke down in tears.

Bender said Coleys father, a retired Los Angeles police officer named Wilson, died of a heart attack in 1988. He was devastated that he was never able to free his only child from prison.

Can you imagine as a cop, your son is arrested and you know its false? Bender said. You dont even have to be a detective to read this case and know it stunk.

Bender started a fundraiser on the website GoFundMe to help Coley get acclimated to life outside of prison. Coley is living with Bender for the time being.

For his part, Bender is glad to take in the man he always believed was innocent. His biggest fear was that he would die before he could see Coley walk free.

Ive always believed in doing whats right, Bender said. In this case there was nobody else  I was it. I know I couldnt have lived with myself if I said Its not my problem or Im tired. 

While in prison, Coley volunteered for veterans affairs, including raising money for Blue Star Mothers of America to send care packages overseas, and as a Bible study mentor. He earned his associates degree in theology, a certificate as a biblical counselor and this year received a bachelors degree in biblical studies while starting on his masters degree.

Coley never gave up hope.

From day one when they arrested me, I told them, Look, do what you wanna do to me, but keep looking for the person responsible for the murders, he told CBS Los Angeles. Dont stop. You have the wrong man.

andrea.castillo@latimes.com

@andreamcastillo
The father of a spear fisherman bitten by a shark Friday in the waters of Monterey Bay described a horrifying scene.

Armen Azatian told KSBW his son Grigor was in the water with his spear gun when a 15-foot great white shark bit him on the leg several times. Grigor managed to get on the boat, and his father said he saw a severe leg wound. It was just shock for me, just horrifying. Armen Azatian told the station.

Two off-duty sheriffs deputies were nearby and provided aid, KSBW reported. The son was rushed to a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, authorities told the station. But it will take time, the father said.

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CalFire said the attack occurred near Carmel Beach and Stillwater Cove around 1 p.m. Authorities cleared the waters around the area.
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Harry Pregerson, a Los Angeles-based jurist who embraced the underdog and let his conscience inform his rulings, has died. He was 94.

Pregerson, who was suffering from respiratory ailments, died Saturday night at his Woodland Hills home surrounded by family, said Sharon Pregerson, his daughter-in-law.

A few nights earlier, with his health seriously failing, he turned to his wife, Bernardine, and expressed a regret.

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The hard thing is that I dont have strength anymore to help people, recounted U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson, Harrys son.

He was full of love, Sharon Pregerson said. He helped so many people. That was his mission. Thats why he got up every morning.

Pregerson, born in Los Angeles on Oct. 13, 1923, was one of the most liberal federal appeals court judges in the nation.

He grew up in East Los Angeles, served as a Marine in World War II and suffered severe wounds in the Battle of Okinawa. He later graduated from UCLA and obtained his law degree from UC Berkeley.

Dubbed a thug for the Lord by one attorney, Pregerson was relentless in his efforts away from the bench to help the poor in Los Angeles.

He worked to establish several homeless shelters and volunteered at one each Thanksgiving.

Dr. Katie Rodan, Pregersons daughter, said that she nicknamed her dad the rescue machine when she was a teenager.

He wants to save everyone, she said in a 2015 interview. He wants to save the world.

On the bench, Pregerson was often controversial. He stirred criticism when he refused to follow a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding Californias tough three-strikes sentencing law. Not long after the courts decision, Pregerson dissented in rulings that upheld life sentences, some for relatively minor crimes.

His dissents were seen by some critics as insubordination, but Pregerson was frank about putting his conscience first.

My conscience is a product of the Ten Commandments, the Bill of Rights, the Boy Scout Oath and the Marine Corps Hymn, the Carter appointee said during his Senate confirmation hearing. If I had to follow my conscience or the law, I would follow my conscience.

Pregerson also angered some when he issued an order in 1992 to put a hold on the execution of Robert Alton Harris, who was already strapped inside the gas chamber. The Supreme Court later overturned Pregersons decision, and Harris was executed as planned.

Conservatives railed at him for overturning death sentences and accused him of activism. Some prosecutors said they dreaded appearing before him. Pregerson said he simply believed that many death row inmates had not been given fair trials.

You read the record in these cases, and you see what happened and how defendants rights are not observed, he said.

Pregerson also was viewed by some as a federalist, a label most often worn by conservatives and libertarians.

He favored restraints on the power of the federal government and wrote a decision saying federal authorities lacked authority to interfere with state medical marijuana laws. The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the decision.

His was a jurisprudence that was really based on the recognition of the dignity of every person, said UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

For him the law was much less about abstractions and much more about what it would mean in peoples lives, Chemerinsky said.

Pregerson took senior status in 2015 at the age of 92 after 36 years on the 9th Circuit. The move reduced his workload, but he made it reluctantly, at his wifes urging. You know, at 92 you are not 82, the judge said in an interview at the time. You slow down a bit and need a little more rest.

The injuries he suffered in the war also were hobbling him. He needed two ski poles to help him walk.

He told The Times he viewed the bench as a way to improve the lives of others.

I looked upon being a judge as a chance to help as many people as I could through the law, he said. And it has given me that opportunity, no doubt about that.

A public square, a freeway interchange and a child-care center in L.A. bear Pregersons name.

In response to a lawsuit when he was a lower court judge, Pregerson prevented construction of the 105 Freeway until construction jobs were set aside for women and minorities and a training program was in place to give them the needed skills.

The settlement he helped write also ensured that affordable housing was built for residents displaced by the project.

Civil rights lawyer Paul L. Hoffman, who teaches international human rights law at UC Irvine and Harvard University, called Pregerson one of a kind.

He was so committed to social justice, Hoffman said.

Christopher David Ruiz Cameron, a law professor at Southwestern Law School and a trustee of the Mexican American Bar Foundation, said Pregerson lived most of his life on the Westside and in the West Valley, but his soul remained in the working-class Mexican American community of East L.A. where he grew up.

Harry never forgot his roots, Cameron said. He identified with the struggles of Chicanos and practically considered himself one of us.

The son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, Pregerson made his home in Woodland Hills, where he and Bernardine raised their two children, Katie and Dean.

Two years before taking a reduced workload, the elder Pregerson lost his grandson, David, Deans son, in a hit-and-run. The elder Pregerson said the family would never get over it. He recalled that his father, a postal worker who fought in the trenches in World War I, told him life was a battlefield.

You never know when you will get hit, the judge said.

Pregerson remained close to his adult children and grandchildren throughout his life.

When Rodan was 12, her mother decided she was bored at home and wanted to go back to school full time to receive a graduate degree in microbiology. She expected the judge to assume the domestic duties, Rodan recalled.

He was a typical 1960s man, she said. He came home late from work and expected to have the dinner on the table.

Suddenly, he was taking her to ballet and running errands. But he couldnt cook, and she said they ate dinner at restaurants. She called those years a gift.

He told me, When you grow up, be your own boss and make your own money. Dont rely on a man to support you. You dont know what life is going to deal you.

Rodan, a dermatologist, took his advice and started highly successful skin care companies.

Besides his wife and two children, Pregerson is survived by son-in-law Amnon Rodan, daughter-in-law Sharon, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

UPDATES:

4:35 p.m.: This article has been updated with comments from legal experts.

2:05 p.m.: This article has been updated with comments from a family member.

This article was originally posted at 11:30 a.m.
Near the summit of Comb Ridge, in a high-desert region of dancing shadow and red rock splendor, serrated peaks form one of southeast Utahs most recognizable landmarks.

It is hallowed ground for the Navajo and other Native American tribes whose ancestors scaled cliffs to build stone settlements on ledges and alcoves beneath trackless mesas.

Eleven months ago, descendants of these ancient people notched one of the great political achievements in Native American history. Following 14 months of government-to-government negotiation between the United States and five Native American tribes, President Obama signed Proclamation 9558.

The proclamation, made under the presidential authority of the Antiquities Act to protect public lands, conserves over 100,000 Native American archaeological and cultural sites within the newly established 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument.

Much of the history of Native Americans in the centuries after European settlement is a ledger of lost land  getting pushed off lands they considered sacred. This time, they gained protection for their land in a way that had never happened before.

That achievement is now under siege by the Trump administration, also in an unprecedented way.

He may not have known it at the time, but when Obama signed Proclamation 9558, he set in motion a far-reaching confrontation over land, resources and political influence that could reshape rural communities and decide stewardship of the Wests public domain for the rest of the century.

Reviving debate over Bears Ears National Monument also revives racial tension in a remote corner of Utah 

Utahs Republican congressional delegation immediately vowed to amend the Antiquities Act to strip its authority for presidents to act on their own to protect large expanses of federal land. A bill to do that, sponsored by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and supported by the Trump administration, cleared the House Natural Resources Committee, which he chairs, five days after it was introduced in October. No hearing was held.

Its passage would mark a decided tilt in favor of industrial and political forces that have worked for decades in the West to dismantle safeguards for federal land and the environment. Its defeat would strengthen the influence of conservationists and tribes to develop and install new safeguards.

President Trumps antipathy to the antiquities law and the new monument has galvanized Native American groups, who see the standoff as another test of their strength a year after the confrontation over the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota  another instance in which Trump reversed an Obama decision that favored a native tribe.

We understood that it would provoke a reaction, said Shaun Chapoose, a Ute Tribal Business Committee member, referring to the Bears Ears designation. He is a member of the Bears Ears Commission of Tribes that Obama established to help manage the monument.

Next month, Trump is expected to go to Utah to announce his formal decision to change the boundaries of Bears Ears and several other monuments, including the neighboring 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The president has already informed Republican Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah that he intends to shrink both.

To some extent, the differences between Obama and Trump in managing the public domain are familiar for the West. Recent Democratic presidents have tended to side with environmental and Native American advocates, Republicans with grazing, mining and energy interests that support greater development of public lands.

Other facets of the division, though, are new. Obama designated 29 new national monuments, more than any other president. And although previous presidents have adjusted boundaries, legal scholars say no president before Trump has considered such a sweeping declassification of national monuments nor attacked the premise of the antiquities law.

In April, the president signed an executive order that directed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review boundary and management changes for 27 national monuments established under the Antiquities Act since 1996, most of them by Democratic presidents Obama and Clinton.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke visits Bears Ears National Monument. (Scott G Winterton / Associated Press)

The Trump administrations review fits with its other ambitions for the Wests public lands. The president and his aides have set out to reverse Obama-era restrictions on mining in the Grand Canyon, repeal rules for improving oil and gas leasing practices on public lands, and promote a program of American energy dominance that could open boundary regions of national parks and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling.

The presidents public lands program has deep support in the regions of the rural West, like San Juan County, Utah, where grazing, mining, and oil and gas production still have economic relevance. It reflects long-standing frustration about federal management practices that are perceived as heavy-handed.

The truth is, youve got a community of people who care about each other and care about the land and have protected it, said Phil Lyman, a 53-year-old accountant and San Juan County commissioner whose opposition to federal land managers has gained national prominence. All we want to do is be peaceful and have quiet enjoyment of our surroundings. This monument designation dramatically affects that.

How? By encouraging thousands more people to visit a culturally and historically important preserve that is not prepared to handle them.

The Antiquities Act is intended to preserve items of antiquity, Lyman said. You start using it as a massive landscape management tool and youre going to lose it for what it was designed to do. He argued that industrialized recreation at Bears Ears stands to destroy the very thing the monument purports to preserve.

Opposing the Trump administration is a nationwide counterforce of environmental lawyers, Democratic lawmakers, recreational and tourism business leaders and Native American tribes. These groups are united by several goals. One is to strengthen existing safeguards and develop a new, ecologically sensitive, energy-efficient economy. A second is to preserve sensitive lands that are sacred ground for Native Americans.

Petroglyphs marred by bullet holes. Native Americans sought monument status to protect ancient cultural sites. (Keith Schneider / Los Angeles TImes)

Willie Grayeyes, a Navajo leader and chairman of Utah Dine Bikeyah, a nonprofit policy group formed by Utahs Navajo community leaders. (Keith Schneider / Los Angeles TImes)

These lands offer a form of healing that we want people to accept so we can live in harmony together, said Willie Grayeyes, a Navajo leader and chairman of Utah Dine Bikeyah, a nonprofit policy group formed by Utahs Navajo community leaders to advocate and organize support for the Bears Ears monument.

The outcome of this clash, the most intense since the Reagan administration, will determine whether the presidents goal to limit restrictions over the Wests land and natural resources is a sound strategy for economic development or a treacherous exploitation policy that has outlived its economic worth.

The town of Bluff, a scratch in the desert near the Arizona border with 258 residents, is the front line in the monument struggle. Established in 1880 by Mormon settlers, Bluff served briefly as a southern Utah outpost for a uranium boom that pocked the landscape with doghole mines after World War II to supply nuclear electricity generation and atomic weapons production.

San Juan Countys 17,000 residents are about evenly divided between whites and Navajo. Both groups see Bluff as a launch point for hikes and camping, Jeep excursions on rough dirt roads, and trips to forage for wood and herbs in one of the worlds most breathtaking landscapes.

Its massive. Its stars in the night sky. Its silence. Its that kind of place, said Jim Hook, the owner of Recapture Lodge, one of several comfortable hostelries in the town. Its so incredible. Your mind just goes crazy with the distance.

A bluff cemetery, on a rise overlooking the town of 258 residents, holds the remains of a number of the first Mormon settlers. (Keith Schneider / Los Angeles TImes)

Bluff, Utah, the unexpected front line in the momentous standoff driven by President Trumps disdain for national monuments. (Keith Schneider / Los Angeles TImes)

Most Bluff residents long ago decided they were firmly on the side of the Native American tribes that wanted to preserve ruins and halt looting of artifacts from Bears Ears, and the environmentalists who wanted to preserve wildlands. Besides the lodges, the tiny settlement has several restaurants and shops that sell Native American art and crafts. Sales have increased with the monument designation.

Twenty-five miles north is Blanding, the biggest town in Utahs largest county, and the epicenter of resistance to Bears Ears and federal land management agencies in southeast Utah. The countrys lone uranium ore processing plant still operates near Blanding, and the towns business and political leaders, and many of its 4,000 residents  including Navajo and Ute families  resist what they see as insensitive and overly aggressive federal oversight of public lands.

But Blandings pro-development activism has not paid off economically. It has lagged behind other towns, such as Moab, 75 miles to the north, that have staked their claim on environmentally friendly tourism.

We love visitors. Who wouldnt? said Lyman, the county commissioner. But he and the countys two other commissioners join with Utahs congressional delegation in asserting that establishing Bears Ears was an abuse of federal authority and the Antiquities Act.

Its not constitutional, Lyman said. Decisions have to be made at a local level. Its like having kids. I will decide how to manage my child, not some other person.

That view sharply diverges from the one held by the coalition of five tribes that negotiated the monuments boundaries.

Bears Ears National Monument is where the full measure of southeast Utahs high desert of dancing shadow and red rock splendor unfolds. (Keith Schneider / Los Angeles TImes)

San Juan Countys western mesas and canyons, home to the distinctive rock formations known as Bears Ears, are where the Navajo believe their people rose from the earth.

For years, the leaders of the Navajo and four other tribes  Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Indian Tribe, Hopi and Zuni  spoke among themselves about protecting their home ground. But they feared that making those concerns public would invite government action to restrict access. It wasnt until 2010, when they were invited by former Utah Sen. Bob Bennett to join a congressional public lands initiative, that the tribes got involved in a government process to decide how to use the land.

Ultimately, though, the tribal leaders said their ideas were consistently blocked or ignored. In 2015, convinced they couldnt prevail, the tribes abandoned the congressional initiative and pursued a new course. Mindful that Obama and Sally Jewell, the Interior secretary, were sympathetic to their cause, and that Obamas presidency was close to its end, the tribes focused on the Antiquities Act as a vehicle to secure Bears Ears.

In October 2015, the five tribes formally proposed setting aside 1.9 million acres in San Juan County and neighboring Grand County for the monument.

This proposal is unique and wholly unprecedented, said its authors.

Fourteen months later, Obama decided on a smaller monument and prepared a declaration that established a five-member tribal commission to work with federal agencies to draw up plans. The language of the proclamation, say historians, also put the tribes and the chief executive in closer spiritual alignment than any agreement ever signed by a U.S. president.

Abundant rock art, ancient cliff dwellings, ceremonial sites, and countless other artifacts provide an extraordinary archaeological and cultural record that is important to us all, said the proclamation, but most notably the land is profoundly sacred to many Native American tribes.... The area's human history is as vibrant and diverse as the ruggedly beautiful landscape.

While opponents in Blanding, Washington and Salt Lake City condemned the monument, tribal leaders celebrated. We were finally heard, said Nizhone Meza, the Utah Dine Bikeyah legal and policy director.

They also prepared for a new struggle to defend Bears Ears from a new administration. Mark Maryboy, a Navajo leader, and other activists say tribes and environmental groups are ready to unleash lawsuits in federal courts once Trump formally declares his decision.

Lets just say we have a lawsuit in the hopper right now, Maryboy said.

A protest in Kanab, Utah, greets Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in May. (George Frey / Getty Images)

keith.schneider@latimes.com

Schneider is a special correspondent.

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So what's behind the recent fraternity hazing incidents on college campuses nationwide?
Nine-year-old Kuhmaria VanBuren ran into the prison gymnasium and jumped into her mothers arms with so much force they almost fell down.

For the next two hours, Kuhmaria let her mom braid her hair and cuddled in her arms, savoring the rare contact. Sapphire VanBuren, 26, has been incarcerated at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women for over two years.

The VanBurens are among 30 mother-daughter pairs who come together at the Jessup prison twice a month through the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program. The initiative, now in its 25th year, aims to foster bonds between young girls and their moms, even as metal detectors, locked gates and guards separate them most days of the year.

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Its wonderful just being able to be in her life, despite the circumstances, VanBuren said.

Administrators say the program helps boost the girls self-esteem and provides them with a community of other children who understand what its like to grow up with a mom in prison. For the mothers, the visits are a connection to life outside the prison walls and an incentive to get through their sentence without trouble.

The Girl Scouts of Central Maryland was the first to create such a troop, but over the next two decades, the model was duplicated in more than two dozen Girl Scout councils across the country. Since 1992, the Central Maryland council has served more than 400 girls and their mothers.

It was kind of nice to be yelled at again.  Cailyn Moreno, 14

When a woman is sent to prison, it breaks up the family, said Margaret Chippendale, the prisons warden. This is just the opportunity to help stop that breakage, to bring mom and daughter back together, she said. Incarceration is tough  its tough for mom, but its really tough on children and the families thatve been left behind.

Women represent the fastest-growing population of prisoners in the country  increasing 14-fold between 1970 and 2014, according to one recent study. Two-thirds of incarcerated women leave behind at least one child, other figures show.

VanBuren has awhile to go on her 12-year sentence for assault and is grateful she gets to watch her daughter grow up.

Its the reason why I keep pushing in here, why I stay out of trouble, VanBuren said. Its all to get home to her.

During regular visitation, the inmate and the visitor sit on opposite sides of a table. There is no touching, save for a brief embrace thats permitted at the very end of the hour. A policy put into effect in 2015 across all Maryland correctional facilities bans touching at the beginning of a visit, kissing on the mouth and taking pictures, an effort to crack down on contraband exchanged during visitation.

In a Girl Scouts session, some of the young girls cling to their mothers for nearly the entire two hours.

Many of the mothers are dressed in the standard uniform  gray pants and a gray long-sleeve shirt. The girls, meanwhile, usually come in khaki pants, white shirts and sashes that signify their Girl Scout rank.

Cailyn Moreno, 14, and her sister, 8-year-old Ciara Wiseman, treasure the time they can spend telling their mother about their day-to-day life. Ciara bragged to their mother, Amanda Cooper, about how she can do eight cartwheels in a row. Cailyn asked for advice about boys at school and tells her mom how shes considering a career in pediatric surgery  shes been watching a lot of Greys Anatomy lately.

But the sessions arent only a time to catch up with mom, program officials say. The girls also take part in more traditional scouting activities. On this visit, the girls set up a cookie-selling station next to a metal detector in the visitors lobby.

After finishing up sales, the girls knew the routine: Go through the metal detector, lift your arms, get patted down, allow the K-9s to sniff around your feet.

Inside the prison gymnasium, after some free time, everyone stood together for a friendship circle. They sang Happy Birthday to those with a November birthday, and they shared special news. One girl talked about being named to the honor roll. Kuhmaria told the group she got a new kitten named Prince Charming.

Together, mothers and daughters recited the Girl Scout Promise and the Girl Scout Law  I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do.

Then the girls broke up into age-appropriate clusters, joined by their moms, for activities. During one game, the girls were instructed to find out fun facts about their moms and each other.

Kuhmaria turned to her mother to ask what her fun fact is. I love you more today than I did yesterday, VanBuren said.

One of the most treasured parts of the program, the girls say, is the annual sleepover. For an entire night, the moms and daughters can hang out, painting nails and watching movies, and get a brief taste of normalcy.

Cailyn remembers staying up all night for the sleepover  prompting her mother to yell at her to go to bed.

It was kind of nice to be yelled at again, Cailyn said.

For some girls, it is the first full night theyve ever spent with their mothers. An estimated 1 in 25 women is pregnant at the time she is sent to prison.

The program took a financial hit in 2012, when the U.S. Department of Justice stopped awarding money to the national Beyond Bars initiative. The Central Maryland council received federal dollars each year from 2002 to 2012, but now relies on other grants and donations. Some programs elsewhere ended. About 15 councils still have programs, Girl Scouts officials say.

At the end of the recent visit, everyone gathered again in a circle to say what they are thankful for. The mothers and daughters would again be celebrating Thanksgiving apart.

Im thankful for my mommy, one girl said. For my support system, said another. For Girl Scouts, a few girls chimed in.

When it came time for goodbyes, moms peppered their daughters faces with kisses, and reached out for second and third hugs.

Through windows that overlook the prisons gymnasium, some of the women waved both hands while their daughters slowly disappeared from view. The daughters, turning back, blew kisses until they were escorted past the windows and through a locked door.

Richman writes for the Baltimore Sun.
It began as a crude sketch on a cocktail napkin. Someone thought it looked like a saucer on a stick. Four-hundred days, $4.5 million and 605 feet later, it loomed majestically over the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair.

Like a saucer on a stick.

Its creators were going to call it the Space Cage, which made no sense. They later agreed on the Space Needle, pretending not to see the saucer on top.

It opened in 1962 as the tallest structure west of the Mississippi. Today, at age 55, it has dropped to the sixth-tallest  in Seattle.

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Elvis sang and filmed there  It Happened at the Worlds Fair. Warren Beatty played a reporter trying to solve a political assassination there  The Parallax View. For a while it could be seen weekly through the sliding glass doors of Frasier.

When the Beatles came to town, they were asked whether theyd visited the Needle. Theyd seen it from afar, John Lennon said  but Im afraid of heights.

It has now been around long enough to become habitually referred to as Seattles iconic Space Needle. But if iconic means old, the Needle is about to amend that.

Having welcomed its 45 millionth visitor in 2007 and now averaging more than a million visitors annually as the Northwests No. 1 tourist attraction, the hourglass-shaped structure on which a UFO appears to have landed is getting a face lift, or spacelift, as the Needle calls it.

Its had several along the way, but this one will fuse the past and future. The makeover that began in September will include a feature the original builders had wanted but couldnt pull off back then: A walking-on-air glass floor in its revolving restaurant, the currently closed SkyCity, at the 500-foot level.

Knute Skip Berger, the Needles consulting historian, says the tower helped shape Seattles identity.

It was a high-rise fantasy in a low-rise city, Berger says about the origin of the Needle, which today towers over Seattle Center, the former worlds fair site. It helped Seattleites see our urban work in progress, understand our complicated geography, and shows off the beautiful natural setting.

Ive long thought it was our answer to Mt. Rainier. Were a city that wanted to be known as a city of the future, not as a port town next to a volcano.

The panoramic views that attract diners and other visitors also will be expanded in the under-renovation observation deck above SkyCity. New floor-to-ceiling windows are being installed to broaden the birds-eye perspectives (weather permitting) of Seattle, Puget Sound and encircling mountains  Rainier, Mt. Baker, the Cascades and the Olympics.

Needle officials say their private company expects to spend up to $100 million on renovating the historic landmark that was completed in just over a year and called the 400-Day Wonder by U.S. Steel.

Earlier renovations included adding a second, casual restaurant and banquet facility at the 100-foot level in the 1980s, though critics felt it was an intrusion on both history and the graceful final Needle design by John Graham.

Needle officials think the newest changes will be welcomed by tourists and entice more locals to visit.

I believe well look back at this as a pivotal moment in the history of the Space Needle, said Jeff Wright, chairman of Space Needle LLC, whose father, Howard S. Wright, was one of the original builders and later bought out his partners.

This project both connects us back to our roots, to the vision that my father and his partners had when they built the Space Needle in 1962, said Wright in a statement, and guides us forward into the future for generations to enjoy.

Gold-lame-suited waitresses inside the Space Needles restaurant at the Seattle Worlds Fair. (Express / Getty Images )

Louise and Robert Workman, a Virginia couple who alighted in the observation area from one of the Needles three capsule-like outside elevators the other day, welcomed the improvements.

Weve come here on every visit and brought friends, too, said Louise Workman, 45. I love the views, and this sounds like theyll get even better.

A Seattle man, Mark Miller, 55, said he often brings visitors to the Needle, but this day came alone. I hear a lot of Seattle folks have never been here. Theyre missing out, he said.

To pull off this high-wire remodel, workers recently raised a huge, doughnut-shaped, 28,000-pound construction platform up around the Needles tripod steel structure, anchoring it at the 500-foot level and enclosing it to protect workers and folks below. The initial construction phase is expected to end in June, to be followed by painting, elevator renovation and completion of a new restaurant and lounge.

People will be seeing parts of the original structure that havent been seen since the ironworkers built it, said historian Berger.

Just the other day, workers found a time capsule hidden in the rafters. It had been covered over during an earlier remodel, then forgotten. With some fanfare, the capsule was opened. It contained menus, tickets and items that werent exactly relics, having been entombed just 20 years after the Needle opened.

Berger, author of Space Needle: The Spirit of Seattle, said the citys cultural destiny was likely changed by the Needles conception, first sketched out on that cocktail napkin by Edward Carlson, then president of Western International Hotels, in 1959.

It put a pin in the map of our destiny as a tech town, Berger said. I dont think its a coincidence that the Amazon-South Lake Union [building-boom] phenom is happening in the shadow of the Needle, or that Paul Allen and Bill Gates, who both visited the worlds fair that spawned it, have built structures literally next door.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is across the street, and Allens Frank Geary-designed Museum of Pop Culture takes up a corner at the foot of the Needle. A Fun Facts page on the Needles website shares this historical note:

In 1966 11-year-old Bill Gates, Co-Chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Microsoft co-founder and former chairman, won a dinner at the Space Needle restaurant offered by his pastor. Gates had to memorize chapters 5, 6, and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew, better known as the Sermon on the Mount, and he recited the sermon flawlessly.

Says Berger: Without the Needle, I suspect Seattle would be a city with lower ambitions and probably a great wall of ugly generic skyscrapers. It suits Seattles utopianism without taking it too seriously.

Or as the Needles Fun Facts page reminds us, The Space Needle is approximately 1,320 Milky Way candy bars (605 feet) tall.

At 605 feet, the Space Needle towers over construction cranes in Seattle. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press )

Anderson is a special correspondent.

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Did she bake the pie or not?

Its a question only White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders can answer. Its also a sign of where our polarizing politics have taken us in 2017.

In a year when questions about possible Russian collusion, voter fraud and the legitimacy of a proposed travel ban have clouded President Trumps administration, the political discourse is now  briefly  centered on a holiday culinary ritual.

On Thursday, Sanders tweeted a photo of a chocolate pecan pie with a brief message:

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I dont cook much these days, but managed this Chocolate Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving at the family farm!

I dont cook much these days, but managed this Chocolate Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving at the family farm! pic.twitter.com/rO8nFxtly7  Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 23, 2017

And this is where the controversy began.

Sanders pie was pictured against a white background, and Twitter users  many partisans on the left, but also a journalist  wanted to see the pie in a more realistic setting. In Sanders kitchen, perhaps, or at her dinner table.

April D. Ryan, Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, skeptically tweeted, Show it to us on a table.

Show it to us on a table. https://t.co/ifeSBlSZW7  AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) November 24, 2017

The tweet led to the hashtag #piegate trending on Twitter for several hours Thursday and Friday. Those on the right mostly viewed the spat as minor and silly, while those on the left continued to press for legit pie proof.

Indeed, on the surface the pie matter seems trivial, but it also speaks to the credibility of an administration and a president who have faced repeated questions about truthfulness, said longtime Republican strategist John Weaver.

At times, what weve found with this administration is a president, and even lower-level staffers, who are willing to lie about issues big and small. Its now come to the point where some are even willing to question the legitimacy of a pie, said Weaver, who was an advisor to Ohio Gov. John Kasichs campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.

In January the issue of crowd size came to the forefront as Trump took issue with news outlets reporting that his inauguration drew fewer people than that of President Obamas first inauguration in 2009.

Side-by-side aerial photos of both events clearly showed more people on the National Mall in 2009. The observation was also backed up by data on Washington train ridership the mornings of both inaugurations: There were 193,000 riders this year, compared with 513,000 in 2009, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Even so, Sanders predecessor, Sean Spicer, used his first press briefing to proclaim that Trumps inauguration was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period. His comments drew widespread ridicule on the Internet and the talk-show circuit.

Around the time of Spicers comments, Trump himself said  without evidence  that between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes were cast in the 2016 presidential election. (Although Trump won the electoral college, he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes.)

Trumps comments were castigated by election officials on both sides of the aisle, who questioned the validity of his allegations. Nationwide studies have consistently shown that voter fraud is almost nonexistent. Still, Trump has formed a voter fraud commission to explore the issue.

When the administration is not truthful, it causes concern, Weaver said. When there is a crisis, can the American people believe the Trump administration? I think some will pause, and theyve been given reason to pause.

Prominent Republicans on Capitol Hill have also questioned Trumps truthfulness.

We must never regard as normal the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals, Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona said last month while announcing he would not seek reelection. We must never meekly accept the daily sundering of our country. The personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms and institutions, the flagrant disregard for truth and decency.

In a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 65% of Americans surveyed said they didnt think Trump was honest and trustworthy. That figure increased from 58% in April.

The partisan divide is stark. Seventy-six percent of Republicans polled said they viewed Trump as trustworthy, compared with 23% who did not. Meanwhile, 90% of Democrats said they did not view Trump as trustworthy, while 8% did.

More recently, Trump tweeted on Friday that he was likely going to be Time magazines person of the year  an honor awarded to him last year.

Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named Man (Person) of the Year, like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway! he tweeted.

Trump has, in the past, falsely said he holds the record for Time magazine cover appearances.

What did the magazine say about Trumps latest comment?

The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year, Time tweeted. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.

As for Sanders, she had a response to Ryan, the journalist who asked to see the pie on a table: Sanders said she would bake Ryan a pie in the days ahead.

kurtis.lee@latimes.com

Twitter: @kurtisalee

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Each new revelation since the first reports of the Harvey Weinstein scandal adds to the discussion about how to deal with sexual harassment and sexual violence in American society. And yet nobody is talking about what could be one of the most effective ways to attack the problem: Recognizing that pornography consumption is a public health crisis.

In 1969, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Robert Stanley, a Georgia man charged with possession of pornographic material. If the First Amendment means anything, Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch. After Stanley vs. Georgia, President Lyndon Johnson established a commission to study pornographys effects. The commission (which was 90% male and admitted to a paucity of data) concluded that established patterns of sexual behavior . . . [are] not altered substantially by exposure to erotica. The data now shows that this understanding is wrong.

Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy who died in September, convinced generations of young men that the ideal female is large-breasted, young, airbrushed and exists for their pleasure. Porn powerfully imparts these lessons and more. According to Mary Anne Layden, director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program at the University of Pennsylvania, porn is a particularly effective teacher precisely because learning is more permanent when our sympathetic nervous system is aroused, when what is being taught is reinforced through biological rewards, and when we see role models performing the behavior. Porn does all of those things, stimulating its aroused viewers with dopamine surges while they watch actors engaging in sexual behavior on screen.

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We cant spend hours watching strangers engage in the most intimate of acts  often depicted without love or consent  and remain unchanged.

What else is porn teaching us? There is evidence that, as one researcher put it, the heavy use of pornography skews the users perception of what is normal in sex, and interferes with relationships. Even more troubling: A late-2015 meta-analysis of the literature on sexual violence and pornography concluded that pornography consumption [is] associated with an increased probability of the use or threat of force to obtain sex, and that both violent and nonviolent porn are implicated.

The connection to assault is at least partly circular: We have a sexual violence problem because we have a porn problem, and vice versa. But at least one study suggests that the porn often comes first: In 2009, researchers found that after controlling for prior tendencies, exposure to sexual media increased sexual aggressiveness in youth.

In addition to damaging intimacy and driving sexual aggression, the evidence is mounting that porn is addictive. A 2014 study looked at the brain function of men with compulsive sexual behavior: When they watched pornographic videos their brain activity in some ways mirrored that of drug addicts. Another study released earlier this year found that the brains of compulsive porn consumers reflected neural and behavioral changes similar to what is observed in substance and gambling addictions.

Statistics from the popular website Pornhub corroborate the addiction thesis. Visitors to the site last year streamed 99 gigabytes of video every second and viewed almost 92 billion videos in total, streaming 4.6 billion hours of porn. According to the website-ranking firm Alexa, Pornhub ranks ahead of Google and Netflix in the daily time each visitor spends on the site.

We can address the dangers of porn just as we do other public health scourges, from smoking to HIV. Once ubiquitous, the cigarette is disappearing from American public life, and the tobacco user who wants to quit can find hundreds of helpful resources by visiting SmokeFree.gov or by downloading government-sponsored smartphone apps. HIV.gov and MentalHealth.gov, both run by the Department of Health and Human Services, similarly promote sexual and mental health initiatives for U.S. citizens. A NoPorn.gov could educate visitors about porns link to sexual violence and its tendency to harm relationships, as well as connecting visitors to psychologists who can help end a porn habit.

Even without a concerted governmental response to the problem, others are sounding the alarm. A Reddit group dedicated to porn-consumption cessation has 263,000 members who encourage each others efforts through web forums and memes. The organization Fight the New Drug has reached more than half a million people through presentations to young people across America.

We should not downplay the role of agency in sexual assault, or suggest that solving our sexual assault problem is simply a matter of not watching porn. Perpetrators of sexual violence have no one and nothing but themselves to blame for their actions, and they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. But conversations about sexual violence must acknowledge the role of porn. We cant spend hours watching strangers engage in the most intimate of acts  often depicted without love or consent  and remain unchanged in the way that we look at and treat others.

In Stanley vs. Georgia, Marshall bristled at the thought of government intrusion into our bedrooms: Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control mens minds. But in an age when the internet can invade every private minute and space, we may be giving porn the power to control our minds. That is just as dangerous.

Zac Crippen is the host (with his wife, Sally) of Vernacular Podcast. He is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin. @ZacCrippen

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
Everyone makes mistakes. Surgeons occasionally leave foreign objects inside the bodies of their patients. Tax accountants make critical errors that launch audits. Legendary actors incorrectly announce the name of Oscar winners at the Academy Awards ceremony.

Whether the error is the result of circumstance or ineptitude matters little. Eventually, we all err.

With flight attendants, opening the aircraft door is an error waiting to happen.

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At departure, when any commercial aircraft pushes back from the gate, youll hear the familiar onboard announcement: Flight attendants, arm doors.

Like Pavlovs dogs, designated flight attendants will stop what theyre doing, rush to an aircraft door and arm or enable the emergency evacuation slide packed inside the door.

Although arming an aircraft door is as simple as sliding a lever or inserting a metal bar into brackets, its arguably the most important duty of any cabin crew member. It can be a matter of life or death.

A flight attendants second-most important duty is disarming the aircraft door upon arrival. This is where problems occasionally occur.

Crew members receive Federal Aviation Administration certification to work on a variety of aircraft. For example, Im qualified to operate doors on the Boeing 737, 757, 767, 777 and the Airbus 319, 320 and 321.

The Airbus door arming/disarming procedures are similar (you push or pull a lever to arm/disarm the door), but the Boeing procedures vary. Some planes require the attendant to insert or remove a bar into or out of floor brackets. Other aircraft require a lever to be pushed left or right.

One Boeing aircraft has a unique lever that must be pushed forward or back while depressing an adjacent control button.

Its not rocket science, but two crucial mistakes can be made during the door disarming procedure: First, the flight attendant becomes distracted and opens the door in the armed mode. Second, he or she signals through the window to the agent that the door is disarmed when it isnt, and the agent opens the door.

Both mistakes can lead to an inadvertent slide deployment, or ISD, that can injure employees and cost the airline thousands of dollars.

ISDs are rare, but they occur at every airline. My airline has had at least a dozen incidents this year.

A single ISD can lead to flight cancellation and the cost for compensation, hotel accommodation, meals etc. can reach up to $200,000 for a single event, the International Air Transport Assn. says.

One flight attendant (I know him well) contributed to the problem.

It happened before takeoff from Miami on a Boeing 757 destined for Mexico City. After all passengers were seated and the purser made the flight-attendants-arm-doors announcement, the flight attendant approached his designated door in the aft galley.

When he tried to arm the door, the arming lever would slide only to the midway position. The lever would not move to the armed position. He disarmed the door and tried arming it again. The lever moved only to the halfway point

The flight attendant then noticed a yellow barrier strap trapped beneath the door. He called the captain on the interphone. The captain listened to the problem and asked the flight attendant to make sure the door was disarmed. He then instructed the flight attendant to open the door, remove the strap, close the door and try arming it again.

Following the captains orders, he opened the door and heard a loud ripping sound. He watched in horror as the slide pack fell 20 feet to the tarmac. It did not inflate; the slide pack merely fell from the door.

Passengers craned their necks to see what was going on. Fellow flight attendants rushed into the galley, mouths agape. A supervisor materialized, pointing a finger at the perpetrator.

Everyone peered down at the slide pack, which was lying, intact, on the tarmac and was surrounded by startled ramp workers.

The flight was delayed two hours while mechanics reattached the slide pack. Although the flight attendant was cleared of any wrongdoing (officially, the door experienced a mechanical failure), he felt tremendous remorse.

I know this to be true because the flight attendant in this particular ISD incident  well, he happens to be me.

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravel
The United States will cut off its supply of arms to Kurdish fighters in Syria, a move by President Trump that is sure to please Turkey but further alienate Syrian Kurds who bore much of the fight against the Islamic State group.

In a phone call Friday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump said hed given clear instructions that the Kurds receive no more weapons  and that this nonsense should have ended a long time ago, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The White House confirmed the move in a cryptic statement about the phone call that said Trump had informed the Turks of pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria.

The White House called the move consistent with our previous policy and noted the recent fall of Raqqah, once the Islamic States self-declared capital but recently liberated by a largely Kurdish force. The Trump administration announced in May it would start arming the Kurds in anticipation of the fight to retake Raqqah.

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We are progressing into a stabilization phase to ensure that ISIS cannot return, the White House said, using an acronym for the extremist group.

The move could help ease strained tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, two NATO allies that have been sharply at odds about how best to wage the fight against Islamic State. Turkey considers the Kurdish Syrian fighters, known by the initials YPG, to be terrorists because of their affiliation to outlawed Kurdish rebels that have waged a three decade-long insurgency in Turkey. Yet the U.S. chose to partner with the YPG in Syria anyway, arguing that the battle-hardened Kurds were the most effective fighting force available.

Cavusoglu, who said he was in the room with Erdogan during Trumps call, quoted the U.S. president as saying he had given instructions to U.S. generals and to national security advisor H.R. McMaster that no weapons would be issued.

Of course, we were very happy with this, Cavusoglu said.

Yet for the Kurds, it was the latest demoralizing blow to their hopes for greater recognition in the region. Last month, the Kurds in neighboring Iraq saw their recent territorial gains erased by the Iraqi military, which seized the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and other disputed areas from the Kurdish regional government in retaliation for a Kurdish independence referendum that the U.S. ardently opposed.

Trumps decision appeared to catch both the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department off guard. Officials at both agencies, who would normally be informed of changes in U.S. policy toward arming the Syrian Kurds, said they were unaware of any changes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

It was unclear whether the Trump administration notified the Kurds of the move before telling the Turks. Nor was it how much significance the change would have on the ground, considering the fight against Islamic State is almost over.

The United States has been arming the Kurds in their fight against Islamic State through an umbrella group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which is comprised of Kurdish as well as Arab fighters. But the retreat of Islamic State, which has lost nearly all its territory in Syria, has altered the dynamics in the region and a U.S. Defense official said he was unaware of any additional arms scheduled to be transferred to the Kurds, even before the Turkish announcement.

Last week, Col. Ryan Dillon, the chief spokesman for the U.S. coalition that is fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, said there has yet to be any reduction in the number of U.S. advisors working with the SDF. His comments appeared to suggest the possibility that changes in the level and type of U.S. military support for the Syrian Kurds could be coming.

As the fight against IS has waned in recent months, the U.S. has pledged to carefully monitor the weapons it provides the Kurds, notably ensuring that they dont wind up in the hands of Kurdish insurgents in Turkey known as the PKK.

Both Turkey and the U.S. consider the PKK a terrorist group. But the United States has tried to draw a distinction between the PKK and the Syrian Kurds across the border, while Turkey insists theyre essentially the same.

In both Syria and Iraq, the U.S. relied on Kurdish fighters to do much of the fighting against Islamic State, but those efforts have yet to lead to a realization of the Kurds broader aspirations, most notably an independent state.

Washingtons support for the Syrian Kurds, in particular, has been a major thorn in U.S.-Turkish relations for several years, given Turkeys concerns about the Kurds territorial aspirations. In particular, Turkey has feared the establishment of a contiguous, Kurdish-held canton in northern Syria that runs along the Turkish border.

Relations between NATO allies Turkey and the United States have also soured recently over a number of other issues, including Turkeys crackdown on dissent following a failed coup attempt last year. Ankara has demanded that the U.S. extradite a Pennsylvania-based cleric that it blames for fomenting the coup, but the U.S. says Turkey lacks sufficient proof.
A group of diverse but like-minded individuals, the members of ARC have come together in their common desire to fight hatred, bigotry, intolerance and violence because of the harm these antisocial behaviors cause to our society. In that effort, we will not use or sanction the use of illegal actions (such as violence or intimidation) in pursuit of our desired aims and if we learn of anyone who does use these unethical methods we will report those individuals to the authorities. Instead, we will use the guarantees found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that ensure freedom of legal speech and expression.
The Easton Area School Board president was the only board member to vote against forgiving the start-up loan balance for the school district's nonprofit foundation.

The rest of the board approved the $9,000-a-year boost on Tuesday to pay off the $23,500 loan balance and help the Foundation for Easton Schools increase its fund-raising capabilities.

The foundation has raised more than $140,000 since it was founded four years ago, according to school board member Dominick Buscemi. The school board approved its request for $9,000 a year for the next four years. $6,000 each year will pay off the remaining loan balance and $3,000 will cover miscellaneous expenses such as insurance, postage and printing.

The agreement also forgives the first 18 months' salary for foundation Executive Director Kathy Miller. She was paid $37,500.

The foundation was set up as a way to raise revenue for school district programs and supplies without relying on tax dollars. The nonprofit is a federally recognized 501(c)3 corporation.

"It's a good investment," Buscemi said Friday. "It will allow the foundation to not only allocate more money for the teacher grants, it will also give them more resources to solicit ever-elusive contributions by allowing for more outreach."

Board members Robert Fehnel and George Chando spoke in favor of the financial agreement approved Tuesday.

Board President Frank Pintabone said he supports the foundation but wants it to be self sufficient. It's tough for the school district to write off more than $60,000 only a few years after the district had to impose a wage freeze on teachers.

The foundation needs to be self-sufficient, he said. That was part of the agreement when it was set up, he said.

"It doesn't make any sense," Pintabone said.

Pintabone said he'd like to be able to pass budgets with no tax increase, so he needs to keep an eye on every dollar of tax revenue.

"We finally have a balanced budget after all these years. Don't make the mistake of just giving money away," he said.

Miller said the foundation's corporate benefactors earmark most of the large contributions toward educational programs. It's tougher to convince them to donate toward the foundation's operations.

The foundation's annual gala and campaign help cover operational expenses, but their fund raising potential is limited, Miller said.

Buscemi said the $9,000-a-year investment will enable the foundation to build on the $90,000 it raised last year for teachers and school supplies.

The foundation must meet goals each year of the four-year deal or the $9,000 subsidy is cut.

"If the foundation doesn't bring in $75,000 a year, the agreement is off," Buscemi said.

WHO BENEFITS?

Grants from the Foundation for Easton Schools have gone toward headphones and instruments for music students, multicultural books, the SIZZLE! summer reading program and The Leader in Me program. See other foundation beneficiaries in its annual report.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@express-times.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
A 43-year-old man was found unresponsive after using drugs in his car outside a Walmart Supercenter, state police said.

Pennsylvania State Police in Fogelsville did not release his name.

The incident happened at about 4 p.m. Nov. 18 outside the store, 1091 Mill Creek Road in Lower Macungie Township. Troopers found several forms of drug paraphernalia, as well as hypodermic needles in the car.

The man is being charged with drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Pennsylvania State Police say the man and woman found dead next to a busy highway in Bucks County were killed in an apparent murder suicide.

The deceased are being identified as 32-year-old Maria Choo Lin Choo and 60-year-old David Choo Lin Choo, both of Philadelphia. The bodies were found by troopers just before 5:30 p.m. Saturday on the ramp from Woodhaven Road to Interstate 95 north at mile marker 34.8 in Bensalem Township.

Troopers were dispatched to the area for a report of a woman running against traffic at mile marker 34.8. A trooper saw a silver SUV registered to Maria Choo Lin Choo parked on the shoulder of I-95 north with its hazard lights activated.

The trooper then heard two gunshots. The trooper found David Choo Lin Choo laying on top of the woman in the merge area of the on-ramp from Woodhaven Road to I-95 north, police said.

Police said David Choo Lin Choo was holding a semi-automatic handgun in his right hand when found by the trooper.

An autopsy conducted Sunday revealed Maria Choo Lin Choo died from multiple gunshot wounds to the body and David Choo Lin Choo died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police did not state the relationship between the pair in a news release and a state police spokesman could not immediately be reached for more information. An investigation is ongoing by the Pennsylvania State Police Troop M Major Case Team.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
An exclusive private hospital in Dublin offered to take critically ill patients from the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group (DMHG) in a proposal in which it said it would 'support the transformation' of Portlaoise hospital.

The DMHG met with Blackrock Clinic in 2015 to discuss the private hospital's capacity to deliver critical care at its 12 million Intensive Care Unit (ICU) which opened the previous year.

However, the Dublin Midlands chief executive says the proposal is now a 'distraction' and was never going to lead to a 'solution' for the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise.

The Leinster Express has obtained correspondence between the DMHG and the Blackrock Clinic following a meeting between DMHG including CEO, Dr Susan O'Reilly and the then chief executive of the Blackrock Clinic, Bryan Harty.

An email sent by Mr Harty in July 2015 offers the services of the Dublin clinic to the DMHG. It does not make clear if the offer is made in the context of the removal of ICU from Portlaoise or that it would take critically ill patients from the Laois hospital.

Central to the Portlaoise downgrade plan is the withdrawal of ICU - if critical care is not available then emergency, paediatrics, maternity and surgery would follow.

He says that intensive care is delivered in a modern 12 bed department opened last year and lead by a team of consultant anaesthetists and two full-time private intensivists. All are registered on the Medical Council's Specialist Register.

It outlines that the unit has skills to look after patients requiring long-term ventilation and weaning. He said medical students from Trinity College will also be placed in the ICU because it had become recognised by them for training in cardiac anaesthesia. Trinity is linked to the DMHG

He said there was "spare capacity to accept referrals from public hospitals and have already taken cases from Beaumont and Tallaght".

He said a number of meetings had taken place with Tony OConnell, Ciaran Browne and Michael Power, who have visited the ICU and all said they see a place for Blackrock in coping with a public hospital ICU surge.

BRIAN STANLEY MEETS DR SUSAN O'REILLY

The e-mail also outlines the cost. It says care in the Blackrock Clinics ICU is 2,650 per night, excluding high-cost drugs and blood products. If the patient is covered by private health insurance, then any reimbursement would be deducted from this sum.

"We would be very happy to provide support in your transformation plan for Portlaoise Hospital," said the e-mail sent.



As for tackling waiting lists the e-mail says Blackrock has the capacity to carry out public hospital waiting list initiatives. He said the hospital has well-trained full-time private consultants available to do this work, in particular in urology and gynaecology.



Under the headline of recruitment and retention of consultants the clinic said it would be interested in working with the DMHG hospitals to recruit "good quality consultants" when access to off-site private practice is often an important condition for the consultant accepting the post.

It is suggested that " full time private consultants contracting themselves into public hospitals in a sessional manner".



The e-mail also says that the Clinic would have access in 2016 to a new radioisotope that would support the diagnosis of Alzheimers disease. .



"I hope that Blackrock clinic might, through the progression of some or all of these initiatives, might form a closer working relationship with the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group," it says.

In her written reply Dr O'Reilly thanked Mr Harty for his email of 16th July 2015.

"I appreciate the information you have shared with me. I will copy your email to the CEOs and General Managers of the 5 Hospitals where we have Emergency and ICU activities so that they are aware in the event of an extreme surge there is additional capacity for critical care," she wrote.

Asked about the proposal last week when she visited Portlaoise hospital, Dr O'Reilly confirmed a meeting took place.

"The Blackrock people did meet with a number of people to say they were extending critical care. I was personally very appreciative to know that resource was available if needed. I communicated that to the Dublin hospitals.

"The communication back from the critical care units was that (if) moving patients to critical care to another hospital from our big teaching hospitals, James, Tallaght, it is very difficult to select a patient out where they are already having critical care in the big facility," she said.

She said the Dublin hospitals were glad to hear about it but no contract was set up nor did was Blackrock availed of.

"I certainly made it more generally known to the hospitals that if there were more suitable patients and there was extreme congestion this is something that could be considered. That is all we did. It was very unofficial. You dont contract critical care because the needs of each patient are so different and the critical care experts.

I should point out very clearly that we did not discuss Portlaoise hospital critical care here. They were looking for ways of having ways of having utilisation of their services.

It is very simple to me. If we had a situation in our critical care units where people thought patients could be suitable for discharge in this direction it could be considered for sure. The reality is the people having critical care are no doubt critically ill and often have complex needs and you are not going to be transferring out your complex needs patients.

When we transfer patients out of Portlaoise. They would be going to Tallaght or St James typically. They would be going because they need dialysis or they had multi-system failure involving heart and lungs. You wouldnt be sending those to a private clinic," she said.

Dr O'Reilly reiterated that Blackrock's offer was not going to be part of the plan for Portlaoise.

It was never my vision ever that this would be a solution for Portlaoise because patients going out of Portlaoise are always those who have complex needs and they would be going to Tallaght or St James," she said.

She said the proposal was a distraction. Dr O'Reilly said not enough patients are treated at the ICU in Portlaoise which undermines its viability.

"Money is not going to fix that," she told the Leinster Express.

DETAILS OF ANTI-DOWNGRADE PROTEST ANNOUNCED
The underestimation of the population of Laois by 6,000 and confirmation that capital funding has been paused has led Laois TD Brian Stanley to conclude that the plan for Portlaoise hospital is "not grounded in reality".

The Sinn Fein TD was speaking following what he described as a long overdue meeting with Dr Susan O'Reilly, Dublin Midlands Hospital Group Chief Executive.

Dep Stanley said the meeting with Dr O'Reilly and her senior management team in Dublin for nearly two hours on the proposal to remove maternity, paediatrics, most surgery, emergency and ICU from the hospital

I told her she now needs to scrap the plan to downgrade Portlaoise Hospital and bring forward one to upgrade the services and capacity. I told her there was no support for the plan from the staff, unions or from the public.

"Amazingly, her team explained their plan is based on a population catchment area of just 80,000, where in fact there are 86,000 in Laois alone and this is not counting Offaly or South Kildare. This illustrates that the plan is not grounded in reality.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST DOWNGRADE CONFIRMS DETAILS OF BIG MARCH

She failed to explain where the 40,000 per annum emergency presentations to Portlaoise will be treated or how the plan is going to help the overall situation where emergency departments in other hospitals are already overflowing into the car parks.

"Regarding the golden hour after a serious trauma, she tried to convey that people are somehow safer in the back of an ambulance, possibly stuck in traffic jams or travelling long distances on bad roads, than in an ICU or ED unit," said a statement.

The TD said he also questioned the DMHG on where the money was going to come from to increase capacity in other hospitals if Portlaoise was to be downgraded.

I questioned the cost of their plan which they put at 113 million capital funding. I asked where is she going to find the money to cover the cost of implementing this, given that funding is not yet available for an urgently needed upgrade for Abbeyleix, which requires 3 million, or Monasterevin Day Care Centre which needs just half a million," he said.

He claimed that the plan to fund change is stalled.

"Dr O Reilly conceded that in fact the HSE capital plan is paused and that the 113 million doesnt include funding for extra new ambulances that will be required to transport patients to Dublin or Tullamore!

"It is clear that Minister Harris must now scrap this outrageous set of proposals. Its his decision and he and his government colleagues now need to make the right one, he said.

The meeting followed a decision by Dr O'Reilly to meet with politicians and the public on the plan's contents in the wake of its leaking to a national newspaper. It was leaked after Dep Stanley obtained a five-year strategy which revealed downgrade.

She said she would have met the politicians in Laois before now if the Minister for Health had given the green light to do so.

I am going to do it anyway now because the report has been leaked and they need to be informed. The whole point that this was a confidential report within the Department of Health. Now it has been leaked and it is only fair that I address the questions that arise," she told the Leinster Express.

She has said she is also willing to engage with the public and the Portlaoise Hospital Action Committee.

The committee rejected her offer as too little too late.

Dr O'Reilly met consultants and management in Portlaoise last week.
Bollards and street lighting poles located near schools should be painted to lessen the possibility of accidents.

There are some 11 primary schools in the greater Naas areas, including Kill, Sallins, Two Mile House and Caragh.

Politician Sorcha ONeill, a local councillor, wants Naas Municipal District to paint the roadside bollards and light poles a striking yellow and red paint.

She believes this will provide an additional reminder to motorists to slow down as there are young children in the vicinity.

Some of the schools are located in areas where many vehicles are passing at school opening and closing times.

The idea is to highlight to motorists that there is a school in the immediate vicinity so that they can be extra vigilant and monitor their speed accordingly, said Cllr. ONeill.

She said this has been done elsewhere, such as in cities in Holland where motorists are warned outside every creche, primary school, Montessori school to take extra care.
People power is being mobilised to bring education to Naas.

A list of names of students who've been denied a place at Naas Community College has been compiled.

In sporting terms they are the non-runners or reserves. They may yet get to take part in the race but they wont know till much closer to the time.

Its not a list youd like to be on.

It has 11 names and they are the students for whom there is no room at the inn.

They dont have a guaranteed place at the school for the start of the 2019 academic year.

You might have thought that by now thered be enough advance in place to ensure that the public dont have to be concerned about this.

Youd have thought itd be safe to assume that the schools would be there to meet the demands of a growing population.

The Government has the census figures, the projected population growth and battalions of public servants to do this work.

Its not rocket science.

The powers-that-be know that Naas will grow.

Thats why we have things like development plans. We know that the population is to expand, we know there itll likely expand.

Because we know this the houses and apartments are going up apace. But the schools and sporting facilities are lagging behind.

But nearly everybody does well comes to building houses. Kildare County Council gets lots and lot sof money in the form of levies, the landowners sell the land to the developers, the developers make profits selling houses to the public and the auctioneers get their commission (and newspapers get some advertising revenue).

There are two private housing developments being built on the ring road that connects the Kilcullen Road and Newbridge Road. Long before the first foundation was dug at either the footpaths and the underutilised cycle lanes were built.

Pipers Hill College - as has been alluded to before - was open for some time before the footpaths leading to it from the town were finalised. The parents are being asked to pressurise the Department of Education by sending Section 29 forms to the Department. Section 29 allows a parent to appeal a decision to deny a student a school place.

There is planning permission for a new school at Millennium Park which will accommodate 1,000 students but for now the school exists in a smaller building at Craddockstown Road.

Planning issues have led to a delay and this in turn has made come people concerned.

The schools board of management have been very proactive in efforts to find a solution - that is to fast track the building of the new school.

The BOM managed to squeeze some more places and so the first year class of 2018 will have 120 students instead of 96.

The successful names were simply drawn out of a hat and if places become available elsewhere in the town some names will be taken from list of 111 and given places and these places will be awarded by the end of January next.

BOM member and Fianna Fail TD James Lawless, who lives in Sallins is pressing the issue as forcefully as he can both with Department officials and the Minister Richard Burton.

Parents in Naas and surrounding towns are awaiting the outcome with some interest. They need to know the school will open on time.
YOU have to stay out of trouble. No more clever ideas, Judge Mary Larkin told Anthony OShaughnessy at Newcastle West court when she adjourned the case against him until February to allow a probation report to be prepared.

Anthony OShaughnessy, 31 Plunkett Rd, Askeaton was pleading to stealing a doctors prescription pad from the Askeaton Medical Centre and with presenting forged prescriptions at two pharmacies in Askeaton last June 29. No medicines were obtained.

Pleading for his client, solicitor Michael ODonnell said he had been a patient of Dr Suzanne Fitzgibbon for many years but had developed anxiety. On a bad day, he took up to 20 Xanax tablets, he said. The doctor had forgiven his client, he added, and he was back in the surgery where she was helping him.

His family background is difficult, the solicitor said.

Everybodys family is dysfunctional. Some people take is an insult, others as fact, the judge remarked. But she noted that there had been premeditation and the defendant had gone and written up prescriptions.

How do you think the law should look at somebody like you, she said, addressing the defendant. How do you expect me to deal with something like this.

I wasnt myself, OShaughnessy told the judge said she accepted his remorse. She adjourned the matter to February 15 to allow a probation report to be drawn up.
IF BEING in a wheelchair wasnt going to stop Ollie Treacy from jumping out of a plane then Storm Brian certainly wasnt.

The skydive in Offaly by 23 members of a Doon family and their friends was postponed until Saturday. Once again the weather conditions were inclement but 16 of the travelling party got to glide gently to the ground from 13,000 feet in the air.

Multiple Sclerosis sufferer Ollie has been confined to a wheelchair for three years but he left it behind him on the ground on Saturday.

There was no time to get nervous. The instructor is attached to my back. Were strapped together fair tight. We were sitting on benches in a small plane. I was the first out. When the lights went green to jump we just slid along the bench and straight out the door, said the 54-year-old.

It is like floating in a cloud for a good while, said Ollie.

It is like travelling at 130 miles per hour and some one spraying water into your face. It was exhilarating. The landing was perfect. Id do another skydive! said Ollie.

His twin sister, Mags Treacy, was also very brave as not only is she afraid of heights but she isnt too fond of flying either.

Sixteen of us did it but seven didnt do it as they suspended it on account of the weather. Theyre going to go back and do it. Were all alive thank God  it was freezing but fantastic up there.

Im scared of heights and I dont like flying. I had done one previously in Australia so I knew what the lay of the land was. I wont be doing another one though - two is plenty! joked Mags, who is very proud of her twin.

The instructors were fantastic. It is a fantastic opportunity for someone like Oliver. After landing they had him back in his wheelchair in two seconds, said Mags.

Her niece, Noirin, who like Ollie has Multiple Sclerosis, came up with the idea and more and more family and friends came on board.

Margaret rang the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland to tell them the Treacy family were interested in doing a skydive to raise some money for the charity.

They asked if there was anybody in a wheelchair interested in doing it, said Mags.

Naturally, she asked if disabled people could do a skydive, and companies cater for everyone.

To date the Treacy family and friends have raised over 20,000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland. Everyone of the 23 had sponsorship cards and they also got great support in their home parish of Doon.

We would like to thank everybody who did anything to help out, said Mags.

It is stil possible to donate on Noirins Go Fund Me page. Noirin says Multiple Sclerosis is an illness very close to her own heart and her familys.

Log onto https://give.everydayhero.com/ie/skydiveforms for more information.
A PROMINENT Limerick solicitor who failed to comply with a direction of the Taxing Master to fully refund the estate of a deceased farmer has been found guilty of professional misconduct.

Robin Lee  a partner in Lees Solicitors in Kilmallock  was brought before a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal on foot of a complaint by a brother of the farmer.

During the hearing, Mr Lee insisted he had made a mistake and he denied his actions amounted to professional misconduct.

The Tribunal heard the solicitor had been retained to handle the estate of the late Richard Leonard  a farmer from Kilmallock  who died in 2008.

His brother, retired publican Noel Leonard, made a complaint to the Taxing Master in 2010 claiming the fees charged by Mr Lee were excessive.

In a detailed ruling which was handed down in November 2014, Taxing Master Declan ONeill reduced the total amount of the bill from 30,572.34 (excluding VAT) to 10,346.75.

Objecting to a reduction of the fee relating to the extraction of Grant of Letter of Administration with Will annexed and the general administration of the Estate of the deceased, Me Lee stated the work "became time consuming beyond the originally anticipated time and work required due to a conflict between the requirements of certain beneficiaries and those of the duly appointed Executrix in the Estate".

The three-person Tribunal heard that Mr Lee did not return the difference despite being directed by the Law Society to do so.

Neasa Bird BL, representing the Law Society, said Mr Lee wrote to the society in February 2016, indicating that he was not prepared to comply with the Taxing Master's order.

Having been given time to consider the matter, cheques were issued by Mr Lee to the beneficiaries of the estate in May 2016.

However, Noel Leonard did not cash his and instead queried the amount of the refund and how it was calculated.

Giving evidence to the Tribunal, Mr Lee admitted he had made a mistake calculating how much was owed.

He said believed the overall sum owed to the estate was around 19,900, when sum actually owed was more than 23,000.

"I was confident my calculations were correct. Unfortunately they weren't," he said.

The solicitor insisted he had not intended to mislead anyone or to withhold money due to beneficiaries of the estate. Ms Bird told the tribunal that this error only became clear to Mr Lee in the days before the Tribunal hearing.

The Tribunal heard all monies owed have now been paid into the client account.

Tribunal chairman Michael Lanigan said it was satisfied Mr Lee was guilty of misconduct when he failed to abide by the Taxing Master's direction.

He said the tribunal was ordering that Mr Lee be censured.

Mr Lee was also ordered to pay 3,000 to the Law Society's Compensation Fund and to pay a contribution of 2,000 towards its legal costs relating to the case.
A PELOTON of charitable cyclists have raised close to 300,000 for Down Syndrome Ireland as part of the annual Tour de Munster event this year.

After raising a phenomenal 294,637, the provincial cycle reached a new milestone, having accumulated more than 2.1m in charitable donations since it started in 2001.

The 100-person peloton passed through Limerick during the 600km tour, from August 10 to August 13. And a new addition to this years Tour de Munster was the option for cyclists to select their own beneficiary.

Clionas Foundation benefited from this years Tour de Munster.

Paul Sheridan, who founded Tour de Munster, said that he could not be prouder of the occasion and its many participants over the years.

Speaking at the cheque presentation, he said: We are over the moon to have surpassed the 2.1m mark for the Munster branches of Down Syndrome Ireland.

Tour de Munster liaison officer and participant, Phil Keohane said that it has been an amazing experience and journey for everyone in Down Syndrome Ireland.

So many friendships have been formed between the organisation, the families and the cyclists. The tremendous fundraising work and awareness campaign improves the lives of so many Munster families, and this is what makes Tour de Munster so special. Id like to thank all involved for their incredible dedication and hard work. DSI families, staff, and the DSI community will be forever in your debt.

Former pro cyclist Sean Kelly once again took to the roads of Munster with the group for the full four days of the Tour.
TOURISM Ireland boss Niall Gibbons has said it is his agencys aim to ensure the Mid-West gets a fairer distribution of the millions visiting Ireland.

Mr Gibbons was the keynote speaker at the Limerick Chamber presidents dinner, which took place in the Strand Hotel recently.

He said: Over 10.5 million people have visited the island of Ireland in the last year. We would prefer to see a better regional distribution. So were very keen to work with the regions on this.

Various business lobbies across the Mid-West  including the Limerick Chamber  have called for route support funds to be ringfenced for regional airports like Shannon to prevent the continual growth of Dublin at its expense.

They have called for the two marketing schemes in place to be put aside for new routes at regional airports  and not the capitals hub.

Just 1m has been allocated in funding for Irelands provincial bases.

Asked if he agreed with this call, Mr Gibbons said: I do  but then went on to highlight the 1m fund in place anyway.

This fund is very important. We have also continued to work to make the case for regional airports for air access. We work very closely with Shannon, Kerry, Knock and Cork on this. There has been an incredible increase of air access into Dublin. I dont begrudge them their success. But the regional infrastructure is a critical part of our programme for 2018. The summer season is busy already in the Mid-West, so its important we focus on the shoulder season, and its important we have festivals and events so people can see there are things to see, do, and things which are open, Mr Gibbons explained.

While in Limerick, Mr Gibbons met tourism leaders from across Limerick city and also from the county.

He reported: 2017 has been a good year from a tourism perspective in Limerick. The hoteliers have a positive feel. Overall numbers are steady, but I think there is a desire to increase the number of leads coming in.

Addressing the Chamber dinner directly, Mr Gibbons added: Tourism Ireland has been working hard for many years to drive demand for flights to Shannon, through co-operative marketing campaigns in conjunction with the airport, the airlines and other partners.

Illustrating this, he pointed out the agency teamed up with Aer Lingus and Ryanair for marketing campaigns.

In 2016, we generated positive publicity for Limerick worth almost 16.7m in equivalent advertising value in key markets around the world, through media visits, press releases, e-newsletters and in-market media events, he added.

Mr Gibbons also highlighted one of the earliest examples of tourism promotion in Limerick.

In 1785, William Wilson wrote the Post-Chaise companion, 'A travellers guide to Ireland. He travelled to Limerick and said the town is situated on the Shannon and consists chiefly of small separate dwellings. Its a very pleasant place and much frequented in the summer season, he said.
Langley City ranked Metro Vancouver's most dangerous city

Williams Lake Langley City Vernon Prince George Terrace Penticton Dawson Creek Chilliwack Port Alberni Kamloops Fort St John Prince Rupert Victoria Surrey Kelowna Vancouver Nanaimo Mission North Cowichan Campbell River Courtenay Langley Township Whistler Maple Ridge Abbotsford Parksville Nelson White Rock North Vancouver City Squamish New Westminster Burnaby Richmond Port Coquitlam Cranbrook Coquitlam Pitt Meadows Powell River Lake Country Summerland West Kelowna Langford Delta West Vancouver Salmon Arm View Royal North Vancouver District Coldstream Port Moody Saanich Sidney Central Saanich Colwood Oak Bay Comox North Saanich

I always thought Surrey was.. lived in Langley for years and had no issues.

Langley City is the most dangerous city in Metro Vancouver  and 6th most dangerous city in Canada  according to a new report by Macleans.The report ranks communities according to the Crime Severity Index (CSI), a Statistics Canada measure of all police-reported crime.The stats take into consideration both the volume and seriousness of offences; the 2016 data, the most current available, was released July 24, 2017.Macleans found Langley City had only one homicide in 2016, which extrapolates to a homicide rate of 3.59 per 100,000 population.In terms of reported assault, there were 149 incidents in Langley City in 2016, leading to an assault rate of 535.32 per 100,000 population.Both these rates were up down from 2015, but were still above the Canadian national average of 1.68 for homicide and 430.68 for assault.There were 23 sexual assaults reported in 2016 in Langley City, meaning the rate of reported sexual assaults there is 82.63 per 100,000 residents.Since it is often difficult for sexual assault survivors to come forward, it is not clear whether the rate of sexual assaults in Langley City is higher than elsewhere.It may be a greater proportion of survivors are coming forward in Langley City than in the rest of Canada. The Canadian average is 56.56 sexual assault reports per 100,000 people.As for theft, there were 43 robberies in Langley City in 2016, meaning there is a robbery rate of 154.49 per 100,000 residents there.Langley City RCMP also saw 377 break and enters in 2016, leading to a breaking and entering rate of 1,354.46 per 100,000 population.However, Langley City wasnt the most dangerous city in BC, according to the report. Williams Lake, between Prince George and Kamloops, took that spot.Interestingly, Whistler had the most dangerous ranking in BC, if you filter only for impaired driving, with 128 incidents in 2016.Thats an impaired driving rate of 1,117.71 per 100,000 population.Overall, the most dangerous city in Canada was named as North Battleford in Saskatchewan, some 400 km northwest of Regina.Source: Macleans, Metro Vancouver cities and surrounds are boldedSource: http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/most-dangerous-city-metro-vancouver-2017
Samantha Linder, Payton Schiller and Cole Jacobsen are among more than 1,300 4-H youth who will attend the National 4-H Club Congress in Atlanta from Nov. 24-28.

This years theme is Be True, Be You. The youth that attend this event have demonstrated leadership potential and a desire to improve their community and world. Participants are selected based on their record books in a specific project area.

Linder is the daughter of Sean and Mindi Linder of Oakland. She is currently a sophomore at Oakland-Craig High School. She was selected for her accomplishments in the Consumer and Family Sciences area.

Some of the highlights of her 4-H career include completing her Diamond Clover Level 6 Project, earning a trip to National 4-H Congress, working on community service projects, receiving the champion pie award at the Cuming County Fair and being a role model for younger 4-H members.

Linder plans to major in elementary education in college.

Schiller is the daughter of Chris and Michelle Schiller of Scribner. She is currently a sophomore at West Point-Beemer Public High School. She was selected for her accomplishments in the area of Animal Science.

Her top achievements in 4-H include leadership roles taken when working with youth, being an officer several years in her club, competing in the equine program at county, Fremont Expo, State 4-H Show, Loup Valley Conference and AKSARBEN, competing in goat showmanship, competing on county judging teams including horse judging, livestock judging, meats judging, skill-a-thon and crop scouting. She also competed on all levels in public speaking and public service announcement events. Through this, she has earned the opportunity to represent Nebraska at Western National Roundup in Denver in Equine Public Speaking. She also learned how to safely shoot a gun and compete, work on woodworking and electrical projects, learned how to sew, crochet, craft, bake and canning food.

Some of Schillers highlights of her 4-H career include working with people and giving to others and her community, meeting lifelong friends through 4-H, the opportunity to take responsibility, compete and receive awards through contests and competitions in her passion for animals and earning a trip to National 4-H Congress.

She plans to attend college and study Animal Science. She is planning on working in the area of Animal Research and Animal Nutrition.

Jacobsen is the son of Tim and Tracy Jacobsen of Wisner. He is currently a sophomore at Wisner-Pilger High School.

He is planning on attending a four-year university and studying in the fields of science and math. 4-H has introduced Cole to several fields in math and science. He is thankful for the experiences and projects in rocketry, computer science and entomology. They have shown him potential fields for a college degree.

The highlights of his 4-H career include shooting off his first rocket, competing in presentations contest, competing at the Nebraska State Fair in entomology contest and Premier Science Display and citizenship. He also won Grand Champion with two projects. He also enjoyed teaching a clover college with a friend and his dad. He enjoyed the experience to give back to younger kids.

His top achievements in 4-H include Premier Science Award for a rocket poster at the Nebraska State Fair, Grand Champion Insect ID at the Fremont 4-H Expo, Reserve Champion Insect ID at Nebraska State Fair for two years, top presentation at Nebraska State Fair for rocketry, Grand Champion Citizenship for two years, Champion and Reserve for Regional Interview Contest, Special Recognition at Nebraska State Fair for rocket sanding and Computer Science two-time Grand Champion.

All three delegates received money from the Keith Glaubius Memorial Fund to help defray meal expenses while at National 4-H Club Congress and scholarships from the Cuming County 4-H Foundation and Cuming County 4-H Council to help with their registration expenses.
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A man died Sunday after driving his van into the Oakland Estuary, authorities said.

The victim, whose name was not released, was taken to the hospital with CPR in progress, said Oakland Fire Department Battalion Chief Nick Luby.

He was pronounced dead shortly afterward.

Firefighters from multiple agencies were at the scene by about 9 a.m. off Derby Avenue, near the Fruitvale Bridge, Luby said. The location is between the Park Street Bridge and the Fruitvale Bridge, both leading to Alameda.

Its a dead-end street that stops at the estuary, Luby said. The vehicle drove down the street and ended up in the estuary.

Crews were working to pull out a minivan from the water, Luby said.

There do not appear to be more victims, but crews planned additional searches after removal of the car, Luby said.

Investigators are interviewing witnesses in hopes of determining what caused the crash, Luby said.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
Albany

In October 2014, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York would again lead the nation in a progressive policy push. Following the passage of the nation's first same-sex marriage legislation and the country's toughest gun law, the state would become the first to direct 30 percent of public contracts to women- and minority-owned businesses.

"We will hit 30 percent and we will tell all the other states, 'You follow us,'" Cuomo said to cheers at a forum in Albany.

Cuomo said the initiative would level a playing field warped by entrenched discrimination. But critics say significant problems have emerged for state agencies and contractors.

For one, contractors raise the question of whether the policy is legal: The 30 percent requirement does not appear in state law, but is strongly encouraged by Cuomo's Executive Chamber to be put into bids for contracts. Agencies and authorities are required to apply to the governor's office for a waiver if a project can't hit the 30 percent threshold, records show.

That guidance differs from what state law and regulations actually require, according to the Albany-based Associated General Contractors of New York State. The group, which represents building and highway construction interests, says agencies are supposed to examine the individual circumstances for contracts, such as where a certain project is being built. Those requirements, according to the contractors, came in the wake of a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court case that set legal limits for creating MWBE programs.

Records show instances where state entities have determined a project could not hire 30 percent MWBE contractors  but the 30 percent goal was included anyway in later proposal requests.

In other cases, agencies seem to have skipped conducting the studies altogether, records show.

Consider a proposal bid out this year by SUNY Canton, a university about 25 miles from the Canadian border. In the study before bidding began, the university found that no minority contractors were available to work on a $327,000 upgrade to a campus cyber cafe. And just 4 percent of the work could go to women-owned firms.

The low figures were due to the North Country school's "excessive distance" from such businesses, the school's study said.

But when it bid out the contract, SUNY Canton required that the winning contractor try to hit the 30 percent mark  despite its own study.

Another example is SUNY Stony Brook's Innovation and Discovery Center project on Long Island, which received $60 million from Cuomo's Start-Up NY initiative in 2014. The school's project analysis showed a goal of 21 percent MWBE participation was the ceiling  but there, too, the winning contractor was asked to hit 30 percent.

Mike Elmendorf, president and CEO of Associated General Contractors, said the Cuomo policy has meant that general contractors are forced to exhaustively cull the state's list of certified minority subcontractors and try hiring them to show a good-faith effort to hit the 30 percent mark  even if it's already known to be impossible. Often a minority- or woman-owned business in Queens or Brooklyn would not have interest in trekking upstate for a project.

He said the policy "places contractors in a position where they must generate adequate good-faith-efforts documentation to evidence their inability to meet what is not a properly established goal."

Elmendorf's group filed open records requests and sued the Cuomo administration for records of the required studies, and provided the few resulting documents to the Times Union.

More appropriate goals will result in "better opportunities for MWBEs and less time wasted by both agencies and contractors alike pursuing goals inappropriate and unachievable for specific contracts because they have been set arbitrarily to 30 percent," Elmendorf said.

In a statement, Cuomo's counsel, Alphonso David, said the 30 percent was a goal, not a mandate.

"To be crystal clear: There is no requirement, legal or otherwise, that agencies must conduct a 'study' before releasing" a request for proposal, David argued. Associated General Contractors, he said, "has chosen to provide a handful of cherry-picked SUNY forms."

Elmendorf, however, said his group had not "cherry-picked" open records responses, but simply provided the few to the Times Union that were granted after about 100 records requests,

After Gov. David Paterson took office in 2008, he doubled the goal for state MWBE contracting from 5 percent to 10 percent. Cuomo, who took office in 2011, doubled it to 20 percent before again raising it to 30 percent in 2014.

During Cuomo's tenure, the number of minority contractors has seen improvement.

A July 2017 manual issued by the state's Division of Minority and Women's Business Development explains how the program works, and how the 30 percent requirement flows through the governor's office.

If an agency or public authority wants to bid out a contract requiring less than 30 percent MWBE participation, the request for proposal must be forwarded to the Executive Chamber for review, and include documentation justifying a lower goal.

And if a general contractor that has won a bid determines that hitting 30 percent is impossible, an agency must send an exemption request  with documentation of a contractor's "good-faith effort" to hit the goal  to one of two Executive Chamber email addresses for approval.

The impossibility of hitting the mandate for some projects has led to a spike in the number of waivers being issued by the Cuomo administration, Elmendorf said.

Data released by Empire State Development, the state's economic development arm, shows that in 2013, agencies asked for 373 waivers from the state's MWBE goal and that 243 requests were granted.

By 2016, those numbers had ballooned to 1,366 waiver requests, with 1,157 granted by the Cuomo administration.

Last year, officials at the University at Buffalo bid out a project carrying the 30 percent requirement, despite its own study showing 26 percent was the appropriate number. That was in order to hit the "SUNY goal" that was "required" unless a waiver was received, project notes show.

"Contractors are legally entitled to a waiver if they can demonstrate through their good-faith efforts that no MWBEs are reasonably available to participate on the contract," said David, Cuomo's counsel. "In the 2016 fiscal year, the state granted over 85 percent of the waivers requested by contractors. Allegations that contractors must prove the 'impossibility' of achieving goals are ridiculous, and not borne out by the facts.

"Hundreds of contractors with a commitment to fighting entrenched discrimination meet and exceed 30 percent MWBE participation on thousands of contracts every year," David added. "(The contractors') allegations speak to the archaic philosophy of its leadership  not the reality of the state's program and MWBEs doing business in New York."

"Belief in the rule of law is not an 'archaic philosophy,'" Elmendorf responded.

In some cases, Associated General Contractors' efforts to obtain records of the Cuomo administration studies appeared to show they aren't being conducted at all.

Last year, the group filed an open records request with the state Department of Environmental Conservation seeking the MWBE study performed by the agency for a project in Buffalo. The resulting request for proposal included the 30 percent requirement.

DEC initially cited an exemption in withholding the records, but after an appeal, the agency's FOIL officer acknowledged no such documents pertaining to a project study existed.

A similar scenario played out when the contractors' association requested the study behind a 30 percent bid put out by the state Insurance Fund.

Again, an open records officer for NYSIF initially said documents could not be provided by due to an exemption. But on appeal, the officer said no such study could be found.

Neither of the agencies returned Times Union requests for comment. Nor did any of the SUNY schools.

James Heyliger, president of the Association of Minority Enterprises of New York, said he believes it would be realistic for about 95 percent of state contracts to have the 30 percent requirement. Non-minority contractors, if they are having issues hitting that threshold, can hire a consultant to connect them with minority contractors. Or firms could form a general contracting partnership with an MWBE firm.

"The problem is that most major contractors don't want to look outside their own sphere," he said. "They don't want to entertain someone else."

cbragg@timesunion.com  518-454-5619
WASHINGTON - For six demonstrators who joined hundreds of others in Washington for an Inauguration Day protest that turned chaotic and destructive, their trial in District of Columbia Superior Court, set to resume Monday, seems to hinge on an issue of perception:

Did the blocks-long march and related mayhem in downtown Washington amount to a riot? Or was it a lawful, free-speech assembly in which a relatively small number of participants committed vandalism, including smashing windows and spray-painting a government vehicle?

As the jury in the case heard opening statements and witness testimony early last week - before the trial recessed Tuesday for Thanksgiving - lawyers for the two sides offered starkly different perspectives of the glass-shattering disturbance on the day President Donald Trump was sworn in.

Assistant U.S. attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff cast the Jan. 20 demonstration as a premeditated mass assault on the city's peace and safety - a protest geared entirely toward "violence and destruction," she said. Attorneys for the four women and two men on trial described a constitutionally protected gathering of political dissenters, "only a small handful" of whom "engaged in violence or engaged in destruction," as one lawyer put it.

In a trial that is expected to last until mid-December, how the jurors ultimately view the raucous events of Inauguration Day will not only determine the outcome of the current case but also could influence how prosecutors handle the cases of more than 150 additional protesters charged in the 33-minute disturbance.

Like the six anti-Trump activists who are in court now, the other demonstrators face felony rioting charges, and the U.S. attorney's office has said it is planning for a series of trials extending into the middle of next year, with the defendants being prosecuted in groups of about a half-dozen. However, if the first trial ends with acquittals, it could prompt the government to rethink its approach to the rest of the cases.

On that damp, chilly morning, hundreds of demonstrators, gathered under the banner "Disrupt J20," marched about a mile, most of them clad in dark clothing and with their faces hidden - a civil disobedience tactic called "black bloc." Along the way, and during a circuitous march covering several blocks, protesters left a trail of wreckage.

Legally speaking, rioting in the nation's capital can entail collective responsibility, and that concept is at the heart of the ongoing trial, in which none of the defendants is accused of personally causing any damage or injuries.

The District's criminal code defines a riot as "a public disturbance involving an assemblage of 5 or more persons which by tumultuous or violent conduct . . . creates grave danger of injury to property or persons." If anyone is seriously hurt or the damage exceeds $5,000, "every person who willfully incited or urged others to engage in the riot shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 10 years."

A District police officer suffered a broken wrist in a half-hour of mayhem that authorities said caused more than $100,000 in damage.

In her opening statement, Kerkhoff did not cite any direct evidence that the defendants "willfully incited" others to engage in rioting - and defense lawyers stressed to the jury that no such evidence exists.

The prosecutor pointed out the six could have quit the march when the violence began. Video clips show the defendants in the group at various times during the disturbance, Kerkhoff said.

It appears she will argue at trial that their continued presence in the unruly, chanting crowd amounted to incitement.

Besides being charged with inciting a riot, the defendants are accused of conspiracy to riot, even though Kerkhoff did not mention any direct evidence that the six took part in planning the protest. Again, defense lawyers said the government has no such evidence.

In the days before the inauguration, authorities said, undercover police officers infiltrated meetings of Disrupt J20 at which mayhem was planned.

Kerkhoff told the jury the march was widely publicized in advance, including the intended use of the black bloc tactic, which is associated with riotous demonstrations.

"This was not some sort of spontaneous gathering," she said in court. "There were advertisements . . . 'Come to Logan Circle. Wear black.' " Kerkhoff noted the six showed up with dark clothing, goggles, helmets and other black bloc paraphernalia.

The six activists also are charged with destruction of property and with engaging in a riot, which is punishable by up to six months in jail.

The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on the aggressive prosecution, which the American Civil Liberties Union in the District criticized as excessive.

"From what we can tell, this seems like a gross overreach, with the prosecution trying to convict nearly 200 people for crimes that were committed by a few," said Arthur Spitzer, legal director of the ACLU's District branch. The group has a pending lawsuit against the city, accusing police of arresting innocent protesters on Inauguration Day and detaining people for up to 16 hours without food, water and bathrooms.

"Unless they have some evidence that we don't know about showing an agreement among all these people to engage in acts of vandalism, then we think these prosecutions are abusive," Spitzer said of the current trial.

For the charges to stick, jurors will have to conclude the protest was a riot.

To that end, Kerkhoff, in her opening, tried to give the panel an intimate view of the chaos, from the vantage point of terrified workers and customers in a BP gas station, an Au Bon Pain cafe, a Starbucks and other places where windows were smashed. The video clips she showed the jury were mostly close-ups, from cellphones and body-worn police cameras, conveying a sense of perilous, frenetic violence.

As several brick-throwing demonstrators smashed windows at the gas station, the "frightened" employee inside "puts a case of drinks up against the door to prevent people from coming inside and attacking," Kerkhoff said.

The owner of a sandwich shop had to temporarily close her business because of vandalism. "She bore the stress of that," the prosecutor said. At the Starbucks, workers and patrons "had to dive for cover" against "flying glass" as protesters hurled bricks and a trash can, shattering a plate-glass window.

On TV monitors in the courtroom, Kerkhoff showed the jury the repair bill for a large window at the Au Bon Pain: $5,790.40, the invoice read.

"In my mind, there was no stopping what was going on," a District police officer, Ashley Anderson, testified. She joined the force about four years ago and is assigned to a bicycle patrol squad. Trying to corral the demonstrators that day, "I honestly felt hopeless," she told the jurors. "It was like something I had never seen before, ever."

Defense lawyer Steven McCool, representing one of the men on trial, showed the jury a long-range video clip - an aerial shot as the huge crowd of protesters moved south. A handful of demonstrators - just specks on the video - broke away from the throng to vandalize the gas station, then rejoined the group as it kept marching.

"A couple of people run toward the BP station," he said in a dismissive tone. "They would have you believe that this . . . shows you a riot was occurring."

He told the jury: "This case is about our freedom to associate with one another and to express our opinions freely . . . We are here because it's easier for the police to treat everyone the same, to call a protest a riot and lock everybody up. It's easier to do that than to comply with the First Amendment."

Five defense lawyers followed him in making opening statements, all sounding a similar theme: Their clients are activists, not criminals.

One of them, Brittne Lawson, 27, is a nurse who works with cancer patients at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pennsylvania). "They have no evidence that she did anything wrong," her attorney said.

Another defendant, Alexei Wood, 37, of San Antonio, Texas, is a photojournalist who was documenting the march and live-streaming it on Facebook.

"Mr. Wood was not involved in that," his lawyer said of the mayhem. "He's independent, he's up-and-coming, and he's building a resume."

He wasn't inciting "what they call a riot."
BEIRUT - Even as Arab countries step up pressure on Hezbollah for its ties to Iran, the Lebanese Shiite militant group has cemented its status as a regional power, projecting military strength beyond Lebanon's borders and weathering political crises at home.

The group's rise comes as Iran and Saudi Arabia vie for hegemony in the region, intensifying conflicts from Syria to Yemen. Saudi Arabia sees Hezbollah as Iran's most potent proxy, and in recent weeks has spearheaded an effort to isolate the movement.

But Hezbollah's dominant position was made apparent this month in the ongoing saga of Lebanon's prime minister, Saad Hariri.

According to U.S. and Lebanese officials, Saudi Arabia forced Hariri's resignation, shattering Lebanon's coalition government, which included Hezbollah ministers. Saudi Arabia hoped the move would undermine Iran by paving the way for more aggressive action against the Shiite militants, the officials say.

Instead, it rallied Lebanon in support of its prime minister and cast Hezbollah as the stabilizing force. On Wednesday, Hariri announced he was suspending his resignation as he held talks with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

Now Hezbollah is set to potentially benefit from the turmoil, using its political and military prowess - and vast social networks in Lebanon - to entrench itself further. From its strongholds in southern Lebanon, where it made its name fighting Israeli troops, to the battlefields of Syria, Hezbollah is ascendant, with few able to challenge it.

"The Saudis hoped that Hariri's resignation would create an electroshock ... that the cabinet would be immediately dissolved, and Hezbollah and its allies would have to step down from ministries and other important positions of power," said Raphael Lefevre, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center. "Of course, this never happened."

Hezbollah became stronger after the Syrian war began, when it joined forces with Syria's Iranian-backed government to battle Sunni rebels, he said. And "its influence in the heart of Lebanon's security institutions is certainly greater than ever before."

A nation of just 6 million, Lebanon is governed through a power-sharing agreement among the country's main religious groups - Christians, and Sunni and Shiite Muslims. The prime minister is Sunni. The speaker of parliament, a Shiite, and the Christian president are both Hezbollah allies. Hezbollah holds 10 seats in parliament and two cabinet positions.

But the movement also draws strength from outside Lebanon's formal power structures, where it is at once social provider and political kingmaker, as well as a fearsome nonstate army and Iranian-backed proxy.

Its capabilities arguably eclipse those of the Lebanese Armed Forces, and its social services - from schools to charities and technical assistance to farmers - have cultivated fierce loyalty among Shiites and other communities.

"Hezbollah thrives of course on its position of being a state within a state, an alternative provider for all kinds of things," said Heiko Wimmen, project director for Iraq, Lebanon and Syria at the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit that researches violent conflict.

In times of crisis, when Lebanon's political institutions are weakened, "what Hezbollah provides for its constituencies becomes more important," he said. "They are so firmly entrenched in their communities on the one hand, and they are so secure in their position vis-a-vis state institutions on the other."

As a guerrilla force, Hezbollah traces its origins to Israel's occupation of South Lebanon from 1985-2000, when attacks on Israeli troops prompted their eventual withdrawal from Lebanese territory. Hezbollah fought another war with Israel in 2006 - one that ended in stalemate but raised its status as a capable deterrent force.

But it was the fighting in Syria that catapulted the group to its position as a transnational organization with capabilities rivaling the region's armies.

Hezbollah has lost thousands of fighters in Syria, "but it has also recruited many new members ... and has gained new skills that turn it from a paramilitary group able to wage guerrilla operations into an actual mini-army," Lefevre said.

It now has its own tank divisions and special-operations units, coordinates with the Syrian and Russian armies in Syria, and leads complex offensives in hostile territories, he said. It also receives a steady flow of cash and weapons from Iran, where ruling Shiite clerics have nurtured Hezbollah's rise.

As a result, Hezbollah has led offensive operations against Sunni extremists on the Syria-Lebanon border, coordinating with the Lebanese army but also relegating it to the background.

"Hezbollah was obliged to play this role, because whenever the Lebanese government doesn't fulfill its duty to protect the people, somebody has to defend them," said Mohammed Obeid, a political analyst who is close to Hezbollah.

In those offensives - in the Lebanese towns of Arsal and Qalamoun - Hezbollah and Lebanon's army has expelled al-Qaeda and Islamic State-linked militants.

"This coordination doesn't mean that Hezbollah is controlling the decisions of the Lebanese army," Obeid said of the operations. "But (the fighting) is not easy for the Lebanese army. And Hezbollah is everywhere."

While it remains popular, particularly in the face of what many Lebanese see as Saudi aggression, Hezbollah needs to maintain nationwide support. The group has billed itself as a defender of all of Lebanon's communities, and seeks to cultivate Sunni allies inside and outside the government.

Hariri, who is Sunni, has long been a Hezbollah opponent. But when he resigned from his post on Nov. 4, Hezbollah's secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, accused the Saudi government of detaining the embattled premier - and called for his immediate return home.

"Hezbollah definitely wants Sunni allies," Wimmen said. "The whole outlook of the movement, at least on the surface, is not a sectarian one. "

In the meantime, even some Lebanese who say they are not affiliated with Hezbollah are still ardent supporters of the group.

"There are people with Hezbollah for ideological reasons and there are people with Hezbollah because they are protecting us," said Bilal Ballout, a credit collection agent from southern Lebanon. "Lebanese forces are giving as much as they can. But Hezbollah has an army."

"When you get popular power, you get political power," he said. "And Hezbollah gets better and stronger every single day."

---

Suzan Haidamous contributed to this report from Beirut.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -Protests by Islamist activists continued for a second day across Pakistan on Sunday, but most were peaceful and security forces kept a distance from the crowds, averting a repeat of the unrest that gripped cities and towns Saturday after police stormed a protest camp blocking a highway to the capital.

The army, which was called out by civilian officials Saturday night to keep order in the capital region as the demonstrations cascaded, reportedly agreed to guard government buildings in the capital but put off any further action. Army leaders formally asked the government to "clarify" the role of troops in the event of further civilian unrest, apparently concerned about losing public support.

Late Sunday, Pakistani media reported that top civilian and military officials had met and agreed to seek a negotiated solution to the crisis.

The chaos erupted after millions of Pakistanis spontaneously took to the streets Saturday to defend what they believed was an insult to the prophet Muhammad by the government.

Clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Islamabad and other locations led to several hundred injuries, and at least six civilians were killed. On Sunday, mass funeral services were held for some of the victims at the highway camp outside the capital.

The main protest leader, cleric Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, told journalists at the site Sunday evening that the group would negotiate only if the government removes the federal law minister, Zahid Hamid. Protesters believe Hamid was behind plans to change a law requiring all political candidates to swear that Muhammad was the final prophet in Islam.

Some protesters called Saturday for Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and his entire cabinet to resign, but that demand seemed to have been downgraded Sunday as Rizvi and other religious leaders reiterated only their original demand for Hamid to step down or for the government to name and punish any other officials involved in the proposed law change.

On Saturday, Hamid's home was ransacked by protesters. There was no indication that he intended to resign or would be removed.

Late Sunday evening, Hamid released a video message in which he said he believed in the "finality" of Muhammad, loved him "from the depth of my heart" and was prepared to lay down his life for the prophet's honor. He also read out the oath all candidates must repeat about Muhammad.

As tensions eased, the government lifted a blackout of all TV news channels that had been imposed Saturday and restored public access to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Officials said they had suspended news broadcasts and social media to prevent an escalation of public anger and violence.

But with the conflict unresolved, the Muslim citizenry still aroused and the potential for violence to erupt again, the government kept all public schools and universities closed, shopping centers were shuttered, and many streets were deserted in the major cities of Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore. Some religious groups have called for a nationwide strike Monday.

The Abbasi government was widely criticized Sunday for failing to anticipate trouble as the highway protest camp swelled over the past three weeks and for launching an assault that failed to drive the demonstrators out and instead inspired sympathetic protests and road blockings nationwide.

In its lead editorial Sunday, the Dawn newspaper said the government had handled the episode "disastrously" and allowed the protests to become a "dangerous and destabilizing national crisis." The paper asserted that no "fledgling political party" could be allowed to hold the capital "hostage" and that the episode showed "a near-vacuum" at the top of government.

The religious group that spearheaded the protests, the Movement in Service to the Messenger of God, was almost unknown until recently. It is part of the mainstream Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam, has disavowed violence and focuses on reverence for Muhammad. But it has also created a cult around a man who assassinated a provincial governor for religious reasons and was hanged last year.

The once-obscure Islamist movement recently entered national politics, fielding candidates for Parliament in two recent races. One of them was a high-profile contest in Lahore to replace former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by the Supreme Court in July. The movement's candidate came in third, a stunning result that shocked the political establishment.

"We're looking at a combination of emboldened hard-line protesters and a deeply vulnerable government. That's a perfect storm for extended unrest," said Michael Kugelman, a Pakistan expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. He said military involvement might actually ease the crisis because the army enjoys respect among such religious groups.

On Sunday, leaders of the Messenger of God movement were joined by other Barelvi groups and clerics, who addressed crowds on streets and squares across the capital region and the country, making stirring speeches about the prophet's "finality" and playing religious chants on loudspeakers.

At a crossroads in Tramri Chowk, a working-class market center several miles outside Islamabad, hundreds of men sat or stood in the street all day, listening to religious leaders and periodically breaking into chants that praised Muhammad and vowed to defend his "finality" to the death. The mood was emotional and edgy, and the crowd was guarded by young men holding clubs who stopped all cars from entering the square. Banners praising the prophet flew above the crowd

"We are not terrorists or extremists. We are Muslims and our belief that our prophet is the last and final one is fundamental. There can be no compromise on this matter," said Chaudhry Rizwan Ahmad, a local political representative. "We are here to set an example so no one will ever try to change the laws again."

Another man in the crowd, a government worker named Adnan Khan, said he and everyone else there would give their lives to defend the prophet. "This is our faith. It is everything," he said. "If we die here, we will go to paradise."
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HOUSTON  Cat hair stuck in a package helped lead officials to a Houston-area woman accused of mailing bombs to former President Barack Obama and Gov. Greg Abbott, who opened his parcel but escaped injury, according to court documents.

Julia Poff of Waller County was indicted in federal court this month for a trio of 2016 mail bombs, including a botched explosive stuffed in a cigarette pack that failed to detonate when the governor opened it.

The 46-year-old was upset with Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General, because she had not received support from her ex-husband, the federal court documents stated.

Using a salad dressing cap from a bottle purchased for an anniversary dinner, Poff allegedly cobbled together an explosive with black powder and pyrotechnic powder, then slipped it in the mail to Abbott.

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When Abbott opened the package in early October 2016, it didnt blow up because he didn't open it as designed.

Had the device exploded, it could have caused severe burns and death, according to court documents.

Agents working the case later found a damaged shipping label addressed to the mail bombing suspect, from when she originally had received the packaging through EBay.

A similar package sent to Obama was detected in screening and never made it to the intended target.

Poff had stated she did not like the President, according to court documents.

The D.C.-bound explosive which was packaged sloppily helped build the case against the accused bomber. After diverting the package, agents discovered that cat hair caught in the shipping label was microscopically consistent with the hair of one of Poffs pets, according to court records.

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A third package was sent to the Social Security Administration in Maryland, where Poff had been denied benefits.

A search of Poffs home turned up a trove of fireworks in the garage, according to court records.

In an unsolicited Facebook message asking for prayers and PayPal donations to cover legal fees, Poff told a Houston Chronicle reporter that trash had been taken from her family's home that had our fingerprints on it and was used in some serious crimes that we did not commit and know nothing about.

She also was charged with more than $5,000 of food stamp fraud and false bankruptcy declaration. A federal public defender on Thursday declined to comment.

Court records note that Poff has been evicted repeatedly, in one case allegedly leaving a rented home with potatoes stuffed down the toilets and cement poured in the drains.

Her criminal history includes a misdemeanor theft conviction, which netted deferred adjudication and probation that later was revoked, according to court records. She also was convicted of felony fraud.

RELATED: Texas man jailed at same facility he allegedly threatened to bomb

Last year, using a Sealy mailing address but describing herself as a Waller County resident, Poff sued her leasing companys manager for allegedly calling her a purple Martian from hell, according to paperwork filed in Harris County court.

The suit also claimed that the Cypress Four Property Ventures manager verbally attacked Poff on the phone and described her as a professional squatter. A judge ultimately tossed the case.

On Friday, a federal judge ruled against releasing Poff, citing a serious risk that the defendant will flee.

The case is due for a pretrial conference early next year.
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Two years ago, a University of Oklahoma fraternity made headlines when it was caught on camera bellowing a racist chant at African-Americans, insinuating that the only good place for a fraternal candidate of color was under a tree (i.e., lynched). Since then, the fraternity has been shut down and banned from campus.

The fact that such vitriol is being repeated in the second decade of the 21st century is disturbing. While the noose has been identified as emblematic of violence and oppression toward African-Americans, its often overlooked as a symbol of terror for Mexican-Americans. No region saw this practice toward Mexican-Americans more than South Texas.

One area infamous for this reprehensible practice was Goliad.

From 1846 to 1870, death sentences were enacted along the courthouse lawn, where more than 100 victims were hanged under the famous Hanging Tree, many of them lynchings. Many were flogged on whipping posts for what were defined as offenses against the public sphere. As with many public trials and executions during the 19th century, Anglo families witnessed these atrocities in a carnival-like atmosphere, bringing picnic baskets and taking photos.

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If these Kafkaesque actions arent stomach-churning episodes, the Hanging Tree of Goliad is labeled a historic landmark and tourist attraction.

Documents record 871 Mexican-Americans lynched across 13 Western states after the Civil War. But these numbers dont compare to what was done in Texas. According to historians William D. Carrigan and Clive Webb, from 1910 to 1920, 5,000 Mexican-Americans were murdered in a wave of terror, many by the Texas Rangers.

The Texas Rangers were no strangers to mob justice and deliberate lynchings. The Texas Rangers began as a militia, funded and supported by area ranchers who wanted more land and detested their Spanish-speaking neighbors.

Hangings among Mexican-Americans were not exclusive to males.

Josefa Chipita Rodriguez, the first woman legally hanged in Texas, was executed in 1863; this November marks the 154th anniversary of her death.

Rodriguez dwelled along the banks of the Aransas River, near the Nueces River, in a humble cabin that doubled as a guesthouse for trail riders seeking food and shelter around the South Texas coastline. In August 1863, at the peak of the Civil War, Rodriguez, along with Juan Silvera (presumed to be her illegitimate son), were accused of murdering John Savage, a horse dealer.

She was suspected of the crime only because they found the body in the river near her home. Savage, after making a business deal with the Confederate Army, was riding with satchels full of gold. And because many trail riders frequented Rodriguezs cabin, she was targeted as the prime suspect. While Silvera pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder, Rodriguez refused to admit to a crime she did not commit, entering a plea of not guilty. Refusing to dignify these false allegations and mockery of a trial, she remained silent and maintained her dignity.

RELATED: Time travel: Man creates 360-degree view of what the Alamo looked like in 1836

That mere circumstantial evidence was enough to sentence an elderly woman to death is historic proof of the abhorrent justice meted out to Mexican-Americans. Although Rodriguez was pardoned by Gov. Mark White in 1985. Texans must learn to forgive, but never forget, the sins of the past lest they rear their ugly heads again.

Alfredo Torres Jr. is a copy editor for CTN: a Journal of Pedagogy and Ideas, and an independent historian working at Palo Alto College.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Artificial intelligence platform provider, EnvoyAI (www.envoyai.com) today announced the launch of the EnvoyAI Exchange, a platform described by AuntMinnie as the "Amazon for AI." EnvoyAI launches with 14 signed distribution deals with partner companies, collectively contributing 35 total algorithms to the Exchange. There are already 3 FDA-cleared algorithms available for purchase immediately, as well as many more available in the EU and others expecting 510(k) clearances over the next 6-12 months. EnvoyAI offers an ever-growing catalog of premium AI content that hospitals can seamlessly integrate into their workflow. Once a hospital has the platform installed, any new algorithm on the platform can be turned on and integrated into the clinical workflow with the push of a button.



EnvoyAI solves a distribution problem in the medical imaging AI space. We help algorithm developers scale up from the validation stage to be able to reach a very large customer base with their products," said Misha Herscu, Chief Executive Officer of EnvoyAI. "Our platform enables physicians to interact with AI in their native workflow, keeping doctors in control and empowering them to take AI input into account, but on their own terms. Never before has there been a platform that serves as a liaison or envoy of this nature  opening the channels of access and communication between those who create algorithms and those who can actually use them to help patients.

Formerly known as McCoy Medical Technologies, EnvoyAIs mission is to empower physicians by giving them access to the best algorithms available. McCoy was acquired in June by TeraRecon, and has been spun out to continue operations as an independent entity with support from its parent company.

EnvoyAI is simplifying access to AI algorithms for physicians by providing integration into existing workflows, starting with the TeraRecon product suite. The companys products include a free developer platform, an open API, and a local virtual appliance designed to streamline the clinical implementation of trained machine learning algorithms. The EnvoyAI platform allows hospitals to quickly integrate a growing catalog of algorithms seamlessly into their workflow, while supporting both cloud and local deployment configurations.

Dr. Steven Rothenberg, radiology informatics fellow and EnvoyAIs Chief Medical Officer, shared, It has been very exciting to see all the content starting to accumulate on the platform. We feel the momentum of a growing industry behind us, and its encouraging that so many companies see us as an avenue to reach a broader audience. I have been particularly enthusiastic about the benefits we can provide to patients, using FDA-cleared algorithms that are already available on the platform. Many of the metrics these products automatically compute are things that no human could or would want to measure by hand. Any radiologist can use these algorithms to provide greater value to patients and referring physicians.

EnvoyAI retains the McCoy Medical advisory board, including Dr. Eliot Siegel, Dr. Paul Chang, and Dr. Khan Siddiqui. Advisory board member, Dr. Eliot Siegel said, There has been a profound mismatch between the many thousands of diverse and promising algorithms presented at research meetings and the tiny number that are available at my workstation. Weve always had brilliant minds creating algorithms that can be applied to images. What weve lacked is the communication mechanism that delivers their algorithms to a broad audience allowing clinicians to try out algorithms, while maintaining control over the patient interaction and report.

EnvoyAI is tackling this challenge by giving physicians direct access to cutting edge algorithms produced by a growing number of innovative AI companies.

Visit EnvoyAI at RSNA17 in Chicago, IL at Booth #8149B in the Machine Learning Showcase.

About EnvoyAI (www.envoyai.com) EnvoyAI provides a developer platform, integrations, and an API interface for algorithm developers, technology partners, and end users. EnvoyAI facilitates the streamlined distribution and hospital implementation of trained machine learning algorithms via a vendor neutral distribution platform. The platform allows users anywhere to access cloud-based algorithms without requiring access to the algorithm code or training data to protect PHI and developer intellectual property. EnvoyAI assists research institutions and emerging AI companies in the translation and commercialization processes, starting with rapid deployment via a scalable, secure, cloud-based infrastructure with the ability to add local components to facilitate on-site deployments as well. EnvoyAI distributes its products both directly and through resellers to make algorithms on the platform available to a very wide footprint of hospitals and, ultimately, to patient bedsides everywhere.

Press Inquiries:

US: 413-320-6636 | info@envoyai.com
International recognition is something all artists strive to achieve when working on their latest creations, and one local playwright has achieved that recognition following the staging of some of his plays in Chicago.

Jimmy Keary from Rathowen has 20 plays under his belt, with play number 20, 'Mammy's Boy', being completed earlier this year.

But it's not his latest play that's gathering fans in Chicago; in fact, it's some of his older work that's in the spotlight.

Earlier this year, the Longford Leader spoke to Jimmy about the fact that the Gaelic Park Players in Chicago were performing 'For Better, For Worse'.

I wrote this play in 2015. Its a follow-up to The Two Loves of Gabriel Foley, which I wrote in 2010. However, although a sequel, it is also a stand-alone play, Jimmy told the Longford Leader at the time.

But since then, things have only gotten better for the local playwright, with the Gaelic Park Players taking on another of his works, 'Looking For Love', which has just finished running in Chicago this week.

The Gaelic Park Players are very fond of my work. I was talking to a member of the group on the phone last week and he told me that I have a great following out there, said Jimmy.

And it's certainly a humbling experience for Jimmy to see his first ever play staged so far away from home.

'Looking For Love' was the first one-act I wrote way back in 1996, he explained.

It had its premiere in the Bog Lane Theatre, Ballymahon in April 1997.

It tells the story of two lonely single people, Denis and Vivienne taking their first tentative steps towards romance and the various banana skins life throws in their way.

It was the success of this first play that inspired Jimmy to pursue his interest in writing plays.

The buzz I got from sitting in the audience that time and hearing people laugh at something I'd created from nothing prompted me to keep writing, he said.

In a way, it was like a drug. I still get a kick from getting that feedback from an audience. And after writing a number of one-acts, I took the big step and wrote my first three-act, 'The Maiden Aunt' in 1999. Along with 'The Two Loves of Gabriel Foley', it remains one of my most popular plays.

And, while you might think 20 plays is more than enough to be getting on with, Jimmy is still pursuing his passion and continues to write and facilitate the staging of his works across the country.

I am currently working on a radio play for a competition on the BBC World Service, he revealed.

It's a more serious play than I normally write although there is some light-hearted banter in it. It's titled 'A Good Family Man'.

I grew up listening to loads of radio drama as Radio Eireann had plays and serials on the air most days and it has always been my ambition to have a play on radio .

He also plans to start a new three-act comedy after Christmas: It's provisionally titled 'A Fish Out Of Water' and I have already the first scene worked out in my head, he said.

Meanwhile, Abbeyfeale Drama Group in Limerick is currently staging 'The Two Loves of Gabriel Foley', and Moville Drama Group, Donegal, is staging the same play for six nights at the end of the month.

And, on top of that, his new play, 'Mammy's Boy' will be staged by Derrynoose Drama Group, Co Armagh early in 2018.

Jimmy Keary is also available to give talks to writers' groups who would be interested. To book a session, contact jimkeary@eircom.

This is not the first Chicago success story for Jimmy. Read next: Rathowen writer's work to hit Chicago stage
AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EyeSee360 have revealed the best Lenovo deals available for Cyber Monday 2017. Their top picks this year are:



Known for their versatility and build quality, Lenovo laptops and tablets adapt to your lifestyle and are available for a range of budget levels. This Cyber Monday there are discounts available on the popular Yoga line of 2-in-1s, as well as on the Tab 4 Android tablet and IdeaPad laptop. Check the entire range of Lenovo laptops, tablets, monitors and more on sale at Amazon here.

E-commerce specialists at EyeSee360 compare discounts from the most popular retailers to find the best value Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Cyber Monday continues to be a vital sales day for major retailers with sales for 2017 set to break last years total. Last year shoppers spent close to $700 billion during the holiday shopping season, according to data released by the National Retail Federation. Spending has been on the rise each year, growing at a rate of 5% on average for the past six years.

Whilst historically Black Friday has involved lengthy queues and chaotic scenes at retail stores, the transition to online deals has eased the pressure on brick and mortar sales. Statistics made available by the NRF reveal that last year 110 million shoppers headed to the web for Black Friday deals. In comparison, 99 million traveled to brick and mortar stores to access discounts. Black Friday 2017 landed a day earlier this year on 24 November. Most sales kicked off online on 20 November and reach their peak on Cyber Monday.

Stay up to date with the latest news on the most popular Lenovo Cyber Monday deals on the EyeSee360 website.

About EyeSee360: EyeSee360 are a leading deal review and comparison website that specialize in rounding up Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on gadgets, electronics, home and outdoors gear. EyeSee360 participate in affiliate programs including the Amazon Associates program and earn income by providing links to Amazon.com and other websites.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Fundamentalism and Secularism

On November 27 this year falls the nineteenth death anniversary of distinguished administrator P.N. Haksar, one of the countrys foremost thinkers. [He passed away on November 27, 1998, precisely five months after N.C., who was close to him in his thinking, breathed his last.] On this occasion we remember him by reproducing an article he wrote in Man and Development (Vol. XIII, No. 4, December 1991), the journal he edited.

In the charmed world of Alice in Wonderland, words can be made to mean anything. Regrettably, outside the Wonderland, words have to be used with utmost care. The context in which a word arises must be understood if we are to avoid unnecessary sorrow and suffering. Ever since human beings began expressing themselves through words and then language, a measure of sacredness has been attached to a word. According to our own tradition, in the beginning there was Word and that word was Om. Great care was taken in articulating the vibrant resonance of Om. Similar sanctity attaches to a muezzins call: Allah-O-Akbar. In the Christian system of faith and belief, the second person in the Trinity is Word. When a person makes a promise or statement to do something upon my word, sanctity attaches to that statement.

We have said enough to make the simple point that words have to be used with utmost care. In order to do so, we must understand the context in which each word arose and the shades of meaning which it acquires through the passage of time. All this might sound somewhat pedantic, but the Information Revolution, which is shaking the world, makes it necessary to point out the dangers involved in our failure to be meticulous, even fussy, about the use of words. In these notes, we are particularly concerned about two words, namely, Fundamentalism and Secularism.

Many dignitaries visiting our shores in recent months, more specially from the United States and the United Kingdom, have warned us about the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism. It is perhaps, their hope that Indias social and political climate might be receptive to their warnings. That hope is not without some basis. That is why it is necessary to examine critically the genesis of the word fundamentalism. How did this word arise in the English language? The Oxford Reference Dictionary explains it thus:

Strict maintenance of traditional orthodox religious beliefs; a religious movement which developed among various Protestant bodies in the USA after the First World War, based on strict adherence to certain tenets (e.g., the literal inerrancy of Scripture) held to be fundamental to the Christian faith.

The Encyclopedia of Social Sciences elaborates the origin of fundamentalism as follows:

Fundamentalism is the name of an aggressive conservative movement in the Protestant churches of the United States which flourished during the decade after the World War. It manifested itself chiefly in the Baptist, Disciple and Presbyterian churches but received considerable support from other ecclesiastical groups. It was characterised not only by its aggressive efforts to impose its creed upon the churches and upon the public and denominational schools of the country. Its conservative supernaturalism was expressed in the five points of fundamentalism, which included the doctrines of the inerrancy of the Bible, the Virgin Birth of Jesus, the super-natural atonement, the physical resurrection of Jesus and the authenticity of the Gospel miracles. The first of these points was interpreted by fundamentalism to apply particularly to the Biblical account of the creation of man in opposition to the theory of evolution, which became the central question of the fundamentalist controversy.

The movement was directed against liberal elements within the churches and against purely scientific or secular interests in American civilisation.

It may be noted that fundamentalism as it arose in the USA allied itself to political conservatism against liberal elements within the churches and against purely scientific or secular interests. Enormous pressure was exerted on teachers and schools of a large number of States to purge the textbooks of all references to Evolution and substitute it with Creation. It may be of interest to note that

in the social sources from which it drew its strength fundamentalism was closely related to the conflict between rural and urban cultures in America... the fundamentalist attitude reflected the distrust of reason and the emphasis upon emotion, the doubt of human ability to solve ultimate problems and the reliance on divine agency which are characteristic not only of much traditional Christianity but also of those groups which have received the least profit from a rationalised culture and of pioneer and isolated rural societies which remain most conscious of dependence for their livelihood on those processes of nature which are least subject to human control. The rationalism and self-reliance of the opposing groups, on the other hand, had been fostered not only by science and education, but also by industrialised culture with its rational and artificial methods of production and its immediate urban environment, all largely subject to human control. (Encyclopedia of Social

Sciences, p. 527)

One can, perhaps, formulate a generalisation about causes generating fundamentalism expressed in religious terms. Whenever human beings in large or smaller aggregates in any society perceive that their physical and spiritual well-being and their future cannot be achieved through reason in politics, and thus become assailed by a sense of fear and uncertainty, they would tend to fall back upon fundamentalism as the only emotionally stabilising factor. Insofar as there is a growing potentiality of the rise of fundamentalism in countries where people profess Islam, it is directly relatable to massive frustration of hopes and aspirations of the peoples concerned for both bread and liberty. Historically speaking, these frustrations are the direct result of policies pursued by the West, including the United States, in the entire arena which embraces Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and the entire Arab world. Naturally, these frustrations might also grip those areas of the former Soviet Union in which people have Islamic faith.

One cannot meet the challenge posed by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism by the application of military force. It can only be met if the faith of these people in the possibility of improving their sense of human dignity, their identity and promise of a better life is seen to be understood and translated into diplomacy practised by the Western powers. The other scenario is too horrendous to contemplate. Surely those who warn India against the rise fundamentalism are not contemplating the revival of the crusades or of religious wars. One should learn from history that neither the crusades nor the religious wars fought in Europe between the 15th and 17th centuries yielded decisive results in the victory of one religion over the other or the victory of Protestantism over Catholicism. It is indeed ironic that fundamentalism should have resurrected itself in the United States amongst the Protestant sects.

In our own country, religious fundamentalism gains adherence only in the measure that reason retreats in politics, money and muscle power suffocates democracy, cultural and ideological pluralism is sought to be snuffed out by fundamentalism expressed in religious terms, whether in the name of Hinduism or Islam.

Our country has, for several centuries, interacted both with the Arab world and Persia. We have interacted with Islam. And if India had remained undivided we would have, in the Republic of United India, more than 300 million citizens of the Republic professing Islamic faith. We respectfully ask how Hindutva would have coped with Akhand Bharat containing 30 crores of Muslims? That is why we began by expressing serious anxiety about improper use of words.

It would be erroneous to assume that the mindset which is labelled by the word funda-mentalism is invariably connected with religion. Any rigid dogma can degenerate into a funda-mentalist mindset crushing liberty and demo-cracy. Fundamentalism can equally express itself in racist terms. The apartheid system in South Africa, in this view of the matter, must be regarded as an expression of the fundamentalist mindset of White racists there. Hitlers Nazism was also fundamentalist, as it combined racist dogmas with retreat from reason and rationality. In pre-war Japan, Japanese fundamentalism was based on enforcing the Bushido Code; dissidents were persecuted for the crime of advocating dangerous thoughts. The Stalinist persecution equally belongs to the fundamentalist species.

Our own social, political, economic, cultural and moral order is gripped with crisis. The centuries-old tradition, reinforced by a variety of oral traditions, helps our people in maintaining some sort of faith in their future. But this must not be overestimated. Fear and uncertainly is seeping through millions upon millions of people. Our political leadership faces a great challenge to replace fear with hope and this can only be done by combining together the moral, spiritual and scientific universe with which the names of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru are associated.

At this stage one must consider the meaning of the word Secularism. Both fundamentalism and secularism are interacting attitudes of mind in human societies bounded by specificities of their own respective cultures and civilisations. They are not independent variables. In the English language, the word secular means concerned with the affairs of this world, not spiritual or sacred and secularism means the belief that morality or education should not be based on religion.

Both the words secular and secularism arose as a result of the operation of a universal process which has been in operation in all societies from the dawn of human consciousness. In this connection we would like to draw the attention of our readers to the same column in the September 1991 issue of Man and Development entitled, Men, Events and Processes. By this process, the human mind is able to discern what constitutes the affairs of this world, as distinct from spiritual or sacred. Naturally, the outward expression of the operation of this process of secularisation of the human mind takes a variety of shapes and forms depending upon the cultural specificities of each society. The humankind began this process of secularisation from the very moment they began asking questions like How and Why instead of Who.

In the history of our own civilisation, we began drawing a distinction between matters relating to Ih-lok as distinct from Parlok. There is a similar distinction between matters relating to Deen and Dunia. The process of secularisation is fed by the search for knowledge which grows into science-based knowledge. By this process, human beings endeavour, on the basis of knowledge, to grapple with the problems of political, economic, social and cultural structu-ring of societies. In Europe, the secularisation process produced in time Renaissance, Enlighten-ment and Juristic humanitarian universalism. We can easily discern similar process at work in the story of our own civilisation.

It is important to remember that the process of secularisation was powerfully helped by the elaboration of natural laws instead of laws derived from sanctity of religion. When, in the midst of this process, there emerged the Modern Nation-State, the question arose, and certainly arises in our country with a particular sense of legitimacy, about the nature and character of our State: Is State an instrument for enforcing divine laws? Alternatively, is State an instrument for the enlargement and protection of totality of national interest transcending religious or denominational divisions? It is from these considerations that there arose the need for the State confining itself to the affairs of this world, and thus being secular rather than being an instrument of any particular faith or dogma.

It may be noted that the process of secularisation is accelerated in the measure that a State, citizens and society are governed by laws enacted through the democratic processes. There then emerges a law-governing State and law-abiding citizens. In our country, we have laws and procedures relating to crime; we have laws relating to evidence; we have laws governing transfer of property and about taxation. All these are secular laws concerning the affairs of our world in India. In this view of the matter, it is normal and natural to have uniform laws governing all citizens of the Republic of India.

If the words secular, secularism and secula-risation are to be understood as part and parcel of a universal process of secularisation of the human mind, then we have inflicted enormous damage on the nation-building process in India, by a totally unacceptable and false translation of the word secular and secularism by equating them to the doctrine of religious tolerance expressed in the words like Dharmanirpekshta and Sarwa Dharma Sambhava. These translations have produced great schizophrenia in our politics which, in time, has produced the situation with which we are now actually confronted in Punjab and Kashmir. And not merely in Punjab and Kashmir, but elsewhere too, when our politicians of all political parties make their electoral calculations in terms of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, etc.

There is one more question which needs to be answered: What is the relationship between religion, howsoever defined, and processes of secularisation? Is the relationship inherently antagonistic? The answer is no. The process of secularisation merely leads to finding the domain of each, both at the level of individual and society and State. That is why the word Secular as we have stated means concerned with the affairs of this world, not spiritual or sacred. It is to be hoped that if the Republic of India is not to degenerate into a state of anarchy, the time has come for coming to grips with the real meaning of such words as secularism and fundamentalism.
CROMWELL, CONN - A Hartford man accused of driving around a blockade at a fatal accident scene and slamming into a State Police cruiser has been charged with drunken driving.

Martin Jackson, 29, was also charged with operating with a suspended license and failure to drive in lane, Connecticut State Police said.

State Police troopers were investigating a fatal accident on the northbound 27 exit ramp on Interstate-91 just before 5 a.m., Saturday, when Jackson drove around police cruisers and Department of Transportation vehicles used to block the right lane and on-ramp where the accident happened, police said.

Jackson then allegedly drove his Acura into a State Police SUV, striking it in the rear. No one was in the vehicle at the time, police said.

"The cruisers and DOT vehicles all had emergency lights activated and the ramp closure was marked," police said.

Jackson was taken to the hospital for minor injuries and then turned over to police custody where he is being held on $2,500 bond, police said.

The Acura and the State Police cruiser were heavily damaged.

A Weathersfield man was killed in the single-car crash that police were investigating. Police have not released the name of the victim who was alone in his car when he veered off the highway, traveled across the ramp and struck trees.
A LAZ Fly shuttle bus near Bradley International Airport on Nov. 9, 2017.

Don Treeger / The Republican

By STEPHANIE BARRY | sbarry@repub.com

Don't Edit

A Southwick man who served more than a decade in prison for possession of the powerful toxin ricin is suing a Bradley International Airport official and a Connecticut state trooper for $200,000 after he was booted from his job as an airport shuttle driver in September.

He was hired despite his inclusion on a federal no-fly list.

And according to the complaint filed in Hampden Superior Court, an airport administrator barred the plaintiff, Michael Allen Crooker, from his job at LAZ Fly after discovering Crooker was on that list, established by the federal government's Terrorist Screening Center.

The Transportation Security Administration apparently green-lighted Crooker for the job even after he disclosed his extensive criminal history, which included a 2007 indictment for weapons of mass destruction-related charges. Crooker pleaded guilty in 2011 to lesser charges: threatening a federal prosecutor, and possession of a toxin, ricin, without registration.

Crooker, 64, had been behind bars since an arrest in 2004. He was charged, tried and convicted in U.S. District Court of being a felon in possession of a "weapon," which was a legal air gun he customized with a silencer and sold to a buyer in the Midwest.

That verdict was later overturned by an appeals court. But by then, Crooker was facing the subsequent federal indictment in connection with the ricin allegations. He pleaded guilty in 2011 and sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, with credit for the time hed served since 2004. He was released from prison in March.

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Michael Crooker at his Southwick home, Nov. 9, 2017.

Don Treeger / The Republican

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Over the summer, Crooker said, he began searching for legitimate employment. Job hunting can be difficult for a man with Crooker's past, so he returned to what he knew  he worked as an airport shuttle driver in the early 2000s, he said.

Crooker was hired in July as a shuttle bus driver with LAZ Fly airport parking, according to his lawsuit. He carted travelers to and from the company's parking lots to curbside destinations at Bradley. He earned nearly $10,000 in wages, he said, with nearly half that hustling tips.

The names on the no-fly list are typically held secret from the public, according to unrelated lawsuits filed by the ACLU. Crooker said he was totally unaware he was among those listed.

Paperwork Crooker provided to The Republican shows U.S. Probation officials insisted he seek TSA approval prior to accepting the job, even though the federal agency does not have purview over non-secure airport areas, including curbsides.

An Oct. 10 letter to LAZ Fly's human resources office shows Crooker's probation officer went to bat for him after he was fired on Sept. 27.

"On 7/20/2017, Supervising United States Probation Officer (Jesse Gomes) spoke with Steven Blindbury at TSA. Mr. Blindbury advised SUSPO Gomes that he did not see Mr. Crookers job as being (a) risk and sees him as someone attempting to work, reads a letter from federal probation officer Rachelle Lee. Mr. Blindbury advised that he was satisfied that Mr. Crooker had no access to the airport and that he would make law enforcement notifications because of his history.

U.S. Probation officials did not comment for this story. Under an agency policy, they do not speak about probationers.

Blindbury is an assistant federal security director for TSA. A spokesman for the agency declined comment, citing the pending lawsuit.

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Don Treeger / The Republican

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According to Crooker's complaint, James Campbell, senior security director of the Connecticut Airport Authority, got wind of Crooker's employment and insisted LAZ Fly terminate him.

Campbell and two Connecticut state troopers called Crooker's manager to the airport for a meeting three days before Crooker's firing, the lawsuit says.

Crooker has argued in the lawsuit and subsequent interviews that Campbell has no authority to fire an employee of a private company who technically never enters the airport.

"On September 27, 2017 plaintiffs immediate supervisor, Rick Taylor, telephoned and told plaintiff he could no longer come to work, the complaint states. Taylor explained that he had been summoned to a meeting at the airport by a Connecticut State Trooper and two airport officials. Taylor was told that the plaintiff had a criminal record and was on one of the federal 'No Fly Lists.' Taylor was ordered not to allow the plaintiff to do his job and was banned from airport property for work purposes.

The complaint adds that Crooker's supervisors reported to his probation officer that he was a "model driver" and "excellent employee."

Taylor did not respond to requests for comment.

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"I request to be removed from the 'No Fly List' as I am not a terrorist and the fact that I am on this list caused my job to be terminated."

 Michael Crooker, in a Nov. 2 letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

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Crooker began calling state troopers connected to the airport, in addition to Campbell, according to the lawsuit. Crooker ultimately received what he described as a "threatening phone call" from "a Connecticut State Police Sgt. Doug Pina from Troop H," warning him not to attempt to reach anyone at the airport authority, the lawsuit states.

"(Pina) told the plaintiff not to call the CAA anymore or he would face a criminal harassment arrest ... Plaintiff told Pina that he was violating plaintiffs rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees citizens the right to petition the government for redress of grievances and the CAA is a government agency and plaintiff was attempting to do exactly that," the complaint reads.

Pina could not be reached for comment.

None of the defendants has yet filed an answer to Crookers complaint, according to court records.

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Michael Crooker, right, at the Southwick home he shares with father, Harold Crooker, left.

Don Treeger / The Republican

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Crooker said Campbell also sent a memo, which he obtained through a public records request, to all airport employees flagging Crooker as a potential threat. The memo says that while Crooker had leveled no threats toward the airport or its employees, he had been fired because of "concerns with his criminal background."

Anyone who spotted Crooker on the property, the memo said, should call 911 or press their "duress alarms."

The memo included photos of Crooker.

A spokeswoman for the airport authority declined comment, stating only that the agency does not comment on pending litigation. Campbell was formerly the police chief in Thomaston, Connecticut, before accepting the airport post in 2016.

Crooker has since peppered an assortment of government agencies for relief, including the U.S. Attorneys Office, Department of Homeland Security and the Connecticut Attorney Generals office  all to no avail.

He petitioned the Department of Homeland Security to remove him from the no-fly since, he argues, he poses not threat and has no plans to travel by air.

I request to be removed from the No Fly List as I am not a terrorist and the fact that I am on this list caused my job to be terminated, Crooker wrote in a Nov. 2 letter to the agency. Just last month I was given a U.S. Passport Card and they dont give those out to terrorists. I need my job because I live with and provide partial support for my 92-year old father who is a disabled veteran of WW2.

In the letter, he also said various government agencies were spinning him in circles with non-responsive answers.

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"Michael is a nonviolent offender who should be gainfully employed, and the authorities should let sleeping dogs lie."

 Vincent A. Bongiorni

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Michael Crooker at his computer -- where he conducts legal research -- in his Southwick home on Nov. 9, 2017.

Don Treeger / The Republican

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Boyhood teachers, employers and even a federal judge have noted in records and public court proceedings that Crooker is nimble-minded and resourceful, despite a criminal record that dates to his childhood, according to sentencing memos filed with the federal court.

Prominent Springfield criminal defense lawyer Vincent A. Bongiorni has represented Crooker in several criminal cases.

"Michael is a nonviolent offender who should be gainfully employed, and the authorities should let sleeping dogs lie  especially him, because he becomes extremely litigious when provoked," Bongiorni said.

During Crookers time in prison from 2004 to 2017, he filed 112 lawsuits and netted over $65,000 in out-of-court settlements, according to a handwritten ledger he provided that was meticulously kept by his late mother. Payouts ranged from as little as $50 up to several thousand, according to his records.

Crooker drafts all his legal pleadings himself. He says he has done so since he sued former Hampden County Sheriff Michael J. Ashe in 1976, alleging the sheriff threw him in "the hole" for too long, and alleging deplorable conditions of solitary confinement at the former York Street Jail.

While the disposition of that case could not be found, Crooker recalls that he first learned to craft lawsuits from a book published in the 1970s titled "Prisoners Self-help Litigation Manual."He said he filed the more than 100 lawsuits from prison as "a hobby" and to bolster his commissary account.

Of the charges for which he most recently served prison time, Crooker attributed having the ricin materials, including castor beans, to an "arsenal mentality" he once had that also prompted him to assemble and bury machine guns in his yard.

"Also I wanted to have an ace in the hole, something to 'turn in' or 'surrender' to gain leniency in the event of a (government) frame-up, which did indeed happen three years after I made that sh-t," Crooker said, referring to the air gun case.

It's a strategy Crooker says he learned from prison acquaintance Myles Connor, a notorious art thief who in 1975 stole a Rembrandt painting from the Museum of Fine Arts and promised its safe return in exchange for dodging prison time for a separate heist. Connor chronicled his life in a 2010 book, The Art of the Heist: Confessions of a Master Thief.

Crooker, however, said he has abandoned that mentality and wants to live a legitimate life outside prison walls.

"That was many years ago when I was much younger and wilder, he said. Now I am nearly a senior citizen and don't collect such things anymore and just want to work, do the right thing and live like normal people do.
WASHINGTON, MA - A Western Massachusetts man who went missing earlier Friday has been found and taken for medical treatment, according to Massachusetts State Police.

Frederick Oliver, 69, of Washington, Mass., was reported missing after his wife failed to hear back from him following a phone call he made to her around 6:30 p.m. Friday. During the call, Oliver told his wife that his car had become stuck on East New Lenox Road.

Oliver was found in October Mountain State Forest by State Troopers around 8 p.m. Saturday, police said. The forest is nearby East Lenox Road, where Oliver's vehicle reportedly became stuck.

He has been taken to Berkshire Medical Center for treatment.

Police did not comment on Oliver's condition.

No further information has been released at this time.
SUNDERLAND - Police are asking for help to identify a suspect in an attempted armed robbery that happened early Sunday morning.

After midnight a woman attempted to rob the Sunderland Market on Route 116. She entered wearing a hood and sunglasses and demanded the clerk hand her money from the register, Sunderland Police said.

The clerk refused and the suspect fled, heading toward Squire Village. Police were assisted by Whately officers and the Montague Police K-9 officer, who searched the area, police said.

The woman was recorded on store video. Police are asking anyone who can identify the woman or has any information about the attempted robbery is asked to call the dispatch center at 413-625-8200 or the Sunderland Police station at 413-665-7036.
HOLYOKE - A woman was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries following an accident in Holyoke on Saturday night, according to 22news.

The crash occurred on I-91 north near exit 17 around 7 p.m., said Massachusetts State Police Lt. Brian Gladu.

Two women were inside an SUV headed down the highway when the vehicle flipped over. Only one was was taken for treatment, Gladu said.

It is not clear what caused the crash to occur.

Police have released no further information regarding the crash.
WOBURN, MA - A woman from Maine died Saturday after sustaining fatal injuries in a car crash in Woburn, Massachusetts State Police said.

The victim, a 48-year-old woman from Kennebunk, Maine, has not been publicly identified, though police said they expect to release her identity Sunday.

Police were called to Route 93 near Exit 37A in Woburn around 5:10 p.m. after receiving reports of a crash in the highway's northbound lane, police said.

Investigation led police to understand that a 2009 Honda Fit, the car driven by the Maine woman, had crashed into a GMC Yukon from behind. The impact from the collision caused the Yukon to then crash into another car, a Honda Civic.

As a result, the driver of the Honda Fit suffered serious injuries and was taken to Lahey Hospital in Burlington, where she died from her injuries.

Nobody in the Yukon or Honda Civic were injured as a result of the crash.

The three right travel lanes were closed from approximately one hour and were reopened at approximately 6:55 p.m.

The crash is still under investigation by members of the State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction team and other law enforcement organizations.
"Why does a kid go to a major university these days?" said Antenori, 51, a former Green Beret who served in the Arizona state legislature. "A lot of Republicans would say they go there to get brainwashed and learn how to become activists and basically go out in the world and cause trouble."

Antenori is part of an increasingly vocal campaign to transform higher education in America. Though U.S. universities are envied around the world, he and other conservatives want to reduce the flow of government cash to what they see as elitist, politically correct institutions that often fail to provide practical skills for the job market.

"There is fear and angst about the future. People are looking around and saying to universities, What are you doing for me? You guys at the universities are building robots that are going to replace my job. "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2017/11/25/elitists-crybabies-and-junky-degrees/?utm_term=.bde5b49d209c
Turkeys dont just offer fuel on a Thanksgiving plate. Two Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers found turkey poop could act as a potent alternative energy source  and could actually replace around 10 percent of coal utilized for electricity generation.

by Lacy Cooke

https://inhabitat.com/turkey-poop-could-offer-a-potent-alternative-to-coal/
Several countries have already announced bans on combustion vehicles, but here in the United States, the government hasnt made any significant mandates around EVs. The city of Atlanta is stepping up by passing a new law that will require all new residential homes and public parking facilities to accommodate electric vehicles.

by Marc Carter

https://inhabitat.com/atlanta-says-all-new-construction-must-be-ev-ready/
KTVH TV, part of the Montana Television Network, is looking for a full-time Digital Content Producer, based in Helena, Montana.

http://www.kxlh.com/story/36863481/job-announcement-digital-content-producer

Wed appreciate it if youd mention that you found this opportunity on MATR.net Thank you
The Legacy students have done numerous public service projects, including making and distributing hand-tied fleece blankets to the homeless, running a school carnival and helping at nursing homes and day care centers. This is their first attempt at feeding those in need.

By DAVE KOLPACK Associated Press

https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ap_news/us/refugees-thank-adoptive-north-dakota-city-by-feeding-hungry/article_18eeef17-f680-52e0-b610-82f62dc3653b.html
Names and faces

Shawna Korth, a real estate sales professional, has joined the Andy O Realty Group of Keller Williams Capital Realty as a buyers agent.

Korth worked in the corporate legal field for many years before she began her real estate career in 2013 in Denver, relocating to Helena this past spring.

She has a background in residential property resales and new-build properties. Korth was awarded the 100% Club award for her sales in 2016 and listing agent of the month at her past real estate company.

Contact Korth at itsonehelenalife@kw.com; or call 720-273-6390.

***

Luke Soper has joined Opportunity Bank of Montana as Helena market president. Soper has more than 13 years of banking experience and is a 2015 graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School. Soper holds a bachelor of Arts degree in business administration, with an emphasis in finance from the University of Montana. Soper is a board member of the Helena Family YMCA and a member of the Helena Kiwanis Club. He will oversee Helena operations and lending efforts.

Mark ONeill has been promoted to senior vice president, chief lending officer at Opportunity Bank of Montana. ONeill brings more than 20 years bank and lending experience to the position. He has a management and leadership background and recently served as market president in the Butte branch. ONeill has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Montana, with an emphasis in economics. He is a board member of the Butte Local Development Corporation.

Darryl Rensmon has been promoted to senior vice president, chief information officer. Rensmon has more than 25 years of experience in technology-orientated work in the field of information systems with 13 years in leadership. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in business -- information systems management. He is responsible for all facets of information systems and technology.

Awards and honors

VA hygienist honored

The Montana Dental Hygienists Association has named Shaini Van Wyk the recipient of the Helena 2017 Community Leadership Award. The award recognizes hygienists who have proven extraordinary service in the field of dental hygiene and contribution to the community.

Van Wyk, of Helena, graduated from Sheridan College in Wyoming with a dental hygiene degree in 1990. She has worked at the VA for nine years.

Van Wyk was honored at the Montana Dental Hygienists Association Annual Session in Kalispell in September.

Guidelines

The IR welcomes reports of hiring, promotions, awards, recognition, learning opportunities and other news from local companies and nonprofits. We accept press releases and photos (digital images at 300 dpi or more are preferred). Email your information to irstaff@helenair.com.

There is no charge for items appearing in the Business Briefcase. Items are run on a space-available basis, and we reserve the right to edit and use information as we see fit.

The deadline is Tuesday at noon to be considered for publication the following Sunday.
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The study's first authors were Nirali Patel, MD, formerly of UNC Lineberger, and Vanessa Michelini of IBM Watson Health, Boca Raton, Florida. IBM Corp. provided in-kind access to the Watson technology for the study, as well as technical expertise.The researchers used IBM Watson for Genomics to assess whether cognitive computing was more effective than a panel of cancer experts in identifying therapeutic options for tumors with specific genetic abnormalities. They compared Watson's ability to identify possible therapeutic options tied to potentially clinically significant genetic mutations with the findings of UNC Lineberger's molecular tumor board.In a retrospective analysis of 1,018 cancer cases, the molecular tumor board identified actionable genetic alterations in 703 cases, which Watson also confirmed. In addition, Watson for Genomics identified additional potential therapeutic options in 323 patients, or one third of the cases reviewed that the molecular tumor board hadn't identified. Of these, 96 were not previously identified as having an actionable mutation."To be clear, the additional 323 cases of Watson-identified actionable alterations consisted of only eight genes that had not been considered actionable by the molecular tumor board," Kim said. In most of those cases, Watson identified a new clinical trial. One of those trials had opened within a week of Watson's analysis.The study drew on data from UNCseq, a UNC Lineberger clinical trial that used next-generation sequencing to analyze the genomics of a participant's tumor with the goal of matching tumor abnormalities with a targeted therapeutic. Next-generation sequencing is "fundamental" to the promise of precision medicine, the researchers reported, but sequencing can uncover many different alterations in hundreds of genes, and the "majority of such events have no known relevance to the treatment of patients with cancers.""The major finding is that cognitive computing augmented the molecular tumor board process for the interpretation and collection of information regarding a patient's genomic profile," Kim said. "The study was not designed to analyze whether or not this helps patients in regard to outcome as defined by prolonged survival or treatment response."The program did identify new possible options for some patients. The findings were not relevant to most patients because the majority of the patients did not have active cancer, or had died by the time of the retrospective analysis. But for 47 patients with active disease, and needing additional options, the findings were reported to their treating physicians."To my knowledge, this is the first published examination of the utility of cognitive computing in precision cancer care," Kim said. "I'm optimistic that as we get more sequencing data, well-annotated treatment information, as well as therapy response, tools like Watson for Genomics will begin to show their true promise. But, of course, we still need to formally answer these questions."Source: Eurekalert
Alan Michaud does not want his students only to learn about butchering, but to come away with a better understanding of what theyre eating.

Michaud adopted the name Montana Meat Collective, believed to be the first collective in the state, about two years ago and began offering classes earlier this year. A meat collective works by sourcing ready-to-butcher animals from local producers and then holding classes taught by trained butchers.

A collective approach emphasizes sustainable and local purchasing with a direct to consumer model, where producers sell to the students and Michaud acts as the facilitator.

We have all these cuts in the store, and many people dont know where theyre coming from, he said. What were promoting is more of a hands-on education in where food comes from, rather than simply learning about butchering.

Michaud attended classes at the Portland Meat Collective in Portland, Oregon, four years ago and looks to its success for guidance. He hopes to attract students from across the state, and so far has seen attendees from Arlee, Sunburst and the Bitterroot Valley come to Helena.

Meat collectives often become the place where producers and consumers meet for meat. Michaud is interested in building up the network between suppliers and those interested in buying direct. It can also be a place for sales of butchering equipment and supplies, he added.

The Montana Meat Collective brings local meat to local people, according to montanameatcollective.com. It's a network of Montana citizens who are looking for a cost-effective way to buy meat directly from Montanas small ranchers and farmers.

Classes thus far have focused on pork but Michaud thinks a lamb class will generate some interest, including by those who want to butcher their own wild game. He is still trying to figure out a beef class, which due to size, would take much longer.

At the end of each class Michaud and the instructor gather with the students, eat some of their product and talk about lessons learned. The next class is slated for January.

The direct to consumer sale does mean fewer regulations including inspections, although Michaud chooses to use state inspected meat. The meat he sources is also antibiotic free.

If we sold it then wed be a retailer, but were still using state inspected animals for safety even though its a little more expensive, he said.

Michauds goal is to one day open his own restaurant and uses his culinary training. Along with those looking to purchase meat direct, he also thinks the class could help out other aspiring chefs to learn more about the food theyre preparing.

In Portland they have a million people right there, he said. We have a million people in the whole state of Montana that Im hoping to cater to.
Professor Rob Natelsons critique and criticism of the Montana Supreme Courts decision striking down CI-116, Marsys Law, on November 1, 2017, is simply wrong-headed. The Court, very conservatively and very narrowly correctly applied Montana Constitutions Article XIV, Section 11, which clearly provides that if more than one amendment is submitted [to the Constitution] at the same election, each shall be so prepared and distinguished that it can be voted upon separately. (Italics added).

The Court did not rule that Marsys Law was a good idea or a bad idea. Rather, the Constitution mandates in no uncertain terms how the Constitution can be amended, and requiring voters to decide on each amendment separately is part of that process. The Court held that CI-116  by including a number of amendments to the Constitution within the Marsys Law initiative  violated the process of amendment. Nothing more; nothing less.

With all of his purported expertise in constitutional law, one would think that Professor Natelson would have understood Article XIV, Section 11, by now inasmuch as he was the driving force behind CI-75 which was declared unconstitutional a number of years ago for violating the same provision.

However, rather than demonizing the Montana Supreme Court for doing its job and protecting the integrity of Montanas Constitutional amendment process, it would be more intellectually honest if Professor Natelson had simply stepped down from his political soap box and correctly described the Courts actual decision.

The Court very carefully analyzed the language of CI-116 and the applicable Constitutional law. After doing so, the Court held that the initiative, besides enacting the various victims rights under new Section 36 to Article II, of the Constitution, also amended Article II, Section 17, (right to due process); Article VII, Section (2)(3), (power of Supreme Court to regulate attorney conduct); Article II, Section 21, (right to bail); Article II, Section 20, (criminal procedure rules); Article II, Section 24, (rights of accused persons); Article II, Section 9, (publics right to know); and Article II, Section 10, (right of individual privacy).

But then, dont take my word for it  or his, for that matter. Here is the link to the decision. https://www.leagle.com/decision/inmtco20171101531. Read it yourself, it is very clear and understandable.

Finally, if Professor Natelson wants to pontificate against someone or some organization for various citizens initiatives that are declared unconstitutional or otherwise fail, he ought to take on the politicians, special interests, think tanks and academics that dont know squat about Montana law or Montanas Constitution, but, nonetheless, feel qualified foist upon voters feel-good, discriminatory, partisan-biased or similar proposals.

The moral to the story here is simple. If you want to amend the Constitution, follow the process that We the People enacted when we adopted the Constitution. And, hire a qualified Montana lawyer to assist you in getting it right.

Jim Nelson of Helena is a retired Montana Supreme Court Justice.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Kotzias, will carry out visits to India, Singapore and Republic of Korea.



His first stop will be New Delhi, where, on Monday 27 November, he will meet with his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj, subsequently speaking at the Observer Research Foundation, an independent think tank, on the subject of Greeces role and initiatives in the region of Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. The minister will also be meeting with the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mobashar Jawed Akbar, and visit Gandhi Smriti.



On Wednesday 29 November, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will travel to Singapore, where he will meet with his counterpart, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan.



The last stop on Mr. Kotzias trip will be Seoul, where, on Thursday, 30 November, he will meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Kang Kyung-wha, and will subsequently be received by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon. Lastly, he will be meeting with His Eminence Metropolitan Ambrosios of Korea.
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Many big decisions need to be made during the holidays, from gift selections to menu creations. You are on your own with those issues, but we can offer some help when it comes to selecting TV programming. This year's lineup of shows includes traditional offerings like "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's a Wonderful Life," but also will feature a new take on an old favorite with a live presentation of "A Christmas Story" on Fox.

Ever since the 1983 film, based on the novel by Jean Shepherd, showed us all the dangers of owning a Red Ryder BB gun, it has aired in reruns every Christmas. "A Christmas Story Live!," scheduled to be broadcast at 6 p.m. Dec. 17 on Fox, is inspired by the film and the Tony-winning Broadway production.

Executive producer Marc Platt made the leap from making musical films ("La La Land") and musicals on Broadway ("Wicked") to his first taste of live television with "Grease: Live." He's certain "A Christmas Story" has been so popular because it broke the mold for traditional holiday productions.

"For years, our Christmas movies were sentimental, and they were sort of cozy and warm, and here came this movie that wasn't that. It was subversive and funny and sort of recognized all the family experiences each one of us have," Platt says. "We could relate to it. And so in taking it from the stage to the live television event, we're going to first and foremost deliver the humor and the comedy of the movie as it's represented on stage.

" 'A Christmas Story' is going to be a Christmas family event. We will wink with the audience. We will play tricks with you on how we accomplish it. And you will always know that you are in a film because it will be very cinematic. But we'll always pull back and go, oh, my gosh. This is actually happening live before our eyes."

The live version of "A Christmas Story" is just one offering on the holiday viewing menu. It's impossible to list them all but here are a few. Check TV listings for updated times:

"CMA Country Christmas," 7 p.m. Monday, ABC: Reba McEntire hosts the eighth annual event from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House.

"Angry Angel," 9 p.m. Monday, Freeform: A young woman (Brenda Song) has been turned into an angel but is stuck on Earth.

"A Very Pentatonix Christmas," 9 p.m. Monday, NBC: Jennifer Hudson and Jay Leno are the special guests.

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," 7 p.m. Tuesday, CBS: Burl Ives narrates the animated tale based on the popular song of the same name by Johnny Marks.

"Victoria's Secret Fashion Show," 9 p.m. Tuesday, CBS: Supermodels hit the runway in lingerie.

"Christmas in Rockefeller Center," 7 p.m. Wednesday, NBC: The evening includes performances by Brett Eldridge, Jennifer Nettles, Leslie Odom Jr., Pentatonix, Gwen Stefani and The Tenors.

"Bruno Mars Special," 9 p.m. Wednesday, CBS.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas," 7 p.m. Thursday, ABC: The digitally remastered 1965 special shows Charlie Brown complaining about the materialism he sees everywhere during the Christmas season.

"Eloise at Christmastime," 7:30 a.m. Friday, Freeform: Eloise (Sofia Vassilieva) is warned not to interfere as the Plaza Hotel prepares for a romantic Christmas Eve wedding.

"Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas," 2 p.m. Friday, Freeform: Jack Skellington becomes obsessed with bringing Christmas under his control.

"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," 7:05 p.m. Friday, Freeform: The Griswold family looks to have the most fun-filled old-fashioned family Christmas ever.

"Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas," 9:10 p.m. Saturday, Freeform: Jim Carrey stars as the title character who tries to ruin Christmas for all the Whos of Whoville.

"The Polar Express," 11:50 p.m. Saturday, Freeform: Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis reunite for the tale of a young boy and the magical train he boards to the North Pole.

"The Great Christmas Light Fight," 7 p.m. Dec. 4, ABC: This is the fifth season of the competition show that looks at the most spectacular and over-the-top Christmas displays in America.

"Shrek the Halls," 7 p.m. Dec. 7, ABC: Shrek doesn't have the holiday spirit, but for the sake of Fiona and the kids, he tries to get into the spirit of things as only an ogre can.

"Ready Jet Go!: Holidays in Boxwood Terrace," Dec. 11 (check local listings for time), PBS: Jet is excited when his idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant is accepted.

"Disney Prep & Landing," 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14, ABC: An elf named Wayne is upset when he doesn't receive an expected promotion to be the Director of Naughty List Intelligence.

"I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown," 7 p.m. Dec. 16, ABC: Rerun, the younger brother of Linus and Lucy, gets Snoopy to invite his canine brother, Spike, for a visit.

"Christmas With the Kranks," 11:55 p.m. Dec. 16, Freeform: A decision to skip Christmas changes when a couple's daughter decides at the last minute to come home for the holiday. Tim Allen stars.

"The Sound of Music," 6 p.m. Dec. 17, ABC: The Oscar-winning classic features the songs "Edelweiss," "My Favorite Things" and "Climb Every Mountain." Julie Andrews stars.

"Decorating Disney: Holiday Magic," 8 p.m. Dec. 18, Freeform: An inside look at how holiday magic is created throughout Disney Destinations.

"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," 7 a.m. Dec. 21, Freeform: Holiday special loosely based on the hit song.

"Peppa Pig: Father Christmas," 12:30 p.m. Dec. 22, Nickelodeon: Peppa and the rest of her playgroup are very excited to put on a big Christmas show.

"I Love Lucy Christmas Special," 7 p.m. Dec. 22, CBS: The new one-hour special features two back-to-back colorized episodes of the classic series: "The Christmas Episode" and "The Fashion Show."

"The Dick Van Dyke Show: Now in Living Color!," 8 p.m. Dec. 22, CBS: The two newly colorized back-to-back episodes were selected by series creator Carl Reiner. They include "My Blonde-Haired Brunette" and "October Eve."

"Christmas Getaway," 8 p.m. Dec. 23, Hallmark Channel: Travel writer finds herself double booked for the holidays.

"A Christmas Story," midnight Dec. 24, TCM: The holiday film will run continuously until 8 p.m. Dec. 25.

"It's a Wonderful Life," 7 p.m. Dec. 24, NBC: The 1946 Frank Capra film stars Jimmy Stewart.

"Disney Parks Magical Christmas Celebration," 9 a.m. Dec. 25, ABC: Hosts Julianne Hough and Nick Lachey take viewers on ride down Main Street, U.S.A. and beyond.

"Happy New Year, Charlie Brown," 7 p.m. Dec. 26, ABC: The Peanuts gang is ringing in 1986, and Marcie and Peppermint Patty are throwing a big New Year's Eve bash.
Now that Thanksgiving is in the books, it is time to look ahead to the busy holiday season in Middlesex County.

This last week of November features a few important chamber division meetings that our members look forward to. Our Westbrook division will hold its November meeting on Tuesday morning in the Westbrook High School Library. In addition to local and chamber updates, Westbrook Superintendent of Schools Patricia Ciccone will provide her annual update to the division members.

The chamber strives to be an effective bridge between the business and the education community in our region, and we look forward to going to the high school this Tuesday morning. This Friday morning, our Chester, Deep River, and Essex Division will meet at The Lace Factory in Deep River. The meeting will also feature local and chamber updates, in addition to a presentation from Lt. David Loughman, Commander, Troop F, CT State Police. The chambers divisions will continue to produce good content for our members as we move forward.

On Tuesday afternoon, I look forward to meeting with my fellow executives from Connecticuts eight metro chambers of commerce in New Haven. The metro chambers collectively represent thousands of businesses in our state, and these meetings always feature productive discussions about collaboration and joint advocacy for the business community. Now that the General Assembly has passed a state budget and it has been signed into law, the chambers can again focus on being the best possible resource for our member businesses.

This Tuesday evening features a MEWS+ hosted Innovation Meet-up at CenterPlace Connecticut in Middletown beginning at 5:00 p.m. The MEWS+ is an exciting co-working initiative that will complement the many other economic development initiatives that are currently underway in Middletown and in Middlesex County. The plan for the MEWS+, which stands for Middletown Entrepreneurs Work Space and more, is to use the second floor at the chamber office as headquarters, and as the Co-Working Space. We want our initiative to be a resource for freelancers, start-up businesses and small businesses, and the Wesleyan and Middlesex Community College communities. The Wesleyan community is of particular importance.

Middletown is fortunate to be home to Wesleyan University which is a diverse, energetic liberal arts community where critical thinking and practical idealism go hand in hand. With its distinctive teacher-scholar culture, innovative programming, and collaborative commitment to interdisciplinary learning, Wesleyan challenges students to explore new ideas and change the world. We are working to develop constructive MEWS+ curriculum that will compliment on campus activities. We will also work to connect Wesleyan students with downtown Middletown and with the dynamic business community that exists in Middlesex County.

In addition to the co-working space, the MEWS+ will develop a series of Meet-ups in Middletown that will attract businesses and entrepreneurs of all shapes and sizes. The MEWS+ will be a great place to start a new business or grow an existing company. As a co-working initiative, it provides not only a place to work, but also a collaborative working environment. This shared workspace environment will attract a creative class of developers, designers, strategists, artisans, writers, inventors, engineers and professional office nomads. Our goal is to create a truly dynamic public/private partnership that will fuel local innovation. At this Tuesdays Meet Up, attendees will enjoy networking with local entrepreneurs and high growth companies, receive a refresher on the chamber and its newly created Entrepreneur Council, and engage in an open discussion on the creation of a dynamic co-working initiative in Middletown. The event will also feature a business card raffle featuring great prizes, a tour of the many office options available for businesses and entrepreneurs at CenterPlace and OfficePlace, and a great spread of appetizers and refreshments courtesy of OfficePlace Connecticut. We look forward to another productive event that will help pave the way to the development of an innovation eco system in Middletown.

A busy week continues on Wednesday as the chambers Womens Leadership Resource Committee holds a planning meeting at the chamber office. The Womens Leadership Resource is the premier regional source for women to engage in important personal and professional development, helps women to build relationships, educate themselves and others, work on personal well-being, and inspire and empower those around them. The committee, staffed by chamber vice president Johanna Bond, will meet at 8:30 a.m. in the chamber conference room. Keep an eye out for exciting content coming out of the Womens Leadership Resource in 2018.

As I noted earlier, tourism is a key economic driver in our region and a key focus of our chamber. One of the key tourist attractions in our region is of course Goodspeed Musicals. The Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam and The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester continue to attract outstanding shows and talent to our region. I look forward to attending the Goodspeed Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and the Goodspeed Board of Directors Meeting on Saturday, Dec. 2, and will continue to stress the importance of tourism to our economy.

On Wednesday afternoon at the chamber office, our staff will host a meeting of all of the chambers committee and division chairs and co-chairs. Our county based divisions, and industry based committees, continue to be critical pieces of the chamber operation. This meeting is being held to make sure that everyone is on the same page and that the chamber has a strong and consistent pro-business message throughout the county as we move forward. I continue to appreciate the service of all of our chairs and other members in chamber leadership roles.

MCSAAC, the Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council, will host a Youth Suicide Prevention Forum at Middlesex Community College from 5:30-7 p.m. on Wednesday evening. This Community Conversation will allow attendees to learn from each other while working together to support mental wellness with meaningful action. Hanady Gouta, MD, Psychiatrist, Middlesex Hospital; Jennifer Blakeslee, LCSW, Coordinator, Youth EMPS Team; Janice Keeman, LCSW, Parent and Clinician; Tom Steen, Parent and Connecticut Suicide Advisory Board, and Betsey Chadwick, Director of the Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council will lead this important discussion. For more information, please visit www.middlesexchamber.com.

This Thursday evening, Jeff Pugliese and I will attend the Celebrate Connecticut Awards put on by the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) at the Bushnell in Hartford. This event honors one company and one initiative in each region of the state, and celebrates their contributions to economic and community development. The Middlesex awardees for 2017 are Pegasus Manufacturing and Goodspeed Musicals. Pegasus Manufacturing provides dependable and integrated Contract Manufacturing Services in Fabricated Tube and Pipe Assemblies, Precision Machining and Gearing.

The company is recognized on an international level as a highly specialized contract manufacturer with complete turn-key solutions. They are also a terrific corporate citizen that we are lucky to have in Middlesex County. Goodspeed opened its doors as a professional musical theatre in an historic building on the banks of the CT River in East Haddam in 1963. Under the direction of Michael Price, Goodspeed transformed from a struggling entity into a non-profit arts organization with a mission. Goodspeed stands as the first regional theatre in America to earn two special Tony Awards, one in 1980 for outstanding contributions to the American Musical and one in 1995 for distinguished achievement for a regional theatre. Goodspeed is a key tourism stakeholder that we are also lucky to have in our region. We look forward to honoring our partners on Thursday night in Hartford, and continue to appreciate their strong commitment to our region.

The 32nd annual Holiday on Main Street, presented by Pratt & Whitney, is off to a fast start after a very successful opening night Nov. 24, and a busy follow-up on the 25th. This Saturday, Dec. 2, the fun continues with Disabled American Veterans Middletown Chapter 7 Day. Planned events and activities include: free pictures and donuts with Santa at Vinnies Jump and Jive, the Fun Train, which will offer free rides on the sidewalk, and the Annual Holiday Craft Fair at The Church of the Holy Trinity. At 11:30 a.m., Holiday Story Time, featuring Middletown Fire Chief Rob Kronenberger and Biscuit, The Dog will take place at Main St Fire House (533 Main St) and Biscuit, will be on hand for a Book Signing.

Volunteers from DAV Middletown Chapter 7 will staff the popcorn and hot pretzels stand in front of the chamber building, and holiday music played by Harvest Woods Audio will entertain the large crowd that we expect. Holiday on Main Street continues Dec. 9 and 16 and parking is free in city lots. Holiday on Main Street is an institution in Middletown, and in Middlesex County, and we are very proud of it. I want to again thank Pratt & Whitney for its great support, the City of Middletown, and in particular, the leadership of Mayor Dan Drew and the Common Council, our longtime event chairman Al Santostefano, vice chairman Rich Greco, and the entire Holiday on Main Street Committee for their terrific support of this longtime event. For all of the details on events and activities, please visit www.holidayonmain.com.

In closing, I want to announce that the date for our Annual Governors Member Breakfast Meeting has been changed to Wednesday, Dec. 20. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, now approaching his eighth and final year in office, has appeared at our December Member Breakfast Meeting in every year of his administration, as have all of our sitting governors, going back to the administration of Governor William A. ONeill in the 1980s. We look forward to welcoming a sold out crowd of businesspeople, public officials and other chamber supporters for the 2017 version of our annual Governors Breakfast. This event, sponsored once again by Eversource, will begin with networking at 7 a.m., breakfast buffet at 7:30 a.m., and meeting program 8-9 a.m.

Larry McHugh is the president of the Midddlesex County Chamber of Commerce.
DEEP RIVER  Deep River Historical Society welcome all to the 4th annual holiday event and festivities, Dec. 8-9. Both the Carriage House and Stone House, 245 Main Street, Deep River will feature decorated trees and holiday decorations. The houses will be open for viewing on Friday and Saturday from 4-9 p.m. The event is free to all that wish to foster some holiday spirit, members said.

The theme this year is Legends of Deep River and features interactive activities for the family. The trees are decorated by various civic organizations. Categories include Best Theme, Traditional and Most Creative Use of Materials. Voting for a favorite tree will only be Friday night, so that the winners are announced and featured for the Saturday viewing.

As part of the Legends theme, the society will feature its latest publication: Deep River Stories. Books will be available for sale for all of the history buffs on your Christmas list. A scavenger hunt on finding the Legends in the Stone House will be a highlight.

This activity coincides with the Holiday Stroll, sponsored by the Deep River Park and Recreation and includes town wide activities. Include a visit to see us while taking part in their planned fun adventures and support our local merchants in our small town community. For more information, call Rhonda Forristall, Curator at 860-526-5086

Essex Holiday House Tour is Dec. 9

ESSEX  Saturday, December 9th, will highlight a memorable stroll through Essex, one of New Englands most picturesque towns, will hold its 14th biennial holiday house tour on Saturday, Dec. 9. Created and organized by the Essex auxiliary of the Child & Family Agency of Southeastern CT, the tour consists of seven distinctive private homes that have been decorated for the holidays, the Essex Historical Society properties, and the Connecticut River Museum with Steve Cryans special holiday train show. The Essex Art Association will also offer free chili.

The home base for the tour will be the Essex Town Hall at 29 West Avenue, where tickets may be purchased or picked up, and where there will be a large boutique with vendors offering clothing, jewelry, gifts, home decor items, holiday arrangements and other alluring items. Several drawings for donations by the vendors will be held here at the end of the day, and, during the day, Santas Cafe will offer snacks and refreshments. The boutique will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free.

Tickets for the tour are $30 in advance, $35 the day of the tour. Checks payable to Child & Family Agency may be sent to: Essex Holiday House Tour, 168 River Road, Essex, CT 06426.

Tickets are also available in advance at www.childandfamilyagency.org; at the Griswold Inn Store, One North Main, and Walker Loden in Essex; Centerbrook Cheese Shop in Centerbrook; Saybrook Country Barn in Old Saybrook; Lark in Chester; Celebrations in Deep River; Bowerbird in Old Lyme; Walker Loden in Madison and New Haven; and the Child & Family Agency in New London, (806)443-2896, ext. 1403.

All proceeds from the tour go to funding Child & Family Agencys programs addressing the mental health, educational, and healthcare needs of children and their families to promote the well-being and development of all children. Services are offered from birth through high school in southeastern Connecticut and include child guidance, early childhood development, and after-school academic, recreational, and artistic activities. Adult services include parenting education as well as prevention training for scholars and professional practitioners. Healthcare services address both physical and mental health issues facing children. Office-based, community-based, and home-based mental health services are available from New Haven to Stonington, and 14 school-based health centers provide healthcare options to children in Waterford, New London, Groton, Norwich, and Stonington. Child Guidance centers are based in Essex, New London, and Groton.

Last year, with a professional staff of more than 190, Child & Family provided services to more than 18,000 children and their families in 79 towns in New Haven, Middlesex, and New London Counties.

Taking part in the Essex Holiday House Tour will benefit thousands of children in our neighborhoods, so come and help us celebrate the holidays by exploring lovely historic homes, including a mansion, in a picture-book setting, members said in a statement.

Society to open toy exhibit

WETHERSFIELD  Few objects can evoke more nostalgia than favorite childhood playthings. Play is natural and essential for children, and toys in one form or another have existed since the beginning of time. Changes in society and its view of childhood has been reflected in childrens toys throughout history. Although form and materials have changed, the basic types of toys children play with have endured: dolls and soft toys, games, riding toys, learning toys and child size replicas of adult tools were as popular 200 years ago as they are today.

This winter, Wethersfield Historical Society will display some of its seldom seen collection of playthings from our towns storied past alongside favorite items from our present day communitys attics and toy chests. Favorite Victorian toys will be displayed in the period rooms of the Hurlbut-Dunham House which will be decorated for an 1890s Christmas, and toys of all periods will be on view in the Watson Gallery at the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center.

The exhibit will open with a festive wine and cheese preview party on Thursday, Nov. 30 from 7 - 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the door, $10 ($5 for WHS members). The Watson Gallery exhibit will open to the public at 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 1. The Hurlbut-Dunham House will be open for the annual Holidays on Main street fair from 6 - 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7 and on Saturday and Sunday December 9-10 and 16-17 from 1 - 4 p.m. Regular exhibit admission is free; donations are appreciated. This holiday season, the society is also having a toy drive; guests are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy to be donated to a local charity.
PORTLAND - They traveled similar roads through life and they share some common traits, most notably quiet pride in their service to the nation.

Their commitment to service continued even after they left the military. Even now, as veterans, Larry Riley and Ron Lee say they have a continuing responsibility: to ensure that todays servicemen and women are given the appropriate recognition and support for their service.

Riley and Lee, both of whom served in Vietnam, were among the 200-plus veterans who sat down together for the annual Portland Veterans dinner earlier this month.

But recognizing and honoring veterans is not a one-day-a-year event for the two men, but instead is part of a continuum.

Riley, a tall black man with an understated but nevertheless commanding presence, is a Middletown native. Fifty years ago, like so many young men, Riley faced a decision: Vietnam was hoovering up young men via the draft.

Riley wasnt averse to serving.

But I wanted to go in on my terms, he explained in a quiet voice.

Riley thought he could serve in a way that enabled him to get training that he could then carry over into civilian life. So, he enlisted in the Air Force with the hope he could be trained as an air traffic controller. But the Air Force had a different idea. They made Riley an enlisted man in the Air Police. And they partnered him with a canine. And they sent him to Vietnam.

But first, they sent him to Oklahoma for training. It was, Riley acknowledges, definitely a learning experience. What he found out was that racial attitudes in Oklahoma had not advanced. Discrimination was still a fact of life.

That was not Rileys only exposure to the racial issues that were tearing at society. Riley was in Vietnam in April 1968, when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

Vietnam exploded when Dr. King was killed, Riley said, although he said the military did everything it could to bury that news.

Riley remains perplexed that he and other black Americans had to face antagonism and discrimination when they were wearing a military uniform and when We wanted to serve. African-Americans have served in every war dating back the American Revolution, Riley noted.

Were Americans, no matter what color we are, he said. We bleed the same color blood.

When he left the Air Force, Riley joined the Secret Service. Once again paired with a specially-trained canine, Riley provided protection for Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush I.

In 2006, he returned to Middletown and got married.

I still do some dog training, Riley said.

While they are still not all that he could hope for, racially, Things have gotten better, Riley said. As for himself, Riley said, Im proud of my service, and I am proud of this country.

Ron Lee grew up in Kentucky in a family where military service was a given.

My father was in the Navy in World War II, Lee said.

And so, on the day he turned 18, he went to register, as required, for the draft.

And then I went right across the hall and enlisted in the Navy, Lee said.

Like Riley, Lee hoped by enlisting he could choose an occupation that could carry over into civilian life. In high school, Lee found out he had a faculty for drafting and drawing. So when he enlisted, I put in for being an illustrator, Lee said.

But the Navy had other ideas, and Lee wound up as a gunners mate.

I was a striker for a torpedo man, he said about working on the increasingly sophisticated torpedoes in the Navys arsenal.

But then a friend of his who had joined the Marine Corps was killed in Vietnam.

It hits you, its real when you know someone (who is killed), Lee said.

It also changed his attitude of about how he could contribute to the war effort. The Navy was looking for volunteers to serve in-country in Vietnam in the brown-water Navy, as opposed to the ocean-going blue-water Navy. The brown-water Navy operated on board LCMs (Landing Craft, Mechanized) or PBRs (Patrol Boats, Riverine)  small, high-speed patrol boats.

Lee volunteered because, he explained, I had no wife of girlfriend, so someone who did have a wife wouldnt have to go.

He started out on an ATC but switched to the PBRs, which were more exciting. He was the aft gunner, manning an M-60 machinegun.

By the time I got out I was pulling shore duty in New London, he said about the Submarine Base in Groton.

While he was there, Lee met a woman he later married.

When he got out of the Navy, he went to work for Colt Firearms and then for an engineering company. He also volunteered to become a member of the Connecticut State Police Auxiliary and then joined the state police.

Eventually, Lee joined the Middletown Police Department, serving as deputy chief for his last nine years with the department.

For Lee, who brought his daughter Danielle Rancourt and his 2-and-a-half-year-old grandson T.J. to the dinner, Veterans Day is about recognizing those who served and those who gave that extra sacrifice.

For his part, Larry Riley said, I want to make sure the people who are serving today dont come back like we came back, to a society fractured by debate over the war that sometimes confused the warriors and the war.

Our job now is to make sure they are appreciated for the heroes they are, Riley said.
In what is likely to be a unique vacation experience, travelers can now rent a Cold War-era missile silo to crash at during their visit to Kansas, a report said.

The Subterra Castle was previously the home of a nuclear warhead during the early-to-mid 1960's, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. After it was left abandoned for decades, Ed and Dianna Peden reportedly bought the property in 1994 and reconstructed it into "an underground mansion."

But the idea to list the bunker on Airbnb, the online rental marketplace, was devised by their neighbor Matthew Fulkerson, the outlet said. He is the site's host and has reportedly known its owners for years.

Subterra, located in rural Wabaunsee County, opened for business six months ago, according to The Journal. It's the first and only Airbnb available that is a converted missile silo, Fulkerson said.

According to the Airbnb listing page, the bunker's decor has a "bohemian eclectic" vibe to its redesign and guests can see "the story of its transformation from a bunker into a home." The underground space is more than 18,000 square feet and sits on 33 acres of property that includes a pond, a stone circle and a grass airstrip, the site said.

The structure, built in 1959, was originally part of a ring of nine Air Force silos built around Topeka, The Journal said. The underground bases were reportedly constructed during the height of the Cold War and ran for four years before being shut down and abandoned.

The building stored "an intercontinental ballistic missile that had a nuclear warhead 32 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima," Fulkerson said. "The guys who lived here thought they would have to launch this missile at any moment."

The silo reportedly sat vacant for a number of years before the owners bought and transformed it into something habitable.

But Fulkerson told The Journal that he had a larger plan for the location and wanted it to become more than an overnight stay on people's way through the state.

"I see it as becoming a destination," he said.

In addition to a main-floor bedroom, Airbnb guests at Subterra will have a full kitchen, private bathroom, laundry services and a fireplace which gives a "nice, cozy feeling in the fall and winter months," Fulkerson said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Officials say the device was known as an "unexploded ordnance," or an explosive weapon that did not explode and still posed a...
ANN ARBOR, MI - After years of competing in chess tournaments, 15-year-old Anvit Rao has decided to organize his own.

Rao, a sophomore at Ann Arbor's Huron High School, has spent the past few months organizing a chess tournament, which is set for 6 p.m. Dec. 8 at Huron High School.

The tournament will be rated under the United States Chess Federation, and anyone who is a member of the federation is eligible to enter. Rao said he's hoping for 20 to 30 people to compete, and he expects most of them will be high school students.

Rao's chess tournament is a personal project he's required to complete as part of Huron High School's International Baccalaureate "Middle Years Programme." The IB curriculum, which emphasizes student inquiry and global awareness, calls for 15- and 16-year-olds at the end of the Middle Years Programme to complete a personal project on a topic of their choice.

Ann Arbor Public Schools is one of the few Michigan school districts to offer IB programs from preschool through 12th grade, and in May, Huron completed the multi-year process of becoming authorized as a "world school" by the IB organization.

Sophomores at Huron will write a paper and give a presentation reflecting on their personal project, Rao said. He said he learned a lot about what goes into planning an event as he worked out the tournament details.

"I didn't realize how much actually had to go into the tournament in terms of all the certifications and how hard advertising for a tournament really is," he said.

Rao said he learned chess from his father, starting when he was in kindergarten. Over the years, he joined chess teams and clubs at Emerson School, Greenhills School and now at Huron High, and he said he has competed in about 60 tournaments over the past nine years.

"I'm more of a math, science sort of person, so I enjoy how it's a more analytical game. ... I feel like it really shaped the way of my thinking, so I wanted to do something (for the personal project) related to that," Rao said.

IB classes have given Rao a new perspective on learning, he said, but he does not plan to continue in the IB's "Diploma Programme" for his junior and senior years of high school. The IB classes will not fit well in the schedule of AP and other advanced classes he would like to take.

Still, Rao is glad the Middle Years Programme gave him a chance to take his passion for chess in a new direction.

"Running a chess tournament, I've always thought about doing it. If the personal project didn't exist, I don't think I ever would have done it," he said.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Pastor Leon Budibuende speaks passionately at the podium. His daughter, Jiji Lusamba, stands next to him with a microphone, ready to translate her father's words of worship.

Both voices -- one in French, the other a beat behind in English -- seem to reverberate inside the Grand Rapids church.

Virginie Tshiasuma, Budibuende's wife, sits in the audience with three of their other children. Their only son, Samson Lusamba, sits at a set of drums at the front, ready to play.

Budibuende leads a weekly worship service in French at 4 p.m. on Sundays at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2 Michigan St. NE. The services started last month.

Seeing them at the church, it is hard to imagine the struggles the Congolese refugee family has faced. Years earlier, Tshiasuma and Budibuende were running for their and their daughter's lives.

In the 1990s and early 2000s after leaving the Democratic Republic of Congo, Budibuende and Tshiasuma encountered genocide while in Rwanda and a harrowing trip out of the country while crammed with others fleeing in big trucks.

Before coming to the United States in 2011, the family had mixed emotions. Tshiasuma thought there would be shootings all the time and bullying rampant in schools, while Jiji Lusamba thought school would be like "High School Musical."

Now, they've found a new home in West Michigan and lead a worship service attended by many immigrants from Africa.

Lives full of worship

Pastor Craig Bickel, who leads the downtown church's Sunday morning Lutheran services, is pleased to have the additional French-based service at the historic building. Bickel recalls meeting Budibuende and eventually sitting down to talk with him.

Budibuende was searching for a place to worship, as he had been hosting a worship service at his home. His group had grown too large for the space. The services grew because their "brothers and sisters" from Central Africa wanted to join them at their home for worship.

That's how the Christian community started there, Budibuende said.

When Bickel attended one of the home services, he was shocked to see a whole community praying in the house, and he was interested in giving them a new place to worship.

The congregation at Immanuel Lutheran Church also wanted to reach out and diversify from a mostly Anglo congregation. In a way, Budibuende and his family were the answer to the prayers.

Healing with worship

Looking back, Budibuende said he does not know how he and his wife made it out of Rwanda. Many people died on the journey.

"We praise God for what he has done," Budibuende said. "So far, where we are today, when we know that we can sleep in our house without hearing the shooting, without hearing the bomb coming down, we just praise God for that."

Many refugees from Africa suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, Budibuende said. A refugee's whole family could have been killed in Africa. The refugee then has to live with the trauma for the rest of their lives.

Agencies give people food and money, but it is not enough, Budibuende said. Psychologically, they need more.

"That's why we are preaching the word of God to those people," Budibuende said. "Because we think that God can repair what has been lost in their life."

The worship service

During the service, there are little flurries of energy throughout the rows of seats. Children scamper around, either hopping back into their seats by their families or scurrying to the back of the rows to play. The adults in the rows flip through Bibles, following along to Budibuende's sermon.

Along the rows you can see the bright flashes of color from children's hair accessories against the black and dark blue suits of the men.

Maracas and tambourines are dispersed among the worshipers. During the songs they are played to the beat of the music. The family owns the instruments, Budibuende said, and pass them out before the service.

At the end of the service, Budibuende calls on the new attendees to stand and introduce themselves. The congregation sings to them, "I Love You With the Love of the Lord."
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Of the more than 1 million people living with HIV nationwide, one in seven do not know they are infected, according to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That fact is a major motivation behind the Kent County Health Department's decision to offer free, confidential walk-in HIV testing this week.

In recognition of World AIDS Day on Friday, Dec. 1, the tests will be offered from Nov. 27 through Dec. 1 at the health department's main clinic, located at 700 Fuller Ave. NE in Grand Rapids.

Walk-ins will be welcomed at the clinic during the following times:

Monday, Nov. 27: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (closed from noon - 1 p.m.)

Tuesday, Nov. 28: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (closed from noon - 1 p.m.)

Wednesday, Nov. 29: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (closed from noon - 1 p.m.)

Thursday, Nov. 30: 1-5 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 1: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (closed from noon - 1 p.m.)

The finger poke test can yield preliminary results in about 20 minutes. While patients wait, certified counselors will provide advice on protecting yourself and others from HIV.

Included in the discussions of methods to reduce the risk of contracting HIV might be information on pre-exposure prophylaxis. The daily medicine can reduce a patient's chance of contracting HIV.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus, better known as HIV, attacks cells that make up the body's immune system. The disease can make it difficult for an infected person to fight off colds and other illnesses.

Left untreated, HIV can develop into Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, and can be fatal.

There is no cure for HIV, and treatment cannot begin until a patient knows their status. But with proper medical care, those diagnosed with HIV can live long and healthy lives.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Kent County Health Department recommend that everyone know their HIV status," Kent County Administrative Health Officer Adam London said in a statement. "This knowledge is essential for getting helpful therapy and for protecting others from the virus."

The county offers free walk-in testing yearly in recognition of World AIDS Day, and also offered the services earlier this year, in recognition of National HIV Testing Day.

The Kent County Health Department offers free HIV testing year-round, by appointment. Those unable to make it in for the free walk-in tests can call 616-632-7172 to schedule an appointment, or come to the Personal Health Services Clinic and ask to speak with a nurse.

Other organizations in the area offering HIV tests include:

Grand Rapids Red Project: 401 Hall St. SE Grand Rapids, MI

Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan Irwin/Martin Health Center: 425 Cherry St. SE Grand Rapids, MI

Pregnancy Resource Center: 415 Cherry St. SE Grand Rapids, MI

Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan Evenson Center: 3641 Byron Center Ave. SW Wyoming, MI

More information on HIV and AIDS can be found at www.cdc.gov/hiv/.
On Nov. 26:

In 1789, Americans observed a day of thanksgiving set aside by President George Washington to mark the adoption of the Constitution of the United States.

In 1864, English mathematician and writer Charles Dodgson presented a handwritten and illustrated manuscript, "Alice's Adventures Under Ground," to his 12-year-old friend Alice Pleasance Liddell; the book was later turned into "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

In 1933, a judge in New York ruled the James Joyce book "Ulysses" was not obscene and could be published in the United States.

In 1941, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull delivered a note to Japan's ambassador to the United States, Kichisaburo Nomura, setting forth U.S. demands for "lasting and extensive peace throughout the Pacific area." The same day, a Japanese naval task force consisting of six aircraft carriers left the Kuril Islands, headed toward Hawaii.

In 1942, the Warner Bros. motion picture "Casablanca," starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, had its world premiere at the Hollywood Theater in New York.

In 1950, China entered the Korean War, launching a counteroffensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the U.S. and South Korea.

In 1965, France launched its first satellite, the 92-pound Asterix, into orbit.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon's personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court that she'd accidentally caused part of the 18-minute gap in a key Watergate tape.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed a commission headed by former Senator John Tower to investigate his National Security Council staff in the wake of the Iran-Contra affair.

In 1990, Japanese business giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. agreed to acquire MCA Corp., owner of Universal Studios, for $6.6 billion.

In 1991, the Stars and Stripes were lowered for the last time at Clark Air Base in the Philippines as the United States abandoned one of its oldest and largest overseas installations, which was damaged by a volcano.

In 1992, the British government announced that Queen Elizabeth II had volunteered to start paying taxes on her personal income, and would take her children off the public payroll.

In 2007, President George W. Bush met separately at the White House with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority a day ahead of a major Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. President Bush greeted the 2007 Nobel Prize winners  including former Vice President Al Gore  in the Oval Office. Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott announced his retirement after a 35-year career in Congress. Washington Redskins star safety Sean Taylor, 24, was mortally wounded during a botched armed robbery at his home in Palmetto Bay, Florida. (Taylor died the next day.) Hall of Fame jockey Bill Hartack died in Freer, Texas, at age 74.

In 2012, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak abruptly quit politics, saying in a surprise announcement, "I feel I have exhausted my political activity, which had never been a special object of desire for me." New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie announced that he would be seeking re-election, so he could continue to guide the state through a recovery from Superstorm Sandy.

In 2016, Cuba said it would observe nine days of mourning for Fidel Castro, including a three-day journey by his ashes along the route taken by the rebel army he'd led on a victorious march across the island in 1959. Tony Award-winning character actor Fritz Weaver died in New York at age 90.

Thought for Today:

"Some minds remain open long enough for the truth not only to enter but to pass on through by way of a ready exit without pausing anywhere along the route."

 Sister Elizabeth Kenny, Australian nurse (1886-1952).
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, announced Sunday he would be stepping away from his position as ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee following allegations of sexual harassment that surfaced last week.

In a series of Twitter posts Sunday afternoon, Conyers said looks forward to '"vindicating myself and my family" as part of a House Ethics Committee investigation, but said he didn't want the charges against him to distract from the work of the committee and of fellow Democrats.

"I cannot in good conscience allow these charges to undermine my colleagues in the Democratic Caucus, and my friends on both sides of the aisle in the Judiciary Committee and the House of Representatives," Conyers wrote on Twitter.

After careful consideration and in light of the attention drawn by recent allegations made against me, I have notified the Democratic Leader of my request to step aside as Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee during the investigation of these matters.  John Conyers, Jr. (@RepJohnConyers) November 26, 2017

On Monday, Nov. 20, the website Buzzfeed News reported Conyers, 88, settled a complaint in 2015 from a woman alleging she was fired because she rejected his sexual advances. Buzzfeed reported the woman was paid more than $27,000 from Conyers' taxpayer-funded office to settle the complaint under a confidentiality agreement.

BuzzFeed also published documents from some former congressional staff members who describe seeing Conyers touch other female staffers inappropriately, including rubbing their legs and backs or requesting sexual favors.

Conyers acknowledged a settlement was made with a former staffer, but has denied the allegations that he sexually harassed staffers: "In this case, I expressly and vehemently denied the allegations made against me, and continue to do so," he said in a statement to media.

After the allegations surfaced, the House Ethics Committee announced it would investigate the claims against Conyers. Many Congressional Democrats have called for changes to Congressional policies dealing with sexual harassment complaints.

On Sunday morning, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with Meet the Press that she believes Conyers "will do the right thing," but did not elaborate on what House leadership might do to respond to the allegations.

She said Conyers was entitled to due process and said he is "an icon in our country."

WATCH: Rep. @NancyPelosi (D-Calif.): Accused Congressman Conyers is an "icon" in our country. #MTP pic.twitter.com/qko01yRqXj  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 26, 2017

Conyers is the longest-serving member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He is a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and has been a propronent of civil rights since he was first elected in the 1960s.
MUSKEGON, MI - It will go down in history as one of the Muskegon area's most tragic cases: the Thanksgiving Day foundry-ladle deaths of two young boys at the hands of their mentally ill father.

It happened 30 years ago today, on Nov. 26, 1987, at a Norton Shores foundry. Bartley James Dobben, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, placed his two sons in the ladle and turned on the gas burners.

The children's deaths came mercifully quickly, according to the coroner who said they suffocated in the heat that climbed to 1,200 degrees. But it took nearly two years to bring Dobben to trial as he was found mentally competent, incompetent and then competent again.

The conversation about what led to the boys' deaths lingered long after as Dobben's family worked to provide education about their struggles to keep him on his medication and away from the fanatical religious beliefs that consumed him.

Today, Dobben, 56, is serving two life sentences in the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility, a low-security-level facility in Ionia where he's an "exemplary inmate," according to his brother, Bruce Dobben.

"Once medicated, the affects of my brothers schizophrenia are non-existent," Bruce Dobben said in an email.

Mental illness

It was just before 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day when Dobben swung into his workplace at Cannon-Muskegon Corp. on Lincoln Street in Norton Shores. His pregnant wife, Susan, and sons Bartley Joel Dobben, 2, and Peter David Dobben, 15 months, were in the car with him.

He needed to retrieve his Bible, Dobben told his wife, and brought the kids with him, saying he wanted to give them a tour of where their father had worked for nine years.

Once inside, he placed the toddlers inside a transfer ladle, suspended by cables and about 7 feet wide, that was used to move molten metals inside the foundry. And then he turned on the burners.

Afterward, he walked up to a security guard and told him "My kids are in the furnace," according to a Norton Shores Police report. When asked if they fell in, Dobben responded, "No I put them in and lit it."

Dobben and his wife had been having marital problems, brought on by his illness that had been diagnosed about a year earlier and his refusal to take his medications. Brett Gardner, Muskegon County's chief assistant prosecutor at the time, would later argue that Dobben had planned the murders as a way to get back at his wife.

Following the deaths, Dobben was taken to the state's Center for Forensic Psychiatry and was found by psychiatrists to be competent to stand trial. That ruling was reversed in April 1988. It was reversed again in August 1988 and his trial was set for May 1989.

The trial

During the nine-day trial, defense attorney Terry Nolan argued that Dobben should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Co-workers had said he was a religious fanatic that carried his Bible with him at work. His family said his "fanatical" religious rantings disrupted family gatherings and contact with him had been cut off several months before the children's deaths.

Dobben's mother, Marialyce Dobben, said he had been doing well, staying on his medications, until he became involved with the Emmanuel Fellowship, a small religious group led by Rood Vaughan.

Vaughan, according to later testimony, urged Dobben not to take his medication, and when that occurred Dobben would become obsessively religious. Vaughan would speak on Dobben's behalf at court hearings where he at times was disruptive.

It was Vaughan who put the the idea of "soul-cleansing by fire" into Dobben's head, Bruce Dobben said.

He remains angry than Bartley Dobben's desire for a bench trial, presumably before a judge better equipped to understand the insanity defense, wasn't realized.

"My brother is a good man, unjustly tried by a jury when a bench trial was requested," Bruce Dobben said. "Few lay-people are aware of the life that a person suffering with any mental illness lives. That is why a bench trial was requested."

Following a nine-day trial, a jury on May 17, 1989, found Dobben guilty of first-degree murder but mentally ill, meaning he would be imprisoned for life without parole, but also required to receive treatment for his illness while incarcerated.

He was sentenced on May 23, 1989.

Aftermath

The Dobben case prompted debate about the state's insanity defense law. If Dobben was found not guilty by reason of insanity, he would have been required to spend a minimum of 60 days in the state's Center for Forensic Psychiatry and until psychiatrists determined that he no longer suffered from mental illness.

There were calls for a life-time parole-like system to assure the person takes necessary medications, and to increase the amount of time the individual would be required to be under direct supervision of the Center for Forensic Psychiatry.

In August 1989, Susan Dobben and Marialyce Dobben appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to present his story and push for better understanding and treatment of mental illness. Marialyce and her husband, David J. Dobben, became advocates for families of those with mental illness and were members of the State Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

David J. Dobben died in 1992. At first supportive of her husband, Susan Dobben, who had given birth to another son, eventually divorced him in 1992.

And in 1992, the Michigan Supreme Court upheld Dobben's two first-degree murder convictions.
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Park Board member Chris Rileys decision that he will recuse himself from voting on Archer Daniel Midlands offer to fund improvements at Decatur Airport is a needed measure to avoid a conflict of interest. The move is the latest in a head-turning series of events in recent weeks.

The park board on Nov. 15 took the unexpected step to reverse its endorsement of what airline should receive federal funding to operate at the airport.

Earlier this month, they recommended a company called Cape Air, which wanted to run prop planes from Decatur to St. Louis and Chicago OHare.

Riley, who is director of state government relations for ADM, was one of two commissioners on the five-member board who voted to endorse another company, SkyWest, which proposed using jets to fly only to OHare. But they were outvoted.

Then came Nov. 15, when officials from ADM, T/CCI Manufacturing and Decatur Memorial Hospital came to the board meeting and said commissioners should abandon the Cape Air endorsement and go with SkyWest. They said the jets would be better.

But heres where it gets interesting. ADM offered to give the Decatur Park District $100,000 to refurbish the airport and guaranteed that the company would use at least 5,000 airplane seats a year if SkyWest were selected.

ADM, of course, deservedly wants this because the companys headquarters in 2014 was relocated from Decatur to Chicago  meaning there are plenty of employees going back and forth. They want fast planes.

Commissioner Chris Harrison, who originally wanted Cape Air, ended up switching his vote and went with SkyWest. The rest, including Riley, voted the same way as they had before.

Thats an important distinction  that Riley supported Skywest all along  but in our view, it still raises the inevitable question of a conflict of interest.

Riley is a committed public servant who has served on the park board for many years. But the addition of ADM into a public meeting and lobbying a board on which an employee sits fundamentally changes the dynamic, like it or not. Rileys recusal on the issue of ADM funding moving forward is the only option.

Some are upset about the possibility that flights to St. Louis are coming to an end. We understand. Yet remember, this is an elected board  and they made this decision. Where these planes go will ultimately be up to the federal Department of Transportation. We're along for the ride.

Clarification: An earlier version of this story was unclear about how board members first voted. This version has been corrected.
Vijay Mallya

Arthur road jail in Mumbai will be the home of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya if he is extradited to India to face the law in connection with the Rs 9,000 crore loan default cases.

This will be conveyed to a British court next week by India through the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is arguing the extradition case against Mallya on behalf of the Indian government, a home ministry official said.

The Westminster Magistrates' Court in London will be told that it is the duty of the state to ensure the security of prisoners and Mallya's apprehension about the threat to his life is "misleading".

The court will be told that the prisons in India are as good as in any other country in the world and prisoners' rights are fully protected in Indian jails, the official, who is privy to the responses prepared by the government, told PTI.

The move came after Mallya's lawyers said that the fugitive businessman's life may be in danger if he is extradited to India and there were alleged incidents of human rights violations in Indian jails.







The Westminster Magistrates' Court will start hearing the extradition proceedings from December 4.

The London court will be told that there will be no threat to Mallya's life if he is lodged in Arthur Road jail, which is highly secure as per the international standard, rejecting Mallya's reported apprehension that he will not be safe in Indian jails if sent back home to face trial in the Rs 9,000 crore Kingfisher Airlines loan default cases, another official said, on condition of anonymity.

Adequate medical facilities are available to treat the prisoners in Arthur Road jail, where Mallya will get full security cover as an undertrial prisoner, the court will be told.

By making such allegations, Mallya is trying to save himself from getting extradited to India to face the trial in cases of cheating of a consortium of banks, the official said.





Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba last week had a long meeting with representatives of various authorities, including the Ministry of External Affairs, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate and discussed responses to be filed in the UK court.

The central government has already conducted an assessment of security cover given to prisoners in the Arthur road jail so that its findings could be conveyed to the UK court.

Mallya, 61, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by the Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18.

However, he was soon granted bail by the court.

If the judge rules in favour of extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallya's extradition within two months of the appropriate day.

However, the case can go through a series of appeals before arriving at a conclusion.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement.

Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent to India last October to face trial in connection with his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge.
A robot greets visitors during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard - RTS10T85

Artificial intelligence (AI) companies' revenue projections are increasing at a fast pace and expected to touch around USD 3.06 billion by 2024, says an Avendus Capital report.

According to the report, Deep Learning is expected to have the fastest growth within the artificial intelligence space and will become the largest portion of total AI companies revenue.

"Artificial intelligence revenue projections are on a fast growth axis as they are increasing at a rate of CAGR 40 percent and are expected to be at a value of USD 3,061 million in 2024," the report said.

Moreover, increased demand for robots has led to a rise in investment and M&A in the Artificial Intelligence space.

According to the report, AI industry has received more than USD 11.5 billion of investments in the last three years and going forward, over USD 6 billion of VC investments are expected in 2017.

"The necessity of automating processes and the need for AI are reasons for the exponential growth in investments attracted by this space in the past few years," said Puneet Shivam, Head  US, Co-head Services Vertical, Avendus Capital.

Shivam further said, "Today companies are allocating larger budgets to AI for making it an intangible asset to increase customer footprints and market share in India. And this will continue in future as newer and evolved versions of AI are introduced, shaping the dynamics of technology".

Some of the most active VC funds in this space at present are -- Data Collective, Khosla Ventures, Intel Capital, New Enterprise Associate, Google Ventures & Bloomberg Beta.

In terms of projected revenue share by vertical by 2020, Medical & Diagnostics is expected to account for the lion's share with 21 percent, followed by search (20 percent), sales & marketing (18 percent), autonomous vehicles (8 percent), law (7 percent) and cyber security (6 percent).

According to the report, Robotic Process Automation, is going to impact the ecosystem of businesses and services across different markets worldwide.

RPA uses computer software to process and automate routine, standardised tasks in support of an organisation's knowledge workers.
20:51 Over 300 people, including 20 women, were detained and later released in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh today during a protest against Bollywood film 'Padmavati', which is mired in a major controversy.

"The locals held a protest rally from Padanpole to the collector's office but the police prevented them and 304 persons courted arrest. These included 20 women," SHO, Chittorgarh police station, Om Prakash said. He said the action was taken under section 129 of CrPC (Dispersal of assembly by use of civil force) and those detained were taken to the Indira Gandhi stadium and released. Read the full report



18:30 Market manipulators have hooked onto dark web and private chat groups on messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram for sharing 'multibagger' stock tips and unpublished price sensitive information about listed firms.

This has prompted the exchanges and the regulator to beef up the 'whistleblower' framework to encourage people, including investors and those working with various market intermediaries, to anonymously give a tip-off on such groups.

The shift to these platforms follow an enhanced vigil by the capital markets watchdog Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and the stock exchanges on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, while the regulator can also seek call data records from telecom firms for its probe. Read the full report.

17:56 With excess liquidity being drained out of the banking system, interest rates are in for a pause, said HDFC Bank Deputy Managing Director Paresh Sukthankar.

Both deposit and lending rates probably have bottomed out and further tinkering in rates by banks unlikely in the immediate future, he said.



#BREAKING | All of us have to work together and pledge towards creating a New India: PM Modis address on National Law Day pic.twitter.com/VSQo6A9ayW

 News18 (@CNNnews18) November 26, 2017

"Look at the successive policy that RBI has been putting out. Clearly what has happened to inflation and potentially oil and so on, it's clear that from policy perspective they feel that room for further cuts are virtually not there," he told PTI.

16:38 Retirement fund body EPFO may lower interest rate on provident fund deposits this fiscal compared to 8.65 per cent provided to its 4.5 crore members for 2016-17, a labour ministry official said.



The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is likely to cut interest rate on the grounds that it is directly crediting exchange trade funds (ETF) units into provident fund accounts and lower yields on other investments, particularly bonds. Read the full report.



15:08 The commerce ministry is working on a package in consultation with the gems and jewellery industry to boost export and create jobs in this labour intensive sector, Union minister Suresh Prabhu has said.

The ministry has already asked the gems and jewellery industry to work out a proper business plan to promote growth of the sector.

"We have some time left, in another few weeks we have to finalise it as Budget will be in February, so we have to work on that," Commerce and Industry Minister Prabhu told PTI.

The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has demanded cut in import duty on gold to 4 per cent from the current 10 per cent.

14:59 India's crude steel production rose 5.3 per cent to reach 8.629 million tonnes (MT) in October 2017, global steel body worldsteel said in a report.

The country had produced 8.197 million tonnes of steel during the same month last year, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) said.

According to the report, India's steel output during January-October 2017 was 6.4 per cent higher at 84.123 MT, as against 79.073 MT during the corresponding period of 2016.

14:43 26/11 Mumbai attack: The government has conducted security audits of 227 non-major seaports to ensure their foolproof security and foil possible attempts by terrorists to use them as launch pads to carry out 26/11 Mumbai attacks-type escapade, officials said.

As India observes the 9th anniversary of the country's worst terror attacks today, a home ministry official said a number of steps have been taken since the tragedy to strengthen the coastal security and that include monitoring of suspicious vessels and boats by ISRO satellite imageries.

Security audits of 227 non-major seaports and single- point moorings have been completed and as per the recommendations of the experts, vulnerabilities of these harbours were plugged, the official said.

14:20 The CBDT has asked the taxman to go over with a fine tooth-comb scrutiny cases where a taxpayer has filed a revised income tax return (ITR) post demonetisation and directed them to slap "higher tax rate" in instances where black money is detected. reports PTI.

The policy-making body of the I-T has issued a two-page instruction/directive to all regional chiefs of the department on November 24, stipulating the way forward while assessing scrutiny cases selected for suspicious financial activity, post note ban.

"Unaccounted income so assessed in scrutiny assessment is liable to be taxed at a higher rate without any set off losses, expenses etc. under section 115BBE (treatment of tax credits) of the I-T Act," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) instructions said.

14:14 Scientists have developed the world's first artificial intelligence politician, that can answer a person's queries regarding local issues such as policies around housing, education and immigration.

The AI politician is constantly learning to respond to people through Facebook Messenger as well as a survey on its homepage. The virtual politician, called SAM, was created by Nick Gerritsen, a 49-year-old entrepreneur in New Zealand.

14:08 Seeking to counter a Congress' meme mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'chaiwala' past, BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley, today tuned in to his radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' while having tea with people across poll-bound Gujarat.

The BJP organised 'Mann ki Baat, Chai ke Saath', at all the 50,128 polling booths in 182 Assembly seats.

BJP president Shah listened to the programme at a tea stall in the city's Muslim-dominated Dariyapur area in the presence of hundreds of locals and party workers.

13:44 A major explosion in the port city of Ningbo in China's east Zhejiang province today killed two persons and injured over 30 others as it knocked down nearby buildings, officials said.

Videos and pictures on a government-run news portal showed plumes of white smoke above the city, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

The accident took place at 8:50 AM (local time) in Jiangbei district, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Sukhoi manufacturing plant can roll out 5th-gen fighter jet:

HAL

The manufacturing facility of the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd producing Sukhoi fighter jets can be used to build the fifth-generation fighter aircraft if the government decides to go ahead with the proposed Indo-Russian joint venture, T Suvarna Raju, the chief of the aerospace

behemoth, has said.

Raju said the state-of-the-art facility in Nasik will not require any major investment to reconfigure it to produce the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA).

13:25 The Union health ministry has come up with a draft framework aimed at ensuring patient safety while undergoing any medical intervention and it proposes measures such as setting up of an online grievance system.

The draft National Patient Safety Implementation Framework (NPSIF) states that patient safety is a fundamental element of healthcare and is defined as freedom for a patient from unnecessary harm or potential harm associated with the provision of healthcare.

It is about safe drugs dispensing, surgical care, safe childbirth, injection safety, blood safety, medication safety, medical device safety, safe organ, tissue and cell transportation and donation, said a senior health ministry official.

13:03 Ram temple construction will begin on October 18, 2018. Next Dharma Sansad will be held in Ayodhya, Surendra Kumar Jain, International Joint Secretary, VHP said.

Earlier this week, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat made a strong pitch for building the Ram temple on the disputed site at Ayodhya and said that only a mandir can be built on it.

Addressing the "Dharma Sansad", a congregation of 2,000 Hindu saints, mutt heads and VHP leaders from across the country at this small temple town here, he said there should be no ambiguity that Ram Temple will be built at Ayodhya.

12:59 Nepal goes to the polls for historic vote: Nepalis began voting for a new parliament on Sunday with the army on alert on Sunday as a series of small blasts blamed on a rogue Maoist group reminded the Himalayan nation of the violence and instability it is hoping to leave behind.

More than a decade after the end of a civil war between Maoist peasant guerrillas and security forces, Nepal is hoping this election - the first parliamentary polls since 1999 - will complete its long journey from a monarchy to become a federal republic.

12:49 Foreign investors have pumped over USD 2.6 billion in the country's capital markets this month so far, propelled by government's announcement of recapitalising PSU banks and India faring well in the World Bank's 'ease of doing business index'.

This follows a net inflow of over Rs 19,000 crore in capital markets (equity and debt) last month. Prior to that, FPIs had pulled out more than Rs 10,000 crore in September.

12:41 Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has accused the Congress of seeking refuge in casteism and "outsourcing" its campaign to caste leaders while dismissing any threat to the BJP's poll prospects from the Congress-Hardik Patel tie-up.

He alleged that the Congress was "deceiving" the people over the issue of reservation, while the agitators were lining up for poll tickets.

Rupani dubbed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who is extensively campaigning in Gujarat, as a "gappidas" (teller of lies) and accused him of dishing out fabricated statistics about the BJP-ruled state.

12:34 Uber plans to send out tenders on SoftBank early next week as a part of its effort to bring in SoftBank as a major investor, according to a Reuters report.

Last week, the ride-hailing service had disclosed a 2016 data breach which compromised data of nearly 57 million customers and drivers.

12:14 Bitcoin officially hit the USD 9,000 mark today. On Saturday, the digital currency crossed the USD 8,700 mark after increased investor interest around the US Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday shopping, reports CNBC.

Bitcoin rose more than 6 percent to a record high of USD 8,725.13, according to CoinDesk, trading around USD 8,674 midday on Saturday. Another digital currency, ethereum, also hit an all-time high of USD 485.18, according to CoinMarketCap.

12:08 Pakistan's government has called in the army to restore order after clashes between police and protesters belonging to hardline religious groups killed six people and injured more than 200 others in the capital.

The police aided by paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary yesterday lunched a massive operation against activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and Sunni Tehreek Pakistan religious groups who had blocked a key highway to Islamabad for nearly three weeks.

According to health officials, more than 200 people, including at least 95 security personnel, were injured in the clashes and shifted to various hospitals.

12:06 The government will allow electric car users to pay for charging of their electric vehicles through digital means, including BHIM app and Bharat QR code.

The government has accepted suggestions of a panel -- Committee for Standardisation of the Protocol for Charging Infrastructure -- in this regard.

In its report, the committee also mooted uniform standards for EV charging stations in India, which will enable electric vehicles of all models by different manufacturers to be charged at any station.

11:49 A special court has declared cash deposits of Rs 15.39 crore made in a Delhi bank post demonetisation as 'benami'. The depositor and

the beneficial owner of the stash are "untraceable", reports PTI.

The case pertains to one Ramesh Chand Sharma, reportedly a resident of Gali Laltain in Naya Bazar area of old Delhi.

The Income Tax Department, as part of its drive against black funds post the note ban, had conducted a survey at the Kotak Mahindra Bank branch on K G Marg in December last year and found that Sharma, post demonetisation, deposited Rs 15,93,39,136 cash in old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 100 in the account of three firms, suspected to be fake.

11:38 Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail will be liquor baron Vijay Mallya home if is extradited to India to face the law in connection with the Rs 9,000 crore loan default cases, reports PTI.

This will be conveyed to a British court next week by India through the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is arguing the extradition case against Mallya on behalf of the Indian government, a home ministry official said.

11:35 The Prime Minister also said that terrorism is a global challenge and that the world is now realising the destruction caused by terrorism.

On the occasion of Constitution Day, Modi also remembered the Father of Indian Constitution DR BR Ambedkar. He said, It is a day to remember Baba Saheb."

11:17 In his monthly podcast, Mann ki Baat, Prime Miniser Narendra Modi paid respect to the people who were killed in 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. He also said that India, for the last four decades, has been raising the issue of terror.

11:12 The government should reduce GST on brokerages to 12 per cent as well as scrap taxes on securities transactions and dividends, according to a leading stock brokers' group.

As preparations for the Union Budget 2018-19 is underway, the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (Anmi) has flagged concerns about the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime creating "some difficulty" in the financial market.

Post GST, the burden of taxation on the transaction charges has increased, the grouping said in a representation to the finance ministry.

11:08 On this day, in 1949, the Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly.

10:39 26/11 Mumbai attacks: On this day nine years ago, Mumbai witnessed one of the most dreadful terrorist attacks. In 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists attacked the city, killing more than 160 people and injuring several.

The Mumbai police has beefed up the security in town today keeping in mind the significance of the day. According to ANI, barricades have been put in several areas and the police will be checking vehicles across the city.

Various events have also been organised in the city to honour the victims.

10:19 Tata Motors' Nano, the cheapest car available, has seen drastic fall in production and sales in recent time. According to a report in the Business Standard, the production has gone down to two Nano cars at the Sanand plant.

The dealers too have stopped placing order for the car in last three to four months, the report says.

Also read: Tata Nano electric likely to be launched soon, to be named Jayem Neo

10:14 Describing the release of Hafiz Saeed as a step in the wrong direction, the US today said Pakistan now has an opportunity to demonstrate its seriousness in the fight against terrorism by arresting and charging the 26/11 mastermind for his crimes.

The United States strongly condemns the release of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) leader Hafiz Saeed from house arrest in Pakistan and calls for his immediate re-arrest and prosecution, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Union minister Vijay Goel today criticised Congress' youth wing for a meme it had put out mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "chaiwala" past, and said its parent party - the Congress - should have condemned it.

Speaking to reporters after taking part in 'Mann Ki Baat - Chai Ke Saath' event in Delhi, Goel said at a time when the prime minister was trying to take India forward, the Congress' youth wing was stooping down with its tweets and memes.

"Congress should have condemned it. Politicians should not stoop down as it would be difficult to recover from that level," he said.

On November 21, the official Twitter handle of the Youth Congress online magazine 'Yuva Desh' had kicked up a row by mocking Modi's "chaiwala" past and English-speaking skills through a photograph showing him in a conversation with British premier Theresa May and US President Donald Trump.

The meme was removed soon after it was put out.

And Congress communications in charge Randeep Surjewala has said on Twitter that Congress "strongly disapproves and rejects such humour through memes. Differences on policy and opinion aside, Congress culture imbibes respect for PM and all political opponents."

"There was no prime minister who had done so much work and initiated so many schemes, which is evident from Moody's rating," Goel said, adding that the saffron party will sweep the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

"Along with the Modi government at the Centre, more BJP or NDA states should join to make India better and positive," he said.

When the BJP-led government talks about positivity and the prime minister educates people with his 'Mann Ki Baat' programmes, the opposition only engages in negativity, he added.
(Image: Reuters)

Nine years ago on this day, Mumbai faced the deadliest terror attack that killed more than 160 people leaving behind scars among citizens. The incident forced the government to improve its security system.

Here's a list of steps taken by the government to be prepared and avoid such terror attacks:

> Stronger coastal and maritime security

After the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008, several measures were announced by the government to strengthen coastal and maritime security along the entire coast, according to the Indian Navy.

"Due to the coordinated efforts of all concerned, all these measures are now in place and overall maritime security is much stronger than before," read a statement released by Indian Navy.

Coastal patrolling by Navy, Coast Guard and marine police has increased sharply over the last few years. At any given time, the entire west coast is under continuous surveillance by ships and aircraft of Navy and Coast Guard. As a result, potential threats have been detected and actions have been taken to mitigate them in good time.

Coastal States and Union Territories were also given interceptor boats, which can perform high-speed interception, close-coast patrol, low-intensity maritime operations, search-and-rescue and surveillance for the same. Currently, four interceptor boats are active, while other seven are being built.

> Increased multi-agency centres(MACs)

The government has increased multi-agency centre for Counter-Terrorism along the coasts to share terrorism-related inputs on a day to day basis. As many as 20 temporary Counter-Insurgency and Anti-Terrorism Schools were being set up during the 11th Plan period.

Over 100 inter-agency exercises are conducted by various agencies along the coast between nearly 15 national and state agencies has improved dramatically, with regular exercises conducted by the Navy.

Joint Operations Centres (JOCs), set up by the Navy as command and control hubs for coastal security at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair are fully operational. These JOCs are manned 247 jointly by the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and Marine Police.

> National Security guards (NSG)

About four new hubs for National Security Guards (NSG)  each with an operational strength of around 250 personnel  were opened in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai to enable quick response to terror attacks.

> Equipped with the latest technology

The defence ministry claims that it is equipped with the latest technologies and have immense access to funds, and active backing of various external agencies to tighten their securities.

The Maharashtra Police recently procured 4,600 bullet-proof jackets, another police official said. Of the 4,600 jackets, the testing of 3,000 has been done so far and these will be distributed in a few days to various police units, the official said.

"Apart from the jackets, we also purchased 1,500 bulletproof helmets which we have distributed," he said, adding that in last one year, the police also procured bullet-proof shields, 'morchas' (a kind of protective gear), night

vision monoculars other modernised weaponry for the quick response teams.

The police is also regularly conducting joint exercises of the Force One and the elite commando team of NSG, which has a base in suburban Powai, Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padasalgikar said told PTI.

> Upgraded response mechanism

Over the nine years, the coordination between various agencies and the quick response mechanism has improved. The police force is capable of securing the city as its response mechanism has improved over the years, Padasalgikar said.

> Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team to guided youths

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has deradicalised 86 people in the last two years as a part of its efforts to wean away misguided youth from the path of extremism in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror

attack, an official said told PTI.

The deradicalisation is done to bring back to normal life persons who had strayed in the name of 'jihad', a senior official of the ATS said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday also recalled the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in the attack and said the world would have to together battle terrorism.

"Initially the world did not take us seriously, but now the world is realising the destructive aspects of terrorism ... The world will have to join hands to eliminate terrorism," he said.



On this day, we renew our resolve to take on, defeat and eliminate terrorism in all forms  and to make our people, our country and our world safer #PresidentKovind

 President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 26, 2017

On the occasion, President Ram Nath Kovind expressed his gratitude towards the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil and promised to eliminate terrorism.

While the security forces across the city have been increased, 26/11 bring backs the horrifying flashes of destruction and memories of those who lost their lives. In their remembrance, several events have been organised in the city on Sunday, including a `Salutation Ceremony' by the city police.

Maharastra Chief Minister Devandra Fadnavis also paid tribute to policemen who got martyred while fighting bravely for the nation during 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.



Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao & CM @Dev_Fadnavis paid tributes to policemen who got martyred while fighting bravely for the nation during 26/11 #MumbaiTerrorAttack .

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, State Ministers Vinod Tawde, Deepak Kesarkar were present. pic.twitter.com/NlASl4v6Ny  CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) November 26, 2017



(With inputs from PTI)
Cochin Shipyard Ltd, which is set to invest about Rs 130-150 crore to revive two shipyards of Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers, has also shown interest in turning around dry docks of the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT).

The Port Trust has five idle docks that are conducive to ship repair and its new chairman Vinit Kumar is keen to revive them.

"CSL chairman is scheduled to meet the KoPT chief on November 28, and a discussion is likely to be held for developing at least two idle docks," KoPT sources told PTI.

Besides revenue for the port, the development will help boost employment and maritime activity in the state.

The company will revive the two non-functional shipyards of Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers at Salkia and Nazirgunge, among the oldest in the country.

"Cochin Shipyard Ltd has indicated an investment of Rs 130-150 crore over the next three to five to revive the two shipyards against a minimum commitment of Rs 100 crore," HDPE Chairman Balaji Arun Kumar had said.

As per the agreement, an SPV called Hooghly Cochin Shipyard Ltd has been formed with a paid-up capital of Rs 22 crore, in which Cochin Shipyards will hold 74 percent stake, while the rest would be with HDPE.
A man claiming to be an Army official was arrested after eight kilograms of heroin worth nearly Rs 40 crore in the international market was found in his possession, a top police officer said today.

"Mohammad Anwar, a resident of Lam village of Nowshera in Rajouri district was arrested yesterday and eight kilograms of pure quality heroin worth Rs 40 crore in the market, bearing Afghan markings, was found in his possession," Inspector General of Police (Jammu) S D Singh Jamwal told reporters while he presented the accused before the media.

The consignment, which was headed for Delhi, was the second major haul recovered in the past three days, IG Jamwal said.

The accused claimed to be an Army official belonging to 17 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry regiment and attached with the Army headquarters in Delhi, he said, adding "his claims are being verified". He was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Anwar was travelling in a Delhi-bound bus which was stopped in Kunjwani and the narcotic consignment concealed inside a box of apples was seized from him, the IG said.

Terming the seizure a "major success" and the "second surgical strike" against drugs peddlers, Jamwal said it is premature to say anything about the end user but it was being transported from Srinagar to Delhi via Ludhiana.

"The consignment bore Afghan labels, indicating that the drugs were smuggled into the state from Pakistan," he said, adding that the drugs were being produced in Afghanistan- Pakistan region.

Jamwal said simultaneous raids were conducted in different parts of Jammu leading to the recovery of 110 grams of heroin from Rajouri, 350 grams of charas from Kishtwar and 1.2 kg of charas from Kathua besides 2,400 banned capsules from Jammu city.

"Our efforts will continue with the same vigour to eradicate the menace of drug trafficking," he said.

Jamwal said the quantity of heroin and the amount of money seized in the recent past was indicative of the nefarious designs of the people involved in drug trafficking.

"The money could have been utilized anywhere but our effort is to break the whole nexus," the IG said.
Representative Image

Haryana has been put on alert and the state government has sought 25 companies of paramilitary forces in view of the proposed rallies of a Jat body and a BJP MP tomorrow.

The Haryana Police said that "adequate" number of security personnel have been deployed in almost 13 districts of the state to maintain law and order, and claimed that the situation was "peaceful and under control".

Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini, who has been opposing reservations for Jats, would be holding a "Samaanta Maha Sammelan" in Jind while the All India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti's chief Yashpal Malik would take out a rally at Jassia village in Rohtak district on November 26.

"The situation is peaceful and under control," Haryana Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Muhammad Akil told PTI this evening.

"We have deployed adequate forces in 12 to 13 districts of Haryana," he said without specifying the number of security personnel.

The state has also sought 25 companies of paramilitary forces from the Centre in view of the two rallies being organised in Rohtak and Jind districts, the officer said.

However, the paramilitary forces are yet to arrive, he said.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Rohtak Range, Navdeep Virk said that as many as 3,500 security personnel have been deployed in Rohtak.

Deputy Commissioner (DC), Rohtak, Yash Garg said, "Prohibitory orders banning the carrying of arms, weapons or lathis has been issued."

Besides, routes have been diverted at several points so that those participating in the rally at Jassia village would not have to pass through the city, he said.

"As many as 19 police check posts have been set up while 38 duty magistrates have also been deployed in the district," the officer said.

DC, Jind, Amit Khatri said that the district administration and the police are on alert and adequate security forces have been deployed.

"Hisar Range IGP is also camping in the district," he said, adding that no prohibitory orders have been issued.

Yesterday, a group of Jats, who had been opposing Saini's rally, had clashed with police in Jind and had blocked the Jind-Chandigarh national highway.

The police had to use a mild lathi charge to disperse the protesters and clear the highway.

The Haryana government on Friday had suspended mobile internet services at 13 places in the state for the next three days, apprehending breach of peace and law and order problem because of the rallies.

Mobile internet, SMS and dongle services provided by cellphone networks, except voice calls, would remain suspended for the next three days, till November 26 midnight, in Jind, Hansi, Bhiwani, Hisar, Fatehabad, Karnal, Panipat, Kaithal, Rohtak, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts.
Abstract

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has made Work Style Reform (hatarakikata kaikaku) part of his core policy agenda, promising above all to remedy the Japanese way of work's two greatest problems: dangerously long work hours and grossly unequal wage gaps between regular and non-regular workers. However, critics charge that the proposals will likely aggravate these problems, given that labor policymaking is dominated by conservative business and political leaders bent on deregulation. This paper examines the current Work Style Reform proposals, explaining howthe work hour reduction and equal pay for equal work proposals are being promoted to the public, and why they ultimately fail as reforms from the worker point of view. Despite these serious problems, the government's effective marketing has helped to defuse potential resistance and the reform plans may become law in 2018.

Keywords

Labor policymaking, work style reform, equal pay for equal work, work hours regulation, non-regular workers, karoshi

Top-down labor reform plans

Japanese business leaders have long insisted that rigidities in the Japanese Employment System are a drag on economic performance, so it was natural for Abe Shinzo to renew his long-standing commitment to labor reform as a core policy goal upon becoming prime minister for the second time in December 2012. Abe's original labor reform agenda emphasized liberalization of agency temporary work (now accomplished), easier dismissal of regular employees, and deregulation of work hours. But the government has continuously repackaged its employment reform agenda, and last year released it as Hatarakikata Kaikaku, or Work Style Reform. The revised agenda still made addressing the nation's long work hours one of its central objectives, but suddenly added eliminating unequal and unfair pay gaps to its priorities.

Conditions are propitious for reform. Unemployment has fallen to 2.8%, and severe labor shortages are forcing some employers to raise pay for non-regular workers, or even, on occasion, to convert them into properly paid regular employees. The list of proposed reforms is long and comprehensive, but it prioritizes the alleviation of long work hours and drastic inequality in pay and status, clearly the two biggest problems in the nation's employment system. The former results in thousands of deaths and disabilities yearly, while structural inequality means that millions of workers and families live on the edge of poverty. Furthermore, both problems are rightly regarded as obstacles to greater gender equality in workplaces, and to raising the country's low birthrate -- long work hours make it difficult for childrearing women to pursue professional careers, and low incomes discourage many couples from having as many children as they would like.

But while the Abe Government is targeting the right problems, it is pushing the wrong remedies. Work Style Reform, if implemented as currently proposed, will almost certainly do more to strengthen the control of employers over the work force than to improve the treatment of workers. This is largely because the policymaking process continues to be dominated by business leaders and by conservative government officials strongly opposed to enhanced regulation and worker involvement in governance processes. The result is that the reforms on the two key policies head in totally different directions. The proposed reform of work hours would deregulate rather than tighten the current rules, which are already ridiculously slack. In contrast, the equal work for equal pay proposal eschews the job evaluation processes successfully utilized to promote fair compensation in other countries in favor of employers' subjective evaluation, based on the concept of "balanced treatment," that is more likely to increase inequality than alleviate it.

Prime Minister Abe addressing the Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform



Policymaking background

Labor reform plans during Abe Shinzo's first term as prime minister (2006-2007) failed ignominiously. Angry public criticism forced him to withdraw a proposed exemption from overtime pay, under which the 70% of white-collar workers earning over 4,000,000 yen per year in salary - millions of middle-class workers - would lose their right to receive overtime premiums no matter how long they worked. He ultimately resigned as prime minister after barely one year. However, Abe's second term, now the third longest in Japanese history, has been far more successful, largely because of opposition party weakness but also because of much better marketing of his policies. Immediately after resuming the prime ministership, Abe announced the launch of Abenomics, an ambitious and attention-grabbing policy package to jumpstart the long-stagnant economy. The first two of the famous Three Arrows of Abenomics were monetary easing and fiscal stimulus, which at least appeared to boost growth, but benefited primarily large firms, while the third (and more painful) arrow, structural reform, did not take flight.

By 2015, the momentum of Abenomics was clearly waning, leading the prime minister to unveil a series of new initiatives, including a new Three Arrows and two initiatives intended largely to promote women's workplace participation, the "Dynamic Society of One Hundred Million" and "Creating a Society in which all Women Can Shine" (though these programs stopped well short of implementing or even specifying an approach that might significantly move toward gender equality). Typically for this prime minister's initiatives, the various policies and goals overlapped and fluctuated confusingly, but the major objectives included growing the economy by 20% by 2021 (from roughly 500 trillion yen to 600 trillion yen),1 greatly expanding childcare and elder care services, and raising the birthrate from the present 1.45 to 1.8 (in order to maintain the population at the 100 million level). The keys to unleashing high growth are seen as raising productivity and encouraging stronger economic participation by women.

Unfortunately for reform prospects, the employment system has historically differentiated sharply between regular and non-regular workers (Gordon 2017). This differentiation has helped to drive the problem of long work hours (since bona fide regular workers are promised strong job and livelihood protection in return for accepting on-demand overtime) and has also facilitated the steady development of employment segmentation since the 1970s. While employers in all countries have pursued dispatch work and other modes of flexible employment, the institutionalized use of women as complementary workers made it especially easy for Japanese managers to shift them into non-regular employment after 1985, when the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law made it formally illegal to discriminate against female employees and job-seekers. Following a sharp recession in the late 1990s, a sharp rise in the numbers of non-regularly employed young men helped to turn economic inequality into a major social issue, but the majority of non-regular workers continue to be women, and a growing number of them are single mothers, who must be breadwinners for their families (Kobayashi 2015).

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Evincing awareness of the continuing unease about inequality, the Prime Minister once again strengthened (rhetorically, at least) the employment reform campaign in mid-2016. On June 1, exhibiting his penchant for sloganeering, Abe proclaimed, "We will enact equal pay for equal work, and the term non-regular work will be swept from this country." Critics retorted that the term would be eliminated but that unequal employment conditions would continue, just under different names.2 In August, with the Upper House election underway, Abe proclaimed Work Style Reform to be the "greatest challenge" facing Japan, and he established a new Cabinet level office, the Ministry in Charge of Work Style Reform, installing LDP stalwart Kato Katsunobu as minister. In September 2016 the Government launched the Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform (Hatarakikata Kaikaku Jitsugen Kaigi).

In practice, the Work Style Reform agenda essentially continues the strong push for employer-friendly reform made by Abe since the beginning of his prime ministership, with the usual re-marketing and a bit of reorientation. As seen in the table below, the agenda consists of nine items with the potential to greatly change employment practices in Japan; none are truly new, but the Abe Government has arguably pressed them harder than previous administrations. At least two other important reforms demanded by the LDP's backers in the employer community, kinsen-teki kaiketsu (monetary resolution, a scheme to enable companies to dismiss regular workers upon payment of severance) and expanded use of gentei seishain (limited regular employee, intended to be a an employment status midway between regular and non-regular employee), are not on the list, even though they are being intensively pursued outside of the work style reform framework.3

Table 1. Major Items in the Work Style Reform Action Plan

Improve the treatment of non-regular employees through Equal Work for Equal Pay and other measures. Raise both labor productivity and wages. Correct long work hours by limiting overtime hours and other measures. Improve education (including re-training and re-employment schemes) to aid the movement of workers into growth industries. Promote the use of telework and other flexible work arrangements. Better utilize youth and women by establishing gender-neutral social insurance and tax schemes. Help older workers to continue working. Strengthen the childcare and eldercare systems. Encourage employment of foreign workers.

Source: Office of the Prime Minister, Government of Japan (2016).

Despite the Government's positive messaging, the odds of achieving reform that will benefit the average worker or lower income workers are slim because the policymaking process is controlled by business leaders and their conservative political allies. The general labor reform agenda is being spearheaded, not by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), but instead by advisory councils attached to the Prime Minister's Office and by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). To be sure, MHLW has not always been a dependable labor ally, but its policy deliberation councils (shingikai) at least guarantee equal voice for labor unions in debating labor policies. In contrast, the two advisory councils that undertake important labor initiatives, the Council on Industrial Competitiveness (Sangyo Kyosoryoku Kaigi) and the Council on Regulatory Reform (Kisei Kaikaku Kaigi), include no labor representatives. Moreover, METI has interjected itself into labor reform policymaking, partly in accordance with its usual concern for raising economic productivity, and partly to carve out new turf. Many of the members of the two advisory councils have important ties to METI, further buttressing the Ministry's influence. This pattern has continued in the Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform. The Council includes only a single labor representative, Kozu Rikio, the chief of Rengo, Japan's largest labor union federation.

Equal pay for equal work

Closing the pay gap

The Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform at first made reducing inequality between regular and non-regular workers its main objective, especially by establishing the equal pay for equal work principle. Non-regular workers currently constitute 37.4% of the working population, and the problems of this employment status mostly concern women and younger workers. Even though female job seekers are increasingly landing permanent positions, 56% of female employees are non-regular workers. Half of those non-regulars are part-timers, who constitute nearly 60% of working women (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication 2017). The predominance of non-regular, especially part-time labor, among women, is a product of Japanese managements long-term effort to win greater flexibilityin the context of a fully institutionalized postwar system of regular employment for men, which dovetailed with the cultural understanding that it is natural and ideal for female workers to be subordinate in the workplace (Gordon 2017, 13). The Abe Administration's concern is not so much with the growth of non-regular employment among women per se but with the large pay gap suffered by part-timers. Statistics show that part-timers earn 43% less per hour than full-time workers (Japan Institute of Labour Policy and Training 2016). The Abe Administration claims that such low wages are a disincentive to women to choose to work part-time while taking care of family duties. In order to raise female labor participation, the Abe Administration considers reducing the pay gap to be a top work style reform priority.

The issue faced by younger workers is involuntary non-regular employment, which has arisen from Japanese firms determined effort to cut labor costs (Osawa, Kim and Kingston 2013). Since the 1990s, companies reduced recruitment of costly regular workers, which resulted in more young workers reluctantly taking non-regular jobs (Genda 2001). Research has shown that male non-regular workers find it hard to marry or start a family, which exacerbates Japan's population decline (Nagase 2002). Even though the Abe Administration does not particularly consider the equal pay for equal work legislation a solution to young workers issues, it aims to enable every worker to have the hope of a better future (Hatarakikata Kaikaku Jitsugen Kaigi 2017, 2). Reducing the pay gap is seen as a way to stimulate and motivate every worker, and thereby raise labor productivity, which is another stated goal of Work Style Reform. However, critics of the plan are concerned that it could ultimately reduce the wage gap by enabling lower wages for regulars, while the fortunes of non-regular workers would be only marginally improved.

The Equal Pay for Equal Work Guideline, presented in December 2016, set out the first blueprint for equal pay for equal work legislation (Hatarakikata Kaikaku Jitsugen Kaigi 2016). The Guideline distinguishes between two different ideas of equal pay for equal work, and proposes to apply them selectively depending on the type and purpose of compensation. One is the idea of equal treatment, that is, forbidding discriminatory treatment and providing benefits equally to all workers. The Guideline aims to apply the equal treatment principle to allowances, such as transportation allowances, condolence leaves, and sick leaves. It would also ensure equal access to cafeterias and locker rooms for all workers. In other words, the principle of equal treatment is applied to allowances and benefits that are to be provided to all employees who work for the same company, regardless of their employment status or duties.

However, regarding the core" compensations that significantly shape the workers economic wellbeing, i.e. base wages, bonus payments, and wage raises, the Guideline adopts the second principle of "balanced treatment." Here, the idea is that equal pay will depend on there being no differences between workers and their work. If there are differences, their pay can reflect it. So base wages, bonus payments, and pay raises will be provided equally or differentially depending on employer appraisal of the situation of each worker and how compensations are determined in each workplace. The factors considered in assessing the similarities and differences of each worker are job content and responsibility, whether the worker is subjected to job changes, job rotation, work place transfers, and "other factors" that may include achievements, motivation, and experience.

Derived from the Guideline, draft legislation entitled Outline of the Bill to Promote Work Style Reform was presented in September 2017 (Rodoseisaku Shingikai Rodojoken Bunkakai 2017). The proposal called for making revisions to the Part-Time Workers Law, the Labor Contract Law, and the Dispatched Workers Law respectively. Currently, the Labor Contract Law contains a balanced treatment clause for fixed-term contract workers, but includes no equal treatment clause. The Dispatch Workers Law contains neither of the clauses. The Part- Time Workers Law contains both clauses but without the precise wordings sought by the Council.4

The Outline's equal treatment clause (entitled, Prohibition of Discriminatory Treatment Against Part-time/Fixed Term Workers Comparable to Ordinary Workers) states that the employer shall not engage in discriminatory treatment in terms of wages, bonuses, and other compensation if part-time/fixed-term workers job descriptions and the range in which changes in job assignment are expected to take place are equal to those of the regular workers throughout the entire period of employment (Rodoseisaku Shingikai Rodojoken Bunkakai 2017, 44). The clause is relatively clear as it stands, and would not much change the existing equal treatment clause in Article 9 of the Part Time Workers Law. However, the balanced treatment clause (entitled Prohibition of Unreasonable Treatment) is rather opaque. It prohibits setting differences that would be recognized as unreasonable for base wages, bonuses, and other compensation (Ibid). The Guideline may once again provide readers with an idea of what this clause may exactly mean.

According to the Guideline, (un)reasonableness is to be assessed in each case by considering the rationale behind the types of compensation and how they correspond to the actual work situation of each worker. Wage systems adopted in Japanese companies are diverse, yet most workplaces consider multiple factors, such as work experience, age, ability to perform tasks, and achievement. The Guideline suggests that if a portion of the base wage is determined by experience, the employer is to equally pay the same part of the base wage to non-regular workers with the same work experience. In cases where the workers' experience differs, the pay will reflect the difference. If a part of the base wage is decided by achievement, the employer must equally pay the same part of the base wage to the non-regular workers who have performed on equal terms and achieved the same goals. If achievement differs between the workers, the pay will reflect the difference. If a part of the base wage is calculated according to years of service, the same proportion of base wage based on years of service must be provided to non-regular workers who have been working the same number of years.5

More than anything else the Outline emphasizes forcing employers to explain differential treatments to workers. Upon request by the non-regular worker, the employer will be required to describe how their treatment differs from ordinary workers, inform the worker of factors taken into consideration in determining the differential treatment, and give a rationale for that treatment (Ibid., 46).

Criticisms from progressive labor

Progressive labor unions and lawyers associations have criticized the equal pay for equal work scheme pursued by the Abe Administration and the Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform on the grounds that the legislation will most likely do little to redress existing inequalities, and may even serve to justify and ossify them. The critics assert that the equal treatment statute will have little impact on non-regular workers, because it uses changes in job assignment as a criterion for assessing the equivalence of workers. The Labor Lawyers Association of Japan (LLAJ, Nihon Rodo Bengodan) and the Japan Lawyers Association for Freedom (JLAF, Jiyu Hosodan) have both suggested that the job assignment clause will deny most non-regular workers equal treatment. The majority of non-regular workers are assigned to particular jobs, and even though they may change job assignments, they are not expected to rotate among jobs on a regular basis, nor are they subject to workplace transfers. In other words, the premises behind the usage of regular and non-regular workers differ at most work places even in cases where non-regular and regular workers may be working on equivalent jobs at any given moment. In short, the equal treatment clause will not apply to many of the non-regular workers. The equal treatment clause proposed in the Outline hardly differs from the existing clause in the existing Part Time Workers Law, which has had very little effect in closing the pay gap between part-timers and regular workers. One estimate of the proportion of non-regular workers who may benefit from the equal treatment clause showed that only 21% of fixed term workers were subject to changes in job assignments, with the related figure for part-time workers falling below 3% (Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training 2011).

Regarding the balanced treatment clause, the National Confederation of Trade Unions (NCTU, or Zenroren), JLAF, and LLAJ all oppose the phrase differences that would be recognized as unreasonable. These progressive labor groups call for a phrasing that is closer to European Union directives on the principle of non-discrimination, i.e., the employer shall not treat non-regular workers differently from regular workers "unless different treatment is justified on objective grounds," such as differences in job description or performance. Such phrasing will lean more heavily towards equal treatment than balanced treatment. More importantly, the EU directives will make the employer liable in providing evidence for the "objective grounds" in treating workers differentially, while the worker concerned will only have to show that he or she is being treated differently. As the current draft stands, labor and management will both be liable for convincing the judge that the differential treatment is "(un)reasonable." Court cases that turned on the existing wording have recognized the unequal treatment between non-regular and regular workers but have ruled that the difference cannot be recognized as being unreasonable.

One of several cases that challenge the large pay gap is the Metro Commerce case. The plaintiffs are four female non-regular workers, who worked as sales clerks at the subway kiosks operated by Metro Commerce, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Metro. These veteran workers had renewed their fixed term contracts to build up job tenure of between 7 to 10 years. Their suit demanded equal treatment with regular workers based on Article 20 of the Labor Contract Law, which prohibits unreasonable differences in treatment. Plaintiffs alleged that they were underpaid in terms of base wage, bonus, and overtime payments, and they received no family and housing allowances. So far the women have fared poorly in court. In March 2017, the judges of the Tokyo District Court dismissed the case, ruling that even though the differential treatment was due to differences in employment status, the differences in treatment could not be said to be unreasonable. Labor lawyers and union activists are concerned that the Prohibition of Unreasonable Treatment clause in the Outline provides ample room for such logic to continue to prevail (Nihon Rodo Bengodan 2017; Ito 2017).

Finally, the Work Style Reform campaign does not include the idea of regulating the usage of non-regular workers. It rather promotes the growth of non-regular workers under the slogan "diverse work styles." Labor law deregulation over the years has allowed for the extended usage of non-regular workers. The Labor Standards Act was revised in 2004 to extend the one-year limit on fixed term contracts to three years in general and to five years for workers with expertise knowledge, skills, or experience. The Dispatch Workers Law was amended in 2015 to lift the restrictions placed on usage and period of employment, thus allowing employers to use temporary agency workers indefinitely if the workplace does not use the same temp worker continuously for over three years on the same job. The NCTU, LLAJ, and JLAF argue that it is critical to place restrictions on the employment of non-regular workers while legislating equal treatment principles.

Discussion: Another justification for differential treatment?

How much of the Guideline will actually become law remains to be seen, but the impact on the non-regular workers will be a far cry from the goal of "expanding the middle class" proclaimed by the Action Plan (Hatarakikata Kaikaku Jitsugen Kaigi 2017). Compensation will be fully corrected only for a rather small proportion of non-regular workers who work on terms equal to those of regular workers for the entire duration of their employment. The vast majority can, at best, expect only small increases.

The tradeoff for even these modest monetary gains will be strong cultural pressure exerted on all workers to work harder and become more productive. The Action Plan claims that the Work Style Reform "will banish the term 'non-regular employment' from this country" (Ibid., 3). Given the nature of the proposed equal pay for equal work legislation, this implies that the Work Style Reform will eliminate the principle, "Youre paid less because youre a non-regular worker," and replace it with a new set of legal justifications for unequal treatment based on other factors including career tracks, achievements, motivations, and skills. The new principle will be, "Youre paid less because you are on a different career track," "because you contribute less," or "because you lack motivation," which are ultimately reducible to the subjective claim, "because you lack ability in our estimation," which could even open the door to reducing the wages of regular workers.

The bottom line is that although the equal pay for equal work legislation is intended to increase labor participation and labor productivity, in its repeated references to motivation and ability, the Equal Pay for Equal Work Guideline marks a new stage in using "equality" to legitimize unequal treatment. Historically speaking, the practice of differential treatment based on gender became subject to regulation with the enactment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law. Employers responded to the EEOL by introducing the dual sogoshoku (career) and ippanshoku (general, i.e., non-career) occupational tracks. Eventually, corporate efforts to minimize labor costs blossomed into the employment-status based treatment that is common today. The Abe Governments current move to banish unequal treatment based on employment status introduces a new principle that legitimates differential treatment based on the employer's subjective evaluation of worker ability. The Outline states that the legislation shall guarantee the employment opportunity of part-time and fixed-term workers "according to their motivations and skills...." (Rodoseisaku Shingikai Rodojoken Bunkakai 2017, 43). What these passages collectively show, together with the equal pay for equal work bill, is that the Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform is keen on defining "fair treatment" as "differential treatment based on workers ability." If this principle is enshrined in law, workers will find it extremely difficult to challenge unequal treatment.

The message implied by the repeated reference to motivation and skill is that if the worker in question is not happy with the treatment, he or she should work harder, proactively acquire more skills, be self-motivated to be more productive, and contribute more to the work place and the Japanese economy. In other words, the Work Style Reform and the equal pay for equal work legislation will either pressure workers to accept pay differences as a reflection of their lack of ability, or push them to work harder and become deserving of equal treatment. Discrimination based on employment status is bad enough, but legitimation of class position based on a persons ability unilaterally judged by the employer is notoriously hard to escape, and, according to Richard Sennett (2003), it injures a persons sense of self-respect.

Reforming the working day

At the launch of the Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform in the fall of 2016, the prime minister proclaimed the reduction of long work hours as a core objective, explaining, "If we correct long work hours, we will improve work-life balance, and it will become easier for women and elders to find work." (Asakura 2017, 118) As noted above, however, the equal work for equal pay agenda was initially the first priority. That changed early in 2017 after the government awarded compensation to the mother of a 24-year-old Dentsu employee, Takahashi Matsuri, who had thrown herself from the roof of an employee dormitory late in 2015 after months of overwork, sleep deprivation, and harassment by her bosses made her depressed and suicidal.

With headlines of another overwork-induced death splashed across the front pages, Prime Minister Abe and the Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform sought to mollify public anger by replacing work-life balance with the ending of karoshi, deaths resulting from overwork, as the greatest objective of the work hour reduction campaign (Asakura 2017). As part of the marketing effort, Sakakibara Sadayuki, chief of the employers' association Nippon Keidanren, called for setting numerical limits on work hours -- a measure long vehemently opposed by employers -- while Prime Minister Abe sent an offering of flowers on December 25, the anniversary of Takahashi's death, and invited her mother to his official residence for a four-hour visit in February 2017. The Prime Minister pledged to achieve work style reform so that, "her death would not be in vain." (Mainichi Shinbun 2017)

Statutory inadequacies

In reality, the Abe Government's remedies are cosmetic, and its proposed reforms to the Labor Standards Act, purported to bring time-saving efficiencies, are more likely to cause even greater amounts of hidden overwork. The major problem is that the centerpiece of the government work hour agenda is deregulation, yet the existing rules are already riddled with loopholes that make the current legal limits on hours meaningless. Or, regulations simply go unenforced since enforcement and inspection are inadequate.

Under current law, one working day is 8 hours and one working week is 40 hours. In principle, overtime is not permitted. However, if an Article 36 overtime agreement (saburoku kyotei) is reached between labor's representatives and management, and filed at the Labor Standards Office (LSO) as stipulated by the Labor Standards Act, virtually unlimited overtime can become legally permissible. The minimum overtime premium is 25% above the hourly wage, rising to 50% for overtime in excess of 60 hours per month. It is common for firms to have in these agreements a "special clause"tokubetsu jokothat allows unlimited overtime in emergency situations. Emergency situations may be unilaterally declared at management's discretion. According to a review conducted by the MHLW, these overtime agreements often permit 100 or even 200 hours of overtime work per month, far in excess of the Ministry guidelines, which suggest limits of 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year (Sato 2017). A MHLW investigation of selected firms found work hour violations in 70% of them (Kisei Kaikaku Suishin Kaigi 2017). Hours exceeding the limits established by Article 36 agreements, and failure to pay overtime wages, were the most common infractions. Surveys of Japanese full-time workers consistently report unpaid overtime averaging about 240 hours a year (Morioka 2013). However critics are quick to note that even when overtime is fully compensated, the premium rate of 25% above regular hourly salary is so low that it is not a disincentive for ordering overtime. In sum, both direct control of overwork, through limits on hours, and indirect control, through high overtime premiums, are lacking in Japan (Noda 2000).

The black (square) and blue (triangle) lines of the graph show the national annual averages of both scheduled hours and hours actually worked for all workers in enterprises of five or more employees. The decline is largely due to increased use of part-time workers, whose average hours are also falling. On the other hand, the average hours of full-time workers red (diamond) line have barely declined at all, despite some forty years of policymaking, worker activism, and public education campaigns. The graph does not show unpaid overtime, which is also commonly reported by full-time workers. Between 20 and 25% of full-time employed men aged 30-45 reportedly put in 60 or more hours per week, enough to put them over the "karoshi line." (Source: MHLW Monthly Labor Statistics)

Despite evidence of widespread violations, the MHLW cannot monitor workplaces properly. In 2016 there were 3241 Labor Standards Inspectors, responsible for supervising more than 4-million companies: inspectors are each responsible for an average of almost 1300 firms; only 3% of firms can be surveyed each year (Kisei Kaikaku Suishin Kaigi 2017). Employer participation in Ministry surveys is largely voluntary and the Ministry is wary of alienating employers because they need this important data to compile labor statistics. Consequently, on-site visits are rare and generally limited to the worst cases. The budget for hiring more inspectors is inadequate and politically sensitive. The MHLW inspectors themselves are badly overworked. An inspector showed one of the authors a cabinet overflowing with current case files. He also displayed his datebook, in which he recorded his daily arrival and departure from work so that his wife would have evidence to use if she needed to file a claim for karoshi.

This inspector's daily bookkeeping habit points to a legal loophole that is a major cause of karoshi cases: enforcement is difficult because work hours recordkeeping requirements for employers are lax. It is especially easy to take advantage of white-collar salaried employees. Office workers who are "permanent employees" of their corporations generally accept that their work will be unlimited in terms of duties, hours, and locations. They will do whatever is asked, no matter how long it takes, or where it takes them. And courts have ruled that the open-ended demands of this kind of employment are legal. In return, employers must provide secure employment; it is very difficult to terminate employees. In this mutual employment embrace, employees are at the mercy of employers. When Japan's economy was growing, workers benefitted because businesses invested in labor. In today's comparatively stagnant economy, labor is increasingly devalued. Full-time workers face growing pressures from employers to work without concern for time, and the MHLW lacks the manpower to compel employers to end the widespread practices of not recording and not compensating overtime. Even when employers are caught abusing workers in high-profile cases, the fines are small, and managers are not individually punished.

Although the underlying problems are clear, some of the Abe Government's proposed remedies for overwork come across as neoliberal comic relief. For example, take "No Overtime Day," one day per week (typically Wednesday) when employees are urged not to work overtime. Some companies schedule semi-compulsory conviviality on those evenings, but whether workers enjoy drinks with colleagues or not, work not completed on No Overtime Day must be made up either by taking work home or doing it in the office at some other time. A recent survey revealed a trend of workers starting work earlier, before work hours officially begin (NHK Hoso Bunka Kenkyusho 2015).

Then there is "Premium Friday," which the Abe government rolled out with fanfare in February 2017. On the last Friday of each month, workers are to leave work at 3PM. Premium Friday epitomizes the government's preferred approach to regulation of work hours: voluntary, consumption oriented, and generally ineffectual (Brasor 2017). Premium Friday participation rates are in the single digits. It was momentarily good PR, but even the Prime Minister has stopped observing it. These almost laughable remedies do next to nothing to help workers and their families cope with overwork.

While "No Overtime Day" and "Premium Friday" were public relations ploys, the proposed revisions to legal regulations could put workers at serious risk. The dangers are partially disguised by nominal new protections. For example, the Action Plan calls for inserting "historic" first limits on overtime into the Labor Standards Act. A monthly limit of "up to" 100 hours, and a limit of 80-hours of overtime on average across a two to six month period are proposed. If enacted, the new provision would legalize overtime work at the exact threshold that the MHLW uses to award workers' compensation to karoshi victims or their families. In combination with existing provisions for authorizing holiday work, as much as 960 hours of overtime per year could be allowed (Okunuki 2017).

Such long hours would be a natural consequence of the proposed expansion of self-discretionary work systems and increased use of performance-based pay. The government and business leaders have argued (especially before the Takahashi tragedy) that, unlike time-based compensation, self-discretion in work hours creates incentives for increased efficiency, allowing workers to better balance work and life. Campaigners opposed to the reforms pointedly note that workers don't control their workloads, therefore self-discretion is a dangerous illusion. They fear that in coming years more and more workers will be dragooned into self-discretionary work, in which all responsibility for required overtime would be placed on workers (Rengo 2017).

Like self-discretionary labor, the Sophisticated Professional Labor System, a new version of Mr. Abe's 2006 white-collar exemption from overtime and other work hours regulations, is a sort of Trojan horse. The plans call for initially applying it only to the small percentage of relatively high salaried, non-executive employees making more than 10,750,000 yen per year. The business lobby, however, continues to demand the 2006 salary threshold of 4,000,000 yen a year, a level that brought banner headlines about the "Overtime Pay Zero Law" that helped end the first Abe administration as workers realized that overtime uncounted would also mean overtime uncompensated. After Abe's 2012 return to power, however, Labor Minister Shiozaki in 2015 tacitly agreed to increase the number of workers covered by this "zero overtime pay" proposal. He was caught on tape at a closed-door meeting responding to business leaders' complaints about the high salary threshold, saying that the first step is to establish the principle. "Birth them small, then raise them up big. For the time being, let's just push [the law] through" (Nikkan Gendai 2015).

Lowering the salary threshold would expand the number of workers in the Sophisticated Professional Labor System, who would thus become exempt from several other key provisions of the Labor Standards Act: the 8-hour day and 40-hour week, requirements for rest days and rest periods during the day, overtime agreements, and premiums for holiday and night work. The reforms also call for expanding employment types, making way for varied treatment and working conditions on the basis of labels, even as workplace customs promote longer, more intense, and increasingly uncompensated work for all. This is sure to add confusion to a legal environment in which workers already have difficulty understanding their rights.

Inadequate compliance with the spirit of the law

Because the Labor Standards Act was established in the aftermath of World War II, when Japan's economy was weak, it set only minimum standards, which employers are supposed to strive to exceed. In place of close controls and punishments, the LSA favors encouragement and education. The MHLW tries to reward and promote firms that exemplify good behavior, and punishments are imposed only rarely. The benefits of ignoring the injunction to meet the minimum labor standards outweigh the risks of getting caught. The temptation to ignore regulations is especially great in tough economic times, and workers tend to cooperate for the sake of the company and their own employment security.

Japan's enterprise-dependent unions are ineffective defenders of individual worker's rights to rest and overtime pay. On the other hand, the business community is unified in its devotion to increasing flexibility. It has long been common to hear sentiments such as that expressed in 2011 by Toyota Managing Director, Ijichi Takehiko, "Unless we can quickly get a system introduced in which young people can work without concern for time, Japanese manufacturing will be in big trouble. [...] Restrictions on overtime and other labor regulations are fetters on growth." (Tokyo Shimbun 2012) In 2017, the business elite is near to realizing its long-cherished goal of trivializing work hour regulations.

Although employers' attitudes and treatment of workers reflect trends evident in the historical character of time consciousness in Japanese labor-capital relations (Smith 1986), the employer benevolence that was long a counterbalancing factor is increasingly absent now. Today there are thinly veiled expectations for continuous effort, anecdotally represented by sayings such as, "If you don't come to work on Saturday, then don't bother coming in on Sunday." Watanabe Miki, notorious founder of the Watami Group (and now a member of parliament), is more explicit: "Twenty-four hours a day, 365-days a year, work until you die."

Conclusion

Despite receiving only a modest plurality of the vote in the October 2017 national election, the Liberal Democratic Party's resounding victory and resultant control of parliament leave Mr. Abe poised to become the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history. The way is thus clear to passing the labor reform agenda outlined above. Historically, drastic workplace inequalities (Gordon 2017) and dangerously long work hours are the most troubling problems in Japanese employment system. They increasingly threaten economic growth and even the birthrate, yet Japan's business and political leaders continue to propose measures that will strengthen management control rather than redress these serious workplace issues. The current equal pay for equal work proposal centers on a complex codification that will produce some modest improvements but leave the most important issues to management discretion; the proposed limits on overtime work enable further deregulation, although many workplaces are hardly regulated by the existing laws.

The Abe Government has attempted, with considerable success, to mask the problems its policies will cause for workers through energetic marketing (Nagai 2017). At the September 2016 launch of the Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform, work hour reduction was lauded as a work-life balance measure, but messaging shifted abruptly to karoshi prevention following the overwork-induced death of Takahashi Matsuri. Nevertheless, surveys find that the message emphasizing individual differences appeals to a significant portion of young workers, who support the principle of being paid according to their workplace performance (Konno 2017). Similarly, while the equal pay for equal work legislation may do little to improve the economic wellbeing of non-regular workers, it may spread the neoliberal culture of self-blame and individualistic ethic of hard work.

Unless otherwise indicated, translations from Japanese are our own.

References

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Sennett, Richard. 2003. Respect: The Formation of Character in an Age of Inequality. London: Penguin Books.

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Tokyo Shinbun. 2012. "Karoshi Shakai, Tomaranu Chojikan Rodo (Jo) 'Otto no Shi Nandatta': Toyota Yurumu Zangyo Kisei (Karoshi Society, Continuing Long Work Hours (Part 1) 'What Did My Husband Die For?' Toyota's Loose Overtime Limits)."
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Union minister Kiren Rijiju today said India had adopted a "zero-tolerance policy" towards terrorism and lamented that neighbour Pakistan was not doing enough to control the growth of terror on its soil.

"The government has made it clear on various international platforms that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism," he said at a function held at Mumbai to commemorate the supreme sacrifices made by the security personnel during the Mumbai terror attack nine years ago.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists reached Mumbai via the sea route and opened indiscriminate fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores of rupees.

"India has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism. I do not want to go into its details but the outline is clear," Rijiju said.

Asked about the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the Union Minister of State for Home said, "It is a matter of concern for us. We have been putting pressure on Pakistan in a bilateral way as well as through multilateral forums."

Saeed is also the founder of terror outfit Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT). The UN and US designated terrorist, who has a $ 10 million American bounty on his head, was freed by Pakistan on Friday.

Rijiju said, "On various international forums, we are making it absolutely clear that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism and it is not doing enough to contain the growth of terrorism on its soil. They must do much more than what they had said."

Asked about the neighbouring country being reluctant to cooperate in the Pathankot terror attack probe, the BJP leader said, "Our stand is clear and efforts are going on. I cannot disclose certain aspects of the attack or our efforts."

In January 2016, terrorists had sneaked into an Indian Air Force base in Punjab's Pathankot. The attack had claimed the lives of seven security personnel, while four terrorists were killed.

Rijiju said the coastal borders of India were much more secure now.

"We have taken a series of measures to secure the coastal borders. We have adopted a series of integrated coastal security schemes which are effective," he added.
The country's urea production is likely to come in lower by 3,00,000 tonnes at 24.1 million tonnes this fiscal as some plants are under renovation, says a senior Fertiliser Ministry official.

The country had produced 24.4 million tonnes (mt) of urea in 2016-17, it said. "Total urea output will be less because some plants are shut down and renovating to meet energy efficiency. That's why there will be a reduction of 3 lakh tonnes," the official told PTI.

However, this will be a temporary impact, he added. The production of urea has been on the rise over the past two years but is still short of the annual demand of about 32 mt.

Therefore, some quantity is still imported. According to the official, the capacity of urea plants is being fully utilised and sick units are being revamped to achieve self-sufficiency in urea output.

The government is trying to reduce urea consumption, given that this fertiliser is being used excessively as it is cheaper than other soil nutrients in the country, he explained.

As a result, the government has introduced neem coating of urea and is planning its sale in a 45-kg bag instead of the 50-kg from next year. A highly subsidised fertiliser, urea is sold at Rs 5,360 per tonne to farmers. The government bears Rs 40,000 crore annually to ensure urea is sold at a subsidised rate.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday hit out at NCP chief Sharad Pawar, saying that Pawar 'served' Sonia Gandhi for 15 years despite being kicked out by the Congress president from her party in 1999.

Thackeray addressed a rally at Sangli in western Maharashtra, ahead of the Sangli Miraj Kupwad municipal corporation election.

"Today Pawar said he had not seen a coalition government such as ours (Sena-BJP) where we criticise the BJP but stay in power. He should know that both the parties are separate since inception. It was you, who back-stabbed then Congress chief minister Vasantdada Patil to become chief minister of Maharashtra. I haven't seen a leader like you."

"Shiv Sena criticises BJP if there is a mistake and we both are capable of sorting it out. Pawar should not worry about it. Pawar did not leave the party, in fact, he was kicked out of the Congress by Sonia Gandhi, still he served her for (the next) 15 years," the Shiv Sena leader said, in reference to NCP's subsequent alliance with the Congress.

Pawar, while paying tributes to the first chief minister of Maharashtra late Yashvantrao Chavan at Karad this morning, took potshots at the Sena. "Shiv Sena is stuck to the power as if by adhesive. I have not seen such coalition government where one party continues to criticise another," he said.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday hit back at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for questioning the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, saying unlike during Congress regimes when middlemen ruled the roost, there was no "Quattrocchi" in the contract for the fighter jet.

Jaitley, who is the BJP's election in-charge for Gujarat, was referring to Ottavio Quattrocchi, the Italian businessman believed to be involved in the Bofors scam which came to light when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi trains guns on PM Modi over Rafale deal, Jay Shah issue

"It (Rafale deal) was a government-to-government transaction, between two governments. It wasn't like what used to happen during Congress governments when middlemen used to be there in every transaction. There wasn't any Quattrocchi in this transaction," Jaitley told reporters here.

The Rafale deal was made to boost the combat ability of the Indian Air Force, he said.

"I wonder why the Congress leader is raising this issue now, as the transaction was done almost two-and-a-half years back. The very fact that it is being raised after two-and-a-half years indicates it is a motivated campaign linked to the election," Jaitley said.

Responding to Gandhi's allegation that a certain industrialist was favoured and due procedures were not followed, Jaitley implied that Gandhi may not understand such issues because he has no experience.

"Since it was a government-to-government transaction, the procedure was different. Another procedure is of tendering. He (Rahul Gandhi) is not having any experience of running a government. And, it is up to the company (Rafale) to choose its partner (in India). The government of India does not decide that," Jaitley said.

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not want the "truth" behind the multi-crore Rafale deal to come out before the Assembly election, therefore delayed the winter session of Parliament.

"I would ask Modiji three questions. First, is there a difference in the cost of planes in the first and the second contracts (signed with the French firm) and did India pay more or less money as per the second contract?

"And, has the industrialist (whose company has formed a joint venture with the French firm), who was given the contract, ever manufactured planes?" Gandhi asked while addressing a rally in Gandhinagar district in the morning.

"And a more important question, did you follow the due government procedure? Why was the (then) defence minister seen catching fish in Goa? And, was an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security taken (for the mega-deal)?" he asked.

Meanwhile, responding to the Congress vice president's Twitter jibe at Modi over the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, Jaitley advised Gandhi to refrain from such "immature behaviour".

"He is a big leader and such immature behaviour and use of such immature words do not suit him," Jaitley said.
Police stand in their staging area and watch demonstrators near the Faizabad junction in Islamabad, Pakistan (Reuters)

Pakistan's government has called in the army to restore order after clashes between police and protesters belonging to hardline religious groups killed six people and injured more than 200 others in the capital.

The police aided by paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary yesterday launched a massive operation against activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and Sunni Tehreek Pakistan religious groups who had blocked a key highway to Islamabad for nearly three weeks.

Police and paramilitary forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters to disperse them. However, the security forces pulled back after the crackdown turned deadly.

At least six people were killed in clashes yesterday, Dawn reported. It also said that no security personnel was killed but at least nine senior police officers were injured including Rawalpindi city police chief Israr Abbasi.

According to health officials, more than 200 people, including at least 95 security personnel, were injured in the clashes and shifted to various hospitals.

The Interior Ministry last night issued a statutory regulatory order to authorize the deployment of the army to control the law and order situation in the capital.

Official sources said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa are expected to hold a meeting to discuss the situation after the government sought deployment of the army in the capital.

However, the army said it needed clarification on some points before moving in to control the situation.

General Bajwa was on a visit to the United Arab Emirates and cut short his trip to reach the country last night.

Earlier, he spoke to Abbasi over the telephone and suggested to handle the protests peacefully "avoiding violence from both sides as it is not in national interest and cohesion."

Meanwhile, all news channels have been off-air and access to popular social media blocked since yesterday.

Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) representing electronic media condemned the action against media.

The protesters have been laying siege to the capital for about three weeks demanding the removal of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for changes in a law related to the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat (finality of prophethood) oath in the Elections Act 2017.

They alleged the action undermined Islamic beliefs and linked it to blasphemy. The government has already amended the law and restored the original oath but the hardline clerics refused to call off the protests until the minister is sacked.

The unrest also spread to several cities where protesters have blocked major roads, resulting in clashes with police. Dozens of people were injured in Karachi and at other places.

Minister of Interior Ahsan Iqbal chaired a high-level security meeting on Friday night but failed to reach at any decision about the further operation as senior officials of Islamabad administration and police warned to loss of human lives, according to sources in the interior ministry.

The protesters emboldened by the failure of government upped the ante and demanded the resignation of the government, according to report on Geo TV website.

There are reports that ruling Pakistan Muslims Leauge- Nawaz was discussing the option of removing law minister to pacify the protests. But it may be too late now. The minister is already under immense pressure after an attack yesterday at his residence in Pasroor area of Sialkot district in Punjab.

Opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf have also increased pressure on government and its secretary general Jehangir Tareen demanded the resignation of interior minister for mishandling the operation.
Clashes broke out on Saturday as security forces launched a crackdown on protesters belonging to hardline religious groups who were blocking a key highway to the capital, leaving one policeman dead and over 200 others injured and triggering violent demonstrations in other cities.

The government ordered a suspension of private TV channels and blocked popular social media sites as police and paramilitary personnel fought pitched battles with the activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) and Sunni Tehreek Pakistan (ST) who torched vehicles and attacked the houses of political leaders.

However, the protesters regrouped again and continued their siege of the capital that started about three weeks ago, demanding the sacking of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for changes in a law related to the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat (finality of prophethood) oath in the Elections Act 2017.

Also Read: Violent protests by Pakistan's religious parties spread to Karachi

They alleged the action undermined Islamic beliefs and linked it to blasphemy. The government already amended the law and restored the original oath but the hardline clerics refused to go away until the minister was sacked.

The siege played havoc with the more than half million commuters who daily travel between Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The government was reluctant to use force, but launched operation after Islamabad High Court (IHC) yesterday issued contempt of court notice against interior minister Ahsan Iqbal for failing to implement orders to clear the roads.

Islamabad city magistrate yesterday issued a warning to protesters to disperse by midnight or face consequences.

More than 8,000 personnel of police and paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary launched the crackdown to clear Faizabad interchange linking Islamabad with garrison city of Rawalpindi and the only international airport of the capital.

In the morning hours, it looked that the police would clear the roads but the protesters regrouped by mid-day to re-occupy the interchange bridge, forcing the authorities to suspend the operation temporarily.

They also pelted stones on the security personnel who used batons and teargas shells to disperse them.

According to health officials, more than 200 people, including at least 95 security personnel, were injured in the clashes and shifted to various hospital of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

At least one policeman reportedly died due head injury, but the government has so far not confirmed the death.

Private media reported that two protesters also died in the clashes, but it could not be independently confirmed.

TV footage showed police firing teargas shells and security personnel in riot gears charging at the protesters dozens of whom were arrested and shifted to various police stations.

Protesters also burnt some vehicles and thrashed several policemen and other security personnel.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ordered media houses to stop live coverage and temporarily suspended several channels, including Geo TV, for failing to follow the directive.

Pakistan blocked popular social media site including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to stop protesters from uploading their messages.

Violent protests were also reported from several other cities including Karachi and Lahore.

In the commercial hub of Karachi, at least 28 people were injured, according to local police.

Protesters attacked the house of federal law minister Zahid Hamid in Pasroor area of Sialkot district of Punjab but no one was injured as the minister and his family were not present inside.

The rioters also attacked the house of former interior minister Nisar Ali Khan in Faizabad area of Rawalpindi.

They damaged the gate of his house and tried to enter the premises, but were prevented by police.

Mian Javed Latif, a lawmaker of ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, was thrashed by protesters in Sheikhupura area of Punjab and was being treated for injuries in the local hospital.

In the midst of challenging law and order situation, interior minister Ahsan Iqbal alleged involvement of Indian hand in the mischief and said protesters "contacted India" and the government was probing it.

"Why they did it (contacted India), we are looking into it. They (protesters) have inside information and resources that are being used against the state," he said.

Iqbal said the government was implementing court's orders to disperse the protesters.

"We are trying to clear the area with minimum violence, but we also need to ensure the fundamental rights of people of twin cities," he said.

A military spokesman said that army chief General Qamar Caved Bajwa talked to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on a telephone and urged for peaceful solution to the problem.

"COAS [chief of army staff] telephoned PM. Suggested to handle Islamabad Dharna (sit-in) peacefully avoiding violence from both sides as it is not in national interest and cohesion," said spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor.

Earlier, the IHC last Friday gave a 24-hour deadline to the government to clear the roads which was later extended until Thursday.

However, the court yesterday expressed strong displeasure at the government for failing to take action against protesters.
Representative Image

More than 33,000 migrants have died at sea trying to reach European shores since 2000, making the Mediterranean "by far the world's deadliest border", the United Nations migration agency said on Friday.

After record arrivals from 2014 to 2016, the European Union's deal with Turkey to stop arrivals to Greece and blocks on migrants inside Libya and off its coast have greatly reduced the flow, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

Professor Philippe Fargues of the European University Institute in Florence, author of the report, said the figures probably underestimated the actual scale of the human tragedy.

"The report states that at least 33,761 migrants were reported to have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean between the year 2000 to 2017. This number is as of June 30," IOM's Jorge Galindo told a Geneva news briefing.

"It concludes that Europe's Mediterranean border is by far the world's deadliest," he said.

So far this year some 161,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Europe by sea, about 75 percent of them landing in Italy with the rest in Greece, Cyprus and Spain, according to IOM figures. Nearly 3,000 others are dead or missing, it said.

"Shutting the shorter and less dangerous routes can open longer and more dangerous routes, thus increasing the likelihood of dying at sea," Fargues said.

The report said: "Cooperation with Turkey to stem irregular flows is now being replicated with Libya, the main country of departure of migrants smuggled along the central route; however, such an approach is not only morally reprehensible but likely to be unsuccessful, given the context of extremely poor governance, instability and political fragmentation in Libya."

Though sea arrivals to Italy are down almost a third this year, this week there was a surge in rescues and attempted crossings.

On Friday, Libya's EU-backed coastguard intercepted more than 600 mainly sub-Saharan African migrants, including many women and children, from a total of five boats that had left from the coast east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, coast guard officials said.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Italy's coast guard said some 1,600 migrants were rescued from nearly 20 vessels in the central Mediterranean.

Libya's U.N.-backed government said on Thursday it was investigating reports of African migrants being sold as slaves and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Footage broadcast by CNN appear to show African migrants being traded in Libya sparked an international outcry and protests in Europe and Africa.
(Image: Reuters)

Overwhelmed with emotion, Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg tried to avoid sharing his feelings. He had spent the past week remembering his loved ones who were killed by Pakistan-based LeT terrorists in a brutal attack in Mumbai nine years ago.

Rosenberg is the grandfather of Moshe Holtzberg, who was a two-year-old toddler when the 26/11 attacks happened and he lost his parents, Gavriel and Rivka. Little Moshe survived the terror onslaught because of his brave Indian nanny Sandra Samuels.

The attack by 10 heavily-armed LeT terrorists killed 166 people and injured more than 300. The terrorists launched coordinated shooting and bombing attacks at several landmarks in Mumbai, including the Chabad House at Nariman point.

Samuels, who now lives in Israel and was felicitated with an honorary citizenship by the Israeli government, escaped the brutality at Chabad House with baby Moshe.

"It was a moment that shook us all completely, and of course also the Indians. This is a week when we try to keep to ourselves," Rosenberg told PTI.

"We offered our prayers at the cemetery in Mt. Olives in Jerusalem on Sunday. Because for us that was the ninth anniversary as per the Jewish calendar. We paid our respects to the departed souls in Afula. It was a quiet and personal affair, limited to the family only," he said.

Rosenberg appeared aware of the responsibility he and his wife Yehudit share, in bringing up Moshe, after the attack devastated their family. He said the family was determined to return to Mumbai to celebrate bar mitzvah for Moshe, now 11.

A bar mitzvah is a ceremony performed for Jewish boys at the age of 13. Some Israeli scholars compare it with upanayana or the thread ceremony.

"Moshe celebrated his 11th birthday this week as per the Hebrew calendar and we talked about the plans for a bar mitzvah in Mumbai. We want him to see where his parents lived and worked. He feels a strong connection with Mumbai," said the grandfather.

In August, India issued 10-year multiple-entry visas to Moshe and his grandparents to ease their travel to the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his maiden visit to Israel in July, had promised the family about the visas.

In an emotional meeting with Modi on July 5 in Jerusalem, Moshe had expressed his wish to be able to visit Mumbai.





"I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there. I will be the director of our Chabad House," he had told Modi, who embraced the young boy on seeing him.

"With God's help, this is my answer," the little boy had said, reading from a prepared script, and concluded, "I love you and your people in India".

Modi had responded, "Come and stay in India and Mumbai. You are most welcome. You and your all family members will get long-term visas. So you can come anytime and go anywhere".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promptly asked Moshe to accompany him when he travels to India next year.

Moshe and his grandparents are expected to join Netanyahu during his four-day visit to India, likely from January 14.

"We have received such a communication and are awaiting confirmation," Rosenberg said.

Moshe's parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed along with six others at Chabad House. Moshe was saved in a daring act by his nanny, who, without caring for her safety, rushed inside the Chabad House on hearing him cry.

The 26/11 attacks were one of the bloodiest in the history of India and lasted for three days.

Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive was hanged after the trial. The nine other terrorists were shot dead during the attacks.

The LeT founder and chief of Jamaat-Ud-Dawa, Hafiz Saeed, is said to be the mastermind of the attacks.

Saeed carries an American bounty of USD 10 million on his head for terror activities. He was freed by Pakistan on Friday, just ahead of the anniversary of the attacks, after several months of "house arrest".
Glenn Close stars in the pilot for the new Amazon Video show "Sea Oak."
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To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
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Each year around Thanksgiving, I take time to remember the 12 young men and women that died in the tragic Bonfire collapse of 1999. I had been living in College Station for two years, working in communications for Texas A&M University. Those years has been, well, strange. Up until that time, I felt like a foreigner. Because if you dont grow up an Aggie, theres a lot you just dont understand when you arrive in Aggieland. From the outside looking in, you cant understand it; and from the inside looking out, you cant explain it, the saying goes.

At that time, A&M was its own microcosm. Working hard to balance the new  more women, more international students, more campus and city growth  with the traditions of the past. Traditions included all-male yell leaders, everyone saying howdy, jodhpurs and Elephant Walk. I was afraid to step on any grass. It all seemed so hokey and outdated to me. And I really did not get Bonfire and this intense rivalry Aggies had with the University of Texas (or t.u. as everyone called it there). Aggies had been building these crazy bonfires around Thanksgiving since 1909, symbolized their burning desire to beat the hell outta t.u. And by the 1990s, these bonfires were so large that the flames could be seen for miles. It was rumored that the huge stacks of logs that made up the bonfire were doused in rocket fuel before they were set ablaze.

I had become friends with a couple of the student workers in my office. One of those friends was a young woman named Sarah (OBrien. Sarah is the ultimate Ag. She served in student government, led Fish Camp orientation for incoming students, never met a stranger and was best friends with a California boy named Jeremy Frampton. Jeremy was a member of the Corps of Cadets and worked as a Brown Pot, building the bonfire in 1999. Sarah spent a lot of time explaining cuts and stacks and pots to outsider me. She was extremely proud of Jeremy and the work he and many of their other friends were doing that year. Jeremy was one of the 12 that died when the bonfire collapsed.

So each year about this time, Sarah and Aggies just like her all over the world, remember those they lost that year. They commemorate their too-short lives in stories and photos, prayers, memorials and poems. They #RememberThe12.

What I remember about that day is a little different. As a member of the universitys communications staff, I pitched in to assist the reporters and camera crews that came from all over the world to cover the story as it unfolded. Stationed en masse nearby, we watched first-hand the hundreds of stunned and desperate students, the emergency responders working feverishly, the administrators trying to gather information and answer questions. Mostly, I remember that it was cold, frantic and terrifying. But then, like something out of a movie, the helpers began to come. They came from everywhere, in droves. They brought blankets, clothes, food, supplies, prayers. They brought hope. The outpouring of support and love for these children, this community of students that most of the helpers would never know, was beautiful. It was what I think of now as servant work; people being the hands and feet of Christ and doing for others.

We are all called to be servants. But sometimes, it is so hard. This year has been rough, folks. Scary. The news is filed with more and more terrible things. Nuclear threats, school shootings, molestation, rape. My dad died, then my sweet dog Milo. I have friends battling serious illnesses and others that are living in fear about their futures. It is enough to make me sad all the time and afraid all the time. It makes me want to keep my children home, pull the shades and lock the doors.

But oh, oh, oh. Yall. God did not make us to live in fear. He made us to be courageous in the dark places, strong in the face of terror. He made us to love, he made us to be the helpers. And so I too, #RememberThe12, and I pray for their parents and families and friends. They are not forgotten. When you read about each of these Aggies, you learn about how smart and selfless each of them was. You learn that they could not wait to attend Texas A&M, to be part of the Aggie family that values community and the whole over self. I pray for the helpers who finally made me understand what it is to embody the Aggie Spirit. I thank you for your example. And I pray that as we head into a new year, that I will be a helper, that I remember Gods promise that He will strengthen and help me.

I want to be more Christlike in the face of adversity, more like 17-year-old Timothy Kerlee Jr. Though Tim was crushed between massive logs in the collapse, he fought against the pain and his fear, pointing out others he could see in the crumpled Bonfire stack before he allowed rescue workers to pull him free. Help my buddies first, Im OK.

Just think about the difference each of us could make if we resisted the temptation to isolate ourselves and used our energy instead to help those we see crumpled in the stack around us. I can think of no better way to #RememberThe12.

Melanie Nicholas is a full-time momma, writer and mommy blogger. She and The Hubs have two uh-mazing children, Parksalot, 9, and Bodacious, 6. You can follow her amazing adventures fighting grime and insecurity on Facebook @MelNicholas13 and at TheBathwaterBlogs.com. Her column appears in the Midland Reporter-Telegram every other week.
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A 22-year-old 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.
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 have identified the man accused of shooting two people at a Rockledge auto shop on Friday.

Police ID man accused of shooting two people in Rockledge

1 employee died, another was paralyzed



PREVIOUS: Police report 3 shot, 1 dead in Rockledge shooting

Robert Lorenzo Bailey, 28, walked onto the parking lot of Schlenkers Automotive on Barton Boulevard at about 4:30 p.m. He was armed with a .45-caliber handgun and a lot of ammunition, police said.

According to investigators, Bailey shot 50-year-old Roger Smith and Smiths 25-year-old co-worker.

Smith died of his injuries. Smith's co-worker, whose name has not been released, was paralyzed in the shooting, police said.

Two other employees with concealed weapons permits fired at Bailey and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.

Police said theres no known connection to Bailey and the auto shop.

We cannot explain what brought Bailey to the store yesterday, said Rockledge police chief Joseph LaSata. We have no idea. If it were not for the brave, quick thinking of the employees, this could have been much worse.

Bailey did not have a concealed weapons permit, police said.



He was injured during the shooting and taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center.

Bailey faces multiple charges, including premeditated murder and two counts of attempted murder.
The RAISE Act would restrict the number of low-skilled laborers flowing into the country. Proponents say it would force farmers and employers in construction, manufacturing and the service industries to raise wages to attract American workers.
CrossFit your thumbs and charge up your mobile device because Cyber Monday is a ticktock away. Forget the sales on chenille socks and pour-over coffee makers. Instead, splurge on a vacation. Here is a roundup of the best Cyber Monday deals this Thanksgiving season. Click the gallery above for a list of deals. A few examples are below.

Royal Caribbean is offering savings of 40 percent for the second guest and 25 percent savings for the third and fourth passengers, plus up to $400 onboard credits per stateroom, depending on cruise length. Deal applies to all sailings (except China) departing on or after Dec. 24. Book Nov. 24-27 at royalcaribbean.com.
Republican lawmakers are scrambling to lock up the votes need to approve a tax bill that can make it to President Donald Trump's desk by the end of the year, days before the Senate prepares to debate its version.

"I hope we can get it done by Christmas," Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "If not, we'll be here through Christmas, looking at the end of the year."

Republican leaders in the Senate plan a make-or-break floor vote on their bill as soon as Nov. 30. Democrats are expected to try to delay or derail the measure, and Republicans must hold together at least 50 votes from their thin, 52-vote majority in order to prevail.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on CNN's "State of the Union" that he thinks Republicans will have the votes.

"What they are concerned about is that the personal tax cuts expire in 2025, and that's a bit of a gimmick. But we will get there, because failure is not an option when it comes to the Republican Party cutting taxes," Graham said.

The House passed tax legislation earlier this month over the objections of Democrats and some Republicans from high-tax states such as New York and California, who were concerned about the potential end to federal deductions for most state and local taxes.

The Senate bill would end the so-called SALT write-offs, and the House bill would repeal deductions for state and local income taxes while preserving the deduction for property taxes.

Rep. Peter King, a Republican from New York's Long Island, bemoaned the threat to SALT deductions. "I can see a mass exodus coming," King said on Fox's "Sunday Morning Futures" of his recent talks with business people in his district. "They are talking about moving their address to North Carolina, Florida, wherever."

If the Senate measure passes -- a step that's by no means guaranteed -- lawmakers in both chambers would have to hammer out a compromise between their differing bills, a process that presents potential pitfalls of its own.

For now, though, much of the Senate's attention will focus on its legislation's price tag.

Independent studies have found that the tax cuts won't generate enough additional economic growth to pay for themselves. Both the Senate and House bills would reduce federal revenue over a decade by roughly $1.4 trillion, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, pushed back on forecasts for a deficit blowout. A small uptick in economic growth "would cover the cost" of the tax cuts, Thune said on "Fox News Sunday." "All you have to do is get four-tenths of 1 percent of additional GDP."

"We need to get this accomplishment," he added.

On Wednesday, a report from the Penn Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvania said the Senate bill would cut federal revenue in each year from 2028 to 2033. That finding would mean it doesn't comply with a key budget rule that Senate Republican leaders want to use to pass their bill with a simple majority over Democrats' objections.

In essence, that rule holds that any bill approved via the fast-track process can't add to the deficit outside a 10-year budget window. The JCT has already found that the Senate bill would generate a surplus in its 10th year because it has set several tax breaks for businesses and individuals to expire.

But the JCT hasn't yet weighed in publicly on the revenue effects in subsequent years. Senate Republican leaders have expressed confidence that their proposal will, ultimately, satisfy the rule.

Trump is scheduled to address Senate Republicans at their weekly luncheon Tuesday on taxes and the legislative agenda for the rest of the year, according to a statement from Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee.

The White House previously announced that the president would talk with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders at the White House the same day about an agreement on spending to keep the government open after funding expires on Dec. 8.

Meanwhile, the 2010 Affordable Care Act -- popularly known as Obamacare -- looms in the background. The law contains a provision requiring individuals to buy health insurance or pay a federal penalty. Removing that penalty in 2019, as the Senate tax bill proposes to do, would generate an estimated $318 billion in savings by 2027, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The savings would stem from about 13 million Americans dropping their coverage, eliminating the need for federal subsidies to help them afford their health insurance policies. At least one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, has said it's a "problem" for her to include the ACA individual mandate repeal in the tax bill.

The mandate repeal wasn't part of the House bill and would be an element to hash out during a House-Senate conference. Top House tax writer Kevin Brady, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said Sunday there's "sympathy" to the concept among members.

"The individual mandate does hurt many of those families who can't afford, don't want Obamacare," Brady said on Fox. "We're just encouraged the Senate's acting."

---

--With assistance from Alan Bjerga and Ben Brody
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San Antonio police are searching for the person who shot at two men Saturday afternoon on the East Side.

Emergency personnel were called to a shooting at the 1000 Block of South Gevers Street at about 4:40 p.m.
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Against a backdrop of live Tejano music, hundreds of holiday shoppers perused a vast assortment of art, jewelry and other handcrafted goods Saturday at the International Peace Market, searching for the perfect gift for family, that special someone or, it often turns out, themselves.

I love the crowd, the music and the handmade arts and crafts, said Helen Petry Stowe, a regular at the free event that began Friday and continues from noon to 6 p.m. today at the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, its host for 28 years, at 922 San Pedro Ave.

Her daughter, Violette Dunn, 23, said, Wed rather support the locals than the Walmart.

Vendor Rosie Zerpuche reported steady sales of her clay candelabras called Trees of Life, and other folk art items that she began making in her San Antonio garage a decade ago.

You get to hang out with friends and meet new people and exchange ideas, said Zerpuche, 79, who has sold her goods at the annual market for years.

Nearby, Teresa Jimenez Lopez exhibited elaborately embroidered blouses, shirts and dresses stitched by a collective that includes eight of her sisters in her hometown in Oaxaca, Mexico. Also on display were metal earrings featuring intricate filigree by husband David Lopez Lopez, 60, who learned the craft as a boy.

We are very proud to have our work showcased at Esperanza and to tell our story, Teresa Lopez, 58, said in Spanish through an interpreter.

More Information 2017 Peace Market What: More than 80 vendors offering wide variety of hand-crafted artwork and practical items Where: Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, 922 San Pedro Ave. When: Today, noon - 6 p.m. See More Collapse

The 7.1 magnitude quake that killed nearly 400 people in southern Mexico in September also seriously damaged their home, but the couple says they are fortified by faith.

International groups that rushed in with aid helped sustain them following the quake and, more recently, assistance from Graciela Sanchez, director of the Esperanza center, resolved logistical hurdles to bring them to the holiday market.

Similar appreciation was heard from Jose Sosa Mendoza and Lupe Vasquez Gutierrez, another couple from Oaxaca, who also have counted on Sanchez to arrange housing, meals and other hospitality during their 14 years as Peace Market vendors.

It has been the greatest experience to participate, Vasquez Gutierrez, 60, said through an interpreter while standing before a wall covered with beautiful, hand-woven decorative rugs made by relatives in five families.

Sanchez considers the vendors almost family, particularly those she has recruited during her travels in Mexico.

At the Peace Market, you can buy directly from the artists, and they might work with you (on cost), she said. Theyll also explain their techniques, from beginning to end.

What may first appear an excessive price for a weaving is easier to digest once shoppers understand the intense amount of effort that went into creating it over a period of weeks or even months, Sanchez said.

After spending too much time in line at the Kohls during a Black Friday excursion, San Antonio resident Terri Sinclair, 53, relished the comparatively tranquil setting of the Peace Market, where about 85 vendors hawked a mix of locally crafted and imported goods, ranging in price from just a few bucks to $3,500 or more. The offerings included lotions, soaps, masks, dolls and sculptures.

For Corpus Christi resident Alma Cooley, the visit to the market evoked reminiscences of her childhood in Mexico.

We just recently bought a new house so we need more artwork, she said as husband Michael picked out wall hangings on the centers second floor, where food and drink also are sold.

Local teacher and painter Christian Withers cast the market as a more personal venue than big box stores.

The market is about peace, harmony, cooperation and promoting the folk spirit, said Withers, 49, whose works often feature a feminine goddess figure. Its an alternative to the Black Friday mad rush retail shopping.

Beverly Rodriguez made the drive from Houston to shop, but wound up also volunteering at the market.

Everything is handmade, which is really important to me, said Rodriguez, 56. And theres a cultural influence on their products.

While on the hunt for gifts for others, she confided, I spoiled myself with a handmade purse.
The New York Post, left, and New York Daily News are arranged for a photo, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. The papers will often tackle the same topics on their front page, but only when the stars align do their colorful headline writers get the same idea. Both were reporting Wednesday on President Donald Trump's backing of Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who is accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl decades ago. Moore denies the charge. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Fun fact: Under U.S. law, sexual assault allegations are now adjudicated by political election.

Dont believe me? Just ask White House officials, Republican lawmakers and right-wing pundits, who lately argue that an electoral win provides absolution for any past sexual misconduct.

This troubling claim is being applied to (who else?) our president. But it also sets a terrible precedent for what happens if alleged sexual predator Roy Moore wins an Alabama Senate race.

After President Trump mocked Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., recently for sexual misconduct, a reporter asked the White House if it was fair to investigate similar accusations against the president by more than a dozen women.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said no. Those allegations had all been nullified by the election last November.

Look, I think that this was covered pretty extensively during the campaign, Sanders said. We addressed that then. The American people I think spoke very loud and clear when they elected this president.

Thats right, my fellow Americans. When you voted last November, it turns out you were actually volunteering for national jury duty. And you didnt even get your $40 daily stipend!

Meanwhile, on Fox News, MediaBuzz host Howard Kurtz questioned why the media would resurrect allegations against Trump in the first place.

Hes called these women horrible liars. Theres certainly a debate about whether they should be believed, Kurtz said. Theres about a dozen of them. But we had an election after that. And he won.

To hear Trump apologists tell it, the 2016 election exonerated its victor not only of any past sexual misdeeds, but also of every possible transgression or broken norm.

Such as not releasing his tax returns.

On NBCs Meet the Press recently, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney was asked why anyone should believe Trump when he claims the Republican tax agenda will raise his tax bills, since the public still has no idea what Trumps current taxes look like.

Mulvaney ducked the question.

I cant speak to the presidents taxes. I think that was sort of litigated by the American public during the election, he said, echoing language that White House aide Kellyanne Conway has used on this subject.

These excuses are both dumb and dangerous.

Dumb because, well, if the American electorate was indeed serving as jury last year, its verdict was not exactly unanimous. Or even in the right direction, for Republicans purposes.

A majority of American voters voted against Trump. If you buy Republicans logic, that would mean the public found Trump guilty of sexual misconduct and wanted him to disclose his tax returns.

Moreover, casting a ballot for a politician does not necessarily mean you endorse a candidates every policy stance, character trait and action.

When choosing between candidates, voters have to select one bundle of beliefs and behaviors or another. Its a combo plate. No substitutions allowed.

Maybe Trumps supporters backed him because they dont believe the allegations made against him. Or maybe they supported him in spite of finding those claims credible. (They heard him admit to grabbing women by the p  y on tape, after all.)

In any case, by arguing that victory refutes all allegations against Trump, Republicans are laying the groundwork to welcome Moore to Washington if he wins next month.

Already, White House officials are ducking questions about whether Moore should be allowed to serve as senator. A mere week ago, Conway said there was no Senate seat worth more than a child. On Monday, when asked whether Alabama voters should cast their ballots for Moore, she denounced his Democratic opponent and said, Im telling you that we want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill through.

Sure, some Republican senators have said they believe Moores accusers. Some, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), have even suggested that they might try to expel him if he gets elected.

But with tax cuts hanging in the balance, dont be surprised if they lose their nerve once the voters have spoken.

crampell@washpost.com
About a year ago I woke up with one of the more punishing weekday hangovers of my adult life. It was a bleak, headache of a day, and Id been up late hastily rewriting a piece about the 2016 election. That was how making America great started for me.

Although Hillary Clinton won about 3 million more votes, Donald Trump gamed our rickety, 18th-century election system by flipping several Rust Belt states that President Barack Obama had won, including my home state of Ohio.

Trump made a two-pronged appeal to states like mine. First, with racially tinged invectives against immigration, inner-city crime and political correctness. And second, with a populist-sounding line on economics that spoke to voters long overlooked by Washington.

About a year out, how are the people faring?

Amid pledges to drain the swamp in Washington, Trump appointed the wealthiest ever U.S. Cabinet  one Newsweek recently called the most corrupt in history. A Daily Beast investigation into hundreds of Trump appointees found that more than half profited from the industries they were tapped to regulate.

What hes done on Capitol Hill is almost worse. Hes pushed health care bills that would strip health coverage from more than 20 million Americans. When those failed, he nixed subsidies for companies that insure low-income customers  about 70 percent of whom live in states he won, by the way  and virtually guaranteed a hike in premiums for everyone.

And his tax plan? It would permanently slash the corporate tax rate and completely eliminate taxes on multimillion-dollar estates. Meanwhile, it would end popular middle-class deductions (sorry, student loan payers) while raising the rate the lowest income payers face.

All this would blow a $1.5 trillion hole in the U.S. deficit. Thats enough to double college grants and cancer research, treat 300,000 people suffering from addiction, train 3.5 million workers, and help 6 million kids get child care  every year for 10 years. Instead, it goes to tax breaks for people like Trump and his Cabinet members.

On the environmental front, pulling out of the Paris climate agreement and letting companies dump coal ash in freshwater have done precisely nothing to bring back flagging coal jobs.

So Trumps economic populism was a hustle. But what about his not-so-subtle threats against people who dont resemble his white base? Well, there things are happening.

Immigration arrests are way up. Authorities insist theyre targeting gang members and bad dudes. But they seem to be spending an awful lot of time haunting schools, domestic violence centers and hospitals.

At the same time, refugee admissions have been dramatically curtailed, and the administration says it wants to cut legal immigration in half.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is canceling reform plans for police departments with records of racial discrimination and brutality. The FBI has labeled black civil rights activists a domestic threat. And the Department of Education is rolling back protections for LGTBQ students and sexual assault survivors.

No wonder so many read making America great again as making America white again. But handing the government over to racist billionaires isnt a great deal for most white people either. Neither is threatening war with Iran and North Korea.

Trumpism, journalist Matt Yglesias concludes, is a bet that if you punch nonwhite America in the face, white America will be so busy gawking they wont notice their pockets are being picked too.

The silver lining? A new era of activism.

Ordinary Americans have rallied to stave off assaults on their health care, preserve the climate, protect immigrants and refugees, and take a knee for racial justice. Record numbers of women and people of color are running for office. And a majority of Democrats now want their party to move left  away from the corporate center Hillary Clinton never abandoned.

For those reasons Im cautiously optimistic, but were walking a real razors edge. If we make it through the next three years intact, itll be with a hangover for the ages.

Peter Certo is the editorial manager of the Institute for Policy Studies. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, President Donald Trump said he wanted to set a model for how the federal government should respond to natural disasters.

Surely he did not mean to set this kind of model. One that persistently underfunds disaster relief in Texas as well as Florida and Puerto Rico.

Simply put, the Trump administrations proposal of $44 billion in disaster relief for Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico is, as Texas Sen. John Cornyn has said, wholly inadequate. If passed, it would follow an earlier package of $35.8 billion in aid for disaster recovery in Texas and beyond, which was also wholly inadequate.

For perspective, Texas alone is facing an estimated $180 billion in damages from Hurricane Harvey. At the end of October, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested $61 billion in aid, again just for Texas.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said Texas should put in its own funding for disaster recovery  even though the state already has done so, and will almost certainly tap its $10 billion rainy day fund to cover expenses.

The White House has also proposed that disaster aid be offset by spending cuts. In a letter to Congress, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has suggested cuts to child nutrition programs, student financial aid, conservation and highways, Hearsts Kevin Diaz has reported.

Abbott called Mulvaneys proposal completely inadequate for the needs of Texas. We agree.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat, has said the White House proposal does not come close to restoring Houston. And a number of her Republican colleagues have called the proposal insufficient and unacceptable.

Its rare to achieve such unanimity among Texas politicians, but thats just how bad the proposal is.

Bear in mind, we are only talking about Texas. Hurricane Maria hammered Florida and Puerto Rico. More than half of Puerto Rico is without power from that storm and about 10 percent of island residents lack drinking water.

Hurricane Maria made landfall in September. Harvey hit Texas in August.

Whats particularly strange about the White House shorting Texas on relief aid is Trumps initial response to the storm here was pretty good. He appeared to take rebuilding seriously, but neither he nor Congress have delivered.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has claimed that disgraced former Zanu-PF National Political Commissar, Innocent Hamandishe has been a fugitive from justice since December 2015. This is despite the fact, that Hamandishe as one of the Youth League leaders was always visible in the media as one of the organisers of the Million Man March and the Youth Interface Rallies. Hamandishe also accompanied former President Robert Mugabe on these rallies and used to sit close to him. Hamandishe is facing six counts of kidnapping and a charge of publishing a false statement. He will be back in court on December 8, 2017.

The information that Hamandishe has been on the run since 2015 was revealed by Lovemore Chifamba, the Investigating Officer for Hamandishes case. In opposing bail Chifamba claimed that Hamandine would abscond as he has been on the run since 2015. He also claimed that Hamandishe needed to be incarcerated for his own safety, to protect him from angry members of the public. Said Chifamba in his affidavit:

I strongly oppose bail on the following reasons-

b) The accused has been on the run since December 2015 and if granted bail he is likely to abscond

b) There are a number of witnesses to be located by the police who are known by the accused hence if granted bail he is likely to interfere with them. Some of them were (are) his subordinates in the party Accused and all the witnesses stay in the same locality

c) The accused is of ill temper who hides behind his party position and is likely to continue committing crimes of a similar nature if granted bail

d) Evidence gathered against the accused so far is overwhelming such that chances of being convicted are high. Due to the strength of the state case, the accused is likely to abscond and not stand trial thereby jeopardising the interests of justice.The accused faces a very serious offence where there is a likely hood of conviction and a lengthy incarceration which might induce him to abscond and not stand trial if admitted to bail thereby jeopardizing the interest of justice. Members of the public have boiling anger against the accused and if granted bail, they are likely to mete instant mob malice against him and his safety would not be guaranteed

I make the above statement solemnly and conscientiously believing the same to be true

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Former Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo and ex-Zanu-PF Youth League bosses Kudzanai Chipanga and Innocent Hamandishe were yesterday sent to remand prison, pending further court appearances for fraud, criminal abuse of office, kidnapping and publishing falsehoods.

Chombos and Chipangas bail hearings are scheduled for tomorrow, while Hamandishe will be back in court on December 8, 2017.

Chombo (66) is facing fraud, abuse of public office and corruption charges; while Chipanga, Zanu-PFs former Secretary for Youth Affairs, is answering to one count of publishing falsehoods.

Hamandishe (38) faces six counts of kidnapping and a charge of publishing a false statement.

The trio was taken to remand prison in leg irons at around 6.45pm.

The court heard that Chombo violated Section 4(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Chapter 9:16) when he allegedly connived with Psychology Chiwanga, R Pazvakavambwa, Iben Fransisco, James Chiyangwa, Theresa Chenjerayi, Elias Choto and L Chimimba to forge documents to transfer a Glen Lorne, Harare property from the Harare City Council to one Alois Chimeri.

He allegedly committed the offence during his stint as Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister.

Part of the charge sheet reads, During the period extending from June 25, 2004 and December 2009, the accused and his accomplices forged documents that include a lease-to-buy agreement and capital gains tax clearance certificate, and purported that these documents were authentic and made by the City of Harare with the concurrence of Local Government and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority officials.

This resulted in council losing property valued at US$900 000.

Chombo is also accused of using his influence as Local Government Minister to arm twist the Harare City Council to allocate him residential stand Number 61 Helensvale, Harare which measures 193 716 square metres.

It is alleged he developed cluster houses on the land.

Initially, the City of Harare had asked Chombo to use the land for recreational purposes, but he allegedly took the land for himself through Harvest-Net Enterprises, a company he co-directed then.

The property was valued at Z$23 246 800 000, the equivalent of US$2,7 million.

The court also heard that on October 1, 2005, Chombo allegedly fraudulently acquired a Z$14 billion loan from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe under the Other Crops and Livestock Support Facility.

Instead of purchasing farming implements, he allegedly bought two Toyota Hilux Vigo vehicles.

Chombos lawyer, Professor Lovemore Madhuku, applied for the ex-Cabinet ministers removal from remand because he had been over-detained after having been arrested by people dressed in military attire.

Prof Madhuku turned to Section 50 of the Constitution which states that any person detained or arrested by a State agent should be taken to court within 48 hours.

However, presiding magistrate Mr Elisha Singano dismissed the application, saying the defence had failed to prove that those who had arrested Chombo were State agents.

Chipanga appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Josephine Sande, charged with publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State, or alternatively causing disaffection among the police force or defence forces.

The charge arise from a media statement Chipanga read on November 14, 2017 in which he denigrated the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

Prof Madhuku, who also represented Chipanga, wanted his client similarly granted bail on the grounds of over-detention.

Chipanga had earlier told the court he suspected that he was detained by the police since he was arrested at Borrowdale Police Station where he had gone to seek refuge following warnings that he was targeted by unknown assailants.

Ms Sande dismissed the application saying Chipanga and his defence had failed to prove that those who had arrested him on November 15, 2017 were State agents.

Hamandishe appeared before magistrate Hosea Mujaya to answer to six counts of kidnapping and one of publishing a false statement.

The former Zanu-PF Youth League national political commissar is accused of abducting and detaining six political activists in Chitungwiza on December 23, 2015.

Hamandishes charge of publishing a false statement stems from a media statement delivered by Chipanga denigrating the ZDF.

Source: Sunday Mail

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THE opposition MDC-T party has challenged president Emmerson Mnangagwa to immediately implement reforms that will help facilitate credible elections next years elections.

Party spokesman Obert Gutu said this would be in line with Mnangagwas Friday swearing-in pledge to uphold the pillars of democracy.

Mnangagwa took over from former President Robert Mugabe last week and insisted that elections would go ahead next year as scheduled.

Elections in Zimbabwe have been routinely rigged and manipulated in favour of the ruling party, said Gutu in a statement Friday.

Zanu PF has developed a notorious record of violence, thuggery and intimidation; particularly during electioneering times.

According to Gutu, traditional leaders and security forces must be apolitical to ensure the electorate can freely elect leaders of their choice.

In addition, political parties contesting the ballot must enjoy equal coverage on the national broadcaster.

What we really expect is that next years elections should be free and fair and that they should produce a credible and legitimate result that is free from contestation, he said.

On the human rights front, Gutu said the Mnangagwa government must provide answers on the fate of pro-democracy activist Itai Dzamara who was abducted over two years ago.

The administration should also restore the liberty of political prisoners among the MDC-T trio convicted of killing a police officer.

Perpetrators of politically  motived crimes that were committed over the years, particularly the heinous murders and other sordid acts of criminality that were committed during the violent Presidential election run-off of June 2008, should also be brought to book.

It is only when this happens that we will begin to believe and accept that President Mnangagwa was indeed genuine when he talked about peace and stability of the nation in his inauguration speech.

To facilitate improvements in the economy, Gutu said high level corruption involving cabinet ministers and sometimes cutting across the political divide must be dealt with.

These social miscreants and political wheeler dealers should be promptly brought to book if President Mnangagwas call for the fight against corruption is to be taken seriously, he said.

Mnangagwas inauguration speech covered critical issues and could turn around the country if well-meant and implemented wholesomely, Gutu said.

The opposition faces an uphill task to win an election against a Zanu PF which has replaced an ageing 93-year-old Robert Mugabe.

Source: New Zimbabwe

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Former president Robert Mugabe on Tuesday shed tears and lamented what he called betrayal by his lieutenants as he finally agreed to step down, some members of his inner circle have revealed.

Mugabe resigned late in the afternoon as Parliament moved to fast-track a motion to impeach and condemn him to an even more humiliating exit.

Sources that were at the former presidents palatial mansion known as the Blue Roof, have revealed fresh details of the dramatic events that marked a seismic shift in Zimbabwes political landscape.

Mugabe, the sources said, was holding a rosary in his right hand as he told his close associates and a team of negotiators that he was calling it quits.

After a four-hour long meeting, which was attended by the chief negotiator, Father Fidelis Mukonori, family friend and former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, presidential spokesperson George Charamba and the (former) first lady Grace Mugabe, Mugabe was adamant that he would not step down, said the source on condition of anonymity.

He was prepared to die for his seat. He looked down, looked at his wife, took a deep breath and said so this is what they have decided.

Attorney-general Prince Machaya and former Justice minister Happyton Bonyongwe had advised the 93-year-old strongman that his options were fast running out. The two told Mugabe the impeachment process would be fast- tracked.

He looked down and said people were chameleons, (name of the senior Zanu PF official withheld) of all the people to do this to me, Mugabe said to have lamented.

After all I have done to protect him, corruption issues raised against him and I have stood with him.

Is this the same person I recently gave a lifeline and I pardoned him since 1983? Today he turns against me. He then held firm his rosary as he agreed to step down.

Before he agreed to step down, Mugabe had been told by one of his advisors that he had a chance of surviving the impeachment as some MPs were prepared to vote against the motion in a secret ballot.

While Father Mukonori was shuttling between the defence forces commanders and the president, Bonyongwe as leader of the House was also shuttling between the Blue Roof and Parliament looking at ways to avoid an embarrassing exit for the president.

The president even said Parliament should sit to deal with the budget while he addressed concerns raised by the military command, which would have seen him stepping down at the Zanu PF congress.

However, after Machayas advice, Mugabe called the speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda as the MPs began a debate on the motion and advised him he was stepping down.

It was a heart-rending moment, especially for Mukonori who could not hold back his tears, another source revealed.

The letter was drafted and Mugabe read it before appending his signature.

There was total silence in the lounge. People looked at each other and the first lady looked down in disbelief that this was how far the issue had gone.

The same letter was sent to the military commanders at the same time as it was being dispatched to Parliament.

Another source said Mugabe felt betrayed by people he had groomed and taken care of.

While he agreed that issues were not well in the party, he was of a firm belief that there was a better way to solve the crisis, the source added.

He said well, they have done this, I hope it ends with me, before he put his rosary back into his pocket.

Gono refused to comment on the matter, saying it would betray the trust between him and Mugabe.

Mukonori said he needed approval from the office of the President and Cabinet as he was asked by the government to mediate.

Bonyongwe and Charamba were not reachable for comment.

Former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, fired by Mugabe early this month for disloyalty and deceit, took over as president last Friday.

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St Molleran's GAA Club's 75th anniversary was celebrated by more than 200 of the club's members and supporters at a dinner dance last Saturday night.

The Granville Hotel in Waterford City centre was festooned with the Carrickbeg club's maroon and white colours for the gala celebration that included the annual club awards ceremony.

An added reason to celebrate was St Molleran's Junior hurlers' 10 point victory over Ferrybank in the Eastern Waterford Junior Hurling C final in Dunhill the week before.

A slide show of about 250 photos of club teams and events in the St Molleran's Club's 75 year history was shown in he function room throughout the meal and speeches.

Master of Ceremonies Dermot Keyes interviewed John Maher, Paddy Finucane and Pakie Wells about the Club's early years and history and also Paul Keane, Aidan Reade and Robbie Dunne about the Club's fortunes in recent years and the progress of its juvenile teams.

Waterford Eastern Board Chairman Michael Wadding spoke about the developments in the Club over the last year, most notably the installation of 480 seats at its Coolnamuck playing grounds. He said St Molleran's had the best facilities and pitch in the county.

Waterford GAA Co. Board Chairman Paddy Joe Ryan also addressed the dinner dance and presented the Club's annual awards.

For full report and more photographic coverage of the St Mollerans GAA Club 20th anniversary dinner dance is in this weeks edition of The Nationalist.
A Tipperary town man is one of three criminals to have received lengthy prison sentences for their roles in two violent burglaries in County Limerick more than five years ago.

Following a six week trial earlier this year, Patrick Roche, aged 53, of Kilcronan Close, Clondalkin, Dublin; his son Philip Roche, aged 24, also of Kilcronan Close, Clondalkin and his son-in-law Alan Freeman, aged 37, of Pearse Park, Tipperary Town were convicted of aggravated burglary and false imprisonment relating to an incident at Sunville House, Pallasgreen on April 16, 2012.

Patrick and Philip Roche were also convicted of similar charges relating to an incident at the home of three elderly members of the Creed family at Ballyluddy, Pallasgreen on May 31, 2012.

Imposing sentence, Judge John Hannan said the actions of the defendants had been deliberate and pre-planned and were terrifying for the two families. He said any sentence he imposed had to have a deterrent effect.

The judge said the level of violence perpetrated, the use of weapons and the targeting of families living in rural Ireland were aggravating factors he had to consider.

Patrick Roche was sentenced to 17 years imprisonment, Philip Roche to 15 years imprisonment and Alan Freeman 14 years imprisonment. The final three years were suspended in each case.

Alan Freeman, who has 22 previous convictions, is currently serving an 11 year prison sentence relating to the theft of around 40 guns from a firearms dealer in Carrick on Suir, County Tipperary in January 2009.

Speaking briefly after the sentences were handed down, Tommy Creed  a brother of Willie, Nora and Chrissie Creed  welcomed the sentences praising the judge while Gerard Garvey said he and his family belive justice has been served and that are now getting on with their lives.

Earlier this month, Sergeant Mike Reidy said all three defendants have criminal records and that both Patrick Roche and Alan Freeman were on bail at the time.

Patrick Roche has 139 previous convictions and is currently serving a 17 year prison sentence for a serious offence.

Philip Roche has 37 previous convictions while Alan Freeman, who has 22 previous convictions, is currently serving an 11 year prison sentence relating to the theft of around 40 guns from a firearms dealer in Carrick on Suir, County Tipperary in January 2009.

He told Michael Collins BL, instructed by state solicitor Aidan Judge, that around 10,000 in cash was taken from the Garvey and Creed homes and that the occupants of both houses were assaulted, tied up and threatened by the raiders.

During the trial, the jury of seven men and five women heard from a large number of gardai as well as several civilian witnesses.

The trial also heard evidence from two witnesses who have each been convicted over their involvement in the aggravated burglaries.

Laywers representing the three defendants said their clients had made certain concessions which meant certain witnesses were not required to give evidence  including members of the Creed family who are all aged in their 70s.

Judge Hannan was told Philip Roche and Alan Freeman are both working in prison and have completed several courses.

The sentences imposed on Patrick Roche and Alan Freeman are to be served consecutively to sentences they are currently serving for separate offences.
Delhi High Court Justice A P Shah earlier this week called for an investigation into the suspicious death of Justice Loya saying he was one of the most respected judicial voices in the country.

The Channel visited the ancestral home of B H Loya in Maharashtra's Gategaon village where the close family members of the late judge had travelled to Pune to attend his daughter's wedding.

However, Srinivas Loya, Justice Loya's paternal uncle spoke to the channel stating that he was under a lot of pressure and was going to resign as he had already put up the application to get transferred.

The police in Nagpur have reportedly started the informal inquiries into the death after The Caravan story broke, according to the NDTV report. The channel also went on to meet some of the 'witnesses' to the final hours of Justice Loya, many of whom have challenged the questions which are raised by the Loya family.



Why was Justice Loya taken to a hospital in an autorickshaw from Ravi Bhavan, the government guesthouse where he was staying?

The staff who were present at the time requesting anonymity have told the channel that there are no designated drivers in the guesthouse, and Justice Loya did not have a car assigned for his trip.



Why was the special CBI judge taken to a local hospital-Dr Dande Hospital, allegedly an ill-equipped one with a defunct ECG machine?

Dr PG Pande, the hospital owner who was also much closer to the guesthouse reportedly said that the Justice Loya was 'very much alive' when he was brought in. "He climbed the small flight of stairs himself and complained of excruciating pain in his chest, Dr Dande said. He further said that the available ECG was functional which showed a tall T spike indicating a severe stroke, because of which he was immediately referred to a heart specialty hospital, Meditrina. The channel was shown the ECG report by Nagpur police.

Who ordered postmortem on Justice Loya?

Justice Loya's uncle told the channel that they were just informed that the postmortem had been conducted. The body was then put into a box and sent to Latur. In Nagpur, the channel met the 'relative' who signed the postmortem report, Dr Prashant Rathi who said that his uncle in Aurangabad is Justice Loya's cousin. The Government College Hospital dean, which performed the postmortem said that the procedure had been referred by Meditrina Hospital where he was declared brought dead.



Why was the brought to Latur unaccompanied?

The joint commissioner of Nagpur police told NDTV that two judiciary officials and a police constable were in the ambulance with the driver on the drive to Latur.



Justice Loya's family had alleged seeing blood on his shirt to which Dr Prashant Rathi, the relative said that he never saw the dead body as it wrapped in a sheet and handed over to him.

Meanwhile, Dr P G Dande mentioned that it was possible that the stains were from the post-mortem, and could have occurred when the body was being brought to Latur, which is a ten-and-a-half-hour drive from Nagpur. Some medical experts have challenged this, stating that postmortems don't lead to blood leakage.



Who is Ishwar Baheti, the RSS man who was coordinating the whole time with the Loya family?

Anuradha Biyani, Justice Loya's sister had pointed out in The Caravan article that no one knew who Ishwar Baheti is and how he got to know about the death. However, in Latur friends and relatives including Srinivas Loya, Justice Loya's uncle, have said that Baheti was a close family friend of the late judge who owns a medical shop and reportedly has links to all political organisations. Baheti could not be reached to get any statements.



The Latur Bar association has demanded a probe into Justice Loya's death, saying that it's the only way to arrive at answers to the number of suspicions surrounding the case.
Santwana Bhattacharya By

Hardik Patel says the purpose of his deal with Congress is not political but a tactic to secure reservation for Patidars. He told The Sunday Standard that if the Congress comes to power in Gujarat, a survey of backwardness will be conducted on the lines of the Mandal Commission. Patel indicated that it isnt his concern that the Supreme Court has set a ceiling of 50 per cent for job quotas.

The 24-year-old Hardik Patel is a phenomenon in Gujarat, an enigmatic phenomenon. Hes in politics but also not in politics. He has been the helmsman and icon of the first youth agitation Gujarat has seen in five decades, but hes too young to contest an election. As a young Patidar agitating for reservation benefits for his community, he is linked to the one demand that has galvanized caste/community groups in several states of in India.

Patels potential is palpable in the way he can sway crowds. How much he can swing votes in a fiercely contested field is an open question. Sitting in a community centre on the outskirts of Ahmedabad with his band of Patidar boys, humble yet assertive, Hardik Patel tells The Sunday Standard in an exclusive interview that all hes interested in right now is achieving social goals through political alliances, not direct politics.

Excerpts from the interview:

Now that you have made your understanding with the Congress public, will you share the stage with Rahul Gandhi and openly campaign for his party?

No, theres no such plan. My understanding with the Congress is on the issue of reservation for my community. The party has agreed to support our movementprimarily the demand for reservation. We are responding to the times, and we are bound by the present time. If the Congress comes to power, a proper survey will be conducted on the lines of the Mandal Commission. Our support is on the basis of this agreement.

And what if the Congress does not come to power?

Our agitation will resume, our movement for reservation will continue.

In a way you have taken a direct plunge into electoral politics. But you have no experience in electoral politics and you are taking on the BJP, which is considered a well-oiled election machine. How do you think it will pan out?

Who said Im interested in elections and politics? Ive not put up candidates, nor am I contesting. Thats not our job. My job is to spread awareness among my peopleto awaken them. To encourage them to come out, demand their rights. The spring that has been suppressed for long, Im trying to release it. To help the common Patidar become something, we need help, the political help of a big party.

So this is a social movement, not political?

Yes, its primarily for social uplift, but then everything is political. We cannot achieve our objectives without political alliances. What is Gujarats problem? Unemployment. The youth are not able to earn a decent living. Thats because they dont get the right kind of education. Farmers are not getting the price for their produce. Just step out of the city, you can see the distress in the rural areas. Trade is down. Youll understand why people are supporting us.

Surely, things have not come to a standstill, not in the way youre suggesting. Maybe a slowdowna temporary one.

The development they talk about, its superficial. Just a show. Society has been emptied from the inside. The situation in rural Gujarat, the social disparities there are not just serious, theyre dangerous. Would someone from the BJP, any leader, be ready to even sit with me and convince me there really are no disparities? The fact is we need reservation to come up in life, to become socially acceptable.

You say you are not in politics. Then why did you demand seats to contest? Why did PAAS (Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti) activists ransack Congress offices. You forced them to change four candidates.

Who said I forced them? Whos saying that I demanded tickets?

You may not have yourself demanded the change of candidates or recommended anyone specifically. But your representatives did.

People were upset because the candidates they (the Congress) put up were not the right candidates. People expressed their anger, so that party had to make some changes. What has that got to do with me?

Your PAAS convenor Dinesh Bambaniya and Alpesh Kathiriya sought tickets for themselves. The talk of the town is that they may join the BJP and you had a fracas with them.

I cant help if one media house deliberately puts out a wrong story. Ive never asked anyone for a ticket, nor has PAAS. Our discussion has been on issues: reservation, compensation for those injured during our agitation, jobs for the youth. They (Bambaniya and Kathiriya) are not going anywhere. Dinesh was sitting next to me at the press conference when we pledged support to the Congress. This is all propaganda.

But Pappan (Praful) Togadia (Pravin Togadias nephew), the Congress corporator from Surat and your old friend-cum-supporter, a Patidar at that, says you cut his ticket by pressurising Ashok Gehlot (the AICC Gujarat in-charge) after his name was announced.

Why would I? I was the one who made him the leader of the opposition in the Surat Municipal Corporation. I have nothing to do with the internal matters of the Congress.

Well, its being said that a 133-year-old party has to bow to the wishes of a 24-year-old.

If the Congress is listening to the peoples voice, its good. But do I have the stature or the audacity to dictate terms to any political party? Im a small person. They are listening to my reservation demands, because my people are behind me.

If there was no pressure from your side, why did you call off or postpone the announcement by two days? It was to happen in Rajkot the same day as Vijay Rupani filed his nomination.

The discussion on the reservation was not over. There were still a few loose ends that needed to be tied up.

Coming back to reservation for Patidars, how will you actually achieve it?

Theres a Supreme Court ceiling of 50 per cent on reservation. Wont there be a backlash from your other friend, Alpesh Thakors OBC community?

Im not interested in cutting into the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs. Im not going that way at all. Theres no conflict with the OBCs. I want a separate constitutional guarantee, like the SC/ST quota. And the Supreme Court thing, it is only a judgment. It can always be overturned. No court is above the Constitution.

How can reservation for Patidars be brought in line with constitutional principles?

Why cant it be? Were saying, get a survey done on the lines of the Mandal Commission, and it will become apparent who is rich and who is poor. Reservation has to be given to the socially and educationally backwardthats the constitutional mandate.

Itll be difficult. Other communities, the Jats and Marathas for example, will also make the same demand across India.

All that needs to be considered. Let a survey get done, everything will fall in place. We know its a long struggle, were not giving up. Politicians are voted to power not to do mujras (musicals), but address problems. If people make genuine demands, they have to look at it.

There have been quite a few controversies around you in recent days: the CCTV footage on your alleged meeting with Rahul Gandhi and the so-called dirty tapes. Have they hurt your image?

Have you seen them? Ive not seen them. Nothing will be gained by adopting these petty means. It does not bother me. Its an old game. It will only bring disrepute to those who are indulging in such tactics.

Hardik Patel says the purpose of his deal with Congress is not political but a tactic to secure reservation for Patidars. He told The Sunday Standard that if the Congress comes to power in Gujarat, a survey of backwardness will be conducted on the lines of the Mandal Commission. Patel indicated that it isnt his concern that the Supreme Court has set a ceiling of 50 per cent for job quotas. The 24-year-old Hardik Patel is a phenomenon in Gujarat, an enigmatic phenomenon. Hes in politics but also not in politics. He has been the helmsman and icon of the first youth agitation Gujarat has seen in five decades, but hes too young to contest an election. As a young Patidar agitating for reservation benefits for his community, he is linked to the one demand that has galvanized caste/community groups in several states of in India. Patels potential is palpable in the way he can sway crowds. How much he can swing votes in a fiercely contested field is an open question. Sitting in a community centre on the outskirts of Ahmedabad with his band of Patidar boys, humble yet assertive, Hardik Patel tells The Sunday Standard in an exclusive interview that all hes interested in right now is achieving social goals through political alliances, not direct politics. Excerpts from the interview: Now that you have made your understanding with the Congress public, will you share the stage with Rahul Gandhi and openly campaign for his party? No, theres no such plan. My understanding with the Congress is on the issue of reservation for my community. The party has agreed to support our movementprimarily the demand for reservation. We are responding to the times, and we are bound by the present time. If the Congress comes to power, a proper survey will be conducted on the lines of the Mandal Commission. Our support is on the basis of this agreement. And what if the Congress does not come to power? Our agitation will resume, our movement for reservation will continue. In a way you have taken a direct plunge into electoral politics. But you have no experience in electoral politics and you are taking on the BJP, which is considered a well-oiled election machine. How do you think it will pan out? Who said Im interested in elections and politics? Ive not put up candidates, nor am I contesting. Thats not our job. My job is to spread awareness among my peopleto awaken them. To encourage them to come out, demand their rights. The spring that has been suppressed for long, Im trying to release it. To help the common Patidar become something, we need help, the political help of a big party. So this is a social movement, not political? Yes, its primarily for social uplift, but then everything is political. We cannot achieve our objectives without political alliances. What is Gujarats problem? Unemployment. The youth are not able to earn a decent living. Thats because they dont get the right kind of education. Farmers are not getting the price for their produce. Just step out of the city, you can see the distress in the rural areas. Trade is down. Youll understand why people are supporting us. Surely, things have not come to a standstill, not in the way youre suggesting. Maybe a slowdowna temporary one. The development they talk about, its superficial. Just a show. Society has been emptied from the inside. The situation in rural Gujarat, the social disparities there are not just serious, theyre dangerous. Would someone from the BJP, any leader, be ready to even sit with me and convince me there really are no disparities? The fact is we need reservation to come up in life, to become socially acceptable. You say you are not in politics. Then why did you demand seats to contest? Why did PAAS (Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti) activists ransack Congress offices. You forced them to change four candidates. Who said I forced them? Whos saying that I demanded tickets? You may not have yourself demanded the change of candidates or recommended anyone specifically. But your representatives did. People were upset because the candidates they (the Congress) put up were not the right candidates. People expressed their anger, so that party had to make some changes. What has that got to do with me? Your PAAS convenor Dinesh Bambaniya and Alpesh Kathiriya sought tickets for themselves. The talk of the town is that they may join the BJP and you had a fracas with them. I cant help if one media house deliberately puts out a wrong story. Ive never asked anyone for a ticket, nor has PAAS. Our discussion has been on issues: reservation, compensation for those injured during our agitation, jobs for the youth. They (Bambaniya and Kathiriya) are not going anywhere. Dinesh was sitting next to me at the press conference when we pledged support to the Congress. This is all propaganda. But Pappan (Praful) Togadia (Pravin Togadias nephew), the Congress corporator from Surat and your old friend-cum-supporter, a Patidar at that, says you cut his ticket by pressurising Ashok Gehlot (the AICC Gujarat in-charge) after his name was announced. Why would I? I was the one who made him the leader of the opposition in the Surat Municipal Corporation. I have nothing to do with the internal matters of the Congress. Well, its being said that a 133-year-old party has to bow to the wishes of a 24-year-old. If the Congress is listening to the peoples voice, its good. But do I have the stature or the audacity to dictate terms to any political party? Im a small person. They are listening to my reservation demands, because my people are behind me. If there was no pressure from your side, why did you call off or postpone the announcement by two days? It was to happen in Rajkot the same day as Vijay Rupani filed his nomination. The discussion on the reservation was not over. There were still a few loose ends that needed to be tied up. Coming back to reservation for Patidars, how will you actually achieve it? Theres a Supreme Court ceiling of 50 per cent on reservation. Wont there be a backlash from your other friend, Alpesh Thakors OBC community? Im not interested in cutting into the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs. Im not going that way at all. Theres no conflict with the OBCs. I want a separate constitutional guarantee, like the SC/ST quota. And the Supreme Court thing, it is only a judgment. It can always be overturned. No court is above the Constitution. How can reservation for Patidars be brought in line with constitutional principles? Why cant it be? Were saying, get a survey done on the lines of the Mandal Commission, and it will become apparent who is rich and who is poor. Reservation has to be given to the socially and educationally backwardthats the constitutional mandate. Itll be difficult. Other communities, the Jats and Marathas for example, will also make the same demand across India. All that needs to be considered. Let a survey get done, everything will fall in place. We know its a long struggle, were not giving up. Politicians are voted to power not to do mujras (musicals), but address problems. If people make genuine demands, they have to look at it. There have been quite a few controversies around you in recent days: the CCTV footage on your alleged meeting with Rahul Gandhi and the so-called dirty tapes. Have they hurt your image? Have you seen them? Ive not seen them. Nothing will be gained by adopting these petty means. It does not bother me. Its an old game. It will only bring disrepute to those who are indulging in such tactics.
TWIN LAKES  Police have identified the two victims killed in a Friday shooting in Twin Lakes.

Richard Samuel, 28, and Kenneth Samuel III, 31, both of Twin Lakes, died Friday after a shooting near the Beach Bar, 402 S. Lake St.

Police were called to the Kenosha County site at about 2 a.m. for a shooting that occurred outdoors and behind the establishment, according to a news release. The officers found Richard Samuel dead in the parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds.

Kenneth Samuel III was found in the same location, also with gunshot wounds. He was taken to Memorial Hospital of Burlington, where he later died, the release states.

A 25-year-old suspect fled the scene before police arrived, according to the release. He was later located by the Monroe County Sheriffs Department and Wisconsin State Patrol near Tomah and taken into custody.

Witnesses at the scene told police there was an altercation between the victims and suspect before the shooting occurred. The incident appears to be isolated, the release states.
By AFP

PANAMA CITY: Latin America and the Caribbean is the most violent region in the world for women, the United Nations said Wednesday, highlighting Central America and Mexico as particularly dangerous.

IN PICTURES | Not just Latin America and the Caribbean, these are ten of the most dangerous countries to be a woman

In a report presented in Panama, UN Women and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) found assaults on women persisted in the region despite severe laws aimed at curbing the phenomenon.

"The issue of violence against women in Latin America is critical. It's the most violent region in the world against women outside of conflict contexts," Eugenia Piza-Lopez, head of UNDP's gender mission in Latin America, told AFP.

The rate of sexual violence against women outside of relationships is the highest in the world in the region, and the second-highest for those who are in, or were in, a couple, the report stated.

Three of the 10 countries with the highest rates of rape of women and girls were in the Caribbean, it said.

Femicide -- the killing of women -- occurred on a "devastating scale" in Central America, it said, explaining that two out three women murdered died because of their gender.

"In some countries it has become a severe crisis. In the Northern Triangle (Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala) and Mexico the problem of femicide and violence against women has reached epidemic levels, in many cases with links to organized crime," Piza-Lopez said.

Central America's Northern Triangle is considered the most dangerous area in the world outside war zones, mainly because of rampant gangs and drug cartels.

The UN report noted that 24 of the 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have laws against domestic violence, but only nine of them have passed legislation that tackles a range of forms of other violence against women in public or private.

It also said that 16 of the countries had femicide on the books, and a few punished newer types of crimes, such as cybercrime, political violence, or acid attacks.

Despite those advances, though, the "plague" of violence continues to be a threat to human rights, public health and public safety, it said.

The UN recommended strengthening institutions and policies in the region, and allocating resources to empower women. It also advised that "patriarchal" cultural norms that maintain gender inequality needed to be addressed.

The report added one third of women worldwide have been a victim of violence in their relationship or of sexual violence by people outside their relationship.

PANAMA CITY: Latin America and the Caribbean is the most violent region in the world for women, the United Nations said Wednesday, highlighting Central America and Mexico as particularly dangerous. IN PICTURES | Not just Latin America and the Caribbean, these are ten of the most dangerous countries to be a woman In a report presented in Panama, UN Women and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) found assaults on women persisted in the region despite severe laws aimed at curbing the phenomenon. "The issue of violence against women in Latin America is critical. It's the most violent region in the world against women outside of conflict contexts," Eugenia Piza-Lopez, head of UNDP's gender mission in Latin America, told AFP. The rate of sexual violence against women outside of relationships is the highest in the world in the region, and the second-highest for those who are in, or were in, a couple, the report stated. Three of the 10 countries with the highest rates of rape of women and girls were in the Caribbean, it said. Femicide -- the killing of women -- occurred on a "devastating scale" in Central America, it said, explaining that two out three women murdered died because of their gender. "In some countries it has become a severe crisis. In the Northern Triangle (Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala) and Mexico the problem of femicide and violence against women has reached epidemic levels, in many cases with links to organized crime," Piza-Lopez said. Central America's Northern Triangle is considered the most dangerous area in the world outside war zones, mainly because of rampant gangs and drug cartels. The UN report noted that 24 of the 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have laws against domestic violence, but only nine of them have passed legislation that tackles a range of forms of other violence against women in public or private. It also said that 16 of the countries had femicide on the books, and a few punished newer types of crimes, such as cybercrime, political violence, or acid attacks. Despite those advances, though, the "plague" of violence continues to be a threat to human rights, public health and public safety, it said. The UN recommended strengthening institutions and policies in the region, and allocating resources to empower women. It also advised that "patriarchal" cultural norms that maintain gender inequality needed to be addressed. The report added one third of women worldwide have been a victim of violence in their relationship or of sexual violence by people outside their relationship.
Reporter

Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).
As a grandmother, Leslie Blaize said it might be hard for people to believe that she performs burlesque. It would have been a surprise to her as well before she encountered Dance Life where the longtime dancer found a passion for the form.

Blaize gets the confidence to participate in the performance because of Inappropriate Song Nightan event hosted by Dance Life at 6725 Seybold Road which admits only people who self identify as women or nonbinary.

I would never perform in front of men, Blaize said. I wouldnt feel comfortable, but Im comfortable here.

That is precisely what Dance Life owner Arielle Juliette hoped for when she started ISN five years ago. To give women a space to call their own to express themselves away from the male gaze.

There really arent places for women or non-binary people to embrace their sexuality which makes ISN an important space, she said.

ISN is an evening of performance, a burlesque involving whatever the performers wish to do. But its burlesque in the traditional sensea variety show.

The one word that gets associated with it is liberating, Juliette said. Its not a sexual event, its just women being comfortable in their own skin. We just need to have that space and feel OK and to feel safe doing this.

So many of us are defined by the roles we play for other people, but here we can be ourselves.

Work- and home-life labels are left at the door during ISN. Audiences arent allowed to photograph or record the performances to protect the privacy of those on stage.

Anywhere from 100 to 150 people come out to enjoy the event which features between 14 to 23 acts involving dance, skits, comedy or anything, Juliette said.

Some of those acts may encompass what burlesque has come to mean, a sultry performance, though the concept of a variety show leaves that direction of performance open ended.

Burlesque was traditionally a variety show atmosphere in which performers would lampoon societal mores, current politicians or other things like that  it wasnt just women taking off their clothes, said Jessica Jane Witham who founded local troupe Peach Pies Caburlesque.

Caburlesque is the combination of the terms cabaret and burlesque.

Witham, who began her troupe in the early 2000s, is grateful to see other performance artists reclaiming burlesques artistic roots.

Burlesque as it is now is in a new age which is about reclamation, she said. Its being taken back from the sexualization of women.

Instead of allowing the art form to sexualize them, the performers of ISN are taking control.

For some it means allowing their sexy side to come out with voluptuous lingerie while others are more inclined to cover up.

Blaize said she dresses modestly because that is how she is comfortable although she appreciates that Dance Life gives women the option to do whats right for them  appreciating ISN comes down to being open to whatever the performers are doing to express themselves.

There is something freeing about burlesque and doing these numbers, she added. Dance is fun in a variety of ways, but burlesque is fun in that its about letting go of your inhibitions and just going with the music.

Supportive community

Despite not being included in participation, ISN has not received much push back from men or trans men about attendance.

Feedback has largely been from partners of the performers who simply want to support them, Juliette said.

She added that men and trans men tend to understand the need for a space like ISN. They respect that the event isnt for them.

Blaize said her husband, for example, would love to come see her perform at the event, but he understands why he cant.

Even if male-identifying spouses or partners were permitted at the event, having them there could still be a difficult hurdle for the women attending or on stage.

Its challenging, said Witham, who said she was terrified the first time she performed burlesque in public. Its hard to do it in front of strangers even if the strangers are the partners of someone you trust.

Part of the challenge for ISNs inclusion practice is their attendance rule not allowing trans men to attend the show.

Finn Enke  a nonbinary trans male and UW-Madison professor of Gender and Womens Studies, History and LGBTQ Studies  said a safe space like ISN could serve as a healing experience for the trans men who experienced misogyny in their lives as well, which prompted Juliette to take action.

Juliette called ISN a very gender fluid space open to changing as the needs around it changes and in an effort to be more inclusive she is planning another event in the same vein to be held later this winter that will include any trans men who wish to attend.

ISN is for anyone who has suffered from misogyny and trans men are certainly included in that, she said. We offer a space to heal from the misogyny of the world at large, and I want anyone who needs that to experience the solace.

Juliette said the exclusion of trans men in ISN was purely out of respect  to ensure that the trans community did not see this femme event lumping trans men into a feminine group.

Feminist spaces

Spaces like ISN, often called feminist spaces, used to be more prevalent particularly during a period of time when places like workplaces were really only open to men, Enke, a feminist who has even written a book about feminist spaces, said.

While it may be exclusionary, having a safe space like ISN is important for the performers who take part.

Having a space where everyone feels comfortable in their own skin and sexuality is great, especially for new performers, Witham said.

Juliette said even those who come into the event not knowing its an escape from the male gaze still leave with that strengthened feeling.

Being able to express whatever needs expressing is, in part, what makes something like ISN so special according to Enke who said however they want to use their bodies, to show whatever they have experienced and to do something in a space where there is no question about validation from men  there is no question of evaluation from men. There is none of that (stuff) that is so pervasive in our culture.

That strikes me as a super important thing to have.

Even for Juliette the idea of performing burlesque routines in front of men was a daunting one. It wasnt until this fall that she took that step herself with a publicly performing troupe.

She said it was a big step for her. She even had significant doubts about it the week before her performance.

If there are other local shows like ISN, Juliette hasnt heard of them. But it is heartening for her to know that the idea is spreading.

A company in Atlanta contacted her with questions about starting their own version of ISN.

That was great, she said of the contact. Id love to see this take over.
Mumbai: The daughter of policeman Tukaram Ombale, who was killed while trying to capture terrorist Ajmal Kasab, says her family still awaits his return, nine years after the Mumbai terror attacks.

"We feel papa will come home any moment, although deep in our heart we know that he will never be amongst us now," says a teary-eyed Vaishali Ombale, the eldest daughter of the Mumbai terror attacks hero.

"We always think that Papa has gone out on duty and will return home. We have kept his belongings at the place they used to be in our home. Our family is proud of his supreme sacrifice," Vaishali Ombale, who has completed her M Ed (Masters in education) and aspires to be a lecturer, told PTI.

Ombale, an assistant sub-inspector, was killed by Kasab's bullets in the early hours of November 27, 2008.

In a daring act, he had pounced on Kasab without thinking much about the consequences. His bravery had made it possible for the police to overpower Kasab, the only 26/11 terrorist to be captured and hanged.

"Not a day has gone by in the last nine years that we have not remembered him," said Vaishali Ombale, who stays at the Worli Police Camp with her mother Tara and sister Bharti, who is an officer in the state GST department.

"For how long will police or armed forces personnel continue losing their lives in the name of supreme sacrifice," she asked.

"This should stop somewhere. There should be a change in this scenario. Every citizen should always be alert and foil incidents in which we are losing our men," she said.

Vaishali Ombale said citizens should know their responsibilities and must understand that when policemen or armed forces personnel get killed in the line of duty, it is not only the family's loss but also that of the country.

"Satara district in Western Maharashtra from where my family hails has a long history of martyrs. Among the recent ones are CRPF head constable Ravindra Dhanawade, who was killed while fighting terrorists in Kashmir in August and Colonel Santosh Mahadik, who died while fighting terrorists in Kashmir in 2015. The list is unending, which disturbs me a lot," she said.

"We treat every member of a martyr's family like our own family and we help them overcome the grief," she said.

Vaishali Ombale gives tuitions to students from Class 8 to junior college, which keeps her busy and makes her forget the pain of losing her father.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived in Mumbai by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people on different locations, killing 166, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores.
New Delhi: A day before the Supreme Court hearing in the controversial Love Jihad Case, the Kerala House in Delhi has turned into a fortress on the arrival of a new guest.

Hadiya, earlier known as Akhila, whose conversion to Islam and subsequent marriage to Shafin Jahan created a furor in the country, touched down in Delhi on Saturday night.

A Kerala police team is accompanying Hadiya and her family members, CNN-News18 has learned.

Sources also said that an entire floor has been blocked for Hadiya, and 2-3 rooms have been booked for her and her family to stay. Delhi Police are also on alert for additional security.

Hadiya on Saturday had said that she was a Muslim and nobody forced her to convert to Islam.

Speaking to reporters at the Kochi Airport, Hadiya said that she wanted to go back to her husband.

Hadiya's husband, Shafin Jahan, had on Friday complained that attempts were being made to reconvert her to Hinduism.

Hadiya has told the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that she married Shafin Jahan of her own accord.

However, the NIA, in its report to the Supreme Court, is likely to maintain that Islamic indoctrination leading to marriages is a pattern in Kerala.

The Supreme Court has agreed to examine Hadiya in an open court, turning down her fathers plea for in-camera proceedings.
Satna: In a rare surgery, doctors in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district recently removed 5 kg iron objects -- a chain, as many as 263 coins and shaving blades -- from the stomach of a man who they said is not in a good frame of mind.

Thirty-two-year-old-year-old Mohammed Maqsood, who hails from Sohaval in Satna district, was taken to the state-run Sanjay Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in adjoining Rewa on November 18 after he complained of stomach pain.

Dr Priyank Sharma, attached to the Sanjay Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (SGMCH), told PTI today that they identified the cause behind Maqsood's stomachache after conducting tests and through an x-ray.

He said a team of six doctors surgically removed 10-12 shaving blades, four big needles, a chain, 263 coins, besides pieces of glasses--collectively weighing 5 kg, from the stomach of Maqsood on Friday.

He said Maqsood had been treated for six months in Satna before he was brought to Rewa.

"The patient was not in a good frame of mind and it seems he swallowed these objects secretly," Dr Sharma said, adding that Maqsood is doing well and is currently under the observation of a team of experts.
New Delhi: Development economist and activist Jean Dreze on Sunday said there was "no evidence" that the so-called "Gujarat Model" was a model in any sense, pointing out to the state's backwardness in social indicators.

"If you look at almost any ranking of development indicators, whether it is social indicators, human development index, child development index, multi-dimensional poverty index and all the standard poverty indexes of the planning commission...Gujarat almost always comes around the middle," the noted economist said at a literature festival in the capital.

It was the case much before Narendra Modi became chief minister and it remained the case after that, said Dreze, who helped draft the first version of NREGA (now called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act).

Dreze, who once wrote an article titled "Gujarat Muddle", recalled that the term, "Gujarat model", was coined around the time of the last Lok Sabha elections (2014).

Dreze said there was no evidence the 'Gujarat Model' was a model in any sense. (Photo: YouTube)

He described the model as a counter-example, because of the disappointing social indicators in spite of the high growth in terms of standard economic indicators. There is obviously, Dreze believes, something lacking and, in that sense, it can be an illustration of the limitations of relying on private-enterprising growth for development in the larger sense.

Commenting on ratings-agency Moody's recent upgrade of India's sovereign-credit rating to 'Baa2' from 'Baa3', Dreze said he doubts the credibility of such an index.

"If you dig into the methods behind these indexes, there is very little to them, except that they are taken seriously!"

He also raised concerns about the Aadhaar scheme, fearing that it will create an "infrastructure of surveillance". Underlining that his opposition to Aadhaar was not related to welfare programmes, but civil liberties.

"Aadhaar multiplies the power of the state to keep track of everybody over time," he said, flagging apprehensions that it could lead to stifling of dissent, as a lot of the databases that are going to be linked will be accessible to the government.

Speaking about the recent agitations of Patidars, Jats and others for reservations, Dreze partly blamed the stagnation of agricultural growth for the unrest.

According to Dreze, the people, who have seen the size of their landholding shrink and with the population explosion in the last few decades, have certainly suffered.

"That probably creates a sense of grievance, which must have translated to some of these movements, but there must be other things also," he adds.

The 'Gujarat Model' has remained the BJP's favorite example of success in election campaigns over the years. Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, goes to polls on December 9 and 14.
New Delhi: ISRO satellite imageries will soon monitor suspicious vessels and boats venturing into seas as part of the fortification of the country's coastal security, the home ministry said on Sunday.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will provide 1,000 transponders by March next year as part of the coastal security ring, being set up to thwart terrorist attacks on the lines of the 26/11 Mumbai carnage.

For boats under 20 metres, satellite monitoring has been proposed, a senior home ministry official said.

India has strengthened the coastal security after the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai which claimed 166 lives. Ten terrorists reached the metropolis from Pakistan sailing through the Arabian Sea.

So far, 19.74 lakh fishermen have enrolled for biometric identity cards and of whom, 18.60 lakhs have been issued identity cards.

For monitoring of boats, automatic identification system would be installed in all boats above 20 metres, while colour coding of boats was being undertaken by coastal states and Union Territories for easier monitoring in the high seas and on the International Maritime Boundary Line, the official said.

India has a coastline of 7,516 km running through Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) were developed for dealing with the breach of the International Maritime Boundary Line and SOPs were issued for upgrading security in non-major ports and single point mooring facilities, another official said.

The SOPs were issued to coastal states and Union Territories for better coordination among stakeholders, coastal mapping started in states for entering terrain details, coastal and local police stations, bomb disposal facilities, ports railway stations, bus stands, fishing villages and fish landing points, the official said.

Security of the coastline is vital for the country as there are nuclear stations, missile launching centres, defence and oil installations along the coast.

India's long coastline presents a variety of security concerns that include landing of arms and explosives at isolated spots on the coast, infiltration/ex-filtration of anti-national elements, use of the sea and off-shore islands for criminal activities, smuggling of consumer and intermediate goods through sea, the official said.

The absence of physical barriers and the presence of vital industrial and defence installations also enhance the vulnerability of the coasts to illegal cross-border activities, the official said.
Jammu: The Centre's special envoy on Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, on Saturday met the migrant families living at Talwara camp in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir who appraised him about their problems and demands.

Over 2,200 migrant families are living at Talwara camp since 1996 when they were forced to flee their homes in Udhampur, Reasi, Doda, Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu region at the height of militancy.

Sharma, who visited Srinagar and Jammu earlier this month, met Kashmiri pandits at Jagti township on Friday and would be in the state for four days.

The Centre's special representative on Saturday visited Talwara camp and met militancy-affected people of Jammu region and heard their issues, officials said, adding Sharma also took stock of the amenities at the camp.

According to the residents of the Talwara camp, this was for the first time that an interlocutor visited the camp in the last two decades.

The residents said they welcome the visit of Sharma and hope that all their grievances would be addressed in a time- bound manner.

Accusing the successive central and state governments of meting out "step-motherly treatment" to them, the residents said their demands included construction of flats, better living facilities, renovation of government school building and an employment package for the jobless youth.

They demanded the same facilities being provided to Kashmiri Pandits living in different parts of Jammu.
New Delhi: A man, whose 19 buffaloes died due to negligent treatment by government doctors, has been awarded a compensation of Rs 20 lakh by the National Consumer Commission.

The apex consumer fora held the treating doctors and Delhi governments Animal Husbandry Department jointly liable for paying up, giving them four weeks to cough up the compensation.

The Commission bench, headed by Justice DK Jain, took note of the fact that the owner of the buffaloes had to down the shutter on his 45-year-old dairy business, due to the death of 19 of his 22 buffaloes in January 2004.

The three buffaloes who survived were the only ones who were not administered injections by doctors from a Delhi governments veterinary hospital.

The complainant, an illiterate landless dairy farmer, depending on income through sale of milk to meet the basic requirements of life involving securing food, fodder, medicine, clothing and shelter, was forced to close down his dairy  his only source of livelihood, regretted the Commission.

It underlined that the complainant, Shabhu Dayal, was completely dependent on his livestock to earn his daily bread and support his family.

Keeping in view the complainants pitiable plight and having regard to the fact that 19 out of 22 buffaloes died within a span of three days resulting in the closure of his dairy the award of the compensation as claimed in the complaint, cannot be held to be excessive or unjust, warranting our interference, said the Commission.

It upheld the view, taken by the state consumer commission, that Dayal had to be paid keeping in mind the average price of a buffalo in 2004 and the compensation could not be lacking due to his innocence or wrong calculation. Dayal had not asked for a proper sum.

The Commission ordered the doctors and the Delhi government to pay him Rs 9.4 lakh, along with an interest of 9 percent per annum  total of which comes to be above Rs 20 lakh.

Justice Jain noted that Dayal had been awaiting justice for more than 13 years and the compensation to be awarded should be just and fair.

The Commission rejected the appeal moved by the doctors and the city government, maintaining that negligence of the treating doctors stood established.

When the doctors claimed that buffaloes died due to severe cold, the Commission wondered: We fail to comprehend any reason as to how the remaining three buffaloes, which were not treated by the team of doctors, survived. They were also exposed to the same weather conditions like the dead buffaloes.

It also described as shocking that even the prescriptions were not put on record by the doctors and that names of the medicines and injections administered are still a mystery.
Srinagar: Militants attacked a Congress leader's house in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district on late Saturday, officials said on Sunday.

Police said a few shots were heard on late Saturday evening near the house of Imtiyaz Parray, Congress leader and the son of slain counter-insurgent commander, Kuka Parray, in Hajin area in Bandipora district.

"We are ascertaining the facts," police said.

Imtiyaz Parray, who was at home when the attack took place, told reporters the militants opened fire and also hurled a grenade at his home.

"Fortunately, nobody was hurt," Parray told reporters.
Two people were injured Friday night when the car they were in crashed into a power pole in the town of Bristol, with the driver facing tentative drunken driving charges.

The crash happened at about 11 p.m. on Happy Valley Road near Briar Lane, the Dane County Sheriff's Office said.

The driver, a 48-year-old woman from Sun Prairie, was going west on Happy Valley Road when she lost control of the car, striking a pole and a tree, the Sheriff's Office said.

"Deputies believe speed and driver condition were contributing factors in the crash," said Lt. Jeff Heil.

The driver was not wearing a seat belt and sustained serious injuries. She was flown to UW Hospital by Med Flight.

The passenger, a 24-year-old man from Bristol, was taken by ambulance to UW Hospital.

Happy Valley Road was closed for about four hours as Alliant Energy crews worked at the scene to repair the pole and power lines.
Mumbai: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said India had adopted a "zero-tolerance policy" towards terrorism and lamented that neighbour Pakistan was not doing enough to control the growth of terror on its soil.

The government has made it clear on various international platforms that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism," he said at a function here to commemorate the supreme sacrifices made by the security personnel during the Mumbai terror attack nine years ago.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists reached Mumbai via the sea route and opened indiscriminate fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores of rupees.

"India has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism. I do not want to go into its details but the outline is clear," Rijiju said.

Asked about the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the Union Minister of State for Home said, "It is a matter of concern for us. We have been putting pressure on Pakistan in a bilateral way as well as through multilateral forums."

Saeed is also the founder of terror outfit Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT). The UN and US designated terrorist, who has a USD 10 million American bounty on his head, was freed by Pakistan on Friday.

Rijiju said, "On various international forums, we are making it absolutely clear that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism and it is not doing enough to contain the growth of terrorism on its soil. They must do much more than what they had said."

Asked about the neighbouring country being reluctant to cooperate in the Pathankot terror attack probe, the BJP leader said, "Our stand is clear and efforts are going on. I cannot disclose certain aspects of the attack or our efforts."

In January 2016, terrorists had sneaked into an Indian Air Force base in Punjab's Pathankot. The attack had claimed the lives of seven security personnel, while four terrorists were killed.

Rijiju said the coastal borders of India were much more secure now.

"We have taken a series of measures to secure the coastal borders. We have adopted a series of integrated coastal security schemes which are effective," he added.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembered the victims of the 26/11 attacks on Sunday, the ninth anniversary of the 2008 massacre, and called for global efforts to fight the burden of terrorism.

Addressing the nation via his Mann ki Baat radio programme, the PM said India had been raising the issue of terrorism in global platforms for over four decades.

"Initially the world did not take us seriously, but now the world is realising the destructive aspects of terrorism... The world will have to join hands to eliminate terrorism," he said.

We salute all those brave women and men who lost their lives in the gruesome 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/Z1LVRZG8rL PMO India (@PMOIndia) November 26, 2017

The Prime Minister said terrorism and extremism made an "unholy attempt" to damage the country's social fabric and it was essential that all humanitarian forces became aware of the problem.

"This is the land of Lord Mahavir, Buddha, Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi, which has given the message of peace and non-violence... Terrorism is hell-bent on destroying humanitarian forces. Therefore, humanitarian forces not only of India but of the entire world will have to unite to defeat terrorism," he said.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived in Mumbai by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people on different locations, killing 166, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores.
Bengaluru: The International Joint Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Surendra Kumar Jain, on Sunday said that Ram temple construction would begin next year. Jain was speaking at the Dharma Sansad in Karnataka where others also echoed his views.

Ram temple construction will begin on October 18, 2018. Next Dharma Sansad will be held in Ayodhya, he said, speaking in the temple town of Udupi.

"The administration of a Hindu temple must be by Hindus only."

Jains statement comes two days after RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat raked up the issue stating that only a Ram temple would come up at the site. The stones will be used to build only a Ram temple. No other construction would come up at that site, he had said on the inaugural day of the religious convention.

The statements of the leaders at the event are being closely monitored considering the state is gearing up for elections in 2018.

RSS has maintained this stand all throughout. Bhagwats statement at this point could be seen as an attempt to consolidate Hindu votes, said Narendra Pani, a political analyst.

The Dharma Sansad, organized by the VHP, was loaded with controversial statements from different leaders on all three days. On Saturday, a senior Hindu seer had called for a demographic balance of Hindus by having more children.

Every Hindu couple must have four children. Only then will our (Hindus) numbers be balanced. I have told this to several couples and they all have welcomed it, he said.

The convention, which is to conclude on Sunday, also had the leaders emphasizing the need for cow protection.
New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed all varsities to celebrate November 26 as "Sanvidhan Divas" to commemorate the adoption of the country's Constitution.

From reading out the Preamble in morning assemblies to organising lectures on fundamental duties, the varsities across the country have been asked to conduct a series of activities in the run up to the day.

"Activities like reading out the Preamble to the Constitution during a morning assembly, reading out the fundamental duties, one lecture in every educational institution on the importance of fundamental duties and putting up information on fundamental duties on notice board of colleges (should be carried out)," the UGC said in a communication to all Vice Chancellors.

"You are requested to kindly ensure that these activities are undertaken in your university and in the colleges affiliated with your esteemed university," it added. UGC is the apex body of higher education responsible for coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of universities in the country.
Lucknow: Union minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma on Sunday cast their votes in the second phase of the civic polls, polling for which is underway in 25 districts.

The fate of the candidates would be decided by 1.3 crore voters in the districts of Lucknow, Varanasi--Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, Allahabad, Mathura, Muzaffarnagar and Etawah among others.

In the state capital, Rajnath Singh cast his vote along with his wife and family members, including son Pankaj Singh who is a legislator.

Sharma voted with his wife in Aishbagh area and said, "The BJP is committed to work for the people and opposition should realise that it was the people's love and trust which ensured the party's victory in the assembly polls. In civic polls too, the party is going to win."

State Election Commissioner SK Agarwal also exercised his franchise and appealed to the people to cast their votes. "If you want basic amenities in your city, you should come out of your home and vote in large numbers," he said. Besides them, state ministers Swati Singh, Mohsin Raza and others prominent personalities cast their votes in the first four hours.

The voting would continue till 5 pm.

While the polling for first phase was held on November 22, the last and final phase would be held on November 29. The counting would be held on December 1.
New Delhi: Arthur Road jail in Mumbai will be the home of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya if he is extradited to India to face the law in connection with the Rs 9,000 crore loan default cases, India is likely to tell a British court next week.

According to a PTI report, this will be conveyed to a British court next week by India through the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is arguing the extradition case against Mallya on behalf of the Indian government, a home ministry official said.

Arthur Road Jail is where actor Sanjay Dutt, too, was incarcerated for illegal arms possession.

The Westminster Magistrates' Court in London will be told that it is the duty of the state to ensure security of prisoners and Mallya's apprehension about threat to his life is "misleading".

The Westminster Magistrates' Court had earlier this month rejected Indias extradition request for a UK-based alleged bookie, on the grounds that his human rights would be violated in Delhis notoriously overcrowded Tihar Jail.

The court will be told that the prisons in India are as good as in any other country in the world and prisoners' rights are fully protected in Indian jails, the official, who is privy to the responses prepared by the government, told PTI.

The move came after Mallya's lawyers said that the fugitive businessman's life may be in danger if he is extradited to India and there were alleged incidents of human rights violations in Indian jails.

The Westminster Magistrates' Court will start hearing the extradition proceedings from December 4.

The London court will be told that there will be no threat to Mallya's life if he is lodged in Arthur road jail, which is highly secure as per the international standard, rejecting Mallya's reported apprehension that he will not be safe in Indian jails if sent back home to face trial in the Rs 9,000 crore Kingfisher Airlines loan default cases, another official said, on condition of anonymity.

Adequate medical facilities are available to treat the prisoners in Arthur road jail, where Mallya will get full security cover as an under-trial prisoner, the court will be told.

By making such allegations, Mallya is trying to save himself from getting extradited to India to face the trial in cases of cheating of a consortium of banks, the official said.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba last week had a long meeting with representatives of various authorities, including the Ministry of External Affairs, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate and discussed responses to be filed in the UK court.

The central government has already conducted an assessment of security cover given to prisoners in the Arthur road jail so that its findings could be conveyed to the UK court.

Mallya, 61, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by the Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18.

However, he was soon granted bail by the court. If the judge rules in favour of extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallya's extradition within two months of the appropriate day. However, the case can go through a series of appeals before arriving at a conclusion.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement.

Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent to India last October to face trial in connection with his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge.
According to a major study commissioned by British catering service Caterwings, San Sebastian, Spain is the world city with the most to offer food-minded tourists. It takes more than Michelin-starred restaurants to make a city a great destination for food. Indeed, the Caterwings study used various criteria to take a snapshot of the food scene in thousands of cities worldwide in order to draw up its list of the 100 best cities for food.

For example, Caterwings evaluated the number of restaurants per 10,000 citizens, the percentage of fast food outlets to restaurants, plus vegetarian and vegan options. The study also looked at affordability, calculating how many hours a person on minimum wage would have to work in order to afford a two-person dinner in a restaurant. On top of that, ratings from 20,000 food journalists and restaurant critics were taken into account to evaluate the quality of the local food scene in each city.

Based on the various criteria, San Sebastian came top of the list as the world's best city for food. Clearly, the bosses of the World's 50 Best awards were onto something when choosing the neighboring city of Bilbao -- capital of Spanish Basque Country -- to host the 2018 edition of the World's 50 Best Restaurants. While its high-end restaurants get full marks, San Sebastian stands above the competition thanks to its affordable offer for visitors -- a factor that's crucial to putting destinations on the map as great cities for food.

Tokyo, the city with the most Michelin stars, comes second in the top 100 -- scoring particularly low on vegetarian and vegan options -- while New York comes third. Spain had another entry in the top 5, with Barcelona in fourth, and a total of three cities in the top 10 with Madrid in seventh. Singapore came just ahead of Paris in fifth and sixth, while London squeezed into the top 10 at ninth.
New Delhi: Film actor Kamal Haasan, who has at hinted launching his party by January, on Saturday virtually ruled out tying up any political party

"I am launching change. I cannot carry other people's baggage," he said when asked if he has plans to partner with anyone if he enters politics.

Kamal, who was speaking at the Times Delhi Lit Fest, also said,"I should have done so earlier but at that time I was into my acting career wanting to make money.. But now... Better late than ever," he added.

On his birthday earlier this month Kamal announced the launch of a new app, which marks a step towards his political debut. He hinted he will launch a party in January next.
Days after the Kerala High Court ordered that Malayalam film S Durga be screened at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, half a dozen Hindu organisations on Saturday submitted a petition to the organisers requesting them not to show the film.

The petition, handed over to IFFI Director Sunit Tandon, said the screening of the controversial movie should be stalled to maintain law and order.

"It is clear that the film has targeted the Hindu Goddess Durga and denigrated her and in the process hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. The film is also likely to create law and order situation," the petition signed by various organisations, including members of Sanatan Sanstha and Gomantak Mandir Mahasangh, reads.

After the High Court's order, Tandon asked the film's director Sanal Sasidharan to provide the censored version of the film in 35mm Print/DCP along with two DVD copies to IFFI, Goa.

"The court may have given the direction to show this film. We respect the court but you cant ignore the sentiments of crores of Hindus who worship Goddess Durga," the petition reads.

When News18.com contacted Sasidharan about the same, he said, "It can be a propaganda to avoid the court's order. It's completely a blackout situation for me. I think it clearly shows that they are trying to tell me, 'we are not even bound by the court's order."

Sasidharan said what's making him more sad is the industry's silence on the matter.

They are not saying anything because they might be thinking if theyd support the film then they might also face some problems. I dont know what to say but Im feeling that my voice is so small.

He continued, There are only two days left in the festival to end and they are not doing anything. It shows that the ministry and the festival authorities are openly challenging the courts order.

Meanwhile IFFI spokesperson Manish Desai told reporters that, The film has been received by the festival director and the acknowledgement has been given to Sanal. We'll now be following the procedure for the due course of action."

(With PTI inputs)
Ahmedabad: With less than two weeks to go for the first phase of polling in the Gujarat Assembly Elections, the BJP is flooring the pedal with a campaign blitzkrieg scheduled for Sunday.

The BJP campaign will see 10 Union Ministers, four sitting Chief Ministers, three former Chief Ministers, two Members of Parliament and a BJP state chief hitting the ground and addressing rallies.

Sundays rallies are being viewed as an opening act for Monday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi hits the campaign trail himself. The focus of the campaign will be on Saurashtra and South Gujarat, which go to polls on December 9 in the first phase.

In addition to Modi and BJP Chief Amit Shah, 21 names have been included in the partys Star Pracharak list.

This includes  Sushma Swaraj, Yogi Adityanath, Piyush Goyal, Devendra Fadnavis, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, JP Nadda, Raman Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani, Uma Bharti, Radha Mohan Singh and Dharmendra Pradhan.

In Surat, where Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) workers have been clashing with their BJP counterparts, the responsibility to open the campaign has fallen on the shoulders of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The UP CM will campaign in Surat East, Bharuch and Jambusar while his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis will campaign in the reserved constituencies of Bardoli, Nizar and Mandavi.

Meanwhile, BJP functionaries and workers across the state are planning to host special sessions for the Prime Ministers Mann Ki Baat radio address across all 182 assembly constituencies of Gujarat.

BJP General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav had on Thursday said, On November 26, the Prime Minister will address karyakartas (workers) across Gujarat. Later in the day, several leaders from the BJP will also address rallies across the state. The PM is set to speak at four rallies on November 27. He will repeat the task two days later.

PM Modi will begin with a rally at Bhuj in Kutch district. He will then head on to Jasdan and Dhari assembly constituencies and address back-to-back rallies there.

After three rallies in Saurashtra, the PM will cap off the day with a rally in South Gujarats Kamrej assembly seat.

He will then leave for Delhi in the evening and return to Gujarat on November 29.

The PM will follow the same formula  of three rallies in Saurashtra and one in South Gujarat  on Wednesday as well. His first rally in the second phase will be at Morbi, followed by Prachi, Palitana and Navsari.
This week's recipe roundup is all about simple, delicious meals that can be on your dinner table in as little as 15 minutes.
A Republican remake of the federal tax code bound for a U.S. Senate vote as soon as next week is being decried by Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin as a giveaway to the wealthiest few, while her potential GOP challengers are cheering President Donald Trumps bid for a once-in-a-generation tax-code overhaul.

The Republicans officially running to face Baldwin next year are state Sen. Leah Vukmir, of Brookfield, and businessman Kevin Nicholson, of Delafield.

Both Vukmir and Nicholson said they broadly support Trumps push for sweeping tax changes.

Nicholson sent out a fund- raising appeal to his supporters Saturday in which he urged the Senate to pass the tax bill.

Vukmir wouldnt say if she supports the Senate bill in its current form, cautioning it could change before a vote.

She made clear, however, that she backs many of the bills key provisions.

The bill slashes taxes for businesses, including the corporate tax rate, which it would cut to 20 percent from 35 percent effective in 2019.

Pass-through businesses such as partnerships, sole proprietorships, S-corporations and limited liability companies also would get a break. Many pass-throughs would be able to deduct 17.4 percent of their income tax-free.

The bills impact for individuals is mixed, though most would see an initial tax cut. It eliminates tax deductions, including for state and local taxes, while increasing two widely used provisions in the individual tax code: the standard tax deduction and the child tax credit.

A critical change for the U.S. health care system was tucked into the bill by a late addition that wasnt part of a House tax bill that passed last week.

The Senate bill would repeal one of the linchpins of Obamacare: its individual mandate requiring everyone to have health insurance or pay a fine.

Baldwin, D-Madison, said in a statement that she wants to simplify the tax code and make it fairer for families, small businesses and manufacturers.

But the Republican plan is largely a tax giveaway to the wealthiest few and powerful corporations, while millions of middle-class families would get a tax hike, Baldwin said.

Vukmir spokeswoman Jess Ward said in a statement that Leah is tired of the garbage talking points used by Democrats that these tax cuts will only benefit the wealthy, calling them nonsense.

These tax cuts will mean real savings for middle-class Wisconsinites, Ward said.

Vukmir supports

corporate tax cuts

Vukmirs spokeswoman said she supports key elements of the bill such as reducing the corporate tax, eliminating the Obamacare individual mandate, the state and local tax deduction and the estate tax. The Senate bill doesnt abolish the estate tax, but it doubles how much money in an estate can be exempted from the tax.

Nicholsons campaign did not answer questions about his views on specific provisions in the bill.

Nicholson spokesman Michael Antonopoulos said in a statement that he supports Trumps call for bold tax reform.

He hopes that the legislative process will continue to improve the end product to ensure that the final package provides tax relief for every Wisconsin taxpayer, while driving economic growth, Antonopoulos said.

Supporters of the bill say it could fuel an economic boom while providing long-overdue simplification of the federal tax code. They predict the bill, by cutting taxes for businesses, would create jobs and increase wages. The individual tax changes will translate to more take-home pay for workers, they say.

The House passed its version of the tax bill last week, while congressional Republicans hope to send Trump a reconciled version of the measure by Christmas.

The Senate bill is broadly similar to its House counterpart with a few key differences, among the biggest of which is the Obamacare individual mandate repeal.

Repealing the mandate creates $338 billion in federal savings in the next decade that the Senate proposes using for tax cuts.

The move also would lead to 13 million fewer Americans having health coverage by 2027 and cause premiums on the Obamacare insurance exchanges to increase by 10 percent, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found.

Baldwin wants relief for start-ups, manufacturers

Baldwin and other Democrats maintain the bill is tilted to favor the wealthy and large corporations.

One study predicts that by 2027, the richest 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers would get an average tax cut of more than $9,000 from the Senate GOP plan, while the bottom three-fifths of income earners would see an average tax hike of $160.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which published the study, also found that under the plan, Wisconsin is among 19 states that would pay more in federal taxes in 2027 than they do today.

Baldwins statement said she favors changing the tax code, just not like Senate Republicans are proposing.

Baldwin said she wants to expand the earned income tax credit for individuals and families, give tax relief to small business start-ups and manufacturers and boost the tax rate on carried interest.

The bills impact on the federal deficit is a point of contention. Congress Joint Committee on Taxation, which assists it in drafting tax proposals, predicts it will boost federal deficits by more than $1.4 trillion over the next decade.

That prediction is made on a static basis, meaning it doesnt try to forecast how the proposal will affect the broader U.S. economy.

But the bills proponents predict it will fuel widespread economic growth that will produce higher tax revenues, partially or fully offsetting the cost of the tax cuts.

A Tax Foundation study that uses a different forecasting approach found the Senate plan would generate more than $1.2 trillion in additional federal tax revenue over the next decade, reducing its net cost in that span to $516 billion.

(Nicholson) hopes that the legislative process will continue to improve the end product to ensure that the final package provides tax relief for every Wisconsin taxpayer, while driving economic growth. Michael Antonopoulos, spokesman for GOP candidate

Kevin Nicholson
New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will celebrate its fifth Foundation Day on Sunday and hold a national convention at the Ramlila Maidan in the national capital.

The venue is special for the party as it was from this place that it began its political journey.

Senior party leader and Delhi Labour Minister Gopal Rai said the convention will see discussions on various issues, like the work done by the Delhi government and the Jan Lokpal Bill passed by the Assembly, which is awaiting clearance from the Centre.

Apart from the "five years of revolution", farmers distress will also be discussed during the convention, he said, adding current social, economic and political developments will also be discussed.

Rai said the AAP is the only party in the Indian history to have established a national footprint within a short span of five years and is expanding rapidly across the country.

The journey of the party will be discussed at the event.

Around 10,000 AAP volunteers and representatives from 22 states are likely to attend the convention, party leaders said.

Besides the party's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, several top AAP leaders are expected to address the convention.

Senior party leader Kumar Vishwas, who has had an uneasy relationship with the party leadership, tweeted that he would be addressing the volunteers during the convention and speak his "heart out".
Chandigarh/Kolkata: Haryana BJP leader Suraj Pal Amu has threatened West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with the same fate as Surpanakha, a demoness from the Ramayana whose nose was cut off by Lakshman, a day after the CM said her state was ready to welcome Sanjay Leela Bhansali's controversial film Padmavati and its crew.

Amu's comments drew flak from Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, as also writers and other well-known personalities of Bengal, who described the remarks as "shameful" and "unfortunate".

But Trinamool's controversial leader Anubrata Mondal went a step further, matching Amu's hate speech by threatening to cut off his tongue if he dared to make the comments in Bengal.

Addressing a public meeting, Amu referred to the mythological character Surpanakha.

"I have come to know that Mamata Banerjee is saying Sanjay Leela Bhansali, come to Kolkata. We will welcome you. I say, this is the village of Ramchandra Ji's brother Lakshmanji. And what Lakshmanji did to Surpanakha, I don't have to tell you," Amu said, making a gesture of cutting one's nose.

Further egging on the crowd, Amu, also a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha, repeated: "Do I need to say? What Lakshman had done, will you do or not?"

In Valmiki's Ramayana, Surpanakha  the sister of Ravana  had proposed to Rama and Lakshman, but was spurned by both. In retaliation, she tried to attack Ram's wife Sita, but Lakshman rushed to protect his sister-in-law, and cut off Surpanakha's nose.

Hours after Amu's speech, Mondal  Trinamool's Birbhum district unit president  went ballistic.

"The Haryana leader has threatened to cut Didi's nose, make her Surpanakha. Poor BJP, it is easy to say such things in Haryana, but it is not easy to make such comments standing here in Bengal.

"If you utter such words here, people will chop of your tongue," Mondal, equally infamous for his inciting speeches, told a public meeting.

Amid the raging controversy over the period drama, Banerjee on Friday had promised to make special arrangements for the screening of Padmavati in her state.

"Yes, we would welcome them. They are welcome here if they can't do it in other state. We can make special arrangements. Bengal will be very happy," she said, in response to a query whether her state would welcome the film's crew for a premiere here at a time when a number of

states have banned the movie.

Trinamool Secretary General Partha Chatterjee demanded Amu's apology.

"The language, and the content of his remarks cannot be condoned. Either he should apologise, or else the people of the state would keep a watch on him, and launch proper protests," Chatterjee said.

Eminent Bengali writer Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay described Ammu's comment as "unfortunate". "I do not know how to protest. Such comments create despair among us. As politicians, they should be more careful about using their words. I do not know why police are not taking any action. Police must take action against such comments," he said.

Theatre personality Debesh Chattopadhyay said threatening people was part of agenda of the BJP and the RSS.

"The more they talk like this, the more their hidden agenda will be exposed. History assures us the people of India would reject and protest such attempts," he said.

Poet Srijato Bandyopadhyay said through such comments, people like Amu were ensuring the "democratic right of cutting of nose".

Bhansali's attempt to bring alive the story of Rajput queen Rani Padmavati on the silver screen with his movie Padmavati hasn't gone down well with Hindu groups backed by the BJP.

It features Deepika as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as her husband and warrior king and Ranveer Singh essays Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khilji.

Bhansali faced many hiccups while shooting the film, but the protests escalated as the film neared its release date. There are conjectures that it "distorts history" regarding the Rajput queen, though he has denied it repeatedly.
New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a scathing attack aimed squarely at the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre "for accomplishing in three years what Pakistans intelligence agency, ISI, could not achieve in 70 years".

Addressing thousands of supporters and party workers at the Aam Aadmi Partys national convention on its fifth anniversary, Kejriwal said that certain people are trying to make Hindus and Muslims fight among themselves to suit their agenda.

It is the biggest dream of Pakistan - to divide India between Hindus and Muslims. Those who are doing it, they are ISI agents. They hide behind the mask of nationalism but are desh drohis. They want to weaken the country. What ISI could not accomplish in 70 years, the BJP did in three years, he said.

The Delhi CM was flanked by Manish Sisodia, Ashutosh, Gopal Rai, Kumar Vishwas and Atishi Marlena along with workers from various states at the function in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan.

He also made a fervent appeal to AAP supporters in Gujarat, asking them to throw the BJP out of power, even if it comes at the cost of voting against the party.

Vote for such a candidate or a party who can defeat the BJP. If AAP is in a winning position in a constituency, vote for AAP. Else, vote for whoever is in a position to defeat the BJP from the seat. To defeat the BJP is the most important, he said. The AAP has fielded only 20 candidates for the 182-member Gujarat assembly.

Kejriwal also did not spare the BJP for its track record on corruption and said its track record is as bad as the Congress. Vyapam scam, Rafale scam, Birla diaries, Sahara diaries. Even judges are not safe it seems. Just as you had uprooted the Congress, the time for BJP too is coming, he said.

They were so unnerved with our work that that they snatched the Anti-Corruption Bureau from us. They sent paramilitary forces - perhaps for the first time in India's history like this - and they took over the building, he added.
Ahmedabad: Finance minister Arun Jaitley, BJP chief Amit Shah and several union ministers sipped tea with people across poll-bound Gujarat and tuned in to Narendra Modis radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' on Sunday to exploit the Congress meme mocking the Prime Ministers chaiwala past.

The BJP organised Mann ki Baat, Chai ke Saath events at all the 50,128 polling booths in 182 Assembly seats. Shah listened to the programme at a stall in Ahmedabads Muslim-dominated Dariyapur area in the presence of hundreds of locals and party workers.

Jaitley was present at a booth in Adajan area of Surat-West Assembly constituency, said a party release.

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani listened to the monthly programme while having tea at Mora village in Panchmahal district, while deputy chief minister Nitin Patel was at a booth in his Mehsana constituency.

Other party leaders who joined the programme at various places included Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Uma Bharti, Smriti Irani, Jual Oram and Parshottam Rupala, Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani and several state ministers, MLAs and some MPs.

Irani, who was in Junagadh to take part in the party's event, told media persons that the people of Gujarat will teach a stern lesson to Congress in this Assembly election for having an anti-poor and anti-Gujarat mindset.

The event was organised ahead of Modi's tour of Gujarat on November 27 and 29, during which he will address eight rallies in Saurashtra and south Gujarat, where polling will be held on December 9.

The official Twitter handle of the Youth Congress' online magazine "Yuva Desh" had last week kicked up a row by mocking Modi's "chaiwala" past and English speaking skills through a photograph.

Soon after the controversy, the Youth Congress had tendered an apology and removed the controversial tweet. Chief minister Rupani had dubbed the tweet as "blatantly classist and anti-poor".

Earlier, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections said Modi would never become the prime minister, and that if he wanted, the party can give him a place at its convention to sell tea.

The BJP had leveraged the remark to launch its then prime ministerial candidate Modi's famous 'chai pe charcha' sessions, to connect with voters around the country.
With less than two weeks to go for the first phase of polling in the Gujarat Assembly Elections, the BJP is flooring the pedal with a campaign blitzkrieg scheduled for Sunday. The BJP campaign will see 10 Union Ministers, four sitting Chief Ministers, three former Chief Ministers, two Members of Parliament and a BJP state chief hitting the ground and addressing rallies.

Stay tuned for LIVE updates:

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New Delhi: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday morning launched another attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking accountability for "Rs 33,000 crore" that he had "allocated to the Tata Nano project" when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.

Rahul once again took to Twitter and shared a news article, expounding how the production of Nano car, at the Sanand plant, had reduced to an average of two cars per day.

"Dealers of Tata Motors in most parts of the country have stopped placing orders for this small car in the last three-four months," the Business Standard report said.

"PMs pet 'Make in India' project just died. 33,000 crores of Gujarati taxpayer money turned to ash. Who is accountable?" Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

PMs pet Make in India project just died. 33,000 crores of Gujarati taxpayer money turned to ash. Who is accountable? https://t.co/pQ9HUK6Ui1 Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) November 26, 2017

This was the second occasion, in the last one month, when Rahul denounced Modi over the matter. Earlier, during his visit to Sanand, Rahul had asserted that "Modiji had given Rs 33,000 crore" to the Tata Group when they were looking for land to install their first Nano plant.

"UPA spent Rs. 33,000 crore on MGNREGA. Modiji gave that much money to one company (Tata) in this state," he said. "But did you get any benefit from the factory? Do you drive a Tata Nano? Do you have a Tata Nano at home? Did your children get employment in the factory?" he asked.
Madurai/Chennai: In what seems to be a fresh sign of discord in the ruling AIADMK, loyalists of Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Saturday said they did not get any invite for a key party event in which Chief Minister K Palaniswami participated.

Significantly, Panneerselvam, who was conspicuous by his absence in the event that was held in Madurai on Saturday, later batted for unity in the party while taking part in another function along with Palaniswami.

The second function was held at Ramanathapuram, about 115 km from Madurai.

Recounting a tale of a wrestler narrated by late J Jayalalithaa years ago to party workers to underscore the importance of unity among party workers, he said Amma (late Jayalalithaa) highlighted the importance of unity through that story.

"We have got back our victorious two-leaves symbol as we all stood united following the words of Amma," Panneerselvam said.

Indicating that unity was essential to win the December 21 R K Nagar bypoll, he said, "With the same unity, and with the support of people we will script a massive win in the bypoll and dedicate the victory to Amma."

Palaniswami, who spoke after him in the event to commemorate former chief minister M G Ramachandran's birth centenary, promptly referred to the unity call in his opening remarks.

The chief minister said, "Honourable deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam has articulated good views on staying united."

Palaniswami further said his deputy expressed good views and gave good advice to the party workers.

Revenue Minister R B Udayakumar said there was no rift and cadres of the party accepted the leadership of the chief minister and the deputy chief minister.

"For us, of the two leaves (party symbol), one leaf stood for EPS (K Palaniswami) and one leaf stood for OPS (O Panneerselvam)," he told reporters.

"There is no rift or crack in the party and the CM and the deputy CM are working like double-barreled gun," he said.

Asked about Panneerselvam not taking part in the Madurai event, he said they (Palaniswami and Panneerselvam) are united.

Panneerselvam had to participate in some temple function and hence he could not come to Madurai, the minister said, adding every issue is tackled by both leaders in consultation with others.

The Madurai event, called "Mupperum Vizha," (a single event to mark celebration of three different occasions) was organised to celebrate the AIADMK getting back its two-leaves symbol, the centenary of party founder M G Ramachandran and to hail Jayalalithaa.

Rajya Sabha MP and a known Panneerselvam loyalist, V Maithreyan said in Chennai that proper intimation should have been sent to all party workers, functionaries, and leaders.

Maithreyan, who recently raised the discontent row between Panneerselvam and Palaniswami factions, said the Madurai event was important since it was the first to celebrate the party getting back its poll symbol.

He said Madurai-based MP Gopalakrishnan and MLA Saravanan, who were in the Panneerselvam camp previously, did not get the invite and added that such "goof-up" should be avoided.

"I do not know if Panneerselvam was invited, if he was formally apprised about the Madurai event, or if he had any other engagement (at the time of the event)," he told reporters in response to a question.

Stating that several leaders had worked to get back the party symbol, he said, "Recognising that we too have a role in retrieving the party symbol, we should have been intimated about the event and that is our disappointment."

"That event is over, I think we can put a full stop to it. Still we have a troubled feeling about it...let the future be a season of spring though the past has been bitter," he said.

Maithreyan said he believed that party coordinator Panneerselvam and co-coordinator Palaniswami will discuss the issue and "prevent its recurrence".

The Rajya Sabha MP told reporters said he called Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit in connection with a music event, and they did not discuss anything else.

A party information technology wing functionary and Panneerselvam loyalist, Aspire K Swaminathan, in his Facebook post in Tamil, said that there was no invite or information for anyone including the leaders for the Madurai event.

Some publicity material like posters for the Madurai event prominently had the name of Palaniswami but not Panneerselvam's.

The Palaniswami and Panneerselvam factions had merged in August after ousting jailed leader V K Sasikala and her nephew T T V Dinakaran.

The Election Commission on November 23 allotted the 'two leaves' symbol to the unified AIADMK led by Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, dealing a blow to the Sasikala faction.

Dinakaran has announced that he would contest the bypoll to the R K Nagar Assembly constituency here, which fell vacant after the demise of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa last year.
Warsaw: The heart of Frederic Chopin, among the world's most cherished musical virtuosos, may finally have given up the cause of his untimely death.

The prolific 19th-century Polish-French pianist and composer died at the age of 39, of what had long been believed to be tuberculosis (TB).

However, in 2008, Polish medical experts raised the possibility that Chopin -- whose health had always been very frail -- had actually suffered from cystic fibrosis (CF).

The genetic respiratory illness clogs the lungs with sticky, thick mucus and sufferers on average generally do not survive past their late 30s.

Now, Polish scientists, who were the first to use modern technology to study Chopin's heart -- preserved for the last 168 years inside a crystal jar in what appears to be cognac -- believe they are a step closer to an accurate diagnosis.

"We can say that it is highly possible that it was tuberculosis," lead researcher Professor Michal Witt, a top specialist in molecular and clinical genetics, told AFP.

Unable to open the hermetically sealed jar, his team of medical experts used high-resolution photographs taken in 2014 to make their diagnosis.

"The lesions which we saw fit well with the initial diagnosis which was held for years, namely tuberculosis.

"The lesions are clearly visible on the pericardium of Chopin's heart," Witt said, referring to the organ's outer membrane typically affected by complications stemming from TB.

'Still debatable'

The findings of Witt and his team are due to be published in the February print issue of the esteemed American Journal of Medicine, complete with a unique photograph of the pickled heart.

But without DNA tests, Witt admits that he cannot entirely rule out the possibility of cystic fibrosis.

In 2008, Poland's culture ministry rejected a request by academics to run DNA tests on the relic to check for the CFTR gene, a telltale sign of cystic fibrosis, over fears the procedure could irreparably damage the heart.

Whether Chopin suffered from cystic fibrosis "is still debatable", Witt told AFP.

"We cannot prove this for sure, but the likelihood that it was tuberculosis rather than cystic fibrosis is far, far higher.

"We can say that with a high degree of confidence."

Records show that as an adult weighing 40 kilogrammes (88 pounds) at a height of 1.70 metres (five feet seven inches), Chopin was chronically underweight, a typical symptom of cystic fibrosis.

Without genetic tests, it is also impossible to be entirely certain that the organ itself is Chopin's, although as Witt points out, there "is no reason to believe that it isn't, at least to our knowledge."

Cognac?

Last examined in 1945 after World War II, the heart is "clearly visible" and well preserved in what Witt calls a "light amber brown" liquid.

"It's highly possible that it is cognac," he said, adding that "since the French Revolution, cognac has been used as a preservation fluid in France."

Chopin's heart is kept inside a pillar in Warsaw's sprawling and ornate baroque Church of the Holy Cross.

After his death in exile in Paris in 1849, it was brought to Chopin's native Warsaw that same year by his elder sister Ludwika to honour his dying wish.

The rest of Chopin's remains are buried in the French capital's Pere Lachaise cemetery.

Born in Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw in 1810, Chopin composed many of his most moving pieces in his father's native France, where he ended up after an 1830-31 uprising of Polish insurgents against the 1795 partition of Poland by Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Having refused to take a Russian passport, he was never able to set foot on his and his mother's native Polish soil following the failed insurrection.

Described by 19th-century German composer Robert Schumann as "cannons hidden among blossoms", Chopin's music was and remains a symbol of Poland's long and turbulent struggle for freedom.
Harare: Inside State House in Harare, Robert Mugabe was in the tightest spot of his 37-year rule. Tanks were on the streets and troops had occupied the state broadcaster, from where the army had announced it had taken control of Zimbabwe.

Mugabe, 93 years old but still alert, remained defiant. The only leader the country had known since independence was refusing to quit.

At a tense meeting with his military top brass on November 16, the world's oldest head of state put his foot down: "Bring me the constitution and tell me what it says," he ordered military chief Constantino Chiwenga, according to two sources present.

An aide brought a copy of the constitution, which lays out that the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Chiwenga, dressed in camouflage fatigues, hesitated before replying that Zimbabwe was facing a national crisis that demanded military intervention.

Mugabe retorted that the army was the problem, according to the sources present. Then the beleaguered president indicated that perhaps they could find a solution together.

The meeting marked the start of an extraordinary five-day standoff between Mugabe and Zimbabwe's supreme law on one side, and the military, his party and Zimbabwe's people on the other.

The generals wanted Mugabe to go, but they also wanted a peaceful "coup," one that would not irreparably tarnish the administration aiming to take over, according to multiple military and political sources.

The president finally accepted defeat only after he was sacked by his own ZANU-PF party and faced the ignominy of impeachment. He signed a short letter of resignation to parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda that was read out to lawmakers on November 21.

Mugabe, who had run Zimbabwe since 1980 and overseen its descent into economic ruin while his wife shopped for luxury goods, was gone.

The country erupted into ecstasy. Parliamentarians danced and people poured onto the streets in their tens of thousands to celebrate a political downfall that sent shockwaves across Africa and the world.

To many, the end of Mugabe had been unthinkable only one week before.

Reuters has pieced together the events leading up to Mugabe's removal, showing that the army's action was the culmination of months of planning that stretched from Harare to Johannesburg to Beijing.

BITTER RIVALRY

Drawing on a trove of intelligence documents from within Mugabe's feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Reuters reported in September that the army was backing Emmerson Mnangagwa, then vice president, to succeed Mugabe when the time came.

The report detailed how Mnangagwa, a lifelong friend and former security chief of Mugabe, might cooperate with Mugabe's political foes in order to revive the economy. It caused furore in Zimbabwe's media and political circles.

Bitter rivalry intensified between Mnangagwa and Grace, Mugabe's 52-year-old wife, who also hoped to take over as president and had the backing of a ZANU-PF faction known as G40.

In early October, Mnangagwa said he had been airlifted to hospital in South Africa after a poisoning attempt in August. He pointed no fingers - but he didn't need to.

Grace's swift response was to deny it and accuse her rival of seeking sympathy; she belittled him as nothing but an employee of her husband, according to a report in the state-run Herald newspaper.

As the pressure built, Mugabe became increasingly paranoid about the loyalty of army chief Chiwenga, a career soldier and decorated veteran of Zimbabwe's 1970s bush-war against white-minority rule.

Mugabe's spies, who permeated every institution and section of society in Zimbabwe, were warning him the military would not accept Grace as president.

"Mugabe is very worried of a coup," one intelligence report, dated Oct. 23, said. "Mugabe was openly told by senior CIOs that the military is not going to easily accept the appointment of Grace. He was warned to be ready for civil war."

Reuters reviewed the document, and hundreds of other intelligence reports dating back to 2009, before the coup took place. The documents come from within the CIO, but Reuters could not determine for whom they were written. The CIO is split into factions, some pro- and some anti-Mugabe.

In late October, Mugabe summoned Chiwenga to a showdown, according to another of the documents, dated October 30. It said Mugabe confronted the army chief about his ties to Mnangagwa and told him that going against Grace would cost him his life.

"Chiwenga was warned by Mugabe that it is high time for him to start following. He mentioned to Chiwenga that those fighting his wife are bound to die a painful death," the intelligence report said.

At the same meeting, Mugabe also ordered Chiwenga to pledge allegiance to Grace. He refused.

"Chiwengwa refused to be intimidated. He stood his ground over his loyalty to Mnangagwa," the report said.

Reuters put questions about this exchange and other aspects of this article to Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba. In an enigmatic text message dated Nov. 23, he replied: "Enjoy Reuters copy. Goodnight."

Two spokesmen for Chiwenga declined to comment.

After another tense meeting with Mugabe on November 5, Chiwenga left Harare on a pre-arranged official trip and travelled to China, which wields significant influence as a major investor in Zimbabwe.

A day later, Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa as vice president and purged him from ZANU-PF, the liberation movement that Mnangagwa had served since his youth and for which, as a young militant caught bombing a train, he had nearly been executed.

For the generals, Mugabe had gone too far. The military immediately activated a "Code Red" alert, its highest level of preparedness, a military source said.

ASSASSINATION PLOT

Moments after Mnangagwa was ousted on Novemer 6, the security details assigned to him and his house were withdrawn, according to a statement he issued later. He was told his life was in danger.

"Security personnel, who are friendly to me, warned me that plans were underfoot to eliminate me once arrested and taken to a police station," Mnangagwa said in a November 21 statement. "It was in my security interest to leave the country immediately."

From Harare, he managed to escape over the border into neighbouring Mozambique, where he caught a plane to China, according to one source familiar with his movements. There he met up with Chiwenga, the source said.

Reuters could not confirm the account; but an intelligence report from November 13 indicates that Mugabe suspected some of his generals of preparing to overthrow him from China.

"A number of generals are now in China ready to plot Mugabe's ouster with Mnangagwa," the report said. It was not clear which generals, and whether their travel to China was authorised.

Mugabe's spies suspected old allies had turned against the ageing president. An intelligence report, dated Oct. 30, said Beijing and Moscow both supported regime change out of frustration at Zimbabwe's economic implosion under Mugabe.

"China and Russia are after change," the report said. "They are after change within ZANU-PF as they are sick and tired of Mugabe's leadership."

"The two countries are even ready to clandestinely supply arms of war to Mnangagwa to fight Mugabe."

Neither China's Defence Ministry nor Foreign Ministry responded to a request for comment. The Foreign Ministry had previously said Chiwenga's visit was "a normal military exchange mutually agreed upon by China and Zimbabwe."

Reuters sent written requests for comment to the Kremlin, the Russian Defence Ministry and the Russian Foreign Ministry. None of them responded.

China has long taken an interest in Zimbabwe, having supported Mugabe's forces during the liberation struggle. After independence it developed connections there in mining, security and construction.

Russia has also had ties to Zimbabwe since the early 1980s, and in 2014 a Russian consortium entered into a partnership to develop a $3 billion platinum mining project in the country.

Chiwenga's trip to China culminated in him meeting Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan in Beijing on Nov. 10.

Two sources with knowledge of the talks told Reuters that Chiwenga asked if China would agree not to interfere if he took temporary control in Zimbabwe to remove Mugabe from power. Chang assured him Beijing would not get involved and the two also discussed tactics that might be employed during the de facto coup, the sources said.

Reuters could not establish whether Mnangagwa met Chang.

Having got wind of the talks in China, Mugabe summoned his still-loyal police commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, and his deputy, Innocent Matibiri, to detain Chiwenga on his return to Harare, government and security sources said.

The pair assembled a squad of 100 police and intelligence agents. But the plot leaked and Chiwenga supporters managed to pull together a counter-team of several hundred special forces soldiers and agents as their commander's plane approached.

Some were disguised as baggage handlers, their military fatigues and weapons hidden beneath high-visibility jackets and overalls, one security source said.

Realising they were outnumbered and outgunned, Chihuri's police team backed down, allowing Chiwenga to touch down without incident, the security source said.

Mugabe's spokesman did not comment on the incident.

"VERY ALARMED"

Two days later, Chiwenga and a group of military commanders demanded a meeting with Mugabe at his official State House residence in Harare, an ornate colonial villa complete with stuffed leopards and thick red carpets, according to a government source.

They said they were "very alarmed" at the firing of Mnangagwa and told Mugabe to rein in his wife and her G40 faction, whom they accused of trying to divide the military, according to the government official, who was present at the discussions.

"What do you think should be done?" Mugabe demanded of the soldiers as he sat slumped in an armchair.

The generals asked him to give assurances that they too would not be purged. Mugabe's response was lukewarm, the government source said. Chiwenga told Mugabe he would be making his concerns about the G40 faction public.

Hours later, Chiwenga summoned reporters to the military's main barracks near Harare to issue a statement.

"We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that, when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in," he said, reading from a prepared text.

The following afternoon, Reuters reported six armoured personnel carriers heading towards the headquarters of Mugabe's Presidential Guard on the outskirts of Harare. It was unclear whose command they were under.

At the time, the city's residents were on edge but still unsure what it all meant.

THE LINE WENT DEAD

At around 6 p.m. on November 14, Mugabe's motorcade headed to his private "Blue Roof" residence, a heavily fortified compound in the capital's leafy northern suburb of Borrowdale.

Meanwhile, social media buzzed with pictures of armoured vehicles driving along roads to Harare, sparking frenzied speculation about a coup.

Increasingly concerned, Grace put in a call shortly after 7 p.m. to a cabinet minister asking to get WhatsApp and Twitter shut down, according to one source familiar with a recording of the conversation.

The minister, whose identity Reuters is withholding for safety reasons, replied that such a move was the responsibility of state security minister Kembo Mohadi.

"No-one will stand for a coup. It cannot happen," said Grace, commonly referred to as Amai, which means Mother, according to a source who heard the recording.

Mugabe's voice is then heard on the line: "As you have heard from Amai, is there anything that can be done?"

The minister gave the same response, about the responsibilities of state security, and the line went dead, the source said.

Mohadi declined to comment.

Two hours later, two armoured vehicles rolled into the Pockets Hill headquarters of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), according to ZBC sources.

Dozens of soldiers sealed off the site and stormed into the studios where they accosted staff, snatching their phones and halting programmes. State-owned ZBC, widely seen as a mouthpiece for Mugabe, switched to broadcasting pop music videos.

Mugabe's inner circle, nearly all of them G40 loyalists, had no idea what was under way, according to four sources familiar with their conversations.

Information Minister Simon Khaya Moyo called Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi to ask if he had any information about a possible coup. Sekeramayi said no, but tried to check with military chief Chiwenga.

Chiwenga told Sekeramayi he would get back to him. According to the sources, Chiwenga never did.

Moyo remains in hiding and was unavailable for comment. Sekeramayi declined to comment.

SECURITY DETAIL

As ministers in the G40 faction tried frantically to work out what was going on, Chiwenga's men closed in on Mugabe's compound.

According to a source briefed on the situation, Albert Ngulube, a CIO director and head of Mugabe's security detail, was driving home around 9.30 p.m. after visiting Mugabe. He met an armoured car on Borrowdale Brooke, a side road leading to Mugabe's house.

When Ngulube confronted the soldiers and threatened to shoot them, they beat him up and detained him, the source said. Ngulube was later released, but had suffered head and facial injuries, the source added.

Spokesmen for Chiwenga and Mnangagwa declined to comment. Reuters was unable to contact Ngulube.

Other G40 ministers were also picked up by soldiers. Finance minister Ignatius Chombo was found hiding in a toilet at his house and beaten before being detained at an undisclosed location for more than a week.

On his release on November 24, he was hospitalised with injuries to his hands, legs and back, his lawyer told Reuters, describing the army's behaviour as "brutal and draconian."

Soldiers used explosives to blow the front door off the house of Jonathan Moyo, the main brains behind G40, according to video footage of the house seen by Reuters. Others burst through the front gates of the residence of local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, another key Grace supporter.

Both men managed to escape to Mugabe's residence. Contacted by Reuters shortly after midnight in the early hours of November 15, Kasukuwere was audibly stressed. "I can't talk. I'm in a meeting," he said, before hanging up.

For another week, Mugabe clung on to the presidency as Chiwenga and his forces tried to engineer a peaceful, and quasi-legal, exit for the long-serving leader.

But as parliament began impeachment proceedings on Nov. 21, Mugabe finally gave up. After 37 years in control, during which much of his country fell into poverty, his letter of resignation said he was stepping down out of "concern for the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe."
Mr. Proano was not maintaining the thin blue line that separates us from anarchy and chaos and violence. He was bringing the chaos and violence.

 U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman, sentencing Chicago police Officer Marco Proano to five years in prison

No, Marco Proano is not a scapegoat. No, he is not a victim of anti-police hysteria. The 11-year police veteran was convicted of excessive force for firing 16 times into a car full of teenagers in December 2013. It took a jury less than four hours to reach a verdict after a weeklong trial.

Video of the shooting, captured on a police dashboard camera, shows Proano walking quickly toward a stolen Toyota, raising his gun and firing as the vehicle backs away. He continues to fire even after the car hits a light pole and stops. Two of the five teens inside the car were wounded. Jurors watched the video several times.

Defense attorney Daniel Herbert argued that Proano acted exactly as hed been trained to do and was sacrificed to the furor that engulfed Chicago after the release of a different dashcam video in November 2015. That would be the video, released by court order, that shows Officer Jason Van Dyke firing 16 shots at teenager Laquan McDonald.

It led to months of street protests, a U.S. Department of Justice investigation and promises  still unfulfilled  to overhaul Chicagos police department and its feeble disciplinary system. Herbert also represents Van Dyke, who is charged with first-degree murder. Proano was charged nine months later.

Last week, Herbert asked the judge to sentence Proano to probation. The indictment resonated throughout the Chicago Police Department, Herbert said, and sent a loud and clear message to cops that their behavior was being scrutinized closely. He hinted it has already caused officers to do their jobs less aggressively for fear of being charged with a crime.

That got a rise out of both the judge and prosecutor. Feinerman said Proanos actions were extremely unjustified and an insult to police officers who perform professionally. Assistant U.S. Attorney Georgia Alexakis said it was wrong to say Give him a light sentence because otherwise police officers might not do their jobs.

At trial, prosecutors showed that Proano had violated his training, left and right. Officers are taught not to fire into a crowd, not to fire at a target they cant clearly see, not to keep firing after a threat is eliminated. Jurors didnt buy the argument that Proano fired at the car to protect one of the teens, who was hanging out the window of the moving car.

If Proano feels singled out, its because Chicago has a long history of failing to hold police officers accountable for misconduct. But he was tried and convicted on the evidence.

This was not a close call, the judge said. Mr. Proano engaged in criminal armed violence.

Proanos actions were way over the line. Hes not going to prison simply for doing his job.

The good cops  thats almost all of them  know it.
Writer: Three who 'get it,' one who doesn't

I always look forward to the Thanksgiving issue of The News & Advance to once again read the proclamations for the day issued by Presidents Washington and Lincoln. While obviously the proclamations text wont change, reading them provides reinforcement that both presidents realized where their blessings came from, and to whom they should render thanks. I have no doubt that this country is where it is because strong, God-fearing men (respectful to God, translated for those who dont know what the inside of churches look like) were involved in its beginning.

Washington: Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.

Lincoln: To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

Now we come to President Trump, who likewise gets it. On Thanksgiving Day, as we have for nearly four centuries, Americans give thanks to Almighty God for our abundant blessings ... NOW, THEREFORE, I, Donald J. Trump, do hereby proclaim Thursday ... as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings. Isnt it comforting to know President Trump looks to God as the source of help and comfort?

The fourth proclaimer is our outgoing governor, Terence McAuliffe: WHEREAS, on Thanksgiving Day, Americans give thanks for the availability of food and the many blessings and opportunities we receive ... WHEREAS, today and every day we are reminded of the many reasons to give thanks. We give thanks, governor? What are some of the many reasons to give thanks? And why dont you identify to whom we should give thanks?

Governor, why not take a clue from Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Trump and specifically acknowledge our creator  believe it or not, he is yours too!  by stating the source of our blessings is the Lord God Almighty. Psalm 100 is a good place to start: It is he who has made us, and not we ourselves ... Enter into his gates with thanksgiving ... Be thankful to him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures to all generations.

I ask Gov.-elect Ralph Northam to please do better next year. Or will he be too afraid to offend the less-than-religious liberals?

RHUDY CAMPER

Forest

Oversight needed

In regards to The News & Advances Nov. 22 article on Kathy Davis who cares for the elderly in her Altavista home and which was reprinted in the Roanoke Times, you mentioned that it, like many others, is unlicensed. What you failed to mention is that it, like others with three or fewer residents, in not inspected or regulated ... by anyone.

There is no oversight by fire and safety inspectors to require fire alarm systems, sprinklers or evacuation plans. No required checks by health officials to monitor food safety. No required training for those administering medications. No matter how well intentioned an operator is, these things should have oversight to minimize accidents.

There are thousands of these unlicensed homes. and families should ask if a home is having these inspections before placing their loved ones there. The state should require these inspections for unlicensed homes to try to avoid future tragedies.

BOB WILLIAMS

Roanoke
In mid-October, Richmonds Asbury Court was all lit up for Christmas and drawing a crowd that filled the street.

Thats two months before the houses typically light up for the holidays.

A giant camera on a dolly filmed the crowd and an exhausted-looking Bobby Phifer for an episode of the ABC reality show The Great Christmas Light Fight.

Im so tired, Phifer said, while he waited for celebrity judge Taniya Nayak to arrive. We just finished decorating last night.

The houses at 9606 and 9604 Asbury Court have been a staple on the Richmond Tacky Lights tour for years. Phifer has been decorating his mothers house ever since he was a child. He even bought the house next door and started decorating that one, too. Together, the two houses have more than a million-and-a-half lights strewn over two yards. But his mother, Rose, died in the spring, and thats why he decided to compete this year.

Phifer had been working feverishly since the summer, decorating both houses to meet the shows deadline.

Normally, the family puts up the display in three months. But for the show, they had to decorate the two houses, yards and trees in six weeks.

On the night of the filming, the whole Phifer family  Bobby; his wife, Bobbie; their daughter; and family friends  wore blue T-shirts that said A Phifer Christmas Since 1974 on the front and Light Crew on the back. The women wore hand-made flower crowns threaded with reindeer antlers.

We were up last night until 2:30 a.m., just talking and getting everything ready, Phifer said.

He seemed to catch a second wind when the producer shined a bright light on the family for the TV interview. The producer asked Phifer how he thought the judge was going to react to their display.

Taniyas about to see the best display shes ever seen, Phifer said under the producers prompting. Weve got double the lights, double the Bobbys, double everything out here.

A few hundred neighbors and friends of the family filled the street for the taping. Many of the onlookers got into the Christmas spirit, too. Even though it was the middle of October, one woman was dressed as a Christmas elf with elf ears, striped socks and pointy boots.

Car! people yelled when a neighbor would try to drive by.

A pair of young moms wore matching Will Ferrell Elf T-shirts. But many kids werent prepared for the temperatures that plummeted as the night went on, shivering in short sleeves and flip-flops while waiting for the two homes to light up for the judge.

Sharon and Jessica Wenger, a mother-daughter duo, stayed warm by the hot chocolate station in the driveway. Jessica has been visiting the Phifer home since she was a baby. Now 35, she drove from Charlottesville to witness the ABC filming.

Its magical, Jessica said of the Phifers light display. I remember being little and looking up at the trees wrapped in lights. It seemed like the lights reached to the stars.

Sharon Wenger said that they visit the Phifer house every year because it feels like family. You can walk through it. And you always run into somebody you know.

They said they wanted to be at the filming to watch the tradition continue.

The crowd waited and waited until finally, the producer, Chad Harrison, grabbed a megaphone and shouted, Lets hear it for the Phifers!

The group erupted into cheers and clapping. Phifer! Phifer! they chanted.

This is my favorite part of the job, the producer said.

When Nayak arrived in leather pants and green high-heeled boots to judge the display, the crowd cheered even more. Partly to keep warm, partly out of relief that she had finally arrived.

Usually, the show allows only one property in the competition, but this year it made an exception to allow the Phifers double display to compete for the $50,000 grand prize.

We found the Phifers on social media, the producer said. It has its own geo-tag.

Phifer said that the show has approached him for years, but this year, he finally decided to compete in honor of his mom.

I can tell theres going to be some heartstrings pulled, Nayak said before the cameras started to roll and the house lit up for the judging. I hope I have waterproof mascara on.

The filming went on until 3 a.m., but the family went to bed with the lights on.

The Phifers episode of The Great Christmas Light Fight will air at 8 p.m. Dec. 11. The Phifers cant disclose what happened until the show airs.




Chombo, the former Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration, and Chipanga, the former secretary for the partys Youth League, argued that they were over-detained by State agents beyond the constitutionally prescribed 48 hours.

Harare magistrates Mr Elisha Singano and Ms Josephine Sande, who are presiding over the cases, dismissed the applications, saying there was no evidence to substantiate the claims. The magistrates said it was clear that the pair were in police custody barely 48 hours before being brought to court.



The prosecutor, Mr Edmore Nyazamba, is alleging that Chombo fraudulently forged documents that included a lease to acquire Subdivisions K Portion of Nthaba portion of Glen Lorne from City of Harare, where he is said to have signed and manufactured a fraudulent lease agreement on January 1, 1997.



City of Harare is said to have been prejudiced of $900 000.

On the second count of criminal abuse of duty by a public officer, Chombo is accused of having received an application from City of Harare for a change of use for an open space in Helensvale into a residential area in September 2006.



He allegedly used his power as the Minister of Local Government to allocate it to a company he co-owns, called HarvestNet Enterprises.



The property is worth $2,7 million. On the third count, Chombo is accused of defrauding the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe through the Crops and Livestock Support Facility, where he received $14 billion in Zimbabwean dollars.

The court said Chombo did not use the money for the intended purpose, which was buying capital equipment that included a 30-tonne lorry, 30-tonne truck and combine harvester, among others.



He is said to have issued some cheques mainly through CBZ Bank for other purposes.



Chipanga is facing charges of publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State as defined in Section 31 (a) (iii) of the Criminal (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9.23 or alternatively causing disaffection among the police force or defence forces as defined in Section 30 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.



The charges arose from a press conference on November 14, where he accused Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantino Chiwenga of stealing money realised from diamond mining in Marange. Herald Former Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo and ex-Zanu-PF youth leader Kudzanai Chipanga will appear in court today for their bail application after the duo unsuccessfully challenged their placement on remand on Saturday.Chombo, the former Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration, and Chipanga, the former secretary for the partys Youth League, argued that they were over-detained by State agents beyond the constitutionally prescribed 48 hours.Harare magistrates Mr Elisha Singano and Ms Josephine Sande, who are presiding over the cases, dismissed the applications, saying there was no evidence to substantiate the claims. The magistrates said it was clear that the pair were in police custody barely 48 hours before being brought to court.The prosecutor, Mr Edmore Nyazamba, is alleging that Chombo fraudulently forged documents that included a lease to acquire Subdivisions K Portion of Nthaba portion of Glen Lorne from City of Harare, where he is said to have signed and manufactured a fraudulent lease agreement on January 1, 1997.City of Harare is said to have been prejudiced of $900 000.On the second count of criminal abuse of duty by a public officer, Chombo is accused of having received an application from City of Harare for a change of use for an open space in Helensvale into a residential area in September 2006.He allegedly used his power as the Minister of Local Government to allocate it to a company he co-owns, called HarvestNet Enterprises.The property is worth $2,7 million. On the third count, Chombo is accused of defrauding the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe through the Crops and Livestock Support Facility, where he received $14 billion in Zimbabwean dollars.The court said Chombo did not use the money for the intended purpose, which was buying capital equipment that included a 30-tonne lorry, 30-tonne truck and combine harvester, among others.He is said to have issued some cheques mainly through CBZ Bank for other purposes.Chipanga is facing charges of publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State as defined in Section 31 (a) (iii) of the Criminal (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9.23 or alternatively causing disaffection among the police force or defence forces as defined in Section 30 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.The charges arose from a press conference on November 14, where he accused Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantino Chiwenga of stealing money realised from diamond mining in Marange. Herald
Does anyone really know who Professor Jonathan Moyo is? Often, during his public career, he was referred to as a political chameleon, and this was because of his I-hate-Mugabe-I-love-Mugabe-I-hate-Mugabe-I-love-Mugabe incarnations over the years.



But there is more to Prof Moyo than just his in-and-out of Zanu-PF antics.

There are layers that are yet to be peeled, and he has not helped the writing of his story much  perhaps deliberately by giving convoluted tales about his activities during the liberation struggle, how he ended up in the United States, and what his true purpose in worming his way into Zanu-PF was.





Many people have given their accounts, either rubbishing Prof Moyos allegedly revisionist history, or insinuating he is an agent of a foreign government, sent to infiltrate Zanu-PF and destroy it from within.





It seems not only those in Zanu-PF have issue with Prof Moyos intentions and ways.

The following is a little story which Prof Moyo, as far as we can tell, has never challenged  about the man way back in the 1970s.





It is told by wife of Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, Vesta Sithole, in her biography of her husband.

The book is titled My life with an unsung hero, and was published by Author House in September 2006.





The narrative we quote is interesting not only for giving an indication of what politics Prof Moyo played in the 1970s; but also for the little details pointing to working closely with the other halves of leaders, and a fascination with using technology to drive his points home.





Vesta Sithole, on pages 104-105, says: Among the many supporters of Zanu (Ndonga) was Jonathan Moyo, who was taking pictures and slides to show the world how much support the party had. Many people loved to see themselves on these slides, which Mr Moyo displayed on a projector.





In September 1979, just before the Lancaster House Conference, Mr Moyo and I were sent to East Africa to tell our supporters about the meetings we had held with people in the country. We were also to show Mr Moyos slides so people could realise how popular Reverend Sithole was.





We were then to join the rest of the people in London for the Lancaster House Conference. Our first leg of the journey took us to Malawi, then Zambia. I decided to travel from Zambia to Tanzania to check on my property. (Vesta Sithole had previously been married to a Tanzanian.)

Mr Moyo and I agreed to meet up in Nairobi, Kenya. When I got to Kenya a few days later, I could not find Mr Moyo at the hotel at which we were supposed to meet. The hotel attendant told me Mr Moyo had checked in, but left without saying where he was going.





I realised then that he had left with all the equipment and pictures. I later heard that he had gone to the United States. Meanwhile, I was left in Kenya with nothing to show the governments in Uganda, Sudan and Egypt, where we were scheduled to go.





I now had to explain by word of mouth how the meetings went and how strong support was for Reverend Sithole. I was very angry with Mr Moyo for sabotaging our work.





That is one narrative. We are likely to hear more in coming days, weeks and months.

For now, all we can ask is: Does anyone really know who Professor Jonathan Moyo is? Sunday Mail
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And now for a very Canadian story about doughnuts, rodents, and an apology. BeaverTails has been selling oval-shaped doughnuts in eastern Canada for nearly 40 years. So when food blogger Julie Van Rosendaal posted a recipe for "Homemade Beaver Tails" last year, she made sure to give credit to BeaverTails and include a link to its website. But that wasn't good enough, CBC reports. Lawyers for BeaverTails contacted Van Rosendaal and asked her to change the name of her recipe to avoid violating its trademark. She changed it to "Beaver Doughnuts" and thought that would be the end of it. It wasn't. This week, lawyers for BeaverTails asked Van Rosendaal to remove any mention of beavers from her recipe.

"I can see that they have, obviously, a trademark on BeaverTails, but the word beaver?" Van Rosendaal tells the Calgary Herald . "That should be a word that any Canadian can use," she adds to CBC. Regardless, she rebranded her recipe "Canadian Semiaquatic Rodent Posterior Doughnut." While it "doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily," Van Rosendaal admits the name is growing on her. Not all of her fans on social media felt the same way, and BeaverTails issued what it calls "a big Canadian sorry" to Van Rosendaal. "If we have ever gone too far during our endeavor to preserve the brand name, we sincerely apologize for this lapse of judgement," the company tweeted Thursday. It also used the opportunity to raise $3,000 for the Calgary Food Bank. It did not, however, give Van Rosendaal the right to use word "beaver." Long live the Canadian Semiaquatic Rodent Posterior Doughnut.

(Read more doughnut stories.)
CHICAGO  My mom likes to tell the story of my first day of kindergarten: When we arrived, she had to restrain me from running off to join the crowd of kids pouring through the front door.

She always caps her story with: I couldnt stop crying, and you didnt even want to say goodbye to me because you were in such a hurry to get into school.

I was so eager, in fact, that even before kindergarten, I vividly recall driving by the nursery school down the street, hungering to be let into what I was convinced was a magical wonderland of toys and stories a la The Electric Company.

But when I asked my parents why I couldnt go to preschool, they looked at me like Id grown an extra head. It wasnt for us  I had family at home to take care of me. Thats just how it was done way back then in the Hispanic community. The babies stayed home with mom or grandma until formal schooling started.

To this day, Hispanic kids continue to be underrepresented in preschools. There are lots of reasons, not the least of which are cultural and language-related. But the biggest and least surmountable is that there simply arent enough spots in affordable, high-quality preschool centers to go around.

The shortage is so acute for Latino kids that, according to Salud America!, a national Latino advocacy organization focusing on families, only 40 percent of Hispanic kids attend preschool, compared to 53 percent of white kids.

The effects of Latinos being more likely to live in child care deserts, and therefore less likely to attend preschool, are chilling because they are coupled with multiple factors that make for a shockingly rough start in life.

According to a new report from Salud America!, The State of Latino Early Childhood Development, Hispanic kids begin life with birth weights and developmental capacities that are similar to those of white children. But by 24 months, their capacities to reason, remember tasks, communicate verbally and identify letters, numbers, and shapes lessen significantly compared to white children. And these deficits appear even more prevalent in Mexican-American children than in other nationality subgroups.

The authors cite the usual suspects: lower education levels among Hispanic parents, larger family sizes in which individual children get a smaller slice of available attention, unemployment or underemployment, and the higher incidence of depression among Hispanic mothers. These, combined with the cultural assumptions that teachers are the only experts suited to teach kids literacy and numeracy skills, and low or no English skills create a perfect storm for Hispanic kids underperformance when they start kindergarten.

And those, sadly, are the best-case scenarios  the statistics get even more dire when you factor in other hardships, many of which are quite prevalent.

Salud America! says that 28 percent of Latino young people suffer four or more traumatic experiences such as parental domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness, criminal justice involvement, child abuse, neglect, poverty/homelessness, or parental death.

Its difficult to write about such harrowing statistics. They reinforce the negative stereotypes that people, especially educators, have about Latino children, feeding the sense that these kids are beyond hope, while ignoring that not all Hispanic kids are disadvantaged.

But the truth is that even though you dont have to look very far to find Hispanic valedictorians, and successful Latino business owners, brain surgeons and astronauts, a great deal of Hispanic children are in crisis. The bright side is that more widely available preschool for Latino kids can help close academic gaps before they become a life sentence of low achievement.

Universal preschool is not a magic bullet for all that ails public schools or low-income families. But it can be a much-needed intervention for the most vulnerable of Hispanic students, who are expected to make up about a third of all public-school students by the year 2026.

As of now, only 14 cents of every public education dollar are spent on early childhood education. This gives the edge to parents and families who can afford to put their kids in high-quality, unsubsidized preschool programs, while leaving the needy even further behind.

The low funding represents a lack of foresight and an ignorance of well-established research showing that the prekindergarten years are the most important, developmentally, for all children.

But ultimately, any money dedicated to preventing Hispanic infants from falling two years behind their peers before kindergarten even starts is peanuts compared to the costs of remedial education, social welfare programs and incarceration.
Against the backdrop of the nation's largest Veterans Day parade, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this month he'd sign legislation making New York the latest in a fast-rising tide of states to OK therapeutic pot as a PTSD treatment, though it's illegal under federal law and doesn't boast extensive, conclusive medical research, the AP reports. Twenty-eight states plus the District of Columbia now include PTSD in their medical marijuana programs, a tally that has more than doubled in the last two years, according to data compiled by the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project. A 29th state, Alaska, doesn't incorporate PTSD in its medical marijuana program but allows everyone over 20 to buy pot legally.

The 2.2-million-member American Legion began pressing the federal government this summer to let Department of Veterans Affairs doctors recommend medical marijuana where it's legal. Even Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. David Shulkin recently said "there may be some evidence that this [medical marijuana] is beginning to be helpful." Still, there remain questions and qualmssome from veteransabout advocating for medical marijuana as a treatment for PTSD. It was stripped out of legislation that added six other diseases and syndromes to Georgia's law that allows certain medical cannabis oils. The chairman of the New York Senate veterans' affairs committee voted against adding PTSD to the state's program, suggesting the drug might just mask their symptoms.

(Read more medical marijuana stories.)
Michigan Rep. John Conyers, under investigation over allegations he sexually harassed female staff members, said Sunday he will step aside as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee while fiercely denying he acted inappropriately during his long tenure in Congress, the AP reports. In a statement, the 88-year-old lawmaker made clear he would prefer to keep his leadership role on the committee, which has wide jurisdiction over US law enforcement, from civil rights and criminal justice to protections against sexual harassment. But Conyers acknowledged maintaining the position would be an undue distraction. Denying the allegations, Conyers urged members of Congress to allow "due process" before rendering a judgment.

BuzzFeed reported last Monday that Conyers' office paid a woman more than $27,000 under a confidentiality agreement to settle a complaint in 2015 that she was fired from his Washington staff because she rejected his sexual advances. BuzzFeed also published affidavits from former staff members who said they had witnessed Conyers touching female staffers inappropriatelyrubbing their legs and backsor requesting sexual favors. In a statement, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said she welcomed Conyers' decision to step down from his committee leadership post. "Zero tolerance means consequences," Pelosi said. "Any credible accusation must be reviewed by the Ethics Committee expeditiously. We are at a watershed moment on this issue, and no matter how great an individual's legacy, it is not a license for harassment."

(Read more John Conyers stories.)
Minnesota Sen. Al Franken broke his silence Sunday after being swept into a nationwide tide of sexual harassment allegations, saying he feels "embarrassed and ashamed" but looks forward to returning to work on Monday to gradually regain voters' trust. Franken spoke to the Minneapolis Star Tribune after largely being silent since four women publicly accused him of misconduct. Franken told the newspaper he doesn't remember the photographs but that such behavior is "not something I would intentionally do." Three of them said the Democrat grabbed their buttocks while taking photos with them during campaign events. Franken has walked a careful line in his response to the allegations. He earlier apologized to any woman who felt disrespected from their encounters, the AP reports.

On Sunday, he said he has posed for "tens of thousands of photos" over the years and doesn't remember any that ended with his hand sliding down to cup women's backsides. "I don't remember these photographs, I don't," he said. "This is not something I would intentionally do." Asked whether he expected any other women to step forward with similar allegations, Franken said, "If you had asked me two weeks ago, 'Would any woman say I had treated her with disrespect?' I would have said no. So this has just caught me by surpriseI certainly hope not." Franken faces a Senate ethics investigationwhich he welcomed in the wake of his first accuser going publicthough it's unclear when that review may begin.

(Read more Al Franken stories.)
A mother and baby were tragically killed Thanksgiving night when their car hit a bear in northern California. KCRA 3 reports that Sarah Rohde, 27, was driving with her two children in Calaveras County after 6pm when her car struck the wild animal. Rohde and her 19-month-old daughter Ariana died. The bear was also killed in the accident. Per the Union Democrat, Rohdes four-year-old son Julian survived the crash and was flown to University of Davis Medical Center by helicopter to treat minor injuries.

She was the best mom any child could ever ask for, and she was the best daughter, said Rohdes mother, Tracy Browning. She was my rock, and I was her rock too. An uptick in car accidents involving bears in the area has officials growing concerned. Calaveras Fish and Game Commissioner Ron Severud told KCRA 3, The bear population is growing and I dont see it stopping. There are going to be more wrecks. (An Alaskan boy lived to tell the tale of a bear crashing through his bedroom window.)
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New Delhi:

With the growing trend of nuclear families, particularly in cities, senior citizens are left out to live alone in the age when they actually need the support of their children.

The number of cases of physical and financial abuse, neglect and even abandonment has increased drastically over the years.

In a country like India, where socio-economic division of the society is so vast and aging population is growing rapidly, it was highly important for our policy makers to address the concerns peculiar to senior citizens.

To address the issue, Indian government in 2007 enacted the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act to ensure need based maintenance for parents and senior citizens.

Under the act, senior citizens who are not able to maintain their selves from their own earning shall be entitled to avail the maintenance from their children.

Also Read | Know Your Rights: The Right to Self-Defence

The maintenance shall include provision for food, clothing, residence, medical attendance and treatment.

The Act extends to the whole of India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It also applies to the citizen of India living outside India.

The Act applies to the parents (mother, father, step mother, step father) and senior citizens above the age of 60 years.

Senior citizens can sought maintenance from their children which include son, daughter, grandson, and granddaughter but does not include minor.

In case if a senior citizen does not have children, any relative who is either in possession of the property of the senior citizen or would inherit it shall be responsible for looking after him/her.
New Delhi:

About half a dozen Hindu organisations on Saturday submitted a petition to the organisers of the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa requesting them not to show the Malayalam film 'S Durga'.A



The Kerala High Court had a few days back ordered that the film is screened at IFFI.A A



The petition was given to Sunit Tandon, Director of IFFI. It said the screening of the controversial movie should be stalled to maintain law and order.



"It is clear that the film has targeted the Hindu Goddess Durga and denigrated her and in the process hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. The film is also likely to create law and order situation," the petition signed by various organisations, including members of Sanatan Sanstha and Gomantak Mandir Mahasangh, reads.



The Kerala High Court had recently given a go-ahead for the screening of the film at IFFI. The festival organisers have asked the filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan to submit the censored version of the film.



"The court may have given the direction to show this film. We respect the court but you can't ignore the sentiments of crores of Hindus who worship Goddess Durga," the petition reads.



The petition said, "Currently issues are going on regarding 'Padmavati' film. So showing this film at IFFI will add to the controversies. Though there is freedom of art, it can't be at the cost of hurting of feelings of the majority community."



"S Durga" was earlier titled "Sexy Durga." It won the Hivos Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2017.A

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New Delhi:

Veteran actor Kamal Haasan on Saturday said when it comes to taking the political plunge, he does not fear failure as it will not be something like making money for another movie.

The 63-year-old actor said the entire idea of joining politics is only about working for the betterment of his state, Tamil Nadu.

"For me, there is no fear of failure because this is not about movie making. This is not even about money making. It is about making ourselves better and I am going to be one of those instruments," Haasan said.

He was speaking at a discussion at the Times Delhi LitFest on Saturday.

The actor added that he is trying to work for his state itself is a gesture he hopes is acknowledged.

"My activism is now running into an act itself. This is the way I have perceived. Probably I'm wrong. But I'm doing it for the people. But if I go wrong, there is no failure in it," he said.

Also Read | Padmavati row: Respect Deepika Padukone's head and freedom more than her body, says Kamal Haasan

"The fact that I have attempted itself shows mettle. At the end of it, I will fail because of my dreams, my utopia. But I dare to dream," Haasan added further.

Haasan said it was time people came forward to find solutions to the day-to-day problems and stopped blaming others.

"Time has come that we take the onus on ourselves and not blame it on someone... I am not talking about nitpicking on politicians. Yes, they are corrupt and do not come from the mass(es). They come from our streets, districts, and states."

"They resemble us in form and sometimes even in character. I would like to do something for my state."

Also Read | Kamal Haasan 'Hindu Terrorism' remark: Plea in Madras HC seeks FIR against the superstar

When asked why he came to the capital and talked about Tamil Nadu, not the country, the actor said, "But that's where the country begins, my doorstep. I want to clean my doorstep. And that's where I begin."

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New Delhi:

Former Bigg Boss couple Prince Narula and Yuvika Chaudhary has finally made their relationship official and admitted to be much in love with each other.



Prince had met Yuvika during his stint on popular reality show Bigg Boss season 9. And while Prince had often confessed his liking for the lady, Yuvika always maintained ajust friendsa stance with BB9 winner.



However, the couple decided to make their relationship public during their recent appearance on TV reality show Splitsvilla X. While talking about their love affair, Prince and Yuvika stated that they are happy to have defied the notion that couples on reality shows are not successful with their relationship.



Talking about the same, Prince told Times Now, aI had done few reality shows before I met Yuvika and have heard people say that couples on reality shows do not work. But if your love is true then your relationship will work and you can spend the rest of your life with hera.



"Like I did. I told myself that whatever I do, I am not going to leave her," he further added.



On the other hand, Yuvika canat stop gushing about her bae and said that she loves Priyank for being a man of his words. "One thing I liked a lot about Prince is that, he does what he says, and that's why I love him." Yuvika was quoted as saying.



The couple was last seen in video aHello Helloa earlier this year which was sung by Prince himself. They are often seen spending quality time with each other as well.

New zealand ai @yuvikachaudhary #missuall#blessed#fun#masti#bunjyjumpingtime A post shared by Prince Narula (@princenarula) on Nov 7, 2017 at 6:12am PST

Thanku @yuvikachaudhary for coming in my celebration and Thanku for always standing by me.u r the cutest person and most imp u r my lucky charm A post shared by Prince Narula (@princenarula) on Oct 28, 2017 at 6:45am PDT



Notably, Prince and Yuvika are not the first couple from Bigg Boss. The reality show has given several other couples like, Kushal Tandon-Gauhar Khan, Karishma Tanna-Upen Patel, Tanishaa Mukherji-Armaan Kohli, etc. But none of the couple were successful post the end of the show and called it quits.



In fact, the current season of the show also has couple which has got the tinselvile buzzing a Bandgi Kalra and Puneesh Sharma.



Only time will reveal if they will be able to keep up with their relationship post Bigg Boss 11.
New Delhi:

They were brave, they made terrorists bite chicken peas with their nose, and they fought till their last breath in service to mother land. On the 9th anniversary of deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, we remember the five of the many brave hearts who lost their life fighting the enemies.

Hemant Karkare AC  The chief of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Ashok Chakra Hemant Karkare martyred in action during the 2008 Mumbai terro atatcks. He was shot three times in the chest by terrorists.

Ashok Kamte AC  He was the one who shot terrorist Ajmal Kasab in the arm. A highly experienced police service officer, the brave heart Kamate was shot dead by the terrorist during encounter. His martyrdom was awarded with the Ashok Chakra.

Tukaram Gopal Omble AC- Tukaram Gopal Omble, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) in Mumbai Police and a retired army man died during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He played significant role in catching Ajmal Kasab alive. HE was also awarded with the Ashok Chakra for his extraordinary bravery and valour.

Suggested Read | 26/11 Mumbai terror attack: Ajmal Kasab, the killer of innocents

Vijay Salaskar AC  The Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police, Vijay Salaskar was the encounter specialist and one of victims of a terrorist's bullet. He also died in the encounter with terrorists during 26/11 Mumbai attacks. He was also awarded the Ashok Chakra, India's highest peace time gallantry award.

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan  AC Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan was an Army officer serving in the elite Special Action Group of the National Security Guards. He martyred fighting terrorists during 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. He was consequently awarded the Ashoka Chakra on 26 January 2009.

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New Delhi:

The Embassy of Israel in India has expressed its deep condolences and solidarity with the people of India on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of the harrowing terror attacks of November 26, 2008.A



aThe tragic events of that day are ingrained in our collective memories. Israel stands by India in remembrance and grief over the senseless loss of life at the hands of terrorists,a said Daniel Carmon, Ambassador of Israel in India.A A



Carmon added, aTogether with India, the people of Israel mourn the victims from countries all over the globe including Israel, embrace their loved ones and the survivors. India and Israel, along with nations of the world, must do everything in their power to eradicate extremism and terrorism for a better future.a

Together w/India,the people of Israel mourn the victims from countries all over the globe including Israel,embrace their loved ones&the survivors.India &Israel, along w/nations of the world, must do everything in their power 2eradicate extremism&terrorism for a better future. pic.twitter.com/mITynsKD2b a Daniel CarmonYY (@danielocarmon) November 25, 2017

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New Delhi:

India on November 26, 2008, witnessed one of the most horrific terrorist attacks on its soil. Ten Pakistani youths in their twenties trained by internationally banned militant organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba to kill innocents entered the countrys financial capital, Mumbai, from Macchimar Nagar and Badhwar Park.



The 10 hardcore LeT terrorists had started their journey from Pakistans port city of Karachi to Mumbai via the Arabian Sea. They had entered Mumbai with a single mission, to kill as many innocents before being killed. They were heavily armed with the latest weapons and explosives.



They killed 166 people, injured over 300, and made the Metro city which never slept bend on its knees for more than 60 hours. Among those killed included foreigners.



The well-planned and coordinated attacks targetted Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Hotel, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, and Nariman House, a Jewish community centre.



26/11 Mumbai Attack Timeline - From Karachi to killing of the last terrorist at Taj Hotel



November 23: Ten terrorists on a boat leave Pakistans port city of Karachi. Hijack a fishing dinghy and kill four of its crew.



November 26

8:10 pm: Terrorists use three speedboats to reach Macchimar Nagar. Six of them disembark and break into smaller groups.



#8:30 pm: Four terrorists disembark at Badhwar Park and split up in pairs.



#9:21 pm: Two terrorists, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan, indiscriminately fired at people at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station for around 90 minutes. Around 58 people were killed and at least 100 were injured.



#9:30 pm: Terrorists blew a gas station before striking at Nariman House business and residential complex housing of Jewish Chabad Lubavitch. They killed a Kosher food inspector and took five Israelis hostage and later killed them.

#9:30 pm: The third group attacks the famous Leopold Cafe, frequented by locals and foreigners. They indiscriminately fired at the posh restaurant for around 15 minutes, killing at least 10 people.



They planted bombs in two taxis. The blasts killed five persons and injured at least 15.



#9:35 pm: Two terrorists, Shoaib and Umer, sneak into Taj Hotels ground by breaking down a door. They opened fire at the hotel guests in and around the swimming pool. They move towards bar and restaurant area of the hotel. Two other LeT men, Abdul Rehman and Abu Ali, indiscriminately fire and hurl grenades near the hotels main entrance.



#9:35: Another group of terrorists attack the Oberoi-Trident Hotel.



#10:30 pm: Kasab and Ismail attack Cama Hospital. Hospital staff locks the hospital on being alerted. The two terrorists ambush a team of Mumbai Police personnel. Six police personnel including Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare are killed in the ambush. They seize a police vehicle and head toward the city.



#10:45 pm: A team from Gamdevi police station intercept Kasab and Ismail. An encounter between police and the terrorists starts.



#10:59 pm: The police team gunned down Ismail and arrested Kasab.



November 27



#00 am: Security forces take positions in Hotel Taj and Oberoi-Trident hotel.



#1:00 am: Terrorists bomb central dome of the Taj Mahal hotel. Massive fire rages in the hotel building.



#6:30 am: NSG commandos takes charge. A team of 200 commandos reaches Mumbai from Delhi. The engage in rescue operations in Taj Mahal and Oberoi-Trident hotels.



#4:40pm -11pm: NSG commandos free 52 hostages from Oberoi-Trident Hotel. While rescue operations are carried the terrorists hurl several grenades at the commandos.



#November 28

00:47: A powerful explosion rocks the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.



#7:00 am: NSG commandos airdrop at Nariman House.



#10:30 am: NSG team rescues 40 hostages from Oberoi-Trident hotel.



#1:00 pm: Gun battle started between NSG commandos and terrorists at Nariman House.



#2:40 pm: NSG commandos take control of Oberoi-Trident hotel. At least 30 people were killed by terrorists in three days.



#6:00 pm: NSG team secures Nariman House. At least seven people killed in the three-day siege of the building.



November 29

00:00 am: NSG commandos secure Taj Hotels lobby.



#6 am: Gun battle between NSG commandos and terrorists starts at Taj Hotel.



#9 am: Commandos secure the Taj Hotel after killing all terrorists. At least 30 people found killed.

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New Delhi :

Nine years ago, a 21-year-old boy, along with nine others of just about his age, put one of the busiest cities of the world on its knees by inflicting huge damage in a matter of 60 odd hours.

Born on July 13, 1987 Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, was a Pakistani, terrorist, and member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamist group which is banned by the USA.

Birth and early life:

Kasab was born in Faridkot village in the Okara District of Pakistan Punjab. After a spat with his father in 2005, Ajmal Kasab left home. Thereafter, he engaged in petty crimes and later resorted to armed robbery.

On 21 December 2007 in Rawalpindi while trying to buy weapons, they encountered members of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, distributing pamphlets.

According to various reports, Kasabs father sold him to Lashkar-e-Taiba so that he could use the money they gave him to support the family.

Induction in LeT and training:

Kasab was selected from among a group of 24-26 people and was in the elite 10 to be a part of the team that executed the deadly Mumbai terror act.

They received training in marine warfare at a remote camp in the mountainous terrains of Muzaffarabad. Part of the training also took place on the Mangla Dam reservoir.

The training consisted of psychological indoctrination to Islamist ideas, basic combat, advanced training, and commando training.

They also received training in swimming and sailing, besides the use of high-end weapons and explosives under the supervision of LeT commanders.

26/11 Mumbai terror attack:

Ajmal Kasab was at the forefront of the Mumbai terror attack, which started with assault at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus that killed 58 people.

Photographer Shriram Vernekar of The Times of India clicked a photo of Ajmal Kasab showed him carrying an AK-47 rifle.

After the CST attack, Kasab and his mate in crime Ismail Khan headed towards Cama Hospital where they couldnt kill innocents as the nurses there already locked up the patients in one room.

After killing eight police personnel, including Maharashtra ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, at the Cama hospital, Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan took two constables as hostages in a Qualis (police van). After that Kasab and Khan drove towards the Metro cinema.

The two fired some shots into a crowd gathered at the Metro cinema.

Kasab was captured alive while crossing a police barricade at Girgaum Chowpatty.

Trial and Execution

Kasab's plea for clemency was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on November 5, 2012. November 21 was fixed for the execution, and the Indian government faxed the decision to the Pakistani Foreign Office.

The trial of Ajmal Kasab was based on CCTV footage showing him marching across the CST railway station with an AK-47 and a backpack.

By the end of 2008, Ujjwal Nikam was appointed as the special Public Prosecutor for trying Kasab and Justice M.L. Tahaliyani was appointed as the judge for the case.

An 11,000 page charge sheet was submitted by Indian investigators and Kasab was charged with murder, conspiracy and waging war against India along with other crimes.

On May 6 2010, Kasab was sentenced to death by the Bombay Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

A Bombay High Court bench consisting of Justice Ranjanaa Desai and Justice Ranjit More, heard Kasab's appeal against the death penalty and upheld the sentence given by the trial court in their verdict on 21 February 2011.

He was secretly transferred to Yerwada Jail in Pune under heavy security in the wee hours of November 19.

As planned, Kasab was hanged on November 21, 2012 at 7:30 am and was buried at a secret location in the jail premises.

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New Delhi:

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is all set to celebrate its fifth foundation day on Sunday and hold a national convention at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi.

The convention will see discussions on various issues, like the work done by the Delhi government and the Jan Lokpal Bill passed by the Assembly, which is awaiting clearance from the Centre, Delhi Labour Minister and senior party leader Gopal Rai said.

Other issues including farmers distress and current social, economic and political developments will also be discussed, he said adding, the AAP is the only party in the Indian history to have established a national footprint within a short span of five years and is expanding rapidly across the country.

According to party leaders, around 10,000 AAP volunteers and representatives from 22 states are likely to attend the convention.

ALSO READ: AAP cannot claim powers of state, Delhi enjoys special status among Union Territories: Centre tells Supreme Court

Besides the partys national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, several top AAP leaders are expected to address the convention.

Senior party leader Kumar Vishwas, who has had an uneasy relationship with the party leadership, tweeted that he would be addressing the volunteers during the convention and speak his heart out.

(With PTI inputs)

ALSO READ | Odd-even: Delhi govt urges NGT to exempt women, two-wheelers

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New Delhi:

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is a Pakistani Islamist who also heads the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. The dreaded terror group was founded in 1987 and apart from Saeed, Abdullah Azzam and Zafar Iqbal were the co-founders. Further, Osama Bin Laden funded the organization.



Saeed is also the chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah and an internationally designated terrorist. He was born in 1948 to a Gujjar family in Sargodha, Punjab.



India considers him to be one of the most wanted terrorists due to his involvement in the deadly 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, 2006 Mumbai train bombings and the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament.



He is a UN and US-designated terrorist apart from having a USD 10 million American bounty on his head regarding terror activities.



Out of all the Pakistan based terrorist groups, the LeT is the only group with support bases across India.



This terror group is banned by India, United States, and Britain. Saeed, who is notoriously known as the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack has time and again tried to instigate problems in Jammu and Kashmir.



He had been put under house arrest for 297 days since January by the Pakistan government.



India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Saeed's release confirmed once again the lack of seriousness by the Pakistan government in bringing to justice perpetrators of terrorism, including individuals and entities designated by the UN.



The fire-brand cleric's release came ahead of the 9th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people, including six Americans, were killed.

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New Delhi:

Jammu and Kashmir Police on Sunday arrested an Indian Army jawan for allegedly carrying eight kilograms of heroin from Kunjwani area.

The state police have identified the arrested as Mohammad Anwar. During questioning he told the police that he is deployed in Kashmirs Kupwara district. He also claimed that he left his unit and was on leave.

According to Jammu and Kashmir police officials the narcotic material seized from the Indian Army jawan is valued upto Rs 40 crores in the market.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Jammu) Vivek Gupta said, Anwar was a serving personnel and his claims are being verified.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jammu SDS Banwal said, An army man has been apprehended after receiving intelligence inputs. State police and Special Operation Group (SOG) had set a checkpoint at Kunjwani. He was boarded on a Delhi-bound bus. Eight packets of heroin has been recovered from him.

Also read| Jammu and Kashmir: Security forces arrest Pakistani LeT terrorist from Kupwara



The army mans arrest was made two days after the state police had arrested four people in Jammu. Police had seized more than 15 kilograms of heroin from the arrested.

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Bhopal:

Madhya Pradesh Cabinet approves death sentence for rape convicts in the cases involving minors of 12-year-old and below.

Jayant Malaiya, Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister confirmed the development and said, Any person convicted for raping 12-year-old minor or below will be sentenced to death.

He added, Death penalty will also be awarded to convicts of gang rape cases.

The Cabinet also passed an amendment in the penal code to increase fine and punishment for rape accused was approved.









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New Delhi :

Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Saturday directed the Indian High Commission to issue medical visa on an urgent basis to a Pakistani national.

The matter surfaced when Ghazanfar Ali, a Pakistani national tweeted to the EAM that his mother, Kaneez Fatimaas case has entered critical stage and is advised for liver transplant on an immediate basis.

Addressing Sushma Swaraj in a very respectful manner, Ghazanfar Ali also attached his motheras treatment papers.A

@SushmaSwaraj respected medam.the case of medical visa of my mother is in proses Indian Hi commition islamabad 13-11-17 my mother has gone in to critical stage and advised urgently liver transplant a last hope to save life of my mother please asked IHC issu the visa.+923466525919 pic.twitter.com/zuaQx0J7YO a ghazanfar (@ghazanf52401776) November 25, 2017

The EAM addressed the grievance on an urgent basis and directed the Indian High Commission (IHC) at Islamabad to issue medical visa on an urgent basis.A

This is urgent. Indian High Commission - pls issue the visa. @IndiainPakistan https://t.co/kpEenS810v a Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 25, 2017

Not just this, Sushma Swaraj has a credible history of addressing the genuine grievances of Pakistani nationals pertaining to medical issues since Pakistan has a dismal healthcare.A A

I have approved visa for the patient and both kidney and liver donors. Indian High Commission will check visa papers of others. @IndiainPakistan pic.twitter.com/g4c60y3zzC a Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 25, 2017

Twitter has emerged as one of the most credible medium to send and receive messages, be it public or private.A

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the three arms of the government  legislature, judiciary and executive  should not interfere in each others functioning.

Addressing an event in Delhi on the occasion of National Law Day, Modi said, Legislature should have the independence of making laws, the executive should have independence in taking decisions and Supreme Court should have the independence of interpreting the constitution.

However, the Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was also present at the event, expressing his angst over the annulment of NJAC sparred with Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra saying, if the PM and law minister cannot be trusted with appointment of judges its a huge question and judiciary and polity of his country will have to look into it.

The CJI quickly rebutted the charges saying the Judiciary never dis-respected the Law Ministry and all its suggestions were taken with mutual respect.

Misra said, There should be no battle for supremacy among the three wings and that we are bound by the principle of constitutional sovereignty.

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New Delhi:

India and Russia will sign two key pacts for cooperation in tackling all forms of terrorism and jointly fighting smuggling of narcotics during the three-day visit of Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Moscow, officials said.

Singh, who left for Russia on Sunday, will sign an agreement on cooperation between the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Interior of the Russian Federation in combating terrorism and organised crime.

The pact will reinforce the bilateral relationship through exchange and sharing of information, expertise, best practices and help in curbing terrorism and enhancing security in the region, a home ministry official said.

The proposed pact, which will replace the agreement of October 1993, is a step towards consolidating the benefits accrued in the field of security and seeks to jointly fight the new and evolving risks and threats.

The home minister will hold discussions with Vladimir Kolokoltsev, minister for internal affairs of the Russian Federation and other senior Russian leadership.

The discussions would cover the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and international matters of mutual interest, the official said.

ALSO READ | Rajnath Singh's Russia Visit: Terrorism, organized crime top agenda

Singh will also sign a joint action plan between Indias Narcotics Control Bureau and the Russian ministry of interior.

As both the countries have a long history of close cooperation on matters of shared security concerns, this visit will provide an opportunity to further cement and strengthen the mutually beneficial bilateral ties between the two countries, the official said.

Before leaving for Russia, the home minister said India and Russia share a special relationship which has withstood the test of time over the decades.

This year India and Russia are celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with each other. Looking forward to deepen and further Indias strategic and security partnership with Russia, he tweeted.

The home minister was scheduled to visit Russia on September 18, 2016, but he had cancelled it following a terror attack on that day at the Brigade headquarters in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 19 Army soldiers were killed.

All four terrorists, who attacked the defence installation, were also killed by the security forces.

ALSO READ: Rajnath Singh slams Congress for defaming govt on demonetisation, GST

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New Delhi:

Manushi Chillar who clinched the coveted Miss World title at a glittering ceremony in China's coastal city of Sanya is being inundated with heartfelt messages from across the country.

A week after her victory, the newly crowned Miss World has returned to India and received a grand welcome at Mumbai's International Airport with fans from all over India coming in to greet her at the terminal. The beauty landed at the airport on a British Airways flight at 11:55 PM on Saturday.

At the Miss World 2017 event, Manushi competed with 118 contestants from various countries and became the sixth Indian to grab the title. She has brought the crown back to India after a hiatus of 17 years. Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra was the last Indian to win the title in 2000.

Manushi got crowned by Miss World 2016 winner Puerto Rico's Stephanie Del Valle and also won both the Head to Head challenge and the Beauty round during the Miss World 2017 competition.

And our Miss World receives a grand welcome at Mumbai airport! @MissWorldLtd Manushi Chhillar #IndiaWelcomesMissWorld @ManushiChhillar pic.twitter.com/4QuqClJnpN  Miss India (@feminamissindia) November 25, 2017

Also Read | Miss World 2017: Priyanka Chopra congratulates her successor Manushi Chillar, gives her a SPECIAL advice

On the other hand, Manushi is a third-year medical student who aspires to be a cardiac surgeon. She wants to continue her medical studies after she is done with her Miss World responsibilities.

Manushi has also learnt to dance Kuchipudi in Bengaluru and attended the National School of Drama in Delhi. A video of her dancing to Deepika Padukone's song is at present doing rounds on social networking sites.

Earlier this year, the lovely Haryana girl also bagged the prestigious crown of Femina Miss India 2017.

On the work front, Manushi will join Sonam Kapoor as a panelist at a master class on 'The Female Influencer: Advancing Women's Opportunities in the Media Industry'.

Also Read | Miss World 2017: Manushi Chillar's THIS answer won her the crown (watch video)
Dubai:

Saudi Arabia's assertive crown prince on Sunday opened the first high-level meeting of a kingdom-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism, vowing that extremists will no longer "tarnish our beautiful religion."



Mohammed bin Salman's words come as the Islamic State group, which sparked the creation of the alliance, has been driven out of Iraq and lost its self-described capital in Syria.



However, the alliance doesn't include Iran, Iraq or Syria, while member nation Qatar sent no one to attend the one-day Riyadh gathering amid a diplomatic standoff between Doha and four Arab nations led by the kingdom.



Saudi Arabia announced the alliance in December 2015, when the crown prince was still only the kingdom's defence minister.



Since then, his father King Salman has elevated the 32- year-old prince to be next in line for the throne in the oil-rich kingdom. The crown prince also recently put a number of wealthy princes, businessmen, military leaders and others under arrest over corruption allegations at various luxury hotels in Riyadh.



The alliance, initially announced with 34 nations, now includes 41, according the Saudi government. Addressing the defence ministers and other high-ranking officials, Crown Prince Mohammed said today's meeting sends "a strong signal that we are going to work together and coordinate together to support each other."

Read more: Nepal goes to polls for historic vote



"The biggest danger of this terrorism and extremism is the tarnishing of the reputation of our beloved religion. ...We will not allow this to happen," he said. "Today we start the pursuit of terrorism and we see its defeat in many facets around, the world especially in Muslim countries. ... We will continue to fight it until we see its defeat."



The crown prince also offered his condolences to Egypt, which suffered an attack Friday by Islamic militants on a mosque in northern Sinai that killed 305 people.



"This is indeed a painful event and it is a recurrent and strong reminder the dangers of this terrorism," he said.



The meeting did not include Iran, which has aided embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad in his country's civil war and backed Shiite militias crucial in pushing the Islamic State group out of Iraq.



The Sunni kingdom is the Shiite power's archrival in the Mideast and remains concerned about its influence in the region after Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.



Saudi Arabia also leads a coalition of nations fighting in Yemen against Shiite rebels there who have Iran's backing. Saudi Arabia also made a point to put Qatar, absent from the gathering, at the end of the list of 41 countries that belong to the anti-terrorism alliance.



Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties to Doha in June, partly over allegations that Doha supports extremists and has too-close ties to Iran. Saudi Arabia also closed its land borders, sea ports and airspace to Qatar.

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Former FBI director James Comey's latest tweet was a defense of the press - a quote from Thomas Jefferson's Jan. 28, 1786 letter from Paris to physician James Currie.

"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost," Comey tweeted Saturday evening along with a picture of the Capitol.

Lifting a quote from a 200-year-old letter that Jefferson had written to the doctor who treated Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson, his daughter, and tweeting it may seem random and innocuous on the surface, but its timing suggests otherwise.

Comey's tweet was sent at 6:08 p.m. Saturday, about a half-hour after President Donald Trump attacked CNN International, the latest in his war against the mainstream press.

"@FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them!" Trump said on Twitter.

CNN's public relations department fired back with a reply to Trump's tweet several minutes later: "It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S. to the world. That's yours. Our job is to report the news."

Many, including some CNN reporters and analysts such as Christiane Amanpour and Jake Tapper, also did not sit silent, and criticized Trump for undermining the work of foreign correspondents in war zones around the world.

Comey, who began tweeting under a pseudonym, has been somewhat active on the social media platform within the past month. Many see his tweets as more than just simple quotations attached to random nature photos. To those who follow Comey's semiregular Twitter activity, his tweets are subtle jabs at political leaders, particularly at the one who fired him.

During Trump's trip to Asia two weeks ago, the president resurrected his attacks against Comey and called him a proven "liar" and "leaker" while speaking with reporters in the press cabin on Air Force One.

Hours later, Comey tweeted a sermon from the late English Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon. It was about the difference between a truth and a lie.

"If you want truth to go around the world you must hire an express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go around the world, it will fly; it is light as a feather and a breath will carry it," Comey said.

The tweet included a picture of the Great Falls of the Potomac. Comey explained hours later that he included the picture because he likes it and it reminded him of his favorite Bible verse. Quoting Amos 5:24, he said, "But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

Comey, arguably one of FBI's most controversial directors, has been criticized, particularly by Trump, for leaking information to the press.

Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June, Comey revealed that a tweet by the president - incorrectly suggesting he may have had taped his conversations with Comey - prompted the former FBI director to ask a close friend to leak a private memo he had kept recounting his interactions with Trump.

As reported by the New York Times, Comey wrote in the memo that the president asked him to shut down the federal investigation into Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn during a meeting in the Oval Office in February.

Comey testified before Congress that he immediately documented the conversation in the form of an unclassified memo and discussed it with FBI senior leadership.

In a flurry of early-morning tweets in July, Trump accused Comey of violating the law by leaking classified information.

Criminal violations are hard to justify because Comey had described the document as an unclassified and personal memo, not a government one, even though it was typed in an FBI computer, according to The Washington Post's Fact Checker. Whether it contained privileged information has not been proven.

Comey also may have violated his employment agreement for leaking the memo, but was already out of a job by then.

---

The Washington Post's Ashley Parker contributed to this story.
The Maharashtra ATS has deradicalised 86 people in the last two years as a part of its efforts to wean away misguided youth from the path of extremism in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

By PTI: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has deradicalised 86 people in the last two years as a part of its efforts to wean away misguided youth from the path of extremism in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, an official said.

Those brought into the mainstream include well-educated people like a young couple, both post-graduates in pharmacy, an aeronautical engineer and an IT professional, he said.

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The deradicalisation is done to bring back to normal life persons who had strayed in the name of jihad, a senior official of the ATS said.

He said all these people, including eight women, had come in contact with their handlers via social networking sites and were radicalised online.

They were on the verge of joining the terror outfit ISIS or planning to work for it, but the law-enforcement agencies silently monitored their activities and successfully brought them back to the normal life, he said.

The ATS approached the family members of these people, their communitys spiritual leaders and counsellors were also roped-in. After continuous efforts for more than two months in each case, all these people were deradicalised and now they have been brought back into the mainstream, he said.

Among the many other initiatives of tackling terrorism post the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, one of the important programmes of the ATS was to keep a close watch on the online activities of young minds of the minority community, he said.

A young couple, who completed their post-graduation in pharmacy, got radicalised online following which the duo crossed the country to join the terror outfit. But, the law enforcement agencies, which were keeping a watch on them, brought them back successfully, he said.

"We have deradicalised these people and are also helping them in leading a normal life. But, we also monitoring their activities constantly because there could be some attempts from the other side to trap them again," the official said.

In 2011, four men from Kalyan township in the adjoining Thane district left the country in the name of pilgrimage and went to Iraq allegedly to join the ISIS. All of them were allegedly radicalised for jihad by their handlers, according to police.

Considering this as alarming, the law enforcement agencies became more vigilant on the online activities.

In December 2015, the ATS identified a Pune-based girl, who was indoctrinated by an ISIS sympathiser. During investigation it was found that the girl had decided to leave the country and join the terror outfit, according to police.

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In an attempt to bring back these people, the ATS, with the help of the government, has taken some important steps.

These include offering training for suitable jobs and small loans with the help of banks under schemes of the Ministry of Rural Development to start their own business, so that they can live with honour and dignity, the official said.

"It is our duty to bring them on the right track by counselling and all other efforts of deradicalisation," Maharashtras ATS chief Atulchandra Kulkarni told PTI.

Apart from this, the ATS is maintaining a strict vigil to avert any kind of terror-related incidents and activities of sleeper cells on the field. We are also providing training to our officials to update their knowledge to tackle terrorism, Kulkarni said.

"We are also translating some important books about terrorism, like of Al Qaida, ISIS, into Marathi, so that our men get an idea of the latest trends (of how to tackle such terror activities)," he said.

The ATS has modern equipment, weapons, gadgets and "we are capable enough to handle any kind of eventuality," he claimed.

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In the next two-three months, the agency is expected to get more equipment from the government worth around Rs 15 crore. "These all will help in building our capacity," the ATS chief said.

The financial capital was attacked by 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, who came here by the sea route, on November 26, 2008.

In the mayhem that followed for the next three days 166 people, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos, were killed. PTI DC GK DV

--- ENDS ---
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Its hard to predict the flow of customers at Beadworks, a make-your-own jewelry retailer in South Norwalk, Fairfield and Philadelphia.

The stores can be dead and then, as one employee put it, the (mythical) Beadworks Bus pulls up to the door  with little reason for the timing.

Thats true for most in-the-flesh retail, of course, and many other types of businesses in the Amazon-Uber age. Abigail Wall knows that well, as the owner of Beadworks and a former business consultant with Boston Consulting Group.

But its espcially true at Beadworks, nowhere more than at the original store location on South Norwalks Washington Street. SoNo delivers a perplexing mix as a hot destination for restaurants  though even they dont see a clear pattern of customers  and a challenge for stores despite all the feet on the street because merchandise sellers are scarce on the main drag these days.

With the launching of the shopping season and the national focus on the big picture of spending that reflects (but does not drive) the U.S. economy, I looked at Beadworks not as a typical store but as a successful, independent retailer thats facing more than the usual challenges at a tough time and place.

How does beadworks compete  not only with online sellers, but also with malls, shopping centers, discount outlets and even stores in other downtowns more known for merchandise?

Its about being focused and about providing value to your customers and an extraordinary experience, Wall said. Its about being as nimble as possible and as responsive as possible.

Wall bought the business in January 2007 from her aunt, Nancy Wall, who founded Beadworks in 1983 as a mail-order business and opened the store in 1987. Raised in Vermont, she had not grown up in the business. Certainly I went there. It was a magical land for me.

She became the owner with more than a business interest in jewelry design. As it happened, 2007 bled into the Great Recession. Beadworks has seen some retrenchment over the years, from a peak of 13 stores as distant as Atlanta and Texas, most of them franchised, to the three locations Wall owns today.

Despite living through the national downturn, Wall said, The past two years have been my most challenging in business...I cant necessarily put my finger on exactly what it is but it does tend to be Connecticut specific.

Its not just about money. Certainly the election was horrible for business, she said without mentioning the name of the president. Frightened people dont want to spend money.

That brings us back to the in-store experience. As a mark of how serious that is, Beadworks no longer sells online. Experience can mean in-store birthday parties and trunk shows, along with the daily ritual of staff members and customers perfecting the art of making a unique object.

But to Wall, the experience for customers is as much inward as outward. Its about how customers feel, not just what theyre seeing and doing.

People are in desperate need of some creative therapy and an outlet. Its about having a creative refuge from the world, she said. You can make something better than you can buy... and also its deeply personal.

So the stores that are loaded with findings, as they call the beads and stringable baubles, in a way that stimulate the imagination  with African masks on the walls, for example. Yes, Hannah Stratham and Maggie Bloch tell me in the Norwalk store, the masks are for sale.

The key is that its a destination, as several customers told me this past week. Youd think being on the marquee corner of South Norwalk, between the aquarium and a slew of restaurants, would bring in lots of casually curious shoppers.

Why wouldnt it? While Beadworks sells some high-end, precious gems, many items can be had, on a string, with a clasp, for just a few dollars.

No, casual foot traffic isnt enough. And yet destination customers such as Allison Vodola, a jewelry maker from Darien, like the fact that its in a nice place, not a warehouse in the back of an old mill.

Vodola looked for antique-looking pieces, in part, among many unique findings. Shes part of the wholesale customer base, those who are making jewelry to sell, and she will show up at least once a week to stock up during the holiday season.

Its more intimate, I think, as a store, Vodola said, compared with a warehouse outlet or certainly a web site. And that matters.

Friday was packed and busy with some casual foot traffic, some who came as a destination and some who make a ritual of their trip on the day after Thanksgiving  even more than expected, Stratham said at the end of the day.

Independent retailers such as Beadworks arent driving the U.S. economy and, in fact, all of merchandise retail combined, online and in person, doesnt really drive the economy, despite what industry groups want you to believe. Rather, the smaller stores do something harder to pinpoint  they define the culture in a tangible way.

It takes a lot of vision to keep that up. Wall, with a staff of about 10 in Connecticut, sees the challenges and triumphs in one tableau.

Your average Connecticut resident is feeling super squeezed with the cost of living there and I think its really compounded by the fact that theyre cheek and jowl with super-affluent people, she said. But we take a lot of pride out of the fact that we aresuch a creative refuge for people and also a lot of satisfaction in our history.

We find a lot of meaning in being part of the greater community.

dhaar@hearstmediact.com
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Creative, hard-working people and projects win some rare applause Friday when the Arts Council of Greater New Haven presents its 37th annual awards at the New Haven Lawn Club.

Controversy and lack of funding, in some cases, dont stop these half-dozen award recipients, who will be lauded in a sold-out, signature event of the Arts Council starting at 11 a.m. The theme of the awards is creative ecosystems.

Natural ecosystems literally form our planet, said Arts Council Executive Director Daniel Fitzmaurice. The parallel with how our dynamic arts and culture sector forms our community inspired the theme this year. I am thrilled that each winner truly exemplifies this depth and breadth.

The C. Newton Schenck III Award for Lifetime Achievement in and Contribution to the Arts, presented to an individual who has spent their career embracing and endorsing the arts to the benefit of audiences of all ages, goes to Jock Reynolds, artist and director of the Yale University Art Gallery, for his lifelong contributions to the arts in Greater New Haven.

The general public nominated more than 50 individuals and organizations who have had a significant impact on the area arts community. A jury selected five other recipients from the nominations:

The Architecture Resource Center is being honored for creating hands-on workshops and textbooks for students that teach design-thinking and creative problem solving throughout Connecticut.

Since 2006, Diane Brown has been chief librarian at the Stetson branch of the New Haven Free Public Library on Dixwell Avenue, building a community space that truly celebrates African-American history and literature, said an Arts Council news release.

Rev. Kevin Ewing is a former police officer, transitional minister at Center Church, neighborhood organizer, leader of Baobab Tree Studios and a trusted creative partner to many, said Fitzmaurice.

Musical Intervention provides opportunities for individuals and groups to perform and record original music, led by founder and driving force Adam Christoferson. Their programs specifically empower disenfranchised and otherwise vulnerable individuals, boosting confidence and connectedness in our community and beyond, said the Arts Council.

The massive Nasty Women New Haven exhibition united hundreds of artists throughout the state. Drawing a wall-to-wall crowd, the reception and subsequent events were highlights of 2017, the council said.

While our creative ecosystem faces many challenges today, said Fitzmaurice, these winners are collectively building strength and health in our region for the future.
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NEW HAVEN  The Latino and Iberian Film Festival at Yale, or LIFFY, returns Wednesday with intriguing examples of international films over five days. You dont need to know Spanish either, since the films have English subtitles.

You just need to trust the curatorial ability of Yale Spanish/Portugese senior lecturer Margherita Tortora, founder of LIFFY and its predecessor New England Festival of Ibero American Cinema. And past attendees can attest to that.

The highlights of this years LIFFY are some very well-known filmmakers and actors, says Tortora, especially Victor Gaviria from Colombia, (who) will be here. Gaviria is a pioneer in the use of natural actors.

That includes the compelling Gaviria film La mujer del Animal / The Animals Wife, which is about a woman who flees a convent to find refuge at her sisters home, in a shanty part of Medellin. A relative of an in-law, the nefarious Libardo (Tito Alexander Gomez) obsesses about her and kidnaps her, forcing her to live under his roof. Not to worry, though, this is a female empowerment story about misogyny.

The heady twist at LIFFY is you get to hear Gaviria talk about his film in a Q&A after the 7 p.m. Friday showing.

The venue again is Whitney Humanities Center at Yale University (53 Wall St.), except for Saturday at 10 a.m. in Luce Hall (34 Hillhouse Ave.).

The movie showings are free and open to the public.

Produced by the Council for Latin American and Iberian Studies at the MacMillan Center at Yale, the festival features dozens of short and feature-length films from more than a dozen countries where Spanish and Portuguese are the primary languages  with the aim of promoting cultural understanding.

Were proud to boast a slate of excellent films that entertain, celebrate diversity and highlight our common humanity, said Tortora. In the current political climate, taking time to contemplate and appreciate the cultural characteristics that both make us unique and unite us is very important.

Tortora said the closing film, Nadie nos mira / No One is Watching by Argentine filmmaker Julia Solomonoff, has won many prizes, including Best Actor at this years Tribeca Film Festival.

Noted Venezuelan director Elia Schneider will open the festival on Wednesday at 7 p.m. with her new film, Tamara, one of several LGBTQ-themed films featured this year, which tells the true-life story of Tamara Adrian, the first transgender person to serve in Venezuelas National Assembly. There will be a Q&A with Schneider and producer Jose Novoa after the screening.

Prize-winning Cuban filmmaker Carlos Barba Salva will premiere his new short film 25 horas / 25 Hours at LIFFY on Thursday at 7 p.m. It stars one of Cubas most beloved actresses, Isabel Santos, and in a rare on-camera appearance Cuban filmmaker Enrique Pineda Barnet. There will be a Q&A, also.

After that, Cuban actor Luis Alberto Garcia will present Lester Hamlets new film, Ya no es antes / Not Like Before. Santos stars in this film, too, alongside Garcia, who will do a Q&A.

We also have a good number of short films by young Cuban filmmakers  very original and very telling, says Tortora.

Haitian born and Dominican raised, Jean Jean will present his powerful documentary about his mother, a Haitian immigrant in the Dominican Republic, God Willing, Yuli, on Friday at 5:30 p.m., followed by a Q&A.

For the kids, says Tortora, there is a fun Dominican film, Los Fabulosos Ma Mejores, that is like a Dominican version of The Bad News Bears. It will be screened on Thursday morning for New Haven Public School children and on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Luce Hall.

A full schedule is available at liffy.yale.edu.

jamarante@nhregister.com; Twitter: @Joeammo
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NEW HAVEN  The Nields  sisters Nerissa and Katryna Nields  return from western Massachusetts to New Haven, Nerissas one-time home, to play CT Folks latest Folk Friday show at First Presbyterian Church.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 at the door, or $15 in advance at ctfolk.com/events/concerts. The church is located at 704 Whitney Ave.

The show also will mark the release of a new Nields Christmas album, The Nields said in their most recent newsletter.

Those who have been around here long enough may recall that there used to be a time when you could see a lot of The Nields around here.

Now, with both Katryna and Nerissa doubling as mothers of two, living up in western Massachusetts and touring more sporadically, thats less the case.

But a good quarter century and 17 or so albums into their career singing together (as opposed to their lives singing together, which began a bit earlier down in northern Virginia, where they grew up) they still sound great together.

And we still get to see and hear them from time to time.

The Nields continually churn out nicely crafted songs and tightly woven sister harmonies.

More often than not, the songs are written by older sister Nerissa, a one-time New Haven resident and Yale grad. Often out front in those harmonies is Katryna, a Trinity College grad.

Their latest album, XVII, has the Nields looking out from midlife, focusing on themes of time, love and community, according to The Nields latest bio.

The primary inspiration behind XVII was Nerissa and Katrynas hero, Pete Seeger, who died in January of 2014, it reads.

His love of sharing music and his passion for justice had been a part of their lives since before they were born (their parents fell in love at a Pete Seeger concert).

Seegers death affected them profoundly, it reads. Pete is clearly on the album in songs like Joe Hill and Wasnt That a Time, but the entire album is infused with his spirit.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
FAIRFIELD  Two brothers got into a fight during the Thanksgiving meal at their parents waterside mansion, police said.

Charles A. Conroy, 30, was charged Nov. 23 with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct and his 40-year-old step-brother Daniel Williams was charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct.

Both were released on promises to appear in court.

Police said they got called Thanksgiving afternoon to the Conroy estate on Pequot Avenue. When they got there they found Williams bleeding from a large slash-type cut on his right hand.

It was just my brother, I wasnt going to kill him, Charles Conroy exclaimed, according to police.

Police said Williams told them his brother, a real estate broker, was complaining at the dinner table that his life was bad and he had nothing to live for.

The brothers then began punching each other and Conroy grabbed a 12-inch bread knife from the table and began chasing Williams around the kitchen with it, police said. They said Conroy then slashed Williams in the hand with the knife.

Williams was taken to St. Vincents Medical Center where he was treated and later released.
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Chechnya's leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who won a new five-year term last year, said it's time for him to step aside and let the Kremlin choose a successor.

"There was a time when people like me were needed - to fight, to bring order," the state news service RIA Novosti quoted him as saying in an interview with public broadcaster Rossiya 1 that aired Sunday in the Russian Far East. "Now we have order."

ALSO: Opinion: New York Times faces backlash over half-baked profile of white nationalist

Kadyrov, 41, said his successor would be the prerogative of the Kremlin.

President Vladimir Putin picked the former Chechen separatist in 2007 to fight extremists after two wars with the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region. Kadyrov has long been accused of human rights violations including extrajudicial killings and recently faced international condemnation over reports of an anti-gay crackdown in the region. He denies the charges.

Now Playing: Chechnya is allegedly abducting and torturing members of the LGBTQ community. The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, denied the existence of gay people in the country in a television interview with HBO. Activist organization Voices 4 Chechnya led hundreds of people Saturday from Stonewall Inn to Trump Tower in New York City to shed light on the issue. Video: Mic

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Separately, he said he is convinced of the innocence of five men convicted in the 2015 murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, including a top Chechen security official.

"I am more than certain that they have nothing to do with it," Kadyrov said in the interview. "According to my information, these guys are totally innocent."

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A Russian court in July sentenced Zaur Dadayev, who was the deputy head of an elite police unit loyal to Kadyrov, to 20 years in prison for the murder. Four other accomplices received jail terms ranging from 11 to 19 years. While Kadyrov has expressed doubts about the ruling, he hasn't outright disputed the verdict before.

The former deputy prime minister was shot in February 2015 near the Kremlin in Moscow's center. In 2011 he published a report that focused on how Putin's inner circle is benefiting from the regime and at the time of his death was working on a report, largely based on public sources, on Russia's role in the separatist conflict in Ukraine.
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Never held elected office? No problem.

Grassroots support? Overrated.

But if you can scrounge up $75,000  tip money for a hedge fund manager  you too can be on the debate stage when Connecticut Republicans hold their first gubernatorial debate on Dec. 6. at Windsor High School.

The inclusion of self-funders at the debate, as well as a private forum in Greenwich two days before for gubernatorial hopefuls, has led to criticism that some political neophytes are being allowed to buy their way into the race.

Several of the GOP contenders who have spent almost a year raising small-dollar contributions to qualify for public campaign financing under Connecticuts clean-elections program have voiced reservations about the process.

Among those invited to both events is David Stemerman, the Greenwich hedge fund mogul who seeded his campaign with $1.8 million from a credit card.

The others debate participants identified by the party are Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst, Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, former U.S. Comptroller General Dave Walker, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, Westport businessman Steve Obsitnik, the city of Stamfords chief financial officer, Mike Handler, Fairfield immigration attorney Peter Lumaj, state Rep. Prasad Srinivasan, R-Glastonbury, and Madison businessman Bob Stefanowski.

In my opinion, having enough money to write a check should not be enough to qualify one for the debates, said Walker, a Bridgeport resident. But I respect the chairmans decision and look forward to the debates. Look, these debates are going to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Self-funded hopefuls

Stemerman, who left his $1.6 billion Conatus Capital Management firm to join the crowded GOP field for 2018, declined to comment.

From Linda McMahons pair of unsuccessful bids for the U.S. Senate to Tom Foleys twice-thwarted pursuit of the governors office, the precedent of Republicans embracing self-funders is well established in Connecticut.

If the party goes down the road of another rich guy from lower Fairfield County and nominates them, were going to get exactly what we deserve, which is a huge loss, said Boughton, the longtime Danbury mayor. Connecticut voters have been very clear about what they want and what they dont want. Theyre not looking for the rich person who can empty their hedge fund and just hang out ... 

Boughton is exploring a third run for governor. The last one ended badly in 2014, with Boughton forced to withdraw from the GOP primary race after he could not raise $250,000 to qualify for public campaign financing. Candidates can get $1.4 million for the primary and $6.5 million for the general election, but have to raise the $250,000 in increments of no more than $100.

Ill enjoy comparing my street cred with their polo scores, Boughton said of self-funded candidates. Let them be part of the conversation. Thats democracy. The only concern I have is there are going to be a lot of people up on that stage.

Lauretti, the 26-year Shelton mayor who is Fairfield Countys longest-serving municipal leader, didnt mince his words, either.

Just because someone is successful financially, that in no way shape or form qualifies them to run some form of government where you have to supply public services, which come in a whole array of forms, Lauretti said. Writing a check out, theres a lot of people can do that. Im not sure that is the kind of cure that Connecticut is looking for.

State GOP Chairman J.R. Romano said money factored into the list.

This is a politics. Campaigns cost money, he said. Stemerman qualifies based on that one piece of the recipe. Hes going have to take his message to the voters. Any candidate that has a problem with someone who is a self-funder, show up at the debate and prosecute your case.

One of the newcomers who was invited to both events is Stefanowski, a former UBS Investment Bank chief financial officer and former president and CEO of General Electric Corporate Financial Services in Europe. The Madison resident seeded his campaign with $250,000, but said he has raised more than $60,000 from at least 100 contributors.

I wouldnt call me a self-funder, Stefanowski said. Its an interesting argument that (since) Im not taking $1.4 million in taxpayer money that I shouldnt be allowed to go to a debate. The state party decides who goes. It really shouldnt be the candidates.

Some left off the list

Stefanowski said he has a scheduling conflict with the Greenwich candidate forum, which is also a fundraiser for the state GOP and costs $1,000 per person to attend. Hes not sure yet whether he will participate in the Windsor debate, he said.

As part of Stefanowskis introduction to Republicans in September, he said he hired Donald Trumps pollster, John McLaughlin from McLaughlin & Associates, to survey likely GOP voters. Fifty percent of them had never heard of the top contender in the poll, while the others fared worse, he said.

I dont think Im any less credible than any other candidate when 50 to 75 percent have never heard of them, Stefanowski said.

Handler, a New Canaan resident who has raised more than $117,000 in small contributions for his campaign, said theres a real upside to participating in the clean-elections program.

Personally, I think self-funding candidates are missing a valuable opportunity to engage with the citizens of Connecticut, Handler said. I have found the process to be extremely rewarding as I share real solutions to our states challenges.

State Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, who was not on the list of invitees provided by Romano, said she received an invitation to the Windsor debate and was learning more about the Greenwich forum.

One GOP candidate who was completely snubbed was Joe Visconti, a Trump diehard and former West Hartford town councilor ran as a petition candidate for governor in 2014. In hasty accord with Republican nominee Tom Foley, Visconti withdrew from the race in early November, but it was too late to remove his name from the ballot. He and his running mate received 11,456 votes.

Its the Grey Poupon party. Its the 1 percenters, Visconti said of the state GOP. Im a working-class Republican. I (also) believe its the Trump factor. The GOP ran away from Trump. I represent Donald Trump in Connecticut as a candidate.

Romano said Viscontis insurgency candidacy in 2014 was not the reason that hes being excluded. Visconti had raised $2,420 as of Oct. 1, he said.

Im not putting 20 people on a stage, Romano said.

Greenwich businessman Peter Thalheim also didnt make the cut.

I dont have that money, so I will not be participating, Thalheim said. Theyre missing out on a big-tent candidate.
By PTI: homage to those who made supreme sacrifice

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New Delhi/Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) Terrorism has become a constant global threat and humanitarian forced will have to fight unitedly to defeat it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today as the country paid tributes to those who sacrificed their lives during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

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Today is the ninth anniversary of the gory attack, carried out by 10 terrorists from Pakistan over three days, that left 166 people dead.

Recalling the sacrifices of brave citizens, Modi, in his radio address Mann ki Baat, said that even a few years ago, when India talked about the threats of terrorism, not many in the world were ready to take it seriously.

"Now that terrorism is knocking at their doors, every government in the world, those who believe in humanity, governments with faith in democracy, are seeing this as one of the biggest challenges," he said.

He said that terrorism had taken an ugly shape and had become a global threat "almost as a daily routine".

"Terrorism has challenged humanity. It is bent upon destroying humanitarian forces. So not only India but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism," he said.

Modi said that while November 26 was observed as Constitution Day, the nation could not forget that on this day nine years ago, terrorists launched attacks across Mumbai.

"The country remembers and bows to those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives then. This country can never forget their sacrifice," he said.

Union ministers, Kiran Rijiju and Hansraj Ahir, meanwhile, hit out at Pakistan on the issue of terrorism.

Rijiju accused Pakistan of not doing enough to control the growth of terror on its soil, while his colleague Ahir claimed that the neighbouring country had released the 2008 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed from "house arrest" to increase terror activities in India.

Saeed is the founder of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The UN and US designated terrorist, who has a USD 10 million American bounty on his head, was freed by Pakistan authorities on Friday.

"The government has made it clear on various international platforms that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism," Rijiju said at a function in Mumbai to commemorate the sacrifices made by the security personnel.

India has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism, he said.

Asked about the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Saeed, the Union minister of state for home said it was a matter of concern. We have been putting pressure on Pakistan in a bilateral way as well as through multilateral forums, he said.

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"On various international forums, we are making it absolutely clear that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism and it is not doing enough to contain the growth of terrorism on its soil," Rijiju said.

He, however, said the Indian coastal borders were much more secure now as the government had taken several measures.

Ahir lashed out at Pakistan claiming it was uncomfortable with the way Indian forces were eliminating terrorists.

"Even Saeeds relative, a terrorist, has been killed by our security forces. To give a boost to terrorist activities, Saeed has been released by the Pakistani government," Ahir claimed in Mumbai.

The minister said the Indian government had increased the amount it spends on equipment and modern weapons for security forces to improve internal security.

"Terrorism is not letting us live. I can say it clearly that Kashmirs enemy is Pakistan. Even the Kashmiris agree to this," Ahir said.

Union ministers Smriti Irani and Rajyavardhan Rathore also paid homage to the victims of the 26/11 attack.

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"They brought terror to our shores & were met with the sheer will of our forces to protect the sovereignty & integrity of India," Irani, the information and broadcasting minister, tweeted.

Homage to all victims of 26/11 & gratitude to those who protected us then and continue to do so now, she added.

Rathore, the minister of state for information and broadcasting, asked people to resolve to eliminate terrorism.

"On the 9th anniversary of #MumbaiTerrorAttack, a humble prayer for security personnel who gave their lives protecting us," he tweeted.

As we share the grief of the families who lost their loved ones, let us all resolve to eliminate terrorism in all forms and make India a safer, better nation, he said.

In south Mumbai, Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and others laid wreaths at the police memorial this morning and observed silence in memory of the bravehearts.

Family members of those killed were among those who paid respect to the departed souls. DGP Satish Mathur and Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar also paid tributes.

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"To the 166 lives lost...to over 239 injured...to the innumerable memories etched on the firmament forever and to Mumbai, the city which picked up its pieces and started stronger than ever - A Salute and A Bow of Gratitude from Mumbai Police!" the Mumbai Police tweeted.

The financial capital was attacked by 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, who came here by the sea route, on November 26, 2008. In the mayhem that followed for the next three days, 166 people, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos, were killed.

Nine of the terrorists were gunned down by security personnel, while the tenth one, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive. He was tried in a court and sentenced to death. He was hanged in November 2012. PTI TEAM ADS

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Making a killing: Carcass trader Clayton Fletcher with a lion he shot on his Tinashe reserve

It is the most degrading and cruel of fates for the king of the jungle. Bred in captivity, lion cubs are torn from their mothers while still blind, a few days after birth.

Growing up, they are petted as playthings for tourists until they are ready to be released into small enclosures where they will be shot and killed by wealthy trophy-hunters in what are known as canned hunts.

But then a final indignity is visited upon the dead lions: for the carcasses are sent to the Far East to meet the enormous demand for medicines, jewellery and even wine made from the remains.

This has been the horrific destiny for 800 lions from South Africa this year alone  and it is entirely legal, as the government rubber-stamps export licences for the lucrative industry.

Chinas insatiable demand is fuelling the trade in the lion bones, while shameful products from the callous trade are also on sale in other South East Asian countries including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

There are about 8,000 captive-bred lions awaiting this fate on 200 farms in South Africa  twice the number of lions roaming free in the wild in the nation.

While international conservation groups have put up a fierce fight against the callous industry, the quota has been allowed by the powerful Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which has 169 member nations.

Its ruling is seen as a compromise to appease many of the countries that were pressing for the legalisation of trade in the remains of wild lions as well as captive-bred animals.

With a sad irony, consumers in the Far East believe the bones come from tigers and therefore, in their minds, have almost magical medicinal properties and are seen as aphrodisiacs. But the strict laws now protecting tigers has led to increased use of lion bones by unscrupulous traders.

The practice of canned hunting has long been controversial, and lion farmers are notoriously secretive.

A chicken is fed to an older lion, getting it used to human contact while in a wire cage

But a Mail on Sunday investigation can reveal details of the chain of shocking animal abuse inflicted on captive-bred lions from the first days of their birth to adulthood at four years when they are killed for trophies  and the lucrative trade to be had from their skeletons.

Hunters pay an average of 12,800 to shoot the animal in a small enclosure, then take home the skull and skin. The farmer can make extra profit selling on the carcass for about 1,440 to Asian countries. When divided into smaller consignments, each carcass could fetch up to 50,000 on the streets.

We visited four so-called lion parks and spoke to conservationists who have documented first-hand how lions are processed for an industry reviled by animal-lovers.

At Ukutula Park, two hours drive north of Johannesburg, tiny cubs were huddled up to their mothers in small woolly bundles.

A few days later they would be taken away and bottle-fed by volunteers, mostly young people who are paying for the experience during their gap years, believing they are involved in lion rescue.

At about a month old, the cubs are submitted to petting by fee-paying tourists who play with them and take photographs for several hours every day.

Later, when the youngsters have become adolescents they are used for bush walks in which dozens of tourists stroll alongside the animals armed with sticks  intended to show domination  and are later rewarded with diplomas to show their courage.

Mail on Sunday journalists saw one lion climb a tree to rest on a branch. It was rewarded with a piece of raw chicken thrown up to it by the walking guide  a circus act that helps keep the lions tame.

The guide explains that if the lions kill wildlife in the park, they are not allowed to eat it. They learn this way that their food comes from inside their enclosure.





They must remain in captivity, he says. And they will die in captivity.

The story was the same in three more lion parks  at the Krugersdorp Rhino and Lion Park and the Lory Park, both on the outskirts of Johannesburg, and at Akwaaba, outside Rustenburg, two hours east of Pretoria.

At about three or four years old, when male lions have grown a substantial mane, they become the target of trophy-hunters. The parks where they were born often sell them on to canned hunts, despite the sustained international outcry at images of drugged lions being placed in small enclosures with no chance of escape from hunters.

Attempts to ban these sick spectacles have failed, although new regulations have forced owners to put the animals in bigger enclosures, and to release the lions at least a week before hunting begins, to give the appearance of some sort of fairness.

But this newspaper has been told that lions are still being released on the day they are transported to a hunting enclosure, while still suffering the effects of sedation from the journey. Sometimes, the animals  who have become used to human voices and whistles  are summoned closer to the hunters, who then shoot from their four-wheel-drive vehicles.

The reasoning of South African ranch-owners who run canned hunts appears to defy logic. Clayton Fletcher, a professional hunter and owner of Tinashe, in the countrys North-West Province, is proud that his father Douglas was the first person to hunt a captive-bred lion back in 1985.

And he justifies the cruel trade by saying: The reason people breed lions is because of the value and the only reason why lions are valued is because they are being hunted.





If you stop hunting, you take away the value of the lion and if you take away the value of the lion, then nobody breeds them and the lion becomes extinct.





The only way you can protect an animal like a lion is to give it a value, and unfortunately the only way is through hunting.

Defending the use of captive-bred lions for the Asian market in their bones, Mr Fletcher said: We hunt the lion legally and then we notify the nature conservation authorities that we would like to sell the bones.





There are seven or eight permits we have to get before that carcass goes out. And when that carcass leaves the country, we have saved one lion from being poached in the natural world.

Derek Gobbett is a celebrated safari photographer who was once hired by Americans to film them killing lions, but is now a fervent conservationist. He told of seeing the hunters shooting a lioness that had panicked and hidden in a porcupine burrow, and of another animal that climbed a tree to escape and was subsequently shot at point-blank range.

He said: I shot footage that no hunter would show in order to boast. One male lion was whistled at and the shooter fired from the bed of a pick-up truck; another was impaled on fence-posts and shot. It was slaughter, with ten hunters killing ten lionesses in a week and wanting film footage of each shoot to take home with them.

He said the lions had arrived the day before the hunt from a farm in Bloemfontein. Four were being released into an enclosure at the same time as the American hunters private plane landed.

Ian Michler, a wildlife guide and photo-journalist who made the hard-hitting documentary Blood Lion, exposing South Africas canned hunting industry, is campaigning to stop the trade in lion carcasses. He said: Lions are a charismatic species at the apex of our ecosystems.





'If we cant look after them responsibly, then what hope is there for anything? He condemned the farmers who breed lions in captivity, saying: Theyve tamed the lions. There is nothing noble or fair about the chase and it has nothing, absolutely nothing, to with conservation whatsoever.

According to data from CITES, 2,000 full lion skeletons were shipped to Laos from South Africa in the six years up to 2015 and there were a further 2,300 shipments of incomplete skeletons, meaning bones and parts.

But wildlife activists believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. Tons of animal parts are sent through the porous border dividing China and Laos, with no documentation.

Some are smuggled through to Vietnam for Tiger Bone Cake, which is crumbled into wine and used as an aphrodisiac and bone-strengthener. One ton of lion bones will make 60 to 70 cakes, which sell at $1,000 (762) each.

A pilot in the region said a colleague had witnessed huge shipments of unregistered lion skeletons in cargo holds. They are marked Scientific supplies and sent to China.

The full extent of South Africas despicable treatment of one of the noblest wild creatures has been revealed by Britains Environmental Investigation Agency.

Campaign leader Debbie Banks said: There is a huge surge in these businesses now Asian countries are accepting lion bones.





She predicts a substantial increase in the poaching of wild lions, and of the endangered tigers remaining in Asia.





We fought against the quota of carcasses allowed by South Africa and we fought against CITES allowing the trade. But the sad truth is that lions have now replaced tigers as the worlds prime source of big-cat body parts.

The South African governments Department of Environmental Affairs has argued that allowing a quota for the export of lion bones could help to deter poaching.

But conservationists believe this is spurious. Dr Luke Hunter, chief conservation officer of wild cat protection group Panthera, says: There is not one shred of scientific evidence to show that canned hunting and legal bone exports help the wild lion population.





They only stimulate the demand for wild lion, leopard and tiger parts throughout the world.

And Mark Jones, of conservation organisation Born Free, said: The intensive breeding of lions and their exploitation for profit is completely unacceptable.





'South Africas lion-breeding industry serves no conservation purpose and the animals all too often suffer short, miserable lives. The government has a responsibility to close this industry down and focus on protecting wild lions.

His organisation is seeking tighter rules on trophy imports into both the EU and the US.
Former Abia State Governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu said yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari does not want automatic ticket to re -conte...

Former Abia State Governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu said yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari does not want automatic ticket to re -contest for the 2019 Presidential Election, because he would want other interested candidates to explore the democratic process to test their popularity.This is just as Kalu said President Buhari is making a lot of inroads in South East. Saying that the role he played during Anambra election, other Presidents would have written the results and that Buhari said: no every ballot paper must be counted and they were counted. If it is other President, APC would be jubilating home with victory. But President said, no, I would not tolerate that.On the opposition, he said the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) would not bounce back because of the massive looting of the nations treasury during the last administration. Speaking at a private wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Kalu said President Buhari as a democrat would want every interested candidate to be given a chance to test their popularity and exercise their democratic right. Acccording to Kalu :  Buhari himself is not even looking for automatic ticket. Buhari is a man that is very fair and free to what he does.And his feeling is that if any candidate is willing to contest against him, he should come to the Eagle Square.  And some schools of thought are saying no, if in the United State, Obama was given automatic ticket. President Bush in Republican Party was given automatic ticket. President Clinton was given automatic ticket. The First and Second Bush were given automatic ticket.  So President Buhari is also feeling that automatic ticket for him is not right. He said open the space for other people who also want to contest.He want the openness of the primary to take place. He further said :  The contest should be thrown open. There would be no rancour. We are in democracy and I would vote for the President.Ive said it times without number, that the President needs to consolidate on his achievements because most parts of President because the President is very popular. He is still the only person carrying 12 million votes in his back. his tenure have been besieged by illness. So the President genuinely deserves second tenure. We are not afraid of anybody who wants to contest against the President. On PDP chances of bouncing back, he said the international community was outraged by the massive looting of the nations treasury by PDP, that it would amount to the greatest disservice to call for the return of PDP. Kalu also said Buhari was under restraint not to expose the gargantuan corruption that took place at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPPC) Kalu said :  How can they bounce back when treasury was looted? How can they bounce back when the international community doesnt see anything good in them? How can they bounce back when we gave them our treasury, they opened and looted it.We would call names if they want to us to call names in future. All the World Powers knew what happened and this is why they tactically insisted that PDP must leave power. PDP committed what was very shameful to have been seen in a democratic process.There is no system that is not with corruption but going to loot is an affront to Nigerian people. They opened the treasury and looted the treasury. President Buhari having been restrained by some World Powers not to open up what happened in the NNPC. If Nigerians know what happened in NNPC, those people would not pass this airport, people would not leave them. What they did is what hear and eyes should not even hear.How can they come back? They will definitely go to oblivion, they would never win election again in Nigeria unless they changed their name. Kalu was however , reluctant to comment on the resignation of the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), saying, if he had the opportunity of advising him, he would have asked him to remain to rebuild the APC.On Atiku he said :  To be honest with you, Atiku was my boss and he is still my boss. And I hardly dont want to discuss Atiku Abubakar. You know he is very close to me. The question you are asking me is a lot of task but I wish him well. If I was to advise him before he leaves, I would say, dont leave. Let us build a large team together. If he wanted to contest against the President, it would be open at the Eagle Square.If he wins, we would support him.  If the President wins, we would support the President. But running from one party, you remember I am the only Nigerian since democratic process who has been in only two parties. I have been in PPA and PDP. I didnt run back and forward. No I was in opposition since 2006 that I was deregistered in PDP. Ive been in opposition until 16th of November last year when I joined the APC. It is not every election year we would go and form a new political party. It doesnt entrench our democratic process.I am feeling it and I am seeing it that it is not the right thing to do, what are we going to teach the younger ones?  .He said Buhari was gaining popularity and acceptance in the South East, as many leaders of thought are now seeing him in a different light . Kalu explained  Even in the South East where he didnt do well, Im just come from the South East. President Buhari is making a lot of inroads. The role he played during Anambra election, other Presidents would have written the results. They have done it before. But the President said, no every ballot paper must be counted and they were counted. If it is other President, APC would be jubilating home with victory. But President said, no, I would not tolerate that. He warned the police, he warned the INEC, he warned the party and said every one vote must be counted and that was what was done. Have we ever had a President like that in Nigeria? The answer is no. Other ones would come and even put armoured car in my house in Ikwerre. Thats what we have been seeing. So why dont Nigerians embrace this man who is saying I might be slow but do things through the due process.Ive spoken to some Catholic Bishops, Priests and some Anglican Bishops and some priests in Presbyterian Church who used to sit with me and criticised the President. They are now telling me, no we dont know the President is this kind of person. So I have been in the South East for the past two weeks. I have been there from election till now. So I know the mentality of our people now and they are going to vote for the man. Whether is PDP, APC or APGA, all of them are going to vote for the man. You can see Governor Umahi of Ebonyi has already endorsed the President for second term. Whether Obiano (Anambra Governor) is crossing over to APC or PDP, he would definitely endorse the president. So the President has support in the region.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday said his administration saves the nation about N25 billion monthly through the stoppage of unnece...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday said his administration saves the nation about N25 billion monthly through the stoppage of unnecessary allowances for government officials and blockage of other financial leakages in all its agencies.President Buhari stated this in Jos, at the graduation ceremony of Senior Executice Course 39 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru, Plateau state.Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Mr. Buhari scored his government high saying the government has effectively tackled corruption.He said the government will not relent in its fight against graft.Mr. Osinbajo said the onging elementary school feeding programme has targeted 5.5 million children to be captured in 19 states before the end the administrations tenure.He said challenges being faced in power supply in Nigeria will soon be history.He urged authories of NIPSS to improve on recommendations made by its participants while discussing national economic development.He assured that the federal government would make good use of recommendations of the course participants on agriculture.Earlier, the acting Director General, NIPSS, Jonathan Juma, said participants who had attended the institute since it was established 39 years ago, have impacted positively on nation building.The official said the mission of NIPSS is to serve as a centre for policy, advocacy, advice and training for Nigeria and Africa in the context of a dynamic and changing world.The chief executive said the institute is affected by recession and requested for financial intervention from the federal government to help replace its operational vehicles.He explained that members of Course 39 during their study year toured 12 countries and 12 states within Nigeria.The graduation of 66 Senior Executive in Course 39, brings to 1990 members who have passed through the Institute since its creation.The security agencies dominated membership of the course which had 8 females; 28 out of the 66 participants for the 10-month course are members of the security agencies including a female commissioner of police.
Berlin police arrested a Burlington County man early Saturday after learning that he was driving a stolen vehicle taken in a carjacking, authorities said.

A Berlin officer saw a suspicious vehicle pulling into the PATCO parking lot on Berlin Road around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. When the driver spotted the approaching officer, he took off on Route 73, police said.

The officer caught up with the driver on 73 southbound and soon stopped him on the White Horse Pike, police said.

The driver, James Keck, of Rancocas, was arrested without incident.

In addition to finding more than an ounce of synthetic marijuana in his possession, police learned that Keck was involved in a carjacking hours earlier in Cherry Hill and that the vehicle he was driving was taken in that incident, police said.

The carjacking victim was not injured, police added.

Berlin police charged Keck with receiving stolen property and possession of synthetic marijuana. He was also issued several motor vehicle summonses.

He was then turned over to Cherry Hill Police for processing in the carjacking case.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
Detectives are searching for a Honda minivan in connection with shots reportedly fired in Newark early Sunday morning, city police said.

The Newark Police Shooting Response Team is searching for a green or gray Honda Odyssey, which likely has damage to its front end and passenger side. The shots were reported at 3:10 a.m. near the intersection of Orchard and Scott streets, according to a statement from Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose.

Police said the minivan fled the scene immediately after the shots were fired. The van has a broken brake light and is missing its passenger-side mirror, authorities said.

Authorities said the investigation is continuing, and have urged anyone with information about the minivan or the suspects to call the department's 24-hour Crime Stopper tip line at 1-877-NWK-TIPS (1-877-695-8477) or 1-877-NWK-GUNS (1-877-695-4867).

Police said anonymous tips may also be made using the department's website at: www.newarkpd.org or through the Newark Police Division smartphone app available on iTunes or Google Play.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips
If I were to create a "Saturday Night Live" character based on New York Daily News columnist Linda Stasi, I would call her "Linda Sassy."

Read her full-page Sunday column of columns -- in which she calls out the hypocrisy of the rich, famous and powerful and cuts them down to size -- and you'll understand why.

After Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, for example, Stasi called out mega-church prosperity-for-himself preacher Joel Osteen for failing to immediately open his huge arena to house the displaced.

She holds priests, prelates and politicians to a higher standard, as she should.

Her sixth book and second novel, "Book of Judas," manages to display her wicked use of words wrapped around a gospel few of us ever heard of, "The Gospel of Judas," a Gnostic gospel that has seen renewed interest over the last decade.

Stasi's protagonist -- Alessandra Russo, who's a lot like Stasi in real life -- is in the middle of a mystery, tracking down the missing pages of this heretical manuscript that was discovered in Egypt in the 1970s. There's a lot at stake, most important, the life of her own son, Terry.

The Gospel of Judas declares that Judas was doing the bidding of Jesus - yes, Jesus - when he betrayed him in a Nixonian kind of dirty trick.

The canonical gospels, or those books deemed genuine, are found in the Bible: Matthew's, Mark's, Luke's and John's. Gnostic gospels did not make the cut because they did not fit the church's needs by the fourth century when the four gospels were selected. The Gospel of Judas does not claim to be written by Judas himself, but by his followers, and dates back to the third century.

A few coincidences set Stasi on the path to writing this book.

First, she discovered a book in her family home titled "I, Judas" and knows not how it wound up there. It was written in 1977 by Taylor Caldwell.

A second coincidence came when Stasi took her daughter to Princeton for a mother/daughter "spa girls'' weekend several years ago. Her daughter wanted to go into a Princeton bookstore and Stasi saw for the first time "The Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels, a Princeton University professor.

Stasi then learned that the remains of this Judas gospel were locked in the same bank in Hicksville, Long Island, where her parents and she banked as a child.

"This was so bizarre that I had to explore it," Stasi said.

She did hours and hours of research in Israel to try to decode star system Sirius, which had origins in this Judas gospel. And she visited a 3,000-year-old burial site.

"As a journalist, I wanted to get everything right," she said.

She even went down into Manhattan's Second Avenue Subway dig, which is a pivotal scene in her thriller.

The book is good but really took off for me when she introduced the character Yusuf Pantera, her son's father whom she thought had disappeared. He shows up at the right time when she's in Israel.

This guy is mysterious even to Russo - remember she's not Stasi - and can do almost anything, like speak several languages, outwit any villain, and get out of any tough situation.

Stasi's first novel, "The Sixth Station," also features religion with ideas like the Second Coming, the Antichrist and the secret history of the Holy Family, a group of Templars who defied the church, and a mysterious relic stained with the sacred blood of Christ himself.

Stasi was raised Catholic and has not turned away from the church but goes when she feels the need.

Her writing career dates to her schooling, when she wrote for her school newspapers at New York Tech and Hofstra. She then went to work for Seventeen Magazine and has also written for Newsday, The New York Post and The Village Voice.

Stasi hasn't heard from any movie company to buy the rights to "Judas" but I think this will come.

Whom would she cast as Pantera, a character modeled after her husband, Sid Davidoff? Australian actor Richard Roxburgh or Brit actor Sean Bean would be her pick.

For Stasi -- I mean, Russo, the daring reporter -- I'd sign Edie Falco or Lorraine Bracco. Brash, quick-witted and sassy!

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Rev. Alexander Santora is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken, 07030, FAX: 201-659-5833; Email: padrealex@yahoo.com; Twitter: @padrehoboken.

Details ...

"Book of Judas," by Linda Stasi, A Forge Hardcover, $25.99.
Editor's note: This is one of the stories in the 2017 Holiday Guide magazine in today's Jersey Journal. Pick up the paper to get all of the stories, event listings and ads.

Kwanzaa, a seven-day holiday created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966, is modeled after the first harvest celebrations in Africa and starts on Dec. 26 each year. Celebrations are often held earlier.

Here's a look at some area programs:

New Jersey City University, 2039 Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City, hosts the Black Alumni, Administrators, Faculty, Students & Staff Organization's Kwanzaa Celebration from noon to 2 p.m. Dec. 7 in the Michael Gilligan Student Union Multipurpose Room.

African drumming, an Ujamaa marketplace, dance performances and class, a candle lighting ceremony and much more will be featured.

***

The Community Awareness Series of the Jersey City Free Public Library will host a Kwanzaa Arts Workshop at 1 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Miller Branch Library, 489 Bergen Ave.

Artist Mansa K. Mussa will help families design hand-crafted greeting cards using the Nguzo Saba principles and Kwanzaa symbols that celebrate African history and culture. For information, call 201-547-6907 or 551-998-7116.

***

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St, Newark, hosts its 19th annual Kwanzaa Festival and Marketplace starting at 11 a.m. Dec. 16. Arts and crafts are featured, and the entire family is encouraged to sing, dance and learn about African traditions and customs.

Admission is free.

For information, go to njpac.org.

***

The Community Awareness Series of the Jersey City Free Public Library will host the longest-running Kwanzaa event in Hudson County at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Miller Branch Library, 489 Bergen Ave.

"Kwanzaa -- A Cultural Celebration'' will include the Nguzo Saba principles and candle-lighting ceremony, dance, song, drumming and poetry.

Admission is free.

For information, call 201-547-6907 or 551-998-7116.

***

The American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, hosts its 2017 Kwanzaa event from noon to 5 p.m. Dec. 30 in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life.

Billed as a celebration of African-American heritage, the event is rooted in seven principles known as Nguzo Saba that promote unity, culture and community development. The program will feature a live musical performance, an overview of the Kwanzaa principles, and a marketplace that showcases local artisans from the African-American community.

Admission to the museum is $13 for children ages 2-12; $18 for students with ID and senior citizens; and $23 for adults.

For information, go to amnh.org.

***

The Apollo Theater, 253 W. 125th St., New York, has shows at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 30 featuring Abel R. Salaam's Forces of Nature Dance Theatre.

The program, "Kwanzaa Celebration: Regeneration Night," features a joyful program of dance and music honoring the principles of Kwanzaa -- family, community and culture.

Tickets range from $14 to $35.

For information, go to apollotheater.org.
JERSEY CITY - Authorities are investigating the death of an infant inside a Heights apartment building.

A 2-week-old girl was found unresponsive and bleeding inside the Central Avenue building at about 8 a.m. on Friday, sources with knowledge of the investigation said.

She was rushed to Christ Hospital where she died just a few minutes after arriving by ambulance, police sources said.

Homicide detectives and child protective services were notified.

A spokesman for the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office confirmed it is investigating the death of an infant and autopsy results from the Medical Examiner are pending.

No additional details have been released and it's unclear whether or not foul play is suspected in the baby's death.

Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
By PTI: homage to those who made supreme sacrifice

(Eds: Correcting a word in the intro)

New Delhi/Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) Terrorism has become a constant global threat and humanitarian forces will have to fight unitedly to defeat it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today as the country paid tributes to those who sacrificed their lives during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

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Today is the ninth anniversary of the gory attack, carried out by 10 terrorists from Pakistan over three days, that left 166 people dead.

Recalling the sacrifices of brave citizens, Modi, in his radio address Mann ki Baat, said that even a few years ago, when India talked about the threats of terrorism, not many in the world were ready to take it seriously.

"Now that terrorism is knocking at their doors, every government in the world, those who believe in humanity, governments with faith in democracy, are seeing this as one of the biggest challenges," he said.

He said that terrorism had taken an ugly shape and had become a global threat "almost as a daily routine".

"Terrorism has challenged humanity. It is bent upon destroying humanitarian forces. So not only India but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism," he said.

Modi said that while November 26 was observed as Constitution Day, the nation could not forget that on this day nine years ago, terrorists launched attacks across Mumbai.

"The country remembers and bows to those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives then. This country can never forget their sacrifice," he said.

Union ministers, Kiren Rijiju and Hansraj Ahir, meanwhile, hit out at Pakistan on the issue of terrorism.

Rijiju accused Pakistan of not doing enough to control the growth of terror on its soil, while his colleague Ahir claimed that the neighbouring country had released the 2008 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed from "house arrest" to increase terror activities in India.

Saeed is the founder of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The UN and US designated terrorist, who has a USD 10 million American bounty on his head, was freed by Pakistan authorities on Friday.

"The government has made it clear on various international platforms that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism," Rijiju said at a function in Mumbai to commemorate the sacrifices made by the security personnel.

India has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism, he said.

Asked about the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Saeed, the Union minister of state for home said it was a matter of concern. We have been putting pressure on Pakistan in a bilateral way as well as through multilateral forums, he said.

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"On various international forums, we are making it absolutely clear that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism and it is not doing enough to contain the growth of terrorism on its soil," Rijiju said.

He, however, said the Indian coastal borders were much more secure now as the government had taken several measures.

Ahir lashed out at Pakistan claiming it was uncomfortable with the way Indian forces were eliminating terrorists.

"Even Saeeds relative, a terrorist, has been killed by our security forces. To give a boost to terrorist activities, Saeed has been released by the Pakistani government," Ahir claimed in Mumbai.

The minister said the Indian government had increased the amount it spends on equipment and modern weapons for security forces to improve internal security.

"Terrorism is not letting us live. I can say it clearly that Kashmirs enemy is Pakistan. Even the Kashmiris agree to this," Ahir said.

Union ministers Smriti Irani and Rajyavardhan Rathore also paid homage to the victims of the 26/11 attack.

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"They brought terror to our shores & were met with the sheer will of our forces to protect the sovereignty & integrity of India," Irani, the information and broadcasting minister, tweeted.

Homage to all victims of 26/11 & gratitude to those who protected us then and continue to do so now, she added.

Rathore, the minister of state for information and broadcasting, asked people to resolve to eliminate terrorism.

"On the 9th anniversary of #MumbaiTerrorAttack, a humble prayer for security personnel who gave their lives protecting us," he tweeted.

As we share the grief of the families who lost their loved ones, let us all resolve to eliminate terrorism in all forms and make India a safer, better nation, he said.

In south Mumbai, Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and others laid wreaths at the police memorial this morning and observed silence in memory of the bravehearts.

Family members of those killed were among those who paid respect to the departed souls. DGP Satish Mathur and Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar also paid tributes.

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"To the 166 lives lost...to over 239 injured...to the innumerable memories etched on the firmament forever and to Mumbai, the city which picked up its pieces and started stronger than ever - A Salute and A Bow of Gratitude from Mumbai Police!" the Mumbai Police tweeted.

The financial capital was attacked by 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, who came here by the sea route, on November 26, 2008. In the mayhem that followed for the next three days, 166 people, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos, were killed.

Nine of the terrorists were gunned down by security personnel, while the tenth one, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive. He was tried in a court and sentenced to death. He was hanged in November 2012. PTI TEAM ADS

--- ENDS ---
UPDATE: Arrest made in vandalism of 5 black churches; Bias ruled out as motive

MORRISTOWN -- Authorities said they are treating vandalism reported Saturday at five Morris County churches as possible bias crimes.

The houses of worship alerted police on Saturday that they were the victims of vandalism overnight, according to a joint statement from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, Morristown and Morris Township police departments.

"The vandalism was limited to property damage including a broken stained glass window and broken or damaged exterior signs," the statement said.

The following churches reported the vandalism:

Church of God in Christ for All Saints, 3 Rowe Street, Morristown

Bethel A.M.E. Church, 59 Spring Street, Morristown

Calvary Baptist Church, 10 Martin Luther King Avenue, Morristown

Union Baptist Church, 89 Spring Street, Morristown

Morristown Church of Christ, 265 Martin Luther King Avenue, Morris Township

What demonic spirit would possess someone to do this to our church sign and also the other African American churches in Morristown? Posted by Sidney Williams on Saturday, November 25, 2017

"Police will be increasing their presence at all local churches to ensure the continued safety of all community members, however we ask that people remain vigilant and call police if any suspicious activity is observed," the prosecutor's office said.

Authorities declined to release more details, citing the ongoing investigation.

Governor-elect Phil Murphy responded to the crimes on Twitter.

"Disgusted by reported vandalism of African-American churches across Morristown. These cowardly acts will not shake our faith," Murphy said. "They will renew our determination to come together as one NJ."

Anyone with information was urged to call the prosecutor's office bias crimes unit at 973-285-6200, the Morristown Police at 973-538-2200, or Morris Township Police at 973-539-0777.

Tips can also be sent anonymously through Morris County Crime Stoppers by calling 973-COP-CALL (973-267-2255) or online at www.morriscrimestoppers.org.

Disgusted by reported vandalism of African-American churches across Morristown. These cowardly acts will not shake our faith. They will renew our determination to come together as one NJ. -PM  Phil Murphy (@PhilMurphyNJ) November 26, 2017

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc and on Facebook.

Have information about this story or something else we should be covering? Tell us: nj.com/tips
NORTH HARMONY  Authorities said an Ohio man shot a pickup truck he mistook for a deer in western New York.

The shooting Friday was the second hunting accident in Chautauqua County in three days. Police said 43-year-old Rosemary Billquist was shot and killed Wednesday by a man who thought she was a deer.

The Post-Journal of Jamestown reported that Friday's incident happened around 11:30 a.m. in North Harmony.

Sheriff's deputies said Marvin Miller of Middlefield, Ohio fired a high-powered rifle at a pickup truck.

They said Miller told authorities he had mistaken the truck for a deer

The sheriff's office said the bullet entered the engine compartment and disabled the truck.

Miller was arrested on charges including reckless endangerment.
The Mumbai Police has organised a Salutation Ceremony to pay homage to the people killed in the November 26 attacks.

A reporter talks on her phone as smoke is seen coming from Taj Hotel in Mumbai November 27, 2008. (REUTERS/Arko Datta)

By India Today Web Desk: 9 years on as Mumbai remembers the deadly 26/11 attacks, Hafiz Saeed one of the masterminds of the attack has been granted freedom by the Pakistan government.

On November 26, 2008, ten terrorists entered Mumbai with weapons and plans to carry attacks in key places in the city. The series of attacks lasted over 4 days, killing around 164 people and injuring 305. Throughout the attacks, the focus was Hotel Taj. The terrorists also attacked Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus 'CST' railway station.

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President Ramnath Kovind tweeted on the 9th anniversary of the attacks that shook the entire nation.

On the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, we mourn with the families that lost their dear ones. And we recall with gratitude the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil - President Kovind wrote.

On this day, we renew our resolve to take on, defeat and eliminate terrorism in all forms - and to make our people, our country and our world safer #PresidentKovind- President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 26, 2017

Meanwhile, Israel has also expressed "deep condolences and solidarity with the people of India on the anniversary of the harrowing terror attack" in a statement.

Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said in the statement: "Together with India, the people of Israel mourn the victims from countries all over the globe including Israel, embrace their loved ones and the survivors. India and Israel, along with nations of the world, must do everything in their power to eradicate extremism and terrorism for a better future."

The Mumbai Police has organised a Salutation Ceremony to pay homage to the people killed in the November 26 attacks. The ceremony is set to take place at the Shahid Smarak at Police Gymkhana at Marine Lines at 9 AM today.

Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, DGP Satish Mathur, city police commissioner Datta Padsalgikar, ministers, senior bureaucrats, police officials and family members of martyrs would pay homage to those who were killed in the attack.

"My daughter was just 9 years old when she got shot, it was traumatic. Yes we are happy that Kasab was hanged but we will not be satisfied till the real mastermind sitting in Pakistan is punished", said the father of 26/11 attacks survivor Devika while talking to news agency ANI.

The terror attacks left many people with nightmares that will haunt them forever. While most of them have moved on with their lives the memories of the day haunt them.

Hundreds of people will pay tribute to the martyrs of 26/11 at key places in Mumbai that were attacked by terrorists. The places include Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Taj Hotel at the Gateway of India, Cafe Leopold, Rang Bhavan Lane near Cama Hospital and St Xavier's College.

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17 BSF Jawans who set out for Mumbai on November 14 for the 'Martr's ride' are also expected to reach Mumbai today.

(With inputs from PTI)

--- ENDS ---
When I was young, my mother was shopping for Christmas presents  like many Americans did back then  with an envelope of cash she had saved up for the holidays.

At one store, she was checking out and dropped a pen. When she stood back up from grabbing it, she realized somebody had stolen her Christmas fund off the checkout counter.

Today, thieves dont have to be behind you in line to steal the holiday fund youve been saving up all year. Whether you shop in stores or online, hackers can exploit electronic purchases to steal credit and debit card numbers and raid your accounts to stuff their stockings.

Here are some tips for staying safe:

Shopping online

 Trusted sites and payments. Buy online from sites you trust and have done business with before. Take advantage of trusted payment plug-ins, such as PayPal or Apple Pay. Using reputable companies online lowers your risk of theft and, even if you do have a problem, they are more likely to stand behind their products and services. Reputations are expensive and these companies will help protect you to ensure their reputation stays strong.

 Secure networks. Buy online from a trusted Wi-Fi (like your home or work) and not from public Wi-Fi at a store, airport or hotel. Hackers will spy on Wi-Fi in large, public areas to steal credit cards. Also look for secure websites before entering your credit card. Secure sites will use HTTPS instead of HTTP, and a padlock will appear in most browsers to show you it is secure. Do not enter your credit card on a website if it does not have the padlock  that means hackers can see it.

 Safe surfing. Only trust websites you directly go to, not links from ads or emails. Instead of clicking the link, search for the website yourself (type in the address or Google it). This prevents hackers from pretending to be a business you know and tricking you into giving them your credit card.

Shopping in stores

 Take and shred receipts. When a cashier asks you if you want the receipt, always say yes. If you say no, they just throw it in the trash at their register. At the end of the day, all of those receipts go in the trash outside, where hackers wait to get them all at once. Receipts have your name and part of your credit card number on it, so hackers can use that information to find your credit card on the dark web and know it is still valid. Always take your receipt and shred it at home or work.

 Check your accounts. While shopping, keep an eye on your account. Most banks have apps or websites you can check your account from. Dont trust your checkbook  if a hacker steals from you, they wont write it in your checkbook! But dont check your bank account from the stores Wi-Fi: either use your cellular data (thats when it says LTE or 4G) or check at home.

 Shoulder surfing. Always be aware of people around you at stores or ATMs. Shield the keypad when you enter your personal identification number, so anybody around you cannot see. A common attack for hackers is to stand behind you with their phone up, so you think they are just checking their Facebook, but actually they are recording you swiping your card and entering your PIN. They can zoom in to read your card number and find out your PIN, then buy things online as you.

You might not have an envelope of cash to buy presents with anymore, but protect your credit and debit cards just like you would cash. Keeping a smart eye on your accounts will help you have happy holidays and start off the new year with resolutions, not resolving theft.

 Keelan T. Stewart is an information security analyst for Boys Town. He is a certified information systems security professional. Contact him at keelan.t.stewart@gmail.com.
WOODBINE  Woodbine Main Street board members came back to town with some love medicine for an old building on Thursday.

The group accepted a $75,000 grant from The Iowa Economic Development Authority, which awarded $933,300 in Main Street Iowa Challenge Grants to 14 communities around the state, The Twiner-Herald reported.

The grants will benefit local improvement projects such as facade upgrades and restoration, upper floor rehabilitation and remodeled spaces for expanding downtown businesses.

In Woodbines case, the grant will be used to restore the original Foodland building on South Walker Street as an event venue that can provide kitchen facilities for multiple purposes.

Dina Corbett, who owns the building, will provide the grants required private match of $75,000.

I knew the kitchen would sell the grant idea, said Woodbine Main Street Program Director Debra Sprecker. Its a readymade certified kitchen, good for any culinary business and perfect big-batch products for the commercial amenities business.

Corbett said she hopes to keep the facility in regular use.

Our goal is to make it affordable to use, and as frequently as possible, she said.

Sprecker projected the building, which can hold 100 to 125 people for various events, will be ready for use in six to eight months. The community kitchen will be available to rent by the hour.

The buildings marquee has been a mainstay on Walker Street since Lloyd and Bonnie Roundy built the structure in 1952, and the sign isnt going anywhere.

The marquee is the calling card, Corbett said. Whatever we call the building, that will go on the sign, and it will stay where it is now.

The old building set for renovation was actually the third location for Foodland. The first and second stores were both found on Walker Street  located where a Gambles store and Laundromat sat  and Foodland moved to its present spot on Lincoln Way in 1969. The old Foodland Building was also used as a community events venue in the 1980s and served as the site of a steakhouse, The Round Up.
Devika Rotwan, a survivor who was the youngest witness in the depose in court, hopes "the big terrorists" will be brought to justice.

Devika Rotwan was the youngest witness to depose in court, and identified Ajmal Kasab (Photo: ANI)

By India Today Web Desk: On the eighth anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, eyewitnesses expressed a desire to see its mastermind, the Pakistan-based terrorist Hafiz Saeed, punished.

The father of Devika, a survivor, told ANI he was happy with the punishment given to Ajmal Kasab, the Lashkar-e-Taiba operative who was sentenced to death for his role in the attack. But he said he wouldn't be satisfied until "the real mastermind sitting in Pakistan" was punished.

My daughter was just 9 years old when she got shot,it was traumatic. Yes we are happy that Kasab was hanged but we will not be satisfied till the real mastermind sitting in Pakistan is punished: father of 26/11 attacks survivor Devika pic.twitter.com/TSi9Bx7yPl- ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2017

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Devika Rotwan was at Mumbai's Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus with her father and her brother when two terrorists opened fire. She was shot in the right leg, and had to use crutches for a long time.

Devika was the youngest witness to depose in court, and identified Ajmal Kasab.

Today, she said Kasab was a "mosquito." She hopes "the big terrorists" will be brought to justice.

When I saw Kasab in the courtroom I was livid. I wished I had a gun in my hand, would have shot him there. Anyway Kasab was a mosquito, hope someday the big terrorists are brought to book: Devika,26/11 survivor and eyewitness pic.twitter.com/iuSfeR6tEu- ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2017

Mohd Taufeeq, an eyewitness, said he was waiting for the day the mastermind - another reference to Hafiz Saeed - is caught.

I still get disturbed whenever I think of that moment(26/11 attacks). I rescued many injured people, situation was devastating. I am just waiting for the day the real mastermind sitting in Pakistan is caught: Mohd Taufeeq(chhotu), tea seller at CST and eyewitness pic.twitter.com/vhLGgm87Qn- ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2017

Rahim Ansari, who lost six family members, said he went into depression after the attack.

I went into depression after the incident, my relatives had no chance to escape. Happy that perpetrators were either killed or punished. Hafiz Saeed is in Pakistan,would be ideal if Indian Govt gets him here and punishes him: Rahim Ansari,who lost 6 relatives in 26/11 attack pic.twitter.com/amjdUgdC8B- ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2017

Hafiz Saeed was recently released from house arrest, a move that the US has condemned. Washington has warned Islamabad of repercussions on US-Pakistan ties if the Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief isn't re-arrested.

The Mumbai attacks lasted over four days, killing around 164 people and injuring 305. Several places were targeted, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Taj Hotel at the Gateway of India, Cafe Leopold, Rang Bhavan Lane near Cama Hospital and St Xavier's College.

"We recall with gratitude the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil," President Ram Nath Kovind said today in a tweet.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Governor C Vidyasagar Rao paid tributes to the victims in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao pay tribute to 26/11 victims at memorial in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/bKY1C8RRNb- ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2017

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(Inputs from agencies)

WATCH | Hafiz Saeed slams India minutes after he walks free, calls Nawaz Sharif a traitor

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Editors Note: The Dodge Connection is an ongoing series of articles tracing the history of Gen. Grenville M. Dodge, one of Council Bluffs most famous residents, as well as the varied connections of Dodge and the Dodge family members to the residents and businesses in the Council Bluffs-Omaha community.

The following additional comments about Col. William H. Kinsman were written by Gen. Grenville M. Dodge.

That night, while the dashing rain was drenching us to the skin, and we huddled close together, we talked long after the middle of the night, and he said, I have orders to march at daylight and attack the enemy whenever and wherever we find them. I may be killed but if I live and the 23d will follow me, and I know it will, we will show the people at home that it is one of the best and bravest regiments that ever left the State, and I shall wear a star. But something tells me that I shall be severely wounded, and I want you, if I should be, to see that my sword and watch and other things are sent to Mr. Bloomer, who will know what to do with them; and while resting next morning under the river bank, to which point he had been ordered by Gen. Lawler, brigade commander, he again said to me: I expect to be shot down right up on this bank, pointing behind him to the high bank which sheltered us, but added in a tone of voice heard for several feet around us, but the 23d will get there just the same  dont stop for the dead and wounded; you must take those breastworks.

The 23d was lying with bayonets fixed, and loaded guns, stripped to the lightest running weight, under the bank of Black River, which at that point coursed east and west. Company A was on the right wing, and had orders, at a given signal, to mount the bank without firing a gun and double-quick across an open cotton-field to a point in the breast-works about 500 yards distant, where a bayou some 20 yards wide passed through the line of rifle-pits. This subjected the regiment to a flank and enfilading fire from Generals French and Bowens Missouri divisions, which occupied the line of field works on our right flank. From the time we mounted the bank we were subjected to a murderous fire from 6,000 Missouri and Arkansas troops, and the artillery fire of 12 guns in our front supported by two brigades of Tennesseans and Alabamians.

The order of Col. Kinsman was by signal (removing his hat), and he was stripped of everything except his sword-belt and revolver, ready to mount the bank, which was a perpendicular rise of four to five feet, and when the order from Gen. Lawler came, without a moments hesitation he raised his hat and was the first to mount the bank, the balance of his regiment following an instant later. There was no noise or confusion; every man knew what was expected of him, and not an order was issued. The regiment formed a passable line and moved on a double-quick without firing a gun.

The first volley fired from the works on our right found Col. Kinsman about 30 feet from the top of the bank. He had turned around facing the regiment as he was aligning it by motions, and urging it forward, and he was struck with a minie ball in his left side, piercing the sword-belt, near the center of the belt, and fell, turning completely around. I stopped by him a minute or less, gave him a canteen of coffee, and some cotton to staunch his wound, and left him lying in a cotton row, which was a slight protection from the bullets of the enemy, but he impatiently ordered me to leave him and go to the regiment.

I overtook the regiment as it was wading across the bayou, running over ground strewn with the wounded and dead of my regiment. As we were firing our first volley into the enemy after gaining the rifle pits. Col. Kinsman came rushing by us, shouting, Give em hell, boys! waving his naked sword and looking very pale, as if he were making a death struggle with his wound.

The enemy was retreating pell-mell in great disorder, and the very last volley I can remember as fired by them in our direction caught our colonel once more while he was shouting on the top of the enemys rifle pits  this time on his right side and about 2 inches higher than the first shot, both shots having passed through his body. He fell upon the enemys breast-works, and as they had ceased firing and were surrendering to our forces; the balance of our division were passing over the breast-works to cut off the retreat across the river, several of the slightly wounded members of the 23d gathered around him.

He was tenderly borne to the shade of a tree close by until stretchers could be procured, then he was carried to the hospital tent. When he was examined by the surgeons at the hospital tent, and during this time he shook hands with the boys as they came to see him, asking after the wounded, and when told of John Lyon having been killed, he said, I am so sorry; I told him not to go with the boys, but he was a brave man and would go.

When the surgeons told Kinsman he had only a slim chance to live, he said, Ill take that chance, as I dont want to leave my brave boys, and then didnt they surprise the Johnny-rebs? and didnt you see them run up the cotton-batting on their bayonets? and thus he talked at times as the pain increased. Finally, about midnight the 17th of May, he began to grow worse, and passed away the next morning. He told us to bury him under the live oak tree, where he was lying on a cot under a tent-fly, and on the evening of the 18th of May, 1863, about sundown, with a few of his friends present, he was laid to his final rest.

Gen. McClellan commander of the 13th Army Corps, said in his report of the battle: Among the killed is Col. Kinsman, 23d Iowa, who fell mortally wounded while leading his regiment upon the enemys works. Gen. Carr, commanding the 4th division of the corps, and an eye-witness, said: A murderous cross-fire was opened on our men as they moved forward on the run. It was here that the gallant Kinsman of the 23d Iowa lost his life. He received a fatal wound in the abdomen, but still kept on, until another through his chest brought him to the ground.

His last words, as I now remember them, were: Tell the boys I died happy. I fell at the head of my regiment, doing my duty. Bury me here on the field of my last battle.

Kinsmans comrades of the 4th and 23d Iowa, and his friends in Council Bluffs, were very desirous that his remains should be brought back to his home, and considerable correspondence occurred. The difficulty seemed to be to find someone who knew and could designate the spot where he was buried. Finally, in the spring of 1884, Lt. N. E. Ridenour, of the 23d, editor of The Page County Democrat, who had taken great personal interest in the matter, he, together with the Rev. A. G. Barton, went to the Black River Bayou battleground, east of Vicksburg, with the hope of bringing Col. Kinsmans remains back; but the changes in the country since the war made it impossible to locate it.

They returned greatly disappointed, and their disappointment was shared by all of Kinsmans friends who had looked forward to their bringing his remains with them. Lieut. Straight in his letter to me (Dodge) said he thinks he can find the grave, and during the coming autumn I shall try to have one more effort made to bring his remains to Iowa to be buried at home with his comrades, where he can be properly honored, and the memory of his deeds perpetuated.

Since the civil war few men of his rank have been so well remembered in this State as Colonel William H. Kinsman. True, he was a brave, impulsive and most efficient soldier, who was killed in battle; but this might be said of many others who were quite his equals, but of whom the general recollection is growing dim with the flight of years. His name has lived while the mould is gathering upon the memories of so many others. In addition, however, to his high, manly, and soldierly qualities, he was most fortunate in other respects. He was the idol of two famous regiments, the 4th and the 23d Infantry, the survivors of which were in many Iowa counties, and an officer whose characteristics gave him a warm place in the affections of his men.
CLARINDA  A requirement for the establishment of a chapter of the Children of the American Revolution organization is that the local unit must have a unique name.

Selecting a name may sound super easy, but its not, said Trish Okamoto, Nodaway Valley Historical Museum curator who helped create the first chapter in Page County a few years ago.

You have to come up with a name thats unique to the entire country, she said during the First Sunday program on Nov. 5 at the museum in Clarinda. You cant duplicate anybody. Imagine how many people want William Penn.

After planners considered various possibilities, Okamoto said, we then realized that we have our own Revolutionary War soldier buried right here in Page County.

He is Daniel Dow, interred at Grove Cemetery near College Springs. He is the only veteran of Americas war of independence buried this far west, Okamoto said.

Officially designated as the Daniel Dow Chapter of the Children of the American Revolution, the unit honors an individual who actually was a child when he served in the Continental Army during the war, The Clarinda Herald-Journal reported.

At age 8, his position was a call boy who carried messages and reports between American forces located in different battlefront areas. He enlisted in Coventry, Connecticut, in 1778, and was part of the Armys First Militia Company of the Fifth Regiment.

After the war, he and his family moved first to New York and then to Ohio before arriving in Iowa and settling on a farm in Black Hawk County. In 1854, Dow visited Page County. One of his sons had moved there and was elected as a trustee of Amity College.

Dow came to the county in 1857, reportedly walking to the area from northeast Iowa. He died Feb. 7, 1860, at the age of 88. In a ceremony in June of 1942, a plaque was placed on his gravestone by members of the Shenandoah Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Okamoto said the stone at Grove Cemetery is in good shape and gets the most attention of any tombstone in Page County by visitors. The condition of the cemetery itself prompts expressions of concern by people who see it, due to the growth of vegetation at the site.

But its a natural cemetery, protected by the state, and thats how its supposed to be, she said. Were not allowed to use weed killer or clean around the stones. Were very limited on what were allowed to do there.

No mowing is permitted, but the vegetation around the cemetery can be removed with controlled burning.

The Dow Chapter of the CAR currently has eight members: Matthew Barnes, Chase McAndrews, Hannah Powers, Drake Riddle, Cade Solivan, Isabel Solivan, Taylor Wagoner and Tatum Watkins.

Four of them were at the Nov. 5 program, reviewing information they had discovered as part of the process for applying for membership in the CAR group.

To be eligible, individuals under the age of 18 must be able to prove they are lineally descended from someone who served in the Continental Army or who gave material aid in some manner, not necessarily only in a combat role, in Americas struggle for independence.

Barnes said the family member he has traced to the Revolutionary War was Belshazzar Dragoo, who joined an infantry unit in Virginia. After his service, he was awarded 400 acres, Barnes said. Im trying to find out what special thing he did. The average (award) was 60 to 80 acres.

Dragoo later became a pioneer settler in Ohio and joined the Shaker movement.

Riddles ancestor was Hezekiah Ripley, who served as a chaplain in the Continental Army under George Washington. Riddle said he learned Ripleys home, church and library were burned by the British. Research has also revealed Riddle is a descendant of William Bradford, who was on the Mayflower.

Watkins said her ancestor with a Revolutionary War connection was Israel Gates. He was not a soldier, but did mapping and things like that, she said.

Chase McAndrews said his ancestor Peter Grancer Luna was a soldier who served his country in the Revolutionary War and then in the War of 1812. In his research, McAndrews also found out his family has ties to Scottish royalty.

One of the benefits of belonging to the CAR, which has been in existence since 1895, is that members are eligible for scholarships.

The more voluntary work they do and the more they participate in their community, the higher the likelihood of getting a scholarship, Okamoto said.

The local chapter meets regularly at the museum to conduct research and to obtain data necessary for completing applications. Specific documentation, such as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses and obituaries, is required to prove eligibility for CAR membership.

There is a lot of work involved in the process. But Okamoto said she is certain that the participants believe it is worthwhile.

Something that is promoted with CAR, which all of these kids already have, is a sense of community, and where they come from, and the United States of America and how we came about, she said. These kids are all history kids and they get it. But it links them a bit deeper, plus they all find out something about their ancestry, which they really love.
SHENANDOAH  With fiscal year 2019 budget preparations weeks away, the Page County Board of Supervisors met with the county Veterans Affairs commission about making the departments administrator position full time.

For more than two years, the commission has met with the supervisors multiple times about increasing Administrator Rod Riley to full-time status, The Shenandoah Valley News reported.

Riley was given the administrator job and 20 hours a week in 2015 after the supervisors created the 911 communications director position combined with emergency management coordinator. Previously, Riley had been Veterans Affairs administrator and emergency management coordinator.

Commission member Gary Alger proposed Tuesday making Riley full time. Supervisors did not take any action on the proposal. Ron Gibson and Wendy Halloran are the other commission members.

In late 2015, supervisors agreed to increase Riley to 26 hours a week after meeting with the commission.

Since there are no restrictions on where qualified veterans can apply for services, it is common for Riley to work with veterans who are not Page County residents. Veterans have been from area counties, and Riley said the county benefits financially from other area vets using the countys services.

Supervisor Chuck Morris said he supports veterans, but needs to be responsible to Page County taxpayers.

If you spend six hours with someone not from Page County, youre not spending six hours with someone from Page County, Morris said.

A year ago, the commission estimated there are 1,400 Page County veterans. Commission members explained how Iowa resident veterans are encouraged to register with their county recorders office.

Riley said he reminds the non-Page County veterans he meets with to utilize the veterans services where they live. Gibson said he knows of Page County veterans who use services in other counties and towns.

At the request of Morris, he asked Riley to explain how more effective he has been since his hours were increased to 26 a week. Riley said he would provide that information at a later date.

I need to know that, Morris said.

Increasing Riley to full time would require a benefit package that would increase the budget by an estimated $25,000 a year.
By PTI: By Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Nov 26 (PTI) Around 65 per cent votes were cast today as polls opened in Nepal for a historic round of provincial and parliamentary elections that many hope will bring the much-needed political stability to the Himalayan nation.

Of the total 15.4 million voters, 3.19 million were eligible to cast their votes in the first phase of the polls today while the rest will exercise their franchise during the second phase on December 7.

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The polling was held more or less in peaceful manner, with exception of sporadic incidents in a few places, and the voters cast their votes enthusiastically, according to officials of the Election Commission.

Around 65 per cent of the 3.19 million voters cast their votes today to elect amid tight security lawmakers in 32 districts, mainly hilly and mountain regions in the northern part of the land-locked country, the officials said.

The turnout was lower than the votes cast during the local-level polls, when more than 70 per cent voters exercised their franchise.

Bajura district situated in far West Nepal witnessed the highest percentage of polling with 80 per cent people casting their votes, the EC officials added.

The voting took place in 37 electoral constituencies of 32 districts. Altogether 702 candidates were in the fray for 37 seats of Parliament and 74 of provincial assemblies. Voting started at 7 AM and continued till 5 PM (local time).

This is for the first time that elections for Parliament and provincial assemblies are being conducted under the new Constitution promulgated in September 2015.

The second phase will see elections in 45 districts including Kathmandu valley and southern plains of Nepal, also known as Terai.

The elections will elect 175 Members of Parliament and 350 members of provincial assemblies in seven provinces for a five-year term.

A large number of security personnel including the army were mobilised to ensure security.

The EC authorities visited several remote areas on helicopters to assess poll preparations.

Chief Election Commissioner Aydohee Prasad Yadav visited Dolpa in the North-East mountain region and Nuwakot in the central Nepal, respectively, to have a direct observation of the poll preparations.

"I am also excited for the polls as most people whom I met today in various parts of the country are really excited. Unlike them I am a bit worried if any force disturbs the elections. Thus, lets first make this election a success and we all will celebrate it together," CEC Yadav had told reporters on the eve of the election.

"The election will complete the implementation of the first Constitution promulgated through the Constituent Assembly and federal democratic republic will be further strengthened ending the protracted political deadlock," he had said.

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Two major communist parties -- CPN-UML and former rebel CPN (Maoist) now rebranded as CPN (Maoist Center) -- have forged an electoral alliance against the ruling Nepali Congress.

The two parties have vowed to garner a majority in the elections and forming a communist government.

The Nepali Congress has also forged an electoral alliance with pro-Hindu Rastriya Prajatantra Party in certain electoral constituencies.

There are also some electoral alliances between the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, a key Madhesi party and Nepali Congress in some constituencies to counter the communist alliance.

"Its an important step to implement the Constitution. Lets hope, this election will pave the way for political stability and development in the coming days," said former chief election commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel, who successfully conducted elections in 2008.

The elections are billed as the final step in Nepals transition to a federal democracy following a decade-long civil war till 2006 that claimed more than 16,000 lives. PTI SBP CPS ZH KIS

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Cupcakes to raise funds for Salvation Army

The Cake Lady and Pals Brewery have teamed up for a fundraiser event for the Salvation Army at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 2.

The Cake Lady will provide gourmet cupcakes created with Pals Brew. The cost to participate is $20 with a portion of that going to the Salvation Army. The four special brew with the complimenting cupcake are Jalapeno Creme Ale paired with Jalapeno corn cupcake; Cherry Stout paired with Stout Chocolate Fudge Cupcake; Blueberry beer paired with a blueberry cupcake with maple frosting and a bit of bacon; and then banana beer paired with the banana Fosters. The event will continue until all the cupcakes are gone.

Salvation Army Bell Ringers will be at Pals to take additional donations.

Pheasants released

LINCOLN  The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission released rooster pheasants at 14 wildlife management areas in time for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The 14 areas are: Oak Valley (Madison County), Wilkinson (Platte County), Sherman Reservoir (Sherman County), Pressey (Custer County), Branched Oak (Lancaster County), Yankee Hill (Lancaster County), Twin Oaks (Johnson County), Hickory Ridge (Johnson County), Cornhusker (Hall County), Peru Bottoms (Nemaha County), Kirkpatrick Basin North (York County), Schilling (Cass County), Arrowhead (Gage County), and George Syas (Platte County). Kirkpatrick Basin North, Schilling, Wilkinson and Peru Bottoms are non-toxic shot only, but otherwise all normal regulations apply.

The pheasant season runs through Jan. 31, 2018. Permits, including the nonresident two-day hunt permit, may be purchased at OutdoorNebraska.org.

Social Order of Beauceant to host dinner

A dinner honoring Edith Rein of St. George, Utah, worthy supreme president of the Social Order of Beauceant, is at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Masonic Temple, B and McDonald streets.

The dinner is for all members of the Social Order of Beauceant and their spouses. Social Order of Beauceant is the womens organization of the Knights Templar.

Nebraska Beef Council to meet

The Nebraska Beef Council Board of Directors will meet at 10 a.m. on Dec. 4 at the NBC office located in Kearney at 1319 Central Ave. The NBC Board of Directors will review evaluations for fiscal year 2016-17.

For a copy of the board agenda, please contact Pam Esslinger at pam@nebeef.org
Thanksgiving was this past Thursday, and I hope everyone had a great time with family and friends and a chance to share some good times and good food. As Americans, we have a lot to be thankful for. As hunters, we can be thankful for our right to own firearms and opportunities to hunt and put food on the table.

I know a lot of hunters  myself included  had wild turkey as part of the Thanksgiving dinner. This is truly an American tradition. Wild turkey was part of the original Thanksgiving dinner with the pilgrims back is 1621. That is one of the reasons we celebrate the holiday with a turkey dinner.

The pilgrims that came to this continent were familiar with guinea fowl and peafowl, but these newcomers to North America found a bird similar to what they were used to seeing. They often wrote about finding this new kind of large bird. Their descriptions were ultimately determined to be of a new species of bird, which became known as the wild turkey. Biologists believe that when these colonists arrived, the wild turkey inhabited what are now 39 of the continental states and the Canadian province of Ontario.

Fall has been a preferred time to hunt wild turkeys by many traditionalists. Fall seasons have had a resurgence in popularity in recent years with the ever-increasing numbers of turkeys. Today, 42 states now host fall turkey seasons and more hunters are discovering the tradition of fall turkey hunting.

Plucking and roasting a turkey is the traditional way to prepare a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. There are lots of recipes to cook a turkey like this. If you are one of the hunters in Nebraska who have a turkey in the freezer, and are looking for something a little different to do with your bird, here are a couple of recipes you might want to consider.

Grilled Turkey Breast

There may be some good sales on turkeys after Thanksgiving, so try this recipe. Using the filets of turkey breast meat, place the meat in a large ZipLock baggie and add a bottle of Italian dressing. I like the zesty Italian style dressing. I also add a cup of balsamic vinegar.

Seal the bag and put it in the refrigerator. Let the meat marinate in this mixture for 24 hours, turning it about every 8 hours so that all the meat gets marinated.

When the meat is adequately marinated, get your grill ready. Let the meat cook over a low to medium heat. Most turkey breasts will take 15-20 minutes to cook using this recipe. I like to flip the meat about four times as it cooks. I think you will really enjoy the taste of this recipe.

Wild turkey salad

You always have leftovers, so here is a great recipe for your wild turkey. I like this recipe so much that I often make this as my first option with the wild turkeys I take in the fall.

You will need:

1 wild turkey (not the whiskey)

1 bottle of Miracle Whip dressing

1 small onion

1 small bottle of yellow mustard

1 small jar of bread and butter pickles

1 cup of almonds

Directions:

Remove all the meat from the turkey carcass. Cook meat in a crockpot on high for about 4 hours. Slice, dice and chop the turkey into  inch pieces. Dice the pickles, onions and almonds.

For every 2 pounds of turkey, mix in one cup of Miracle Whip, one tablespoon of mustard, one cup of diced pickles, one cup of diced onions and one cup of chopped almonds.

Mix this together very thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I like to keep this around to serve on bread for a quick on-the-go sandwich or crackers for a great tasting snack. I think youll like this one, too.

Wild turkey sandwich and cracker spread

And for those few scraps of turkey you still have left, use this recipe to utilize the last bits of turkey that you had left from your Thanksgiving dinner. It is very easy to make and makes great sandwiches or cracker-type hors doeuvres.

Ingredients:

1 pound of diced turkey meat

1 diced medium onion

1 cup of dried cranberry craisins

2 cups of diced apples

 cup of Miracle Whip

Directions:

Dice the turkey, onion and apples. Add in the craisins and the Miracle Whip and blend together. Use as a spread on bread or crackers and savor the taste. This is an excellent way to finish up the turkey leftovers.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
Q: Can a married couple have one will or should they both have their own?

A: Yes, a married couple can have one will. It's known as a joint will and Indiana recognizes them as a sort of binding contract between the parties. The problem you may encounter is finding an attorney who will draft one.

Whenever someone asks me about joint wills, my eyes kind of glaze over and I am immediately taken back law school. It was in my advanced estate planning class where my professor opened his lecture with "the only reason to draft a joint will is because you want to get sued." I've always remembered that lecture and ever since then, I've looked upon joint wills as malpractice traps.

Now you may find someone to complete a joint will for you. I recently had lunch with a colleague who told me they are working on their first joint will. After my initial shock I gave them the usual malpractice warning. They seemed okay with it so I'll defer to my learned counsel.

Personally I think everyone should have their own wills. So the simple answer is yes, a married couple can have a joint will. Whether they should have one however, is not that simple.

Q: What happens if you don't name a beneficiary on life insurance? Does it just pay to the estate?

A: Yes, if you fail to name a beneficiary on a life insurance policy, chances are pretty good that the proceeds will be paid to the estate.

In the time before the Indiana Inheritance Tax went away, attorneys would strongly recommend naming a beneficiary because life insurance proceeds payable to an individual beneficiary weren't subject to inheritance tax while proceeds payable to the estate were. From a simple financial standpoint it made sense to name beneficiaries.

Although the inheritance tax is gone, I still recommend naming a beneficiary. Remember that life insurance proceeds are generally exempt from recovery by creditors. If the proceeds are payable to the estate, the proceeds are open to potential creditors.

There may be reasons to allow life insurance proceeds to be payable to the estate. However, if the only reason is because you haven't called the insurance company to obtain the form, I strongly suggest you make the call.
Before oil prices plunged a few years ago, shale drillers generally pursued production growth at all costs. That led most to outspend cash flow by wide margins, with many piling on a mountain of debt to drill more wells.

However, after getting singed by that aggressive approach when prices crashed, many drillers are being much more conservative this time around, now aiming to grow production within cash flow around current oil prices. That said, some oil companies have taken a different approach, putting the priority on drilling to increase cash flow, instead of drilling through their cash flow. One of the leaders of this new breed of oil stocks is Encana (NYSE: ECA), which is emerging as a top-tier choice for investors.

Drilling for cash

About a year ago, Encana unveiled a five-year plan that would return the company to a growth mode. The Canadian driller estimated that by 2021 it could boost production 60% by focusing on drilling high-return wells. It set a hurdle rate of 35% after-tax at $50 oil for wells it planned on drilling going forward, which it seemed to model after EOG Resources' (NYSE: EOG) premium return strategy. Though, in EOG's case, its hurdle rate for new wells is a 30% after-tax return at $40 oil. That difference aside, the point is that by drilling these premium return wells, both companies could grow production and cash flow at a healthy clip at lower oil prices.

However, last month Encana released an updated five-year plan. This time its focus wasn't on how much it could grow production. Instead, the company highlighted its ability to increase cash flow. CEO Doug Suttles pointed that out in the company's recent third-quarter conference call:

Looking forward over the next five years, our plan now delivers a cash flow compound annual growth rate of approximately 25%. In 2018, we expect total capital and cash flow to be in balance. From 2019 on, we expect to generate significant free cash flow, approximately $1.5 billion over the planned period, demonstrating that our business works at a flat $50 WTI oil price and a $3 NYMEX gas price.

What's noteworthy about that strategy is that Encana expects not only to increase cash flow at a rapid rate, but to generate significant excess capital in the coming years even if oil slips from its current mid-$50-a-barrel level. That puts Encana in a very elite group, as rivals plan to spend all their cash flow on new wells and ramp spending and their production growth rate as oil prices improve. For example, EOG Resources' current long-term plan is to deliver 15% compound oil production growth through 2020 if oil stays around $50 a barrel. However, if crude rises to $60, EOG said it could increase its output by a 25% compound annual rate over that same time frame.

A catalyst on the horizon?

While Encana hasn't yet said what it plans to do with that excess cash, it will likely return some of it to shareholders. Currently, the only money it sends their way is a paltry dividend that yields a mere 0.5%, which is a fraction of what it once was because the company slashed its payout in 2016 to conserve cash flow. More than likely, Encana will allocate some of its excess cash toward boosting the dividend. In addition to that, its also entirely possible that it will authorize a share repurchase program, which is what several rivals have done with the cash they had left over from selling assets during the downturn.

Those future cash returns to shareholders could provide a significant boost to Encana's stock price in the coming years. That has been the experience of other oil companies since they announced plans to send more cash to shareholders. For example, last fall ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) announced that it would increase its dividend each year and repurchase $3 billion in stock over the next three (and recently, it boosted its repurchase program up to $7.5 billion through 2020). That announcement has paid big dividends for investors considering that ConocoPhillips' stock has risen 12.5% since then, while the average energy stock as measured by the return of the Vanguard Energy ETF is down 4.5%. Anadarko Petroleum has also enjoyed similar outperformance since announcing its intention to repurchase $2.5 billion in stock two months ago. Anadarko stock has risen 8% since then, while the Vanguard Energy ETF is only up about 0.5% over that time frame.

It won't flatline for long

Encana is just getting started on a long-term strategy that should significantly increase its cash flow, which in time should leave it with plenty left over to return to investors. So far, the market isn't paying much attention since the stock has basically flatlined this year. However, as the cash from the company's high-return drilling program starts piling up, it should eventually catch the eye of the market, especially when Encana starts returning some of that money to investors. That combination of rapidly rising cash flow and increasing shareholder returns could fuel significant gains for investors over the long term, even if oil dips a bit from here, which is why it's a top oil stock to consider owning for the long haul.

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ArcelorMittal USA is offering grants to local schools to further science, technology, engineering and math or STEM education.

The steelmaker has pledged up to $275,000 to schools to teach the Project Lead The Way curriculum at local elementary, middle and high schools. It hopes to interest K-12 students in future careers in engineering.

Over the last three years, ArcelorMittal has invested over $1 million to support the implementation of the groundbreaking PLTW curriculum into local schools," ArcelorMittal USA CEO John Brett said. "We are committed to ensuring that tomorrows leaders have access to quality STEM programming from an early age. That is why we are proud to expand our grantmaking to include the PLTW Launch program this year, providing access to STEM curriculum to students in Kindergarten through to 12th grade. This is important not only for the future of our company, but of our communities as well."

Through Dec. 15, teachers in Lake, Porter or LaPorte Counties can apply for grants from $5,000 to $35,000, or up to $5,000 to expand existing middle school programs. The money can go to classroom equipment, materials, teacher professional development, and annual participation fees.

ArcelorMittal is a true partner in our efforts to ensure that students have the career learning experiences needed to thrive in our rapidly evolving world, PLTW senior vice president and chief partnerships officer Rex Bolinger said. Through their support of PLTW programs at the elementary school, middle school and high school level, more students across America will have the in-demand knowledge and transportable skills to become our countrys future innovators, creators and problem solvers. We are proud to work alongside ArcelorMittal in this effort.

For more information, visit pltw.org/our-programs.
An autumn trip to New Jersey offered a group of local public officials, business people and nonprofit leaders a look at strategies that can help attract new residents to established communities.

The group of nearly 30 toured Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, Asbury Park and Trenton, visiting downtown developments, repurposed industrial sites and transformed buildings designed with an eye toward "quality of place."

"What we saw across the board was collaboration to invest in place-making," said Leah Konrady, who organized the October trip as president and CEO of One Region.

Government, businesses large and small, educational institutions and community groups were all involved in their city's effort.

"There are strong parallels between New Jersey and Northwest Indiana," she said. "In terms of place-making, we have something to learn from them."

"They're all on the same page," Horizon Bank President and CEO Craig Dwight said. He noted partnerships with universities as particularly important, both in terms of locating their own operations in redeveloping areas, and in creating strategies for revitalization.

Dwight also mentioned tools that can help local communities, including New Jersey's "spot blight" eminent domain law, which not only speeds the purchase of abandoned properties, but allows the cost of rehabiltation or redevelopment to be subtracted from the property value.

Among the similarities between the New Jersey communities and Northwest Indiana are proximity to major cities and extensive waterfronts.

Dwight said establishing development zones around train stations added credence to local plans for South Shore Line projects.

"After seeing New Jersey, it supports their plan even moreso," he said of the railroad's expansion.

State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, said Asbury Park showed how to make the most of a seaside location.

"The lakefront to me is just a huge benefit," he said of Northwest Indiana's geography. "That's going to be a huge draw."

The New Jersey city's connection to New York was seen as similar to Northwest Indiana's link to Chicago. When it comes to drawing residents from the neighboring state, "I think we are in a position just like the cities in New Jersey," Smith said.

He also noted local companies  like Amazon-owned Audible Inc. in Newark  can draw residents.

That company, which produces audio books, has invested in Newark in part because of a new focus on education and arts, said Sherri Ziller, chief operating officer of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.

"The arts and culture  they really emphasized that," Ziller said. "It was one of the main reasons they located there."

The panel with Audible executives was held in the Hahne building, former home of a department store that sat vacant for three decades. It now is home to apartments, a Rutgers University arts incubator and other businesses.

Ziller said the communities have also adapted their strategies as they've gone along. Once they saw success in attracting millennials, "the issue is getting them to stay," Ziller said.

Promoting the development of more three-bedroom apartments was one way to do that. "They just changed their housing stock a little," Ziller said.

The Northwest Indiana delegation said they received a positive reaction to the regional diversity of their group.

"They're competing against each other," Dwight said of the New Jersey municipalities. "We had all the communities at the table. That impressed them."

One Region intends to take similar trips, dubbed "benchmark tours," to Pittsburgh and Denver during the next two years.
Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana, which operates out of Merrillville and serves Lake County, has been delivering nutritious meals to seniors, disabled and homebound individuals for 40 years.

That service would not be possible without a large pool of volunteers who cook, package and deliver food, answer phones, do office tasks and other things. And that can't happen without the careful oversight of Joan Vith, who has coordinated the work of 650 volunteers for the past four years.

Vith's job at Meals on Wheels is a new career she took on after retiring a second time and volunteering at the organization herself. Vith opted for an early retirement plan from Methodist Hospitals, where she had worked in the human resources department. Not quite ready to end her working days, she became a human resources director at a long-term health care facility. After a few years there, she decided it was time to retire, but she quickly found that she needed something to keep her active. So she signed on with Meals on Wheels.

As an office assistant one day a week, Vith made phone calls, copies and mailings to help the volunteer manager. When that position opened, I thought I was too old and they wouldn't be interested, she said. When the executive director urged her to apply, emphasizing emphasized how dependable she was, she threw her hat in the ring  and got the job.

The position involves training volunteers, coordinating their schedule, distributing a monthly newsletter, arranging for substitute drivers and communicating with corporate partners. Knowing that you make a difference almost every day of your life is very rewarding, she said.

Vith married young and started a family, forgoing college to raise her children. When her husband passed away 16 years ago and she went back to school. It was something I had always wanted, but life happened and you dont always get to do everything you planned on doing, she said. She received her bachelors degree in health care management from Calumet College of St. Joseph in 2007. She was 59 and a straight A student.

When shes not at work, she enjoys reading and watching Hallmark movies and Cubs games. Im a huge Cubs fan, and Im always watching the Cubs games and cheering them on, she said. Her family, which includes a son and daughter and two grandsons, are big Cubs fans, too, who enjoy going to games together.

Recently she took her 15- and 18-year-old grandsons on some deliveries and noticed how excited the clients were to see the helpers  who, to her surprise, also enjoyed learning that they could make a difference. My 18-year-old, who I thought may not even want to get out of the car, was the first at the door, she said. I was floored at what a good time he had. They were really surprised at how happy everyone was to see us.

Vith said the clients love the diversity of the helpers, who range from their early 20s to their 80s.

Twice a week she holds training sessions for potential volunteers. She covers the history of the agency and its mission and then talks to the trainees about what type of commitment they can make and what type of volunteer work would be the best fit for them.

Two 88-year-olds just retired after delivering after about 20 years. Vith's most recent training included two young girls who wanted to help around their school schedules. What they bring to volunteering is so refreshing to see because theyre so excited and really look forward to making a difference, she said. Thats what is so rewarding  that the volunteers really want to make a difference someones life.
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WESTVILLE  A 24-year-old woman is in custody for allegedly battering and stabbing her boyfriend while highly intoxicated in the early morning hours Thursday.

Deputies from the Westville Police Department and the LaPorte County Sheriff's office responded shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday to Casey's General Store at 500 N. Flynn Road to meet with the victim, according to a police news release.

The 40-year-old man told police he had been babysitting for Torrie Fraley at her home in the 600 block of Chandler Drive while Fraley was at work, according to the news release. The victim said he was in a relationship with Fraley.

He was sleeping at the house but was awakened by Fraley "hitting and punching him," according to police.

"The disturbance escalated to the point where furniture was being overturned," according to the release. "Fraley armed herself with two knives and stabbed (the victim) in the upper left arm causing a laceration and bleeding."

The victim fled the home with the child and waited for police to arrive at the nearby Casey's General Store.

Farley was found at the home and transported to LaPorte Hospital to be medically cleared due to her extreme level of intoxication, according to police.

Fraley faces a charge of battery with a deadly weapon, a level 5 felony, and will appear in LaPorte Circuit Court later in the week.

Fraley's child was turned over to the care of a relative, police said.
By PTI: Jammu, Nov 26 (PTI) A man wearing Army uniform was arrested with eight kilograms of heroin worth nearly Rs 40 crore in the international market, a top police officer said today.

"Mohammad Anwar, a resident of Lam village of Nowshera in Rajouri district was arrested yesterday and eight kilograms of pure quality heroin worth Rs 40 crore in the market, bearing Afghan markings, was found in his possession," Inspector General of Police (Jammu) S D Singh Jamwal told reporters while he presented the accused before the media.

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The consignment, which was headed for Delhi, was the second major haul recovered in the past three days, IG Jamwal said.

The accused claimed to be an Army official belonging to 17 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry regiment and attached with the Army headquarters in Delhi, he said, adding "his claims are being verified". He was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Anwar was travelling in a Delhi-bound bus which was stopped in Kunjwani and the narcotic consignment concealed inside a box of apples was seized from him, the IG said.

Terming the seizure a "major success" and the "second surgical strike" against drugs peddlers, Jamwal said it is premature to say anything about the end user but it was being transported from Srinagar to Delhi via Ludhiana.

"The consignment bore Afghan labels, indicating that the drugs were smuggled into the state from Pakistan," he said, adding that the drugs were being produced in Afghanistan- Pakistan region.

Jamwal said simultaneous raids were conducted in different parts of Jammu leading to the recovery of 110 grams of heroin from Rajouri, 350 grams of charas from Kishtwar and 1.2 kg of charas from Kathua besides 2,400 banned capsules from Jammu city.

"Our efforts will continue with the same vigour to eradicate the menace of drug trafficking," he said.

Jamwal said the quantity of heroin and the amount of money seized in the recent past was indicative of the nefarious designs of the people involved in drug trafficking.

He said the quantity of heroin and the volume of money which was seized in the recent past was indicative of the nefarious designs of the people involved in drug trafficking.

"The money could have been utilized anywhere but our effort is to break the whole nexus," the IG said. PTI TAS IJT

--- ENDS ---
INDIANAPOLIS  Northwest Indiana has the distinction of being home to seven of the state's 10 most populous towns, and 10 in the top 20.

According to 2016 U.S. Census estimates, Merrillville has the most residents of any town in Indiana with 34,994, immediately followed by Schererville with 28,701.

The other Region towns ranked highest in the state by population are Munster (fourth), Highland (fifth), St. John (eighth), Griffith (ninth) and Dyer (10th). Chesterton places 12th, Cedar Lake 15th and Lowell 18th.

Under Indiana law, every one of those towns could have become a city years, or even decades, ago, once their population exceeded the city minimum of 2,000 residents.

So why do many of the Region's most bustling communities have the same status as Indiana's least-populated locales?

"It really just comes down to the preference of the local community, whether they want to remain a town or look at becoming a city," said Matt Greller, CEO of Accelerate Indiana Municipalities, or AIM, which advocates for cities and towns at the Statehouse.

Town vs. city

The primary difference between a town and a city in Indiana is the structure of municipal government.

In a town, all power is vested in the elected members of the town council. The council sets tax rates, adopts a budget, appoints department heads, hires town employees and oversees the day-to-day operations of town government.

"The town council is the ultimate authority," said state Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, a former 10-year member of the Schererville Town Council. "It's a collective decision, but they are in charge."

Town councils do elect a council president, usually from the political party with a majority of council members.

However, the president is just first among equals. He or she has little explicit authority beyond ensuring council meetings don't get out of hand and representing the town at official functions.

Many, but not all, town councils hire a professional town manager to administer some of the council's duties, particularly day-to-day town operations.

The town manager generally serves at the pleasure of the council and can be removed and replaced at any time.

In a city, the elected council members have legislative and financial authority, but the administration and day-to-day operations of city government are controlled by a separately elected mayor.

Hoosier mayors are unusually powerful compared to their colleagues in most other states, as mayors of even the smallest Indiana cities often are full-time city employees and, because they are separately elected, can claim a citywide mandate for their agenda.

Mayors of Indiana cities also tend to serve as the primary cheerleader for their communities and as the single point of contact for economic development efforts and other city-boosting activities.

According to the State Board of Accounts there are 119 cities and 447 towns in Indiana.

Making a town into a city

State law permits, but does not require, town residents to vote on whether to reincorporate as a city once a town's population exceeds 2,000 people.

A town-to-city referendum is triggered when either the town council authorizes it, or a petition demanding a referendum, signed by at least 10 percent of the number of town voters who cast a ballot in the most recent secretary of state election, is presented to the council.

If a majority of voters approve the change at a regular or special election, they then will cast ballots at the next general or municipal election for a mayor and city council.

A town officially becomes a city on the first day of the year following the November election of its city officials.

Since 1976, only six Indiana towns  none located in Northwest Indiana  have become cities: Carmel, Greendale, Jonesboro, Austin, Westfield and Fishers.

Greller said AIM usually gets one or two inquires a year from Indiana town officials about making the switch to a city, but his organization does not advocate in favor of the change.

"We just help them through the mechanics of the process and we try to answer any and all questions we can," Greller said.

"It's really just a local decision and whether they want to retain that council-manager form of government that most of the communities in Northwest Indiana have now, or move to a mayor structure."

Fishers, located immediately northeast of Indianapolis along Interstate 69, is the most recent Indiana town to become a city following a favorable 2012 referendum. The change took effect Jan. 1, 2015.

Its first mayor, Republican Scott Fadness, was the former town manager of the booming community that includes 90,127 residents, the state's only IKEA store and central Indiana's first Portillo's restaurant.

Fadness told an Indianapolis television station following his 2014 election that he expects Fishers changing from a town to a city will spur even more economic growth in the community.

"First thing to happen: I will become the centerpoint, or singular voice, for economic development underway," Fadness said.

"We've got a lot of momentum, but I think you're going to see even more come Jan. 1 in our development of a smart, vibrant, entrepreneurial city."

Impact of the change

AIM's Greller is not convinced that Fishers changing to a city from a town had much impact on its economic development prospects.

"When you look at a place like Fishers, they've been doing a lot of things over the last 25-plus years to position themselves for that type of growth and development," he said.

"For them, going from a town to a city, I would put that way down on the list of importance in having the success that they're experiencing now."

At the same time, Greller believes there can be some benefit to having a single person represent a community in business negotiations and other matters  provided that person is capable of leading effectively.

"If you become a city, you do have that citywide elected leader that is in charge, generally, of setting the vision for the community, economic development vision, all those kinds of things," Greller said.

"But that's all dependent on who is elected, too ... So much of it is involved with who you get, in so many cases, rather than just the simple going from a town to a city."

He added that state funding for local governments is distributed on a per capita, or formula basis, without regard for whether the money is going to a city or a town.

Slager said he's discovered, through annual surveys of his legislative district, that his town-based constituents are wary of concentrating power in the hands of a single county or city executive, even though Slager likes it because then "you can't pass the buck."

"In Lake County, the fear is of having too much authority with one person," he said. "I think if you have one person that was an elected official that was responsible for the development, I think that's a good thing."

He noted that town council members, in particular, have a reason for not wanting to become a city council: "If there's a mayor involved that's where things change. ... To move to a city, there is a relinquishment of authority."

Griffith intrigued

Rick Ryfa, Griffith's Town Council president, is not opposed to considering whether his town of 16,252 residents should become a city.

"We actually owe it to our citizens to look closer to see if it would be more beneficial to do that," said Ryfa, a Republican.

Griffith is somewhat rare among the Region's more populous towns in that its five-member town council oversees day-to-day town operations  without the assistance of a town manager, a fact that astounded Slager.

"I've got to tell you, having been in that position, I can't imagine doing that job without a town manager," Slager said. "That's far more minutiae than I would ever have interest in doing."

Ryfa admitted that at some point in the near future Griffith likely will need to hire a town manager, instead of relying on council members to personally handle everything connected to the town.

"We've been fortunate that some of us are in a position where we can do that, but that's not always going to be the case," Ryfa said.

"When you're doing a lot of stuff, moving forward and doing a lot of different things, you do need a full-time person in that position."

He said the question then is whether a town manager subject to the whims of the town council is best, or would Griffith be better off becoming a city with a full-time mayor elected by the people  if both positions cost roughly the same amount of money.

"From a citizen standpoint, I think you would be better having a city with an elected mayor," Ryfa said.

"Even though the town manager does answer to the council, and they're ultimately responsible for hiring or firing him, it's a lot harder to change five people than one person if there's a problem."

As for why the Griffith town council has yet to seriously look into becoming a city: "We're spending way too much time trying to run the town," Ryfa said.

City view

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., the leader of Northwest Indiana's most populous city with 77,134 residents, said he would encourage any town considering becoming a city to make the change to a mayor-led municipal government.

"I love Merrillville, don't get me wrong, but I always use Merrillville as an example," McDermott said. "It's run by a town board, and these people on the board have other responsibilities besides being board members."

The Democrat said in a natural disaster, such as the 2008 floods that inundated parts of Hammond and other Region localities, having a mayor on the scene empowered to make quick decisions is an asset that benefits the entire community.

"It definitely helps during times like that to have a decision-maker instead of a bunch of board members," McDermott said.

He indicated that a mayor also is more useful for economic development purposes because businesses considering whether to locate in a city are able to deal with one person who can make reliable promises, as well as coordinate permitting and licensing approval by city departments.

"I sit down and talk to CEOs often, and if I think a project is worth it, I'm willing to push the envelope to try to get that company," McDermott said.

"You don't see too many corporations run by five people with no leader."

Beyond cities and towns, McDermott said Lake County actually should be looking into the Unigov system employed in Indianapolis where all of Marion County is a single municipality with one mayor and a combined city-county council.

"Our biggest problem in Northwest Indiana is we have a bunch of territories that are all strong on their own and independent of each other," he said.

"To have one mayor and one council make decisions for the entire metropolitan area  that's the answer in my opinion."
Celebrating VIPs

CHESTERTON  Brummitt Elementary School hosted the schools annual VIP Night. Elissa Dortmund, the schools library media specialist, organized the event in order to highlight different aspects of the library media program. Students wove their way through five stations in the media center with the end goal of receiving a free book and bookmark. The night was completed by reading together in the Reading Station with an opportunity to take a fun photo together and shop the Scholastic Book Fair.

Awarding good work

Chesterton Middle School commended and awarded its Students of the Month for November. Those students are seventh-graders Bradley Blakely, Giovanni DePasquale, Jayce Head, Dominick Pilla and Emma Vetroczy. Eighth-graders include Jeffrey Fuerst, Isaac King, Benjamin Sabourin and Tristen Stooksbury.

Shelters to receive support

Chesterton High School students Steven Skelton and Matthew Lane are spearheading a project to raise money for the local homeless shelters, Gabriels Horn and New Creation. The students learned that the number of homeless people in Indiana has jumped 10 percent during in a CHS course, Adult Roles and Responsibilities taught by Elena Sampalis. The students researched and presented information about different local charities to the entire class. Students also organized to raise funds for the event and are now selling candy grams and "guess the number of jelly beans in the jar" for the shelters. Community contributions will be accepted at a box in the CHS main office.

Celebrating bats

PORTAGE  First-graders in Kate Brenda's classroom at Myers Elementary School entered their classroom and received flashlights as they would be working in a dark cave environment all day. There were bat noises and bats hanging from the ceilings. They sang songs about bats, read with a partner about different bat species, and wrote an opinion paper stating whether they thought bats were cute or creepy. They made a bat craft to go along with the paper.

High school receives grant

MICHIGAN CITY  Marquette Catholic High School was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Scholl Foundation for continued implementation and development of programs which reside in the former St. Marys Elementary building. Marquette Catholic University High School, an international language school, and English language classrooms operate in the building. Items added in recent renovations include Apple TVs, new windows and doors, LED lighting, flooring, landscaping, air conditioning, and an expansive Wi-Fi network that accommodates the schools 1:1 technology platform with Apple iPads.

Chapter shares conference information

VALPARAISO  Sandy Holt, member of AAUW Valparaiso Affiliate, introduced Cheyenne Holth, president of the Valparaiso University Athena Group, which is the local AAUW collegiate affiliate, at an AAUW event. Holth spoke about her experiences at the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders. This three-day conference in Washington, D.C., opened with keynote speaker Melissa Perry from ELLE magazine who spoke on the current wage gap and how the fight continues to lessen salary differences for all women. Holth shared information on several workshops she attended at the conference and expressed much enthusiasm for expanding the Athena Group on the Valparaiso campus. The Valparaiso Affiliate sponsors VU women each year to attend this conference to strengthen their leadership skills and build awareness of AAUW.

School corporation receives grants

LOWELL  Nearly $21,000 in grants were received by 21 teachers and staff in the Tri-Creek School Corp. from the Tri-Creek Education Foundation. Grant Committee Chairwoman Lynne Haberlin made the presentations. Luan Brown is president of the TCEF.

Those receiving grants include:

Lowell High School and Lowell Middle School: Shannon Smith, Joe Gianotti, Anna Batastini and Leon Simon.

Oak Hill: Amie Patterson, Kassie Helsel, Amanda Haskins, Ivy Wilcher, Bridget Helms, Lauren Schutz, Samantha Gill, Nicole Nigh and Robyn Plonczyski.

Three Creeks: Allison Wright, Kassie Hanger, D'Ann Habas, Christa Werling and Michelle Mishlove.

Lake Prairie: Katilyn DeBoer, Steffany Mears, Mia Kouros and Kim Harris.

Dads share time

PORTAGE  Jones Elementary School held Donuts with Dads for a second time. In May the school hosts Muffins with Moms. Title I director Sarah Funston and her assistant Tina Winfield organized the event. Kids get a doughnut and time with their dad (or uncle, grandpa, brothers, etc.) and each child gets a brand new book to help promote literacy. More than 400 people attended.

Experiencing day of cyber

Students at Wilbur Wright Middle School participated in the NSA Day of Cyber sponsored by the National Security Agency. It was an online, interactive cyber career exploration experience that enabled students to take a seat beside the NSA Cyber Threat director and test drive a day in the life of six NSA cyber professionals.
CEDAR LAKE  For the past two months, 11 students at Jane Ball Elementary School have been working on solving a worldwide problem using Lego blocks. The new robotics team, aptly named: Hanover Your Robotics a word play on Hand over your robotics, included 10 fourth- and fifth- graders and one third- grader. The team participated in the First Lego League competition at Indiana University Northwest. 32 teams from across Northwest Indiana competed to become one of 7 teams to move on to a statewide competition.

Students were judged on three distinct and different components: finding a solution to a real world problem, designing, building and programming a Lego robot that could complete assigned missions and learn and practice the core values of the First Lego League.

Over the course of the teams brief lifetime students worked to define the topic, hydrodynamics and find a solution to a hydrodynamics problem. They approached the task using the very adult method of collaborative research. The students conducted a survey of 230 people in Cedar Lake and interviewed members of the Cedar Lake Water Department and discovered the simple fact that people waste too much water. Recognizing water as a precious resource, students designed a solution that would encourage people to waste less water.

Their solution targeted a universal consumer concern, the cost of water usage. By concentrating on the personal cost of wasting water, they believed they could make a difference by encouraging people to waste less water. The enterprising students designed an app that would not only track water usage, but would go a step farther. After discovering there are already apps to track water usage, the students added a reward element to their app for people who actually save water. The more water saved, the bigger the financial reward.

The second component designed and built by the Hanover Your Robotics team was a Lego robot that was able to successfully complete five missions on a themed playing surface. The robotics team built a robot with attachments that moved easily on the playing surface and successfully completed all of the five missions on multiple occasions during practice.

Though they did not advance to the state competition, they did earn first place in the presentation portion of the competition.
Professionals last week agreed that the enactment of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act (PPDA Act), had brought about a significant improvement in procurement procedures in the country.

However, they insist that unless the Institute of Procurement Professionals of Uganda (IPPU) is given a wider mandate to supervise and certify procurement professionals through amending the Institute of Supply Chain Management Act, the sector will continue to struggle with inefficient operations.

The IPPU is a professional body established to bring together public and private sector procurement professionals in Uganda. Together with the PPDA, the institute aims at ensuring that procurement practitioners maintain best procurement practices.

Edgar Agaba, a member of the IPPU council, decried of the restrictive mandate accorded to the institute after passing of Supply Chain Management Bill 2015.

He explained that unlike other professional institutions like the Uganda Medical Association and Law Society, the IPPU is restricted from supervising practitioners by the very law that creates it.

Without the mandate to supervise procurement practitioners many people continue to practice procurement in an adhoc manner, which is costly to the country, Agaba said during IPPUs 6th annual dinner in Kampala recently.

David Kalitani, IPPUs executive secretary noted that the lack of supervision of practitioners and students had resulted into flawed procurement, loss of public funds, poor service delivery and breeds impunity.

Given the mandate to supervise, IPPU will be able to not only certify procurement professionals but also enable sanctioning of professionals who do malpractice by deregistering them or enacting disciplinary action.

Over 50 per cent of Ugandas annual budget is spent on procurement and disposal of public assets. Matia Kasaija, the Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development has decried the delays caused by bureaucracy and inflexible of procurement laws saying that they have gone a long way in denying the country economies of scale on projects invested on, but dont seem to kick off or end.

He expressed optimism in the amendments to add flexibility and professionalism to the sector.

If we do not ensure professionalism of the people handling the sector, you and I stand to lose, Kasaija said in his statement.

Kasaija however promised to ensure that procurement laws are amended soon to among others, reduce bureaucracy, reduce turnaround time to less than 90 days, but also inculcate professionalism in the sector increasing the mandate for IPPU.
I met Katie Kirabo (real name protected); a friendly, bubbly and sassy young woman at an event hosted by Akina Mama wa Afrika.

The topic was about ending sexual and gender-based violence. Behind the beautiful face, one would never know the dark secret Kirabo has kept for years.

She is a survivor of sexual and gender-based violence. But like many women, she didnt report her case to any authority; she kept silent.

Kirabo grew up with her parents, four siblings and a number of extended family members. Unfortunately, at 16, she was sexually abused by her maternal uncle, who was about 19.

She says that her uncle had been trying to seduce her for a while until that fateful day when no one was at home. He pounced on her in the bedroom and raped her.

After the incident, he threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone. Because of that threat, she didnt tell even her mother or father.

The media is rife with stories about child sexual abuse in homes, especially by close family members or relatives. The response remains largely inadequate.

Sadly, even when the cases are reported, most families seek other means to resolve the matter. A number of defilement cases, instead of being reported to police, are negotiated by the parents and a settlement fee is usually agreed upon.

We can no longer remain silent over sexual and gender-based violence. The time has come for this issue to be addressed squarely and end its impact on society. To begin with, we need to keep the focus on adult responsibility, while teaching children how to protect themselves.

Parents and guardians need to take an active role in their childrens lives and stay alert for any possible problems. In Kirabos case, her parents didnt know about the abuse.

We also need to make sure our children know that they can talk to us about anything that bothers or confuses them. Children should be taught about the difference between good secrets (such as birthday surprises) and bad secrets (those that make them feel unsafe or uncomfortable).

We have also been encouraged to teach children accurate names of private body parts and the difference between touches that are okay and not okay.

I am glad that many schools in Uganda have adopted The Bad Touch by Lillian Butele. Butele is also a survivor of sexual and gender-based violence.

We also need to empower our children to be able to make decisions about their bodies by allowing them age-appropriate privacy and encouraging them to say no when they do not want to touch or be touched by others.

Some parents are very keen about monitoring childrens use of technology including cell phones, social networking sites and messaging. A regular review of contact lists and finding out about other people in our childrens lives is also quite helpful.

Lastly, it is critical for us as parents to trust our instincts! If you feel uneasy about leaving your child with someone, dont do it. If you are concerned about possible sexual abuse, ask questions.
For his work in the fight against the destructive impact of HIV/Aids, specifically in rural communities, Herbert Mugumya deserves an award.

Mugumya, a younger brother to former police spokesperson Asan Kasingye, is the Country Representative for Management Sciences for Health (MSH).

MSH is an international organization that helps governments in strengthening health systems globally, with its presence in over 36 countries, majorly in Africa.

Herbert Mugumya

The organisation offers technical assistance in health pharmaceuticals, infectious diseases, family health and on leadership, management and governance at different government levels including health facilities.

When you meet Mugumya, you will be impressed by the passion with which he speaks to make healthcare services better in a country that has seen the health sector budget reducing almost every financial year.

Born in Kibingo in Sheema district, Mugumya grew up in a family, he says, that had nothing to be proud of in a rural setting. He explains that growing up, there was no need to have role models as the case is in this generation.

In our days, we didnt have dreams, he says. But I grew up largely to understand life during [former president Idi] Amins time. The schools those days were much better than the current ones [because we were provided with all scholastic materials.]

But after his primary school, getting a good secondary school specifically in the western part of the country was a challenge in the 1970s and 1980s. This was the period when there were wars that saw the eventual overthrow of Idi Amins regime.

The few good schools at the time, such as Ntare School, set the bar so high that many students could not easily meet the standards.

I started secondary school from Ruyonza School in Bushenyi in 1982, not because I liked it, but because it was the only option available having tried to make it to Ntare School, [in vain], narrates Mugumya.

The Bishop of West Ankole diocese opened schools around the district to take those who could not make it to the best schools.

But because they only had a day section, these schools didnt impress Mugumya. He could not manage to transport himself daily because it was far from home. His father, John Kairukabi, was a trader who only operated in mobile markets to fend for a family of more than a dozen people. As a result, he could not meet extra costs.

After the first year, Mugumya shifted to Kyeizooba secondary school which had a boarding section. But again as fate would have it, there was another political disruption. That very year, the school turned into a girls-only.

Herbert Mugumya addressing a gathering recently

By the time he joined Nganwa high school, Kabwohe, in senior three, his classmates were far ahead of him. Playing catch-up with some subjects such as physics was very challenging. In 1985/6, and 1988 when they eventually sat for their final O and A-level examinations respectively, Mugumya found himself opting for arts.



GETTING INTO HEALTH

While at Nganwa high school, Mugumya developed a sense of maturity and direction.

I was made a health prefect, and that to me was a turning point. So, I was responsible for ensuring environmental and body hygiene among the students, he says.

In that position, Mugumya started thinking critically on issues related to health that affected students around the school. The school nurse turned out to be one of his good friends; thus, he would spend most of his time in the school clinic.

I started realizing it was a mistake for me to drop physics, he says. But I had no option because it was already dropped.

Mugumya joined St Kagwa high school, Bushenyi for A-level and offered a combination of arts subjects. In 1988, when senior six examinations results were released, Mugumya had passed top of his class. He then joined Makerere University for a bachelors degree in Social Work and Social Administration (SWSA).

Joining Makerere saw him go to Kampala for the first time. He explains that during their time at Makerere, students were always given good termly and annual allowances to facilitate research work.

This was because the SWSA students would spend much of their time doing fieldwork and internship in different organizations or companies.



HIV/AIDS CRUSADER

When I started making choices for the fieldwork, I went in the health field. Those were the days when community healthcare was valued, and then the emergence of Aids. It started killing so many people, and then The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) came in about 1988, and Aids Information Centre in 1990, he says.

One of his fieldwork placements as an intern was in Rakai through the Ministry of Healths Aids control programme. HIV had become an epidemic in Rakai.

But this marked another turning point in Mugumyas life to pursue a career in the health sector regardless of what he was studying at the time.

People were dying day in, day out. Burials were everywhere. And that changed my whole life. When I came back, I became an agent of the Aids control programme of the ministry of health in the university, he says.

In the same period, the government had embarked on a massive campaign aimed at sensitizing the masses to abstain from sexual intercourse until marriage, monogamy and using condoms as a last resort.

Mugumyas work was to distribute condoms freely to fellow students, and his efforts were noticed by various agencies fighting HIV/Aids. Towards the end of his three-year course, Mugumya had started receiving several opportunities to work with various local NGOs. By the time he graduated, he was lost for choice.

Herbert Mugumya (L) with Margaret Sancho, USAID Ugandas Health and HIV office director (C) and minister of Health Jane Ruth Aceng

His first job was in 1991 with Aids Information Centre. He was posted at a new branch in Mbarara, which was amongst the first HIV testing centers in the entire country outside Kampala.

During that period, his father and mother also contracted HIV and died in 1992  shortly after his graduation and few months into his formal job posting.

When one fell sick at the time, they would not spend much time because majority of the communities had no idea on prevention and treatment measures to shield themselves from the epidemic.

My mother was the first victim and my father died a few months later. My last great moments with them was on my graduation daymanaging sick people shaped my ability to be able to work in the health sector, he says.



CONCERNS ON THE HEALTH SECTOR

The ongoing strike by health workers across all public hospitals countrywide is a problem, he says, government should address immediately lest many Ugandans start self-medication or resort to traditional healthcare means.

Ugandans [who cannot access essential medical services] are going back to traditional health care which is absolutely not regulated. This puts patients at increased risk, Mugumya warns.

He adds that some will start sharing medication among family members because they are desperate. Every symptom seen as a failed system in this government is because there is insufficient information to guide government in decision-making.

Whether it is the cost of medicine, reasonable salaries for health workers or renovations of health facilities, it all rotates around the availability of information and resources, according to Mugumya.

When we are dilly- dallying with politics, disease multiplication is increasing, he warns.



CAREER GROWTH

In 1996, he got another job with Care International, an organization which is jointly funded by USAID. The project that covered the whole of Kigezi sub-region was community reproductive health.

In 2002, given his good performance and work ethic, he was given a scholarship in the Netherlands to study for a Masters degree in Population and Health, with focus on reproductive health.

My exposure in the Netherlands was extremely good because they are very good in research, Mugumya says.

When he returned in 2004, Save the Children offered him a job as the programmes manager for HIV/Aids. Mugumya was mainly overseeing program activities in northern and western Uganda, which was at the time a hot bed of conflicts due to Joseph Konys Lords Resistance Army and the Allied Democratic Forces insurgencies.

His task was to accelerate support for children and develop community- based programmes.

USAID team realized I would be more instrumental in developing programs for HIV beyond the conflict, he recalls.

Herbert Mugumya takes the Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, on a tour of the drug resistant TB ward at Lira Regional referral hospital

After serving two years, he moved to USAID Uganda as a program management specialist and technical advisor under the health and HIV department.

I worked in the USAID mission for five years up to 2010 when I got another opportunity to go to Tanzania to work for Africare, which again was implementing a USAID-funded project, he says. I spent close to seven years in Tanzania and returned [to Uganda] in December last year.

With his experience in healthcare, Mugumya has a lot to share about the key areas of intervention that government should focus on, which he says, have largely been affected by limited funding.

Andrew Kyambadde, a health system team leader at USAID describes Mugumya as a charismatic and calm person. He says, Mugumya is capable of fitting into any particular situation, regardless of how difficult one might presume it could turn out to be.

Kyambadde has worked with Mugumya for about five years at USAID.

He is a good person at writing reports and developing programmes. Most of the directors for these foreign organizations are normally expatriates, but for Herberts sake, it shows how good and passionate he is about the health sector, Kyambadde says.

Mugumya is passionate to support government realise health sector objectives through strengthening health systems such as health workforce, medicines and essential health supplies, governance, and health information to guide service delivery and improve health outcomes to all citizens.



alitwaha@observer.ug
Meeting her for the first time, one cant fail to notice Beverley Nambozos gentility through her strong verbal expression.

In a British accent, similar to that of the Victorian age, she welcomes me to her house in Kiwatule, offers me a seat and hands me a glass of water.

Although Nambozo is a jack of all trades, the mother of three decided to concentrate on public speaking, confidence-building and poetry. In her pass time, she enjoys swimming for longer distances  a trait she sees in all her three children.

Nambozo realized she could become a professional public speaker just last year. After joining Toast Masters Club, an international group of public speakers, her passion for speaking to larger crowds heightened.

Beverley Nambozo

My latest passion, public speaking, has always been there since I was young. I have developed and Im now a professional speaker and trainer, says Namboozo, who joined Bukoto Toast Masters Club and was elected president.

Her past experiences in leadership and positions that require effective interpersonal skills have enabled her not to face a lot of challenges in her professional.

She has ever been a radio programme host on 104.1 Power FM, worked at the British Council and Eastern African Sub-Regional Support Institute for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), among other organisations. She has also worked with children at Rainbow International School as a teacher and dance instructor.

Nambozo is not only a public speaker, but also trains both the young and old on how to effectively communicate. She empowers her tender trainees with confidence and life skills, while to the older ones she teaches how to excel in interviews and business communication.

I asked many of them: what do you want to overcome? and they said: the fear of embarrassment while speaking. Most people fear public speaking more than they fear spiders because they think everyone is judging them, Nambozo says.

She observes that many people have the abilities and talent to succeed at public speaking, but what fails them is the lack of preparation. She says that despite how good one is at what they do, they always fail the moment they dont do any preparations like background checks; and thats why they end up blundering.

As a public speaker, she suggests that one should be able to read and get inspiration from the best there is. Apart from Okot pBiteks Song of Lawino, Nambozo is inspired by the words of Barrack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Maya Angelou and sometimes Robert Mugabe.

When you dont read, people can see. It doesnt matter how good you are as a speaker; I have seen the most qualified speakers unprepared, she says.

On poetry, Nambozo reveals that her passion for words has always been with her. From England where she spent her childhood to Gayaza high school and Makerere college school, her thirst for writing has never been quenched. Even when she joined university, she undertook a Bachelor of Education in Literature course.

She later graduated with a masters degree in Creative Writing from Lancaster University. In 2008, after understanding the state of poetry in Uganda, Nambozo decided to launch an award to reward women for their efforts in promoting poetry. The first Beverley Nambozo Poetry award was won by Lilian Awujo, a female poet and lawyer.

Nambozo explains that for many years, women were never part of poetry because it was a patriarchal society. She adds that poems were taught in literature classes, and once outside college, people shunned it for other careers. It is for this reason that the awards were started. Rebecca Kadaga, then

Deputy Speaker of Parliament, was selected as the patron. Being the ambitious woman she is, Nambozo also started up a foundation  Babisha Niwe (BN)  to promote poetry. The awards were then extended to the continental level in 2014 and the Haiku (Japanese poetry) was incorporated.

An anthology  A thousand Voices Rising  of poems from all past winners, and works like the Poetry Nature Series and When Children Dare to Dream has been produced.

One of the biggest hurdles BN has faced is getting resources. Nambozo says that although poetry has picked up in the past decade, selling ideas to non-poets and corporate companies is still a challenge.

She says most of partners are from Europe because they have grown into loving art, but those in Africa are after short-term gratification. Distribution of books is also another hurdle she faces as a writer and poet.

The 14-time published poet hopes to issue out her first novel soon and hopefully, when she has set up the right team, she will launch her leadership institute.

I love to create and know that there are a thousand possibilities. Every day, I wake up and think of how I can create, or make another giant out of my possibilities, she says.

abumay1988@gmail.com
A series of events is being organised in Mumbai and other places to pay tribute to the victims 26/11 terror attack. In his Mann ki Baat radio address, PM Narendra Modi called terrorism a threat to humanity.

By India Today Web Desk: Mumbai withstood the worst terror attack in India nine years ago, when trained gunmen from Pakistan were sent to the city to kill innocent people. More than 160 people lost their lives in the terror mayhem unleashed by 10 Pakistani terrorists.

Various events have been organised in the memory of martyrs of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack on its ninth anniversary. The Mumbai police organised `Salutation Ceremony' at Shahid Smarak (martyrs' memorial) at the Police Gymkhana at Marine Lines.

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Here are LIVE updates on 26/11 anniversary:

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said, "Government of India's stand is very clear. We have been putting pressure on Pakistan, absolutely making very clear that it's breeding ground for terrorism and not doing enough to contain terrorism on its soil. They must do much more than what they say in words."

Commenting on the terror attack Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani said, "They brought terror to our shores and were met with the sheer will of our forces to protect the sovereignty and integrity of India...Homage to all victims of 26/11 and gratitude to those who protected us then and continue to do so now."

Her deputy in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said, "On the 9th anniversary of #MumbaiTerrorAttack, a humble prayer for security personnel who gave their lives protecting us...As we share the grief of the families who lost their loved ones, let us all resolve to eliminate terrorism in all forms and make India a safer, better nation."

Speaking at a rally in Gujarat's Surat, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "The world is slamming Pakistan for freeing terrorist and 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saaed."

Addressing the nation through his monthly radio programme, Mann ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "We salute all those brave women and men who lost their lives in the gruesome 26/11 attacks in Mumbai?For over four decades, India has been raising the issue of terror. Initially the world did not take us seriously but now the world is realising the destructive aspects of terrorism?Terrorism is a threat to humanity."

Paying his tribute to the victims of 2008 Mumbai terror attack, President Ram Nath Kovind wrote on Twitter, "On the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, we mourn with the families that lost their dear ones. And we recall with gratitude the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil."

On the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, we mourn with the families that lost their dear ones. And we recall with gratitude the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil #PresidentKovind- President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 26, 2017

Jaitley also tweeted, "Let us stand against terrorism and pay tribute to our brave security personnel who sacrificed their lives for our security. We pray for all those who lost their lives in this attack."

On 26/11/2008 terrorists attacked many places in Mumbai and showed their deplorable cowardice. Let us stand against terrorism and pay tribute to our brave security personnel who sacrificed their lives for our security. We pray for all those who lost their lives in this attack.- Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) November 26, 2017

The Congress described the 26/11 terror attack as "a dark day in India's history" stating that "we stand in solidarity with the families of the victims and survivors."

A dark day in India's history, we stand in solidarity with the families of the victims and survivors. #ThisDayThatYear pic.twitter.com/BgU1LzKMs5- Congress (@INCIndia) November 26, 2017

Union minister VK Singh said, "My respectful homage to all who fell to the bullets of terrorists in Mumbai on this day. Let us vow to be prepared to defeat any such attempt in future."

My respectful homage to all who fell to the bullets of terrorists in Mumbai on this day. Let us vow to be prepared to defeat any such attempt in future. pic.twitter.com/XDqjhUvTmb- Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) November 26, 2017

In Maharashtra, Governor Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, DGP Satish Mathur, city police commissioner Datta Padsalgikar, ministers, senior bureaucrats, police officials and family members of martyrs paid homage to those who were killed in the attack.

Tributes were paid at the memorial of assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Ombale at Girgaum Chowpatty. It was at this spot that Ombale caught Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab alive while getting killed himself.

Hundreds of people offered tributes at the city landmarks targeted by Pakistani terrorists, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Taj Hotel at the Gateway of India, Cafe Leopold, Rang Bhavan Lane near Cama Hospital and St Xavier's College where then ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte and Inspector Vijay Salaskar were killed.

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National Medical Stores (NMS) has commenced construction of a new $7.6m (about Shs 27bn) warehouse to cope with the increase in drug stocks and requisitions.

Expected to be completed in June 2019, the new warehouse located in Kajjansi, Wakiso, will complement NMS main Entebbe warehouse. Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda hailed support from Global Fund and Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) for providing funds for the construction of the facility.

The construction of this warehouse has been long overdue and we commend our development partners in strengthening and supporting Ugandas health programmes, he said.

The artistic impression of the new warehouse

Rugunda also pledged government support to ensure the completion of the construction project. The warehouse will contain cold rooms that will cater for the storage of medicines and vaccines that are sensitive to both hot and cold conditions.

GAVI donates HIV, malaria and tuberculosis drugs to NMS which enables the country to have a buffer drug stock to cater for shortages. The facility will also ensure drug availability when requested for by health facilities and provide an emergency stockpile in case of a drug shortage.

At the same event, Moses Kamabare, the NMS general manager, revealed that distribution of medicine is done according to delivery schedules.

Look through the delivery schedule and you will know when any district in Uganda is expected to receive their supply, he said.

He revealed that they work according to the delivery schedules with copies given to the offices of the RDCs, CAOs and district health offices and others pinned on the notice boards of health centers for monitoring delivery.

According to Kamabare, the biggest challenge for NMS is delivery of medicines to remote areas.

To get to Kapchorwa and Kween, you first go to Kenya and then come to Uganda; otherwise, you have to pass through a steep road, he added.

Abubakar Ibrahim, the Global Fund finance specialist, praised NMS for being a critical enabler in ensuring medicines reach destinations in time. I hope the completion of this [warehouse] will help enhance the overall efforts in the supply-chain sector, he said.



ayebeanthony@gmail.com
A wide-ranging inquiry into mistreatment of employees by investors is being considered as the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) plans to clamp-down on an increase in violation of workers rights.

Mayuge Sugar Factory in Busoga is set to become the first target of the EOC, whose chairperson, Sylvia Ntambi Muwemba, recently said that there is an urgent need to protect workers from unfair treatment and corporate impunity.

We will institute an inquiry at Mayuge factory. We were made to understand that on top of having no leave and the harsh working conditions, anyone who suffers any kind of body injury was terminated instead of being compensated, Muwemba said.

She cited the troubling case of a former worker who was given only Shs 20,000 and terminated after losing his hand in the line of duty at Mayuge sugar factory. Speaking at the launch of a report on Human Rights and Corporate Accountability in Uganda at Hotel Africana, Muwemba said that the EOC will expand its inquiry to ensure that corporations involved in human rights abuse are held accountable.

The report describes how Ugandans continue to suffer injustice and unfair treatment at the hands of investors. It highlights challenges of land grabbing and eviction without compensation. In August, more than 50,000 artisanal miners were evicted from the Kitumbi and Bukuya mining sites in Mubende by the soldiers and police after a protracted struggle to have their rights respected.

In the same period, over 130 families (1,000 people) in Chawente sub-county of Apac district were forcefully evicted from their customary land  reportedly to pave way for an investor.

Sylvia Namubiru Mukasa, the executive director, Legal Aid Service Providers Network (Laspnet) said that human rights defender, who take up cases of violations, are threatened, arrested, stigmatised and criminalised.

With support from Action Aid, Laspnet has studied this problem. Gerald Tushabe, Laspnets consultant and a lecturer at Makerere University, said that the report examines the issue of corporate accountability and the risks and challenges human rights defenders face.

There is need for both the state and non-state actors to bridge the gap between upholding human rights and economic investments, noted Tushabe.

He recommends an increase in knowledge and protection mechanisms, and a strengthening of legislative framework. Usher Owere, who heads the National Organisation of Trade Unions (Notu), gloomily speaks about the widespread abuse of workers rights.

This is entirely due to the lack of administrators to handle it, the ministry of Gender and Labour is thin on the ground. They are supposed to do inspections, said Owere.

Owere also told The Observer that Notu has recently taken measures to protect employees, especially in the areas of salary, welfare, working gear and the type of chemicals used in factories. He was, however, sceptical about the planned inquiry.

Jolly Kaguhangire, the executive director Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), said that there are labour laws which govern how employers should relate with their employees, but there is a supervision and monitoring gap.

The ministry of labour doesnt have the capacity to monitor employers because they are thin on ground and we as UIA also dont have a direct law that empowers us to monitor employers, said Kaguhangire.

She was however quick to note that some agencies, mostly private ones, have been keeping an eye on the issue.

The cabinet created a committee, [on which UIA sits], to look into employee issues. They are starting with the minimum wage and they will move on to other issues, said Kaguhangire.



pbaike@yahoo.com
One of the local television stations recently featured a news item to the effect that the Ugandan government was planning to start giving Shs 23,000 to every newborn with poor parents.

But what is the logic behind this move?

Uganda is one of the countries with the youngest populations in the world and its women have one of with highest fertility rates. As a result, in its health sector development plan for 2015/16- 2019/20, government plans to reduce the number of children every woman can have from six to five.

Therefore, giving free money to poor parents is like encouraging them to produce many children. This is very contradictory to government efforts to control the population boom.

Secondly, where is Uganda going to get this money? Are we going to rely on development partners as is the case with money being given to older people? If not, does Uganda have sufficient resources to sustain this programme given the fact her tax base is still narrow?

If we still cant pay the health workers that help to deliver these expectant mothers, why do we commit to pay women to produce more?

President Museveni was quoted saying the government cant do everything at the same time because of resource constraints. So, what inspired this noble cause of facilitating babies?

Is it our first priority? Even the project to pay the elderly a monthly allowance of Shs 25,000 has failed to reach everyone in this country. Why dont we concentrate on the old and just advise young people to produce children that they can take care of?



Kennedy Musekura,

kennedyndeze@yahoo.com.

Uganda should mind the drop in crude oil prices

Ugandans first commercially viable oil discoveries were made in 2006 and 2007. During this time, oil prices were on their way up to over $100 per barrel.

Recent media reports showed that the price of crude oil has fallen to $56 per barrel. This fall has a significant impact on developing countries like Uganda which have borrowed millions of dollars to develop the oil sector.

The media recently also reported that Ugandas oil and gas sector has transited from the exploration to the development phase where over Shs 72 trillion is expected to be used to develop oil infrastructuressuch as a refinery, roads, crude pipeline, international airport, among others.

The government is targeting oil as a big opportunity to transform our country to middle-income status through revenue collection and creation of jobs for youths.

But how are we going to pay the debts?

With the declining oil prices, the future of our crude oil development in Uganda is at risk. Considering Ugandas oil is not of good quality, the chances of increasing its price at the international market are very minimal.

Therefore, I urge the government to be cautious when borrowing and awarding licenses to develop the oil sector in Uganda.

Cyrus Kabaale,

Research Associate.

Patients letter to medical workers

Congratulations to you for having had a successful strike. The media tells us that now the lowest-paid doctor will walk home with Shs 5m. That sounds great!

But I write to you as one of the patients that have suffered at your hands for ages. Unlike you, patients will never strike to be heard because we need you to save our lives and we have no associations to speak for us.

If there were associations that fight for patients rights, I believe we would already be in court battling you, doctors, for abandoning us to pursue your personal goals. Do you know how many Ugandans have died as a result of your actions?

Just like you asked for a written agreement from government, patients also demand a written commitment from you promising never to be rude to us, no more absenteeism, no theft of hospital drugs/equipment, no patient negligence and no more cases of swapped or stolen babies.

Sarah Kyobe,

Kampala.

Kudos FDC

The FDC conducted their party presidential elections where the incumbent lost to the challenger. Gen Mugisha Muntu, like the gentleman he has always been, conceded defeat.

Over the years, FDC has exhibited unprecedented internal democracy that is lacking in the likes of NRM, DP or UPC. I hope others can borrow a leaf.

Samuel Mukasa,

Kampala.

letters@observer.ug
Its almost a week since the Red Pepper publication offices were raided by the police and eight proprietors and editors arrested.

They are being held in connection with a news story the tabloid published last Monday about relations between Uganda and Rwanda.

Their continued detention at Nalukenya of all places, beyond the constitutionally permitted 48 hours, and the decision to charge them with treason of all charges, are mindboggling steps to say the least.

Nalufenya is a detention facility that gained notoriety after several suspects in the murder of former police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi were tortured while detained there. Located almost 80 kilometres from Kampala, it is normally reserved for high-profile crime suspects such as rebel ADF commander Jamil Mukulu.

On the other hand, treason is a capital offence punishable by death, and its inconceivable how Red Pepper could conspire to overthrow the government through publication of the cited news story.

Notwithstanding the love-hate relationship between the state and media in Uganda that has included office closures and arrests of journalists, the handling of this particular case is unprecedented.

Not only is the number of the suspects held unusually high, its shocking that the police went as far as searching their homes and cars.

It looks as if the intention is to intimidate not just Red Pepper but the media in general, as well as punish the accused without due regard to the principle of presumption of innocence.

Whatever the police and some members of the public feel about Red Pepper and its approach to journalism, its very dangerous to criminalise a news story to this extent because today its Red Pepper tomorrow its another publication or individual.

Journalists have a duty to tell the truth, and the majority try to do so. However, when they make mistakes, a sledge hammer isnt the best way to deal with them because that undermines the noble principle of freedom of speech and the press enshrined in our Constitution.

Evelyn Beatrice Hall, an English writer, is credited with a phrase that captures the importance of the principle of freedom of speech even when one disagrees.

In The Friends of Voltaire written around 1906, she stated: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

We couldnt agree more.
Have you noticed that the Constitution has become a National Resistance Movement (NRM) constitution at best and its policy paper at worst!

Whichever article disagrees with the whims of some NRM leaders or what their manifesto says, then the caucus sits and resolves to amend the document (article).

In 2005, the NRM reasoned that a vulnerable country like Uganda with fragile democracy should not lose a resourceful leader in President Museveni just because the Constitution says so. So, two-term limits were removed amidst allegations of bribery.

One of the promoters of this point was former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi. During the 2016 televised presidential debate, Mbabazi was asked whether there was one thing he regretted not having done while in power.

He said he regretted having failed to fight dictatorship when he had a chance. Whatever that meant! But I can hazard an interpretation to that. Perhaps one of the things that has entrenched dictatorship is the ease with which the Constitution has been played with in the interest of one person.

Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi and other MPs in support of amending article 102(b) say that the removal of presidential age limits will give Museveni time to deliver Uganda to the middle-income status.

But the Constitution is not supposed to work for the whims of leaders. Leaders must work in accordance with the Constitution. It can be safely said that now the Uganda Constitution has been turned into a wobbly law, which must be amended whenever the NRM has a change of mind or whenever their interests are restrained by the provisions therein.

In 2014, the NRM changed their constitution and gave unfettered powers to President Museveni, their party chairman, to appoint and disappoint top party leaders. Formerly, these were elective positions.

I would not be surprised if, after amending article 102(b) in favour of NRM wishes, article 113 and 142(1) are amended too. Article 113 (1) requires the president to nominate persons qualified to be elected as MPs to cabinet, with the approval of parliament.

There is a parliamentary appointments committee, which vets ministerial nominees and other public officials such as judges. However, this committee has never had the verve to do its work right.

In the present cabinet, there are persons who clearly never qualified to be ministers but were approved by this committee, most of whose members belong to NRM.

So, I wouldnt be surprised if a proposal was tabled to get rid of parliamentary approvals altogether. Article 142 (1), which requires the president to appoint judicial officers such as the chief justice, deputy chief justice, principal judges, justices and judges on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and with approval of parliament, may also be dispensed with.

Remember that when former Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki retired, the president wanted him to serve for two more years until the Constitutional court in the Gerald Karuhanga v Attorney General case ruled otherwise.

The president has always argued that Uganda needs to harness its rare human resource. This time, the proponents may argue that they need to do this in order to equip court with cadre judges who many not make judgments that frustrate the NRM manifesto! This is as ridiculous as it can get!

The vigour with which the Constitution is diluted and its sanctity frowned upon reminds me of a story told by a prominent legal mind.

He once told me that when you invite people for a party and serve them all tribes of alcohol, there are times when the instinct of care for the aftereffects of the party arises. And usually, as a good host, there are times when you see that your guests need to be advised to reduce on the consumption of alcohol and, instead, take some water to curb dehydration and resultant hangovers.

But if you try to stop them instantly, no one would agree with you, and you might even be insulted for being a stingy host.

It appears some NRM politicians feasting on the national cake and sponsoring all these manners of constitutional amendments are like those guests who drink and cant brook any advice of restraint on their intake. They dont care about the possible discomfort of a hangover when the party is done.

The pro-amendment MPs have chosen to enjoy the moment and care less about the future. Strangely, these MPs that claim to care a lot about the power of the people in the democratic governance of this country have been very protective of their turf.

For instance, article 84(1) and (7) became inoperative the moment Uganda adopted multiparty democracy. This article gave a right to the electorate to recall their representatives before the expiry of their term of office on such grounds as misconduct, ridicule, deserting the electorate without reasonable cause, among others.

But article 84(7) provides that the right to recall a member of parliament shall only exist while the Movement political system is in operation. There are no prizes for guessing why this article has not been amended to return the power to the people to recall the MPs.



The author is the business development director at The Observer Media Limited.
Greek philosopher Plato said that the measure of a man [woman] is what he does with power.

Abraham Lincoln would later re-echo Plato, saying: Nearly all men [women] can stand adversity, but if you want to test a mans character, give him power.

On such a subject, I understand that the minds of many will immediately run to our political leaders, especially the president. Mine would do the same. And that is quite understandable given all that this beautiful country has gone through as a consequence of fighting for and exercising state power.

Each leader seems to enter State House like a gentleman into a bar. But you only need to give them time at the bottle of power; and by the time they are thrown out onto the bar verandah as a nuisance, their pants would be dripping wet.

You may not believe that its the man that entered the bar smartly dressed and spoken. Look at Mugabe seated in his susu now!

However, we need not to always look up to understand how the power liquor changes and often stupefies us. Just look around, probably at the one you call boss at your workplace or at an office bearer near you whose position comes with some authority over others.

Certainly there are exceptions, but chances are high that you will find many of them to be drunkenly obsessed with showing that they are in charge and powerful. Someone climbs onto a considerably small position in an organization and swells like a freshly inflated bouncing castle!

Their actions scream out in unmistakable self-announcement: I am in charge.

Interactions I have had and testimonies I have heard sometimes make me wonder what would happen if these people had higher powers, say presidential. Its such everyday sobering moments that make one appreciate the relative tolerance of President Museveni, although not to justify his perennial presidency.

You enter someones office and find the secretary/receptionist who looks at you like you are a pig that has strayed into a mosque. She (he?) gives you one glance and then returns to her computer, as she swings in a chair bought from your sweat.

Because you are not even welcomed with a mere how may I help you, you attend to yourself and ask if you can be helped.

Without even looking at you, she indifferently tells you to come back tomorrow  as if she is giving you transport! You might be lucky to get an explanation. Or, if you ask for it, then her well-kept rudeness reports to duty. What if this one was the commander of land forces!

Much of the authoritarianism we bash of our leaders is personified in how we treat the less-powerful in our charge.

Observe how some of us exercise our power over maids. For working from 5am to midnight, a maid is paid an equivalent of a pair of China shoes. This amidst barking and all sorts of inhumane restrictions on movement, speech, dress code, food, phone calls, etc.

Nevertheless, we rise to furiously condemn government for paying its workers peanuts! This is not to fallaciously suggest that two wrongs make a right. Rather, that with such misuse of power being widely prevalent in our society, it is unrealistic to expect a difference above.

For many of the leaders, on top and their excesses are creatures of these everyday forms of abuse of power, only that they happen to be more visible and have more power at their disposal.

In different ways, many of us are typical of Jesus characterization of the Pharisees  whitewashed tombs that shine on top yet full of bones of the dead.

An Askari at a hospital gate pumps himself up unnecessarily, denying you a service you deserve simply because you didnt do enough in acknowledging his importance. Do you know who I am, he roars! Hmm, do I have to know you, sir?

Some bosses literary want to be worshipped if one is to get anything from them. You cant greet them while seated, and you have to shower them with a litany of praises. Imagine if such had titles like your excellency! Wouldnt we have to clean their shoes with our tongues?

And because many of us are aware of this desire amongst our people, we have learnt to serve accordingly. So, in the market, everyone who wants you to buy from them will address you as boss, mzee, mugagga (rich man/woman).

And then our traditional teacher with his cane  an authority not to be opposed, always right before those with less power! If with a mere bamboo stick they would put the whole school on tension, what if they had guns?

Taxi touts will plead with you to board but, once inside, they will show you who controls the space. Have you ever boarded Kenyan Matatus that are more of mobile discos? Dare ask them to reduce the volume!

Even in ours, if you complain about being squeezed; taata vaamu ogeende ogule eyiyo (get out and go buy yours), the conductor bluntly retorts! Could it be about the exhausting nature of their job or our inclination to abuse power?

A person arriving at office an hour late when people have already queued up at their door enters like nothing is wrong, surrounded by a thick air of importance. When they step out shortly, they find no fault with joining the hot gossip next door, while people stand in wait!

Sometimes the gossip is in complaint about doctors that hardly sit at public hospitals!

What about the husband/father that is feared like a lion in a home? A domestic terrorist that sees no wrong with their unquestionability and barking! It is always easier to squeeze anothers boil.



jsssentongo@gmail.com



The author heads the Center for African Studies at Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi.
By PTI: By Aditi Khanna

London, Nov 26 (PTI) The Ahmadiyya community in the UK is introducing airport-style security at its many mosques and centres across the country after receiving death threats from other Muslim groups.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK (AMC), which represents an estimated 30,000 Ahmadis, launchedAwalk-through metal detectors, identity checks and bag searchesAto screen visitors and worshippers for knives and firearms recently at the Baitul Futuh mosque in south London.

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The minority Islamic sect, which is disowned by some Muslims, has also sought Scotland Yards intervention over the death threats to its leader Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, The Sunday Times reports.

Farooq Aftab, a spokesperson for the AMC, told the newspaper that while it was common for Ahmadis to be persecuted in countries such as Pakistan, similar violent and divisive behaviour should not be tolerated in Britain.

"People who dont think we are Muslims are entitled to their own point of view, but a line must be drawn because violence cannot be justified. We can disagree, but we have a right to freedom of religion," said Aftab.

"Our community is under attack by extremists but our commitment to peace and love is unshakeable. We appreciate the work of the authorities and they must continue to work diligently for the protection and safety of all citizens," he added.

Ahmadis, who make up 1 per cent of the UK?s 3 million followers of Islam, are persecuted in some countries because of their religious beliefs.

While a majority of the recent threats against the Ahmadi community in Britain have been sent via social media and text messages, some of the group?s mosques have also been daubed with words such as kaffir, meaning non-believer or infidel.

"It is, frankly, sickening that some think they can openly harass, intimidate, vandalise and create a sense of fear within minority Muslim communities while shouting out about Islamophobia and the need to challenge it," said Fiyaz Mughal, director of interfaith organisation Faith Matters.

Fears among the Ahmadi community in Britain have heightened following the murder of Asad Shah, a member of the Ahmadiyya sect who was stabbed to death in Glasgow in March last year by a Sunni Muslim taxi driver from Bradford. PTI AK ZH

--- ENDS ---
Religious leaders and clergy across the nation  including those in Omaha  are carefully watching what happens to one part of tax legislation thats making its way through the U.S. House and Senate.

The House version of the bill includes a change to the Johnson Amendment, the 1954 law that prohibits tax-exempt nonprofits such as churches from endorsing political candidates. A stipulation at the end of the 429-page bill would make it legal for ministers to endorse candidates from the pulpit.

The House passed its tax bill on Nov. 16, and a Senate version is still pending.

At the National Prayer Breakfast in February, President Donald Trump said he would totally destroy the Johnson Amendment. That vow was aimed at people  mostly conservative Christians  who oppose the 1954 law partly because they believe that it violates First Amendment rights. Trump issued an executive order in May directing the Internal Revenue Service not to penalize clergy members for political speech.

The modification in the tax bill stops short of destroying the Johnson Amendment, which was named after President Lyndon B. Johnson, who introduced it as a senator; churches still would be banned from making financial contributions to campaigns, for instance.

But if the 1954 law were to be fully repealed, it would open the door for heightened political activity in churches and parachurch organizations, said Paul Williams, chairman of the University of Nebraska at Omaha department of religious studies.

It would increase the likelihood of religious institutions serving as surrogates of political parties, he said. As a result, that may lead to further partisan polarization of politics in American society.

Some Omaha pastors oppose the change.

I think its a terrible idea, said the Rev. Rebecca Z. McNeil, associate minister at First Christian Church in Omaha, which is affiliated with the Disciples of Christ  which was, coincidentally, Johnsons denomination.

I think its important that churches have the freedom to talk about what our theology and the Scriptures teach us about issues, but I dont think the church should endorse particular candidates, she said. There are too many compromises that all candidates have to make to qualify them unequivocally as the Christian candidate or the Jewish candidate.

McNeil said she thinks that its crucial to have a strong wall of separation between church and state to preserve liberties for all, not just for some.

We are not losing our religious liberty, she said. Christians are not being persecuted in this country.

The concept of separation between church and state dates back to Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, who used it in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut in 1802.

I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State, he wrote.

Yet a number of local pastors welcome the modification to the Johnson Amendment.

From a First Amendment perspective, we should not gag people, Christ Community Church pastor Mark Ashton told The World-Herald after Trumps speech in February. Why should pastors be in a special class (thats unable) to endorse a candidate?

Omaha Catholic Archbishop George Lucas reaffirmed last week that regardless of what happens with the Johnson Amendment, candidates will not be endorsed in local parishes, said Deacon Tim McNeil, archdiocese chancellor. (Tim McNeil and Rebecca McNeil are not related.)

We dont want to make our places of worship places where we give formal endorsements to political candidates, Tim McNeil said. They should be for worshipping God and proclaiming the Gospel.

He said he thinks that any endorsement process would be difficult, anyway  a candidate who professes pro-life beliefs might be against abortion but for torturing prisoners of war, for instance.

Mike Holloway, assistant pastor of Omaha Bible Church, said he and his fellow pastors also would not make political endorsements from the pulpit. The independent church off Interstate 80 in northwest Omaha is conservative and evangelical, like those Trump was targeting in his comments about the Johnson Amendment repeal.

We approach it from a different perspective than separation, Holloway said. We believe the purpose of the church is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to grow Christians in their faith. Therefore, we do not, from our pulpit or in our teaching, endorse political candidates.

The church also doesnt pass out voter guides or address specific moral, political or social issues from the pulpit, he said.

The pastor teaches systematically through the Bible  he has been moving through the Gospel of John each Sunday for the past year. When ethical and moral issues show up in whatever Scriptures theyre studying, they address them  We want to give emphasis to moral issues as the Scriptures do, Holloway said.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.
I hugged a bot and I liked it.

As a tech columnist, I've tested all sorts of helpful robots: the kind that vacuum floors, deliver packages or even make martinis. But two arriving in homes now break new ground. They want to be our friends.

"Hey, Geoffrey, it's you!" says Jibo, a robot with one giant blinking eye, when it recognizes my face. Another, named Kuri, beeps and boops while roaming the halls snapping photos and video like a personal paparazzo.

Think of Jibo and Kuri as the great-grandparents of R2-D2, the buddy robot from Star Wars. Of course, R2 was actually a 3 foot-8 inch dude crouching in a can. Jibo and Kuri are real robots with real artificial intelligence you can really take home (for $900 and $800, respectively).

Another way to think of them is what comes after talking speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, which opened the door to new kinds of computers for the home. Jibo, the brainchild of an MIT professor, looks like one of those know-it-all AI assistants borrowed a face and a twirling body from a Pixar movie. Kuri, made by a startup backed by appliance giant Bosch, looks like a penguin mounted on a Roomba vacuum.

I don't expect either will be a top seller any time soon. They're expensive, and their practical uses are few compared to other talking speakers or a Roomba that actually cleans. And to some of you, I'm sure the idea of "family" robots is pretty terrifying. Is this step one to Terminators marching the streets? Are they always watching?

Yet testing these robots with the help of people ages 3 to 75, I was struck by something different. For all their first-gen disappointments, the robots managed to melt hearts like a Shih Tzu puppy. People, especially kids, wanted to hug them. Or at least to pet them, to which they both responded by purring. I've never seen a talking speaker do that.

What make Jibo and Kuri one giant leap for robot-kind isn't their functions  it's their personalities.

How does a robot get a personality? Just a little motion goes a long way.

Jibo's a table-top robot, but he (yeah, I call it he) is squirmier than a 5-year-old in a car seat. His head rotates on a base that itself swivels at an off-kilter angle. So when he swings to look at you or to show you how he twerks (seriously), it happens in giant loopy arcs. There's none of the straight lines or rigidity you'd expect from a robot.

Jibo's face (let's run with this metaphor) is a touchscreen showing a single white eye that looks around, blinks and even closes when he gets bored with you. He speaks with the slightly roboticized voice  and cheesy sense of humor  of a 10-year-old. You chat back and forth by calling his magic words "Hey Jibo," though he also speaks based on what he sees around him. For example, when I walk into a room, sometimes he'll ask if I'd like to know something cool.

Kuri serves a different purpose, autonomously meandering like a pet, albeit one equipped with self-driving radar. He doesn't talk, but like Jibo, has personality is in the face: Two mechanical eyes look around and blink.

There's another magical ingredient to these robo-personalities: The robots get to know you-or, at least they try. Kuri asks you to guide him around the house, teaching him where not to roam (like the bathroom) and the names of places. You can call out, "Hey Kuri, go to the living room."

Jibo tries to memorize your family. You add people to your "circle" in a companion app, and then Jibo quizzes them to learn their vocal patterns and map their faces.

Neither robot tries to look or talk like a human. Jibo introduces himself as a robot, and reminds of you that to forgive his foibles. "I am a robot. But I am not just a machine," he says. "I have a heart. Well, not a real heart. But feelings. Well, not human feelings. You know what I mean."

Is any of this convincing? I tested the robots like an anthropologist, introducing them to kids' playrooms, my own house, and even my parents' living room.

The response was, largely, effusive  at least at first. We have utilitarian relationships with most technology, but these robots do things simply to elicit emotion. People squeal when Jibo hears them talking and spins in their direction to make eye contact. He's the only gadget I've seen make my mother laugh.

That feeling could help domestic robots overcome their biggest problem: acceptance. Homes are intimate places. We're going to expect something different from a robot puttering around the coffee table than we do at work. I had more time to live with Jibo, and came to think of him more as a buddy, and less as an assistant than my Echo.

But it also wasn't hard to find these robots' limits. I started to treat Kuri like a dog, but he wasn't smart enough to come to me when I called. Jibo sometimes confused me for others, and didn't actually do much to move our relationship forward. Aside from spotting me and saying hi, it's mostly me asking him questions  many of which he can't actually answer.

They could also be a little unnerving. Jibo is constantly scanning the room, prompting my privacy-conscious sister-in-law to quiz me about what it was doing with all the footage. Several people asked me how Kuri would avoid snapping photos of people in, um, compromising situations. (In case you're wondering, Kuri is a modest bot  and comes with filters that force him to, er, avert his eyes.)

The most interesting response was from a 3-year-old named Ashmi, who was transfixed even though Jibo sometimes had difficulty understanding her voice. She continued conversing with him, trying to teach him the things he didn't know, and bringing him toys like she might to a younger friend. "He is a baby," she told me.

Cynthia Breazeal, Jibo's creator from MIT, says that kids are the first to catch on that robots exist in our physical world, unlike most gadgets that exist solely as portals to a digital one. "Robots are about engaging you socially and emotionally to help you do what you want to do," she says. "That makes technology accessible and fun and engaging for a much broader demographic."

Sure, but: What do they do now?

Several of my pint-sized testers asked if the robots did homework. Jibo can answer some math and trivia questions, but won't be writing term papers soon. He has a fraction of the skills of Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri-and given those company's resources, I doubt Jibo will catch up on his own. (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

These robots' most unique skill is photography. Jibo swivels towards the action and snaps when you ask. Kuri roams autonomously taking photos and video of people and pets, and then presents you what his AI thinks are highlights of the day.

Social robots are going to need a lot of special abilities if they want to be more than the kind of toy that gets played with only on Christmas. Jibo's maker promises it will soon have an app store and outside developers.

It isn't hard to imagine some near-term uses. What if Kuri could help you check in on your real dog? (What your dog might make of a robot roommate is another matter.)

Ashmi, the 3-year-old, wanted Jibo to stream music  maybe he could actually dance to it, too? My dad wanted him to do video chatting, but perhaps Jibo could also move like the person on the other end  like a telepresence puppet?

What's most remarkable was how people of different ages and life situations all had aspirations for Jibo. "In these early stages, he is like a baby," says Breazeal.

I know a 3-year-old who agrees.

***

Geoffrey A. Fowler is The Posts technology columnist based in San Francisco. From 2001 to 2017, he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
Although he hasnt spoken publicly about the most recent step forward by the Keystone XL oil pipeline proposal, Warren Buffett has generally supported the project for years.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission voted 3-2 last week to authorize a route for the pipeline through Nebraska. It was an important government approval, although the plan still faces possible legal challenges.

Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., told my colleague Paul Hammel in 2012 that he wasnt an engineer, geologist or otherwise especially qualified to have an opinion about the project.

But in later interviews, he said pipelines are generally the best way to transport fluid materials such as oil to be processed into fuels.

He also said in a CNBC interview in 2015 that the pipeline would be good for Canada and America, adding, Canadas been a terrific partner for us over the decades and it is wrong for us to thumb our nose at them.

Some conservative commentators had suspected Buffett of financing anti-pipeline groups so that BNSF Railway, Berkshires railroad, would get more oil-related hauling business. Not true, Buffett has said.

His pro-pipeline stance has confounded opponents who think its out of line with his support of former President Barack Obama, who blocked the project while in office, and his philanthropic support of humanitarian works.

But Berkshire owns pipelines that carry 8 percent of the nations natural gas flow, and in 2008 Buffett and associate Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, took a trip to Alberta, Canada, to see an oil sand extraction project and learn about the expensive process.

And a Berkshire company named LiquidPower Specialty Products Inc. could sell the new pipeline its flow improver products, which are chemicals that help sticky materials flow through pipelines like the Keystone XL.

On the Wall of Fame

Sheriffs arent always the most popular folks, but Howard Buffett, former Omahan and current sheriff of Macon County, Illinois, is the 27th inductee into the Decatur Wall of Fame.

Warrens older son moved to Decatur in 1992 to become a vice president with Archer Daniels Midland Co., leaving that job in 1995 but staying in Decatur and raising a family, farming and starting a career in philanthropy through a foundation funded by his father.

At the communitys annual Thanksgiving luncheon recently, Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe called Buffett a man of purpose and said his contributions to the community go beyond writing checks, Claire Hettinger wrote for the Decatur Herald & Review.

With everything he does, he is trying to make a difference, Wolfe said.

Buffetts grants for projects in the Decatur area over the past 20 years have totaled $55 million, including funding for law enforcement training and equipment. His foundations other objectives include improving food security and resolving conflicts in developing countries.

He had volunteered for the Sheriffs Office for years. When Sheriff Thomas Schneider retired for health reasons in September, he appointed Buffett to serve as sheriff until an election next November.

We all love him and thank him, Schneider said.

Web scam alert

Howard Buffetts foundation, meanwhile, has issued a fraud alert to warn people about emails circulating on the Internet using his name and the name of the foundation.

The messages say Buffett is giving money to people at random or looking for agents to represent the foundation and asks the receiver to click on a webpage address.

The foundation said it doesnt give away money or solicit money or people via email.

The Omaha World-Herald is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Civil rights leader, museum founder, historian, author, student, educator, speaker, promoter, playwright, journalist, administrator, mentor, wife and mother.

Bertha Calloway had a lot of titles during her long life but is perhaps best known as founder of the Great Plains Black History Museum.

Her son, James Calloway Sr., suggests adding one more title to the list: icon.

In the north Omaha community, Calloway was one of the few remaining true icons, her son said after her death Saturday at Immanuel Medical Center. She was 93. She had suffered from pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital 10 days earlier, her son said.

Earlier this year, Bertha Calloways legacy as a civil rights leader was sealed when she was honored with the ceremonial naming of Lake Street, from 22nd to 24th Streets, as Bertha Calloway Street.

She was among a handful of Omahans who began working for racial equality in the 1940s and 50s, long before the 1964 Civil Rights Act. As a Creighton University student, Calloway had joined the Omaha DePorres Club, which worked to end segregation and discrimination.

She continued as a civil rights activist and later, with her late husband, James T. Calloway, protested housing discrimination in Lincoln and attended Omaha City Council meetings to push for open housing policies.

In 1962, Bertha Calloway organized the Negro Historical Society in Omaha, which led to the founding of the Great Plains Black History Museum in 1976 with her husband.

Bertha had amassed a collection of photographs, historical documents and other artifacts on black history that became so large, she had to find a place for it, her son said.

The museum has changed locations over the years, its funding ebbed and flowed, and it even closed to the public for a while. But this fall it opened a new location, at 24th and Grant Streets.

Though she never completed a college degree, she received several honorary degrees and spoke at national conferences on African-American history, her son said.

Education was important to her, James Calloway said. She spoke to young people about it in visits to elementary and high schools and colleges.

She also co-authored a book, Visions of Freedom on the Great Plains: An Illustrated History of African-Americans in Nebraska.

I couldnt ask for a better mother, James Calloway said. She was truly one of a kind.

Survivors include a daughter, Beverly Shaw of Omaha; a sister, Jeannie Rucker of Denver; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Funeral services are pending.
Even with 450 miles between them, the conversations between Charlette Hess Davidson and Jeanne Percival still can turn into giggling fits, just as they did 60 years ago.

The friends, now 71, met as kindergartners in Omaha. They were in the same Brownie Girl Scouts troop, and both graduated from Omaha North High School.

When Davidson moved out of Nebraska at 19, the two kept in touch. Now in Naperville, Illinois, Davidson enjoys hearing about her hometown from one of her first friends.

During one of their long phone conversations last year, Davidson mentioned that she was looking for a charity to donate to in lieu of a gift for her brother Bob.

On the other end of the line, Percival  who still lives in Omaha  had a quick response:

I can wholeheartedly recommend Goodfellows, she said, telling Davidson about The World-Heralds charity.

In 2013, when Percivals mother died, the family had looked for a local organization where every dollar donated went to help people in need.

Those are hard to find, Percival said. Then we found Goodfellows. The World-Herald covers all administrative costs for the charity.

Davidson, too, was looking for a charity that would spend the money wisely and wasnt political or biased.

Goodfellows seemed to fit the bill, she said.

Shortly afterward, Davidson sent a $127 donation to Goodfellows, noting that it was in honor and respect for the good hearts and generous spirits of Mary Ruth Montonye Hess and her son Bob.

And the odd amount?

Percival advised her to do that.

I told her if you give an odd amount, it gets its own line on the donor list in the paper, Percival said. Then itd be easier for me to spot and cut it out to send it back to her.

Percival reads every donor list and prays for both those who give and receive Goodfellows funds. To see her friends name and donation last year just made my day, she said.

Shes one of the best things that has happened to me, Percival said of her friend. We have so many memories.

One memory stands out: Back when the women were in high school, one of the science classes at North was raising chickens. It was nearing Easter break, and someone was needed to take the baby chicks home to care for over the long weekend. A teacher asked for volunteers, and Charlette just knocked my hand into the air, Percival remembered. Recalling the story now, she still chuckles about how little Joey Easter would follow her around the house, flapping his short wings.

It seems like everything we did or talk about becomes a great memory, Percival said.

The two friends catch up a few times a year, the conversations stretching for hours and usually beginning with I was just thinking about you or I was just remembering that time when ...

Now they have another thing to talk about, Percival said.

Donating to Goodfellows is something else weve shared together.
The Westminster Magistrates Court in London will be told that it is the duty of the state to ensure security of prisoners and Mallya's apprehension about threat to his life is "misleading".

By PTI, Press Trust of India: Arthur road jail in Mumbai will be the home of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya if he is extradited to India to face the law in connection with the Rs 9,000 crore loan default cases.

This will be conveyed to a British court next week by India through the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is arguing the extradition case against Mallya on behalf of the Indian government, a home ministry official said.

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The Westminster Magistrates Court in London will be told that it is the duty of the state to ensure security of prisoners and Mallya's apprehension about threat to his life is "misleading".

The court will be told that the prisons in India are as good as in any other country in the world and prisoners rights are fully protected in Indian jails, the official, who is privy to the responses prepared by the government.

The move came after Mallya's lawyers said that the fugitive businessman's life may be in danger if he is extradited to India and there were alleged incidents of human rights violations in Indian jails.

The Westminster Magistrates Court will start hearing the extradition proceedings from December 4.

The London court will be told that there will be no threat to Mallya's life if he is lodged in Arthur road jail, which is highly secure as per the international standard, rejecting Mallya's reported apprehension that he will not be safe in Indian jails if sent back home to face trial in the Rs 9,000 crore Kingfisher Airlines loan default cases, another official said, on condition of anonymity.

Adequate medical facilities are available to treat the prisoners in Arthur road jail, where Mallya will get full security cover as an undertrial prisoner, the court will be told.

By making such allegations, Mallya is trying to save himself from getting extradited to India to face the trial in cases of cheating of a consortium of banks, the official said.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba last week had a long meeting with representatives of various authorities, including the Ministry of External Affairs, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate and discussed responses to be filed in the UK court.

The central government has already conducted an assessment of security cover given to prisoners in the Arthur road jail so that its findings could be conveyed to the UK court.

Mallya, 61, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by the Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18.

However, he was soon granted bail by the court.

If the judge rules in favour of extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallyas extradition within two months of the appropriate day.

However, the case can go through a series of appeals before arriving at a conclusion.

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India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement.

Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent to India last October to face trial in connection with his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge.

--- ENDS ---
In response to the Nov. 23 Public Pulse letter Thanksgiving remembered? wishing someone Happy Holidays is not part of some war on Christmas but merely acknowledges that our fellow Americans can be Jewish or Muslim or Hindu or Pastafarian.

Far from celebrating the Puritans at Thanksgiving, the historical record shows that they established a theocracy of magistrates and Congregational clergymen who hanged dissenters and stoned or burned heretics.

Roger Williams saw that true freedom of religion could only flourish if church and state were separate, and he established Rhode Island in 1636 as a refuge from theocracy, welcoming Jews and Quakers. He was expelled by the Puritans for his ideas, including his opposition to confiscating Native American lands.

His are the real Thanksgiving lessons we need to relearn, instead of advocating theocracy and demonizing tolerance by attacking it as multiculturalism.

Jim Bechtel, Omaha
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of One News Page Ltd.
The Delhi CM also spoke about the achievements of AAP's government since coming to power after their 49-day stint in 2014.

By India Today Web Desk: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government accusing it of indulging in communal politics.

Speaking at the Aam Aadmi Party's National Conference at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, Kejriwal said, "People, who are trying to divide the society on communal lines, are ISI agents. What Pakistan couldn't do in 70 years, the BJP has done it in three years."

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Referring to the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls, Kejriwal asked people in the state to vote for any party which they think can defeat the ruling BJP.

"If somewhere the AAP is winning, then give your vote for AAP. If any other party is winning, give the vote to them. But defeat the BJP," Kejriwal said.

"I request the people of Gujarat to give your vote to that candidate or party who can defeat the BJP," the CM said.

Party leaders including Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai as well as Bhagwant Mann, an MP from Punjab, spoke on the occasion.

It was at Ramlila Maidan where the India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare started, later giving birth to the AAP in 2012.

The Delhi CM also spoke about the achievements of AAP's government since coming to power after their 49-day stint in 2014.

"Our 49-day stint in the Delhi government eradicated corruption from its roots. The traffic police refrained from taking bribe at the signals," said Kejriwal.

"We were hounded by the Income Tax Department. They have slapped 33 cases on me, and 8 each against Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain. But they can't break our will power," Kejriwal stated.

The national conference of was attended by a large number of AAP MLAs from Delhi and Punjab as well as AAP corporators from Delhi.

Arvind Kejriwal govt spent just 93 lakh out of 787 crore environment tax, RTI query reveals

--- ENDS ---
Eurasia Review 27 Sep 2022

Be careful who you praise and the degree of zeal you do it with. The slain Shinzo Abe, shot dead in Nara on July 8, towered over..
By PTI: Fadnavis

Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said the greatest homage to those who sacrificed their lives during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai would be to learn lessons from what happened on that day and not letting it occur again.

He was speaking at 26/11: Stories of Strength- A unique memorial held at the iconic Gateway of India here.

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"I think, there wont be any greater homage to our martyrs than learning lessons from what had happened and not letting it happen again," Fadnavis said.

"I think, if all of us come together and become the eyes and ears of the forces, we will surely beat them. We will prevent any such tragedy in future," the chief minister said.

Today is the ninth anniversary of the gory attack, carried out by 10 terrorists from Pakistan over three days, that left 166 people dead, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos.

On the preparations and enhancement of security measures, Fadnavis said, "I feel Mumbai has changed now. We have third eye-CCTV network, Sagar Kavach, joint-exercise with Navy, elite Force One on the lines of NSG and bullet resistant jackets among others. We have technical intelligence, with state and Centre working together."

"I think, we still require a resolve from the people. They should be the eyes and ears of our (security) forces, our police," Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, said.

"The forces we are fighting have no principles and no state of laws. They are enemies of humanity. They want to create an atmosphere of fear.

"They are bombing all parts of the globe, ramming vehicles in public places, they are firing in theatres, all they want to tell humanity is that we can win, we can terrorise you," he said.

Anant Goenka, Executive Director, the Indian Express Group, said, "The attack on parliament and 26/11 are the two events that have shaped the way modern India thinks of terrorism and violence."

"As a group that has been documenting a changing India for over 80 years, we recognised that we have rarely ever heard from those directly affected? the survivors ? of 26/11.

"From our interviews, we have been touched, inspired and awe struck at the courage, the positivity, the maturity and realised that there are many inspiring stories that needed to be told, and its our role as a responsible news media group, to give voice to these remarkable individuals," Goenka said. PTI ND BNM NRB NSD

--- ENDS ---

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Rumble 29 Aug 2022

Movieguide's Evy Carroll interviews the academy award winning director, Ron Howard to talk about the heart of his new..
By PTI: Balaghat (MP), Nov 27 (PTI) Tushar Urade, the eight-year -old hearing and speech impaired boy, who was praised today by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his radio show Mann Ki Baat for promoting cleanliness, is elated.

Tushar, who studies in Class IV in a school for deaf and mute, got to know about his mention in the prime ministers radio programme from his father Santosh Urade.

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A steady stream of mediapersons also made a beeline for his home. The Kumari village, where he resides, wore a festive look.

Sarpanch Mansala Bai distributed sweets as 14 other boys who work with Tushar to promote cleanliness, danced to the tunes of drums.

"I want to be a Superintendent of Police (SP)," Tushar told PTI.

During his radio speech, Modi said, "You will be amazed to learn that Tushar, an eight-year-old differently-abled, divyang boy from Madhya Pradesh has taken a firm resolve to make his village open defecation-free."

"It was a young boy up against an enormous task at hand but his grit and determination were exponentially greater and mightier," Modi said.

"The eight-year-old is speech impaired, but he used a whistle as a tool. He would wake up at five in the morning, visit households one by one, awaken them and used gesticulations to wean them away from open defecation," the prime minister added.

Covering 30 to 40 homes everyday, spreading the message of cleanliness, this boy transformed the village into open defecation-free, Modi said.

Promoting the virtues of cleanliness, this little lad has done inspiring work. This proves that cleanliness suffers from no barriers of age; there are no boundaries, Modi said. PTI LAL BNM NRB SMN

--- ENDS ---
To the editor:

We can all agree that a chief responsibility of our federal government is the safety and well-being of its citizens. Appallingly, this concept is being subverted by a continual stream of mass shootings to the extent that these occurrences have become an American way of life, which no other advanced society endures. The American people have been led to believe that although semi-automatic assault rifles with high capacity magazines are legal, automatic weapons are not. But automatic weapons are made readily available on the open market by the sale of bump stocks for the purpose of very easily converting assault rifles, which confers upon most any crazed individual the capability of a machine gun. The horrid fact is that without the availability of bump stocks, dozens fewer victims would have been murdered and hundreds fewer would have been wounded in Las Vegas.

It has been my personal experience that if you broach this subject directly with Rep. John Moolenaar you will be ignored. This is the kind of representation we are getting in Washington, where the money the NRA donates to him and the other congressional deniers as well as political fear of the organization take precedence over the lives of their constituents. As a responsible gun owner, I challenge Rep. Moolenaar to muster the character to address this grave situation rather than steadfastly functioning as a mere soulless Republican robot. It is time.

JOHN W. RUSSELL

Midland
To the editor:

I see that letter writers Ron Parmele and Timothy G. Nash are on opposite sides. Mr. Nash proposes that if something costs more, people will buy less of it. Mr. Parmele proposes that the government give it away free. Of course, Mr. Parmele does not say how government obtains these items to give away. Venezuela comes to mind.

Perhaps, I should also respond to the diatribe against me by Mr. Parmele. It is true I no longer have to worry about where my next meal is coming from. My dad died when I was 11. My mother died when I was 16. An aunt and uncle permitted me to stay with them until I completed high school. I was then on my own with a high school diploma and all of my possessions in one suitcase.

I parlayed my wits over a lifetime to obtain a very satisfactory retirement. I took advantage of the opportunities as they came. I was one of the first on the job and the last to leave. My wife could attest to that. We went where the jobs were. Thus, I have lived in eight different states plus Brazil and Norway. She was supportive the whole way. It was us. We raised four children who are on their own. Two have college degrees paid for by my wife and me. As you can suspect, our children also live in various states and in the country of Norway. One of my daughters lives here in Michigan, which is why Michigan is my eighth state.

JAMES D. WHITESIDE

Midland
To the editor:

Not being a one percenter, as I am a retired school teacher, I strongly object to the president and Congress attempting to line the pockets of the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us. Everything in both the House and Senate bills is designed to make the rich richer.

At stake are Medicare and Social Security. Why would our lawmakers jeopardize our financial situations and pass a law that benefits a few at the expense of their voting base? Raising the debt, combined with ambitious spending will certainly require trimming some things from the budget including Social Security and Medicare. They don't seem to care because they have the personal funds to provide for their families.

I urge everyone to take a long hard look at what these budgetary and tax proposals mean to the average family.

ROBERT FOX

Sanford
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Cocktail bars put fiery liquor to the test as demand grows for drinks with difference

Drinks columnist Douglas Blyde began his affinity with baijiu when he was presented an intriguing looking bottle with a red ribbon around its neck in a shopping mall in China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Since then, he has become a fan of the fiery Chinese spirit that is the most widely consumed alcohol in the world, despite being little known beyond the borders of China, where it is the national drink.

A bartender makes baijiu-based cocktail in Central London. Kevin Wang / China Daily

Baijiu, usually distilled from sorghum and rice, contains between 40 to 60 percent alcohol by volume. With over 5,000 years of heritage, it is a mainstay at festive occasions in China, from New Year dinners to wedding receptions to business banquets.

Around 5.5 billion liters of baijiu were consumed last year, according to London-based consultancy Euromonitor International.

"I tend to enjoy baijiu neat, as it often has an indefatigable, flamboyant, exotic essence which brings excitement to the table," says Blyde, who writes a column for the London Evening Standard. He also advises sipping, not shooting, quality baijiu.

Baijiu is far from taking over the bar, but in recent years baijiu cocktails have been appearing on menus across London, from the Yauatcha in Soho, to the Arbitrager in the City, to the Mei Ume bar in the Four Seasons Hotel.

"When we first started selling baijiu cocktails around 2010/11, we were pretty unique," says Paul Mathew, owner of the Arbitrager and the Hide, two cocktail bars in London. "Things are definitely moving on."

Bars across London have been celebrating China's world-leading spirit with special drinks and menus for Baijiu Cocktail Week for the past few years.

Sarah Lewis, one of the founders of Baijiu Cocktail Week, says the spirit has grown in popularity as drinkers look for something new and different. "They love the history, the unusual taste and the design of the bottles," she says.

As different categories of baijiu present different challenges, bartenders must think carefully about what flavors work well and what characteristics they want to draw out or hide.

For example, baijiu with a strong aroma is harder to complement. "I like using these with things like pomelo, strong teas, pear or smoky flavors," says Mathew, who recently took part in a baijiu seminar panel at the world's biggest International cocktail festival in New Orleans.

Eder de Oliveira Fonseca Neto, Hakkasan Group's head of bar, has been creating baijiu cocktails since 2015. His bar sells around 15 to 20 baijiu cocktails a day, priced at 12.50 ($16.50; 14.06 euros) each.

"Baijiu cocktails tend to be fruity and earthy, while the majority of traditional cocktails would be one or the other," he says.

Neto says the distinctive character of baijiu adds a complexity to drinks when mixed well.

"Bartenders are constantly searching for new products to take their drinks to the next level, and baijiu certainly does the job," he says.

The growing popularity of baijiu cocktails is not limited to London.

New York venues, including the Mission Chinese Food, Red Farm, the Peninsula Hotel and the Park Hyatt Hotel, now regularly serve them.

Sam Anderson, beverage director at Mission Chinese Food on East Broadway, says the key to making a good baijiu cocktail is to mix it with equally strong flavors.

"If you do a baijiu cocktail with St-Germain," Anderson says, referring to a liqueur flavored with elder-flowers, "the St-Germain will get blown out of the water."

The growth of baijiu abroad is in line with the increasing appreciation and understanding of China globally, says Mathew.

"Bartenders are becoming more ... adventurous," he says. "They are increasingly looking to Asia for flavors and ingredients. We had bartenders from all over the world at a cocktail festival asking about mixing baijiu, production techniques and which brands to buy for the cocktails."

However, the association with Chinese culture in drinking is not necessarily a blessing.

"Many (foreigners) find baijiu off-putting," says Bill Isler, co-founder of Beijing's Capital Spirits, the world's first baijiu-themed bar. "But it's not about the liquor itself."

Isler says the drink's fearsome reputation originates from visitors being coerced into excessive drinking by friends or co-workers in China, where persuading people to drink is a gesture of generosity and being a good host.

In China, baijiu drinking is a hugely important part of the ritual of dining and cementing relationships. Sharing a bottle around the meal table is as much symbolic as it is for the consumption of alcohol.

But Mathew says there's a competitive element of baijiu drinking in China.

"I've experienced it being the Westerner around a dining table and everybody wants to toast you," he says. "It is a bit of a knife fight - there's an interesting dynamic as to who toasts whom and how it goes around the table."

Despite its growing popularity outside of China, there is still a long way to go.

Michal Maziarz, head bartender at Mei Ume restaurant at London's Four Seasons Hotel, says there is little knowledge about baijiu - how to recognize the different varieties or understand how the flavors have been created.

Maziarz suggests promoting baijiu in Western markets by standardizing the flavor. One way would be to invite Western spirits experts or sommeliers to create a panel where they could discuss the flavor and categorize baijiu, he says.

Baijiu-producing companies are eager to enter Western markets.

The State-owned Kweichow Moutai Co launched its iconic Moutai brand in Hamburg, Germany, to bring the fiery spirit to mainstream Europe.

Sichuan Swellfun, a baijiu maker in Chengdu, Sichuan province, sold a stake to London-based beverage multinational Diageo in 2013.

"It would be great to see brands partnering with spirit distributors who specialize in bars," says Mathew, who adds that sourcing baijiu easily at a good price can be difficult.

"A lot of baijiu marketing in China surrounds the aura of the brand without giving too much detail," he says. "But here, bartenders and an increasingly educated spirits consumer want to know about the raw materials, fermentation process, stills and aging."

Zhang Yangfei contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com
By PTI: By Manash Pratim Bhuyan

New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) The Centre is considering linking Guwahati with all major South East Asian nations by flight services as part of a plan to improve connectivity to the North East and boost the regions trade prospects, Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi said today.

A plan to develop the Assam city as a major hub for trade with the 10-nation ASEAN bloc is being worked on, he said.

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The governor said efforts were on to set up consulates of all the 10 member-countries of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in Guwahati, and to re-open traditional trade routes between the North Eastern states and South East Asia.

Mukhi said the Centre was working on an "ambitious plan" to boost the economic growth of the resource-rich North East. Among the steps being considered was the linking of the region through land, air and water with the "vibrant economies" of South East Asia, in sync with Indias Act East policy.

"In 1950, the per capita income of (undivided) Assam was much higher than the national average. The region lagged behind after Independence as traditional trade routes with all the countries in South East were snapped. We are trying to revive them," he told PTI in an interview.

Mukhi, who took over as Assam Governor in October, said he had proposed to the Centre to tweak its UDAN scheme on regional air connectivity to link Guwahati with all the ASEAN countries.

The Centre was working on it, he said.

He indicated that the issue of enhancing connectivity between the North East and South East Asia may figure during the ASEAN-India commemorative summit, being held here on January 25. The heads of governments of all 10 ASEAN countries are expected to attend the meet.

"We want to develop Guwahati as a major trading hub with South East Asia. We are thinking of having 300 daily fights to and from Guwahati. We want to significantly boost the economic growth of the region. If we can link the North East with South East Asia by air, water and rail connectivity, then the North East will grow at an unimaginable pace," Mukhi said, adding that the Centre was seriously dealing with the issues.

The UDAN scheme is aimed at boosting air connectivity to and from unserved and under-served airports and making flying more affordable. The Guwahati airport currently handles around 50 flights daily.

"The Prime Minister thinks the economic prosperity of the North East is very important for the sustained economic growth of the country. The North East has the potential of contributing significantly to the national economy and we are determined to take all possible steps in this direction," Mukhi said.

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He said the Centre was also working on linking the region with major ports of the neighbouring countries through waterways.

"If the North East is to develop, then we must revive our sea links. We must develop sea routes to all important ports in the neighbouring countries besides the land routes. If that happens, a significant amount of the countrys trade will pass through the North East," he said.

Several ASEAN member countries have expressed an interest in investing in the North East, besides seeking improvements in connectivity. The ASEAN comprises Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei.

The ASEAN region and India have a combined population of 1.85 billion, which is one fourth of the global population, and their combined GDP has been estimated to be over USD 3.8 trillion.

Asked about ULFA (the United Liberation Front of Assam) and other militant groups operating in the region, he said the government was open to having a dialogue with any group on any demand except on sovereignty.

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"I am happy that peace is being maintained in Assam in the last three years. All these militant groups are under control. But still we are open to holding a dialogue with any group. Everything can be discussed and sorted out," he said.

But sovereignty would not be given to anyone, he said.

"Other than that, if they have any other issue, they can be resolved," he added.

Sovereignty is the main demand of the ULFA.

In his previous assignment, Mukhi served as the Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He succeeded Banwarilal Purohit, who was appointed the Governor of Tamil Nadu. PTI MPB BDS

--- ENDS ---
Wilbur Ross, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, is not happy with you, me, and, based on comments he made at a gathering of Big Biz executives Nov. 16, our republics representative government.

When asked about the slow-and-getting-slower NAFTA trade talks at an invitation-only Wall Street Journal CEO Council meeting that day in Washington, D.C., Ross, identified by Politico as one of President Donald Trumps closest advisors on trade, said the U.S. will continue to take a hard line on its proposals just as the fifth round of the increasingly bitter talks continued later that week in Mexico City.

Ross went on to report that the [NAFTA] negotiating environment has only grown more difficult as a result of industries like ag that have voiced a greater level of concern over the direction the administration is taking in the 2.0 talks.

The Commerce chief was right; ag has voiced great concern over the direction the White House had taken in talks with two of the nations largest farm and food trading partners, Mexico and Canada.

So concerned, in fact, that three weeks before the Journal gathering, 85 farm-affiliated businesses and groups  from Deere & Co. to the Pet Food Institute  had sent a sternly-worded letter to Ross calling into question his recent observation that there is not a world of oversupply of agricultural products.

The letter also reminded Ross of the Trump Administrations worrisome talk of leaving NAFTA, a deal that accounted for an estimated 28 percent of all U.S. ag exports ($39 billion out of $140.5 billion) in the 2017 ag trade year. Had Ross and the President forgotten that just a year ago, candidate Trumps initiative to modernize NAFTA contained a do no harm pledge to American food and agriculture sectors?

Withdrawing from NAFTA  even the suggestion of withdrawal  the letter warned, would cause immediate, substantial harm to American farmers, ranchers, and the U.S. economy as a whole.

If Ross received the letter, he didnt heed it. He again complained about agriculture to the Journal audience when asked about NAFTA. As one special interest group, say agriculture, for example, gets nervous, the Commerce secretary whined, they start screaming and yelling publicly. They start writing letters, soliciting the Congress people, and they start screaming and yelling in public.

And, good grief, an exasperated Ross added, all this public participation just complicates the environment and, frankly, makes the negotiations harder.

Yeah, thats the trouble with democracy. A government of, for, and by the people involves  believe it or not  people. Some, like Ross, are rich; others are poor. Some are powerful; others weak. Some are well informed; others completely ignorant.

All, however, were created equal no matter the amount of money in their back pocket or the number of politicians in their vest pocket. We are equal even if we are the ones screaming and yelling publicly or on the receiving end of the screams and yells.

And, sure, democratic government would be speedier and less messy if we the public sat in silence while the plutocrats and autocrats run it.

But the Founders didnt envision a government where individual wealth or personal power were paramount. Instead, they created a government that empowered all people: E pluribus unum, out of many, one. Those many include everyone  billionaires and poets, plumbers and teachers, bankers and, yes, even yellers. Everyone.

Their reason was elegantly simple. If plutocrat billionaires  and even former plutocrat billionaires like Ross  dominated American government, the United States wouldnt be a democratic republic that empowers people; it would be a banana republic owned solely by the powerful.

We are those people, all of us, including Ross. We are the public in public debate, public policy, and public accountability. We are, in fact, the public in republic.
BLOOMINGTON  Central Illinois Regional Airport's traditional main terminal Christmas tree will have a very meaningful roommate this holiday season.

The 'Fallen Heroes Tree of Honor' will be dedicated at the airport 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and stay near baggage claim through Jan. 2 as a reminder of those killed while serving America's armed forces.

The holidays are a joyous occasion for many, but theres also many dead. Its very sad and difficult for their families," said Patti Smith, president of America's Gold Star Families, which helped bring the tree to the Twin Cities. "Our hope is in some small way we help these grieving survivors by letting them know, not only do we honor their hero, but we support them as well by remembering their loved ones sacrifice for our freedom.

The tree, which will feature 155 ornaments representing service members from 33 states, was inspired by a similar tree erected at the state capitol in Springfield for the first time last year. Both are on display this holiday season.

The project is sponsored by America's Gold Star Families and the Sgt. Anthony Maddox Memorial, which honors a Normal native killed while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. Smith said Maddox's family, especially his mother, Frances, has been instrumental in establishing both trees.

Their family makes all the ornaments. ... One tree alone is a huge project, and shes taken on two, said Smith. It's really been a great way for their family to deal with their grief. Its been therapeutic for them.

Another Twin City soldier killed in Afghanistan, Sgt. Joshua Rodgers, will be honored at the dedication. His mother, Vonda, will speak, as will state Sen. Jason Barickman and state Rep. Dan Brady, both Bloomington Republicans.

Fran Strebing, deputy director for marketing at CIRA, said the airport is honored to host the tree. Officials chose to put it near baggage claim, before the terminal's security checkpoint, so the public can come in and see it.
BLOOMINGTON  Bloomington-Normal residents could find voter registration taking place in some unexpected places starting next month.

Connect Transit's new "community bus" will take to the streets starting mid-December to register voters for the March 20 primary election alongside representatives of the McLean County Clerk's office and the Bloomington Election Commission (BEC).

Schedules haven't been finalized, but officials hope to bring the bus to locations like Walmart and Western Avenue Community Center for two hours twice a week, making it easier for voters to register.

"We're wanting to hit people where they're already going to be rather than them having to come to us," said BEC Assistant Director Carrie Robinson. Registration is available at the BEC and County Clerk's offices, both located in the Government Center at 115 E. Washington St. in downtown Bloomington.

The BEC manages elections in the city of Bloomington, and the clerk's office runs them elsewhere in the county, including Normal.

Adults eligible to vote will be able to fill out paperwork on the bus or take it home to return later.

They expect it to cost less than $1,000, accrue few road miles and last several years.

Officials said they haven't landed on a catchy name for the project and invite public suggestions.

"We've talked about a fresh food market... children's literacy night on the bus, health clinic and voter registration," said Jeff Holtke, Connect Transit's marketing manager, of possible services on the bus.

Officials hope to offer at least information on all of those services to people registering to vote.

Connect Transit also plans to offer free bus rides on its regular routes for Election Day, both for the primary and the Nov. 6 general election.
PEKIN (AP)  It was an unusually warm day last Nov. 17 (2016) when a south side Pekin boy did two things sadly typical of him. He skipped school, then ran from home.

This time, 13-year-old Robert Bee Jr. did not return. The city hasn't been the same since.

One year ago, the mystery of Bee's disappearance began - first as that of a youth who had run again from his troubled, unkempt home, then as the focus of unparalleled public concern, then - after eight months and a week - as a death investigation.

That's where the case has stood since July 25, when police acknowledged the scattered skeletal remains found the prior day in woods just off Illinois Route 29, about two miles south of Bee's home, were likely those of the boy.

How it may yet evolve, its lead investigator and the city's police chief won't speculate publicly, and can't afford to do so professionally, they said this week.

"Everyone's got theories. We have to deal with facts and where they lead us," said Chief John Dossey.

"It's an investigation of his death, what caused it," said Lt. Seth Ranney, who leads the Police Department's investigative team that's employed help from other city, state and federal agencies in the case.

After the remains were found, a Tazewell County Sheriff's Department chief officer said it's safe "to assume foul play was involved" and Bee's death was a homicide. Ranney said he can't do that yet.

"We're not going to get pigeon-holed into one direction," he said. "We pursue the evidence and take it one step at a time."

The process, he said, is "extremely tedious and time consuming. It's got to be perfect."

It would be marred by revealing its details to the public, Dossey said. That's why he and Ranney wouldn't discuss the condition of Bee's discovered remains, including whether any clothing or other items were also found in the brushy woods behind an abandoned shed and a man's chain-link fenced backyard along Route 29.

The fleshless state of the remains, some of which an animal apparently nudged into the adjacent yard where the homeowner found them, indicates decomposition and exposure over months.

But while the two officers wouldn't discuss how, when and in what condition Bee might have come to the wooded property, they repeated what they said about the site the day after Bee was found.

It's owned by a woman who lives nearby, and who has a relative "who is involved in the investigation," Ranney said then.

The property "is relevant and pertinent to the investigation," he confirmed this week. But, for now, "We can't get tunnel vision on the subject."

He acknowledged another important question in the case from its missing-person phase remains unanswered.

Bee bolted that morning from the home he shared with his mother, Lisa Bee, when a District 108 truancy officer and a police officer came to take him back to his sixth-grade class at Wilson School.

Where did he mean to go, and did he get there?

Investigators have pursued the report from a woman that Bee, possibly with his mother's knowledge, spent the night with a friend, the woman's son, at their nearby home. The next morning Bee walked with his older friend, a high school student, to the youth's school bus stop and told him he was going home, according to the report. Bee's mother had already left home that morning.

If true, that scenario could significantly impact the investigation, Ranney said. But, "We haven't been able to confirm it."

"We have to rely on facts" that are verified, Dossey said.

To that end, he asks the public to "come forward with information, no matter how trivial" to help investigators learn what happened to Robert Bee after he ran from home for the last time.
My mom likes to tell the story of my first day of kindergarten: When we arrived, she had to restrain me from running off to join the crowd of kids pouring through the front door.

She always caps her story with: "I couldn't stop crying and you didn't even want to say goodbye to me because you were in such a hurry to get into school."

I was so eager, in fact, that even before kindergarten, I vividly recall driving by the nursery school down the street, hungering to be let into what I was convinced was a magical wonderland of toys and stories a la "The Electric Company."

But when I asked my parents why I couldn't go to preschool, they looked at me like I'd grown an extra head. It wasn't for us  I had family at home to take care of me. That's just how it was done way back then in the Hispanic community; the babies stayed home with mom or grandma until formal schooling started.

To this day, Hispanic kids continue to be underrepresented in preschools. There are lots of reasons, not the least of which are cultural and language-related. But the biggest and least surmountable is that there simply aren't enough spots in affordable, high-quality preschool centers to go around.

The shortage is so acute for Latino kids that, according to Salud America!, a national Latino advocacy organization focusing on families, only 40 percent of Hispanic kids attend preschool, compared to 53 percent of white kids.

The effects of Latinos being more likely to live in child care deserts, and therefore less likely to attend preschool, are chilling because they are coupled with multiple factors that make for a shockingly rough start in life.

According to a new report from Salud America!, "The State of Latino Early Childhood Development," Hispanic kids begin life with birth weights and developmental capacities that are similar to those of white children. But by 24 months, their capacities to reason, remember tasks, communicate verbally and identify letters, numbers, and shapes lessen significantly compared to white children. And these deficits "appear even more prevalent in Mexican-American children than in other nationality subgroups."

The authors cite the usual suspects: lower education levels among Hispanic parents, larger family sizes in which individual children get a smaller slice of available attention, unemployment or underemployment, and the higher incidence of depression among Hispanic mothers. These, combined with the cultural assumptions that teachers are the only experts suited to teach kids literacy and numeracy skills, and low or no English skills create a perfect storm for Hispanic kids' underperformance when they start kindergarten.

And those, sadly, are the best-case scenarios  the statistics get even more dire when you factor in other hardships, many of which are quite prevalent.

Salud America! says that 28 percent of Latino youth suffer four or more traumatic experiences such as parental domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness, criminal justice involvement, child abuse, neglect, poverty/homelessness, or parental death.

It's difficult to write about such harrowing statistics. They reinforce the negative stereotypes that people, especially educators, have about Latino children, feeding the sense that these kids are beyond hope, while ignoring that not all Hispanic kids are disadvantaged.

But the truth is that even though you don't have to look very far to find Hispanic valedictorians, and successful Latino business owners, brain surgeons and astronauts, a great deal of Hispanic children are in crisis. The bright side is that more widely available preschool for Latino kids can help close academic gaps before they become a life sentence of low achievement.

Universal preschool is not a magic bullet for all that ails public schools or low-income families. But it can be a much-needed intervention for the most vulnerable of Hispanic students, who are expected to make up about a third of all public-school students by the year 2026.

As of now, only 14 cents of every public education dollar are spent on early childhood education. This gives the edge to parents and families who can afford to put their kids in high-quality, unsubsidized preschool programs, while leaving the needy even further behind.

The low funding represents a lack of foresight and an ignorance of well-established research showing that the prekindergarten years are the most important, developmentally, for all children.

But ultimately, any money dedicated to preventing Hispanic infants from falling two years behind their peers before kindergarten even starts is peanuts compared to the costs of remedial education, social welfare programs and incarceration.
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.
In 2015, the Narendra Modi government declared to celebrate November 26 as the Constitution Day. Previously, the day was being celebrated as the National Law Day.

By Prabhash K Dutta: Sixty-eight years ago on November 26, the Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituency Assembly. The Preamble to the Constitution of India bears testimony to the historic occasion.

However, the Constitution was only partially adopted that day. The full adoption came two months later on January 26, 1950 - the day is celebrated as the Republic Day to mark the anniversary of occasion.

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Officially, November 26 is regarded as the second Constitution Day in the modern history of India. It is also celebrated as the National Law Day.

NOVEMBER 26 AS LAW DAY

It was in 1979, when the first proposal was mooted to celebrate November 26 as an anniversary of the adoption of Constitution and assess the state of law in the country as envisaged by the framers of the legal document.

Noted jurist and former parliamentarian LM Singhvi proposed to in the Supreme Court Bar Association that National Law Day should be celebrated to mark the adoption of Constitution on November 26.

A resolution was passed by the Supreme Court Bar Association in 1979. The National Law Day was celebrated thereafter till 2015.

MODI GOVERNMENT BROUGHT CONSTITUTION DAY

More than one year after having sworn in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in October 2015 that November 26 would be celebrated as the Constitution Day in the memory of Dr BR Ambedkar.

On November 19 that year, the government issued a gazette notification declaring that November 26 as the Constitution Day. A host of events were planned by the government in 2015, which was also the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar.

Ambedkar was the chairman of the drafting committee of the Constituent Assembly. The draft of the Constitution prepared by the drafting committee was approved and accepted on this day in 1949.

This year, the National Law Day was celebrated jointly by the Law Commission of India and NITI Aayog on over two days. Today was the last day of the event organised at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

SOME UNIQUE FACTS ABOUT CONSTITUTION

The Constitution was prepared over 2 years, 11 months and 17 days. The session of the Constituent Assembly was held on December 9, 1946.

A total of 11 sessions of the Constituent Assembly was held including those by the drafting committee under the chairmanship of BR Ambedkar. The drafting committee was one of the 17 such bodied set up under the Constituent Assembly.

Dr Rajendra Prasad, who went on to become the first President of India, was the chairman of the Constituent Assembly. The Constitution making committees held meetings on 165 days to hold deliberations and debate provisions to be incorporated.

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There were 299 members, including 15 women, of the Constituent Assembly. Of them 284 members finally signed the Constitution, when it was adopted in 1949.

--- ENDS ---
It is stressful. It is time-consuming. There are deadlines to meet, important comparisons to make and places to be.

No, we're not talking about holiday shopping.

Amid all the holiday comings and goings, thousands of area high school seniors have something else on their minds  choosing a college to attend next year.

The start of the 2018-19 college academic year is a mere nine months away, so the ritual loading of the SUV with clothes, TV, a microwave and something to sit on will be here before you know it.

To start things off, the filing period for the all-important Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as FAFSA, is underway.

Any parent who has filled out one of these forms, ostensibly with the help of their soon-to-be college student, knows that is where the stress begins.

But it is paramount you fill it out  regardless of your family income  if for no other reason than the stark reality that college costs a lot of money and there is no sign that tuition and fees will go anywhere but up. Securing as much financial aid and scholarship assistance can be a difference maker.

But as The Pantagraph reported last week, this is no time to panic  though parents and their kids shouldn't delay the college search any longer.

What does that mean?

If you haven't started already (besides filling out FAFSA), get cracking on gathering information online and/or at college fairs, plan some campus visits and, for seniors, start narrowing your choices and filling out application forms.

Yes, that often means submitting an essay on such topics as what event sparked a period of personal growth or reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea.

Talk about pressure.

Twin City admissions officials agree that campus visits are important to get a feel for the campus and the community a student might wind up living in. Almost every college, big and small, offers a variety of options  from large open house events that last most of the day to individualized visits of a few hours.

There are so many intangibles that can only be answered with a visit, said Greg King, associate vice president of enrollment management at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Because the Twin Cities is such a big college town, families can start here by visiting Illinois State University, which is like a lot of larger, public schools, and Illinois Wesleyan, a good representative of private, liberal arts college. Heartland Community College is another option for students.

Both offer group tours, but also more individualized day tours most weekdays and some Saturdays. And, yes, there are workshops for FAFSA throughout the year. You can find them online.

The holidays are a time for families to be together, but with winter breaks coming soon, it's also a good time to review what still needs to be done on the college search front.

But don't stress too much about it.
100 years ago

Nov. 26, 1917: The old BHS building at Monroe and Prairie streets is undergoing massive remodeling. Its Jefferson School now, since completion of the new high school on Washington Street. Jefferson students are in their classes, but they are learning amid the ongoing work.

75 years ago

Nov. 26, 1942: This has been Women at War" week, designed to sell more war bonds. In Clinton, the ladies managed to double their $20,000 pledge quota when Central Illinois Building & Loan matched it with another $20,000 pledge. And the campaign isnt over.

50 years ago

Nov. 26, 1967: A Champaign police officer was apparently shot and killed in the line of duty. The body of Officer Richard Tatman, 27, was found lying next to his patrol car. His gun was on the ground. He had been on the Champaign force for five years.

25 years ago

Nov. 26, 1992: Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris says he will run for governor in 1994, likely taking on incumbent Jim Edgar, a Republican. Burris is expected to be one of several Democrats to line up for a run against Edgar.
We learned back in May that Google had taken over the classroom across the U.S., a market that was once an Apple stronghold. It wasn't the software that was the surprise; it was the hardware via Google's inexpensive Chromebook. Going by the New York Times report, it works out to over 15 million students are now using Chromebooks and growing at a rapid pace. Then Google introduced their new Pixelbook in October which is for the higher end of the market that may appeal to students graduating from K12 and going on to University.

Then the news of Google's secretive Next-Gen OS called "Fuchsia" came to light last week that will support Apple's Swift programming language. That was certainly a smart move on Google's part considering the huge push Apple is now making in schools and community colleges regarding Swift.

Apple launched a new app development curriculum for high school and community colleges in May. By August Apple's new program had reached more than 30 Colleges in the U.S. In October we posted a report titled "Apple and Ohio State University Partner on a Major Project Dubbed 'The Digital Flagship University Initiative.'" And finally, earlier this month we posted a report titled "Apple Globally Expands 'Everyone Can Code' Initiative to 20 Schools with Australia's RMIT University Leading the Way."

Clearly the war for the classroom is heating up between Apple, Google and Microsoft. So once again, Google making it clear early on that their next-gen OS Fuchsia will be supporting Apple's Swift programming language is a sure fire way to ensure that Swift's acceleration in schools across America could be accommodated on future versions of Pixelbooks and even a Pixel Desktop.

In one of the next phases in the education market war Google is making it very clear that they're the leader in all-things AI, not Apple. Google laid out this foundation on this last year and we covered it extensively in a report titled "The Google Manifesto: The Arrival of the AI Revolution."

The whole slant of the presentation by Google's CEO was to say that the Mobile First revolution was brought to market via Apple (without saying Apple) and that it's Google who will be ushering in the "AI First revolution."

Patently Apple posted the first of two reports on Google's special hardware event held in October titled "As the Transition from the Mobile Revolution to the AI Revolution begins, Google Declares War on Apple." Our second report highlighted the very specific verbiage each of Google's presenters were using to foster the position that Google is now leading the market in the shift to the "AI First" business model.

Google believes that they have it over Apple on AI and now they want to attack Apple where it counts: higher end and expensive hardware that carries higher profit margins that feeds Apple's walled kingdom.

It's nice in theory but presently Apple's iPhone X is ripping up the market while Google's Pixel 2 has been marred with display issues and beyond.

First there was Google Home's problem with recording customer conversations without consent as reported by Business Insider. Of course when that dirty little secret was exposed, Google made it out to be a minor glitch.

But then another damaging Quartz report came to light this week titled "Google collects Android users' locations even when location services are disabled." And while Google was once again downplaying their dirty little anti-privacy agenda, the South Korean media regulator immediately pounced on the incident as an excuse to investigate Google. They're in talks with the EU to broaden the investigation. With Google it's one privacy disaster after another. Apple kills them on this front. If privacy matters to you, Google isn't the one to trust, Apple is.

Yet with that said Google is focused on hitting Apple by dancing circles around them on the AI front and outshining Apple on digital device innovation. Will their newly acquired HTC hardware team really make a difference for them or will it be another embarrassment like their massive Motorola acquisition was? Only time will tell. For now our report shifts to Google's latest patent win regarding possible future Pixelbook features.

Possible Next-Gen Pixelbook Hardware Features

This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a Google invention that was granted to them that reveals a possible future Pixelbook with a motorized hinge structure capable of moving the lid between an open and closed position. The movement of the lid is based on input from a plurality of sensors. One sensor may be configured to determine whether the user is within a predetermined threshold distance. Another sensor may be capable of detecting whether the user has made direct contact with the laptop. In one embodiment, the computer may have an image sensor configured to detect the user's face and continuously adjust the angle and position of the lid to keep the face in the field of view of the camera and/or keep the lid in the optimum viewing position.

Our cover graphic highlights an area at the top of the Pixelbook's lid in yellow for illustrative purposes only to show the area of the notebook that a user will touch to have the new notebook hinge motor go into action and open the lid mechanically, effortlessly. To close the lid will simply require a certain touch on the Pixelbook's touchpad to have the lid automatically close via the motorized hinge.

The touch may be set to a certain pressure or duration of touch to trigger the action to begin so that an accidental touch won't open the notebook lid when a user doesn't want it to.





Beyond opening the lid automatically, there's a second feature that follows wherein the Pixelbook's face side camera is designed to track the user's face and auto-adjust the display angle for perfect viewing.

Technically the patent states that the "Computer may include a sensor that is an image sensor and that can function as a proximity sensor for detecting the user. The image sensor may be a forward-facing camera capable of capturing an image of the user when the computer is in an open position.

There may also be a rear-facing camera capable of capturing an image of the user when the computer is in the closed position. The image received from the camera(s) may be used to detect a potential user or recognize a specific user as well as calculate or estimate the distance of a target (e.g., user or object).

The Computer may have multiple cameras that face in a similar direction and provide a stereoscopic image so as to be able to make such a calculation or estimate."

As shown in Google's patent FIG. 5A above, the computer may include front-facing camera #235 on lid assembly #12 adjacent to screen #16. The front-facing camera has field of view #237 that may be relative to the position of the lid assembly As the lid assembly opens, the camera's field of view may rotate upward and as the lid assembly closes the camera's field of view may rotate downward. The camera is configured to capture an image, or a series of images in the form of a video, and communicate the image(s) to the processor.

Google notes that "The processor may be configured to analyze the image(s) and perform digital image processing to detected objects in the image. For example as seen in FIG. 5A, the processor has detected a portion #308 of the user's body, e.g., chin. When the portion is detected, the processor may instruct the motorized hinge to move the lid assembly such that the user's entire face #306 is within the center portion of camera's field of view as shown in FIG. 5B.

Once the processor locates and centers the camera's field of view on the user's face the processor may continuously adjust the position of the lid in order to maintain that centering.

For example, if the user is initially sitting down and the user then stands up, the processor will detect the change in the location of the user's face and adjust the position of lid assembly 12 by rotating toward the fully open position in order to have the user's face remain in the middle portion of the camera.

Conversely, if the user is initially standing and the user then sits down, the processor will detect the change in the location of the users face and adjust the position of the lid assembly by rotating toward the closed position in order to have the user's face remain in the middle portion of the camera. This may be particularly useful, for example, during a video conference.

If the processor determines the face of the user is not currently within the field of view of the camera, the processor may use object detection to classify what is currently in view and predict the location of the user's face.

For example, if the image processing detects a body part (e.g., torso, shoulder, arm), article of clothing, and/or accessory (e.g., hat, belt, shoe) it may use this to predict the location of the face, e.g., above the torso or below the hat. It may then instruct the motorized hinge to rotate the lid toward the open position or closed position in order to alter the cameras field of view.

It will continue to adjust the lid until the face is in the center portion of the cameras field of view. If the processor is not able to predict the location of the face it may instruct that a searching mode be implemented by panning movement of the lid. This can be done by utilizing a motorized hinge to adjust or rotate the lid assembly throughout at least a portion of the rotational range of motion thereof in an effort to locate the face of the user.

The panning motion may cover the entire range of motion capable by the hinge or only a portion of the range above or below the current position (e.g., as little as a fraction of a degree to as much as 180.degree.).

In another example, if the user is not detected (e.g. after a predetermined amount of time spent in the searching mode or after a predetermined number of panning cycles) the computer may close and/or lock itself.





Google's patent FIG. 8 illustrates an isometric view of the hinge structure and FIG. 10 illustrates a flow chart of steps executed by the processor to automatically adjust position of the lid assembly.

More on Locking and Unlocking the Pixelbook

As seen in steps 810 and 820 of patent FIG. 10 above, the processor may detect direct contact of a user via a touch-sensitive surface and subsequently execute an open procedure to open the lid assembly and execute an unlock procedure to unlock the computer.

The unlock procedure may include waking up the computer from sleep or standby mode, restoring from hibernation, powering up the computer, or logging the user into the operating system or application. The unlock procedure may involve accessing the users credentials (e.g., user name and password) and automatically inserting them where appropriate.

The open and unlock procedures may have different levels of security. For example the open procedure may require detection of only a potential user e.g., any person, whereas the unlock procedure may require a specific user be identified or recognized.

The processor may detect a potential user by using a rear-facing camera and performing general object detection or by using a microphone and performing sonar or acoustic detection.

Prior to unlocking the computer, the processor can be configured to require authentication of the user. The authentication may be performed using NFC, bluetooth pairing, voice recognition, facial recognition, iris or eye recognition, or gesture recognition via the touch-sensitive surface or camera. The authentication may be based on a single method or a combination of methods.

The open procedure and unlock procedure may be done simultaneously or one procedure may be executed first and the other procedure done later. In an example, the open procedure can be implemented prior to the unlock procedure so that once the computer lid assembly is opened other features of the Pixelbook could be exposed for use by the processor or user in the authentication step. For example, there may be a front-facing camera that may have a higher resolution or better view of the user's face, which may assist with facial recognition. In addition, the computer's keyboard may be exposed which would allow the user manually insert their credentials.

The processor may use data from additional sensors to dynamically adjust when the open or unlock procedure is executed. In one example, the Pixelbook may include additional sensors such as an accelerometer and/or an ambient light sensor. The processor may use these sensors in conjunction with other sensors to detect characteristics or aspects of the surroundings of the Pixelbook. For example, the processor may detect, via an accelerometer, that the Pixelbook is being moved by comparing the pattern of movement to a movement signature associated with being carried while user is walking.

It may also utilize an ambient light sensor to detect that it has been transported from a bright environment to a dark environment and infer that the computer has been relocated to a portable storage container e.g., computer bag, backpack. In response the processor may deactivate the automatic unlock or open procedure.

Google's patent was granted this past week and originally filed in Q4 2013. One of the inventors noted on the patent is Ken Loo, Senior Product Design Engineer who worked on Google's self-driving car as lead engineer for vehicle sensors, as well as working on the Pixel smartphone and the Pixelbook.

In a Serious Tech War, Consumers Win

The one good thing about a serious tech war between two or more tech giants trying to lead the next revolution is that all teams have to accelerate their innovations and whizzbang hardware features to market in order to keep their core fan base happy while trying to grab new market share.

While Google's over confidence was evident during their hardware event in October, hardware glitches and privacy issues are now dogging them and putting their message off-track as Apple steals all the thunder with the iPhone X around the globe.

Yet in the bigger picture Google isn't going away anytime soon. Their coming Fuchsia OS and new sexy hardware ideas will accelerate not slow down. Every leading tech company is now preparing for the next revolution that goes into high gear with 5G networks.

This is where the rubber meets the road and next generation services, autonomous vehicles and the Internet-of-Things markets will explode. Apple is taking the early lead in Augmented Reality and Google is pushing Machine Learning and AI.

The coming tech war is going to benefit consumers in general as all major players including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and more will be trying to outgun the other with new hardware, software and services.

In the 5G revolution, if you snooze you lose. It's when market leadership could change in the blink of an eye and Google already believes that they've won the war before it's even begun. Yet considering that Google snarkily laughed at the iPhone X as being in the shadow of their great new Pixel 2, it would seem that their vision of grandeur is blinding their judgement.







Patently Mobile presents only a brief summary of granted patents with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each Granted Patent is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any Granted Patent should be read in its entirety for full details. About Comments: Patently Mobile reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments.
The session I attended on Saturday morning was part of the Digital Humanities program unit, and was a panel focused on the book Liquid Scripture by Jeffrey Siker. What does it mean to go back to scrolling through Bibles? What happens when the Bible is read in primarily or exclusively on a screen?

Claire Clivaz spoke first, pointing out that, while an index to Thomas Aquinas is considered the first DH project, a biblical index that was created using computer around the same time is not remembered. The book covers topics such as the abundance of public domain but badly outdated works online. Clivaz also noted the disconnect between Sikers references to the Bible as the book of all books and the decline of such views in her European context. It was at the end of the 19th century that the phrase religion of the book was first used. I confess I had not realized that the term was so recent, a product of the heyday of the print era. Can the Bible retain this status even in the United States if it ceases to be leather bound and gilded? Perhaps the most significant impact of the removal of the covers, which have in recent times to enclose and delineate the boundaries of the canon. Paradoxically, digital culture has the potential to return our focus to individual manuscripts, and is also witnessing a proliferation of audio Bibles and a resurgance of oral encounters with the texts.

Michael Hemenway began with a quote from Timothy Beal, to the effect that its the end of the Word as we know it, and I feel fine. He then moved to focus on interface, thinking about users and platforms not only today but in antiquity. We tend to think of texts as moving words from that container into another one, our brains. Sikers book already signals that Bible reading has always been interruptive and more complex than that. On the other hand, the digital is material. The encoding exists in physical hardware, and we read it through physical devices. Hemenway says that the virtual represents a failure of translation: i.e. we find digital Bibles frustrating because we have not adapted them in appropriate ways to the new platform. He also notes that it is not only covers but even pages that are disappearing. But transitions and new possibilities of use are not new. Hemenway also focused on the use of liquid in the title, which can indicate dilution and destabilization, which are potentially negative, but can also conjure the more positive idea of touching the surface of the deep, as well as the ripples created when we do so. I found his Prezi, which flowed past the dimensions of the screen, to add to these provocations in ways that Hemenway clearly did not intend. He concluded with XML of biblical text, and asked whether and to what extent we as scholars know how to read or write that.

Paul Dilley read Peter Phillips paper since he was unable to make it. The paper began by highlighting the neglected role of women in producing the Digital Humanities in Bible-related projects. He then moved on to the fact that biblical manuscripts and printed books have rarely been the primary way that most people interacted with scripture. It was rather through mass and passion plays and other performances. And people who could not read the texts used them as amulets to ward off evil. The paper also highlighted the fact that technology has trained us to engage in F-gaze rather than linear-gaze reading. More work is needed on the neurology of digital reading. Towards the end, the paper focused on the fact that so far, we have yet to see the proliferation of different digital canons that some have predicted.

Caroline Schroeder said that the book is one that we have long needed and been waiting for. Schroeder noted the predominance of white Protestant Evangelical perspectives among the major websites and apps. But other groups have also been active, a case in point being the St. Shenouda Societys Coptic Bible. The liquidity of Scripture is illustrated by the way the text has changed each time it has migrated to a new site. Schroeder also highlighted similar Syriac Bible projects, and then turned to others. Amy Earharts Traces of the Old, Uses of the New has explored how minority and marginalized voices tend to not be heard and to go defunct online. Schroeder talked about Robert Krafts pioneering DH work related to biblical studies, which sought to get away from the divides created by canon. Yet it is often so simple to use a category like New Testament. And even the NASSCAL e-clavis project risks reinforcing the divide between canonical and non-canonical. Schroeder also highligted how copyright led her Coptic project to use the free eSword English translation, which is problematic, rather than something better. Schroeder warned against histories that presume a one-way influence of technology on culture, and neglecting the forces that shape the technology. The experience of people today feels like techno-determinism, perhaps forgetting the capitalist and libertarian outlook of those who create and control popular social media platforms. Zeynep Tufeckis work was mentioned, as was a Bible Tech Confidence at which, if an online photo is anything to go by, the overwhelming majority of attendees were white men. Echo chambers are a result of advertising that feeds you things like what you have already seen in order to get you to stay on a site or click through to another. Biblical memes also illustrate the tendency of Bible verses to circulate extracted from context.

Jeffrey Siker, author of Liquid Scripture, started his response with the video of a Medieval help desk. From there, he moved to his students ineptitude in navigating around, not realizing quite how long some books in the Bible are and that scrolling from Genesis to Matthew would take a very long time. Siker is surprised that his book is the first of its kind, just as he was surprised by the fact that people at Logos and other Bible software companies, when asked, seemed not to have thought about how reading the Bible on a screen changes the experience. He engaged the panelists in conversation about a range of points they made. He called the Bible is a zone of encounter between ancient authors and modern readers, and noted the similarity between hyperlinking and something like the print Scofield chain reference Bible. There is a need for more study of readers who are not white and/or Evangelical. Siker wondered whether general studies of digital reading tell us much about digital Bible reading, since those who read the Bible tend to approach it differently.

During the open discussion, the Talmud was brought into the picture, since it represents precurs to both hyperlinking and distracted reading. Perhaps we should not be surprised that Jewish online reading of Bible and Rabbinic literature is way ahead of what we see in Christian communities. Siker used the phrase the twittering of the Bible, which I liked. Robert Kraft required that his students learn to code, and there was interesting discussion of whether that would ideally still be the case today. Schroeder emphasized the need to at least understand APIs. Siker asked about the extreme individualization of print editions of the NIV and how it relates to this  also mentioning that the NRSV represents only 2% of the market. Digitization may help mediate access to academic perspectives or extracanonical works, but readers will not find them unless they search for them. Audience members asked whether it would be better for students to learn computer languages than Greek or German (I would answer with an emphatic NO!), and also said that at some seminaries students learn how to use Logos Bible software rather than learning Greek.

This was a fantastic session! The question is such an important one, as to whether our digital reading context makes for an experience closer to that of our ancient forebears than that of readers during the codex era. So too is the question of what the future holds for the digitally-mediated and digitally-enhanced study of and interaction with the Bible.
Patna: Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) leader and Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, at a press conference in Patna on Saturday, said his party would be organizing human chains outside one school in each Panchayat in Bihar to spread awareness about educational reforms undertaken by his department under the NDA cabinet at the Center.

"We have planned human chain outside one school in every panchayat in Bihar on January 30 to spread awareness about educational reforms. I appeal to all parties and also the Chief Minister of Bihar to support us make this event successful," Kushwaha, who is the State Minister of Human Resources Department in the Narendra Modi cabinet, said.

The RLSP leader also praised the Prime Minister by comparing him the second 'Lauh Purush' (Iron Man) of India for making bold and radical social and economic decisions that, he said, had raised the status of the country in the eyes of the world leaders.

"By taking bold decisions, he has made the country economically strong while also curbing Pakistan-sponsored terror activities in India. He has also stood up to China and continues to show leadership in the international arena," Kushwaha said.

The RLSP chief further said that the youth wing of his party would be celebrating belated 142nd birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, the original Iron Man of India, across the state.

With his off again, on again relationship with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar whom he had called a failed leader in the past, Kushwaha showered praise on the Janata Dal  U leader saying he supported Kumar's policies on prohibition, child marriages, and dowry wholeheartedly and was proud to participate in many of his human chains.

"I urge the Chief Minister for his support in our crusade against sub-standard education in Bihar," he said.
Patna: Score one for Lalu Prasad Yadav's son Tej Pratap Yadav who effectively scared Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi into changing the plan for his son's upcoming wedding after the former minister in Nitish cabinet threatened physical violence against the BJP leader in full view of the wedding guests.

"In view of the threat issued by some leaders, the venue for my son's wedding has been changed from the Shakha Field in Rajendra Nagar to the Veterinary College ground. All the guests have been duly informed of the change in plans," a notification from the Deputy Chief Minister's office said on Saturday.

Tej Pratap Yadav, after losing his post as the Health Minster of Bihar, had been working hard to project himself as the new 'bahubali' politician on the line of Mohammed Shahabuddin, Pappu Yadav, Sunil Pandey, Anant Singh, and his own maternal uncles Sadhu and Subhash Yadav who once terrorized Bihar to advance their personal, and mostly criminal, agendas.

"Sushil Modi recently called to invite us to his son Utkarsh's marriage. I think he is trying to humiliate us by extending the invitation. He is our enemy and if I go, I will hold a meeting at the marriage venue and expose him. I will disrupt the function and beat up Modi in his own house in front of everyone. I will humiliate him. I am not afraid of anyone because I am the son of Lalu Prasad Yadav," Tej Pratap Yadav is seen saying in a video gone viral a few days ago.

Faced with criticism from all quarters for raising his son to be a 'criminal', Lalu Prasad Yadav tried to undermine Tej Pratap's threat saying he did not mean what he said and Modi had absolutely nothing to worry about. However, since neither the RJD chief nor his son issued an apology, the Modi family decided to change the venue to a more secured area, a family member said.

The wedding of Modi's son Utkarsh is to be solemnized on December 3.
Iran says Qatar wants five-fold increase in trade

11/26/17

Source: Press TV

Iran says it had received a proposal from Qatar to increase the level of trade between the two countries by five folds. The announcement was made by Iran's Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Shariatmadari after a meeting with the visiting Qatari Economy Minister Ahmed bin Jassim al Thani.

Shariatmadari said the current level of annual trade between the two countries stood at below $1 billion, emphasizing that Doha had informed Tehran through al Thani about a proposal to increase this to as high as $5 billion per year.



The Iranian minister said Qatar was eager to expand ties with the Islamic Republic in all areas as a result of the current conditions that the Saudi-led blockade against it had created, according to a report by Iran's IRNA news agency.



Shariatmadari said Qatar possessed adequate infrastructures that could help Iran expand its economic ties with the international community.



He further said Iran and Qatar had been able to expand the level of their trade relations by 120 percent over the past months, expressing hope that this would increase further in the future.



Al Thani, for his part, said Iran had a crucial role over the shipments of goods from other countries including Turkey and Azerbaijan to Qatar since the Saudi-led blockade against Doha became effective.



He also expressed satisfaction over a rise in exports of Iranian products to Qatar particularly food items and construction materials over the past months.

Saudi Arabia and its allies including the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar in early June over charges that it supports terrorism. They have accordingly imposed a land, sea and air blockade against Qatar thus leaving only a sea and air corridor open with Iran.



This created a rise in Iran's exports - particularly fruits and vegetables - to Qatar over the past months. Iran has also become a corridor for exports of other countries to the blockaded Persian Gulf state.
Iran's tourism chief calls on private sector to assist 'Tabriz 2018'

11/26/17

Source: Tehran Times

Iran's tourism chief has called for a partnership between domestic travel companies and associated businesses to help organize 'Tabriz 2018', an event which marks the naming of Tabriz as the capital of Islamic tourism. In December 2015, the inter-governmental Organization of Islamic Cooperation selected Tabriz, northwestern East Azarbaijan province, as the capital of Islamic tourism for 2018.





"The private sector should enter the field," Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization Director Ali-Asghar Mounesan said, addressing a follow-up session on the event, which was held in Tabriz on Thursday.



The official considered global promotion of the event as "very important", saying a world-scale advertising campaign should be going on vigorously though there are lots of missed opportunities in this regard, IRNA reported.

"We have lost plenty of time so far and we have to make up for it by making a change in attitudes. So we should take advantage of this international potential to introduce potentials of the province and the country."



Mounesan who doubles as vice president briefed attendees about government-backed programs in support of the cultural event, saying "In line with 'Tabriz 2018', the government is planning to invest 1,600 billion rials (some $40 million) to implement 11 projects."

President Hassan Rouhani will attend the official inauguration ceremony of 'Tabriz 2018', which will be held during the Noruz holidays next [Iranian calendar] year though programs for the event are scheduled to commence on the eve of 2018.



In line with the goal of promoting hospitality services across the province, he suggested that some historical buildings which are currently used as administrative offices to be transformed into [traditional] guesthouses. Mounesan proposed throwing handicrafts exhibitions in Tabriz as well.



He went on to say that President Hassan Rouhani will attend the official inauguration ceremony of 'Tabriz 2018', which will be held during the Noruz holidays next [Iranian calendar] year though programs for the event are scheduled to commence on the eve of 2018, CHTN reported.



"Iran attracts some 4.9 million international travelers [per annum] most of whom enter the country for pilgrimage and religious purposes," Mounesan said, adding that the figure is far from the country's vast potentials," he said.

Referring to high importance of the tourism industry, the official reminded that it accounts for one out of every 11 jobs in the world.

Tabriz hosts a number of renowned historical and religious sites, including Jameh Mosque of Tabriz and Arg of Tabriz, and UNESCO-registered Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex.



Last year, the city was declared a world craft city of carpet weaving by the World Craft Council.

During the 13th century, Tabriz became the capital of the Safavid Dynasty (1501-1736). It lost its status as capital in the 16th century, but remained important as a commercial hub until the end of the 18th century, with the expansion of Ottoman power.
Following yesterday's traumatic incident involving a Starbow aircraft at the Kotoka International Airport, the domestic airline has "suspended its operations with immediate effect".



The Kumasi bound aircraft, ATR72-500 with registration 9G-SBF, skidded off the tarmac during its take-off run, Saturday afternoon.



A statement from the airline said even though "all 65 passengers and five crew members disembarked, as normal," five passengers on board flight S9 104, sustained injuries; albeit minor.



"All five were treated at the Airport Clinic," the statement added.



While assuring of its dedication to service with safety high on the agenda, the airline entreated "guests with future reservations" to "contact the airline at 024 500 0000 to make alternative travel arrangements".





Read below the airline's statement issued on the incident:



Starbow S9 104 Incident at Accra, Kotoka International Airport



Everyone at Starbow wishes to express their sincere regret for the distress experienced by our guests on Flight S9 104 on 25 November 2017 at 12:45, local time.



The service, operated by ATR72-500 (registration 9G-SBF), was a scheduled flight from Accra to Kumasi.



All 65 guests and five crew disembarked, as normal, though five guests were treated for minor injuries at the Airport Clinic. The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority has begun an investigation into the incident.



Eric Antwi, Chief Executive Officer, said: All of us at Starbow at this time remain dedicated to our guests, our crew and their families. Their safety and wellbeing are at the heart of everything we do, and we will cooperate fully with the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, and other agencies, to determine the cause of this incident. We hope to be able to provide further information in due course.



Starbow has suspended its operations with immediate effect and guests with future reservations are invited to contact the airline at 024 500 0000 to make alternative travel arrangements.

Eyewitness Account (VIDEO)

Meanwhile, a Deputy Minister of Energy who was on board the Starbow plane that nearly crashed, William Owuraku Aidoo, is implying negligence on the part of the pilot.



According to him, the pilot tried to brave the obvious storm that the plane was caught up in.



As we were boarding the bus to the aircraft, I got a little concerned. I noticed the rains had started from afar approaching where we were parked Mr. Owuraku Aidoo told Ghana Web.



Without making any definite statements on the matter, he said the pilot was probably trying to get airborne before the storm reached the airport.



I am speculating that probably, the pilot tried to beat the oncoming clouds that were rolling in, and we taxied to the runway and the rain really caught up with us. So he stopped, prior to taking off proper, and I got more concerned because I could see that the rain was running down the windows very very fast when the plane was stationary, which signified to me that the wind was on the high side, the minister recalled.



When the pilot was about to take off, I said to himself, wait a minute, is this guy going to take off in this weather?



A few seconds later after taxing, we were blown off the runway, literally, completely, for about 80 metres, and I think the plane rested on the perimeter fence, Mr. Owuraku Aidoo said.





In 2015, passengers on board a Tamale-bound Starbow airline, had the scare of their lives when the aircraft, BAE with registration 9GSBB, crash landed in Tamale although no injuries were recorded.In 2014, two people were injured after a Takoradi bound Starbow aircraft made an emergency landing.The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and other stakeholders in the aviation sector, have often been criticized for not cracking the whip enough on these airline operators, hence putting the lives of passengers at risk.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Audio Attachment: Listen to Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu

Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu says former Zimbabwean President, Robert Gabriel Mugabe did not only disgrace his country but the entire leadership of the continent for over staying his presidency.



Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu who recalled how lavish Zimbabwe was during his working visit to the south central African country in the 80s noted that the oldest dictator president in the world ruined the country with his style of leadership.



I have worked in Zimbabwe during 1988/89/90. Zimbabwe then could be compared to some foreign countries. After going there after year 2000 I was very sad. In terms of infrastructure, bad road network, telephone services not working . . . it was really sad, lack of potable water and I asked myself where am I, all thanks to Robert Mugabe," he said.



Zimbabwe was the bread basket of the southern African region . . . But it was hard for them to even feed themselves . . . What kind of country is that. It was a worrying situation and a disgrace to Africa, he added.



The Minority leader was discussing Robert Mugabes end of presidency after Zimbabwes speaker of parliament announced his resignation on Tuesday.



The surprise announcement came as lawmakers debated an impeachment motion against the 93-year-old leader in a joint sitting of parliament.



Mr. Mugabe had previously refused to resign despite last weeks military takeover and days of protests. What triggered the moves to oust Mr. Mugabe, who is regarded as an African independence hero turned despot, was his dismissal of one of his Vice Presidents, Emmerson Mnangagwa.



That move was seen as an attempt to position Grace Mugabe to continue a Mugabe dynasty of power- This prompted the military to step in and place Mr. Mugabe under house arrest, in events that stopped short of an outright coup de tat.



Speaking on NEAT FMs morning show, Ghana Montie the NPP guru said even though Mugabe did some good things in his country his decision to die as a president and handover to his wife was his downfall.



Its sad for him and a disgrace not only to the people of Zimbabwe but the whole of Africa. We love power too much, he told host Kwasi Aboagye.

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Ambrose_wash









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Swami Narendranath of the Mahwacharya Ashram said that, Hindus should have arms as the attacks in Hindu temples are increasing.

By Rohini Swamy: Yet another religious figure has come out with a controversial statement. Swami Narendranath of the Mahwacharya Ashram said that, Hindus should have arms at a time when there are attacks in Hindu temples.

"What's the point in having mobiles worth lakhs? Every Hindu should instead own weapons. At a time when there are attacks in Hindu temples, places of worship and parliament. My point is that each individual should possess weapons to protect themselves," said Narendranath at the Dharam Sansad.

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He also went on to emphasise on the statement made by Swami Govind Giri Maharaj who on Saturday said that each Hindu family should give birth to four children till the government implements the Uniform Civil Code.

Narendra Swami while speaking at the event said that there is a huge threat to the Hindu community who are being attacked. He said that the temples across the country are a soft target for terrorists and even the parliament has not been spared.

He asked what the use of mobile phones is, when the need of the hour is to safeguard society.

When India Today countered him saying that such statements could incite violence, he said that he was not in favour of violence but was only speaking to bring awareness about the impending trouble.

Incidentally, this is the second controversial statement made this week on how the Hindu society should preserve their culture and religion.

"Why only Hindus should follow two children policy? Christians and Muslims produce 20 children! Hindus should also have 20 children then! There should be uniform civil code.

There should a strong policy on population control," said Swami Govindadev Giriji Maharaj on Saturday.

--- ENDS ---
General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has said Ghana is under threats of being overtaken by terrorist groups if government doesnt put in the appropriate measures to curb the frequency of acts perpetrated by vigilante groups in the country.



According to him, the odds of the country experiencing attacks from extremists like Nigerians are in recent times by Boko Haram militants is very high taking into cognisance the fact that such groups started their activities on the same grounds as the NPP vigilante groups.



Speaking to the international community at a socialist forum held in Germany, Mr. Nketia compared the recent acts of violence by the NPP vigilante groups to that of the Boko Harams in Nigeria.



Comrades, these developments in Ghana are too similar to the antecedents of the Boko Haram incidents in Nigeria. Our Nigerian friends who are here will tell you that Boko Haram started as groups of political vigilantes, trained by politicians for electoral purposes and they grew out of control, we dont want to see that in Ghana.



He called for immediate interventive measures from government to curb lawlessness perpetrated by some NPP vigilante groups in recent times and or publicly declare their incapability to protect citizens as is mandated them. He also urged the international community to mount pressure on government to produce results as far as the issue of vigilantism and violence in Ghana are concerned.



We urge the international community, to do whatever it takes, to call on the sitting government in Ghana to either act or declare their inability to run the country because we handed a peaceful Ghana over to them, we would want to take over a peaceful Ghana from them in 2020, he said.



Vigilantism in the country has become a major issue of concern in Ghana particularly prior to and following the NPPs assumption of office in January. Several acts of vigilantism have been carried out by some youth wings of the NPP; seizure of toll booths and public toilets, lock up of some public offices including the NHIS offices in Bodi and Eastern Region and the school feeding office in Tamale, attacks on some public officers including the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Adjei and Dr. Prosper Akambong of the Tamale Teaching Hospital among others.



They also stormed a court process to interrupt a hearing involving some of their colleagues and free the suspects in the Ashanti Region.



President Nana Akufo-Addo in wake of these incidents, charged the police to deal with the matter.

Source: Ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Peace in the Hood and several other organizations stood together during a rally Saturday night in the wake of a shooting that killed a 12-year-old boy and injured five others.

The crowd gathered on East 116th Street and Buckeye Road near where Abdel Bashiti was shot in the torso and killed the night before.

Those at the rally expressed their concerns, sadness and anger about the violence that is plaguing Cleveland's neighborhood.

Rally participants took to the streets to march in honor of Bashiti and for the five teenage boys who were injured in the shooting.

Marchers chanted, "Who do we love? Abdel," "Who are we marching for? Abdel," and "Who do we want justice for? Abdel." Signs expressing that the violence needs to be stopped were displayed and everyone formed a circle in the middle of the street.

One message was clear during the rally: everyone needs to come together, sit down and figure out how to solve the violence before another 12-year-old is killed. Rally organizers agreed that everyone needs to be united in keep the community safe.

The violence needs to be put to a stop, said Khalid Samad, chief executive officer for Peace in the Hood.

"This (shooting) is insanity, it's madness; on an evening with people out," he said. "Young people are out with guns. Put the guns down. A gun doesn't make you a man. What makes you a man is being responsible."

There needs to be justice for Abdel, Samad said.

This type of violence is not acceptable, Cleveland City Councilman Blaine Griffin said.

"We are not going to allow these things to happen in our community without our community speaking out against it," he said.

Since the shooting, Griffin said he has felt angry and upset.

"I'm just as ticked off as if it were one of my own," he said. "We have to stop this madness in them being able to get these guns."

If the neighborhoods continue to have accessibility to the guns, the shootings will keep happened, Griffin expressed.

Nate Muhammad of Cleveland 10K Fearless Peacemakers reiterated that everyone needs to come together and work to stop the violence on the streets.

He further said everyone needs to put aside their differences and show the youth their potential.

"We need to be more proactive," he said. "We need to be out here before, not after."

Bashiti was helping out at his father's beauty supply store, #1 Beauty Supply and Linen when shots were fired at teenage boys about 7:30 p.m. near the One Stop Liquor store next door, police said.

Abdel and his father walked out to see what the commotion was about when a stray bullet struck Abdel in the torso. He was taken back inside the store until an ambulance arrived.

Five teenagers, between 14 and 16 years old, were shot. A 16-year-old boy is in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
EL PASO, Texas -- Family, friends and law enforcement officers converged on an adobe Catholic church in El Paso, Texas, Saturday to mourn a Border Patrol agent whose death last weekend in the rugged and remote Big Bend area has not been explained.

Bagpipes played as Border Patrol pallbearers in green uniforms carried the U.S. flag-draped coffin of Rogelio Martinez, 36, into Our Lady of Guadalupe Church for a private funeral Mass. He died in a hospital Sunday of head and other injuries.

"It honors him to see law enforcement agencies from across the United States" attend the service, Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero told reporters outside the church.

Martinez was found Nov. 18 in a culvert along with his seriously injured partner, whose name has not been released, in a rugged area near Van Horn, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the border with Mexico and 110 miles (175 kilometers) southeast of El Paso.

Attorney General Jeff Session was scheduled to attend the funeral but it was not clear if he was there. Following the funeral, a graveside ceremony was held at Restlawn Cemetery in El Paso.

Speculation about the cause of death has run rampant with several politicians saying the agent was attacked, including President Donald Trump, who used the death to highlight his support for building a wall on the border with Mexico. Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie Jr. in the FBI's El Paso office has said investigators were treating the incident as a "potential assault," but they could not rule out other scenarios.

Representatives from the border patrol's union have insisted that the incident was an attack, based on the accounts of other agents who responded to the scene. Chris Cabrera, a spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council, told The Associated Press that agents responding to the scene called it "grisly."

However, a U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press on Monday that the agents may have fallen, and that the surviving agent had no memory of his duty-shift. The official spoke on condition of anonymity and is not authorized to speak publicly.

After the death of Martinez, his father told the El Paso Times that his son loved his job. Jose Martinez said his son would call him every day to say goodbye for the night.

"And I would tell him, 'Take care of yourself son. God bless you,'" the father said.
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers embraced a bipartisan bill that would modernize procedures for handling sexual harassment allegations on Capitol Hill, but they were divided Sunday over whether congressmen facing allegations should resign or face some other immediate consequence.

On NBC's "Meet the Press," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., declined to say whether Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., should suffer any immediate penalty over allegations that he sexually harassed a junior female aide in a case that was resolved with a nearly $30,000 payout to the ex-staffer.

"We are strengthened by due process. Was it one accusation or two? John Conyers Jr. is an icon in our country," Pelosi told NBC's Chuck Todd, when asked whether the longest-serving member of the House should resign.

She hinted that, because the allegations broke while Congress was not in session, the Democratic caucus would talk about Conyers when lawmakers return Tuesday night, which might prompt Conyers to take a step himself. "I believe he understands what is at stake here and he will do the right thing," she said.

But members of Congress have said that the "due process" system is outdated and biased toward insulating the lawmaker from suffering penalties for misbehavior. "The whole system needs to have a comprehensive shift," Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said on ABC's "This Week."

Speier and Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., are the lead sponsors of legislation slated for a vote this week that would streamline the process, amid growing accusations and revelations about members of Congress that are similar to those involving powerful men from Hollywood, the media and Silicon Valley.

The legislation would require mandatory training on harassment and discrimination for all lawmakers, staff and interns who work in Congress. "There needs to be one standard for members," Comstock said on "This Week," noting that Conyers benefited from making a payment that was never revealed until a BuzzFeed report last week. "No more secret payments."

Conyers has denied any wrongdoing and said his payout was meant to resolve the issue and did not constitute an admission of culpability.

His payout came from the regular allowance for lawmakers for staff salaries and other administrative costs. As The Washington Post reported this month, a separate account overseen by the Office of Compliance has paid out more than $15 million in settlements of sexual harassment and other cases of discrimination.

One Democrat, Rep. Kathleen Rice, N.Y., has suggested that Conyers should just resign, something that Comstock voiced agreement for Sunday, citing how swiftly some high-profile media titans have fallen.

"We have to have the same kind of standards," she said.

Speier, however, said the House Ethics Committee should add staff to handle the Conyers case "very swiftly" to determine the severity of the allegations. "If they're accurate, I do believe that Congressman Conyers should step down," she said.

But Pelosi would not say whether she would ask Conyers to at least temporarily step aside from his leadership position, something she has asked other lawmakers embroiled in ethics scandals to do while the investigations are ongoing.

"I'm not sharing that with you right now," she said on "Meet the Press."

The Democratic leader also suggested that Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., was in a different place amid allegations against him, in part because one of his alleged victims has publicly accepted his apology. Franken was accused of forcibly kissing an entertainer on a 2006 USO tour before he joined the Senate, and since then several other women have suggested Franken groped them while posing for pictures.

"I don't think that you can equate Senator Franken with Roy Moore. It's two different things," she said, contrasting the severity of allegations against Franken with those against the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama.

(c) 2017, The Washington Post. Paul Kane wrote this story.
WASHINGTON -- The crush of unfinished business facing lawmakers when they return to the Capitol would be daunting even if Washington were functioning at peak efficiency.

It's an agenda whose core items -- tax cuts, a potential government shutdown, lots of leftover spending bills -- could unravel just as easily as advance in factionalism, gamesmanship and a toxic political environment.

There's only a four-week window until a Christmas deadline, barely enough time for complicated negotiations even if December stays on the rails. And that's hardly a sure bet in President Donald Trump's capital.

Trump and congressional leaders plan a meeting Tuesday to discuss how to sidestep a shutdown and work though the legislative to-do list.

For the optimistic, it's plain that Democrats and Republicans have reasons to cooperate, particularly on spending increases for the Pentagon and domestic agencies whose budgets otherwise would be frozen. An additional round of hurricane aid should be bipartisan, and efforts to reauthorize a popular health care program for children seem to be on track.

Republicans are advancing their cherished tax cut measure under special rules that mean Senate Democrats cannot use delaying tactics. The measure passed the House just before the Thanksgiving break and moves to the Senate floor this coming week.

After the Senate GOP's failure on health care this summer, the majority party is under enormous pressure to produce a victory on taxes. Still, GOP deficit hawks such as Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona remain uneasy about the overhaul.

While Democrats are largely sidelined on taxes, they hold leverage over a mix of budget-related issues.

First, there's the need to avert a government shutdown after a temporary spending bill expires on Dec. 8. The most likely scenario, congressional aides say, is for an additional extension until Christmas. On a parallel track are talks to raise spending limits that are keeping agency budgets essentially frozen unless those caps are raised. If that happens, then negotiations could begin in earnest on a massive catchall spending measure in hopes of having it signed into law by year's end.

Taxes have gotten all the attention so far, but the showdown over a potential shutdown right before Christmas could soon take center stage. Democrats are counting on GOP fears of a holiday season closure to ensure Republican concessions during December talks.

Both sides would have to make concessions that may upset partisans in either party. Just as House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., fears a revolt on the right, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California risks an uprising on her left. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., round out the quartet of top negotiators.

"Everybody's got complicated politics. The chance of short-term failure is pretty high -- short-term failure being a shutdown," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist. "But the four of them, assuming they don't want to shut the government down for a long time, are going to have to come to an accommodation."

Talks on the spending caps are stuck, however, aides say. A GOP offer to lift the Pentagon budget by more than $54 billion next year and nondefense limits by $37 billion was rejected by Democrats demanding balance between the two sides of the ledger.

Long-delayed battles over immigration and Trump's promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border are huge obstacles. Many Democrats whose votes are needed on the spending bills insist they won't vote for any legislation that includes the wall. Trump remains dead set on his $1.6 billion request for a down payment on the project.

Those same Democrats also insist that Congress must act by year's end to protect immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and whose protected status is set to lapse next year. Trump backs the idea despite issuing an executive order reversing the Obama administration protections, starting next spring. Conservatives oppose drawing in the immigration issue to legislation to keep the government running.

Hurricane relief is adding one more wrinkle.

Congress has approved more than $50 billion in aid in response to a series of devastating hurricanes. The most recent request by the White House is the largest yet at $44 billion, but it's not nearly enough to satisfy the powerful Texas delegation, which is pressing behind the scenes for more.

"Completely inadequate," said Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas. "We must do far more to rebuild, repair and allow Texans to return to normal as quickly as possible."

Trump is a wild card. He warmed to the idea of cutting deals with Democrats after a September pact with Schumer and Pelosi to lift the government's debt ceiling.

He promised Democratic leaders that he would sign legislation to give the young immigrants legal status -- provided border security is addressed as well.

But that demand on border security came with a long list of conditions subsequently added by the White House. Among them: building his Mexico border wall, overhauling the green card system and strengthening measures against people who stay after their visas expire.

Trump has not really engaged on the year-end agenda, however, and his impulsiveness could be a liability. He almost disowned an omnibus spending bill in May after media accounts portrayed the measure as a win for Democrats.

By Andrew Taylor, The Associated Press
Sweaters, TVs and slippers have long been hot items on Black Friday. Now, it seems, so are guns.

Once again this year, Black Friday shoppers were also on the hunt for bargains on handguns and rifles.

That's according to data from the FBI that shows that Black Friday shoppers set a new record on the requests for background checks for gun sales with more than 200,000 applications, a new single day record, USA Today reported.

This year, the number of filings made to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System - that of 203,086 requests on Black Friday - topped last year's tally for a single-day high of 185,713. The two previous records - last year's and that of 185,345 in 2015 - were also recorded on Black Friday.

The actual number of guns is poised to be even higher: gun checks, which are federally mandated for gun purchases, are run on a single buyer and not the individual guns purchased. A single buyer could likely purchase multiple firearms in one transaction.

Friday's background checks record come in the wake of recent mass shootings in this country - including deadly massacres in Las Vegas and at a Texas church.

And even though gun sales were down during the first year of the Trump administration, gun sales tend to increase following mass shootings. In recent years, mass shootings have prompted state and federal lawmakers to propose gun regulations, leading to increased gun sales.

In the aftermath of recent mass shootings, lawmakers across states and in Washington have introduce new legislation that would limit the sale of certain firearms or accessories.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week ordered a review of the FBI's background check system after a gunman led a carnage in a small southern Texas church, killing 26 people with multiple firearms purchased in spite of previous convictions. Devin Kelley was able to purchase multiple firearms despite being convicted in a court martial for domestic violence, after the US Air Force failed to enter a previous domestic violence charge into the national database.

After the Las Vegas massacre, retailers across the country began to pull bump stocks from their shelves, and as lawmakers began to consider banning them, gun dealers in central Pennsylvania reported a surge in demand for the controversial devices.

The Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock, in October used bump stocks -- which allow a semi-automatic rifle to function like a fully automatic weapon -- to kill 58 people.
A man is facing a slew of charges after police say he fled in his vehicle and nearly struck an officer.

Officers were dispatched to Kmart at 5050 Jonestown Road, Lower Paxton Township, at 5:47 p.m. Friday for a reported retail theft in progress. Police said officers learned the suspect, identified as Jorge Luis Arzuaga-Ortiz, 41, of Lebanon, was also involved in similar thefts across central Pennsylvania.

As officers arrived, Arzuaga-Ortiz fled the store on foot and got into a vehicle. Officers tried to stop him from fleeing, but Arzuaga-Ortiz drove his vehicle and struck an officer's car, nearly striking the officer standing outside of the vehicle, according to police.

Officers then pursued Arzuaga-Ortiz until he was taken into custody near the intersection of Linglestown Road and Oakhurst Boulevard without further incident.

Arzuaga-Ortiz is charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, fleeing and eluding, retail theft, and multiple other charges. He was committed to Dauphin County Prison in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Police continue to seek information about a deadly shooting Friday afternoon that left one person dead.

Police said officers were dispatched to the area of 21st and Boas streets for a shooting around 1:30 p.m. Friday. When officers arrived, they discovered a person who had been shot was taken to the hospital by a third-party, who left after dropping the victim off.

Police describe the vehicle that dropped the victim off at the hospital as a black SUV.

The victim subsequently died from their wounds, according to police. The victim's name has not yet been released.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at (717) 558-6900.
Sunny and clear skies will prevail much of Sunday with temperatures hovering in the high 40s.

The forecast from the National Weather Service in State College calls for plenty of sunshine today and a high of 46. Tonight conditions will remain mostly clear with the low of 32.

Sunny skies, mild temperatures, and no rain or snow showers are expected to continue for the Harrisburg area through late next week, forecasters said.

High temperatures are expected to be in the 50s from Tuesday through Thursday.

The normal high temperature for the Harrisburg area this time of year is 49, the normal low is 32.

MONDAY: Sunny, with a high near 49. Low around 32.

TUESDAY: Sunny, with a high near 54. Low around 40.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. Low around 34.

THURSDAY: Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. Low around 37.

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.
A bench of justices Adarsh Goel and U U Lalit said, "We cannot force a husband to keep his wife. It is a human relationship."

By PTI, Press Trust of India: The Supreme Court has said that courts cannot force a husband to "keep his wife" as it asked a man, a pilot by profession, to deposit Rs 10 lakh as interim maintenance for his estranged wife and upkeep of their son.

The apex court restored the bail order of the Madras High Court which was cancelled after the husband refused to comply with the compromise agreement.

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"We cannot force a husband to keep his wife. It is a human relationship. You (man) deposit Rs 10 lakh with the trial court which will be withdrawn by the wife unconditionally to meet her immediate requirement," a bench of justices Adarsh Goel and U U Lalit said.

When the counsel appearing for the man said that the amount be reduced, the bench said that apex court is not a family court and no negotiations can be held.

"If you agree to deposit Rs 10 lakh immediately, the bail order would be restored," the bench said.

The counsel then agreed to deposit Rs 10 lakh but sought some time.

"We are inclined to restore the order of bail in view of the statement made on behalf of the petitioner that the petitioner will deposit a sum of Rs 10 lakh with the trial court within a period of four weeks," the bench said.

It said that the amount may be withdrawn by the wife unconditionally, so that she can meet immediate requirements for herself and the child.

"The said amount will be subject to adjustment in any future proceedings. The parties are free to reach mutual settlement for rehabilitation, as was earlier proposed. Accordingly, the order of bail will stand restored subject to above stipulations," the court said.

It directed that the pending proceedings may be completed by the trial court, as far as possible within a period of three months, as already directed by the high court.

The Madurai bench of Madras High Court had on October 11, cancelled his anticipatory bail saying the man has entered into a compromise memo with the complainant but contrary to the compromise memo, he had gone back from his promise and filed an evasive counter affidavit to wriggle out from his responsibilities.

It had noted that the very first condition of the memo that he would take her and their child to his place of working along with himself has not been fulfilled and under the pretext of reunion has made the wife to drop the departmental action that was initiated against him.

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The high court had also noted that due to the false promise, the life of their child is in limbo as a transfer certificate has been obtained from the school.

It directed the police to complete the investigation and file the charge sheet before the trial court within three months.

The husband was booked under various sections of IPC including dowry harassment.

--- ENDS ---
Networking cables and circuit boards are shown in Toronto on Wednesday, November 8, 2017. Data theft from high-profile hacks against companies like Uber and Equifax can cost consumers thousands of dollars but resource companies worry about millions in damage, along with potential injuries and death, if their technology is compromised. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
By PTI: public meetings

New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Taking cognisance of complaints that officers are not conducting public hearings for an hour on weekdays, the Delhi government has asked the heads of all its departments to seek explanations from the erring babus.

In May, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had directed all his ministers and officers to meet the people, without prior appointments, from 10 am to 11 am at their respective offices from Monday to Friday.

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The administrative reforms department has now issued a circular, saying a number of complaints were received that the officers are not conducting the public hearings, despite the chief ministers directions.

"All the principal secretaries, secretaries and HoDs are requested to ensure that all the officers remain available for the public hearings from 10 am to 11 am," the department said.

It added that the presence of the officers at the public hearings was being closely monitored by the Chief Ministers Office (CMO).

"A daily status report is being sent to the HoDs concerned through mail as well as by post, asking for action- taken reports for the absence of officers within three days through return mail.

"All the principal secretaries, secretaries and HoDs are, therefore, requested to call for the explanations of the erring officers and send them to the administrative reforms department," the circular said.

Kejriwals direction to the ministers and officers had come following complaints to the AAP ministers, including himself, that officers were not accessible to the people.

The public hearings were announced as a part of an outreach programme, seeking to bridge the gap between the common people and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in the aftermath of the humiliating defeat the party had faced in the Delhi civic polls in April. PTI BUN RC AAR

--- ENDS ---
In general, men are twice as likely to cheat on a spouse than women are. That frequency increases over the lifespan, peaking among the elderly. Among men 18 to 29 who have ever been married, about 1 in 10 is
Marcia Hintz was working a full-time job caring for mentally challenged adults, raising a grandchild, and providing medical assistance to her longtime companion when members of a Philadelphia police narcotics squad busted into her Mayfair home in 2006 and arrested her for selling drugs.

Roger High, on the other hand, already had a lengthy criminal record and was out on bail awaiting trial on drug charges when that same narcotics squad picked him up that year on a new case.

Hintz and High would seem to have little in common, but their stories intersected three years ago when the courts began overturning convictions built by the squad amid accusations of fabricated evidence, illegal searches, and other misconduct.

And they converged again in recent months, when each received payouts from the City of Philadelphia.

Their checks  High for $15,000, Hintz for 40 times as much  come as the city has quietly begun settling the more than 300 lawsuits against onetime members of that infamous narcotics squad. And they are just a part of what could be an onslaught of payments by the city to resolve police misconduct lawsuits, according to interviews and an Inquirer and Daily News review of court records and financial documents.

The price tag for just three high-profile examples could approach $24 million, according to a city bond document  up to $8 million for the narcotics squad cases, and a combined $16 million for two unrelated claims of wrongful murder convictions. The murder case lawsuits may take months or years to resolve, but the city has already paid more than $2 million to settle 75 cases against the narcotics officers.

All of that comes on top of the $9 million typically paid each year to settle dozens of less publicized civil rights claims against the police.

The fact that three potentially costly examples of alleged police misconduct are cresting in court around the same time may be no more than a coincidence. But Alan Yatvin, liaison counsel for the dozens of lawyers representing hundreds of plaintiffs against the narcotics officers, contends those payouts are a consequence of years' worth of unchecked abuses.

"The real issue in this case was how the city, the police department responded," Yatvin said.

The District Attorney's Office agreed several years ago, when allegations against the squad began swirling in the news. Prosecutors have since thrown out 1,000 criminal convictions the officers helped build, with 240 or so still under review, according to Bradley Bridge, a public defender involved in the process.

Still, the city's decision to settle so many civil cases with five- and even six-figure payouts  ultimately shouldered by taxpayers  is complicated by one unique factor: Six of the officers were vindicated in a 2015 criminal trial that aired many of the same accusations against them, such as theft, beatings, and evidence-free raids.

And five of them  Thomas Liciardello, Brian Reynolds, Michael Spicer, Linwood Norman, and John Speiser  are back on the force.

Jack McMahon, who led their defense during the federal corruption trial, said the fact the city was settling cases against them was "disgraceful" and a way for "lying drug dealers" to make an easy buck. The jury heard similar allegations of wrongdoing for seven weeks, he said, yet ultimately sided with the officers on every count.

"The truth is, they didn't do anything wrong," said McMahon. "For [the city] to just cave in and settle like that, I just don't get it. I think they're just cowards, simple as that."

But the threshold for proving a civil claim falls below the standard for guilt in a criminal case. And paying to resolve such complaints  even questionable ones  can be cheaper than the time, effort, and legal fees required to litigate them, while also providing closure to plaintiffs without forcing them to rehash their experience in court.

Through a spokesman, city officials declined interview requests to discuss the wave of settlements. In a statement, spokesman Mike Dunn said only that the Law Department "has evaluated the facts and circumstances of each case before making a settlement decision."

Long prison terms

The largest narcotics-related settlement payment by far, $625,000, was awarded to Hintz. In her lawsuit, the onetime mental health aide, now 55, said Liciardello and six other officers fabricated evidence to put her behind bars.

Their case, according to Hintz's complaint, included false testimony by Liciardello that Hintz had sold Xanax pills to an undercover informant from her Mayfair home in September 2006. Hintz, in an interview this month, said the pills had been prescribed to her longtime companion to treat his renal failure.

Two years after her arrest, Hintz opted for a trial before a judge. Liciardello testified for prosecutors; she took the stand in her own defense.

"But he was a cop," Hintz said, tearfully recalling the trial as she sat at her dining-room table. "Who are you going to believe?"

The judge found her guilty, then sentenced Hintz  whose only previous conviction was decades earlier in a welfare fraud case  to five to 10 years in prison.

She spent three years and two months behind bars before being paroled to a halfway house, according to her lawsuit.

In 2012, the DA's Office announced it would no longer prosecute cases brought by the officers due to concerns about the allegations against them. Bridge, the public defender, filed more than 1,000 petitions to overturn convictions connected to the squad. And with no objection from prosecutors, old cases began being thrown out by the dozen.

Hintz's case was eventually among them. But by that point, she'd been released from prison.

While grateful for the settlement and the retroactive vindication, nothing, she said, can change the squad's impact on her life.

"It's a lot of time they took from me," she said. "And you can't get that back."

Now, other plaintiffs are looking at Hintz's $625,000 payout as a benchmark.

Among them is Kareem Torain.

He was charged in January 2001 after Reynolds, Jeffrey Walker, and other officers searched a rooming house in Overbrook and said they found drugs, according to his complaint. Torain did not live there, but he had a key and had been seen entering and leaving the building.

Torain  who had previous convictions for robbery, kidnapping, and drug possession  was offered a deal: three to six years in prison in return for a guilty plea. He rejected it, figuring he'd be acquitted.

Instead, a judge convicted him at a bench trial and sentenced him to 12 to 25 years in prison. In the end, he served 13 years inside.

"I lost so much from being incarcerated," Torain said in an interview this month, including the ability to go to his brother's funeral.

His conviction was tossed in 2014. And last year, Walker  the lone narcotics officer to plead guilty to corruption charges  admitted during a deposition for Torain's case that the warrant leading to his arrest was based on fabricated evidence, and that the drugs and guns were planted there.

Torain's lawyer, Michael Pileggi, said he has dozens of clients who were arrested by the squad and cumulatively served 110 years in prison. It's unclear how much these cases might be worth, but Pileggi notes that Hintz received about $380 per day incarcerated.

"Why would my client consider anything less?" he said.

By that formula, Torain would be due about $1.8 million.

Smaller paydays

Not all complaints related to the narcotics squad involve lengthy prison stays.

Most settlements so far have ranged from $1,500 to $85,000, according to city records. Payouts varied based on factors including the strength of the plaintiffs' allegations, the evidence available to support their claims, and the consequences suffered as a result of the officers' alleged conduct.

Robert J. Levant, who, along with cocounsel Mark Tanner, represented Hintz, said the settlement costs so far appear to be a bargain for the city. Staging dozens of individual trials could be much more expensive.

But Yatvin said the lower-value cases have settled first, with higher-priced demands or more contentious suits likely to require more negotiations or even trials.

Rasheed Phillips, 33, said he was offered $20,000 to settle his case  barely enough to cover the debt he incurred from attending community college, where he said his career path was derailed when Walker and Spicer arrested him on bogus drug charges in 2007.

To avoid prison, Phillips said, he took a plea deal. He served six months' house arrest and four years' probation, but the felony conviction disqualified him from a radiology program, throwing his life off track.

"They stole my future, the person I was," Phillips said last month. "And then they try to rectify the situation by offering me some money that doesn't even cover my student loans?"

He said he plans to take his case to trial.

The details of the claims made against the squad range from dark comedy to horror, with accusations of physical abuse, robbery, and rampant lawbreaking by police. More than 20 people took the stand to accuse the officers of such misconduct during their criminal trial.

By settling the civil cases, however, neither side needs to prove details in court.

Guy Sciolla, a lawyer who's represented several claimants, said: "When you have a question hanging over the activities of a particular squad, even those that were actually involved in criminal conduct get the benefit of the doubt."

Roger High may be one of those plaintiffs.

He had a long arrest record before Liciardello and others arrested him on drug charges in 2006. High pleaded guilty in that case and was sentenced to up to three years in prison, according to his complaint.

Since his release, High has twice been accused of breaking into the homes of his ex-girlfriends  including in August, when he was arrested and charged with assaulting and robbing a woman inside her Olney home.

That case was dismissed on Oct. 19, when witnesses didn't show up in court to testify.

That same day, the city cut High a check for $15,000 to settle his lawsuit against Liciardello.

More settlements to come

Dunn, the city spokesman, said the city "has instituted substantive reforms that we believe will, going forward, significantly decrease the likelihood" of police misconduct and the lawsuits that follow.

They include new police policies regarding the use of force; funding the purchase of additional police body cameras; reducing the use of so-called stop-and-frisk practices; and adding money and a new executive director to the Police Advisory Commission, a city watchdog agency.

Commissioner Richard Ross said the department has "systems in place to identify problems when they arise and address them."

Still, taxpayers will cover the cost of resolving the complaints. Dunn said the city's 2018 budget includes $44.9 million to cover liabilities resulting from lawsuits, which can include everything from police misconduct to flooding from a ruptured city pipe.

Other cities have shouldered similarly large costs from police-related cases: In the past several weeks, suits against officers in Chicago and Baltimore have ended with payouts exceeding $10 million.

And even with reforms, costly misconduct claims can emerge from decades-old arrests, as occurred in at least two pending Philadelphia cases.

Eugene Gilyard claims that city homicide detectives probing a 1995 killing failed to investigate alternative suspects and coerced key witnesses to identify him. Gilyard was freed in 2014, after 16 years in prison, when someone else confessed to committing the crime.

Anthony Wright, meanwhile, spent 25 years behind bars for a murder and rape conviction that was overturned in 2016, thanks to DNA evidence that suggested another man committed the crime. Jurors acquitted him at a retrial. In a lawsuit against the city, Wright claims detectives in 1991 coerced his confession and planted damaging evidence at his home.

Even when those cases end, however, others are bound to continue the cycle.

Another former narcotics officer, Stanley Davis, recently pleaded guilty to providing drugs to women in return for sexual favors last year  an admission that could inspire a wave of civil claims against him.

And Christopher Hulmes was fired in 2015 after he was arrested for perjuring himself in a drug case he'd helped to build.

Bridge, the public defender, said he has filed more than 500 petitions to reconsider criminal convictions involving Hulmes, and 21 people have filed civil lawsuits in federal court alleging that Hulmes lied about the evidence against them.

Four of those cases, according to court records, were filed this month.
Harold Skeeter Heritage, 68, President of Heritages Dairy Stores, and his wife Pat, VP of Heritages Dairy Stores, outside their newest location, the 33rd store in the chain, on Grove Road in Thorofare, NJ on November 14, 2017. They have been married 27 years. Read more

Dairy farmer Harold "Skeets" Heritage needed a better way to sell milk to customers when the once popular home-delivery milk routes of his generation went by the wayside. So, he opened a convenience store that sold quarts of milk, bread, candy, cigarettes, and lunch meat.

The store opened on Oct. 10, 1957, in an old hoagie shop in Westville, Gloucester County. It was the first convenience store in New Jersey and the foundation of a family legacy that spans four generations in the convenience-store business. Wawa and 7-Eleven brought their chains to New Jersey years later.

These days, the Heritage family operates 33 stores in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Cumberland, Salem, and Cape May Counties that employ more than 500 people. The milk is produced by Rutter's Dairy in York, Pa., using the family's special sweet milk recipe, but the Heritages have remained loyal to the core family values.

"We are who we are," Harold "Skeeter" Heritage III, the grandson of the company's founder, boasted with pride during an interview. "We've got our niche."

The company headquarters sits on the sprawling farm in Thorofare where the patriarch, Harold, known as Grandpop Skeets, and his brother, Sam, farmed vegetables and fruit.

During the Depression, Skeets Heritage started a dairy business with only one cow that had a broken leg. He delivered quart-size jugs from a Model A Ford. He obtained more cows and eventually purchased a milk route in Paulsboro, selling up to 200 quarts a day.

The business flourished, but home-delivery sales began to wane in the 1950s with customers frequenting supermarkets. A son, Skeets Jr., helped spearhead an ambitious plan to open a convenience store as a new outlet to sell milk. He visited Lawson's Milk Co. in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, to learn how that business transformed its dairy milk store into a convenience-store chain.

The first Heritage's  on Delsea Drive in Westville  had two employees and operated seven days a week.

To mark the chain's 60th anniversary, the family this year opened its 33rd store on the same October date that the first store opened in 1957. The new store, on Grove Road near Kings Highway in the Thorofare section of West Deptford, is sleek and upscale with granite countertops at the coffee station and a large, mounted flat-screen television that customers can watch while standing in line.

The elder Skeeter, 68, designed the store. His wife, Pat, who began working for the company as a counter sales clerk when she was 17, selected the colors and decorated the front entrance with a fall-harvest arrangement of mums.

"It's absolutely a wonderful company to work for," said Gretchen Matlock, 57, of Paulsboro, a district supervisor who has been with the company for 32 years. "Everybody treats everybody like family."

Privately held, Heritage's ranks 189th among the top convenience-store chains, according to CSP Magazine, a trade journal for the $682 billion convenience retail business. It has positioned itself in an increasingly competitive market dominated by industry giants Wawa and 7-Eleven as a friendly family-run neighborhood store.

"They seem to run a good operation, an honest operation," said Sal Risalvato, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline-Convenience-Automotive Association. "They should be very proud."

According to family legend, Skeeter Jr. made a handshake agreement with Grahame Wood, founder of Wawa Inc., in the 1960s, and Wawa employees were sent to work at Heritage's stores to learn the business when Wood added stores to the family's milk business. For years, Wawa didn't open any stores in direct competition with Heritage's, but that changed after Wood's death in 1982, Skeeter III said.

A Wawa spokeswoman couldn't confirm the anecdote, but Richard R. George, a food marketing professor at St. Joseph's University, said it would seem likely that Wood would seek to replicate the Heritage business model.

"Good artists copy; great artists steal [ideas]. I think that's what happened here," George said.

Wawa opened its first store in 1964 in Folsom, and branched into New Jersey in 1968 with its second store. It now operates more than 700 stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida (and, soon, D.C.). There are seven Wawa stores within a five-mile radius of the newest Heritage's store in West Deptford.

Six of the nine children in the blended Heritage family that includes two sets of twins work in the family business. They began with entry-level jobs, typically as youngsters, and had to learn every aspect of the business.

"I tell my kids, 'In this company you don't get appointed to a position,' " the elder Skeeter said. " `You earn that position.' "

Skeeter Heritage IV, 36, one of three living descendants with the name Skeeter, said he could not imagine working anyplace else. His son, age 5, is called "Skeets" to reduce confusion with his father and grandfather.

"I love our business. I just want to work hard for Heritage and perpetuate the family business," said Skeeter IV.

His sister, Katie Tierno, 33, a pricing coordinator, jumped at the chance to rejoin the family business two years ago after she was laid off by a food-processing company in Chicago. Another sibling, Jenn, 18, one of the youngest in the brood along with her twin, Jessica, is a guest service manager at a Glassboro store, where big brother Matthew is the manager.

"This is my dream job," Tierno she said.

The business has remained popular largely because of the strong family ties, brand name, and special touches that maintain a loyal customer base, said Carol Kaufman-Scarborough, professor of marketing at Rutgers University-Camden. Heritage's still offers fresh-sliced deli meats, a long-standing tradition that accounts for about 30 percent of sales.

Besides typical convenience-store products, the company offers items that carry the Heritage name including milk, ice cream, and breakfast sandwiches  the "Heri-egg" and free coffee on Sundays. The company also wholesales its candy, tobacco, and groceries from its Heritage's Wholesale Co., which supplies its stores with over 75 percent of the products sold.

"That's the way to stay in business," said Kaufman-Scarborough.

In recent years, the family has sold or closed several stores to focus on more profitable stores. Renovations are also underway at several locations. But Skeeter Heritage III, the patriarch who remains very active in daily operations along with his wife, said the family has no immediate plans to expand the business or add gasoline stores.

"Even though they don't have the scale of Wawa, they have a niche," George said. "Heritage will continue to survive and do well."

The family is not overly worried about competition from Baltimore-based Royal Farms, which is making inroads in South Jersey with stores open or coming soon in Gloucester City, Bellmawr, Clarksboro, and Magnolia, all within a two-mile radius or less from Heritage's stores.

"You don't have to win a fight. Just be the last one standing," Skeeter Heritage III said. "We make a living doing this. To us it's life."
A 60-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman, both of Philadelphia, were found dead Saturday night on a ramp to I-95 in Bucks County in what police are calling a murder-suicide.

Pennsylvania State Police provided the following account:

About 5:30 p.m. Saturday, a trooper responded to a report of a woman running against northbound traffic on I-95 near Woodhaven Road. Once there, the trooper found a silver SUV registered to Maria Choo Lin Choo parked on the northbound shoulder of the highway with its hazard lights on. He also heard what appeared to be two gunshots coming from the area of the vehicle.

Closer to the SUV, the trooper found David Choo Lin Choo lying on top of Maria Choo Lin Choo. Both were dead and had been shot. The bodies were outside the vehicle, where the on-ramp from Woodhaven Road to northbound I-95 and the on-ramp from the Cornwells Heights park-and-ride lot to the highway merge.

David Choo Lin Choo had a semi-automatic handgun in his right hand. Autopsies determined he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and Maria Choo Lin Choo died from multiple gunshot wounds to the body.

Police did not say whether the two were related.
Valerie Arkoosh, chairwoman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. County and municipal governments are in the process of setting their 2018 budgets. Read more

As Pennsylvania lawmakers emerge from their latest budget impasse and Congress weighs an overhaul of the tax system, local and county governments are setting their budgets for next year.

Property taxes will remain level in Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, according to preliminary budgets. But in Bucks County and some boroughs and townships around the region, property owners could see an increase in their 2018 bills.

School district tax rates, which account for the largest share of property taxes in Pennsylvania, are not set until June when local school boards finalize their budgets. Counties and municipalities  which must pass budgets in December  use property taxes to fund services including courts, community colleges, street repair, snow removal, police departments, and fire stations.

Tax rates vary widely, and homeowners' total bills also are dependent on their property assessment, but property taxes traditionally have been a four-figure burden for households across the region. The median annual bill tops $4,000 for homeowners in the Pennsylvania counties that ring Philadelphia. South Jerseyans have it worse: Property owners in Camden, Gloucester, and Burlington counties all have median tax bills of more than $6,000, according to the Tax Foundation, an independent nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C.

Bucks County's last tax hike, in 2012, amounted to an additional $45 per year for the average homeowner. But next year's preliminary budget projects a deficit of $18 million  and officials are still considering how to close that gap. Options include increasing property taxes, spending reserve funds, and cutting spending on other areas.

"I'm not sure if I can get to zero without a tax increase," said David Boscola, Bucks County's director of finance and administration. "But [the commissioners] haven't given me any indication whether this was a decision that they have made or not at this point."

Boscola blamed the deficit on cost-of-living pay increases built into labor contracts and additional spending to fight the opioid crisis  such as hiring more county detectives.

Montgomery County had an 11 percent tax hike in 2017, but still has the lowest tax rate of the four counties surrounding Philadelphia; Chester County raised the tax rate by nearly 5 percent in 2017. Delaware County officials plan to keep taxes level for the fourth year in a row.

Local leaders also are watching Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., closely as they make plans for 2018.

If the federal tax bill passes, "that is certainly going to impact our constituents  and that could lead to pressure from our constituents to eliminate or lower taxes," said Valerie Arkoosh, chairwoman of the Montgomery County Commissioners.

Arkoosh said she has voiced concerns to her county's congressional delegation about the tax plan  especially about the proposal to cap the property tax deduction and another measure that would end a deduction on interest for bonds that local governments use to borrow money.

Chester County's healthcare benefits costs will increase by $1.4 million in 2018, said Mark Rupsis, the county's chief operating officer, and the opening of a new firing range at the public safety training campus will increase the county's operating costs. But the county has healthy reserve funds, Rupsis said, which would be important if the state has another lengthy budget impasse.

"It's always on our mind because  over 40 percent of our budget is state funding," Rupsis said. "So it's always an area of concern."

Marianne Grace, Delaware County's executive director, said uncertainty over the future of state funding leads to careful decisions in the budget process.

"You would want to be aware that things can change," Grace said. "And I think that's really what you have to do in local government."

Among communities proposing tax increases are Cheltenham and Upper Darby  both of which already have relatively high tax rates.

Cheltenham's budget went up due to salary and benefits, sewer treatment costs, and debt payments on infrastructure improvements, according to a budget message posted on the township's website. The proposed tax increase would amount to an additional $65.80 per year for the average home with an assessment of $150,000.

In Upper Darby, Mayor Thomas Micozzie said the township's proposed 2018 budget includes an increase in property taxes from $20.37 to $20.95 per $1,000 in assessed value. He said most of the budget increase is to cover pension payments and public safety costs.

"There's no mystery in municipal budgets," Micozzie said. "We're all struggling."
Johnny Bobbitt Jr. (left), Mark D'Amico, and Kate McClure at the CITGO station where Bobbitt spent his last $20 to buy gas for McClure. Read more

The effort that went viral to raise $10,000 to help a homeless vet who used his last $20 to buy gas for a woman in trouble has now soared to more than $362,000, thanks to the kindness of more than 12,900 strangers.

The question now is, what does Johnny Bobbitt plan to do with all that money?

Mark D'Amico, who launched the fundraising campaign with his girlfriend, Kate McClure, who was the woman in distress, said they and Bobbitt, a Marine Corps veteran, will be meeting with a financial adviser and a lawyer next week to work out the details and to ensure the money is used wisely.

"He plans on donating a large portion [of the money] to causes that are close to his heart," D'Amico said.

He said those causes include programs for "homeless vets and a few organizations that helped him the last year or two."

Bobbitt, he said, also wants to help a woman who works at one of the organizations and who "always went above and beyond" her duties to help people.

On Saturday McClure posted on the fundraising page that she and Bobbitt were filming an appearance for "Good Morning America" planned for Sunday.

"Tune in tomorrow for Johnny's story in his own words!" she wrote.

Bobbitt could not be reached for comment.

Although the online fundraiser has raised 30 times more than its original target on GoFundMe, there are no restrictions on how much money can be contributed.

A company spokesman said in an email Friday night: "GoFundMe campaigns do not have time limits and they can continue to receive donations above their stated goal amount. It's completely up to the campaign organizer to keep the campaign open and continue to raise money for Mr. Bobbitt."

D'Amico told CNN that Bobbitt spent Thanksgiving in a hotel after the couple gave him money for contact lenses and took him to a Walmart, where he bought a computer.

"He can't wait to get on a computer," D'Amico said.

He said Bobbitt plans to make a video to explain his intentions for the money.

Bobbitt came to the rescue of McClure, 27, of Florence, one night last month when she ran out of a gas while driving into Philadelphia on I-95.

She pulled onto an exit ramp where Bobbitt, 34, originally from the Raleigh, N.C., area, has been living. He approached, telling her that she should lock her doors and that he would use his last $20 to buy her gas a few blocks away.

"He said, 'I'll be back. Trust me,' " said McClure, who works for the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Ten minutes later, he returned.

McClure had no cash to repay Bobbitt. She promised to come back and do so.

She and D'Amico repaid him the next day, and stopped by from time to give him some cash. Then they decided to start the fund, with the aim of helping Bobbitt get the first and last month's rent for an apartment, a vehicle and expense money until he could find work. The response obviously has far exceeded that.
The Delhi HC, however, observed that there were other circumstances that pointed out that the man was not mentally stable.

By Sneha Agrawal: The Delhi High Court (HC) has acquitted a man, who was convicted by a trial court for murdering his wife in 2011, having held that he was mentally ill.

In June 2011, around 9 AM, telephonic information the East District Control Room provided an input regarding the woman's death near Bharat National School. The police had found her body lying in a pool of blood. Police had also recovered a blood-stained tawa and two knives. There was blood spattered in the room and the lobby.

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A trial court was told that the man had been under treatment at IHBAS since five months.

However, the court rejected the plea by observing that he had been occasionally subject to insane delusions and thus that was "per se insufficient to bring his case within the exemption."

Also, the appellant did not produce any medical record that could prove he was a patient of major mental ailment and thus was unable to know the implications of the murder.

The Delhi HC, however, observed that there were other circumstances that pointed out that the man was not mentally stable.

"There were 24 injuries on her body caused by the multiple household articles such as an iron tawa and two knives. Yet another factor is that the appellant chose to remain in the same room as his blood-stained clothes, making no effort to escape or conceal the evidence and rather making an extra-judicial confession to his brother.

"It was perhaps reflective of his chronic mental state, which continued even during the pendency of this appeal. The medical professionals at the Tihar jail confirmed to the court that the man continues to suffer from bipolar disorder. He continues to receive regular psychiatric treatment for the said condition," it said.

The court also observed, "In a case as the present one, where the plea of unsoundness of mind of the appellant at the time of commission of the crime is accepted, the needs of justice would be subserved if following his release the appellant, given his condition, continues to receive treatment till such time he is in a position to be held responsible for himself."

While acquitting him, the HC thus asked his relatives to ensure proper treatment.

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A month ago, Jared Kushner  President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser  made a surprise trip to Riyadh to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the fellow son of a world leader who is making waves with crackdowns and modernization efforts.

Kushner, 36, flew commercial and the White House only announced the visit once he was already on the ground. There were no news releases touting the specifics of his meetings, which included two days of one-on-one and small private audiences with Salman, 32. White House officials said the trip was part of Kushner's effort as Trump's adviser to build regional support for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Just days after Kushner landed back in Washington, Salman launched a purge of allegedly corrupt Saudi officials also seen as rivals to the prince and his father, King Salman. Kushner had no knowledge or advance warning of the move, and the topic was not natural for the two to discuss, a White House official close to him said. "Jared's portfolio is Israeli-Palestinian peace, and he respects what his lane is," the official said.

The journey revealed Kushner as a figure who seems both near the center of power and increasingly marginalized at the same time. His once sprawling White House portfolio, which included walk-in privileges to the Oval Office, has been diminished to its original scope under Chief of Staff John Kelly, and he has notably receded from public view.

His still-evolving role in the investigations of Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice also make him a potential risk to Trump, even as he enjoys the special status of being married to the boss's daughter, Ivanka, and serving as one of the president's senior confidants. Kushner's family faces additional pressures over a troubled New York City skyscraper at 666 Fifth Ave., which he purchased in his role as head of his family's real estate business but which he has divested from since entering the administration.

In a rare interview in his West Wing office earlier this month  a silver bowl of Halloween candy still on the table  Kushner offered his own version of the fable of the fox, who knows many things, and the hedgehog, who knows one important thing.

"During the campaign, I was more like a fox than a hedgehog. I was more of a generalist having to learn about and master a lot of skills quickly," he said. "When I got to D.C., I came with an understanding that the problems here are so complex  and if they were easy problems, they would have been fixed before  and so I became more like the hedgehog, where it was more taking issues you care deeply about, going deep and devoting the time, energy and resources to trying to drive change."

This portrait of Kushner comes from interviews with Kushner himself, as well as 12 senior administration officials, aides, outside advisers and confidants, some of them demanding anonymity to offer a more candid assessment.

Allies say Kushner's subtle shift into the background of the West Wing reflects his natural inclination to work hard and eschew the limelight, while his enemies gloat that it stems from a series of avoidable missteps that are the result of his political naivete. Following recent reports, which the White House denied, that the president privately blames Kushner for Mueller's widening probe, Breitbart, the conservative website, snarkily dubbed him, "Mr. Perfect."

Some aides scoff at the notion that Kushner isn't still whispering to the president about official business. But one of Kelly's conditions for taking the job was that everyone, including Kushner and his wife, had to go through him to reach the president, and Kelly has made clear that Kushner reports to him, aides said.

The new hierarchy is part of Kelly's effort to sideline Kushner, said one Republican in frequent contact with the White House, though others say the order Kelly has imposed has simply liberated Kushner to focus on his own portfolio  and eased some of the animosity his colleagues felt toward him.

Kushner said he welcomes the change. "The order allows this place to function," Kushner said. "My number one priority is a high functioning White House, because I believe in the president's agenda, and I think it should get executed."

He still maintains the broad portfolio he took on at the beginning of the administration that made him a punchline among aides on Capitol Hill: Peace in the Middle East, as well as Canada, Mexico and China, and overseeing the Office of American Innovation, an in-house group that focuses on tackling longer-term government challenges.

He attends meetings of his innovation group once a week, often on a Tuesday or Wednesday for an hour-long check-in and progress update. The innovation office launched with great fanfare in March, but some aides recently said they could not pinpoint exactly what it has accomplished.

Kushner and his allies reject that assessment, saying the office is focused on long-term projects. They say, for example, that the group helped the Department of Veterans Affairs launch their electronic medical records initiative in June, with Kushner expediting the process by calling Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and asking him to send over people from his department to help.

"If I ever get into a roadblock, we just elevate it to Jared," said Chris Liddell, a senior White House official who works in the innovation office. "He's great at saying, 'Can't we get so-and-so to come over?' and we get it done on the spot."

Kushner is one of the advisers helping on negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement, and he accompanied Trump on the first half of his Asia trip earlier this month.

But the main focus for Kushner, an Orthodox Jew, is working to bring peace in the Middle East  a task that has bedeviled negotiators far more experienced in the region for generations. What Kushner brings to the effort, say several senior White House officials, is personal relationships with players on all sides and a willingness to bet on long shot outcomes.

Before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Trump at the White House in September, Kushner and Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt met him at the Mandarin Oriental for a two-hour breakfast. More recently, on Halloween, Kushner suggested that he and Greenblatt visit Saeb Erekat, the lead Palestinian peace negotiator, at the apartment in Virginia where he is recuperating from a lung transplant. After briefly considering, and then nixing, wine  Erekat is Muslim  Kushner ultimately brought chocolate.

"This is very much a human conflict and a human-to-human relationship," Greenblatt said. "When you're able to touch somebody and talk about it, it's a meaningful engagement. It takes a certain personality and Jared has that touch."

Yet snags persist. A week ago, the Palestinians threatened to freeze all contact with the Trump administration after the State Department said the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington could not remain open  a decision it backtracked on Friday.

And Kushner's friendship with Mohammed bin Salman raised questions after the crown prince's anti-corruption campaign  which critics paint as an attempt to consolidate power, but devotees say is part of his efforts as a reformer  as well as concerns from some that Saudi Arabia now feels further emboldened within the region.

The Mueller probe, meanwhile, is entering a new phase, with the special counsel announcing two indictments at the end of last month  including for Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort  while investigators begin to interview people close to the president's inner circle. Kushner has turned over documents to the House and Senate committees investigating possible collusion between Russia and Trump's campaign, though in a letter, the Senate Judiciary Committee recently complained that Kushner had not been fully forthcoming  a charge his lawyer denies.

So far, Mueller has filed no court documents to suggest Kushner is in legal jeopardy, but people close to the case say investigators have been looking at his meetings with Russians before and after the election, as well as his role in discussions that led to the firing of FBI director James Comey.

The news on Thanksgiving that former national security adviser Michael Flynn's lawyers had notified Trump's legal team that they could no longer share information about the Russia probe prompted speculation that Flynn may now be cooperating with Mueller  a potentially perilous sign for the president and his associates.

But friends say Kushner is even-keeled about the investigations. For him, they said, the most stressful moments came in May, amid news reports that he had tried to establish a secret back-channel with Russia during the transition, and that the FBI was probing his actions. He was frustrated, a White House official said, that he couldn't respond to the allegations until he went to be interviewed by Congress.

"Jared is an extraordinary calm person," said H.R. McMaster, the White House national security adviser. "I have never seen him distracted."

He huddled with his lawyers for hours in the run-up to his testimony before Congress but is in less frequent daily contact now unless something from Mueller's probe specifically requires his attention, one White House official said.

Kushner's detractors point to his role in the Russia probe as another sign of his poor political skills and continued risk to the president. A Republican close to the White House said that Kushner "has no judgment  never has and never will."

But in some ways, Kushner appears more protected from the daily sniping that plagued the early months of Trump's presidency. Over the summer, a trio of advisers who were rivals to Kushner were pushed out of the West Wing: Stephen Bannon, then the president's chief strategist who now runs Breitbart; Reince Priebus, the chief of staff; and Sean Spicer, the press secretary.

"He no longer is in an environment where he has an actual predator," said one White House official, likening Kushner to Bannon's regular prey. "That has probably helped his working environment some."

Kushner, with his whispery voice, has also proven one of the few people adept at absorbing Trump's anger. He can speak to Trump in a shared language of transaction from their days in the New York real estate world.

"I don't try to manage him," Kushner said. "I try to give him my honest feedback. If he asks my advice on something, sometimes I'll give it, sometimes I'll say, 'Let me go call a few people,' and then I'll give it."

McMaster said Kushner sometimes acts as a translator between his father-in-law, the president, and his senior advisers. "He helped a lot of us learn faster what's important to the president," McMaster said. "His relationship with the president makes Jared valuable as an adviser to the president, and also as an adviser to the president's advisers."

When Kushner's family first arrived in Washington, they agreed they would assess after six months whether they intended to stay. Trump himself has mused privately about the hit his daughter and son-in-law's reputation is taking because of their White House roles and about what a great and easy life they had back in New York. Others have questioned why someone like Kushner would put himself in Mueller's crosshairs by remaining in government.

But when the couple reassessed in July, they reached a decision. "We're here to stay," Kushner said. "At the current moment, we're charging forward."

He added, "My wife asked me the other day if we should be looking at new houses, so that's a good sign."
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First daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner are apparently not looking to leave D.C. quite yet, despite increasing scrutiny into any actions they may have taken to aid the Russian governments attempts to meddle in the 2016 election and the publics continuing confusion as to what their official jobs at the White House entail.

Were here to stay, Kushner told the Washington Post in a report published on Saturday. At the current moment, were charging forward. My wife asked me the other day if we should be looking at new houses, so thats a good sign.

The couple had reportedly planned on living in the capital for six months, then deciding whether they should remain or return to their previous lives in New York City.

Kushner was rumored to have been embroiled in a feud with Steve Bannon, President Trumps former chief strategist, for most of the administrations first year in office. Bannon was fired and returned to right-wing media outlet Breitbart news as executive chairman in August, which the New York Times reported has led to Kushner helping stabilize the White House, allowing him to focus on his own projects rather than feeling compelled to weigh in on so many different issues.

Bannon wasnt the only person rumored to feel animosity toward the presidents son-in-law. In addition to other White House staffers, the president himself was reported to have felt contempt for Kushner, feeling that Muellers investigation had heated up thanks to Kushners missteps. In the summer, Kushner denied having colluded with Russian officials after several reports revealed that he had been one of several people in the Trump camp to be present during a June 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer. While denying any wrongdoing, Kushner appeared to distance himself from Donald Trump Jr.s actions in setting up the conversation.

The role of Trumps son-in-law is reported to have been diminished after the hiring of John Kelly as White House Chief of Staff in July. As a condition to his being hired, Kelly is said to have demanded that Kushners place in the hierarchy be lowered from reporting directly to the president to reporting to Kelly. Though Kelly denied it on Monday, three White House advisers told the Times that the chief of staff had previously discussed the possibility of Ivanka and Jared leaving the White House by the end of the year.

Kushner insists that his role in the administration is centered on efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, Mexico, China, and Canada, as well as administrating the Office of American Innovation.

As for Ivanka, the first daughter is an unpaid adviser to her father. She has said her mission is to push womens equality, particularly in the workforce. Despite holding an official White House position, though, she has repeatedly insisted she wants to stay out of politics.

Neither Kushner nor Ivanka has so far accomplished anything other than committing public gaffes. For now, it looks like they plan on continuing.
David Slade is a senior Post and Courier reporter. His work has been honored nationally by Society of Professional Journalists, American Society of Newspaper Editors, Scripps foundation and others. Reach him at 843-937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com
By PTI: Udupi (Ktaka), Nov 26 (PTI) The "Dharma Sansad", a conclave of Hindu seers, mutt heads and VHP leaders, today demanded the immediate withdrawal of a directive, which it claimed was issued by the Centre to states on the issue of cow vigilantism.

Briefing reporters on the concluding day of the three-day conclave, VHP international joint general secretary Surendra Kumar Jain said the meet passed a resolution to this effect.

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"The notification was issued a few days ago by the Centre to all state governments. We want to tell the Centre it is not the cow protectors, but the cattle smugglers whose dossier is to be prepared," he claimed.

He said the conclave in another resolution urged the Supreme Court to widen the scope of nodal officers appointed to check cow vigilantes to also include those who kill cows.

"We do not want the protection of fake cow protectors. Such impostors must be brought to book. But in the process of taming fake cow vigilantes, the sincere cow protectors should not suffer. We appeal to the Supreme Court to widen the scope and area of nodal officers and include cow butchers," he said.

Jain said the meet also passed a resolution seeking the setting up of a DNA test facility at points from where beef was being exported.

The meet took a strong objection to those "intentionally" organising beef parties. "Such things irritate people and agitate the society," Jain said.

Another resolution demanded that facilities given to the religious minorities be extended to the religious majority, saying due to this discrimination, many Hindu communities want to become religious minority groups to enjoy the benefit.

More than 2,000 seers, mutt heads and other Sangh Parivar leaders attended the conclave, where the issue of building a Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya was discussed.

Addressing the meet on its inaugural day, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said only the Ram Temple would come up there and not any other structure.

Vishvesha Teertha Swamiji of Pejavar Math of Udupi, who chaired the reception committee, has said that the Ram Temple will be built in a year.

The conclave yesterday suggested a slew of measures to eradicate the scourge of untouchability and social inequality.

Stressing that untouchability has no religious backing, it was proposed that temples, houses and institutions should be open to all and there should not be any discrimination in sharing funeral grounds, lakes, wells and water taps.

The Udupi meet was significant as the first formal announcement for a Ram Temple at the Rama Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya was made here in 1985 and a year later, the doors of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya were open to public for darshan.

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Located in the coastal area, Udupi is famous for Lord Krishna Temple, with the idol believed to have been discovered by 13th-century Vaishnavite saint Madhwacharya, who founded the Dwaitha school of philosophy. PTI GMS RA VS ABH

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Stella is a single mother and grandmother, who went through many back-to-back hardships this year. She had ankle surgery, leaving her unable to work, and had a heart attack a few months later and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Read moreGrandmother facing health and family hardships hopes for food, family gifts for Christmas
The trial for Russell Laffitte, a former top executive for Palmetto State Bank, continues this week in Charleston's U.S. District Court. He stands accused of helping Alex Murdaugh defraud his former law clients, while using money from his family's bank to prop up the disbarred attorney's shaky finances. Read moreBank official reported Russell Laffitte's handling of Murdaugh client checks as suspicious
Roper Hospital will build a new medical campus in North Charleston for its replacement hospital in a place officials are calling the new "center" of the Charleston area and the most convenient for patients to access. Read moreRoper Hospital's new home in North Charleston is 'center' of Lowcountry, officials say
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) in alliance with the World Bank and Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE) will host its flagship event INSPIRE 2017 next week in Jaipur.

The five-day event (November 27-December 1) will showcase innovation and implementation of best practices in energy efficiency technologies, policies and financing, the EESL said in a statement.

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More than a hundred international delegates representing countries such as the United States of America, Singapore, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Korea, Turkey, Nepal, Thailand, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, and United Kingdom will attend the symposium, it added. PTI BKS MKJ

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This week, Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis dismissed all administrative charges against Alicia White, the last officer facing discipline in the Freddie Gray case. Thus, all six officers who were accused of wrongdoing in connection with Grays death will keep their jobs.

Of the other five, one was not charged administratively; two were cleared by an administrative review board; and two pleaded guilty at the administrative level, accepted discipline, and are back at work. White was to face a hearing, but the commissioner said, through a spokesman, that proceeding with charges against her would not constitute good faith. Thus, he dismissed the charges.

With book closed for the officers, we can tally up the results. None was found guilty of criminal conduct. In one case, a jury could not reach a jury verdict. In two cases, the judge, an African-American, found the defendant not guilty. Realizing it could not get a conviction, the city dropped charges against the other officers.

The Justice Department declined to bring federal charges against any of the officers.

At the administrative level, as weve seen, both of the officers who contested the charges against them were cleared. The two who pleaded out (in order, they said, to put the matter behind them) received relatively light discipline.

In sum, not a single officer was found by an adjudicatory body to have engaged in conduct that warranted punishment. The adjudicators who considered the matter were: a jury, an African-American judge, the police departments administrative panel, and the police commissioner.

The only procedure still pending in connection with the Gray case is a federal lawsuit brought by some of the officers against Marilyn Mosby, the city prosecutor, for malicious prosecution and defamation.

This is not a full accounting of the Gray matter, however. The family of Freddie Gray received $6.4 million from the city via a settlement agreed to by Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimores hack Democratic mayor at the time.

The settlement figure was ridiculously high. Yet, Baltimore would have gotten off cheaply if that had been the sole price. Indeed, the city would have gotten off fairly cheaply if the only other price had been the riots that Mayor Rawlings in a sense invited after Grays death.

Instead, Baltimore suffered a huge upswing in violent crime, thanks to the unwillingness of its Democratic politicians to stand behind the police. Baltimores current mayor admits that violent crime is out of control.

2017 is the third consecutive year in which Baltimores murder rate exceeds 300. That level hadnt been reached since the 1990s. This alarming spike began with Grays death and the citys feckless response to lawless protesters in the Spring of 2015.

Even the New York Times made the connection.

It is now clear that Baltimores left-wing political establishment attacked the police for no better reason than to show thugs that, in the infamous words of grandstanding prosecutor Mosby, I heard your call for No justice, no peace. At the end of their ordeal, the police officers received justice, but for Baltimore there is no peace.

Left-wing governance tends to gnaw at the moral, social, and economic fabric of whatever jurisdiction it inflicts. The phenomenon is most pronounced at the local level. Nowhere I know of is it more pronounced than in Baltimore.


The elevation of sexual harassment to the pole position of current media-political concern may have actually begun overseas before it snowballed here with laffaire Weinstein. I didnt follow the story closely, but I do recall a few years ago that the prominent and beloved television host Jimmy Savile over in the UK was revealed to have been a Weinstein-scale pedophile of long standingsort of a Brit version of Charlie Rose crossed with Mister Rogers.

Of course, you would be right to suggest that the British invented sex scandals, going back to King Henry VIII or at least the Profumo scandal of the 1960s. In recent weeks Theresa Mays government has seen the exit of two senior ministers in recent weeks. Vanity Fair reports:

Defense Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has admitted acting inappropriately on at least one occasiona hand on the knee of conservative commentator Julia Hartley-Brewer years ago. Damian Green, the first secretary of state and effectively Prime Minister Theresa Mays deputy, is fighting for his political life after a separate accusation that he made sexual advances towards a young Tory activist, which he furiously denies.

Apparently, too many people in British government think Yes, Minister is a universal reply and not a satirical comedy. Vanity Fair goes on to report that Tory Party whips are using allegations and rumors of sex scandal to keep backbenchers in line. I suspect this may have inspired Nancy Pelosi to get John Conyers to step aside as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee today.

But it looks like the Labour Party wants in on the action. From todays London Times:

Labour hushes up second suicide after sex claims A second member of the Labour Party has died after apparently taking his own life amid allegations of sexual misconduct. The man, understood to be in his early thirties, died suddenly last week after being suspended from the party and his job at Labour headquarters after claims involving pornography. . . The new death came two weeks after the apparent suicide of Carl Sargeant, the cabinet secretary for communities and children in the Welsh government. Sargeant was removed from his post and suspended from Welsh Labour on November 3 after allegations about his behaviour. He died four days later apparently still unclear about the detailed claims against him.

Strange that the name of the person is being withheld. Even more interesting is this detail:

The man who died last week was a member of Labours team at the partys headquarters in Victoria, central London. One source said he had been caught digitally manipulating the faces of people onto the bodies of porn stars.

That just sounds like good opposition attack material to me.
Perhaps you have heard about Piegate. It started when Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted a photo of a pie that she baked for Thanksgiving:

I dont cook much these days, but managed this Chocolate Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving at the family farm! pic.twitter.com/rO8nFxtly7  Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 23, 2017

Liberals immediately began questioning whether Ms. Sanders had actually baked the pie, or had merely posted a stock photo of a pie. White House correspondent and CNN political analyst April Ryan took the lead:

Show it to us on a table. https://t.co/ifeSBlSZW7  AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) November 24, 2017

I am not trying to be funny but folks are already saying #piegate and #fakepie Show it to us on the table with folks eating it and a pic of you cooking it. I am getting the biggest laugh out of this. I am thankful for this laugh on Black Friday! https://t.co/ifeSBlSZW7  AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) November 24, 2017

Sarah Sanders responded with good humor:

But April Ryan is a hater, and she was having none of it. She is at war with the White House, and perhaps thinks Trump administration pie may be poisoned:

Okay I want to watch you bake it and put it on the table. But forgive I wont eat it. Remember you guys dont like the press. https://t.co/gcAt1Sl32i  AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) November 25, 2017

Ryan kept the controversy going with numerous retweets of claims that Sanders didnt really bake the pie. It was a stock image, or something. April Ryans Twitter feed is actually rather shocking. I think it is fair to describe it as a hate site. She hates President Trump, the Trump administration, and Republicans and conservatives generally. She retweets absurd nonsense like this:

Childrens health clinics are shutting down after congressional Republicans allowed CHIP to expire. 9 million kids at risk. But GOP still has time for corporate tax cuts. Nice priorities. https://t.co/5PZzLeqj1s  Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) November 24, 2017

You really have to scan Ryans Twitter feed to get the point. She is an ideologically committed warrior against the Trump administration and the Republican party.

That wouldnt be shockingsome of us have relatives you could describe that waybut for the fact that CNN pays her to be a political analyst, and she is a member of the White House press corps. In Americas modern history, we have not seen anything like this. Certainly no one from CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, etc., declared war on the Obama administration. And when Barack Obama was president, no one started Twitter wars over the provenance of his press secretarys Thanksgiving pies.

We are sailing in uncharted waters. The best we can say is, at least everyone knows now who our enemies are.
MINNEAPOLIS  In Judith Meisels last image of her mother, Mina, she is standing outside a gas chamber at the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland, awaiting the same fate that befell 65,000 other prisoners there.

This summer, as she has countless times before, the former Philadelphian and now Minnesota resident relived the experience in wrenching detail, but this time for a set of German prosecutors who  aided by Minnesota FBI agents  race to bring to justice the few Nazis still alive who can be linked to World War II atrocities.

Now Meisel, 88, knows her assistance paid off: German authorities this month indicted two ex-guards on charges of being accessories to many of the murders at Stutthof, located near what is now the city of Gdansk, Poland.

Under German law, she could join prosecutors as a co-plaintiff.

In June, Meisel stunned the Germans, and her family, when she identified one of the ex-guards, Johann Rehbogen, as a teenage SS officer who taunted her and other female prisoners as they undressed each morning.

The charges, made possible by new German legal guidance allowing the prosecution of former Nazis who cant be tied to specific killings, represent a new and vital chapter for survivors.

Meisel held a photo of her parents, Osser and Mina Beker, taken around 1938. Her mother died in Stutthofs gas chamber on the Baltic coast on Nov. 21, 1944.

I understand that the person who has been indicted was a young man at the time, Meisel said. Still, the questions he must answer are an important part of this story.

How, for example, did he take such a gruesome job at such a young age? What did he think when he watched women and children being killed on an industrial scale? How has he explained his past to his family and friends?

Meisel awaits answers Rehbogen, now 94, can provide, even if it means she must again relive the horror of her years inside the camp.

This process of seeking answers and finding justice for my mother gives new meaning to my life, Meisel said.

What comes next?

Prosecutors in Dortmund indicted Rehbogen and Harry Paul Fritz Schulz, 92, on charges stemming from their tenures at the camp from 1942 to 1944. Since 2011, German authorities have been pursuing cases against Nazis whom they believe they can prove helped operate concentration camps.

A Dortmund prosecutor said this month both men denied knowing anything about the killings at the camp.

Meisels description of life in the camp  and law-enforcement interviews with other Americans identified as Stutthof survivors now living in New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Florida  are essential for prosecutors to challenge those denials.

In June, Meisel instantly recognized a photo of Rehbogen, whom she and other prisoners called Meydele for his girlish looks, and said he was among those who taunted and beat prisoners.

Cornelius Nestler, a German professor and lawyer who has represented survivors, found Meisel online and connected her with authorities who werent sure how many, if any, Stutthof survivors are still alive.

Nestler told the Star Tribune in an email the defendants will have an opportunity to challenge the indictment and will likely be evaluated by medical experts for their fitness to stand trial.

Nestler said the trial could begin by summer if the defendants are deemed healthy enough.

Meisel, he said, could take the stand as a witness or at least observe the proceedings.

Meisels son, Michael Cohen, said hes not sure if his mother would travel to Germany or participate from afar.

The charges surprised the family, he said, and represent a determination not to simply move aside and forget about those responsible.

Cohen, a Minneapolis attorney also formerly of Philadelphia, said news of the charges brought back new, vivid memories for his mother that include witnessing camp inmates killed by injections administered by Stutthof doctors.

Meisel has since spent much of the month thinking of her mother and her sister Rachel, who was forced on a death march away from the camp with her in early 1945 that they both escaped.

Cohen said Meisel has described her mother as a woman of forgiveness but is still unsure how she would respond to the charges. Shes very interested in what comes next, Cohen said.

He also said the wave of emotions has taken its toll on his mother.

Since her start in civil-rights activism as a young woman in Philadelphia, where she dined with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., her son has written, Meisel has told her story to audiences across the country.

In the days since learning of the indictments, Meisel has privately revisited what it meant to be a Stutthof inmate.

While she still has nightmares, Meisel said, she welcomes any chance to tell her story for the important lessons it teaches about tolerance and racism.

She said she cannot forget the message from some of her fellow prisoners: Dont let us die without you mentioning what happened to us.
An investigating officer said they could not find any material and substantive evidence during the course of the probe against Dr Khan

By India Today Web Desk: Charges of corruption and private practice that were levied against Doctor Kafeel Khan - who was removed fom his position as nodal officer in the National Health Mission after several children died at this Medical college - were dropped by Gorakhpur Police on Saturday.

Khan is one of the nine who have been accused of the deaths of 33 children that took place at Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College on August 10 and 11.

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According to a report by Daily News and Analysis, investigating officer Abhishek Singh said they could not find any material and substantive evidence during the course of the probe against Dr Khan to prove that he was involved in corruption, indulged in private practice or violated any provisions of the IT Act.

"Since no evidence was found against Dr Khan on these counts, we had dropped these charges against him" said Singh. Statements of 93 witnesses have submitted by investigative officers.

It is likely that FIR's will be filed against doctor KP Kushwaha, a former principal of the BRD Medical College, and four others in connection with executing contract with oxygen supplier Pushpa Sales Pvt Ltd.

Investigations have revealed that though Pushpa Sales Pvt Ltd was not manufacturing oxygen, it was still engaged to supply oxygen at a higher price resulting in losses to the state as well as violating the tendering process.

Watch: Dr Kafeel Khan Removed From Duties Of Gorakhpur BRD Hospital

--- ENDS ---
Veterans and active military members with mental health problems who are charged with low-level, nonviolent crimes in New Jersey will soon have an opportunity to avoid the court system and jail.

A bill establishing a statewide Veterans Diversion Program was approved by Gov. Chris Christie in May and is set to go into effect next month.

The Cape May County Prosecutors Office is hosting a public informational session on the new program at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Cape May County Administration Building in Cape May Court House.

Several South Jersey legislators sponsored the bill, which will connect eligible veterans with agencies that provide mental health services. If everything goes well, the veterans criminal case could be dismissed.

Veterans charged with violent crimes, threatening violence or first- and second-degree offenses will not be admitted to the program.

One-third of service members returning from missions in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years have reported symptoms of mental health or cognitive problems, according to the American Psychological Association.

The wounds of war are not just physical, Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, said in a statement after the bill was approved. Many soldiers return home with mental trauma that, when untreated, puts them and others at risk.

Andrzejczak, an Army veteran who was deployed to Iraq, was one of the primary sponsors of the bill creating the program.

Veterans in the program must agree to participate in case management and mental health services, cooperate with providers and meet other requirements. The programs length will be determined by the prosecutor, but it could be anywhere from six months to two years.

The prosecutor determines whether a veteran charged with a crime is eligible for the program, according to the legislation.

Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, also one of the bills primary sponsors, said in May that many veterans would benefit more from treatment than prison time.

Rather than allowing them to fall into the criminal justice system, this program will better ensure that service members and veterans, who have found themselves headed down the wrong path, are given treatment and a second chance, Van Drew said in a statement.

Wednesdays presentation by the Prosecutors Office will be open to the public. The county administration building is located at 4 Moore Rd.
The archbishop had issued a letter addressing the Christians, were he urged the members of the community to save the country from "nationalist forces".

By PTI, India Today Web Desk: A notice has been issued to the archbishop of Gandhinagar by the Election Commission (EC) for asking Christians to pray to save the country from "nationalist forces" in the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly polls.

Last week, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar, Thomas Macwan had issued a letter addressing the Christians, were he urged the members of the community to save the country from "nationalist forces" as its "democratic fabric" was at stake, amidst a growing "sense of insecurity" among the minorities.

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In Gujarat's political circles, the appeal was seen as an indirect call to vote against the ruling BJP.

Gandhinagar Collector and District Election Officer Satish Patel told PTI that the EC issued the notice after taking cognizance of media reports and asked the archbishop to clarify his intention behind issuing such a letter.

"We have issued a notice to the archbishop, seeking clarity over his intention behind the letter, which was widely publicised in the media. We have given him a few days time to respond. We will decide on the future course of action on the basis of his reply," Patel said today.

He added that the letter seemed to be aimed at "confusing" the voters of the minority communities and misguiding them when the poll code was in force in the state.

"We understand that the letter was an attempt to misguide the voters and confuse the minority community voters at a time when the model code of conduct is in force. Such a language should not be used," Patel said.

In an official communique dated November 21, Macwan had appealed to the Christians to organise prayer services at parishes and convents, "so that we may have such people elected to the Gujarat Assembly, who would remain faithful to the Indian Constitution and respect every human being without any sort of discrimination".

"The democratic fabric of the country is at stake amidst a growing sense of insecurity among the minorities, other backward classes (OBC), backward classes, poor etc.," he had said.

"The results of this election are significant and will have repercussions and reverberations throughout our beloved nation. It will influence the future course of our country.

"We are aware that the secular and democratic fabric of our country is at stake. Human rights are being violated. The constitutional rights are being trampled. Not a single day goes without an attack on our churches, church personnel, faithfuls or institutions," he said.

"The recitation of the Holy Rosary at individual, community, family and parish levels will be of great help. Encourage your faithful to pray the Rosary," he said.

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In the letter, the archbishop had also cited examples of how such prayers saved Europe during the victory at Lepanto, referring to the battle of 1571, in which the Holy League of Venetian and Spanish empires had defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf of Patras, and how the "protecting hand of our beloved Mother Mary defeated communist governments and dictators in a number of countries".

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases -- on December 9 and 14. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.

Watch the video below:

Church politics: Gujarat Archbishop polarising voters ahead of polls?

--- ENDS ---
Agra, Nov 22 : Polling began on Wednesday to elect chairmen of local bodies in 24 districts of Uttar Pradesh, and the mayor of Agra along with 100 corporators, officials said.

In the three-phase election, 24 districts of Uttar Pradesh are going to polls on Wednesday, while 25 districts would go to the polls on November 26, and 26 districts on November 29.

Twenty-four districts of Uttar Pradesh with 1.09 crore voters would elect 4,325 candidates for various positions in the local bodies polls. The mayors of five corporations including Agra would also be elected.

Despite the misty morning chill, long queues of anxious voters turned up at 364 polling booths in the district.

"The expectation level is high and the contest is fierce, as all major political parties have put up formidable candidates for the post of Agra mayor," said insurance agent Sudheir Gupta, at the Vijay Nagar colony polling booth.

The results would be announced on December 1.

The Agra mayor seat is being hotly contested by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Navin Jain, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Digambar Singh Dhakrey, Rahul Chaturvedi of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Vinod Bansal of the Congress.

The Aam Admi Party (AAP) has fielded Rajesh Gupta. The votes are likely to be divided among 13 mayoral candidates.

A district official told IANS 4,200 policemen, 1,000 home guards, eight companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) companies have been deployed for poll duty.

The poll process would be supervised by 8,000 state government employees.

The Agra Municipal Corporation has 12,67,595 voters.
Jammu, Nov 24 : Dineshwar Sharma, the Centre's Special Representative on Jammu and Kashmir, is arriving here on Friday on a six-day visit to the state in an effort to pave the way for a sustained dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue.

Sharma will remain in Jammu till Sunday after which he will leave for the Kashmir Valley, officials told IANS.

"The Special Representative is scheduled to visit the Jagti migrant camp in Nagrota area to interact with the members of the Kashmiri Pandit community.

"Sharma will have detailed discussions with the migrants to understand their problems and also explore ways and means for a dignified return of the community to the valley," the officials said.

He will also meet residents living along the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC).

Sharma is slated to meet representatives of West Pakistan refugees who came to Jammu from Pakistan in 1947, 1965 and 1971.

These people have limited citizenship rights in Jammu and Kashmir. They can vote in the Lok Sabha elections, but are debarred from voting in the state Assembly elections.

They cannot own property neither can they apply for a government job.

Sharma is scheduled to visit south Kashmir districts.
New Delhi, Nov 25 : Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday strongly condemned the terror attack at a mosque in Egypt and said that the persisting menace of terrorism remains a formidable challenge that calls for concerted global response.

"The horrific attack is yet another deeply disturbing manifestation of the evil forces of terror. That the attack took place at a place of worship and claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent worshipers makes this senseless act of violence even more tragic," Gandhi said in a statement.

Terming the terror attack as an "unacceptable act" of brutal terror against innocent citizens, she said, "Terrorism is a crime against humanity for which there can never be any justification and such barbaric acts are against the tenets of every religion."

Expressing solidarity with the people of Egypt, Gandhi said, "This cowardly attack is a stark reminder that the persisting menace of terrorism remains a formidable challenge that calls for a concerted and sustained response from the global community," she said.

At least 270 people were killed and 300 others injured in a terror attack on a mosque in Egypt's northern Sinai region on Friday making it one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in the country.
Los Angeles, Nov 26 : Actor Ben Mendelsohn says he would love to be one of the most iconic villains in comic history -- Victor Von Doom.

On MTV's "Happy Sad Confused" podcast with Josh Horowitz, the actor expressed his fondness for the "Fantastic Four" villain, reports aceshowbiz.co.uk.

"Doctor Doom is the greatest comic character of all time. That's a great role. The thing that's really appealing about Victor is the damage and trauma, the loss of the family, the wrong done to him, then the revenge and the takeover," he said.

Mendelsohn added: "Then it's the protectiveness of Latveria wrapped in that Cold War vibe. What actually makes him great is his caring bit. That's what's great about Doctor Doom, and I just like him!"

Horowitz mentioned that at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, Fox announced that they were planning on making a Doctor Doom solo film helmed by Noah Hawley.

To this, Mendelsohn said: "Oh yeah, I'm aware of all this."

Doctor Doom was portrayed by two different actors. In 2005's "Fantastic Four", actor Julian McMahon got into the character. Ten years later, Toby Kebbell got the chance to play the villain in "The Fantastic Four", but the movie was heavily chastised by critics.

Mendelsohn expressed his enthusiasm on playing Doctor Doom.
Berlin, Nov 26 : German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected new elections and wanted to form a new government quickly, as a consequence of the failed government coalition talks with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens.

"The people have voted, and I absolutely do not favour, if we can't do anything with the result, asking people to vote again," Merkel said on Saturday at a party conference of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Kuehlungsborn, northeast Germany, Xinhua reported citing Focus Online.

Merkel is facing the most serious political crisis since she assumed office 12 years ago after the breakdown of the government coalition exploratory talks on November 19.

The FDP decided to withdraw the talks with the Greens, the CDU and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), for a new coalition government after the September 24 federal elections.

Merkel told the party conference that she wants to "come quickly to a government", adding that Germany must have a stable government, "but also a government that really advances the country".

The CDU leader also said talks with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) would have to be conducted on the basis of mutual respect, and the compromise is part of it.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has invited Merkel, SPD leader Martin Schulz and CSU leader Horst Seehofer for a meeting next week to discuss another "Grand Coalition".

The SPD has repeatedly rejected to joint hands with the Union after its landslide failure in the federal elections. However, Schulz softened the stance on Friday as he said his party was willing to hold talks with the Union.
New Delhi : In India you have hundreds of film, literature, music, dance, sports, fashion, investment, technology, science and other festivals in every part of the country. This should be a happy indicator of our rich cultural heritage and our predisposition to the arts. However, most such events are forced gatherings of similar sets of people.

The genesis of these festivals is steeped in history. In post-Independence India, it was essential that a wounded but free nation established its cultural diversity, tradition and its new-found confidence through creative expression. So, Nehru rightly set up bodies like the Sangeet Natak, Lalit Kala and Sahitya Akademis. An International Film Festival, Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan, National Book Fair, etc., were also set up. What should have been the take-off points of various arts, soon lapsed into a well-oiled machine of state patronage. Various awards instituted within the first few years became politicised.

When royal patronage of arts disappeared after the abolition of princely states, music, dance, fine art and literature almost disappeared from public spaces. So it was imperative that the government kick-started their revival. It was good when this was done in the 1950s. However, wherever politics and bureaucracy creep in, a new pecking order based not so much on real talent but political and other (social, economic, regional) considerations come into play.

So, by the end of the 1950s, there emerged a new cultural aristocracy. A group of aficionados, some genuine, some pretentious, who over time would be identified by their omnipresence on various committees and the invitation lists at concerts, festivals and other such events. This newly-minted social class did have some real scholars who did inspiring work in furthering the arts, but largely these were self-styled critics, failed artistes and social climbers.

As a new festival circuit developed initially in New Delhi and then elsewhere, it was a boon for performing artists, filmmakers, painters and authors who got a chance to reach out to a larger audience through these platforms. One has to realise that in the 1950s the only source of income for artistes was All India Radio and a few private mehfils. A chosen few like Pandit Omkar Nath Thakur, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Indrani Rehman got a chance to perform abroad. The Indian Council of Cultural Relations, an organisation under the Ministry of External Affairs, did send some artistes and films overseas, but again the selection was at the whim of some sarkari patron.

The International Film Festival of India did not acquire a proper structure till the 1970s. If you were lucky, your film, based on some foreign critic's recommendation, was chosen for screening at a foreign film festival like Cannes, Berlin or Venice. There were auditoriums where one could watch art cinema. Film societies, with help from embassies, managed to get some films for private screenings for members in major metros.

Plays were restricted to some cities like Mumbai, Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Delhi. Literature Festivals were things of a distant future. Book launches were confined to a few established authors like Amrita Preetam, Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan and a few important journalists. Most artistic/cultural activity was limited to a few events where individuals were the catalyst for an art form's growth.

There were some honourable initiatives like the Swami Haridas Music Festival in Jalandhar or the Dover Lane Music Conference in Calcutta. The Shriram Family (DCM) of Delhi held the annual Shankar Shaad Mushaira in the capital, which was the subcontinent's most prestigous annual gathering of Urdu poets. They also organised the annual Shankarlal Music Festival and the Bharatiya Kala Kendra Ramleela and concerts.

In the South, the Thyagraja Festival and the Madras Academy concerts are largely privately funded. Soon the Sangeet Sammelan of AIR and three Akademis started holding events in major cities, which were eagerly awaited. The government also started promoting Indian festivals abroad.

In other spheres, drama was largely semi-professional except for regional theatre like in Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Punjabi. The first Triennale (Art Exhibition) was held in in 1971, but top artistes had gained popularity among Indian cognoscenti.

It was only in the 1970s that corporates entered the arts circuit and industry groups like the Tatas, Birlas, JK, Jains (of The Times of India) and multi-nationals like ITC became sponsors of cultural events. By then a familiar coterie of cultural interventionists could be seen on the scene. They were organising, judging, participating or just attending event after event. I was for a while a part of this jamboree. Soon from this emerged a new Brahmanical order of culturatti generally dominated by what are now known as left-liberals.

Economic liberalisation and satellite TV changed the paradigm. Today there the hundreds of festivals across disciplines. Private groups professionally organise most of these. There are expensive delegate fees for such events. So you have at least a dozen film festivals (MAMI in Mumbai, Kolkata Film Festival, Kerala Film Festival in Thiruvananthapuram and IFFI in Goa are major ones) from Guwahati to Dharamshala, Lucknow to Bengaluru.

There are a dozen litfests, led by the Jaipur Literary Festival, and events in Mumbai, Delhi and other state capitals. Several music and dance festivals, and theatre festivals like the one organised by the National School of Drama in Delhi, and those organised by the Mahindra Group, Aditya Birla Group, IPTA, Prithvi, Nandikar and others. And hundreds of smaller events.

Museums and art galleries all over hold regular exhibitions and seminars. All sponsored and many of them money-making. There are professional event mangers, PR companies and tie-ups with broadcasters. Besides, every media group, TV channel and several chambers of commerce and industry hold hundreds of events, award shows and conclaves. We are spoilt for choice.

What has not changed in 70 years is the list of 500-odd people who are the usual speakers, participants, critics and guests at these events. I am tired of hearing the same people turning up at such events with the regularity of homing pigeons. This tired lot says the same things, loaded with their ideology and opinions (often redundant) month after month, year after year. The same panelists (including me), the same chief guests and often the same applause-junky, name-dropping professional quote hangers. The show goes on.

(Amit Khanna is a writer, filmmaker and media guru. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at amitfilm@gmail.com)
Mumbai, Nov 26 : GDP data for the second quarter of the 2017-18 fiscal, along with expiry of derivatives and the movement of foreign funds, are expected to be the main indicators to give direction to the key Indian equity indices in the upcoming week.

Apart from global cues, over the coming weeks, markets will seek direction from future events like the Reserve Bank of India policy meet during the first week of December and the Gujarat elections the following week.

"Focus in the coming week will be on the GDP numbers for the September quarter due to be released on November 30. Consumption growth is likely to be impacted by GST implementation during Q2FY18 and private sector capex continued to remain weak," Teena Virmani, Vice President - PCG Research at Kotak Securities, told IANS.

"RBI policy in the first week of December and Gujarat elections in the second week are also being eyed closely. The rise in crude prices has left very little scope for RBI to cut rates in the upcoming meeting," said Virmani.

Virmani pointed out that at the global level, the movement of oil prices will be closely watched as geo-political tensions in the Middle East are likely to remain supportive of oil prices in the run-up to the November OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting.

Other analysts have noted the November derivatives' expiry and the direction of the flow of funds as the major triggers for the week starting November 27.

D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Investments and Advisors, said: "The Indian markets may remain volatile as investors churn portfolios ahead of the monthly derivatives contract expiry on Thursday."

"Also, the flow movement of foreign funds and domestic funds will play a critical role in giving direction to the market," Aggarwal told IANS.

Provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought scrips worth Rs 2,925.56 crore during last week. However, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to remain net sellers, shedding stocks worth Rs 1,870.27 crore.

Figures from the National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL) revealed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) invested in equities worth Rs 2,106.45 crore, or $325.16 million, during November 20-24.

"Technically, with the Nifty rallying after two weeks of losses and also breaking out of the recent narrow trading range, the bulls seem to be in control. Further upsides are likely once the immediate resistance of 10462 is taken out," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research for HDFC Securities, told IANS.

Last week, the equity indices rode the bulls pursuing the optimism on a sovereign ratings upgrade of the Indian government's bonds by US credit rating agency Moody's a week before, supported by a further thrust given by continued buying by DIIs.

On a weekly basis, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed higher from its previous week's close by 336.44 points, or one per cent, at 33,679.24 points.

The broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) edged higher by 106.1 points, or 1.03 per cent, to close the week's trade at 10,389.70 points.

(Porisma P. Gogoi can be contacted at porisma.g@ians.in)
New Delhi, Nov 26 : With emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics knocking at India's doors, the country needs to sow the learning seeds early -- in the classroom -- and China and Turkey can show the way, top global Intel executives have said.

The world has realised what is coming its way in the next 10-20 years and has already begun modernising classrooms at schools to prepare a technology-ready workforce.

"The Chinese and Turkish authorities have given kids IoT-enabled devices in millions of schools. Every student has a device connected to an intelligent whiteboard at the front of the classroom. There are teacher-controlled devices too. The curriculum is designed for that kind of environment. This is the future of education," Joe D. Jensen, Vice President, Internet of Things (IoT) Group, and General Manager, Retail Solutions Division at Intel, told IANS.

"Intel has installed 400,000 IoT-enabled connected devices for schools in Turkey, a million-and-a half in Chinese schools and another million to go in China in the next two years," Jensen informed.

Technology can do wonders in providing a great educational experience and create a pool of talent for these disrupting technologies.

"In China, the newest innovation is that there are eight video cameras and a series of microphones in a classroom at certain private schools and colleges. The videos of the classroom activities are recorded daily. Parents can later log on and see the student-teacher interaction," Jensen told IANS.

For Lisa Davis, Vice President and General Manager, IT Transformation for Enterprise and Government at Intel, while India is at the cusp of dramatic changes in delivering next-generation education, it is also set to learn new ways to infuse technology in many other sectors.

"Not just education, we are looking at the financial services, transportation, retail and health-care sectors too in India. The next big wave is coming in video surveillance and the security sector, and our teams are engaged with the stakeholders in the country," Davis told IANS.

Intel has also pushed the envelope towards creating a modern workforce in India. In April this year, Intel made a commitment to democratise AI in the country by training 15,000 developers and engage with not just businesses but also the government and academia to enable the adoption of AI.

Intel India has trained 9,500 developers, students and professors in the past six months.

The chip giant has collaborated with 40 academic institutions that are using the technology for scientific research and 50 public and private organisations across e-commerce, health-care, technology, defence, and banking and financial services.

Intel India has also launched an initiative to strengthen the use of technology in the country's education ecosystem. It is collaborating with leading device manufacturers, education digital content publishers and education solution providers to build end-to-end solutions that promote the use of technology.

The company will then help deploy management solutions for schools, classrooms, content and learning, and also manage student information systems.

There is an Intel India Maker Lab in Bengaluru to drive the innovation ecosystem in the country. The lab offers access to start-ups of hardware and software development kits, reference boards, design collaterals, test and debugging equipment. It provides technical support for design, development and testing products.

"India is at the cusp of a technology boom, but needs training and teaching right from the beginning to prepare a future digital workforce," Davis stressed.

(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta today said maximum benefits of governments promotional schemes for powerloom textile industry have been taken by entrepreneurs from Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

"The ministry of textiles has announced several promotional schemes for powerloom textile industry but there is hardly any awareness in the industry. The maximum benefit of these schemes have been taken by the entrepreneurs of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu," Gupta said at the Buyer-Seller Meet and Textile Exhibition here.

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The textile ministry has recently announced Solar Energy Scheme for small powerloom units, on-grid solar PV plant (without battery back up) and off-grid solar PV plant (with battery back up), where government will provide Rs 2.50 lakh subsidy per unit.

She said this scheme will help the unit to pay back bank loans within 3-4 years, after which the unit shall get practically free electricity.

Currently, there are 25 lakh powerlooms in the country out of which 50 per cent are in Maharashtra. Also, there are 108 powerloom clusters in the country and 72 textile parks.

Meanwhile, Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) President Rahul Mehta said the apparel export for 2016-17 was 16.8 billion dollars and the target for 2017-18 is 20 billion dollars.

"However, the export target for 2017-18 will not be attainable and is likely to remain at the last years level. Also the new duty drawback rates, that ended on September 30 are not yet announced. If these rates are around 2-3 per cent, the total incentive will be around 8 per cent, which was 11.50-12 per cent earlier," Mehta said. PTI PSK NRB

--- ENDS ---
New Delhi, Nov 26 : President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack on its ninth anniversary.

Kovind called for eliminating terrorism as he remembered the 166 Indians and foreigners killed in the attack blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The massacre by 10 men who sailed to Mumbai, including one who was caught and hanged, lasted three days starting on November 26, 2008.

"On the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, we mourn with the families that lost their dear ones and we recall with gratitude the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil," Kovind tweeted.

"We renew our resolve to take on, defeat and eliminate terrorism in all forms -- and to make our people, our country and our world safer," he added.

Modi said terrorism was a threat to humanity and everyone in the world needed to come together to fight it.

In his monthly radio programme "Mann Ki Baat", Modi recalled "those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives".

He said terrorism had taken an ugly shape and become a global threat.

"We, in India, are facing a lot for the last 40 years on account of terrorism. Thousands of innocent people have lost their lives.

"When India used to talk about the severe threats of terrorism, the world was not ready to take it seriously. Now since terrorism is knocking at their doors, every government that believes in humanity is seeing it as one of the biggest challenges," he said.

"It (terrorism) is bent upon destroying humanitarian forces. So, not only India but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism," he added.
Los Angeles, Nov 26 : Actress Rose McGowan, who had accused Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, met fellow "survivors" and actresses Asia Argento and Annabella Sciorra.

On Saturday, Argento shared a photograph of her meeting McGowan and Sciorra. "You are my sister and I love you," Argento wrote alongside the photo, reports people.com.

"May all your dreams come true. I want this for you. They are gonna come true," she added.

McGowan shared the same photo on her Instagram account and wrote that she had "magical moments" with Argento and Sciorra.

She also tagged Ronan Farrow in the image. He has written numerous exposAs on Weinstein for The New Yorker.

In October, Argento accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her during the late 1990s.

In a story for The New Yorker written by Farrow, Argento claimed that after reluctantly agreeing to give the producer a massage in his hotel room, he allegedly pulled her skirt up and forced her legs apart before performing oral sex on her.

In a separate New Yorker expose - also written by Farrow - Sciorra accused Weinstein of allegedly raping her and claimed he tried to perform oral sex on her.

Weinstein is under investigation by police in New York, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and the UK for sexual assault accusations. He has denied all claims of non-consensual sex.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated Navy personnel for their efforts in securing the country's maritime boundaries.

"We will observe Navy Day on December 4. Indian Navy secures and protects our maritime boundaries. I congratulate all those who belong to the Navy," he said in the 38th edition of his monthly radio programme "Mann Ki Baat".

Modi also recalled the rich Naval heritage of the country and mentioned ancient India's Navy under the Chola kingdom and said women played a leading role on the sea.

"Most Navies of the world allowed women on their warships pretty later. But in the Chola Navy, a large number of women played leading roles and that too about eight to nine hundred years ago."

Modi also mentioned the navy of Maratha king Shivaji.

"Indian Navy showed its valour on various occasions; be it the liberation struggle of Goa or the India-Pakistan wars. When we talk of the Navy, we see only war but the Indian Navy has come forward during humanitarian ventures too.

"We nurture a feeling of pride and respect towards our security forces -- be it the Army, Navy or Air Force. They sacrifice their youth for the country," he said.

The Prime Minister urged the people to wear Armed Forces flags on Armed Forces Flag Day on December 7. He said contribution for the Armed Forces Flag Day fund would raise the morale of the armed forces.
Panaji, Nov 26 : Indian Panorama jury members on Sunday said they are yet to hear from IFFI officials on the screening of Sanal Kumar Sasidharan's film "S Durga", a day after he submitted its copies to festival Director Sunit Tandon as directed by the Kerala High Court.

Ruchi Narain, one of the jury members for the Indian Panorama section of the 48th International Film Festival of India, told IANS that she had not been informed by IFFI officials about a screening for the jury members yet.

"There has been no intimation from IFFI yet. We are waiting for them to contact us," Narain said.

The last few days saw a standoff between the makers of Malayalam film "S Durga" and the festival authorities over screening of the controversial film, which was one of the two films to be dropped from the screening schedule of the Indian Panorama section.

Three members, including the head of the jury panel Sujoy Ghosh, resigned in protest against the dropping while six jury members wrote to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry raising concerns over the move.

After Sasidharan petitioned the Kerala High Court, the court directed IFFI to screen the film after its censored version was screened for the jury.

An appeal by the Ministry to stay the direction was rejected by the High Court on Friday.

Narain said after the court order she was one of the first jury members to write to IFFI seeking to know when the film will be screened for the jury.

"I am in Mumbai now. But if IFFI wants me to be in Goa for the jury screening, I am willing to go," Narain told IANS.

Another jury member, on the condition of anonymity, told IANS that he too had not been informed by IFFI about a jury screening.

Sasidharan told reporters here that it was unfortunate that the festival authorities were dragging their feet.

"They are actually treating us like dogs," Kumar said, adding that he was asked to wait for an hour and a half for merely submitting the film copies to the IFFI Director on Saturday.

IFFI spokesperson Manish Desai said it was up to the festival authorities to schedule a screening for the jury.

The festival, which kicked off on November 20, will end on Tuesday (November 28).
Lima, Nov 26 : Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the main cities of Peru to protest against the high incidence of females murdered or subjected to male violence in the country.

The biggest march was held on Saturday in Lima and was called by the Ni Una Menos group, promoter of other massive marches previously held in the capital to raise awareness about the high levels of abuse women suffer and the impunity their attackers almost always enjoy, reports Efe news.

The demonstration, held on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, was led by some almost iconic victims of male violence.

Among them was the young lawyer Arlette Contreras, who said: "It's sad to admit that our country does not see that justice is done to us because it's not really aware of what we women go through."

Contreras, whose boyfriend dragged her by the hair through the lobby of an inn, said women have to "knock down the macho culture that exists in this country and that oppresses women so much".

According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) published in 2013, Peru is the country with the third most violence against women in the world, trailing only Ethiopia and Bangladesh.

Also taking part in the march were feminist organisations like the Manuela Ramos Movement, hose member Patricia Nava told Efe that abuse of women occurred not only on the streets but also in places of work and "in the heart of the family".
Kathmandu, Nov 26 : People in Nepal queued up early on Sunday to vote in the first phase of a general election under a new Constitution that was adopted in 2015, to end almost two decades of an interim government and elect representatives to the lower house of parliament and seven provincial assemblies.

The polls opened amid tight security at 7 a.m. (local time) in 4,465 polling stations across 32 districts and according to the Election Commission by 10 a.m. they had recorded a 25 per cent turnout, Efe news agency reported.

The government deployed 238,000 security personnel in the 32 districts (of a total of 77) of northern Nepal, where the first round of elections is being held, an Internal Affairs Ministry Spokesperson told Efe.

More than three million Nepalese are voting in this phase of the polls.

While most of the voting took place peacefully, there were some stray incidents of violence recorded in some areas.

In Bitado district, 800 km (497 miles) west of Kathmandu, an improvised explosive device was found and deactivated by the Army, Election Commission Spokesperson Nabaraj Dhakal told Efe.

Dhakal added that voting was disrupted in Dolakha province, around 150 km east of Kathmandu, owing to a clash between supporters of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist and the Nepali Congress party.

Nepalese voters will directly elect 165 national lawmakers while another 110 members of the lower house will be elected through the party-list proportional representation system, which takes into account the total number of votes obtained by the parties.

Similarly, 330 members of the seven provincial assemblies will be elected directly while another 220 members will be elected through the same party-list proportional representation system.

The second phase of the elections will be held on December 7, in the more populated southern part of the country, and the results are expected to be announced within a week after that.
Srinagar, Nov 26 : The central government's special representative, Dineshwar Sharma, on Sunday visited Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.

Arriving from Jammu, Sharma had detailed discussions with representatives of migrant Pandits, West Pakistan refugees, residents of border villages and other delegations in Pulwama town.

He earlier discussed the schedule of his present visit with Governor N.N .Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

This is Sharma's first visit to south Kashmir after he was appointed as the special representative to start a multi-layered sustained dialogue to address the Kashmir issue.

Heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces had been made in and around Pulwama town to provide security to Sharma, who has been given Cabinet Secretary status.

He is scheduled to visit Anantnag town on November 28 and Srinagar next day.
Agartala, Nov 26 : Despite a manhunt launched by security forces, four Tripura Gramin Bank officials kidnapped by armed miscreants remained untraced, police said on Sunday.

"The counter-insurgency trained TSR (Tripura State Rifles) and other security forces continued their combing operations in West Tripura, Khowai and Gomati districts to look for hostages (kidnapped on Friday night)," Gomati Superintendent of Police Bijoy Debbarma told IANS.

He said: "We will continue the manhunt till the four officials are located. We have asked the Border Security Force to intensify vigil along international borders so that the four are not whisked away to Bangladesh by their captors."

Senior police officials, including state police chief Akhil Kumar Shukla, are supervising the combing operations, launched immediately after the bank officials were abducted while returning to Agartala in a vehicle through Teliamura in Khowai district.

These include Tripura Gramin Bank Taidu Branch Manager Tanumoy Bhattacharjee, 30, Sujit Chandra Dey, 28, and Raktim Bhowmik, 31, in a car and bank official Subrata Debbarma, 32, on his motorcycle. Both vehicles also remain untraced.

The officer said police was not sure whether the abduction was carried out by armed miscreants or a terrorist group.

"The exact location from where they were kidnapped is not yet known," Debbarma said.

Families of the officials said an unidentified person called up and demanded Rs 20 lakh each for the release of the bank staff.

Police and intelligence officials had earlier apprehended that terrorists may resume activities in the state ahead of the February 2018 assembly elections.

Police said there was not a single extremist-related incident in Tripura since 2015.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said that the Constitution was not an "abstract idea" and it has to be made meaningful for ordinary people by connecting it with theit daily life and needs.

"The Constitution empowers the people as much as people empower the Constitution and what they have done to uphold the Constitutional values," the President said in his inaugural address at a function here, organised by the Supreme Court, to mark the Constitution Day.

Pointing out that the executive, legislature and the judiciary must respect each other's domain, he said at the heart of the Constitution was "trust" -- trust in each other and it is this trust that is inherent in the Constitution.

The President also released two books "The Constitution at 67" and "Indian Judiciary - Annual Report, 2016-2017" on the occasion.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said that Supreme Court believes in Constitutional sovereignty and the only religion which "all of us should follow is Constitutional religion".

Stressing that "we must accept constitutional sovereignty and we must surrender to it", he said: "Citizens right have be at the pinnacle, at the zenith, there can't be any compromise on the fundamental rights."

The CJI said that no fundamental right was absolute but fetters to it have to be scrutinised.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the public interest litigation must not become a substitute for governance which must remain with the elected people who are mandated to look after governance.

On proactive judiciary, he said that the founding father of the Constitution gave the responsibility of law making and framing of policies to those elected by the people and it should be left to them.

Mentioning that judiciary has "latent accountability", Prasad said that "Independence of judiciary is important, but at the same time probity and propriety was also important" and with this comes the importance of maintaining the balance in three organs.

In his Constitution Day lecture, former Chief Justice of India Justice R.C. Lahoti said that judiciary must maintain self-restraint and must avoid encroaching upon the domain of the legislature and the executive.

"Judges should not assume the role of super legislature or super executive," he said, describing such an approach as "misadventure".

The tension between the three organs was "inevitable" and is "welcome", the former CJI said, pointing out that "democracy without discipline is democracy without future".

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal described the PIL as a "boon" which has now touched every sphere of life.

However, he said the courts must take the government on board on the question whether issues before the courts, in public interest, are achievable or what are the budgetary positions.

Stressing that it has to be "collective effort", Venugopal said that pronouncing a judgment was one thing but to implement it and achieve the results was quite a different thing.

He also said the top court can't take recourse to Article 142 to invoke powers that the Constitution has not envisaged for it.
Bhopal, Nov 26 : A Madhya Pradesh constable, arrested for stalking and passing obscene remarks at a woman here, has been dismissed from service, a top officer said on Sunday.

Bhopal Deputy Inspector General Santosh Kumar Singh told reporters here that the action was taken after a probe proved the woman's charges against constable Nischal Tomar.

"Tomar's record isn't good either as he has earlier faced charges of indiscipline," he added.

Around midnight on Thursday, the woman was going home on a scooter when two persons started following her from Habibganj area and passed obscene comments. Despite the woman's protests, they followed her till her home.

Later, the two were overpowered by locals who handed them over to police.

According to police, an illegal weapon has also been seized from the car they were travelling in. Both the accused constable and his accomplice are in jail.
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta today said maximum benefits of governments promotional schemes for powerloom textile industry have been taken by entrepreneurs from Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

"The ministry of textiles has announced several promotional schemes for powerloom textile industry but there is hardly any awareness in the industry. The maximum benefit of these schemes have been taken by the entrepreneurs of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu," Gupta said at the Buyer-Seller Meet and Textile Exhibition here.

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The textile ministry has recently announced Solar Energy Scheme for small powerloom units, on-grid solar PV plant (without battery back up) and off-grid solar PV plant (with battery back up), where government will provide Rs 2.50 lakh subsidy per unit.

She said this scheme will help the unit to pay back bank loans within 3-4 years, after which the unit shall get practically free electricity.

Currently, there are 25 lakh powerlooms in the country out of which 50 per cent are in Maharashtra. Also, there are 108 powerloom clusters in the country and 72 textile parks.

Meanwhile, Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) President Rahul Mehta said the apparel export for 2016-17 was 16.8 billion dollars and the target for 2017-18 is 20 billion dollars.

"However, the export target for 2017-18 will not be attainable and is likely to remain at the last years level. Also the new duty drawback rates, that ended on September 30 are not yet announced. If these rates are around 2-3 per cent, the total incentive will be around 8 per cent, which was 11.50-12 per cent earlier," Mehta said. PTI PSK NRB BAS

--- ENDS ---
Hyderabad, Nov 26 : A massive security cover will be thrown around the city with deployment of over 10,000 policemen as the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), being attended by US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, begins on Tuesday.

Telangana Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy told reporters on Saturday that all security arrangements have been made for the peaceful and smooth conduct of three-day event, which will be attended by 1,500 delegates from India, the US and other countries.

He said Ivanka will arrive at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad in the early hours of November 28 and will leave in the evening of November 29.

Modi will arrive at Begumpet Airport in the afternoon of Tuesday and will reach Miyapur in a helicopter. After inaugurating Hyderabad Metro project and riding in the train to Kukatpally and back to Miyapur, he will leave for Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), in a chopper.

The police chief said after attending GES inaugural session, Modi, Ivanka and other delegates reach Taj Falaknuma, a palace hotel in the old city, to attend the dinner hosted by the Indian Government.

After the dinner, Modi will depart from the airport at Shamshabad.

The force which will be deployed by Telangana police include personnel from anti-terrorist unit OCTOPUS, and anti-Maoist force Greyhounds.

The police chief said 50 dog squads and 40 teams for anti-sabotage checks will be pressed into service.

Anti-sabotage checks, access control, road openings, CCTV surveillance system, security vetting of individuals and quick reaction teams will form part of security arrangements Reddy said the security arrangements were made in close coordination with US security agencies and Special Protection Group (SPG) and as per the security and protocol guidelines of the Indian Government for foreign dignitaries.

A command and control centre has been opened at DGP's office to monitor security arrangements while a control room will work at HICC. The Police Commissioners of Hyderabad and Cyberabad will be incharge of security in their respective jurisdictions.

Besides the airports, helipads, HICC, Falaknuma, Miyapur and Kukatpally Metro stations, tight security will also be in place at 21 hotels where the delegates will be staying and also at Golconda Fort, where the Telangana government is hosting a dinner for delegates on November 29.

Eleven senior officers have been made incharge of security at the venues, hotels, airports and other places.

The DGP denied reports that Telangana policemen were asked not to be in their uniforms. "They will wear uniforms wherever required," he said
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said terrorism has become a global threat almost "as a daily routine" and called for efforts by all humanitarian forces to defeat it.

Speaking on his 38th 'Mann ki Baat' radio programme, the Prime Minister talked on a range of issues, including climate change, and called upon farmers to resolve to reduce the use of urea by half by 2022, the 75th anniversary of the country's Independence.

Modi, in his monthly address, said that 2018 should be heralded with nice and positive thoughts and urged the people to share five of their positive experiences with #PositiveIndia (hashtag Positive India) on the Narendra Modi App or MyGov portal.

Referring to the Armed Forces Flag Day on December 7, Modi said experiences and acts of valour of the armed forces personnel, who were neighbours or acquaintances, can be posted on #armedforcesflagday.

Noting that November 26 is observed as the Constitution Day, Modi said the Indian Constitution is the spirit of the democracy in the country.

"This is the responsibility of all of us to make a new India in the light of the thinking of the Constitution's makers. Our Constitution is all encompassing -- there probably is no area, no aspect of nature, which remained untouched," he said.

Modi said that equality and sensitivity towards all is the unique characteristic of the Constitution.

"It guarantees fundamental rights to every citizen. It protects their fundamental rights and safeguards their interests. It is our duty that we abide by the Constitution in letter and spirit.

"Citizens and administrators alike must move ahead in accordance with the spirit of our Constitution. The message that our Constitution conveys is that no one should be harmed in any way," he said.

The Prime Minister said November 26 may be Constitution Day but terrorists launched an attack on Mumbai nine years ago on this very day.

Modi said many people across the world were not ready to take terrorism seriously till a few years back but now that terrorism is knocking at their doors, "every government in the world, those who believe in humanity, governments having faith in democracy, are seeing this as one of the biggest challenges".

The Prime Minister said terrorism and extremism were trying to weaken the social fabric.

"Terrorism is bent upon destroying humanitarian forces. So, not only India but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism."

Modi greeted people on Eid-e-Milad and hoped the occasion will give new inspiration to foster peace and communal amity.

He recalled the contributions of B.R. Ambedkar, whose death anniversary falls on December 6, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, whose death anniversary is on December 15.

Ambedkar, Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, ensured the welfare of every section of society and Patel, the country's first Home Minister, undertook the extraordinary task of uniting India into one nation after independence, the Prime Minister said.

Modi congratulated naval personnel on Navy Day on December 4. He said the Chola navy was considered one of the strongest in its time and a large number of women played leading roles in it.

He also referred to the navy of Chhatrapati Shivaji and said Kanhoji Aangre took the Maratha navy to newer heights.

Modi referred to the World Soil Day on December 5 and talked about the transformation by farmers of Tohoo village in Himachal Pradesh due to proper soil tests and proper use of bionutrients.

He said more than 10 crore soil health cards have been issued.

Equating the farmer-soil relationship to that of a mother and son, Modi said: "Can our farmers, sons of our soil, resolve that by 2022 they will cut down urea use to half of what they are using at present?"

Talking of climate changes that were quite visible, he said: "There was a time when the winters set in even before Diwali. And now, December is knocking on our doors, yet winter is advancing at a leisurely pace."

Modi referred to the efforts of Tushar, an eight-year-old boy from Madhya Pradesh with speech impairment, in making his village open defecation-free and 19-year-old Jigar Thakkar from Gujarat, who won 11 medals in the national para-swimming competition despite 80 per cent muscle atrophy.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : A Nigerian was arrested from west Delhi on the charge of peddling 260 gm heroin valued at Rs 26 lakh in the international market, police said on Sunday.

Justin, a resident of Lagos, was arrested on Friday night when he visited Dabri Road near Dada Dev Khel Parisar to supply the contraband to his contact. The contraband has been seized.

"Justin was arrested by Punjab Police in 2015 for drug trafficking. After coming out of jail in May 2017, he moved to Delhi and began supplying heroin. He had come on a business visa in 2011 and was exporting clothes to Nigeria from Ludhiana but suffered losses," Deputy Commissioner of Police G. Ram Gopal Naik said.

He later came in contact with persons who introduced him to drugs. He then allegedly began supplying narcotics to earn quick money.

Efforts are on to nab his accomplices, the officer added.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Amid a controversy over the renaming of Dyal Singh (Evening) College, its governing body on Sunday warned of a criminal case against the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders for harming Hindu-Sikh brotherhood.

These remarks came a day after the SAD said it would raise in Parliament the issue of the college's renaming as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya.

The college governing body Chairman Amitabh Sinha, in a statement on Sunday, said he would file the case against the Akalis for hurting Hindu-Sikh brotherhood by quoting certain documents that claim that changing the name is illegal.

"The documents they are talking about are not available in the university records. They must submit the documents or deposit these with the college administration by 5 p.m. on November 28.

"Otherwise, a case will be filed against them for forging the documents and intending to use the same as genuine for creating disharmony among the Hindus and Sikhs," said Sinha.

It is a non-bailable offence, which invites imprisonment of up to seven years, he said.

"Those who wish to divide the Hindus and Sikhs have been communicated directly as well as through various channels that they must furnish the relevant documents, but they failed to do so. Now, I am serving them the ultimatum," he said.

Sinha said he was upset about the conduct of a section of the governing body who are spreading misinformation without cross-examining the claims vis-a-vis the original documents.

"I am disgusted and fed up with the entire controversy. It is not only malicious and mischievous, but also a dangerous and notorious design to drive a wedge in the Hindu-Sikh unity worldwide.

"They are misquoting and misrepresenting everything from the documents. They are claiming things not available in the university record. And that's very dangerous."
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, A.P. Shah on Sunday expressed his concern on the influence of media in deciding law cases.

Citing cases related to muder of Pradhuman, a Class 2 student of Ryan International School in Gurugram and the Aarushi murder matter, he urged the courts not to take decision on the hype created by media.

The former judge's remarks came while addresing during the launch of the 'Repeal Laws Compendium' and a discussion on 'The Need for Institutionalisation of Repeal of Laws' here.

"In order to make the legal process effective, it is necessary to repeal unnecessary laws," he said.

Centre of Civil Society (CCS) initiated the 'Repeal of 100 Laws' Project in 2014 with the aim to identify laws that could be repealed on account of three reasons - redundancy, obsolescence in the face of new laws and hindrance to development, governance and freedom.

The "Repeal Laws Compendium" has been presented by CCS for five states in collaboration with the Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai, Symbiosis Law School, Noida, Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur, National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, The National Academy of Legal Studies & Research, Hyderabad, and Legal Partners, Kaden Boriss Partners.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the BJP of dividing India on Hindu-Muslim lines and said it had done in three years what Pakistan and its ISI could not do in 60 years.

"Pakistan's biggest dream is to divide Hindustan on the lines of Hindus and Muslims. Those who're dividing the country on the lines of Hindus and Muslims are ISI agents," the Aam Aadmi Party leader said at the party's National Conference here.

"Under the veil of patriots, they're anti-nationals. They want to weaken the country. This dream has been harboured by Pakistan. What Inter-Services Intelligence could not do in 60 years, the BJP has done in three years," he said and asked voters in Gujarat to defeat the BJP.

Thousands of party workers participated in the conference at the Ramlila Maidan here, from where the India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare started and later gave birth to the AAP party in 2012. The event drew participation from 22 states.

Talking about the December Gujarat elections, Kejriwal said: "I request the people of Gujarat to give your vote to the candidate or party who can defeat the BJP."

"If somewhere, the AAP is winning, give your vote to AAP. If any other party is winning, give the vote to them. But defeat the BJP," Kejriwal said.

Speaking on the occasion, AAP founder-member Kumar Vishwas said the party had moved away from the path it set out on and has to find the right way forward.

"Don't you think we have gone somewhere else from where we were moving to five years ago? We have to find the right way," the AAP leader said.

He also called for introspection on the part of the AAP leadership and cadres. "We should think about ourselves as to where we started five years ago and where we are now."A

Vishwas said some party leaders do not talk about social activist Anna Hazare, under whose leadership many of them participated in the 2011 anti-corruption movement. "Anna was the creator of this campaign."

Referring to the AAP National Council meeting held this month, he said his name was not in the list of speakers at the event. However, he said, he will not go anywhere and stay in the party.

In October, AAP revoked the suspension of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, who had accused Vishwas of being a traitor. In May, Khan was suspended, days after making the accusation and Vishwas was named AAP incharge of Rajasthan.

While thousands of party volunteers in the crowd sported the trademark AAP white cap with the party symbol "broom", many like Munesh Rani, 53, had the broom symbol and "AAP" painted on their cheeks.

AAP party flags with Kejriwal's face and party symbol dotted the ground as volunteers waved them as AAP leaders spoke from the stage.

Party leaders, including Delhi Ministers Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai, AAP Spokesperson Ashutosh, National Secretary Pankaj Gupta, as well as Punjab MP Bhagwant Mann spoke on the occasion, as were a large number of AAP MLAs from Delhi and Punjab as well as AAP corporators from the national capital.
Chandigarh, Nov 26 : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek expansion of the central scheme for assistance to victims of terrorist and communal violence to cover the period of terrorism in the state.

"Seeking widening of the scope of the scheme to cover the period 1982-2008, the Chief Minister has pointed out that Punjab faced unprecedented terrorism during 1982-1995. As many as 10,636 deaths were recorded during this period... 17,420 families had to leave their homes and migrate to other areas," a state government spokesperson said on Sunday.

The Central government had, on March 3, brought out revised guidelines for the Scheme for Assistance to Victims of Terrorism and Communal Violence, to be effective from the date of cabinet approval i.e. August 24, 2016.

"The Chief Minister has now sought further revision to the scheme and has requested the Prime Minister to make it applicable from August 1, 1982, so as to cover the period of terrorism in the state. Currently, the scheme is effective from April 1, 2008 and the Chief Minister, in his letter, has sought that it may be made effective from August 1, 1982," the spokesperson said.

The Punjab government had requested the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in August 2006 for a package of Rs 781 crore for the terrorist victims in the state, but did not receive any response.

"Thereafter, the then Chief Minister, vide his D.O. letter March 26, 2009 addressed to the then Prime Minister, requested that the new Central Scheme for Assistance to Victims of Terrorism and Communal Violence, which had been made effective from April 1, 2008, be given effect from 1982, so as to cover the families affected by terrorism in the state," the spokesperson said, adding that several reminders at the level of Financial Commissioner Revenue in 2011 did not elicit any response from the Central government.
Kolkata, Nov 26 : Amid controversies about growing threat on "security and privacy" with the digitisation of economy, a former official of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Sunday raised concern upon how digital companies are taking control over global economy.

"The platform provided by digital companies is not limited to only commerce. It has been expanded to logistics, finance, payments and others areas. Digital companies have now expanded to cover a large part of the economy without any governance.

"Digital companies are taking over control over global economy, which is a concern," said Supachai Panitchpakdi, a former Secretary General at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

In his address at the Horasis Asia Meeting, co hosted by the West Bengal government and the Indian Chamber of Commerce, he said that the "proliferation of Chinese companies" in the "digital space" in Asia and Southeast Asia in particular, was also a "concern".

"They are buying up production, trading units, inventories and others in Asia, particularly in Southeast Asia," he said.

Asked whether digitisation of economy could lead to a threat to security and privacy, he said, "Yes, of course."

Panitchpakdi advocated for bringing "more monitoring and governance" or "regulatory" measures on digital companies.

He also said the Asian countries have been going for "cash less" economy or "less cash" economy and what it promotes is easy consumption and according to him, too much focus on consumption could lead to disruption.

Asked about thrust on digital economy being given by the Indian government, he said: "I think India needs more savings than consumption. Cashless society must make people understand that consumptions have to be well planned."
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the new party President will be elected through a free and fair electoral process and that party workers felt a strong connect at a personal level with its Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

"... there will be free and fair elections among Congress workers. In case of Rahul Gandhi, any Congress member is free to put forth his nomination for the top post. The election will be held... there is an entire procedure," he said.

"Sonia Gandhi had Jitendra Prasad running against her (for the Congress President's post). An election was held and she won," he added.

Asked about the eligibility criteria, the former Union Minister said: "The honest answer is -- electability. Not just me, if any senior party leaders were to contest against Rahul Gandhi...."

"Workers do feel a very strong loyalty and attachment to the Gandhi-Nehru family... to Rahul Gandhi personally," Tharoor said at an interactive session at the Times Lit Fest here.

Tharoor said: "The only reason we are expecting Rahul Gandhi to be elected unopposed is that no one has come ahead and said he intends to oppose Rahul Gandhi's election."

"As Congress men, we all know there is no other candidate," he said.

As for Gandhi having no connect with the people, Tharoor said: "We are seeing the kind of connect that he has been able to build with the people in Gujarat... there is a terrific connect. Ultimately, in a democracy, voters will decide."

The Congress Working Committee has approved the road map for what looks like an unopposed elevation of Vice President Rahul Gandhi as party chief, barring an unexpected contest.

His election will pave way for passing of the party leadership to him from his mother, who has helmed the Congress for 19 years.

It would be clear on December 11 whether there would be a contest for the top party post. Nominations can be filed till December 4, followed by scrutiny on December 5.

The last date for withdrawing nominations is December 11 and the date of poll, "if necessary", would be December 16. Counting of votes will be done on December 19.
Kolkata, Nov 26 : Arms and a large cache of ammunition were seized on Sunday during a raid on rented accommodation of suspected arms dealer Monotosh Dey who was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police along with two suspected members of Bangladeshi militant organisation, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a front for Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent.

"We have seized a country made revolver and a 9 mm pistol along with a large cache of ammunition during the raid at Dey's rented accommodation in the Raghunathpur area of Bashirhat," a police officer said.

According to STF, two sealed packets containing 25 cartridges each along with 10 cartridges for 9 mm pistols were seized during the raid and 25 other cartridges of various types were also seized.

Dey was arrested on Tuesday along with Shamsad Mia alias Tanveer alias Tushar Biswas and Riaz alias Riazul Islam from Bangladesh. Both are members of Ansarullah Bangla Team that is closely related to the terrorist organisation Al Qaeda.

Dey alias Mona Da was suspected to be an arms dealer from North 24 Parganas district's Basirhat and according to police, the ABT members were trying to purchase arms from him.

All three of them were produced in the city sessions court which had sent them to 14 days police custody till December 5.

Three days after the arrest of two suspected members of ABT, Bangladeshi Mohammad Sahadat Hossain who helped them cross over to India illegally was arrested on last Friday.
Economist and activist Jean Dreze today said that the Gujarat model of development was a creation for political purposes ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

By India Today Web Desk: As the poll campaign picks up momentum for two-phased Gujarat Assembly election, development economist and activist John Dreze today gave a shot in the arm to the Opposition parties including the Congress. He said Gujarat model theory was created for Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking at the Times LitFest in New Delhi, John Dreze said that there was "no evidence" to suggest that the so-called "Gujarat Model" was a model in any sense, pointing out to the state's backwardness in social indicators.

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"If you look at almost any ranking of development indicators, whether it is social indicators, human development index, child development index, multi-dimensional poverty index and all the standard poverty indexes of the planning commission...Gujarat almost always comes around the middle," Dreze said.

It was the case much before Narendra Modi became chief minister and it remained the case after that, said Dreze. He is known for his work in helping the UPA government draft the first version of NREGA (now called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act).

Dreze, who once wrote an article titled "Gujarat Muddle", recalled that the term, "Gujarat model", was coined around the time of the last Lok Sabha elections (2014). He described the model as a counter-example, because of the disappointing social indicators in spite of the high growth in terms of standard economic indicators.

There is obviously, Dreze believes, something lacking and, in that sense, it can be an illustration of the limitations of relying on private-enterprising growth for development in the larger sense. Commenting on ratings-agency Moody's recent upgrade of India's sovereign-credit rating to 'Baa2' from 'Baa3', Dreze says he doubts the credibility of such an index.

"If you dig into the methods behind these indexes, there is very little to them, except that they are taken seriously!" He also raised concerns about the Aadhaar scheme, fearing that it will create an "infrastructure of surveillance".

Underlining that his opposition to Aadhaar was not related to welfare programmes, but civil liberties, Dreze said, "Aadhaar multiplies the power of the state to keep track of everybody over time." He also said that it could lead to stifling of dissent, as a lot of the databases that are going to be linked will be accessible to the government.

Speaking about the recent agitations of Patidars, Jats and others for reservations, Dreze partly blamed the stagnation of agricultural growth for the unrest. He said the people, who have seen the size of their landholding shrink and with the population explosion in the last few decades, have certainly suffered.

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"That probably creates a sense of grievance, which must have translated to some of these movements, but there must be other things also," he added.

The 'Gujarat Model' has remained the BJP's favorite example of success in election campaigns over the years. Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, goes to polls on December 9 and 14.

(With PTI inputs)

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Sanaa, Nov 27 : A ship carrying 5,500 tons of flour arrived at Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Sunday, after 20 days of military blockade by Saudi-led coalition, a security official at the port said.

"It is the first commercial ship docked in the port after 20 days of blockade," Khalid Jomaey told Xinhua by phone.

He said "another aid ship carrying wheat from the United Nations World Food Programme is sailing near the port and is set to dock within hours."
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By PTI: Srinagar, Nov 26 (PTI)AGunshots were today heard near the residence of a Congress leader in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the incident.

A police official said that shots were heard near the residence of Congress leader Imtiyaz Parray in Hajin area of Bandipora district in the early hours.

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It was not clear as to who opened fire in the area, the official said adding police is investigating whether it was an attack on the Congress leaders residence.

Parray is the son of counter-insurgent turned politician Mohammad Yousuf alias Kukka Parray, who was shot dead by militants in 2003. PTI MIJ DV

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's impressive march into record territory continued Sunday afternoon.

The digital currency, which has been on a tear since the US Thanksgiving holiday, soared past $9,000 a coin early Sunday morning.

By Sunday afternoon in New York the digital currency was trading at an all-time high of $9,481 a coin, a more than $1,000 increase from its price mid-day on Thursday. It gave up some of those gains and by 5:56 p.m. ET bitcoin was trading at $9,343 a coin.

Bitcoin's rapid appreciation appears to have coincided with a spike in the userbase of the largest platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies in the US.

Coinbase, the San Francisco firm, grew its user count by 100,000 to 13.1 million from Wednesday to Friday, according to analysis by Alistair Milne, cofounder of Altana Digital Currency Fund. The analysis was first reported by CNBC on Saturday. At the time of print, Coinbase reported more than 13.3 million users.

As for how high the cryptocurrency will go, one of Wall Street's biggest bitcoin bulls recently doubled his price target for the coin to $11,500. Tom Lee, the managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, expects bitcoin to hit $11,500 by mid-2018, up from the estimate of $6,000 he made in August.

Lee is optimistic about the coming launch of bitcoin futures by Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which many think will increase the cryptocurrency's legitimacy, thereby expanding its potential user base. Folks also believe futures will help dampen bitcoin's spine-tingling volatility.

Mark Cuban expects the price to keep rising

Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, who recently described investing in bitcoin as a Hail Mary, told Business Insider the price will continue to rise so long as bitcoin continues to function more as a collectible than an actual currency.

"The number of people opening up new accounts and buying bitcoin, even fractionally, is skyrocketing," he said. "Yet the people who have it as a true store of value have no reason to sell it as long as demand continues."

Since the list of merchants that accept bitcoin is still relatively small, holders don't have many places where they can spend their coins, either.

"They can't spend it, so they keep it," Cuban said.

As such, Cuban expects the price to continue to rise until "there is some systemic reason for the collectors to sell."

The markets might be waiting a while for investors to sell.

A survey by LendEDU found the average bitcoin investor doesn't plan to give up their bitcoin until the cryptocurrency reaches $196,165, or 21 times its current value.
Ireland's European commissioner for agricultural, Phil Hogan, has warned his country would prevent the UK's Brexit negotiations from progressing on to trade if it doesn't resolve the border issue.

Hogan told The Observer that Ireland would "continue to play tough until the end" and potentially veto trade talks until the UK made certain guarantees over its border.

The Irish government wants guarantees that there would be no hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland once the UK leaves the European Union.

Hogan's comments present a new challenge for prime minister Theresa May, who has days left to move the UK's talks with the EU on from the opening issues of citizens' rights, the Irish border, and the Brexit bill, to trade. EU officials will want to see sufficient progress on all three before permitting negotiations to move to trade.

"If the UK or Northern Ireland remained in the EU customs union, or better still the single market, there would be no border issue. Thats a very simple fact. I continue to be amazed at the blind faith that some in London place in theoretical future free trade agreements. First, the best possible FTA with the EU will fall far short of the benefits of being in the single market. This fact is simply not understood in the UK. Most real costs to cross-border business today are not tariffs  they are about standards, about customs procedures, about red tape. These are solved by the single market, but not in an FTA."

The issue boils down to this: once the UK leaves the EU, Northern Ireland will leave too. But the Republic of Ireland would remain an EU member  and it shares an invisible border with Northern Ireland. Post Brexit, prime minister Theresa May wants to institute border controls between the two countries to stop smuggling between the UK and EU  something many claim would exacerbate historic tensions between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

While the Irish government wants to keep the entire region within the EU's customs union, Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party said it wouldn't accept a post-Brexit deal that involved "internal barriers" with Britain.

The DUP props up the minority Conservative government in Westminster through a confidence-and-supply deal after the 2017 general election.
Thread count doesn't matter as much as you think. It refers to the number of threads in one square inch of fabric. You might think a higher thread count means higher-quality sheets, but manufacturers have tricky ways of manipulating that number.

They can use low-grade cotton that's thin when spun. That way, they can cram more threads into a smaller space. Or, they can create a "multi-ply" thread by twisting two threads together before weaving. Since they've fit two threads in the place of one they can claim double the thread count. They can even twist four threads into a single "multi-ply" thread. This quadruples the thread count but doesn't make the sheets any softer or stronger.

So how do you know you're buying quality bedding? Experts say to look for organic cotton. Its durable, soft, and breathable. Another good sign is the sheets will improve with each wash. Lower-quality sheets may come with polishes or waxes to make the feel of sheets at the store more pleasant. But those will wash off the first time you clean your sheets.
His comments also appears to directed at National Democratic Congress MPs and officials who have on multiple media platforms predicted the collapse of the free SHS policy.

The politically motivated propagandists and naysayers, who, in the last few years, said that Free SHS was not possible, and could happen only after 20 years, are now singing a new tune. They now claim Free SHS is not sustainable, and will crash in 5 years, the president said.

According to him, leadership is about choices and that the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians support his choice of implementing the free SHS policy.

He stressed that free SHS was here to stay, nothing that investment in the policy will be sustained.

He said: Let me burst their bubble again. Free SHS is here to stay, because leadership is about choices, and I have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians support the choice that I have made. They recognise the importance of the investment we are making in the youth and in the future of our country. The investment will be sustained."

President Akufo-Addo said I continue to be puzzled as to the vehemence with which so-called social democrats oppose or attempt to undermine measures designed to address poverty. Their demagoguery and opportunism will always be exposed.

Former President Mahama on Saturday chastised government over the implementation of its flagship free SHS programme, suggesting the programme was hurriedly implemented.
The heartbreaking incident left the deceased's mother, Matilda Asare, in uncontrollable tears.

The girl, whose name was given as Lordina Hope Agbalu, was fast asleep on the porch of their apartment without the knowledge of the mother when the fire started.

The Daily Guide newspaper, which first reported the story, said the apartment was part of a chain of wooden structures that were gutted by the fierce fire that broke out about 8 pm.

Matilda, a nursing mother, said she was unaware her daughter was fast asleep on the porch when the fire started.

She told the newspaper that that that evening she saw Lordina following one of her elder sisters out of the house.

She said she was asleep with her five-month-old child when she heard shouts for help coming from the adjourning kiosks followed by a thick smoke.

She said she immediately picked up her baby and left the room.

Later, I asked of the whereabouts of my child only to be told that she returned later to sleep.

The body of the 6-year-old girl was discovered lying on the porch after the fire had been doused.

Police from the Sowutuom District Police Command and the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) were at the scene to assess the situation and to pick up the body.

READ MORE: Electricity meter reader sentenced for defrauding landlords

Police reports have indicated that about 15 wooden structures occupied by squatters and five container shops got burnt.

The body of Lordina was later sent to the Police Hospital for preservation while investigations continue.
Starbow puts the number of injured persons at five while the Ghana Airports Company says one person sustained minor injuries.

Starbow in a statement on Sunday announcing the suspension of its operations expressed sincere regret over the incident.

The statement said: "Everyone at Starbow wishes to express their sincere regret for the distress experienced by our guests on Flight S9 104 on 25 November 2017 at 12:45, local time."The service, operated by ATR72-500 (registration 9G-SBF), was a scheduled flight from Accra to Kumasi."All 65 guests and five crew disembarked, as normal, though five guests were treated for minor injuries at the Airport Clinic. The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority has begun an investigation into the incident.

Eric Antwi, Chief Executive Officer, said: All of us at Starbow at this time remain dedicated to our guests, our crew and their families. Their safety and wellbeing are at the heart of everything we do, and we will cooperate fully with the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, and other agencies, to determine the cause of this incident. We hope to be able to provide further information in due course.

READ MORE: Investigation launched into starbow airline crash"Starbow has suspended its operations with immediate effect and guests with future reservations are invited to contact the airline at 024 500 0000 to make alternative travel arrangements," the statement concluded.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Airports Company has launched an investigation into the incident.
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said the Centre will support iPhone maker Apple to set up manufacturing unit in the country and is awaiting a formal proposal from them.

"Let us get a good proposal from them...We will be very happy to receive Apple, one of the top brands in the world. We are willing to find out if there is any difficulty they may face. We will be more than happy to resolve that difficulty. So we will await a formal proposal," Prabhu told PTI in an interview.

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He also said that the Centre is willing to call all state chief ministers who are willing to give them the best deal.

The Cupertino-based iPhone and iPad manufacturer Apple has asked for certain concessions for setting up manufacturing unit in the country.

The government had sought investment and job creation details from the iPhone maker to facilitate setting up its proposed manufacturing facility in India.

In March, the then Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had informed the Rajya Sabha said that the government has not accepted most of the demands of the company, which wants to set up manufacturing unit in India.

Apple India had sought concessions, including duty exemption on manufacturing and repair units, components, capital equipment and consumables for smartphone manufacturing and service/repair for a period of 15 years.

The company also wants relaxation in the mandated 30 per cent local sourcing of components besides reduction in customs duties on completely-knocked-down and semi-knocked-down units of devices that are to be assembled in the country.

Apple does not manufacture devices on its own but gets the job done through contract manufacturers. It sells its products through company-owned retail stores in countries like China, Germany, the US, the UK and France, among others.

It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro. PTI RR CS RR BAL

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The plane, which skidded off the runway during take-off at 12:20 pm, was carrying 63 passengers and 5 crew.

A statement signed the company said, "one passenger sustained minor injuries and is currently under observation at the clinic."

"Emergency procedures have since been activated at the airport and investigations to establish the cause of the incident has begun," the statement added.

The Starbow Airline Flight S9 104 was bound for Kumasi when it skidded off the runway during take-off.

READ MORE: Police arrest 50 land guards
The President, who was responding to questions on why homosexuality is illegal in Ghana, said homosexuality, which has in recent times dominated the headlines, was a social-cultural issue.

"These the socio-cultural issues if you like. I dont believe in Ghana so far, a sufficiently strong coalition has emerged which is having that impact on public opinion that would say change it, let have a new paradigm in Ghana,'" he said on "Talk to Aljazeera."

I think that it is something that is bound to happen and when that happens...," the President was interrupted with a question on what he would do to legalise homosexuality.

In answering, he noted:Like elsewhere in the world, the activities of individuals, of groups

I grew up in England, I went to school as a young boy and I grew up at a time in England when homosexuality was banned there, it was illegal.

According to him, " I lived the period where British politicians thought it was nothing to even think about changing the law.

And suddenly, the activities of individuals, of groups, a certain awareness, a development grew and grew stronger and it forced a change in law."

The President noted that it is the emergence of a strong public opinion in favour of legalisation of homosexuality that will change the laws of Ghana on the global subject.

I believe that those are the same processes that will bring about changes in our situation.

At the moment, I dont feel, I dont see that in Ghana, there is that strong current of opinion that is saying this is something we believe you can deal with

It is not a matter which is on the agenda."

Ghana is among the top ranked countries in the world with strong anti-homosexuality sentiments.

In February this year, a group known as the Movement for the Kingdom Image (MFKI), called on the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to enact laws that will make the defence of homosexuals a treasonable offence in Ghana.

"We want to entreat the Akufo-Addo government to immediately enact a legislation that would make a mere defence of homosexuality a treasonable offence to control the unnecessary defence of the sacrilegious and abominable act of lesbianism and [gayness] by some unscrupulous individuals and groups in the country," the group demanded.

He said: "It is unfortunate that people have become so liberal that they will want to liberalise Christianityeven priests are approving of homosexuality and allowing a man and a man [to] marry, a woman and a woman [to] marry and these are manifest abominations."
Eastern Ghouta is already in the grip of a humanitarian crisis caused by a crushing regime siege of the area since 2013 that has caused food and medical shortages.

On Sunday, government air strikes on the areas of Mesraba and Madira killed 17 civilians, while artillery fire on the town of Douma killed another two civilians, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

"The toll could rise further because of the number of wounded people in serious condition," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Regime bombardment of Eastern Ghouta in the last two weeks has killed more than 100 people, according to the Observatory.

Rebels have also fired from the region into Damascus, killing several people.

Humanitarian access to Eastern Ghouta has remained limited despite the implementation of the truce zone, and a United Nations official referred to the region as the "epicentre of suffering" in Syria.
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The experts advised taxpayers to seize the opportunity provided by the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) or risk having themselves

The advice was given in Lagos on Friday, November24, 2017, at a one-day training workshop organised for tax professionals by the VAIDS office in the Federal Ministry of Finance.

In a paper presented at the workshop, which held at the Federal Palace Hotel, Peter Ukonu of Financial Derivatives warned that the availability of data from various sources makes it difficult for tax dodgers to evade the attention of tax authorities.

Ukonu said data had always been available, but not as integrated as they now are. He noted that cooperation among government agencies and tax authorities at federal and state levels has ensured a profusion of data on incomes and assets, which would be matched with lifestyle to yield a full picture of the tax status of an individual or corporate entity.

Another speaker at the event, Yomi Olagbenro of Deloitte observed that tax avoidance, especially for those with incomes and assets outside Nigeria has been made more difficult.

He explained that the range of international instruments, which Nigeria is part of, facilitates the sharing of information among tax authorities even without request. He stated the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEoI), which kicks in on 1 January 2018, is one of such tools in the hands of tax authorities across jurisdictions.

ALSO READ: VAIDS begin data collection on Nigerian assets and incomes

Ayo Salami of KPMG Professional Services said not everything declared by an individual will be taxed.

He explained that tax authorities are aware that not certain categories of money are not taxable. He, however, urged the taxpayers to truthfully declare to comply with VAIDS, which is a time-limited opportunity for taxpayers to put their tax affairs in order.
Guardian reports that the insurgents attacked a military formation at Magumeri, about 32 km from Maiduguri the state capital.

It was also reported that the insurgents attacked the area at about 6 p.m. and shot sporadically in an attempt to infiltrate the town.

The report further revealed that the troops and other security personnel engaged the insurgents and successfully repelled the attack.

The insurgents could not infiltrate the town and they were forced to flee after hours of gun battle.

No one can ascertain the level of casualties at this time, he said.

However, Kaka Audu, a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in the area, said that the insurgents attacked the town from the military check point and Bengel area of the town.

Audu disclosed that some of the insurgents that attacked from the Bengel axis managed to enter the town and torched some buildings before they were finally pushed back.

We came back from a joint patrol with the military around 6 p.m. because intelligence report showed that the insurgents were gathering at the outskirt of the town.

Few minutes later, the insurgents attacked with full force from two directions. There was reinforcement from the military and the attack was repelled.

Audu noted that powerful echoes of gun shots and explosive devices prompted residents to flee to nearby forest.

The local militia added that most of the residents, who had earlier run to the bush, returned to their homes later.

The military authorities are yet to comment on the incident.

Boko Haram incessant attacks

Boko Haram insurgents had in July attacked an oil prospecting team on exploration exercise in the area.

The insurgents killed several members of the team and abducted five staff of University of Maiduguri.
The universitys Director of Research and Innovation, Prof. Wellington Oyibo, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

We have colleagues in the energy space. We told them that we want people to have access to energy that must be cost-effective."

He said that provision of the alternative source of energy would be a unique way for the institution to make more impact on the society.

If you should compute how much it takes to run a generating set every day, you will discover that what you have spent in buying fuel in a week can actually provide you electricity for one year."

So, we are talking about access to low-cost energy, which is what we are working on now, Oyibo said.

Oyibo told NAN that some research products of the university were undergoing material reduction in an effort to reduce cost.

He said that researchers were working on reducing to N10,000 or less, the cost of a product that could ordinarily gulp N100,000, so that it could be affordable.

`All these are in the pipeline; of course, we will not want to tie down the time of the completion to any particular period because a number of factors will come into play.

According to him, the research into cost-effective alternative energy source is coming after the universitys groundbreaking research into malaria testing with urine which was validated in 2016.

According to him, the urine test kit is currently in the market.

Oyibo said that the institution was at an advanced stage of providing solutions to a number of societal challenges.
By Manjeet Sehgal: Haryana Police recovered 32 live cartridges from a sewer line of Dera Sacha Sauda complex in Sirsa on Saturday.

Police sources say the cartridges may have been dumped by the Dera goons to avoid police action.

Sources further say that Sirsa Police has issued notices to 150 local residents who have not deposited their weapons. Interestingly, 48 out of 150 residents are Dera residents, who vanished along with the weapons between August 25 and 28 when a Dera road leading to Rajasthan was not barricaded.

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The police has not taken any action against these Dera followers except issuing them a notice.

Meanwhile, the weapons, which were deposited on or before September 4 belonging to non-Dera residents are being returned by the police while no decision has been taken to return 23 weapons deposited by Dera management.

Dera's critics fear for their lives

Critics of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and his close aide Honeypreet Insan are fearing for their lives for speaking against Dera.

Gurdas Singh Toor, Khatta Singh, Bhupinder Singh Gora and Honeypreet's former husband Vishwas Gupta in their complaints to their respective police stations have sought a security cover as the members of Dera's Qurbani gang have threatened to kill them. The death threats were issued in writing and posted at their addresses recently.

"The Dera's Qurbani gang is issuing death threats openly. They can misuse the illegal weapons to kill us. We are facing a death threat," Gurdas Singh Toor said.

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Thousands more were on the streets than when police and paramilitaries began a bungled operation to clear them one day earlier.

At least 4,750 were in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi, according to traffic officials, up from roughly 200 the day before. In the cultural capital Lahore an estimated 3,400 were occupying main roads.

Reports said the protests had also spread to other cities and towns across the country.

The numbers are still relatively small by Pakistani standards but have grown swiftly. The situation has become more charged since authorities moved to clear the roughly 2,000 people who have blocked a major highway in Islamabad since November 6, paralysing the capital for weeks.

They were met with stubborn resistance by protesters who torched vehicles and threw stones. At least seven people were killed and around 230 injured before security forces retreated on Saturday.

An interior ministry order said the federal government had authorised the deployment of "sufficient troops" to "control law and order" in the capital until further notice.

But more than 18 hours after the order was released there was no official military response and no sign of armoured vehicles or soldiers on the streets. A military spokesman declined repeated requests for comment.

Civil-military relations have long been fraught in Pakistan, with the military ruling the country for nearly half of its 70-year history.

The little-known Islamist group at the centre of the protests, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLY), is demanding the resignation of Pakistan's law minister Zahid Hamid over a hastily-abandoned amendment to the oath which election candidates must swear.

Demonstrators have linked the issue to blasphemy -- a highly contentious matter in Muslim Pakistan that has fuelled violence many times before.

Broken teeth

"I don't care if my wife and child go hungry, I don't care if they die of hunger, for me nothing matters more than the honour of my Prophet," Riaz Shah, a labourer from Lahore who has been at the sit-in since it began, told AFP.

Showing off broken teeth and a broken finger he said he received in Saturday's fighting, Shah dismissed fears of military intervention, saying the army "would not come here and dishonour the Prophet".

He vowed to stay until the protesters' demands are met.

At a main stage set up at the centre of the sit-in, demonstrators were playing religious songs as more groups arrived. A military helicopter flew briefly overhead but otherwise few members of the security forces were in sight.

State schools and universities across Punjab province, Pakistan's most populous, would stay closed on Monday and Tuesday, Lahore's top education officer said, while universities in Karachi also announced closures.

Private television broadcasts remained blocked and social media sites were restricted, sparking confusion about the state of protests and how authorities planned to respond to the spiralling situation.

"I don't have any clue what is happening," Naeem, a worried resident, told AFP in an Islamabad market.

"Only Allah is running this country," he added, complaining that the only channel working was Pakistan state TV -- and it was airing a children's programme.

"People's businesses have been destroyed, people are unable to go on their jobs, to hospitals, they are not sending their children to schools," said resident Maqbool Ahmed.

"The army should not only contain the situation but disperse them up by beating them with clubs," he added.

The violence is the latest in a series of blows to the beleaguered Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) government as general elections approach in 2018.

In July Nawaz Sharif was ousted as prime minister by the courts over graft allegations, while finance minister Ishaq Dar -- also accused of corruption -- has taken indefinite medical leave.

Analysts said the government had allowed a relatively small protest by an obscure group to grow into a headline-grabbing and potentially dangerous situation.

"This government has dodged many bullets over the last few years, but it certainly faces a particularly daunting test right now," analyst Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center in Washington told AFP.

Its ability to survive "depends on the trajectory of the protests," he said.
In its statement, Washington had said it was "committed to supporting Saudi Arabia... against the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' aggression and blatant violations of international law."

Regional arch-rivals Shiite-ruled Iran and Sunni heavyweight Saudi Arabia back opposing sides in conflicts from Yemen to Syria.

They cut diplomatic relations in January 2016 after Iranian protestors stormed Saudi diplomatic missions in reaction to Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

In early November, Riyadh accused Tehran of "direct aggression" after Saudi forces intercepted a missile fired by Huthi forces towards Riyadh's international airport.

But Ghassemi denied that Iran has "any military connection with Yemen", although Tehran says it supports the Huthis politically and regularly denounces Saudi Arabia for allegedly bombing civilians.

Accusing Washington of making "totally unfounded" allegations, Ghassemi said its statement on Friday showed it "openly supports... appalling atrocities" by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

The Saudi-led Arab military coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after the Huthis forced him into exile.

Last month, the United Nations put the coalition on its blacklist for killing and maiming 683 children during the conflict last year and carrying out 38 verified attacks on schools and hospitals.

A report published in mid-November by the Congressional Research Service showed that Riyadh had signed arms deals worth more than $65 billion (55 billion euros) with the United States between 2009 and 2016.

"Since 2015, the US-trained Saudi military has used US-origin weaponry, US logistical assistance, and shared intelligence in support of military operations in Yemen," it said.

Both parties in the Yemen conflict stand accused of neglecting civilian safety.
The unleashed dog lunged from the womans lap and right at Andy, Michaela Chases dog.

It was going for blood, Chase said. It was in full attack mode.

Shielded by Chases wheelchair, Andy avoided the other dog, which had a tag on its collar that said service dog. Though there was no fight, the damage was done.

It really ruined Andy, Chase said of her service dog trained by Paws for Freedom Inc. in Tonganoxie, Kan. Andy  the victim of a fake service dog, Chase said  now distrusts other dogs.

Fake service dogs are essentially untrained pets wearing vests or tags purchased online so Fido can tag along, too. Theyve become the bane of those who rely on trained service dogs to deal with disabilities.

When the fake service dog acts out like that, it hurts those that are legitimate, said Sandy Bartkoski, co-CEO of KSDS Assistance Dogs Inc. in Washington, Kan.

Yet trainers and advocates say there is no organized push to cinch up legislative loopholes that leave fakes largely unchecked or to resolve contradictions in federal laws that add to the confusion about whats real and whats not.

The result is an honor system that allows fakers as much easy access as owners of real service dogs.

Merchants say theyre largely powerless in the presence of a fake. If someone says his dog is a service dog, theres little room to challenge him.

Online sites sell service dog vests and tags, issue certificates denoting an animal as a service dog, and operate service dog registries  all designed to make any animal appear to be a service dog.

These documents do not convey any rights under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, and the Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof that the dog is a service animal, said the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice in its answers to frequently asked questions about the act.

But there they are, and some sellers make little secret of the notion that theyre selling imagery rather than legitimacy.

Professionally trained service dogs help people with impaired vision or hearing, seizures, autism and other conditions.

Josh Lewis, 40, has lived with the after-effects of a brain aneurism for more than a decade. Six months ago, his life got a little easier.

Bing came into it.

I dont go anywhere without him, Lewis said of the sleepy-looking Labrador retriever at his feet.

Lewis got his service dog free from KSDS Assistance Dogs. But training is expensive.

Our dogs are around $25,000 when they leave, Bartkoski said.

Other dogs dont require the precise training that service dogs need.

Passive dogs are well suited to another role, that of therapy dogs that work in facilities, schools, nursing homes and other sites that permit them.

Then there is a third category: emotional support animals, which provide comfort by their presence and generally arent trained for that job. A federal aviation law recognizes emotional support animals and protects their owners right to fly with the animals in the cabin, though the airline requires documentation as proof. An American Airlines spokesman said the carrier has seen an increase in the number of passengers traveling with emotional support animals.

Similarly, federal housing law acknowledges assistance animals to include emotional support animals.

At graduation, such programs typically provide a vest for the dog and a certificate for the owner.

Neither the vest from the accredited training program nor the certificate are required under the ADA.

The ADA says anyone can train their dog, or miniature horse, to perform a task that mitigates or helps them with their disability. Professional training is not required.

ADA also specifically prohibits cities, merchants and others from requiring proof that a dog is a service dog. It allows, in fact, only two questions.

-- Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?

-- What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

Service-dog owners may not be asked about the nature of their disability. They may not be required to provide documentation of the dogs training. Nor may they be asked to demonstrate the work the dog is trained to do.

All this helps ensure that Americans who rely on service dogs have the same easy access as anyone who walks up to a salad bar, into a bowling alley, through grocery aisles, or onto an airplane.

There have been successful efforts to push for state laws against fakes.

Nineteen states have statutes against service animal misrepresentation, according to the Animal Legal & Historical Center at the University of Michigan. Violations typically call for misdemeanor charges, community service or fines.

For Chase, who said her service dog, Andy, will never be the same, fake service dogs are not only illegal. They can be dangerous, she said.

She got another service dog, Kaplan, in mid-2016. Chase said she still takes Andy on errands now and then, keeping an eye out for other dogs.

Otherwise he gets depressed, Chase said. He needs to know hes still working.
A fisherman noticed eight terrorists come ashore near Badhwar Park in Mumbai while two went back into the sea. The other two attacked the Taj later.

By India Today Web Desk: On November 23, 2008, ten Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, trained by Pakistani military and spy agency ISI, left Karachi for Mumbai via sea. They entered India three days later on November 26, hijacking a ship owned by Indian fishermen and killing them en route.

They targeted high-profile places including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Taj Hotel at the Gateway of India, Cafe Leopold, Chabad House, Rang Bhavan Lane near Cama Hospital and St Xavier's College.

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More than 160 people including 18 police officers and two NSG commandoes were killed. Around 310 others were injured as a fight back by security forces continued for about 60 hours.

Though, the terrorists were dressed as tourists, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack of 2008 was considered as a professional commando operation of Pakistani military and ISI by experts.

26/11 MUMBAI TERROR ATTACKS: 10 THINGS TO REMEMBER

According to investigation by various agencies, 10 terrorists were spotted by a local fisherman as they disembarked from their dinghy boat near Badhwar Park. They offloaded their bags full of explosives and carried AK47 assault rifles in their rucksacks. Of the ten LeT terrorists, eight got off near the fishing sacks on the shore. Two of gunmen went back into the sea. Later, investigation showed that the two headed to their targets at Trident and Oberoi - both 5-star hotels - at Nariman Point. The eight terrorists, who got off at Machchhimar Nagar near Badhwar Park in Mumbai's Cuffe Parade area, split into four pairs - the fisherman told the investigators. The first eyewitness reportedly challenged the eight men but they ignored his warnings and spread across the city to create mayhem for three days in Mumbai killing around 25 foreigners among others. Each of the terrorists carried AK47 automatic rifle, around 500 rounds of ammunition, pistols, hand grenades and improvised explosive devices. The ammunition possessed by them proved enough for the Mumbai police and special commandos to keep them at toes for next three days. Around 9.20 pm took place the first attack at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Fifty-eight people were killed at the CST railway station in an indiscriminate gunfiring that lasted for about one-and-a-half-hour. Mohammed Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan had targeted the CST. The second attack was reported about 8-10 minutes later from the Nariman House area, the second group of terrorists blew up a gas station before attacking Jewish Chabad Lubavitch outreach centre. The rabbi, his wife and five Israeli hostages were killed. Miraculously, the two-year-old child of the rabbi survived as his housemaid smuggled the baby to safety. Leopold Cafe, another upscale restaurant was the third target of the terrorists, who opened fire at the dining crowd almost at the same time as the attack at the Nariman House locality. The terrorists - identified later as Shoaib and Umer, who targeted the diners at Leopold Cafe, headed to the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and planted bombs in taxis on their way. At the Taj, terrorists Shoaib and Umer met with LeT gunmen - identified as Abdul Rehman Bada and Abu Ali, who had left IED for the Leopold Cafe attackers outside the iconic hotel. The Taj came under attack between 9.35 pm and 10 pm. Oberoi-Trident Hotel was the last site to be attacked by the terrorists around the same time as the Taj. The terrorists entered the hotel through restaurant and started pumping bullets into the gathered crowd. Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist to be captured alive. After attacking CST railway station, he and Ismail Khan had targeted the Cama Hospital. From there he ambushed a police team, killed six officials including ATS chief Hemant Karkare and hijacked their jeep. Kasab and Ismail Khan were intercepted near Girgaum Chowpatty, where Tukaram Omble grabbed the barrel of the rifle the former was firing from. This gave the police team time to overpower Kasab and capture him. He was tried and sentenced to death in May 2010. Kasab was hanged at the Yerawada jail in Pune in November 2012.

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Billed as the world's biggest metro rail project in public private partnership, it was taken up in 2012 at a cost of Rs 14,132 crore.

A metro train during its trial run from Nagole to Metuguda in Secundrabad on Friday. (Photo: PTI)

By Indo-Asian News Service: Amidst reports that engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has sought more than two years for completion of the Hyderabad Metro project, industry sources said the delay has increased the cost of the project from over Rs 14,100 crore to an estimated Rs 18,800 crore.

Billed as the world's biggest metro rail project in public private partnership (PPP), it was taken up in 2012 at a cost of Rs 14,132 crore. The cost escalation is to the tune of over Rs 4,600 crore.

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Both Telangana Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao and L&T officials, at a press conference in Hyderabad on Saturday, confirmed the cost overruns, but declined to give a figure or comment further, saying they were trying to resolve the issue through talks.

Despite texting questions to L&T, the company did not respond on the cost over-runs till the time the story went on the wire.

According to sources, the 72 km and 66 stations which were to be completed by April 2016 will now be rolled out in three phases.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first phase of the project - of 30 km and 24 stations - on November 28.

The Telangana government, however, has agreed to give L&T further time only till November 2018 to complete the project, according to sources.

The financial closure for the project was achieved in April 2011. Sources said scheduled completion date was five years from date of financial closure.

However, extension of time up to November 2018 has been given to L&T on account of delay in right of way (RoW).

The second phase of the corridor - barring a 6 km stretch (near Charminar) - of 66 kms and 61 stations was expected to commissioned by November 2018.

The sources said the second stretch is already behind schedule by 31 months. "As far as the date of completion for the project is concerned, that is, third phase, the final stretch of 6 km, is yet to be decided."

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Smarter, healthier products are helping new food brands carve out a niche.

Ranju Sarkar reports.

Jacqueline Fernandez is Raw Pressery's brand ambassador.

Don't miss the Raw Pressery Story: Rs 5 crore to Rs 250 crore in just 42 months!

Photograph: Kind courtesy @RawPressery/Twitter.

Call them millennial food brands.

Epigamia, RAW Pressery, Paper Boat, Veeba Foods, Fingerlix, and Chai Point -- these have all made a mark by attracting millennials, who look for something trendy, something healthy.

Innovative product and packaging are the USPs of these companies that have struck a chord with customers. Doing it differently is the mantra of these new companies, claim experts.

"Entrepreneurs are starting brands in categories that didn't exist (Greek yogurt, for instance). We also see people starting brands in categories that are competitive but there are no challengers. Veeba Foods, for instance, has gone into a very competitive segment (sauces), but has done it differently -- healthier and better," said Deepak Sahadapuri, managing partner, DSG Consumer Partners.

His company has backed both Veeba and Drums Food (makers of Epigamia -- a Greek yogurt), as well as Sula wines.

"Some want to enter a segment that's already big, but without very good products. Veeba is doing this. They feel sauces in the market are mediocre and they want to make the best ones," said Sahadapuri. "Others such as Rohan Mirchandani (founder of Drums Food) are keen to enter a category before others."

Some of these fledgling entrepreneurs are riding high on the obsession of millennials with healthy food. For instance, RAW Pressery that makes healthier and fresher cold-pressed juices.

Others are taking a leaf out of the international markets.

Sleepy Owl serves cold-brewed coffee -- a growing segment in the US (all Starbucks outlets serve it), but yet to take off in India.

Fingerlix and iD Fresh Food serve freshly packed dosa batter and other ready-to-eat dishes.

A few are even sticking to tried-and-tested products. Chai Point's vending machines serve chai (tea).

So, what's driving these entrepreneurs?

The biggest attraction is the huge food and beverages market.

Along with it is the fact that there has not been a lot of innovation in the segment. For instance, Maggi sauces have been around for decades without too many changes.

"A 25-year-old thinks differently and wants to eat new things. They want something healthier, with less saturated fat; they also want higher protein. Very often, they are influenced by global trends and what they see on Facebook or Twitter," said an investor.

There are quite a few challenges though.

Thanks to e-commerce, it has become easier to distribute and build brands.

"For these brands, e-commerce is a major boost," said Kanwaldeep Singh of Fireside Ventures in an earlier interaction.

The toughest challenge in consumer goods is distribution. Big, established players can always outsell the foot-in-the-door entrant.

"Try and launch a cereal and Kellogg's will outsell you on media and distribution," said the founder of a new food firm.

But social media is making the field more even, he added. "There are smart ways of making your brand known. With BigBasket or Amazon Launchpad, you have a chance to make your product available across the country."

Distribution, however, still remains a challenge.

For instance, Epigamia started managing its own cold chain after trying out third parties.

A few new players have also managed to scale up.

Veeba Foods, which started by supplying sauces to fast-food restaurants such as KFC and Burger King, now retails its products, which account for a third of its sales. Its distribution network has expanded to 300 towns and cities.

So what did it do right?

Founder Viraj Bahl claims Veeba has better products to offer: "Our sauces are genuinely good and tasty. They are healthier too. For example, most mayonnaise brands have 60-70 per cent fat content; our mayo has only 20 per cent fat."

Others have been able to address a demand.

"Consumers are looking for fresh juices, without concentrate or sugar," said Anuj Rakyan, managing director, Rakyan Beverages.
'Peace talks with Pakistan are like accepting a dinner invitation from cannibals and hoping to return alive,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).

IMAGE: A visual that will not fade away. Mumbai's iconic Taj Mahal hotel is shrouded in smoke and fire during the 26/11 terror attacks.

Photograph: Reuters

As the country marks the ninth anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, there is much that has changed and much that hasn't.

Surely, the country is better prepared to face a similar attack with special police units and the National Security Guard. The surveillance systems are much better and we have a central government in place that has refused to be seduced by the 'Asoka syndrome' (burning desire for peace with Pakistan).

But on the other side of the border there is a sense of deja vu. The mastermind, chief planner and inspirer of the November 26-29, 2008 attacks by Pakistani terrorists in Mumbai, Muhammed Saeed, has just been released from detention, showing that Pakistan is no hurry to either prosecute or even detain the plotters.

The level of religious fanaticism has increased in that country. For nearly a month, an Islamic group has been blocking the highway near the capital demanding the resignation of its law minister Zahid Hamid for the 'sin' of omitting a reference to Prophet Mohammed in a constitutional bill, and the Pakistani government and its all-powerful army are either unable or unwilling to take any action.

It is well known it is the army that rules Pakistan. I and most Indian professional military men will admit that the Pakistani armed forces are an efficient and tactically proficient organisation, and an effective killing machine armed with modern weapons.

Despite India's numerical superiority, a military conquest of Pakistan is beyond its means. With the nuclear dimension, an all-out war will certainly result in major damage for India, even if Pakistan may well cease to exist. There is no tangible gain in this course of action.

I will not be divulging any national secret by asserting that neither the political nor the military leadership of India has any such plans. And the Pakistani army lacks the strength to win against India.

During the 1990 Kashmir crisis, then CIA chief Robert Gates visited Pakistan and told the military there that the Americans have carried out hundreds of computer simulations of India-Pakistan war and in each and every scenario the end result was Pakistan's defeat.

But unlike India, Pakistan's military believes that India is too divided and will disintegrate. Pakistan mistakes the din and noise of democracy for internal weakness. Right from Ayub Khan in the 1950s, this has been an article of faith for Pakistan's military.

This still leaves the issue of annexing Kashmir. Irrespective of morality or otherwise, the material fact is that no amount of internal unrest in the border state can loosen India's grip so long as the rest of the country continues to support the Kashmir policy.

Be it Vietnam, the liberation of Bangladesh or the takeover of Afghanistan from Najibullah by the Taliban, the final blow needed an intervention by regular armed forces.

Pakistan has tried to wrest Kashmir from India in 1947, 1965 and 1999 (through the Kargil skirmish) and failed. Yet, Pakistan's professional army and its military establishment continue on the path of conflict with India despite knowing that victory is not achievable.

History offers a clue to this apparent contradiction. In its deepest convictions and mindset, Pakistan considers itself to be an heir to the Delhi sultanate and Mughal empire.

In a broad brush view of the Middle Ages, the army was at the centre of Muslim rule in north India. The rulers ruled with help of their military might and were never concerned with seeking public support.

With the notable exception of two rulers, Sher Shah Suri and Akbar who carried out some works of public benefit, the rest were never concerned with the welfare of their subjects.

Constant warfare, either in Afghanistan or in campaigns of conquest in south India, marked their rule. There was never a period when the armies were not fighting.

Chanakya has cynically defined peace as an interlude between two wars, but in case of Muslim rule in India, peace was not even an interlude.

Is it any wonder that their 800-year rule in parts of India produced no scientific or economic advance or any work of public welfare?

The State of Pakistan seems to be faithfully following this model. In the last 20 years or so, as external conflict has been of less intensity, Pakistan has been busy killing its own people.

Fighter aircraft, artillery and tanks have been regularly used in campaigns in north and south Waziristan. In these wars, over 80,000 Pakistanis have been killed (these figures are valid till 2015), including 5,400 soldiers, the latter figure nearly equal to those killed in the 1971 War.

Ultimately, besides all these political factors, it appears that the religious dimension is an equally important reason for Pakistani hostility towards India. The Hadith, a record of the traditions and sayings of Prophet Mohammed, makes a reference to Ghazwa e Hind, or conquest of India, in the Book of Jihad, which is often used to infuse terrorism directed at India with religious hues.

General Pervez Musharraf in a candid moment once remarked that even if the Kashmir issue was resolved, peace between India and Pakistan was not possible. Peace talks with Pakistan are like accepting a dinner invitation from cannibals and hoping to return alive.

Once India understands the permanent nature of Pakistani hostility and its logic, we can work out our strategies to deal with it. The nine years post 26/11 ought to teach us a lesson that peace with Pakistan is not possible due to structural and ideological reasons.

The best course for India is to wait out the implosion that is bound to take place sooner than later. We have to be prepared to ensure that the fallings debris from a collapsing State do not damage us.

Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) is a military historian
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Union ministers Smriti Irani and Rajyavardhan Rathore today paid homage to victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

On November 26, 2008, Mumbai was attacked by 10 terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. In the mayhem that followed for three days, 164 people, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos, were killed and 308 people were injured.

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"They brought terror to our shores & were met with the sheer will of our forces to protect the sovereignty & integrity of India," Irani, the information and broadcasting minister, said in a tweet.

"Homage to all victims of 26/11 & gratitude to those who protected us then and continue to do so now," she tweeted.

Rathore, the minister of state for information and broadcasting, asked people to resolve to eliminate terrorism in all forms and make India a safer place.

"On the 9th anniversary of #MumbaiTerrorAttack, a humble prayer for security personnel who gave their lives protecting us," he tweeted.

"As we share the grief of the families who lost their loved ones, let us all resolve to eliminate terrorism in all forms and make India a safer, better nation," he said.

Irani also greeted the people on the National Constitution Day and said the contribution of those who framed it, including Babasaheb Ambedkar, was "invaluable".

"Greetings to everyone on National Constitution Day. We remember Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and every individual who framed our Constitution. Their contribution towards empowering our democracy is invaluable," she said in another tweet.

Constitution Day is celebrated on November 26 every year to commemorate the adoption of Constitution of India.

On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution and it came into effect on January 26, 1950. PTI MP AAR

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'It has a natural inclination to foster as much competition among civilian politicians as possible.'

IMAGE: 'The appetite for the war on terror is rooted in a change in the approach of the military, not the civilian government.'

Pakistan's army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Photograph: Faisal Mahmood/Reuters

Hasnain Malik, head of equity research at Exotix Capital, tells Aditi Phadnis that if the general election in 2018 is conducted in a free, transparent and fair manner, it may rank amongst Pakistan's historically most competitive -- and could result in a coalition coming to power.

It was generally believed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government is pro-business. What will change with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation?

Higher tax rates, lower subsidies, little improvement in power shortages and the attempt to compromise the independence of utility regulators and central bank contradict the perception that the PML-N government is pro-business -- at least for those businesses in the documented sector, which includes all of those listed on the equity market.

However, the failure to address the prevalence of non-payment of tax and utility bills and the reluctance to restructure the loss-making State-owned enterprises -- collectively the root causes of the persistent fiscal deficits, power shortages and deficient public services -- suggest that undocumented business activity in the black economy has continued largely as before (save for, perhaps, higher banking charges on those who do not file tax returns).

Privatising profitable State-owned enterprises like HBL and UBL in the banking sector are not sufficient for a 'pro-business' characterisation.

The disqualification and subsequent resignation of the PM do not derail the government, in the sense that the PML-N remains in charge, with its absolute parliamentary majority intact until the next election.

Arguably, with that election merely a year away, economic policy priorities were likely already focused on maintaining the status quo, including what is of most concern to foreign private investors -- the overly rigid adherence to an overvalued exchange rate, and the ongoing implementation of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects, which, in any event, have largely already devolved from the federal to the provincial governments.

Pakistan's current account deficit is ballooning and an overvalued currency is hurting exports.

The last central bank governor, who tried to fix the currency, was sacked and is suspected of insider trading.

What prospects do you see for Pakistan's economy?

Is the currency overvalued? Yes, on an academic, real effective exchange rate basis, perhaps by about 25 per cent. And, on a practical basis, this is a partial contributor to moribund performance on exports.

Is an overvalued exchange rate unique to Pakistan? No, several others in the frontier and smaller emerging markets have a similar imbalance.

Is a currency crisis imminent? No, as long as economic policy remains broadly orthodox and a modest devaluation to demonstrate flexibility would go a long way in restoring confidence.

Perhaps, this is more likely to occur in the interim administration which oversees the election process.

Furthermore, part of the reason for the expansion of the current account deficit is purchases of imported equipment associated with the CPEC and these imports are generally offset by inflows of Chinese capital, from a balance of payments perspective.

For those prepared to look at Pakistan from a long-term perspective, the improvement of security, with a dramatic and ongoing reduction in the number of deaths related to terror, and the benefits to the rest of the economy after the completion of the CPEC (even if there are few direct local beneficiaries in its construction phase), in terms of improved nationwide logistics, are tantamount to game changers.

After decades of severe civil disruption, this is already leading to the release of pent-up consumer demand, for example auto sales growth and corporate capital expenditure, for example new capacity additions in cement, autos and food.

All of this means there is a higher likelihood of achieving annual gross domestic product growth rates in excess of five per cent or six per cent as a result, as opposed to the three-four per cent range.

The PML-N holds 188 of the 342 seats in the national assembly and the biggest chunk comes from Punjab.

Now that Shahbaz Sharif will move out of Punjab to the federal government, do you see an electoral haemorrhage for the party?

Shahbaz Sharif's move to federal government, assuming it is not derailed by his own potential legal challenges on cases related to the Hudaibya Mills case and the 'Model Town massacre', will not, in itself, destabilise the PML-N's power base in Punjab.

A general election is due next year. How do you see that playing out?

There is a lot of water that is yet to flow under the bridge before the general election.

Do we see further legal disqualifications for PML-N personnel, splintering of the party and defections to rivals?

The Pakistan military Deep State remains the most powerful institution within the country and it has a natural inclination to foster as much competition among civilian politicians as possible.

From a military perspective, given the history of the Benazir, Nawaz and Zardari civilian governments, both the Pakistan Peoples Party and the PML-N are untrustworthy partners in power.

A more positive development, from a pro-democracy perspective, is the emergence over two decades of a vibrant civil society, which manifests itself in a free media -- where that is simply defined as non-State media as opposed to a fair media -- a greater mass awareness and engagement in political affairs, largely because of the proliferation of social media and the resultant inability of military or civilian political forces to maintain a complete veil over all of their activities, the emergence of an emboldened judiciary and the catalyst for social mobilisation of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

All of these forces make Pakistan's democracy more than surface-deep and, therefore, necessarily messier. That is good and bad.

It may mean less predictability, but it is also a required step to address issues such as egregious corruption -- one of the core reasons for the State's historic under-delivery on public goods, social justice and societal cohesion.

These forces also suggest that, to the degree that the election in 2018 is conducted in a free, transparent and fair manner, it may rank amongst Pakistan's historically most competitive.

If a coalition comes to power after the next elections, what will be the outlook on the war against terror and economic policy?

The appetite for the war on terror is rooted in a change in the approach of the military, not the civilian government.

If viewed as a self-interested entity with its own commercial interests, the military has come to a decision that it cannot sustainably allocate resources on all borders and in major city centres.

Dealing with domestic insecurity is an existential priority. It is in that context that election cycles need to be considered.

Some may be concerned that any dilution of the PML-N's absolute parliamentary majority may lead to more populist or less orthodox economic policy.

That view probably overestimates not merely the supposedly 'pro-business' nature of the PML-N, but also the degree of economic sovereignty, when it comes to macroeconomic policy enjoyed by Pakistan in its current state, running its twin fiscal and current account deficits, dependent as it is on global capital in general and, specifically, Chinese capital, given that country's clear strategic interests in Pakistan.

A coalition scenario with many of the same politicians, who have dominated parliament in recent decades, likely results in more of the same seen under the PML-N since 2013.

A coalition with a strong voice for the PTI, or at least answerable to a PTI agenda, particularly after the Panama Papers saga, likely means a greater focus on anti-corruption which, in the long term, could be very positive.
Lucknow voters on Sunday cast ballots to elect their first woman mayor in the ongoing civic body polls in Uttar Pradesh which already has the distinction of giving the country its first woman governor and chief minister.

As many as 23,27,900 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in 2,201 polling booths, Lucknow District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said.

As the exercise to choose the first woman mayor in 100 years was in progress, enthusiastic voters queued outside polling stations, enjoying a mellow sunshine on a wintry Sunday afternoon.

All the parties fielded women candidates after the Lucknow mayoral seat was reserved for women.

Prominent contestants in a field of 19 are Sayukta Bhatia (Bharatiya Janata Party), Prema Awasthi (Congress), Bulbul Godiyal (Bahujan Samaj Party), Priyanka Maheshwari (Aam Aadmi Party) and Meera Vardhan (Samajwadi Party).

Uttar Pradesh is credited with giving the country its first woman governor Sarojini Naidu and chief minister Sucheta Kriplani.

Now, the City of Nawabs is poised to break the glass ceiling by electing its first woman mayor since the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act came was notified way back in 1916.

"Our time has come," feels Bhatia, while the BSP nominee says, "Better late than never".

Vardhan is the kin of educationist Acharya Narendra Dev, while Awasthi is the wife of the late Congress legislator Surendra Nath.

Lucknow figured in the second leg of the three-phase municipal elections across the state.

The Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act came into being in 1916 and Barrister Syed Nabiullah became the first Indian to head the local body.

In 1948, the UP government changed the electoral nature of the local body and introduced the concept of administrator and Bhairav Datt Sanwal (ICS) was appointed to the post.

In 1959, the UP Municipalities Act, 1916, was replaced by the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, paving the way for the formation of the municipal corporation (nagar mahapalika) in Lucknow on February 1, 1960.

It was on the intervention of the Allahabad high court in 1989 that the government announced local bodies polls.

An amendment in the Constitution accorded the status of municipal corporation to Lucknow's local body retrospectively from May 31, 1994.

Provisions were made in the Municipality Act of 1959 to allow citizens to elect a mayor. Provision of reservation to women, SCs, STs and OBCs was also made on a rotational basis.

Kriplani, who had come to the forefront during the Quit India Movement in 1942, held the chief minister's office from 1963 to 1967.

She had worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi during the Partition riots. She was one of the few women who were elected to the Constituent Assembly and was part of the sub-committee that drafted the Constitution.

Naidu, popularly known as the 'Nightingale of India', was the governor of the United Provinces, now known as Uttar Pradesh, from 1947 to 1949.

She was born in a Bengali family on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad and was educated in Chennai, London and Cambridge.

Naidu too was a follower of Mahatama Gandhi and had participated in the freedom struggle. She, later, went on to become the president of the Indian National Congress.

Lucknow has thrice sent a woman to the Lok Sabha as its representative with Sheila Kaul being elected in 1971, 1980 and 1984.

Rajnath Singh, Dinesh Sharma cast votes in 2nd phase

Union minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma on Sunday cast their votes in the second phase of the civic polls, polling for which was conducted in 25 districts.

The fate of the candidates would be decided by 1.3 crore voters in the districts of Lucknow, Varanasi--Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, Allahabad, Mathura, Muzaffarnagar and Etawah among others.

In the state capital, Rajnath Singh cast his vote along with his wife and family members, including son Pankaj Singh who is a legislator.

Sharma voted with his wife in Aishbagh area and said, "The BJP is committed to work for the people and opposition should realise that it was the people's love and trust which ensured the party's victory in the assembly polls. In civic polls too, the party is going to win."

State Election Commissioner SK Agarwal also exercised his franchise and appealed to the people to cast their votes.

"If you want basic amenities in your city, you should come out of your home and vote in large numbers," he said.

Besides them, state ministers Swati Singh, Mohsin Raza and others prominent personalities cast their votes in the first four hours.

The voting would continue till 5 pm. While the polling for first phase was held on November 22, the last and final phase would be held on November 29.

The counting would be held on December 1.

Photographs: Sandeep Pal
Recalling the sacrifices of brave citizens in the Mumbai terror strikes nine years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said terrorism posed a global threat 'almost as a daily routine', and stressed it had to be fought unitedly.

Modi said even a few years ago, when India talked about the threats of terrorism, not many in the world were ready to take it seriously.

"Now that terrorism is knocking at their doors, every government in the world, those who believe in humanity, governments with faith in democracy, are seeing this as one of the biggest challenges," he said in his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat.

Terrorism, the prime minister said, threatened humanity across the world.

"Terrorism has taken an ugly shape and has become a global threat almost as a daily routine... Terrorism has challenged humanity. It is bent upon destroying humanitarian forces. So not only India but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism," he said in his address.

India, he stressed, was the land of Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavir, Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi and gave the message of love and non-violence to the world.

Modi said while November 26 was observed as Constitution Day, the nation could not forget that on this day nine years ago, terrorists launched attacks across Mumbai.

"The country remembers and bows to those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives then. This country can never forget their sacrifice," he said.

He also recalled the role of the Indian Navy in war and peace ahead of Navy Day to be celebrated on December 4.

While most navies of the world allowed women on their warships only in later years, a large number of women played leading roles in the Chola Navy, about 800 or 900 years ago, he said, referring to the Chola Empire.

He said while many recall the role of the navy in war, the force had also played a key part in extending humanitarian aid to India's neighbours.

On the Armed Forces Flag Day observed on December 7 every year, Modi said this was a day to take pride in, and to show respect to the countrys armed forces.

He said between December 1 and December 7, a campaign is being organised to spread information about the armed forces.

'Throughout the week every one, old or young, should wear the flag... Experiences and acts of valour of those from the armed forces...can be posted on a hashtag for the armed forces flag day (#armedforcesflagday),' he suggested.

He said this was also an occasion to collect funds for the welfare of jawans, for dependents of those killed and the rehabilitation of those injured during wars.

He pointed out that cashless donation was also possible.

To mark World Soil Day on December 5, Modi wondered what would happen if there was no fertile soil in the world.

"The very thought is dreadful. There will be no soil, no plants and trees will grow... Serious damage is caused because of an excessive use of urea. Can our farmers... resolve that by 2022, when we complete 75 year of our independence, they will cut down the urea usage to half of what is being used presently," he asked.

Wishing people on the occasion of Id-e-milad-un-nabi, to be celebrated in the coming days, he said in the new year, people should forget their sorrows and remember their joys.

"Cant we share five of our positive life experiences of the past year? Come, let us share our positive experiences with #PositiveIndia on the Narendra Modi App or MyGov portal.

"If you remember positive events, then you will be in a mood to do good around you," he said.
Saeed's release has virtually 'boosted up the morale' of the six suspects facing the trial in Pakistan for the last eight years, believe Saeed's supporters. M Zulqernain reports from Lahore.

Nine years have passed since 10 Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists killed 166 people in Mumbai, but none of the suspects have been punished, indicating that this case has never been a priority for Pakistan, especially after the release of the attack's mastermind Hafiz Saeed, observers say.

The LeT terrorists had sailed into Mumbai from Karachi and carried out coordinated attacks, killing 166 people and injuring over 300 in November 2008.

"The Mumbai attack case is being tried in an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad since 2009. There has hardly been any such case in any ATC in country taking more than eight years and still pending. ATC is meant for speedy trial but in this case the ATC is acting like that of sessions court where a case is usually not decided in years," a senior lawyer said.

"It appears that the state is not in hurry to decide this case since the matter is related to its arch-rival India," the lawyer told PTI on condition of anonymity, two days after Pakistan released Saeed, the LeT founder ahead of the 9th anniversary of the 26/11 attack.

He said had the authorities concerned here been serious this case would have been decided years ago.

Pakistan has justified the release of Saeed, saying that courts, pursuant to their constitutional duty, were determined to uphold rule of law and due process for all citizens.

Advocate Supreme Court Mobeen Ahmad Qazi told PTI that since this case was being tried in ATC it should have been decided much earlier.

"For that long (eight years) evidence is destroyed in such cases. I wonder why Pakistan is taking too long to decide this criminal case. If India does not provide concrete evidence it should decide the case forthwith and give benefit of doubt to the suspects and acquit them," Qazi said, adding it appears that Pakistan is facing 'international pressure' to keep the Mumbai attack suspects in jail 'without evidence'.

"The state is responsible for the protection of the rights of its citizens. Justice delayed is justice denied," he added.

Saeed's release has virtually 'boosted up the morale' of the six suspects facing the trial in Pakistan for the last eight years, believe Saeed's supporters.

The banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah head, who carries a bounty of $10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities, was released from house arrest on Friday.

The fire-brand cleric was under detention since January this year.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack.

According to a JuD activist, the six suspects feel confident and one day they will walk out free from jail as nothing has been established against them as yet like their leader (Saeed) in the Mumbai attack case.

He thinks that the suspects -- Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum -- who have been facing charges of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack since 2009, would have been acquitted had their trial been put on fast track. They are kept in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.

The seventh suspect -- LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi -- got his freedom over two years ago after he secured bail. He has been living in undisclosed location since then.

There are reports that Lakhvi had come to JuD headquarters in Lahore to greet Saeed on his release from the 10-month detention under terrorism and public safety laws.

The JuD activist, however, denied the duos meeting in Lahore.

There was also the eighth suspect, LeT militant Sufayan Zafar, who was arrested last year and separately charged for his involvement in 26/11 attack has also been freed on bail.

Zafar was accused of providing Rs 3.98 million to co-accused Shahid Jamil Riaz prior to the Mumbai attack.

He also deposited Rs 14,800 to the bank account of his brother (another suspect in the case). He was hiding after being declared proclaimed offender in the Mumbai case since 2009.

He was arrested in August last year from his hideout in Kyber-Pakhtaunkhawa province. Zafar was among 21 other (absconding) suspects wanted in this high-profile case.

The Mumbai attacks' 9th anniversary is being observed on Sunday but still this case never seems to be reaching its logical conclusion.

India has been demanding Pakistan not only to arrest Saeed and try him in the Mumbai attack case being the mastermind but also punish all those involved in this carnage.

India has presented a dossier about Saeed's involvement in the Mumbai attack but Pakistan insists 'solid evidence' against him. Pakistan has also asked India to send its 24 witnesses here to record their statements.

"The Anti-Terrorism Court Islamabad has recorded the statements of 70 Pakistani witnesses in the case. Now it is up to India to send its 24 witnesses for early disposal of the case," chief prosecutor in the case Chaudhry Azhar told PTI.

A number of Pakistani witnesses both official and private testified and provided evidence against the seven accused... but still the Pakistani authorities have been insisting on sending Indian witnesses to Lahore for reaching a verdict.

There are irrefutable witnesses against them. For example one of the seven accused -- Shahid Jamil Riaz -- had been identified by witnesses that he (Riaz) had bought inflatable boats used by the terrorists involved in the attack.

Riaz and 10 other people had bought 11 inflatable boats, according to the witnesses.

The witnesses identified 10 men, including Amjad Khan and Atiqur Rehman, who were involved in planning and executing the Mumbai attacks. These men were earlier declared 'proclaimed offenders' or fugitives by the anti-terrorism court.

One witness told the court that Amjad Khan had obtained from him a 'port clearance certificate' for Al-Hussaini, a fishing boat used by the terrorists. Amjad Khan was also involved in purchasing the inflatable

boats. Khan, the fugitive identified by the witnesses, is a shadowy LeT organiser and financier from Karachi who figured in a majority of dossiers provided to Pakistan by India.

Khan, who hails from Multan, played a key role in arranging and providing funds to the ten LeT attackers. He is one of 20 suspects in the Mumbai attacks who are yet to be traced by Pakistani investigators.

These 20 suspects were named in a chargesheet filed in the anti-terrorism court in 2009. They were all accused of playing a key role in facilitating the Mumbai attacks.

No effort has been made so far by the Pakistani law enforcement agencies to track down these fugitives in the case, showing Pakistan is keen to dump the case.

Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was caught and hanged after trial.

Soon after his release on Friday, Saeed vowed to mobilise people across Pakistan for the 'Kashmir cause'.

It is not clear how many of the fugitives are still in contact with the JuD/LeT leadership. As Saeed is a free man it will be easy for him to execute some of his plans more freely than from the house arrest.

IMAGE: The Taj Hotel during the attacks. Photograph: Arko Dutta/Reuters
Overwhelmed with emotion, Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg tried to avoid sharing his feelings. He had spent the past week remembering his loved ones who were killed by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists in a brutal attack in Mumbai nine years ago.

Rosenberg is the grandfather of Moshe Holtzberg, who was a two-year-old toddler when the 26/11 attacks happened and he lost his parents, Gavriel and Rivka.

Little Moshe survived the terror onslaught because of his brave Indian nanny Sandra Samuels.

The attack by 10 heavily-armed LeT terrorists killed 166 people and injured more than 300. The terrorists launched coordinated shooting and bombing attacks at several landmarks in Mumbai, including the Chabad House at Nariman point.

Samuels, who now lives in Israel and was felicitated with an honorary citizenship by the Israeli government, escaped the brutality at Chabad House with baby Moshe.

She later moved to Israel to help in bringing up the boy.

"It was a moment that shook us all completely, and of course also the Indians. This is a week when we try to keep to ourselves," Rosenberg told PTI.

"We offered our prayers at the cemetery in Mt Olives in Jerusalem on Sunday. Because for us that was the ninth anniversary as per the Jewish calendar. We paid our respects to the departed souls in Afula. It was a quiet and personal affair, limited to the family only," he said.

Rosenberg appeared aware of the responsibility he and his wife Yehudit share, in bringing up Moshe, after the attack devastated their family. He said the family was determined to return to Mumbai to celebrate bar mitzvah for Moshe, now 11.

Bar mitzvah is a ceremony performed for Jewish boys at the age of 13. Some Israeli scholars compare it with upnayana, or the thread ceremony.

"Moshe celebrated his 11th birthday this week as per the Hebrew calendar and we talked about the plans for bar mitzvah in Mumbai. We want him to see where his parents lived and worked. He feels a strong connection with Mumbai," said the grandfather.

In August, India issued 10-year multiple-entry visas to Moshe and his grandparents to ease their travel to the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his maiden visit to Israel in July, had promised the family about the visas.

In an emotional meeting with Modi on July 5 in Jerusalem, Moshe had expressed his wish to be able to visit Mumbai.

"I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there. I will be the director of our Chabad House," he had told Modi, who embraced the young boy on seeing him.

"With God's help, this is my answer," the little boy had said, reading from a prepared script, and concluded, "I love you and your people in India".

Modi had responded, "Come and stay in India and Mumbai. You are most welcome. You and your all family members will get long-term visas. So you can come anytime and go anywhere".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promptly asked Moshe to accompany him when he travels to India next year.

Moshe and his grandparents are expected to join Netanyahu during his four-day visit to India, likely from January 14.

"We have received such a communication and are awaiting confirmation," Rosenberg said.

Moshe's parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed along with six others at Chabad House. Moshe was saved in a daring act by his nanny, who, without caring for her safety, rushed inside the Chabad House on hearing him cry.

The 26/11 attacks were one of the bloodiest in the history of India and lasted for three days.

Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive was hanged after trial. The nine other terrorists were shot dead during the attacks.

The LeT founder and chief of Jamaat-Ud-Dawa, Hafiz Saeed, is said to be the mastermind of the attacks.

Saeed carries an American bounty of USD 10 million on his head for terror activities. He was freed by Pakistan on Friday, just ahead of the anniversary of the attacks, after several months in 'house arrest'.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets little Moshe during his maiden Israel visit this year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Moshe's nanny Sandra Samuels also seen. Photograph: Press Information Bureau of India
Pakistan on Sunday called in the Army to restore order after violent clashes erupted across the country between police and protesters belonging to hardline religious groups, leaving six people dead and more than 200 others injured in the capital.

Violence spread to other parts of the country after the police aided by paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary on Saturday lunched a massive operation in Islamabad against activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and Sunni Tehreek Pakistan religious groups who had been blocking a key highway to Islamabad for nearly three weeks.

Police and paramilitary forces fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets at the protesters to disperse them.

However, the security forces pulled back after the crackdown turned deadly.

At least six people were killed in clashes in Islamabad on Saturday, the Dawn reported. It also said that no security personnel was killed but at least nine senior police officers were injured, including Rawalpindi city police chief Israr Abbasi.

According to health officials, more than 200 people, including at least 95 security personnel, were injured in the clashes and have been shifted to various hospitals.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired a high-level meeting today to review the prevailing security situation in the country.

Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt General Naveed Mukhtiar, interior minister Ahsan Iqbal and Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif attended the meeting.

The meeting decided to make another effort for peaceful ending of the protests, official sources said, adding that it was also decided to hold talks with religious leaders to find an amicable solution to the problem.

It was decided that the army would protect the sensitive buildings and departments in Islamabad.

The decision was taken due to fresh protests in different parts of the countries against the crackdown on clerics laying siege to capital Islamabad, official sources said.

Police officials said that major cities were under stress due to blockade of major roads. In some places markets were also closed.

The Interior Ministry last night issued a statutory regulatory order to authorise the deployment of the army to control the law and order situation in the capital.

General Bajwa was on a visit to the United Arab Emirates and cut short his trip to reach the country on Saturday night.

Earlier, he spoke to Abbasi over telephone and suggested to handle the protests peacefully 'avoiding violence from both sides as it is not in national interest and cohesion'.

Meanwhile, the government has restored news and TV channels which were taken off-air yesterday for showing live the police crackdown against the protestors.

The decision to restore the channels was taken in the meeting chaired by Abbasi, officils said.

Following the decision, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) issued a notification that it had decided to 'withdraw Authority's earlier decision of November 25 wherein transmission licenses of all the News and Current Affairs satellite TV channels were suspended'.

The access to popular social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube was also blocked on Saturdday to stem the spiralling violence.

Pakistan Broadcasters Association representing electronic media had condemned the action against the media.

The protesters have been laying siege to the capital for about three weeks demanding removal of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for changes in a law related to the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat (finality of prohpethood) oath in the Elections Act 2017.

They alleged the action undermined Islamic beliefs and linked it to blasphemy.

The government has already amended the law and restored the original oath but the hardline clerics refused to call off the protests until the minister was sacked.

The unrest also spread to several cities where protesters have blocked major roads, resulting in clashes with police.

Dozens of people were injured in Karachi and at other places.

Minister of Interior Ahsan Iqbal chaired a high-level security meeting on Friday night but failed to reach any decision about further operation as senior officials of Islamabad administration and police warned about loss of human lives, according to sources in the interior ministry.

The protesters emboldened by failure of government upped the ante and demanded resignation of the government, according to report on Geo TV website.

There are reports that ruling Pakistan Muslims Leauge-Nawaz was discussing the option of removing law minister to pacify the protests.

The minister is already under immense pressure after an attack on Saturday at his residence in Pasroor area of Sialkot district in Punjab.

Opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf have also increased pressure on government and its secretary general Jehangir Tareen demanded resignation of interior minister for mishandling the operation.

The party chief Imran Khan has demanded resignation of Prime Minister and interior ministry and given a call for fresh elections.

IMAGE: Police fire tear gas during clashes with protesters at Faizabad junction in Islamabad. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters
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By India Today Web Desk: This story has expired.

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They've replaced egg nog with pina coladas. Instead of snow, they have sand. And while everyone is focused on the North Pole, their eyes are set on flying south. These are the people who've made a holiday tradition of escaping colder weather to spend time on the beach.

But after a particularly harsh hurricane season, some travelers are concerned about returning to their winter escapes.

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Comparison group Price of Travel has compiled and ranked the cheapest Caribbean islands to travel to in 2018. Not only did they look at the price of traveling there, they also took note of what affect the 2017 hurricanes had on the islands, thanks to information from Caribbean Travel Update online.

Now Playing: The holiday season is around the corner! (believe it or not!) These are the best holiday destinations around the world: Zurich, Switzerland Aspen, USA Reykjavik, Iceland New York, USA. Quebec City, Canada Paris, France Prague, Czech Republic Punta del Este, Uruguay Video: Wibbitz

"The hurricanes had an interesting effect on the rankings. Strangely enough, nearly all of the cheaper islands and destinations were untouched by major storms," said Roger Wade, the creator of the annual ranking for the Price of Travel. "The ones that got hit hardest are the more expensive ones. So the cheaper half of the list didn't change much at all, at least based on the storms."

The criteria for the ranking was the sum of the average cost of a 3-star hotel for a 7-night stay and two tickets for flights from New York City (since it's one of the furthest American cities from the Caribbean). Lucky for us, flights from more southern locations will typically be a fraction of the price.

To see what islands made the annual list, go through the photos in the gallery above.

Keep in mind that every nation has different standards for what a 3-star hotel is. A 3-star hotel in one nation may not even amount to a 1-star hotel in another. For new travelers, it's important to research what criteria is included for a 3-star hotel in your country of choice.

Bermuda, Turks & Caicos and The Bahamas were included in the ranking even though they technically aren't defined as Caribbean islands. These were included as good alternatives for a Caribbean-like scenery, according to the methodology used by Price of Travel.

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Furthermore, it is important to mention that the CDC has travel notices for the majority of the Caribbean islands, because of the Zika virus. So, if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, keep the CDC's warning in mind before traveling. If not, just be sure you load up on mosquito spray and remember that the Zika virus can be transmitted through sexual intercourse, as well.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed amendments into law that will allow foreign media outlets in Russia to be listed as "foreign agents," according to state-run news agency Sputnik news.

Russian officials have said the change is a retaliatory response to the US government's request that RT, the Russian TV network, register its American arm as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Sputnik reports the amendments signed by Putin had been previously approved by both chambers of the Russian parliament.

"According to the text of the law, media that receive financial assistance from foreign states or organizations can be recognized as foreign agents, while the decision on which outlets will be classified as 'foreign agents' will be taken by the Ministry of Justice."

US scrutiny of Russian outlets

The operations of RT, formerly known as Russia Today, and Sputnik news have faced greater scrutiny in the US over the past year. RT was singled out in a intelligence community report in January on Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 US election.

RT "conducts strategic messaging for [the] Russian government" and "seeks to influence politics, [and] fuel discontent in the U.S.," the report stated. The report also said Sputnik, a Russian government-controlled news site, was "another government-funded outlet producing pro-Kremlin radio and online content."

RT had initially skipped an October deadline to register as a foreign agent in an attempt to fight the Department of Justice's requirement. T&R Productions LLC, the production company behind RT America, relented and filed as a foreign agent with the Department of Justice in mid-November.

"Americans have a right to know who is acting in the United States to influence the U.S. government or public on behalf of foreign principals," Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente said in a statement at the time.

Russia threatens retaliation

The US demands have caused Russian officials to threaten similar restrictions on US-funded media outlets acting in Russia, such as Radio Free Europe and its television sister network Current Time.

Tom Kent, president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said it was too early to speculate on the effects of the new amendments.

"We can't speculate at this point (on) the effect of this new law since no news organization has been specifically named as a foreign agent and the restrictions to be imposed have not been announced," Kent said.

"But we can say we remain committed to continuing our journalistic work of providing accurate and objective news to our Russian speaking audience."

US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman was in the Moscow bureau of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty this month and said the administration is "very concerned" about this new law, according to Kent.

In mid-September, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova issued a warning that Russia would retaliate if the US took action against Russian-funded media outlets RT and Sputnik.

"When it comes down to a fight with no rules, when the law is twisted and turned into an instrument for the destruction of a TV company, every step against a Russian media outlet will be met with an corresponding response," she said.

CNN's Mary Ilyushina and Tim Lister contributed to this report.
By PTI: Thrissur (Ker), Nov 26 (PTI) A 51-year-old man died today due to injuries he had allegedly suffered while trying to intervene in a clash between CPI (M) and BJP workers here, the police said.

The workers from the two parties clashed yesterday at Kaippamangalam in Thrissur district over a local issue. Satheeshan suffered the injuries when he tried to intervene and separate them, they said.

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Satheeshan, who was suffering from heart ailments, was immediately rushed to the Thrissur Medical College and Hospital where he died today, the police said.

While the BJP claimed that Satheeshan was a party sympathiser, his family told the police that he was a CPI(M) worker.

BJP national executive member P K Krishnadas alleged that Satheeshan was attacked by CPI(M) workers.

The ruling party was against Satheeshan after a group of 20 Marxist party workers led by him joined the BJP six months ago, he claimed.

Krishnadas said that the BJP has called for a hartal in the Kaippamangalam area over the death of Satheeshan. PTI JRK RC ANB

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Thirty one MLAs have been assigned different tasks ranging from actively campaigning for the party candidates to organising various events to galvanise public support

Twenty five districts will go to polls today and 26 districts will go to polls in the third and final phase on November 29 (Photo courtesy: ANI)

By PTI, India Today Web Desk: The BJP is pulling out all stops in making sure the party emerges victorious in the local body polls that are underway in Uttar Pradesh. Thirty one MLAs, whose Assembly constituencies do not have a nagar panchayat or nagar palika parishad within their limits, have been assigned various tasks.

Twenty four districts already went to polls on November 22 in the first phase, according to the State Election Commission. Twenty five districts will go to polls today and 26 districts will go to polls in the third and final phase on November 29.

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"Different tasks have been assigned to the 31 MLAs, ranging from actively campaigning for the party candidates to organising various events to galvanising public support for the party," state BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told PTI.

"Take for example Satish Chandra Dwivedi. He is an MLA from the Itwa Assembly constituency in Siddharthanagar district. But, since there is no nagar panchayat or nagar palika parishad in Itwa, he has been engaged in party activities in the neighbouring Basti district," he added.

When contacted, Dwivedi said, "From election management to the other tasks, I have discharged whatever duty was assigned to me by the party."

Asserting that the saffron partys show had been great in the first phase of the urban local bodies election, he exuded confidence that it would "sweep" the polls.

Local body polls: UP Minister Mohsin Raza casts his vote in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/0Ac7lDu1kg- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 26, 2017

The counting of votes polled for 16 nagar nigams, 198 nagar palika parishads and 438 nagar panchayats will be taken up on December 1.

Over 3.36 crore voters will be eligible to exercise their franchise at 36,269 polling booths.

These polls, which are being held eight months after the BJP came to power in the state with a landslide victory, will mark the first electoral test for the Yogi Adityanath government.

Though the BJP has traditionally been strong in the urban constituencies, the acid test for Chief Minister Adityanath would be to match up to the saffron partys show in the Assembly election.

In 2012, the BJP had swept the mayoral polls, winning 10 of the 12 posts of mayor in the state. Lucknow Mayor Dinesh Sharma is now a deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey, in a statement issued here, said, "The feedback we had received from the party workers after the voting ended in the first phase (of the urban local bodies polls) was indeed very encouraging. The BJP is going to bag three-fourths of all the seats in these polls."

Exuding confidence that the ruling party was going to sweep the urban local bodies polls in the state, first-time MLA Pankaj Singh said, "For BJP workers, every election is a challenge. But, I am confident that the party will sweep the urban local bodies polls as it had done in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and the 2017 UP Assembly election."

Local body polls: Voting underway in Aligarh pic.twitter.com/khOwVdQfAV- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 26, 2017

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Singh has been actively campaigning for the party in Lucknow and Bareilly.

In the first phase of polling, over 52 per cent voting was recorded, with Congress bastion Amethi logging a high turnout of 68.44 per cent and Adityanaths home turf Gorakhpur registering the lowest poll percentage.

The polling had passed off peacefully in all the 24 districts. Mayoral polls were also held for five municipal corporations -- Agra, Kanpur, Ayodhya, Gorakhpur and Meerut.

According to the State Election Commission, the overall polling percentage in the first phase stood at 52.59. In 2012, the polling percentage in these districts was 46.1.

The highest polling in the first phase was recorded in Hamirpur, which had witnessed a 69.59 per cent turnout, followed by Amethi.

(With PTI inputs)

--- ENDS ---
CHARLOTTESVILLE  Former students of University of Virginia creative writing professor John Casey are describing years of alleged sexual harassment and demeaning behavior by the award-winning author, and two have filed formal Title IX complaints.

Emma Eisenberg, who graduated from U.Va.s Master of Fine Arts program in 2014, filed a Title IX complaint Nov. 11 that stated Casey had created a hostile environment for female students.

A second former MFA student filed a similar complaint anonymously on Nov. 15, alleging sexual and gender harassment by Casey in 2009 and 2010, according to a letter sent Friday to Eisenberg by U.Va.s Title IX Office.

The letter notified Eisenberg that the university had opened an investigation into the two complaints.

Eisenberg said Caseys behavior was an open secret, but that it took her years to decide to speak out about it. She had emailed several former students to tell them she was filing a complaint, and posted about it on social media. Several women responded, sharing some of their own experiences involving Casey, who won the National Book Award in 1989 for his novel Spartina.

It had always bugged me; in my gut I knew there was something wrong about those experiences, but it was so openly talked about within the program that I figured I was overreacting, Eisenberg said Thursday.

Seeing this recent flood of women coming forward confirmed what I had always known  his behavior was problematic and inappropriate. It is appropriate for Professor Casey to be held accountable for his actions, but exactly how is up to the university. I hope that the result of this complaint is only that he is no longer actively teaching students.

Eisenberg said the alleged harassment began right after she entered the masters program in 2012.

Professor Casey repeatedly touched me and other MFA fiction female students at departmental social functions on our shoulders, lower backs, and butts, as well as making routine comments on our appearance in class, such as when female students looked particularly attractive, remarking that one female student was wearing a low-cut top, and remarking that another female student looked like a streetwalker,  Eisenberg wrote in her complaint, which was provided to The Daily Progress.

She also wrote that Casey would pick up the backs of books which he had been sent for review and remark on the sexual attractiveness of women authors in their author photos in the presence of us, his students.

Other former students from U.Va. and the Sewanee School of Letters, where Casey has also taught, confirmed behaviors described by Eisenberg. They described frequent comments about clothing and appearances, and vulgar references to womens genitals. One former student at Sewanee said Casey told her she should give up on writing.

He was much more interested in male experience and perspective in general, she said. She has since gone on to publish two novels, including a reworked version of the manuscript she showed Casey.

Such treatment, Eisenberg said, violates the universitys sexual harassment policy, which defines such conduct as any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors, or other unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, whether verbal, nonverbal, graphic, physical or otherwise.

From 2005 to 2015, U.Va. had four ways to handle reports of sexual violence and a separate policy for handling complaints by students against employees. A 2015 report by the Department of Justices Office of Civil Rights found that the policies did not handle complaints in a fair and equitable manner and perpetuated hostile environments.

Most student complaints involving sexual harassment and violence committed by university employees, according to the report, were handled by university department chairs with little training on sexual harassment.

From 2005 to 2012, at least seven complaints were filed against one university employee alleging inappropriate behavior, and the employees department issued five letters of counseling. But the university made no determination of whether the employees behavior created a hostile environment for female students.

In March 2015, the university revised its procedures for investigating these types of complaints and, later that year, the Department of Justice entered into a resolution agreement with the university after years of complaints about its Title IX procedure. The universitys current policy is fully compliant, according to the department.

The notice of investigation provided to Eisenberg says the university aims to investigate and resolve matters in her complaint within two months, though extensions are sometimes needed.

Asked whether Casey has ever been sanctioned or suspended for any reason, the university said it generally does not comment on personnel matters.

The university takes seriously any report of sexual harassment and is investigating this matter in accordance with its applicable policy and procedures, spokesman Anthony de Bruyn said Friday.

In an emailed response to a request for comment, Casey said it may be proper for him to do so at a later date.
It's nine years today since that ill fated 26th of November and Moshe's guardians, his maternal grandparents still feel the unease.

By Rasesh Mandani : Two hours north from the biblical Holy land of Jerusalem in Israel, the city of Afula houses Moshe Holtzberg, survivor of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Uncomfortably close to West Bank, Afula is no stranger to terrorism, having faced multiple suicide attacks over the years.

But, for Moshe, who was then only a baby aged two, the 2008 terror strikes in Mumbai robbed him of his parents Rabbi Gavriel and mother Rivka for life. Moshe's father worked as an emissary in the Jewish outreach centre, Nariman House which came under attack.

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It's nine years today since that ill fated 26th of November and Moshe's guardians, his maternal grandparents still feel the unease.

While in Israel, my multiple attempts to set up a meeting with Moshe and his grandfather Rabbi Rosenberg proved futile. Finally, after a week-long persistence, an old voice in broken English agreed to speak on the phone. "Yes, we can speak for two minutes," Rabbi Rosenberg answered.

He still refers to 11-year-old Moshe as Moshe boy. Moshe has become a symbol of improving Indian-Israeli relations after the bespectacled happy looking kid read out "Dear Mr. Modi, I love you and people of India " to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Moshe is supposed to accompany Prime Minister Netanyahu to his birth place Mumbai next year when the Israeli premier visits. "Someone told me he is not going in January, so I don't know. But, even if there is a change in plan of Prime Minister Nethanyahu, I may go, may be next year. I don't know exactly when, but I want to take Moshe boy," he says.

Afula is a quiet town that houses close to 50000 people while Moshe spent his years of infancy in the hustle bustle of Mumbai that has population more than double of the whole of Israel.

He read out "Aapka Israel main swagat hai" to Prime Minister Modi, but the "ek do teens" have stuck thanks to Nanny Sandra who now stays in Jerusalem and visits him every week.

"When the authorities tell us, Moshe boy can go to Mumbai," Rabbi Rosenberg says.

"I make a special building in Afula like Nariman House in Mumbai in memory of Gavrial and also a synagogue here," he states.

I remind him 26/11 is round the corner. How does he deal with this day, does he pray?

"Yes, I pray. Every year I pray. Me and Moshe boy go to synagogue," he answers softly.

And have they learnt to deal with this date? How do they feel?

"Every year this day, I feel everything is dark. What I can do? What can I tell you? I can't tell you (what I feel)," he answers with voice choking.

Moshe will be in his teens soon. He has begun asking questions about his parents to his guardians. "Yes, he asks. We tell him about his good memories," Rabbi Rosenberg says.

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I ask Moshe's grandfather if the kid has seen places in Israel outside Jerusalem. Has he been to Eilat, to the Dead Sea? "Yes, yes," he replies.

If Moshe's Mumbai return materialises, there's a host of places he is yet to visit. The terrorists wouldn't have him grow up in Mumbai. But, he may still want to return to carry forward his father's good work.

--- ENDS ---
CHRISTIANSBURG  The historic school that for a century was the only place black students in Southwest Virginia could be educated might be poised for a renaissance.

For the past few years, work that began in the 1990s to preserve and pass on the history of Christiansburg Industrial Institute has moved along mostly out of sight. But now the nonprofit Christiansburg Institute Inc. has new staff and renewed energy to preserve the only surviving structure from the former 185-acre campus.

Chris Sanchez, 28, has been named part-time project organizer for Christiansburg Institute Inc., the 17-year-old nonprofit that works to promote and preserve the history of the school that operated from 1866 to 1966.

Sanchez said his most urgent task is raising funds to repair the roof of the Edgar A. Long building, a large, two-story brick classroom building constructed in 1927 and named for the schools African-American principal from 1906-24.

Sanchez will also work with contractors, engineers, committee members in imagining what that building could be, programmatically  and also, practically, how we secure the funds to actually accomplish that, he said.

Estimates for repair of the roof range from $150,000 for modern asphalt shingles to $290,000 to restore its original slate tiles, Sanchez said.

The rest of the building is in good structural shape, he added. But it needs extensive restoration and modernization, a task complicated by its placement on the National Register of Historic Places. Original or equivalent materials must be used in any remodeling, which can add significantly to the cost. In some cases, historic tax credits can offset the costs. Full restoration is expected to cost several million dollars.

The Long building and about four acres of the original campus are listed in town property records as belonging to the Christiansburg Institute Alumni Association, and are valued for tax purposes at $451,700.The alumni group is separate from, but works with, Christiansburg Institute Inc.

Sanchez said another urgent task is the inventory and archiving of a large collection of school artifacts and the reopening of a small museum in the institutes reconstructed smokehouse.

The museum is not open to the public at present. I think it needs to be, Sanchez said. The idea is to tell a consistent story and then get that open to the public with regular scheduled hours.

The Long building has sat empty for decades, despite long-running efforts and past federal financial support to restore and open it to the public.

In 2000, then-U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher announced a $300,000 federal grant to help restore the exterior of the Long building. In 2006, Boucher announced another $1.6 million in low-interest federal loans approved to boost a $6 million plan to create a vocational training center and museum on the site. A sign detailing that plan still stands on the property, but the work was not completed.

Support remains for the project. Over the past eight years, the Christiansburg Town Council has made annual grants to the Christiansburg Institute Inc., allocating $80,000 in total, according to town spokeswoman Melissa Demmitt.

Still, the organization has struggled. According to 2015 tax filings, it had revenues of $29,426 and $33,841 in expenses, leaving a $4,415 deficit that year.

The Christiansburg Institute was founded in 1866 by Charles Schaeffer, a Union Army veteran sent to Christiansburg by the federal Freedmens Bureau to educate former slaves freed after the Civil War. He began with 12 students in a rented room and then built a school in 1866 on what is today High Street. The Hill School remained a primary school until 1953, when the county built a new segregated elementary school for black children. In 1963, the community worked to reopen the Hill School as the Christiansburg Community Center. Its currently closed for renovations.

In 1895, Booker T. Washington became superintendent of the Christiansburg Industrial Institute and directed it from his premiere African-American college, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. Washington, who was born a slave in Franklin County, oversaw the expansion of the Christiansburg Institute into a large campus with more than a dozen buildings  a dormitory, administration offices, smokehouse, wood shop and classrooms and laboratories. Annual enrollment was nearly 400 students, who came from across Southwest Virginia and as far east as Richmond. They received classical instruction and were trained in a number of trades.

By 1966, the year it closed, Christiansburg Institute was the segregated public high school for blacks. When it was idled, the county sold the property to private interests and most of its buildings were demolished. In the 1980s, Christiansburg Vice Mayor Jack Via deeded land and the remaining structures, including the Long building, to the alumni association.

Sanchez said he wants more alumni to get involved with the institutes future. The history of CI is one of self-determination and success, and needs to be celebrated, he said. Its not just a local story, either.

The history of CI, it transcends just the New River Valley. I mean, were talking about educational philosophies of Booker T. Washington at that time. And if youre talking about that, Sanchez said, youre talking about W.E.B. Du Bois, Washingtons rival, who advocated civil rights advocacy and political action to help African-Americans.

Washington, meanwhile, preached self-improvement and accommodation of segregation in the short-term as the best way forward.

So this conversation that CI became a part of became a sort of middle ground between those two philosophies and extends beyond even the state of Virginia, Sanchez said. If we can really hone in, what is the story of CI, I think we can bring that to a national audience.
Carol Appler is 78 and is struggling with several health issues. Shes often tired these days, she said, but doesnt let that stop her from doing what she wants.

Ive always been fiercely independent, she said. Its an attitude that was fostered by her father, who taught her to fight her way out of tough situations when she was growing up in Utica, New York.

He told me: You need to stand up for yourself, she said.

Although shes slight and barely 5 feet tall, that advice seems to have served her well, especially when it came to fighting off bullies when she was a child and the grown men who thought she was fair game when her varied career took her into territory where other women hadnt been before.

It was also her father who taught Appler the importance of work. When, at age 12, she asked him for money, he told her to earn it herself, so she went out and got a babysitting job.

I liked working, she said. She wanted to graduate at 16, but her father made her stay in school an extra six months. Once out of school, Appler was willing to turn her hand to anything.

In her teens, she worked for a dressmaker who thought she was too young to model high couture, but let her wrap gifts and vacuum the dressing rooms.

That job led to a gig as a cigarette girl at fashion shows, selling cigars and cigarettes to old men in their 30s.

It was one of my best jobs ever, she said.

Appler worked on a factory assembly line in her early 20s, and at 22, was promoted to inspector, a job that required her to travel to different plants. Thats how she met the men who would make off-color remarks and physically threaten her.

They told me dirty jokes, and I didnt get them, she said, but I stood up for myself.

Later in life, she worked as a clerk in retail stores, but Appler said most of her career was spent selling jewelry on commission. She wore expensive pieces and knew just how to show them off to male customers while flirting with them a little to make the sale.

Today, she still dresses in stylish clothes and flashy costume jewelry, but it all comes from Goodwill, she said.

Appler was married to her first husband for 40 years. They had been teenage sweethearts. After he died in 1995, Appler left New York to live with her son in Roanoke and has been here for the past 15 years, though he has moved away. She later remarried, but divorced a few years later.

She got a job as soon as she arrived here and worked until she was 70.

Im a people person, she said. I love working with the public.

Appler gave up driving. Nobody made her quit, she said. She simply realized that her reflexes were not what they used to be. Today, she either walks where she needs to go, or takes a cab, although theyre too expensive for her budget.

Due to her illnesses, Appler receives Social Security disability, and also has a small pension from her first husband. She qualifies for $14 a month in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, she said. She collected the credit just once, and used it to buy a steak, she said, wryly. She has applied for transit assistance with Valley Metros RADAR service for the disabled and is waiting to hear if she qualifies. Most of the time, Appler can meet all of her bills. She pays her rent first, buys food and then pays her electric and cable bills.

The high point of her year is the monthlong out-of-state trip she takes with her son every summer. He pays her expenses, she said.

This summer, however, she became ill while on the trip and had to be hospitalized. She meant to pay her rent and utilities before she left, she said, but she forgot.

When she was released from the hospital, she was behind with her rent and the power had been shut off. All the food in her refrigerator was spoiled, she said.

Not wanting to ask anyone else for help, in October she turned to her social services caseworker, who sent her to Roanoke Area Ministries, where she received a grant from the Emergency Financial Assistance Program, which is supported by The Roanoke Times Good Neighbors Fund.

Everyone was nice, she said about RAMs caseworkers. It wasnt like looking for a handout.

By November, Appler was back on track financially. Without RAM, she said, I would have had to wait another month for her pension check to come, and the late fees would have added up.

Appler shares her apartment with her spoiled rotten cats, who somehow manage to avoid knocking over Applers extensive collection of figurines. She received her first one when she was 11, she said. Most of them are of horses, but there are also mermaids and dragons, all grouped together by type.

Appler doesnt dwell on her medical condition. Shed rather reminisce about her busy life and about her independent streak. On her most recent trip, she said, she went to a dinner dance.

Nobody would dance with me. I have no problem dancing by myself,  she said, proudly.
By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the makers of India's supreme law on Constitution Day, and paid tribute to the men and women who were martyred in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Modi was delivering his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat, which BJP chief Amit Shah and party workers listened to at 'Mann ki Baat - Chai Ke Saath' programs.

BJP Chief Amit Shah at 'Mann ki Baat Chai Ke Saath' program in Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/idj9ZHzXdb- ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2017

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The makers of India's Constitution worked hard to give its people one they would be proud of, Modi said.

He praised BR Ambedkar, India's first law minister, and said he "ensured the welfare of every section of society while drafting the Constitution."

Our Constitution safeguards the rights of the poor and weaker sections of society. #MannKiBaat pic.twitter.com/GjgGIf1W6r- PMO India (@PMOIndia) November 26, 2017

ON 26/11 MUMBAI ATTACKS

"India will never forget the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that shook the country nine years ago on 26/11," Modi said.

Nine years ago, around 164 people were killed, and 305 injured, in a terrorist attack which lasted over four days. Several places were targeted, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Taj Hotel at the Gateway of India, Cafe Leopold, Rang Bhavan Lane near Cama Hospital and St Xavier's College.

"The country salutes the brave citizens, policemen and security officials who lost their lives. The nation cannot forget their sacrifices," Modi said.

"A few years ago, when India used to discuss terrorism at a global level, not many countries were ready to it seriously. But today, when they too are victims of terrorism, every government in the world, those who believe in humanity and democracy, see terrorism as the biggest threat," he said.

Ahead of Navy Day, the prime minister paid tribute to the maritime armed force, saying it had "shown ints prowess on various occasions even after independence," and had "served humanity in times of crises."

Modi also spoke about the importance of rivers, and said India's rivers and seas were its "gateways to the whole world."

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SOIL

"In our culture, since ancient times, we have recognised and have been aware of the vitality of soil," the prime minister said.

"For a farmer, soil holds great importance. We must be glad that our farmers are exploring scientific methods to maintain the fertility of soil."

I am very glad to see that my farmer brothers have come forward to implement suggestions made in soil health card. Farmers realised that proper soil care is needed to increase production & that if we take care of our soil, it will also care for us: PM Narendra Modi #MannKiBaat pic.twitter.com/KPKkqXF4RP- ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2017

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DIFFERENTLY-ABLED SHINING IN EVERY SPHERE

Modi told his compatriots he and they learn "every moment" from the differenty-abled, who he said were "shining in every sphere."

"Our Divyang brothers and sisters are determined, strong, courageous and resolute," he said.

#POSITIVEINDIA

Modi urged his listeners to compile a list of five positive things from 2017, and share it using the hashtag #PositiveIndia

At the end of every year we recall events of the year gone by. Let us begin 2018 with a message of positivity. I urge you to compile about 5 positive things from this year & share with me. With #PositiveIndia, share your positive moments from 2017. This will inspire others: PM- PMO India (@PMOIndia) November 26, 2017

--- ENDS ---
Nepal's first provincial polls begin with a promise to bring government closer to rural and remote areas.

By AP: Nepalese in mountain villages and foothill towns voted today in the Himalayan nation's first provincial polls that promise to bring government closer to rural and remote areas.

Some 3.2 million voters were choosing lawmakers in seven newly-formed federal states as well as the national assembly and turnout is expected to be high.

The lawmakers who are elected today and Dec. 7 in the remaining part of the country will be able to name their states, draft provincial laws and choose local leaders.

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"The central government is finally moving to our region. We will be closer to the government now with the state assemblies," said schoolteacher Swasthani Thapa, who was among the voters lining outside the polling station at Chautara, 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Kathmandu, even before it opened at 7 a.m.

Chautara was one of the areas hardest hit by the 2015 earthquake. People in the mountain regions complained they did not get enough help from the central government because their voices were not heard. Two years later, destroyed and damaged houses are still scattered around Chautara and surrounding areas.

"This is a historic day for us. The setting up of states will give final shape to the democracy process, which should finally bring stability and development for our country," said businessman Surya Lal Shrestha.

Nepal's slow path to democracy began in 2006, when protesters forced the king to give up his rule. Two years later, Nepal officially abolished the centuries-old monarchy and decided that a federal system would best deliver services to all corners of the nation, which remains one of the poorest in the world.

But bickering among political parties delayed until 2015 the implementation of the new constitution, which declared Nepal a republic.

Security has been stepped with thousands of police and army soldiers deployed for the elections. According to the Home Ministry, more than 400 people were detained in days leading up to the vote.

Soon after the constitution was implemented in 2015, protests by ethnic groups in southern Nepal turned violent and left some 50 people dead.

The ethnic Madhesi groups protested for months saying they did not get enough territory in the province assigned to them.

They said, they deserved more land because they represented a bigger population. Their protest blocked the border with India for months, cutting off fuel and other supplies in Nepal.

--- ENDS ---
Mutaz Essa Barshim is the man, IAAF Male Athlete of Year! photo by PhotoRun.net

In 2017, Mutaz Essa Barshim is the man. He was undefeated in 2017, and cleared 2.40 meters two times in 2017. My favorite moment with Mutaz was when he won in Birmingham DL, clearing 2.40 meters. Mutaz was so pumped after his clearance, he grabbed the bar and told the fans he would take it home. The crowd went crazy.

In 2014, Mutaz cleared 2.42 meters with Bohdan Bondarenko at the adidas GP NYC. Then, the battled at 2.46 meters, taking five attempts between them.Mutaz dealt with injuries for 2015 and 2016. Now, healthy and focused, 2017 was a dream year for the high jumper from Qatar.

Congrats to Mutaz Essa Barshim on his 2017 IAAF Male Athlete of the Year award. When RunBlogRun interviewed Barshim this past summer, Mutaz told us that, even if he cleared 2.46 meters. This guy loves to jump!
By PTI: Raipur, Nov 26 (PTI) A Chhattisgarh government agency has accused the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), engaged in the construction of Raipur-Bilaspur highway, of violating air pollution control norms.

The Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) has served a notice to the project director of the NHAI for allegedly violating air pollution norms while constructing the four-lane highway connecting the two key cities.

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Taking cognisance of dust pollution caused during the four-laning work of the road, the CECB issued a notice to the project director of the NHAI yesterday seeking a reply within 15 days, a board official said today.

In the notice, the CECB has sought to know why strong action should not be taken against the agency under the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act for not controlling dust during the construction and why the four-laning work should not be stopped, he said.

The board has asked construction agencies in Bilaspur to sprinkle water at the construction sites and the municipal corporation to do a similar thing on roads so as to prevent dust pollution, he added.

Similar notices have also been served to authorities involved in upgradation of nearly half a dozen roads in the state capital, the official said. PTI TKP RSY BAS

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Surat, Nov 26 (PTI) Finance minister Arun Jaitley today claimed that post demonetisation those who used to distribute money to stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir were "not able to gather" even 100 young people to carry out the attacks.

"On November 8 last year, we introduced note ban and it had a major impact. Those who used to distribute money to stone pelters are not able to gather even 100 youth to pelt stones in the past eight to 10 months after demonetisation," Jaitely said.

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He was speaking after listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modis Mann Ki Baat here with BJP workers.

The minister also said that "those who orchestrated" the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks stand isolated today.

"When they (Pakistan) released the person who did it (Hafiz Saeed) two days ago, the entire world said in one voice that the country is supporting terrorism and such a country shouldnt be a member of the world family," Jaitley said.

Speaking about the Centre, he said: "Now, you have a government which works towards increasing the countrys power, credibility and tries to project our case to the world with strength."

The senior BJP leader claimed that for the first time the security forces have an upper hand in Kashmir valley.

"Our biggest problem is Kashmir. Narendrabhai government inherited a situation where there was a civil disobedience- like situation three years ago. Thousands of stone pelters would gather to protest against stray incidents. Terrorists would mount attacks with impunity and Hurriyat leaders could close down the valley with one call.

"Today, the situation has changed. The person who becomes the commander of Lashkar (terrorist outfit LeT) knows he will be alive for two to three months. The intelligence network has been strengthened right down to the village level," he added.

"The Hurriyat leadership stands exposed today as it has been revealed from where they used to get money," he said, referring to money laundering cases filed against some of the Hurriyat leaders. PTI PD BNM NRB ABH

--- ENDS ---
Trying to manage on very little is a fight that many people in Samoa are struggling with.

Soolefai Siitagata a father of two said he is not the only one who is facing the problem of there never being enough as so many people out there are going through the same process.

There are so many families that are going through this heartfelt problem, not being able to provide for our loved ones, he said.

The 25 year old believes that life is very hard and expensive. He even said that some of them are going back to how it was in the olden days due to poverty.

We dont have any electricity or a water supply at home either and we are also using the Samoan traditional toilet, he told Village Voice.

Soolefai is from the village of Lotofaga and he said that his house needs a lot of work to be done to it especially as he lives in such a small space. Everything is done within one spot and he doesnt know where to find the money to fix it.

The foundation of our house is made out of the stem of the bush coconut; we also use car tyres to hold the roof on the house. We dont have a kitchen so we cook our dinner here, the same spot that we sleep in.

He is the only one who works while his wife stays home and looks after their two young children. According to Soolefai he earns $150 a week but it is certainly not enough for him and his family.

I am the only one who works but even with that $150 it goes by real fast. There are so many things that we need to do and get for the kids as well. My wife and I are struggling to try to budget that money. I need to put money aside for my bus fare to work and the rest goes to feeding my family on a daily basis, he added.

The hardest part for Soolefai is witnessing his family trying to all squeeze into one part of the house. He feels very sad about it.

I was called to be a father, to be a leader. To guide my family into becoming better but I cant. How am I supposed to do what I need to do when I do not have enough money to help them? We go to sleep early because there is no power and we all try to fit in one spot because our house is very small.

Soolefai understands that nothing in life comes easily but he didnt expect it to be this difficult.
The Tui cable will go live next month - if there are no glitches along the way. That is the assurance given by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Afamasaga Rico Tupai in response to questions from the Samoa Observer.

He has also assured the public that prices for Internet will be significantly cheaper.

Earlier this month, the Tui Samoa Cable was brought to its landing site in Moataa, a milestone that was commemorated during a ceremony.

The Samoa Submarine Cable Company Limited (S.S.C.C) and Alcatel Submarine Networks (A.S.N) began the loading of the 1,470 km Tui-Samoa Cable in July, 2017.

The cable is being loaded on a freighter in Calais, France, at A.S.Ns factory: the freighter will sail at the end of the month towards Suva, where the cable will then be transferred to the laying cable ship.

According to the Minister of M.C.I.T. currently, the cable is being laid between Fatuna and Suva Fiji.

The plan is to reach Fiji by the second week of December then the testing period starts with the intention to go live before Christmas.

All this depends on the smooth operation of the cable-laying process currently in progress so lets hope it goes well.

Regarding cheap internet and what the public needs to expect, Afamasaga stated the price will be less than US$90 ($216T).

Government and S.S.C.C. have been working to significantly reduce wholesale capacity prices from an estimated US$300 (771 tala) Mbps to a price which will be less than US$90.

It is intended that with affordable bandwidth pricing Samoans licensed telecommunications operators will be able to increase the value proposition for their retail customers.

In short Samoans retail customers should see a significant increase in their data bundles, explained the Minister.

At the landing of the Tui Cable in Moataa, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi laid out the strategic reasons for developing the Tui-Samoa Cable are to:

 bridge the digital divide for the people of Samoa and our neighbouring island nations

 promoting economic and social developments

 providing Samoa with access to fast, reliable and affordable wholesale broadband internet.

The other important deliverable for Tui-Samoa is connectivity, will be a key driver in realizing the ambitions of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals for small island developing states including Samoa as we strive to ensure that we do not leave anyone or any place behind.

This is especially true when only 18% of people in Least Developed Countries use the internet, compared with 80% in developed countries.

The Tui-Samoa will ensure that Samoa, Wallis and Futuna and Vanua Levu Fiji will not be left behind. Connectivity is therefore a vital ingredient of structural transformation and sustainable development, and critical to the efforts of Small Island developing states graduate from least developed status.

Connectivity will be crucial to building resilience in our economy, so that we can tackle the many other complex issues we are confronted with, including climate change.

He reiterated the Tui-Samoa will provide fast, reliable and affordable wholesale broadband internet.

However, there is a critical need to improve access to national fibre-optic infrastructure.

Lease developed countries rely mostly on mobile broadband networks to deliver reliable, broadband Internet access to users and business.

So there remains a need for Samoa to continue to invest in wireless broadband internet infrastructure, both in terms of national backbone and last mile service delivery.

However, with the emergence of advanced 4G+ and disruptive 5G technologies, Samoa needs to ensure that we have the appropriate infrastructure sharing policies in order to leverage the benefits of those new technologies.

Therefore, in anticipation of the future technology requirements for Samoa, Government had built the Samoa National Broadband fibre-optic highway connecting the Apia CBS which is operated by CSL; Blue-sky has also substantial national fibre-optic assets with nationwide coverage, said Tuialepa earlier this month.
Insurance for Samoa Airways Boeing 77800 is paid by Iceland, the company which Samoa Airways is leasing its aircraft from, said the Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi during his weekly press conference.

He said that an earlier report written in the Samoa Observer newspaper was inaccurate and the airlines C.E.O. Seiuli Alvin Tuala would make sure the report was rectified.

Insurance is in place in case of an incident, meaning if there is a fatality as a result of the incident, consumers can make claims and that is the purpose of the insurance.

Insurance is paid for by the company that owns the airplane. Remember we are leasing the aircraft.

The (Samoa Airways) C.E.O. informed me the report by the Samoa Observer is inaccurate and he will make sure the report is corrected and make a public announcement, given this is an important issue, said the Prime Minister.

However the article, which the Prime Minister was referring to in the Samoa Observer, was taken directly from a press release issued from his own office.

The Ministry of Prime Ministers and Cabinets Press Secretary had stated in a press release, the insurance was US$2 billion, an incorrect amount which was later corrected when the Samoa Observer spoke to Samoa Airways C.E.O. Seiuli.

Seiuli rectified the figures and said it is US$1billion (T$2.4m) hull insurance, consisting of US$750 million (T$1.9 billion) for third party liability and US$250 million (T$643 million) for passenger liability.

Seiuli told the Samoa Observer the inaccurate information provided through the government press release was due to the lack of fact checking by the Press Secretary.

Tuilaepa claims that no airline will take the commercial route unless they are insured.

If an incident occurs the airline will be sued and of course the government will be affected.

That is why this is a priority for the Airline Management and as announced earlier, the airplane is insured and it cannot fly commercially unless it is insured, said the Prime Minister.

Insurance is extremely expensive nowadays because everyone slaps the airline with a lawsuit whenever there is an incident especially where there are fatalities, he said.

It is unclear who the insurance company the Samoa Airways Boeing 77800 is with as Samoa Airways Marketing Manager and Communication Specialists, Dwayne Bentley, did not provide any comment.

Samoa Observer had asked Mr. Bentley which company the airline is insured with and he simply replied the insurance was in place.

Further to the below, aviation insurance cover is in place and is a mandatory requirement in the highly regulated airline industry.

This was vetted as part of the airlines application to provide air services, which has since been granted by the regulatory authorities in Samoa, New Zealand and Australia, said Mr. Bentley.

Last week Seiuli stated as an aviation professional and having being involved in aviation law, safety and security for many years, he was well aware of the concerns of the travelling public when it comes to airline safety.

I ask myself the question every time I go out to the airport or when I am onboard. Would I take my family on our aircraft?

The answer is always yes because I know the work that is being done by the engineers and the maintenance teams in New Zealand and Australia, including the pilots, to ensure that safety and security is paramount at all times and will never be compromised.

Aviation is one of the most highly-regulated industries in the world. Compliance is expensive but has to be done at all times without fail, he said.
The Campus of Hope often receives assistance from good Samaritans around Samoa and overseas and this time, it is the Bank of South Pacific (B.S.P.) that has stepped in to assist at Tuanaimato.

The Bank has funded the construction of their kitchen - relocating their kitchen to an outside building to provide more room, but thats not all

B.S.P. Liaison Media Officer, Michelle Lemisio said: This years theme for our charity work is Empowering Women and Children, so we have partnered with the Samoa Victim Support Group to roll out this project.

What we have done is relocate their kitchen from one of their buildings and build it outside to make more room for the children that are still coming into the Campus of Hope.

The kitchen definitely helps them with their cooking classes because they asked the Bank of South Pacific to give them the opportunity to teach these children how to cook. We never know these children might be good chefs in the future.

We have also laid the foundation for a dining hall to be built in the near future if we have funds.

The whole project cost $23,000 tala which staff members of the bank helped raise.

And for empowering women, theyve stepped in to empower more women taking part under the Nofotane Programme.

Their work normally includes making handicrafts, siamu popo and they are them selling it the Samoa Victims Support Group.

S.V.S.G. has asked us to look for a platform for these women to sell their products because apparently this is their stable income. For these women to earn a stable income, we secured a booth at the Fugalei Market (Booth 47) where women under the Nofotane Programme can sell their products to earn money to raise their families.

We are also running a Financial Literacy Workshop for these women to help them better manage their incomes.

The president of Samoa Victim Support Group, Siliniu Lina Chang said: I am thrilled and happy to have B.S.P. staff onboard to help out with these things because we need people to fund these projects.

B.S.P. will officially hand over the project to S.V.S.G. this week.
Work on the Matautu Wharf is scheduled for completion by June, 2018.

This was confirmed to the Samoa Observer by the Member of Parliament and Associate Minister for Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Seiuli Ueligitone during a project site visitation last week.

Also present was Japans Ambassador to Samoa, Maugaoleatuolo Shinya Aioki.

The US$35 million (T$90.4 million) Enhancement of Safety of Apia Port project is funded by the Government of Japan.

This project is very important to Japan because this is the place where cruise ships around the world can dock while tourists explore Samoa, said Maugaoleatuolo.

The port has been expanded to 340 metres so it can cater for large cruise ships.

Mr. Aioki said: The whole work includes the construction of container yard and pavement (the container yard will increase from 17,000m2 to 23,000m2).

Installation of fenders for safe mooring and improvement and installation of navigation aids as well as the two tug boats rehabilitation works are also p[art of the project .

Seiuli says the project is a positive investment and it contributes to Samoas economic growth.

Two to three cruise ships or cargo ships can now dock at Matautu Wharf at the same time which is very good compared to previous years.

Members of Parliament, Faumuina Wayne Fong, Faaulusau Rosa Duffy Stowers and Olo Fiti Vaai were also present at the site visit.

Olo said: The development is really good. What the government is proposing now for Vaiusu should not be carried out even though millions of dollars have already being spent on it.

What also makes me happy is our local people are being employed by the Wakachiku Construction Co. Limited from Japan to do the actual work.

The grant is provided by Japan as well as the engineers, but the whole work is done by our people, for our people, he said.

Port Master, Seinafolava Lotomau Tomane said about 100 locals are employed by Wakachiku Limited.

These people are from CaBella Company and others that I cannot recall.

These local employees are being paid well.

The iron used for the work is from overseas but the cement is provided by Apia Concrete Products which is really good because it benefits our local companies as well, said Mr. Tomane.
Gandhinagar district election officer has sought a clarification into why his letter should not be treated as a violation of Model code of conduct.

By Jumana Shah: The Gandhinagar district election officer has served a notice to the archbishop of Gandhinagar for his letter appealing for prayers against "nationalist forces".

The Gandhinagar district election officer has sought clarification why his letter should not be treated as violation of model code of conduct.

Election Commission has issued the notice to an NGO and the Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) has sent a complaint to the election commission of India.

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The LRO letter says the letter issued by the archbishop is an attempt to "generate fear" among voters and to "divide people on the basis of caste and creed" along with "baseless allegations" against 'nationalist forces'.

The letter has also sought immediate 'action' against the archbishop.

The archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar had written a letter urging members of the Christian community to save the country from "nationalist forces" as he said the "democratic fabric" of the country was at stake, amidst a growing "sense of insecurity" among minorities.Indirectly targeting the ruling BJP in the state, archbishop Thomas Macwan appealed to the minority community to help elect those candidates, who respect every human being without discrimination, to the state Assembly.

He said the nationalist forces were "on the verge of taking over the country", which is why the Gujarat elections could make a difference.

(With PTI inputs)

--- ENDS ---
View the photo gallery: Spreckels mansion for sale

As two tragic deaths fade from memory, the owner of the historic Spreckels mansion on Coronados Ocean Boulevard has raised the asking price to $17.9 million in reaction to sustained interest and limited supply of such properties.

Theres both market demand and the markets appreciating, said Scott Aurich, listing agent for Pacific Sothebys International Realty. Recent sales prompted a million-dollar increase in the listing price, he added.

Current San Diego County real estate listings include 12 pricier properties, up to as much as $40 million in Rancho Santa Fe. But none can equal this houses history.

Its a one-of-a-kind asset, he said.

The 19,000-square-foot lot at 1043 Ocean Blvd. includes the house John D. Spreckels built in 1908, the guesthouse his son Claus built in 1928 and two units above the garage. The 10,500 square feet of living space includes 10 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms plus a four-car garage and a 1,000-square-foot basement.

Other appointments include a deck overlooking the beach, a courtyard with a pool and spa, and a media room with a 132-inch projection TV. The home has been staged with custom furniture, art work and other furnishings costing $330,000 that are included in the price.

Aurich said the price was increased by $1 million in reaction to market demand.

The house is known locally for the accidental death in July 2011 of Max Shacknai, 6, son of owner Jonah Shacknai, and the apparent suicide two days later of Rebecca Zahau, 32, the owners girlfriend.

You deal with it upfront with full disclosure, Aurich said of the two incidents.

Recent sale history of 1043 Ocean Blvd.

1979: $800,000

1982: $1.25 million

1986: $1.275 million

2007: $12.75 million

2013: $9 million

State law requires a seller to disclose any death that has occurred on-site for the previous three years, regardless of cause. Aurich said he will continue that disclosure as long as he is the agent. But he said awareness of the deaths has diminished considerably in recent months.

It is now at least further behind us, so that most people dont have much concern or interest in it, he said, and three serious parties are considering purchasing it.

Some interest has come from Asia and Mexico.

All appreciate the historic significance and dont really want to modify it anyway, he said.

Shacknai, who bought the home for $12.5 million in 2007, had planned a complete remodel but never started construction. County records show he sold the property for $9 million in July to a limited liability company, which during a lengthy escrow period spent $2.4 million in upgrades and $330,000 in furnishings.

The principal in the new ownership is Robert Harris, owner of a Logan, Utah-based private aircraft company who also owns two homes in Coronado Cays.

The balcony off the fourth bedroom is where Rebecca Zahau apparently committed suicide by hanging in July 2011.  Earnie Grafton

Caylee Pinsonneault and her mother, Sheryll Jackman, of Seaside Home design group handled the interior design and architectural details; Caylees husband, Joe, handled the financial details; and her father, Harry Jackman, at the Jackman Group handled construction.

Spreckels, of course, was San Diegos very own tycoon a century ago. Son of the Spreckels sugar king, he owned the Hotel del Coronado and most of Coronado, downtown San Diego property, the San Diego Union and Evening Tribune and the local streetcar system, and he had a hand in many major issues, from water development to railroads.

In 1907 he started construction on both the Ocean Boulevard property and his main residence, now the Glorietta Bay Inn on Glorietta Blvd., just east of the hotel. He gave the beach house to his son Claus as a wedding present in 1910, and Claus wife, Ellis, lived there until her death in 1967.

A media room with a giant TV projection screen was added to the third-floor attic area.  Earnie Grafton

Both homes were designed by Harrison Albright, Spreckels go-to architect. He also designed the Coronado Public Library, Spreckels Theatre and U.S. Grant Hotel downtown and the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park.

Among the luminaries entertained at the house over the years was the future King Edward VIII. When he was the prince of Wales, he visited San Diego in 1920 and dropped by before attending a banquet in his honor at the Hotel Del. Hes the one who abdicated in 1936 to marry his love, Wallis Warfield Simpson. She was married to a naval officer in San Diego in 1920, but contrary to numerous conjectures, she was out of town the week of the princes visit and did not meet him at the time.

The house was again in the spotlight in 1982, when it was the site of the annual Designer Showcase home tour sponsored by the San Diego Historical Society and the local chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.

By the time Shacknai bought the house, the designers flourishes had faded, and the property needed a major fixup.

In January 2012, Pinsonneault and her parents launched physical improvements to the house and its furnishing for potential buyers.

We came to the conclusion it would offer a better selling price if we staged it, Pinsonneault said.

Major changes included enlarging the kitchen, rearranging the master bedroom suite, adding an outdoor second floor deck and turning the attic into a media room with the big-screen TV and a pool table. Other major improvements included new roofs, skylights, window repair and replacement, gutters, electrical upgrade, interior and exterior paint, air conditioning and plumbing.

Mother and daughter selected items from their Seaside Home showroom in the former Saks Fifth Avenue store and special ordered items from various furniture suppliers.

Sheryll Jackman said the style was picked to link both the traditional historic layout of the house and contemporary tastes desired by modern families.

You could have a contemporary mirror and add gold leaf, she said.

The two secondary bedrooms on the second floor were not furnished, and the balcony where Rebecca Zahau was found hanging nude by her brother was not altered.

Every house in Coronado has had some (death story), Pinsonneault said. There is nothing in the room to alert a visitor to the hanging.

As grand as the main house is  with its sweeping staircase, light-filled foyer, dining room and sunroom/TV room  the guesthouse is perhaps more interesting.

It was designed by Richard Requa, San Diegos leading architect of Mexican-style residences with their telltale red tile roofs and white stucco walls. The original woodwork, light fixtures and restored murals of historic scenes remain in place. And in the master bedroom, the only furniture left from the Spreckels era is a bed and two side tables.

As construction and furnishing dragged on, some options were dropped from the project, including an elevator, wine cellar, home gym and ping-pong room in the attic.

Lets just finish the house  were so close, Pinsonneault said was attitude this past spring.

But the decorators and owner didnt cut corners. They spent top dollar on bedding and artificial flower arrangements, outfitted the kitchen with dinnerware and appliances and installed an audio system and hooked up cable TV to flat-screen TVs. They could have saved hundreds of dollars by using plastic stand-ins as is common at many model home complexes.

Are you going to be that cheap that you wouldnt spend $400 on a TV and do plastic? Pinsonneault asked.

Added her mother, Its just a different clientele in that respect. We really tried to do something that works.

The assessed value is $7.7 million, reflecting a discount for the main's house's historic designation. The current annual tax bill is $82,069, according to the county assessor's office.
Crowds at the arts-and-crafts store Pigment in North Park on Saturday afternoon rivaled those at any trendy mall boutique on Black Friday.

A beneficiary of whats known as Small Business Saturday  as well as a local marketing campaign promoting area shops  Pigment, unlike many much larger brick-and-mortar businesses, didnt appear to be suffering at the hands of Amazons cheaper online steals. Shoppers packed the store, which was offering customers who spent $60 or more a $25 gift card.

A similar energy could be felt around the corner at Simply Local, a North Park retailer that features products from local artists.

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Were willing to spend a little more to support a good cause, said North Park resident Amelia Anderson, 34, who was browsing Simply Local with her mother Joice Hoffmann, 64, visiting from Minnesota. We found some baby gifts at Pigment, a purse here and we got a lot of used books at Verbatim Books.

The mother-daughter duo, who also grabbed lunch at a North Park eatery, expected to extend their shopping trip by visiting South Park later in the day. Their all-day, local-focused adventure is the perfect example of what American Express hoped to engineer when it started Small Business Saturday in 2010. The annual retail tradition seeks to remind holiday shoppers of the hidden gems available at neighborhood merchants.

Since its start, the Shop Small affair has blossomed into a national retail extravaganza recognized in all 50 states. In 2016, 12 million shoppers spent an estimated $15.4 billion on the Saturday after Thanksgiving Day, according to American Express.

Across San Diego County, neighborhood associations helped advocate on behalf of their towns makers and creators.

The not-for-profit MainStreet Oceanside group organized a number of events to showcase downtown Oceansides creative flair. At the free Merry Makers Fair, which continues Sunday, hobbyists and small business owners lined Artist Alley, just east of Coast Highway, and manned booths featuring their handmade products.

Oceanside resident Abi Studer purchased a $40 necklace for herself. It was custom-made by 23-year-old Max Kropczynski, who was promoting his full-time flame-working business, MAKGlass.

We like to support the small, local guys; help them stay in business, said Studer, 38, who learned of the Merry Makers event through friends on Facebook.

Kathy Gordon, 52, of Oceanside had other reasons for purchasing a Find The Happy tee from Beth Stablers clothing stand. She first saw Stablers work at a local yoga studio, looked it up online and was inspired by Stablers story and mission.

I deal with depression and anxiety. Through therapy, the focus was to retrain the way my brain works  by making an effort to try or do one thing (per day) that brings me joy, Stabler, 36, said of the message behind her business, which donates some of its proceeds to suicide prevention charities. It was working for me and I wanted to share that with other people.

Meanwhile in Cardiff, Steve Burrows applied his craft in a different way by painting over a power box behind Seaside Market  with SDG&Es approval. Inspired by coastal living, Burrows street art piece will, when completed, depict a family in a vintage Volkswagen bus on their way to the beach.

Burrows live demonstration was just one of many highlights the Cardiff 101 Main Street association hoped would attract locals to its first organized Small Business Saturday event. The association set up a tent outside Seaside Market to hand out Shop Local bags, host a raffle and promote the nearby shops offering deals.

Down the street at the 1-year-old Sea + Wander boutique, business owner Maria Thornton was excited about the campaign and offered patrons 15 percent off their Saturday purchases.

I love the sense of community in Cardiff. I think its just incredible what everyone does to get ... behind every business, the single mom of two said. I think its crucial in this moment; we are heavily competing with e-commerce. I believe the community and working with other businesses is whats going to make Cardiff thrive.

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jennifer.vangrove@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1840 Twitter: @jbruin
The 10 giant bronze busts now on display at San Diegos Ruocco Park have traveled far. Created in Mexico by the artist Rivelino, they have been displayed across Europe and in Mexico City.

Called Nuestros Silencios, or Our Silences, the monumental public art work is intended to deliver a message about freedom of expression. Each figure has a metal plate covering its mouth, an allusion to censorship, and the artist hopes they will prompt reflection about the importance of speaking out.

Rivelino, 41, whose full name is Jose Rivelino Moreno Valle, was present at Thursdays unveiling ceremony attended by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer; Dan Malcolm, chairman of the Board of Port Commissioners; and Remedios Gomez Arnau, consul general of Mexico in San Diego.

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Whats important is that people can reflect about what happens when an individual decides not to say how he feels, because he can be ridiculed, or attacked, or he can be excluded, Rivelino said following the ceremony. This is an important topic of discussion for a public place.

The piece, designed at the artists studio in Mexico City, includes a steel cube called a Braille Box of small replicas that people can touch. I like it a lot. Its pretty thoughtful, said Khanh Tan, 25, one of 19 students at the Braille Institute San Diego who were present at the unveiling.

The exhibit has traveled to San Diego courtesy of Rivelino and Mexicos Foreign Ministry, shipped from the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas to Long Beach, then trucked to San Diego where they will remain through March 15. The Port of San Diego is hosting the busts, each of which measure more than 11 feet and weigh over a ton, at this small public park near the USS Midway Museum that overlooks Tuna Harbor.

Rivelino said his message is universal, but also particular to the different locations. In London, they sat outside the British Parliament, in Brussels before the Palace of Justice, in Potsdam, Germany, by the former Berlin Wall.

In San Diego, he has them sitting in different directions: five looking north toward the Midway, and five looking south.
With Tijuana and other rapidly growing coastal cities heavily dependent on the Colorado River, Baja California urgently needs to find new water sources.

Baja California Gov. Francisco Vega de Lamadrids administration has offered a solution: Build the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, enough to ensure a supply for decades to come.

But plans for the reverse-osmosis facility in Rosarito Beach, a project that at full capacity would desalinate 100 million gallons daily, have come under unprecedented scrutiny at a politically sensitive moment. The touchiest public issue is the question of whether some of that water would be sold to the Otay Water District in San Diego County.

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More than a year after the signing of a public-private-partnership contract between Baja California and an international consortium to design and build the plant and operate it for 37 years, there are growing calls for at least a pause  if not a halt  to the process.

Some question whether such a large plant is necessary, and warn of sharp increases in water rates once it is built. Others accuse the state of secretly planning to sell some of the water to the United States.

Still others say the states greatest need is not the desalination plant  but for a broad and open public discussion about the critical issues of water use and ensuring a supply for future generations.

Were talking about the future, were talking about water, were talking about the fact that the coastline of Baja California cannot just depend on the Colorado River, said Carlos de la Parra, a water expert at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, a Tijuana-based think tank. This desalination plant is out of thin air.

Kurt Honold, president of the influential Tijuana business coalition Consejo Coordinador Empresarial, said, We need to be a better administrator of the water that we already have  we are not using the water efficiently, we have a big bucket and the bucket has holes.

The issue has come to a head as the Baja California legislature prepares for a vote on federally mandated adjustments to the states public-private-partnership law.

A no vote would at the very least delay the desalination plant, the most ambitious infrastructure project of Vegas administration. It would also put on hold eight other public-private-partnership projects.

There is no better proposal, said Manuel Guevara, Baja Californias secretary of infrastructure and the administrations point-person on the Rosarito desalination project. In fact, there is no other proposal at all. There has been no proposal from any group, any chamber, any legislator thats different from ours, except for the size.

Like San Diego County, the state of Baja California is largely reliant on the Colorado River for its major cities, Tijuana and Mexicali, and the Mexicali Valley, its largest agricultural region.

Population growth and drought on the river have prompted growing concern, and calls for greater efficiency in managing the existing water supply as well as finding alternative sources.

Next month, the state of Baja California plans to launch its first utility-scale ocean desalination plant in the port of Ensenada, a reverse osmosis facility able to produce 5.7 million gallons daily. Another similar-sized plant is being planned in the agricultural community of San Quintin, the first project approved under the states public-private-partnership law that was passed in 2014.

But the largest by far is the Rosarito Beach facility whose cost is estimated at more than $470 million. At full capacity, it would be twice the size of the Poseidon plant in Carlsbad, enough to supply the needs of 2 million people.

Baja California officials today are insisting that their sole aim at this point is ensuring a long-term water supply for residents of the states fast-growing Pacific coastal urban areas.

Were cant lose sight of the main vision, which is ensuring the water supply not just for three or six years, or even ten, said Guevara, the Baja California secretary who leading the desalination efforts. This is a vision for 20 or 40 years.

The project is under review by the North American Development Bank (NADB), a binational institution that evaluates and finances border infrastructure projects. We believe in the necessity of the project from a water availability perspective, said Jesse Hereford, a bank spokesman. He said in an email that NADB is part of the banking syndicate that is looking at financing the project.

The idea of a cross-border desalination project predates Gov. Vegas administration by some two decades. A groundbreaking agreement in 2012 between the United States and Mexico  known as Minute 319  listed a binational desalination plant in Rosarito Beach as a potential new source of water for the region.

But it wasnt until August 2016, with the public-private-partnership contract that a concrete plan moved forward. The winning bidder, Aguas de Rosarito, joined together NSC Agua, a Mexican company that is the subsidiary of a Cayman Islands-based company, Consolidated Water, with two partners: the French company Degremont and NuWater of Singapore.

The agreement committed the consortium to build the plant in two phases and operate it for 37 years before turning it over to the state. As envisioned in the agreement, the first phase was to produce 50 million gallons a day, and launch in late 2019 or early 2020; a second phase in 2024 would double the capacity to 100 million.

We dont need such a large desalination plant, said Ruben Garcia Fons, an engineer with expertise in water issues. He belongs to a group, COMICE, made up of planners, academics, builders and suppliers, which has recently gathered close to 1,000 signatures against the project. The selection process has been an obscure procedure, he said. And those who will pay are those citizens who use the water.

The contract states Baja California would be in charge of distributing the water, and much of the current controversy over the plant now revolves on whether the state intends to ship some of that water across the border.

Luis Moreno, a state legislator with the opposition Social Encounter Party, has been one of the most vocal critics, offering as proof transcripts of investor calls by Consolidated Water from 2009 to 2013. The state government, is working behind the back of its citizens, and is seeking to benefit Consolidated Water and its partners, Moreno said in a news release earlier this month.

North of the border, the Otay Water District, which serves some 220,000 water users in southeast San Diego County, began discussing the proposal with Consolidated Water years before Gov. Vega took office in 2013.

The district has been looking to diversify its water supply, and has spent more than $4 million researching the possibility of importing water from a future desalination plant in Mexico. Last May, the U.S. State Department approved a presidential permit to carry some of that water across the border at Otay Mesa.

Mark Watton, the districts general manager, said he has discussed the plan with Baja Californias secretary of economic development, Carlo Bonfante, but received no guarantees. It was speculative from the get-go, Watton said. It makes sense that Mexico would export water as a finished manufactured product like they do other stuff, but the politics are wrapped around the axle right now.

Guevara, the secretary of infrastructure, said Bonfante is not the one to negotiate such deals, and can make no commitments. Guevera said it would be up to water agencies and himself. I have had no discussions with Otay Water, he said.

To move forward with the Rosarito desalination plant and other public-private partnerships, Gov. Vegas administration needs to persuade 17 legislators to approve the changes.

Guevara remains optimistic that the state government will prevail and the project will move forward. But if the vote is no, Id recommend suspending it, until we are at a better economic and political moment, he said. With time, well demonstrate that were facing a water crisis.

sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com

@sandradibble
Sexual harassment scandals and accusations are making headlines almost every day.

To the newly elected San Diego County Bar Association president, its nothing new.

With the media spotlight on Hollywood types and politicians, its fascinating of course, said Kristin Rizzo, a labor and employment law attorney. But I will say this: Sexual harassment happens every day, all the time, in workplaces across America.

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Rizzo, a sole practitioner, has been chosen to head the 18-member bar association board of directors in 2018. She takes the leadership role from current president Loren Freestone on Jan. 1.

Rizzo talked recently about how her specialty area of law has become a hot topic nationally and about the associations plans for the coming year.

Im glad that these (sexual harassment) issues are coming to light because I hope it prompts more women to maybe be inspired to bring their complaints forward to their employers. Im glad to see that some of these powerful men are being fired by their employers, Rizzo said.

Longtime journalist Charlie Rose is one notable case, fired by CBS and PBS after women publicly accused him of unwanted sexual advances and appearing nude in front of them. Netflix has dropped actor Kevin Spacey, accused of groping young men, from its popular House of Cards series and from a movie that was in production.

Rizzo said that in her 10 years of labor law practice, she knew of only one of her sexual harassment cases that resulted in the victims boss being fired. She estimated she has taken on more than 50 such cases, along with others involving discrimination, whistle-blower retaliation, contract and wage disputes.

When women call Rizzo to ask what they should do about sexual harassment, she first advises that they report it to superiors or human resources and document the incident in writing.

Being told a couple of inappropriate jokes or comments, she said, does not meet the legal standard of severe or pervasive conduct needed to prove sexual harassment. Getting witnesses or other, corroborating victims to come forward is another hurdle.

The culture need to be changed in a variety of ways, and the victim cant be blamed and retaliated against, Rizzo added. I know from colleagues that companies are worried about it. Its a large issue right now.

Rizzo, a San Diego native, graduate of La Jolla High School, UC San Diego and the University of San Diego School of Law, described herself as having grown up in the county bar association.

She served as the groups president of the New Lawyers Division, co-chair of the Labor Employment Section, treasurer in 2015, then board president-elect.

The board plans to hire a technology officer next year to help mainly sole- and small-office practitioners with the latest software programs, data storage, cyber security and Tech Tuesdays support. Rizzo noted that large law firms often have an in-house technology officer, but other attorneys may need help in those areas.

Were pretty excited about it. The courts are pushing more electronic filings. We know the legal world is going in that direction, Rizzo said.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune

Twitter: @pdrepard
It was as a volunteer seven years ago, back when he was a public defense attorney, that Superior Court Judge Michael Washington first went to Africa.

He went to help train attorneys and judges in Liberia, a West African county that had endured more than a decade of civil war and was working to rebuild its justice system.

Since then, the Vista-based judge has been to Africa 14 times and just recently returned to San Diego County from Nigeria.

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Nearly all of those trips came as part of his volunteer work with Lawyers Without Borders, a nonprofit organization he credits with helping him understand what it is to be a world citizen.

Its been incredible work, Washington said recently. Its been transformative.

Lawyers Without Borders sends volunteer legal professionals  from attorneys to state and federal judges  around the world to teach other legal professionals tricks of the trade.

Christina Storm is the founder, executive director and self-titled mother hen of the Connecticut-based nonprofit, who came up with the idea 18 years ago.

She said the attorneys train legal professionals on how to handle cases involving a variety of topics including gender violence or human trafficking.

For the last two years, the group has been teaching attorneys and officials in Kenya how to prosecute wildlife crime cases in an attempt, Storm said, to save the elephant population.

She said the the organization also works with legislatures to help craft laws.

Lawyers Without Borders works frequently in Africa, but also with island nations in the Caribbean and elsewhere, and is starting to move into Southeast Asian countries, Storm said.

She called Washington one of our finest trainers.

Washingtons first trip to Africa came in 2010, when Lawyers Without Borders headed to Liberia, where a civil war ended seven years earlier. He likened the experience to being in the U.S. in the 1780s, 1790s, when the fledgling country was grappling with crafting its governmental institutions.

A number of nations where he had trained legal professionals, he said, gained independence less than 50 years ago.

Washington said he was struck by the attorneys he met in Liberia, people who had given up high-paying gigs to work for much lower pay for their government.

They all said this is a way for me to be of service to my country, Washington said.

He was most struck by an encounter with a judge there, a man who told him he wanted people to see in him that there was justice in Liberia.

And that is when Washington made a decision that came as a surprise even to himself. He went home and told his wife he was going to apply to become a judge.

I learned from the judges in Liberia that there is an impact that I can have that goes far beyond what happens in the courtroom, he said.

Washingtons voice grows excited when he speaks of the Lawyers Without Borders training sessions, like the time when a man in his 70s beamed with joy after learning how to do a PowerPoint presentation  a skill hed spent the day resisting. And then theres the time in Indonesia when a group of legal professionals learned to train others on skills theyd learned from Washington.

Earlier this month, the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association, a professional organization for African American lawyers in San Diego, honored Washington with its Community Service Award. He missed the reception where the award was handed out because he was in Nigeria, which a few months ago cut the ribbon on the countrys first DNA forensics lab.

His son accepted the award in his absence.

Washington and colleagues were in Nigeria to teach attorneys and others about how best to include forensics in their cases, not just DNA, but also handwriting, fingerprints and ballistics. (That trip was through another organization for which Washington teaches and trains attorneys, but the opportunity, he said, has ties to his work with Lawyers Without Borders.)

Washington said, he is headed to Africa with the nonprofit again in August to train more legal professionals. And that will mark trip No.15.

I will keep this going as long as they will have me, he said.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

(760) 529-4945

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
After raising millions of dollars for various causes over more than a decade, the Lucky Duck Foundation has shifted its focus to concentrate solely on San Diegos homeless population.

Its just gotten so devastating in San Diego County, said Stephanie Kilkenny, one of the foundations co-founders, acknowledging situations faced by thousands of unsheltered people living in the area.

It made sense for us to make the transition now so we could maybe save some lives this winter, she said.

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The organization has raised more than $8.5 million since it was formed in 2005 as The AGI Foundation, named after the Arrowhead General Insurance company formerly owned by Kilkennys husband, Pat Kilkenny.

Half of the money came from the couples matching donations.

Their new effort will pay for essentials such as water, socks and other items to help people living on the street, and the foundation has funded two of the large tents under construction to house hundreds of homeless people.

In recent years, much of the foundations work has benefited Father Joes Villages, the Challenged Athletes Foundation and the Helen Woodward Animal Center. The Del Mar couple announced the change in focus to donors at the foundations annual Swing and Soiree fundraiser in October and at a Nov. 13 news conference at the University of San Diego.

While the foundations focus on homelessness is new, the couple has been passionate about the cause for years, and both were active in Father Joes Villages even before Lucky Duck was founded.

Stephanie Kilkenny said she remembers being affected by seeing homeless people on the street as a child in New York, and her husband said in a 2016 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune that he saw homeless people in Portland on trips away from his familys farm in Heppner, Ore.

I was a grade-schooler at the time, but it always stuck with me because we never struggled like that, he said. It was embedded in my mind and heart for many years. So when I was able to give back, homeless missions became my cause.

Patrick Kilkenny, 65, attended the University of Oregon and in 1984 bought Arrowhead General Insurance, where he created the AGI Foundation to encourage charitable giving from employees. After he sold the company, the foundation was expanded and rebranded in 2009 with a name that reflected his Irish heritage and his universitys mascot, the Ducks.

The foundations new focus coincides with new countywide efforts to help the homeless and a sense of urgency to get people off the street.

A record 117 homeless people have died in the county this year, with another 14 among the 20 who died in a hepatitis A outbreak that largely targeted the homeless population.

An annual count of the homeless throughout the county taken last January found about 9,100 homeless people, including 5,600 who were unsheltered, an increase of about 4 percent. Of the unsheltered,1,300 were in downtown alone, a 27 percent increase from 2016.

Earlier this year, the Kilkennys worked with restaurant owner Dan Shea and San Diego Padres general partner Peter Seidler on one of the most ambitious attempts to get homeless people off the street temporarily.

The two business leaders effort paid off, and three structures are under construction and expected to open within weeks to shelter about 700 people.

Each tent costs about $800,000 to purchase and construct, and Seidler donated $1.5 million to the foundation for two tents, with the city funding the third. He donated another $1 million to the foundation to match future donations from others.

The foundation is collecting money to pay for socks, toiletries and Med-Naps cleansing antiseptic towelettes to help prevent the spread of hepatitis A.

It also has a goal to distribute 30,000 bottles of water and 15,000 Med-Naps a month over the next 12 months.

The foundation also has launched One Act of Kindness San Diego, or 1 A-OK SD, to encourage donations of any size.

Homeless Playlist  On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
Usiel Oceguera was waiting to use a bathroom in downtown San Diego a couple months ago when he was beaten by a man who stole his backpack.

That backpack belongs to me, Oceguera recalled hearing before he was hit in the face.

He didnt report the incident to police, nor did he tell anyone when a driver accidentally ran over his legs as he slept in the street a few weeks ago.

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Oceguera knows life on the streets can be dangerous, and that he and those around him can be easy targets as they tote their possessions in bags and shopping carts, or doze in parks or on sidewalks.

Some people get robbed. Some are sexually assaulted. Some lose their lives.

You are never safe when you are out in the open, the 44-year-old said last week as he relaxed on the grass in Embarcadero Marina Park South. Im not worried about all the people, but there is always someone out there that is not doing good.

Since mid-September, San Diego police have responded to three fatal attacks on homeless victims in as many weeks, a troubling development in a city that witnessed a spate of attacks on homeless men last year, resulting in the arrest of an accused serial killer.

The incidents this month  which occurred in Southcrest, North Park and City Heights  are unrelated, authorities said. Two of the victims were fatally stabbed and one was hit in the head with a skateboard.

An arrest was made in one of the cases, but police are still trying to identify suspects in the others.

Police say it is not possible to track whether violent crimes against the homeless in San Diego County have increased because no one logs crimes based on the housing status of the victims.

Even without hard data, however, homeless advocates say the sheer growth in the number of people on the streets likely means theres more crime occurring in that population. The county has an estimated 9,100 homeless. Advocates see a growing frustration in the community as the crisis continues.

Theres homeless-on-homeless crime, theres civilian-on-homeless crime, theres homeless-on-civilian crime, said Bob McElroy, a longtime advocate for the homeless who runs Alpha Project. It is the Wild West out here.

The nonprofit National Coalition for the Homeless documented 1,650 acts of violence against the homeless by housed assailants in the U.S. between 1999 and 2015  beatings, rapes, mutilations and homicides -- including 428 cases where victims were killed.

The group based its numbers on news reports, data provided by homeless advocates and service providers, and self-reported incidents by homeless and formerly homeless individuals. In 2014 and 2015, the most recent statistics released by the organization, it logged 43 incidents of violence in California, by far the most of any state.

McElroy said he often hears about people randomly targeting the homeless for assaults, seeing them as easy prey.

Ive witnessed it and Ive also heard the horror stories, he said. People drive by homeless people and (hit) them with paint balls, with pellets, with BB guns, eggs, rocks.

And then there are the attacks that turn deadly.

Last year, two brothers were arrested in connection with the death of George Lowrey, a 50-year-old homeless man who was beaten near an encampment in Santee.

Lowreys wife found him lying bound and bloodied underneath a large piece of plywood on April 24, 2016. He was alive but unconscious, with his wrists and ankles tied with bungee cords, the wife said in court. He died at a hospital.

A Superior Court trial is set to begin later this month for Austin and Preston Mostrong, ages 22 and 21, who face murder charges stemming from Lowreys death. A third defendant, the elder brothers girlfriend, is accused of lying to, or withholding information from, investigators.

So far, no trial date has been set for Jon David Guerrero, who is accused of attacking a dozen people last year, killing four. Many of the victims were homeless men. Some had railroad spikes driven into the head or chest, and some were set on fire.

The assaults stretched from February 2016 until July of that year, when Guerrero was arrested.

Criminal proceedings in his case were put on hold this summer after a county psychiatrist determined he was mentally incompetent to stand trial. If his competency is restored, the case will resume.

Excluding the men Guerrero is accused of killing, the number of San Diego homicides involving homeless victims largely remained about the same for the last three years, said San Diego homicide Lt. Todd Griffin. At the chiefs request, he recently compiled the crimes for an informal report.

That was before the three September homicides.

Roy Jack Bonilla, 44 was fatally stabbed on Sept. 13 after arguing with another homeless man, police said. Officers made an arrest in the case.

Three days later, a sleeping homeless man was beaten with a skateboard in an unprovoked attack in North Park. And on Sept. 25, a man was killed and a woman was injured in City Heights after some type of a confrontation in a homeless encampment.

The numbers ebb and flow, Griffin said. We may not get another one for the rest of the year. It is hard to say.

Some police departments have created homeless outreach teams that focus on providing referrals to mental health, housing and other services. Police assigned to the teams try to build relationships and trust in the homeless community.

Even with that relationship, some victims are reluctant to tell officers everything they know about a crime. A homeless woman recently reported she was raped but declined to reveal the suspects name, said Chula Vista police Sgt. Frank Giaime.

They wont tell us who the person is because they have to live in this community, the sergeant said. It is hard for them to feel like they can do something about that and identify somebody. If they arent going to tell us, there isnt much we can do.

Homeless advocate Michael McConnell said he senses heightened tension on the streets these days as concerns grow over the Hepatitis A outbreak, which claimed the lives of 17 people. He said the citys recent crackdowns on sidewalk homeless encampments, and the ensuing arrests, could erode trust in law enforcement.

People are not going to be anxious to want any kind of help from someone who they view is terrorizing them, McConnell said.

San Diego police spokeswoman Lisa McKean disagreed. She said officers often take on differing roles in every community: One day they might ticket a person and the next theyll be called to assist the same person as a crime victim.

Part of our job as law enforcement is the enforcement portion, she said. We wear a variety of hats at all times, depending on the needs of our community.

karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com
When some two dozen militants massacred at least 305 people in the Sinai Peninsula on Friday, they were targeting the Sufi community that worshiped in the areas Rawda mosque.

Even though no group has claimed responsibility, Egyptian state news agency MENA said the attack appeared to have been carried out by Islamic State.

And it wouldnt be the first time.

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In Egypt and elsewhere, Sufis have often been singled out for particularly brutal treatment at the hands of the jihadis.

The question is, why?

Sufism, or tasawwuf, is an Islamic movement that utilizes prayer, asceticism, music and even dance to achieve a deeper understanding or knowledge of God. One of Sufisms most recognizable figures is the whirling dervish, whose rapid spinning, along with the repeated invoking of the name of Allah, allows them to attain a state of an ecstatic trance.

Practitioners of Sufism adhere to a tariqah (plural turuq), or path, where they divide into congregations that are instructed by a murshed (guide).

But Sufism is not a sect. According to William Chittick, author of Sufism: A Beginners Guide, it is an interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice.

There is disagreement over the etymology of the name: It is believed that the word Sufi comes from the Arabic word suf, meaning wool, a reference to the rough cloth Sufisms adherents would wear to show they shunned worldly extravagance. Others believe it comes from the word saf, or rank, to indicate they are in the first rank in their presence of Allah, or even from the Greek word sofia, meaning wisdom.

Whatever its meaning, Sufism has left its mark on Islamic literature, art, music and architecture. Millions in the U.S. have come to it through the verses of the 13th century Persian mystic and scholar Jalaluddin Rumi. The English translation of his work has even made an appearance in a song by Madonna.

Its mystics also reigned over Damascus and Baghdad, the one-time seats of power of the dynasties that ruled the Islamic Caliphate.

Egyptian children stand near a pile of footwear belonging to the victims of the attack that targeted the Rawda mosque. (AFP/Getty Images )

There are no reliable figures on their numbers worldwide, but the grand majority of Sufis adhere to Sunni Islam.

Sunni Islam is the biggest group of Muslims, comprising between 85%. and 90%. Nations with Sunni majorities include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, most other Arab nations and non-Arab Turkey and Afghanistan. Most Palestinian Muslims and most West African Muslims are Sunnis.

Shiite are the second-largest group of Muslims. Iran is the only nation with an overwhelming Shiite majority, and its government is run by clergy. Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain have large Shiite populations as well.

Sunnis and Shiites follow the same Koran and accept the same five pillars of Islam. The schism between Sunni and Shiite is historical and political, stemming from the early days of Islam and arguments over the Prophet Muhammads successors as caliph, the political leader of Muslims.

Sufism stands almost diametrically opposed to Salafism, the harsh  some would say puritanical  Sunni ideology thats espoused by Islamic State and Al Qaeda, and that dismisses Sufis as polytheists and apostates who are to be killed and regards their shrines as idolatrous.

That has made attacks on Sufis and their sites a matter of routine for jihadis.

In April 2011, suicide bombers killed some 41 Sufis who had gathered for a three-day festival at the Sakhi Sarwar shrine in Pakistan. A similar attack in February of this year killed 80.

More than a year later, Salafist Islamists bulldozed the shrine of Shaab al-Dahmani. In Mali, the Al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine group destroyed centuries-old tombs of Sufi clerics in Timbuktu.

It has been much the same in Egypt, where Islamists have reduced many Sufi shrines to rubble in the Sinai for years; this despite Al-Azhar, Sunni Islams top learning center, being led by a Sufi, and Sufis generally allying themselves with the government.

But the attacks have escalated under Islamic State. Not only has it stepped up the destruction of shrines, but a year ago it hunted down and beheaded Sulaiman Abu Hazar, a prominent Sufi cleric.

A few weeks later, in an interview with the groups weekly newspaper, Nabaa, the leader of Islamic States Hisbah service, said this was part of a campaign that had made combating shirk and bidaah (polytheism and heresy)  a reference to Sufism  Islamic States top focus.

He also complained of the Sufis close relationship to the Egyptian state as well as area security and intelligence services.

We say to all Sufis  we will not allow Sufi turuq in Sinai province specifically or Egypt generally, said the unnamed police chief. Know that to us you [Sufis] are polytheist infidels, and your blood for us is to be spilled and is unclean.

Bulos is a special correspondent.

Twitter: @nabihbulos
Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that it was important for the executive and judiciary to work together for New India.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched a veiled attack at judicial activism saying that it was time to introspect if government and judiciary were working as a unit to serve people.

Speaking on the occasion of the Constitution Day at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, PM Narendra Modi also raised the pitch for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. He said, the elections had become a costly affair for the country.

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He contended that frequent elections to state assemblies keep the nation in poll mode round the year affecting decision making. The country has had a good experience of conducting simultaneous elections but the practice was done away with due out internal weaknesses, Modi said.

PM Modi said that both judiciary and executive needed to work together in a manner to build New India."India is a young nation. To strengthen it, all the constitutional bodies will have to come together and work towards it," Modi said.

His comments assume significance in the view of rather direct attack by Union Minister Arun Jaitley, who warned the higher judiciary of the dangers of encroaching upon the functions and jurisdiction of other organs.

The prime minister stated that separation of powers is a fundamental concept of the Constitution, which could not be violated. He said, "The legislative should be free to frame laws, the executive should be free to take any action and the judiciary should be free to interpret the laws enacted by legislatures."

PM Modi said, "For 68 years, the Constitution worked to make us learn how to go ahead as a guardian. The Constitution kept the country on the path of democracy, stopped it from losing the direction...Government, judiciary, bureaucracy, we all are members of a family."

He said, "The Constitution Day is here with an important question. Are we maintaining the ethical limits that our guardian, our Constitution expects of us to maintain? Are we working as members of the same family to strengthen one another, to cooperate with each other?"

"These questions are not only before the judiciary or the people sitting in the government, but before the every pillar of the country on which crores of people have based their expectations," Modi said.

Modi said, "Unfortunately we have not been able to remove our internal weaknesses, so many years after independence. We need to think about it at all levels," adding, "If we think that coming generations will take all risks and work, then history will not forgive us. We will have to start working now. We may or may not be there but the system which will be brought here will stay."

Watch: On Constitution Day, PM Modi launches veiled attack on judiciary

--- ENDS ---

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Investigators are tying to figure out what caused an early Saturday morning fire that destroyed a carport and an SUV and damaged four apartments in Escondido.

No one was injured in the two-alarm blaze that lit up an alley between West Sixth and West Seventh avenues about 3:40 a.m.

One 911 caller said a vehicle was on fire. Police officers got there before firefighters and reported that flames had spread to the carport, Escondido fire Battalion Chief Mike Bertrand said.

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Police evacuated residents of the eight-unit apartment building off South Escondido Boulevard. The first fire crews asked for additional engines as flames spread to two apartments.

It took firefighters about 40 minutes to control the blaze, Bertrand said.

They found smoke damage to two apartments, besides the two damaged by fire. No damage estimate was given.

The Red Cross assisted residents displaced by the fire.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune

Twitter: @pdrepard
Its a name only a bureaucrat could love: Confined Spaces Entry Team.

Squad members call themselves something else: Tunnel Rats.

For the past seven years, theyve been going underground to locate, map and seal off the tunnels used by cartels to smuggle drugs from Mexico to San Diego and beyond.

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Theirs is a little-known part of the high-stakes hide-and-seek game that plays out daily along the border. While much of the attention, especially lately, has been focused on walls and what happens above ground, more than 80 tunnels have been found in California and Arizona since 2011.

Some have been almost 3,000 feet long and contain tracks for motorized carts, as well as lights, elevators and ventilation. One ended underneath a house in Calexico built just to provide cover for the tunnelers.

San Diego is a hotbed for a lot of this. Warehouses constructed close to the border in Otay Mesa and Tijuana provide camouflage: an out-of-view place for a tunnel to start and another for it to end.

Its also where the clay soil is especially good for this kind of thing  not as soft and collapse-likely as it is to the west, and not as rocky and hard as it is to the east.

This, said Lance LeNoir, gesturing at the warehouses and the ground between them, is what makes San Diego grand central for the long, sophisticated tunnels.

LeNoir is an operations officer for the Border Patrol. He heads the five-member Tunnel Rats, and he was standing one recent weekday morning near whats known in law-enforcement circles as the Galvez Tunnel.

Discovered in December 2009, it stretches 762 feet from a warehouse in Tijuana toward a warehouse on the U.S. side, just west of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

The tunnel is 6 feet tall by 4 feet wide, large by tunneling standards, and 100 feet below the surface in some spots, sloped to allow groundwater to flow out of the way.

The traffickers had been working on it for about 18 months and had not yet finished when it was discovered after a tip from an informant. A dozen people were arrested inside.

Now whats left of the tunnel, about 30 feet, is used for training by the Tunnel Rats. They practice rescues and test their equipment there.

Its where they take government officials and the media when they want to show the kind of subterranean activity they are up against.

During a recent visit, LeNoir was asked whether he believed, at that moment, someone somewhere was digging a tunnel.

Of course they are, he said. Of course.

A Nod to Vietnam

The Tunnel Rats borrow their name from the Vietnam War forces who went underground in search of enemy fighters, sometimes engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

They had it a lot tougher than we do, LeNoir said. We use the name in homage to them.

They wear T-shirts with Tunnel Rat on the back, above a drawing of a fierce-looking rodent carrying a gun in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Below the drawing is a Latin phrase, also from Vietnam, that translates into Not worth a rats a--.

Several of the team members are military veterans, although none is old enough to have served in Vietnam, and their uniforms resemble those worn by soldiers: camouflage pants, helmets, vests, guns.

Team members volunteer for the assignment, and to join they first have to crawl through a two-foot wide pipe for about 20 yards. That helps weed out agents who are claustrophobic and maybe dont know it, and it also gets them ready for what theyll face in the field.

Increasingly, the tunnels are getting narrower and shorter  quicker to build that way, and cheaper. One found last year was only 14 inches wide.

Getting inside the Galvez Tunnel is simple by comparison. Visitors climb down 70 feet of metal ladders, installed in a concrete shaft built after the underground smuggling route was discovered. It intersects the tunnel in a spot located between the primary and secondary border fences.

The air feels heavy at the bottom, and warm. Overhead lights illuminate the sides of the tunnel, which still bear the tool marks of those who built it.

Galvez gets its name from a street in Tijuana that runs next to the warehouse where the tunnel originated. Its considered sophisticated because of its length and some of the things found inside it.

But sophisticated is a relative term.

These tunnels wouldnt meet any mining or construction standards that we are familiar with, LeNoir said. If wood is found inside shoring up the walls and roof, its not because of a devotion to structural integrity, he said, but because a collapse happened while they were working and they had to fix it

When you see 2-by-4s attached to plywood with drywall screws, you know youre not looking at something thats been carefully engineered, he said.

Heres what team members sometimes call the tunnels: Holes in the ground at significant depth.

What does impress them, though, is the persistence of the tunnelers, who arent always there by choice, conscripted at gunpoint by the cartels. Impressed by the workload. (Multiple eight-hour shifts, sometimes all day, using power drills, picks and shovels. They eat and sleep on site.) Impressed by the dirt removal. (Its put it in sandbags and stored in the warehouses, or if theres an empty room, just piled there.)

Theyre willing to dig and dig and dig without really knowing where theyre going to end up, LeNoir said. You have to respect their imagination and their audacity.

Deja Vu

In our high-tech age, people sometimes think finding tunnels should be easy. Just stick motion-detectors in the ground, they say. Just use ground-penetrating radar.

Its not that simple. Many such devices are susceptible to interference from passing cars and trucks and from underground power lines. Theyre set off inadvertently by animals or the wind.

Still, the hunt for a silver bullet continues. The eight border wall prototypes recently built in Otay Mesa are being tested now for their ability to, among other things, deter tunneling. Each is supposed to include sensors that will detect someone approaching the wall or trying to breach it.

Until that kind of solution arrives, investigators usually find tunnels the old-fashioned way. They patrol the border. They talk to warehouse owners and occupants and ask them to report anything unusual or suspicious.

The Tunnel Rats are part of the Drug Tunnel Task Force, which also includes representatives from Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It was formed in 2003 as officials noticed that even though most drugs are driven across the border at ports of entry, hidden inside cargo trucks and other vehicles, tunnels were becoming a major player.

At the Calexico one  the first time traffickers are known to have purchased land and built a house on it to conceal a tunnel  agents found more than a ton of marijuana. That was a small find: Other tunnels have led them to caches of more than 20 tons.

Originally, the underground team was focused on smugglers who used existing storm drains and sewer systems to move people across the border illegally. As more and more cross-border tunnels were discovered  13 in the San Diego sector alone in 2006  the team began focusing on that. They developed skills in geology, air monitoring and emergency extractions.

After a tunnel is found and cleared of smugglers, the Tunnel Rats are called in to check it for evidence and map it. They make sure the air is safe and the ground stable, and then crawl in with tape measures, compasses and lasers.

Then concrete is poured into the tunnels at various places on the U.S. side  remediation that has cost the federal government about $10 million since 2007.

Team members said what they like most about the work is the variety. Every tunnel is different, several of them said.

Their work ebbs and flows from year to year. Through the end of August, seven tunnels  three operational and four not yet finished  had been discovered in the fiscal year that started Oct. 1, 2016, according to the Border Patrol. In the eights weeks so far this year: zero.

Over the past 10 years, the number of tunnels discovered has fluctuated between one and nine.

Sometimes the work has a feeling of deja vu. Officials on the Mexican side of the border dont always have the resources to seal tunnels there.

At least eight times in recent years, the Border Patrol says, newly discovered tunnels turned out to be old ones. The smugglers started in Mexico using what was already there and when they came to the concrete on the U.S. side, they dug around it.

Until they were found again, another round of hide-and-seek that shows no signs of ending.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com
The summer of 1989, a girl named Renuka touched down in Houston, Texas, a world away from everything she knew in India.

The 11-year-old girl had gotten a school scholarship to dance in the U.S., according to her visa paperwork.

But Renuka didnt dance.

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She was there for a different reason: indentured servitude.

It was a 24/7 job, running the household of an Indian family and caring for their two young children while the mother was studying to pass the bar exam and the father was working as an engineer, she said.

She was instructed to never open the door to anyone, and not to talk to the neighbors. Not that anyone would understand her. She didnt speak English.

It turned out to be a nightmare.

Decades later, Renuka Zellars, as she is now known, is finally ready to tell her story, and she is putting it in the hands of an unlikely storyteller: her own teenage daughter.

I need her story to be out there, said Tatiana Sallins, a 17-year-old senior at Academy of Our Lady of Peace in North Park. I need people to hear it, its always been under the covers, forced labor and sexual trafficking. I felt we needed to do something.

The documentary being filmed and produced by Tatianas multimedia class will tell of her mothers childhood of forced labor, her escape to Chula Vista and her transformation into a survivor and businesswoman.

Isolated

One of Zellars earliest memories is of a man whom she believes to be her father in a parking lot in Hyderabad, a large capital city in southern India. Money was exchanged, and she went to live with a very wealthy family.

The identity of her birth parents remains a mystery. She was told her mother died in childbirth and her father was poor. She doesnt know how much of it to believe.

When she reached a certain age, maybe 7, she was moved into the servant quarters and joined the familys domestic staff.

Cooking, cleaning and washing became the focus of her existence.

When one of the households older daughters married, moved to Houston and started a family of her own, it was decided that Zellars, then 11, would go there to care for the two babies. The Union-Tribune is not naming the woman because no criminal charges have been filed and the woman did not respond to emails seeking her side of the story.

Her passport included the names of her parents, but Zellars isnt sure where those names come from. The document also listed a school in India  even though she never attended school  and stated that shed be getting an education in the U.S. on a dance scholarship.

I was excited, Zellars recalled during a recent interview at her North Park condo. India was really hard. You were a servant for life and didnt go to school.

A stranger escorted Zellars to Houston.

The family already had a housekeeper, but a few days after Zellars arrival, the housekeeper never returned. Zellars now had the job.

I would be taking care of the little girls every day and cook and clean and never to open the door to anyone and not to talk to the neighbors, Zellars said she was instructed. The mother was rarely home as she attended law school and studied for the bar exam, and the father worked a full-time job.

Zellars slept on the floor of the little girls rooms, she said, and was responsible for attending to their every need.

She realized how isolated she was. She didnt speak English and didnt even have other servants to speak with as she did in India. She couldnt go to temple like she used to.

It was really getting to me. I was crying and I was asking God to help me, she said. She often clutched at the little figurine of the Hindu god Krishna that she had brought with her from India. The figurine now sits on her kitchen counter, a reminder of where shes been.

She watched American cartoons to learn a little English, and she began counting the days with grains of rice.

At one point she got up the nerve to ask the mother if she could attend school with one of the little girls, who was beginning preschool.

She says Im not there to go to school, Im there to take care of her two daughters and Im not to leave this house, Zellars recalled. I cant go back to India either.

A plan to run away began to form. Every time Zellars was alone in the home, she would hunt for her passport, eventually finding it buried in a clothing drawer.

One night, home alone, she decided it was time to go. Shed been there about six months.

I didnt think of any other stuff that would happen beyond the front door. All Im thinking of is opening the front door and leaving, and I walked out.

But uncertainty took hold and she began to cry. She found her way to a nearby park, sat and called out to her birth mom to take her back to India.

Then a savior appeared. Zellars doesnt know who the person was, but she ended up at a police station, surrounded by cops trying to figure out where this little girl came from. They knew one thing: her passport didnt add up and her visa had expired.

Then the woman she escaped from arrived to take her home, sending Zellars into a panic. The woman told the police that she was her sister and that Zellars ran away after not getting her way at home.

Finally, an Indian translator arrived. She put a scarf around Zellars, hugged her and asked her what was going on. After that, Zellars never had to return to the house again.

Then my new life started.

She was put into a group home in Houston while social services and immigration authorities decided what to do with her. A police investigation into child labor  if there ever was one  did not appear to go anywhere, Zellars said.

New life

After a few months in the group home, Zellars got word that there was a foster mom waiting for her in Chula Vista.

A social worker from Catholic Charities, which had a contract to take in children who had come into the country illegally, met Zellars at the San Diego airport. Their first stop was Kmart for some new clothes. Knowing she was vegetarian, the social worker had brought rice in the car for her first meal.

Barbara McGovern, a divorced teacher at Hilltop Elementary School, waited anxiously in the driveway to greet her new 12-year-old foster daughter.

She ended up being my foster mom, my adopted mom and my best friend, Zellars said.

They went to Souplantation for a celebratory meal.

She was shy, McGovern remembers. She spoke some English, not a lot.

The next morning, Zellars woke up at 6 a.m. and started cleaning the house. I told her to go back to bed, McGovern said. Shed been cleaning all her life.

Zellars seemed to adjust well to her new life, but school was difficult. She was so behind.

A tutor homeschooled her at first, focusing mostly on English. Then she began to attend classes at Hilltop, a teenager with third-graders. Later, she went to St. Pius X School, mingling with seventh- and eighth-graders but learning elementary curriculum. She did walk in an eighth-grade graduation, but with a special diploma.

She attended adult school but was drawn to work instead. At 16 she got a job at Furrs Cafeteria and worked there for four years.

The adoption process renewed the hunt for answers about Zellars origins. Letters were sent to the family she worked for in Houston and India, asking for help identifying her birth parents.

McGovern said a few letters from India purported to be from Zellars family, saying she was missed and needed to come home to India. But McGovern said it seemed to be a ruse. A classified ad was taken out in a Hyderabad newspaper asking for information on Zellars parents, and when no one responded, the adoption went through. Zellars was 16.

Years later, when Zellars gave birth to her only daughter, Tatiana, she got the opportunity to care for an elderly woman  a job she could bring her newborn to. It started a long career of caring for seniors, a business she still runs.

She ended up marrying one of her clients, a World War II veteran who passed away nine months later. She has kept his last name.

Documentary

Growing up, Tatiana knew the basics of her moms story. And she saw how its shaped her mom  the intense focus she put on Tatianas education and the constant drive to work. Since Tatiana and her classmates at Pilot Productions, the school TV station, began prying deeper, shes gained a whole new understanding.

The class, led by teacher Gilberto Moreno, voted on her moms story as the perfect documentary project for the semester. The film, about 15 to 20 minutes long, will include interviews with experts and statistics on human trafficking. They hope to complete the project next month.

The project has also had an unintended consequence: Its been connecting Zellars to San Diegos human trafficking advocacy community and empowering her to speak up.

Last month, she shared her story at a forum held at her church. In the future, she hopes a home she owns in Chula Vista can be used as an emergency shelter for trafficking victims, a resource severely lacking in San Diego County.

My personal story is surviving.  Coming to America and surviving and making it, Zellars said.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
In todays Back Story, feature writer John Wilkens talks about his article on the Border Patrols Tunnel Rats.

Q: Do they really liken themselves to rats?

A: Cue the rodent jokes, eh? The term Tunnel Rats is considered by them to be a badge of honor. Its a tribute to the American soldiers who went underground during the Vietnam War in search of enemy troops.

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The Border Patrol agents quickly acknowledge that they arent doing any hand-to-hand combat, but its still risky work, navigating in tight spaces of dubious soil stability and air quality, alert to possible attacks by smugglers both above and below ground.

The agents poke a little fun at themselves with T-shirts that have a drawing of a gun-toting rat and a Latin phrase, also with ties to Vietnam, that means Not worth a rats a--.

Q: Why did you decide to write about them?

A: Cross-border tunnels show up in the news fairly often. More than 180 of them, some to smuggle drugs and some to smuggle people, have been documented along the southwestern U.S. border with Mexico since 1990.

Theyve become romanticized in the publics mind in part because of their connection to notorious Mexican cartel leaders like Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, who used tunnels both to move drugs and to escape from prison.

But little attention has been paid to the five-member team of Tunnel Rats, who help find the passageways and then go in to search, map and remediate them.

Q: Remediate them?

A: Bureaucracy-speak for pouring concrete into the tunnels so they cant be used any more.

Q: You went into one of the tunnels during your reporting. What was that like?

A: Dark, damp and a little unsettling.

Another part of the public image about these tunnels is that they are engineering marvels. The word sophisticated gets used a lot. One guy involved in building them in Mexico was even known as The Engineer.

But Lance LeNoir, the head of the tunnel team, dismisses a lot of that as hyperbole. Nobodys following mining rules or OSHA standards here, he points out.

So even though the tunnel we went into is considered sturdy and safe, its still something dug mostly by hand, by people who may or may not have known what they were doing.

Helmets and safety harnesses were mandatory. Nobody complained.

Q: Whats likely to happen to the Tunnel Rats if President Trumps long-promised border wall gets built?

A: Thats unclear. The wall prototypes recently constructed in Otay Mesa are being tested for their effectiveness in stopping tunnels. But previous walls havent been much of a deterrent. Otay Mesa is one of the busiest areas for tunnels, and it has not just one border fence but two. And still they dig. There seems to be no end to the smugglers ability to improvise.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com
More than 180 tunnel attempts have been documented since May 1990 along the southwestern U.S. border with Mexico. Here are ten recent ones:

March 23, 2016: Authorities find a 415-foot tunnel connecting a restaurant in Mexicali to a house in Calexico. They arrest four people and seize more than a ton of marijuana.

Oct. 21, 2015: Authorities arrest 22 people and seize 22 tons of marijuana in connection with a tunnel that ran from a warehouse in Tijuana to one on Otay Center Drive in San Diego.

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April 25, 2015: Border Patrol agents catch four men carrying 69 pounds of methamphetamine trying to cross the All American Canal near Calexico and are led to a 230-foot long tunnel.

April 1 and 3, 2014: Two smuggling tunnels equipped with rail systems and lighting are found connecting warehouses in Tijuana and Otay Mesa.

Nov. 29, 2011: Authorities find a tunnel inside an Otay Mesa warehouse that has a rail system, ventilation and elevator.

Nov. 15, 2011: More than 20 tons of marijuana are seized after a tunnel is found that stretched from a warehouse just east of the Tijuana airport to a warehouse on Kerns Street in Otay Mesa.

Nov 25, 2010: Eight people are arrested and more than 20 tons of marijuana confiscated after a 2,200-foot-long tunnel is found in Otay Mesa.

Nov. 2, 2010: Federal agents find an 1,800-foot-long tunnel in Otay Mesa thats equipped with lighting, ventilation and a crude rail system.

Dec. 2, 2009: Acting on a tip, authorities find an unfinished tunnel, almost 800 feet long, that started in a Tijuana warehous and had an elevator, lighting and a rail system.

Sept. 1, 2008: Mexican agents arrest eight people working on a 434-foot tunnel in the Colonia Nueva neighborhood in Mexicali. It has an elevator, ventilation and lighting and was 130 feet from the U.S. border.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com
Re Why NAFTA talks should address Tijuana River pollution (Nov. 17): Jon Jacobson deserves commendation for his well-written description of the complex problem regarding the torrent of Mexican sewage fouling South County communities and why solutions to the problem should be part of NAFTA talks.

At an Aug. 16 press conference with Mayor Faulconer, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and Mexican officials, I called for making the sewage problem part of the high-level NAFTA discussions. I communicated that directly to our Congressional delegation, the White House and relevant federal agencies.

Whether through cooperation or litigation, the International Boundary & Water Commission will have to step up and fund projects like a diverter system and capture basin on this side of the border. The $10 million in the Senate Department of the Interior appropriations bill designated for wastewater facilities on the U.S.-Mexico border is a good start. Ultimately, the real solution is on the Mexican side of the border. The U.S. and Mexico must once and for all fund and fix this problem.

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Greg Cox

Supervisor, First District

Letters and commentary policy

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Re Painful echoes of todays sexual harassment cases (Nov. 19): Can we please take a step back here and all agree that were experiencing the most degrading example of democracy in the history of our country?

Im exhausted observing pundits quarreling about whos more guilty of sex crimes, Roy Moore, Al Franken or Donald Trump. Any human being with a diminished inkling of morality knows theyre all guilty.

Im flabbergasted that Trumps election squad have all denied any knowledge of Russian mingling but then have had to return to the public arena to defend the lies they committed under oath.

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Im sick of Trump declaring 100 percent success for anything and everything only to have our fake news find proof otherwise (see Puerto Rico relief, Keystone Pipeline leak, tax relief for middle class).

After Trumps latest tweets dissing Frankenstien (sic), the elephant in the room is not one of Donald Jr.s trophies from Zimbabwe, but the growing cloud of suspicion from the women who accuse him of groping and kissing them.

Steve Blumenschein

Clairemont

Re Franken apologizes after accusation he kissed, groped woman (Nov. 17): Was it actually necessary to invest almost one full page of print to dredge up something 11 years ago?

Frankly, I feel quite sure that if anyone delved into any member of Congress/business/government, he could find a lot of skeletons buried in the past 11 years.

To dredge up something on a man who wasnt even elected to Congress was just plain tacky. I have a hunch it was sort of retaliation for the Roy Moore scandal, but, frankly, after hearing polls from Alabama residents stating I would rather vote for a pedophile than a Democrat, those people get exactly what they deserve. So much for the intelligence of the American voter. No surprise we have a groper in the White House.

Cara Lou Wicks

Oceanside

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
Nearly 14 years after Stephanie Crowe was stabbed to death inher Escondido bedroom, her family agreed to a $7.25 millionsettlement with the cities of Escondido and Oceanside for what oneappeals court called psychologically abusive interrogations ofthe slain childs then-teenage brother.

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There is a degree of vindication, said brother Michael Crowe,now 28 and a first-time expectant father.

The settlement, announced Friday morning, draws to a close afederal civil rights lawsuit related to a slaying investigationthat grabbed national headlines ---- even spawning a made-for-TVmovie ---- and split community opinion about just who killed the12-year-old honors student in her Escondido home in January1998.

We are done, just done, Stephanies mother, Cheryl Crowe, saidFriday. No amount of money will make them see their errors.

An Escondido police spokesman as well as an Escondido deputycity attorney handling the case did not immediately respond torequests for comment.

The municipalities are the final defendants to reach asettlement with the Crowe family, which has long maintained it wasvictimized ---- and Michael mentally brutalized ---- by police soeager to make an arrest that they wrongly zeroed in on threeinnocent teenagers instead of a more likely suspect: a mentally illtransient who bizarrely approached their neighbors moments beforethe child was attacked.

With just 10 days until the trial started, the Crowes agreed toa settlement to be split with their longtime attorney MiltSilverman and then among family members. After years of fighting,fatigue took its toll, as did the familys excitement at a baby onthe way.

We wanted to go to trial so bad, Cheryl Crowe said. The caseis the strongest it has ever been, but we dont want to go anymore.We are just tired and we dont trust what could happen. We dontwant to spend another 10 years of our lives with that garbage. ...Im turning my thoughts to the new baby.

Crowe family attorney Silverman said insurer AIG will pay thesettlement; no taxpayer money will be used.

My clients are happy, Silverman said. They thanked the courtsfor giving them justice.

Even though the settlement means the civil rights portion of thecase is over, the matter of just who killed Stephanie remains verymuch alive in the criminal courts. The mentally ill transientconvicted of sneaking into the home and killing the child was justthis year granted a new trial. The courts are still weighing legalmatters in that criminal case.

Stephanies brother, Michael Crowe, was 14 when police suspectedhe and his high school freshman friends killed his popular youngersister, stabbing her to death in her bed. After hours ofinterrogations, the three teens made damning statements; one ofthem even made an outright confession. But in the years after theslaying, judges in both criminal and civil courts came to determinethat the statements had been coerced by police.

The teens lengthy interrogations were at the center of thecivil rights suit the family brought against Escondido police andothers, including an Oceanside police detective called in to assistduring the questioning.

A federal trial judge in San Diego dismissed the bulk of thecivil rights suit in 2004. But six years later, the 9th CircuitCourt of Appeals revived the lawsuit, finding that Escondido policeviolated the civil rights of Crowe and his friends during hours ofgrueling, psychologically abusive interrogations.

The federal appeals court found that Crowe and his friendsendured psychological torture during police questioning. Theresult was coerced confessions that led to murder charges against"innocent teenagers for a crime they did not commit, the appealscourt found.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Escondidos request that itreview the appeals court findings.

The settlements with a number of defendants followed.

Cheryl Crowe credited Silvermans tenacity in keeping alive adifficult and complex case that he had taken on contingency morethan a decade ago.

Without Milt, we would never have had a voice inside thecourt, she said. He was ready to retire when he took this case.But he kept a promise to my mom that he would see this case to theend.

Cheryl Crowes mother, Judith Kennedy, died in 2001. It was shewho found her granddaughters lifeless body.

Although Escondido police originally suspected Michael Crowe andhis teenage buddies, DNA evidence linked a mentally ill transientto the childs slaying. The case was moved from Escondido police toa cold case detective with the San Diego County SheriffsDepartments homicide unit.

In 2004, the transient, Richard Tuite, now 42, was convicted ofvoluntary manslaughter for sneaking into the Crowe home and killingthe girl while her family slept.

But earlier this year, a federal appeals court overturnedTuites conviction, finding that the jury should have heard moreabout the backgrounds of dueling crime scene analysts who offeredopposing theories of the slaying.

State prosecutors have asked the federal courts to reconsiderthe decision to overturn Tuites conviction. As of Friday, with thecourts still weighing the criminal case, Tuite ---- who hasschizophrenia ---- remained in custody at the California MedicalFacility, a psychiatric institution for the states maleprisoners.

Cheryl Crowe said it scares her that Tuites conviction wasoverturned, and she worries about public safety once he isreleased.

The thought of Richard Tuite hurting another child is verytroubling to me, she said.

Michael Crowe said he agreed to the settlement even thoughEscondido police do not accept liability for wrongdoing.

There is not any price that would make what they did right, hesaid when reached at his home in Oregon. But in the end, the pricewas just fair enough for us to accept. ... Its unfortunate, but wecame to realize that the police would never admit they were wrong.And that is unfortunate for everyone who lives in that city.

Cheryl Crowe, who has also relocated to Oregon, said onesettlement item was non-negotiable: The amount of the settlementhad to be made public.

We refused to settle if it remained confidential, Cheryl Crowesaid. We said, No, that is not acceptable. They know they didsomething wrong.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has given San Diego State University a four-year grant worth more than $6 million to fight childhood obesity.

SDSU is one of four universities nationwide to receive such grants as part of the centers Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project.

SDSUs efforts will focus on Imperial County, which has a childhood obesity rate of 39 percent, the highest in California. (The statewide rate is 28 percent.)

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SDSUs Institute for Behavioral and Community Health will lead the effort, working with the Imperial County Public Health Department and Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo Inc.

The project will build on current research and community efforts in the region to encourage healthy eating and active lifestyles for children.

Childhood obesity is the most prevalent chronic health condition among youth, and Latino children are at particularly high risk because of a number of factors, Guadalupe X. Suchi Ayala, a professor in SDSUs Graduate School of Public Health and the projects lead researcher, said in a prepared statement.

The grant is the largest SDSU has ever received from the CDC.

SDSU has a strong reputation in research related to childhood obesity and Latino health, Marilyn Newhoff, dean of SDSUs College of Health and Human Services, said in a prepared statement. This grant will allow us to take the body of research that has been conducted by those in the health promotion division of the Graduate School of Public Health and apply it in a comprehensive way to a population that is very much in need.

Approximately 1,500 children ages 2 through 10 will participate in the study, which will involve interaction with them at restaurants, grocery stores, schools, parks and recreation centers and day care centers.

More information about the Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project is available at https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/researchproject.html
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) Driven by overseas travel and studies, outbound forex remittances from the country has soared almost eight times since the Reserve Bank hiked the cap 10 times in June 2015.

It can be recalled that the Reserve Bank has been steadily increasing outward overseas remittances under the liberalised remittances scheme (LRS) facility. The latest revision was in June 2015, when it increased the quantum by 10 times to USD 2,50,000 a year.

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"From a modest USD 140.7 million in June 2015, the outgo through the LRS has soared to USD 1.09 billion in September 2017 which is a growth of close to eight times," according to a report by InstaRem, a leader in digital cross-border payments in Southeast Asia.

On the other hand, the total outbound remittances soared to a record USD 4.6 billion in 2016, up from USD 1.6 billion in 2015, which is a growth of over 250 per cent, says the report quoting industry data.

This massive spurt is driven by foreign travel constituting almost a third of the total spend with a 31.43 per cent share, followed by forex expenses towards maintenance of close relatives outside that takes in 26.55 per cent share and overseas studies constituting 18.8 per cent of this outbound forex expenses, says the report.

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the total expenditure on outbound travel from the country is projected to cross Rs 1.60 trillion by 2024.

Since the new LRS, there was a massive spike in the outflow.

"Parents who have sent their wards abroad for studies are the single largest users of the LRS, using this window both to pay the fees as well as to regularly meet their living expenses," says the report.

Another growing area for outward remittances is to snap up overseas property. Indians bought property worth USD 23.5 million in the first five months of 2017-18.

For investors, the LRS has meant a chance to buy up a piece of luxe property in London or New York or Dubai.

"The LRS has given Indians the freedom to put their money to work anywhere in the world. The LRS data shows a 250 per cent rise in money sent overseas between 2015 and 2016 and the upward trend continues.

"Strengthening of the rupee against several global currencies including the greenback has made investments in overseas homes more affordable than earlier."

The Singapore-based InstaRem was founded in 2014, and has operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, Lithuania, India and Malaysia and powers local payments to over 60 countries across the globe.

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InstaRem has received the Reserve Bank approval to begin India-outbound money transfers and it hopes to start operations next month itself. PTI BEN NRB BAS

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By India Today Web Desk: The noise around Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati, starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, has reached a deafening level now. While protests are raging against the film in different states, more from Bollywood are coming out to support the historical drama. Many celebrities like Shabana Azmi, Hansal Mehta, and Twinkle Khanna have voiced their solidarity with Bhansali.

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And today, The Indian Films and TV Directors' Association (IFTDA), along with 20 other bodies of the film and television industry, are planning a 15-minute blackout in support of the film and "to protect the right to freedom of expression of creative individuals".

Award-winning director and MP, Shyam Benegal condemns the violent threats issued to the Padmavati team. In an interview to the Indian Express he said, "Threats have reached alarming levels at present. We have seen individuals offering bounties of Rs 5 crore and more for killing or mutilating actors and the director of Padmavati. These threats have been issued publicly on TV and other mass media. Such threats are unheard of in a democracy. Are threats of mutilation and death allowed to be made without rebuke. Will the government remain a mute spectator?"

He was also distressed by the passive response from the government. "This is a shocking state of affairs. The government has an obligation. They must give protection to anyone who is threatened in this manner. Also, it is the job of the government to stop threats of this nature being made. I am surprised that the government has taken no action or even made any offer to protect those who are being threatened. Instead, we have people from the ruling party endorsing the threats," he said.

He emphatically said that fictionalising history is a wonderful idea. "Not a bad idea at all. History offers wonderful subject matter for fictional rendition - adventure, romance, melodrama, tragedy, etc. Also, characters from history are larger than life, which makes them very attractive," he added.

Padmavati has been in the lion's den ever since fringe groups like the Shri Raput Karni assumed that there is a romantic dream sequence between Turkish invader Alauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh) and Rani Padmini (Deepika Padukone).

The film has been pushed indefinitely from its December 1 release.

ALSO WATCH: Padmavati row: Karni Sena threatens to behead Sanjay Leela Bhansali, chop off Deepika's nose

--- ENDS ---

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By PTI: (Eds: Adding a quote of Rijiju)

Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) Union minister Kiren Rijiju today said India had adopted a "zero-tolerance policy" towards terrorism and lamented that neighbour Pakistan was not doing enough to control the growth of terror on its soil.

"The government has made it clear on various international platforms that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism," he said at a function here to commemorate the supreme sacrifices made by the security personnel during the Mumbai terror attack nine years ago.

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On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists reached Mumbai via the sea route and opened indiscriminate fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores of rupees.

"India has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism. I do not want to go into its details but the outline is clear," Rijiju said.

Asked about the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the Union Minister of State for Home said, "It is a matter of concern for us. We have been putting pressure on Pakistan in a bilateral way as well as through multilateral forums."

Saeed is also the founder of terror outfit Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT). The UN and US designated terrorist, who has a USD 10 million American bounty on his head, was freed by Pakistan on Friday.

Rijiju said, "On various international forums, we are making it absolutely clear that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorism and it is not doing enough to contain the growth of terrorism on its soil. They must do much more than what they had said."

Asked about the neighbouring country being reluctant to cooperate in the Pathankot terror attack probe, the BJP leader said, "Our stand is clear and efforts are going on. I cannot disclose certain aspects of the attack or our efforts."

In January 2016, terrorists had sneaked into an Indian Air Force base in Punjabs Pathankot. The attack had claimed the lives of seven security personnel, while four terrorists were killed.

Rijiju said the coastal borders of India were much more secure now.

"We have taken a series of measures to secure the coastal borders. We have adopted a series of integrated coastal security schemes which are effective," he added.

Addressing a function in the evening at the Bombay Gymkhana in south Mumbai, Rijiju said, "Our government has a zero tolerance policy towards terrorism and the entire global community should come together to fight this menace. We will always remain committed towards securing the country." PTI ND GK AVI NSK SMN

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Islamist hardliners in Pakistan are protesting against the country's law minister, Zahid Hamid, for omitting a reference to Prophet Mohammad in a new version of the electoral oath.

By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan's law minister Zahid Hamid today stepped down from his post after anti-blasphemy protests broke out on Saturday- that have claimed six lives and injured several others.

Hamid reportedly met Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and thereby decided to quit as the law minister of the country.

Meanwhile, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party leader has called for a nationwide strike today to agitate against, what he called as, the atrocities committed by the police on Saturday.

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Over 3,000 protesters gathered on Sunday at the Faizabad intersection, the sit-in's epicenter, which links the capital Islamabad with the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Some, angry over the police's show of force the previous day, torched a car, three motorcycles and a guard post erected near the rally site. No casualties were reported.

Several supporters of Islamist party, to show there solidarity towards the protestors in Islamabad, were seen staging sit-in protests and blocking roads for a second day on Sunday in cities of Karachi, Lahore and Multan.

Islamist hardliners in Pakistan are protesting against the country's law minister, Zahid Hamid, for omitting a reference to Prophet Mohammad in a new version of the electoral oath

(With inputs from IANS and The Associated Press)

Watch: Pakistan law minister resigns

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Indian security forces have received inputs that very soon mastermind of 26/11 attacks Hafiz Saeed would be in PoK to push terrorists in the Kashmir valley and motivate them to attack.

By Manjeet Negi: Indian security forces have received inputs that very soon mastermind of 26/11 attacks Hafiz Saeed would be in PoK to push terrorists into India in view of the frequent elimination of terrorists' commanders in the Kashmir valley. Top government sources said one of the main reasons to release Saeed from jail by Pakistan has been to rejuvenate terrorism in the Kashmir valley.

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"Though he has been active in jail as well but now he will be sent to forward areas in PoK to motivate the terrorists sitting in launch pads to carry out attacks on security forces.

Saeed was in jail for almost eight months but was released from jail last week as the Pakistani authorities didn't produce any evidence in jail against him after which the Pakistani court released him.

"Terrorists groups in Kashmir are facing very difficult times as 202 of them have been killed already including 25 commanders and are faced with leadership crisis," they said.

In 2017, the number of attacks being carried out by the terrorists on the security forces has come down drastically since the troops are now going out for search and destroy operations as could been seen from the recent mission of the army and IAF special forces, Garud, in the Hajin area of Bandipora district where they went to terrorists' hideout and killed them.

The operation took place on Saturday in which one Garud commando, Corporal JP Nirala, lost his life and six terrorists from Pakistan were eliminated by the troops.

Despite the ongoing dialogue process, the Centre would ensure that the pressure on terrorists would continue and they have been clearly told to maintain the tempo of their actions.

About the role of Pakistan in J&K, the sources said infiltration attempts were at an all-time high with 291 bids by jihadis to sneak in along the LoC till September 30 against the 165 attempts in the corresponding period last year.

The push from Pakistan is far greater than ever as they are getting frustrated in their attempts to change the atmosphere in the Valley which was visited by around 12 lakh domestic tourists this year.

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Press Release

November 26, 2017 De Lima overjoyed at Pope Francis' gift Senator Leila M. de Lima has expressed jubilation at what she described as a "beautiful rosary" sent to her by Pope Francis. This she shared during today's Mass at the PNP Custodial Center attended by family members, friends and supporters. In a handwritten letter she sent ahead of her birthday last August, De Lima requested Pope Francis for prayers for herself and the Filipino people, especially for the thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings in the country. "I cannot thank Pope Francis enough for his thoughtfulness. I'm deeply, deeply touched by the Pope's gesture. This gift will constantly remind me that, despite the political persecution I am experiencing right now at the hands of a vengeful President. I should keep the faith and fight tirelessly for the welfare of the Filipino people," she said. De Lima told the group that last Nov. 22, the Philippine National Police (PNP) Chaplain personally paid a visit to De Lima and handed to her the rosary from Pope Francis, which was coursed through the Papal Nuncio. "Last Nov. 22, the PNP Chaplain personally handed to me a beautiful rosary from Pope Francis as well as the latter's message coursed through the Papal Nuncio," she narrated. "According to the Chaplain, Pope Francis was able to read my letter and assured that he is praying for me," she added. In her letter to Pope Francis, she asked the Pontiff to offer a prayer for her and her beloved countrymen who are suffering from abuses and injustices since Duterte launched his government's all-out war on drugs. "Papa Francesco, if I may be granted one wish, I hope that you will say a prayer for me and the Filipino people. Please bless me so I can have the strength to continue the fight against the injustice that is happening not only to me, but to thousands of Filipinos who are victims of extrajudicial killing," she said in her letter. The Senator from Bicol also asked for the Pope's blessing to give her strength in relentlessly standing up against the state-led abuses. "I do not know when I will regain my freedom. Only faith sustains me through this nightmare. Please include me and the Philippines in your prayers," she added. Since her unjust arrest and unfair detention, De Lima said she has become more prayerful with the guidance of her spiritual advisers. She reads the Bible daily and attends Sunday masses with family and friends within the detention facility. The third Pontiff to grace the Philippines, Pope Francis last visited the country in January 2015 as part of his effort to see the victims of Typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda, which devastated the country in 2013. The full text of De Lima's message to Pope Francis in English, dated 15 August 2017, is as follows: Dear Papa Francesco, I am Leila de Lima, a senator from the Philippines and a political prisoner who has been incarcerated for the past 173 days, by President Rodrigo Duterte. The international community has been appalled by the brazen violation of human rights since Duterte waged his war on drugs. This August 27, I will turn 58 years old. Life's journey has had its ups and downs, but I never imagined that my birthday would be spent inside a jail. Papa Francesco, if I may be granted one wish, I hope that you will say a prayer for me and the Filipino people. Please bless me so I can have the strength to continue the fight against the injustice that is happening not only to me, but to thousands of Filipinos who are victims of extra judicial killing. I do not know when I will regain my freedom. Only Faith sustains me through this nightmare. Please include me and the Philippines in your prayers. God bless you Papa. My heartfelt thanks, Leila M. de Lima
Despite years of targeted programs, San Francisco district schools have failed to close an achievement gap in which black students lag behind their peers and fall short of state learning standards.

The gap has persisted for a quarter century, even as scores across all ethnic subgroups have risen, according to a report to the school board by Superintendent Vincent Matthews. As educators prepare to implement new fixes, the San Francisco NAACP is calling for the district to declare a state of emergency.

Matthews, the second black schools superintendent in San Francisco history, underlined one sentence in his report that critics say sounds all too familiar: The district needs to develop specific strategies to address the outcomes for African American students.

Seventy-four percent of black students did not meet 2016-17 state assessment standards in at least one subject area, Matthews noted. Similarly, 61 percent of Latino students and 65 percent of Pacific Islander students did not meet those standards.

Yet San Francisco boasts one of the highest-scoring urban districts in the state. The city was the only urban district where more than half the students were proficient in both math and English in the most recent standardized tests, school officials have pointed out.

Thats because of higher-scoring peers of African American students. Only 14.6 percent of whites and 16 percent of Asian Americans failed to meet standards in one subject area, Matthews noted.

Why the focus on African American students? the superintendent said. African American students have the largest achievement gap district-wide between schools and within schools. The gap has been persistent in the last 25 years.

The push to close the divide has endured, too. It goes back to the 1970s, when the San Francisco NAACP sued the school district for alleged discriminatory practices and purposeful segregation. The result was a 1983 federal consent decree that capped enrollment at no more than 45 percent of one race at any San Francisco public school as a part of a desegregation plan.

As the population of Chinese American students grew, their parents sued the school district in the mid-1990s, arguing the decree prevented their children from enrolling in the school of their choice. That led to renegotiation of the decree in 2001 that eliminated the districts consideration of race in school assignments. Court supervision over the policies ended in 2005.

With the district back in charge of school assignments, it has given preference to school choice for those who live in census tracts where the student population has the lowest test scores  a method that has not effectively diversified schools.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

The newest call for action came at the Nov. 14 school board meeting at which Matthews presented his report. San Francisco NAACP President Amos Brown told the board that it should declare a state of emergency, a largely symbolic gesture intended to bring attention to the issue.

Its not that the children are failing, Brown said. We are failing. This board is failing. This city government is failing. And you have professionals in the school district who have woefully failed when it comes to respecting the worth and the dignity of African American students.

Now its time for us to fess up and show some fruits of repentance, Brown said. And at the top of the list: Declare a state of emergency.

The school district has tried several strategies in recent years to improve African American students achievement. In 2013, it created the African American Achievement and Leadership Initiative, run by education officials who recommend ways to eliminate inequity in the school system.

One of their initiatives was the African American Male Achievement Program, which was started in 2016. As part of the program, male African American educators work with black students in elective classes to foster a positive sense of purpose in their roles as valuable family and community members.

At the start of 2015, the district tapped Landon Dickey, a Lowell High School and Harvard Business School graduate, to lead the African American Achievement and Leadership Initiative. His annual salary was $100,898 in 2016.

Dickey was charged, in part, with implementing My Brothers Keeper, a mentoring program for young people of color that was started by former President Barack Obama.

Everyone understands the magnitude of this situation, said school board President Shamann Walton.

African Americans accounted for only 7 percent of the districts student population of 55,613 in 2016-17, compared with 16 percent in 1998-99. The declining numbers reflect the exodus of African Americans from the city, where the black population has dwindled to under 6 percent.

But African Americans have recently had stronger representation in the districts leadership. Matthews was hired in April. Two of the seven school board members  Walton and Stevon Cook  are black.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Matthews said systemic barriers to equity in district schools help explain the African American performance gap. He cited research from Sean Reardon, a professor of poverty and inequality in education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, that concluded, The greatest predictor of the black-white achievement gap is the disparity in poverty rates at black and white students schools.

Matthews said racial inequities exist in other areas. Overall, 1.8 percent of students were suspended last year, but among African Americans the total was 9 percent. Seventy-one percent of eligible African American students graduated, compared with 94.7 percent of Asian American students and 83.8 percent of whites.

Some ways to combat the equity gap, Matthews said, include changing the culture at campuses. Teachers may develop unconscious stereotypes of black youths that lead to disproportionate disciplinary action and lowered expectations for African Americans, the superintendent said.

And responsibility for black youths does not lie with schools alone, said Matthews, who stressed the importance of programs that help families and school officials collaborate on addressing students needs.

Underserved schools  those in neighborhoods with large concentrations of minorities and a history of failing to serve these students  also need more experienced and diverse leaders, the superintendent said. At those schools, the average teacher has less than six years of experience. District-wide, the average is 12 years, Matthews said.

Several parents and community leaders attended the meeting at which Matthews gave his report and urged the school board to act.

Robvina Parker, a parent leader at Innovate Public Schools, a pro-charter nonprofit, said she sent three of her four children to public schools but opted to send her last child to a charter school because of struggles I had with the district to recognize that my daughter needed a different choice.

Im standing with hundreds of other parents who are tired of the achievement gap, said Parker, who is African American. Im pleading with you to take some immediate action to close these achievement gaps.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) The delayed delivery of Pratt & Whitney engine-powered Airbus A320 Neo planes along with regulatory approvals has affected GoAirs plans for international operations, which are expected to commence only early next year, an airline source said.

The Wadia group-promoted budget airline had received governments nod to go overseas in August last year with approvals to fly to nine international markets - China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Maldives and Qatar.

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"The whole thing is delayed because of the delay in deliveries of aircraft due to Pratt and Whitney (P&W) engine challenges," a senior official of the airline told PTI.

He was, however, quick to add that they are "now getting a whole lot of deliveries and the P&W engine issues have also been sorted out."

The Mumbai-based airline had last week announced the induction of four A320s in its fleet, which has now grown to 31 aircraft.

GoAir was aiming to have 37 planes in operations by the fiscal-end, the airlines chief executive officer, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said earlier this year.

Significantly, GoAirs managing director Jeh Wadia had in August said that his airline "plans to start overseas operations from October."

Maintaining that everything is now back on track, a senior official of the airline today said, "Hopefully, we should be able to commence overseas flights by the first quarter of next year."

GoAirs spokesperson was not available for comments.

The city-based airline, which is one of the two domestic operators along with IndiGo flying A320 Neo (new engine option) planes with P&W engines, had to ground at least a dozen of these planes due to the frequent engine troubles.

However, P&W provided them last month 20 new engines, which helped the two airlines to make these planes air worthy.

"We are working on our international operations but then it also depends on how things fall in place because various permissions and approvals are yet to come through," the official said.

"As soon as possible we want to start it, subject to al the approvals. We will definitely start (operations) in winters some time," he said.

Without sharing the specific details of the schedule, the official said that Doha, Phuket and Male are the likely destinations to begin with, adding that "a final call on the inaugural route is expected to be finalised soon."

The official also said that the airline has already appointed its general sales agents (GSAs) in all the markets it plans to fly, who are being activated now.

GoAir, which started domestic operations about 12 years ago, currently flies to 24 cities across regions from its Mumbai hub. PTI IAS RAM GK BAS

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As a fearless news service embedded in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, the San Francisco nonprofit Pacific News Service had a chickens eye view of the stories it covered.

Executive Editor Sandy Close explained that the best reporting isnt captured from the lofty perch or soaring viewpoint of an eagle. It often involves discomfort, being a direct witness and kicking up a little dust.

We were able to be ahead of the curve, Close said, not because we had come out of (the mainstream), but because we were 2 feet off the ground.

Now, after growing too fast and accumulating too much debt, Pacific News Service and its subsidiary, New America Media, will close Thursday. It will end nearly a half century of tenacious coverage, with a mission that started in Indochina but expanded to include unrest in Central America and immigration in California, and above all an increasing focus on producing youth media and news about underrepresented cultures.

All of those things will be part of the legacy. But the biggest vacuum it leaves may be with the young voices New America Media amplified.

Led by Close and her husband, Franz Schurmann, who died in 2010, New America Media created newspapers in juvenile halls, covered violence surrounding drug epidemics from the streets, united media from diverse ethnicities and mentored fledgling journalists who paid it forward.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

Malcolm Marshall, editor and publisher of the Richmond Pulse, met Schurmann and Close when he was a teen in the late 1980s. Close approached Marshall after listening to his public affairs radio show on urban/R&B station KSOL.

Sandy has influenced my life so profoundly. But its not just my story. Its the story of thousands of people, Marshall said. They had one of the most interesting newsrooms that you could think of. They were highly intellectual, and they had this crazy idea to let some 17-, 18-, 19-year-olds hang out. They really truly cared what young people had to say.

The South of Market newsroom on Ninth Street still had that feel one Friday this month, even without any writers behind the rows of computers. Holiday lights wrapped around a large tree. The white board that surrounds a round meeting room table still has markings  the final battle plans for an organization that was one big brainstorming project.

New America Media, which had 90 employees in multiple U.S. newsrooms a few years ago, now has just three to supervise the shutdown. Closes small dog Tinkerbell darted around between empty chairs, seemingly disoriented by the lack of bustle.

The service had a different vibe when it began in 1969, co-founded by Schurmann and China scholar Orville Schell, who was a student of Schurmann at UC Berkeley.

We kind of got root-bound, stovepiped in our own little myopic view of what was happening in Southeast Asia, Schell said. There was no awareness that the French had been there before us, or the British. That there was a whole other way of looking at it. ... With that in mind we started Pacific News Service.

The Pacific News Service founders sewed together a network of media supporters  The Chronicle and the Boston Globe were two early subscribers  and covered stories from the ground.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

Early Editor Tom Engelhardt was quoted in a 40th anniversary Pacific News Service edition newspaper about his first gig, sneaking on Travis Air Force Base in Solano County to interview war wounded coming home from Vietnam.

Pacific News Service in those early years gave the lie to the idea that the antiwar movement and soldiers were generally hostile to and had nothing to do with each other, he said. Anti-war G.I. were regularly in our offices; we published the on-the-ground work of a soldier fighting in Vietnam ... and, as it happened, the medic who snuck me onto Travis became a good friend.

After the war, Schell and Engelhardt departed. New Executive Editor Close came in, with experience that included founding the Oakland-based Flatlands newspaper in 1965, covering neighborhoods being radically changed by East Bay development.

The new Pacific News Service was close to a full reset, but the organization was influenced by the spirit of the war-era coverage of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

It was the idea of finding unique voices that werent in general market media as a rule, and turning them into your reporters, your writers, Close said. Doing what Pacific News Service did in Indochina, but applying it to the changes going on inside the United States was just fascinating. And it grew into major news beats.

Pacific News Service covered stories that werent getting attention in mainstream newspapers, including how immigration from Central American countries was transforming U.S. cities. In the mid-1990s, Close met with 25 journalists from Asian, Latino and other media outside the mainstream, to talk about sharing content.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

There were many institutional successes. Close won a MacArthur Foundation genius grant in 1995. The youth voice-infused Yo! magazine launched, with radio as well. A short documentary the service commissioned and Close co-produced, Breathing Lessons, won an Academy Award.

Distinguished alumni of the service include Indian journalist Sandip Roy, war reporter Richard Boyle, Vietnam refugee Andrew Lam, tech writer John Markoff, Chronicle columnist Caille Millner, Nation writer Joan Walsh and San Francisco author Richard Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said Close approached him after the publication of his 1982 autobiography Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez. Even as he felt under assault by the mainstream, Close became a mentor, supporting his career and helping him network.

I think Sandy underestimates her influence on a generation of journalists, Rodriguez said. I was deeply influenced by her notion of what constitutes news. ... The question of youth was always a question in her mind: What are young people thinking? Her sense of young people who were lost in America, and you were redefining America by finding their voice. That was the gradually expanding America of Sandy Close.

Close and Schurmann were intellectuals who didnt talk down to new writers. Marshall remembers Schurmann taking groups of young journalists to a nearby Mexican restaurant, and he would pull out a map of the world and start telling us about impromptu world history, in a very interesting way. ... There was nowhere else to get this. We were like, Who are these crazy white people?

Close has been hearing these compliments since Nov. 1, when New America Media announced it was closing. But she has also mulled what she calls her personal failure to keep the place running.

Four multiyear grants dried up around 2013. Despite that, Close said she continued to fund projects and take on new ones. Toward the end, she said, the debt got too big. The staff was cut to 32 in the summer, then 10 in October. Some youth programs, such as Youth Outlook and Silicon Valley De-Bug, will continue as nonprofits on their own.

I have to take responsibility for that, and I do. I blame myself, Close said, during one of several confessionals.

Former staffers say the blow to the media landscape is immense. The news came just days after Gothamist, including local site SFist, abruptly announced its closure. While youth voices can be heard far and wide on social media now, traditional media outlets for their work are limited.

Any journalistic effort these days that has any integrity is worth supporting because its a melting block of ice in the sun, Schell said.

Close makes it clear she doesnt want to reboot New America Media  let it rest in peace, she said  but she hopes to stay involved, perhaps by embedding projects in existing nonprofits, or finding funding to continue successful programs.

Rodriguez said Close should be taking stock of what she helped build, not what might have been. Forty-eight years is a long time, and New America Media will live on in the journalists it influenced, and the projects theyve created and will start in the future.

I keep saying, Im not interested in the guilt. Im interested in what youve achieved, he said. And the fact that youre not finished.

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub
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It was a close call for Joseph Cozza Salon, one of the premier San Francisco hairstyling parlors catering to a constellation of celebrities, socialites and glamour seekers.

Just days after its 65 employees were told the Maiden Lane business would be closing at years end, new buyers  from Sacramento, of all places  have been found.

They are going to take over Jan. 1 with the same name and same staff, Cozzas husband and and business partner, Joe Bisazza, told us. We just saved a bunch of jobs.

Its news that will lift holiday spirits around Union Square, where several high-fashion names  including Prada, the Mocca cafe and Arthur Beren Shoes  have pulled the plug in recent months.

For a time, it looked like the salon would become yet another downtown victim of San Francisco rents, labor laws and seemingly endless Central Subway construction.

Cozza got his start inside Gumps 22 years ago, and boosted his reputation over the years styling the hair of everyone from Laura Bush, Caroline Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi to Anna Deavere Smith, Tina Brown and Sarah Jessica Parker. He and Bisazza moved to their Maiden Lane digs in 2010, where their client list includes the likes of Lynne Benioff, Gina Moscone, Dede Wilsey and Carole Shorenstein Hays.

Their long-term lease was set to expire at years end, and Cozza and Bisazza were facing what they called a significant increase in rent. However, thats only part of the reason they had decided to close the doors.

We have a phenomenal business  its not about not making a profit, Bisazza told us before the sale. Its that the city of San Francisco and the state of California make it almost impossible for small businesses to survive anymore. The headaches include conflicting state and city sick leave provisions, and dueling federal and local health care laws, he said.

Customers are also fed up with having to navigate the Central Subway construction, which is in its seventh year and is steadily shrinking street parking downtown.

Bisazza said its just another example of how the city just doesnt think about small business owners.

Michael Short/Special to The Chronicle

Cozza and Bisazza say one of the final straws came in 2015 when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law intended to make sure farmworkers were paid for all the time they spent in the fields, and not simply for the amount of produce they picked. After checking with their lawyers, Cozza and Bisazza found the law also applied to their stylists, who had been paid on commission.

The lawyers advised them to pay their employees an extra 4 percent in back wages covering the previous 3 years. It wound up costing the owners $500,000.

The new law completely unraveled the industry, Bisazza said.

Hairstyling businesses eventually succeeded in getting the state to make an exception to allow salons to resume paying stylists on commission. But the lesson is, we dont ever want it to happen to us again, Bisazza said.

San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district includes Maiden Lane, said he sympathized with the salons owners.

People are justifiably frustrated, whether its regulations or ... traffic congestion and street cleanliness, he said.

Under the terms of the salons sale to Dan and Dora Brock  whose Sacramento insurance company has covered the business for the past 11 years  Cozza will stay on. Bisazza plans to exit after a transition period.

The Brocks tell us they hope to keep everything the same, to the extent thats possible  though theyre counting on their son-in-law and daughter-in-law, who will largely run the business, to attract a younger clientele.

Ive signed a 10-year lease, Dan Brock said. I wanted to send a message that Im 100 percent in, and thats my commitment to these employees.

Im not doing this not to succeed, Brock said.

Karin Flood, executive director of the Union Square Business Improvement District, said high rents and red tape are making it hard to preserve a mix of businesses in the neighborhood. But then again, she said, there are some good-news stories happening  like the pop-up Museum of Ice Cream.

Its a hit with Millennials, she said, and is sold out for months.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross
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Its not Charlie Rose parading naked in front of young female employees, or Rep. John Conyers firing a woman who wouldnt have sex with him, or Roy Moore in his 30s cruising the mall for teenage girls that should be at the top of the American outrage list  disgusting as all those alleged actions are.

The real issue we need to deal with is the overarching, fundamental absence of equality for women in America.

Just like African Americans, women started from the back of the pack when this country was founded. For more than a century, they couldnt vote. In most states, they couldnt serve on juries. Into the 1970s, they could be barred from getting a credit card without a male co-signer. It was only recently that the barrier keeping them from combat duty fell.

So theres a solid underpinning of societal discrimination behind the thousand indignities, little and big, that women have to deal with to this day. The shortage of women running the show, the pay inequities, the unequal distribution of child-raising responsibilities  America has come by these things not by accident, but by design.

And now here comes Charlie Rose, stepping out of the shower.

He and all the other men whose missteps  Pixar co-founder John Lasseters word  are suddenly front-page news were no surprise to the women being victimized down through the years. Whats different now is that they arent keeping it to themselves or telling only their close friends. Not just the abuse, but the discriminatory structure its attached to, is suddenly being discussed in churches, schools, social clubs and neighborhood organizations.

During the civil rights movement, there came a time when it was no longer OK just to frown on George Wallace standing in the schoolhouse door or Bull Connor aiming his fire hoses at black people. There had to be institutional change and a societal mind shift. The fact that we now have a president who sees good people in a neo-Nazi demonstration and goes out of his way to pick fights with black athletes shows the work isnt done. But the fact that there are people who call him out on those things shows weve made headway.

Likewise, if all that results from the flood of recent revelations is Charlie Rose losing his morning gig on CBS and Al Franken going before a Senate ethics hearing  even if Harvey Weinstein is hauled before a jury  we wont have addressed the underlying problems that keep women subordinate.

What the #metoo movement has done is lay down a demand  that men make a mind shift away from the attitude that women can be accommodated only to the extent that it doesnt inconvenience other men.

If we dont respond with institutional and societal change, well be missing the point.

Just dont say no: One of the toughest things for any elected official is turning down a request from a constituent or a supporter, because you never, ever want to outright say no.

I thought I was a master of handling such situations with a word or a nod, but I met my match the other day in Acquanetta Warren, mayor of Fontana (San Bernardino County).

We were talking after attending the funeral of former Los Angeles City Councilman David Cunningham and got to the art of saying no.

I end the conversation by telling them, I must turn you down, but you will be satisfied with the result, Warren said.

Now that is a polite way for a politician to keep you in limbo.

Up on the roof: Open-air rooftop bars are becoming all the rage in boutique hotels. The latest addition to the top view cocktail scene is the Proper Hotel.

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Located atop the historic triangle building at McAllister, Market and Seventh streets, it offers great views of City Hall, Market and that ugly Federal Building on Mission Street that Nancy Pelosi and I helped get built.

The drink prices are not bad, and the table heaters and glass wind wall keep you from freezing to death.

Whats so interesting about these new rooftop spaces is that theyre high enough up to put you above all the street life, but still low enough to make you feel like youre in the middle of the city.

Hot ticket: Seth Meyers, the Late Night comedian who memorably joined then-President Barack Obama in shredding Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2011, showed up at the Masonic Auditorium the other night.

It was the first clean comedy show Ive seen in a long, long time. Next time Meyers comes to town, hes worth checking out.

Shameless plug: This years Chronicles auto show at the Moscone Center is simply the best, and I should know, because Ive been to them all.

Sunday is the last day, so if youre so inclined, beat it on down before closing time at 8 p.m.

Want to sound off? Email: wbrown@sfchronicle.com
Before the sun came up on Oct. 31, Renee DiResta sat in bed in her pajamas and logged into a virtual war room.

For years, the San Francisco woman had battled disinformation campaigns, cataloging data on how malicious people spread fake narratives online. That morning, wearing headphones so she wouldnt wake her two children, DiResta watched on her laptop screen as lawyers representing Facebook, Google and Twitter spoke at congressional hearings that focused on the role social media played in a Russian disinformation campaign before the 2016 election.

DiResta knew the lines of questioning inside and out. Along with a handful of people with a similarly obsessive interest in mapping data across social media, she had helped prepare congressional staff members before the hearings. That morning, they gathered in a dedicated channel on the Slack messaging app to watch and listen for answers to questions they had been asking for years.

We were monitoring closely to see when the companies gave misleading or partial answers so that we could follow up, said DiResta, 36, who became immersed in disinformation campaigns in her spare time outside her job as a founder and head of marketing at Haven, a shipping technology company.

How a small group of self-made experts came to advise Congress on disinformation campaigns is a testament to just how long tech companies have failed to find a solution to the problem. For years, members of the informal group  about a dozen or so people  have meticulously logged data and published reports on how easy it was to manipulate social media services.

In 2016, they monitored thousands of Twitter accounts that suddenly started using bots, or automated accounts, to spread salacious stories about the Clinton family. They watched as multiple Facebook pages, appearing out of nowhere, organized to simultaneously create anti-immigrant events. Nearly all those watching were hobbyists, logging countless hours outside their day jobs.

When I put it all together and started mapping it out, I saw how big the scale of it was, said Jonathan Albright, who met DiResta through Twitter. Albright published a widely read report that mapped, for the first time, connections between conservative sites putting out fake news. He did the research as a second job outside his position as research director at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University.

Senate and House staff members, who knew of DiRestas expertise through her public reports and her previous work advising the Obama administration on disinformation campaigns, had reached out to her and others to help them prepare for the hearings.

Rachel Cohen, a spokeswoman for Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement that researchers like DiResta had shown real insight into the platforms, in many cases, despite efforts by some of the platforms to undermine their research. Warner is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

One crucial line of the questioning  on how much influence Russian-bought advertisements and content had on users  was the result of work by DiResta and others with a Facebook-owned tool. Facebook has the tools to monitor how far this content is spreading, DiResta said. The numbers they were originally providing were trying to minimize it.

Indeed, at the congressional hearings, the tech companies admitted that the problem was far larger than they had originally said. Last year, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks chief executive, said it was a crazy idea that misinformation on Facebook influenced the election.

But the company acknowledged to Congress that more than 150 million users of its main site and a subsidiary, Instagram, potentially saw inflammatory political ads bought by a Kremlin-linked company, the Internet Research Agency.

DiResta contended that is still just the tip of the iceberg. Minimizing the scope of the problem was a naive form of damage control, she said. This isnt about punishing Facebook or Twitter. This is us saying, This is important, and we can do better.

In response, Facebook said it had begun organizing academic discussions on disinformation.

We regularly engage with dozens of sociologists, political scientists, data scientists and communications scholars, and we both read and incorporate their findings into our work, said Jay Nancarrow, a Facebook spokesman. We value the work of researchers, and we are going to continue to work with them closely.

A graduate of Stony Brook University in New York, DiResta wrote her college thesis on propaganda in the 2004 Russian elections. She then spent seven years on Wall Street as a trader, watching the slow introduction of automation into the market. She recalled the initial fear of over-reliance on algorithms, as there were bad actors who could come in and manipulate the system into making bad trades.

I look at that now, and I see a lot of parallels to today, especially for the need for nuance in technological transformations, DiResta said. Just like technology is never leaving Wall Street, social media companies are not leaving our society.

DiResta moved to San Francisco in 2011 for a job with the OReilly Alpha Tech Venture Capital firm. But it was not until the birth of her first child a few years later that DiResta started to examine the dark side of social media.

When my son was born, I began looking into vaccines. I found myself wondering about the clustering effects where the anti-vaccine movement was concentrated, DiResta said. I was thinking, What on earth is going on here? Why is this movement gaining so much momentum here?

She started tracking posts made by anti-vaccine accounts on Facebook and mapping the data. What she discovered, she said, was that Facebooks site was tailor-made for a small group of vocal people to amplify their voices, especially if their views veered toward the conspiratorial.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

It was this great case study in peer-to-peer misinformation, DiResta said. Through one account she created to monitor anti-vaccine groups on Facebook, she quickly realized she was being pushed toward other anti-vaccine accounts, creating an echo chamber in which it appeared that viewpoints like vaccines cause autism were the majority.

Soon, her Facebook account began promoting content to her on a range of other conspiratorial ideas, ranging from people who claim the Earth is flat to those who believe that chem trails, or trails left in the sky by planes, were spraying chemical agents on an unsuspecting public.

So by Facebook suggesting all these accounts, they were essentially creating this vortex in which conspiratorial ideas can just breed and multiply, DiResta said.

Her published findings on the anti-vaccine movement brought her to the attention of the Obama administration, which reached out to her in 2015, when officials were examining radical Islamist groups use of online disinformation campaigns.

She recalled a meeting with various tech companies at the White House in February 2016 where chief executives, policy leaders and administration officials were told that U.S.-made social media services were key to the dissemination of propaganda by the Islamic State.

It was during that time that she met Jonathan Morgan, a fellow social media disinformation researcher who had published papers on how the Islamic State spreads its propaganda online.

We kept saying this was not a one-off. This was a toolbox anyone can use, DiResta said. We told the tech companies that they had created a mass way to reach Americans.

A year and a half later, they hope everyone is finally listening.

I think we are at this real moment, DiResta said, where as a society we are asking how much responsibility these companies have toward ensuring that their platforms arent being gamed, and that we, as their users, arent being pushed toward disinformation.

Sheera Frenkel is a New York Times writer.
Gillyflower Farm in Capay (Yolo County) is so new that owner Laura Reynolds has no tractors, employees or spare cash. By late fall, she has only planted one-third of her 1-acre plot. On harvest day for her weekly customer deliveries, which focus on greens and salad-friendly vegetables, she cools the produce in a generator-powered freezer that she unplugs before ice crystals form.

The recent UC Davis grad and longtime farm intern does have good land, though, and the ear of her landlord, Sherri Wood, when problems arise. Thats because Wood is building her house a few hundred feet away.

Reynolds is not alone in farming land in, essentially, someone elses yard  particularly in this state. According to the U.S. Department of Agricultures August 2017 Land Values Summary, the average price per acre of farmland in California was $8,700, among the highest in the country. Just as significant, land prices here rose 10.1 percent over the past year, faster than any other state.

Land access is one of the most difficult issues that young farmers face across the country, said Lindsey Lusher Shute, executive director of the National Young Farmers Coalition.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Homeowners are outcompeting farmers for rural land. At the same time, many of the newest generation of aspiring farmers dont come from farming families who offer the prospect of one day taking over their parents fields. These two intersecting shifts in the profession are leading new farmers in Northern California to lease land from owners who live on the property.

The advantage of this arrangement is that new farmers can spend their scant income on essential equipment, and their landlords have someone to manage their large tracts of land, sometimes gaining fresh produce as a bonus.

But renting farmland from homeowners can be a tenuous existence: Without careful negotiation and realistic expectations on both sides, novices can find themselves bouncing around, struggling to make a profit.

The 2012 National Resources Inventory found that between 1982 and 2012, 1.84 million acres of agricultural land in California was converted to residential use. As the sale of Star Route Farms, Warren Webers 100-acre plot in Bolinas to the University of San Francisco for $10.4 million in August, demonstrated, some once-agricultural areas of Northern California have almost become too valuable to farm.

As farms flow out of Northern Californias more rural areas, they are being replaced by homeowners.

One of them is Wood. After the longtime San Franciscans husband died and she left her job in banking, she asked herself, What do I want to do with my life with the time I have left? The question brought her to Capay, where she bought 27 acres of farmland in 2016. She commissioned plans for a house and tore out 600 neglected and diseased almond trees.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Her aim wasnt only to better see the surrounding hills from the kitchen window. Its a beautiful piece of property that needs to be farmed, she said. County pesticide records showed no chemicals had been applied to the trees for years, so she quickly obtained organic certification. Wood replanted 3 acres with lavender, and has begun looking for tenants for the remaining 20. She named the project Patchwork Farm.

She found her first tenant, Reynolds, through California FarmLink, an organization that helps older farmers plan for retirement and assists beginning farmers with sustainability-minded practices to find land and capital, even negotiating leases. A recent graduate of UC Davis International Agricultural Development program, the 29-year-old Reynolds has interned on farms for five years. I knew that I wanted to start a farm, but I also know that I change my mind sometimes, Reynolds said. The challenge: finding a parcel tiny enough to get her going.

A Craigslist post first put Reynolds in contact with another homeowner. He wanted her to text every time she entered the property, but it would be free. The morning she planned to move her equipment onto the land, he called the deal off.

Talk to farmers who rent residential plots of land, and you hear similar stories. Some homeowners find their bucolic fantasies of country living dont match up with the tractor dust, ragged-looking fields and exposed equipment of a real, working farm.

Across the country, 39 percent of all farmland is rented, the USDA reports, a figure that has remained relatively unchanged since the 1960s. Within those figures, 44 percent of small family farms rent some land to expand their operations, and that percentage rises as the size of the farm does. Farmland costs are high; rental prices for agricultural land, though, can be pretty minor, according to Farmlinks Schwartzman.

What is new, though, Schwartzman added, is the blending of residential and agricultural. And rural homeowners do not always make stable landlords. Ryan Abelson, owner of Pajaro Pastures, raises chickens, goats, rabbits and occasionally pigs on pasture outside Soquel (Santa Cruz County), selling both meat and chicken eggs. He has spent six years bouncing from rental property to rental property.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Abelson says he has been forced off properties he was renting due to reasons that were as unconventional as the plots themselves: neighbors complaining about his dogs barking at night; a landowner who locked Abelson out in the hopes of taking over his business. Its just a nomadic lifestyle Ive come to accept, he said. He recently signed a 2-year lease on 12 acres. Thats more stability than Ive had since Ive started.

Reynolds finally spotted Woods listing on Farmlink. The organization helped the two negotiate needs most homeowners and beginning farmers might not think about, such as water access and space in a barn to store her equipment.

Much of the farmland for rent, too, comes in parcels too large for a new business to take on. It is harder to find small properties, says Juan Vergara, whose 4-year-old J & F Farms grows organic herbs in Watsonville. Thats why residential land offers so much promise for new enterprises like his.

Vergara struggled to find fields with less than 10 acres until he was able to locate 6 acres of organic land on a property whose owner rents out the house on-site to other tenants. The site has its challenges  Vergara has to pay city prices for water  but hes also closer to urban markets, too. He has a year-to-year lease, but feels confident enough in the relationship to plant acres of perennial rosemary and thyme bushes.

Not all homeowner-farmer agreements are so short-term.

Chris Hay founded Say Hay Farms with his mother in 2010, raising both chickens and more than 70 varieties of fruits and vegetables. Like many farmers, he has found that diversification isnt enough to be profitable: Scale is key. But he hasnt had the capital to invest in land and convert it to organic. His most stable rental has been 20 acres in Capay Valley, a few miles south of Woods property, which he has had to farm as intensively as possible.

In 2015, though, he began negotiating with Pat Meade and her husband, Jon Robbins, who had been living on 50 acres since 1987. The two former pilots and airplane engineers, now in their mid-60s, purchased the site because it had an airstrip, but have built several houses on-site and rented out 30 acres to farmers. Meade was looking to transition the land to organic, and approached Hay, who had rented a half-acre orange orchard from her since 2013.

The two parties liked each other. They felt like their goals were in sync enough to sign a 34-year-lease. Yet the negotiations, aided in part by FarmLink, took 16 months.

It required considerable financial investment on both sides. The landowners needed to fallow their property, forgoing income from previous tenants or Hay, for several years to certify it as organic. Hay needed to pay $150,000 for a well to be drilled and $80,000 to renovate a barn, not to mention buying extra equipment. It was the start of a relationship in which our landlords arent financial partners but are invested in what we do, Hay said.

Our philosophy has always been, were not trying to maximize every penny, Meade said. If we can make this financially work for us, doing what we thought was the best and most sustainable thing, it happened to work.

The lease agreement also gives Hay the option to purchase the land at some point from the couple, who do not have children. Having the conversation So, when you die ...  you have to have a rapport with someone to just go there, Hay said.

Hays mother now lives on the property. Her horses graze with Meades alpacas. The long lease has given Hay the confidence to plant a larger citrus orchard, which wont pay for itself for eight or nine years. The older couple pitch in on Say Hay Farms from time to time. They see each other every day.

Its not a commune, but we realize its like an extended family relationship, Hay said. Were fortunate to have met them.

Jonathan Kauffman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jkauffman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jonkauffman
By the Smoke & the Smell. Its not quite right to call Thad Voglers By the Smoke & the Smell a memoir. Even though its a whirlwind tour of select spirit regions  from the chateaus of Armagnac to the rum bars of Cuba, from the streams of Scotland to the back roads of Oaxaca  its also a stinging indictment of a spirits industry that has been increasingly drowned by global conglomerates. As such, it serves as a celebration of the fading idea of the human experience, of culture and independence; so what lingers is the emotional connections made by Vogler and his cast of friends, families, growers and producers. And for me, a reader who is interested in spirits, but certainly not an expert, and someone who is deeply concerned with the consolidation and craft of food in general, the book was revelatory and thought-provoking. Perhaps most memorably, Voglers prose is stunningly beautiful  at times heartfelt, at times heart-breaking, always exhilarating. I wish I could write like that. This was my favorite book this year.

By the Smoke & the Smell by Thad Vogler (Ten Speed Press; 291 pages; $27)

Paolo Lucchesi

3-Ingredient Cocktails. Its no coincidence that the manhattan, the martini, the negroni, the margarita, the daiquiri, the whiskey sour  and countless other classic cocktails  are all three-ingredient concoctions. Three is a magic number, says cocktail expert Robert Simonson, who spends the entirety of this engaging, approachable book proving that claim. The books 75 cocktail recipes generally fall into two structures  spirit/sweetener/bitters, or spirit/sweetener/citrus  and Simonson positions these familiar drinks and their less-familiar variants within their historical or pop-cultural contexts. Ian Fleming gets a recipe credit (for the Vesper); the Boulevardiers origins are revealed to lie with an expatriate Vanderbilt heir; Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles are credited not with creating certain drinks, but with popularizing them. No three-ingredient drink could be called complicated, but many are complex, a precise rendering of proportion and balance. When Simonson waxes poetic about the negroni  a simple cocktail if there ever was one  he praises the drinks high IQ, noting theres just too much going on in that little red head. Still, the ultimate achievement of 3-Ingredient Cocktails is that it makes an amateur feel as if she could, truly, make great drinks at home herself.

3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon by Robert Simonson (Ten Speed Press; 176 pages; $18.99)

 Esther Mobley

The Potlikker Papers. John T. Edge, director of the Mississippi-based Southern Foodways Alliance and one of the nations most eloquent champions of popular food, simultaneously tells the story of Southern farming and cooking from the middle of the 20th century on - lunch counter cooks, black farming co-operatives, celebrity chefs, artisan producers, tamale ladies - and the evolution of Southern identity. Whether hes discussing biscuits in a tube or at a high-end hoppin john, Edge never loses sight that food can simultaneously represent basic sustenance, economic opportunity and potent symbolism. His narrative is constructed around a steel spine of righteousness, particularly around African American struggles for basic rights, including the right of self-definition. In a time when California and Mississippi can seem, politically, to be separate countries, and when a generation of artists and activists is scouring away a countrys destructive assumptions about race and class, Potlikker Papers is more than a regional culinary history. America has long reacted with vigor to the South because the nation recognized the worst and best of itself here, he writes. Only by examining both aspects, the book suggests, can the conversation move forward.

The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South by John T. Edge (Penguin Press; 370 pages; $28)

 Jonathan Kauffman

The Cooking Gene. This book, which is a continuation of Food historian and scholar Michael Twittys online project of the same name, continues his exploration of African foodways, his own genealogy and the regions complicated food history. Twittys poignant and elegant writing channels the spirit of James Baldwin and Langston Hughes as it shines a light on a region whose food history is deeply complicated. As Twitty puts it, the Old South is a place of groaning tables across the tracks from want...somehow the table aches from the weight of so much...that we prop it up with our knees and excuses to keep it from falling. It is through studying those who have come before him and reconnecting with the culinary culture of the enslaved that redemption becomes possible.

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty (Amistad; 464 pages; $28.99)

Sarah Fritsche
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This week, California should give thanks for Cheech.

Richard Anthony Marin deserves our gratitude not just because his new autobiography, Cheech Is Not My Real Name ... But Dont Call Me Chong, is the best California book of the year. Or because he provides hope that short, bald men still can be stars.

The biggest reason to thank Cheech Marin now is that his life embodies Thanksgiving itself: a big, robust meal that includes many different flavors but is ultimately for everyone. This California entertainer reminds us, happily, that our states cultural mainstream is so much more interesting and inclusive than we acknowledge.

Indeed, Marin is evidence of a California paradox: To stay in the mainstream here, it helps to start as an outsider. Though Marin is still identified as a cult figure  one-half of the Cheech and Chong stoner comedy team, which made the 1978 film Up in Smoke  his career has been much bigger and more mainstream than that.

Indeed, the dirty secret of Marins life, as he tells it, is that hes a square, a middle-class kid who spent his early years in predominantly black South Los Angeles. His father was a Los Angeles police officer; his mother was president of the PTA. By his teens, the family had relocated to a white neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.

Racially and ethnically, he was an outsider in both places, so the future actor-musician-writer-comedian did everything he could to fit in: Cub Scout, Boy Scout, altar boy and a little wiseass who got straight As in Catholic schools. He even worked in the signature L.A. industry  aerospace  during college in Northridge, manufacturing airplane galleys at Nordskog.

The books signature moment, recounted by Marin as the Apostle Paul might have recalled his trip to Damascus, is when he smoked marijuana for the first time and found that the allegedly mind-rotting substance expanded his perspective. He thought: What else have they been lying about?

And with that, he discovered art, awakened politically, dodged the draft, met Tommy Chong and began playing shows all over the world. He bought a house in Malibu and even practiced Transcendental Meditation, as taught by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Marin proudly identifies as Chicano and Latino and sees his heritage as bridge, not niche. The glory of being Latino, he writes, is that you are part of a diverse demographic that contains multitudes.

My face has some kind of international malleability to it. Add your own preferences or prejudice to it, and I could be anything, he writes.

But narrow-minded Hollywood types couldnt see his natural breadth at first. Marin countered by writing his own material, most successfully in the 1987 film Born in East L.A. The movie is quintessential Cheech  framing the Mexican American story as fundamentally American and demonstrating the absurdities of putting people in boxes.

Marins other strategy was to find roles in middlebrow productions and make them his own. He did a spin-off of The Golden Girls and co-starred with Don Johnson on the police drama Nash Bridges, set and filmed in San Francisco. While living there, he appeared in the premiere of a Sam Shepard play, The Late Henry Moss, at San Franciscos Theatre on the Square. And he turned himself into a regular voice in Pixar films, most notably as Ramone in Cars.

Marin is unapologetic about mainstream success. His book includes an entire chapter on how he became champion of Celebrity Jeopardy. By his account, his old partner, Tommy Chong, foundered because he was not willing to evolve to reach audiences.

Marin has made news more recently as a leading collector of Chicano art. Riverside wants to turn over its main library for the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture and Industry. Marin, ever mainstream, emphasizes, Chicano art is American art.

Despite his cult status, its hard to call Marin countercultural now. Antonio Villaraigosa, who performed Marins most recent marriage, is a leading candidate for California governor. In January, recreational marijuana will become legal in Marins home state.

Now that Marin is an institution, maybe its time to honor him as one. Perhaps California could create its own version of Mount Rushmore; the natural place would be the Granite Mountains in the Mojave Desert.

There would be many candidates for this pantheon. But why not start by carving the stoner in stone?

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.
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Maybe youre willing to pay extra to binge watch a Netflix series. Or maybe you like the way the Internet works now, letting you wander websites that sell shoes or dispense medical advice. Either way, youre part of the net-neutrality debate.

The ground rules on access, cost and essential philosophy are about to shift. Guidelines that gave all Web traffic equal treatment on the digital pipes may be rolled back under a plan pushed by Ajit Pai, named by President Trump to head the Federal Communications Commission.

Hes set to demolish the net-neutrality rules adopted by the Obama administration in favor of a light-touch, market-based landscape. Dumping heavy-handed directives sounds appealing, especially in the name of a free-for-all online world. Less of Washington could mean more innovation, investment and opportunities for customers.

But this theoretical approach doesnt give the full story. If the Republican majority of commission members goes along as expected in December, then major service providers who bring the Internet to your door will have enormous say over whats available and at what price. The Internet highway will have toll roads, not the open lanes offered now.

Its not a distant problem. The ever-consolidating world of cable and Internet service providers means greater control in fewer hands. The roiling media and digital world is combining in ways that put consumer options last on the corporate wish list. The latest example: a proposed AT&T takeover of Time Warner, which antitrust critics worry gives too much power to one entity.

Shredding Internet rules will contribute to this shrinking picture. Neutrality guarantees, adopted just two years ago, are an important bulwark against the pricing and access power that Internet providers can wield.

Pai, the commission chair, signaled the new direction months ago. Since May, some 22 million overwhelmingly negative messages have poured in. His crusade pleases small-government Republicans but infuriates tech-district Democrats from the Bay Area such as Nancy Pelosi and Anna Eshoo, along with consumer groups.

Adding to the outcry are Silicon Valley firms such as Google and Netflix fearful that their wares would be limited by higher fees. Smaller operations such as Etsy and Reddit feel the same threat.

Theres a need for balance that sensible regulations can provide. The cost of running the countrys digital pipes must be factored, meaning that usage could be included in consumer costs just as power and water bills are set.

This idea shouldnt be widened to give cable companies the right to raise or lower fees for a full range of choices or cut off websites they dont like.

The White House should rethink a policy that will fuel consumer resentment and a narrowing business world, two pressure points on which Trump campaigned as a candidate.

Dumping rules to safeguard Internet access will damage an essential institution.

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.
By PTI: Chennai, Nov 26 (PTI) Amid signs of discord in the ruling AIADMK, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam today stressed on unity in the party and exhorted workers to ensure that Ammas (Jayalalithaas) rule continues its stride.

In a series of tweets, Panneerselvam praised Chief Minister K Palaniswami saying he was providing good governance based on the path shown by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

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He, however, did not comment on the simmering discontent that came to the fore last week after his loyalist and Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan hinted at differences among the leaders of the two factions which merged earlier this year.

Besides this, Panneerselvams supporters have said they were not invited to a key party function in Madurai yesterday attended by Palaniswami.

Panneerselvam, who was conspicuous by his absence in the event that was held in Madurai, had later batted for unity in the party while taking part in another function along with Palaniswami.

The second function was held at Ramanathapuram, about 115 km from Madurai.

In his tweets, Panneerselvam today reiterated that it was due to unity among the party workers that the Election Commission alloted the two leaves symbol to them.

"With the same unity and support of Tamil people, we will face the next months bypoll in R K Nagar and succeed in it. We will achieve great victories in all polls we are going to dedicate the victories to our beloved Amma," he said.

The deputy chief minister also lauded Palaniswami, saying he was providing good governance treading the path shown by Amma.

"This government, headed by Palaniswami, is implementing various special schemes and is also announcing new projects based on the vision of Jayalalithaa," he said.

Meanwhile, state Revenue Minister R B Udhayakumar clarified that the Madurai event was organised by a cadre to hail the retrieval of the party symbol.

Responding to reporters question whether Panneerselvam was invited to the programme, he said it was not an event that was planned.

"The names of the leaders (Palaniswami and Panneerselvam) has been mentioned in the plaque," Udhayakumar said.

Maitreyan yesterday had said proper intimation for the event should have been sent to all party workers, functionaries and leaders.

He had said the Madurai event was important since it was the first function to celebrate the party getting back its symbol.

The Palaniswami and Panneerselvam factions merged in August after ousting jailed leader V K Sasikala and her nephew T T V Dhinakaran.

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The Election Commission on November 23 allotted the two leaves symbol to the unified AIADMK led by Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, dealing a blow to the Sasikala faction. PTI VIJ VS NSD

--- ENDS ---
Why are so many women now speaking out about the sexual abuses theyve experienced for years? Is there anything unique about the time were now living through that has encouraged them to end their silence?

I cant help but think that their decisions are part of something thats happening throughout much of American society right now  a backlash against what has been the growing domination of America by powerful and wealthy men (and a few women) who came to believe they can do whatever they want to do, to whomever they choose.

When youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab em by the p, Donald Trump said in the infamous Access Hollywood tape from 2005.

Sexual assault is one obvious assertion of dominance. Other forms include economic bullying and the stoking of bigotry to gain political power.

Trump epitomizes it all. As a businessman, he stiffed contractors, used bankruptcy to avoid paying creditors, and wielded lawsuits to threaten critics.

As a politician, he gained traction by alleging that Barack Obama was born in Africa, that Mexicans are rapists and murderers, and that Muslims must be kept out of America.

As president, he has bullied everyone who disagrees with him  journalists, judges, members of Congress, his own staff and Cabinet.

Hes bullied the vulnerable and innocent  Dreamers, who came to the U.S. as young children but could face deportation because of him; the elderly and sick, who may lose their health coverage because of him; needy families, which will no longer receive assistance because the enormous corporate tax cuts hes pushing will require cuts in programs they depend on.

But the days of Trump and the bullying he represents are numbered.

Soon after the 2016 election, millions of women marched against Trump, and the Resistance was born. Since then, a growing number of Americans have been rising up against the bullies.

It is paying off.

On Nov. 7, Virginia Republican Ed Gillespies hate-filled, Trump-style campaign for governor of Virginia collapsed in a nearly nine-percentage-point loss to Ralph Northam. Democrats swept statewide elections in Virginia, won the New Jersey governors race, and achieved other victories across the nation.

Another consequence of Trumps presidency has been a sharp increase in the number of women directly engaged in politics. More than 20,000 women have declared themselves candidates for public office so far, according to Stephanie Schriock, the president of Emilys List  an unprecedented number.

This should be the Democrats hour  especially if they stand up against the bullies of America and stand for the millions who have been humiliated, intimidated, disenfranchised and disempowered.

Democrats will need to gain 24 seats to take control of the House in 2018. It will be difficult, given the amount of gerrymandering and other forms of voter suppression imposed by Republican legislatures.

Nevertheless, last month, the Cook Political Report shifted 12 House districts in favor of Democrats, a full year ahead of the 2018 midterms.

A poll released at the beginning of November showed Democrats with an 11-point lead over Republicans on a generic House ballot. The Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 51 percent of registered voters said they would vote for the Democrat in their district, while 40 percent said they would vote for the Republican.

The revolt against Trump is a backlash against bullying in all its forms. Powerful and wealthy men who have felt free to impose their will on others, regardless of the pain they cause, are in for a rude awakening.

 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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Deep in the heart of the Sacramento Valley, the morning sun poked a hole in distant overcast and sent oranges, pinks and reds across the marsh wetlands before us.

Pintail ducks, along with wigeon, mallards and other waterfowl, sailed past, at times making a turn to our calls. Above them, vast skeins of snow geese were silhouettes against the sky. Flocks of blackbirds, flying as if telekineticly connected, rose up, down and across. In the distance, a few miles off, you could hear thousands of geese gabbling as they prepared to rise from the marsh.

Right then, I received a phone call from a pal, Tom Hedtke, nature lover and vegetarian, back in the city.

Im doing the shopping thing this morning, he said. The traffic is terrible. People are rude in the stores. I hope you realize that youre in paradise. It put the moment in perspective.

This scene was unveiled this past week in the Butte Sink marsh, nestled at the foot of the Sutter Buttes about 60 miles north of Sacramento. Those who know the marsh would rather be here and watch the birds come to life than be anywhere else in the world.

As the sun claimed the day, the marsh smells like birds, we agreed. The occasional white-faced ibis, long-billed curlew, black-crowned night herons darted past, and in the shallows, willets and other waders poked for food.

Its magic here in the morning when the sun comes up and youre looking toward the Buttes, watching the birds fly, said Rich Vannelli of Sonoma County, who has made a pilgrimage to the Butte Sink every Thanksgiving week since the 1970s.

A million birds

The Butte Sink is an expanse of 18,000 acres, nestled on the valley floor. Gray Lodge Wildlife Area provides another contiguous 10,000 acres. This habitat is fed and flooded by Butte Creek and is defined by a matrix of marsh, tules, shallow waterways and uplands with oaks and willows.

Roughly a million ducks are now in the vicinity. Two weeks ago, 700,000 were counted at adjacent Gray Lodge alone. To the north, more than 500,000 pintail ducks were counted in the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Duck hunters, who pay for the federal wildlife refuges and state wildlife areas with their licenses and stamps, excise taxes and donations through organizations, have a limit of 1 pintail.

We were on the marsh at 6 a.m., well before dawn, and motored in a flat-bottomed boat in a slough out to a shallow-water blind secreted away by tules and tree branches.

Its one of the last truly wild places left in the Sacramento Valley, said Yancey Forest-Knowles, a past chairman of the California Waterfowl Association. The roads are dirt and dead-end at the marsh, he added, and at times, flooded for weeks at a time with no access by car. Most people dont even know its here.

In 1841, Capt. John C. Fremont, the Indian fighter and explorer, camped at the base of the Buttes while his troop rested and hunted elk, antelope, deer, grizzly bear and wildfowl to supply the food cache, noted Forest-Knowles, a historian and educator. In the 1830s, a contingent of the Hudsons Bay Co. expedition spent the winter in the Buttes trapped by floodwaters.

When Im in the marsh here, I get this great sense of history that connects me to all those that came before, he said. The explorers, the hunters, the pioneers.

Nobody gets here by accident, he said. People are here for the ducks.

This is one place on Earth where I can watch the marsh come alive, said Chandler Young of Foster City. Its invigorating. It gives you an injection of vitality and a visceral connection with nature that you often cant get anywhere else.

The interior of the Butte Sink is comprised of roughly 50 duck clubs where the owners and members have paid to protect the wetlands habitat. At each club, there are self-imposed no-hunting sanctuaries. On their own, they often choose tighter limits, both on numbers and species, than required under state and federal regulations.

Habitat equals ducks

Many people do not understand the life of duck hunters. Those who do and take part arent always willing to explain it.

In California, the fulcrum point is that 95 percent of wetlands have been lost, according to state and federal scientists, and of that remaining 5 percent, duck hunters own and protect 70 percent of them.

The duck clubs in the region include the Brady Club, the Wild Goose, the Greenhead, Field & Tule, Live Oak and others. The land value is about $15,000 to $20,000 per acre, but instead of farming rice or wheat, they raise ducks. All the clubs pay to have their properties flooded, for instance, to create wetlands habitat.

It costs a lot of money to keep this place going, said Gene Bugatto, born and raised in San Francisco (and who still works there). We provide free room and board for the ducks and all the other birds.

At one quiet moment in the blind, we watched how refracted sunbeams changed color across the Sutter Buttes, with flights of geese stretching across the distant sky. Forest-Knowles then noted that it was duck hunters, in 1918 with the Migratory Bird Act, that demanded the end of commercial market hunting that threatened many bird species.

They also pay the freight, he said. In 2016, hunters and fishermen contributed $130 million to conservation, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, from sporting licenses, tags and a federal self-imposed tax on ammunition and firearms that is returned to states. Most also contribute through the organizations California Waterfowl and Ducks Unlimited.

If 10 percent of bird watchers would buy the $25 Federal Duck Stamp, according to one report from the Department of the Interior, it would raise $125 million per year for wetlands purchases and protection.

Forest-Knowles patted his Labrador retriever, Mick, and gave him a piece of a dog biscuit. I know a lot of people dont understand life on the marsh and why we enjoy it so much, he said. I think anybody who saw a marsh come to life like this morning would get it.

In four hours in the blind, roughly 40 flights of ducks passed overhead, and without a word between us, we allowed flight after flight to pass without a shot. For many in the region, it is part of a self-imposed ritual that comes without effort. You might choose to try to take the occasional pintail or mallard, and enjoy the procession of waterfowl without needing to pull out the shotgun. We each ended up with one. We saw thousands.

As we prepared to leave, my phone rang; it was an update from Hedtke in the city:

At Costco, I almost got run over a bunch of times by shopping carts. I wanted to get on the loudspeaker and tell everybody to just take a deep breath and relax Or they could be like you guys out there, in a beautiful place in nature, watching all the birds, and just let the rest of the world go crazy.

Tom Stienstra is The San Francisco Chronicles outdoor outdoor writer. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom

Ducks, dollars and sense

Paying for wetlands: The $25 Federal Duck Stamp purchases and pays for national wildlife refuges and the protection of wetlands, marshes and wildlife habitat. Of the top 140 important bird areas in America, 25 percent of them are national wildlife refuges, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Birders vs. duck hunters: Of the 50 million people in America who enjoy birding, only 2 million, or 4 percent, buy the Federal Duck Stamp, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Duck hunters are responsible for 96 percent of the purchases of duck stamps.

Creating funding: If 10 percent of bird watchers in America bought the Federal Duck Stamp, it would generate $125 million per year for wetlands.

Dynamic reach of habitat: State wildlife areas and federal refuges provide habitat for more than 200 species of birds and 40 species of mammals, along with many endangered species.

Waterfowl flourishing: This winters flight forecast by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service called for the fifth-highest duck numbers in 60 years, with 47.3 million breeding pairs, 34 percent higher than the long-term average for 10 duck species.

 Tom Stienstra
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WASHINGTON  Silicon Valley multinationals such as Apple and Google that are already sheltering hundreds of billions of dollars in overseas tax havens may pay little or no U.S. tax on future overseas profits under legislation Republicans are racing to enact.

Its been largely overlooked amid controversies over how the new tax bills would affect households, but a wholesale change in the way the federal government would tax foreign profits is at the core of the GOP tax overhaul that the House passed this month and the Senate could approve in its own version this week.

Currently, the U.S. government taxes foreign earnings at the same 35 percent corporate rate charged on domestic profits, but only when the foreign earnings are returned to the United States. Under the bills moving through Congress, overseas profits would be mostly excluded from U.S. taxation.

Instead, those profits might be taxed by the nations where the profits were earned, reflecting a territorial system like many countries in Europe now use.

The starting point for the House and Senate bills is that if its U.S. income, were going to tax it, but if its foreign income, were not going to tax it at all, ever, said Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning research group.

Paired with a dramatic cut in the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent, the new system is intended to make U.S. multinationals more competitive by adopting a corporate tax system similar to those used in many other developed countries. These countries tax corporate income at around 20 percent, and impose little or no tax on profits earned abroad.

Supporters of the plan say U.S. companies would still have to pay taxes to the governments of the countries where they post their earnings. So if the tax rates in those countries are on a par with the U.S. corporate tax rate, they argue, companies will face a level playing field and have less incentive to move their profits abroad.

This is about putting us on par with our peers in the industrialized world, said Gavin Ekins, an economist at the Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning research group. This is something that the public doesnt really understand. They just see it as a benefit to these corporations, but its a lot more about being competitive and being similar to our peers.

The stated aim is to fix what is universally seen as a big flaw in the tax system that has encouraged U.S. companies to park an astonishing $2.6 trillion overseas and out of the U.S. Treasurys reach, much of it in Caribbean and European havens that assess extremely low or no taxes on corporate earnings. The companies do not have to pay U.S. tax on the money until they bring it home.

Many never do. The biggest names in American business are now routinely using these havens to stash their profits. Kimberly Clausing, an economist at Reed College in Oregon, estimates that by doing so, U.S. multinationals avoid $100 billion in taxes each year.

Clausing and other critics say there are better ways to fix the problem than to charge little or no tax on overseas profits. They say the proposed new system will only invite U.S. companies to move more cash offshore, because the rate on overseas profits in low- or non-taxing countries will still be much lower even than the new 20 percent U.S. corporate tax rate.

Tax havens are particularly well suited to technology, pharmaceutical and big-brand companies like Starbucks and Nike. A big chunk of their assets is intangible intellectual property such as patents, algorithms and trademarks that are easy to shift to paper subsidiaries in countries such as the Cayman Islands or Bermuda, neither of which tax corporate earnings.

A 2013 Senate investigation found that Apple had diverted nearly two-thirds of its pretax revenue through Irish subsidiaries that claimed the rights to its intellectual property and accompanying royalties. The company had no physical presence in Ireland and was beyond the reach of any tax authority. A particularly aggressive strategy went by the nickname double Irish with a Dutch sandwich, and involved moving intangible assets through various jurisdictions to avoid taxes.

A trove of newly revealed financial documents called the Paradise Papers showed that after Irish authorities cracked down on the double Irish, Apple shifted its income to the island of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands off Englands coast that does not tax income. Jersey is a British crown dependency but not part of the United Kingdom.

In response to a New York Times report on the shift in Apples strategy, the company issued an extensive statement on Nov. 6, asserting that it is the largest taxpayer in the world and has paid more than $35 billion in corporate income taxes over the past three years, with an effective tax rate of 24.6 percent, higher than average for U.S. multinationals.

Gabriel Zucman, an assistant economics professor at UC Berkeley, estimates that U.S. multinationals now earn 63 percent of their foreign profits in just six tax havens, mainly the Netherlands.

Zucman said that in 2015, Googles parent company, Alphabet, made $20.5 billion in profits in Bermuda, where the corporate tax rate is zero, not because they employ many people in Bermuda or have real activity there. They dont. Its because they artificially shift their profits on paper to Bermuda.

Both the House and Senate bills have complex provisions to try to prevent multinationals from gaming the system, supporters of the tax plans say. The Tax Foundations Eakins said these would make the tax havens less attractive by assessing a kind of minimum tax on corporations that shift paper profits to low-tax jurisdictions.

But Reed Colleges Clausing disputes that, saying these provisions have been written in a way that will encourage even greater use of tax havens.

They are basically exempting all future returns to foreign income from tax, but taxing U.S. earned income at 20 percent, Clausing said. Zero is less than 20 percent just like zero is less than 35 percent.

Eric Toder, a senior fellow at the moderate-left Tax Policy Center, said moving to a system where overseas earnings are not taxed requires clear rules to distinguish between domestic and foreign income, a difficult task when dealing with multinationals. In a recent paper, he found that the use of tax havens is eroding territorial systems around the world, including the European systems that Republicans want to copy.

UC Berkeley Professor Alan Auerbach, one of the nations top fiscal scholars, said hes not a big fan of territorial tax systems, but thinks the legislations new low corporate rate on domestic earnings and the complex provisions to prevent gaming might help offset its incentives to move corporate activity offshore.

But he said the tax proposals in Congress are part of a global race to the bottom on corporate taxation. The United Kingdom is considering cutting its corporate tax rate from 19 to 17 percent, and France is also considering cuts, Auerbach said.

A 20 percent U.S. corporate tax rate may look pretty good to us now, but in five years, maybe well need 15 percent, he said.

In joining this race, the House and Senate bills would also accelerate the shrinking of corporate taxes as a share of federal revenue. In 1954, corporate taxes were 6 percent of gross domestic product, but now make up just 2 percent, according to the Tax Policy Center. That has shifted the federal tax burden onto other businesses and households.

Far from solving this problem, the House and Senate bills would make it worse, Auerbach said.

Theyre going to lose a lot of corporate revenues, he said. While eliminating many middle-class tax deductions, as proposed in the bills, will fill some of the gap, he said the rest is going into the deficit.

Within a decade, both the House and Senate plans are expected to increase the national debt from 77 percent of the total economy to 97 percent, according to outside estimates. Within 20 years, the national debt would be much bigger than the size of the entire economy, an estimated 123 percent of gross domestic product.

People should be paying a lot more attention to this, Clausing said. Its dangerous to the future competitiveness of the United States.

Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead

Hide and seek

Here are the top 10 California companies that shelter their profits in overseas tax havens, according to data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization:

Apple $252.3 billion Cisco Systems $65.6 billion Google $60.7 billion Oracle $47.5 billion Chevron $46.4 billion Intel $46.4 billion Gilead Sciences $37.6 billion Amgen $36.6 billion Qualcomm $32.5 billion Hewlett Packard Enterprise* $26.2 billion

* In November 2015, Hewlett-Packard split into two companies. Hewlett Packard Enterprise focuses on servers and networking equipment, while HP Inc. produces personal computers and printers.
Time to bid farewell to The Fashion Police, as Melissa Rivers throws in the pashmina on the once must-see dish-fest created and hosted by her late mother, Joan Rivers. The show used to be weekly but then became less frequent, airing only after a major awards or fashion event, such as the Oscars or the Met Ball. It just wasnt the same without Joan, but Melissa continued it, after a fashion, till now. The final farewell episode airs on E at 8 p.m.

ABC gets in the holiday spirit with the tune-filled two-hour CMA Country Christmas at 8 p.m.

NBC also gets in the spirit with A Very Pentatonix Christmas Special, starring the harmonious a cappella singing group, at 10 p.m.

Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife, Beth, are the focus in an emotional two-hour A&E special, Dog & Beth: The Fight of Their Lives, focusing on Beths battle with throat cancer, airing at 9 p.m.

Brenda Song stars as Allison Pyke in the TV movie Angry Angel, airing on Freeform at 9 p.m., about a young woman who has just become an angel but cant get the bell tone series right to enter the Pearly Gates. Jason Biggs and Ricky Mabe co-star.

Starz airs the documentary Woman on Fire, about Brooke Guinan, the first openly transgender New York City firefighter, at 9 p.m.

A new episode of Arrow airs at 9 tonight, a special night, on the CW. Its the second part of the Crisis on Earth X episode.

The new season of Street Outlaws revs up on the Discovery Channel at 9 p.m.

City of Heroes is the subject of Robert Kirkmans Secret History of Comics at 10 p.m. on AMC.

HBO got unprecedented access to both sides of  Meth Storm , a documentary about the drug epidemic in rural America, specifically in Arkansas. The film airs at 10 p.m.

Ready for some bad behavior on MTV? The channel seeks to replicate the success of Jersey Shore by heading south, for the premiere of the Floribama Shore at 10 p.m. Try to picture a Southern-fried version of Snooki.

Acorn TV adds episodes three and four of the fifth season of A Place to Call Home, with Marta Dusseldorp, to its streaming options today. Also available is the second episode of the exclusive U.S. premiere of Love, Lies & Records, starring Ashley Jensen in a show written by Bafta-winning writer Kay Mellor. Go to www.acorn.tv for more info.

David Wiegand is an assistant managing editor and the TV critic of The San Francisco Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook. Email: dwiegand@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @WaitWhat_TV
A storm that moved through the region early Sunday caused havoc on Bay Area highways as multiple crashes and fatalities were reported.

Showers started moving into San Francisco and the northern parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties Sunday morning, said Drew Peterson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Its decent rainfall rates, Peterson said.

Eastbound lanes on Interstate 80 were shut down for several hours in Emeryville after a Ford sedan spun out on the Berkeley Curve and rammed sideways into a pickup truck around 9:40 a.m., said Officer Matthew Hamer of the California Highway Patrol.

A passenger in the sedan was killed in the collision, and the three other passengers, including a juvenile, were transported to the hospital for precautionary reasons, Hamer added.

Multiple lanes on Highway 101 in Sausalito were also closed for several hours because of a fatal crash, causing significant delays in traffic toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

A man in his early 30s died when his white van rolled over in the middle of the highway about 8:30 a.m., said Battalion Chief Kai Pasquale with the Southern Marin Fire District.

We strongly recommend that people take weather conditions into account when they are driving on the freeways and adjust their speed accordingly, Hamer said.

The precipitation was cleared out in the afternoon, and the rainfall shifted toward Santa Cruz, Monterey and Salinas. Winds picked up, with gusts reaching 25 mph in San Francisco. .

Despite the brief reprieve in the afternoon, the rain was forecast to return overnight, with the heaviest amount of precipitation expected in the North Bay, Peterson said.

Santa Rosa  including vulnerable areas scarred by last months firestorm  along with Napa, Novato and Sebastopol could get up to an inch and a half of rain.

Since the wildfires that started Oct. 8, destroying more than 8,800 structures and killing 43 people, officials have been monitoring the burn areas throughout storms to ensure that landslides dont cause even more damage. But Peterson didnt expect any heavy debris flows.

We dont have a high level of concern for the burn scar areas, Peterson said.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, rainfall totals were expected to barely reach an inch.

San Francisco and Oakland should receive two-thirds of an inch of rain. The South Bay could receive about a third of an inch, and a half inch is expected in Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasanton and Dublin.

Monday morning might be a little messy commute, Peterson said.

The rain should subside by 10 a.m., paving the way for a dry week ahead, he added.

Temperatures will remain in the low to mid-60s from Monday through the rest of the week for the Bay Area, which is seasonally normal, Peterson said.

The past several days have been unusually warm in the Bay Area, with some areas hitting record temperatures, Peterson said.

In San Jose, Saturdays temperatures reached 80 degrees, breaking a 1959 record of 76 degrees. Gilroy also set a record Saturday with temperatures reaching 78 degrees, breaking the 1959 record of 77 degrees.

Motorists leaving Lake Tahoe on Sunday were warned to be mindful of snow accumulating throughout the area beginning about 10 a.m., Peterson said.

Up to 8 inches of snow is expected at 6,000 feet, and at least a foot of snow above 7,000 feet, Peterson said.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
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On a Saturday in January in downtown San Francisco, half a block up from Market Street, shoppers and business people witnessed a jarring sight: a huge red swastika flag hanging over O'Farrell Street.

A crowd began to gather under the flag, eventually numbering as many as 3,000, The Chronicle reported. Enraged onlookers chanted, "Take it down! Take it down!" A nearby department store draped another flag beside the 4-by-8-foot Nazi banner  an even bigger, 10-by-20-foot American flag. But that wasn't enough to pacify what police were soon calling a riot.

Finally, two sailors on leave  Harold Sturtevant Jr. and E.G. Lackey  set about scaling the building's fire escape. Three other men and Chronicle photographer Bill Young trailed after them. Sturtevant ducked into the 10th floor window, followed by Lackey, who handed him a knife and lowered him onto the flagpole.

The date was Jan. 18, 1941. About 11 months later, Japan would launch an attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii, prompting American involvement in World War II. But up until that point, the United States had been walking a fine line with Germany, maintaining diplomatic relations with the country despite growing popular resentment toward its fascist regime. It was not to last.

VIDEO: Things you'll never see again in San Francisco. Story continues below.

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The ninth floor of 26 O'Farrell St., now one story below a jewelry shop, was then home to a German consulate. The flag was being flown to mark a national anniversary, and the consulate was legally allowed to display it. Sturtevant would later claim that he knew none of this; he assumed the flag was owned by a Nazi supporter. The crowd was "beginning to get mean," Sturtevant recounted to The Chronicle. He simply "thought it would be a good thing to get that swastika out of sight."

Sturtevant found himself sitting astride the flagpole, nine stories up. He reached for the flag. A consulate staffer tried to wrest it from his grasp, and a brief tug-of-war ensued, but Sturtevant prevailed. He tore the Nazi flag apart while the crowd roared its approval. Some grappled over the resultant shreds as they fluttered to the ground, hoping to keep them as souvenirs.

The mood in the streets was jubilant. But the "flag incident," as it was termed, instantly made national headlines and sparked a high-stakes diplomatic row. Consul General Fritz Wiedemann called the defacement of the Nazi flag a violation of international law. "The facts speak for themselves," he said in a statement.

Wiedemann happened to live in the picturesque Whittier Mansion in Pacific Heights, as SFGATE reporter Bob Bragman details here.

Secretary of State Cordell Hull expressed the U.S.'s formal regrets, even after Berlin condemned the flag-slashing as typical of a lawless democracy. "Even in the jungle, the rights of guests are respected," one dispatch seethed. Ultimately, the owner of the building terminated the consulate's lease, and the Germans vacated their O'Farrell outpost.

Local public opinion was as disparate as any social media firestorm today. "That U.S. sailor who tore down the Nazi flag ... was tearing at the very roots of what I interpret as civil liberties," The Chronicle's Herb Caen wrote. Several letters sent to The Chronicle's editor defended the two seamen, while others derided them as reckless. "If this world had more men of the Harold Sturtevant type," one letter said, "Hitlerism and Nazism would never have had a ghost of a chance."

Lackey and Sturtevant, for their part, were arrested and found guilty of misconduct. But the arresting officer testified that the men "felt they were doing their duty" in destroying the flag. Without a dishonorable discharge on his record, Sturtevant later re-enlisted.
LOS ANGELES  A gun control group founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords has asked two web hosting companies to shut down websites selling parts and machines that help make untraceable homemade firearms known as ghost guns.

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence on Friday asked the providers that host GhostGunner.net and GhostGuns.com to disable the websites for violating the hosting companies terms of service.

The sites sell kits, components and machines that help create homemade semi-automatic weapons. Its legal to build a gun in a home or a workshop, and advances in 3-D printing and milling have made it easier to do so. The kits can be purchased legally for a few hundred dollars without the kind of background check required for traditional gun purchases.

Attorneys for the gun control advocacy group said the homemade weapons are increasingly being used in crimes and asked each of the companies to invoke its policies to help stem the tide of this illegal, deadly behavior.

They argue that the hosting companies, Shopify and DreamHost, should invoke their ability to disable and terminate the websites. The group argues that the two sites sell the sort of products that have already caused scores of senseless deaths  and are likely to cause many more, unless taken off the market.

The gunman who killed his wife and four others in a rampage in rural Rancho Tehama (Tehama County) earlier this month had been barred from having guns but built two semi-automatic rifles at home that he used in the shooting, authorities said. Kevin Janson Neal injured 10 others before his was fatally shot by officers.

Federal officials are sounding the alarm about an increasing black market for homemade military-style semi-automatic rifles and handguns.

Cody Wilson, who runs GhostGunner.net, said the products he sells on his website are legal and in compliance with federal regulations. He has said although there is no legal requirement that he conduct background checks, he tries to take precautions to make sure the weapons are not used nefariously.

This is an attempt to apply pressure to deplatform a legal, American business selling legal products to law-abiding customers, he said.

Representatives for GhostGuns.com, Shopify and DreamHost did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Michael Balsamo is an Associated Press writer.
This is the last Mann ki Baat radio progamme of PM Modi before the votes are cast in Gujarat in two phases on December 9 and 15.

By India Today Web Desk: The BJP has turned the monthly radio programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi into an election event in the wake of Gujarat Assembly polls.

This is the last Mann ki Baat radio progamme of PM Modi before the votes are cast in Gujarat in two phases on December 9 and 15.

The BJP workers turned their the radio sets for Mann ki Baat on all poll booths in Gujarat and listened to PM Modi while sipping tea. The BJP, earlier, released a poster with a slogan for the special radio programme, 'Mann ki Baat Chaai ke Saath.'

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The BJP says that it is its way to counter the recent 'chaiwala' meme shared by the Congress's youth wing taking a swipe at PM Modi. The BJP has also asked listeners to click selfies with party workers and share them on social media platforms.

The counting of votes for the Gujarat Assembly election will be held on December 18.

HERE IS WHAT THE PM SAID IN HIS ADDRESS:

We will work together to bring positive change under #positiveIndia: PM Modi

We should begin 2018 hoping for the best and welcome it with happy memories: PM Modi

PM congratulates differently-abled para swimmer Jigar Thakkar from Gujarat.

8-year-old Divyang child from Madhya Pradesh has worked towards preventing ODF: PM Modi

Our farmers should work towards saving the earth: PM Modi

It is proved that excessive use of urea harms the earth: PM Modi

I am happy to see farmers implementing the advice given in soil health card: PM Modi

We take pride in the fact that our farmers have maintained tradition and adopted technology: PM Modi

We have always been grateful and respectful towards our soil: PM Modi

Let us all work towards raising the morale of our jawans: PM Modi

Defence Ministry will soon carry out awareness campaign across the nation: PM Modi

Our Navy has went out of its way to conduct rescue operations in the neighboring countries: PM Modi

Our armed forces are also well known for its humanitarian efforts: PM Modi

Post independence, Navy played a vital role: PM Modi

PM Modi lauded the rivers and seas ahead of the Navy Day.

India is the land of Buddha, Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi who professed non-violence: PM Modi

Terrorism is out to destroy humanist forces: PM Modi

India has been a victim of terrorism for the last 40 years: PM Modi

The nation salutes those who lost their lives in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack: PM Modi

Constitution bears the stamp of the leadership of Dr Ambedkar, his contribution is invaluable: PM Modi.

It is our duty to follow the Constitution in letter and spirit: PM Modi

Our constitution is all encompassing, it touches all aspect of life: PM Modi on Constitution Day.

PM Modi begins his address to the nation.

PM @narendramodi's #MannKiBaat programme on AIR to begin shortly. Do tune in.#PMonAIR pic.twitter.com/HNmdt1hI4r

- All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) November 26, 2017

--- ENDS ---
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.  The Ensley Park Recreation Center was beginning to come to life. The song Happy and other upbeat tunes boomed through the loudspeakers. And a crowd was gathering for a chance to glimpse something rarely seen in conservative Alabama: a surging Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.

But Donald Williams was skeptical. The 75-year-old retired UPS worker had come to cheer on Democrat Doug Jones in a campaign that has captured national attention. Has it also generated energy in Alabamas African American communities?

As of this day, I would say no, said Williams, who is black. And this is Doug Jones problem. Hes got to get out and get the voters energized.

With 2 weeks left until election day, a once unthinkable victory in the heart of the Deep South is within Jones reach, thanks largely to a string of sexual misconduct allegations against Republican candidate Roy Moore.

Jones campaign believes he can win only if he pieces together an unusually delicate coalition built on intense support from core Democrats and some crossover votes from Republicans disgusted with Moore. Crucial to that formula is a massive mobilization of African Americans, who tend to vote heavily Democratic.

Yet, in interviews in recent days, African American elected officials, community leaders and voters expressed concern that the Jones campaigns turnout plan was at risk of falling short.

Right now, many African Americans do not know there is an election on Dec. 12, said state Sen. Hank Sanders, who is black and supports Jones.

According to Democrats working on the race, Jones, who is white, must secure more than 90 percent of the black vote while boosting black turnout to account for between 25 and 30 percent of the electorate  similar to the levels that turned out for Barack Obama.

As a result, Jones and his allies are waging an aggressive outreach campaign. It includes targeted radio and online advertisements, billboards and phone calls. The message emphasizes that in the 1990s Jones prosecuted two Ku Klux Klan members who bombed a black church in Birmingham in 1963. The Jones campaign expects to intensify its black outreach in the final stretch.

Sean Sullivan is a Washington Post writer.
WASHINGTON  The crush of unfinished business facing lawmakers when they return to the Capitol would be daunting even if Washington were functioning at peak efficiency.

Its an agenda whose core items  tax cuts, a potential government shutdown, many leftover spending bills  could unravel just as easily as advance amid factionalism, gamesmanship, and a toxic political environment.

Theres only a four-week window until a Christmas deadline, barely enough time for complicated negotiations even if December stays on the rails. And thats hardly a sure bet in President Trumps capital.

Trump and congressional leaders plan a meeting Tuesday to discuss how to sidestep a shutdown and work though the legislative to-do list.

For the optimistic, its plain that Democrats and Republicans have reasons to cooperate, particularly on spending increases for the Pentagon and domestic agencies whose budgets otherwise would be frozen. An additional round of hurricane aid should be bipartisan, and efforts to reauthorize a popular health care program for children seem to be on track.

Republicans are advancing their cherished tax cut measure under special rules that mean Senate Democrats cannot use delaying tactics. The measure passed the House just before the Thanksgiving break and moves to the Senate floor this week.

After the Senate GOPs failure on health care last summer, the majority party is under enormous pressure to produce a victory on taxes. Still, GOP deficit hawks such as Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona remain uneasy about the overhaul.

While Democrats are largely sidelined on taxes, they hold leverage over a mix of budget-related issues.

First, theres the need to avert a government shutdown after a temporary spending bill expires on Dec. 8. The most likely scenario, congressional aides say, is for an additional extension until Christmas. On a parallel track are talks to raise spending limits that are keeping agency budgets essentially frozen unless those caps are raised. If that happens, then negotiations could begin in earnest on a massive catchall spending measure in hopes of having it signed into law by years end.

Taxes have gotten all the attention so far, but the showdown over a potential shutdown right before Christmas could soon take center stage. Democrats are counting on GOP fears of a holiday season closure to ensure Republican concessions during December talks.

Both sides would have to make concessions that may upset partisans in either party. Just as House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., fears a revolt on the right, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco risks an uprising on her left. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., round out the quartet of top negotiators.

Everybodys got complicated politics. The chance of short-term failure is pretty high  short-term failure being a shutdown, said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist.

Andrew Taylor is an Associated Press writer.
Prominent regions that will go to vote today are Lucknow and Varanasi. It was reported that an electronic voting machine had malfunctioned.

The third and final phase of civic polls covering other 26 districts will be held on November 29 (Photo courtesy: ANI)

By India Today Web Desk: Polling for the second phase of the Uttar Pradesh civic polls started at 7am today and will continue till 5pm and will cover 25 districts.

Prominent regions that will go to vote today are Lucknow and Varanasi.

A news update by FirstPost said it was reported that booth number 254-255 in Lucknow's Sarojini Nagar had malfunctioned. No voting could take place here since morning.

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Union minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma today cast their votes in the second phase of the civic polls, polling for which is underway in 25 districts.In the state capital, Rajnath Singh cast his vote along with his wife and family members, including son Pankaj Singh who is a legislator.

Uttar Pradesh local body polls: Home Minister Rajnath Singh leaves after casting his vote in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/KPJULyvsbK- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 26, 2017

Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budhnagar, Amroha, Rampur, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Aligarh, Mathura, Mainpuri , Farrukhabad, Etawah, Lalitpur, Banda, Allahabad, Lucknow, Sultanpur, Ambedkarnagar, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Sant Kabirnagar, Deoria, Ballia, Bhadohi and Varanasi districts go to polls today.

In the first phase of elections held on November 22, over 52 per cent voting was recorded.

The third and final phase of civic polls covering other 26 districts will be held on November 29.

Sharma voted with his wife in Aishbagh area and said, "The BJP is committed to work for the people and opposition should realise that it was the peoples love and trust which ensured the partys victory in the assembly polls. In civic polls too, the party is going to win."

Local body polls: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya & wife Rajkumari Devi cast their votes in Allahabad pic.twitter.com/LBFDm8vIoD- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 26, 2017

The counting of votes for all phases will take place on December 1 and the results will be declared that day.

Almost 14,000 police personnel have been deployed across the state. Approximately 2,500 policemen from nearby districts will also be on duty for the duration of the polling. They will be assisted by over 4,500 home guards.

State Election Commissioner SK Agarwal also exercised his franchise and appealed to the people to cast their votes.

"If you want basic amenities in your city, you should come out of your home and vote in large numbers," he said.

Besides them, state ministers Swati Singh, Mohsin Raza and others prominent personalities cast their votes in the first four hours.

(With PTI inputs)

--- ENDS ---

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By PTI: Kolkata, Nov 26 (PTI) Police today seized arms, ammunition and several "incriminating documents" from the residence of suspected arms dealer Monotosh Dey, who was arrested earlier this week along with two others with alleged links to a banned terror group in Bangladesh.

Two country-made revolvers, a huge cache of ammunition and documents including a few maps of India were seized from Deys rented accommodation in Basirhats Raghunathpur in North 24 Parganas district during a raid, a senior officer of Kolkata Polices Special Task Force (STF) said.

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Last Tuesday, the STF arrested Dey, along with two suspected terrorists ?- Samsad Mia alias Tanvir Saiful and Rizaul Islam ?- allegedly working for Bangladeshs banned terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) from the citys Kolkata Station and seized several forged documents including Aadhaar cards, PAN cards besides arms and ammunition from their possession.

On Friday, Police arrested another person -- Mohammed Sahadat Hossain -- who was allegedly involved in helping ABT terrorists cross the border.

Dey is suspected of supplying arms and ammunition to agents of Bangladeshi terror groups, who have managed to sneak into India.

According to the senior officer of the STF, who was part of the raid, Deys second wife Afroza Bibi was also grilled for over an hour.

"We tried to find out whether she was involved with Dey in his crime of supplying arms and ammunition. From her answers, it seems she knew what Dey was up to. We are still looking for answers to some crucial questions," he said.

Police suspect the arms and ammunition recovered from Deys house today were part of a consignment which the accused was "preparing to deliver in November".

"Though it is yet to be clear for whom Dey was preparing the order, it seems that it was part of the arms and ammunition package he had taken on contract to the Kolkata Station for the two ABT terrorists last week," the officer said.

Dey, who was earlier living in Ichchapur in North 24 Parganas district, was earlier arrested for his involvement in an arms dealing case, besides three other cases, under different police stations in the city which are still pending, police said.

"He had used several fake names in order to get rooms on rent. In Basirhat, he used two fake identity cards to get rented accommodation at two different locations," the officer said, adding that the two women involved with Dey were also questioned as part of the investigation.

Police are examining if Dey had any links to the Ichchapur Rifle Factory, where his late father was an employee.

The police came to know the names of three terrorists -- Shopon Biswas alias Sajol Ahmed, Mohammed Aftab Khan alias Umar Faruque and Nayan Gazi alias Zafar -- after grilling Samsad and Rizaul.

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"These three terrorists had entered India probably some time in mid-July with the help of Sahadat. As per our intelligence inputs, they were in the city even in October. We need to nab them as soon as possible," the officer said.

The city police has issued a lookout notice for the three suspected terrorists and shared their photographs on their Facebook page and announced a reward for individuals providing information. PTI SCH JM SMN

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Jamshedpur, Nov 26 (PTI) Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) today lashed out at the state government over the rate of development work in Jharkhand and said the situation prevailing in this mineral-rich state is worse than Somalia.

The government has failed to deliver on all fronts, newly nominated JPCC President Ajoy Kumar alleged.

"The chief minister has grabbed the headlines over his decision to table an agriculture budget last year but the intentions of the government could be judged over the fact that only 13 per cent of the allocated funds was spent in the past seven months of the current fiscal," he said at a press meet today.

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Similarly, the gender budget, introduced for the first time by the government in the last fiscal, drew blank, he said while referring to a CAG report that stated that the government did not spend a penny for the purpose in 2015-16.

The situation is no different when it comes to womens skill development and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save girl child and educate them) projects, he claimed.

"Even the per capita debt in the state has increased to Rs.17,183 in 2017 from Rs 2,318 in 2001. The situation prevailing in this state was worse than Somalia," Kumar, a former parliamentarian, said.

The crisis in Somalia is the result of prolonged drought, violence and insecurity. A UN study shows that more than six million people are in dire need of food and assistance in the country.

The chief minister has been claiming that the state holds second rank in the country on account of growth rate but the per capita income of the state shows that Jharkhand figures at the sixth position from the bottom, Kumar said.

Talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modis ambitious scheme "Ujjawala Yojana", the JPCC chief said the Jharkhand government could distribute only 9.41 lakh LPG connections against their target of 28.53 lakh.

As far as law and order is concerned, Kumar said, crime rate has only increased with reports of murder, loot and rape coming from every part of the state.

The JPCC president, accompanied by Zonal Coordinator Ashok Chowdhury and East Singhbhum District Congress Committee President Vijay Khan, said the chief minister has toured the state several times on a chopper but could not find an occasion to visit the government-run MGM Hospital here, where several children died of malnutrition early this year. PTI BS RMS

--- ENDS ---
Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree and Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib were ejected in the first quarter of Sundays game at the Coliseum after exchanging punches on the field.

Lined up wide on a running play, Crabtree locked up with Talib and pushed him over the sideline and out of bounds. Talib appeared to throw Crabtrees helmet at him as Broncos and Raiders players sprinted to the area.
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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras  President Juan Orlando Hernandez declared himself the winner of his countrys presidential elections Sunday after exit polls gave him almost 44 percent of the vote.

I am contented, happy, Hernandez told supporters. We won this election.

Television presenter Salvador Nasralla was running second with 34.7 percent and academic Luis Zelaya third with 17.7 percent, according to the poll by the company Ingenieria Gerencial.

The first official results were expected Sunday evening.

Polling stations closed on time despite an expectation that voting would be extended, with people in some areas complaining they did not have time to cast their ballots.

The elections pitted Hernandez, a 49-year-old conservative, against eight other candidates in a single-round vote.

He had been expected to defeat center-left candidate Nasralla, who had the rare backing of two opposition parties, and Zelaya, who represented the conservative Liberal Party.

About 6.4 million voters were also eligible to elect 128 members of Congress and the mayors of 298 municipalities.

The Central American countrys constitution bans re-election, but Hernandez based his candidacy on a 2015 Supreme Court ruling in favor of former president Rafael Callejas, who argued that the ban violated his human rights.

But Callejas was not running after having been jailed in the United States over a FIFA corruption scandal.

The opposition argued that the Supreme Court could not override the constitution, but Hernandez said he needs a second term to consolidate his achievements, such as improving security.

The president sent soldiers to crack down on criminal gangs, extradited drug lords to the U.S. and slightly reduced Honduras homicide rate, still one of the highest in the world.
CAIRO  Elders of a village in Egypts Sinai Peninsula where militants killed 305 people in a mosque had been warned by Islamic State operatives to stop collaborating with security forces and to suspend rituals associated with Islams mystical Sufi movement, security officials and residents said Sunday.

The latest warning came as recently as a week ago, telling villagers in Al-Rawdah not to hold Sufi rituals on Nov. 29-30 to commemorate the birth of the prophet Muhammad, according to residents and the officials who work for security and military intelligence agencies operating in Sinai.

Local operatives of the Islamic State affiliate in Sinai consider Sufis to be heretics who should be killed. Ahmed Saqr, an expert on the Sinai insurgency, said militants had publicly identified the mosque, which also serves as a Sufi center, as a target months ago.

He wrote Saturday in a Facebook post that the selection of the Al-Rawdah mosque as a target raises questions about those who read, analyze and prepare in our security agencies, and whether anything could have been done to prevent the untold horrors.

Mohammed Ibrahim, a university student from the village, said militants had warned residents a few days before Fridays attack not to collaborate with security forces. The warning, he said by telephone Sunday from the nearby town of Bir al-Abd, followed the detention three weeks ago by villagers of three suspected militants who were handed over to security forces.

The militants also distributed leaflets several times ordering villagers not to cooperate with security forces and to abandon Sufism, he said.

Another Al-Rawdah resident, Mohammed Darwish, 30, said militants stormed the home of village tribal leader Sheikh Hussein al-Jerirr twice this year.

Egypts military and security forces have been waging a campaign against the militants of northern Sinai. Across the country, thousands have been arrested in a crackdown on suspected Islamists and other dissenters and government critics.

In the past year, militants have bombed churches in the capital of Cairo and other cities, killing dozens of Christians. The Islamic State affiliate is also believed to be behind the 2016 downing of a Russian passenger jet that killed all 224 people on board, decimating the vital tourism sector.

Hamza Hendawi is an Associated Press writer.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand is carrying out consumer research into alternative proteins in China and San Francisco in response to the rise of the rival products and wants to report back to the sector before the end of the year.

"What we have discovered is that for better or worse alternative protein is here. We are not seeing it as a replacement for now, but we are definitely seeing it as an alternative for certain types of consumers. The consumer research that we doing is to understand who those consumers are and what's driving that behaviour," Damien Cullinan, market innovation manager for Beef + Lamb, told BusinessDesk.

The industry lobby group launched a project in August to understand the production technologies, business models and products, and how consumers are responding along with the threats and opportunities posed by plant-based, lab-grown and insect proteins.

It is trying to separate the "hype from the reality" and "we are going hammer and tongs" to present an internal report within the next four weeks to determine future strategy, said Cullinan. Beef + Lamb will then look at what it presents publically as it doesn't want to provide competitors with "a potential playbook or a look at our strategy," he said.

Cullinan noted that while it's not clear what the eventual impact will be, the technology is moving extremely fast. So-called synthetic or alternative proteins have gone from the world's first lab-grown hamburger unveiled in 2013 to now being available on the menu in some US restaurants.

While Beef + Lamb sees it as an alternative rather than a replacement, others are direr. The Prime Minister's chief science adviser Peter Gluckman has said there is a growing consumer appetite around the world for synthetic alternatives to meat and milk, which poses an "existential threat" to the country's economic fortunes. Earlier this week, Rabobank said alternative proteins are on the verge of becoming mainstream and "stealing" growth from traditional meat products.

Cullinan said Beef + Lamb is not downplaying the opportunities or challenges to the industry: "We are not burying our heads in the sand and saying there is nothing we can do about it," he said.

"This is definitely something we have been taking seriously for a while and we have a very robust process ... we are quite excited about what we are seeing. There is an opportunity for the industry," he said.

Among other things, he noted plant-based synthetic foods rely on genetically modified ingredients to enhance the taste and texture and that is something New Zealand - and consumers around the world - need to be aware of.

"People are making a bit of a trade-off. If they have decided for whatever reason they don't want product A, product B is not product A but it has got some other stuff they may be unaware of," he said.

Against that backdrop, New Zealand's natural and grass-fed based farming system remains competitive.

(BusinessDesk)

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John Wesley Powell, the famed explorer, geologist, land planner, writer, artist, anthropologist and Civil War veteran, suffered his first stroke in November 1901. Though Powell would eventually recover, a second stroke struck down the larger-than-life figure of the American Southwest, and he died on the floor of his Maine home in September 1902.

More than a century later, Powells presence still lingers in Arizona and the greater Southwest. His 1869 expedition of the Green and Colorado rivers, perhaps his most famous excursion, remains one of the most daring and exciting adventures in Americas history. But how much of it is truth and how much of it has been embellished by the admiration of inaccurate historians?

Don Lagos new book, The Powell Expedition: New Discoveries about John Wesley Powells 1869 River Journey sheds new light on familiar territory.

A Case of Mistaken Identity

I certainly never set out to write a whole book, said Lago. In fact, Im pretty astonished that there are 400 pages of new material.

After roughly 20 years of on-again off-again research, his new book, which originally started out as a way to scratch Lagos own curious itch, is finally seeing the light of day. For Lago, it all started with a question: who was William Hawkins?

"I was just curious, said the author. I was from Missouri and William Hawkins, one of the crew members [on the 1869 river journey] was from Missouri, but there was very little else known about [him]. I was just curious to know where he was from. Was he from my own county? How did he end up on the Powell expedition? There must be a good story about it somewhere. So I pursued that, and I realized that the guy in the books was a case of mistaken identity. It was the wrong guy.

Billy Hawkins real name was William Robert Wesley Hawkins, but his use of the name Billy Rhodes, presumably because of a run in with the law, had led Powell biographer William Culp Darrah, down a road of misinformation. It was a small detail that was overlooked and perpetuated as common knowledge.

It really opened my eyes to how downright shabby history writing can be, that historians can make major errors and everybody just copies their homework.

Lago also argues that Darrah dismissed some of Powells crew members who were critical of his leadership in order to protect Powells reputation.

Ive always loved history books and you assume their authenticity, especially if they are a university academic. You assume that they know what they are doing, that theyre doing their research and that everything is accurate, said Lago. I think it was really disheartening and shocking to realize just how poorly researched and documented these statements are and how historians can go on repeating these things for decades.

From there, Lago sought more answers to questions about the men from the famous journey.

Forgotten Men

When learning about the three-month excursion down the Green and Colorado rivers, the most prominent figure is Powell. And for good reasons. With only one arm, the other had been lost in the Civil War, Powell took a wooden boat and traversed the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, then an unknown cavern full of dangerous myths and hearsay.

I think he was very admirable in a lot of ways, said Lago. Powell was certainly a strong-willed person and that helped him succeed as a river runner. But that strong will meant that he wasnt very considerate of other people.

And Powell was most inconsiderate toward his crew on the 1869 journey. With The Powell Expedition, Lago hopes to tell the stories of some of the forgotten men during that journey.

For some people, the whole story is about Powell, and the crew members are obscure and unimportant. So I think [the book] will raise the role of the crew members and raise the respect people have for them and how important they were in making the trip happen at all, said the author. They werent just names. They were real people with real histories and real backgrounds.

Through letters, photographs and interviews with families of the crew, Lago flushes out their post-expedition lives and paints a full picture of the men who stood by Powell during his dangerous journey.

Those familiar with the journey know that three of the crew members, Oramel G. Howland, Seneca Howland and William H. Dunn, abandoned the journey, fearing for their lives under Powells leadership. In the largest section of the book, Lago explores the fate of the Howland brothers and William Dunn. In short, he explains, we still dont know. Though the most likely scenario is that they were killed by Indians, Lago examines other scenarios including perhaps a deadly run-in with Mormon settlers.

Powells Legacy

Powell is sort of a local hero, said Lago. Of course, here in Flagstaff, were a town that loves the Grand Canyon. So Powell is sort of a patron saint of river runners.

Powell, like most, was a concoction of good, bad and questionable qualities, but he was forever motivated by science, geology and the environment.

And his journey, which helped map the final portions of the United States, and his legacy, despite his conflicted character, has become an iconic presence in the history of the Southwest.
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) ICMR chief Soumya Swaminathan, a globally recognised researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, is set to assume the charge of deputy director-general of the WHO in Geneva next month.

Her appointment as the Deputy Director-General for Programmes (DDP), announced early last month by the World Health Organisation, elevates Indias stature globally. It is the second-highest position in the WHO.

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"The plan was to join WHO on December 1 but I am still waiting to be relieved from my current position. So, sometime next month I will take charge as the DDP," she told PTI.

Swaminathan, a pediatrician by training, is a daughter of agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan who is hailed as the father of the Green Revolution.

As she moves from her current position of the director- general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to a global health arena, Swaminathan hopes that her stint at the WHO will be a good learning experience which she can later use in India.

Universal health coverage, addressing the burden of non- communicable diseases (NCDs) or looking at access to drugs and diagnostics will be among her priorities, she says.

The WHO, while announcing her appointment, had said, "A globally recognised researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, she brings with her 30 years of experience in clinical care and research and has worked throughout her career to translate research into impactful programmes."

Swaminathan is also the secretary of the Department of Health Research under the Heath Ministry.

"From 2009 to 2011, she also served as Coordinator of the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) in Geneva," according to WHO.

She has sat on several WHO and global advisory bodies and committees, including the WHO Expert Panel to Review Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property, the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of the Global TB Department at WHO, and as Co-Chair of the Lancet Commission on TB, it said.

Swaminathan received her academic training in India, the UK and the US and has published more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. PTI KND BUN AAR

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Kolkata, Nov 25 (PTI) In order to foster ties between India and South Korea, the South Korean embassy will host a number of cultural events across the country to showcase the rich tapestry of Korean culture.

This is an effort to introduce Indians to Korean pop culture, political counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, New Delhi, Park So Yeon said here yesterday.

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"The embassy will make further efforts to host such events in other parts of India," Yeon said.

As part of this initiative, Tasty Korea - A Korean Musical Night was organised in the city by the South Korean embassy yesterday evening.

The South Korean embassy has brought this very special cultural event in Kolkata where the music loving people of the city did have a live experience of our pop music, Yeon said.

The political assistant at Embassy of the Republic of Korea in New Delhi, Irene Anna Thomas said, "India and South Korea being two great countries share a special bond. Hence, to further carry forward this special bonding, both the countries have been working on cultural exchanges."

Senior diplomats from the South Korean embassy in New Delhi, the honorary consul general of South Korea in Kolkata, the diplomatic and consulate community, professors and students from various universities and schools in city were also present at the musical night, which showcased the musical Chef.

Chef, a fun-packed show with rich sounds and vivid visualisations, presented a legacy of non-verbal performances, was interactive and it encouraged participation from the audience.

The South Korean government wants to use Hallyu, (Korean Wave), which refers to various facets of Korean culture, including music, dance, drama, movies, food, fashion and cosmetics - as part of its cultural diplomacy to enhance bilateral ties with India, a press release said. PTI SUS SBN

--- ENDS ---
WASHINGTON - Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the longest serving member of Congress, stepped aside as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee amid growing internal pressure as an ethics investigation begins into sexual harassment allegations.

Conyers, 88, said he would not resign from Congress and instead would fight the allegations in the hope of reclaiming his spot atop the committee overseeing federal laws and other legal issues. "I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family before the House Committee on Ethics," he wrote in a letter to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sunday.

Conyers, 88, settled a sexual harassment allegation brought by a former staffer, leaving her on the payroll as a temporary employee and paying out just under $30,000.

Pelosi issued a statement immediately after Conyers's announcement: "I particularly take any accusation of sexual harassment very seriously. Any credible accusation must be reviewed by the Ethics Committee expeditiously. We are at a watershed moment on this issue."

The announcement came after days of internal pressure on Conyers, particularly from Pelosi, to step aside from the leadership post, according to a senior Democratic aide familiar with the process.

It followed a Sunday morning dominated by the sprawling issue of sexual harassment and assault on the political news shows. Initially, on NBC's "Meet the Press," Pelosi declined to say whether Conyers would suffer any immediate penalty over allegations that he sexually harassed a junior female aide in a case that was resolved with a payout to the ex-staffer.

"We are strengthened by due process. Just because someone is accused - and was it one accusation? Is it two? I think there has to be - John Conyers is an icon in our country," Pelosi told NBC's Chuck Todd, when asked whether the longest-serving member of the House should resign.

However, in a sign that knew what was coming, Pelosi said she expected Conyers to take a step himself. "I believe he understands what is at stake here and he will do the right thing," she said.

But members of Congress have said that the "due process" system is outdated and biased toward insulating the lawmaker from suffering penalties for misbehavior. "The whole system needs to have a comprehensive shift," Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said on ABC's "This Week."

Speier and Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., are the lead sponsors of legislation slated for a vote this week that would streamline the process, amid growing accusations and revelations about members of Congress that are similar to those involving powerful men from Hollywood, the media and Silicon Valley.

The legislation would require mandatory training on harassment and discrimination for all lawmakers, staff and interns who work in Congress. "There needs to be one standard for members," Comstock said on "This Week," noting that Conyers benefited from making a payment that was never revealed until a BuzzFeed report last week. "No more secret payments."

Conyers has denied any wrongdoing and said his payout was meant to resolve the issue and did not constitute an admission of culpability.

His payout came from the regular allowance for lawmakers for staff salaries and other administrative costs. As The Washington Post reported this month, a separate account overseen by the Office of Compliance has paid out more than $15 million in settlements of sexual harassment and other cases of discrimination.

One Democrat, Rep. Kathleen Rice, N.Y., has suggested that Conyers should just resign from Congress altogether, something that Comstock voiced agreement for Sunday, citing how swiftly some high-profile media titans have fallen.

"We have to have the same kind of standards," she said.

Speier, however, said the House Ethics Committee should add staff to handle the Conyers case "very swiftly" to determine the severity of the allegations. "If they're accurate, I do believe that Congressman Conyers should step down," she said.

Pelosi also suggested that Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., was in a different place amid allegations against him, in part because one of his alleged victims has publicly accepted his apology. Franken was accused of forcibly kissing an entertainer on a 2006 USO tour before he joined the Senate, and since then several other women have suggested Franken groped them while posing for pictures.

"I don't think that you can equate Senator Franken with Roy Moore. It's two different things," she said, contrasting the severity of allegations against Franken with those against the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama.

(c) 2017, The Washington Post. Paul Kane wrote this story.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In early October, on his eldest daughter's birthday, Wael Kassem, 43, -- who had lived on Staten Island for the last 16 years -- was deported to Egypt with only a few hours notice.

Kassem -- who was detained by ICE during a regular check-in on Aug. 3 -- was unable to say goodbye to his family one last time before boarding a plane to his native country. At the time, The Board of Immigration Appeals denied the stay of deportation filed for Kassem, his lawyer told the Advance in August.

Since then, his wife -- Sherien Shady, a former PTA president -- and three daughters have received help in the form of donations and legal assistance from The Women Who March group.

"Breaking bread together, reaching out in big and small ways and identifying that humanity is good policy, is why so many Staten Islanders stand ready to support our immigrant communities, including our undocumented friends and neighbors," said Lorie Honor, who organized a recent fundraiser for Shady and her family along with Roxanne Mustafa -- founders of Staten Island Women Who March -- and Cesar Vargas, an immigration attorney.

FUNDRAISER HELD

The recent potluck dinner held in Honor's Stapleton home raised more than $2,000 for the family, she said.

"It was really heart warming. I felt like I was all by myself, and all of a sudden had this big group behind me," said Shady, who said she is "so grateful" for the outpouring of support.

And the family will not rest until Kassem is allowed back into the country.

"Immigration is not just a talking point echoing in Washington; the issue has real consequences on Staten Island as we are seeing the nation's outdated immigration system ripping families apart at a time where millions of Americans celebrated Thanksgiving," said Vargas, a national advocate for immigration reform.

Vargas said he is working with Shady's family "to ensure they can reunify with a loving husband and father."

"Most Americans agree that the immigration system in the United States needs to be modernized and updated. Most would also agree that separating law abiding husbands from their wives and children should not be part of those considerations," said Mustafa.

2014 ARREST

In 2014, Shady said her husband was taken into custody after police stopped him in the Staten Island Mall parking lot, New Springville. He was driving with an international driver's license and the officer took him in to run a background check, the family said.

The officer discovered there was an order for removal and ICE took Kassem into custody. A couple of days later, they released him under supervision.

He had to check in with an immigration probation officer every three to six months, and has never missed an appointment, his lawyer told the Advance in August.

During his last check-in on Aug.3 at Federal Plaza in Manhattan, he was detained and taken to a New Jersey prison.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With holiday shopping now in full swing, Staten Islanders flocked to their favorite neighborhood retailers to support the local economy and "Shop Small" during Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday was created eight years ago by American Express to encourage customers to shop local after patronizing big box stores on Black Friday, the day prior.

Here are some of the Staten Island small businesses that took part in this year's event.

Bennett's Bicycles

This family-owned and operated business dates back more than 100 years on Staten Island and has been servicing Port Richmond residents at their 517 Jewett Avenue location since 1957.

Owner George Bennett said that like all businesses, they've been challenged by the internet. But their attention to servicing loyal customers have allowed them to continue to thrive.

"We have customers that we've been selling to for 45 years," said Bennett. "That guy who just bought a bike for his grandson bought his own bike here when he was a kid."

The store offers bicycles, helmets, sunglasses and a wide array of accessories, and will even conduct maintenance on your current bicycle if you bring it in to the shop.

Richmond Hood Co.

Recently celebrating their 10 year anniversary, Richmond Hood Co., located at 827 Castleton Ave., West Brighton, has become a staple of the North Shore and Staten Island culture.

"We're happy to have been able to grow as a small business, which is definitely challenging," said manager Tariq Zaid. "We're very humble and incredibly thankful for all the people who have shopped here and made that possible."

The store offers all kinds of Staten Island-themed apparel and accessories that you won't be able to find anywhere else.

"Apparently the shopping experience is much different and more personal here," said Zaid. "Hearing that is really motivating to build on the personal touch of a small retail boutique."

Wicked Stitches

Starting small in the garage of co-owner Nancy Nix, Wicked Stitches has been at their beautiful storefront at 840 Castleton Ave, West Brighton for almost four years now.

The embroidery shop offers custom-made gifts, such as clothing, quilts, pillows and accessories.

Among their most popular items are neighborhood-themed hooded sweatshirts like the "West Brighton" one that can be seen in their storefront display.

Wicked Stitches has been a huge supporter of Small Business Saturday and encourages Staten Islanders to shop local as often as possible.

"People often tell me how beautiful our storefront is," said Nix. "Well if you want to keep beautiful stores like this around, you have to support them."

Casale Jewelers

Casale Jewelers, of 1639 Richmond Rd., Dongan Hills, has consistently been one of Staten Island's biggest supporters of Small Business Saturday.

"When you spend money on Staten Island, it goes back to Staten Island," said owner Cory Schifter. "We all give back; we all participate. It's important to shop small."

Casale Jewelers is offering 50 percent off the entire store during Small Business Saturday and will be donating a portion of their sales to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation to help active and retired military members.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In the spirit of the holidays, Where to Turn -- a non-profit organization -- wants you to help out a senior citizen neighbor this year.

Volunteers are needed to shovel seniors' sidewalks and pathways when the snow begins to fall this winter. Students in seventh grade and up can volunteer with Where to Turn, which has been running the program for the last 15 years.

"Just the fact that [seniors] know there's somebody out there who is going to help them out makes a big difference in their lives," said Dennis McKeon, the executive director of the organization.

The program began in 2002 when a woman who lost her husband in the 9/11 terrorist attacks called Where to Turn. A snowstorm left her disabled in-laws with a snow-covered sidewalk and no one to shovel it. They received a fine from the Department of Sanitation as a result.

Since 2002, the program has averaged 500 to 600 volunteers each year and currently has almost 3,000 seniors registered in their system.

Students are matched with seniors who are within walking distance of their homes and receive 10 hours of community service credit at the end of the winter season.

Where to Turn is offering a $500 prize for the high school and grammar/IS school with the most volunteers.

Volunteers are in high demand. Since the Advance wrote about the program earlier this month, Where to Turn has received 275 calls -- 268 of them from seniors requesting assistance this winter.

Students can sign up to volunteer at www.where-to-turn.org.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Life for the past three month for Sherien Shady has been "horrible."

"I wish that no one goes through what we are going through right now," said Shady.

"I smile sometimes. I laugh sometimes. But it hurts in the heart," Shady added.

In early October, her husband of 17 years, Wael Kassem, 43 -- who had lived on Staten Island for the last 16 years -- was deported to Egypt on his eldest daughter's birthday with only a few hours notice.

While she talks to him every day, it's not the same.

"A piece of me is gone," she said.

"I want him to be here. He wants to be here. He is miserable over there. He's having a tough time, and my girls are not happy. Every time he calls, they ask 'When are you coming back?'" said Shady, noting her daughters are Hana, 16, Jana, 14, and Farah, 6.

"My 6-year-old doesn't understand why he is not here anymore. ...I want the family to connect again. He is everything. He is the heart and soul of this family," she added, choking back the tears.

DETAINED BY ICE

Kassem -- who was detained by ICE during a regular check-in on Aug. 3 -- was unable to say goodbye to his family one last time before boarding a plane to his native country. At the time, The Board of Immigration Appeals denied the stay of deportation filed for Kassem, his lawyer told the Advance in August.

"We applied for a motion to reopen [the case]. If they reopen his old case he should be seeing the judge," she said. "They deported him before he was seen [by a judge]."

Shady noted that if his case is denied, they plan to file an appeal.

"There's also a hardship application we can apply for, but this can take years," she said, noting her husband had to find his own place to live in Egypt, and will likely have a "hard time" finding a job there.

"There's a lot of paperwork. All his identification is expired. It's not easy getting all this done there," Shady added.

THE 'LAND OF OPPORTUNITY



Shady wants her daughters to know why she and her husband came here 17 years ago.

"We came here for a better life. America is the land of opportunity. ...People need to understand what is going on. We built our way up. We started very, very small. My husband worked his way up in his company. They wouldn't keep him for 16 years if he wasn't a good person," she said.

"I have a lot of faith. God put this there for a reason. I feel this is unfair, but maybe this is my role in life. Maybe I have to be the candle lit to guide others through the way. I really don't know why this is happening to me, but it's happening or a reason," Shady added.

To those in favor of deportation of illegal immigrants, Shady said: "People think we came here illegally and just stayed here for all these years doing nothing. They think we took advantage of the country. It's not true. We pay taxes. We have been working with attorneys all these years. At one point he was legal; and we've been working on it," she said.

'I FEEL SO ALONE'

Shady, a former PTA president, who is still active at her daughter's school, said once Kassem was deported she felt "so alone."

However, a recent fundraiser by the Women Who March to help her family, really heightened her spirits, she said.

"They really lifted me up during this rough time," said Shady. "They really made me feel like I am family. ...These are strong women who want change."

SURGERY NEEDED

After she was in a car accident in March, Shady has to have surgery in December. And she wishes her husband was here to help her through this.

"From my neck to my lower back, I have several discs pressing on the nerve," said Shady. "My whole arm is not working so I can't lift anything, and I can't move my neck to the left."

2014 ARREST

In 2014, Shady said her husband was taken into custody after police stopped him in the Staten Island Mall parking lot, New Springville. He was driving with an international driver's license and the officer took him in to run a background check, the family said.

The officer discovered there was an order for removal and ICE took Kassem into custody. A couple of days later, they released him under supervision.

He had to check in with an immigration probation officer every three to six months, and has never missed an appointment, his lawyer told the Advance in August.

During his last check-in on Aug. 3 at Federal Plaza in Manhattan, he was detained and taken to a New Jersey prison.

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By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today announced that visas will be given to four Pakistani nationals to undergo treatment in India, three days after Islamabad accused India of "politicising" humanitarian issues.

On Thursday, Pakistan had accused India of selectively issuing medical visa to its citizens and that it was not a gesture of compassion but "cold blooded politicking".

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"India will not belie your hope. We will issue the visa immediately," Swaraj said, responding to a request on her official Twitter handle for a medical visa by Pakistani national Shahzaib Iqbal for his cousins liver transplant in India.

Swaraj also responded positively to requests for issuance of medical visas to three other Pakistani women.

"This is urgent. Indian High Commission - pls issue the visa (sic)," she said in another tweet, replying to a request from Ghazanfar Ali for his mothers liver transplant in India.

To another request for a visa by Pakistani woman - Sajida Bakhsh, Swaraj said a visa will be issued to her. Bakhsh had tweeted that she had undergone a liver transplant in Haryana last year and wanted to visit India for follow-up treatment.

She also assured another Pakistani woman of granting visa on medical grounds.

Swaraj has been adopting a humanitarian approach in granting visa to Pakistani nationals on medical grounds, notwithstanding the strain in ties between the two sides over a host of sticky issues, including cross-border terrorism.

Addressing a regular briefing on Thursday, Pakistans foreign ministry spokesperson Mohammad Faisal had said the Indian policy of selective issuance of medical visas to Pakistani citizens was "regrettable". PTI MPB ABH

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Low per capita income has become a stumbling block for India growth story with global rating agency Standard & Poors citing it as a key reason for stalling the countrys sovereign rating upgrade.

A week after Moodys Investors Service upgraded Indias sovereign rating, S&P kept its India ratings unchanged at the lowest investment grade of BBB-minus citing sizable fiscal deficits, a high net general government debt burden and low per capita income.

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"Ratings are constrained by Indias low wealth levels, measured by GDP per capita, which we estimate at close to USD 2,000 in 2017, the lowest of all investment-grade sovereigns that we rate," S&P said in a statement.

Per capita income is the average income earned per person in a given area (city/state/country) in a specified year. It is used as a means of evaluating the living conditions and quality of life in a specific area.

Though S&P is optimistic about the countrys medium term growth prospects and welcomed the Indian governments recent reform measures including the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), bank recapitalisation plan, bankruptcy code among others, it raised concerns regarding the countrys GDP per capita income.

According to S&P, Indias per capita income stood at USD 1,948.69, while for China it stood as high as USD 8,876.84, Russia USD 10,478.74, Brazil USD 9,867.03 and South Africa USD 6,129.64.

Eminent banker Uday Kotak also reiterated the need to focus on improving the low capita income of the country.

"Time for India to accelerate. From USD 1,800 per capita to China present level USD 8,500, we need per capita growth 8 per cent and absolute 9 per cent pa 20 years!," he said in a recent tweet.

Referring to the issue of low per capita income flagged by the rating agency, Principal Economic Advisor in the finance ministry Sanjeev Sanyal said: "Ultimately we think its unfair because there is nothing we can do for per capita income in the short to medium term."

Moodys Investors Service which recently upgraded Indias sovereign rating said Indias GDP per capita on PPP basis stood at USD 6,694 (2016).

Like S&P, Moodys also said the high public debt burden remains an important constraint on Indias credit profile relative to peers.

"That constraint is not expected to diminish rapidly, with low income levels continuing to point to significant development spending needs over the coming years. Measures to encourage greater formalisation of the economy, reduce expenditure and increase revenues will likely take time to diminish the debt stock," it had said.

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Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser at SBI, however, termed S&Ps argument of low per capita income as a detractor for sovereign rating upgrade as "fallacious".

"The argument given by S&P that India has low per capita income which is acting as detractor from the sovereign rating upgrade is fallacious as Indonesia which was upgraded seven times between 2002 and 2011 had a low per-capita GDP of USD 1,066 in 2003 when its credit rating was upgraded and Indias GDP per-capita is now USD 1,709.4," Ghosh said in a note.

Indias household wealth has been rising over the last few years; however, in terms of per capita income it is ranked low as compared to other emerging market peers.

As per a recent IMF report, Indias per capita GDP rose to USD 7,170 in 2017, from USD 6,690 last year. But still among BRICS countries, India has the lowest per capita GDP.

Russia boasts of a GDP per capita of USD 27,900, while for China, it stood at USD 16,620, Brazil at USD 15,500 and South Africa at USD 13,400, as per the IMF report.

According to a Credit Suisse report, though household wealth has been rising in India, but not everyone has shared in this growth as 92 per cent of the adult population has wealth below USD 10,000.

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"Personal wealth in India is dominated by property and other real assets, which make up 86 per cent of estimated household assets. Personal debts are only USD 376, or just 9 per cent of gross assets," it said.

Moreover a small fraction of the population (just 0.5 per cent of adults) has a net worth over USD 100,000, while the average wealth per adult is expected at USD 5,980 in mid-2017.

"India has 340,000 adults in top 1 per cent of global wealth holders. By our estimates, 1,820 adults have wealth over USD 50 million, and 760 have more than USD 100 million (this is why we should look at per capita and not just GDP)," Credit Suisse said. PTI DRR BJ MKJ

--- ENDS ---
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Chiwenga, dressed in camouflage fatigues, hesitated before replying that Zimbabwe was facing a national crisis that demanded military intervention.

By Reuters: Inside State House in Harare, Robert Mugabe was in the tightest spot of his 37-year rule. Tanks were on the streets and troops had occupied the state broadcaster, from where the army had announced it had taken control of Zimbabwe.

Mugabe, 93-years-old but still alert, remained defiant. The only leader the country had known since independence was refusing to quit.

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At a tense meeting with his military top brass on November 16, the world's oldest head of state put his foot down: "Bring me the constitution and tell me what it says," he ordered military chief Constantino Chiwenga, according to two sources present.

An aide brought a copy of the constitution, which lays out that the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Chiwenga, dressed in camouflage fatigues, hesitated before replying that Zimbabwe was facing a national crisis that demanded military intervention.

Mugabe retorted that the army was the problem, according to the sources present. Then the beleaguered president indicated that perhaps they could find a solution together.

The meeting marked the start of an extraordinary five-day standoff between Mugabe and Zimbabwe's supreme law on one side, and the military, his party and Zimbabwe's people on the other.

The generals wanted Mugabe to go, but they also wanted a peaceful "coup," one that would not irreparably tarnish the administration aiming to take over, according to multiple military and political sources.

The president finally accepted defeat only after he was sacked by his own ZANU-PF party and faced the ignominy of impeachment. He signed a short letter of resignation to parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda that was read out to lawmakers on Nov. 21.

Mugabe, who had run Zimbabwe since 1980 and overseen its descent into economic ruin while his wife shopped for luxury goods, was gone.

The country erupted into ecstasy. Parliamentarians danced and people poured onto the streets in their tens of thousands to celebrate a political downfall that sent shockwaves across Africa and the world.

To many, the end of Mugabe had been unthinkable only one week before.

Reuters has pieced together the events leading up to Mugabe's removal, showing that the army's action was the culmination of months of planning that stretched from Harare to Johannesburg to Beijing.

BITTER RIVALRY

Drawing on a trove of intelligence documents from within Mugabe's feared Central Intelligence Organization (CIO), Reuters reported in September that the army was backing Emmerson Mnangagwa, then vice president, to succeed Mugabe when the time came.

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The report detailed how Mnangagwa, a lifelong friend and former security chief of Mugabe, might cooperate with Mugabe's political foes in order to revive the economy. It caused furore in Zimbabwe's media and political circles.

Bitter rivalry intensified between Mnangagwa and Grace, Mugabe's 52-year-old wife, who also hoped to take over as president and had the backing of a ZANU-PF faction known as G40.

In early October, Mnangagwa said he had been airlifted to hospital in South Africa after a poisoning attempt in August. He pointed no fingers - but he didn't need to.

Grace's swift response was to deny it and accuse her rival of seeking sympathy; she belittled him as nothing but an employee of her husband, according to a report in the state-run Herald newspaper.

As the pressure built, Mugabe became increasingly paranoid about the loyalty of army chief Chiwenga, a career soldier and decorated veteran of Zimbabwe's 1970s bush-war against white-minority rule.

Mugabe's spies, who permeated every institution and section of society in Zimbabwe, were warning him the military would not accept Grace as president.

"Mugabe is very worried of a coup," one intelligence report, dated Oct. 23, said. "Mugabe was openly told by senior CIOs that the military is not going to easily accept the appointment of Grace. He was warned to be ready for civil war."

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Reuters reviewed the document, and hundreds of other intelligence reports dating back to 2009, before the coup took place. The documents come from within the CIO, but Reuters could not determine for whom they were written. The CIO is split into factions, some pro- and some anti-Mugabe.

In late October, Mugabe summoned Chiwenga to a showdown, according to another of the documents, dated Oct. 30. It said Mugabe confronted the army chief about his ties to Mnangagwa and told him that going against Grace would cost him his life.

"Chiwenga was warned by Mugabe that it is high time for him to start following. He mentioned to Chiwenga that those fighting his wife are bound to die a painful death," the intelligence report said.

At the same meeting, Mugabe also ordered Chiwenga to pledge allegiance to Grace. He refused.

"Chiwengwa refused to be intimidated. He stood his ground over his loyalty to Mnangagwa," the report said.

Reuters put questions about this exchange and other aspects of this article to Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba. In an enigmatic text message dated Nov. 23, he replied: "Enjoy Reuters copy. Goodnight."

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Two spokesmen for Chiwenga declined to comment.

After another tense meeting with Mugabe on Nov. 5, Chiwenga left Harare on a pre-arranged official trip and traveled to China, which wields significant influence as a major investor in Zimbabwe.

A day later, Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa as vice president and purged him from ZANU-PF, the liberation movement that Mnangagwa had served since his youth and for which, as a young militant caught bombing a train, he had nearly been executed.

For the generals, Mugabe had gone too far. The military immediately activated a "Code Red" alert, its highest level of preparedness, a military source said.

ASSASSINATION PLOT

Moments after Mnangagwa was ousted on Nov. 6, the security details assigned to him and his house were withdrawn, according to a statement he issued later. He was told his life was in danger.

"Security personnel, who are friendly to me, warned me that plans were underfoot to eliminate me once arrested and taken to a police station," Mnangagwa said in a Nov. 21 statement. "It was in my security interest to leave the country immediately."

From Harare, he managed to escape over the border into neighboring Mozambique, where he caught a plane to China, according to one source familiar with his movements. There he met up with Chiwenga, the source said.

Reuters could not confirm the account; but an intelligence report from Nov. 13 indicates that Mugabe suspected some of his generals of preparing to overthrow him from China.

"A number of generals are now in China ready to plot Mugabe's ouster with Mnangagwa," the report said. It was not clear which generals, and whether their travel to China was authorized.

Mugabe's spies suspected old allies had turned against the aging president. An intelligence report, dated Oct. 30, said Beijing and Moscow both supported regime change out of frustration at Zimbabwe's economic implosion under Mugabe.

"China and Russia are after change," the report said. "They are after change within ZANU-PF as they are sick and tired of Mugabe's leadership."

"The two countries are even ready to clandestinely supply arms of war to Mnangagwa to fight Mugabe."

Neither China's Defense Ministry nor Foreign Ministry responded to a request for comment. The Foreign Ministry had previously said Chiwenga's visit was "a normal military exchange mutually agreed upon by China and Zimbabwe."

Reuters sent written requests for comment to the Kremlin, the Russian Defense Ministry and the Russian Foreign Ministry. None of them responded.

China has long taken an interest in Zimbabwe, having supported Mugabe's forces during the liberation struggle. After independence it developed connections there in mining, security and construction.

Russia has also had ties to Zimbabwe since the early 1980s, and in 2014 a Russian consortium entered into a partnership to develop a $3 billion platinum mining project in the country.

Chiwenga's trip to China culminated in him meeting Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan in Beijing on Nov. 10.

Two sources with knowledge of the talks told Reuters that Chiwenga asked if China would agree not to interfere if he took temporary control in Zimbabwe to remove Mugabe from power. Chang assured him Beijing would not get involved and the two also discussed tactics that might be employed during the de facto coup, the sources said.

Reuters could not establish whether Mnangagwa met Chang.

Having got wind of the talks in China, Mugabe summoned his still-loyal police commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, and his deputy, Innocent Matibiri, to detain Chiwenga on his return to Harare, government and security sources said.

The pair assembled a squad of 100 police and intelligence agents. But the plot leaked and Chiwenga supporters managed to pull together a counter-team of several hundred special forces soldiers and agents as their commander's plane approached.

Some were disguised as baggage handlers, their military fatigues and weapons hidden beneath high-visibility jackets and overalls, one security source said.

Realizing they were outnumbered and outgunned, Chihuri's police team backed down, allowing Chiwenga to touch down without incident, the security source said.

Mugabe's spokesman did not comment on the incident.

"VERY ALARMED"

Two days later, Chiwenga and a group of military commanders demanded a meeting with Mugabe at his official State House residence in Harare, an ornate colonial villa complete with stuffed leopards and thick red carpets, according to a government source.

They said they were "very alarmed" at the firing of Mnangagwa and told Mugabe to rein in his wife and her G40 faction, whom they accused of trying to divide the military, according to the government official, who was present at the discussions.

"What do you think should be done?" Mugabe demanded of the soldiers as he sat slumped in an armchair.

The generals asked him to give assurances that they too would not be purged. Mugabe's response was lukewarm, the government source said. Chiwenga told Mugabe he would be making his concerns about the G40 faction public.

Hours later, Chiwenga summoned reporters to the military's main barracks near Harare to issue a statement.

"We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that, when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in," he said, reading from a prepared text.

The following afternoon, Reuters reported six armored personnel carriers heading towards the headquarters of Mugabe's Presidential Guard on the outskirts of Harare. It was unclear whose command they were under.

At the time, the city's residents were on edge but still unsure what it all meant.

THE LINE WENT DEAD

At around 6 p.m. on Nov. 14, Mugabe's motorcade headed to his private "Blue Roof" residence, a heavily fortified compound in the capital's leafy northern suburb of Borrowdale.

Meanwhile, social media buzzed with pictures of armored vehicles driving along roads to Harare, sparking frenzied speculation about a coup.

Increasingly concerned, Grace put in a call shortly after 7 p.m. to a cabinet minister asking to get WhatsApp and Twitter shut down, according to one source familiar with a recording of the conversation.

The minister, whose identity Reuters is withholding for safety reasons, replied that such a move was the responsibility of state security minister Kembo Mohadi.

"No-one will stand for a coup. It cannot happen," said Grace, commonly referred to as Amai, which means Mother, according to a source who heard the recording.

Mugabe's voice is then heard on the line: "As you have heard from Amai, is there anything that can be done?"

The minister gave the same response, about the responsibilities of state security, and the line went dead, the source said.

Mohadi declined to comment.

Two hours later, two armored vehicles rolled into the Pockets Hill headquarters of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), according to ZBC sources.

Dozens of soldiers sealed off the site and stormed into the studios where they accosted staff, snatching their phones and halting programs. State-owned ZBC, widely seen as a mouthpiece for Mugabe, switched to broadcasting pop music videos.

Mugabe's inner circle, nearly all of them G40 loyalists, had no idea what was under way, according to four sources familiar with their conversations.

Information Minister Simon Khaya Moyo called Defense Minister Sydney Sekeramayi to ask if he had any information about a possible coup. Sekeramayi said no, but tried to check with military chief Chiwenga.

Chiwenga told Sekeramayi he would get back to him. According to the sources, Chiwenga never did.

Moyo remains in hiding and was unavailable for comment. Sekeramayi declined to comment.

SECURITY DETAIL

As ministers in the G40 faction tried frantically to work out what was going on, Chiwenga's men closed in on Mugabe's compound.

According to a source briefed on the situation, Albert Ngulube, a CIO director and head of Mugabe's security detail, was driving home around 9.30 pm after visiting Mugabe. He met an armored car on Borrowdale Brooke, a side road leading to Mugabe's house.

When Ngulube confronted the soldiers and threatened to shoot them, they beat him up and detained him, the source said. Ngulube was later released, but had suffered head and facial injuries, the source added.

Spokesmen for Chiwenga and Mnangagwa declined to comment. Reuters was unable to contact Ngulube.

Other G40 ministers were also picked up by soldiers. Finance minister Ignatius Chombo was found hiding in a toilet at his house and beaten before being detained at an undisclosed location for more than a week.

On his release on November 24, he was hospitalized with injuries to his hands, legs and back, his lawyer told Reuters, describing the army's behavior as "brutal and draconian."

Soldiers used explosives to blow the front door off the house of Jonathan Moyo, the main brains behind G40, according to video footage of the house seen by Reuters. Others burst through the front gates of the residence of local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, another key Grace supporter.

Both men managed to escape to Mugabe's residence. Contacted by Reuters shortly after midnight in the early hours of November 15, Kasukuwere was audibly stressed. "I can't talk. I'm in a meeting," he said, before hanging up.

For another week, Mugabe clung on to the presidency as Chiwenga and his forces tried to engineer a peaceful, and quasi-legal, exit for the long-serving leader.

But as parliament began impeachment proceedings on November 21, Mugabe finally gave up. After 37 years in control, during which much of his country fell into poverty, his letter of resignation said he was stepping down out of "concern for the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe."

--- ENDS ---
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Miller's company Little Dove Theatre Art has an aesthetic based on a fusion of influences with a major focus on butoh dance, live art and contemporary performance. Miller, choreographer Alison Plevey and the cast collaborated during a development period on the work so the men's own stories could be the basis for much of it.

Miller says, "It is the men involved in the creative development that have defined the content - how they deal with violent tendencies, romantic relationships, coming out of the closet, and the unfair expectations that are so often placed on them to be tough, resilient and providing."

But she has added her own touches too: "I don't think I could do a show without some kind of '80s reference" - in this case the opening song of the show - and she has the men singing numbers by female artists such as Gilllian Welch and Christina Perri.

The singing, at least, was in the comfort zone of Delatovic, 35, though he found Tristan challenging in other ways. He says that as a white, heterosexual, middle-class man he could get by without having to do much self-examination, or investigation of issues such as masculinity and its effects and one of the things Tristan did was give him the chance to do that.

"It's a worthwhile challenge to take part in," he says. Challenging, but also edifying, he adds, and he hopes the audience finds it that way, too.
Good morning Canberra. Did you hear the thunder last night? If not, there's a chance of more thunderstorms today (and tomorrow...and Wednesday...and Thursday). It really doesn't feel like summer is just a few days away.

Showers are very likely in the morning and the afternoon, and we're heading for a high of 25. Rain is forecast for the rest of the week, so keep that umbrella handy.

Let's get your week started with today's top local headlines.

Luxury Yarralumla home wins top gong
Hundreds of people have taken to Parliament House to protest the federal government's treatment of asylum seekers on Manus Island.

Organiser GetUp! said more than 300 people came to the Canberra protest to send a message to the country's politicians.

Protesters take to Parliament House over Manus Island detainees Credit:Phillip Dimond

"Today we stand in front of Parliament House to call on our politicians to evacuate the refugees and asylum seekers from Manus Island. We can only expect further violence in coming days," GetUp Canberra's Sally Rug said.

"The Australian Government cannot wait months for resettlement in the US or New Zealand.
A Canberra nursing home was investigated by the territory's human rights watchdog after concerns came to light about inexperienced nurses and the medication of elderly residents.

The same facility was recently singled-out by the ACT government for allegedly limiting advocates' access to residents with disabilities.

The ACT Human Rights Commission raised concerns about a lack of skilled staff at the St Andrews Village nursing home. Credit:Nicolas Walker

St Andrews Village, a residential care home in the suburb of Hughes, was investigated in late 2016 after a number of issues were brought to the attention of the Health Services Commissioner.

A letter from the Human Rights Commission last December said most issues had been dealt with, although two ongoing concerns remained.
A Swiss regulator has ruled that HNA Group Co, the acquisitive Chinese conglomerate facing widening global scrutiny of its overseas purchases, provided some false information and failed to disclose that company executives held the biggest stake in its takeover of Zurich-based Gategroup Holding AG.

The Swiss Takeover Board found HNA provided incorrect shareholdings for the top two stakeholders -- Bharat Bhise and Guan Jun -- in the Gategroup offer prospectus last year.

The HNA Group Co. building in Beijing. Credit:QILAI SHEN

Bhise and Guan acted as trustees holding the shares for HNA co-chairmen Chen Feng and Wang Jian, Chief Executive Adam Tan and three other people, according to the board.

The executives had failed to disclose their ownership in HNA, the board said in a newsletter published on Friday.
Costa's citrus footprint grew further this month, after it acquired Impi Orchards. The acquisition includes 77 hectares of citrus and 65 hectares "of development land", Costa's chief executive Harry Debney said at the company's recent AGM. Moves like these cap off a remarkable comeback for the local citrus industry over recent years. In 2011, when Fairfax Media visited the Sunraysia to speak to citrus growers on both sides of the Murray, they were getting, on average, less than 4 per orange for top quality prime-size oranges sold locally. For the same quality oranges exported, growers were getting a maximum of 8 per orange. Smaller oranges were earning Sunraysia growers less than 1 each. At the time the industry was being hit by a high Australian dollar that made it much harder to export, and a flooded local market. But today industry confidence is high, orchards are expanding and exports are booming, even as the average price paid by foreign buyers for Australian citrus rises strongly. Everyone's making money, and that makes all those hard times all worth it. Richard Mills

Australian citrus exports for the 2017 season to the end of September were valued at $377 million, a 31 per cent jump on the same period last year and well ahead of 2016's full-year record of $328.4 million. Export volumes for the 2017 season until the end of September were also up, by 18 per cent, to 220,754 tonnes, also exceeding last year's record. Exports to China for the period, Australia's biggest export market, rose 52 per cent to 45,000 tonnes. "The numbers into China are now off the charts," says Citrus Australia's Tania Chapman. "If we talk about China, six or seven years ago zero containers (of Australian citrus) went into the front door of China. Now we're looking down the barrel of 80,000 tonnes this season," she says. "The drive isn't just for mandarins and navels. There's also a huge pull for Valencia oranges as well. There's a large number of companies in China wanting to buy the Valencias so that they can juice them.

"The industry certainly is on a high and is performing well ... Not only are we exporting record volume, but growers are actually being paid more for that produce. So that's really important for the industry. "Just to show you how much of a high the industry's on, it's a three to four-year wait to get trees from a nursery, for citrus. Not only do we have existing growers changing over the varietal spread they have on their properties, we have new people coming into the industry and that's causing the influx of orders and influx of planting. I don't say this lightly, [but] the other countries that we compete with, they can't match us for colour and flavour." Costa Group is also bullish about the industry's future. It considers citrus "a growing part" of its business and maintains "an active interest in M&A opportunities in the industry",Debney says. "An indication of growth in demand from overseas is that only a few years ago we were exporting 45-55 per cent of the crop. This season it will be 70 per cent. Through a combination of quality, varieties and the continued reduction in tariffs as a result of free trade agreements with Japan, China and Korea, demand is expected to continue to be strong," he says. Some of the key reasons the local industry is in a healthy position today include the quality of the fruit, and the investment made developing varieties that consumers want and which have potential for more growth, especially in overseas markets, he says.

"For example, Costa is trialling several new mandarin, orange and lemon varieties which have market potential with improved attributes including being seedless, high brix (sweetness) content and darker colour. These are all important factors for consumers in a market such as Japan, which is our largest export market," Debney says. Domestic demand is also healthy, with consumers responding to new varieties of mandarins and oranges. Fruit with less seeds, and varieties that are easier to peel are proving popular with consumers. Hundreds of kilometres south-east of the Sunraysia, the Toscano family has been selling fruit to Melburnians for about 65 years. And in recent years, a couple of noticeable trends have emerged in respect of citrus sales. Mandarin sales "have probably gone up 10-15 per cent a year, for probably the last four years", Damian Toscano says. While blood orange sales "really took off in the last five years", but have eased this year, he says.
In an increasingly menacing world, Australians are becoming more inward-looking. Or so the story goes.

A new Ipsos survey about attitudes to world affairs in 24 countries shows the truth is more complex.

While a majority of Australian respondents agreed that "my country needs to focus less on the world, and more at home", the results were very different when people are asked about specific international problems.
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) Rich tributes were today paid to those who laid down their lives fighting terrorists during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

Today is the ninth anniversary of the carnage, carried out by 10 terrorists from Pakistan over three days, that left 166 people dead.

Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and a few state ministers laid wreaths at the police memorial in South Mumbai this morning and observed silence in memory of the bravehearts.

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DGP Satish Mathur, Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar and top police officials also paid tributes to the bravehearts.

Family members of those killed were among those who paid respect to the departed souls.

"To the 166 lives lost...to over 239 injured...to the innumerable memories etched on the firmament forever and to Mumbai, the city which picked up its pieces and started stronger than ever - A Salute and A Bow of Gratitude from Mumbai Police!" the Mumbai Police tweeted.

The financial capital was attacked by 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, who came here by the sea route, on November 26, 2008.

In the mayhem that followed for the next three days, 166 people, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos, were killed.

The terrorists targeted prominent places like the iconic Taj Mahal hotel, the CSMT railway station and the Nariman House.

Nine of the terrorists were gunned down by security personnel, while the tenth one, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive. He was later tried in a court and sentenced to death.

The 25-year-old was hanged in November 2012. PTI AVI RSY AAR

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But when it comes to taking out a mortgage on our family homes, the startling fact is that four in five Australians opt to borrow from one of the big four banks. The global financial crisis, which crippled banks elsewhere, only increased the major four's stranglehold over the Aussie market. Amid stability concerns, regulators green-lighted the takeover of Bankwest by Commonwealth Bank. Westpac devoured St George, in what former competition tsar Allan Fels has since labelled "a mistake". "In a few short months, we saw the biggest reversal of banking competition since the Depression," Fels has said. The Rudd government's bank funding guarantee only compounded the big four's advantage, with smaller banks charged a higher premium to reflect their higher risk.

Today, Australia's big four hold 81 per cent of the total value of all outstanding mortgages on owner occupied property, up from 75 per cent pre crisis, according to data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. In this post-GFC era, the banks laud their roles as pillars of stability. In the banker's mind, maintaining their record-busting profits is good for all Australians. No profit level is too much. In a recently launched campaign titled "Australian Banks belong to you", the Australian Bankers' Association stressed that 80 per cent of bank profits are returned to shareholders, who comprise mostly Australians through their superannuation. What is not mentioned is that excessive bank profitability also comes at a cost to Australians. Indeed, for most, the savings from a more competitive banking sector shaving a few extra basis points off their mortgage rate would far outweigh the benefit in retirement of a slightly bigger nest egg from outsized bank share gains.

As for stability, it's true that banks occupy a systemically important role in the Australian economy. Indeed, banks are as core a part of our financial plumbing as the sewerage pipes running under your house. Only, instead of earning a return on equity (shareholder funds invested) similar to a utility company like AGL of 7 per cent, Australia's big four banks enjoy returns of around 15 per cent. Compare that to Bank of America, which returns just 7 per cent. High returns on equity are usually an indicator of high risk. Investors must be rewarded for their gamble. Medical device company Cochlear, for example, delivers a return on its equity of 45 per cent. But how risky is an investment in a company that can't fail, by government decree?

In reality, the high returns on equity enjoyed by Australian banks owe in large part to the higher leverage they hold. Australian banks are some of the most heavily exposed to household sector debt in the world. Aussies would rather sell their kids than miss a home loan repayment. But our high household debt remains a key vulnerability, not just for banks, but the economy as a whole. Even more important, then, that the issuers of that debt be held to high account for their behaviour. That behaviour has fallen well short of acceptable standards in recent times. Time and time again, bank chiefs have been embarrassed by systemic failures within their organisations. Their financial planners have dudded customers. Their insurance arms have denied funds to the dying. Their ATMs have been unwittingly used by criminals for money laundering. Their employees have manipulated key money markets. What confidence can the public have that such failures are the exception, not the rule?

Banks have long fought the idea of a public inquiry. Instead, the Turnbull government has thrown at them a new bank levy, penalties on executives and now a victims compensation fund. Bank chiefs are hauled to Canberra twice a year to be grilled by parliamentarians. As they should be. These are not the titans of free enterprise, but the heads of key institutions in Australian society. It was the economist John Kenneth Galbraith who formulated the idea of "countervailing power". In a free market, the price of goods and services would be determined by free bargaining. In reality, markets are dogged by imbalances, such as the power imbalance between employers and employees. Some "countervailing" powers, like trade unions or consumer groups, are needed to even the field to produce efficient outcomes. And so it is with the massive power wielded by Australia's banking sector. A public inquiry would act as an important countervailing force against the banks. It would also serve to remind politicians and policy makers - who increasingly find comfortable jobs in the banking sector after departing public office - of their important role in checking the power of banks.
This past January, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a very public resolution: by year's end, he wanted to have visited and met with people in every American state. Throughout 2017, Facebook's users  all 2 billion of us  have been treated to photos of Zuckerberg and his family filleting salmon in Alaska, speaking with opioid addicts in Ohio, reading local newspapers in Alabama, and driving a tractor in Wisconsin.

There's more than a whiff of the campaign trail to these staged photos of a mega-wealthy man meeting normal people, leading to speculation that he's prepping for a 2020 presidential run. But Zuckerberg isn't seeking power. Instead, his road trip shows he's recognised that he already wields it. Explaining his decision, he described his job as "connecting the world and giving everyone a voice", and wrote that in a new era of division fostered by technology and globalisation, he wanted to "personally hear more of those voices" to help him lead the company (which, of course, has contributed to that division). It's a laudable attempt by a de facto politician to understand the lives of the people he shapes  effectively, his constituents.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes a selfie with entrepreneurs and innovators after taking part in a roundtable discussion at Cortex Innovation Community technology hub in St Louis. Credit:Jeff Roberson/AP

But its CEO's journeys reveal a blind spot in how Facebook understands itself. A listening tour of exclusively American voices suggests that the company thinks of itself foremost as a US enterprise, when really it's a global one.

That American focus is reflected in the intensifying conversation about the platform's influence on politics. After initial reluctance to admit Facebook's role in the 2016 presidential election, Zuckerberg addressed the issue in a lengthy post in September, announcing new transparency about who's paid for political advertising. The company then handed over 3000 Russian-bought political ads ads to Congress, and revealed that almost 126 million Americans saw Russian-created content during and after the election. That amounts to unprecedented co-operation and transparency from Facebook. But fake news and filter bubbles are not uniquely American problems, and the question of how Facebook is transforming politics, dividing communities and eroding truth should not just be addressed solely through the lens of the US election. It's notable that, in contrast to his focus on the Russia issue, Zuckerberg has issued not a word on Myanmar, where his platform stands accused of fuelling ethnic cleansing.
Seven years ago, the Gillard government established the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to strengthen the openness and accountability of government.

Four years later, the Abbott government tried to abolish the office by repealing its legislation. The Senate, however, was unprepared to do this. The government and Attorney-General George Brandis, who had significantly cut the office's budget in anticipation of its abolition, did not restore its funding for its crucial freedom of information functions.

The government has committed to funding the information commissioner's office adequately, but George Brandis keeps failing to do it. Credit:Fairfax Media

As the Auditor-General revealed recently, the office's funding for FOI functions was halved while its privacy functions increased significantly.

The government also departed significantly from the office's legislated management structure of three independent commissioners: an information commissioner, privacy commissioner and and FOI commissioner. It adopted a policy of not replacing commissioners when they moved on, instead passing their responsibilities to a single remaining commissioner.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has attacked Kristina Keneally's position on asylum seekers in his first appearance in the Bennelong byelection.

Labor's star candidate has been surging in the polls ahead of the byelection, which was called after incumbent Liberal John Alexander was forced to resign after being caught out in the citizenship scandal.

Mr Turnbull joined the campaign on Sunday and told voters to consider the former NSW premier's position on immigration as they prepared to vote on December 16.

"Kristina Keneally wants us to bring all of those asylum seekers from Manus [Island] to Australia," Mr Turnbull said in Sydney on Sunday.
Late in the night, after all the sunlit expectations had turned to shock and tears, Pauline Hanson disappeared into the dark clutching a bottle of Bundaberg rum.

Though she had declared defiantly that "I still believe there's a lot of support for One Nation" and "One Nation is not finished", Queensland voters had delivered Hanson, a daughter of the state, a night from hell.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation had lost its state leader and had not managed to capture a single seat.
Uncertainty surrounds how the millions of dollars leftover from the postal survey on same-sex marriage will be spent.

While the Australian Bureau of Statistics was allocated $122 million by the federal government to carry out the survey, it's estimated the final cost will be less than $100 million.

It's expected the more than $20 million remaining will be absorbed back into the federal budget, and not across another ABS project.

The government has not given any indication what the additional money will be spent on.
A 39-year-old cyclist has been killed after he was struck and trapped under a vehicle in a cemetery in Sydney's south.

Police and emergency services were called to Woronora Memorial Park on Linden Street, Sutherland, shortly before 7am, and found the male cyclist trapped under a Toyota Corolla hatchback.

Ron Doolan, a father of two young daughters from Como, originally from Baradine in north-western NSW, died at the scene.

Seven News is reporting he was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash and police have described the incident as a "freak accident" that occurred in an area that has a 20km/h speed limit.
The state government has been accused of diluting a promise to replace thousands of existing trees lost to be uprooted for Westconnex with saplings no taller than ballpoint pens.

While it is yet to provide final designs, the government plans to link the M4 and M5 tollways with an interchange up to 65 metres deep and with three levels of tunnels in the inner-west.

A contractor removing trees at Sydney Park to make way for the WestConnex motorway. Credit:James Brickwood

But an unreported change to the 7.5-kilometre tunnels between Haberfield and St Peters, or the third stage of Westconnex, has been a dilution of a promise to replace the vegetation lost to construction.

"The replacement trees are to have a minimum pot size of 75 litres," the community was told about the project last year. The government had promised to plant 3500 replacement trees of that size.
A parishioner who launched a Facebook tirade against the archbishop of his church has been ordered to pay $150,000 in damages after the religious leader sued him for defamation in the NSW Supreme Court.

Mar Meelis Zaia, the Archbishop of the Assyrian Church of the East in Australia, took legal action against former parishioner Sargon Eshow after Mr Eshow waged what Justice Lucy McCallum described as a "campaign of criticism" against him online.

Mar Meelis Zaia, Archbishop of the Assyrian Church of the East in Australia, pictured in 2014 with then premier Barry O'Farrell. Credit:Wesley Lonergan

Mr Eshow was suspended from the church for two years from April 2015 after he published two posts on his Facebook page in Arabic criticising the appointment of two priests.

He was told to stop posting "defaming information on Facebook" and was warned that any future "misbehaviour" or "disturbance" would not be tolerated. He published a series of posts later that year.
A Sydney lawyer who claimed her ex-husband and a former client were behind the wheel of cars caught speeding or running a red light when her son and father were to blame has been found guilty of professional misconduct and struck off the roll of solicitors.

Jinhi Kim, who was employed by several law firms in Sydney, pleaded guilty in the Local Court in August 2016 to using the details of her ex and a client without their permission to change the driver named in the penalty notices.

Former Sydney lawyer Jinhi Kim was removed from the roll of solicitors for lying to protect family members issued with traffic infringement notices. Credit:John Veage

As part of a plea deal with the Director of Public Prosecutions Ms Kim also admitted she committed four similar offences, which was taken into account during sentencing.

She was fined $2200 last year and entered into a two-year good behaviour bond.
By PTI: By Lalit K Jha

Washington, Nov 26 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has hit out at CNN International ? the global broadcast wing of popular CNN ? alleging that the news channel does not portray the correct picture of his administration.

In a lengthy tweet, Trump yesterday alleged that CNN represents United States to the world very poorly.

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Fox News, he said, is "MUCH more important" in the United States than CNN, but outside of the US, "CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news."

Trump is spending his Thanksgiving weekend in Mar-a- Lago in Florida.

"They (CNN International) represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them!" said Trump, who has been critical of several mainstream American media outlets, including The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post.

The CNN was quick to respond.

"Its not CNNs job to represent the US to the world. Thats yours. Our job is to report the news," the public relations account of the channel tweeted.

Soon thereafter several of CNNs top journalists came to the defence of their colleagues in their international wing.

"Thinking about @cnni and my brave and hard-working colleagues there who cover famines and wars and politics and terrorism and everything else. Amazing men and women, thank you for your continued excellence," tweeted Jake Tapper, a popular CNN anchor.

"@realDonaldTrump My @CNNi & @CNN colleagues regularly risk their lives in #Syria #Iraq #Afghanistan #Niger and beyond, following US Troops into war-zones, chronicling natural disasters, holding dictators to account & profiling everyday heroes," tweeted Jon Sciutto, CNN?s national security correspondent. PTI LKJ ZH

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A car has been forced off the road, which then crashed into a power pole and cut supply to more than 1600 Brisbane residents on Sunday, according to police.

It will be alleged two cars were travelling south along Sandgate Road in Boondall just before 10am when one deliberately forced the other off the road.

Police closed southbound lanes on Sandgate Road as investigations began and power was restored. (FILE PIC) Credit:Peter Rae

The out-of-control car crashed into a power pole, snapping it in half and cutting off about 1650 residents in Boondall and Deagon on Brisbane's northside, according to the Energex website.

A spokesman for Ice World at Boondall said the centre was closed during the blackout, but power was restored about 12.30am and a backup generator ensured conditions inside remained cool.
Queensland's election outcome remains undecided, but Labor's confidence of leading a majority government is strengthening.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Saturday night declared her government would be retained and rule in its own right once all votes came through, and the resumption of counting on Sunday has seen positive results for Labor.

While 13 seats remain in doubt, renowned ABC election analyst Antony Green predicts the ALP will finish with 48 seats - one more than the magic number of 47 - to gain a majority government.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk thanks supporters. Credit:AAP

Mr Green predicts the Liberal National Party will claim 39 and the Katter's Australian Party two, while MPs from One Nation, Greens and an independent will also sit on the crossbench.
One Nations 14 per cent vote rise in the Queensland heartland of the traditional National Party means a fresh look at the 2008 merger of the Liberals and the Nationals is inevitable, one of Queenslands most respected political scientists said on Sunday.

One Nation is yet to win a seat, but received a vote of 30 per cent in some seats and 13.8 per cent Queensland-wide in the election to be the third political force in the state over The Greens (9.8 per cent) and Katter's Australian Party (2 per cent), with independents averaging 4.7 per cent.

Pauline Hanson watches the results roll in. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Griffith University Queensland politics expert Dr Paul Williams believed this outcome could reignite debate about the effectiveness of the LNP merger.

The LNP vote has in 2017 slumped to 33.4 per cent  down 7.9 per cent. Labors two-party vote also dropped to 36 per cent.
Upmarket department store David Jones hopes its "premium" service, in-store experience and ability to price-match on select products will help it stay ahead of online retail rivals, including Amazon.

The declaration came as Australian retailers sweat on the launch of Amazon locally. The American web selling giant emailed a 30-page "supply chain preparation manual" to vendors on Friday and asked them to ship items to a storage centre in Dandenong, Victoria.

David Jones has just relaunched its technology section after it ended its joint-venture with now-defunct electronics brand Dick Smith in January 2016, one month before its collapse.

Scott Sullivan, David Jones' head of audio-visual, said he hoped consumers would still visit the stores to experience products before they purchased them.
Hundreds of people have protested at Federation Square against the federal government's treatment of asylum seekers on Manus Island.

The demonstration was one of a series of simultaneous protests around the country organised by activist group GetUp!, calling for the men to be brought to Australia immediately.

Protesters clash with police on Swanson St in Melbourne's CBD. Credit:Darrian Traynor

A message from Iranian detainee Behrouz Boochani was read out to the crowd thanking people for their support.

"We could never resist peacefully without you people in Australia and I appreciate you once again," he said.
That's all from me this morning. Thanks for joining us.

Major delays persist on the Frankston line with equipment faults across the entire network.

I'll be back from 6am tomorrow!
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's assertive crown prince on Sunday opened the first high-level meeting of a kingdom-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism, vowing that extremists would no longer "tarnish our beautiful religion."

The powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said an attack on an Egyptian mosque that killed more than 300 worshippers would galvanise an Islamic military coalition that aimed to counter "terrorism and extremism".

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks at a meeting of the Islamic Military Counter-terrorism Alliance in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday. Credit:AP

Top defence officials from 40 Muslim-majority nation's met in Riyadh on Sunday. They are part of an alliance first gathered two years ago by Prince Mohammed, who is also Saudi defence minister.

The crown prince has said he would encourage a more moderate and tolerant version of Islam in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Washington: With a little more than two weeks until a special election for the Senate in Alabama, US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his criticism of the Democratic nominee, Doug Jones, and reiterated his support for Roy Moore, the Republican candidate, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women.

"The last thing we need in Alabama and the US Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is weak on Crime, weak on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, and wants to raises taxes to the sky," Trump tweeted on Sunday morning.

"Liberal Jones would be bad!" he tweeted less than an hour later.

In response, the Jones campaign said Jones' record as a prosecutor "speaks for itself."
Sanaa: Humanitarian aid workers and medical supplies began arriving in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Saturday, UN officials said, after the easing of a nearly three-week military blockade that sparked an international outcry.

Aid groups have welcomed the decision to let aid in but said flights are not enough to avert humanitarian crisis. About 7 million people face famine in Yemen and their survival depends on international assistance.

A girl scavenges at a garbage dump in a street in Sanaa, Yemen in July 2017. Credit:AP

"First plane landed in Sanaa this morning with humanitarian aid workers," the World Food Programme's regional spokeswoman Abeer Etefa told Reuters in an email, while officials at Sanaa airport said two other UN flights had arrived on Saturday.

The UN children's fund UNICEF said one flight carried "over 15 tonnes" of vaccines that will cover some 600,000 children against diphtheria, tetanus and other diseases.
Kathmandu: Nepalis began voting for a new Parliament on Sunday with the army on alert as a series of small blasts reminded the Himalayan nation of the violence and instability it is hoping to leave behind.

More than a decade after the end of a civil war between Maoist peasant guerrillas and security forces, Nepal is hoping this election - the first parliamentary polls since 1999 - will complete its long journey from a monarchy to a federal republic.

A Nepalese woman casts vote during the legislative elections in Balefi, Nepal, on Sunday. Credit:AP

Security forces defused around 30 improvised explosive device in the two days before people took to the polls. A Maoist splinter group was behind a series of small blasts, army spokesman Nain Raj Dahal said.

For all the security concerns, voting was largely incident-free.
By PTI: Chandigarh, Nov 26 (PTI) Two accomplices of an auto- rickshaw driver, accused of raping a woman a few days ago, have been arrested, police said here today.

Kismat Ali and Mohammad Garib, both 21 years old, were held from Uttar Pradeshs Amethi and Faizabad districts respectively. The auto driver, Mohd Irfan (29), was arrested on Friday.

They had together planned to commit the crime. The victim identified Ali and Garib in a test-identification parade today, police said in a release.

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Police said the arrested duo, who work as labourers, knew each other. Both had come to Zirakpur in Punjab, near here, with their parents about five years ago.

The woman (22), hailing from Dehradun, was allegedly raped by the three men on November 17.

She had taken the auto rickshaw after attending a stenography class from sector 37 here. Ali and Garib were already sitting in the auto, according to a complaint filed by the woman, the police had said earlier.

The auto-rickshaw driver allegedly drove her to an isolated place in Sector 53 here, instead of taking her to Mohali where she had been staying as a paying guest, they had said.

The three men dumped the victim in Sector 53 after allegedly raping her, police had said. PTI SUN DKS HP HMB GVS

--- ENDS ---
The suicide bomber who stepped inside the gold-domed shrine in southern Pakistan in February was wearing a vest packed with ball bearings, bolts and screws. When he hit the detonator, he killed more than 80 people.

To the world, they were Muslims.

Discarded shoes of victims remain outside Al-Rawda Mosque in Egypt. a day after attackers killed more than 300 worshippers. Credit:AP

But to the Islamic State, which quickly claimed credit for the attack, they were something else: Mushrikin, an Arabic word meaning polytheists.

Because the worshippers who died at the shrine of the Sufi philosopher Lal Shahbaz Qalandar had come bearing offerings of rose petals and had prayed at the tomb of the revered saint, hard-liners saw their faith as an affront to Islam, which holds that there is a single, indivisible God.
Bir-Lehlu, 25 Nov 2017 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, sent a congratulatory message to the new Zimbabwean President, Mr. Emerson Mnangagwa.

"On behalf of the Saharawi Government, the Polisario Front and the Saharawi people, I am very pleased to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of the Republic of Zimbabwe," said the President of the Republic in his message.

"As you begin your new responsibilities, I wish to assure you and the people of Zimbabwe of the continued friendly relations that have existed since the liberation war of Zimbabwe under the leadership of ZANUPF and the Saharawi people under the leadership of the Polisario Front in their struggle for independence."

"The strong and historic relations of friendship and solidarity will be stronger between our two peoples within the African unity and at the international level," he added.

062/SPS/TRA
Algiers, Nov 26, 2017 (SPS) - Algerian Coucil of the Nation (upper house of Parliament) will send a delegation to attend the festivities commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the creation of the National Council of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), to be held Monday at the Saharawi refugee camps in Tindouf.

The Algerian parliamentary delegation will attend the event at the invitation of the head of the Saharawi National Council, Khatri Eddouh, the Upper House said Sunday in a statement.

Led by Mohamed Zoubiri, the leader of the Parliamentary group of the National Liberation Front (FLN) at the Council of the Nation, the Algerian delegation is made up of Senators Mohamed El Oued and Saidi Hassani, the statement added.

Algeria's participation in the Saharawi political event is part of Algerian Parliament's support to Western Sahara people's cause, the statement concluded. (SPS)

062/SPS/APS
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A growing number of economists and public officials think Connecticuts transportation troubles are contributing to the states slow economic recovery.

Eight years after its recession, the state has recovered only 73 percent of the jobs it shed in the downturn. The situation has hardly improved in the past few months, as Connecticut has lost more than 11,000 positions since July. While a multitude of factors contribute, mass-transit shortcomings loom as a key concern in a state where hundreds of thousands of workers commute every day.

We have some of the most congested highways in America. That suppresses job growth, said Joe McGee, vice president of public policy for The Business Council of Fairfield County. Our congested highway system makes us less attractive. If we can improve our highways and also increase rail speed, I think our economy can grow very powerfully.

Consensus on congestion

By many measures, southwestern Connecticut comprises one of the most congested areas of the country. Stamford ranked as the American city with the highest overall congestion rate  even higher than the levels in New York, Los Angeles, Boston and San Francisco  according to a report this year by transportation analytics firm Inrix.

I dont think the transportation issues are necessarily directly related to job losses, but you see it in terms of limiting growth, said Pete Gioia, economist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. Its a huge concern for growth going forward.

The clogged roadways hinder many employers efforts in cities such as Stamford to attract and retain top talent.

It is a significant burden on being able to lure people into this area and getting them to happily commute, said David Lewis, founder and CEO of Norwalk-based HR outsourcing and consulting firm Operations Inc. The chances are youre going to pay more for that employee, and youre also going to deal with the effects that commute causes. That person comes in more stressed from their drive, having been in that commuting mode.

The state Department of Economic and Community Development does not track the economic impact of congestion, but the department still pays close attention to the transit systems, said Commissioner Catherine Smith.

For most companies thinking of coming to Connecticut, I dont think transportation is No. 1 on their list of needs  that would be people and talent  but its still an important factor, Smith said. Everyone wants to make sure were making the right investments in our roads and rail lines.

Members of the General Assembly also acknowledge the need for substantial investments.

From the Transportation Committee point of view, there is no question that we are in need of significant improvements in efficiencies and capacity without sacrificing safety, said L. Scott Frantz, R-Greenwich, a member of the General Assemblys Transportation Committee. All one has to do is look from the third story of any building in Stamford at the traffic entering, exiting or transiting I-95 to understand how challenged we are.

But the Legislature has been hard-pressed in recent years to enact the necessary remedies.

If we did some of the things that Im trying to do  like improved transportation and infrastructure  we could easily move to the top 10 states to do business in, but we have to make those investments, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in an interview earlier this year in Stamford. And thats why we need to get a budget done and why the Legislature cant steal money from transportation again.

The stealing refers to legislators frequent raids in recent years to pay for general expenditures.

The Special Transportation Fund posted an estimated balance of about $98 million in the past fiscal year and is predicted to finish the current year with $141 million, according to the state Office of Policy and Management. But the re-allocations have depleted a fund that faces the likelihood of going into the red in the next few years, as gas tax revenues have fallen sharply.

Potential solutions

In the past session, legislators again considered a number of far-reaching measures to shore up the states transit funding.

Legislation to institute tolls again failed. Transportation Committee members positions broke along partisan lines.

I will continue to lay down the tracks to fight against tolls, Frantz said in a legislators forum March in Stamford. Its another tax on people. Were one of the most-taxed people in the entire country at this point, any way you look at it.

In the same forum, state Sen. Carlo Leone, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the Transportation Committee, said a bill that would have implemented tolls did not offer an ideal solution, but warranted consideration.

If were not investing in our infrastructure, youre going to end up paying for it through higher income taxes, through higher property taxes, higher fees, Leone said. The money will have to come from somewhere to pay for that infrastructure.

Messages left for Leone seeking comment were not returned.

Despite the division over tolls, the Legislature did manage to pass a significant piece of transit legislation, endorsing a constitutional amendment that would institute a lockbox for transportation funds. To be enacted, the lockbox proposal needs to gain approval through a statewide referendum, which is set to be held next year.

When the state funds major transportation improvements, it tends to see results, said Jeffrey P. Cohen, an associate professor of finance and real estate in the University of Connecticuts business school. He cited transit-oriented development around stops on the CTfastrak express-bus system in the Hartford area.

These long-term investments the state is making are going to show up, in the long run, in economic growth, Cohen said. You see the new development in progress around the stations, but you cant do construction and lease up buildings overnight. It will take some time before we see the benefits.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) U Hostels, an alternative and personalised accommodations provider, has plans to invest up to Rs 300 crore for setting up 10-12 premium hostels for working class in all metro cities of the country over the next two-three years.

"We plan to invest up to Rs 300 crore to set up 10-12 premium hostels in metro cities in India. These hostels would be premium properties with 3 or 4 star facilities for working communities. This segment is currently untouched in India...at present for working class people wanting stay long term in a city, there are very limited options," U Hostels Managing Director Sudhir Sinha told PTI.

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U Hostels, a joint initiative of hotelier Sinha and Franchise Indias Gaurav Marya, is looking at setting up 50-80 hostels, with about 100 rooms reach, in the next seven years.

These hostels will come up in metro cities such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.

"Our first two properties would come up in Gurugram and Pune in the next six-eight months. We have invested about 80- 100 crore investment for these two properties," he said.

When asked if the company will raise funds to expand its business, Sinha said: "We would be looking at raising funds down the line, but currently it is self funded. After our first two properties become operational, we will get valuations done and raise funds."

The company has tied up with brand such as Gym 99, UClean, Entrepreneur USA for services to be provided to the guests. PTI SVK MKJ

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Contributed Photo / Connecticut State Police / Contributed Photo

Saturday marks 95 years since Connecticut State Police lost their first trooper in the line of duty.

Trooper Pearle Roberts died on Nov. 25, 1922. State Police said he was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident while on duty in New Haven.
The following headlines and articles appeared in the Stamford Advocate decades ago on Nov. 27.

10 years ago

Nutcracker helps students find their gifts

Visions of sugar plum fairies and toys that come to life are dancing through the heads of third-graders at K.T. Murphy Elementary School.

They are participating in Explorations into The Nutcracker, a New York City Ballet program taught through the Stamford Center for the Arts. This is the second year the program, funded by the Board of Education, has been in the Stamford Public Schools.

Its so important for kids to have art in their lives, said Denise Lewis, a ballet teacher and retired dancer at the American Ballet Theatre in New York City. Hope this will expose them to it and get them started, get the point across that they are all artists and they all have something important to say.

20 years ago

Locals thankful for the professional touch

Dressed in a sweatsuit and armed with patience, Bettye Jo Giles braved the mounting wave of frenzied Thanksgiving food shoppers at Hay Day Country Market in Greenwich yesterday afternoon.

Giles mission: to bring home store-made gravy, stuffing and pies for Thanksgiving dinner.

My daughter recently moved to Stamford and she works in New York City, said Giles, who flew from Los Angeles to celebrate the holiday. She would have done it all herself, but I thought this would help out.

30 years ago

Residents count their blessings on Thanksgiving Day

Euton McCallum, of Stamford, looked around the crowded dining room for a moment, and bowed his head.

When I woke up this morning I felt I had something to say, the man said, as a plate of food was placed before him. He tasted a little bit of the roast turkey and contemplated the scene around him  people he had passed on the street sometime, but mostly strangers  all sitting in the basement of the Salvation Army.
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ARLINGTON, Va. - It's early on a Thursday morning and flight attendant Bette Nash has just strolled up to Gate 19 at Reagan National Airport, where American Airlines Flight 2160 bound for Boston is parked and preparing for boarding.

As she pauses at the counter to adjust her scarf, a 20-something guy looks up. He lets out a gasp.

"Oh, my God," he says excitedly. "Are you Bette Nash? Can I have your picture?"

This is what life is like when you are Nash, 81, who has been flying since Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House and a ticket for a flight cost $12.

The 20-something in question, Pavel Boress, is an American Eagle flight attendant who has long known of Nash but never had the chance to meet her. Hugs are exchanged.

He fumbles with his phone. The pair lean their heads together and snap a selfie - another one for the ages.

"Everybody in the industry knows about Bette," Boress says, still giddy from the encounter. "She's an inspiration."

Nearby, Nash's longtime colleague, flight attendant Suellen Evans, watches with amusement.

"It happens all the time," she says. "Autographs, too."

Patting her bag, Evans whispers, "I keep extra Sharpies just in case."

Eastern Air Lines, US Airways and, yes, even Trump Shuttle. Bankruptcies and at least one strike. Nash has weathered them all. And now, entering her seventh decade of flying, no one is as surprised as she.

Ten years ago, when Nash was feted on her 50th with a rare water cannon salute (a tribute usually reserved for a retiring captain or an officer), she laughed at the suggestion that she would be around for her 60th.

Yet here she is - stylish brown updo kept in place with three tiny brown clips, a bit of sparkle on her eyelids and just the right amount of blush.

The mandatory retirement age for pilots in the industry is 65, but there is no such thing for flight attendants, so Nash is still flying.

She's worked other routes during her long career, but the District to Columbia-to-Boston shuttle, known affectionately as the "Nash Dash" to her regulars - is her favorite. It requires her to be up before the chickens - the alarm in her Manassas, Virginia, home goes off at 2:10 a.m. - but it gets the single mom home in time to have dinner with her son, who has Down syndrome and lives with her.

The route brings her into contact with power brokers of all types, in different industries and of varying political persuasions.

These days her regulars include political commentator David Gergen, members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation and Kenneth Feinberg - the attorney perhaps best known for administering the 9/11 and Deepwater Horizon disaster compensation funds.

"If Bette's on the flight, you know everything is going to go well," said Feinberg, who has flown with Nash for almost three decades. "She never gets flustered. No matter how busy she is, she'll always stop and ask you how you are."

Added Karen Clougherty, a retired Defense Department contractor and Nash Dash regular who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, but has family in Boston: "There's just this spark - she's the first one you see when you get on. She knows you and gives you a hug. I will change my schedule if I know Bette is flying."

Nash, the eldest of three sisters who grew up just outside Atlantic City, New Jersey, was a fresh-faced 21-year-old when the call went out for girls - because that's what they were called then - looking for a little adventure. It seemed far more glamorous than her job as a legal secretary, and the idea of meeting people from all over appealed to her innate curiosity. She borrowed a suit from one of her sisters, and two interviews later she was hired by Eastern Air Lines.

Stories? She has many. There was the flight from Washington to Miami with nine stops in between. Or the time her plane hit turbulence so bad that the toilet in the lavatory separated from the floor. In the early days, pillbox hats, girdles and garter belts were required. Once, her garter belt snapped midflight. Nash didn't panic - no - she casually bent down, scooped it up and continued with the beverage service. There were the days when she served lobster and carved meats to passengers. Oh, and the time she flew with Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy Jr.

Lobster dinners and $12 tickets may be a thing of the past, but one thing remains constant: the philosophy Nash has embraced since she started in 1957.

"Customer service is about making customers feel good," she says simply. "Everyone wants number one - a little love and a little attention."

At a party celebrating her 60th anniversary this month at National, she had the crowd in stitches with her observations, including this bit of fashion commentary: "In the old days, we saw a lot of mink coats," she said. "Today, we see a lot of flip-flops."

For Nash, it is the people - both the passengers and her co-workers - who keep her coming back at a time when most folks have packed it in. The everyday stresses she might be dealing with seem to melt away once she's on board.

With 10 minutes to go before departure, there is no time for small talk as Nash helps ready the flight for boarding. She stores her bag in the overhead and goes to work making sure everything is in order. She checks in with the pilot and gate agent.

Nash is joined by Evans and flight attendant Joan Myers-Singh. The three have known one another since the days when they flew for Eastern Air Lines.

"Not sure you heard the announcement, but we have a celebrity with us," the captain says, telling the folks aboard that this is Nash's 60th anniversary. The passengers break out in applause. Nash - ever gracious - nods and smiles.

But when it's time for takeoff, it's back to business.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boarding is now complete," she says.

Once the plane levels off, it's back to work. Nash grabs a wicker basket of snacks and begins to take drink orders.

Coffee for 4A, sparkling water for 5C.

"I'm sorry I'm not talking," she says to an observer. Tapping her forehead with her finger, she whispers: I'm trying to keep it all straight."

The flight lands 10 minutes ahead of schedule and taxis to the gate.

There is much merriment as the passengers deplane.

"Take care, Bette," says one passenger.

"Tell your husband I said 'Hi,' " she replies.

"Keep at it," says another.

"I'll keep working if I can," she says.

"I put you on Twitter, #American Airlines," says another.

Bette nods.

"Here's to the next 10 years," says another.

Nash laughs.

"Oh, God, I hope not," she says, then pauses for a moment. "Well, you never know."
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) US-based ride hailing app Uber is betting big on its development centres in India in Bengaluru and Hyderabad for driving innovation, especially in areas like ride booking and vehicle telematics to enhance rider and driver experience globally.

The company, which has about 150 people across its development teams in the two Indian cities, is also looking to scale up its operations here.

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"India is one of our key development centres and we have a strong commitment here. We have lots of innovation coming out of here (India) for the Indian market but also for the entire world, the most prominent one being cash. Cash is used (to pay for rides) in many countries now," Uber Global Head of Product Daniel Graf told PTI.

Uber has development centres across the US, Amsterdam and Denmark.

"In markets like India, we are still in hyper-growth mode, we put in investments to get to a sustainable phase. In India, we are investing in technology, people," he said.

India is one of the largest markets for Uber, especially after it exited its China business last year.

Uber is locked in an intense battle for market leadership in the Indian market with SoftBank-backed Ola.

Talking about the India development centres, Graf said the company is exploring several avenues to enhance the rider experience.

"There are folks even without a smartphone, they want the opportunity to book a ride, there are several ways to do that so we are exploring that as well. Are we looking at ways to allow people with poor connectivity to book rides? Absolutely," he said.

The company has recently launched a light web-based version of its platform to allow riders who have basic smartphones with limited storage space to book a ride from a tablet or computer. Uber already allows users to book rides for others.

Besides, Uber is running a pilot in Pune to allow riders to book a ride from popular zones in the city by calling a phone number and entering a numeric code displayed on a signage to help the company identify their location. Details of the driver and vehicle are sent as a text message on the riders phone.

"India has such a diverse customer base. I think we can definitely do better in terms of forecasting like knowing where is traffic, busy and non busy hours today and maybe next week.

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"We can share that with drivers to enhance their experience and earnings. Then there is vehicle telematics and sensors that can help increase safety of vehicles," he said. PTI SR ABM

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As Flagstaff gets ready for colder, snowy weather, its time to haul out the day hike maps for warmer climes to the south.

If your travels take you to Tucson, here are some favorite trails that can be hiked by the entire family. Let me know if you have other favorites.

Seven Falls: This trip starts in Sabino Canyon, but rather than boarding the tram for Sabino, catch a different one for the trailhead to Seven Falls, a 2-mile ride up adjacent Bear Canyon.

From there, it is a moderate hike of about 2 1/2 miles to the first of the seven falls. Along the way, the trail crosses over the creek several times, and side trails provide access to quiet pools hidden among big boulders.

Once you are at the falls, all peace and quiet vanishes. Hikers who arrive early in the day tend to stay, and by 1 p.m., most of flat rocks around the lower pools are occupied.

The pools are great places to splash around on a hot day, although this year they will be smaller than usual because of the extremely dry fall un Tucson. The falls themselves get progressively smaller and harder to reach safely  I climbed to No. 4 without a rope, but dared go no higher.

 Romero Pools: These are the reward for climbing the Romero Canyon Trail above Catalina State Park. Most guidebooks list this as an easy, 5-mile round trip, but our hike came in late spring when temperatures were already into the 80s. We weren't (and still aren't) heat-hardened hikers, and the family album has images of our entire party sprawled at the edge of the pools trying to cool off.

The trail is lined with saguaro and has fine views to the southwest. It is not particularly steep, but it offers little shade, so hike it before the afternoon sun gets too hot.

 Ventana Canyon: This is a close-by alternative to more crowded Sabino Canyon.

The trailhead starts in a rear parking lot of one of Tucson's most exclusive resorts, Lowe's Ventana Canyon. The first mile is along a narrow corridor through developed property, but after that the trail enters a narrow canyon and crosses a streambed several times. Occasionally, it climbs to a ridge above the stream, offering scenic views of Tucson far below. Because this is bighorn sheep habitat, dogs are strongly discouraged.

After 2.5 miles, you will reach the Maiden Pools, which have flat rocks for sunbathing and picnicking. These are a pleasant turnaround point and much less crowded than the more famous Seven Falls of Bear Canyon (see above).

 Finger Rock Spring: Like the Romero Pools and Maiden Pools, this spring is in the Catalina foothills and flows only in the spring. The trailhead starts at the end of Alvernon Way a mile off Skyline Drive, which at nightfall offers stunning views of the city below. It starts out fairly level for a half-mile, but then begins to rise gently, offering spectacular views of the city of Tucson and its surrounding mountains. On our early-winter hike, the spring and creekbed were dry, but the saguaro and cholla were plentiful. This round-trip hike is just 2 miles and is less crowded than popular Pima Canyon farther to the west.

 Cactus Forest Trail: This is a level trail in the eastern portion of Saguaro National Park and full of very large, very old saguaros. It runs in a loop off the paved road from the Rincon Visitor Center, and some of it is open to mountain bikes. Side loops allow for hikes of varying lengths, from two miles to eight. We hiked a portion of it just ahead of a spectacular lightning storm and were glad for the early exit option.

 King Canyon Trail: This trail in the western portion of Saguaro National Park is a good diversion for hikers who want a break from the crowds at the nearby Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Its an alternative to the Sendero Esperanzo Trail, which leads up the same ridge but is a steeper climb. Get a map at the national park's Red Hills Visitor Center  it's a drive of two miles on Kinney Road to the trailhead. The trail climbs for about two miles through a saguaro forest to a saddle on the main ridge of the Tucson Mountains with sweeping views to the south and west. For those who want to summit Wasson Peak, its another mile, but much more strenuous than the first two.
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) With tremendous opportunities for the taking, majority of British companies are looking to increase their investments in India even as there are areas that require further improvement in ease of doing business, according to the UK India Business Council. A grouping that represents around 100 companies from India and the UK, the councils Group CEO Richard Heald also said the application of "liberalisation" in India is not uniform as certain measures are not percolating down the system.

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"Companies which are engaged with India are increasing their engagement... there are tremendous opportunities for the UK businesses of all sizes and complexion, both now and in the foreseeable future," he told PTI in an interview.

He said that a vast majority of the UK companies are looking to increase their presence and investments in India.

The UK is a leading investor in India, with investments worth around USD 24 billion, excluding foreign portfolio inflows from the UK, among others, as per estimates cited in the councils third annual Ease of Doing Business in India survey report.

"There are areas where we have seen significant improvements and there are areas where we would like to see further improvements," Heald said, adding that factors such as electricity connectivity and digitalisation are hugely positive.

About the overall business climate, Heald said there are a lot of positives that are coming through but is not necessarily percolating down the system.

"The application of liberalisation is not uniform. The messaging among politicians and senior bureaucrats is very strong and positive but as you move down, the execution is not good as we would like," he said.

As per the survey, UK businesses remain "largely positive" about improvements in ease of doing business in India, but there are concerns about the pace and execution of reforms.

To a query about how the bilateral ties could be after Brexit, Heald opined that there is a "special relationship and it could be even more special relationship". "There is a lot the UK can learn from India and what we are seeing is companies coming here and investing in process and product development which has benefits back in the UK. It improves the efficiency of our businesses. (There are) mutual benefits," he said. The United Kingdom has decided to move out of the European Union, a move which is commonly known as Brexit. PTI RAM MKJ

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SCOTTSBLUFF  If you have a tablet, cell phone, computer or other electronic device capable of downloading audiobooks and ebooks, the Lied Scottsbluff Public Library is hosting a workshop for patrons to learn about the services OverDrive provides in borrowing online.

Its been a decade since the Lied Scottsbluff Public Library held its first OverDrive workshop to teach patrons how to borrow audiobooks. Over the years, ebooks increased in popularity and OverDrive added the ability to borrow them. With the recent addition of new features to the program, Jana Kehn, adult services librarian, felt it was time to hold another workshop to help local residents learn about the program.

OverDrive is a branch of the library, but its a virtual branch. All you need is an internet connection. The entire state participates in OverDrive, so, collectively, the Scottsbluff library is part of a consortium that makes up the same virtual branch.

All you need is your library card to get started, she said.

OverDrive works just like a regular visit to the library. You check out your book or audiobook. However, when its time to return it, theres nothing you need to do, so youll never have an overdue book again.

The books automatically return so you dont have any fines and theyre handy when traveling, she said. Youre not taking a stack of books with you.

OverDrive is available 24 hours a day. You can be in another country and still check out books as long as you have your library card and an internet connection.

The workshop is open to new and old users of digital devices. Kehn said its a good refresher for those who are familiar with OverDrive, but is also good for those who are wondering whats changed in the app and those who have never used it before.

When Kehn first began holding the workshops, many people had never heard of a digital downloadable library. They didnt understand what it was. Today, people understand what it is, but still are unclear how it works. She hopes they come to check it out so they can learn another way to use their library.

At the workshop, patrons will also learn how to use their devices and how they can interact with each other. They will also learn about Libby, an app that doesnt require downloading a book first.

You dont have to do any special downloads, Kehn said. You just go into the app and youre ready to read or listen to your book.

Attendees need to bring their own devices so they can learn how to use OverDrive and/or Libby on their device.

The OverDrive workshop will be held at the Lied Scottsbluff Public Library on Tuesday, Nov. 28 from 5:30-7 p.m. To sign up for the workshop, contact the library at 308-630-6250 or stop by the circulation desk.
By PTI: Karachi, Nov 25 (PTI) Violent protests in Pakistan spilled over to the countrys financial hub Karachi after authorities cracked down on protesters belonging to hardline religious parties in the national capital, Islamabad, injuring at least 15 people.

Karachi police fired in the air and baton charged protesters in several areas of the countrys biggest city.

The protesters had been staging sit-ins in parts of Karachi, demanding law minister Zahid Hamids resignation for changes made to the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, or the finality of the prophethood oath in the Elections Act 2017, in September.

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A bigger protest was underway in Islamabad over the same issue.

The protests in Karachi turned violent after reports came in of a crackdown by authorities on protesters in Islamabad, where nearly 200 people, almost half of them security personnel, were injured. The authorities suspended the operation to disperse the protesters in Islamabad after the activists took over the streets in the national capital.

In Karachi, the police cracked down on the protesters on M.A. Jinnah Road, where they had been protesting for eight days. This led to clashes between the protesters and the police, triggering panic among the residents and leading to forcible shutdowns of shops, petrol pumps, and entire markets.

A group of protesters belonging to the newly-formed Tehreek-e-Labaik converged near the upmarket Clifton area in Karachi and disrupted the movement of traffic and threatened owners to shut their businesses to show their solidarity with those protesting in Islamabad-Rawalpindi twin cities.

The protesters also pelted stones at the police.

Reports also trickled in of clashes between police and protesters from other parts of the Sindh province, including Umerkot, Mithi, Sujawal, Badin and other towns.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has ordered several private news channels "offair" in Pakistan, including in Karachi.

The tensed situation forced vehicles off roads in Karachi. The protesters had also attempted to block roads leading to Hyderabad, according to traffic police officials.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has assured people that no one would be allowed to paralyse Karachi city. He asked the DIG (Traffic) to ensure smooth traffic in the city. PTI CORR ABH

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The Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a route for TransCanadas Keystone XL DilBit pipeline (KXL), but did not approve TransCanadas preferred route. Instead the PSC approved what is called the Mainline Alternative Route, which would have portions of the KXL run alongside their existing Keystone I pipeline.

Yes, the Keystone I pipe, which has leaked 16 times since it was buried in Nebraska soil in 2009. It seems TransCanada is having a heck of a time keeping their toxic DilBit inside their pipe. Right now, cleanup efforts are going on in South Dakota because the Keystone I leaked over 200,000 gallons of diluted tarsand oil.

The vote of the five PSC commissions went 3 to 2 in favor of granting TransCanada this Mainline Alternative Route. Three commissioners said it was in the public interest, two said it was not. Their final 74-page report mentioned many times that the PSC was not allowed to consider safety or leaks when making their decision. What a joke!

But the new Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act (MOPSA) in Nebraska was crafted in such a way, the PSC who is charged with approving major oil pipeline routes was forbidden to consider safety and focus only on public interest. Thats like saying they cant see anything wrong for kids to play with matches because they cant consider what would happen if the kids started a fire. It is absurd.

Looking up the purpose of MOPSA, the first article listed is, Ensure the welfare of Nebraskans, including property rights, aesthetic values and economic interests. Looking up the definition of welfare as it pertains to governmental bodies I find, The concern of the government for the health, peace, morality, and safety of its citizens. See the word safety in there? Well, in Nebraska, under the MOPSA law, apparently,, ensuring the welfare of Nebraskans does not include keeping them safe. Just a guess, but it looks like TransCanada was involved with the writing of the MOPSA law.

Rod Johnson, one of the commissioners who voted to approve the KXL, said, I fully understand that MOPSA forbids this commission from considering issues related to pipeline safety. Nonetheless, it is obvious that safety issues are of prime concern to the public regarding this pipeline. Safety was the No. 1 issue raised at the Commissioners four public meetings and in the many thousands of written comments we have received during this process.

I find it quite ironic that the PSC repeatedly shut down testimony when safety or spills were even mentioned in the hearing, yet in their own final report on page 50, when explaining why they chose the Mainline Route, they write this: We see many benefits to maximizing the co-location of the KXL with Keystone I. It is in the public interest for the pipelines to be closer in proximity to each other, so as to maximize monitoring resources and increase the efficiency of response times. This would also assist emergency responders and others that may be called on to assist with any issues that may arise with either pipeline.

What they are clearly talking about is when the KXL spills or there is yet another spill from the Keystone I. So they cant consider safety or spills when mentioned by the witnesses?

Listen folks, safety is a huge factor when Nebraska must decide to allow a 36 tarsand pipeline, diluted with benzene saturated diluent to cross our rivers and streams, and be buried directly above or in some cases lying directly in the Ogallala Aquifer. It is even more of a concern when we know these pipes leak.

Crystal Rhodes, PSC commissioner who voted not to approve the KXL route, went to great lengths describing how TransCanada violated due process by not notifying landowners along this new route, that the KXL would even cross their land. And that TransCanada did not provide required information that they had complied with all state statutes, regulations and local ordinances. And that TransCanada refused to supply the materials requested by the NDEQ. She confirmed in her statements that TransCanada also refuses to release the safety data sheets, needed by first responders telling them of the safety risks and dangers of the contents of their pipe  until after the pipe leaks!

Even with the 3 to 2 PSC approval vote of this new Mainline Alternative Route, there are still years of regulatory hurdles TransCanada must face along with the inevitable legal appeals.

TransCanada needs to pull the plug on the KXL, just as they did their Energy East Pipeline last month. They cited changing circumstances as their reason. They were right. The circumstances have changed significantly since they announced the KXL back in 2008. Oil is about one-third of the price it was back then, and America is producing all the oil it needs.

Not only did TransCanada fail to meet the burden of proof, the PSC failed in meeting their own burden of proof that this ill-fated and dangerous project serves the public interest of Nebraskans.
By PTI: London, Nov 26 (PTI) A therapy that involves face-to-face discussion a between a person with schizophrenia and a virtual avatar representing their hallucinations may help reduce symptoms, a study has found.

The trial compared the avatar therapy to a form of supportive counselling. It found that avatar therapy was more effective at reducing hallucinations at 12-week follow-up, and had a large effect size.

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The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal, is the first large-scale trial of this type of therapy, and was used in people with schizophrenia who had persistent and distressing auditory hallucinations for more than a year, despite treatment.

Around 60-70 per cent of people who have schizophrenia experience auditory hallucinations that are typically insulting and threatening.

"A large proportion of people with schizophrenia continue to experience distressing voices despite lengthy treatment, so it is important that we look at newer, effective and shorter forms of therapy," said Tom Craig from Kings College London in the UK.

"Our study provides early evidence that avatar therapy rapidly improves auditory hallucinations for people with schizophrenia, reducing their frequency and how distressing they are, compared to a type of counselling," Craig said.

The study involved 150 patients who had had schizophrenia for about 20 years and heard 3-4 voices on average.

Of these, 75 people had the avatar therapy and the other 75 people had a form of supportive counselling designed for this study.

They also continued with their usual antipsychotic medication throughout the trial.

The avatar therapy took place over six sessions, with one 50-minute session each week.

Before starting treatment, patients worked with the therapist to create a computerised simulation or avatar of the voice they most wanted to influence - including what the voice said, how it sounded, and how it could look.

Therapy involved a three-way conversation between the patient, therapist, and avatar, with the therapist speaking as themselves and also voicing the avatar.

In each session, after discussing the targets for that days work, patients spent 10-15 minutes speaking face-to-face with the avatar, practising standing up to it, correcting any misconceptions it had about them, and taking control of the conversation, so that power shifted from the avatar to the patient.

The avatar came to recognise the patients strengths and good qualities, and the patients greater control and power in the relationship.

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The sessions were recorded, and an audio recording was given to the patient to take home to listen to when they heard the voices.

The supportive counselling ran for the same number and length of sessions.

It encouraged patients to discuss any issues of concern to them and aimed to lessen distress and discuss practical ways of improving their quality of life.

At the end of the session, each patient recorded a positive message to listen to during the following week.

After 12 weeks, the avatar groups symptoms were rated as less severe than those who received counselling.

People who had received avatar therapy also found their hallucinations less distressing and less powerful than people in the counselling group.

Seven people who had the avatar therapy and two in the counselling group also reported that their hallucinations had completely disappeared after 12 weeks. PTI MHN MHN

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ST. LOUIS  A floorlayer from Edwardsville is waging a contentious legal battle against one of the regions largest labor alliances, accusing union officials of embezzling money from members to inflate their own pensions and cash in on travel perks for spouses.

Jonathan Gould, a former compliance officer for the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council, is suing his former union coalition in state court here to expose what he claims is a long-standing practice of stealing and squandering union dues.

Union dues are being appropriated, stolen, embezzled and converted from the union coffers to inflate the pensions of Carpenters officials without the consent of the union members, Gould said.

Gould claims the council has misspent thousands of dollars on illegal shop policies and millions in legal fees to preserve them. He says he also has sought whistleblower protection from the Illinois attorney general to end wasteful perks for council bosses.

The council, headquartered at 1401 Hampton Avenue in St. Louis, has denied Goulds allegations.

The legal fight is playing out in St. Louis Circuit Court while labor unions fight for survival in Missouri and to stop the new right-to-work law from taking effect. A coalition of unions gathered enough signatures in August to delay the laws implementation in hopes of persuading voters to repeal it next year. The law approved in February says workers cannot be compelled to join or pay dues.

The lawsuit, set for trial in February, names as defendants seven union leaders and the entire Carpenters council, which represents 34 locals with about 22,000 members in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.

Lawyers for Gould, the council and its leaders declined to comment for this story.

The lawsuit stems from Goulds termination in August 2014 after he accepted a nomination to oppose longtime incumbent Terrence Nelson to run the council, court records say. Moments after Gould accepted the nomination, Nelson allegedly told Gould, You just lost your (expletive) job.

Gould, who describes himself in court filings as a strong union man, claims he was fired for exposing alleged fraud and theft in the run up to the councils board election in 2014. His lawsuit claims the council has inflated paychecks and pensions for years for 51 executives through an illegal vehicle policy and of misspending dues money on airfare for spouses and on alcohol purchases at labor conventions. Gould also accused several individual union leaders of defamation for allegedly saying he was a liar, had gone crazy, and suffered mental breakdowns. Gould claimed leaders launched a whisper campaign against him by saying he took kickbacks through a secret rebate program for contractors.

The council responded in pleadings that Gould was legally forced out because he had been serving an appointed position and lost the 2014 board election to Nelson. It also said its alleged defamatory statements were opinions, not facts, and if they did say them, they didnt know they were false at the time. Council lawyers also pointed to the National Labor Relations Boards dismissal of Goulds claim of unfair labor practices for lack of evidence.

Meanwhile, Nelson fired back against Gould with a countersuit accusing Gould of defaming him when he emailed a flooring company principal alleging illegal spending by Nelson and other council representatives.

Nelson retired as executive secretary-treasurer of the union in 2015; he was succeeded by Albert Bond Jr.

Victor Devinatz, a professor at Illinois State University and an expert on labor practices and history, said charges of union corruption are nothing new but might seem more hurtful to workers amid declining union membership across the country. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Missouri saw a slight gain in union membership last year to just under 10 percent of the workforce, but that still falls below the national average. Illinois union membership fell but remains above the national average of 10.7 percent.

As union density goes down and resources become tighter, I think incidents of union corruption in some sense, hurt more, Devinatz said. I think that corruption in unions is worse because its the money of the members  the dues.

Legal squabbles over alleged union corruption, he said, could also hurt public perception of union membership as Missouri gears up for a political showdown next year over proposed changes in labor law.

It certainly wont help, he said.

The council made headlines in 2010 over a dispute that fractured the relationship between the carpenters and organizations representing other building and construction trades. The dispute erupted after Nelson ordered the formation of a new local to represent electrical workers to compete with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1.
ST. CHARLES  An alleged burglar was shot and killed during an apparent home invasion around 5:45 p.m. Saturday, according to St. Charles police.

The invasion occurred at an apartment complex near Fifth Street and San Juan Drive, police said. A resident shot the suspect.

Police said children were inside the apartment when the incident occurred, but they were not harmed.

This story will be updated as more details are available.
A New York Times reporter traveled to New Carlisle, Ohio, for "hours of face-to-face conversation" with a "Nazi sympathizer." He then filed a story under this strong headline, "A Voice of Hate in America's Heartland."

And then the cognoscenti roared its disapproval on Twitter.

A meta-narrative in the story, by Richard Fausset, explains much of the negative reaction. It profiles 29-year-old Tony Hovater and starts with this fine bit of feature writing:

"Tony and Maria Hovater were married this fall. They registered at Target. On their list was a muffin pan, a four-drawer dresser and a pineapple slicer.

"Ms. Hovater, 25, was worried about Antifa bashing up the ceremony. Weddings are hard enough to plan for when your fiance is not an avowed white nationalist."

Significant chunks of the piece follow suit, as Fausset explains how the white nationalist loves "Seinfeld," has four cats and otherwise does things that human beings do. Right there in the text, Fausset acknowledges that this very treatment is a goal of white nationalists:

"'We need to have more families. We need to be able to just be normal,' said Matthew Heimbach, the leader of the Traditionalist Worker Party, in a podcast conversation with Mr. Hovater. Why, he asked self-mockingly, were so many followers 'abnormal'?"

The ending of the story doesn't feel so abnormal:

"The pasta was ready. Ms. Hovater talked about how frightening it was this summer to watch from home as the Charlottesville rally spun out of control. Mr. Hovater said he was glad the movement had grown.

"They spoke about their future - about moving to a bigger place, about their honeymoon, about having kids."

In fairness to the Times, the story did alight on the horrific reality of white nationalism. A Facebook post, for example, daydreamed about the wonderful, white America that would have arisen if only Germany had prevailed in World War II. After the Charlottesville rally in August, in which a suspected white nationalist allegedly used his vehicle to ram a group of protesters, killing a woman, Hovater wrote, "We made history. Hail victory."

Yet the Times itself beat its critics to the story about the profile's shortcomings. In the Times Insider section - a place where reporters write about their stories - Fausset acknowledged a "hole at the heart" of the story on Hovater. After the first draft of his piece, Fausset noted, his editor cited an omission: What had prompted Hovater to "take his ideas beyond his living room, beyond the chat rooms, and on to Charlottesville, where he marched in August alongside allies like the neo-Confederate League of the South and the Detroit-based National Socialist Movement, which bills itself as 'America's Premier White Civil Rights Organization'? Where was his Rosebud?"

To fill this void, Fausset rang up Hovater, even though the two had held extensive discussions in Ohio. The subject didn't much help things. "So I went back to Mr. Hovater in search of answers. I still don't think I really found them. I could feel the failure even as Mr. Hovater and I spoke on the phone," writes Fausset in his story about the story.

And so the Times published the story anyhow. That makes little sense: This is a newspaper, after all, that prides itself on giving its reporters the time and resources to place fully realized pieces of journalism into print. Whether the topic is allegations of Bill O'Reilly's sexually harassing ways, allegations of Harvey Weinstein's sexually harassing ways, Hillary Clinton's emails or any number of other pursuits, reporters commonly get the time and space to produce lasting work.

In this case, however, Fausset & Co. decided they'd done their best: "I beat myself up about all of this for a while, until I decided that the unfilled hole would have to serve as both feature and defect," writes Fausset in the Times Insider piece. "What I had were quotidian details, though to be honest, I'm not even sure what these add up to. Like other committed extremists I have known, Mr. Hovater had little time for a life beyond his full-time job and his line of activism. When he is not doing those things, he likes to be at home with his girlfriend (now his wife) and their cats."

Perhaps Hovater himself wasn't the best authority on his own radicalization. Perhaps family members would have been more forthcoming on the matter, or former classmates, neighbors - someone else. For a fine example of how multiple sources are required to account for something like this, please see Luke O'Brien's story in the Atlantic about alt-right troll Andrew Anglin - whose preschool teacher is quoted in the piece. A profile of Matthew Heimbach of the Traditionalist Worker Party by The Washington Post's Joe Heim also takes a bio-investigative approach. More multi-sourced solidity: ProPublica recently published an investigation of a hate group that participated in the Charlottesville, Virginia, violence in August.

All of which is to say that the best way to avoid normalizing white nationalists is to report about their deeds, their friends, their families and their beliefs, and to not give up after an unsatisfactory phone call.
Bryan Schalch outside court.

A WARWICK School master behaved in an immoral and shabby manner in having sex with a 17-year-old schoolgirl  but his actions were not illegal, a judge has ruled.

Bryan Schalch, 39, of Chestnut Grove, Moreton Morrell, had pleaded not guilty at Warwick Crown Court to three charges of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

Schalch, who was head of Design and Technology at Warwick School, had sexual intercourse on three occasions with a 17-year-old schoolgirl  who was not a pupil at the school.

And following legal arguments in the absence of the jury part-way through his trial, Deputy Judge Richard Griffith-Jones ruled that Schalch had no case to answer.

The jury, on the directions of the judge, then formally entered not guilty verdicts on all three charges.

During the trial, prosecutor Sally Hancox said Schalch had met the 17-year-old girl through a friend of hers who was a pupil at Warwick School, where he was a teacher.

Schalch and the girl, a pupil at another school in the town, kept in touch by e-mailing and stuff, she said in her video-recorded evidence, adding: I had a teenage crush thing.

In 2015 stuff got more intense, and they began to meet on a supermarket car park where they would kiss.

Nothing happened then, until we went to his. He invited me to go round.

And the jury heard that they had intercourse on three occasions when she was still 17.

The girl had believed Schalch would leave his wife for her, and the relationship ended after she realised that was not to be the case, Miss Hancox told the jury.

She explained that there was no dispute over what the girl said happened  and the issue in the trial was whether, as a teacher, Schalch was in a position of trust towards her.

But at the end of the prosecution case, Schalchs barrister Rachel Brand QC argued in the absence of the jury that there was no case for him to answer.

Judge Griffith-Jones observed that it was not a case where he ever taught her.

Pointing out that the Act was not designed to cover all teachers and pupils, Miss Brand reasoned: If a teacher goes on holiday to Brighton and meets a pupil of 17 from another school in another part of the country and has intercourse with her, that is not an offence.

The whole purpose of this Act is to ensure that pupils at a school are not abused by people at the school they attend.

Making his ruling, Judge Griffith-Jones said: There is no issue but that the person named is 17, and that Bryan Schalch was a teacher.

The prosecution set out to prove that Bryan Schalch was in a position of trust in relation to her at the time of the sexual activity.

It is no crime for someone simply to have a sexual relationship with another, as long as that other is at least 16, unless the section of the Sexual Offences Act is applicable, namely that there is a breach of trust.

The judge observed that the girl had come across Schalch through a friend who was a pupil at Warwick School, and after they had kept in touch there did commence a sexual relationship which involved three acts of intercourse.

Describing it as a wholly inappropriate and immoral relationship, Judge Griffith-Jones stressed: It is important that I ensure the correct focus is on criminal behaviour, as opposed to shabby or immoral behaviour by the defendant.

I intend to direct the jury that verdicts of not guilty must be brought back.

At the request of Miss Hancox, he allowed the prosecution 24 hours to consider whether to challenge his ruling.

Told at the resumed hearing that it had been reviewed by the Chief Crown Prosecutor and would not be challenged, Judge Griffith-Jones then directed the jury to enter not guilty verdicts on all three charges.
A Mount Maunganui cartoonist has won a $1000 classroom pack for his school as the intermediate division runner-up in the term three OfficeMax Colour Your Classroom competition.

The competition, which launched in 2014 and is supported by OfficeMax, asked students to channel their imagination and artistic prowess to design and illustrate their very own cartoon character.

Mount Maunganui Intermediate School student Rikaia Burford was announced as one of many winning students for his design in the competition which had more than 800 entries.

Rikaias close second cartoon character is a brown and white tabby cat named Sparrow.

According to Rikaia, Sparrow lost his younger brother earlier in life, but is boastful, brave, arrogant and playful.

Rikaias entry was pipped only by intermediate division winner Hunter Burnett (Mokoia Intermediate School), with other division winners including primary winner Ella Sarrier (Kaurihohore School) and secondary winner Bethany Hayes (James Hargest College).

The remaining two runners-up included Malak Ghoneimy (Ilam School) and Arnia Bradley (Verdon College), with all six winners and runners-up receiving a Sharpie 24-pack valued at $24.99 to add to their inventors toolkit alongside the $1,000 classroom pack for their schools.

This year there was also a special merit prize awarded for an outstanding piece of creativity  this went to South New Brighton School student Eli Robertson, for his fantastic model of a Kung Fu Kiwi.

Colour Your Classroom judge and national account manager at Sharpie, Mark Norling, says this years creations were some of the best hes ever seen.

These cartoons show such creativity and some really beautiful ideas  in fact it would be amazing if all of these cartoon characters actually existed, he says.

The colours in these designs really popped and got the creative juices flowing. We even saw a full-scale model of one of the cartoons entered.
Warm, humid and short on rain has been the story for the last seven days.

High pressure has remained over New Zealand for more than two weeks now, although last weekend a low brushed the far north.

With no major fronts bringing any air mass changes to New Zealand, the air has picked up moisture and increased in humidity. As well as making the warm temperatures feel less comfortable, extra humidity at the surface also increases the chance of convection.

Convection means everything from fluffy afternoon cumulus clouds to thunderstorms, says meteorologist Tom Adams. Surface moisture is one of the key ingredients for convection, which is why we have seen an increasing risk of thunderstorms this weekend.

Yesterday afternoon thunderstorms sparked off in the central Otago and northern Southland regions, during which Manapouri received 20.8mm of rain. This was the highest weekly rainfall of any New Zealand town, and several rural sites saw brief falls of 10mm or more in an hour.

In comparison, the only larger centres to receive more than a millimetre of precipitation in all of the last seven days were Napier and Gisborne, which saw 14.2mm and 4.6mm respectively at the start of the period.

The risk of thunderstorms is still highest for inland South Island today, with a chance of hail, although the central North Island also has a moderate risk.

Thunderstorm outlooks can be found here.

Into next week the risk of thunderstorms remains in these areas, as the high remains parked in place and little changes in our weather. Warm temperatures, light winds, quite a bit of cloud and showers popping up in the afternoon are all set to continue.
Five Bay of Plenty science students have been selected to join 35 of their peers at this years Powering Potential event in Wellington.

They are Nicole Cameron, 16, Otumoetai College, Tauranga; Kerry Parkinson, 17, Mount Maunganui College; Shari Webber, 16, Tauranga Girls College; Jack Nelson, 17, Trident High School, Whakatane; and Hyunjae (Jason) Lee, 17, Western Heights High School, Rotorua.

From December 11-15, these students will be tasked with finding answers to challenging questions posed by scientists.

Organised by Royal Society Te Aparangi in partnership with Freemasons New Zealand, Powering Potential will bring many of New Zealands most promising science students together from all over New Zealand to work alongside a scientist, who will act as their a mentor over three days.

The students will work in teams of five on a question submitted by their mentor, before researching, investigating and collaborating to provide recommendations.

Past, present and future science is the theme this year, and is particularly relevant as the society is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

The society has selected eight different events or happenings from its 150-year timeline and matched these up with a scientific topic.

For example, in 1933 the society established a medal to honour one of the key advocates of daylight saving, which remains a contentious issue in parts of the world.

One team of students will be mentored by a scientist from the Sleep/Wake Research Centre from Massey University to research the effects of daylight saving on our circadian rhythms.

The society is delighted the following businesses and organisations have volunteered a science mentor to help the students over the three days: Plant & Food Research, Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Dunning Thornton, Ferrier Research Institute, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Ministry of Primary Industries, University of Otago and Massey University.

The students will need to think outside the square and use their creative capabilities to find solutions, says Royal Society Te Aparangi chief executive Dr Andrew Cleland.

They will also need to work well in a team situation and will be required to hone their research skills. At the end of the three days, each team will present its findings at a special presentation.

To be selected for Powering Potential, each student was required to submit an in-depth application and video, which focused on their own science strengths or how they have contributed to an area of science in their school or community.

The students have been selected because they are serious about going on to study science at a tertiary level and have demonstrated a passion for science.

The calibre of the students who applied was excellent and some tough decisions had to be made by the selection panel to get the number down to 40, says Andrew.

Freemasons of New Zealand grandmaster Mark Winger says his organisation is absolutely delighted to be involved in Powering Potential in partnership with Royal Society Te Aparangi.

Education is a cornerstone of freemasonry. Our organisation is all about self-improvement and having the courage to make changes for the benefit of all.

All costs for the students, including flights, accommodation and social activities, are covered by Royal Society Te Aparangi, Freemasons New Zealand and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A Syracuse police officer on a routine patrol on the 1200 block of S. Geddes Street on Saturday afternoon recognized an 18-year-old man wanted on a trespass warrant.

The officer tried to arrest 18-year-old Donyell Marshall, but Marshall ran into a convenience store at 1207 S. Geddes St, police spokeswoman Sgt. Julie Shulsky said.

The officer, Matthew Tynan, chased Marshall into the shop and arrested him around 4:30 p.m on Saturday. The officer then discovered that Marshall had discarded a handgun, a plastic bag containing six grams of crack cocaine and an undisclosed amount of marijuana, Shulsky said.

The firearm, a .380-caliber handgun, was reported stolen in Georgia, Shulsky said.

Marshall is now facing charges including criminal weapon and drug possession and for the outstanding warrant, police said. He's being held pending his arraignment at the Onondaga County jail.
Baldwinsville, N.Y.-- Fire departments, ambulance crews and other agencies from four counties came together to be part of the Fourth Annual Baldwinsville Parade of Lights Saturday night. Over 80 vehicles participated in the parade. Fire Departments from as far as Spencerport, near Rochester, came out to support the young tradition in the village, almost doubling in size from last year."Its a chance to show a little bit of spirit, and camaraderie amongst the departments," said Lt. Jeff Belczak, of the Baldwinsville Fire Department.

The Baldwinsville Vol. Fire Company is celebrating their 75th anniversary this year. "We answered over 750 emergency calls last year, including mutual aide" said Lt. Casey Palmer, "Everybody is always seeing us on the bad stuff, the car accidents, the fires, the medical calls, so for us to do something like this, (Parade of Lights), people get to see a different aspect, they get to see us trying to have fun and it puts a smile on peoples faces."
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The gray building next to Eastwood's historic Palace Theater has been vacant for several years, and the Syracuse Planning Commission will discuss its possible demolition on Monday.

Syracuse Savings Bank, c/o Bank of America, owns the former office building at 2366-2378 James Street. Over several decades, the building previously held offices, a deli, hair salons, a grocery store, dry cleaners and nightlife spaces, like the former Palace Lounge.

"Most residents aren't aware of the beauty that building once had," said Stephen Skinner, owner of the Palace Theater. "It was the hub of the town."

Under Bank of America's ownership, Skinner said the building was used to train local bank tellers. Most recently, the bank rented out the space for a small community police office, which emptied out when the bank raised the rent.

If demolished, the lot could be transformed into green space or a parking lot.

Jimmy Monto of the Eastwood Neighborhood Association plans to attend the city planning commission meeting on Monday. He said the ENA's first goal is the help the James Street business corridor thrive.

"We're concerned with the demolition of any building unless it's the last possible option," Monto said. "We want more information. We don't know the full scale of how much the building has deteriorated, so we also don't want a building rotting there for a decade."

Monto said the ENA also has concerns that any rushed demolition project could hurt parts of the Palace Theater.

"The business corridor has seen an uptick in new business, so we don't want to step back," Monto said. "We don't want to pave paradise and put up a parking lot."

Skinner runs Skinner & Associates Realty LLC. He both owns and rents several properties in Eastwood already.

About one year ago, a local real estate broker contacted Skinner to say the building would be up for sale. He did a walk-through as a potential buyer.

"We've been interested [in buying it] since day one," Skinner said. "We'd love to see something great there; that's better than being vacant. The building is dated but has so much potential."

The front of 2366-2378 James St., located next to the Palace Theater. (Google Maps)

Skinner expressed interest in buying but said he didn't want to "overpay" for it.

"It was quiet for months on end, then the broker said they [the bank] would go in a different direction," Skinner said.

Skinner tried multiple times to call representatives who handle Bank of America properties, with little response. One New Jersey broker, who represents Bank of America, later told Skinner the building was "too costly to renovate" due to asbestos and shared utilities with the bank's nearby ATM.

The bank did not respond to Skinner's requests for exact renovation costs or locations of asbestos in the building.

Last week, Eastwood neighbors heard the building landed on Syracuse Planning Commission's docket to review for demolition.

"We got blindsided," Skinner said. "We don't want to see the building come down and just be replaced with grass. How does this achieve Eastwood's neighborhood goals? We should fight to keep things up. It builds culture and confidence in the community."

An undated photo of the Palace Theater and its neighboring building, formerly the Palace Lounge, on James Street. (Provided photo)

If Skinner's company did own the building, he said he'd love to see it used for mixed-use businesses.

"What comes to mind is retail, possibly food, offices or housing," Skinner said. "Our company doesn't need to buy it. We just want some answers. Tearing it down should be the last resort."

The new 5th District Councilor-elect Joe Driscoll supports Skinner in his efforts to renovate vacant properties, and said Skinner has been successful in transforming the neighborhood's key anchor institutions, like the Palace.

"My primary concern is making sure [the demolition] doesn't get rushed through so we have some time to think about it and discuss if there is a way to rehab it," said Driscoll. "I want to see more of a conversation."

The city planning commission will discuss the building's future on Monday, Nov. 27.

Katrina Tulloch writes music and culture stories for Syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Contact her: Email | Twitter | Facebook
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A fight and subsequent stabbing took place on the 300 block of Midland Avenue late on Saturday morning.

Officers responded to a stabbing call at about 10:45 a.m. and found a 45-year-old male suffering from a stab wound to his back, police spokesman Sgt. Richard Helterline said.

AMR Ambulance Personnel transported the victim to Upstate University Hospital, where he is currently listed in critical, but stable, condition.

Officers also met with Ford Reese, 44, who had visible injuries to his head.

Reese said he was involved in a fight with a group of other males, and that he was struck in the head with a hard object, possibly a brick, Helterline said.

Reese was also transported to Upstate University Hospital for treatment and is currently listed in stable condition. Police said he's expected to recover from his injuries.

A police investigation revealed that Reese stabbed the victim during the fight. Reese has been charged with second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Reese will be held at the Onondaga County Justice Center when he is released from the hospital. Police have not yet released his photo.

The investigation is ongoing and detectives are trying to identify others involved in the fight. Syracuse Police ask anyone with information to call (315) 442-5222 or use the "SPD Tips" app.
Being hundreds of miles away from Earth does not stop the astronauts on the International Space Station from celebrating Thanksgiving or having a hearty meal, as they enjoyed a traditional fare.

Thanksgiving Menu On The Space Station

NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Joe Acaba, and Randy Bresnik, along with their European colleagues, had a Thanksgiving feast, 220 miles above the Earth on the ISS.

The Thanksgiving special menu included all-time favorites like turkey, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, and cran-apple dessert.

However, the astronauts spoke about how they missed celebrating the holiday with their family, though spending it with their space family on the ISS made it special.

Well appreciate the next Thanksgiving with our families that much more having missed this one, NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik said in a video posted on social media. Our hearts and prayers go out to those that are serving our country, not at home for this Thanksgiving, and that they are able to make it special where they are, just like were going to.

How Meals Are Prepared On The ISS

There are no set menus for holidays on the space station. The crew members, however, can choose their meals from over 200 items including seasonal dishes, which are all served in pouches. All the food is already cooked and sent to the ISS, so all that has to be done onboard is perhaps adding water to the dehydrated or freeze-dried food.

For instance, turkey tetrazzini can be prepared by simply rehydrating it with water, and that was likely one of the most elaborate food preparations that the astronauts onboard the space station have to do on Thanksgiving.

The meals for the astronauts are mostly prepared at the Space Food Research Facility at Texas A&M University. Researchers there figure out the best way to transport the food from Earth to the ISS. The ready-to-eat packets of food are sealed and processed with heat to prevent any germs from getting to space. The process also gives a longer shelf life to the food.

The packaged food is then sent to the space station in bulk overwrap bags known as BOBs, which are further packed into cargo transfer bags for delivery. The food, sent to the ISS on cargo-resupply missions, is not always what the astronauts specifically want, though each crew member can also take nine personalized BOBs. They are free to share their food with their colleagues aboard the space laboratory.

Once the food is unloaded from the cargo ship, most of it is ready to eat straight out of a packet, though some of the items taste better after being heated, which is done with the help of a food warmer the size of a briefcase.



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Before I visited British Columbia a few weeks ago, my only sense of it had come from what American naturalist Edward Hoagland wrote about the 
WASHINGTON  After months of grinding negotiations over the future of the National Flood Insurance Program, lawmakers return to Capitol Hill on Monday with less than two weeks before the program expires.

Despite progress in the U.S. House of Representatives before Congress split town for its Thanksgiving break, deep and longstanding divisions remain over the federal program, which is heavily in debt and now facing billions in claims from victims of a spate of destructive hurricanes this year.

Members of Congress and those keeping a close eye on the flood insurance debate are increasingly expecting the Dec. 8 deadline to come and go without a comprehensive, long-term reauthorization for the program.

Instead, most are now hoping for a shorter deal to temporarily extend the program  possibly for six months or a year  to buy more time for negotiations on a more comprehensive set of reforms.

That's what Congress did in September with a three-month reauthorization. Lawmakers at the time said they hoped to pull together a deal by December  but there's now little indication they're much closer, despite the House vote.

Senators have shown little interest in taking up a flood insurance bill passed on Nov. 14 by their colleagues in the House. The bill was the product of a hard-fought compromise between House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, a fiscal hawk and the bill's primary author.

Steve Scalise strikes deal with key congressman on National Flood Insurance Program's future WASHINGTON  A deal on changes to the National Flood Insurance Program struck Friday between House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and House Finan

"It's a good start," said Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, "But I think we (in the Senate) can do better in terms of helping the average policyholder."

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, called the House's bill "a step in the right direction" but didn't indicate any plans to support it in the Senate.

Both Cassidy and Kennedy are co-authors of separate bills currently sitting in committee. The committee chairman, Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, also authored a third NFIP reauthorization bill.

But there's been little public indication of progress toward passing a bill so far in the Senate. A jammed December schedule  with frenzied negotiations over GOP-backed tax cuts and a spending deal needed to avoid a government shutdown  might make it difficult to hammer out a sweeping deal on the program.

Caitlin Berni, vice president of policy and communications for Greater New Orleans Inc., viewed House passage of the bill as a positive sign toward a full reauthorization that'd be kind to Louisiana homeowners.

"Coming out of the House, we always knew we were going to have to get the bill to the least-bad position possible because of the position (Hensarling) has had on the NFIP," Berni said, whose group helped organize a coalition to lobby on flood insurance issues. "Weve got a much friendlier position toward policyholders in the Senate and I think well get a good package."

Earlier drafts of Hensarling's bill would've immediately jacked up rates for homeowners whose properties had flooded more than once in the past while booting others from the program. Hensarling, a longtime critic of the NFIP, has denounced its current structure as fiscally unsustainable.

The proposals sparked concern from many in Louisiana and other flood-prone areas, where property owners depend heavily on the program.

Many in Louisiana pay below-market rates for flood insurance coverage under a provision known as "grandfathering," which bases premiums on a building's flood risk at the time of construction instead of accounting for rising risks since.

Scalise's deal with Hensarling softened a number of the bill's provisions, especially those aimed at multiple-loss properties  buildings that've flooded more than once.

The revised bill passed by the House would strip grandfathered rates after two future claims, with rates then rising 10 percent per year until hitting the current risk-rate. A third claim would see rates ratchet up at 15 percent per year.

Hensarlings original bill would have counted all past NFIP claims  including those filed by prior owners decades ago  against a propertys grandfathered status and hiked rates faster.

Many homes in south Louisiana have already flooded at least once in the past, including tens of thousands of homes in Hurricane Katrina and last year's Baton Rouge-area floods.

But despite the concessions won by Scalise, the deal split Louisiana's congressional delegation. Half the state's six congressmen  Reps. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, and Ralph Abraham, R-Alto  voted against the bill because of its impact on homeowners.

Louisiana Congressional delegation united in skirmishes over National Flood Insurance Program WASHINGTON  After a series of skirmishes over changes to the National Flood Insurance Program, Louisiana's congressional delegation is showin

"This bill pays for the program on the backs of those who have played by the rules without making strong enough reforms to increase participation and mitigate flood risk," Abraham said.

Graves, who also testified at a House hearing against the bill, said the bill's reforms to the flood insurance program would do little to shore up the NFIP's finances but would end up hitting Louisiana homeowners hard.

"I hope the Senate eviscerates this bill," Graves said. "Its awful policy from a financial perspective and a fairness perspective, especially to Louisiana."

Graves and a number of other flood insurance advocates have pushed to expand the program's pool of policyholders as a way of broadening the insurance risk pool and bringing in more premium dollars to pay claims.

The House bill would do the opposite, Graves said, by jacking up rates to unaffordable levels.

Graves also said a comprehensive reform of the program should include far more money for flood-prevention and mitigation work, something the congressman said would end up paying for itself by avoiding future claims.

Including money for levee projects and other flood mitigation work, however, would likely require a much broader effort in Congress because separate committees have authority over the NFIP and agencies like FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

How to handle grandfathered properties has long been a core conundrum for those looking to reform the program. The subsidized, below-risk rates mean premiums for grandfathered properties are unlikely to fully cover the odds of a claim.

The 2012 Biggert-Waters Flood Reform Act had targeted grandfathered rates for elimination with a number of mechanisms designed to hike premiums to reflect a property's actual risk of flooding.

But the jaw-dropping potential premium increases some homeowners began to see  including many in south Louisiana  prompted outrage and Congress largely scrapped the Biggert-Waters reforms before they went into effect.

In a floor speech against the latest reform bill, Richmond said the legislation passed by the House was better than Biggert-Waters  but still not good enough.

"We were talking about paying 20 percent of the value of your home in flood insurance every year," he said. "It was going to cause more families to turn in the keys to their house and just give their homes back to the mortgage company or declare bankruptcy so they can just get by."

Some fiscal conservatives like Hensarling have railed against the NFIP as an unsustainable government handout. A number of environmentalists, meanwhile, have argued that the NFIP's subsidized rates encourage people to build  and rebuild  in wetlands and other high-risk areas.

But while hiking premiums and booting folks out of the program might improve the program's balance sheet going forward, it'd have a potentially devastating impact on homeowners in high-risk areas.

In Louisiana, roughly 500,000 homeowners pay grandfathered, below-risk rates, said Rick Haase, president of the New Orleans-based real estate company Latter & Blum.

Some of those families would find themselves unable to afford to stay in their homes if their flood-insurance premiums rose to risk levels, said Haase, but they'd be in a potential bind when they turned around and tried to sell.

Dramatically higher premiums  or no access to NFIP coverage at all  would significantly decrease a home's value, Haase said. For homeowners with mortgages and little equity, a sudden change to NFIP rates could leave them underwater, owing more to the bank than the home is worth.

"When you talk about the impact on Louisiana property owners, its the equity thats been building up for years that can be destroyed very quickly," said Haase. "Youre talking about destroying significant portions of a persons net worth."

Haase said one of his key concerns about reforms to the NFIP is how quickly grandfathered rates might rise. Rapid hikes, Haase said, would wipe out home values quicker and potentially leave some people trapped, unable to afford the premiums and unable sell their homes for the amount they still owe.

For some coastal communities in Louisiana, it could also spell a slow doom.

"If this isnt handled right, youll see a slow and steady migration out of (a high-risk) community," Haase said. "In the long run, the people who can afford to leave will leave. It's the slow creation of new ghost towns."

For most of Louisiana's lawmakers, eliminating grandfathered rates also goes against a sense of fairness. Most grandfathered homes were built at or above what FEMA considered a safe elevation at the time.

The risk of flooding has risen for many homes in south Louisiana for a variety of factors  coastal erosion, wetlands development, new construction and global warming.

With cash running dry for National Flood Insurance Program, Congress clears billions in debt relief WASHINGTON  The reeling and cash-strapped National Flood Insurance Program, battered by a wave of claims from a spate of 2017 hurricanes and 

Graves, in an interview just before the Thanksgiving break, argued that, because those changes aren't a homeowner's fault, it'd be fundamentally unfair to wipe out their home equity and hit them with much higher premiums.

Doing so, several Louisiana members of Congress have argued, would be like changing the rules in the middle of a game.

"When you have people who played by the rules, bought the home of their dreams, you dont change the rules halfway to say, Hey, we know this was the rule when you bought the house but now its changed and all of a sudden that $500 in insurance you pay a month is now $1,500,'" said Richmond. "Thats not responsible, thats not fair."

Instead, Louisiana lawmakers have pitched ideas for bringing in more policyholders to the program, including stepping up enforcement of rules requiring homeowners in high-risk flood areas with federally backed mortgages to buy coverage.

Kennedy's bill would slash the fees paid to companies who sell and manage policies, while both Louisiana senators want to improve mapping to better reflect flood risk.
If youre like me and believe the safest place in the world for a baby should be in a mothers womb, then Judicial nominee Kyle Duncan is a dream candidate for the bench. Duncan is President Trumps choice to serve on the powerful 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Duncans pro-life credentials are without blemish.

"Kyle Duncan has an impressive record as an appellate attorney, including successful litigation in defense of laws regulating abortion enacted by Louisiana and Texas. Among his areas of special expertise is the free exercise of religion. We strongly support his swift confirmation by the U.S. Senate," said Douglas D. Johnson, senior policy advisor for National Right to Life.

For some bizarre reason, the self-proclaimed pro-life Sen. John Kennedy has not committed to supporting the Duncan nomination. And he wont say why.

Traditionally, when the president forwards the name of a judicial nominee, the home state senator of the pick can block it by refusing to forward what is called a blue slip. Kennedy refused to pledge his support for Duncan and was slow in returning the blue slip. A spokesman for Kennedy said last week that the senator had turned in the blue slip but was noncommittal about whether he would support Duncan.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley opted to break with Senate tradition and schedule a hearing for Duncan anyway; the Kennedy spokeswoman told The Advocate that Kennedy did not want to block the hearing and looks forward to questioning Duncan.

A blue slip policy allowing a single senator to block a nominee from even receiving Committee consideration is a more extreme example of a counter-majoritarian practice, said a memo released earlier this month by Grassleys staff.

As you might expect the left is not happy with Grassleys decision. Grassley brushed aside years of his own statements in support of the blue slip process and buckled to the demands of Senator McConnell to turn the Senate Judiciary Committee into a rubber stamp for Donald Trump, said Marge Baker, the executive vice president for the hard left group, People for the American Way.

Kennedys office would not respond to my question as to why the senator has yet to support the Duncan nomination. If Kennedy is the conservative he often boasts to be, he should have no doubts about the Duncan nomination unless he knows something the rest of us dont.

The lifetime appointment of the 45-year-old Duncan to the 5th Circuit is one of the reasons many of us held our noses and voted for Trump, hoping he would put conservative jurists on the bench. After eight years of President Barack Obama appointing judges willing to ignore the Constitution and legislate from the bench, the election of Trump gave us hope. I would imagine many voted for Kennedy for the same reason. Its all about the judges.

If Kennedy, who is one of the 11 to 9 majority of Republicans sitting on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a no vote, it will kill the Duncan nomination. All nine Democrat members are expected to vote no.

In the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Kennedy will be the deciding vote on Mr. Duncans nomination, so it is imperative that he votes to confirm Mr. Duncan. We cannot afford to give pro-abortion Democrats the gift of defeating one of President Trumps outstanding court nominees, said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.

Kennedy has run for the U.S. Senate three times, failing the first two. In 2004, he ran as a pro-life Democrat, and then in 2008 and 2016 as a Republican. Its no secret its a lot easier getting elected to statewide office in Louisiana as a Republican than a Democrat.

In light of Kennedys attempt to block the nomination of Kyle Duncan its fair to wonder if his conversion to the Republican Party is a calculated move of political opportunism. Kennedy clearly has a propensity for the spotlight and is well known for his clever quips designed to draw media attention.

Is it possible political ambition drove Kennedy to pull a fast one and dupe conservatives into believing he was one of them? I guess well know this Wednesday when the Senate holds a hearing on the Duncan nomination.

Editor's note: This column was changed Nov. 26 to clarify that U.S. Sen. John Kennedy says he supports holding a hearing for Kyle Duncan.

Dan Fagan is a former TV and radio broadcaster who lives in Metairie. Email him at faganshow@gmail.com.
Thanksgiving travelers were out in force this year as 972,000 Arizonans traveled away from home for the holidays, which is a 3 percent increase from last year, according to a study by the Arizona American Automobile Association.

Thanksgiving kicks off the start of a busy holiday season, and more Americans will travel to spend time with friends and family this year, said Michelle Donati, communications manager for AAA Arizona. A strong economy and labor market are generating rising incomes and higher consumer confidence, fueling a strong year for the travel industry, which will continue into the holiday season.

The majority of holiday travelers plan to return home on Sunday, with a majority of them hitting the road instead of getting on a plane.

However, AAA still expects over 66,000 Arizonans to fly to their destination.

The Flagstaff Pulliam Airport is expecting Sunday to be their busiest day, with locals returning from the Thanksgiving holiday.

Historically Sunday has always been a really busy day for us and we expect more of the same, Pulliam Airport Administrator Craig Znetko said.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is also expecting a busy week with over 600,000 people expected to depart from the airport. Most people flying to and from Pulliam will go through Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Flying on Sunday after Thanksgiving can be a hassle, but there are a few ways to make things easier on yourself.

The Flagstaff airport's website states that flyers should have a friend drive them to the airport to avoid the hassle of finding parking on a busy day. The website also suggests that people arrive two hours early to mitigate any time lost during security screenings.

Flagstaff resident Suzie Fusaro decided to avoid holiday traffic by staying home but she did have some advice for drivers who wanted to avoid the hassle of bumper to bumper traffic on Sunday.

I recommend you either leave really early or really late, Fusaro said. Everyone is heading home in the afternoon or the evening. I always leave before 10 a.m. or after 5 p.m. and I never hit bad traffic.

AAA recommends that drivers head home Sunday before 5 p.m. or after 7 p.m. since heavy traffic in metro areas tends to begin in the early evening, according to the companys study.

Flagstaff resident Velena Gudino said she and her husband were avoiding holiday traffic by traveling on Thanksgiving Day and returning home the week after.

We are going to drive to Mexico on Thanksgiving and come back next week, Gudino said. We dont have any of our children coming for Thanksgiving this year so it seemed like a really good travel day.

Arizona Department of Public Safety also wants to remind drivers to check the condition of their vehicle before heading home.

Arizona Department of Transportation is still putting all construction projects on hold on Sunday and still lowering the speed limit to 55 mph on some parts of Interstate 17.
Walking into the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery, it feels like youve wandered into an ancient art showcase in an encyclopedic museum with all sorts of ceramic vessels and animal forms sitting on pedestals or hung on the walls.

But the work in the three gallery spaces on the first floor of the University of Nebraska-Lincolns Richard Hall isnt ancient. Its brand new  copied from the past by graduate students and upper level undergraduates in the School of Art, Art History & Designs ceramics program.

Theyre taking Making History, a class that studied the history of ceramic art by not only researching, but recreating historical ceramic objects. That was likely more work than one would imagine, but looking at the copies of the old pieces is nothing but fun.

By definition, the oldest piece in the show is Venus of Dolni Vestonice. The worlds most ancient ceramic artifact, this small statuette of a nude woman, found in what is now the Czech Republic, is dated 29,000-25,000 B.C.E. (Before Common Era.)

The most recent reproductions are of a pair of 1950s English stoneware vessels that were themselves influenced by ancient art.

In between those, historically, are, to pick a few objects: a Feline Form from 500 B.C.E. Ecuador, a pair of fat Playful Dogs standing on their back legs holding each other from 200 B.C.E. Mexico, a Wei Dynasty Harnessed Buffalo and a Han Dynasty Grainery placed in tombs from China, a sixth century Etruscan Cinerary Urn with moving arms and hand gestures, a 19th century English Minton Majolica Monkey Target and a 1923 teacup and saucer from the U.S.S.R.

On closer examination, its clear that the objects, many of which are terra cotta, arent ancient. But theyre constructed to closely resemble the originals  and thats good enough to make Making History worth a visit.

And, if youre inclined to the educational, the students have researched each of the objects, providing contextual information about the culture, the imagery and the original method and material on labels posted near each piece.

Like most Eisentrager-Howard exhibitions, Making History is just a two-week show, with a closing reception set for 5-7 p.m. Friday. So if you want to see the new old ceramics, youve got five days to do so.

UNL clay, photo sales

While were on the subject of UNL ceramics, the Clay Clubs fall sale and Fine Arts Photo Clubs print sale and raffle each will be Dec. 8-9 in Richards Hall.

The Clay Club Sale will include works of art created by graduate students, undergraduate students, alumni and faculty, representing a broad range of aesthetics, techniques and concepts.

In addition to the sale, there will be a raffle of work donated by students, faculty and select local artists. Tickets for the raffle can be purchased either day.

Proceeds from the sale go to the artists, as well as funding the Clay Club, which brings in visiting artists and sends students to national clay conferences.

The Fine Art Photo Clubs sale and raffle will feature work by both graduate and undergraduate students working in photography. There raffle will include work donated by faculty and graduate students. Proceeds from the sale and raffle will help fund student attendance to the Society for Photographic Education National Conference.

Hours for both sales are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 8 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 9. The pottery sale will take place in room 118. The photo sale will take place in room 121. Cash, checks and credit cards will be accepted at both sales.
With hundreds of patrons filling its building in the lead-up to Christmas, Canberra Bowling Club is bucking the decline faced by many others.

The Forrest club remains alive and kicking, buoyed by a busy diary of bookings and money brought across after members from two other clubs joined it.

President of Canberra Bowling Club, Geoff McKay, with patrons on Sunday. Credit:Jamila Toderas

President Geoff McKay said the club had hosted hundreds of people in pre-Christmas functions so far this season, and more were due to come before the holiday.

In a regular week, about 150 patrons would spend time at the club on its greens, while others use it as a venue for fundraisers fetching up to $40,000 in donations for their causes. End-of-year functions would bring in an additional 50-130 people each event.
Even to a nation-leading maths student, some exam questions don't make sense at first look.

While this year's Australian Mathematics Competition stumped many, a handy technique helped Rowena Stening through it.

Rowena Stening, 17, has been named the top female year 12 student in Australia for an international maths competition. Credit:Jamila Toderas

The 17-year-old, named its top Australian performer among female year 12 students, finds the answers to such conundrums is often within grasp if she takes a new route.

"I try to look at them at a different angle, or I try to break them into different parts," she said.
Bindaree Beef's Chinese government-owned partner in an export deal gone bad has been lashed as "lacking any commercial moral compass" and ordered to pay the Australian company more than $30 million in compensation.

The deal between Bindaree and Chinatex, a Chinese state-owned corporation, was sealed in mid-2015 and was supposed to have seen Bindaree kill 900 head of cattle a week for Chinatex for three years.

Chinatex would then look to sell the product to customers in China.

But a Supreme Court of NSW judgment released on Friday shows the deal barely got moving before it ran into trouble.
It is a symptom of the overall market doing well that we're seeing another crop of "new school" LICs, generally launched with the aim of locking in that Hotel California income for the managers. Enter the sorry CTN story. Disclosure upfront: The Pascoe family super fund has long held CTN and, more embarrassingly, I had recommended it to friends. Back when the company was well managed, it was a convenient enough way of gaining some portfolio diversification with the microcap sector. For several years it has had a policy of paying an annual dividend equal to 6 per cent of the company's net tangible assets. Unfortunately, CTN stopped being well managed. Personnel changes turned the company managing the portfolio, Contango Asset Management (which is also listed on the ASX under the ticker code CGA), into a dud. Attempts to fix the funds management by three of the "old" CTN directors saw them kicked off the board in a coup earlier this year backed by Adelaide stockbroker Taylor Collison and parties largely related to CGA.

And then matters got worse. The effort by the "old" directors to instil some competitive tension with a better-performing fund manager running part of the portfolio was unwound to the apparent benefit of CGA, which itself looked like it was running out of money and not performing. The irony is that despite its miserable performance, CGA was successful in being something of a darling of parts of the financial media. Showing NAOS Enter a relatively young private company, NAOS Asset Management, keen to expand its LIC management business it started five years ago. NAOS floated two "new school" high-conviction LICs and used one of them to build up a 14.6 per cent stake in CGA, making CGA NAOS' biggest single bet and NAOS entities CGA's biggest shareholder  despite NAOS' professed stock selection criterion of avoiding companies that were running out of money. The CGA stake has done no favours for the performance of NAOS' LICs.

Last month, CGA sold the business of managing CTN to NAOS for $12.5 million - $2 million down straight away and the rest over five years. Overnight, NAOS more than doubled the size of its LIC funds management empire. Under the management agreement, CTN can merely say yes or no to the sale of the management rights. CTN shareholders get to vote on that at the AGM on November 28 but, hey presto, the post-coup board, the defenders of CGA, have already welcomed the chairman and managing director/CIO of NAOS - father-and-son team Warwick and Sebastian Evans - onto the CTN board and NAOS' company secretary is now co-company secretary of CTN with a view to the sole title after the AGM. Warwick Evans is a former Macquarie executive. Macquarie pretty much wrote the book on how to charge management fees. Evans senior is perhaps best known as a chairman of what was the Newcastle Stock Exchange which became the NSX with Warwick as CEO until 2011. Sebastian Evans has worked at for 10 years. Not content with NAOS merely taking over the CGA management agreement, the latest incarnation of the CTN board is presenting shareholders with three motions to change the company's name, scrap the existing management agreement and replace it with a much more advantageous one. Advantageous for NAOS, that is.

Instead of CGA's five-year term  a term that was coming up for a performance review in 2019 - NAOS wanted 10 years during which it couldn't be sacked even if it is underperforming, plus another five years during which it can be terminated but only with its fees being paid out. Late switch On Friday, just two working days before the AGM, the ASX showed it wasn't completely asleep by refusing to grant CTN a waiver from the relevant listing rule to allow the 10-year management lockup. Instead, the initial term will be for five years. The agreement proposes reducing the base fee from CGA's 1.25 per cent of the portfolio to 1.15 per cent  but it adds a performance fee of 20 per cent of whatever the portfolio outperforms the Small Ordinaries Accumulation index by. Just avoiding the worst of the dogs at the bottom end of the market should give a semi-competent funds manager outperformance. An investment professional tells me 6 per cent outperformance over time in small caps would be standard, in which case NAOS' fees would be 2.25 per cent.

NAOS also intends to completely change the nature of CTN, ditching the microcaps and turning it into a high-conviction bet on 10 to 15 "smallcap" stocks ranging in size from $100 million to $1 billion and unlisted securities, something a little different from its two other LICs. The company would no longer be the microcap investment vehicle its shareholders had chosen to invest in. But NAOS isn't waiting for the November 28 AGM. An investment report and NTA update from NAOS on November 9 proudly declared the former 6 per cent dividend policy had been dropped, the 83 stocks in the portfolio at the start of October had been slashed to 48 by November 7 and the cash increased from 10 per cent to 42.25 per cent. In my opinion, such behaviour - totally changing the nature of the company without any shareholder approval and treating the AGM resolutions as foregone conclusions - smacks of incredible arrogance. And all this while NAOS principles own just a fraction of a per cent of the target company. 'Trust us'

Because NAOS takes big positions in relatively small companies, it chooses not to disclose its holdings for market sensitivity reasons. That also means there is a huge element of "just trust us" in its pitch. In presentations to CTN shareholders, NAOS also stresses desire to be aligned with LIC shareholders, taking substantial positions in its existing LICs and the intention to do the same in CTN. "Alignment" is one way of looking at it. "Control" is another. A couple of board seats, a stake of about 15 per cent and the inability to be sacked for a decade or so tends to mean an investment manager is very hard to dislodge indeed. In its Sydney presentation to CTN shareholders, NAOS seemed to be justifying its position with reference to the likes of Magellan and Wilson. In my opinion, that's rather like Hyundai claiming: "We make cars. Mercedes and BMW make cars. So we're just like them and can charge as much for our product."
At Newcastle Senior School, educational pathways are created for students with intellectual disability and complex, multiple disabilities which significantly limit access to regular school curriculum.

The school provides education for students in Years 9 to 12 with a program that focuses on preparing them for post-school life. Students' disabilities include autism, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other behaviour, language, physical and intellectual disabilities.

Newcastle Senior School students selling their Chances products at a pop-up shop.

One of those pathways is the CHANCES work skills program, developed by school staff in 2015 to promote learning, independence, skill development and team work. Students hand-make gift products, with each student playing a vital role in the production, design process, packaging and distribution of their products.

Principal Janelle Newman says CHANCES began with six students in 2015; today all 64 of the school's students are participating in the program in some way.
The news last week that Senator Cory Bernardi has taken his vendetta against GetUp! to the Senate chamber should have alarm bells ringing. For an Australian lawyer studying campaign finance regulation in the United States, those bells were deafening.

A motion put to the Senate by Bernardi claimed that GetUp! was "deserving of greater electoral regulation or scrutiny, given its impact upon our political process". The motion failed narrowly on the floor of the chamber  27 to 31  but found support from Coalition senators and One Nation.

What's the problem, you might ask? We want our elected representatives to regulate the impact of third parties on electoral politics, right?

In short, yes and no. Attempts to make the impact of third parties on Australian elections more transparent are a good thing. But when those attempts turn into attacks on some groups and not others, we should stop to consider where we are headed.
It's a tragedy, but one of their making The plight of the refugees on Manus Island is surely a tragedy, but a tragedy of their own making. If they are genuine refugees fleeing war or famine then surely they can be given refuge in several countries nearer to their country of origin, and even within a similar culture. If they see themselves as prisoners then they are in a prison of their own making, as they refuse to relocate to a new centre nearby that had very good facilities. Most of these refugees are of the economic variety and could easily be accommodated within their region. Why not save our criticism for those countries that refuse to accept any refugees. Lance Sterling, Burwood Being humane is unconditional No, Tim Wilson (Letters, 25/11), "as humane outcomes as possible" is not good enough for the refugees of Manus Island. The outcome is either humane or it is not and all we've seen so far is the latter. Bring them here  now.

Margaret Callinan, Balwyn At breaking point Rarely do I paraphrase the film Point Break, but when I hear that police have broken into the Manus Island detention camp demanding the inhabitants leave, I am reminded of Bodhi's great line when trapped between cliffs on a surfboard at Bells Beach: "What am I going to do, paddle to New Zealand?" Dave Quinn, Collingwood Pride to one is shame to another

I sincerely hope that Messrs Turnbull, Dutton, Abbott, Rudd, Shorten, Hanson and our other intrepid "leaders" are as proud of their treatment of refugees in offshore detention as I am ashamed of it. If not, why have they allowed it to happen? Eric Kennelly, Ballarat Central FORUM Julie and Janus Julie Bishop has avoided criticising Myanmar over its treatment of Rohingya refugees, but was very quick on the draw when it came to New Zealand in the dual citizenship crisis. Ethnic cleansing OK, but a conversation between political office staff in both countries worthy of full diplomatic protest. And people wonder why we see politicians as two-faced.

Alan Inchley, Frankston Voice of reason Hugh Mackay got it in one ('More Australians fear nuclear attacks and health epidemics than average: Ipsos', The Age, 25/11). Current and past governments have an interest in maintaining fear among constituents to increase their own powers and implement their own political agendas, particularly concerning law enforcement, immigration, and border force  the monstrous hybrid of the two. Never mind that any Australian is far more likely to be "torn to pieces by a crocodile in north Queensland" or even killed just crossing the street than s/he is to be a victim of a terrorist attack. I am grateful that voices of reason, such as Mackay's, can still be heard, but worry that they are easily drowned out by the noisy and hysterical propaganda of a incumbent government. Anthony Hitchman, St Andrews A black day

If ever there was any doubt that Australia was the 51st state of the US it is smashed by the fact that we have been inundated by Black Friday sales and events on November 24. I thought our embracing of Halloween by the marketers was bad enough, but this is the pits. Glenn Murphy, Hampton Park Housing standards It is not up to the government to force [property] developers to do the right thing when building new homes (Letters, 24/11). It is government's role to set policy and the developers' role to build what the market wants within that policy. Has the government got the policy correct? That is a different subject for a different day, but if Jillian Staton didn't like that house due to its lack of environmental amenity, she should not have bought it.

Jonathan Sanders, Malvern Seize this option The decision of the state government to choose Option A for the North-East Link should be deplored. The primary motivation for the decision should be what is best in the long-term interest for Melbourne. Option C is clearly the best alternative. It may be more expensive, but in the long term will best serve the people of Melbourne. Instead the government has opted for a short-sighted, political solution, channelling more traffic onto the Eastern Freeway and EastLink where the existing tunnels (in themselves shortsighted) already are unable to cope. It will also exacerbate the need for an East West Link so disdainfully and expensively put aside by this government. Where is the long-term vision?

John Isaac, Ivanhoe East Really, it's simple Dean Smith's same-sex marriage bill is applicable for 100 per cent of the population. If two adults want to marry someone of the same sex they can. If they don't want to, they don't have to. Gretel Lamont, Aireys Inlet The royal treatment

Unable to get his wishes through Parliament, King Charles I of England simply suspended Parliament and ruled without. No relevance to modern-day Australia thankfully. Felicity Goldstein, Caulfield South Waste of money When Infrastructure Victoria called the North East Link a "priority road project", it was because its consultants gave the road a highly favourable initial assessment. The report last year by KPMG, Arup and Jacobs estimated the project (including the Eastern Freeway and M80 widening) would cost between $4.8and $7.1 billion. The benefits were stated as $10.1 billion, or $15.3billion including so-called "wider economic benefits". Experts familiar with the modelling that supports these estimated benefits have called it into question. Benefits are based largely on time savings, which real world road projects don't provide because of the new traffic they generate. "Agglomeration benefits" are also largely illusory because on Earth, dense urban centres and private car travel don't mix well.

But none of that matters now that Premier Andrews has announced the budget cost as $16.5billion. Even taking the estimated benefits at face value, the conventional benefit-cost ratio is now 0.6. Not even the mooted "wider benefits" get the ratio up to 1, meaning we're looking at another colossal waste of Victorians' money. I'm sure Infrastructure Victoria would readily acknowledge that when assumptions change, so do the conclusions. Tony Morton, president, Public Transport Users Association Plenty to chance The trouble with a low-ambition NEG ('PM wins nervous states on NEG policy', The Age, 25/11) is the opportunity cost of failing to avail ourselves of the cheapest CO2 abatement possible in the energy sector, leaving expensive heavy lifting on climate to other sectors, and thus to chance.

Rowan White, Fitzroy North It's still prejudice If it is now unacceptable for a business to deny service to a couple born with dark skins regardless of what a white owner's belief might be, why should it be acceptable to deny service to couples born with a sexual orientation that is different from the business owner? There was kicking and screaming in far-right quarters when race discrimination was outlawed, but the aforesaid churches ultimately abandoned theological constructs surrounding race and aligned themselves with the direction in which society had moved. Dressing prejudice up as theologically based conscience was disingenuous in the past and must be similarly regarded today. David Marsden, Glen Iris

Matter of Joyce How about Barnaby Joyce for Prime Minister? It could save the coalition and the country from the continuing embarrassment of Malcolm Turnbull's weak leadership. There is an instructive precedent. In wartime 1941 when the conservative coalition was in disarray, prime minister (Sir Robert) Menzies stood down and was replaced by the Country Party leader (Sir Arthur) Fadden. Three months later Labor led by John Curtin took power in a federal election. In the present turmoil a similar outcome in the Coalition would require Mr Turnbull to step down and for Mr Joyce to put his hand up. And, who knows, maybe a Shorten government. It would be better than the one we've got. Paul Ormonde, Northcote Degrees of freedom So let me get this straight, the religious institutions that conduct state-sanctioned discrimination, through exemptions granted by the government, are now claiming their religious freedoms are being compromised due to same-sex marriage becoming a reality? How ironic. I wonder if being a minority group is finally giving them a sense of what it feels like to receive the sting of judgment.

Perhaps we'll start to see some compassion, where it has lacked for so long? LGBTIQA+ Australians have been awarded a glimmer of optimism, as equality seems at hand with the winds of change. Now, I hope for a speedy passing of the Dean Smith bill so society desists from looking at me as "not worthy", and for heaven's sake stays the hell out of my bedroom. If people are so concerned about anyone's freedoms being taken away, they should be more vocal about what has occurred to Indigenous Australians. George Filev, Tarnagulla Brickbat and bouquet As a recovering Catholic I wish that Tony Abbott would stop ramming his beliefs down our necks. On the other hand congratulations to Gavin Jennings for intelligently nursing his humane assisted dying bill almost to its successful conclusion. Maggie Cross, Kew

How long the suffering? I read every day of the deteriorating situation on Manus Island. These are people who are supposed to be under our protection under UNHCR conventions which we signed. We degrade and dehumanise them in the name of border protection and stopping people smugglers. Many Australians support this wholeheartedly. Many don't and protest. They are confronted by the full force of the law just as it was in the '70s during anti-apartheid and Vietnam War protests. How long can we remain quiet in tacit approval of this treatment of innocent people. When will both sides of government  because Labor is equally complicit in this  find a humane solution that reflects the will of what I think is the majority of the citizens. When will their suffering end so we can again be proud of our country? Paul Brown, Mitcham Log that as a win

It was cheering to read of the possible demise of Regional Forest Agreements ('Court suspends logging', The Age, 24/11). Putting any state's forests into the pork barrel of its state government was never wise nor well-intentioned. In Tasmania it triggered a natural resource looting spree leading to the highest proportional rate of native forest destruction in the developed world, resulting in a billion-dollar cost to the state's treasury over 13 years of misappropriation. As with Adani in Queensland, Tasmanian logging has demonstrated that our state politicians should not be trusted to resist temptation. John Hayward, Weegena, Tas AND ANOTHER THING Politics

Promises of tax relief. Father Christmas has arrived early. Lidio Bertelli, Dallas $40,000 seems to be the going rate for influence with the Coalition. Peter Carlin, Frankston South Best quote from the Queensland election: Malcolm Roberts: "I go on the facts."

Joan Kerr, Geelong The poor performance of One Nation was the highlight of the Queensland election. Tony Delaney, Warrnambool No doubt both NASA and the CSIRO will be pleased that Malcolm Roberts will have more availability for consultancy. Joan Segrave, Healesville

Thank you Queensland for denying the deniers a place in your Parliament to deny reality. Henry Herzog, St Kilda East The question in Canberra this coming quiet week is whether the Fixer can sort out the Leaker. Hugh McCaig, Blackburn We expect two main requirements of our politicians: that they be competent and compassionate. Very few of them are either.

Janet Upcher, Battery Point, Tas Other matters Think how bad the longest heatwave in 150 years would be if climate change was real. Matthew Gilbert, Hampton Park I'm sorry, Neville Clark (Letters, 24/11), which part of the voluntary assisted dying legislation says that you must take advantage of it?
Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan has conceded the future of the giant Adani coal mine is in doubt following the likely re-election of the Queensland Labor government.

The billion-dollar project was a hot button issue in the state campaign with activist group GetUp! running hard on the issue and high-profile protesters dogging candidates at events throughout the month-long campaign.

The issue divided voters, with support for the project in jobs-hungry areas such as Townsville and Mackay but opposition in inner-city suburbs of Brisbane.

Anti-Adani protesters haunted Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk during the first week of the election campaign before she announced Labor would veto a $1 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan the company had applied for to build a train line to connect the mine to the coast.
Cindy Lange-Kubick Columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick has loved writing columns about life in her hometown since 1994. She had hoped to become a people person by now, nonetheless she would love to hear your tales of fascinating neighbors and interesting places. Follow Cindy Lange-Kubick Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

If you ever find yourself in Lausanne, Switzerland, Ernesto Ricou invites you to visit the Museum of Immigration.

There is no admission fee.

You will need to call a volunteer to come open the door.

You will be glad you stopped.

Dear Cindy, my museum is singular, says Ricou, a retired art teacher and father of six. If you can write something about us here in the land of the Pioneers, in the heart of America, that would be great.

Ricou is in Lincoln to welcome his sixth grandchild into the world.

The man with the wave of white hair and a twirlable mustache is passionate about tiny Leonardo, born Nov. 21, and about another baby, the Musee de lImmigration.

The smallest of the many museums in his city. A testament to Ricous passion for peace, love and understanding.

It is a charming place, says his daughter, Andrea Baiguera.

And her father is charming, too.

My dad has always wanted to help people, the new mother says. Everyone was always welcome to our house, all nationalities, people coming from everywhere.

Ricou opened his museum in 2005, collecting artifacts from immigrants  wallets and suitcases and cardboard boxes that carried their possessions from one country to the next.

Inside each vessel are identity cards and postcards, old newspapers and pairs of shoes. Cubbies are lined with books and placards written in many languages. A black-and-white mural lines the walls  an unending line of people on the move from one place to the unknown next.

He calls it the memory place.

Up the stairs is a classroom, where groups of schoolchildren come to learn about the story of immigrants who make up their own country.

We have two missions, he says. To safeguard the memory of the migrants and to increase inter-community dialogue.

Then he says it another way: To continue hand-to-hand this mysterious voyage into the next centuries.

I listen carefully to make sure I understand.

The world is very divided in this moment, he explains. The challenges are so great with humanity yesterday and today and for sure tomorrow.

He wants to change that.

Ricou traveled to New York City more than 30 years ago and participated in a United Nations celebration to recognize the rights of children. He went back a few years later, this time to Brooklyn, to help witness the painting of a mural by children from 11 countries.

He visited Ellis Island, and when he returned home, the idea of the immigration museum percolated.

Years later, he found a small space  322 square feet on two levels  and talked about his vision, gaining supporters inside and outside of the museum community.

We welcome students to come learn about these matters  about migration and human rights.

He keeps learning, too.

Im always studying, taking notes, photographing, listening to people, he says. Im fascinated by this story of immigration in America, this love story, its very important to me.

Switzerland is a tiny country, a confederacy of people with roots in other places with four national languages.

And it experiences the dilemma of many countries today, balancing the needs of citizens with those in need of new homes, Ricou says.

We should welcome them within the rules. We have to work every day with faith.

He teaches immigrants to have faith, too.

To try to love this new country. I know you suffer, but try to learn to love your new neighbors. Look at our poets, look at our writers, look at our way of doing things.

Negotiate, he says. This is the first ingredient to peace.

The Museum of Immigration does not delve into politics.

This is a place to put people together, says its founder. It is a great job that I still have to continue to do. I cannot do otherwise.

Bravo for Ernesto Ricou, international minister of migration.

If you ever find yourself at loose ends in Lausanne, go see his tribute to peace, love and understanding at the smallest museum in Switzerland.
Professor Charles Spence, 48, is a "gastrophysicist", which he describes as someone interested in food, the mind of the diner, and how the science of the senses can be used to enhance tasting experiences. He has collaborated with chef Heston Blumenthal at his three-Michelin-starred British restaurant The Fat Duck for more than a decade.

Let's cut to the chase: why do we eat 15 per cent more food with the television on?

Charles Spence's research suggests that food tastes saltier on a blue plate, and sweeter on a round plate. Credit:Jeff Gilbert/Telegraph UK 2017

How does our brain know when it's time to stop eating? Is it when our stomach is painfully distended? No. Rather, it's based on the number of sensations we've had  smells, sights, flavours  so anything you can do to draw people's attention to taste and texture, to inhale the aroma, to chew more, will lead to them eating less. With TV, all this food goes into you without you noticing the sensations. That's what many restaurants are trying to do with innovation: bring you back, almost make you more mindful of your eating experience.

In 2008 you won the Ig Nobel Prize  a parody of the real Nobels  for your discovery of the "sonic crisp". What the ?
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Sydney's Circular Quay on Sunday afternoon, voicing outrage at the government's treatment of refugees on Manus Island.

More than 350 people called for the federal government to end its offshore detention policy.

Protesters take part in a protest at First Fleet Park, Circular Quay, on Sunday, to show solidarity with the Manus Island detainees. Credit:Anna Kucera

The largely subdued, peaceful, group held a minute's silence for the more than 300 men held on Manus Island.

Pastor Jarrod McKenna, who visited Manus Island last week addressed the crowd with a message from the men in detention.
The payment of public transport trips by using a credit card or mobile phone is expected to be expanded to Sydney's ferry fleet as early as February, following successful trials on services between Manly and Circular Quay.

The likelihood of a quicker-than-expected rollout of electronic payment technology could open the way for the system to be expanded across Sydney's public transport network by the end of next year.

Sydney's ferries will be the test for cashless payments for trips across other public transport networks.

The Manly ferry route has been the testing ground for commuters to use Mastercard credit and debit cards to pay for their journeys to and from Circular Quay since July.

The so-called contactless technology is expected to be rolled out to light rail services after the city's ferries, and then to the much larger rail and bus networks.
Police have found the body of a fisherman whose belongings were discovered beside a far north Queensland river.

A helicopter, water, and land search on Sunday searched for the man who went missing while fishing on the Daintree River at Cape Tribulation on Saturday afternoon.

A Queensland Police spokeswoman said the death was not suspicious and looked to be a medical issue.

AAP
History is repeating itself in Victoria as angry home owners vowed to join forces with other protest groups and make the North East Link an election issue for the state government.

Hundreds of people gathered on Sunday at Koonung Creek Reserve in Balwyn North, in the city's north-east, to protest the chosen route for the planned road project, which will connect the end of the ring road in Greensborough to the Eastern Freeway.

Residents held up placards that said "Save Our Homes" and "No More Lies" and heard speeches from local councillors and Greens upper house MP Samantha Dunn.

Liberal MP Tim Smith also joined protesters, saying a "sham consultation" over the chosen route had let down local residents.
A man remains in hospital after being injured in a lightning strike that killed his girlfriend in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs.

Workmates have rallied around Ben Hollow, who was struck by lightning on Sunset Drive in Chirnside Park just before 9pm on Friday.

The strike killed his girlfriend, Lauren Brownlee.

The couple, both aged in their 20s, worked at Stockdale and Leggo's Croydon office, Ms Brownlee as an office manager and Mr Hollow in sales and marketing.
The woman sitting across the table at the cafe doesn't hesitate when she's asked if she's out of danger.

"Do you think he could kill you?"

This is when she pauses. The noise of the cafe is drowned out. Her hands squeeze the coffee cup in front of her.

"I used to run. I used to exercise. I've only just started walking again in the last couple of weeks. I would have dreams he would run me over. He wouldn't premeditate something. But if he saw me and he was in a rage, he would put the foot on the accelerator and run me over."

There are periods of silence from him now, but this week she feels like she's on the verge of another one of his barrages. Though the difference now is she has a circle of support around her; her friends, staff at Women's Health West and two police officers from a family violence unit.

That support is largely due to the extra resources recommended by Victoria's world-first Royal Commission into Family Violence. The commission also recommended radical changes to the system to help women like Hannah access those resources more quickly and directly, including a new tool for frontline police to assess risks so victims don't slip dangerously through the net.
When a group of small-business owners in College View got together this year, the result wasn't competition, but collaboration.

For Small Business Saturday, 13 College View shops collaborated for the first time in an effort to make shopping in the neighborhood a collective experience.

"When we work together, it offers inspiration and adds momentum to our growing neighborhood," said Megan Hasselbalch, owner of Paper Kite, a boutique at 48th Street and Prescott Avenue that sells baby clothes, women's accessories, and paper and home goods.

Shoppers were able to get a punch card from any of the 13 stores, and it was punched at each store they visited. A completed punch card could be turned into Goldenrod Pastries for raffle prizes worth more than $400.

"We just thought it would be a good way to bring more eyes to the neighborhood," Hasselbalch said.

One challenge of owning a small business, Hasselbalch said, is the size in comparison to big retail stores.

A national shopping holiday following Black Friday, Small Business Saturday is meant to encourage shoppers to shop within their own community, as opposed to big-box retail and e-commerce stores.

In College View, participating businesses offered deals on everything from furniture and fashion to pastries and beauty products.

"It's great, because you can grab a coffee or a slice of cake, then go one store over and buy a new dress or some shoes," said Beth Krause, who was working at Pattino, a shoe boutique owned by her daughter, Jori McCarville. "It's the best day of the year."

While the punch card idea was new this year, small businesses looking out for each other isn't new.

"People come to one store but might be referred to another if the owner thinks you would enjoy it," said Meghan Ehrke, owner of Select Style, a women's clothing store, since 2014. "I try to return the favor too, because that's how we all can thrive."

Ehrke said she was drawn to the College View neighborhood for its "family atmosphere."

Her store worked with United Way of Lincoln to donate 10 percent of proceeds from Small Business Saturday to the organization.

"When I got the call, I thought 'Why wouldn't I help?'" she said. "Shopping small is more than just buying products, it's investing into your community, so it's important for me to give back to it, too."

Social media played its part, with #SmallBusinessSaturday used by College View shops online.

"About half of the people who have come in say they saw it on Instagram," said Mary Barry-Magsamen, Hasselbalch's mother who was working at Paper Kite.

Hasselbalch said she hopes the collaborative effort for Small Business Saturday will continue in years to come.

"It really helps when we band together like this. You can really see the difference," she said.
Police are investigating the brutal stabbing of an inmate at Barwon Prison on Sunday afternoon.

Emergency services responded to reports at about 1pm that a 41-year-old man had been repeatedly stabbed in the upper body.

Police are investigating a stabbing at Barwon Prison.

A prison source said the inmate had been stabbed with an eight-centimetre steel spike.

It's the second time the inmate has been attacked in recent history.
Wilderness Society WA state director Jenita Enevoldsen says the state government needs to "step-up" by turning the Helena Aurora Range into a national park.

Speaking at a launch event in Hyde Park, Ms Enevoldsen said Helena Aurora Range, almost 500 kilometres north-east of Perth, was a refuge for endangered plants and animals and needed to become a "Class A" National Park.

The state government is being urged to protect the Helena and Aurora Range from mining. Credit:Photographer: Rob Neave

"In the last few months we've seen a groundswell of community support for this ancient biodiversity hotspot - with more than 10,000 community members calling on the WA environment minister to halt mining and turn the Helena Aurora Range into a National Park, for future generations to enjoy," she said.

"Today we are launching our proposal to protect the Helena Aurora Range. It's a refuge for both threatened flora and fauna including two declared rare endemic flowering plants and species found nowhere else on earth.
Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly says the government will double the funding for its world-first shark deterrent device subsidy.

The subsidy program began in May last year and has been inundated with 977 rebate claims in the first six months.

Since 2000 there have been 15 fatal shark attacks in WA.

Speaking at the Perth Diving Academy in Hillarys on Sunday, Mr Kelly said the subsidy had been embraced by the WA community.

"The demand we have seen since the world-first subsidy came into place in late May, proves it is popular with the community," Mr Kelly said.
London: Any committed couple well into their 30s will be all too familiar with the knowing glances and thinly veiled interrogations about their future.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle endured pressure on a national scale as bookies inspired rumours about their proposal, as well as their wedding date and venue.

Prince Harry and his girlfriend Meghan Markle attend a wheelchair tennis event at the Invictus Games in Toronto, in September Credit:AP

The Prince and Ms Markle, his American girlfriend, who has arrived in London this week, are heavily tipped to become engaged "imminently", with social media users on tenterhooks after a series of false rumours about timings.

Bookmakers claim to have received a flurry of bets that give weight to the suggestion that a wedding is all but certain next year, with odds in favour of a St Paul's ceremony.
From left: Colin Stretch, general counsel of Facebook; Sean Edgett, acting general counsel of Twitter; and Kent Walker, senior vice-president and general counsel of Google, testify at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on November 1. Credit:New York Times Senate and House staff members, who knew of DiResta's expertise through her public reports and her previous work advising the Obama administration on disinformation campaigns, had reached out to her and others to help them prepare for the hearings. Rachel Cohen, a spokeswoman for Democrat Virginia senator Mark Warner, said in a statement that researchers like DiResta had shown real insight into the platforms, "in many cases, despite efforts by some of the platforms to undermine their research". Warner is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. A 'like' sign near the entrance to offices for Facebook in Menlo Park, California. Credit:New York Times One crucial line of the questioning  on how much influence Russian-bought advertisements and content had on users  was the result of work by DiResta and others with a Facebook-owned tool. "Facebook has the tools to monitor how far this content is spreading," DiResta said. "The numbers they were originally providing were trying to minimise it."

Indeed, at the congressional hearings, the tech companies admitted that the problem was far larger than they had originally said. Last year, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, said it was a "crazy idea" that misinformation on Facebook influenced the election. Say what?: The Kremlin has denied any role in the spread of fake news through US social media, or the use of online advertising to influence the 2016 US presidential election. Credit:AP But the company acknowledged to Congress that more than 150 million users of its main site and a subsidiary, Instagram, potentially saw inflammatory political ads bought by a Kremlin-linked company, the Internet Research Agency. DiResta contended that is still just the tip of the iceberg. Minimising the scope of the problem was "a naive form of damage control", she said. "This isn't about punishing Facebook or Twitter. This is us saying, this is important and we can do better." Fabricated anti-immigrant narratives have been pushed on social media in the US and Germany, with rape a particular theme in the latter country. Credit:AP

In response, Facebook said it had begun organising academic discussions on disinformation. "We regularly engage with dozens of sociologists, political scientists, data scientists and communications scholars, and we both read and incorporate their findings into our work," said Jay Nancarrow, a Facebook spokesman. "We value the work of researchers, and we are going to continue to work with them closely." Tim Wu, professor at Columbia Law School and author of The Attention Merchants: 'As a nonprofit or public benefit corporation, Facebook could be a much better institution.' Credit:New York Times A graduate of Stony Brook University in New York, DiResta wrote her college thesis on propaganda in the 2004 Russian elections. She then spent seven years on Wall Street as a trader, watching the slow introduction of automation into the market. She recalled the initial fear of over-reliance on algorithms, as there were "bad actors who could come in and manipulate the system into making bad trades". "I look at that now and I see a lot of parallels to today, especially for the need for nuance in technological transformations," DiResta said. "Just like technology is never leaving Wall Street, social media companies are not leaving our society."

DiResta moved to San Francisco in 2011 for a job with the O'Reilly Alpha Tech Venture Capital firm. But it was not until the birth of her first child, a few years later, that DiResta started to examine the dark side of social media. "When my son was born, I began looking into vaccines. I found myself wondering about the clustering effects where the anti-vaccine movement was concentrated," DiResta recalled. "I was thinking, 'What on Earth is going on here? Why is this movement gaining so much momentum here?'" She started tracking posts made by anti-vaccine accounts on Facebook and mapping the data. What she discovered, she said, was that Facebook's platform was tailor-made for a small group of vocal people to amplify their voices, especially if their views veered toward the conspiratorial. "It was this great case study in peer-to-peer misinformation," DiResta said. Through one account she created to monitor anti-vaccine groups on Facebook, she quickly realised she was being pushed toward other anti-vaccine accounts, creating an echo chamber in which it appeared that viewpoints like "vaccines cause autism" were the majority. Soon, her Facebook account began promoting content to her on a range of other conspiratorial ideas, ranging from people who claim the Earth is flat to those who believe that "chem trails", or trails left in the sky by planes, were spraying chemical agents on an unsuspecting public.

"So by Facebook suggesting all these accounts, they were essentially creating this vortex in which conspiratorial ideas can just breed and multiply," DiResta said. Her published findings on the anti-vaccine movement brought her to the attention of the Obama administration, which reached out to her in 2015, when officials were examining radical Islamist groups' use of online disinformation campaigns. She recalled a meeting with various tech companies at the White House in February 2016 where chief executives, policy leaders and administration officials were told that US-made social media platforms were key to the dissemination of propaganda by Islamic State. It was during that time that she first met Jonathan Morgan, a fellow social media disinformation researcher who had published papers on how the IS spreads its propaganda online. "We kept saying this was not a one-off. This was a toolbox anyone can use," DiResta said. "We told the tech companies that they had created a mass way to reach Americans."
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...
It has been a little more than a year since Aussie investors rushed to jump into the next big thing following the approval of the Narcotic Drugs Regulation 2016. The big thing was cannabis, or marijuana is it is more commonly known.

Humans have long been cultivating cannabis, marijuana, and hemp  all members of the plant species, Cannabis Sativa. In the late 19th century, marijuana was used in medicinal preparations and sold in pharmacies. All that changed in the early 20th century, as evidenced by the cult classic American film, Reefer Madness.

The cultural pendulum is swinging back as medical uses for marijuana are increasing around the world as is its recreational use. Canada appears to be on the verge of becoming the first country in the Group of Seven to legalise recreational use of marijuana. Several states in the US have legalised the drug with speculation more will follow.

With visions of ten-baggers nestled in their heads, investors stampeded into anything with even the remotest connection to marijuana, with little regard for product, promotion, or financing. By March 2017 the Sydney Morning Herald featured an article entitled Medical Cannabis Stocks are All the Rage, but Its Still a Bubble, sounding the warning bells, which most investors gleefully ignored as pot stocks continued to rise. However, within a month, share prices across the board started to falter.

By September this year stock after stock fell dramatically from former highs. But just recently, investors are returning to some of these companies with a vengeance. As evidence, consider the share price movements of two of the hottest ASX pot stocks right now  AusCann Group Holdings (AC8) and Creso Pharma (CPH).



In the early days of the mad rush to marijuana stocks, two stocks stood out as direct evidence investors were piling into stocks with any connection to the marijuana sector.

The first is Stem Cell United (SCU), a company using stem cell technology on plant cells to replicate natural plants used medicinally, largely in Chinese medicine. The company announce the addition of a strategic advisor to consider the potential application of the plant technology with medical marijuana. The stock skyrocketed but has returned to earth, as some momentum traders took their money and ran while others may have finally gotten around to visiting the Stem Cell website where not a single mention of the marijuana potential can be found.

The second is a junior bauxite and gold miner that has yet to generate a single dime in revenue, Queensland Bauxite (QBL). In March the company took majority ownership of privately owned Medical Cannabis Limited. That companys claim to fame is a growing license. While investors are fleeing Stem Cell, they are hanging on to Queensland Bauxite.



In the early days of marijuana madness, many investors seemed to ignore basic investing principles, such as: What is the market the company intends to serve  marijuana treatments for chronic pain or cosmetic and other health related uses? Will the company cultivate its own cannabis or rely on others? How will the company distribute its products, once available? Is the companys business model solid enough to attract reputable partnerships? Is the company accumulating debt at levels threatening future development?

At least one of those issues  major partners  got a game-changing boost on 31 October, when the third largest beer, wine, and spirits manufacturer and distributor in the US  Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ)  took a 9.9% stake in Canadas Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX: WEED) at a cost of C$245 million.

Constellations CEO is anticipating the US will legalise marijuana nationwide and plans to work with Canopy to develop and market marijuana infused beverages. For investors looking for confirmation of the validity of the sector, this was it. A global leader in a seemingly unrelated industry sees added profit potential in marijuana.

There are best of breed pot stocks in addition to Auscann showing real progress on other fundamental issues like product development and marketing and distribution. Three of the best as of this moment are included in the table. Their progress suggests the best of breed are not bubbles at all; they are real.



Note that all three companies have low or no debt and cash on hand that appears adequate. The Current Ratio is a rough measure of a companys ability to meet its financial obligations and all three appear on solid ground here as well.

Cann Group (CAN) and AusCann Group Holdings (AC8) both listed on the ASX in 2017, with CAN being the most recent, coming on in May. Creso Pharma (CPH) listed in October of 2016.

All three of these companies have attracted partner interest from businesses in related fields. The significance of the Constellation investment that drove stock prices up was interest from a company interested in developing new uses for marijuana.

Cann Group has the distinction of being the first company in Australia to get both research and cultivation licenses. Cann Group has been granted two breeding and cultivation research permits for programs in development with the CSIRO.

In addition, Canadas Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSXV: ACB) took a 19.9% stake in Cann Group during its Initial Public Offering (IPO). Aurora Cannabis is a producer and distributor of medical marijuana.

Cann group could be considered a high-tech marijuana stock in that the companys business model extends beyond cultivation into plant genetics and breeding. Cann will operate as a supplier of medicinal cannabis, first in Australia and then internationally.

The latest positive milestone for the company was announced on 27 October with the news the Office of Drug Control (ODC) of the Australian Governments Department of Health awarded the company a licence to import and/or export both cannabis genetics and medicinal cannabis products.

In addition to its impressive Canadian connections, Auscann Group Holdings (AC8) has a joint venture partnership with Daya Cann, the only licenced medical marijuana producer in Chile. Auscann received its Australian licence to manufacture medical marijuana products back in August.

The share price got a big boost from positive news from its joint partner, Daya Cann. The government of Chile awards cultivation licences on a yearly basis, and Daya Cann just extended its streak of four successive years as Chiles only medical marijuana producer with another extension.

Auscanns business model extends beyond cultivation to include medical marijuana products for the treatment of neuropathic and chronic pain.

Creso Pharma (CPH) is unique amongst the many ASX pot stocks in that the company is not only developing marijuana based treatments for a variety of human conditions  anxiety, epilepsy, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis  but also targets animal health. In addition, the company is developing hemp-based nutraceutical treatments. Creso already has two product lines in place  the cannaQIX line of human health products and the anibidiol line of animal health products. The company has multiple development and distribution agreements in place, beginning with Swiss based Cannapharm and later with another Swiss company, Domaco, a leading European producer of innovative products for global pharmaceutical and food companies. The agreements call for the development and commercialisation of both human and animal nutraceutical products.

The latest news propelling the share price came on 20 November with the announcement Creso was expanding into China. The company has reached a strategic partnership and commercial distribution agreement with Hong Kong listed Zhejiang Kingdom Creative, a major hemp producer. The agreement calls for Zhejiang Kingdom to work with Creso to introduce its human and animal health products into China. Creso further announced the opening of four sales and marketing offices in China to support a local distribution network.

Not all ASX pot stocks have laid the foundation for revenue generation and ultimately profitability. Even the best of breed remain speculative investments.

>> BACK TO THE NEWSLETTER: Click here to read other articles from this weeks newsletter
With a data-light week, and the end of 2017 looming, this is a good time to touch on five issues to watch out for in 2018.

1. Trump loses patience with NAFTA

US President Donald Trump has made clear his contempt for a variety of international agreements to which the US is a signatory. The North American Free Trade Agreement is certainly one of them. 2018 could be the time when Trump engineers either a renegotiation of NAFTA, or a US exit from it.

Right now, the administration is trying to extract concessions from China and Mexico on the deal, and has set a March 2018 deadline for an agreement.

The three economies have become heavily integrated since NAFTA began, and its almost hard to imagine what the US economy would look like without, for example, cheap goods and agricultural produce from Mexico.

2. We find out Australia had a housing bubble, because it bursts

Is there a bubble in the Australian housing market? I have consistently said that I dont know, and I wouldnt know how to prove it even if there was. But there are some troubling markers, including investment bank UBSs report warning about the potentially large number of so-called liar loans.

Ill add one more marker that I havent heard discussed before. A respected mortgage industry insider said the data in the UBS report doesnt make sense, and that mortgage brokers arent encouraging people to falsify loan applications. But the same expert said any instances of bad behaviour are isolated, that statistics arent facts, and he rejected the idea that incentive payments to brokers encourage them to push bigger loans to borrowers. Basically, believe me!

2018 should give us a pretty good read on whether there will be a slow deflation of Sydney and Melbourne property prices (at least in real terms), or whether there will be an abrupt reduction in prices, a series of fire sales, and trouble for the banks. I think the balance of evidence now suggests the latter.

3. Theres a take back of the Brexit vote

The UK will continue to negotiate its exit from the European Union, and 2018 will be both important and consequential. There is a very specific timeline for the UKs exit  11pm GMT, Friday March 29, 2019 to be exact.

The four big issues are: (i) what the UK owes the EU financially, (ii) the Northern Ireland border, (iii) what happens to UK citizens living in the EU, and EU citizens living in the UK, and (iv) the biggest of all  trade.

Theresa May  when not defending inappropriate behaviour from her male colleagues, or falling for sophomoric pranks when speaking in public  is sticking to her hard Brexit line. 2018 will show whether this is even vaguely possible. I strongly suspect not  and there are a whole host of interesting things that could happen.

One, May could easily lose the prime ministership. Two, there could end up being another vote to take back the Brexit vote. If you think thats crazy then listen to Tony Blair discussing how it could happen.

All of this could cause major upheaval in financial markets. London remains a fundamentally important international capital market.

4. US financial regulation softens

Janet Yellens departure as US Federal Reserve Chair in February, and her replacement by Jay Powell, is unlikely to materially alter US monetary policy. Expect gradual rate rises throughout 2018.

What could differ  and not in a good way  is the Feds stance on financial regulation. Powell is thought to be more hostile to Dodd-Frank (as the regulatory response to the Great Recession is known) than Yellen. 2018 will be revealing in this regard, because the Trump White House is known to despise those regulations and there could be a concerted effort to remove them using whatever means available.

This would be dangerous and foolish, and lay the groundwork for the next financial crisis.

5. The European experiment fails

With a wave of populist sentiment across Europe, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel having a hard time forming a coalition, there is the slim but scary prospect of the EU essentially disintegrating. This could be the result of a sovereign default by a major country like Italy or Spain, that is too big to bail out. Or it could come from a German government that is no longer willing to support the European Central Bank the way it has to date.

It could well be that none of the worrying scenarios outlined above actually occur. But any number of implicit and explicit deadlines make 2018 look like a more eventful year than most.

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Originally published by The Conversation

Author: Richard Holden. Professor of Economics and PLuS Alliance Fellow, UNSW
Hamish Douglass, Lead Portfolio Manager for Global, on why technological advancements might disrupt the two premises on which passive investing is based.

There appears to be an accelerating trend towards low-cost index or passive investing.

The father of low-cost index investing, Jack Bogle, deserves the investment equivalent of a sainthood as he has commoditised buying the market index at a very low cost. Bogle is a hero of mine for the service he has done for society by lowering the cost of accessing the market index to negligible levels. I have named the office adjacent to my desk (open plan) the Bogle room in honor of Jack. It serves to remind me that we are here to serve our clients and, as active managers, we must do something fundamentally different, rather than mimic or closely follow the market index.

It is important for investors to understand what they are buying when they invest in an index fund. They are buying all the constituent companies in the index. If, for example, investors buy an S&P 500 Index fund, they are gaining an exposure to 500 of the largest US companies, which represent about 80% of the market capitalisation of all companies listed in the US. Over time, the S&P 500 Index, on average, will produce a return approximately equal to the underlying earnings growth of all companies in the index, plus the dividends paid by all companies in the index, less the negative return of companies that fail, less the fees charged by the index provider. To earn reliable absolute returns from tracking a market index, the following factors must hold:

 Over the long term, the long-term price/earnings multiple remains fairly constant for the vast majority of companies in the index; and

 The failure rate of companies in the index remains fairly static.

Historically, these premises have held for the major market indices and investors have achieved satisfactory returns from index investing.

In our opinion, there is a material risk that technological advances and business-model disruptions over the next 10 to 20 years will reduce the value of many companies in the major market indices. (This will be driven by lower future earnings and lower price-earnings multiples.)

We believe a meaningful proportion of companies will cease to exist over the next 20 years as the inherent failure rate of businesses increases. More obvious examples of businesses that face possible extinction over the next 20 years include car manufacturers/automotive suppliers, oil and gas companies, coal miners, many retailers, media/cable companies and shipping companies.

Additionally, a large proportion of businesses could have their business models fundamentally disrupted over the next 10 to 20 years. In our view, many of the large consumer brand companies could be vulnerable.

In thinking about the possible impact of business model disruption on the valuation of businesses, I often think about the long-term prospects of a consumer stalwart like Procter & Gamble (P&G).

P&G is the worlds leading household products company. Its portfolio of consumer brands appears formidable because its brands include Tide, Fairy, Dawn, Gillette, Pampers, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Tampax, Always, Crest, Oral B, Vicks, Old Spice, Olay, Bounty and Charmin. A fundamental reason for the strength of P&Gs economic moat has been the power of the brand-based business model, which combines traditional advertising with conventional retailing.

As the worlds largest advertiser, P&G has the largest share of shoppers minds. Owning the number one or two brands in core categories gives P&G the preeminent shelf space with traditional retailers such as Walmart and Tesco. This business model has resulted in a virtuous circle for brand owners such as P&G. We believe that new advertising and distribution models driven by businesses such as Facebook, Google, YouTube, Amazon and Chinas Alibaba are slowly breaking apart the business models of some of the dominant consumer brands. Facebook, Google and YouTube are eroding the barriers to entry in advertising, and emerging brands can quickly gain enormous exposure. More importantly, the large consumer platform businesses such as Amazon and Alibaba are likely to seek to disintermediate consumer brands. We believe that for many of P&G brands (like cleaning agents Tide, Fairy, Dawn, and for products like paper towels (Bounty) and toilet paper (Charmin)), it will be relatively easy for consumer platforms to disintermediate these products over time and replace them with, say, Amazon- branded products. Importantly, over time many of these products are less likely to be purchased in traditional retail outlets but rather be restocked automatically via a platform. These platforms will be integrated with the Internet of Things (connected devices like washing machines) and powered by voice-operated digital assistants such as Amazons Alexa. We can see a future where regular household items are automatically replenished by services such as the Fulfillment by Amazon program. It is not far-fetched for the following interaction to occur in the near future:

Alexa digital assistant: Good morning, Hamish. I am going to place the order for the weekly shop today.

Hamish: Oh, good. What are you ordering?

Alexa: I will order regular items that are running low. If you dont mind, I have a few ideas that should save you $20 this week and hundreds of dollars per year. I notice that you have regularly ordered Tide washing detergent, Fairy dishwashing tablets and Charmin toilet paper. I would like you to try some great Amazon products to replace these brands.

Hamish: I am not sure I want to do this. I have been using these brands for years.

Alexa: Look Hamish, I dont want to offend you but you have been overpaying for these products as you have been paying for all the advertising on these brands. I can assure you the Amazon product quality is exceptional. If you are not 100% happy, please return any of these products at any time and I will provide a full refund.

Hamish: I am a little unsure but will give these products a go.

Alexa: Good to hear, Hamish. I know you wont look back. You are on your way to saving hundreds of dollars per year with these few changes. I would hate to see a person with such a strong Scottish name not taking advantage of substantial savings. You had better run as you have a meeting at work in 30 minutes.

Hamish: Oh, I am running late. Please order me an Uber.

Alexa: Done. Uber will be here in five minutes. Have a great day.

I believe the preceding dialogue will prove realistic enough and shows the power of platforms such as Amazon to disintermediate major consumer brands in the future. Once a product has been switched for an Amazon brand, it is unlikely that you will be shown the branded good again.

Other product categories such as hair, skin care, razors and toothpaste, while harder to displace with an Amazon brand, are likely to become more competitive as the platform companies reduce the barriers to entry for newcomers.

If P&Gs brands are disintermediated over time, it is likely that two investment outcomes will occur; P&Gs earnings will decline as volumes and margins recede and investors will reassess the long- term price-earnings multiple that they are prepared to pay for P&G. P&Gs price-earnings multiple has averaged 20 times over the past 20 years. It is not unrealistic that this multiple could fall materially in the future as its business model and its formidable portfolio of brands get disrupted. We refer to this as the terminal value risk. The investment problem is that it is impossible to know when the market will reassess the long-term prospects of businesses like P&G and the price-earnings multiple that the market will apply in the future. Our caution is that a reassessment could occur rapidly and brutally, and well before P&Gs brands are meaningfully disrupted.

I believe that Friday 16 June 2017 is likely to be a historic Black Friday for many retailers and possibly also manufacturers of branded household and food products. This is the day that Amazon announced that it intended to acquire the US fresh foods retailer, Whole Foods, for about US$14 billion. In our view, this is central to Amazons strategy to be the fulfilment company for the regular weekly shopping needs for the majority of US households. This role is currently undertaken by the grocery chains, with online retailers having a minimal presence. To break into the weekly shopping habits of consumers, it appears that Amazon has concluded it needs a compelling fresh offering and a well-positioned network of stores. It will need to transform Whole Foods from an upmarket and expensive offering into a compelling fresh offering at great prices.

Amazon could then use the network of 460 stores to fulfill the fresh needs of Amazon customers in store and leverage the store network as collection points for regular shopping items. It is plausible, and even likely, that Amazon could loss-lead on the fresh offering to make it compelling for customers to do their weekly shop with Amazon. The integration of Amazons fulfilment centres, Amazon Prime offering, data analytics, technology and now a physical network of stores with a compelling fresh offering potentially puts Amazon at the centre of US shopping habits. The pace and scale of disruption is accelerating.

In our view, looking in the rear vision mirror will tell you little about which businesses will do well in the future. It is more important than ever to look out the windshield and think about how technological changes could alter business models in the future.

Picking the technology winners

An important lesson is that picking winners from technological disruption may be less obvious than it appears. Take the example of Uber, the worlds leading car-hailing app. Uber is reportedly one of the most valuable start-up companies, having a private market value above US$60 billion. Uber has apparently attracted some of the worlds most renowned investors to fund its business. I find this perplexing because the Uber business model is risky and has a high probability of failure. Its business reportedly uses a lot of cash, thereby requiring cash injections, and the funding model to attract these injections requires an ever-increasing valuation to encourage the next investor to provide cash on the expectation that the value at the next funding round will increase. Without access to more funding, the business may not survive.

Ubers business model is a classic network business that requires a large local pool of owner-drivers and a larger number of users. Uber is spending billions of dollars per year in building its network of owner-drivers. The risk with the Uber business model is the likely emergence of autonomous driving. If autonomous driving becomes a reality, one side of Ubers network will collapse. A network of owner-drivers is a high-cost solution compared with a fleet of autonomous vehicles. We would also argue that Ubers huge number of users could be replicated rapidly by another company that had a vast fleet of autonomous vehicles. To prosper in an autonomous driving world, Uber needs two things; access to exceptionally safe autonomous-driving software; and access to a lot of capital to roll out a vast fleet of autonomous cars. We question whether Uber has either of these.

We assess that there are other companies that have materially stronger competitive advantages in autonomous driving. A critical test for autonomous-driving software is how far an autonomous vehicle can travel before the human safety driver in the vehicle has to take control to avoid an accident  in what is known as a disengagement. Recent data indicates that Waymo (Alphabets autonomous driving unit) has driven over 600,000 miles in California with an average disengagement rate of slightly over 5,000 miles. In March this year, Ubers autonomous vehicles were able to drive just 0.8 miles before a safety driver needed to assume control for any reason. In California, Tesla is averaging around three miles per disengagement, Mercedes-Benz two miles, BMW 638 miles and Ford 196 miles. These results suggest Uber has the least advanced autonomous-driving technology among the major players. We believe that it is likely that only a few autonomous-driving operating systems will prevail in the longer term and the winners are likely to have the best safety records. Waymo appears to have a commanding lead and Uber appears to be a laggard.

An investment in Uber may be a bet that autonomous vehicles will not be adopted. Given the quantum of investment and advances in autonomous-driving technology, this appears unlikely.

By Magellean Group

Author: Hamish Douglass. CEO, CIO and Lead Portfolio Manager

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Important Information: This material has been prepared for general information purposes and must not be construed as investment advice. This material does not constitute an offer or inducement to engage in an investment activity nor does it form part of any offer or invitation to purchase, sell or subscribe for in interests in any type of investment product or service. This material does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs. You should read and consider any relevant offer documentation applicable to any investment product or service and consider obtaining professional investment advice tailored to your specific circumstances before making any investment decision. This material and the information contained within it may not be reproduced or disclosed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Magellan Asset Management Limited. Any trademarks, logos, and service marks contained herein may be the registered and unregistered trademarks of their respective owners. Nothing contained herein should be construed as granting by implication, or otherwise, any licence or right to use any trademark displayed without the written permission of the owner. No part of this material may be reproduced or disclosed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Magellan Asset Management Limited.
People's age, race, politics and religion influence opinions about the death penalty in this country. But it may not have the effect you expect.

It's complicated how those factors work, both over time and with outside influences, to shape views, according to a study published this month by two University of Nebraska professors  a criminologist and a sociologist.

Age matters, but it's not as simple as the older you get the more you support capital punishment. People in middle age are the most likely to support a death sentence, but that support generally peaks at age 50 or 55, then begins to trend downward.

Criminologist Amy Anderson and sociologist Philip Schwadel found being in a particular generation doesn't matter, but age and the time period matter a lot. Add to that the effects of political ideology, religious affiliation, gender and race.

The two professors, along with University of Arkansas criminal justice professor Robert Lytle, used data from four decades of the General Social Survey to find what's driving support and opposition to the death penalty.

Since 1976, when the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a ban on executions, approval of people throughout the country has remained greater than 55 percent. But it has dropped from a high of 80 percent in 1995 to 55 percent in 2017.

Last year, after a high-profile campaign, 61 percent of Nebraskans voted to reject the Legislature's repeal of the death penalty. Only in Lancaster County did a greater number of people vote to retain the Legislature's decision.

The 75 percent of voters that supported the death penalty in Madison County, where three bank robbers killed five people in 2002, was one of the strongest areas of rejection of the Legislature's vote to repeal.

One of the more interesting findings of their recent study, Anderson said in an interview, was the effect on opinion of the violent crime rate. It's one of the largest predictors of why death penalty support changes over time.

Generally, the murder rate and the victimization rate don't affect support, but more the uniform crime reports compiled from law enforcement data, in which numbers can be driven by enforcement of crime or media coverage.

The actual crime rate may not change much, but it seems like it is from those enforcement numbers or heightened coverage, Anderson said.

In Nebraska, reported crime rose 2 percent from 2015 to 2016, but decreased by 3.4 percent in Lincoln, according to the Nebraska Crime Commission.

Murder and manslaughter decreased 21.5 percent, and robbery went down 5.7 percent. But reported cases of forcible rape increased throughout Nebraska.

After 2001, the U.S. crime rate started tracking downward, and then death penalty opinions for specific groups such as women, nonwhites, Democrats and independents begin trending down, Anderson said. But for groups of whites, Republicans and evangelical Protestants, it remained high.

For those groups for which support remained high, it could have been a kind of Sept. 11, 2001, effect, Anderson said. She would like to see further study on whether people's sources of news  such as those that hype crime  affect their opinion on the death penalty.

"You have groups that maybe don't understand the crime rate has actually gone down because from their news coverage it doesn't seem like it," she said.

Anderson said there's also a hypothesis that as you get older you become more conservative. But the study suggests that peaks toward the end of middle age, then trends back down.

She and the others speculated that support of the death penalty through middle age could result from having a family to protect, but as people age and begin facing their mortality, they may think of death and capital punishment differently.

Other influences they found on how people determine support or opposition to the death penalty were religion, race and political ideology.

Catholics are less likely and Christian fundamentalists more likely to support capital punishment. Support is higher among males, whites, Republicans and people who identify as conservative.

Public opinion about the death penalty is important to understand, the authors said, because it influences lawmakers when making policy, and even judges, when they interpret existing policy.

The U.S. Supreme Court used public opinion, justices said, to assess evolving standards of decency when it abolished the death penalty for people who were 18 or younger at the time of their crimes.

Public opinion is related to legality of capital punishment within states and influences counties in charges, prosecutions and convictions in murder and manslaughter cases, the study said.

Anderson undertook the study because she has an interest in public perceptions of criminal justice policies, she said.

"Crime's important. We put people in jail. It affects people's lives," she said. "So people's views of how they think policies work is important."
According to College Station police, officers responded to a call from a home on Luther Street the afternoon of May 2. Several witnesses told authorities that Wilborn Wilson, 33, had broken into the home and attacked two women. Earlier in the day, police had responded to a report of an assault involving Wilson and a woman, and the woman had gone to her sister's home, a police report notes. Wilson is accused of following the woman and entering the home, where he hit the woman in the back of her head and twisted the woman's sister arm when she tried to call police.
Texas A&M University professor Andrew Dessler is among 396 members to be honored as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this year.

The distinction by AAAS is given to members because of "their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications."

Dessler -- who is a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences and the Earl F. Cook professor of geosciences -- is expected to be honored along with his fellow recipients in Austin on Feb. 17 at the AAAS Fellows Forum as a part of the organization's 2018 annual meeting.

Debbie Thomas, interim dean of the College of Geosciences at Texas A&M, said in a statement she and her colleagues are proud that Dessler's "profound contributions to atmospheric and climate science are being honored by the AAAS."

"This distinction truly is a fitting affirmation of his impact on the field," she said.

To be considered as a fellow, current members of AAAS must be nominated by the organization's steering groups, its CEO or by three fellows -- two of which must not be affiliated with the nominee's institution.

Established in 1848, AAAS is a nonprofit organization that includes 250 affiliated societies and academies of science with a stated mission to "advance science and serve society."

The association is the publisher of the journal Science and ranks as the world's largest general scientific society, according to university officials.
The internet has changed how we communicate, engage in commerce, and live our lives.

It not only provides a platform that can be used to promote free speech, but serves as a great equalizer when it comes to jobs and opportunity by dramatically reducing the barriers of entry for anyone with a new idea and broadband connection.

Unfortunately, because the nature of government power is to control, tax, and regulate, there always will be government officials who will seek to implement policies to increase these inherent powers. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Obama administration made the decision to set aside decades of bipartisan agreement and enact a radical proposal that reclassified the internet as a regulated public utility. The Obama-era regulations give federal bureaucrats new authority to regulate pricing and terms of service and eventually even collect billions in new taxes.

This policy not only threatens investment across the United States but seeks to force companies of all sizes to ask the government for prior approval of business decisions. The end result is less broadband, less innovation, and less freedom for the American consumer.

Thankfully, relief will soon be on the way as the Federal Communications Commission under Chairman Ajit Pai seeks to repeal the so-called Open internet Order and return the internet to its original classification as an information service, which allowed the internet to flourish.

But, the restoration of internet freedom may be short-lived as there are already scores of politicians and state and local regulators who have indicated an interest in replicating the Obama administrations fatally flawed rules at the state and local level. As harmful as the FCCs rules have been for broadband investment and innovation, replacing such rules with a patchwork of state and local requirements would have an even more detrimental effect on the internet.

The Constitutions Commerce Clause provides Congress with the power to regulate interstate commerce. Given that the internet permits consumers and businesses to connect to others in different states (as well as countries), broadband services are inherently interstate services and must therefore be protected from state and local interference.

As the FCC rolls back the Obama-era regulations on the internet, it should also take the opportunity to affirmatively recognize this.

Allowing the Obama administrations dangerous policy to infest the internet through state and local government mandates serves no purpose other than to stifle Americas entrepreneurial spirit, frustrate innovation, and block economic opportunity.

Steve Forbes recently raised concerns that allowing state and local regulators to recreate these regulations would create a crazy quilt-like patchwork of state regulations governing the internet  unquestionably, the most border-free platform ever known to humanity. It would be chaos, and a massive deterrent to investment, innovation, and growth.

Even former Democratic FCC Chairman Bill Kennard agrees that the internet should not be regulated at the local or state level. He stated in a 1999 speech that, it is in the national interest that we have a national broadband policy. The FCC has the authority to set one, and we have. We have taken a deregulatory approach, an approach that will let this nascent industry flourish.

Imposing public utility regulations  which have their roots in the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887  on the internet is not the right policy to keep America globally competitive.

Now is the time to end government micromanagement of the internet and let it thrive without federal, state, or local meddling. The United States continued leadership in the 21st Century digital economy rests on getting this policy right.

For these reasons, it is imperative that the FCC establish a strong deregulatory federal framework for broadband regulations and preempt state and local regulators from having the opportunity to implement the next internet power grab.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, serves on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; the Committee on Armed Services; the Committee on the Judiciary; the Joint Economic Committee; and the Committee on Rules and Administration. Before his election to the Senate, he was the longest serving solicitor general in Texas and the first Hispanic to serve in that role. Michael ORielly was nominated for a seat on the Federal Communications Commission by President Barack Obama and was confirmed unanimously on October 29, 2013. He was sworn in for a new term in January after his renomination by President Donald Trump. He previously served as a policy advisor in the Office of the Senate Republican Whip.
Andrew Chapter No. 41, Order of the Eastern Star, met Oct. 2 at the Masonic Temple.

Ruth Batie welcomed members with information on Halloween Pumpkin History. Special guests Dave Thienel and Bob Sorensen, past grand patrons, and Jerry White, grand representative Ohio in Nebraska, were introduced.

It was reported that donations will be sent to Eastern Star Childrens Home-Purple Ribbon Club, Boone Memorial Food Truck, Childrens Home, Masonic Home, Estarl and the Educational Loan Fund.

Ninety-three tray favors were made by Diane Smutney, Joyce Quaring and Elizabeth Barker and delivered by Jerry White to Wedgewood Nursing Home.

Andrew Chapters charter was draped in memory of the following member: Helen Brannan, past grand matron.

Fifty-year members who celebrated birthdays in October were Cleo Edwards, Nina Jean Meth, Helen Smith and Jean Packer.

Becki Beck and Barb Sodomka provided refreshments.

Andrew Chapter No. 41 also met Nov. 6. Quaring opened the meeting with a poem, I Am a Proud Veteran.

Thank-you notes were received from the Educational Loan Fund, the Estarl Endowment Fund and Wounded Warriors Family Support for donations made to them and for the memorial given in Ruth Johnsons name. Names were collected from members who would be willing to assist chapters in filling offices.

An invitation was received from Barker to attend her 90th birthday celebration, which was on Nov. 18 at St. Pauls Lutheran Church, 1515 S. Harrison.

The group also received a note from Barker thanking those members who assisted in the Harvest of Harmony concession stand sale.

Election results for 2018 officers were: Joyce Quaring, worthy matron; Jerry White, worthy patron; Barbara Sodomka, associate worthy matron; Becki Beck, secretary; Diane Smutney, treasurer; Mary Ann Gerdes, Conductress; Virginia White, associate conductress; Jim Batie, trustees; and Barker, Templecraft.

A letter was read from Rose Croix Chapter No. 298 of Ravenna requesting consolidation with Andrew Chapter No. 41.

The Past Matrons Club met Nov. 14 at Virginia Whites home.

Fifty-year members celebrating birthdays in November are Marjorie Atterburn, Bernice Southard, Nina Cole and Hugh Morris, Jr.

Dianne Wiberg provided refreshments.

The next meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4. Member are reminded to bring two dozen cookies.
Danish Sisterhood, Western Star Lodge, met Nov. 7 at Perkins Restaurant for its Thanksgiving meal. Four members were present, along with two special guests, perspective members Jackie Gawrych from St. Paul and Tim Hannibal from Dannebrog.

The group had a discussion about special fund raising. Hannibal invited members to Dannebrog for its Christmas Danish Festival on Dec. 2 and 3. He also invited the sisters to visit Dannebrog Delights for the enjoyment of tea, coffee and Danish pastries.

Hannibal has purchased K Korner, and now its called Dannebrog Delights, which also features ice cream and snow cones.

Sylvia McTavish ended the meeting with several Ole and Lena jokes.

Danish Sisterhood will next meet at noon Dec. 5 at the Golden Towers Community Room for its Christmas party, with an exchange of cookies and gifts.

Diane Honor and Edie Grim will serve the meal and be the hostesses.

Anyone interested in joining the fellowship of Danish Sisterhood, can call Grim (308) 226 2578 or McTavish at (308) 381-9666.
Fifteen members and one guest were present at the Nov. 6 meeting of GFWC/NFWC (General Federation of Women's Clubs/Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs) Caring Women at First Christian Church.

Gay Crandell served as hostess and led the group in devotions.

The program, Prematurity Awareness, was presented by Lana McCoy of CHI Health St. Francis.

Membership Chairman Louise Zimmerman presented a 30-year pin to Liz Gerberding, a 25-year pin to Gay Crandell, and Zimmerman herself received a 15-year membership pin.

For the holidays, GFWC/NFWC Caring Women will participate in the Fantasy of Trees at Stuhr Museum.

In lieu of a gift exchange at the Christmas party, members will make a monetary donation to help offset shipping costs for care packages, which are prepared by the VFW Auxiliary and sent to individuals currently serving in the military.

Members are also working on lap blankets, which will be donated to local nursing homes, and have partnered with Slumberland by providing sheet sets for the twin beds that Slumberland will be giving to those in need.

The December meeting will be the clubs Christmas party and will have no program.

The next meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8 at First Christian Church. Gerberding will be the hostess. New members are always welcome.

For more information, contact Zimmerman at (308) 395-8352 or email her at lzimmer@cccusa.net.
Olivia Exstrum, a former Next Voice columnist for The Grand Island Independent and a 2013 graduate of Grand Island Senior High, graduated from Northwestern University this past June and she has already bylined stories with datelines for Grants Pass, Ore., Chicago, Philadelphia and Johannesburg, South Africa.

Exstrums next story could have a San Francisco dateline because she begins a fellowship in eight days for Mother Jones, an online publication and bimonthly magazine that is based in San Francisco and which also has news bureaus in Washington, D.C., and New York.

Exstrum is taking part in a six-month fellowship, which she says will be heavy on doing fact-checking work for reporters whose work is published in the print version of Mother Jones magazine. However, she said, Mother Jones reporters are encouraged to write for the online publication in their areas of interest.

An early interest

Exstrum said that she knew by age 11 or 12 that she wanted to be a journalist, an interest that her mother coincidentally encouraged by telling her that she might one day work for Mother Jones.

Exstrums first foray into journalism was as an every-other-week youth columnist for The Grand Island Independent during her junior and senior years of high school, in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

She enrolled in the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., with the help of the Bob Hamblet Scholarship established by Lanny Martin, who graduated from Grand Island Senior High in 1964 before going on to earn an undergraduate degree in business administration in 1968 from Northwesterns Kellogg School of Management and a J.D. degree from the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in 1973.

Exstrum pointed out that scholarship funds established by Lanny Martin have helped send numerous Grand Island Senior High graduates to Northwestern University, as well as to a number of other universities around the country. But Martins closest ties remain to Northwestern.

Hes now actually chairman of the Board of Trustees at Northwestern University, she said.

Learning the craft

Exstrum decided to learn the craft of journalism not only by going to class, but by going to work for the college newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, starting in October of her freshman year. She kept working for The Daily Northwestern all four years of college, although Exstrum said she did not have a staff position at the newspaper all four years, especially during her senior year when I took a break. But she did continue to write some articles for the college newspaper even during her senior year.

She said that The Daily, as it is called by staff members, is independent from the college because it receives no funds from Northwestern University.

The college newspaper is owned by The Student Publishing Company, which Exstrum said has a board that includes some Northwestern University professors and which does do some fundraising for the publication. Otherwise, The Daily Northwestern is supported solely by advertising.

The Medill Justice Project

Exstrum said she applied to be part of The Medill Justice Project, which is part of Northwestern University. Its a class and you have to apply to be in the class, she said. I did that in the fall quarter of my junior year.

The teacher for the class and the director of The Medill Justice Project is Alec Klein, a former investigative journalist for The Washington Post.

Exstrum and nine other Northwestern University students traveled with Klein to Grants Pass, Ore., where everyone spent three to four days doing intensive investigative reporting work on the prosecution of Katherine G. Parker, who faced 43 criminal charges in what the MJP reporting group and Oregon prosecutors described as a medical child abuse case.

She noted that Parker had not been convicted of any crime, but was instead involved in an active case where the Grants Pass mother of eight children was accused of lying about a sons medical condition, which resulted in the boy receiving unnecessary medical treatments. Exstrum said the court case was extremely complicated.

According to the MJP article, which was co-bylined by Exstrum and her fellow Northwestern students, one complicating factor was that Medical child abuse, or Munchausenn syndrome by proxy, is not mentioned under any name in the medical guide called the The International Classification of Diseases, with health professionals in the United States using a form of the guide called the ICD-10-CM.

The article did not draw a firm conclusion on Parkers guilt or innocence, but Exstrum said that the article indicated that the case involved a far-from-perfect prosecution and the prosecutors had perhaps made mistakes in the case. Most charges were dropped and Parker got five years probation shortly after the MJP students published their article.

The whole problem with medical child abuse is its so objective, what is and isnt medical child abuse? said Exstrum who noted Parker got to go home to live with her children.

Interning overseas

Exstrum said that all Northwestern journalism students are expected to do an internship. Most perform their internship in a domestic newsroom. However, she applied for an international internship, which meant she had to submit an application and be chosen for the program. She believes nine other Northwestern students went, with about half in Capetown and half, including herself, stationed in Johannesburg. I worked at The Star, which is one of the oldest daily papers in Johannesburg.

Exstrum said students had a lot of freedom to develop and report their own stories. She said one of her favorite self-initiated stories was an article about a man, Mbulelo Dyasi, who moved from a town in another part of South Africa to live in a suburb of Johannesburg. Dyasi was HIV positive and a church near Johannesburg urged him to stop taking antiretroviral drugs and to rely on God to make him well.

Dyasi quickly joined a different church that approved of taking antiretroviral drugs to find HIV and AIDS. Exstrums article said that Dyasi has made it his lifes work to educate other faith leaders and community members about the dangers of not adhering to treatment.

Fact-checking in Philadelphia

A week after she returned from South Africa she was at The Philadelphia Inquirer. I wrote a lot of obituaries, said Exstrum, who said that job required her to do a lot of fact-checking because surviving family members would take in some piece of lore about the departed and repeat it as true.

One time, a daughter said her mother had been one of the first female FBI agents, which was difficult to fact-check because even after a person has died, the FBI will refuse to either confirm or deny any part of a former FBI agents career. Fortunately, Exstrum did get written documentation from the daughter, which showed her recollections about mother were correct.

She said one of her favorite stories at The Inquirer was about how local entrepreneurs had created transportation to take people from Philadelphias inner city neighborhoods to prisons in the suburbs or even rural areas, where relatives were serving their prison terms. It was a necessary service, but one that many inner city residents complained was too expensive.

Exstrum said she was just hired by Mother Jones about two weeks ago. Her new job will include a lot of research and fact-checking on behalf of Mother Jones reporters. Its kind of a crash course in investigation journalism is how they framed it, she said. But she will get to pitch her own stories for the online version of Mother Jones.

Criminal justice is my preferred beat, said Exstrum, who said she would like to do types of stories online for Mother Jones.
Midwest LTC Pharmacy nearing 10th anniversary

Midwest LTC Pharmacy, based in Grand Island, will mark its 10th anniversary on Dec. 11.

The business provides pharmaceutical services to skilled nursing, assisted living, mental health communities and group homes across western and Central Nebraska.

Continued growth has allowed the firm to remain at the cutting edge technologically and to recently expand into the IV services market with the opening of Greater Nebraska Home Infusion earlier this year.

An in-house anniversary celebration is scheduled for some time in December.

Cindy Lobeda is owner of the business, which can be reached at (308) 398-0538.

Nebraska Truck Center debuts new logo

Nebraska Truck Center Inc. has launched a new company logo.

The goal of the updated logo is to bring a fresh and modern appearance to the companys brand identity while carrying over visual elements from past company logos such as the red and black color scheme and incorporating a truck into the design.

Our new visual identity upholds our strong past, yet better communicates what Nebraska Truck Center stands for today and where we are headed in the future. said company President Kent Brown. Our past logos were designed by our founders, so we wanted to keep strong visual elements that reflect our heritage in this new logo. We feel the new logo will emphasize our past, our forward-thinking mindset and our objective to excel at serving our customers in todays changing world. This is reflected by our use of bold colors and contemporary fonts in an adaptable style.

The launch of the new logo is the first step of many in the companys preparations to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2019.

Nebraska Truck Center, a Freightliner and Western Star dealership, was founded in 1969. It has locations in Grand Island, North Platte and Hastings, with about 85 employees companywide.

Lutz named one of Best Accounting Firms to Work For in nation

Lutz was recently named one of Accounting Todays 2017 Best Accounting Firms to Work For.

This marks the seventh consecutive year the company has been recognized with this national honor. It was ranked No. 19 in the medium employer category, defined as employers with 50-249 employees.

The survey and awards program is designed to identify, recognize, and honor the top 100 employers in the accounting industry that benefit the industrys economy, workforce, and businesses. The survey first evaluated each companys workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems, and demographics, and then surveyed employees to measure the staff experience/satisfaction. Combined scores determined the top companies.

Lutz, with headquarters in Omaha, has an office in Grand Island at 2722 S. Locust St. It also has Hastings and Lincoln offices.
Howards Jewelry in Grand Island is celebrating its 70th anniversary.

Craig and Rita Hand own the business located at 303 W. Third St.

In 2016, Hand was The Independent Man of the Year, receiving the honor for his community involvement, including helping with the restoration of the Grand Theatre. Hand has been part of the Downtown Improvement Board, off and on, for more than 45 years.

Supporting them are their children, daughter, Kristin Watson, and her husband, Paul, and their two children, Grace and Garrett, as well as their son, Ryan Hand, and his wife, Teri, and their son, Max. All live in Grand Island. Both Ryan and Paul help with the business as needed.

Craig and Rita (Luebbe) Hand also celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this year. They married May 21, 1977, at St. Marys Cathedral in Grand Island. That means that the business was going strong long before Craig became a part of it.

Hand was born at the old Lutheran hospital about three blocks from Howards Jewelry. His father opened the store in 1947, and he took over in 1987.

Howard Hand, Craigs father, opened the first store. His father was a World War II veteran. He met his wife, Lucille, in Grand Island during pre-deployment training at the air base.

Howard Hand was from Enaville, Idaho, where he first learned to repair watches.

After his military service, he and his wife stayed in Grand Island. They opened their first store in a rented corner of a downtown Grand Island shoe store.

Hand said his fathers original intention with the business was to repair watch bands. His mother was the stores bookkeeper. The business relocated four times before moving to its current location in 1974.

This is also Hands 30th year as owner. He purchased the business after his father had a heart attack in 1987.

My dad never told me that he wanted me to take the business over, he said. That was my idea. I always loved the work. It is a fun job. People love seeing something their grandmother wore looking brand new. It is a great joy to me seeing people happy with something you do.

Hand was taught much of the business operations by his father.

It has been really great, he said about the family business. It has been something I have always enjoyed since I was a kid. It is not really work to me. It is fun. I enjoy it and the people who come in.

Rita Hand is a retired teacher. She taught at Jefferson Elementary School for 36 years. She and her husband met in 1975. When Hand took over the store when his father had his heart problems, Rita assumed the job of the stores bookkeeper.

I still taught, but I also did all the bookkeeping and raised our two kids, she said.

Some of the same families have been coming to Howard Jewelry since the store first open in 1947. That includes many of the children Rita taught at Jefferson Elementary School over the years.

It is kind of a fun job seeing the kids come in that we know, he said.

With his fathers store on Third Street, he spent a lot of his youth going downtown.

I used to hang out at my dads store in the evenings or after I got out of school before we went home for the day, Hand said. I have a real affinity for everything that goes on down here. It has a nice feel to me.

He said he has always been happy having his store located in Grand Islands downtown area.

It was never really that tough on our business because jewelry stores tend to do all right in downtown locations as we do all of our own work, Hand said. You have to have a reason to come there. It does slow your business down when all the kids are not used to coming down here. You have to give them a reason for coming down.

The store operates under the motto, For Those Who Desire the Finest and Know the Difference.

The store has developed an excellent reputation for jewelry repair over the years

Everything you work on is someones pride and joy, Hand said. It has to be exactly perfect.

He said his fathers philosophy was, If you wouldnt sell it to your family, you shouldnt sell it to anyone else.

We have tried to continue that, Hand said. It has served us very well.

He said many customers have a favorite piece of jewelry they are unable to wear because it needs repair. Some of that jewelry has family importance as an heirloom passed on by a family member. Howards Jewelry has earned a reputation for fast and reliable repairs.

Their years of experience also allow for fast turnaround times for jewelry repairs. They help with jewelry cleaning, hand engraving, prong retipping and pearl and bead restringing.

You can even have your favorite pieces of jewelry restored back to their original luster, Hand said. No job is too big or too small. We do it all.

Their quality work and quick service also extend to soldering; ring, head, and prong repairs; necklace repairs; bracelet repairs; stone setting; clasp repairs; and ring sizing

Another specialty is custom jewelry. Hand said that a design starts with an idea and a conversation based on the insight from their creative artistic professionals. He said the customers choose every detail themselves. With Howards Jewelrys expertise, the customer can get custom jewelry that will have all heads turning when they see your one-of-a-kind piece.

They also specialize in custom engraving as an added touch; personalized jewelry; bridal jewelry; one-of-a-kind handcrafted jewelry; cross designs; fast turnaround times; custom and unique designs; casting and hand setting; engagement rings; wedding bands and wedding sets; jewelry for men and women; jewelry with diamonds and gemstones; bracelets, necklaces, and rings; custom design and redesign.

Along with the Hands, Ashley Niedfelt is a design specialist and Alec Chanthapatheth is a sales associate at Howards. Rita continues to be active in the business and has taken on more responsibilities since she retired from teaching.

Hand said his wife has been an indispensable part of the businesss success over the years.

If she had not gotten involved, it would have been too much for me, he said.

Hand said the store has changed with the times as jewelry fashion is never static.

The standard of quality is very important to me, he said. We dont sell mediocre diamonds, even though they would be less expensive and many people would not know the difference. We know the difference.

His philosophy is, Sell the very best thing you think is best for the customer and hopefully they will spread the word that you are nice people and do what they like.

Retirement is not something Hand is considering.

I enjoy the people who come in, he said. I like the job.
Bennett promoted to associate director

Sara Bennett with Nebraska Business Development Center of the University of Nebraska at Kearney has been promoted to associate director.

In this new role, she will work with small businesses and researchers to identify opportunities to pursue funding through the Small Business Innovation Research program.

Bennett also specializes in certified business valuation and exit planning for small businesses all across Nebraska. Through Nebraska Business Development Center, she offers no-cost consulting to help small business owners start and grow a business. Services includes development of business plans and financial projections, financial analysis, loan packaging, SBA loan preparation, and premium market research.

Bennett can be reached at the Grand Island NBDC office at (308) 382-9210.

Dennison named manager of Auto America

Scott Dennison has been named general manager of Auto America Inc. in Grand Island.

Dennison is in charge of daily operations and customer service there.

He attended Texas A&M and Northwood University and has 27 years of managerial experience.

Dennison worked 11 years with the Van Tuyl Group and four years with Sonic Automotive. He was Manager of the Year with the Van Tuyl Group in 1994, 1995 and 1996 and the Sonic Boom recipient in 2012 and 2013.

Schulz, Wobig join ArtistiCuts staff

Brandee Schulz and Chelsey Wobig have both joined the staff at ArtistiCuts Salon and Spa in Grand Island as cosmetologists.

Schulz is a 1995 graduate of Josephs College of Beauty and currently serves on its alumni board. She will provide all hair services, facial services and waxing.

She has managed, owned and operated her own salon and worked for chain salons as well. She has worked in the industry as a stylist and an educator for 22 years.

Wobig is a graduate of Xenon International Academy. She will cut and color hair, provide eyebrow and facial waxing and do perms.

She previously worked two years at Cost Cutters and one and a half years at Supercuts.

ArtistiCuts is located at 2265 N. Webb Road. They can be reached at (308) 381-8030.
BURLINGTON  For a little while on Wednesday, July 12, Sue and Bob Rubach, who help run The Coffee House at Chestnut and Pine streets with Bobs family members, seemed to have the uncontrollable under control.

The cafe at 492 N. Pine St. had managed to stay dry in spite of days of heavy rain and the rising river. But eventually the water was too high and it had nowhere to go  it started backing up out of their floor drain and into the basement, which served as storage.

Its so frustrating, said Bob. Because you cant stop it.

Still, they seemed to be on top of it. Theyd moved all the supplies from the lower shelves upstairs, sandbagged the walk-in refrigerator and borrowed a generator, sump-pump and pool pump, which kept the water level stable.

We had a lot of things we did have to throw out, said Sue. But it wasnt horrible.

Then an hour before they were scheduled to hold a beer- and wine-tasting event in the upstairs bar, the power went out. They called the organizers, who said they still wanted to hold the event.

Everybody was fine knowing there would be no air conditioning and everything be by candlelight, said Sue. Most everybody showed up and it was lovely.

Fox River State Bank

Some of the rain from the night before had surrounded the Fox River State Bank at 241 E. Jefferson St., but by late morning it had receded.

Executive Vice President Barbara Bakshis came in and found a water line 2 feet up outside the building, and President Keith Pollek cleaning up the little bit that had seeped in through the doorway. But she knew it wasnt over.

I said, Well, were not out of the woods yet, she said. Were out of the woods for right now, but with all this water that has fallen over southeastern Wisconsin that morning, the Fox River will continue to rise.

She was right. Without a basement for the water to drain into and ground so saturated from days of rain, the water burst right up through the floor. Bakshis said later that shed noticed grout was missing between the tiles  the water pressure had shot it up out of the cracks.

Water is funny  it fills every void, she said. It looks for the path of least resistance and will fill every void.

The waterline inside reached 21 inches. That evening they went over their disaster plan, which all banks are required to have by the FDIC. They would have to work out of another branch for a few days until they could have their location operational.

The long road to recovery

The Coffee House at Chestnut and Pine had to close for a few days that weekend because of the power outage and owners had to cancel the live music event that Friday. But the power came back, so they re-opened on Saturday.

I think people really appreciated that because they didnt have their coffeehouse, said Sue. This is a community place.

While it was business as usual in the cafe, in the basement, the entire floor had to be broken up and pulled out because the wooden planks had been warped by the water. Now its smooth, solid concrete.

Baskhis noticed that when the power went out, more people went outside.

Its something that a lot of people generally dont do because theyre always cooped up in their air-conditioned houses, she said. All of a sudden youre out talking to your neighbors.

On Sunday, when the water had gone down, a big group of Fox River State Bank employees and volunteers came in with grungy clothes and started tackling the mess left behind.

I was taking all help, said Bakshis. There was no end to the amount of work, especially early on, no end to the amount of work that had to be done.

The cleanup also brought quite a few surprises.

We were shocked at what saturated paper can do, said Bakshis. To the naked eye it doesnt even look like its swollen, but its swells up and it blew the sides out of steel cabinets.

They re-opened the banks lobby on July 18 and drive-through service on July 20. But four months later, a painter was putting the final touches on a door frame. And employees have been doing there jobs through all the reconstruction.

We were working in some dusty conditions; we had to have our doors closed because it was so loud with all the work that theyre doing, said Bakshis. It was a challenge but we made it work.

Other small banks reached out to them to see if they needed anything and loaned them equipment and resources as they got back on their feet.

A lot of people are in the same boat

One reason the Fox River State Bank team felt it was important to reopen the Burlington branch was because they knew with flood damage as extensive as it was, their customers were going to need some help.

Bakshis said shes worked with homeowners who could not afford the cost of repairs to their houses.

We have had some people, sadly, that have approached us to let us know that they basically are looking for a buyer for their home because theyre basically going to abandon the home, she said.

Bakshis said she connected those homeowners with developers who buy damaged properties so they could at least find someone to take the house off their hands.

Unfortunately for those homeowners, theyve had to go on and basically start over, she said.

Bakshis said she worked with two Burlington businesses whose locations had been severely damaged by the flood and didnt think they could afford the repairs.

They were considering just leaving their locations, she said. I dont know if they would have left Burlington, but they were certainly going to leave their locations. And leaving the city was a possibility, which means potentially those jobs leave the community.

Many businesses didnt have the luxury of closing and doing all their repairs at once. So, like at the bank, many other businesses are putting the finishing touches on the repair work.

I think a lot of people are in the same boat that were at, said Bakshis. Were months away from the flood and theyre just finishing their recovery efforts.
Leah Jane Meyer, 90, formerly of Grand Island, died Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, at Villa Maria Long Term Care facility in Mulvane, Kan., after a long struggle with Alzheimers disease.

Celebration of Life service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, at the First Presbyterian Church in Grand Island. The Rev. Caroline Price-Gibson will officiate.

Graveside service will be prior to the service at the Grand Island Cemetery.

There will be no visitation. All Faiths Funeral Home is entrusted with the arrangements.

Leah was born an only child in Grand Island on Aug. 31, 1927, to Warren and Hazel (Jones) Geil. From her active youth to death on Nov. 2, she blessed friends and family alike with a loving smile and a dogged commitment to community service. After graduating from high school, she attended MacMurry College in Jacksonville, Ill. She taught elementary school in Crystal Lake, Ill. and soon returned to Grand Island to teach at Wasmer Elementary School.

After her return to Grand Island, she became engaged to Frederick Ernest Meyer and they were married Dec. 27, 1950. Soon afterward she took a break from teaching to raise two rambunctious boys. In 1964, Leah returned to teaching and was a kindergarten and first-grade teacher for 25 years at Jefferson Elementary, retiring in 1989. Not content to be idle, she was active in her retirement as a deacon and elder at First Presbyterian Church, Grand Island chapter of PEO, Grand Island Red Cross board, and Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer.

She was preceeded in death by her parents, and husband, Fred. Left to honor Leah and remember her love are her two children Bruce (Nancy) Meyer of Omaha and Richard (Susan) Meyer of Mulvane Kan.; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The Meyer family would like to extend our gratitude to friends and family members who looked in on Leah over the years and all the staff at Riverside Lodge in Grand Island, Derby Assisted Living and Glen Carr house in Derby, Kan. and Villa Maria in Mulvane, Kan. and everyone who provided attentiveness and loving care to Leah.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Leahs name to First Presbyterian Church, the Grand Island chapter of the American Red Cross, and the Stuhr Museum.

Online condolences may be made to www.giallfaiths.com
Lieselotte Lilo Gerda Heumann, 97, of Grand Island died Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, at Wedgewood Care Center.

Memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the St. Johns Lutheran Church in Kronberg. Reverend Kristine Schroeder will officiate. Burial of ashes will be in the Kronberg Cemetery.

All Faiths Funeral Home is entrusted with the arrangements.

Lilo was born Oct. 2, 1920, at Rethausen, Germany, the daughter of Wilhelm and Margarete (Engel) Koehn.

She was raised in Germany having attended private school. She came to the United States in 1954. She was united in marriage to Wilhelm Bill Heumann on July 1, 1954, at Tipton, Kan. Bill and Lilo worked on different farms in Kansas and Nebraska until they had the opportunity they were hoping for by renting their own farm near Marquette. They were eternally grateful for the chance to be on their own. They were very well-received by the predominant Danish community and were so appreciative of their neighbors willingness to help them get started.

She was an active member of St. Johns Lutheran Church at Kronborg, Marquette even after moving to Grand Island. Lilo was a very active volunteer at the Grand Generation Center and continued to do so until her health did not permit it.

Lilo was a woman of many talents. She was well known for her excellent baking of traditional German dishes  especially stollen, a Christmas bread which she faithfully gave to others. She was always willing to share her baking secrets with others. She was a very gracious host in her home and made everyone feel welcome.

In addition, she could sew, knit and weave area rugs, and took up landscape oil painting of which can be found in local homes. She worked side-by-side with Bill and was not afraid to get her hands dirty. She also took time to plant flowers and keep the farm place in immaculate condition.

Lilo always had a very positive attitude and never was discouraged no matter how tough the times were. Her German work ethic was always evident no matter the task at hand. She always commented that she would never lose her distinctive German accent no matter how long she lived in the U.S. She loved to play a mean game of 30-point pitch, enjoyed polka and waltz music and, of course, dancing.

Survivors include her niece, Ingrid Becker of Germany and special friends, Bob and Alice Hellbusch of Grand Island. She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Bill; brother, Wilhelm Koehn; and sister, Ilse Becker.

In lieu of flowers, it was always Lilos wish that any memorials be given to a long-lasting cause, thus to either St. Johns Lutheran Church or the Grand Island Generation Center.

Online memories may be shared at www.giallfaiths.com
Theres no better time than Thanksgiving to be grateful for the fact that we still live under a democratic system, however frayed it may be.

That idea may sound corny at a time when our country seems to be sliding off its axis. But unless Americans appreciate the political gifts with which they are (still) endowed it becomes easier to lose them.

The growing challenge of foreign dictatorships, along with the demagogic Trump presidency, should provide a powerful wakeup call. They remind us of the historical uniqueness of our long-running democratic experiment  and the effort needed to preserve it.

As Benjamin Franklin warned when asked at the close of the 1787 Constitutional Convention whether America had a republic or a monarchy: A republic, if you can keep it. Two hundred thirty years later, at this holiday season, here are five reasons why, with Franklins warning in mind, we should all give thanks.

n The election of Donald Trump has shaken a majority of Americans out of their complacent assumption that their (admittedly troubled) democracy was immutable. This is a good thing.

Of course, anyone who wasnt brain dead recognized the strains caused by globalization, rising inequality, and deepening public mistrust of Washington politicians. But until 2016, the assumption was that these strains were problems that needed addressing. Americans debated the future of U.S. democracy, the alienation of American youth, and the paralysis of Congress, but these werent yet seen as the harbingers of system failure.

Then came Trump, an open admirer of foreign dictators, who scorns constitutional principles and threatens political opponents. Who openly harangues the courts, denounces serious print and TV coverage, and debases all previous political norms of civility and morality.

His demagoguery has shaken millions of Americans out of their complacency about their system, a complacency born of 70 peaceful postwar years in which America was the unchallenged global leader. It has buried once and for all the 1990s mantra that history ended with the triumph of liberal democracy.

But forewarned is forearmed. Having been shocked, those who value democracy can regroup to revive it.

n Trumps enthusiasm for dictatorial norms doesnt reflect the wishes of a majority of Americans. Polls show that there is little enthusiasm in this country for military rule or a strongman. The presidents predilection for generals is well known, but in America generals still submit to civilian rule  another reason to give thanks.

n The bedrock of U.S. democracy  the separation of powers  while battered, is holding. So far.

Where Trump has veered off constitutional rails, as on his putative Muslim ban, courts have restrained him. Judges have withstood his open denigration of jurists and courts that have not bent to his wishes. Even Trumps appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions has (again, so far) bowed to the tradition that federal law enforcement is independent and a special prosecutor (Robert Mueller) cant be dismissed just because his investigation angers the president.

Even in a Republican-led Congress there are still a few (far too few) GOP voices that challenge the presidents tweets and erratic behavior when these threaten decent governance or Americas national security. They recognize the danger of provoking premature war with North Korea. Give thanks for outspoken GOP Sens. John McCain, Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, and Susan Collins.

But if you want a better Congress, the time to get involved in civic action is now.

n Responsible mainstream media are still producing fact-filled investigations of government turpitude, corruption  and Russian efforts to undermine our system. The way to support such investigations is to subscribe  whether to digital or paper  and keep real newspapers alive.

This is not merely a self-interested plea. One of the main threats to American democracy is the far rights ideological campaign against real news, a campaign begun by the late Roger Ailes with Fox TV.

Many Americans  and Trump himself  now turn for news to alt-right websites such as Breitbart that peddle made-up news and wild conspiracy theories and viciously attack Trump opponents. The president promotes such sites and seems to believe what they feed him, sometimes even retweeting stuff from RT  the Kremlin-controlled English-language TV outlet. Nothing endangers our democracy more than the rise of alt-right fake news.

n Finally, give thanks that you were born in the USA or immigrated here at a time when Americans appreciated the essential contribution immigrants make to our society. I travel abroad constantly to countries such as Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, and China  where would-be democrats dreamed of, or fought for, the rights and freedoms that Americans take for granted. Most have now become disillusioned. Or they have been killed or repressed by jihadis and dictators.

Americans are still privileged to live in a country where democratic institutions remain strong, and where they can organize at a local, citywide, or state level. They still have the chance to elect better legislatures, a more responsible Congress  and in 2020, a president who embraces democracy.

We do have a republic if we can keep it, for which we should indeed give thanks.
TransCanada received primarily what it wanted last week when the Nebraska Public Service Commission approved allowing the companys Keystone XL pipeline to run through the state.

However, the commission threw a monkey wrench in the companys plans by approving an alternative route the company had submitted, not its preferred route.

In a strange twist, both pipeline supporters and some opponents claimed victory in the PSCs decision.

The pipeline is to run 1,184 miles from Hardisty, Alberta, in Canada to Steele City, Neb. There it would connect with the existing Keystone pipeline. Canadian oil sands would flow through the 36-inch, $8 billion pipeline.

TransCanadas preferred route through Nebraska was the least expensive and more of a direct route. The alternative route approved by the PSC has the pipeline cutting across Madison County to where it will meet up with the existing pipeline along the Colfax and Platte counties line.

Looking at it objectively, the PSCs decision makes a lot of sense. In fact, ever since TransCanada announced it was pursuing the pipeline project years ago, many wondered why the company didnt just go along the route of its other pipeline.

The answer appeared to be costs. That didnt rub well with some Nebraskans who didnt want a foreign company cutting costs while running a pipeline through the state.

In its decision, the PSC said there are many benefits to having the Keystone XL parallel the 30-inch Keystone pipeline. The benefits include better coordination of monitoring of the pipeline and quicker response to any issues. The commission also said the new route crosses fewer miles of the migration route of the endangered whooping crane.

All of that makes sense. Its yet to be seen whether either side will challenge the commissions decision. Its unlikely it will pass without a challenge.

For TransCanada, the decision means it will have to negotiate with a new group of landowners and that some of the work the company has already done will go by the wayside. More pumping stations may also be needed.

Those factors, along with any new legal challenges, will raise the costs and increase the time needed before the pipeline is built.

After the commissions 3-2 decision, TransCanada CEO Russ Girling said the company will conduct a careful review. That review will include assessing how the decision would impact the cost and schedule of the project.

With the ever-changing oil market and with oil prices down from when the project was first proposed, TransCanada reportedly was already reassessing the viability of the Keystone XL pipeline. Now another variable has been thrown into its assessment.

From all appearances, it looks like the Public Service Commission followed the correct process in reaching its decision. Its ruling, with the new route, has complicated the process more than many had hoped. That, however, shows that the commission members put some thought into their decision and that they were looking out for what is best for the state.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, November 26, 2017 08:02 1817 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ac30d5 4 Lifestyle Kopiko,Mayora,international-space-station,Thanksgiving,viral,Twitter Free

Indonesian coffee-flavored candy, Kopiko, made an unexpected appearance at the International Space Station (ISS) recently, just in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

The astronauts on duty at the ISS posted two pictures on the ISS official Twitter account on Nov.24, in celebration of Thanksgiving. The tweet read, The crew enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner as they orbited the Earth at an altitude of 250 miles. Their turkey day dinner came after a full day of research and maintenance work, allowing them an off-duty Friday, Nov.24 to enjoy the view of the planet from their orbital laboratory."

The crew enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner as they orbited the Earth at an altitude of 250 miles. Their turkey day dinner came after a full day of research and maintenance work, allowing them an off-duty day Friday, Nov. 24 to enjoy the view of the planet from their orbital laboratory. pic.twitter.com/AqDA8bS8nT  Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) November 24, 2017

The pictures showed the crew of the ISS, and also the meals served on the special occasion. In the pantry, lies a large bag of widely known Indonesian coffee candy, Kopiko, and keen eyes on the internet immediately spotted the brand. Soon after the picture went viral in the Indonesian social media scene.

Read also: Researchers spot interstellar visitor

Global marketing director of Kopikos producer, PT Mayora Indah, Ricky Afrianto said that Mayoras products are distributed to more than 80 countries worldwide. [This includes] Kopiko [which] is widely distributed, he told Kompas.com on Friday.

Ricky said the company distributed Kopiko to the United States and that the brand had become a favorite due to its distinct flavor. Regarding Kopikos being taken into space, Ricky said it was good that an Indonesian product made it to outer space.

Since they cant really drink liquid coffee [in the ISS], having the Kopiko coffee candy is a good idea, he added.

Corporate secretary of Mayora Indah, Yuni Gunawan, told Kompas.com separately that among the worldwide distribution of Mayora products, Kopiko happened to be one of the best-selling brands.

According to the companys financial report, Mayoras 2016 sales reached Rp.18.3 trillion (US$1.35 billion), up from Rp.14.8 trillion in 2015. (asw)
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Linkedin Mary Sibierski (Agence France-Presse) Warsaw, Poland  Sun, November 26, 2017 16:02 1816 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ad47b1 2 Lifestyle Frederic-Chopin,history,music,Poland Free

The heart of Frederic Chopin, among the world's most cherished musical virtuosos, may finally have given up the cause of his untimely death.

The prolific 19th-century Polish-French pianist and composer died at the age of 39, of what had long been believed to be tuberculosis (TB).

However, in 2008, Polish medical experts raised the possibility that Chopin -- whose health had always been very frail -- had actually suffered from cystic fibrosis (CF).

The genetic respiratory illness clogs the lungs with sticky, thick mucus and sufferers on average generally do not survive past their late 30s.

Now, Polish scientists, who were the first to use modern technology to study Chopin's heart -- preserved for the last 168 years inside a crystal jar in what appears to be cognac -- believe they are a step closer to an accurate diagnosis.

"We can say that it is highly possible that it was tuberculosis," lead researcher Professor Michal Witt, a top specialist in molecular and clinical genetics, told AFP.

Unable to open the hermetically sealed jar, his team of medical experts used high-resolution photographs taken in 2014 to make their diagnosis.

"The lesions which we saw fit well with the initial diagnosis which was held for years, namely tuberculosis.

"The lesions are clearly visible on the pericardium of Chopin's heart," Witt said, referring to the organ's outer membrane typically affected by complications stemming from TB.

'Still debatable'

The findings of Witt and his team are due to be published in the February print issue of the esteemed American Journal of Medicine, complete with a unique photograph of the pickled heart.

But without DNA tests, Witt admits that he cannot entirely rule out the possibility of cystic fibrosis.

In 2008, Poland's culture ministry rejected a request by academics to run DNA tests on the relic to check for the CFTR gene, a telltale sign of cystic fibrosis, over fears the procedure could irreparably damage the heart.

Whether Chopin suffered from cystic fibrosis "is still debatable", Witt told AFP.

Read also: ESSAY: Watching 'Floating Chopin' in Bali

This file photo taken on June 20, 2008 shows a general view of the interior of the Warsaw Saint Cross church where rests the heart of Polish-French pianist Frederic Chopin. The heart of Frederic Chopin, among the world's most cherished musical virtuosos, may finally have given up the cause of his untimely death. The prolific 19th-century Polish-French pianist and composer died at the age of 39, of what had long been believed to be tuberculosis (TB). (AFP/Wojtek Radwanski)

"We cannot prove this for sure, but the likelihood that it was tuberculosis rather than cystic fibrosis is far, far higher.

"We can say that with a high degree of confidence."

Records show that as an adult weighing 40 kilogrammes (88 pounds) at a height of 1.70 metres (five feet seven inches), Chopin was chronically underweight, a typical symptom of cystic fibrosis.

Without genetic tests, it is also impossible to be entirely certain that the organ itself is Chopin's, although as Witt points out, there "is no reason to believe that it isn't, at least to our knowledge."

Cognac?

Last examined in 1945 after World War II, the heart is "clearly visible" and well preserved in what Witt calls a "light amber brown" liquid.

"It's highly possible that it is cognac," he said, adding that "since the French Revolution, cognac has been used as a preservation fluid in France."

Chopin's heart is kept inside a pillar in Warsaw's sprawling and ornate baroque Church of the Holy Cross.

After his death in exile in Paris in 1849, it was brought to Chopin's native Warsaw that same year by his elder sister Ludwika to honour his dying wish.

The rest of Chopin's remains are buried in the French capital's Pere Lachaise cemetery.

Born in Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw in 1810, Chopin composed many of his most moving pieces in his father's native France, where he ended up after an 1830-31 uprising of Polish insurgents against the 1795 partition of Poland by Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Having refused to take a Russian passport, he was never able to set foot on his and his mother's native Polish soil following the failed insurrection.

Described by 19th-century German composer Robert Schumann as "cannons hidden among blossoms", Chopin's music was and remains a symbol of Poland's long and turbulent struggle for freedom.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) The Hague, Netherlands  Sun, November 26, 2017 10:05 1817 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ac98db 2 Art & Culture painting,adolf-hitler,NIOD,art Free

The Dutch national institute for wartime documentation said Saturday it has been given a rare watercolour painting by Adolf Hitler, believed to be the only one in existence in The Netherlands.

The aquarelle -- a technique of painting with thin transparent watercolours -- depicting a tower in Vienna was donated to the Amsterdam-based NIOD institute by a woman whose identity was not revealed, the leftist daily De Volkskrant added.

"The woman did not want the painting in her home and two Dutch auction houses declined to put it up for sale," the paper said.

It was donated earlier this year to the NIOD, originally set up just after World War II to create a national archive of documents relating to the 1940-45 Nazi occupation of The Netherlands.

The unidentified woman's father originally bought the painting at a stamp and coin market "for 75 cents and only realised when he got home that it was signed by 'A. Hitler'," the paper said.

"After months of following an authentication process the... conclusion is: it's an original from the hand of Adolf Hitler," the NIOD said in a statement.

Read also: Oil painting by Hitler on display in Italy museum

The aquarelle -- a technique of painting with thin transparent watercolours -- depicting a tower in Vienna was donated to the Amsterdam-based NIOD institute by a woman whose identity was not revealed, the leftist daily De Volkskrant added. (www.niod.nl/File)

"Between 1909 and 1913 Hitler made a living from selling painted postcards," it added, saying the young dictator made an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 cards of which around 800 were known to exist today.

By taking ownership of the painting the NIOD has prevented it from going onto the open market, its director Frank van Vree said.

"I don't want to sound patronising, but it's good that this type of thing does not get sold in an auction containing Nazi paraphernalia," he told De Volkskrant.

The Netherlands was occupied for around five years by the Nazis, who carried out a reign of terror, including deporting more than 100,000 Jews to death camps such as Auschwitz and Sobibor where they were murdered.

The victims included world-famous Dutch teenaged diarist Anne Frank and most of her family.

Most of Hitler's artworks are now in private collections in Austria, Britain, Germany and the United States, and the US Army still has four works which it confiscated during the war, De Volkskrant said.

Neither the NIOD, nor experts knew of any other of Hitler's artworks in The Netherlands, it said.
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Linkedin Dan Martin (Agence France-Presse) Shanghai, China  Sun, November 26, 2017 13:53 1816 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ad066b 2 World China,accident,industry,explosion Free

A major explosion hit China's megaport city of Ningbo on Sunday, killing at least two people, injuring dozens and wrecking buildings, state media and local authorities said.

The Ningbo government said on a social media account that the blast occurred in a "vacant lot" but it did not provide details about what may have caused it.

Local authorities said two people died, two were seriously injured and an unidentified number were being treated for injuries in the major port city.

State media said more than 30 people were hospitalised, with the Xinhua news agency reporting that the explosion had taken place in a demolished factory at around 9:00 am (0100 GMT).

Industrial accidents are common in China, where safety standards are often lax.

Television images showed cars twisted and mangled by the force of the explosion, a plume of grey smoke rising in the sky, and debris scattered for dozens of metres (yards) around the site of the incident.

Aerial images posted by the People's Daily on Twitter showed at least four wrecked buildings around a wasteland of concrete debris.

Footage showed rescuers wearing helmets carrying injured people away from the area, while others stood over a person lying on the ground.

Pieces of concrete, wood and glass were strewn across a large area. Metal gates were twisted open and windows blown out of buildings.

According to CCTV, eyewitnesses said there were "a large number of injured people" in the city, one of China's largest ports, which sits just south of Shanghai.

The Communist Party's People's Daily said on Twitter that no one lived at site of the explosion but garbage collectors might have been working there.

An enquiry has been launched to determine the cause of the explosion, the local police in Jiangbei district, where the blast happened, said on social media.

Ningbo is one of the country's major international container shipping ports.

Topics : China accident industry explosion
This list is not comprehensive. Municipalities are listed as they appear on the criminal complaint. Suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. To see mugshots of the accused, visit www.journaltimes.com/gallery. Additional information about the complaints can be found at: journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts.

Torrion D. Alexander, 900 block of Superior St., Racine, uttering a forgery, and theft-false representation.

Christopher J. Back, 900 block of Grove Ave., Racine, disorderly conduct, and domestic abuse assessments.

Pheanjay J. Bean, 500 block of Randolph St., Racine, possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana.

Charles C. Bentley, 2000 block of Orchard St., Racine, resisting an officer, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments, tampering with a global positioning system tracking device, and criminal damage to property.

Devin N. Burks, 7800 block of W. Luscher Ave., Milwaukee, obstructing an officer.

Peter P. Cotton, 1900 block of Mead St., Racine, sex offender-fail/update information.

Joe Culberson, 1000 block of Grand Ave., Racine, resisting an officer.

Jordan T. Cummings, 700 block of Monticello Drive, Racine, possession of a firearm by a felon.

Latara T. Freeman, 2000 block of Frisch Road, Madison, disorderly conduct.

Teran J. Goldschmidt, 300 block of Margaret Court, Burlington, possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Reynaldo J. Gonzales, 1700 block of 21st St., Racine, theft, bail jumping, and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Reynaldo R. Gonzales, 100 block of Main St., Racine, intimidation of a victim, possession of drug paraphernalia, bail jumping, disorderly conduct, and domestic abuse assessments.

Blake E. Hall, 1200 block of 13th Ave., Union Grove, battery, and disorderly conduct.

Derrick S. Jamison Jr., 3300 block of Kensington Court, Racine, armed robbery, reckless injury, use of a dangerous weapon, and obstructing an officer.

Sylvester D. Johnson, 1000 block of Washington Ave., Racine, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct, and theft.

Sylvester D. Johnson, 5100 block of Biscayne Ave., Racine, battery, and disorderly conduct.

Latanya D. Klyce, 2300 block of Grove Ave., Racine, obstructing an officer, resisting an officer, and disorderly conduct.

Shaine D. Lamb, 8000 block of Ford Drive, Burlington, mistreating animals-intentional or negligent violation, and disorderly conduct.

Brandon J. Lee, 1000 block of Grand Ave., Racine, obstructing an officer.

Jeffrey W. Lock, 7800 N. 60th St., Milwaukee, operating a motor vehicle without owners consent.

Kerrion T. Marsh, 80 block of Riverside Drive, Racine, possession of marijuana.

Dale C. Olson, 32200 block of 45th St., Burlington, interference with firefighting-alarms/firefighters, and criminal damage to property.

Jared M.J. Perri, 8000 block of Whitetail Drive, Mount Pleasant, possession with intent to deliver marijuana, possession with intent to deliver/distribute a controlled substance on or near a park, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Lawrence C. Ratliff IV, 1800 block of 22nd Ave., Kenosha, violation of harassment injunction.

Thomas S. Russo, 1800 block of Woodland Drive, Caledonia, possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Scott A. Sauceda, 1100 block of Kewaunee St., Racine, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments, and criminal damage to property.

Michael J. Simpson, 1600 block of Grange Ave., Racine, second degree sexual assault.

Mark G. Thornton, 2500 block of Taylor Ave., Racine, deliver illegal articles to inmate.
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Linkedin Alexandre Grosbois/Carlos Batista (AFP) Havana, Cuba  Sun, November 26, 2017 08:28 1817 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ac39f5 2 World Cuba,Fidel-Castro,Cubans,The-Union-of-Communist-Youth,El-Comandante,havana Free

With little fanfare, Cuba on Saturday commemorated the first anniversary of the death of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro as it prepares to move into the post-Castro era.

Since his death at the age of 90 on November 25 last year, Castro's wishes have been respected. No street, square or building bears his name, and no statue or monument has been erected in his honor.

But Castro remains present in the minds of Cubans, and state media recalls his exploits, speeches and writings on a daily basis.

The most important commemoration will be held at nightfall at Havana University, where Castro often delivered his lengthy and fiery speeches.

The Union of Communist Youth has organized a "political-cultural evening" marking the "physical death" of El Comandante.

Raul Castro, the 86 year-old leader who took power when his older brother Fidel became ill in 2006, may make an appearance.

But the government has scheduled no major events marking the death of Fidel, who governed Cuba for 48 years.

- 'I am Fidel' -

Still, signs and slogans painted on walls that read "I am Fidel," "Fidel will always live" and "Fidel is among us" can be seen around the country.

Cuba's two newspapers, the state-run Granma and Juventud Rebelde, dedicated most of their issues to the late communist leader.

"This year we, the people of Cuba, have within us great sadness but mixed with joy because he (Fidel) left a youth that... is much better than us old folk," said Emerido, a 75-year-old retiree who declined to give his last name.

Leisi Chi, a 22-year-old history student, recalled the pain she felt upon hearing of Fidel's death.

"It touched us, especially the youth and the people here, even if some people rejoiced," she told AFP.

Fidel Castro "is alive in our thoughts, our culture, our battle of ideas," added elementary school principal Gladys Garcia.

When Fidel Castro died, Cuba went into mourning until his ashes were interred in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba. An event marking the anniversary may be held there on December 4.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro -- the Castro regime's closest ally -- wrote to the Cuban president to say that his mentor, the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, loved Fidel "like a father."

Fidel Castro's eldest grandson, Fidel Antonio Castro, shared personal memories of his time with the aged leader in an interview published Saturday.

He recalls reading to the convalescing old man, and "suffering more myself when I saw him in pain, rejoicing more than him when I saw his smile."

Elian Gonzalez, who back in 2000 fled Cuba by sea to the United States and was caught up in a fierce custody battle, was hailed by Fidel Castro upon his return to the Americas' only communist-run nation.

His father, Juan Manuel Gonzalez, said that "though we see (Fidel) isn't here with us in body, the entire nation works hard, as if he still were with us."

"Today, I'm proud to see my son all grown up and that is thanks to the Revolution and to Fidel," he told Cubadebate.

- Landmark vote looms -

The anniversary of Fidel Castro's death comes just ahead of the first round of municipal elections that will mark a turning point in Cuban history.

The polls will kick off a series of elections ending in February 2018 with the first top government generational change in 60 years -- the election of Raul Castro's replacement, who will, for the first time, be a post-revolutionary figure.

President since 2008 when he took over from Fidel, Castro said he will not run for re-election.

First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, 57, is favored to replace him.

Born after the revolution, Diaz-Canel would have the tough task of forging the first post-Castro government, consolidating the revolution's gains and executing an economic transition plan.

Raul Castro, however, will remain head of the all-powerful Cuban Communist Party until the next Congress scheduled for 2021 -- when he would be 90 years old. (**)
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Linkedin Samer Al-Atrush (AFP) Cairo, Egypt  Sun, November 26, 2017 08:41 1817 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ac44df 2 World Egypt,EgyptAttack,Sinai-Peninsula,Islamic-State,IS,Abdel-Fattah-el-Sissi Free

Egypt mourned on Saturday as the death toll from a gun and bomb assault on a mosque in the Sinai Peninsula soared above 300, including children, in the deadliest attack the country has witnessed.

The army said warplanes had struck militant hideouts in the insurgency-wracked North Sinai in retaliation.

According to the state prosecution, up to 30 militants in camouflage flying the Islamic State group's black banner had surrounded the mosque and massacred the worshippers during weekly Friday prayers.

Twenty-seven children were among the dead, it said.

IS has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is the main suspect as the mosque is associated with followers of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam whom it has branded heretics.

Funerals for the victims were held overnight and many were buried unwashed in their bloodied clothes, according to the Islamic burial practices for martyrs, security and medical officials said.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared three days of mourning and vowed to "respond with brutal force" to the attack, among the deadliest in the world since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"The army and police will avenge our martyrs and return security and stability with force in the coming short period," he said in a televised speech.

Hours later Egyptian air force jets pursued the "terrorists and discovered several vehicles used in the terrorist attack, killing those inside near the vicinity of the attack", an army spokesman said.

- 'Darkness pervades the village' -

The state prosecutor's office said in a statement that 305 people were killed and 128 wounded in the assault on the Rawda mosque in a village roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the North Sinai capital of El-Arish.

It said the attackers, with long beards and hair often seen on jihadists, arrived in five all-terrain vehicles and surrounded the mosque.

Witnesses said they heard gunshots and explosions before the assailants entered the mosque, according to the prosecution.

"Nobody in that mosque escaped unharmed," said the brother of the mosque's imam, or prayer leader, Mohamed Abdel Fattah.

"He was shot in the foot," the brother, Ahmed, told AFP in a phone call, adding that the religious leader was still in "too much shock" to speak.

One of the wounded, Magdy Rizk, told AFP assailants wore masks and military uniforms, and that extremists had previously threatened people in the area.

Relatives visited victims in hospital in the city of Ismailia near the Suez Canal where the wounded were taken for treatment, an AFP photographer reported.

Locals and relatives of people living in the village where the attack happened said the Rawda mosque was prominent.

"This is the largest mosque in the area. It is the parent mosque, where events take place, funerals and weddings. When full it has 600 or 700 people," said Ahmed Sweilam, whose cousins live in the village.

"Darkness pervades the village now."

World leaders voiced outrage. US President Donald Trump denounced on Twitter the "horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenceless worshippers".

Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Egypt's highest institution of Sunni Islam, condemned "in the strongest terms this barbaric terrorist attack".

Israel's Prime Minister called for unity against "terrorism", saying: "Terrorism will be defeated even more quickly if all countries work against it together."

- IS targeting of Sufis -

The Egypt branch of IS has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, and also civilians accused of working with the authorities, in attacks in the north of the Sinai peninsula.

They have also targeted Sufis as well as Christians.

A tribal leader and head of a Bedouin militia that fights IS told AFP that the Rawda mosque is known as a place where Sufis gather.

IS views Sufis as heretics for seeking the intercession of saints.

The group has also killed more than 100 Christians in church bombings and shootings in Sinai and other parts of Egypt, forcing many to flee the peninsula.

The military has struggled to quell the jihadists who pledged allegiance to IS in November 2014.

The jihadists have since increasingly turned to civilian targets, attacking not only Christians and Sufis but also Bedouin Sinai inhabitants accused of working with the army.

The group also claimed the bombing of a Russian plane that killed all 224 people on board after takeoff from the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on October 31, 2015.

Aside from IS, Egypt also faces a threat from Al-Qaeda-aligned jihadists who operate out of neighboring Libya.

A group calling itself Ansar al-Islam -- Supporters of Islam in Arabic -- claimed an October ambush in Egypt's Western Desert that killed at least 16 policemen.

The military later conducted air strikes on the attackers, killing their leader. (**)
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Linkedin Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara  Sun, November 26, 2017 17:35 1816 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ad7c1b 1 National Garuda,Garuda-Indonesia,flights,bali,Volcano,eruption,Lombok-international-airport,West-Nusa-Tenggara Free

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia canceled 15 domestic flights to and from Lombok International Airport (LIA) in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), on Sunday, owing to volcanic activity on Mount Agung.

Seven of the canceled flights were scheduled to depart from the airport today while the eight others were set to arrive. Low-cost carrier AirAsia also canceled a flight from Lombok to Kuala Lumpur.

The airport is still running as usual despite the canceled flights. We still have other carriers operating at the airport, LIA general manager I Gusti Ngurah Arditha said Sunday.

He explained that the cancelations were made for safety reasons. During a coordination meeting, airport officials and airline representatives decided it was still safe for the airport to operate because the volcanic ash had not yet affected the area.

Garuda waived any additional fees  including cancelation, rebooking and refund fees  for passengers scheduled to fly to or from Lombok on Sunday

Four airlines canceled on Saturday15 flights following an increase in volcanic activity. Among flights affected were Jetstar Airways flights from Bali to three Australian cities, namely Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney; a Virgin Airlines to Brisbane, Australia; two KLM flights to Sydney and one to Amsterdam.

Mt.Agungs volcanic activity has continued to increase since it erupted on Tuesday. It erupted for the second time on Saturday. The eruptions have caused volcanic ash rain in nearby villages, forcing residents to flee to the southern part of Bali. (kuk/ebf)
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Jerusalem  Sun, November 26, 2017 18:45 1816 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ad9f49 2 World Israel,Minister,resignation,ritual,Judaism Free

An ultra-Orthodox minister in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government quit on Sunday in a dispute over work on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest.

But a spokesman for health minister Yaakov Litzman told AFP that his United Torah Judaism party would remain in the ruling alliance "at this stage", preserving Netanyahu's slim parliamentary majority at least for the time being.

Similar disputes have caused Israeli coalition crises in the past, but Netanyahu was reportedly seeking ways to prevent further fallout.

"I resign from my cabinet position as health minister," Litzman wrote in his resignation letter, a copy of which was sent to AFP.

"The decision follows the public works conducted on the Sabbath by Israel Railways," he added.

"I cannot bear ministerial responsibility for the severe harm to one of the eternal values of the Jewish people, which is the Sabbath."

Litzman will retain his seat in parliament.

The dispute is over railway maintenance work, which is less disruptive to travellers on the Sabbath, when no trains run.

The national rail company says some Sabbath work is necessary in the interests of public safety and to avoid congestion on roads.

Litzman says that is untrue.

"To my regret Israel Railways has lately made the Sabbath day national maintenance day," he told Israeli army radio after handing in his resignation to the cabinet secretary.

"It unnecessarily does all its rail maintenance work on the Sabbath," he said.

Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday.

Netanyahu had reportedly been seeking to persuade Litzman not to resign by offering backing for various measures the health minister and his supporters favour.

Ultra-Orthodox parties have often played a kingmaker role in Israel's politics.

They control 13 seats in Netanyahu's coalition, which has 66 out of 120 seats in parliament.

They demand strict adherence to Jewish law, particularly on the Sabbath, when no work is allowed. Electricity must not be turned on or off and engines must not be operated between sunset on Friday and sunset Saturday.

Topics : Israel Minister resignation ritual Judaism
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, November 26, 2017 18:13 1816 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ad8817 2 Business WaskitaTollRoad,JasaMarga,JasamargaTransjawaTol,IPO Free

PT Waskita Toll Road, a subsidiary of state-owned construction company PT Waskita Karya, and state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga, are set to release some shares of their new joint venture firm, PT Jasamarga Transjawa Tol, to the public.

Waskita Toll Road president director Herwidiakto said even though both companies had yet to set an exact timeframe, they expected to hold the initial public offering (IPO) next year.

Currently, we are still examining and valuating this joint venture, Herwidiakto said over the weekend as reported by kontan.co.id.

Read also: State firms form joint venture firm to manage Trans-Java toll road

Herwidiakto denied speculation that funds earned from the IPO would be used to finance toll road projects carried out by Jasa Marga and Waskita Toll road. Instead, the move would strengthen the capital structure of the new firm and allow for flexible operation, he added.

We [Jasa Marga and Waskita Toll Road] still have enough funds until mid-2018 because we will sell finished or nearly finished toll projects [to other parties], Herwidiakto said.

Waskita Toll Road and Jasa Marga are currently focusing on the Trans-Java toll road project with a goal to complete it before next years Idul Fitri exodus, which will take place in June. (dea/lnd)

Topics : WaskitaTollRoad JasaMarga JasamargaTransjawaTol IPO
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Linkedin Daud Muhammad and Aamir Qureshi (AFP) Islamabad, Pakistan  Sun, November 26, 2017 09:29 1817 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ac833c 2 World Pakistan,bloodshed,Islamist-protest,Islamabad,hardliner,Ahmadis Free

Pakistan's government called on the powerful military to deploy in the capital Islamabad Saturday after deadly unrest broke out when police moved to dislodge an Islamist protest that has paralysed the city for weeks.

At least six people were killed and some 190 injured -- around 137 of whom were security personnel -- in fierce clashes as police tried to disperse the demonstration earlier Saturday.

Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets and demonstrators blocked roads and burned police vehicles around the site of the sit-in. As the violence intensified, protests sprouted in the major cities of Lahore and Karachi, as well as smaller towns across the country.

"According to figures we have, at least six people were killed in violence today," Deeba Shahnaz, a spokeswoman for the Provincial Rescue department, told AFP. A security official also confirmed the death toll.

Authorities had been attempting to clear a relatively small protest by the little-known hardline group Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLYRAP) that has blocked a main highway into Islamabad since November 6, causing hours-long traffic snarls and enraging citizens.

It was not clear how many protesters remained in the streets of the capital late Saturday.

There had been roughly 2,000 as the operation began, but AFP reporters said dozens more were arriving throughout the day. Many were galvanised by posts on social media, despite apparent efforts to block sites including Twitter.

Police and paramilitary forces retreated following the clashes, with the Islamabad Capital Territory authorities making the request for the army to step in soon after.

An interior ministry order said the federal government had authorised the deployment of "sufficient troops" to "control law and order" in the city until further notice.

There was no immediate comment from military officials and no sign of troops in the streets late Saturday.

The demonstrations have threatened the beleaguered Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) government ahead of a general election due to be held next year.

The PML-N is already reeling from a Supreme Court decision to oust former prime minister Nawaz Sharif over graft allegations in the summer, while finance minister Ishaq Dar -- also embroiled in a corruption scandal -- has taken indefinite medical leave.

Sharif had repeatedly clashed with the military, which has ruled Pakistan for half of its 70-year history.

Analysts and critics accused the government of bungling its response to the protests, with authorities hesitating for days over fears of violence as the city's commuters seethed in the traffic choked streets.

During the unrest Pakistan's media regulator barred local TV channels from broadcasting live images.

Twitter said it was "monitoring" reports of the government blocking the site, adding "We... hope service will be fully restored soon".

- Alarmed residents -

The TLYRAP are demanding that Pakistan's law minister Zahid Hamid resign over a hastily-abandoned amendment to the oath that election candidates must swear.

Demonstrators have linked it to blasphemy -- a highly contentious issue in Muslim Pakistan -- and claim the oath was softened to enable the participation of Ahmadis, a long-persecuted Islamic minority sect.

Earlier, police in Karachi said some 200 protesters had blockaded a major road in the southern port, with at least 27 injured -- including 22 people with gunshot wounds -- brought to hospital, according to doctors.

Markets and shops were shuttered in the megacity, Pakistan's commercial hub, as alarmed residents stayed inside, while hardline clerics urged more people to take to the streets.

An AFP journalist in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, said a main artery road was closed by police due to protests. Smaller rallies were reported in other towns across the country.

Earlier in the day Pakistan's powerful military chief phoned the prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to urge the situation be handled "peacefully".

General Qamar Javed Bajwa called for both sides to avoid violence "as it is not in national interest", army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said on Twitter.

- 'Explosive' situation -

The protesters come from the Barelvi sect of Islam that has strong ties to Sufism, a mystical branch of the religion that is seen as moderate.

However the execution in 2016 of Barelvi follower Mumtaz Qadri -- who assassinated liberal Punjab governor Salman Taseer over his stance on the country's blasphemy laws -- led members of the group to take a more hardline stance against any moves to reform the legislation.

"These people already had a grudge against the government and the government just provided them the opportunity to vent out their anger," said political analyst Hasan Askari.

But weeks of inaction from authorities sparked the wrath of Pakistan's judiciary, with the Supreme Court issuing a blistering statement earlier in the week and the Islamabad High Court threatening to hold government officials in contempt.

Analysts said the government had allowed a minor issue to grow into a headline-grabbing and potentially dangerous situation.

Even before Saturday's clashes the sit-in had cost the life of an eight-year-old child whose ambulance could not reach a hospital in time due to the blocked roads.

"Politically driven procrastination has its own costs and this is what the government is paying," analyst Imtiaz Gul told AFP, adding that the situation was "explosive". (**)
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Linkedin Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara  Sun, November 26, 2017 12:36 1817 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ace837 1 National NU,Nahdlatul-ulama,NahdlatulUlama,jusuf-kalla,kalla,vice-president,VicePresidentJusufKalla Free

The national meeting (Munas) and major conference (Konbes) of Indonesias largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), ended on Saturday with a call to political parties and politicians to stop using religious sentiments in their activities.

NU also called on law enforcement institutions, including the Corruption Eradication Commission, to monitor money politics and corruption in the 2018 regional elections.

Exploiting religious sentiments in elections is irresponsible and can damage our nation, said NU chairman Said Aqil Siradj during the closing ceremony of the meeting in West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Saturday.

(Read also: Radicalism emerges from thoughts about heaven: Kalla)

Held from Nov. 23 to Nov. 25, the Munas and Konbes NU resulted in recommendations for the government, regarding the economy, health, education and preventing radicalism.

NU said the use of religious sentiments in politics can trigger intolerance and radical acts that can threaten the unity of the nation.

Enforcers of the law must guarantee the constitutional rights of all Indonesian citizens and not bow to pressure from radical groups. They must be bold in taking tough measures to deter against the use of religious sentiments in competition among political parties and politicians, Said asserted.

NU also called on law enforcement to act boldly against violations of the law, especially in regard to hate speech and incitement of violence committed on behalf of any religion. (ebf)

Against radicalism: Indonesia's largest Islamic organization (NU) chairman Said Aqil Siradj said politics must be free from religious sentiments and money politics at the closing ceremony of the NU national meeting in West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Nov.25. (JP/Panca Nugraha)
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Linkedin Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara  Sun, November 26, 2017 11:53 1817 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2acbf55 1 National NU,Nahdlatul-ulama,vice-president,VicePresidentJusufKalla,jusuf-kalla,JusufKalla,kalla,radicalism Free

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said radicalism is driven by groups that focus on how to instantly enter heaven.

Radicalism exists because of thoughts on the promise of heaven. Why are they [radicalized individuals] willing to commit suicide? It is because they want to instantly enter heaven. So please avoid suggesting that we can enter heaven through simple ways [such as suicide bombing] that encourages radicalism, said Kalla.

He was speaking during the closing ceremony of the national meeting of Indonesias biggest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Saturday.

(Read also: Jokowi praises NUs roles in building peace, tolerance)

Kalla said radicalism had become a major challenge in Islam and Indonesia. Moreover, the rapid growth of information and communications technology has made it easier for radical ideologies to spread via social media and the internet.

Most people who have been radicalized think about that [the instant ways to enter heaven]. We should prevent radicalism using a science-based approach and through peaceful means. This is our challenge."

The Vice President said technology and modernization were beneficial for Indonesian people. Nationally, there are around 39,000 Islamic missionary programs aired on 15 national and 300 local TV stations.

They are an effective proselytization tool of Islamic teachings for Indonesian people, said Kalla.

However, preventive measures must be taken as the younger generation absorbed information largely from the internet via mobile devices. (ebf)
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Linkedin Rachmadea Aisyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, November 26, 2017 17:30 1816 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ad7016 2 Business Trade-Ministry,trade-mission,Japan,bilateral-trade Free

In response to shrinking bilateral trade with Japan, the Trade Ministry plans to conduct a trade mission to the East Asian nation from Nov. 28 to Nov. 30.

The trade mission will promote Indonesian products and services as well as open up opportunities for local companies to cooperate with Japanese counterparts in the retail sector.

As many as 21 companies producing a wide range of products, such as processed food, herbal products, textiles and other manufactured items, will join in the event.

Through this trade mission, it is our hope that Indonesian businesspeople will be able to boost the exports of many commodities, whether those that have been available in Japan before or not, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said in a statement on Sunday.

Read also: Indonesia to promote, expand trade in S. Africa, Nigeria

The trade mission is a follow up to the ministers meeting with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) on Aug. 10.

The move is crucial as two-way non-oil and gas trade between Indonesia and Japan over the 2012-2016 period dropped by 14.7 percent, according to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Nevertheless, from January to September, bilateral trade rose by 11.63 percent to US$23.8 billion from a year earlier, with Indonesia posting a $2.5 billion surplus.

Indonesias exports to Japan include coal, copper, nickel, shrimp, paper products, palm oil derivatives, furniture, coffee and tires.

Japan is ranked third as Indonesia main export destination in addition to being the second largest foreign investor in Southeast Asias biggest economy in 2017. (dea/lnd)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, November 26, 2017 10:22 1817 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ac9fb9 4 News travel,#travel,traveling,#traveling,destination,#destination Free

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, you may want to plan ahead for your vacation in 2018 by searching for the best travel deals available.

Head straight to online reservation platform Booking.com, which has released its annual pricing calendar to help travelers set their budgets and know when the best deals are available to book a tour for various destinations.

To include cities in its 2018 pricing calendar, the website first averaged the prices of 3, 4 and 5 star hotel, as well as analyzed the ever-changing costs of staying in a particular city throughout the year.

Heres a brief overview of Booking.coms 2018 travel calendar:

January  Copenhagen, Denmark

According to research, tours to Copenhagen in January can save you up to 41 percent of what youd spend during more expensive months of the year.

February  Buenos Aires, Argentina

Prices for tours to Buenos Aires is said to be at their lowest in February, and can save you up to 16 percent on what youd pay in other months.

Read also: Five travel trends to watch in 2018

March  Kuta, Bali, Indonesia

Those wanting to visit the Island of the Gods may want to schedule a trip for March, as tours to Kuta that month are 33 percent cheaper than those in peak season.

April  Zurich, Switzerland

If youre planning to visit Zurich, you may consider booking a trip in April, when tours to the city can cost 15 percent less than in the most expensive month of the year.

May  Melbourne, Australia

Those who want to go cafe hopping in Melbourne may want to visit the city in May, when you can save up to 22 percent.

June  Chiang Mai, Thailand

Booking.coms 2018 pricing calendar reveals that tours to Chiang Mai in June can be up to 26 percent cheaper than in the most expensive months of the year.

July  Abu Dhabi, UAE

Meanwhile, tours to Abu Dhabi in July could save you around 46 percent on what youd pay in other months.

Read also: Is one day strolling in Seoul enough?

August  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

If youre planning to go to Rio de Janeiro next year, you can save up to 40 percent on tours to the city in August.

September  Mexico City, Mexico

Those wanting to visit the capital of Mexico may want to schedule a trip in September. According to Booking.com, tours to Mexico City in September are about 46 percent cheaper than in other, more expensive months.

October - Auckland, New Zealand

Save 16 percent on tours to Auckland by visiting the city in October.

November  Athens, Greece

If you are dead-set on seeing the Temple of Olympian Zeus or the Parthenon, head to Athens in November and save up to 31 percent on tours.

December  Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Tours to Amsterdam cost up to 35 percent less in December compared to those in other, more expensive months. (ezr/asw)
RACINE  A garage and its contents were damaged in a fire late Saturday night.

The Racine Fire Department responded to the garage at 800 College Ave. at about 11:30 p.m., according to a press release from the department. The fire was called in by an off-duty Racine County deputy sheriff.

Crews brought the fire under control in about 20 minutes, the release states. No tenants or crew members were injured in the fire.

The fire is estimated to have caused $13,000 in losses. Its cause remains under investigation, according to the release.
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sun, November 26, 2017 09:35 1817 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ac8c39 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,celebrity,Lombok Free

Indonesian celebrity Gracia Indri is attending the Fishing Market in Lombok held on Nov. 16.

Gracia Indri is already in Lombok, shes curious about whats happening in Fishing Market. Moreover, the events marketing concept can be implemented for her cake shop, said Indonesian Charms Generation (GenPI Lombok Sumbawa head Jhe Ipul.

Gracia owns Lenso cake shop in Manado and her business is one of the Tourism Ministrys co-branding partners for Wonderful Indonesia tourism brand.

Jhe also said that Gracia who has 2.7 million followers on Instagram will definitely attract more people to come to the event.

Meanwhile, Gracia said that shes ready to promote her cake shop at Fishing Market.

Even though my cakes are in Manado, the least I can do is promoting to people who want to visit Manado, said Gracia.

This Fishing Market is going to be a favorite place for young people who like to take photos in beautiful spots or taking selfies with different varieties of dishes, she added. (asw)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sun, November 26, 2017 11:33 1817 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2acbf0b 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Cirebon,Islam,religious-tourism,halal-destination Free

The first World Islamic Cultural Festival (WICF) is slated to be held in Cirebon on July 9 -17, 2018, and will feature 100 Muslim figures from all over the world.

Guests will arrive at West Java Kertajati International Airport. This will be a trial for the new airport that will be available in 2018, said Sultan Sepuh XIV Cirebon PRA Arief Natadiningrat.

Cirebon is currently building one hotel dedicated to the event's accommodation.

It will be ready by next year. There will be one hotel in front of Cirebon Town Hall that fits the global standard, it will have a helipad on its rooftop, he added.

The head of WICF Mhd Ridha Maha explained that several overseas countries already have similar events but are targeted only for the locals, WICF is the first international one.

Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Korea and Netherlands all have hosted this kind of event, said Ridha.

The festival is expected to be attended by 20 countries and 150,000 visitors. Activities featured in the event include Islamic economics international conference, exhibition, Syariah business forum, art and culture exhibition, talk show, bazaar and many more.

Our target market is entrepreneurs, tourism industry players, central government and regional administrations. We are also expecting Muslim communities from Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Australia. I hope this festival will improve Indonesias economy, tourism, culture, education and religious aspects, Ridha added. (asw)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sun, November 26, 2017 14:31 1816 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ad130e 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Garuda-Indonesia,international-flights,Melbourne,Bali-tourism Free

In line with Tourism Ministry's activity in promoting the Wonderful Indonesia Packages 2017 tour packages in Melbourne, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is adding more flights from Melbourne, Australia to Bali beginning Dec. 29.

On Dec. 29 we will add more flights to eight times a week, said Garuda Indonesia Melbourne general manager Micky Irfandi.

Currently Garuda Indonesia has five flights in a week, later there will be one flight every day and two flights on every Friday or weekend.

Australia still contributes the highest to the number international tourists in Bali, which is like the second home for them, he added.

The Wonderful Indonesia Packages 2017 selling event runs from Nov. 20 until Dec. 3. The promotion and selling activities are available from Nov. 20 until Dec. 3 whilst the activation event is held from Nov. 20  26.

This is a smart way by the Tourism Ministry and tourism industries in Bali and Lombok. Garuda has been waiting for this event to fill in our seats, Micky said. (asw)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sun, November 26, 2017 16:29 1816 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ad5306 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Minahasa,Cultural Free

Paimpuluan ne Tonsea (Minhasan people of Tonsea ethnicity) Community is hosting the Tonsea  Minahasa Cultural Festival that runs from Nov. 25  26 at Anjungan Provinsi Sulawesi Utara, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), Jakarta.

There will be a declaration of Tahun Kunjungan Wisata Sulut 2018 by North Sulawesi Governor Olly Dondokambey together with the North Sulawesi consultative leadership board (Muspida). There will be representatives from other countries as well, said the events committee head, Johny Politon.

A National Seminar about the Cycle of Life of People of Tonsea Ethnicity is also being held as a part of the festivities.

On the second day of the festival, there will be a Cultural Parade consisting of 237 Kebeaaran dancers, four horsemen, Minahasa traditional dance and 1,000 people of Minahasa who live in different places.

The head of Paimpuluan ne Tonsea community Jorry S. Koloay said the people of Tonsea ethnicity who live in Jabodetabek feels that they need to take part in preserving the Minahasan culture.

Wherever we are, thats where we have to introduce and inherit the culture that we have. Be it in school, community, workplace or overseas, Jorry said. (asw)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sun, November 26, 2017 13:36 1816 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2ad05d7 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Tourism-Ministry,Chinese-tourists Free

In an effort to attract more Chinese tourists to come to Indonesia, Tourism Ministry hosted a promotional event called Mainland China Sales Mission 2017 in Nanning City on Nov. 22.

The number of travelers from China is up to 120 million, but only 1.4 million (less than two percent) travel to Indonesia. The event is to promote year-end holidays, said Tourism Ministry's deputy assistant for Asia-Pacific Tourism Promotion, Vinsensius Jemadu.

The event was joined by 12 sellers from Bali, Batam and West Java and attended by 125 buyers as well as deputy director Nanning Municipal tourism development commission Lin Hui Chao.

It opened with a performance of Setabik Dance by a dance group from South Sumatra, and then followed by a welcome speech, presentation about Palembang as the host of 2018 Asian Games and presentation about Cross-Border Batam Bintan.

Data from Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that in 2015, the number of Chinese tourists was the third highest with 1,141,330 people, or equal to 11 percent of the total number of international tourists.

In 2016, China took the second position with 1,452,971 people, or equal to 11 percent of the total number of overseas tourists.

For this year, up until the month of September, there were 1,606,615 Chinese tourists who came to Indonesia, up by 45.68 percent from the same period last year that welcomed 1,103,503 people. (asw)
Film Stars Dont Die in Liverpool really is a love story that is fresh, original, and totally unique to the romance genre. But this film isnt exactly the brainchild of a fiction writer. Its a real life story, and someone really lived it.

Based on the memoir written by Peter Turner of the same name, this touching tale tells the story the unlikely pairing of a young actor and a Hollywood legend who meet in Liverpool and instantly click.

Hollywood star Gloria Grahame is a total stranger Turner, unaware of her Hollywood fame when they meet in the building where they are both living, and this is what makes their relationship so genuine. Despite a big age gap, the two are instantly infatuated with each other, dancing together, attending plays, going to the pub. It really is love at first sight. However, after some time apart, Gloria re-enters Peters life when she falls ill and returns to Liverpool to stay with Peter and his family.

Unbeknownst to Turner, Grahame was not only a successful actress in the 40s and 50s, but she was also an Oscar winner. The fact that Turner was totally to oblivious to Grahames success makes their love so innocent, pure and sincere. Gloria is eccentric, fun loving and fresh, despite being significantly older than Peter.

Played exquisitely by the wonderful Annette Bening, the life and soul of the quirky Gloria is captured honestly and on a deeply personal level. And the chemistry that existed between these two could not have been brought to life so authentically were it not for the stunning performance by Jamie Bell.

Bell brings a genuine wide-eyed quality to his portrayal of Peter, showing audiences the real reasons why Peter Turner was so captivated by Gloria from the moment he met her.

And while both lead actors excel in their roles, the real tool for emotional response has been crafted through the narrative structure. A joint effort of director Paul McGuigan and screenplay writer Matt Greenhalgh, we arent told Peter and Glorias story in a linear structure. Glimpses of their time together are revealed bit by bit, jumping between past and present where we see Gloria and Peter in their prime, then fastforwarding to Glorias fragile state.

There are times in the narrative when Peter will literally step through a door which transports him from L.A. back to Liverpool again. One scene is also shown twice from each perspective which is crucial to understanding why the relationship was met with a life changing obstacle and just how deeply the couple loves each other.

Featuring a gorgeous new song from Elvis Costello, You Shouldnt Look At Me That Way, Film Stars Dont Die in Liverpool really is original in every way.

A collective effort from McGuigan, Bening, Bell, Greenhalgh and Turner has created a love story so raw and so moving that you will be fighting back the tears. Its moving, poignant and heartbreaking for all the right reasons  a true masterpiece.

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool is out now, distributed through Lionsgate.
The joy which greeted the resignation of Robert Mugabe this week is a testament to a career  and a life  which has been sorely wasted.

Considerable goodwill accompanied Mugabe when he was first elected President of Zimbabwe thirty-seven years ago, but decades of corruption and thuggery have transformed him into a figure of global ill repute.

1980 elections Mugabe was common amongst dictators in that he came to power in a democratic election, only to decide once in power that he was too comfortable to move. The, which saw Mugabes Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) win by a landslide, were supervised by the British, ending decades of colonial rule in what was then called Rhodesia.

horrendous massacres Initially, the new President sought to conciliate with the white population fearful that he was a Communist, if not so much with rival clans in regions such as Matabeleland, where under his orders,took place.

first wife one journalist What went wrong with Mugabe, so to speak, has been the subject of much debate. Certainly, the death of his, Sally, in 1992, was not good news, not least because she was replaced by his current wife, Grace, the kind of wife who, in the words of, likes shopping sprees and private jets and different palaces for summer and winter.

hatred of homosexuality agriculture Hisand maltreatment of Zimbabwesfurther damaged his standing in the eyes of his citizens, and the wider world.

admiration Mugabe was of Communist politics but ideology mattered little to him. He was more interested in power itself, with a particularfor the Kim dynasty and their method of running the country like a family business. It could, therefore, be said that he always had the mind of a dictator.

his own majority Yet deaths under Mugabe were few compared to other regimes, and elections continued to be held throughout his near four-decade reign. That Mugabe lost many votes in parliament and eventuallysuggests he enjoyed the prestige of power more than the ability to radically reshape his country one way or another.

deep jealousy handing in a letter It was once speculated that Mugabe fostered aof Nelson Mandela and the adulation his South African leader received. Mandela gracefully stood down after one term, but Mugabe went on and on and on  he refused to resign live on TV, sullenlyto parliament instead.

Many thought his death would be the only way they could get rid of him. Instead, Mugabe can retreat into retirement in the knowledge that has probably become the opposite of Mandela: the most despised man to emerge from post-colonial Africa.

shown little respect Now that decades of waste have drawn to a close, the people of Zimbabwe have a chance to begin afresh. This may not be simple, as opposition parties areby the still-dominant ZANU-PF.

Emmerson Mnangagwa , the vice president whose sacking by Mugabe sparked the crisis, will take over as President. Aged 75, he is hardly young blood, while his close connections with the military and his nickname  The Crocodile  someone who bides his time before killing - are hardly reassuring signs in a struggling democracy.

But Zimbabwes democratic opposition is strong and durable  it predates and has outlasted the spontaneity of the Arab Spring. It will perhaps one day be the harbinger of another Mandela moment, when a long-suffering African nation throws off the shackles of a degraded way of doing things, as Zimbabwe could have done had the once-impressive Mugabe not come to power so many years ago.
Two faces who have been missing for the entirety of the third season are finally back  but that never spells luck for anyone in the Mr. Robot universe, much less for Trenton and Mobley.

Picking from where we last left them in the second season (with Leon asking them the time), they are now stuck with a Leon, whos now been revealed to be working for the Dark Army.

The cold open of the episode is the perfect medicine for anyone suffering from Leon withdrawal. Joey Bada$$ is as amazing as ever to bringing the contrast between Leon casually talking about how underappreciated Knight Rider is and the utterly terrified Trenton and Mobley sitting next to him.

While we can only be happy to see them on the screen again, however, Whiterose has plans for every character, and it seems that its only her whos having a great time at the moment.

While in FBI custody, Tyrell Wellick is finally informed of his familys fate by a Dark Army-owned Santiago. Though this show is of no shortage of morally grey characters, his promise to turn his son into a statistic, and leave him in an abusive care home, and the entire scene is just chilling.

Elliot is back to Krista, terrified that he has something to do with the explosions, but once he pulls out Mr Robot, its revealed that the two were equally played. Its incredible to see a Mr Robot whos as clueless and angry as Elliot is.

The scene acts as a reminder that no one knows that the 5/9 hack was orchestrated by Mr Robot and Elliot. That adds another partial explanation as to why Elliot misses Mr Robot  he is the only one he can share the guilt with. Luckily, Krista is unable to report him due to her oath.

In the synopsis of the episode it says that angela hits the rewind button. a lot., and boy, isnt that an understatement. Faced with the incredible reality that she has directly caused the death of thousands of people, she falls back on the only thing that can give her hope right now  the promise that Whiterose gave her that everything will be reversed in the end.

However, from Whiteroses conversation with Phillip, it feels that she had fooled Angela into working for her, rather than promise her any sort of reconciliation. That being said, her plan seems wide-reaching, and itll take us quite a few more episodes to see how all the threads of the plot will connect to her plan. Thats because by now its obvious she has been the one pulling the strings all this time.

The episode finishes with her framing Trenton and Mobley as terrorists working for Iran, having orchestrated the entire hack. That in itself feels like a commentary about how easy it is to frame two brown people as terrorists, when the chief organisers get away with it, rather than a cheap stereotype.

All seasons of Mr. Robot are available on Amazon Prime, with new episodes of the third season arriving every Thursday.
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Everyone has a favorite teacher.

Sometimes its the third grade teacher who helped you finally figure out fractions, the eighth grade history teacher who made class fun or the high school science teacher who encouraged you go for your dream job and sometimes its a family member.

The Arizona Daily Sun asked a Flagstaff teacher, Northern Arizona University President Rita Cheng and Flagstaff City Councilmember Charlie Odegaard who their favorite teacher or teachers were, how they shaped their lives and what they would say to that teacher today. Here are their responses.

Danielle Grimmett, a fifth grade teacher at Marshall Elementary School, has two favorite teachers: Marylyn Myers and her mom, Valerie Grimmett.

Myers was my resource teacher. She was amazingly supportive, Danielle wrote in an email. She would give special attention to each of her students. She would pull us out of the classroom and work with both my sister and I to address any needs we had. She gave us a place to ask questions without judgment and a place to feel safe. She worked with each of her students to help them understand how they learned best and the skills to help us cope in areas we struggled.

I use many of the skills she taught me today, Danielle said. I know she didnt hear it enough in her career, but thank you, Mrs. Myers, all of your hard work is truly appreciated and remembered!

Danielles mom, Valerie, also has a special place in her heart. Valerie taught in the Flagstaff Unified School District for more than 20 years. Teaching was her second career, Valerie said. She started her work life with the citys Parks and Recreation Department. Then as a single mom of four kids she decided to switch careers and become a teacher. She put herself through Northern Arizona Universitys teachers college, earned her degree and taught several different grades at two different FUSD schools before settling in as a fourth and fifth grade teacher at Kinsey Elementary.

She loved to teach science and inspired her students to love it, too, Danielle said. Its why science is one of Danielles favorite subjects to teach.

She taught me how to love nature and the world around us. She taught her students how to have fun while learning. (She) ran a tight ship but was often caught dancing and being silly around the classroom, Danielle said. She even made her students love spiders. She had a resident spider that she called Fred. Her love for life and interest in the world around her is what has inspired me.

Valerie said Fred was a spider that showed up one day while she was using an overhead projector for class. Fred seemed to come back each year and was so popular that students started bringing in other eight-legged friends for Fred. Valerie retired in 2012 but then went to work at the Willow Bend Environmental Education Center for a few years so she could continue to work with students.

Danielle said it was her moms love of teaching and her experiences in her moms classroom that got her to thinking about teaching a second career. Danielle also graduated from NAU with a bachelors degree in another field. As she pondered her career options, Danielle considered her moms path in teaching.

I had to do something rewarding and stimulating. It just seemed like a natural fit. I was good with kids and I was good with classroom management, Danielle said.

So she returned to college to get a masters degree in Elementary Education and ended up getting a job at Marshall Elementary School teaching fourth and fifth graders.

Danielle said she frequently calls her mom for advice. Her moms background in teaching let her know what to expect before she stepped into her first classroom and how things work.

I knew what I was getting into. I think a lot of younger teachers dont know what to expect until theyre in a classroom by themselves, Danielle said.

If I could thank her today, I would say thank you for opening the world up for me and teaching me that being different isnt a fault but instead a strength to be proud of, Danielle said. Thank you for always being interested in learning all you could and inspiring your students to do the same."

NAU President Rita Cheng said her favorite teacher was Don Blegen. He taught biology at Elmwood High School in Elmwood, Wis.

It was a very small high school and I remember him as being young and energetic, Cheng said. I recall that as high school students we were having fun and not necessarily paying attention all the time. I remember that he really knew the content and that he used humor to get us to focus. He encouraged me to go to college when few from my class had that ambition.

Id like to tell him thank you for bringing the best out in me and for seeing a future in education from a young farm girl, Cheng said.

Councilmember Charlie Odegaard said, My favorite teacher of all time was Mr. John Wesley Ply at Flagstaff High School.

Odegaard said he took a math class from Ply, who passed away in 2013.

His style was he really wanted you to understand the subject and he was always there to help you either in class or after class. I believe it was his kindness that students liked, Odegaard said.

Plys upbeat attitude taught him to look at the glass as being half full, to always be kind and smile. Its something Odegaard said he tries to do every day.

What would I say to him is, Thank you, with a smile, Odegaard said.
Chyasal revisited

Both the people and the town of Chyasal have grown increasingly tougher with every challenging metamorphosis
Doctors, politics and the flute

Medical education should create humans who serve those in need, but politics challenge that very spirit today
Prison narratives of freedom-fighters invariably document state-sponsored torture, violent and macabre expressions of sadism and diabolic humiliation of the incarcerated individual. Of course the synonyms that the State uses to suppress rebellion against it describe freedom-fighters as terrorists and insurgents. Semantic jugglery plays a dominant role to ensure and enforce the hegemony of a ruthless State administration. In colonial India linguistic subterfuges were often used by the British to quash challenges to its imperial designs and uninhibited exploitation.

In the three decades of the 20th century, many young people in India and specifically in undivided Bengal strongly felt that only an armed struggle against the British imperialists could liberate the country from the clutches of the foreign power. Apart from a bid to smuggle in revolvers, Barin Ghosh launched the Bengali newspaper Jugantar, that criticised British rule in India. When he was arrested and detained in the Alipore jail he plotted a jail break, which failed but this act of daring defiance expectedly earned the ire of the State.

The accounts, documented or fictionalised, of the experiences of the detainees in the state-controlled prisons, whether it is about the infamous remote island of St Helena where Napoleon the Emperor of France was imprisoned by the British, or the Devils Island, French Guianci, Alcatraz prison island in California, Auschwitz in Krakow and other German concentration camps, Guantanamo Bay prison, the US prison of Abu Ghraib in Iraq. The graphic narratives of trauma and inhuman brutality bear evidence of the physical and psychological torture to which the political prisoners were subjected.

In The Tale of My Exile  Twelve Years in the Andamans, Barindra Kumar Ghosh, younger brother of the revolutionary turned spiritual guru Aurobindo Ghosh, documents in chilling detail his life as a transported prisoner serving life term at the notorious Cellular jail in the Andamans. The location was known as the dreaded black waters, Kala Pani, the isolated Cellular jail. Barin Ghosh was sentenced to death by the court on 9 May 1909 for his involvement in the Alipore Bomb case while his elder brother Aurobindo Ghosh, also arrested, was acquitted. On 23 November 1909, the death sentence of Barin Ghosh was commuted to life imprisonment in the dreaded Andaman Cellular jail.

Barin Ghosh was a prisoner in the Cellular jail from 1909 to 1920. After the end of World War I, the British government in an amnesty Act passed on 23 December 1919, granted freedom to some selected political prisoners. Barin Ghosh was one of those who had been set free.

The Tale of my Exile is not a diary or a chronologically organised memoir of the 12 years that Barin spent in the Cellular jail as a political prisoner. However, his sense of trauma and bewilderment are clearly understood from the very opening lines of the tale that is written in retrospect, recalling in abstract descriptions and comments, the horrendous experience of living death. So in the first page, Barin Ghosh wrote matter-of-factly about his hazy memory  This faculty seems to have fallen into a moribund condition and can only groan at its best. Past events can only be recalled as shadowy and uncanny images, as it were, parading in a drunken brain. (p1) And yet, the sense of wit and humour sometimes burst forth despite the descriptions of inhuman treatment, What a funny spectacle we must have offered then! A wooden ticket dangling from an iron ring round the neck  just like the bell that is hung on to the neck of a bullock  fetters on the leg (p 7)

The 12 chapters of the narrative describe the life of the ordinary convicts and the political prisoners, the latter being the worst sufferers as they were considered to be much more defiant and consequently dangerous.

Barin Ghosh describes in detail the Bri-tish jailers, supervisors, wardens and security guards. He also describes how nauseous it was for the inmates to have the same food of rice, dal and kachu leaf throughout the 12 years of their stay. Also the lack of human contact, companionship and conversation reduced some of the prisoners to brutish beasts; some even indulged in sexual perversity while many became mentally unstable.

Moreover the relentless hard work of coir twisting, oil grinding and other manual labour for long hours made their stay in the penal colony insufferable. In chapter 11 titled, A Summary of Sorrows, Barin Ghosh observes with resignation about his life in the Cellular jail, It will unhinge any man even in ordinary circumstances, not to speak of a prisoner, to be so hunted and insulted all the 24 hours. It is quite an inevitable eventuality that many should try to find release through suicide. Those only whose hearts have turned to stone can bury their pain and count their days in the hope of a future (p 131).

In his outstanding, well-researched introduction the editor Sachidananda Mohanty informs readers that Barin Ghosh was a prolific writer who had published 20 books after his release from the Cellular jail, in 1929. After his release, Barin Ghosh started an English weekly The Dawn Of India, worked for The Statesman, and later became editor of the Dainik Basumati in 1950. Soon after his release he spent long years at the Pondicherry Ashram in close association with his brother Sri Aurobindo. The spirituality of the brothers Aurobindo and Barin made them transcend the challenges of a deeply complex political situation in colonial India.

Barin Ghosh wrote several riveting accounts of his experiences at the Pondicherry ashram, an abode which gave him hope and spiritual strength after the experience of traumatic living-death inside the Cellular jail. Mohanty urges the readers of Barin Ghoshs The Tale of Exile to familiarise themselves with such path-breaking texts dealing with the repressive state apparatus such as discipline and punishment, political prisoners in India, penal settlement in Andamans, among others. By resurrecting an ignored, neglected and lost memoir, which documents the anti-colonial struggle, strangely often elided by post-colonial theorists and critics, Mohanty has drawn our attention to a neglected area of research that demands serious engagement.

The reviewer is former professor of English, University of Calcutta
After my MSc examination I casually told my friends in the Coffee House one day that I needed some extra cash to replenish my pocket-money which, till then, was supplied by my father. I said I would like to give tuition classes in science subjects and asked whether they might find such a student for me.

Akmol was one of my friends present there and he immediately said, Will you teach my sisters friend? I know her quite well actually because my sister and she are very close.

I said, Akmol, you are my friend, how can I take money for tutoring her?

Be practical man. She is rich enough to pay the amount. Actually they are a bit conservative and if you teach the daughter of the house they will feel comfortable. They have heard a lot about you from me.

So you gave me a clean character certificate?

Sophia is an excellent student and a very good girl.

I started taking classes on Saturdays and Sundays at her Jhautala residence in Kolkata. Sophia was 19 or 20 and a diligent student  her final examinations were just three months away. She was by no means a paragon of beauty but there was something special in her simplicity and sophistication and in her expressive eyes. She had a unique personality, which I liked. But on the very first day she said something that shocked me.

Will you take tea at our place?

Sorry?

No you are a Hindu and we are Muslims

So? Do you suggest that I am apprehensive of the possibility of being cast out by taking food here? And then I shall have no other option except conversion to Islam But for your kind information let me tell you, I eat the flesh of both the animals forbidden in my religion and yours. So you can understand

Sophia broke into laughter and that sounded so musical. And despite myself, I started liking her.

Soon enough, the MSc results were out and I got a job at a private company. The salary was moderate but as a starting amount, it was enough for me. Sophia cleared her school leaving examination with flying colours and was admitted to Lady Brabourne College.

Now a college teacher was tutoring her for the physics

honours papers but since that was my subject too, I was especially requested by Sophia and her father to continue helping her at least for a day in a week. Once there was a particular problem, which Sophia felt she could not grasp properly and the next day, I brought my own notes on the topic. Sophia was copying them and I suddenly felt her lips were so innocent and on her cheek, there were a million unarticulated words.

Almost involuntarily I said, Sophia, dont you think of marriage?

She looked at me and calmly asked Are you going to marry shortly?

I told a lie, Yes, my parents are pressing me to marry.

Splendid! Wont you invite us?

Of course yes, but only if I marry

Why? Is there a problem? Do you want to be a fakir or what you people say a sanyasi?

The truth is I like somebody but cannot say anything to her.

It is a regular drama sir. Can I mediate? Tell me her name and give me her address.

You know her!

Really? Still give me her details.

Go and stand before that mirror and youll get the details.

Sophia became pale and started trembling. I felt confused. I did not expect this reaction from Sophia and expected that she would take it as a joke. I did not know how to manage the situation and in a bid to overcome the wretchedness, I felt I said something that made things more complicated.

Sophia, will you marry me?

Her face turned pink either with rage or in disgust. Are you ready to embrace Islam?

Why? Is there any necessity for that?

I shall never be a Hindu. I shall never worship idols. I shall go to the mosque regularly and read the Koran five times a day. I shall bring up the children as true Muslims. Now, do you still have a desire to marry a Muslim girl?

Why are you thinking that way? Let us have one religion  the religion of man

Sir, please leave our house immediately. Never come again. We shall send your fees through Akmol bhai.

I was stunned and did not know what to do but left their house. I felt so low. No it was not simply insult; I felt it was me who insulted Sophia. Did Sophia think that I was impelled by carnal desires? Shame on me! I had loved her. Did I really love her? But what is love? Was it a kind of infatuation? Love and infatuation are two different things. I did my schooling at Narendrapur Ramkrishna Mission and my college was Belur Vidyamandir and then I came to the Science College. I did not have much scope to associate with girls in any capacity. Is it for that I was so intensely enamoured by this girl, having, for the first time, come so close to a young and attractive person of the opposite sex?

I narrated the whole incident to Akmol who, too, was annoyed with me. What have you done brother? Why did you do this? Especially

Please finish your sentence.

It is by family arrangement that I am supposed to marry Sophia.

My God I cant show my face to anybody. Please pardon me.

Dont get so upset. I will manage everything. Do one thing; go out of Kolkata for a few days. Digha will be a perfect place. Enjoy the sea there and take rest for a few days. By that time I hope to settle everything. But one thing surprises me. You were never a romantic guy

Anyway

I went to Digha and booked a room at Hotel Sea Hawk right in front of the sea; enjoyed a sumptuous lunch of prawns and had a fine mid-day siesta. In the afternoon I went to the sea beach, and sat on a stone staring blankly at the waves. Suddenly I was startled by a voice.

So you ran away.

Why would I run away? It is just an outing.

Why did you not come to our house again?

You had forbidden me.

And you had to listen to what I said?

My cellphone was ringing. My sister was calling me, Dada, why did you miss Akmol das wedding feast? He was complaining
West Bengal on Saturday sought fixing of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 18 per cent on all goods except tobacco and luxury items bringing it down from the present level of 28 per cent.

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra told the media here that the launching of the GST in a hurry led to a loss of nearly Rs one lakh crore for the Centre and the states put together.

Speaking at an event at the International Trade Fair here, Mitra said that despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee warning the Centre against the GST saying that they were not ready for it, it went ahead with the new tax regime and now traders were unable to file returns due to various technical complexities.

We told the central government not to launch GST on July 1, 2017, Mitra said.

I am unhappy to say that the Centre has shortfall of approximately Rs 65,000 crore in last three months and states of around Rs 30,000 crore, Mitra said.

He added that about close to Rs one lakh crore of expected protected fund has already been lost in past three months.

The Minister said that in September, close to 30 per cent taxpayers did not file returns which increased to 40 per cent in October.

A possible reason is that small traders are not able to file their returns If they dont file returns, there has to be a tax shortfall, Mitra said adding that the situation is very grim.

Traders are not able to file GSTR  2 forms, which is meant for purchase. Therefore, we had proposed a simple form for filing returns, he said.

Mitra also said that there should be a principle on the basis of which tax rates should be decided on goods and services, not on the basis of cherry picking and lobbying.

He said the most dangerous thing with the situation is non-availability of refund processing menu system till date.

Now, they are talking about manual refund, instead of the computerised process. Even the return data is not available. This may create a stumbling block in smooth refund Therefore the traders are not able to claim refunds, he said.

Data consistency is another serious problem, said the Minister, adding that the data provided by GSTN to the states is incomplete and erroneous.

Speaking of digital transactions, Mitra said that there has been drastic fall since March 2017.

In March 2017, e-transaction was up to Rs 149 lakh crore. However, in August 2017 it came down to Rs 109 lakh crore, he said.

Speaking of Aadhaar accounts, the Minister said, According to a government department, Centre for Internet Security, 13.5 crore Aadhaar accounts have been compromised, Mitra pointed out.

He said compromised security of Aadhaar accounts was the reason that Banerjee did not open an Aadhaar account.
Building a case for safe internet access for all, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said the country will assert its voice for the digitally deprived and marginalised.

At the same time, India will be a voice of moderation and reason in the global digital discourse, he said while addressing the Ministerial Forum at Global Conference on Cyberspace 2017.

India firmly stands for digitally egalitarian order where we will lend our weight to those who are digitally deprived and marginalised but with logic, reason and moderation, he said.

The panel, which discussed challenges faced by countries in ensuring citizens have access to secure and inclusive cyberspace, included policy makers from nations like Iran, Japan, Russia and Venezuela.

Cyberspace must be equal space, free from threat, Prasad said, adding that governments globally will have to play a crucial role in making internet safe against radical elements, terrorists and extremists.

He stressed that countries can move forward only by building trust, undertaking reciprocity and having certain agreed norms of behaviour in cyberspace.

Prasad said India is open to sharing its best practices for greater collaboration and cooperation in the area of cyberspace.

Digital inclusion, digital access and digital security should become important signposts of cyberspace. Access to internet should not be negotiable, and should be available without discrimination, he said.

There is a raging debate going on over net neutrality globally. Recently, US regulator Federal Communications Commission had said it plans to roll back the net neutrality rules adopted in 2015.

In India, sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is slated to announce its recommendations on the issue soon as the consultation process is still on.

Earlier today, TRAI Chairman R S Sharma told PTI that the regulators recommendations on net neutrality will be in the Indian context, guided solely by national interest.

We are going to be pragmatic and guided solely by what is in the interest of the country, Sharma said.
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything, acclaimed playwright George Bernard Shaw once said.

Acknowledging the change school witnessed in the year gone by, Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan, celebrated its annual day and prize-giving function at the Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi, on Saturday.

The glittering evening was graced by Palestinian Ambassador to India Adnan Abu Alhaijaa, and South African Deputy High Commissioner to India. In attendance were students, parents and school staff.

Annual day is eagerly awaited every year as it gives the school a chance to recapitalise the past year, Kiran Datar, Chairperson, Board of Management, Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan, said in her introductory address.

After welcoming the distinguished guests, Jyoti Bose, Principal, Springdales School, presented the annual report, a fair compilation of schools achievements in various fields from the academic session 2016-17.

The esteemed members of the Springdales Education Society and Managing Boards of Springdales Schools presented the awards to the meritorious students for their excellence in academic and co-curricular activities.

The senior school choir, dressed in vivid ethnic attire, took the audience to a musical ride and captured the fragile beauty of music in all its tones. The group sang an array of songs ranging from Italian and Irish to a fusion of Hindi and Urdu, which was concluded with much-celebrated Sufi song Tajdar-e-Haram.

The amusement was intensified further when the students presented The Winds of Change, a powerful audio-visual performance with dance, drama, song and visual projections.

Directed and scripted by Principal Jyoti Bose, the ballet depicted the state of youth who are the change-makers of the society. It explained how the future of the young minds is dependent on to the extent to which they address the concerns about urgent global issues bequeathed to them by the previous generations.

The vote of thanks was given by Neerja Sharma, Manager, Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan.
The fire that broke out in a Ludhiana plastic factory recently, killing at least 13 people, including nine firemen, has exposed the loopholes in Punjabs fire fighting and disaster management system. This is despite the state governments claims to have come up with a separate fire directorate, introduction of hi-tech facilities and various fire stations at the district level.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh rushed to the spot to supervise the fire fighting operations. After visiting the spot, the CM admitted that he was highly perturbed to see firemen using wet sacks and scarves on their heads during the rescue and relief operations. These men risk their lives for the sake of the people, he pointed out, adding that it was the duty of the government to ensure that they do not lack basic facilities to carry out their difficult and challenging work. The CM said he was also aware about the severe staff shortage faced by the department, which was trying to make do with inadequate men and material even in emergency situations like the Ludhiana tragedy.

Amarinder Singh even ordered immediate release of funds for the uniforms of fire department personnel in a bid to improve the functioning of the department. He also asked the Local Government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu to assess how insurance cover can be provided to the firemen.

The CM said his government was taking all possible steps to improve the infrastructure of the fire department. A directorate of fire services was established earlier this year and 69 fire brigades were purchased and distributed to the municipal corporations and municipal councils. Another 27 fire brigades are in the pipeline and would come by December, he said. The new Fire Safety Act was under formulation and would be ready by December, added the CM.

The directorate of fire services and the Fire Safety Act will check unauthorised buildings and those lacking in fire safety norms, said Amarinder Singh, adding that adequate equipment for the fire stations would be made available under the Fire Directorate, which will be headed by an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.

Navjot Singh Sidhu pointed out that the previous SAD-BJP government had failed to do anything for the department, spending only Rs 13 crore on its equipment and upgradation out of a budget of Rs 90 crore.

Staff and equipment shortage is a major challenge before the states Local government department. Most of the newly introduced fire tenders are lying idle in the absence of drivers at various fire stations in districts. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator from Sunam and party co-president Aman Arora has already written to Sidhu asking him to provide staff for the fire brigade department.

Arora said the staff is needed so that the fire vehicles sent to the city four months back can be utilised. Arora in his letter said even after repeated reminders to the concerned officers, nothing has been done to provide staff . Arora said Sidhu provided fire vehicles to the city on demand but due to lack of drivers and other support staff the vehicles are now just a liability for the department. A number of fire incidents were reported in the last few months in the city and surrounding areas but even despite the availability of vehicles, the office was helpless. I hope that the minister will look into the matter and do needful in this regard, said Arora.

As per information available with the local government department, 68 fire tenders have already been provided to the fire service stations in various districts. Adding to it, 28 more fire tenders have been sanctioned for the remaining stations. The officers said at least 500 fire tenders will be required all over the state which has a population of 2.77 crore. A fund of Rs 50 crore has been approved to buy 100 more fire tenders. The state earlier had 195 fire tenders out of which 114 had outlived their utility. Officials said a fire tender for every 50,000 population is required. At present only Mohali is equipped with modernised fire tenders having hydraulic stairs necessary for high rise buildings.

In Patiala, the hometown of Amarinder Singh, shortage of staff and non-functional hydrants are crippling the fire department. Sources said, the shortage of water-filling points in the city and leakage from tanks of fire vehicles are among the major challenges. Similarly, In Sangrur, the fire station has over 26 sanctioned posts out of which half have been lying vacant for several years.
One is often taken by surprise at the extent to which modern technology has made inroads. This is particularly true of Internet and the slew of electronic gadgets now readily available. With the latest advancements in technology, the world is now available at a click. This is perhaps why social media and the dense web of Internet have engaged billions of users around the world so that imagining a life without Internet is impossible. One can recall the advertisement of a popular telecom brand in which people can be seen finding ideas for daily chores on the Internet.

This advertisement turned real for a colleague recently, giving him a taste of how everyone has become tech-savvy now. Our colleague, who had recently moved home, was asked by his new maid what he wanted to have for dinner. Replying that he wanted to eat dum aaloo, our colleague then asked the maid what ingredients she would be requiring. To his amazement, the young lady took out her smart phone, opened YouTube and started surfing for recipes on the net. Surprised and impressed, our colleague thought that no matter how much one blamed these modern machines for making us lazy, at one point everyone would agree that science has indeed made our life easier.

Tables turned

They say, never mess with old people. This was painfully brought home to a bookshop owner, who thought he could pull a fast one on an elderly customer. The senior citizen, perhaps in his 80s, sporting a Nehru topi, had asked for the latest biography of Mrs Gandhi. The amused bookshop keeper jokingly asked whether he wanted the biography of Kasturba Gandhi, wife of the Father of Nation. Curious onlookers, as well as the bookshop owner himself, were in for a surprise, when the gentleman firmly said, No, I want the latest biography of Indira Gandhi. The bookshop keeper had the grace to acknowledge the rap on his wrist and courteously informed the old man that the book was not in his stock at present. But yes, I do know that a biography of Indira Gandhi has hit the book market recently, he admitted.

Turning cold

The weather at present is a bit tricky ~ not cold enough to don woollen garments yet cool enough to need some protection. Looking around at several people, who had chosen to wear jackets, sweaters and shawls, a couple of young girls in the Metro commented how people had no tolerance for cold and were needlessly over-dressed.

However, they had to quickly eat their own words when they deboarded at a station in Gurgaon, where temperatures are a few notches lower than Delhi. Recoiling from the blast of cold as they emerged from the warmth of the Metro train, one of the girls admitted, Now I can see why those people are all bundled up!

Tailpiece

A veteran scribe quipped that just as researchers rush to London to study Indian history, one may now have to go there to watch a historical film as well!

(Contributed by: Samir Pal, R V Smith, Kunal Roy, Abhijeet Anand and Asha Ramachandran)
Saudi Arabia continues to be among the most preferred destinations for Indians seeking jobs abroad, resulting in the Gulf kingdom becoming among the highest sources of remittances to India, according to official data.

According to figures provided by the Embassy of India in Riyadh, the number of expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia shot up from 3,039,193 in March this year to 3,253,901 in October, a rise of over 200,000 within seven months.

They not only comprise blue-collar workers but a growing number of doctors, engineers, oil technologists, IT experts and other technocrats who are increasingly seeking opportunities in the Kingdoms reforming economy and growing liberal atmosphere for expatriates.

According to Pew Research Center data, India continues to be the top recipient of migrant remittances, with nearly $69 billion coming in in 2015 alone.

Of the nearly $69 billion that came into India, Saudi Arabia accounted for over $10.5 billion alone  about a sixth of the total remittances.

However, in 2016, remittances to India went down by over $6 billion compared to 2015, brought about by falling oil prices and slow economic growth in the Gulf.

But after falling to a low of $25 a barrel last year, oil prices have now gone over $60 a barrel, indicating that the Gulf will remain a primary source of remittances for India with oil-rich Saudi Arabia among the leaders.

The dramatic rise in the number of expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia vindicated the World Banks predictions that remittances among countries will rise in 2018 to touch $615 billion. Of this, $460 billion will be received by developing countries, a rise of over $30 billion compared to 2016.

According to World Bank estimates, $575 billion in remittances were sent globally in 2016. Of this, $429 billion was received by developing countries such as India.
Who doesnt love biryani? Those who dont eat meat savour vegetarian biryani, which, like its better half, is made differently in different places in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and West Asia. Moradabadi biryani is a bit spicy while the one sold in Hyderabad is both spicy and slightly sour. So is Bangladeshi biryani, while Afghan biryani has more meat than rice. Delhi, Agra and Lucknow biryani is smooth and palate appetising (sondhi), though in some food joints the Lucknavi variety tastes almost like the Moradabadi.

In Delhi there are more than 400 shops selling Moradabadi biryani, covering mostly New Delhi areas, including Nizamuddin. For the really mouth-watering one a gourmand has to go to Old Delhi areas like Jama Masjid, Ballimaran and Bara Hindu Rao, besides, further away, Uttam Nagar. In Agra, Naye Basti, Wazirpura, Jama Masjid Taley (below the mosque) and Lohamandi there are shops selling the traditional biryani.

Besides, there are thele or rehari-wallahs with huge cauldrons (deeghs) dishing out buff-biryani (as mutton is too soft) even outside graveyards, including the Catholic Martyrs cemetery, where those resting in their graves might be getting a whiff of it too! According to a food publicity flyer, biryani came to India during Timur the Lames invasion in 1398 at the time of Mahmud Tughlak. Aurangzeb introduced it into the Deccan, especially Hyderabad, after which the Nizam popularised the dish. Mumtaz Mahal is said to have concocted a biryani variety as the complete meal for Shah Jahans troops while the emperor influenced the production of sweet petha as nourishment for workers building the Taj Mahal.

Another story is that biryani was actually first made by the nomads of West Asia, who buried earthen pots full of meat, rice and spices in a pit and then dug them out with the matured stuff for eating. But in India biryani is generally made overnight and people wait patiently for it to be served at the dhabas. One of the Nizams daughters, who married a nawab of Arcot, took 15 cooks with her as dowry to popularise biryani in her in-laws place, from where shopkeepers learnt the art of making it. But in Delhi, go to Rajus joint in Bara Hindu Rao before 1 p.m. for buff-biryani and you wont come back disappointed, says a connoisseur.
Earthquakes aid farm mechanisation process

It may sound a bit rum, but the devastating earthquakes of April and May 2015 have played a crucial role in expediting the farm mechanisation process in northern parts of Makwanpur district.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday assured a medical visa to yet another Pakistani national who said that after Allah you are our last hope.

India will not belie your hope. We will issue the visa immediately, Sushma Swaraj tweeted in response to a request from Shahzaib Iqbal from Lahore who said that a medical visa was required for the liver transplant of his cousin.

After ALLAH you are our last hope.. kindly allow islamabad embassy (meaning Indian High Commission) to issue us medical visa, Iqbal said in his Tweeter request.

Sushma Swaraj also assured medical visas to two other Pakistani nationals seeking medical visas.

Yes. We will give you the medical visa, she said in response to a request from Sajida Baksh who said that she underwent a liver transplant but developed complications and now needed urgent follow-up.

She also assured a visa to Kishwar Sultana who is awaiting liver transplant in a hospital in Noida.

On Independence Day, the Ministry of External Affairs had announced that India would provide medical visas to all bonafide Pakistani patients.

As ties between the two countries soured over various issues, the ministry had announced in May that only a letter of recommendation by then Pakistan Prime Ministers Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz would enable a Pakistani national to get a medical visa for India.

The action was termed highly regrettable by Islamabad, which said that asking for such a letter violated diplomatic norms and such a requirement had not been prescribed for any other country.

However, a patient from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, seeking treatment in New Delhi for liver tumour, was given a visa on July 18.

Sushma Swaraj then said that he needed no recommendation from the Pakistani government for a medical visa because the territory is an integral part of India.

Since August 15, however, Pakistani nationals seeking medical treatment have not been denied visas.
The Centres interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma on Sunday reached Pulwama in South Kashmir, considered as the epicentre of terrorism in the valley.

Security was tightened in Pulwama after his arrival, where Sharma began discussions and meetings with delegations, public.

Pulwama is the worst terrorism hit area of the state and Sharma during his meetings with common people might try to find the root cause of unrest.

Sharma is scheduled to also visit Anantnag during his two-day stay in Kashmir.

Earlier, during his two-day stay in Jammu, Sharma visited the Jagti township to meet the Kashmiri Pandits.

Kashmiri Pandits had fled from Kashmir, when terrorism broke out in the state in 1989.

Sharma also visited Reasi district to meet the migrants of Talwara, who are yet to be rehabilitated after construction of the Salal Hydroelectric project displaced them 30 years ago.

Few hours before Sharmas landing in Srinagar, terrorists on Saturday abducted an off-duty soldier and brutally murdered him.

Some of the delegations that met him in Jammu before he left for the valley demanded separation of Jammu from the valley by giving it statehood.

The youth complained that they were being discriminated in recruitment for government posts while most jobs were being given to the youth of Kashmir.

A Panchayat Raj delegation accused the government of tinkering with the election process by amending the rules.

On Sunday, terrorists attacked the house of a former militant-turned counter insurgent Kumar Parray in the Bandipura district. Parray was killed by terrorists few years ago.

Kumars family and his son Imtiaz Parraya, Congress activist, still resides in the house.

Reports said that terrorists tossed a grenade in the house and fired some shots but no one was injured.
Playing down the tie-up of Patidar leader Hardik Patel and the Congress ahead of the crucial Gujarat Assembly polls, state Chief Minister Vijay Rupani accused the Congress of indulging in caste politics.

Hardik-Congress tie-up will have no effect on BJPs prospects, the incumbent CM told PTI.

He also slammed the Congress promise of giving reservations to Patels and accused it of indulging in caste politics.

The promise of quota beyond 50 per cent cap is an attempt to deceive people, he said.

With no real issues, the Congress is seeking refuge in casteism. Congress has outsourced its campaign to caste leaders, Rupani said.

In a major boost for the Congress ahead of the crucial Gujarat polls, PAAS leader Hardik Patel on November 22 had announced his support to the party after it agreed to give reservation to Patels.

In a press conference in Ahmedabad, the firebrand Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader said Congress has agreed to give Patidars reservations under section 31 and provisions of section 46.

Hardik Patel was supposed to announce the support to Congress earlier but after differences cropped up between PAAS and the Congress over seat sharing in Botad assembly constituency, the announcement was postponed.

It was only after the Congress accommodated as many as five of the 89 candidates in the first phase of polls that Hardik Patel decided to back Congress.

The PAAS has been agitating against the government for more than two years over the issue of reservation for the Patidar community and has pledged to oppose the ruling BJP in the coming state assembly elections in December.

The first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections for 89 seats will be held on December 9 and for the remaining 93 on December 14. The results will be announced along with that of Himachal Pradesh assembly on December 18.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said it was upon the higher judiciary to mentor and encourage the lower judiciary and urge them to conclude cases faster.

Addressing Constitution Day celebrations in the national capital, Kovind said to take the values of the Constitution to the very grassroots of society, standards of subordinate institutions must be raised to bring them at par with apex institutions.

The Constitution is not just an abstract ideal. It has to be made meaningful to the lives of ordinary people in every street, every village and every mohalla of our country. It has to somehow connect with their everyday existence and make it more comfortable, he said.

Perhaps the greatest challenge is before the higher judiciary. It is upon the higher judiciary to mentor and encourage the lower judiciary, he added.

And it is for the High Courts to urge subordinate courts to be more efficient and conclude cases faster.

Highlighting that the Constitution continues to be nations guiding light, Kovind said the Constituent Assembly comprised of men and women of unparalleled vision.

They sought to draft a Constitution that was defined by a noble and expansive philosophy  rather than being a rigid document, he said.

At the heart of the constitutional project was trust  trust in each other, trust between institutions, trust in the goodness of fellow citizens, and trust in the wisdom of future generations, he added.

This sense of trust is inherent in constitutional governance. When the government trusts citizens to attest their documents themselves, it is in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution, he said further.

Kovind said that framers of the Constitution realised that a Constitution, no matter how well written and how detailed, would have little meaning without the right people to implement it and to live by its values.

When individuals and institutions ask what Constitution has done for them and how it has built their capacities  they must also consider what they have done to uphold the Constitution, he said.

The Constitution of India was adopted on November 26, 1949 before it came into force on January 26, 1950.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday saluted the contributions of BR Ambedkar for framing a constitution that promotes equality and sensitivity towards all citizens.

Addressing the 38th edition of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat on Constitution Day, Modi said: The makers of our Constitution worked hard to give us a Constitution we would be proud of. On Constitution Day, we salute the great women and men who gave India a Constitution we are proud of.

Our Constitution safeguards the rights of the poor and weaker sections of society. Our constitution s a testimony of their vision. It touches all aspects of our lives, he added.

The Constitution of India was adopted on November 26, 1949 before it came into force on January 26, 1950.

Modi said the credit for making a constitution that respects all citizens goes to Ambedkar and the nation was indebted to him for his guidance and leadership.

The constitution was made under the able leadership of Ambedkar and his contribution in making India a strong and prosperous nation is unmatched The nation is indebted to him, Modi said.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer. He had inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement and campaigned against social discrimination against untouchables.
Amid a raging row over Padmavati, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said that nobody has the right to take law into their hands, but at the same time nobody has the right to hurt others sentiments.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the Times Litfest, Naidu emphasised that inciting violence or unlawful activities as a way of protest such as announcing bounty on some peoples heads was unacceptable.

Now this new problem has come related to some film. Some people feel that it is hurting the sentiments of this community or that community and then they protest. Some of them go out of the way and announce rewards. This is not acceptable, he said, without naming anyone.

You have a right to protest in a democratic manner. Go to appropriate authorities and complain to them. Take the recourse in a democratic way but you cannot physically obstruct. And you cannot give violent threats, he said.

You dont have a right to take law into your hands. At the same time you dont have the right to hurt the sentiments of others. That is a reality, he said, adding that some people are quite selective in their criticism.

He said respecting others sentiments and feelings is the essence of our culture.

A controversy has been raging over Sanjay Leela Bhansalis period drama Padmavati with several organisations, mainly from the Rajput community, opposing release of the movie on the grounds it distorts history. Fringe elements have also announced rewards on the heads of actress Deepika Padukone and film director Bhansali.

The Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor starrer was scheduled to be released on December 1, but it has now been deferred.

Referring to an article in a newspaper, Naidu said in the past too films have faced bans and obstructions and mentioned Aandhi and Garam Hava as some examples.

Aandhi (1975) whose protagonist had striking similarities with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was banned after 26 weeks of release. Garam Hava was held up by the censor board for eight months.

Speaking on Parliamentary democracy, Naidu said that it was not important as to how many days Parliament meets, the important thing was for how many days it functions.

Naidu said people have a right to disagree but first they must learn to respect the majority and the peoples mandate.

Naidu also said that while dissent was agreeable, disintegration is not acceptable.

That is the bottom line and any attempt to undermine integrity and unity of India by forces inimical to growth of India must be nipped in the bud, he said in reference to last year Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) controversy.
Thursdays agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh on the repatriation of Rohingyas is on the face of it a measure of forward movement in the midst of the relentless persecution of the predominantly Muslim ethnic group. Unmistakable is the diplomatic underpinning or coincidence ~ 24 hours after the US labelled the juntas operations against the nowhere men as ethnic cleansing, and even threatened targeted sanctions against those responsible for what the Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, has called horrendous atrocities. There is little doubt that both Naypidaw and occasionally insensitive Dhaka have responded to the global pressure that has been ramped up after half a million refugees fled across the border to escape persecution and worse, not to ignore Aung San Suu Kyis intriguing silence.

The agreement has eventually been signed after a prolonged bout of wrangling over the terms of repatriation. Apparently the state counsellors insistence on bonafides has been ignored not least because the Rohingyas, adrift and persecuted from shore to shore, must have lost their documents, if at all they had them. For now, Myanmar has relented to an extent; the refugees will be repatriated from Bangladesh within two months, with a working group scheduled to be in place within three weeks. Over the years, this has been a grim displacement. And given the inbuilt political instability in Myanmar and the militarys stranglehold over purported democratic governance, the two-month time-frame carries within it the potential seeds of uncertainty.

Indeed, the Rohingya deal that was signed by the Bangladesh foreign minister, A.H. Mahmood Ali, and Suu Kyi in Naypidaw bristles with uncertainties, which is why the agreement has been greeted by the United Nations with a degree of scepticism. And the two major uncertainties relate to the number that will be allowed back and the time the repatriation process will entail. Nor for that matter is it clear where the thousands will be re-settled in a hostile land. The issue is ever so vital in the context of the extensive destruction of villages, that were once their hearth and home. Closely connected is the issue of safety, one that has been trashed for as long as it has. Both Bangladesh and Myanmar would appear to have ignored one of the fundamentals, i.e. the Rohingyas will have to countenance the surging anti-Muslim sentiment in Myanmar.

No less crucially, the Buddhist populace has been acting in cahoots with the junta to persecute the Rohingyas. The stateless segment has been at the receiving end of communal violence in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. They have been systematically oppressed by the government, which has even stripped the group of citizenship. What the UN and now America has called ethnic cleansing is a faint echo of the horrendous persecution of Serbian Muslims in Bosnia two decades ago. To be allowed to cross over from Bangladesh signifies some progress; it devolves on Myanmar to make the deal work.
A recently launched collection of Hamza Alavis papers and speeches should be a timely reminder to us about the role that faith has come to play in Pakistans politics. Translated into Urdu by Dr Riaz Ahmad Shaikh (dean of Social Sciences, Szabist), Tashkeel-i-Pakistan: Mazhab aur Secularism leaves no one in doubt about the misuse of religion by our leaders to gain advantages in public life at the expense of the peoples well-being and the national interest.

Hamza Alavi, who was a Marxist scholar recognised in world academia, firmly believed that the founder of this country never sought to set up a theocratic state. Yet that is the direction in which Pakistan appears to be heading.

Much has been written and said about the exploitation of religion in the country to marginalise the minority communities and the non-mainstream Muslim sects. Religion has also been misused to try and suppress the freedom of expression and to unleash violence and extremism in order to concentrate influence  and ultimately power in the hands of a right-wing, religious oligarchy.

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of this phenomenon has been the use of faith in foreign, defence and strategic policies. Religious symbolism was employed from the start in the security establishment. Initially, it was more to mobilise the soldiers, so no one thought twice about the use of religious slogans such as Allah-o-Akbar and titles such as Nishan-i-Haider. But then Pakistan went much further. The word jihad was also used by the security establishment to justify action that may not be universally acceptable in the eyes of modern-day international law.

The rise of Islamist extremism that has spawned myriads of militant groups in the Middle East and South Asia was initially facilitated by the introduction of rigid interpretations of faith in public life. With extremism opening a Pandoras box, it is difficult to see how such misuse will ever be checked.

What is worrying is that this approach was not only used to try and gain Pakistans own strategic goals and foreign policy objectives. Successive governments also allowed outsiders to use religion on our behalf. Remember how we fought Charlie Wilsons war in Afghanistan as proxies for the US dubbing the guerillas as freedom fighters engaged in jihad. Now we know better  as has been recounted by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carters security adviser  that the godless Russians were lured into Afghanistan by the Carter administration. Gulbadin Hekmatyar and colleagues were mobilised in Afghanistan in July 1979. The use of the religion card was evident to evoke a military response from the Soviets in December 1979. That was to trap the Russians in their Afghan Vietnam.

This approach was also formerly seen in Kashmir. The various lashkars that roamed freely in this region were said to be the creation of Pakistans security establishment, and held up as our strategic assets. The aura of faith that surrounded them gave them extraordinary protection especially in the public perception. So powerful had they become that our foreign policy was seen as being held hostage to their wishes.

Against this backdrop, the situation has now taken a serious turn with the entry of Donald Trump in the White House and his announcement of a new South Asian strategy in August. A key feature of this new policy was spelt out by Trump as, Pakistan will have to stop providing safe-haven for terrorists That must change immediately.

We have not been told about the tactic the US plans to employ to achieve this end. Given Mr Trumps performance, it would be unwise to believe that it will be business as usual. No official announcement has been made about the outcome of the American secretary of states visit to Pakistan apart from the outpouring of scorn from our leaders.

It is time we were told about what Mr Rex Tillerson had to say apart from his expectation that the 75 terrorists whose names were given to Pakistan should be handed over to the US or information about their whereabouts be provided. How will the security establishment react to this demand?

In this context the New York Times report of Oct 17 carries certain implications. According to the NYT the US had planned to send in SEALs to rescue the American/Canadian couple kidnapped by the Haqqani network four years ago. The family had been sighted by US drones. Reportedly, Pakistan went into action to recover the hostages when Washington gave the message, Resolve this or the United States will.

Is this report to be believed? One cannot help but recall the US helicopter operation of 2011 that saw SEALs entering Pakistan territory to kill Osama bin Laden? Are similar incursions to be expected to destroy the alleged safe havens set up in the name of religion?

(Dawn/ANN)
India on Friday strongly condemned the terror attack at a mosque in Egypt that claimed at least 270 lives.

Government of India strongly condemns the heinous act of terrorism that has claimed innocent lives in Bir-al-Abed, North Sinai in Egypt today, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

In this hour of tragedy, the government and the people of India stand by the government and the people of Egypt, he said.

We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those affected in this attack. This incident is another stark reminder of the need to develop a global strategy to fight this menace of terrorism.

At least 270 people were killed and 109 others injured in a gory terror attack on a mosque in Egypts northern Sinai region on Friday making it one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in the country.

The attack on Al-Rawdah mosque, affiliated with Sufi groups, took place during Friday prayers.

The assailants planted home-made explosive in the mosque in the town of Bir al-Abd, near Arish, and detonated them as worshippers were leaving after prayers. They also shot at anyone who tried to escape, a security official told Efe news agency.

The gunmen also fired at ambulances transferring the injured to hospital, eyewitnesses said.


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Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today met representatives of Surat's textile industry and assured them that the Centre will look into their concerns.

Jaitley's outreach to Surat textile traders comes ahead of polls. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had spent a full day, November 8, the first anniversary of demonetisation, here and had heard the problems of the textile workers.

Surat textiles industry body made representation before the finance minister seeking ease in procedures related to Goods and Services Tax (GST). Both the association and Jaitley said that the meeting was positive.

Jaitley, who was here to attend the BJP's 'Mann ki Baat - Chai Ke Saath' programme, took time out to meet the textile traders and heard their concerns regarding the provisions in GST which they said was hurting the industry.

Jaitley said the textile industry in Surat is "very positive about government's economic policies and supports GST."

He added the industry has demanded that the procedures should be made simpler, especially for small textile industry, and he has invited their representatives to meet concerned officials in Delhi to sort out their problems.

"I am happy that the textile industry of Surat, which is very progressive and which has made a name for itself in the entire world are very positive about government's economic policies and are in support of GST," Jaitley told reporters.

"They expect the procedures should be made simpler, especially for small textile industry, so that they are not overburdened with procedural compliance. I have invited a small representatives in Delhi and put their facts before the concerned officials. The GST Council is trying for the same and we will also certainly do our best," he said.

He further said he was happy that GST Council has solved issues raised with "historic tax reforms".

"Other countries have praised India for addressing issues regarding GST at a very fast pace," he said.

Talking to PTI, president of Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association Manoj Agarwal, who made representation before Jaitley, said, "We told Jaitleyji that Surat's textile industry is badly hurt due to GST and asked him to address our problems. We said we want GST, but we are not able to follow GST rules."

"He assured us to solve our problem and asked four of us to meet him in Delhi regarding this along with Surat MP Darshanaben Jardosh who was also present in the meeting," he said, adding the meeting was attended by around 300 textile traders and members of the Association.

Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, Navsari MP C R Patil, and Union Minister Jitendra Singh were also present for the meeting.

Agarwal said textile traders raised issues regarding GST at one point for saree processing and expressed concerns over e-way bill and reverse charge mechanism.

"We are glad that the finance minister listened to our concerns and assured us that he will try to address them. He even invited us for discussions. We have made several representations before as well but this meeting was very positive, may be because of the upcoming elections," he said.
The gruesome and inhuman murder of a class II Ryan International School student, apart from posing a big challenge to the investigators, raises a few serious questions about criminology, juvenile justice and human rights.

World criminal law postulates that only when a prohibited act (actus reus) is committed with criminal intention (mens rea) a person can be punished. While criminal law (Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code) deals with crime, criminology explains sources and causes of crime. The criminal law is evidence-specific while criminology is individual-specific, considering the sociological environments along with other factors.

The Juvenile Justice Act is a partial codification of criminological jurisprudence, i.e. theory of crime. This Act was amended recently to facilitate trial of juvenile as adult in cases of heinous crimes.

Violent extortion of confessions

The Haryana Police arrested a school bus conductor of Ryan School, Ashok Kumar, who was later released after the CBI took into custody a 16-year-old boy in connection with the murder. Kumar alleged that he was tortured by the police to confess to the crime. The CBI, however, found no incriminating evidence against the bus conductor.

CBI team claimed to have found clues in CCTV footage to suspect that the 16-year-old was the responsible for the crime. According to media reports, the boy too told his father a confession was forced out of him.

Though torture is used as a method to extort a confession, the IPC states that the same can be an offence under Section 332 (punishable with imprisonment up to three years, and grievously hurting to extort confession) and under Section 331 (punishable with imprisonment up to 10 years, liable to a fine). As per Evidence Act, Section 25, no confession made to a police officer shall be proved as against a person accused of an offence. Thus, confession to police by accused is not admissible since 1872, and causing grievous hurt to extort confession is a punishable offence with maximum 10 years of imprisonment besides fine, since 1860.

In 2017, there were number of reports of accused persons admitting to being beaten up and compelled to confess to crimes. Law schools teach that if those who are supposed guard cause injuries, it is human rights violation. The civil wrong of causing injury wrongfully should result in police or state paying compensation. However, so far, no police officer in the country has been prosecuted for extorting confession.

Juvenile injustice

A 16-year-old young boys mental condition will be different from that of a mature adult, physiologically and psychologically. A teenager may be confused, immature, indecisive and prone to influences of peers due to their lifestyle, education or lack of it, and other reasons. Cinema and television can be an easy influence as well. Equating a juvenile with hard core criminals is inequality, which juvenile justice does not approve.

The mind is the real criminal behind the weapon with the method of execution of crime being an equally important factor. Hence, the basic tenet of criminal justicemens rea is the crucial factor in determining the guilt. A lunatic, a child, a subordinate under command, a person acting under sudden provocation, or in self-defence does not possess necessary conscious criminal intention to be culpable.

The established principles of criminal law provide complete immunity from culpability to a child up to seven years of age, and conditional qualified immunity up to 12 years, followed by soft and reasonable treatment to teenagers up to 18 years of age.

The civil law presumes and rules that a person below 18 years is a child and not capable of understanding a burdensome contract, though not disqualified to receive benefits. Hence, a contract with a minor is not enforceable. Marriage laws disqualify a man under 21 years to marry, while the woman is legally permitted to marry at 18. This shows a legal presumption that a man is immature to marry till he attains 21 years.

As per the mandate, warrant and spirit of the amendment carried in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, a juvenile involved in heinous crime should be treated like an adult, claimed the father of the victim. He says the teenager should not get the benefits of law as a juvenile. Father of the juvenile pleaded that he was innocent and an objective investigation considering his age is needed. Now, the Juvenile Justice Board has to decide the complexity and confusion amidst high rising emotions, with the objective use of discretionary power. Its like walking on the edge of sword. This has to be concluded by the Board within the three months provided under section 14(3) of the Act from the date of the first production of the child before the JJB.

The JJB set up in all districts should deal with children in conflict with the law. The media cannot disclose the identity of a juvenile or call him an accused; as per law he has to be called child in conflict with law. This is based on consideration that a child was brought into conflict by other circumstances and he did not fully intend to do so. A child being tried like an adult means that he will be mixed up with other incorrigible criminals or accused in police stations, courts and in custodial prisons as well. The judicial institution and state cannot facilitate a juvenile to graduate as a hardened criminal, even if it is prima facie proved that he could be suspected of the crime.

It is argued that at 16 and above, the child is more intelligent with clear understanding and he does not deserve any sympathy. JJ Act was amended on that reasoning. Amendment Act defined heinous offences as those for which the minimum punishment under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or any other law for the time being in force is imprisonment for seven years or more. The changed law doesnt merely encompass gruesome crimes such as rape and murder but extends to many other crimes.

Juveniles accused of counterfeiting, cheating, arson, kidnapping, causing grievous hurt, dacoity, burglary or committing theft in a building are all now liable to be tried as adults. The list includes Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Arms Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act and Food Safety and Standards Act.

Juveniles can be booked under IPC for waging or attempting or abetting to wage war against the Government of India and for trafficking under IPC that attracts a jail term of minimum seven years. Children who are trafficked themselves or are children of commercial sex workers are also booked for trafficking. Even in case of dowry deaths, where the entire family is booked, 16 to 18-year-olds in the family can now be booked as per law. A juvenile, however, cannot be given death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of release.

In all such cases, the Juvenile Justice Board can refer a juvenile to a childrens court after a preliminary assessment. The childrens court, which is a sessions court, can then determine whether to subject him/her to the adult judicial system.

Criminologists questioned this reform of law that itself facilitates brutalisation of already vulnerable juveniles. After this amendment, JJB in several cases decided the child aged between 16 and 18 years to be tried as adult accused on charges of rape and murder. The JJB has to consider the age of the child and the heinous nature of the offence, conduct a preliminary assessment if the child is mentally and physically capable of committing the crime and knows the consequences of his action, before deciding the petition.

However, practically nothing is done in treating the child at the stage of interrogation as an adult. If the child is found in conflict with the law, he should be kept in a home where he is not expected to be subjected to a cruel environment, and is allowed to think differently. Separating him from criminal surroundings and people is the purpose of his stay in observatories rather than leaving him in third degree environs.

Newspapers are replete with reporting of the allegations that the child in conflict with law was subjected to torture and he confessed to the crime only to retract the said confession at a later stage. It means the adult bus conductor and the teenaged 'child in conflict with law received' the same treatment during investigation, much before the JJB considered the case.

The adult, in this case, is first called the suspect where as the child in conflict with law from day one was established prima facie. We watch sensational reports of crime, submerged in emotions and brush aside the basic tenets of justice, human rights and ignore the spirit of juvenile justice. The society, police, courts and media see both the child and adult accused of a crime through the same sensational lens. Killing a class II student is undoubtedly inexcusable. Neither criminal law nor criminology bothers about the victim, because it is for the state to help them. By misrule and lack of good governance, we create cesspools that breed young criminals, and punish the victims. We just cannot understand that a child 'in conflict with law' is fathered by criminals around.

Criminal law needs clinching evidence beyond reasonable doubt to penalise the accused whereas criminology explains the reasons and tells the state to remove them to protect the youth and build them as constructive force of the nation. We are yet to understand the reason behind juvenile justice law, the need to sophisticate investigation methods and elevate from inhuman methods of the third degree for confessions as seen in B grade crime thrillers of Bollywood. Instead of humanising the investigation, where child is suspected, we have laws that brutalise a child. By any stretch of imagination, how civilised are we?

Sridhar Acharyulu is a law professor and a member of the Central Information Commission



Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the publication
On November 26, 2008, Mumbai was the victim of one of the most dreadful terrorist attacks in the history of India. On that day, members of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorised the whole city, killing numerous people and injuring several hundreds.

As Sunday marks the ninth anniversary of the attack, Mumbai police is leaving no stone unturned in keeping the citizens safe and secure. The security in the city has beefed up with the police barricading all areas and is inspecting every vehicle passing by.

"We have barricaded the whole city and police has been deployed at every junction," police inspector Nutan Pawar said.

She added that if any suspicious vehicle or person is found, they are "taking immediate actions."

Various events will be held in the city to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attack that shook the whole nation.

On this day in 2008, ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists came to Mumbai via sea from Pakistan and carried out a series of coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across the city.

The attacks lasted four days, killing 166 people and injuring over 300.
As the world talks about crimes in cyber space and the need for a universal law to fight these, a British Minister is of the view that the Budapest Convention can be the foundation for such a global law to ensure cyber security.



"If you go back in recent history, you would have seen that within the Council of Europe, there was a convention called Budapest Convention which set certain conventions and certain premises in place on how this space can be managed," Lord Tariq Ahmad, Britain's Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations, said.



"That was with a particular focus on issues of cyber security," said Ahmad, who was here to attend the Fifth Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS).



The Convention on Cyber Crime of the Council of Europe, known as the Budapest Convention, serves as a guideline for any country developing comprehensive national legislation against cyber crime and as a framework for international cooperation between member-states of this treaty. It is supplemented by a Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism committed through computer systems.



The Convention was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at its 109th session in 2001 and came into effect in 2004.



With people talking of a single global convention, or a digital Geneva Convention, Ahmad said that his and his government's view was "very clear" and that "there are certain governing rules already in place".



"As we look to build for the future, we should take the common learning, the common principles applied through the Budapest Convention and see how they apply to the wider community," he said.



"So, I am looking forward to greater collaboration building upon the common principles that have been provided by Budapest, to see how we can build them."



Asked what the global challenges are in terms of cyber security, Ahmad said, "It is not only the challenges, it is also the opportunities."



He referred to how different sections of Indian society  from farmers to students, from academics to business people  have been e-enabled through a variety of applications that provide for all.



"And on the other side of the coin, of course, are the challenges we face in terms of cyber security," he said.



Stating that Britain, as also other countries, have been targeted in cyber attacks, he noted: "But equally, what has been demonstrably shown is why the impact that has taken place, the assessments that have been made, and simple steps in terms of ensuring greater security and greater international collaboration to prevent those who seek to cause destruction through cyber attacks were prevented from doing so."



Asked how governments can come together in framing a common international law, the British Minister, who is of Indian origin, said that there should be a consensus that "we have the opportunities here of what cyber space is all about, the enabling opportunities it provides".



"But at the same time those common principles also need to ensure the elements of security are addressed" and we can ensure that action is collectively taken against "those who seek to (destroy) us, those who may use the cyber space to promote terrorist causes, extremist causes".



Ahmad said that at this year's GCCS, ministers from different countries have laid out a vision "that there is a common cause we need to come together with".



"You cannot build a house with the roof first, you need the foundation. And I think we have the foundation. That is why I referred to the Budapest Convention," he added.

 IANS
Islamist party activists on November 26 clashed with security forces for a second day on the outskirts of Pakistans capital, Islamabad, burning vehicles before withdrawing to a protest camp they have occupied for more than two weeks, police said.

According media reports at least six people were killed on the previous day, when several thousand police and paramilitary tried to disperse a sit-in protest by the religious hard-liners, who have blocked the main route into the capital from the neighbouring garrison city of Rawalpindi.

More than 125 people were wounded in the failed crackdown of November 25, and police superintendent Amir Niazi said 80 members of the security forces were among the casualties.

On morning of November 26, smoke billowed from the charred remains of a car and three motorcycles near the protest camp, where several thousand members of the Tehreek-e-Labaid party have gathered in defiance.

Police and paramilitary forces had surrounded the camp in the Faizabad district between the two cities, but no army troops were on the scene, despite a call the night before by the civilian government for the military to help restore order.

We will move when we have orders, Niazi, the police superintendent, said. What the protesters did yesterday was in no means was lawful. They attacked our forces.

Activists from Tehreek-e-Labaik have blocked the main road into the capital for two weeks, accusing the law minister of blasphemy against Islam and demanding his dismissal and arrest.

We are in our thousands. We will not leave. We will fight until end, Tehreek-e-Labaik party spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi said.

Tehreek-e-Labaik is one of two new ultra-religious political movements that became prominent in recent months.

While Islamist parties are unlikely to win a majority they could play a major role in elections that must be held by summer next year.

Tehreek-e-Laibak was born out of a protest movement lionizing Mumtaz Qadri, a bodyguard of the governor of Punjab province who gunned down his boss in 2011 over his call to reform strict blasphemy laws.

The party won a surprisingly strong 7.6 percent of the vote in a by-election in Peshawar last month.



 Reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected new elections and wanted to form a new government quickly, as a consequence of the failed government coalition talks with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens.



"The people have voted, and I absolutely do not favour, if we can't do anything with the result, asking people to vote again," Merkel said on November 25 at a party conference of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Kuehlungsborn, northeast Germany, reported the media.



Merkel is facing the most serious political crisis since she assumed office 12 years ago after the breakdown of the government coalition exploratory talks on November 19.



The FDP decided to withdraw the talks with the Greens, the CDU and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), for a new coalition government after the September 24 federal elections.



Merkel told the party conference that she wants to "come quickly to a government", adding that Germany must have a stable government, "but also a government that really advances the country".



The CDU leader also said talks with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) would have to be conducted on the basis of mutual respect, and the compromise is part of it.



German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has invited Merkel, SPD leader Martin Schulz and CSU leader Horst Seehofer for a meeting next week to discuss another "Grand Coalition".



The SPD has repeatedly rejected to joint hands with the Union after its landslide failure in the federal elections. However, Schulz softened the stance on Friday as he said his party was willing to hold talks with the Union.
Farmer field school to boost cardamom haul

The District Agriculture Development Office has launched a farmer field school programme to educated large cardamom producers to adopt practices to reduce pest infection that are environmentally sound, beside educating them on sustainable agricultural practices.
Few candidates reach Shikaribas

A majority of the candidates have not reached Shikaribas village in Thori Rural Municipality-3, Parsa to canvass for votes.
Let's be honest, the Budget was a little bit of a personal finance damp squib with nothing to shock or marvel at. Safety first was the order of the day for Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond.

But Budget week is always a good prompt to take a look at your finances.

Here, The Mail on Sundays award-winning personal finance team explains how you can transform your own household budget  with some assistance from the Chancellor.

A new leaf: Charlotte Williams has saved a fortune in fuel costs by going electric

MY ELECTRIC CAR'S NIFTY...THEY HAVE TO BE THE FUTURE Charlotte Williams welcomes the Governments pledge to boost the number of electric car charge sites in Britain. There are currently about 5,000 with 14,000 plug-in points. The 31-year-old part-time model, from Bedford, has an electric Nissan Leaf company car and is an administrator for car power point provider Chargemaster. She says: Anything that encourages more electric cars on the road has to be good news. The idea these vehicles are akin to milk floats is seriously outdated. Nowadays electric cars are nifty. Charlotte adds: I used to spend more than 50 a week on petrol for a 40-mile round commute from Bedford to Luton. Now I spend under 5 a week. Electric has to be the future. She also welcomes a 40 million Government grant that will look into how to increase battery charge speeds. Home sockets can take six hours to provide enough electric juice for a vehicle to run 100 miles. Rapid-charge points offered in towns take about an hour to get electric cars fully charged. Despite the Budget boost, they are still expensive to buy  even after a Government subsidy for buyers worth up to 4,500. A new Nissan Leaf can cost 22,000 while the small two-seater battery powered Renault Twizy is 8,000.

BUYING A HOME

WHAT WAS ANNOUNCED?

A pledge was made to build 300,000 new homes each year and stamp duty was scrapped for many first-time buyers.

Stamp duty will now no longer be charged on property purchases made by first-time buyers up to 300,000 in value.

Also, those spending up to 500,000 on a first-time home  including most buyers in London  will pay no stamp duty on the first 300,000.

Currently, the average value of a home acquired by a first-time buyer is just over 207,500. Pre-Budget, a buyer would have paid some 1,650 in stamp duty for such a house. Now, there will be no stamp duty bill to pay.

For London dwellers, where the average first-time buyer price is 410,000, the stamp duty bill will drop from 10,500 to 5,500.

Critics say the Chancellors key Budget reform could push house prices up as demand increases for first-time buyer properties. It also does nothing to help existing homeowners move and free up housing stock for buyers at the bottom of the property ladder.

YOUR ACTION PLAN

Anyone hoping to buy a first home from now on will be boosted by the reduction in stamp duty costs.

But there are other ways they can keep purchase costs down to a minimum and smooth the buying process. First, they should check their credit rating  because mortgage lenders certainly will do so before offering you a home loan. The better your rating, the greater the chance you have of having a mortgage application accepted.

Use any or all of the three credit reference agencies  Experian, Equifax or Callcredit  to get an idea of your credit rating.

Do this ideally six months in advance, giving yourself enough time to fix issues that might count against you.

For example, unused credit cards left on your credit file could be misinterpreted as suggesting you have a predilection for debt.

Saving a healthy home deposit is essential. The bigger the deposit, the cheaper the loan you will get. Saving can be made easier by using the Help to Buy scheme.

This allows you to either buy a share of a property (between 25 and 75 per cent) while paying rent on the remainder  or take a Government loan to bolster your down-payment on a newly built home. While these squash the upfront cost of buying a home, a Help to Buy Isa can simultaneously boost your deposit savings.

Put away 200 a month and the Government adds a 50 top-up, up to a maximum 3,000 a year. Joint buyers can each save into a Help to Buy Isa. Find more at helptobuy.gov.uk. Alternatively a Lifetime Isa can be used to help build a first home deposit.

Customers must be over 18 and under 40 and can save up to 4,000 a year until age 50. The Government adds a 25 per cent bonus up to 1,000 a year. There is a choice of investment or cash-based Lisa although only Skipton Building Society currently offers a cash Lisa.

Buyers with small deposits can get on the housing ladder if their parents are happy to act as guarantors. Lenders Barclays, The Family Building Society, Nationwide Building Society and Aldermore are among those which lend to first-time buyers who have relatives willing to step in for them if they have problems meeting the monthly mortgage costs.

Use a broker to search for a mortgage deal, such as London & Country or Charcol. Find out how much stamp duty you will have to pay by using the Government calculator at tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax.

When it comes to conveyancing  the legal process of buying  find a solicitor via the Law Society. Visit solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk or call 020 7320 5650.

WE MISSED OUT ON THE STAMP DUTY GIVEAWAY Adam Taylor has narrowly missed out on the stamp duty giveaway  with the property tax scrapped for first-time buyers on homes worth up to 300,000, or on the first 300,000 of a property worth up to 500,000. Adam, 30, bought his first home with his girlfriend in Forest Hill, South East London, just three weeks ago. They would have been eligible for the perk if they had held off the exchange of contracts until last Wednesday. He says: We wish the stamp duty changes could be applied retrospectively. That said, we are happy with our new home and we have at least benefited from the bonuses we received from saving through a Help to Buy Isa. Adam could potentially miss out on new train discounts too. The latest Railcard for 26 to 30-year-olds will be introduced next spring  coinciding with Adams 31st birthday. Grin and bear it: Adam Taylor bought his first home just three weeks ago

LONG-TERM SAVINGS

WHAT WAS ANNOUNCED?

Unlike recent Budgets, there was little in Wednesdays Budget to cheer, annoy or surprise long- term savers  apart from a nasty stealth tax on those who hold endowment plans or certain types of life policy.

Thankfully there was no change in the tax relief boost that savers get for putting money into a pension  something which recent governments have toyed with but not yet been brave enough to implement.

Nor was there any reduction in the maximum annual amount  40,000  people can contribute into a pension or an attack on the precious 25 per cent of a pension fund that savers can take as tax-free cash at retirement.

The only announcement that raised a cheer was an increase in the value of a pension fund before the taxman comes knocking for a slice of it.

The so-called lifetime allowance was increased from 1 million to 1,030,000 from April next year. It means only sums above this amount will be subject to extra tax when someone wants to start taking income from a pension.

There was no increase in the annual amount that can be saved into  or invested in  Individual Savings Accounts. This stays at 20,000. The Chancellor also backed off from using the Governments savings arm, National Savings & Investments, to launch a new product that would put income in the hands of pensioners  a move that would have proved popular given the reticence of banks and building societies to pass on the recent increase in base rate.

For those who hold investments outside pensions and Isas, there was an increase in the capital gains investors can make from the sale of shares or funds before they are taxed on the profits. This will increase next April from 11,300 to 11,700.

Some experts thought the amount that can be invested in tax-friendly  but high-risk  Venture Capital Trusts and Enterprise Investment Schemes could be trimmed back. But this was not the case. Indeed, for certain types of Enterprise Investment Scheme, the annual allowance will double from next April to 2 million although it will be of limited appeal to most investors.

YOUR ACTION PLAN

Little change should be no excuse for continued lethargy. If you are not using the tax-friendly savings allowances currently available, try to do so because there is no guarantee they will be around for ever.

Certainly, if the Government is forced into an early General Election and a Labour administration is returned, a whole raft of savings incentives will be under threat. Higher rate relief on pension savings will be top of Shadow Chancellor John McDonnells hit-list while Isas could be shrunk back.

So, if you can put money into a pension do so, especially if you are self-employed and do not have a benevolent employer boosting your contributions.

The same goes for Isas  try to use as much of your annual 20,000 allowance as possible so as to build a tax-free fund for the future.

Although your contributions are made from taxed income, you can access an Isa when you want to irrespective of age  unlike a pension  and the proceeds are tax-free (again, unlike most of a pension).

Some venture capital trusts are currently available to invest in. For every 10,000 you invest, you get back 3,000 from the Government up to an annual maximum investment of 200,000. But you must hold your investment for five years. Dividends are free from tax. According to wealth manager Tilney, schemes open include those managed by Albion, Maven and Mobeus.

Although cash savings may be unattractive, remember that up to 1,000 of interest per year remains tax-free if you are a basic rate taxpayer  500 for higher rate.

Will the Budget help you ...or anyone? Listen to the This is Money Podcast It was billed as a make or break Budget, so did the Chancellor pitch it right? In this weeks podcast, Simon Lambert, Rachel Rickard Straus and Georgie Frost pick apart the Budget to try to find out who the winners and losers will be. From an up to 5,000 tax saving on a first home, to railcards for the under-30s, zero mentions of the word saver, and whether Just Eat can really solve the productivity puzzle, they round-up what you need to know. Plus, what exactly was Simons stamp duty idea that drew 296 reader comments  of which about 295 were calling him an idiot? Listen to the podcast to find out. Press play to listen to the show below, or listen (and please subscribe if you like the podcast) at iTunes, Acast and Audioboom or visit our This is Money Podcast page.

SAVING FOR CHILDREN

WHAT WAS ANNOUNCED?

Santa Claus largesse it is not, but a tweak to tax-free savings plans from next April means friends and family will be able to put a little more away for the younger generation out of the taxmans reach.

As a result, the annual subscription limit for Junior Isas (Jisas) and Child Trust Funds will rise from 4,128 to 4,260  355 a month. Money can be squirrelled away in cash or shares, or a mixture of both.

YOUR ACTION PLAN

Do not delay saving for children. Through the magic of compounding  where interest is earned on interest each year  savings grow faster the earlier they are started. For children, with time on their side, equities or investment funds make best sense  in terms of what to hold inside a Jisa. This is because over the long term shares almost always outperform cash savings.

Remember that adult cash Isas (with an annual allowance of 20,000) are also available to children from the age of 16  and eligible children can also hold a Jisa at the same time.

Do not delay: Through the magic of compound interest, savings grow faster the earlier they are started

For parents with an eye on an even longer term horizon, consider starting a pension for your children. You can put up to 3,600 a year into a personal pension and receive basic rate income tax relief  currently 20 per cent  on the contribution.

Your children may not be able to access the pension until at least age 55 but when the time comes they may well thank you for your foresight. Robert Gardner, pictured right, is co-founder of pensions consultancy Redington and a campaigner on financial education. He says: Parents should open a pension for their child as soon as possible.

All they have to do is invest 5.50 a day  the equivalent of 7 with tax relief on top  from birth until their childs tenth birthday, and then stop. Their child will then be on course to having a 1 million pension fund at retirement age 65.

THE HOME FRONT

WHAT WAS ANNOUNCED?

Households struggling with a squeeze on their wallets due to higher food costs and low or no pay rises were offered some cheer last Wednesday.

The Chancellor wished them a Merry Christmas  with a nudge to toast the festive season in their local public house by freezing the duties on most alcohol other than high strength booze.

Drivers who have suffered hefty increases on both fuel and motor insurance over the past year were awarded a little relief with a freeze on fuel duty. But buyers of new diesel motors from next April will see their road tax  Vehicle Excise Duty  leap in the first year if they pick a model that fails to meet stringent new emissions standards.

But many families will hopefully be able to free up a bit more cash from April for spending  or saving  thanks to an increase in certain tax allowances. The personal tax allowance  the amount you can earn before parting with any cash to the taxman  will rise from 11,500 to 11,850 in April. Plus the number of people falling out of the higher rate tax net will also increase when the threshold for those paying 40 per cent tax is lifted from 45,000 to 46,350.

YOUR ACTION PLAN

These tiny tweaks to tax breaks will not make you feel much better off. As a result, like the Chancellor, families will need more than ever to balance expenditure against outgoings and squeeze the most they can from their finances.

Quick fixes for beating the pinch include finding cheaper options for everyday bills such as energy, broadband and home and motor insurance. Do this by using comparison websites such as GoCompare or comparethemarket  or simply haggling with your current provider.

Consider buying anything from insurance to TV sets via a cashback website such as TopCashback or Quidco. These give you a cash payment for making purchases through their websites.

Also, take control of your household debts, especially the mortgage. If you are paying a standard variable rate  on average 4.7 per cent  switching to a keenly priced five-year fixed rate at 1.74 per cent could save a typical borrower with a 100,000 loan 1,864 a year  or 9,322 over the five years.

Similarly, check the interest you pay on credit cards and see if you can switch.
People searching for prepaid funeral plans online are being warned to avoid fake comparison websites that dupe customers into supplying names and telephone numbers.

Most people looking to pay for their burial or cremation in advance do so to save their families the hassle, expense and heartache in future. But a lack of regulation over these plans and how they are sold has allowed for an eruption of websites claiming to be able to compare quotes.

In reality, many are predatory number-catching websites known as lead generators. Telephone numbers entered into the website can then be passed on to companies that deliver a hard-sell.

'Hounded': Heather Bridger used a prepaid funeral website to compare prices

The warning comes after The Mail on Sunday last week exposed aggressive and illegal sales tactics used by a call-centre selling funeral plans on behalf of provider Avalon. Staff were caught on camera boasting about bombarding people with nuisance calls despite pleas to be left alone.

Fake comparison websites can look authentic with big lettering inviting consumers to click on buttons saying compare now or compare quotes.

They fool people into believing they will see a panel of quotes after entering a few personal details. But instead they are directed to a page telling them to expect a phone call. Ensuing calls may come from a genuine broker, but more likely from a sales agent tied to one provider. The consumer has no way of knowing exactly who will call them once they hand over their details.

James Daley, founder of consumer champion FairerFinance, is calling for regulation of funeral plans by the Financial Conduct Authority  which would impact how business is conducted online.

He says: These websites, which pose as independent, verge on being criminal. In a regulated market they would be shut down.

Daley adds that people searching for a plan need to be extremely careful.

Sally Hill spotted a gap for a genuine comparison service when her research demonstrated how unscrupulous the online market was. She is now director and founder of FuneralPlanMarket, a website that shows whole-of-market funeral plan comparisons without customers needing to share personal details.

Scandal: The probe found a call centre was using aggressive tactics to sell pre-paid plans for funerals

Hill says: Lead generation websites dressed as comparison websites inconvenience customers twice over because the comparison tables they expect to see do not exist and they are then bombarded with unwanted sales calls.

A HARD SELL DURING HARD TIMES

Heather Bridger says she was hounded by sales calls after using a prepaid funeral website to compare prices. The 52-year-old department sales manager from Perth, Scotland, started searching for a deal after witnessing first-hand the emotional upheaval of planning a funeral. Earlier this year her best friends husband died suddenly from a heart attack at the age of 56, despite being a healthy sportsman.

Heather says: The stress was horrific. He was self-employed for 14 years and had no life insurance, no funeral plans and no savings.

It was then I realised just how much I wanted to have my own funeral organised so my family would never have to go through that ordeal.

HOW TO BUY A PLAN WITHOUT THE PITFALLS Spot the hallmarks of a fake comparison website. If you cannot compare plans without supplying a telephone number, alarm bells should ring. Do nothing without reading the websites terms and conditions. You should also check whether the firm is registered with Companies House, the official registrar of UK businesses. Visit beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Compare deals on the FuneralPlanMarket website, using the comparison tables section if you want to get an idea of cost and level of cover. The company also offers free advice over the phone (0371 811 0161). Check exactly what costs are covered in a plan you select. Few guarantee to cover third-party costs  such as cremation and doctors fees. Many offer an allowance to cover such fees, but amounts paid out will vary between providers. Note other exclusions. For example, if you move house to an area where funeral directors costs are higher, your family may be asked to pay a top-up after you die. Some deals will protect customers against this. Read more about funeral plans on the Money Advice Service website at moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/funeral-plans. Buy from local independent funeral directors or established companies. James Daley, of consumer group FairerFinance says: Reputable providers include Co-op, Dignity, Golden Charter and Perfect Choice. l PAY for part or all of the plan with a credit card. This gives you added protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, meaning you can get your money back from your credit card provider if a company goes bust.

But her search came to a halt after simple enquiries turned into nuisance sales calls. She says: Every time I used a comparison website I was hounded by phone calls from different companies who really just wanted me to sign up. But I did not feel confident about it.

After a second friend passed away recently, Heather returned to her search and this time used FuneralPlanMarket. She has now found a plan with which she is comfortable.

Costly: Average funerals in the UK cost more than 4,000 according to insurer SunLife

LACK OF REGULATION

Average funerals in the UK cost more than 4,000 according to insurer SunLife. Costs are likely to keep rising. Funeral plans offer buyers the chance to pay for tomorrows costs at todays prices.

But large sums of money to cover future expenses are given to providers of prepaid plans well in advance of their use.

THREE OTHER WAYS TO MEET THE COSTS FUNERAL INSURANCE Known as over-50s plans, you pay a low monthly sum and receive a payout to cover costs such as funeral plans after you die. But these deals can be poor value if customers end up paying in more than they ever get out of it. If a customer stops paying, the plan is no longer in force and money already paid has been wasted. SAVINGS AND INVESTMENTS Rather than gamble with a poor plan riddled with exclusions, it makes sense to put aside money each month into ordinary savings and investments. The money can be used to cover funeral costs if needed by your family in future. Yet there are no guarantees of you saving enough or refraining from using the funds for something else. Furthermore, relatives would still need to pay upfront funeral costs and would only be repaid if they are benefactors when your estate is divided up. WHOLE OF LIFE INSURANCE This type of life insurance pays out a lump sum to relatives after you die. Other life insurance policies last only for a set term, such as the life of a mortgage or until children are grown up and independent. A whole of life policy pays out whenever you die  but may require you to pay monthly sums for the rest of your life. Some policies allow you to cease paying when you reach a certain age. These policies can also be linked to investments.

Despite this fact, the products are not regulated. The Funeral Planning Authority oversees the industry with its own Code of Practice and rules for members to follow. Most large providers are signed up  including Dignity and The Co-operative Funeralcare  but membership is voluntary.

Daley says: The main problem with this market is there is no proper regulation. It is clear from The Mail on Sundays story about Avalon that the voluntary regulator is struggling to keep on top of poor practice among members.

We would also like to see the Information Commissioners Office doing more to tackle illegal practice around data handling that is prevalent among some third-party lead generating firms.
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

R.R. writes: I was victim of a rare earth metals investment scam operating under the name Denver Trading.

Its bosses were jailed, but the firm which introduced me to the fraud was never investigated. It was Sol Emissions Limited which told me it charged 5 per cent commission, but actually took up to 60 per cent.

How can I find Sol Emissions and take the company to court?

Sol traders: Tom Markham, left, and Eddie Turford of Sol Emissions

Denver Trading was a major fraud. That is not just my view. It was the verdict of a judge and jury who decided that 600 people had been ripped off to the tune of about 7 million, half of which had been pocketed by the companys sales agents. The company was run by two experienced professional fraudsters, Christopher Sabin and Tobias Ridpath.

I first warned against Sabin almost 15 years ago when he was behind a corrupt art investment firm, Taylor Jardine. I warned against Ridpath when he was flogging cheap champagne at high prices as an investment. Both were disqualified as directors.

The pair are now serving nine-year jail sentences, imposed last May, thanks to an investigation by Devon and Cornwall Police.

A local officer became concerned when an 80-year-old he knew was a victim of the scam.

The small team handling the case did not investigate sales agents such as Sol Emissions because they were outside their territory.

Sol Emissions, based in the City of London, lied to you. It claimed there was a lucrative market in rare earth metals and that the end result for at least the next five years for this commodity is that investors will be queuing to become involved in what can only be compared to a Gold Rush.

It added: It is almost certain the prices for rare earth metals will skyrocket over the next two to five years.

In fact, despite the name, rare earth metals are not even that scarce. They are used in mobile phones and similar devices, but there is no market for ordinary investors. One who put 39,000 into Denver Trading found the real value was just 285.

The salesman you dealt with was Eddie Turford, now 24, but the owner of Sol Emissions was 33-year-old Tom Markham. Together, they now run TRM Recruitment.

No market for ordinary investors: Despite the name, rare earth metals are not even that scarce

Disturbingly perhaps, their new company advertises that financial services recruitment is a core area of its business. Markhams financial acumen can be gauged by the fact he also tried to sell you carbon credits that he claimed were extremely desirable to potential buyers. This was rubbish. If you had put money in, you would have lost your investment.

Turfords judgment was no better. He told you that rare earth metals are a true protector of wealth  they are not dependent on speculation. He explained: They are rare by nature. Their supply is limited.

However, a brochure issued by Sol Emissions even admits they are relatively plentiful.

The blunt fact is that this unpleasant pair fleeced investors, lined their own pockets handsomely and are now business owners. Neither of them replied to repeated invitations to comment or explain themselves.

They may yet have to answer questions though. According to the police, information about Sol Emissions is currently being assessed by the City of London Polices National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.

Any reader who trusted Markham and Turford and lost money should contact me. I will be happy to pass on to the police any evidence I receive.
Victoria chairman Geoff Wilding has a vested interest in delivering returns for shareholders. He owns a 220 million stake in the carpet manufacturer  representing 23 per cent of the firm.

To date, Wildings commitment to generating wealth for investors has been pretty faultless. Midas recommended the shares in March 2016, when they were the equivalent of 275p. By March this year, they had risen to 438p and they have since almost doubled to 835p.

Wildings strategy seems relatively simple  buy small carpet makers, integrate them into the company and drive down costs as a result.

Vested interest: Geoff Wildings commitment to generating wealth for investors has been pretty faultless

Initially focused on the UK and Australia, the group has expanded into Europe, moving beyond carpets into hard flooring.

Earlier this month, Wilding bought Spain-based Keraben for 245 million, having spent up to 50 million on Italian Ceramiche just a couple of weeks earlier. Both companies specialise in ceramic tiles, which often look like marble or granite, used on floors, walls and even worktops.

Following these acquisitions, more than 60 per cent of Victorias profits will be generated outside the UK  no bad thing, given that the economy here seems to be slowing down just as Europe speeds up.

The group announces half-year results this week, which are likely to reflect Wildings confidence in the future, despite a tricky UK market. Brokers expect full-year profits of 38.8 million for the year to March 2018, up nearly 32 per cent year-on-year and soaring to 71 million in 2019.

Midas verdict: Wilding is a man on a mission but cautious investors may still wish to hedge their bets by selling some shares and banking a profit after the stocks recent heady performance. Dont sell out completely though.

Traded on: AIM Ticker: VCP Contact: victoriaplc.com or 01562 749300
Britain's care home providers will be forced to declare their links to offshore tax havens, Financial Mail can reveal.

The clampdown by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) comes amid growing concerns over the future of Four Seasons, one of the biggest operators in the market.

The CQC said last night that from April it will ask firms to lift the lid on what are in some cases highly complex ownership structures  and to reveal the identities of the moneymen behind them.

Arm's length: Many care homes have links to companies based offshore

An investigation by Financial Mail has found that the firms  many of which receive public money directly from local authorities to pay for residents care  have links to offshore tax-haven territories including the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Gibraltar and the Channel Islands.

The revelations coincide with a battle for control of the countrys second biggest care home provider, Four Seasons, controlled by Guernsey-based tycoon Guy Hands.

The company has until December 15 to satisfy a 26 million interest payment on its enormous debts.

Its owner Terra Firma is in talks with its main creditor H/2 Capital Partners, a US hedge fund, to defer the debt repayment, overhaul the structure of the business and continue to take on new residents.

Over the last decade, the 5 billion care home industry  dominated by a small number of operators  has raked in millions in taxpayer funds, with its bosses often calling for greater Government contributions. But many big care groups are now owned by overseas investment firms, often through complex webs of subsidiaries.

A spokeswoman for the Care Quality Commission said the care market is much more global than it was ten years ago and we need to be more transparent. We need to develop regulatory policies and want to get a better oversight of providers.

She added that the CQC wanted to know who are the ultimate owners, and who has influence and control. We need a better understanding of the ownership, of the investors and directors, and to make that public.

The ownership of some groups passes through multiple layers of bizarrely named companies before ending up with a business or trust in a tax haven.

Among the so-called Big Five, Barchester is owned by a Jersey-based company. Four Seasons is owned by Hands Terra Firma, with an office in Guernsey. HC-One has links to the Cayman Isles. Its chairman Dr Chai Patel is director of a Cayman-domiciled FC Skyfall Topco Ltd.

In addition, second-tier groups, including Akari and Orchard Care, which own more than 100 homes between them, operate through a labyrinth of companies. Akaris ownership funnels through a dizzying array of firms before resting with Caymans-based Csp Iv LP.

Orchard is controlled by a Guernsey-registered outfit along with ASO LUX 3 S.A.R.L, a mysterious Luxembourg-based enterprise.

And some care homes under the Bondcare and Care Worldwide brands are controlled by Gibraltar-based trustees.

Sarah Whitebloom is editor of OlderLivingMatters.net
Tenacity: Sir Chris Hohn believes LSE chair Donald Brydon is trying to push French chief executive, Xavier Rolet, out of the company

One of Britains richest hedge fund managers is confident he can oust the chairman of the London Stock Exchange.

Sir Chris Hohn believes LSE chair Donald Brydon is trying to push French chief executive, Xavier Rolet, out of the company.

Hohns investment vehicle, The Childrens Investment Fund (TCI), is forcing the LSE to hold a shareholder meeting for a vote on three motions.

One aims to remove Brydon, a second calls for Rolet to be kept in his post and a third seeks to prevent the LSE from appointing a replacement for Rolet.

The Mail on Sunday understands TCI is now confident that investors holding more than 50 per cent of shares will back its proposals.

The LSE has until the end of this week to announce an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders which will take place before the end of the year.

TCI owns 5 per cent of the shares in the LSE. Hohn first turned against Brydon earlier this month. The company announced in mid-October that Rolet would be leaving by December 2018.

Hohn claimed Rolet, who has been at the helm since 2009, was being forced to leave against his wishes. Rolet has not commented.

In a letter to Brydon last week, Hohn said media reports appeared to suggest the LSE board was planning a character assassination of Rolet in order to force him out.

Brydon came under fire for his handling of the situation, which Hohn said had led to significant operational risk for the business.

Hohn has also called for the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority to intervene and remove Brydon as chairman.

TCI and Hohn are believed to have held a series of meetings with the LSEs top 30 shareholders.

TCI is thought to be confident each of its three motions will receive more than 50 per cent backing in a shareholder vote. This would be enough to force Brydon out.

Hohn needs 75 per cent of the votes to win the motion to bring back Rolet. TCI is understood to feel a vote of more than 50 per cent would send a very strong message.
An Industrial Strategy for the UK will be unveiled by the Government tomorrow.

The White Paper will outline plans to improve productivity and growth, support promising industries and encourage investment.

Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for Business, is expected to propose a watchdog  similar to the independent Office for Budget Responsibility which produces economic forecasts  to monitor progress.

Looking ahead: Greg Clark is expected to focus on encouraging UK start-ups, including measures to enable pension funds to invest money into them

Clark is expected to focus on encouraging UK start-ups, including measures to enable pension funds to invest money into them.

But it is considered unlikely he will seek to impose new barriers to foreign predators taking over key UK firms.

Former Business Secretary Vince Cable said Clark was right to welcome investment from overseas but he had to distinguish between bona fide investors and asset strippers.

Clark is due to appear before MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee on Wednesday. Its chairwoman, Labours Rachel Reeves, said: We need an effective Industrial Strategy that helps us to compete internationally as we leave the EU. Stuart Thomson, of law firm Bircham Dyson Bell, said last weeks low growth and poor productivity figures enhanced the need to map out what the economy of a post-Brexit Britain looks like.

He added that the UK needs improved skills, investment and infrastructure.
IED found in Darchula

An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was found at the dead end of Darchula-Tinkar road section in Mahakali Municipality-5 of Darchula district on Sunday.
Sir,



The year is finally approaching its zenith, and a new year is just around the corner.

As it is always practiced when a New Year begins, it is normal for people around the world to make New Year resolutions. Sadly, few of us realise our dreams, let alone achieve those resolutions.



For one reason or another, our dreams are shattered through for instance, poor decision making, lack of resources to fulfil our resolutions and a myriad of other reasons.

As individuals, and collectively as a nation, I urge each one of us not to only make or plan for New Year resolutions but with determination, to do all in our power to realise them.



One resolution I earnestly pray for to be made by our leadership is committing to serving our society with diligence, transparency, belt tightening in fiscal matters and listening to dissenting voices among other wishful wishes.



Reports that our government is broke and living from hand-to- mouth are daunting. Channelling our meagre resources to projects which have least benefited the man on the street has made this government the most unpopular of all previous governments. People, throughout the year, have been moaning about the sheer lack of strong leadership in our government such that our society has resigned itself to the fact that the only concern our government has is looking after its own interests.



One glaring flaw I have noticed with our leadership is failure to accept and act on criticism - the constructive type. Arrogantly ignoring constructive criticism has been our major letdown as a nation. Our leaderships knack, especially at government level; of arrogantly turning a deaf ear to criticism has been one of the major impediments of growing and developing us as a nation.



A major mistake made by those in authority is thinking that leadership is forever. One writer once noted that leadership, like medication has an expiry date. No condition is permanent. It is imperative for leaders to listen to voices of criticism. You cannot always be right. It is disheartening to hear society labelling this government as the worst ever in terms of poor service delivery. We writers dont take any pleasure in exposing the shortcomings of our leadership. We do it out of concern for transparent leadership. People remember a good leader. The opposite is true. Bad leaders are not remembered.



Who in his wildest dreams can remember with fond memories leaders of the calibre of Robert Mugabe? Even those who made it their culture to grovel and sing his praises have turned their backs on him. His status as a liberation hero has been tainted by his bad leadership skills. We do not want that to be the case with our leaders. We need to be concerned when a majority criticises us.

It means there is a lot we are not doing right. We must not view criticism as hatred and need to refrain from being resentful when others criticise us.

I would love to throw the gauntlet at both our leadership and individuals across all spheres of our society to follow Winston Churchills advice on accepting criticism:



Criticisms may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. Good leadership skills is to have the ability to understand, encourage and make meaningful use of unrelenting criticism - something which was glaringly lacking in our government this year.



For instance, the delays in decisive, decision-making could have averted the lack of medication in hospitals; the dragging of feet in solving the Swaziland Christian University (SCU) impasse and other challenges affecting tertiary institutions.

This could have prevented sowing the seeds of hatred between government and students that will have far-reaching future consequences for our future leaders.



Because I am patriotic and I love our leadership, I will say that people out there are speaking ill of our leaders. It is heart-rending to hear people saying the country belongs to a privileged few. The rest are just objects to be taxed their hard-earned money to benefit the status quo.

We love our one and only Swaziland. It is the only one we have, albeit with its unique ways of doing things.



By Alex Nxumalo
MBABANE  While the rest of the world is waiting in glee for the New Year, about 520 residents of Madonsa will have nothing to celebrate.



This is because they will be deprived of one of their fundamental needs-shelter as they will be evicted from the Swaziland National Provident Fund (SNPF) owned Farm.



On average, it has been revealed that the 65 affected homesteads have about eight family members each.

This sad reality would be more so because the Swaziland Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration, which was tasked to negotiate the sale of the farm between SNPF and the residents, has since excused itself from the matter.



Information reaching the Times SUNDAY is that the matter was brought to an abrupt halt after the residents of Madonsa sought and secured a potential buyer who was willing to purchase the land on their behalf after they (residents) agreed on certain conditions, something which the mediator did not agree with.

According to Fikile Mbuyisa, a resident, the Swaziland Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration, headed by Sabelo Masuku, informed them point blank that they were now on their own.



This was due to the fact that the commission was not prepared to assist them (residents) secure the land through the assistance of a local businessman who had registered an interest to purchase the property on behalf of the residents of Madonsa.



She told this publication that the businessman, known to this publication, had agreed to purchase the farm at the asking price of E4.7 million set by the parastatal. It was also established that the businessman had already stated his terms on how he would share the land with the residents.
IoM to seek police help to conduct MBBS test

The Institute of Medicine (IoM) has decided to seek help from Nepal Police to curb any malpractices in its upcoming MBBS entrance examination.
KMC plans new structures to ease traffic congestions

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is planning to build an underpass in New Baneshwor and two overhead crossings in Chabahil and Gaushala to ease traffic congestions in the Capital city.
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Akwesasne

At the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation on New York's side of the St. Lawrence River, there is a casino, a broadband company, and a television studio. But pharmaceutical and computer software facilities are nowhere to be found.

This fall, the tribe and its 15,600 members put no money down to become new legal owners of federal patents for a multibillion-dollar eye medication, as well as for computer software programs that help drive tech giants like Microsoft, Apple and Amazon.

Now, the tribe has drawn unwelcome attention from five U.S. senators who call that sudden change in patent ownership from private companies a legal fiction meant to exploit federal law that controls profits from intellectual property.

Many millions of dollars and future court arguments will be riding on how "sovereign immunity," which is the legal autonomy held by states, governments, and in this case, Native American tribes, relates to U.S. patent law. This law determines who owns an invention and how long they can profit from it without competition.

Current federal law treats Native American tribes like the Mohawks as their own sovereign states, which is why tribes cannot be made to collect state taxes, said Robert Batson, an adjunct professor of Native American and government law at Albany Law School.

"Sovereign states cannot be compelled to do something, unless they decide to allow it," Batson said. For example, if someone were to injure themselves in the Mohawks' casino, they would have to take their case for potential damages to a tribal court, rather than have the right to go to a New York court.

In September, the Mohawks became the first tribe in the U.S. to attempt to extend sovereign immunity into federal patent law for pharmaceuticals, which if successful, could lead other tribes and companies to copy it, Batson said.

But, he said, the move could backfire, and lead to changes in federal law aimed at limiting how far such tribal immunity goes.

Both industry and lawmakers took notice when Mohawk leaders teamed up with an Irish pharmaceutical company called Allergan, makers of a medication for dry eyes called Restasis.

That drug is worth $1.5 billion year in sales, and the company is facing patent challenges through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from rivals who want to make lower-cost generic versions. Allergan has sold the drug since 2002 and believes its patents should last through 2024.

Under a six-year-old federal patent law, however, such challenges through the Patent Office can only be applied to private owners, not to sovereign states. So, Allergan paid the tribe $13.75 million to take ownership of the patent for Restasis, and lease it back to the company, which is continuing to make and sell it.

The company also agreed to pay the tribe up to another $105 million over the next seven years, as long as the federal patent remains in force.

Earlier this summer, the tribe  which has an annual budget of about $50 million  reached a similar agreement with SRC Labs, a holding company that controls about 40 computer software patents. In October, the tribe since sued Amazon and Microsoft claiming patent infringement.

Last month, Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, said patent sales to the Mohawks were "one of the most brazen and absurd loopholes I've ever seen, and it should be illegal."

She has introduced legislation seeking to abrogate tribal sovereign immunity.

In a letter this fall, four other U.S. senators called the deal a scheme to protect "Allergan's market monopoly  and its profits  at the expense of people who need the drug."

That letter was signed by Sens. Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Margaret Wood Hassan of New Hampshire, and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

Tribal leaders wrote to Senate leaders in mid-October to defend the deals, saying the tribe needs money to provide services to its members, particularly for health care for a population that has been exposed to three badly polluted industrial sites nearby.

"We are being attacked for diversifying our economy," wrote tribal chiefs Eric Thompson, Beverly Cook and Michael Conners. Calling opposition "another sad example of colonial paternalism," the tribe said it was only doing what state universities have done for decades by owning patents. Those patents tend to be based on research done at the university.

The letter also denied that the tribe, by selling potential legal protection to the lucrative Restasis eye drug, was assisting in "price gouging" or hindering "access to medicine."

Further clouding the legal waters is an Oct. 16 decision in federal court in Texas, where a judge terminated Allergan's patent rights for the drug, ruling the ideas behind it were obvious.

That decision is likely to be appealed.

Since the ruling, Allergan's stock price has slipped 14 percent. Restasis accounts for about 10 percent of the company's total revenue.

bnearing@timesunion.com  518-454-5094
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30 Years: A Celebration of the James Beard Foundation

ABC, 4 p.m.

Multiple James Beard Awardwinning chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and philanthropist Marcus Samuelsson takes viewers on a culinary journey through the history of the James Beard Foundation while creating a special 30th anniversary dinner at the Beard House. The special also features appearances by a plethora of culinary stars, including Mario Batali, Daniel Boulud, Tom Colicchio, Traci Des Jardins, Carla Hall, Emeril Lagasse, Jacques Pepin, Gail Simmons, Martha Stewart and Ming Tsai.

The 66th Miss Universe Competition

Fox, 7 p.m. Live

Nearly 100 of the world's most beautiful women, each representing her home country, will travel to Las Vegas to compete in the 2017 Miss Universe Competition. Steve Harvey returns as host, and at the end of the three-hour event, Miss Universe 2016, Iris Mittenaere from France, will crown her successor.

Switched for Christmas

Hallmark Channel, 8 p.m.

Original film! A year after the death of their mother, estranged twin sisters (both played by Candace Cameron Bure) meet for an obligatory pre-Christmas lunch. Both women are unhappy and frustrated with their own lives and decide to swap lives until Christmas Day.

Air Disasters: "Edge of Disaster"

Smithsonian Channel, 8 p.m.

Atlantic Airways Flight 670 was shuttling a group of oil company employees to work when the plane careened off the runway and down a steep embankment. With one engine still roaring, several exits blocked and a plane engulfed in flames, the 16 passengers on board scrambled for their lives. With almost no wreckage left to examine, a mysterious substance found on the runway seemed to hold the key to understanding the cause of the deadly crash.

The Walking Dead: "The King, the Widow and Rick"

AMC, 9 p.m.

With things looking up for Rick and the group, an argument breaks out at the Hilltop with life-or-death consequences.

A Joyous Christmas

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, 9 p.m.

Original film! When Joy saves the life of a stranger, her selflessness impresses the woman, who learns that helping others is the key to true success and could be the path to finding true love as well.

NCIS: Los Angeles: "Fool Me Twice"

CBS, 9:30 p.m.

Guest star Elizabeth Bogush returns as CIA Agent Joelle Taylor in the new episode. Callen (Chris O'Donnell) and the team question Joelle's story after she escapes from a kidnapping and turns to Callen for help.

The Christmas Snowman

Lifetime, 10 p.m.

Original film! In this 10-minute mini-movie, after wishing for the perfect man, a woman wakes up to discover her new handsome neighbor is actually the snowman she built the day before, who has now come to life.

Madam Secretary: "The Fourth Estate"

CBS, 10:30 p.m.

Elizabeth (Tea Leoni) and her staff work with the Mexican government to track down an escaped drug cartel leader in the new episode.

Brought to you by the publishers of TV Guide.  TV Guide 2017
Niskayuna

For decades, Meg Keyes was every bit the "hard-charging" finance executive, a job she relished, with long hours and high pay.

Even when Keyes was diagnosed with breast cancer, she kept working, she said, taking only the time she needed to recover from surgery and treatments. Work was vital to her recovery, Keyes said.

But, according to a lawsuit she filed against her former employer, once she had cancer, she was no longer considered vital by the company.

Keyes, 54, is suing Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., parent company of the Ayco Co., which has local offices in Saratoga Springs and Colonie. In the lawsuit, Keyes says she was repeatedly demoted and "stigmatized by Ayco management employees as being unhealthy, being in need of frequent time off to address her health issues, being a financial liability for the company's health insurance plan, being less hard-charging and selfless, less capable, less dedicated and less productive than she was before she was diagnosed with cancer." Ultimately, in September 2016, after 27 years with the company, Keyes was fired.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding cancer diagnoses and the Americans with Disabilities Act, "once an employee is on the job, his actual performance is the best measure of ability to do the job."

Keyes' lawsuit alleges that Goldman Sachs violated her rights under the ADA and state Human Rights Law. Cancer,at any stage, is a protected condition under the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the EEOC.

"Despite significant gains in cancer survival rates, people with cancer still experience barriers to equal job opportunities," the EEOC states on its website. "Often, employees with cancer face discrimination because of their supervisors' and co-workers' misperceptions about their ability to work during and after cancer treatment. Even when the prognosis is excellent, some employers expect that a person diagnosed with cancer will take long absences from work or be unable to focus on job duties."

Beth Bourassa, a partner at Whiteman Ostermann & Hanna, which is representing Goldman Sachs, said that Keyes' lawsuit is without merit, and she plans to "vigorously contest it." The firm has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, citing an arbitration agreement Keyes signed when Goldman Sachs bought Ayco in 2003. According to court documents, the lawsuit should be dismissed because Keyes signed the agreement and was paid "millions of dollars" in return. The agreement was designed to keep disagreements out of court. In addition to Goldman Sachs and Ayco, the lawsuit names Timothy O'Hara, Keyes' boss for part of the time described in the claim; Sheri Lyons, senior vice president in charge of human resources; and Joseph Rigabar, who was Keyes' boss at the time she was fired.

Both sides are scheduled to be in U.S. District Court in Syracuse on Dec. 7. The judge, Brenda K. Sannes, said Wednesday she may rule based on the motions alone and not schedule a hearing.

Keyes started working for Ayco in 1989, not long after she graduated from law school. She was hired to work in the company's general counsel office and was promoted several times, eventually ascending to the role of senior vice president of financial related services, now called financial counseling.

Keyes husband, Joe Scufca, an engineer, became a stay-at-home parent and cared for the couple's children, now 20 and 13.

Keyes was diagnosed with cancer in July 2014. When she notified her boss, O'Hara, president and CEO of Ayco, he "communicated to her that she would have six months, or the rest of 2014, to recover from her breast cancer," according to the lawsuit.

Keyes suffered complications during her chemotherapy treatments, including chemical burns and infection around the site of the port inserted in her chest so she could receive chemotherapy. In all, she underwent six surgeries, including a mastectomy followed by radiation. The lawsuit doesn't specify how much time Keyes was out of work, but in early 2015, O'Hara praised Keyes' preserverance and wrote in a performance evaluation "you were away from the office some, but never gone. You led from distance more than you would have liked but, you and FRS (financial related services) didn't miss a beat. Your drive and commitment is inspirational."

However, the lawsuit describes what is described as a stigma toward Keyes at work. According to the lawsuit, Tucker York, head of private wealth management at Goldman Sachs and O'Hara's boss, told Keyes in a conversation that she would never be cured.

Lyons, an Ayco senior vice president who led the company's human resources department at the time, told Keyes she should "adjust to a new normal" and not expect to continue being a "Type A workaholic."

But Keyes knew Type A workaholics were the types who succeeded at Goldman Sachs. She knew if she was stigmatized as a sick person who couldn't work as hard as she used to, it would damage her career.

On Dec. 22, 2014, 10 days before Keyes was to undergo a mastectomy, O'Hara took her out of the vice president role she had held since 2005, managing more than 150 associates. The department had about 200 corporate clients, and, according to the lawsuit, the department doubled its revenue under Keyes' leadership and tripled its profit margin.

O'Hara reassigned Keyes to a startup called Ayco Studio, designed to "build digital solutions across all of Ayco." It had no income, no clients, and initially, no staff.

In March, Keyes asked for more time off to finish her radiation treatments and recover. In response, according to the claim, O'Hara advised her that if she took time off work, he would have to add staff to her department and reduce her annual bonus. Instead of taking time off, Keyes kept working.

A year later, Keyes was still struggling with her reputation at work, but her cancer did not interfere with her job, the lawsuit states.

By March 2016, the company consolidated Ayco Studio with a strategy and communications unit but moved its most important mission  Ayco's digital platform  to another new department, one Keyes was not assigned to lead. Other people were hired for the job, although they had less experience than Keyes, according to the suit, and despite a statement O'Hara made in his 2014 performance review of Keyes that she had "the most experience at Ayco building digital solutions."

On Sept. 7, 2016, Keyes informed her boss  at this point Joseph Rigabar  she was going to need to take time off for breast reconstruction surgery. On Sept. 8, she was informed by human resources she should apply for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act. On Sept. 12, she was fired without warning, effective Dec. 31. She was instructed to sign an agreement stating she wouldn't make a claim under the ADA or the state Human Rights Law, which she refused to do. She wasn't allowed to collect her things, or severance, although the company health insurance did cover her reconstruction surgery.

Later, she was informed she was fired "as part of a planned reduction in force." It was the only time in Ayco's history a senior vice president was fired as part of staff reduction, the lawsuit states.

In the year since her 27-year career ended, Keyes has been looking for work. She is now cancer-free.

"Surviving is one thing," she said. "I want to thrive."

The complaint is about more than asking a judge to award her back pay and punitive damages. Keyes hopes for a public trial "in order to shine a bright light on the defendants' discriminatory practices in an effort to deter (them) and other employers from continuing to discriminate against women who are diagnosed with breast cancer or other similar disabilities that cast an unjustified stigma on them and injures the advancement of their careers."

Keyes considers herself lucky in a number of ways because she has the support of her husband and children, good friends and her health.

"There are people who can't stand up for themselves," she said. "I can. And because I can, I should."

lhornbeck@timesunion.com  518-454-5352  @leighhornbeck
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Albany

The growing demand for urban living, a national trend, is arriving with force in Albany. This is good. Very good.

Assuming that city leaders don't find a way to screw things up  always a possibility  the city is set to benefit from a wave of development that promises to invigorate neighborhoods with thousands of new residents.

Seriously, the pace and scale of plans is eye-popping. The proposals on just one recent planning board agenda called for more than 600 apartments.

More Information Contact columnist Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com See More Collapse

For comparison's sake, consider that Albany issued building permits for just 39 housing units in 2010, the depth of the recession.

Among the proposals are big plans for long-neglected sites such as Quackenbush Square immediately north of downtown, the Kenwood Convent campus or the First Prize Center site  but those proposals aren't really the focus here.

There are also significant plans to convert more of the old, underutilized buildings downtown and in the warehouse district, such as the proposal to bring 120 apartments to the 90 State St. tower. Yet the arrival of new housing in those neighborhoods is by now a familiar story.

What's noteworthy about this latest round of plans is that, like the ongoing rebuilding of the Park South neighborhood, they are trying to bring redevelopment to established residential areas. Consider these proposals:

For 363 Ontario St. in Pine Hills, the site of the landmark Playdium bowling alley, 110 apartments in four, four-story buildings.

For 1211 Western Ave., near the University at Albany, a 327-bed, five-story dorm.

For 563 New Scotland Ave., near St. Peters Hospital, six storefronts and 93 apartments in a project dubbed "New Scotland Village."

For Holland Avenue at the intersection with Delaware, a 125-unit building.

For Colvin Avenue, near Westland Hills Park, two 24-unit buildings with ground-level retail.

For 526 Central Avenue, a five-story building with offices and 74 apartments.

I could go on, because there are more. But you get the drift. Something significant is happening.

For historical perspective, I turned to Daniel Hershberg, the civil engineer frequently hired to shepherd developments through the city approval process. He said he hasn't seen a wave like this in Albany during his 54-year career.

Hershberg said developers are simply trying to meet demand among people who want to live in walkable neighborhoods and want little to do with the headaches of home ownership. Much of the demand, Hershberg said, is from downsizing empty-nesters.

Whatever the reason, the trend is certainly overdue.

The census says the number of housing units in the city fell by 4.2 percent- (from 48,411 to 46,362) just in the six years since 2010, while the overall population was stable. That alone explains some of the demand for new apartments.

Meanwhile, 55 percent of the city's housing units were built before 1939, while just 2.6 percent were built in the last 15 years. Albany clearly needs this wave of new investment.

But I'm not going to pretend that everything is copacetic.

Albany remains a city with hundreds of vacant properties in its poorest neighborhoods. Little of the redevelopment is proposed for those sections of the city.

Meanwhile, if recent history is a guide, most of the proposals will be built only with the help of tax breaks. Those reductions shield builders from the city's unreasonable tax burden, but many residents, landlords especially, understandably find them unfair.

And, of course, a potential downside of development in established areas is the effect on neighbors. It should be no surprise that, given Albany's traditional wariness toward change, many of the recent proposals face complaints from neighbors who think the projects are too big or unattractive.

AND WHAT ABOUT PARKING!! AND TRAFFIC!!!

I get the complaints. It is hard for residents of established neighborhoods to welcome construction that may alter their ease of life. And it is certainly a good thing when residents want to protect their neighborhoods and demand quality from developers.

But generally speaking, Albany should embrace this wave of new construction and the increasing population density it promises.

Density is vital to what makes city life appealing. It puts people on sidewalks. It puts stores and jobs within walking distance. It makes public transportation viable. It will improve Albany's quality of life, even if parking is a little harder to find.

Parking isn't supposed to be too easy. It is a city, after all.

Keep in mind that I'm writing this column just after Thanksgiving, so it's possible that I'm suffering from some sort of gravy-induced haze of optimism.

But looking at the long list of proposed projects, it's easy to feel bullish about the future of Albany, despite its still significant challenges. It is possible to think that Albany is on the verge of a significant rebirth  and perhaps even a golden age.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
Washington

The crush of unfinished business facing lawmakers when they return to the Capitol would be daunting even if Washington were functioning at peak efficiency.

It's an agenda whose core items  tax cuts, a potential government shutdown, lots of leftover spending bills  could unravel just as easily as advance in factionalism, gamesmanship and a toxic political environment.

There's only a four-week window until a Christmas deadline, barely enough time for complicated negotiations even if December stays on the rails. And that's hardly a sure bet in President Donald Trump's capital.

Trump and congressional leaders plan a meeting Tuesday to discuss how to sidestep a shutdown and work though the legislative to-do list.

For the optimistic, it's plain that Democrats and Republicans have reasons to cooperate, particularly on spending increases for the Pentagon and domestic agencies whose budgets otherwise would be frozen. An additional round of hurricane aid should be bipartisan, and efforts to reauthorize a popular health care program for children seem to be on track.

Republicans are advancing their cherished tax cut measure under special rules that mean Senate Democrats cannot use delaying tactics. The measure passed the House just before the Thanksgiving break and moves to the Senate floor this coming week.

After the Senate GOP's failure on health care this summer, the majority party is under enormous pressure to produce a victory on taxes. Still, GOP deficit hawks such as senators Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona remain uneasy about the overhaul.

While Democrats are largely sidelined on taxes, they hold leverage over a mix of budget-related issues.

First, there's the need to avert a government shutdown after a temporary spending bill expires on Dec. 8. The most likely scenario, congressional aides say, is for an additional extension until Christmas. On a parallel track are talks to raise spending limits that are keeping agency budgets essentially frozen unless those caps are raised. If that happens, then negotiations could begin in earnest on a massive catchall spending measure in hopes of having it signed into law by year's end.

Taxes have gotten all the attention so far, but the showdown over a potential shutdown right before Christmas could soon take center stage. Democrats are counting on GOP fears of a holiday season closure to ensure Republican concessions during December talks.

Both sides would have to make concessions that may upset partisans in either party. Just as House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., fears a revolt on the right, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California risks an uprising on her left. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., round out the quartet of top negotiators.

"Everybody's got complicated politics. The chance of short-term failure is pretty high  short-term failure being a shutdown," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist. "But the four of them, assuming they don't want to shut the government down for a long time, are going to have to come to an accommodation."

Talks on the spending caps are stuck, however, aides say. A GOP offer to lift the Pentagon budget by more than $54 billion next year and nondefense limits by $37 billion was rejected by Democrats demanding balance between the two sides of the ledger.

Long-delayed battles over immigration and Trump's promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border are huge obstacles. Many Democrats whose votes are needed on the spending bills insist they won't vote for any legislation that includes the wall. Trump remains dead set on his $1.6 billion request for a down payment on the project.

Those same Democrats also insist that Congress must act by year's end to protect immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and whose protected status is set to lapse next year. Trump backs the idea despite issuing an executive order reversing the Obama administration protections, starting next spring. Conservatives oppose drawing in the immigration issue to legislation to keep the government running.

Hurricane relief is adding one more wrinkle.

Congress has approved more than $50 billion in aid in response to a series of devastating hurricanes. The most recent request by the White House is the largest yet at $44 billion, but it's not nearly enough to satisfy the powerful Texas delegation, which is pressing behind the scenes for more.

"Completely inadequate," said Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas. "We must do far more to rebuild, repair and allow Texans to return to normal as quickly as possible."

Trump has not engaged on the year-end agenda, however, and his impulsiveness could be a liability. He almost disowned an omnibus spending bill in May after media accounts portrayed the measure as a win for Democrats.
JIM MCKNIGHT

I admire Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's advocacy for women, but her recent denigration of former President Bill Clinton caused me concern when she said that he should have resigned over his affair with Monica Lewinsky. She was wrong in what she said and, more importantly, wrong in saying it.

Clinton's impeachment was entirely politically motivated and the Congress agreed. That affair, as wrong as it was, simply did not warrant his resignation.
Fianna Fail TD for Tipperary, Jackie Cahill has said that a rural crime epidemic is spreading across County Tipperary, and that unless we address its root causes now, the opportunity to put an end to criminality in our communities may be lost to us.

Deputy Cahill was speaking during the Fianna Fail motion on rural crime debated in the Dail.

How is it normal that when I go from door to door visiting constituents in many rural communities, that I am answered through a half ajar window rather than at the front door?

People are terrified for their personal safety and for their farm machinery.

We need to come together as a parliament and as a society to stamp our rural crime. The opportunity may be lost to us if we allow it take hold in our communities.

We have seen a spate of rural burglaries, and without Gardai on our streets, and in our villages, they will continue to prey on vulnerable homes and people.

Fianna Fail believes that electronic monitoring should be made a condition of bail for anyone convicted of a serious offence in the previous 10 years, while measures should be taken to allow the State to recoup the cost of legal aid from a person subsequently convicted of an offence.

Its unacceptable that one in seven criminal acts is being perpetrated by people out on bail.

Communities in Tipperary are fed up of lenient sentences being handed down to repeat offenders. Sentencing must act as a proper deterrent for criminals.

Those who commit, attempt or plan to commit a crime should know that their behaviour will not be tolerated by Irish society, and that requires us all to work collectively to find long term solutions, said Deputy Cahill.
As we report today, civic and business leaders, educators, students, parents and retirees from across Arizona gathered earlier this month in Mesa to develop a blueprint for reforming and increasing public school funding in Arizona.

Of note was the near absence from the Arizona Town Hall of state legislators and the governor. They werent invited mainly because they have demonstrated time and again that they are part of the problem, not the solution. They continue to intone their mantra of private school parental choice even as teachers are leaving in droves, thousands of classrooms are staffed on a near-permanent basis by noncertified substitutes and Arizona remains mired near the bottom of the 50 states in per-pupil spending.

As recently as 2016, despite years of experts both inside and outside the state recommending a dedicated state tax that would substantially hike school funding, Gov. Ducey and Republican lawmakers punted. Instead of a tax hike, they made a take-it-or-leave-it offer to voters to tap the state land trust fund for an extra $325 million a year for 10 years. That is an 8 percent hike in state public school spending of about $4 billion a year, still not enough to move the needle on teacher salaries, classroom size, or building repairs and classroom equipment.

STATEWIDE MOBILIZATION

Around the state, groups of education advocates like the Flagstaff LAUNCH coalition have identified the resource shortfalls and tried to do local work-arounds. Voters in FUSD regularly renew the districts 15 percent budget override, the maximum allowed under the state equalized funding law. Businesses, civic groups and academics have coalesced around STEM curriculum support in the classroom. And many local schools have leveraged the state extracurricular tax credit to the hilt.

But now they have compared notes and emerged speaking with one voice. They have focused not just on raising teacher salaries but on charter school recruitment tactics that result in educational segregation and results-based school funding that favors the wealthy and widens the achievement gap. They want more funding for all-day kindergarten and pre-school access for poor children. And they want the state to keep its promises to fund new schools and repairs.

The price tag for all of the above isnt cheap  about $1.3 billion in one-time new spending and $2 billion a year thereafter. But Arizona has done public education on the cheap for so many years that the measures, if fully funded, would only get the state back to the middle of the 50 states in average spending and other fiscal measures.

DETAILS AND BUGS

There are of course details and bugs to be worked out. How would a statewide property tax be newly distributed to charter schools? Will still higher sales taxes unfairly burden the poor unless new exemptions can be carved out or tax credits expanded? Should teacher raises be calibrated according to the student demographic challenges they face instead of across the board? What kind of accountability measures should teachers be held to if salaries are to be raised?

The answers might need to come on the fly, as time is running short to craft various funding initiatives and get them onto the same November 2018 ballot as the challenge to the Legislatures expansion of private school vouchers. Ideally, the tax proposals and others would arise out of bipartisan hearings and negotiations among our elected representatives at the state Capitol. But we are not holding our breath, given the demonstrated antipathy of many Republican lawmakers toward more funding for mainstream public schools with higher taxes.

Instead, if enough business leaders and their deep pockets come aboard, wed anticipate a grassroots petition drive this spring and summer while the momentum from the Town Hall is still strong. Other states have already figured out that cutting taxes doesnt underwrite the kind of growth that Arizona in particular needs to pulls its public schools out of a deep hole. If the Arizona Legislature wont accept the obvious, then an end run to the ballot by the Town Hall and education advocates is entirely appropriate.

Let the campaign begin!
Police open fire in Rukum after ballot box set on fire

Police opened fire in an election center at Aathbiskot Municipality-11 in Rukum district on Sunday.
[November 25, 2017] Statement from Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) CEO John F. Lansing Regarding the Russian Federation's Media Law

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President Putin has signed a law under which foreign media organizations can be classified as "foreign agents." Russian officials have indicated that, under this law, even more restrictions may be placed on the BBG's networks, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA), and their services, including the Current Time television and digital network. RFE/RL, VOA, and the other networks of U.S. international media will remain committed to our mission, stipulated by U.S. law, to provide accurate, objective, and comprehensive journalism and other content to our global audiences, including in the Russian Federation. We will study carefully all communications we may receive from Russian authorities concerning our operations. While we will not speculate as to the effect that any new steps by the Russian government will have on ourjournalistic work, any characterization of such steps as reciprocity for U.S. actions severely distorts reality. Russian media, including RT and Sputnik, are free to operate in the United States and can be, and are, carried by U.S. cable television outlets and FM radio stations. However, U.S international media, including VOA and RFE/RL, are banned from television and radio in Russia.



In addition, our journalists on assignment are harassed by Russian authorities and face extensive restrictions on their work. RFE/RL contributor Mykola Semena recently was sentenced by a Russian court for an article he wrote, and contributor Stanislav Asayev is being held by Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine. RFE/RL journalists were knocked down and kicked while on assignment in Russia's southern region of Krasnodar in March, and VOA correspondent Daniel Schearf has been denied a visa to re-enter Russia. The BBG would be pleased if the current focus on reciprocity between Russian and American media ends by giving U.S. outlets  including U.S. international media such as VOA and RFE/RL  the same rights and opportunities in Russia that Russian networks have in the United States.

CONTACT: Nasserie Carew, 202-203-4400, [email protected] View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/statement-from-broadcasting-board-of-governors-bbg-ceo-john-f-lansing-regarding-the-russian-federations-media-law-300561594.html SOURCE Broadcasting Board of Governors

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[November 26, 2017] Arterys Receives FDA clearance for Arterys MICA, its web-based medical imaging analytics platform

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Arterys Inc., the leader in intelligent cloud-based medical imaging software solutions, has announced the unveiling of their Arterys MICA platform at the 2017 Radiological Society of North America annual meeting (RSNA), November 26 - 30 in Chicago. Visitors to the Arterys Booth (#8361 McCormick Place-North Hall B), will be able to interact with a new portfolio of web-based artificial intelligence (AI) offerings supported by the platform. Arterys has created Arterys MICA: a novel AI platform for medical image analytics. Today, most imaging interpretation solutions are installed inside hospitals and lack the computing power to deliver real-time, interactive AI insights to medical images. Arterys MICA is web based, and runs on a scalable, distributed GPU architecture. As a result, physicians benefit from vast amounts of computation and can leverage artificial intelligence algorithms instantly. MICA can support multiple workflows in a variety of imaging modalities, such as MRI and CT. It was designed to work seamlessly with applications that integrate AI algorithms into workflows, allowing clinicians to interact with and edit their output in real time. The system also captures these user edits, so that algorithms can later be improved based on real-world use, creating collective intelligence to benefit all users. Additionally, MICA includes the Arterys PHI Service, which ensures protected patient data remains within the hospital network, yet it can be accessed remotely by users with the right credentials. This solution is critical in achieving scale while protecting patient data privacy. This proprietary technology complies with regional data and privacy laws in the US, Canada and the EU, and is already working well at top clinical and academic institutions in these regions. <>The cloud provides several additional benefits, including scalability without additional IT investment, access to the latest updates and upgrades instantly, and the ability to share images of any size easily and with a complete set of interpretation tools. MICA now supports three applications: the FDA-cleared Cardio AIMR and a new clearance-pending application to support Oncology workflow for lung and liver: Arterys Liver AIMR, CT and Arterys Lung AICT.



"We are excited to see how the Arterys MICA platform realizes our vision of democratizing high quality care via data driven medicine and assisting radiologists across a wide variety of workflows," said CEO and Co-Founder Fabien Beckers. "The platform and these products get us one step closer to our vision of empowering physicians with AI to convert data into insights, so they can define the optimal path for each of their patients." Demonstrations of the FDA-clearance pending oncology workflows will also be available. Supported by MICA, these products have been designed to volumetrically segment and measure suspicious lesions, help track them over time and allow clinicians to apply radiological standards such as LI-RADS and Lung-RADS as appropriate.

Machine Learning Showcase At the Machine Learning Showcase, CEO Fabien Beckers and Dr. Albert Hsiao will present "A Year of Experience with AI in the Market: What We've Learned and the Future of Medical Imaging and Cloud AI," and offer anecdotes, learnings, and insights from a year of on-market experience with AI, followed by discussion of the role cloud AI will play, occurring Monday, Nov. 27, at 12:00 noon at the Machine Learning Showcase stage, North Hall B. About Arterys Arterys was founded in 2011 to facilitate the global advancement of medicine through data, artificial intelligence and technology. Because a significant proportion of the world's medical data resides in medical images, Arterys set out to tackle several issues around the space, including the enormous workloads radiologists face, the lack of accuracy with many of today's tools, and the need for increased consistency across practices. Arterys is now focused on expanding its technology beyond cardiac MRI to continue solving some of radiology's most pressing needs. For more information, please contact us at: www.arterys.com

@ArterysInc View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arterys-receives-fda-clearance-for-arterys-mica-its-web-based-medical-imaging-analytics-platform-300561602.html SOURCE Arterys Inc.

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[November 26, 2017] Philips unveils IntelliSpace Portal 10 with new 3D modeling application to enhance diagnostic confidence

AMSTERDAM and CHICAGO, Nov. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced the debut of IntelliSpace Portal 10, the latest edition of Philips' comprehensive, advanced visualization and quantification platform. This next generation features enhancements across the solution, with a particular focus on oncology to provide radiologists with an improved full set of applications and workflows to support the reading and follow-up of complex oncology cases. IntelliSpace Portal 10 also includes a new 3D modeling application and has been expanded with the DynaCAD Prostate and Breast solutions through integration with InVivo. Interest in 3D imaging and printing for healthcare continues to grow as health systems see the value of its integrated workflows in areas such as surgery planning, education and training. IntelliSpace Portal 10 is the first solution to feature an embedded 3D modeling application for creating and exporting 3D models intuitively into the clinical workflow. Building on its long-term strategic partnership with Philips, Phoenix Children's Hospital leverages the solution to enable clinicians to use the new 3D modeling features for clinical applications to help improve patient care. "Our collaboration with Philips has accelerated the co-creation of solutions designed to address the unique needs of pediatric patients," said Dr. Dianna Bardo, Director Body MR and Co-Director 3D Innovation Lab, Phoenix Children's. "The 3D modeling application of IntelliSpace Portal 10 has been instrumental in receiving a more accurate picture of the details of anatomy. This is especially true as we prepare for complex procedures by determining the tumor's exact size and seeing subtle changes over time; informing the most viable treatment choice." IntelliSpace Portal 10 aims to enhance definitive diagnostic confidence to assist in driving improved treatment and outcomes, support appropriate imaging and treatment, simplify data and insight gathering and reduce costs. Intelligent and adaptive, the solution is responsive to the needs of radiologists and includes a machine learning feature that automatically learns from prior application usage to predict the series and data type on which pre-processing should be applied. IntelliSpace Portal 10 will give clinicians and radiologists a single, vendor-agnostic platform to provide them with the sophisticated ools needed across the continuum of care for oncology.



Expanding into new clinical domains

As the prevalence of cancer and its economic impact increases, solutions like IntelliSpace Portal 10 will play a large role in supporting physicians with diagnostic confidence and patient care. In collaboration with InVivo, a business of Royal Philips focused on advanced clinical visualization systems and MRI-compatible interventional devices, DynaCAD Prostate and Breast capabilities will be directly integrated into this latest edition of IntelliSpace Portal. DynaCAD Prostate and Breast, high-performance advanced image analysis solutions that feature flexible workspaces with custom hanging protocols, image post-processing, lesion segmentation, standardized and structured reporting and interventional biopsy planning, will help reduce processing time to assist with enhanced disease management. "IntelliSpace Portal 10 highlights our continued commitment to create advanced visualization platforms that offer a single integrated solution for fast, efficient workflows and increased diagnostic confidence, especially in a value-based care environment," said Yair Briman, Business Leader Healthcare Informatics at Philips. "This new edition marks Philips' ability to provide one comprehensive solution to answer our customers' needs, such as clinical improvements and increased efficiencies, especially now with the integration of two important clinical domains of breast and prostate cancer."

Philips aligns with global 3D printing leaders

Philips recently signed agreements with 3D Systems and Stratasys, two of the leaders in the 3D printing industry helping to accelerate medical progress in improved planning and patient outcomes. Philips customers now have seamless access to expedite 3D printing to create models to help physicians understand patient anatomy that is difficult to visualize, and deliver personalized medicine in the most unique, complex cases. As interest in 3D printing continues to grow, its role in radiology is still being defined. Hear directly from clinicians as they employ new technologies for 3D integrated workflows to print models leveraging 3D segmentations, education and training at the Philips hosted 3D Printing Symposium on November 28th from 9  10:30 a.m. CT at S101AB, McCormick Place, Chicago. The symposium will feature speakers from Phoenix Children's Hospital, Ichilov Hospital in Tel-Aviv, and Philips. Philips has collaborated with Ichilov Hospital to integrate 3D surgical visualization and planning into their 3D surgical hub. For more information and to RSVP for the event, visit www.philips.com/rsna. To learn more about IntelliSpace Portal 10, visit the Philips booth #6735 at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting, taking place Nov. 26 - Dec. 1, in Chicago, Ill. For more information on Philips full suite of integrated imaging systems, devices, informatics and services at #RSNA17, and for live updates from the event, follow @PhilipsLiveFrom or visit www.philips.com/rsna. For further information, please contact: Kathy O'Reilly

Philips Group Press Office

Tel.: +1 978-659-2638

E-mail: [email protected]

Twitter: @kathyoreilly Steve Klink

Philips Group Press Office

Tel.: +31 6 10888824

E-mail: [email protected] About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2016 sales of EUR 17.4 billion and employs approximately 73,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/philips-unveils-intellispace-portal-10-with-new-3d-modeling-application-to-enhance-diagnostic-confidence-300561603.html SOURCE Royal Philips

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[November 26, 2017] The New York Times Agrees With Artprice's Anticipation of the Complete Redefinition of the Art Market's Price Scale After Leonardo Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi Record

PARIS, November 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Artprice's dedicated global publications monitoring team - part of its Artmarket Insight news agency - cannot but react warmly to the article published on 24 November 2017 in the New York Times. Penned by Scott Reyburn, one of the world's most famous art journalists, its title perfectly concords with Artprice's analysis. Entitled How This Leonardo's Mind-Blowing Price Will Change the Art Market, the article is available online at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/arts/design/salvator-mundi-leonardo.html (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160228/338238LOGO ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/610336/Artprice___Leonardo_DaVinci.jpg ) thierry Ehrmann: "Artprice notes the perfect concordance of this article with our press release on 19 November 2017, available online at: for the English version: https://www.actusnews.com/fr/ARTPRICE/cp/2017/11/19/artprice-the-auction-record-for-salvator-mundi-by-leonardo-da-vinci-proves-that-the-museum-industry-reg-is-completely It is now clear that the new auction record of $450.3 million for Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi has led to an almost identical appreciation of where the art market is going on both sides of the Atlantic except that our analysis was publicised well before the result. Indeed, the new record has immediately ratcheted high-end art prices with a number of works fetching significantly higher than their estimates. Artprice has long predicted the formation of a new economic model within the art market, a model that is now clearly emerging because the art market has become efficient, mature and liquid and is now an appropriate subject for sophisticated econometric and technical analysis. However, the art market's revolution is not just limited to its price scale and structure: by including Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi in a sale of Contemporary Art Christie's has completely overturned a long-standing convention. This remarkable break with tradition by a secular institution represents a major milestone for the future of the art market as it mutates into a proper market economy with the Internet serving as its primary market forum (auction sales are becoming increasingly dematerialized). Thierry Ehrmann: "The Museum Industry, a business model that Artprice conceptualised and IP copyrighted as of 2005, is driving this paradigm shift. The new economic science - taught by Artprice - is relentlessly pushing prices up. Our conviction about the evolution of the art market started with a simple observation: the exponential nature of art museum openings around the world. In 2014 an Artprice meta-study revealed that more art museums opened between January 2000 and December 2014 than during the entire 19th and 20th centuries. It also revealed that roughly 700 new art museums are being built every year on 5 continents, each with international vocations and each with at least 4,500 artworks. This massive expansion of the global museum industry goes hand-in-hand with a major soft-power competition between the world's nations, particularly its major powers (China / US) and the Gulf States. Indeed, soft-power rivalry is leading the art market inexorably towards spectacular new auction results. In our wel-documented view, we are likely to see results around the billion dollar threshold by 2020."



Indeed, thanks to its direct Intranet link to major Auction Houses, Artprice is aware of plans for prestige sales in the near future. According to our econometrics department and our Big Data algorithms, we can already predict that several sales will generate results in excess of one billion dollars, notably Christie's sale of the David and Peggy Rockefeller collection next May in New York. Artprice also notes that Sotheby's is preparing a particularly flamboyant 2018 with a series of spectacular sales that should allow the firm to close the gap that has recently emerged with its primary rival.

We are also receiving similar signals from Asia, particularly from China. Less than an hour before this communique was released, France Television published an article based 100% on Artprice's copyrighted (2005) analysis of the Museum Industry as a way of understanding the price of artworks. https://www.francetvinfo.fr/economie/emploi/metiers/art-culture-edition/video-deux-dix-ou-cinquante-milliards-d-euros-ca-vaut-combien-la-joconde_2481337.html "The Mona Lisa is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Tourists flock to admire the painting in the Louvre. It is also one of the few paintings entirely created produced by one of the greatest artists in history. Rarity, celebrity, technical perfection, a cocktail that makes its value difficult to estimate. An expert and two auctioneers interviewed by FranceInfo made a rational calculation based on quantifiable variables. For Elsa Gody, you can apply a simple formula: take the price of a ticket to the Louvre Museum, multiply it by the number of visitors over a given period... According to the Catawiki auctioneer "that comes to about two billion euros". His colleague Pierre Blanchet is less 'rational' arguing that the 'passion' for the painting makes its value impossible to estimate, especially during an auction where prices can quickly soar. ... / ... "Why not 10 billion?" he finally says." Artprice hereby predicts that the Art Market will definitively change price scale in 2018. In view of the above, Artprice confirms that in 2018 the Art Market will definitely change its price scale, both in the terms of total turnover and in terms of spectacular new records for Old Master, Modern and Contemporary artworks sold in prestige catalogued sales that will fetch around one billion dollars. According to our econometrics department over 180 artists should substantially renew their their auction records in 2018. The face of the Art Market, which Artprice has become an integral part of as the World Leader in Art Market Information for 20 years, has now definitively changed. http://www.artprice.com Copyright thierry Ehrmann 1987/2017 About Artprice: Artprice celebrates its 20th birthday, editorial by thierry Ehrmann, founder and CEO of Artprice. https://www.actusnews.com/fr/ARTPRICE/cp/2017/10/04/artprice-celebrates-its-20th-birthday-editorial-by-thierry-ehrmann-founder-and-ceo-of-artprice Artprice is listed on the Eurolist by Euronext Paris, SRD long only and Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF. Artprice is the global leader in art price and art index databanks. It has over 30 million indices and auction results covering more than 700,000 artists. Artprice Images(R) gives unlimited access to the largest Art Market resource in the world: a library of 126 million images or prints of artworks from the year 1700 to the present day, along with comments by Artprice's art historians. Artprice permanently enriches its databanks with information from 6,300 auctioneers and it publishes a constant flow of art market trends for the world's principal news agencies and approximately 7,200 international press publications. For its 4,500,000 members, Artprice gives access to the world's leading Standardised Marketplace for buying and selling art. Artprice is preparing its blockchain for the Art Market. It is BPI-labelled (scientific national French label). Artprice's Global Art Market Annual Report for 2016 published last March 2017: http://imgpublic.artprice.com/pdf/rama2016_en.pdf Artprice's Contemporary Art Market Annual Report for 2016 - free access at https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-art-market-in-2016 The text presented hereafter is a translation of Arte Creative's online presentation: ARTE: A gigantic Christmas tree in the guise of a butt plug, a machine that defecates five-star meals, an icon immersed in urine and staged corpses - subversive, trash, provocative or insulting? Thierry Ehrmann, the man behind The Abode of Chaos dixit "The New York Times", an artist and the founder of Artprice, is the mouthpiece for scandal and discloses the workings of the most striking controversies in contemporary art. And scandal sells. 9 episodes are online: http://www.arte.tv/guide/en/weekly-highlight Artprice's press releases: http://serveur.serveur.com/Press_Release/pressreleaseen.htm and https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom News Artmarket: http://twitter.com/artpricedotcom https://www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom https://www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom https://plus.google.com/+Artpricedotcom/posts http://artmarketinsight.wordpress.com/ Discover the Alchemy and the universe of Artprice http://web.artprice.com/video, which headquarters are the famous Museum of Contemporary Art, the Abode of Chaos http://goo.gl/zJssd https://vimeo.com/124643720 The Contemporary Art Museum The Abode of Chaos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/la.demeure.du.chaos.theabodeofchaos999 The Abode of Chaos/Demeure du Chaos Contemporary Art Museum by thierry Ehrmann,author, sculptor, artist, photograph https://www.flickr.com/photos/home_of_chaos/sets/72157 Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Artprice.com

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[November 26, 2017] DroneShield Releases Video of Its Ground-breaking Anti-Drone Systems DroneSentinel and DroneSentry

SYDNEY, Nov. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DroneSentinel is a multi-method drone detection product by DroneShield.

The only integrated five-sensor detection product on the market.

DroneSentry is a multi-method detect and defeat product by DroneShield.

Products commercially available today -- not "vaporware," unlike some of the "competition."

Heavily-attended demonstration to U.S. federal and foreign governmental end-users and large prime defense contractors in Virginia .

DroneShield has released a video of product in operation. DroneShield Ltd (ASX:DRO) ("DroneShield" or the "Company"), an Australian public company with substantial U.S. operations, released earlier today a video of its ground-breaking DroneSentinel / DroneSentry anti-drone systems in operation. DroneSentry is an integrated automated drone detection and countermeasure product with an anti-swarming capability. DroneSentry provides its users with a multi-method drone detection capability and includes and integrates radar, radio frequency, acoustic, thermal and optical (with a range extender) sensor detection, i.e. all the key technologically viable detection methods that currently exist. These multiple detection methods are woven together using DroneShield's proprietary software and user interface, which provide for a low rate of false positives and a high probability of detection. For interception, DroneSentry integrates these layereddetection methods with a radio-frequency jamming system (refer to the note at the end for the FCC disclaimer). This integrated detect-and-defeat functionality can be deployed either via a "man in the loop" function or in the automatic mode.





DroneSentinel is aimed at those customers who are unable to deploy jamming because of regulatory or operational restrictions. It contains DroneSentry's multi-sensor detection functionality, without the jamming capability.



Unlike many of the purported anti-drone products globally, DroneSentinel and DroneSentry are commercially available to customers today, and their production has commenced. To that end, the Company has recently conducted a heavily-attended and successful demonstration of DroneSentinel at its Virginia office. Present at the demonstration were a number of federal government and foreign governmental end-users, as well as several large prime defense contractors and financial investors.

DroneShield has now released a video of the product in operation, which can be viewed here.

Both DroneSentry and DroneSentinel are highly modular and, depending on the customer's requirements can include or exclude any of the radar, radio frequency, thermal camera, optical camera, acoustic, and optical range extender modules.

The summary of the modules contained in each DroneSentry and DroneSentinel product is set out below. This summary represents the base configuration of each product, with customers able to either upgrade to meet their specs, or downgrade to match their budget requirements.

Peter James, DroneShield's chairman, commented: "The Company originally started with an acoustic drone detection product. The market has evolved, and end-users are expressing substantial interest in integrated detect-and-defeat and multi-sensor detect products. Sophisticated users' contracts will be won by those companies that are able to provide such multi-layered, multi-method products. Therefore, responding to customer demand, the Company has rolled out DroneSentry and DroneSentinel. Together with our portable drone jammer rifle DroneGun, this positions the Company to meet customer needs across the fixed site and mobile spectrum in the counterdrone space."

DroneSentry has not been authorized as required by the federal communications commission ("FCC"). This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, in the United States, other than to the United States government and its agencies, until such authorization is obtained. The use of DroneSentry in the United States by other persons or entities, including state or local government agencies, is prohibited by federal law. Laws limiting the availability of DroneSentry to certain types of users may apply in other jurisdictions, and any sales will be conducted only in compliance with the applicable laws. Jammer affects only frequencies at 2.4Ghz, 5.8Ghz and GPS/Glonass (optionally). Emergency broadcasts, cellphone communication and other dedicated channels will not be affected. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20171124/1999739-1 SOURCE DroneShield Limited

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Policemen shot at in Siraha

Two security personnel received bullet wounds after an unidentified gang shot them during a security check in Niradnama of Siraha district on Sunday.
hiso i dont know if i should buy the corsair void stereoor the creative inspire t6160 5.1 surround to game with. i dont do much online gaming, so dont need a mic that badly.also i dont mind turning up my speakers, my parents dont mind.my main worry is sound quality and soundstage/surround effects. not sure if creative speakers sound good, and i dont have a budget supporting logitech or proper home theatre.on a side note, will the corsair headsets usb adapter work with the ps4 to give surround sound? might help me decide
Multiple law enforcement agencies responding to this midday ruckus near the 95th Street and Interstate 35 in this JoCo neighborhood . . .Newsies strees:"At this time, this is not an active shooter event."Developing . . .
"Their support of Donald Trump in the 2016 election was, in many ways, an abandonment of their moral center, given his several marriages and affairs, his admitted sexual assault, his religious ignorance, his business dealings in support of gambling, his refusal to release his tax returns and thus be candid with the American people -- all of that and more has been almost impossible for his evangelical supporters to explain with a straight face."
WORD OF A TEAM TRUMP HUNTING JUNKET IN KANSAS HAS ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ENRAGED AND THEY PLAN PEACEFUL COUNTER-PROTEST AGAINST FIRST FAMILY ANIMAL CRUELTY!!!

Team Trump ison Tuesday and this fact has been widely reported in recent MSM transcription . . .But here are more deets that have both supporters and those who want to #RESIST abuzz . . .We expect some pretty fun costumes and maybe a few impressions that are better or worse then the stuff on SNL . . .Expect more surprises out of Team Trump backing of the Kansas alt-right hero as the love fest between the White House and the radical right-wing Kansas politico continues to irk local progressives . . .And yes, we've heard the rumors about PREZ REAL DONALD showing up to lend a hand as well but we don't want to get local hopes up too much . . . Prez Trump support for SecState Kobach isn't so much news as an inevitability as Midterm elections should ramp up social media hateration to new highs.And all of this Presidential team effort seems focused on making one of the most controversial dudes in Kansas just a bit more likable to Midwestern voters who seem to value niceness above politics when it comes to GOP vs. GOP competition - Which is the only real hope for establishment Republicans to keep SecState Kobach out of the Governor's office.Developing . . .
Greece's National Meteorological Services (EMY) has issued an emergency weather bulletin warning of heavy rainfall, strong winds, storms, hail and snow in the mountainous regions. The extreme weather phenomena will start late Sunday. The Ionian region in the west, Epirus and western mainland Greece will be affected on Sunday, while western Macedonia, western Peloponnese and the Dodecanese will also gradually feel the effects. For the early morning of Monday, the weather phenomena are expected to cover the regions of Thessaly, central Macedonia, and possibly temporarily eastern mainland Greece, the Sporades island complex and Euboea. By nightfall of Monday eastern Macedonia, the Cyclades and Crete will also be affected. Snow is forecast to fall in the mountainous and semi-mountainous areas of Epirus and western Macedonia.

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: Marek Bakajsa License: CC-BY-SA

Source: protothema.gr
Mezzidakia still hasnt announced their official opening date yet but judging by the recent action on the Facebook page, it will be very soon

A new restaurant opening in Glasgow, Scotland with a Greek name and southern European cuisine, is offering customers a chance to win a free trip to Greece.

Mezzidakia (a Greek word for small delicacies) is being brought to Glasgow by the team behind two of the citys favourite eating spots, and will open very soon. Its menu promises a mix of exotic eats including Lebanese, Moroccan, Turkish and Greek cuisine.

Among other things, the restaurant launched offers a competition for the chance to win an all expenses paid trip to Greece. New customers are also being served up the chance to win one of five runner-up prizes, of one 100 voucher and four 50 vouchers.

All you have to do to be in with the chance of winning is enter your email on the restaurants website www.mezzidakia.com and everyone who does so, will automatically receive a buy one mezze platter and get one free deal.

Mezzidakia still hasnt announced their official opening date yet but judging by the recent action on the Facebook page, it will be very soon. The new restaurant will located at 71-73 St Vincent Street, in Glasgow.

Source: Glasgow Live
Prithvi Highway shut for 17 hours

In view of security during the first phase of federal and parliamentary elections, the Dhading section of Prithvi Highway, the major road connecting Kathmandu with the rest of the country, will remain closed for 17 hours from Saturday midnight to 5pm on Sunday.
Dubai Carbon has announced its first carbon credit transaction, with the sale of the resulting Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) from Dewa Chiller Station L Project through adopting the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to Farnek Total Facility Management.



This initial sale paves the way for expansion of the green economy in Dubai, inviting further investment in CDM projects in the Emirate. This inaugural sale of locally issued CERs contributes to the growth of green projects, and is a breakthrough in Dubai Carbons efforts as a green economy enabler.



The sale which depends on locally produced CERs enhances the development of Green Projects in Dubai, since it is considered as a major achievement in invest in CDM in the Emirate.



The sale will also aid the efforts of Carbon Dubai in reducing the greenhouse gas emission footprint, and augment Dubais green economy ambition, as it reflects the growing demand for CERs in a diligent pursuit of sustainable development.



The project contributes to the isolation of 1,000 CERs (equal to 1,000 tonnes of CO2) achieving Farnek Total Facility Managements emission reduction targets, highlighting the organisations commitment to social and environmental projects in Dubai.



Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said: Dewa is committed to support the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the Dubai Clean Energy 2050 strategy, and Dubai 2021 plan, to make Dubai a smart environmentally clean sustainably healthy city, and for that, we support CDM projects.



Our environmental strategy focuses on reducing carbon emissions based on the best integrated green practices at all levels of our operations to ensure protection of natural resources, and creating a sustainable carbon market is an important part of our vision, which is to build sustainable financing for green projects, and bring best practices into the market.



We are pleased that Farnek was able to offset their CO2 emissions through our Chiller Station L Project and wish them success for further adoption of clean and renewable energy sources in the future. We are confident that Farnek will benefit from these units to reduce the effects of global warming on our planet for future generations, Al Tayer added.



Dewa is a key supporter of carbon reduction programs and is constantly recording new CDM projects with Dubai Carbon to reduce carbon emissions. The Chiller Station L Project , which is the source of the sale of recently sold CERs, also records high rates of reduction of 26,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, one of the few CDM projects in the Gulf region producing carbon credit units, where 95,197 carbon credit units have been issued so far.



Farnek chose to invest in the local economy in line with their corporate culture and expertise, thus aligning themselves to the country vision and ambition, said Waleed Salman, chairman of Dubai Carbon. We hope this will inspire other organisations in the Emirates to follow suit to mitigate the negative impacts on the environment.



Markus Oberlin, CEO, Farnek, said: Being a leader in providing innovative and bespoke solutions in the facility management sector, we are keen to invest in offsetting our emission footprint and reducing the impact of our businesses on the environment. We are proud to be the first to purchase CERs from the maiden project generating carbon credits in the GCC. It also gives us the opportunity to support the efforts of the Dubai Government in creating an environmentally responsible economy.- TradeArabia News Service
The Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) has revealed that its stand at the 2017 edition of The Big 5, the Middle Easts leading civil construction industry exhibition being held in Dubai, will feature five of its member companies.



The ABCCs stand will span 36 sq m and will feature sanitary ware maker Deca, ceramics manufacturer Angelgress, gates manufacturer PPA, pipes and fittings maker Tigre, and construction equipment manufacturer Scanmetal.



The exhibition is set to run from today (November 26) to November 29 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE.



Brazil's total exports to the Arab countries construction sector recorded $40.24 million in 2017, said a statement from the company.



Brazils exports to the regions construction industry included plywood, veneered panels, granite, glazed ceramic flags, wooden furniture, appliances for pipes, boiler shells, and tanks and other machines and mechanical appliances, it said.



Machinery exports from Brazil to Arab countries including Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman and Bahrain reached $212.17 million in 2017 an increase of 34 per cent from 2016.



Self-propelled bulldozers, graders, scrapers, air or vacuum pumps, pumps for liquids, liquid elevators, transmission shafts, bearings and gears were the main Brazilian exports to the Arab region in this sector.



Rubens Hannun, president of ABCC, said: We have been participating in the trade show since 2003, and have been seeing the Arab market utilise such opportunities to explore business alliances with potential buyers, partners and other stakeholders.



In addition to making its presence felt, the chamber also hopes to spot business opportunities for Brazilian enterprises through its participation at the expo this year, he added.



The UAE's construction market is set to witness immense growth in the coming years as more than $34.6 billion worth of industrial, utilities, urban and oil and gas projects are in the initial phases.



Projects underway and in the pipeline across the Gulf represent major opportunities for Brazilian companies. These include ongoing works for Expo 2020, the world exhibition set to take place in Dubai three years from now, as well as plans for a futuristic city in Saudi Arabia at an estimated $500 billion.



In addition to buyers from Arab countries, The Big 5 2017 will also welcome leading players from the global construction market.



The trade show is frequented by scores of importers from Asia, Africa and even Europe. With their participation at the expos 2017 edition, Brazilian enterprises are setting their sights on upcoming projects in the Middle Easts thriving construction sector, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
While renewables are generally regarded as the solution, the definition of what does and what does not qualify as renewable energy tends to focus on wind and solar sources while downplaying the role of nuclear power, say experts.



In the wake of the most recent United Nations Climate Change conference (COP 23), the general excitement over the Paris Climate Change Agreement of 2015 is giving way to the practical considerations of how individual countries and the world as a whole are going to tackle the transitioning to a low-carbon economy while meeting their growing energy demands.



The obvious fact is that drastic adjustments are required to the energy mix that will form the basis of the future economy that does not depend on hydrocarbons for normal operation. The key question that is just what that energy mix is going to be that could sustainable provide for humanitys energy needs while also preserving the environment.



While renewables are generally regarded as the solution, the definition of what does and what does not qualify as renewable energy, tends to focus on sources such as wind, solar, biomass hydro power sources while neglecting or downplaying the role of nuclear power. Many experts believe this line of thinking is both unfair and detrimental to the effort of transitioning to a low-carbon economy and combating climate change, in which nuclear power and other renewables should be teaming up rather than competing.



Professor Yasin Ibrahim, former chairman of Nuclear Power Plants Authority, said that Egyptians have many questions and rumours and sometimes misconceptions, whether intentionally or unintentionally about the harmful and enormous danger of using nuclear energy.



They also know that Egypt enjoys enormous solar energy resources and has huge capabilities for wind energy. But those who promote these concepts have neglected the rest of the truth related to the characteristics of electricity consumption and the need for sustainable electricity, he added.



The capacity of electricity source should be more than 50 per cent of the maximum loads which isnt supported by renewable energy. On the other hand, the continuity of the wind throughout the day and even throughout the year or tens of years is inconsistent, and there are periods of stillness. What is the alternative of these sources? There is no conflict between different energy sources but there must be integration. We can achieve maximum benefits from energy mix at appropriate cost. There is an urgent need to clarify these facts with complete transparency and without conflict and the need for a clear and wise media discourse.



And actual data speaks quite clearly for nuclear power being an essential part of the global energy mix that can sustain and support humanitys growing electricity demands without reliance on hydrocarbons. In a scientific paper Burden of Proof, a group of Australian researchers led by Ben Heard, Executive Director of climate change think tank Bright New World, examine 28 different global energy consumption scenarios and how renewables such as wind and solar perform in terms of supplying power under these scenarios.



Notably, of the 28 scenarios analysed in the report, only two simulated power supply to periods of under 1 hour  that is, the baseload power supply that is critical to the functioning of any economy and even those did not take into account the exponentially growing demand for electricity worldwide. The conclusion of the report was unequivocal  renewables, at least for the observable future, are even theoretically unable to form the basis of any countrys energy mix.



This leaves nuclear power, which is uniquely capable of producing clean energy in a stable and reliable manner regardless of the weather and other external conditions, as the only viable alternative to hydrocarbons in supplying baseload power for humankinds needs.



This conclusion is borne out by the realities that the worlds countries are increasingly coming to face, In the UK, the countrys electricity network operator, National Grid, has estimated that, in to meet the 2C target set by the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the UK needs to build 14.5 GWe of new nuclear capacity by 2035, this being the only scenario where the carbon reduction goals are met. Then there is the case of Germany, whose rejection of nuclear power as part of the Energiewende policy has already cost the German economy and taxpayers more than $200 billion in subsidies for renewables, doubling the electricity tariffs, while failing to reduce the countrys emissions.



Dr Mohamed Mounir Megahed, independent technical consultant, Nuclear Energy Applications, said: Renewable energy resources can play an important role in the energy mix of any country and can reduce the adverse environmental impacts of fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal), but they are not a reliable alternatives for these sources of energy or even for nuclear energy that provides electricity 24/7.



In addition, there are several problems related to the use of renewable sources of energy, including problems related to the nature of the source itself, and technological problems related to the development of various technological options, and economic problems related to the cost of different renewable energy systems.



As a result, the alternative to nuclear energy is not renewable energy but fossil fuels (coal) and this is what happened in Germany, instead of reducing carbon emissions after these policies, they are steadily increasing. Not only that, but wind and solar have proved to be prone to catastrophic failures at times when the demand for electricity is highest. This January, for instance, heavy clouds and fog meant that Germanys wind and solar power generation ground to a complete halt. Again, the deficit had to be made up through increased use of coal and gas  and nuclear, as the remaining operational NPPs were generating power at full capacity to keep the countrys economy running.



In a reasonable approach to a sustainable energy economy, however, such tradeoffs would be both self-defeating and unnecessary. Rather than pitting nuclear power against renewables, the worlds countries will benefit greatly by accepting nuclear as an integral part to form the basis of a low-carbon economy of the future, and learning to use it in combination with other renewables to create a truly sustainable energy mix.



Dr Mohamed El Sobki, professor at the Engineering Faculty, Cairo University, said: The importance of creating the ideal energy mix from different resources, if only sustainability and availability are valid. The objective is not diversification itself, but the sustainability of the resource is what matters most.- TradeArabia News Service
Czech Tourist Authority (CzechTourism) in collaboration with VFS Global recently presented various tourist attractions and products to trade, tourism and business partners in the Middle East through road shows in Kuwait and the UAE.



The Czech Republic  Land of Stories, the official promotion campaign of the Czech Republic, commenced the road shows in Kuwait on November 19 and concluded in Dubai on November 23.



Alexandr Sporys, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United Arab Emirates, together with Monika Palatkova, managing director of the Czech Tourist Authority  CzechTourism, interacted with the media at the exclusive event held in Dubai.



"Im pleased that CzechTourism regularly promotes the Czech Republic as a tourism destination in the UAE and in other countries in the Middle East market, said Sporys.



For a long time I have personally supported strengthening of the Czech presence in Middle East, which is one of the world's fastest growing markets and I am glad to see the vast development of the business relations between Czech and Emirati companies in the tourism sector. VFS Global is a reliable partner in the visa area and I am convinced that the partnership of CzechTourism with this company will lead to a further increase of interest about the Czech Republic, he added.



CzechTourism has been presenting annual roadshows in the Middle East since 2009.



Czech Republic is already very well known in the Middle East as a Spa and Medical destination. However, our objective through this road show is to promote the various other leisure and MICE products of the Czech Republic, which should also greatly appeal to travellers from the Middle East. We have presented mainly a wide range of cultural programs, nature stays, all-year-round events and festivals for families, individual travellers and groups, said Palatkova.



UAE is the number one tourism source market for the Czech Republic in the Middle East followed by Saudi Arabia. In 2016 Czech Republic received 23,831 and 18,180 visitors from the UAE and Saudi Arabia respectively, amounting to more than 171,000 room nights.



By 2021, the number of travellers from the Middle East travelling to Central Europe is expected to significantly increase and CzechTourism expects a vigorous development of incoming tourists to from the Middle East market owing to the flight connections from the region, the introduction of new seasonal direct flights, more accessible visa facilitation through increasing network of visa application centres (VFS Global currently operates 10 centres in 8 countries across the Middle East) and a general increase in awareness about the range of attractions the Czech Republic has to offer.



Prague, the beautiful capital city of the Czech Republic, is popular with travellers from the Middle East; however a key objective of the promotional campaign was to shed light on the wide range of different tourism prospects the Czech Republic has to offer the discerning Middle Eastern traveller. The central promotional theme of CzechTourism in 2017 has been West and Central Bohemia, showcasing the rich cultural and historical attractions available such as spas & wellness resorts and chateaux hotels, and original Czech traditions such as glass and crystal making.



The year 2018 will be a period of celebration for the Czech Republic because it marks 100 years since the establishment of the independent country. This anniversary will be followed by a special campaign that will present original stories related to this period  stories of the Czech architecture and design, stories of lifestyle, internationally known Czech brands and numerous tourist, cultural and sport events.  TradeArabia News Service
IITM Expo Pune edition held today .



(TRAVPR.COM) INDIA - November 25th, 2017 - 3 Days Expo Inauguration by Dr Siddharth Dhende Hon'ble deputy mayor of Pune Municipal Corporation on 24th November 2017 .

Build partnerships at the best avenue to promote inbound, outbound and domestic tourism.

After phenomenally successful events in Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, the stage is now set for India International Travel Mart (IITM) Pune. Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions is pleased to announce its 101st edition of IITM in Pune scheduled to take place from 24  26 November 2017 at Deccan College Ground, Ranjeet Nagar, Yerawada ,Pune.

The three-day event will showcase glimpses from the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. The time of IITM Pune is perfect for the upcoming Christmas & New Year Holidays, long weekend, weekend holidays as well as round-the-year travel, vacations and business plans. The exhibition would be open between 11 am and 7.00 pm during the three days. Entry is free.

IITM will showcase a variety of destinations from different spheres such as pilgrimages, adventures, culture and heritage, beaches, hills and many more. The event will have over 120 participants from over 10 countries and over 20 Indian states. The participants include travel agents and tour operators, DMC, Hotels & Resorts, National Tourist Organizations, Cruises, Airlines, Online Travel Portals, etc.

Some of the International participants this year include exhibitors from Dubai, Mauritius, Nepal, Sri Lanka and many more.

SPECIAL OFFERS

 Attractive discounts on offer for Spot Bookings.

 The Visitor Profile is on a B2B & B2C format.

 Entry is free

The exhibition provides an ideal 'marketing opportunity' and an 'excellent backdrop' to enhance the participant's 'brand-equity' in the eyes of the travel trade and the discerning end consumer.

The Exhibitor Profile includes National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) and State Tourism Promotion Boards, Destination Management Organizations, airlines, charters, railways, passenger transporters and car rentals, shipping, cruise liners, travel agents and tour operators, holiday packages and holiday financiers, technology providers, hotel reservation networks, hotels & resorts, wildlife resorts, health spas and Ayurvedic centres, timeshare resorts, ecoclubs and adventure sports, educational institutions in the field of hospitality and tourism studies.

Visitor Profile:

 Visitors from the Travel - trade Industry

 Business Travellers & Key Corporate Decision Makers

 Discerning Holiday Makers

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sanjay Hakhu, Director, Sphere Travelmedia, said, India, despite the present business environment, is fast emerging as one of the most interesting and productive countries for the travel trade industry for both leisure and business travel. A combination of factors is responsible for the growth and demand of travel trends from India. The visitor profile is on a B2B & B2C format and will have over 15,000 buyers over three days.

Tourism studies and trends indicate that 2017  18 will see more than 20 million Indian tourists embanking on overseas travel. With the advent of low cost international airfares and holiday packages being available on monthly instalments payable over a period of time, international travel is no longer a luxury.

Highlights:

 Maharashtra is the Host State for IITM Pune.

 Gujarat is the Partner State while Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Rajasthan will be the Feature Statesat the event.

 Bodoland, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are the Focus Statesat the event.

 Mauritius is the Partner Country

 Representation from different travel and tourism products of Goa, Delhi NCR, Himachal, Punjab, J&K, etc.

 Some of the States and Union Territories being represented include Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Bodoland, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and many more.More than 200 hotels and resorts are participating from all across India, making it one of the most diverse ranges of hospitality products in the country on display.

 Diverse Tourism segments on display such as Pilgrimage Travel, Adventure, Cultural pursuits, shopping tours, etc.

 Delegations from Karnataka, Goa and Gujarat will woo the Pune travel market for the upcoming Christmas & New Year Holiday season.

The fair is being organized with a view to increase the inflow of tourists in India and also drive the policies that help the sector grow. IITM covers eight key markets across the country annually including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Kochi and Kolkata.

Boost for Domestic Tourism

The event showcases virtually travel and hospitality products from every part of the country, making it one of the biggest congregations of travel-trade in the country. The event provides unmatched networking opportunities to interact with Travel-trade and corporate buyers alike.

Mr. Rohit Hangal, Director, Sphere Travelmedia, added, Domestic travel as the backbone of Indias tourism portfolio and with an estimated 561 million domestic tourist visits, this segment is probably the only second to China in terms of sheer size. With the rapid economic development taking place in the country and availability of greater disposable income combined with affordable holiday packages, tourism in India is increasing steadily and acts as a catalyst for the furthering the economic growth in view of its wide-ranging linkage effects and multiple impacts. The participants from the states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and many more destinations will be seen aggressively marketing their products will be there with their travel and tourism stakeholders. The event showcases more than 120 destinations from over 18 Indian states.

About Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions

Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd., is India's leading Travelmedia companies with established brands for the Indian travel and tourism industry such as India International Travel Mart  India's premier Travel and Tourism Exhibition and Outbound Travel Roadshow  India's only Multi  Destination Buyer  Seller Meet & Business Travel & Meetings Expo  The Corporate Travel, Incentive and Conference Exhibition.

About India International Travel Mart

IITM - India's premier Exhibition that showcases of travel, tourism, hospitality, leisure and other related industries. It is aimed at bringing the Industry, face-to-face with the travel trade, Corporate Buyer and the end-customer with the requisite purchasing power. India International Travel Mart, Indias premier travel and tourism Exhibition brand established in 1998 by Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitionsis held at the countrys major markets of Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Cochin, and now in Kolkata.

For further details, contact:

Varaprasada Rao. P.V

Head - PR & Marketing Communications

Hand Phone: +91 81470 13713

Email ID: pvvprao@spheretravelmedia.com

###
Reliable security measures in place: Ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs has said that effective and reliable security arrangements are in place for the first phase of federal parliamentary and provincial assembly elections taking place on Sunday. The Election Commission has also assured the people of sufficient security arrangements for free and fair polls.
Seven killed in Rukum jeep crash

Seven persons died and three others were injured in a jeep accident at Musikot Municipality-6 in Rukum district on Friday evening.
SC Vasudeva

Q: a) I, a retiree from the Rajasthan Government, am receiving pension. My son, a Canadian citizen, would like to gift me Rs 20 lakh. What are the formalities to be completed? Can I purchase agricultural land with the gifted money? b) I have land that was transferred to me through my fathers will. Will the land be considere self-acquired or ancestral property?  Susheel

A: (a) Your son can gift you Rs 20 lakh without attracting any tax liability. It would be advisable for him to make a gift through an account payee cheque from his bank account in India. In case he is not maintaining any bank account in India, the gift can be made by him through a bank transfer. The gift so made should be accompanied by a letter from him giving details of the gift as well as particulars of the cheque or the bank transfer. You should be able to prove that the gift has been made by your son and he had sufficient resources to make the aforesaid gift. A copy of Passport and a bank statement of your son from which the amount has been transferred to you should be obtained so as to keep evidence for receipt of the gift. The bank account should specify the source of deposits in his bank account. The gift so made should be accepted by you by issuing a letter which should indicate your complete address and Permanent Account Number. The gift amount can be utilised by you for any purpose. In case, it is intended to use the gifted amount for purchasing agricultural land, it should not be purchased in the name of your son as Non-resident Indians are not allowed to purchase agricultural land in India. It may be added that the amount of gift should be reflected in your tax return in the column in which exempt incomes are required to be indicated.

(b) The agricultural land inherited by you from your father would be a self property, provided that it was acquired by your father from his sources.

Q: I am contributing Rs 1.5 lakh annually towards my Public Provident Fund (PPF) account in a post office and availing of the benefit under Section 80C.

a) Will maturity amount after 15 years be treated as taxable income? b) Will the post office pay the maturity amount in lumpsum?  KK Soni

A: a) The maturity amount of PPF is not taxable as an income.

b) The post office will pay the full amount along with interest as and when the PPF account is closed.

Q: My wife is a retired Punjab government employee. She received Rs 60 lakh (approx) as provident fund, leave salary, gratuity and other benefits three years ago. She is interested to spend the amount as follows:

i) Rs 8 lakh on repair and renovation of house

ii) Rs 15 lakh to be given to her son

iii) Rs 10 lakh for the purchase of furnitures & fixtures

iv) Rs 20 lakh to be spent on sons marriage

Whether she can withdraw the amount from her savings bank account for the above said purposes? Whether withdrawals be shown in her income-tax return? Whether any approval is required from the I-T Department? Whether any record for these transactions is to be maintained to show to the department?  Gurdip Suri

A: No approval is required from the Income Tax Department in respect of utilisation of the amount of her savings for items listed at No. (i) to (iv) of the query. Note, the gift to be made by your wife to her son should be by an account payee cheque/account payee draft or by bank transfer. It should be accompanied by a letter stating that she is gifting Rs 15 lakh to him. The letter should give her complete address, Permanent Account Number and details such as bank's name, cheque/draft No. and date, through which the transaction of gift has been effected. The gift should be accepted by her son by issuing a letter which should disclose his complete address and Permanent Account Number.

It may be added that there is a restriction with regard to the receipt of an amount of Rs 2 lakh or more in aggregate from a person in a day or in respect of the single transaction or in respect of transaction relating to one event or occasion from a person otherwise than by account payee cheque or account payee draft or use of electronic clearance system through a bank account. Therefore, it would be advisable for her to make payment of Rs 2 lakh or more by any of the modes stated hereinabove.
New Delhi, November 26

It will cost about Rs 11,000 crore ($1.7 billion) to increase the train speed up to 200 km per hour on the Delhi-Chandigarh route so that a passenger can travel the distance in two hours, according to the draft final report submitted by SNCF, the French railway, to the Indian Railways.

The 245-km Delhi-Chandigarh corridor, one of the busiest routes in north India, is slated to be the first semi-high speed project being taken up by the state-owned transporter to run trains at maximum speeds of 200 kmph with French help.

The 1,700-page detailed report will be taken up for finalisation in Indian Railways on Monday for preparing tendering documents and drawing out an action plan as a way forward.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit India in January 2018 when the project will be formally launched.

The Railways will sign a MoU with SNCF next year expanding the scope of cooperation in the rail sector, including training of drivers of semi-high speed trains and safety and security of train networks.

The total travel time will be 2 hours and 2 minutes at a maximum speed of 200 kmph with two stoppages at Panipat and Ambala, according to the report.

Currently, the Shatabdi Express covers the distance in about three hours and 30 minutes travelling at a maximum speed of 110 kmh.

SNCF has submitted the execution strategy and implementation model with detailed project cost involving an upgrade of the the route with details of cost analysis and technical parameters.

The report has pegged the total estimated cost at Rs 11,218 crore, which includes the cost of signals upgrade, main civil works and rolling stock among others.

Senior officials from both sides will examine the report and a final cost will be decided after the discussion on Monday, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

There will be re-alignment as there are about 20 major curves spanning over 32.7 km on the existing Delhi-Chandigarh rail route. However, there will be no acquisition of fresh land for the re-alignment as it will be done within the Railways right of way.

Beside Delhi-Chandigarh, there will be upgrades of seven more routes totalling about 4,000 km, including Mumbai-Goa, Chennai-Hyderabad, Mysuru-Chennai, Delhi-Kanpur and Nagpur-Secunderabad.

The Delhi-Chandigarh route is expected to be a demonstrative project by France. IANS
The ginger kick

With investment and the right environment, ginger promises sustainable results to support national economic growth
MK Bhadrakumar

MK Bhadrakumar

WE have begun to clutch at small successes to proclaim victory  a seat in the International Court of Justice or a Western rating that we arent quite junk economy. But the big picture remains very depressing. An autumnal wind has been blowing the leaves and trees look bare and withered. Three hugely consequential regional events recently exposed that Indian foreign policy us adrift  the party congress of the Chinese Communist Party, President Trumps Asian tour and the APEC and ASEAN summits.

There are some profound inferences to be made. The Asian power-dynamic is making a historic transition. Indian analysts blithely borrowed from Western attitudes to view the contemporary Asian scenario through the prism of the so-called Thucydides Trap  coined by an ingenuous American think-tanker to expound the thesis that when an established power (read US) begins to fear a rising power (read China), things escalate toward war. The Americans do not make great historians and have a habit of encapsulating broad sweeps in neat conception.

In reality, though, the strength of Spain and Portugal gradually began to decline in the early 1800s when their colonies in Latin America rebelled. The account of British decline was not different, either. Britains decline can be traced to its loss of relative economic dominance since the mid-19th century  although, paradoxically, Britain continued to remain the strongest European power militarily and economically until the early 1950s. The US decline bears striking similarity with Britains in modern history. Indeed, the eclipse of the Empire is always incremental. If only we had a Sardar KM Panikkar with us today, hed have pointed a finger at the inexorable march of history in Asia (which hed anticipated some 60 years ago in a classic work).

The Party Congress in Beijing proclaimed that China is no longer rising, but has already risen. It is the principal driver of growth for Asian countries today (including, ironically, the lone Anglo-Saxon outpost of Australia). If Trumps Asian tour has been a virtual acknowledgment that containment strategy toward China is no longer feasible, the flurry of Asian summits highlighted that the US continuing pre-eminence as the global military power is all but becoming irrelevant to the ASEAN region, where although military power still matters, economics has taken centre stage and infrastructure has become a more important tool for accumulating power as well as exercising it.

All this leaves India in a quandary. A terrible beauty is born. The Asian Century was Nehrus dream. But in Manila, not too far from Bandung, it was instead the China Dream that everyone within the earshot of PM Narendra Modi was compulsively talking about. The PMs aides scheduled some meetings for him in Manila, but, largely, the impression accrued that the India which he represented has become somewhat peripheral to the animated discourses. We lurked in the shade furtively watching, holding uncertainly the can of Act East  for which there are no serious takers in Southeast Asia anymore.

As a sideshow, the Indian officials huddled together with their colleagues from the US, Japan and Australia to explore whether to revive the moribund idea of a quadrilateral alliance of democracies (Quad) for marking territory on the lamppost of regional politics. They renamed the region as Indo-Pacific. (ASEAN plainly ignored the coinage.) Its been tragi-comical in every sense. How did this burlesque happen? Who scripted it? In a nutshell, India has lost its sense of geography and history. Thats a sad remark to make for an ancient country, but it needs to be said because there is also a grievous failure of leadership involved here.

Our present foreign policy elite hijacked the national interests. Geography dictates that India belongs to its region but Indias relations with China, the towering presence on Asias strategic landscape, nosedived during PM Modis watch. We barked up the wrong tree, losing precious time, crying hoarse over issues that belong to the domain of rhetoric  Masood Azhar, NSG membership, Dalai Lama, CPEC, et al. The business deals worth a staggering $250 billion agreed during Trumps recent visit to China would create tens of thousands of new jobs in America. They not only added a new dimension to America First, but considering the very nature of the infrastructure projects on the anvil, also herald in the near term perspective the unannounced arrival of the OBOR in North America.

No sooner than Trump got back from Asian tour, one of Chinas top diplomats, Ambassador Cui Tiankai, nattily attired in a bow-tie suit, told an elite Washington audience of 400 invitees drawn from the US government, business and academia at a gala banquet in his honour: We want to build a strong partnership with the US(which) will enable each of us to better accomplish our domestic goals(and) put both countries together in a stronger position... This is the essence of Chinas policy towards the US. This is what we actually want to have in this relationship. Arent we wasting time in quixotic ventures such as the Quad? At any rate, where was this rules-based order when Iraq was invaded or Syria brutalised or Afghanistan subjected to war crimes, which International Criminal Court plans to investigate?

When Trump tossed out of the window the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which was intended as the underpinning of containment strategy against China, Asian countries took note. We should have adjusted to the emergent compelling realities  like Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and South Korea did. There are signs that Japan too is trying to turn over a new leaf with China. Almost none criticised China by name at the ASEAN summit or mentioned the 2016 international ruling on the South China Sea. In fact, China and ASEAN agreed to negotiate a code of conduct. The fundamental flaw in the Modi governments shift from Look East to Act East is that it was heavily laden with geopolitics, whereas, the Asian region as a whole  and Southeast Asian countries in particular  feel the pressure of public accountability and are focused on growth and developmental issues of trade, investment and infrastructure.

Indias integration with Asia-Pacific faces serious challenges from the perspective of geo-economics. The RCEP negotiations are symptomatic of this. A leap of faith is needed. India should have the will to surrender parts of its sovereignty to regional processes, and the public opinion should be willing to support greater integration. Our predicament vis-a-vis the OBOR highlights a larger malaise. Scepticism about the benefits of the global supply chain is very high in India. Great wealth flows to the powers that dominate trade.

The writer is a former ambassador
HAFIZ Saeed, the man accused by India to be the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, has walked out of his house arrest in Pakistan. The man has earned a well-deserved notoriety with India as well as many other Western countries as an undesirable prophet of terror. The Pakistani judicial system, on the other hand, found no substantial evidence to deny the Lashkar-e-Taiba ideologue his freedom. Predictably, after his release, he made familiar incendiary speeches, spewing venom against India and part of the Pakistani political establishment. New Delhi has rightly expressed its indignation and disapproval that a self-confessed terrorist has been allowed to walk free. The United States has demanded, somewhat perfunctorily, that he be rearrested. All this is part of a familiar pattern.

Hafiz Saeed is an albatross around Islamabads neck; the deep state and its security establishment can neither own nor disown him. He is a relatively cost-free bogeyman who can be used at Pakistans convenience to give New Delhi pinpricks, just as he can be rounded up whenever the Americans make their periodic tut-tutting noises. The Pakistani foreign office seems to have made a fairly correct assessment of the Trump administrations geostrategic needs and compulsions in this region and seemed to have concluded that it is business as usual in Washington. Pakistani politicians and generals find themselves stuck with the Islamic fundamentalist forces they have encouraged all these years. The violence in the streets of Islamabad over the weekend was yet another reminder of the swamp the scheming generals have created in Pakistan.

Hafiz Saeed is a minor, though not entirely inconsequential, symbol of Pakistans entrenched malevolence towards India. On our part, we have not been able to evolve a narrative that would minimise this evil mans importance without diluting our determined fight against terrorism. Our competitive domestic discourse does not permit an attitude of benign neglect. It is now the BJPs turn, as a ruling party, to find itself taunted by the Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, over Hafiz Saeeds release. Boys will be boys. The challenge before successive governments remains how not to end up according an exaggerated space and importance to this evil man.
Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, November 26

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today accused incumbent Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of doing precious little to continue welfare schemes started by the previous Congress government headed by him for the Dalits and the poor.

Hooda addressed a Dalit Panchayat organised by the Congress faction owing allegiance to him on Constitution Day here. He also accused the BJP government of not fulfilling any of the 154 promises the party made to the people of the state before the Assembly elections.

Today was also the birth anniversary of Hoodas late father Chaudhary Ranbir Singh, who was a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee.

Hooda said demonetisation and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the present form had hit the poor and Dalits the most. Lakhs of people across the country have been rendered jobless and thousands of manufacturing units have been shut. Imports from China have gone considerably up. Against 9.2 lakh jobs to the Dalits in 2013 in the country, merely 8,000 were provided to them in 2016, he added.

Hooda alleged that atrocities on Dalits have also risen during the BJP regime while the budget for Dalits has been reduced from 21 per cent to 15 per cent. My government initiated the Dal-Roti scheme in the state under which Dal for Rs 20 per kg, wheat for Rs 2 per kg and Bajra for Rs 1 per kg were supplied to the poor so that their children could get necessary protein and other nutrients. The BJP government did not even spare the poor and stopped the supply of Dal instead of taking action against those involved in siphoning off money, as reported in newspapers,  he said.

He said his government had distributed 3.92 lakh plots of 100 yards each to poor people and also given them grants for construction of houses, but the present government has not given even one plot.

On the absence of several Cabinet ministers from the International Gita Mahotsav that President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated in Kurukshetra yesterday, Hooda said the Chief Minister, as his wont, could accuse me for it.

Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda said the Constitution is aimed at ensuring equality, brotherhood and independence among citizens, but under the BJP government all these were in peril.

Former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera and Congress MLAs from the Dalit community Udai Bhan, Geeta Bhukkal, Shakuntala Khattak and Jaibir Balmiki organised the rally.

Former state Congress president Phool Chand Mullana, former minister Sampat Singh and Paramvir Singh, besides Congress leaders KV Singh and Bharat Singh Beniwal addressed the rally.
Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak/ Kurukshetra, November 26

The ruling BJP and the opposition INLD leaders on Sunday extended support to Jats on their demand for quota.

Union Minister for Steel Birender Singh (BJP) and Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly Abhay Singh Chautala (INLD) pledged to back the community for grant of reservation at the Jat rally organised in Jassia village of Rohtak district.

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Abhay announced a monetary aid of Rs 1 crore for state-level coaching institute-cum-skill development centre at Jassia village, bhoomipujan for which was performed today.

Read

Kshtra MP Raj Kumar Saini hints at forming new political outfit

Union minister Kushwaha backs Saini as next CM

Meanwhile, Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini on Sunday said he was considering launching a new political front.

Saini, at a rally in Jind, said he had appointed a 31-member committee under Sripal, a member of the Rashtriya Loktantra Manch, to get feedback on floating a new front.

Saini, a first-time BJP parliamentarian who has been a vocal critic of reservation for Jats in jobs and educational institutions, announced a rally to rival another one announced by All India Jat Aarakshan Samiti president Yaspal Malik at Rohtaks Jassia village.

Meanwhile, Haryana Congress leaders abstained from the Jat rally.

The All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) threatened a fresh stir if their demands are not met by December end.

A considerable number of supporters of controversial saint Rampal also attended the rally and extended financial support of Rs 15 lakh for the coaching institute project.

Rohtak-Panipat stretch of National Highway 709 passing through Jassia village was blocked due to the rally.

Police administration heaved a sigh of relief as the event passed off peacefully. Tight security arrangements had been made in view of the rally.

Earlier, tensions escalated when some Jat protesters clashed with security forces in Jind ahead of the rally. Police claimed protesters pelted stones at them, forcing them to lathicharge the crowd. There were reports of injuries on both sides.
Tribune News Service

Jind, November 26

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Upendra Kushwaha on Sunday supported the Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini to be the next Chief Minister of Haryana.

Addressing a public rally here, Kushwaha said Saini was a mass leader and he deserved to lead the state in the next term.

Even after 70 years of independence, Dalits and other socially marginalised sections continue to suffer as the respective regimes had failed to improve their conditions, he said.

Yesterday, even the President showed his deep concern on the poor representation to the Dalits. I am a strong votary of reservation in the private sector, particularly in the media industry. Voice of the poor and underprivileged is not given due in the media due to the social inequality in the profession, he said.

Kushwaha said Saini had emerged as the strong BC leader and his Rashtriya Loksamta Party, a constituent of the UPA, would support Saini as the next CM.
Tribune News Service

Solan, November 26

Tension gripped Purruwala village in Paonta Sahib after the recovery of a 21-year-old girls body from Sataun last evening. Irate relatives of the deceased and locals took out a protest demanding justice for the victim.

A large number of people, including women, demanded a CBI inquiry and stern action against the accused.

Traffic on the National Highway-7 remained hit for three hours as the irate relatives and locals sat on a dharna at 11.30 am and raised slogans against the police.

The relatives alleged that the girl had gone missing on November 11 and her body was recovered on November 25. The police had failed to look for her all these days despite registering a case on November 18. They had not acted swiftly to save the girl despite her family suspecting the role of a youth, Shariq Rehman, in the murder. They alleged that the family of the accused, including his uncle Dr Rehman, were aware of the girls murder, but the police did not bother to investigate this aspect.

Though the police managed to lift the dharna around 2.30 pm, the people are awaiting the arrival of the body and the situation is still volatile.

The police had sent the highly-decomposed body to Dr YS Parmar Medical College at Nahan for postmortem.

The irate mob also pelted Dr Rehmans clinic and his car with stones. They suspected that it had been used by the accused to take the girl to Sataun on the fateful day when she was murdered. Dr Rehman was later detained for interrogation by the police.

Police personnel have been deployed at Purruwala to avoid any untoward incident. Superintendent of Police Rohit Malpani was also at the spot. He said the situation was peaceful and in control.

Though Shariq Rehman was interrogated earlier, he had alleged that the police had tortured him following which he had got himself admitted to a private hospital in Yamunanagar.

Traffic disrupted for 3 hours
Abhinav Vashisht

KULLU, NOVEMBER 26

The residents Lahaul and Spiti district will be allowed to cross the 8.8-km-long Rohtang tunnel in case of medical exigencies. Though the boring work of the tunnel has been completed, construction work is still under way.

Lahaul valley remains cut off during winters due to heavy accumulation of snow on the 13,050-foot Rohtang Pass, gateway to the Lahaul valley on the Manali-Leh National Highway. The only way in and out of the valley during winters is through helicopter services provided by the state government, which again depends upon weather conditions.

Lahaul-Spiti Deputy Commissioner Deva Singh Negi said that Director General, Border Roads (DGBR) Lt Gen Sanjeev Kumar Shrivastava had instructed the Rohtang tunnel authorities to provide passage to medical emergencies through the tunnel after the Rohtang Pass is closed for over five months during winters.

Recently, Mandi MP Ram Swaroop Sharma had met Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to request her to give direction to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) authorities to allow traffic via Rohtang tunnel in emergency cases for the convenience of the people living in the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti. The Deputy Commissioner said that students appearing in various competitive exams would also be allowed to cross through the tunnel after the Rohtang Pass is completely closed. However, there were limitations as the tunnel construction work was still under progress and the North Portal of the tunnel towards Lahaul was prone to avalanches. He said that passage through the tunnel would be allowed after analyzing various factors.Many vehicles were stuck for over six days on the Lahaul side of Rohtang Pass at Koksar due to the recent snowfall. The BRO cleared the snow and evacuated the stranded vehicles and passengers.

The Deputy Commissioner said that medical board would be formed to provide certificate to medical emergencies to cross the tunnel. The students would be provided permit to cross the tunnel upon producing the required documents. He said that proper care would be taken that the work of BRO is not hampered and safety of the commuters is not compromised.

Generally, the Rohtang Pass is officially closed for traffic after November 15 but vehicles sometimes continue to ply till there is no accumulation of snow and the road is cleared by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). However, the movement of traffic is regulated in view of public safety because due to its high altitude the Pass is prone to sudden heavy snowfall and icing of road, which could pose a serious threat to the lives of commuters.

The Deputy Commissioner said that commuters would be allowed to cross the Rohtang Pass on foot depending upon the weather conditions. Rescue posts had been set up at Marhi on the Manali side and at Koksar on the Lahaul side to assist the commuters to cross the Pass. He said that the DG had also instructed the BRO to maintain road connectivity between Keylong-Darcha, Keylong-Udaipur and Keylong-Sissu stretches.
Sumit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 26

The U-turn by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over setting up of transit camps for displaced Kashmiri Hindus in the Valley has raised a major question: Has the BJP abandoned Pandits to make way for separatist and radical elements in the dialogue process?

There is general perception among the minority community that the BJP-led Central government and the PDP-BJP coalition in J&K have for the first time delinked the Pandit issue from the peace process initiated in 1996 when Inder Kumar Gujral was the Prime Minister.

The plan to construct the composite townships in various parts of the Valley for the Pandits willing to return has faced opposition from the Hurriyat Conference and the Hizbul Muhajideen, which had threatened to use violence to stop the resettlement of Hindus in their homeland.

Other radical elements in the Valley communalised the issue by comparing it with the Gaza-like settlement by Zionists.

It is now clear that the BJP has accepted what the separatists have been demanding. The way Pandits are being sidelined in the talks shows that the government is delinking our rehabilitation issues. It means they have no plan to allow Hindus to return, alleged Vijay Kumar Moza, a retired Education Department employee who lives in Talab Tillo, Jammu.

The composite township plan was first mooted in 2008 and its groundwork was started in 2012-13 during the Congress-led UPA government.

In 2015, the Central government had claimed that the state government had identified 723 kanals in the Valley to construct the housing units. There has, however, been no progress as the Hurriyat Conference had warned of starting an agitation to oppose the settlements.

What happened to the land identified for our resettlement. Officially, we have been condemned to live as refugees with the migrant tag. The Congress was much better when it came to pushing our cause. It had announced a job package and construction of flats in Jammu and Srinagar, said Aditya Safaya, who lives in Muthi, which houses a considerable number of displaced families.

The revelation of the MHA has also cast a shadow on the Rs 2,000-crore rehabilitation package announced by the BJP-led Central government in 2015, which included construction of housing quarters for more than 2,000 youth who returned to the Valley under the Prime Ministers employment package.

Most of us are living in dilapidated, makeshift plastic and tin sheds in various districts of Kashmir and there is constant fear of stone throwers. For the past seven years, we are waiting for a dignified life, said Sunil Koul, who returned to the Valley under the PMs package and is posted at a school in Anantnag.

The PDP and the BJP, in its Agenda of Alliance, had agreed to examine the rehabilitation package announced by the Congress in 2008, but things have not moved much.

Opposition by separatists
Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News service

Srinagar, November 26

Suspected militants today threw a grenade at the residence of Congress district president Imtiyaz Paray at Hajin in Bandipora district of north Kashmir. However, at the time of attack, Paray was not at home.

Condemning the attack, the J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) expressed serious concern over the incident while urging the government to ensure safety of Opposition leaders.

The militants lobbed a grenade towards the rear of the house where there is a bunker. My security personnel, who were guarding the house, fired but the militants managed to escape from the spot, Paray said.

Earlier, the police said, around 2 am, militants hurled a grenade on the residential guard post of Imtiyaz Ahmed Paray at Paray Mohalla in Hajin. The fire was retaliated by guards. No loss of life was reported.

Seeking to downplay the incident, Bandipora SP Zulfiqar Azad said the police team dispatched to the spot was trying to ascertain the facts. The SP said militancy in the area was already on the ebb due the recent setbacks suffered by militant ranks.

However, Parray said politicians were the soft target for militants. He accused the police of hiding their failures by downplaying the incident. It is a sensitive matter. You can go to the spot and check if the attack has happened, Paray said.

The Congress today expressed concern over the incident. The state government has miserably failed to ensure safety of Opposition leaders, leaving them vulnerable. As a result, they are feeling insecure. Apparently, the ruling dispensation is intentionally restricting the movement of Congress leaders by denying and downsizing their security cover, a party spokesman said.
Tingla folks boycott elections

Locals of Tingla in Necha Salya Rural Municipality-6 of Solukhumbu district did not turn up to cast votes in the parliamentary and provincial elections on Sunday. The Election Commission is conducting first phase of federal and provincial elections in 32 mountain and hill districts today. The voting will be held from 7 am to 5 pm.
Suhail A Shah

Shopian, November 25

A young soldier of the Territorial Army (TA) was today found shot dead in Wuthmulla village of south Kashmirs Shopian district, 15 km from Harmain village where Lt Ummer Fayaz was murdered in May. Sepoy Irfan Ahmed Dar, 23, a resident of Sazan village in Shopian district, was on leave till November 26.

Army spokesperson Rajesh Kalia said: Posted in north Kashmirs Bandipora district, he was possibly abducted and killed by terrorists. The matter is being investigated by the police.

Dars bullet-riddled body was found by locals in Wuthmulla village, 2 km from his home in Sazan. Sri Ram Dinkar, Shopian SSP, said investigations had begun.

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Dar reportedly went missing after he left home on Friday evening to meet relatives. He was apparently abducted on his way back home and killed in Wuthmulla, said sources. Dar is survived by his aged parents, two brothers and a sister.

It is the second time in six months that a soldier on vacation has been killed in Shopian district. On May 9, Lt Ummer Fayaz (22) of Sarsuna village in Kulgam, who was home on leave, was abducted while he was attending a wedding ceremony in Batpora village of Shopian district and then shot. The police had blamed Lashkar-e-Toiba for the brutal killing, evoking nationwide outrage.

Later, in September, they claimed to have killed a Lashkar militant in Kulgam who was part of the group that murdered Lt Fayaz.

Dars funeral was attended by hundreds of villagers. Senior police and Army officials were present for the wreath-laying ceremony.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and former CM Omar Abdullah condemned the killing. Such heinous acts will not weaken our resolve to establish peace and normalcy in the Valley, Mehbooba posted on her official Twitter handle. Omar called the murder tragic and reprehensible.
Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News service

Srinagar, November 26

Suspected militants on Sunday morning attacked the residence of Congress district president Imtyaz Paray at Hajan in Bandipora district of north Kashmir.

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Imtyaz Paray is the son of a former Ikhwan (counter-insurgent) commander, Kuka Paray.

The militants lobbed a grenade towards the rear side of the house. Security forces, who were guarding the house, returned the fire but the militants managed to escape from the spot. No loss of life has been reported, the police said.

The police said the suspected militants lobbed two grenades towards the house of Parrey around 2 am on the intervening night. They also fired some bullets towards the house. However, there was no casualty, they said.

Hajin recently made headlines when security forces gunned down six Lashkar militants, including the top commanders of the outfit.
Jasmine Singh

A womans photograph in a police uniform took the social media by storm. The media responded saying they had not seen such an amazingly Punjab police officer. After a dozen tweets and retweets, it was finally found that this pretty Punjab lady police officer was actress Kainaat Arora, who dressed so for her role in an upcoming Punjabi film Jagga Jiunda E.

Well, the actress couldnt complain, and neither does she mind. I was surprised and a bit elated to see people responding to my picture like this. It went viral within minutes of posting it, says the actress who made her Punjabi film debut opposite Gippy Grewal in Faraar, a movie she thought would become a super hit. It had the best actor Gippy Grewal, it had the best director and cinematographer, Baljit Deo and a good banner. It was a sure shot hit film formula, she says.

Faraar doesnt stand as the changing point in her career, but, yes, this actress did realise that a successful film comes through team work and gallons of luck!

Currently shooting for her Punjabi film in and around Chandigarh and parts of Punjab, Kainaat is sure that she had made the right decision to work in Jagga Jiunda E. The film directed by Rakesh Dhawan stars Daljeet Kalsi in the lead role. Kainaat plays a police officer in the film. And, a real tough one, an officer who doesnt salute a dishonest and corrupt politician.

Of course, Kainaat swells in pride as she slips into a police uniform. Little do artiste realise the responsibility and pride that comes to them while playing police officers and cops. I feel like a dream come true, that I can play an honest cop in reel life.

This model-turned actress has done an item song in Akshay Kumar starrer Khatta Meetha, she made her acting debut with Indra Kumars Grand Masti. Kainaat, who is the cousin of late Bollywood actress Divya Bharti, says Divya has always been her inspiration. I wish I can do what she did in two short years of her career.Currently, she is only focussing on being an honest cop!

Identity crisis

This is not the first time that celebrities have been mistaken for someone else.
Mumbai, November 26

The newly crowned Miss World, Manushi Chhillar, arrived in Mumbai in the wee hours of Sunday.

The 21-year-old models win at the pageant comes 17 years after Priyanka Chopra won the crown in 2000.

A medical student hailing from Haryana, Chhillar competed against 108 contestants from various countries at a glittering event held at Sanya City Arena in China to grab the title.

Manushi has been showered with praise for her answer in the final round. On being asked, Which profession deserves the highest salary and why?, she replied, I think a mother is of the highest respect. I dont think its 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. She was crowned the new queen by Miss World 2016 winner Puerto Ricos Stephanie Del Valle.

Besides Chhillar, the first runner-up was Stephanie Hill from England, while Andrea Meza, hailing from Mexico, was announced the second runner-up.  ANI.
New Delhi, November 26

Development economist and activist Jean Dreze on Sunday said there was "no evidence" that the so-called "Gujarat Model" was a model in any sense, pointing out to the state's backwardness in social indicators.

"If you look at almost any ranking of development indicators, whether it is social indicators, human development index, child development index, multi-dimensional poverty index and all the standard poverty indexes of the planning commission...Gujarat almost always comes around the middle," said the noted economist at Times LitFest here.

It was the case much before Narendra Modi became chief minister and it remained the case after that, said Dreze, who helped draft the first version of NREGA (now called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act).

Dreze, who once wrote an article titled "Gujarat Muddle", recalls that the term, "Gujarat model", was coined around the time of the last Lok Sabha elections (2014).

He describes the model as a counter-example, because of the disappointing social indicators in spite of the high growth in terms of standard economic indicators.

There is obviously, Dreze believes, something lacking and, in that sense, it can be an illustration of the limitations of relying on private-enterprising growth for development in the larger sense.

Commenting on ratings-agency Moody's recent upgrade of India's sovereign-credit rating to 'Baa2' from 'Baa3', Dreze says he doubts the credibility of such an index.

"If you dig into the methods behind these indexes, there is very little to them, except that they are taken seriously!" He also raised concerns about the Aadhaar scheme, fearing that it will create an "infrastructure of surveillance".

Underlining that his opposition to Aadhaar was not related to welfare programmes, but civil liberties.

"Aadhaar multiplies the power of the state to keep track of everybody over time," he said, flagging apprehensions that it could lead to stifling of dissent, as a lot of the databases that are going to be linked will be accessible to the government.

Speaking about the recent agitations of Patidars, Jats and others for reservations, Dreze partly blamed the stagnation of agricultural growth for the unrest.

According to Dreze, the people, who have seen the size of their landholding shrink and with the population explosion in the last few decades, have certainly suffered.

"That probably creates a sense of grievance, which must have translated to some of these movements, but there must be other things also," he adds.

The 'Gujarat Model' has remained the BJP's favorite example of success in election campaigns over the years.

Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, goes to polls on December 9 and 14.  PTI
Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 26

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday remembered the victims of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks on its ninth anniversary and said the world would have to battle terrorism together.

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We salute all those brave women and men who lost their lives in the gruesome 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. Terrorism has become a global burden, Modi said in his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat.

For over four decades, India had been raising the issue of terrorism, he said.

Initially the world did not take us seriously, but now the world is realising the destructive aspects of terrorism ... The world will have to join hands to eliminate terrorism, Modi said.

The Prime Minister said terrorism and extremism made an unholy attempt to damage the countrys social fabric and it was essential that all humanitarian forces became aware of the problem.

This is the land of lord Mahavir, Buddha, Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi, which has given the message of peace and non- violence...Terrorism is hell-bent on destroying humanitarian forces. Therefore, humanitarian forces not only of India but of the entire world will have to unite to defeat terrorism, he said.

Scores of people were killed on this day in 2008 in terror attacks across Mumbai.

Congratulating people on the Constitution Day, which is being observed today, Modi lauded Dr BR Ambdedkar, the Chairperson of Constitutions Drafting Committee, and its Members. He made a mention of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and his upcoming death anniversary on December 15.

He said the architects of the Constitution worked tirelessly for three years to give it a shape. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. The Prime Minister said the Constitutions hallmark is equality to all.

Stressing on the strategic significance of a strong Navy, he mentioned of the upcoming Navy Day on December 4. He also referred to a powerful Navy maintained by the Chola dynasty 900 years back. Modi also mentioned of benevolent works carried out by the Indian Navy.

He underlined the importance of soil-testing which, he said, would raise the productivity of agriculture land and boost up the sector.

Drawing attention to the importance of cleanliness and protection of environment, he said everyone should make contribution to the cause of cleanliness. In this regard he referred to a particular case of a handicapped person contributing to cleanliness in Himachal Pradesh.

He also referred to a physically-challenged sportsman (swimmer) Jigar Thakkar of Gujarat for his exemplary and inspiring performance at national sports events.

Congratulating people on the coming Id-e-milad-un-nabi, which commemorates the birth of Prophet Mohammad, the Prime Minister hoped the festival will inspire peace and harmony.

He urged people to enter the New Year (2018) with hope and positive energy.
Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 26

After four years of rallies and online petitions by victims and social organisations, Australias Victoria province is all set to bring in a law against dowry, making it a criminal offence. The draft Bill is ready and will be tabled in the legislature soon.

Marie Segrave, Associate Professor in Criminology, Monash University, Melbourne, played a key role, blaming dowry for the 300 domestic violence cases that she studied.

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When an Indian woman complained she was being harassed by her husband for dowry, the police and judiciary had no idea how to deal with the issue. It took us four years to make the government aware about the social evil, explains Dr Manjula OConnor, a psychiatrist residing in Victoria and one of those who spearheaded the campaign. She claims she receives at least 50 dowry cases every year.

Figures with the National Crime Record Bureau (2015) reveal a dowry case is registered in India every hour.

The Australians dont understand the custom of dowry, insisting a gift is a gift. Hence, they are unable to empathise with a woman seeking their help to get back gifts and jewellery (streedan) from her husband who has deserted her, says Dr Manjula.
New Delhi, November 26

President Ram Nath Kovind said on Sunday that it was critical not to disturb the fraternity of separation of powers and maintain a delicate balance while exploring the relationship between the judiciary, the executive and the legislature as they are all equal.

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The three organs of the state should be conscious of their liberty and strive to protect their autonomy, he said.

However, they should be careful about not disturbing the fraternity of separation of powers "by even unknowingly intruding into the domain of either of the two other branches", the president said.

It is critical to keep this intricate and delicate balance in mind when exploring the relationship between the three branches of the state -- that is, the judiciary, the legislature and the executive. They are all equal," Kovind said while inaugurating the function organised by the Supreme Court here to celebrate the Constitution Day.

He said the Constitution is "not static but is a living document" and the sobriety and discretion in communication between these three branches of the state is extremely advisable.

This will promote and enhance fraternity between three equal branches of the state, all of which have a certain responsibility to the Constitution. It will also reassure the ordinary citizen that the Constitution is safe -- and in mature hands," the President said.

He also emphasised that high courts across the country need to take up the task of quickly providing certified translated copies of judgements to the litigants in local and regional languages.

Even the hearings in court, if possible, have to be in a language that is understandable to the ordinary litigant. The process of case disposal too has to be made faster," he said.

The President also said it was upon the higher judiciary to mentor and encourage the lower judiciary and in this process, the cooperation of state governments was very much necessary.

He said it was for the state governments to ensure that the judges of the district and subordinate courts were not denied their due perquisites and facilities and high courts should urge the subordinate courts to be more efficient and conclude cases faster.

"I am glad to note, some high courts are taking steps in these directions. As of June 30, 2017, there were about 76,000 old cases, pending for five years or more, in sessions and district courts under the High Court of Jharkhand. The High Court has set a target of March 31, 2018, to dispose off almost half these cases," he said.

He also referred to the initiative of the Chhattisgarh High Court in setting a deadline of April 30, 2018, for the subordinate courts to dispose of cases pending for over 10 years and September 30 next year deadline for disposing cases pending for between five and 10 years.

The High Court of Chhattisgarh has also started to make provision for availability of Hindi versions of judgements and orders. I commend these initiatives. I am sure other high courts are also moving ahead with a similar sense of public service," Kovind said.

He said Constitution is not just an abstract ideal and it has to be made meaningful to the lives of ordinary people in every street, every village and every 'mohalla' of the country.

Delivering a lecture on 'constitutional value' at the function, former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti referred to the historical events related to framing of the Constitution.

He said that the Constitution is the "religion of all the religions".

Referring to the judiciary, the ex-CJI said while other organs of the state may afford to fail and falter, the judiciary cannot "afford to fail".

However, he also had a word of caution for the judiciary and said that it should not take upon the role of the executive and the legislature while discharging judicial functions as a "judge is always on trial".  PTI
New Delhi, November 26

Amid a controversy over the renaming of Dyal Singh (Evening) College, its governing body on Sunday warned of a criminal case against the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders for harming Hindu-Sikh brotherhood.

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These remarks came a day after the SAD said it would raise in Parliament the issue of the college's renaming as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya.

The college governing body Chairman Amitabh Sinha, in a statement on Sunday, said he would file the case against the Akalis for hurting Hindu-Sikh brotherhood by quoting certain documents that claim that changing the name is illegal.

"The documents they are talking about are not available in the university records. They must submit the documents or deposit these with the college administration by 5 pm on November 28.

"Otherwise, a case will be filed against them for forging the documents and intending to use the same as genuine for creating disharmony among the Hindus and Sikhs," said Sinha.

It is a non-bailable offence, which invites imprisonment of up to seven years, he said.

"Those who wish to divide the Hindus and Sikhs have been communicated directly as well as through various channels that they must furnish the relevant documents, but they failed to do so. Now, I am serving them the ultimatum," he said.

Sinha said he was upset about the conduct of a section of the governing body who are spreading misinformation without cross-examining the claims vis-a-vis the original documents.

"I am disgusted and fed up with the entire controversy. It is not only malicious and mischievous, but also a dangerous and notorious design to drive a wedge in the Hindu-Sikh unity worldwide.

"They are misquoting and misrepresenting everything from the documents. They are claiming things not available in the university record. And that's very dangerous."  IANS
New Delhi, November 26

Former Union Minister Arun Shourie on Sunday alleged that falsehood was the hallmark of the Narendra Modi government and it has failed to fulfil several promises such as on generating jobs.

He also urged people to minutely judge the work of the government. Speaking at an event, Shourie, a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayees NDA government, said he could cite many examples of that in the form of full page advertisements in the newspapers showing government statistics of generating over five and half crore job by MUDRA scheme only.

But we should not be surprised at this.... falsehood has become the hallmark of this government, he said.

Citing Mahatma Gandhi, he said: Very important point that Gandhiji use to make: dont go by what he has been doing, go by his character and what can you learn about his character.

And we have missed that twice both in the case of (former Prime Minister) VP Singh and Narendra Modi. They just say whatever is convenient at the moment, he said. He also urged people not to go by what Modi is saying now, but go by what he has been saying all along.  IANS
Two dozen injured in Jajarkot clash, voters afraid to go for voting

Over two dozen people were injured after cadres of ruling Nepali Congress (NC) and left allianceCPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre)clashed outside a voting center in Kushe Rural Municipality-1 in Jajarkot on Saturday.
New Delhi, November 26

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the legislature, the judiciary and the executive were part of the same family and should work to strengthen each other, after Chief Justice of India and the law minister sparred over judicial activism.

The prime minister also said that the three wings  the legislature, the judiciary and the executive  need to brainstorm on how to move forward in the changed scenario.

"They are members of the same family...we do not have to prove anyone right or wrong. We know our strengths, we know our weaknesses," he said at a gathering of judges and advocates at the National Law Day event here.

Modi pointed out that while fighting for rights, one should not forget about duties.

He emphasised that the balance between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary has been the backbone of the Constitution and it has helped the country during the Emergency.

Modi also pitched for self-regulation and a system of checks and balances for the good health of any institution and quoted BR Ambedkar to state that there should be a limit for any authority. PTI
Shiv Kumar

The Gujarat Assembly election result will determine whether Prime Minister Narendra Modis magic is still intact. Should the BJP fail to win or even romp home with a reduced majority, the ripples will rock the Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra.

Uddhav Thackeray, whose Shiv Sena is part of the Maharashtra government, is smarting at the slights heaped on him by Fadnavis and the BJP leadership and the wounded tiger is waiting to make his move.

Thackeray is spending this weekend touring Western Maharashtra holding rallies that resemble election campaigns, sending shockwaves in the Chief Ministers camp. Fadnavis is on the backfoot after goofing up on the Rs 37,000-crore farm loan waiver and Thackeray, despite staying in the government, is not letting go of the opportunity to play the role of the Opposition as well.

The Shiv Sena chief has managed to buy time with Fadnavis, postponing the induction of Thackerays arch enemy Narayan Rane into the Cabinet. Fadnavis has reportedly told Rane to wait it out till the winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly is behind them.

The results of the Gujarat elections would be known by then and with that the future course of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.

Expressway on fast-track

With his term well past the half-way mark, Chief Minister Fadnavis is desperately trying to show some results to his constituents in Vidarbha, one of the most backward regions of Maharashtra.

Many of the grand schemes announced by Fadnavis and his rival, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, in and around Nagpur have failed to bear fruit. Both have finally decided that the Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway holds the key to the rapid industrialisation of Vidarbha.

The Maharashtra government has decided to open its purse strings so that owners of land earmarked for the project sign on the dotted line without much delay.

Agriculture land and land in no-development zone in both urban and rural areas will now fetch five times the ready reckoner rate. Land in urban areas will fetch 3.75 times the ready reckoner rate, according to a notification issued by the state government.

In all, the government needs 10,000 hectares for the Expressway and work is due to begin in January next year once the land acquisition is complete.

Indira who?

The birth centenary of Indira Gandhi went unnoticed with even die-hard Congressmen did not go beyond putting up the stray banner outside their offices. A few low-key events organised by the party leadership did not even find mention in the news pages. If only we were in power, an old Congress party worker in Mumbai said wistfully.
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 26

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday accused the judiciary of going against the doctrine of separation of power even as Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra countered the charge by citing specific cases.

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Speaking at a Constitution Day function in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a larger number of judges, lawyers, law academics and students, the Law Minister and the CJI indulged in what appeared to be candid exchange of views on issues of governance, policy and judicial overreach.

Prasad said independence of judiciary cannot be invoked in a manner that undermined importance of separation of power as both were part of basic structure of the Constitution.

Emphasising that governance must remain with those elected to govern, the Law Minister said fine balance between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary should be maintained. PILs cannot become a substitute for governance, he added.

Prasad, however, sought to emphasise that the government respected the judiciary and its independence, saying, We fought for it during the Emergency.

This was the second consecutive day that NDA minister criticised courts for judicial overreach and advised judges to follow judicial restraint and avoid getting into policy issues which they were not equipped and trained to handle.

On Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said the argument that judicial activism was meant to fill the gaps left by other State organs was flawed. He had wondered if other organs could perform the functions of the judiciary citing arrears as an excuse.

Noting that the government accepted and respected the Supreme Courts verdict declaring the National Judicial Appointments Commission unconstitutional, the Law Minister criticised the judgment as a student of law, saying mere involvement of the executive cannot be cited as a threat to judicial independence. It needed to be reconsidered.

On his part, CJI Misra sought to dispel the impression that judges intended to run the country and cited specific cases to drive home the message.

Justice Misra  who spoke twice on Sunday  gave the example of rejection of a PIL demanding re-poll if NOTA votes were more than 50% of the total votes polled in a particular constituency and its order setting aside a Calcutta High Courts order against movement of central paramilitary forces from the Darjeeling hills to Himachal Pradesh for conduct of elections.

He also cited certain paragraphs from Supreme Courts verdicts to emphasise that even the judiciary considered the Prime Minister to be repository of constructional trust.

The CJI, however, defended the role of the judiciary in protecting peoples fundamental rights, saying, We are playing the role of a constitutional catalyst. He advocated mutual respect between various organs of the State with constitutional supremacy.
Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 26

The seven-day search operation for survivors underneath the debris of the local polybags factory Amarson Polymers, that collapsed on November 20 after a blaze, has been officially declared over and the three missing firemen presumed dead.

The operation by the NDRF, SDRF and local officials lasted 140 hours during which 13 bodies were found. But firemen Sukhdev Singh, Manpreet Singh and Manohar Lal remained untraced.

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Officials believe intermittent fire in a portion of the collapsed factory may have destroyed their bodies.

Deputy Commissioner Pardeep Agrawal, Police Commissioner RN Dhoke, MC Commissioner Jaskiran Singh (who was transferred today) and Congress MLA Surinder Dawar today visited the site. Agrawal said: Technically, we have closed the operation. Nevertheless, a team of 100-150 personnel will manually comb the debris.

Expressing regret, he told the families of the missing firemen: We tried hard to find them. The families have now asked the police to declare their kin dead so that they may get compensation.

Jaskiran said factory owner Inderjit Singh Gola had admitted to storing hazardous chemicals inside the factory. As per our records, the building was illegal. Any official, serving or retired, who allowed the building to come up will have to face the music.

We will be launching a survey of unsafe and illegal buildings, which will be completed in 15 days, he said, adding that he would write to the DC to recover the expenses incurred on the rescue operation from the factory owner. MLA Dawar said he would seek a job for the kin of every fireman who died.

The deceased have been identified as sub-fire officers Rajinder Sharma (52), Shamaun Gill (53) and Raj Kumar (52), firemen Vishal (35), Rajan (45) and Pooran Singh (50), sanitary officer Laxman Dravid (53), computer designers Sandeep Kumar (32), Ghanaiya (39), and Amarjot (25), taxi union president Inderpal Singh (55), factory manager Baldev Raj (55) and worker Dhan Bahadur (50).

The two injured are Rohit Kumar and Sunil Kumar.
New Delhi, November 26

The Delhi High Court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment till death for sexually assaulting his three-and-a-half-year-old niece and murdering her to hide his crime.

The court said the child was incapable of arousing lust and her cries could not have been heard by anyone in the lonely, thick forest where she was dumped after by the man, who was 45-year-old at the time of the offence in 2010, after the attack.

A Bench of justices Pratibha Rani and Rekha Palli dismissed the man's appeal challenging the trial court's order convicting and sentencing him to life term.

"We clarify that the sentence of imprisonment for life awarded to the appellant for the offence under Section 376(2) (raping a woman under the age of 12 years) IPC shall mean and be enforced as imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life," the bench said.

The court noted that as per the post-mortem report, the child had been brutally beaten and murdered after a violent sexual assault.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place in November 2010 and the child's mother approached the police in north east Delhi saying that her daughter was missing.

During investigation, it was found that the man had taken away the child with him on the pretext of buying her toffees after which she went missing.

The man, who was the cousin of the victim's father, was nabbed and he took the police to a nursery from where the child's body was recovered, the prosecution had said.

It had told the police that after he raped the girl, she had said that she would inform her mother about it and due to fear of being caught, he strangulated her and threw her body behind bushes.

During the trial, the man denied the allegations against him and claimed that he was falsely implicated.

He challenged the trial court's verdict, saying no public witness had joined even at the time of his arrest and claimed that the DNA report also did not conclusively prove that he was the offender. PTI
Jerusalem, November 26

Overwhelmed with emotion, Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg tried to avoid sharing his feelings. He had spent the past week remembering his loved ones who were killed by Pakistan-based LeT terrorists in a brutal attack in Mumbai nine years ago.

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Rosenberg is the grandfather of Moshe Holtzberg, who was a two-year-old toddler when the 26/11 attacks happened and he lost his parents, Gavriel and Rivka. Little Moshe survived the terror onslaught because of his brave Indian nanny Sandra Samuels.

The attack by 10 heavily-armed LeT terrorists killed 166 people and injured more than 300. The terrorists launched co-ordinated shooting and bombing attacks at several landmarks in Mumbai, including the Chabad House at Nariman point.

Samuels, who now lives in Israel and was felicitated with an honorary citizenship by the Israeli government, escaped the brutality at Chabad House with baby Moshe.

She later moved to Israel to help in bringing up the boy.

It was a moment that shook us all completely; and, of course, also the Indians. This is a week when we try to keep to ourselves, Rosenberg told PTI.

We offered our prayers at the cemetery in Mt. Olives in Jerusalem on Sunday. Because for us that was the ninth anniversary as per the Jewish calendar. We paid our respects to the departed souls in Afula. It was a quiet and personal affair, limited to the family only, he said.

Rosenberg appeared aware of the responsibility he and his wife Yehudit share, in bringing up Moshe, after the attack devastated their family. He said the family was determined to return to Mumbai to celebrate bar mitzvah for Moshe, now 11.

Bar mitzvah is a ceremony performed for Jewish boys at the age of 13. Some Israeli scholars compare it with upnayana, or the thread ceremony.

Moshe celebrated his 11th birthday this week as per the Hebrew calendar and we talked about the plans for bar mitzvah in Mumbai. We want him to see where his parents lived and worked. He feels a strong connection with Mumbai, said the grandfather.

In August, India issued 10-year multiple-entry visas to Moshe and his grandparents to ease their travel to the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his maiden visit to Israel in July, had promised the family about the visas.

In an emotional meeting with Modi on July 5 in Jerusalem, Moshe had expressed his wish to be able to visit Mumbai.

I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there. I will be the director of our Chabad House, he had told Modi, who embraced the young boy on seeing him.

With Gods help, this is my answer, the little boy had said, reading from a prepared script, and concluded, I love you and your people in India.

Modi had responded, Come and stay in India and Mumbai.

You are most welcome. You and your all family members will get long-term visas. So you can come anytime and go anywhere.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promptly asked Moshe to accompany him when he travels to India next year.

Moshe and his grandparents are expected to join Netanyahu during his four-day visit to India, likely from January 14.

We have received such a communication and are awaiting confirmation, Rosenberg said.

Moshes parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed along with six others at Chabad House. Moshe was saved in a daring act by his nanny, who, without caring for her safety, rushed inside the Chabad House on hearing him cry.

The 26/11 attacks were one of the bloodiest in the history of India and lasted for three days.

Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive was hanged after trial. The nine other terrorists were shot dead during the attacks.

The LeT founder and chief of Jamaat-Ud-Dawa, Hafiz Saeed, is said to be the mastermind of the attacks.

Saeed carries an American bounty of USD 10 million on his head for terror activities. He was freed by Pakistan on Friday, just ahead of the anniversary of the attacks, after several months in house arrest. PTI
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 26

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today accused the judiciary of going against the doctrine of separation of power even as Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra countered the charge by citing specific cases.

Speaking at a Constitution Day function in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a larger number of judges, lawyers, law academics and students, the Law Minister and the CJI indulged in what appeared to be candid exchange of views on issues of governance, policy and judicial overreach.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Prasad said independence of judiciary cant be invoked in a manner that undermined importance of separation of power as both were part of the basic structure of the Constitution.

Emphasising that governance must remain with those elected to govern, the Law Minister said a fine balance between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary should be maintained. PILs cannot become a substitute for governance. Prasad, however, sought to emphasise that the government respected the judiciary and its independence, saying, we fought for it during the Emergency.

This was the second consecutive day that an NDA minister criticised courts for judicial overreach and advised judges to follow judicial restraint and avoid getting into policy issues. On Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said the argument that judicial activism was meant to fill the gaps left by other State organs was flawed.

He had wondered if other organs could perform the functions of the judiciary citing arrears as an excuse.

Noting that the government accepted and respected the Supreme Courts verdict declaring the National Judicial Appointments Commission unconstitutional, the Law Minister criticised the judgment as a student of law, saying mere involvement of the executive cant be cited as a threat to judicial independence. It needed to be reconsidered.

On his part, CJI Misra sought to dispel the impression that judges intended to run the country and cited specific cases to drive home the message.

Justice Misra, who spoke twice on Sunday, gave the example of rejection of a PIL demanding re-poll if NOTA votes were more than 50 per cent of the total voted polled in a particular constituency and its order setting aside a Calcutta High Courts order against movement of central paramilitary forces from the Darjeeling hills to Himachal Pradesh for conduct of elections.

He also cited certain paragraphs from Supreme Courts verdicts to emphasise that even the judiciary considered the PM to be a repository of constructional trust.

The CJI, however, defended the role of the judiciary in protecting peoples fundamental rights, saying We are playing the role of a constitutional catalyst. He advocated mutual respect between various organs of the State with constitutional supremacy.
Smita Sharma

Vietnam came closer home as a group of artists performed at the Foreign Correspondents Club last week. The Vietnamese Embassy invited its Border Guard Troupe, comprising military officers and captains, to perform in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai.

The troupe performs at mountainous and distant military Vietnamese posts. The Embassy is celebrating 45th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Vietnam and decade of the bilateral strategic partnership.

The artists enthralled the audience with rendition of popular Vietnamese songs and dance. They dedicated a song to their founding father Ho Chi Minh, remembering his contribution to freedom struggle and warm relations with foreign leaders.

Cultural Counsellor at the Embassy Phuong Vuanh said, We hope the performance can introduce Vietnamese culture to Indian friends. We can increase mutual understanding and friendship through cultural ties.

Interestingly, Bollywood films are popular in Vietnamese homes. And the artistes performed Hindi film songs, despite language barriers, including a rendition of Made in Indianot the Modi mantra, but the 90s popular song by pop music diva Alisha Chinai.

Capital has no colour

As the world witnessed sentencing of the Butcher of Bosnia Mladic for his war crimes, another country with deep scars of genocide showcased its transformation. In an interaction with journalists, Rwandan High Commissioner to India Ernest Rwamucyo stressed upon the economic turnaround of the African country. He invited Indian film makers to shoot in his country and get a touch of Hilly-wood, referring to the scenic Rwandan hills.

He was asked if there is consensus within the African Union on Security Council reforms and Indias application drive. The envoy pointed to the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) election that went down to the wire, as an example of how complex the Security Council structure is. The way it is structured, there have to be, for anything to move, some actors for it to change. But the way it looks, the structure will be protected as it is because of so many interests at stake, said Rwamucyo.

Asked about increasing Chinese foothold and implications for India of a Chinese base in neighbouring Djibouti, that shares close ties with Rwanda, the envoy chose to project African continent as one of opportunities where all major actors want a foothold. Whoever is bringing in capital should be welcome. Capital has no colour attached to it. Capital is Capital. It should come to us as an investment, create jobs for young people, bring opportunities and foreign income, said the High Commissioner.

Perhaps the strategy makers in Indias Capital here will take note to up their game when it comes to investing capital in Africa.
Manas Dasgupta

Ahmedabad, November 26

Police pickets have been posted in front of the Pradesh Congress office in Ahmedabad as waves of angry party workers unhappy over the selection of candidates rushed to register their protests.

Opposing imposition of imported candidates, the Congress workers in several constituencies also threatened to resign from the party if the candidate of their choices were not nominated to contest the next months Assembly elections.

In Kutch, the entire agriculture produces market committee along with their supporters resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP in protest against the nomination of the party candidates.

Though murmuring due to dissatisfaction over the selection of candidates had been heard in the BJP, the problem has assumed serious proportion in the Congress because of the partys late understandings with the Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader Alpesh Thakore and Patidar leader Hardik Patel as well as electoral adjustments with the Nationalist Congress Party, the Sharad Yadav faction of the JD-U and some other smaller parties.

A large number of Congress workers from Radhanpur, Patan, Vadodara and several other places virtually gheraoed the PCC office forcing the party leaders to summon police.
Voting time up for first phase polls

Voting for the first phase of federal parliament and provincial assembly elections held in 32 mountainous and hilly districts on Sunday have officially ended with the clock striking 5 pm.
Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 26

Recalling the sacrifices of brave citizens in the Mumbai terror strikes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said terrorism posed a global threat almost as a daily routine, and stressed it had to be fought unitedly.

Today is the ninth anniversary of the gory attack, carried out by 10 terrorists from Pakistan over three days, that left 166 people dead.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Modi said even a few years ago, when India talked about the threats of terrorism, not many in the world were ready to take it seriously.

Now that terrorism is knocking at their doors, every government in the world, those who believe in humanity, governments with faith in democracy, are seeing this as one of the biggest challenges, he said in his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat. Terrorism, the Prime Minister said, threatened humanity across the world.

Terrorism has taken an ugly shape and has become a global threat almost as a daily routine... Terrorism has challenged humanity. It is bent upon destroying humanitarian forces. So not only India, but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism, he said.

Modi said that while November 26 was observed as Constitution Day, the nation could not forget that on this day nine years ago, terrorists launched attacks across Mumbai. The country remembers and bows to those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives then. This country can never forget their sacrifice, he said.

The Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on this day in 1949. Congratulating people on the occasion of Constitution Day, the PM referred to the hard work put in by members of the Assembly who incorporated their vision in the document.

Modi stressed that equality for all and sensitivity towards all was the unique characteristic of the Constitution. He lauded Dr BR Ambedkar, who was chairperson of drafting committee, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who headed the advisory committee on fundamental rights, minorities and tribals for their farsighted contributions to framing of the Constitution.

Expressing gratitude to security forces for their sacrifices, he urged people to participate in week-long (December 1-7) campaign that will be run by the Ministry of Defence as run up to the Armed Forces Flag Day (December 7) to increase awareness about our armed forces. The PM exhorted the farmers to go in for soil testing of their agriculture land, which would help increase its fertility. (With PTI inputs)

Pak reluctant, case drags on for 9 yrs

Lahore: Nine years have passed since 10 LeT terrorists killed 166 people in Mumbai, but none of the suspects have been punished, indicating that this case has never been a priority for Pakistan, especially after the release of the attack's mastermind Hafiz Saeed, observers say. The case is being tried in an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad since 2009. There has hardly been any such case in any ATC taking more than eight years and still pending. It is meant for speedy trial but in this case the ATC is acting like a sessions court, a senior lawyer said. PTI

ATS deradicalises 86 people in 2 yrs

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has deradicalised 86 people in last two years as part of its efforts to wean away misguided youth from the path of extremism in the aftermath of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, an official said. The ones brought into the mainstream include well-educated people like a young couple, both post-graduates in pharmacy, an aeronautical engineer and an IT professional, he said. PTI
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 26

The Ludhiana district administration on Sunday said the three firemen missing in a plastic factory fire were presumed dead.

The administration has called off the rescue operation, however, officials said that they would continue with the manual search operation.

They said that the entire expenses of the rescue operation would be borne by the factory owner.

The officials said they believe that the three missing firemen  Sukhdev Singh, Manpreet Singh and Manohar Lal  were dead.

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They said that financial benefits would be given to the family of the three missing firemen by the administration.

At least 13 people were killed in the plastic factory fire, in which a multi-storey building collapsed. The victims included six firemen and a municipal corporation official. Several people were trapped under the debris of the collapsed five-storeyed building, located in a congested part of the Industrial area near Cheema Chowk.

The factory building, which was engulfed in a major fire, collapsed later in the afternoon following a powerful blast.

Inderjit Singh Gola, owner of the factory, was arrested.
Kuljit Bains

The theories put out by the police in their recent success with solving communal murders are strikingly reflective of the grey and overlapping areas the society of Punjab is grappling with today. Jobless youth looking for an inspiration in life, criminals being celebrated in popular culture, and, ultimately, those who cross the line from anger to violence, whether for a perceived cause or simply for loot. Characters of all variety have been lined up by the police as suspects in various terror cases, recent as well as those cracked over the past couple of years.

Given the very sensitive episodes of communal provocation that the state has borne with remarkable equanimity over the past two years, Punjabis of all hue deserve high praise for the maturity demonstrated. But the restraint cannot be taken for granted, as history will continue to intrude into the present, and there will always be elements ready to exploit a weak moment.

The purpose of any targeted violence, or terror attack, is to provoke anger, cause disturbance. This is where the States response to such provocations and developments becomes crucial. Any mishandling, or apparent excesses inflicted by the police on individuals, can end up furthering the goals of the very perpetrators of violence.

As recent investigations have revealed, the youth continue to be motivated by memories of a very dark phase in Punjabs history. They need not be given any more cause for feeling alienated. To put it in plain words, the police should not end up prosecuting any innocent person. As certain cases over the past couple of years have demonstrated, young men charged with grave offences have been acquitted by courts of one charge after another, while some have suffered for years together without their trials making any headway.

While the police must be encouraged as well as empowered with all material and legal help in solving every crime, they must also be held accountable for any obvious overstepping of powers. When such instances are ignored, it is a case of the government abdicating its responsibility to an executing agency. The government of the day must remember that the job of the police begins only after a breakdown of law and order; preventing that is a function of governance.

In the rigmarole of daily functioning  which currently is more a struggle from one salary day to the next  the government must not neglect to notice the signals from society at large that come its way all the time. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has asked the state police to be watchful of the radicalisation message being spread on social media. That is a good idea, but he must be as mindful of the message as the messenger. Checking the relaying of a certain thought may help curb its spread, but that does not alleviate the underlying causes.

As of today, the state and its people are receptive to issues of economy and development, and have demonstrated they dont have an appetite for disturbance. Make use of their desperate need for growth by addressing their dreams. That will be anytime more effective than anything the most efficient of police forces can achieve.

As the state Assembly meets for a three-day session, beginning today, all parties  ruling as well as those in the Opposition  would do well to demonstrate restraint, and not try and exploit the recent police investigations merely to serve their constituencies. Speak only what is just, and justified.
Chandigarh, Novemeber 26

Punjab has forayed into tapping a cost-effective source of power  wind energy.

The state has signed an agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India to purchase 450 million units of power per year.

PSPCL Chairman and Managing Director A Venu Prasad said, The state will get wind power at Rs2.72 per kilowatt hour. The agreement will be valid for 25 years. Power from these projects is expected to be available in 2019-20.  TNS
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 26

The Punjab Government has reiterated that no anganwadi centre in the state would be closed following the introduction of pre-primary classes in its schools.

The assurance followed a meeting of anganwadi workers with Education Minister Aruna Chaudhary and Gurdaspur MP and PPCC president Sunil Jakhar in Dinanagar. The anaganwadi workers, who met Chaudhary alone, expressed apprehension that the centres would be shut down and their services terminated.

An official spokesperson said there was no such move and no centre would be closed. He said that ideally, all anganwadis should operate from government primary schools and children enrolled in these centres should be shifted there. This will enable anganwadi workers to continue with childcare and nutrition support activities and let teachers concentrate on imparting education.

Unfortunately, in the current framework, anganwadi workers and teachers are unable to focus on their core functions. The move to introduce pre-primary classes in government schools was to ensure that these functions could be carried out effectively, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said in cases where it is difficult to shift the anganwadis to schools concerned, efforts should be made to build accommodation for anganwadis gradually. For the time being, teachers should visit the anganwadis to impart pre-primary education.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 26

Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat has sought probe into the infamous National Highway scam in Uttarakhand under the supervision of a High Court judge. He has also questioned the SIT presently probing the matter alleging that it was trying to save the bigwigs.

In a statement issued today, Harish Rawat asserted that it was important that the probe was conducted in a transparent and effective manner and it was appropriate that a high court judge leads such a probe.

He said the role of National Highways Authority of India was also questionable as they officials were found totally ignorant of such big scam taking place. Harish Rawat asserted that he had little faith in the CBI probe as the agency worked under the influence of the Centre. He also criticized the Central BJP government alleging that the Modi-led BJP government at the Centre was neck deep in corruption as assets of BJP minister and their closed ones have increased manifold in last three years.
Islamabad, November 26

Pakistans government has called in the Army to restore order after clashes between police and protesters belonging to hardline religious groups killed six people and injured more than 200 others in the Capital.

The police aided by paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary on Saturday lunched a massive operation against activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and Sunni Tehreek Pakistan religious groups who had blocked a key highway to Islamabad for nearly three weeks.

Police and paramilitary forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters to disperse them. However, the security forces pulled back after the crackdown turned deadly.

At least six people were killed in clashes on Saturday, Dawn reported. It also said that no security personnel was killed but at least nine senior police officers were injured, including Rawalpindi city police chief Israr Abbasi.

According to health officials, more than 200 people, including at least 95 security personnel, were injured in the clashes and shifted to various hospitals.

The Interior Ministry on Saturday night issued a statutory regulatory order to authorise the deployment of the Army to control the law and order situation in the Capital.

Official sources said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa are expected to hold a meeting to discuss the situation after the government sought deployment of the Army in the Capital.

However, the Army said it needed clarification on some points before moving in to control the situation.

General Bajwa was on a visit to the United Arab Emirates and cut short his trip to reach the country on Saturday night.

Earlier, he spoke to Abbasi over telephone and suggested to handle the protests peacefully avoiding violence from both sides as it is not in national interest and cohesion. Meanwhile, all news channels have been off-air and access to popular social media blocked since Saturday.

Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) representing electronic media condemned the action against media.

The protesters have been laying siege to the Capital for about three weeks demanding removal of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for changes in a law related to the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat (finality of prohpethood) oath in the Elections Act 2017.

They alleged the action undermined Islamic beliefs and linked it to blasphemy. The government has already amended the law and restored the original oath but the hardline clerics refused to call of the protests until the minister is sacked.

The unrest also spread to several cities where protesters have blocked major roads, resulting in clashes with police.

Dozens of people were injured in Karachi and at other places.

Minister of Interior Ahsan Iqbal chaired a high-level security meeting on Friday night but failed to reach at any decision about further operation as senior officials of Islamabad administration and police warned to loss of human lives, according to sources in the Interior Ministry.

The protesters emboldened by failure of government upped the ante and demanded resignation of the government, according to report on Geo TV website.

There are reports that ruling Pakistan Muslims Leauge-Nawaz was discussing the option of removing law minister to pacify the protests. But it may be too late now. The minister is already under immense pressure after an attack on Saturday at his residence in Pasroor area of Sialkot district in Punjab.

Opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf have also increased pressure on government and its secretary general Jehangir Tareen demanded resignation of interior minister for mishandling the operation. PTI
London, November 26

The Ahmadiyya community in the UK is introducing airport-style security at its many mosques and centres across the country after receiving death threats from other Muslim groups.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK (AMC), which represents an estimated 30,000 Ahmadis, launched walk-through metal detectors, identity checks and bag searches to screen visitors and worshippers for knives and firearms recently at the Baitul Futuh mosque in south London.

The minority Islamic sect, which is disowned by some Muslims, has also sought Scotland Yards intervention over the death threats to its leader Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, The Sunday Times reports.

Farooq Aftab, a spokesperson for the AMC, said while it was common for Ahmadis to be persecuted in countries such as Pakistan, similar violent and divisive behaviour should not be tolerated in Britain.

People who dont think we are Muslims are entitled to their own point of view, but a line must be drawn because violence cannot be justified. We can disagree, but we have a right to freedom of religion, said Aftab. Our community is under attack by extremists but our commitment to peace and love is unshakeable, he added.

Ahmadis, who make up 1 per cent of the UKs 3 million followers of Islam, are persecuted in some countries because of their religious beliefs.  PTI
London, November 26

The Ahmadiyya community in the UK is introducing airport-style security at its many mosques and centres across the country after receiving death threats from other Muslim groups.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK (AMC), which represents an estimated 30,000 Ahmadis, launched walk-through metal detectors, identity checks and bag searches to screen visitors and worshippers for knives and firearms recently at the Baitul Futuh mosque in south London.

The minority Islamic sect, which is disowned by some Muslims, has also sought Scotland Yards intervention over the death threats to its leader Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, The Sunday Times reports.

Farooq Aftab, a spokesperson for the AMC, told the newspaper that while it was common for Ahmadis to be persecuted in countries such as Pakistan, similar violent and divisive behaviour should not be tolerated in Britain.

People who dont think we are Muslims are entitled to their own point of view, but a line must be drawn because violence cannot be justified. We can disagree, but we have a right to freedom of religion, said Aftab.

Our community is under attack by extremists but our commitment to peace and love is unshakeable. We appreciate the work of the authorities and they must continue to work diligently for the protection and safety of all citizens, he added.

Ahmadis, who make up 1 per cent of the UKs 3 million followers of Islam, are persecuted in some countries because of their religious beliefs.

While a majority of the recent threats against the Ahmadi community in Britain have been sent via social media and text messages, some of the groups mosques have also been daubed with words such as kaffir, meaning non-believer or infidel.

It is, frankly, sickening that some think they can openly harass, intimidate, vandalise and create a sense of fear within minority Muslim communities while shouting out about Islamophobia and the need to challenge it, said Fiyaz Mughal, director of interfaith organisation Faith Matters.

Fears among the Ahmadi community in Britain have heightened following the murder of Asad Shah, a member of the Ahmadiyya sect who was stabbed to death in Glasgow in March last year by a Sunni Muslim taxi driver from Bradford. PTI
Rio De Janeiro, November 26

The US vice-consul in Brazil was discharged from hospital after being shot in the foot in an attempted robbery at a seaside holiday resort near Rio de Janeiro, local media reported.

Stephanie Masland Bohlen was operated on Friday at Samaritan Hospital, Agencia Brasil said, adding there was no risk of further foot injuries.

Masland Bohlen and her husband were approached by two unidentified people late Thursday as they stopped to adjust their GPS navigation system on a highway in Angra dos Reis, in the southern part of Rio state, according to local media.

When they tried to flee, Masland Bohlen was shot in the foot and her husband was unharmed.

Civil police are handling the investigation.

A British tourist was shot and wounded in Angra dos Reis in August when she, her husband and their three children accidentally drove into a favela controlled by criminals.

The Rio area is one of the worlds most famous tourist destinations but many favelaslargely unregulated communities of working class Braziliansare public safety nightmares.  AFP.
Islamabad, November 26

Pakistan today called in the Army to restore order after violent clashes erupted across the country between police and protesters belonging to hardline religious groups, leaving six persons dead and more than 200 others injured in the capital.

Violence spread to other parts of the country after the police aided by paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary yesterday lunched a massive operation here against activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek -i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and Sunni Tehreek Pakistan religious groups who had been blocking a key highway to Islamabad for nearly three weeks.

The police and paramilitary forces fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets at the protesters to disperse them. However, the security forces pulled back after the crackdown turned deadly.

At least six persons were killed in clashes in Islamabad yesterday, the Dawn reported. It also said that no security personnel was killed but at least nine senior police officers were injured, including Rawalpindi city police chief Israr Abbasi.

According to health officials, more than 200 persons, including at least 95 security personnel, were injured in the clashes and have been shifted to various hospitals.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired a high-level meeting today to review the prevailing security situation in the country.

Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, ISI chief Lt- General Naveed Mukhtiar, interior minister Ahsan Iqbal and Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif attended the meeting.

The meeting decided to make another effort for peaceful ending of the protests, official sources said, adding that it was also decided to hold talks with religious leaders to find an amicable solution to the problem.

It was decided that the army would protect the sensitive buildings and departments in Islamabad.

The decision was taken due to fresh protests in different parts of the countries against the crackdown on clerics laying siege to capital Islamabad, official sources said.

Police officials said that major cities were under stress due to blockade of major roads. In some places markets were also closed.

The Interior Ministry last night issued a statutory regulatory order to authorise the deployment of the army to control the law and order situation in the capital.

General Bajwa was on a visit to the United Arab Emirates and cut short his trip to reach the country last night.

Meanwhile, the government has restored news and TV channels which were taken off-air yesterday.  PTI
Owasso resident Patricia Hardy and the Owasso Strong Neighborhood Initiative (OSNI) have been recognized by Keep Oklahoma Beautiful (KOB) for their outstanding efforts in beautifying the community.

On Saturday, Nov. 18, KOB hosted its 27th annual Environmental Excellence Celebration, which celebrates the work of governments, businesses, organizations and individuals doing their part to keep Oklahoma beautiful.

Hardy was named an Affiliate Champion, an award presented to champion volunteers with KOB Affiliate organizations. In 2010, she registered her cul-de-sac as a Neighborhood Network with OSNI as one of the first neighborhoods. Over the last seven years, Hardy has been a leader for neighborhood cleanups and general beautification projects around their park and pond. She also worked with other neighborhood leaders and OSNI and Owasso Police to establish an Alert Neighborhood Program for their neighborhood.

It is an honor to have been a member since the very inception of the OSNI Owasso CARES, Hardy said. This group is comprised of volunteers who give of themselves to improve this wonderful city that we live in. We are a positive voice and only seek to make a difference in our neighborhoods.

Owasso Neighborhood Coordinator Jerry Fowler added, It is a wonderful honor for one of our own to be recognized on a state level when there is so many people across Oklahoma making a difference in their communities. Patricia has been one of our biggest advocates of OSNI and Owasso CARES since their beginning.

OSNI was also recognized for its efforts, being named the winner in the Government, Service Population <40,000 category. This marks the fifth year of the last six that the organization has been chosen as a winner in at least one category.

OSNI has developed volunteer programs such as Owasso CARES and Keep Owasso Clean, neighborhood leadership conferences and workshops, and neighborhood grants to encourage citizens to take an active role in their community for the purpose of sustainability and to prevent neighborhoods from deteriorating. It serves nearly 35,000 people in Owassos population and works to beautify its more than 16 square miles of city land.

It is a tribute to our City team, Owasso CARES leaders and all of our volunteers for their dedication and support of this initiative and the impact it is having in our community, Fowler said. We dont do what we do in Owasso for the awards; however, it feels like this years award solidifies the vision and dedication of our leadership team and the love for our community.

Keep Oklahoma Beautiful is a statewide nonprofit with a mission to empower Oklahoma citizens to preserve and enhance the states natural beauty and ensure a healthy, sustainable environment. For more information about KOB, a complete list of award winning programs and how you can participate, visit: keepoklahomabeautiful.com.
A Miami, Oklahoma, man died in the hospital Saturday night, one day after he was thrown from the roof of a Jeep Cherokee in Ottawa County.

Bryan Mitchel McGuirk, 27, was one of three people riding on top of the SUV when it swerved into a ditch and struck two trees, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. The driver and nine passengers, including five children, were injured.

The SUV was traveling north on County Road 560 two miles west of Picher just after 3:15 p.m. Friday when it swerved to the right, entered a ditch, grazed a tree and struck another tree, according to troopers. It came to rest on its top.

The two other people riding on the roof of the vehicle  Adrian Diane Ellison, 27, and Brandon Carter, 20, both of Columbus, Kansas  suffered a range of injuries, troopers said.

McGuirk was thrown 20 feet from the crash. He was taken by Med Flight to Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Missouri, and then to Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, where he was admitted in poor condition with injuries to his head, arm, leg and torso, troopers reported.

He died in the hospital just before 7:40 p.m. Saturday, according to troopers.

Ellison was thrown 100 feet on impact. She was taken to Freeman Hospital and admitted in fair condition with head, leg and arm injuries, troopers said.

Carter was thrown an unknown distance from the crash, troopers said. He was taken to Freeman Hospital, treated for arm and leg injuries and released.

The driver, 18-year-old Kennedy Rose Bruce, of Welch, was pinned in the Jeep for about 20 minutes, according to troopers. She was taken to Freeman Hospital, treated for head, leg and internal injuries and released.

Five of the passengers were children, ages 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8. The 2-year-old was in a car seat and was not injured. The 3-, 5- and 7-year-olds were treated and released with head injuries. The 8-year-old was taken to Mercy St. Francis Hospital in Joplin and admitted in poor condition with head injuries.

The other passengers, all from Miami, included: William Russell Flagle, 19, who was treated for head and leg injuries and released; Inola Sue Bartmess 26, who was treated for head injuries and released; Dennis Todd Gibson, 21, who was admitted in fair condition with head injuries; and a 17-year-old who was admitted in fair condition with leg injuries.

Troopers said the car was traveling at an unsafe speed for the gravel road. The driver and at least two passengers were wearing seatbelts.
Fumblerooski: U.S. Sen. James Lankford is expected to release his Federal Fumbles list of questionable spending on Monday. The list is similar to one produced by Lankfords predecessor, Tom Coburn.

Lankford says the reports have uncovered almost $400 million in wasteful spending over the past two years, but critics say such lists often misstate the purpose of some expenditures singled out.

Every American should have access to how their tax dollars are spent, Lankford said in a press release. Our $20 trillion national debt will continue to grow until we stop it with spending cuts, government reforms, and a growing economy. Federal Fumbles volume three is my to-do list for 2018.

Dots and dashes: A recent Wired profile quotes a space industry executive saying 1st District Congressman Jim Bridenstine will be one of the greatest NASA administrators ever. Bridenstines nomination to head the agency is expected to come to a vote on the Senate floor in December. ... Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole continued plugging the House tax-cut bill in his weekly column.

 Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World
OKLAHOMA CITY  Oklahoma voters may be asked to revisit a state constitutional requirement that tax increases receive three-fourths support in both chambers of the Legislature or go to a vote of the people.

I have heard of multiple people that plan to put forth some kind of measure, said Sen. Jason Smalley, R-Stroud. The plan is to put it on the ballot next November, he said.

More than 25 years after its passage, State Question 640 has again become a focal point. Lawmakers recently concluded a special session that saw them fail to reach the measures requirement of a supermajority of votes in both chambers to raise revenue or increase taxes.

Gov. Mary Fallin is expected to call a second special session to continue efforts to repair the budget and fund core services.

David Blatt, Oklahoma Policy Institute executive director, agreed that some lawmakers have a strong interest in revising State Question 640.

Smalley said he didnt think SQ640 needed to be completely repealed, but the threshold needed for tax hikes needs to be lowered. He said he doubts the 75 percent threshold can ever be reached.

With a sizable faction of House Republicans opposed to just about any tax increase at all, the three-quarters bar has remained out of reach.

SQ640 passed during a March 10, 1992, special election with 56 percent of the vote after residents successfully gathered enough signatures to get it on the ballot. Under the measure, a revenue bill can become law only if it is approved by a three-quarters vote of both legislative chambers and is signed by the governor, or it is referred by the Legislature to a vote of the people at the next general election and receives a majority of votes.

SQ640 came after lawmakers in 1990 passed House Bill 1017, an education reform and tax hike package.

Bob Cullison, a former leader of the Oklahoma State Senate, said SQ640 was kind of payback for passing House Bill 1017.

Since its passage in 1992, voters have approved a tax hike on cigarettes in 2004 but voted down an increase in fuel taxes in 2005.

Norman attorney Stan Ward, who worked to secure passage of SQ640, said he doesnt think any changes should be made to the measure.

His group, STOP New Taxes, went through three legal challenges to get the question on the ballot, he said.

SQ640 puts reasonable curbs on the Legislatures ability to raise taxes, he said, adding that Oklahomans should have a say in when and how their taxes are raised.

He pointed to the defeat last fall of State Question 779, which would have raised the sales tax by 1 percentage point to fund education, as an example of voters voicing their wishes.

Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, said the threshold needs to be lowered to 60 percent for increasing or decreasing taxes.

Tax reform is going to be essential in the future for us to continue to survive, and as long as we are at the 75 percent requirement we will never do tax reform in the state of Oklahoma, he said.

Rodger Randle, former Tulsa mayor and past leader of the state Senate, said SQ640 was a way of saying we dont trust our elected representatives to wisely act on our behalf.

Instead of letting the folks we elected make the decision that they believe is best for the state, we are going to wire the system to limit their ability to govern, said Randle, who now teaches in the graduate program at the University of Oklahoma. And that is what we have done by requiring these supermajorities for tax increases. We have created a system of government by the minority.

Another former Senate president pro tem, Cal Hobson, said that to create even a remotely fair fight to alter or repeal SQ640, education, health care and other entities would have to raise millions of dollars to combat opponents, who he characterized as a handful of wealthy oilmen.

It is a handy excuse for weak-kneed lawmakers to not try to do anything, Hobson said. It is a near impossible threshold.
OKLAHOMA CITY  The Oklahoma Sheriffs Association makes a lot of money off a fines-collection program but does very little, according to those familiar with the program.

The private association, by law, is allowed to contract on behalf of county sheriffs with collection agencies to track down and notify lawbreakers with unpaid fines, court costs and fees.

It splits with those agencies an extra fee tacked onto each court debt collected.

So what else does it do under the program besides paperwork and taking in money?
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Police arrested a Tulsa man on a complaint of first-degree murder in connection with the beating death of his wife early Saturday.

Officers were called to Saint Francis Hospital just after 5 a.m. Saturday after Derrick Stith, 24, brought his wife to the emergency room. He told hospital staff that she had left their apartment and was robbed and beaten while she was out, according to police.

Police said the woman had been beaten with an object, but did not provide specifics. She died about 5:40 a.m.

Officers went to the couples residence at the Brixton Square Apartments in the 4600 block of South Darlington Avenue and determined that Stiths story was inaccurate, according to police. They served a search warrant and found evidence that led them to believe the beating occurred inside the apartment.

Neighbors reported hearing a disturbance about 3 a.m., according to police.

Stith is being held without bond in the Tulsa Jail.

Authorities did not identify the victim, who was from McKinney, Texas. The couple recently moved to Tulsa with a child.
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Bangladesh arrests militant suspect in US blogger murder

DHAKA, Nov 25 (Reuters) Bangladesh police said on Saturday they had arrested an Islamist militant wanted in connection with the 2015 killing of a U.S. blogger critical of religious extremism.

Deputy police commissioner Masudur Rahman said the man, identified as Arafat Rahman, 24, a member of al Qaeda-inspired militant group Ansar Ullah Bangla Team, was suspected of taking part in the killing of writer Avijit Roy.

Roy, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was hacked to death by machete-wielding assailants in February 2015 while returning home with his wife from a Dhaka book fair. Roy's widow, Rafida Ahmed, was seriously injured.
Golden era of ex-CM will be brought back after election: YS Reddy

Kurnool, Nov 26 (UNI) YSR Congress party President Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday said that the golden era of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, the former Chief Minister and also his father, would be brought back after the election with the blessings of the people.

Speaking at an interaction section of BCs as part of his Praja Sankalpa Yatra Gorantla village on Sunday, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy who is on his padayatra, covering all the district in the state said, "The fees reimbursement scheme would be implemented in a manner and measure which would redefine the education sector and BCs would be given priority along with other weaker sections and the golden era of YSR would once again return to the state."

The encouragement to education would begin from childhood with Rs15,000 going straight into the mothers account for sending her two children to school and would increase with fees reimbursement scheme for professional courses and the education would bring a sea change in the lives of people as they would be getting good jobs.
Iraq plans new pipeline exporting Kirkuk oil to Turkey -oil ministry

BAGHDAD, Nov 26 (Reuters) Iraq plans to build a new pipeline that will ship oil from Kirkuk's oilfields to the Ceyhan port in Turkey, the oil ministry said on Sunday.

The new pipeline will replace an old and severely damaged section of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. It will start from the nearby city of Baiji city and span until the Fish-Khabur border area with Turkey, the ministry said in a statement.

The territory in which the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline ran was taken by Islamic State militants in 2014 and subsequently recaptured by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces over the past two years.
Militants kill Egyptian UN peacekeeper in Central African Republic

DAKAR, Nov 26 (Reuters) Suspected Christian militias killed an Egyptian UN peacekeeper and wounded three others in an attack in southern Central African Republic on Sunday, the United Nations said in a statement.

The attack, which the United Nations said was carried out by anti-balaka militants, occurred in Gambo, about 100 km (60 miles) from the town of Bangassou where more than 100 civilians and three Moroccan peacekeepers were killed in separate incidents in May and July.

Conflict has killed thousands in Central African Republic since Muslim Seleka rebels ousted President Francois Bozize in 2013, provoking a backlash from the Christian anti-balaka militia.
Nigerian army repels Boko Haram attack on town - spokesman

By Ola Lanre

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Nov 26 (Reuters) Nigeria's military has repelled an attempt by suspected Boko Haram militants to seize the northeastern town of Magumeri, a spokesman said on Sunday, a day after the attack.

The assault was the latest in a series of attacks in northeast Nigeria, where the conflict with the Islamist insurgency has dragged into a ninth year with little sign of an end.
Assam: CM Sarma launches `Assam Millet Mission 17 Nov 2022 | 10:48 AM Guwahati, Nov 17 (UNI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched `Assam Millet Mission with a view to expand and increase millet cultivation in the state. see more..

Sabarimala opens for Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival 17 Nov 2022 | 9:26 AM Sabarimala (Kerala), Nov 17 (UNI) The Lord Ayyappa temple here has been opened for a two-month long Mandalam-Makaravilakku annual festival beginning Thursday, the first day of Malayalam month 'Vrichikam. see more..

Delhi's 'Dexter': Experts analyse Shraddha's alleged killer 17 Nov 2022 | 9:23 AM Kozhikode, Nov 17 (UNI) Following the horrific Delhi murder case where a 28-year-old man, Aaftab Ameen Poonawalla was arrested for allegedly killing and butchering his 27-year-old live-in partner Shraddha Vikas Walkar, experts pitched possible reasons for the heinous crime. see more..

Sabarimala temple opens for Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival 17 Nov 2022 | 8:49 AM Sabarimala (Kerala), Nov 17 (UNI) The world famous Lord Ayyappa temple here opened on Wednesday evening for a two-month long Mandalam-Makaravilakku annual festival begining on November 17, the first day of Malayalam month 'Vrichikam. see more..
Suspected Boko Haram militants take over northeast Nigeria town - residents

By Ardo Hazzad

BAUCHI, Nigeria, Nov 25 (Reuters) Suspected members of Islamist militant group Boko Haram took over a town in the restive state of Borno in northeast Nigeria on Saturday, residents said.

The attack comes days after a suicide bomber killed at least 50 people at a mosque in neighbouring Adamawa state in one of the deadliest attacks since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015 pledging to end the eight-year insurgency.
UN aid workers return to Yemen on first flight to Sanaa - UN

GENEVA, Nov 25 (Reuters) A flight carrying humanitarian aid workers landed in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Saturday, the first after a nearly three week blockade imposed by the Saudi-led military coalition, an official of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said.

"First plane landed in Sanaa this morning with humanitarian aid workers," Abeer Etefa, WFP regional spokeswoman told Reuters in an email on Saturday.

The coalition fighting the armed Houthi movement in Yemen said on Wednesday it would allow aid in through the Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Salif, as well as UN flights to Sanaa, but there has been no confirmation of any aid deliveries yet.


On Wednesday, Nov. 22, Sams Town Hotel and Gambling Hall lit up its celebrated winter display at Mystic Falls Park with its annual tree lighting ceremony hosted by Boyd Gaming Chairman Bill Boyd.

Las Vegas First Responders Sheriff Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Chief Gregory Cassell of the Clark County Fire Department and Captain Charles Haycox joined Mr. Boyd in flipping the ceremonial switch to light the atrium.

Each year, Mystic Falls Park turns into a whimsical winter wonderland just before Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday season, a time-honored tradition going back to 1994. During the annual ceremony, Sams Town recognizes its nations and communitys heroes.

This year Mr. Boyd thanked each of the first responders and their teams for their efforts before the celebration.

Photo credits: Lee McDonald/Sams Town Hotel and Gambling Hall/Boyd Gaming
The Ministry of Construction has asked the peoples committees of Ha Noi and HCM City to report existing disputes between buyers and developers at apartment projects before the end of this month.  Photo vietnamnet.vn

The report would then be submitted to the Prime Minister as the basis to implement solutions to tackle these problems.

From the beginning of this year, disputes between buyers and developers at apartment projects have been mounting in the two major cities, specifically related to projects progress, services fees, maintenance fees and construction quality, as well as the use of shared areas, house ownership certificates and selection of the management board.

Previously, the Prime Minister said appropriate solutions must be raised to tackle disputes.
Photo: Greg Doherty/Getty Images

Naya Rivera, whos perhaps best known for her leading role on Glee and her humorous, no-holds-barred memoir, has been arrested and charged with domestic battery in Kanawha County, West Virginia. Per People, an alleged incident occurred between Rivera and her husband, Ryan Dorsey, on Saturday evening, which resulted in a deputy responding to a domestic-violence complaint. Dorsey claimed that Rivera struck him in the head and face when they were out for a walk with their two-year-old child. Dorsey also provided video evidence of the alleged incident, which he recorded on his cell phone. A local West Virginia news outlet captured Rivera at the police station when she was getting arraigned.

Glee actress Naya Rivera arrested on domestic battery charge. Full story on https://t.co/gLqggB15yU pic.twitter.com/YqlflJ23T6  Kalea Gunderson (@KaleaWCHS) November 26, 2017

As People notes, Rivera and Dorsey have had a tumultuous relationship over the past year  they decided to reconcile after proceeding with a divorce. Neither of the actors reps has responded for comment.
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
Waco leaders are working with Congressman Bill Flores to lasso $30 million in federal money to prevent a landslide that could take out a section of Lake Shore Drive.

And while theyre at it, they are making a pitch for more than $100 million to complete a widening of Interstate 35 through Waco and millions more to solve regional water issues.

Waco Mayor Kyle Deaver and City Manager Dale Fisseler met earlier this month in Washington, D.C., with Flores, R-Bryan, as well Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, and the staffs of U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.

They also met with national-level officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency that owns and runs Lake Waco, and made the case that the Corps should pay for the Lake Shore Drive work.

Deaver noted that the unstable slope that Lake Shore Drive crosses between Mt. Carmel Drive and Koehne Park is Corps right-of-way, though the road itself belongs to the city. Engineering consultants have recommended a project to drive hundreds of 30-foot-long soil nails through the shale-and-limestone soil to anchor it to bedrock.

The road and surrounding slope have suffered from minor crumbling over the years, but consultants have said that without reinforcement, the entire slope could suffer a deep-seated failure and slide down to the lake, destroying the road with it.

The city continues to repair the road, but its the slope thats unstable, Deaver said. Thats why were trying to get the Corps to help with that. Its a problem not only for the roadway but also for the lake if the whole thing slides down.

In an interview this week, Flores said he hopes to insert the Lake Shore work with Interstate 35 and regional water funding into an infrastructure bill he expects Congress to take up early next year. Flores said he has been working on those priorities for about 18 months.

Flores said he believes all three priorities stand a good chance of getting funded, though the Lake Shore Drive proposal faces some resistance from the Corps. He said Corps officials consider Lake Shore Drive to be a city issue, not federal.

Flores said in previous reauthorization bills for the Corps of Engineers he has tried to give the Corps permission to work on the problem, but he has run into objections that singling out one project for funding would be considered an earmark, which is no longer allowed.

But he said he has conveyed the urgency of the issue to Corps officials.

My conversation with the Corps is trying to make sure theyre looking at all the risks that happen if they drag their feet on this project, Flores said. Im trying to say, You may not think the car accidents are a big deal, though I consider them a big deal, but even if theres a low probability of a major slide, thats going to cause the Corps to be embarrassed, and likely there will be liability for it. 

Flores said President Donald Trumps promise to sign a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill gives him hope that Lake Shore Drive and the other projects can be funded, especially Interstate 35 between north and south Loop 340.

The president put together a team of people to identify infrastructure needs, and I-35 in this area is one of the highest ranked. It was in the top 10 percent, Flores said. We need to go ahead and bite the bullet and do the whole thing. Otherwise, we could be living with I-35 modifications for 7 or 8 years.

Flores said he believes the massive federal infrastructure plan can be funded even after deep tax cuts that the GOP leaders are trying to pass.

Theres a false narrative that the tax plan increases the deficit, he said.

Flores said economic growth from the overhaul is projected to increase federal revenue.

However, a survey of 42 economists compiled this month by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business found that only one believes the plan would expand gross domestic product over the next decade.

The Texas Department of Transportation this summer agreed to move forward with one $300 million phase of the Waco I-35 project, from 12th Street to North Loop 340. The second phase, as yet unfunded, would extend it south to the Central Texas Marketplace area at an estimated cost of more than $200 million.

The first phase is expected to go out to bid a year from now, said Chris Evilia, director of the Waco Metropolitan Planning Organization. He said there is likely time to put the whole project out in a single bid if funding can be identified by summer.

Evilia said tackling the project in one phase could lower the total cost from more than $500 million to about $400 million.

That would be great, Evilia said. By doing it all at once youd probably save minimally 25 percent, because you dont have to bring a separate contractor out. Every time you do different phases there are transitions you have to build into the project.

The MPO has control over a stream of state transportation funding, but the next few years of its funding are already committed to the northern I-35 project, the new interchange at Speegleville Road and Highway 84, and various projects on Loop 340.

That makes federal funding a lifesaver for the I-35 and Lake Shore Drive projects, Evilia said.

He said Lake Shore Drive is not congested and has not been a top MPO priority for improving mobility around the county.

But if youre adding in some of these issues it becomes pretty important, he said. It affects the water supply, and its next to the water plant. Obviously, its a big safety issue if the road slides into the lake.

The stretch of Lake Shore Drive has been notorious for years for crashes, some of them fatal. In many cases, cars coming down the hill and around a curve in rainy weather would crash into the guardrail and careen into oncoming traffic.

The city paid $510,000 for a comprehensive study of traffic and geology issues a few years ago that resulted in the recommendation for the soil stabilization project.

Also based on the study, the city of Waco and TxDOT used a federal grant earlier this year to improve safety by banking the roadway inward and installing a specialized porous pavement that prevents standing water. The city also spent about $260,000 to reconfigure the intersection of Lake Shore Drive and Mt. Carmel Drive to improve visibility.

But city officials said the edge of the roadway could continue to crumble because of the unstable soil.

City leaders also are asking Flores to help find money for a complex project to bring treated Lake Waco water to rural water suppliers east of town that are struggling with declining groundwater supply and high natural arsenic levels.

Deaver said he is hoping for federal help to build a line carrying treated wastewater to Wacos main industrial district. That would free up treated lake water that the city could then provide to its neighbors, Deaver said.
Billy Wayne Dyess

Aug. 7, 1930 - Nov. 21, 2017

Billy Wayne Dyess, 87, of Waco, passed away at his home on November 21, 2017. Services will be 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, November 28, at Lakewood Christian Church with the Rev. Richard Roland officiating. Burial will follow at McGregor Cemetery. Visitation will be held 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Monday, November 27, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home.

He was born August 7, 1930, in Spur, Texas, the eldest son of D.J. and Marie Watson Dyess. He attended Spur High School and proudly served in the U.S. Army from 1948 to 1953. In 1950, Billy Wayne married his high school sweetheart, WaNelle Moss. They raised their three boys in Lubbock, Texas. He moved to Waco in 1973 and was employed by Brazos Electric Cooperative. Even through his retirement, he continued to privately consult.He loyally served the Waco community for many years. He was a member of the Karem Shriners and Lakewood Christian Church. His passions in life were to serve the Lord, love his family, and breed and train his many horses.

He was preceded in death by his devoted wives, WaNelle Moss, Natalie Brewer, and Louise Alford; his parents; youngest sister, Betty Wyatt and husband, Skip; and brother-in-law, Jim Sharp.

He is survived by one sister, Nell Sharp of Spearman; and brother, Bob and wife, Cookie Dyess, of Gail. Left to remember him are his sons, Gary and wife, Mary, of Azle, Greg and wife, Margie, of Slaton, and Bobby Jack and Cindy of Bailey, Mississippi. Papa Bill also leaves behind eight grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and his entire family at Homestead Heritage.

The family would to thank the community of Homestead Heritage for their love and devotion to Bill.

His charismatic personality meant he never met a stranger, and all that knew him will cherish his memory.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: Lakewood Christian Church, 6509 Bosque Boulevard, Waco TX 76710; Shriners Hospitals for Children, 6077 Main Street, Houston TX 77030; or Evangel Life Ministries, P.O. Box 261, Elm Mott TX 76640, or the charity of one's choice.

The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our "Tribute Wall" at www.WHBfamily.com.
It could be several days until Queenslanders know the final make-up of their new Parliament, but Labor is confident it will get its majority.

Labor has secured 43 seats on Sunday night, four short of the 47 needed to form a majority, while the LNP had 35, the Katter's Australian Party had two and there were 13 left to call.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (fourth from left) with likely Labor winners (L-R) Meaghan Scanlon (Gaven), Bart Mellish (Aspley), Melissa McMahon (Macalister), Charis Mullen (Jordan), Jess Pugh (Mount Ommaney) at a barbecue at Rocks Riverside Park, Seventeen Mile Rocks on Sunday. Credit:AAP Image/ Glenn Hunt

However, respected psephologist Antony Green predicted Labor would be returned to government and win at least 46 seats, or up to 48.

There was a swing of 7.8 per cent away from the LNP, with its primary vote plummeting from 41.3 per cent to 33.5 per cent, while Labor was on 36 per cent.
Rockingham resident Trevor Taylor set off from Liverpool, UK, on an around-the-world yacht race about three months ago.

He has since crossed three oceans and sailed 14,000 nautical miles as part of the Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race.

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race circumnavigates the globe Credit:onEdition

Though he still has 26,000 nautical miles to go until he finishes his eleven-month circumnavigation of the globe.

But on Sunday he returned home with his crew who have docked at Fremantle.
"My father ran from a government that beat, tortured, and brainwashed its citizens. His childhood friend disappeared after scrawling an insult about the dictator on the school bathroom wall. His neighbors starved to death from food rations designed to combat obesity. As the population dwindled, women were sent to the hospital every month to make sure they were getting pregnant.

"My fathers escape journey eventually led him to the United States. He moved to the Midwest and married a Romanian woman who had left for America the minute the regime collapsed. Today, my parents are doctors in quiet, suburban Kansas. Both of their daughters go to Harvard. They are the lucky ones.

Read it all here...

Find out more about the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation here...
By West Kentucky Star Staff Nov. 25, 2017 | 09:56 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KY

A Paducah woman was injured in crash Saturday morning in McCracken County.

The McCracken County Sheriff's Office says the accident happened around 10:00 am in the 5000 block of Jewell Lane. Deputies said a car driven by 61-year-old Sandra Morrow was traveling east when it left the right side of the road.

As Morrow tried to gain control of the car, she over corrected and drove into the yard of a home. The car struck a phone box and a tree before coming to a final rest beside the front porch of the home. Morrow was transported by ambulance to Lourdes Hospital for treatment of her injuries.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Nov. 25, 2017 | 05:19 PM | MARSHALL COUNTY, KY

A Marshall County crash Wednesday left a man jailed on a long list of charges.

According to the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, a vehicle, driven by Ryan DAngelo, struck a concrete barricade in the construction zone on I-24. Upon arrival to the scene, deputies allegedly saw DAngelo trying to conceal drugs in the back floorboard of the vehicle.

When deputies searched DAngelos vehicle, they found marijuana, butane hash oil (BHO) also known as marijuana butter, Xanax pills, digital scales with meth residue, plastic baggies, over 10 grams of methamphetamine and over $600 in cash.

Deputies arrested DAngelo and charged him with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, possession of controlled substance, trafficking in controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, tampering with physical evidence, trafficking in legend drugs and trafficking in marijuana less than 8 ounces.

DAngelo was lodged in the Marshall County Jail.
TWO INJURED IN FALLS AT LITTLE BRADLEY FALLS IN SALUDA SATURDAY AFTERNOON

FALLS CAN, AND SOMETIMES DO, OCCUR IN THE WINTER, TOO

By Larry Freeman

Polk County emergency service officials confirmed Saturday night that two white males, ages unknown, had fallen some 15 to 20 feet own the falls in an incident at Little Bradley Falls near Saluda.

Both individuals were described as conscious and stable by rescuers.

Few details were available on the accident late Saturday afternoon that occured around mid-afternoon Saturday. Emergency dispatch got the call about 4 pm and by 6 pm they said it would take several houts to get to two fall victims removed from the scene. A portion of Holbert Cove Road was closed to traffic during the rescue...but was re-opened later Saturday night.

Later Saturday night, authorities said the two had been hiking with a group of friends when one person fell over the falls and another tried to catch him. One of the fall victims suffered a broken leg.

Big Bradley Falls is located close by and has been the location of numerous deaths and injuries due to falls over the years.

Emergency officials continue to warn that it is dangerfously slippery around water falls, and the best and safest way to enjoy the falls in western North Carolina is from a distance.
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Award-winning documentary filmmaker and fine-art photographer Miguel Gandert shows his work highlighting his mestizaje heritage, and the fusion and tension of the relationship between Spanish Colonial and Native Cultures of the Americas. Runs through 12/29.

Querer means to want, to desire, to be in a place, with its people. In folk terminology, querencia is such a place, the center space of desire, the root of belonging and yearning to belong, that vicinity where you first beheld the light. Querencia, in collective terms, is homeland. ~Enrique Lamadrid, Nuevo Mexico Profundo

Miguel Gandert tells stories. He tells stories of his homeland, New Mexico (and beyond), its people and the cultural practices that distinguish communities from each other while simultaneously revealing their kinship. You will have to form your own words, however. Ganderts stories are told through penetrating, black and white photos. A primary focus of his work is his own mestizaje heritage and the fusion and tension of the relationship between Spanish Colonial and Native Cultures of the Americas.

Miguel Gandert, a native of Espanola, NM, is an award-winning documentary and fine-art photographer and filmmaker. His photographs have been shown in galleries and museums throughout the world and are in numerous public collections including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the National Museum of American History and Art at the Smithsonian.

Querencia: Rituals of the Rio Arriba opens Friday, October 6 at the New Mexico Humanities Council, 4115 Silver Ave SE, Albuquerque. An artists reception will be 6:00 pm  8:00 pm with an artist's discussion at 7:00 pm. The exhibit closes December 29, 2017.
Are you a Winona family looking for things to do in the area, but dont have the time to plan or pull information from dozens of different places? Were here to do all the work for you, so you can just head out of the house and have fun! Each month in the last Sunday issue of the Connections section the Winona Daily News, and online at winonadailynews.com, you will find a months worth of family-friendly activities for the month ahead. Just cut out and post to your refrigerator!

These activities listed are generally for families with children ages 12 and under, note whether theyre free or what the costs are, and when available include links and phone numbers for more information.

Have an activity you want listed? Contact Mandi Olson at amhouseholder@gmail.com by the 20th of the month prior. The calendar is updated weekly too so please submit your additions by Wednesday the week before.

Multi-Day Events for Families

Tuesdays 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.: Grace Place Morning Music Program, located downtown Winona, pre-school aged children, donation of $2/family

Starting Nov. 29: The Trester Trolley will begin its annual Christmas Lights Tour on Nov. 29. Tours are Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 6:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. through Dec. 20. These hour-long tours showcase the best residential and commercial Christmas lights in Winona. Tours depart from the Trolley office at 956 Mankato Ave.

Winona Public Library website: https://winona.lib.mn.us/calendar/

Whitewater State ParkFind their calendar here: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/events.html?location=spk00280

One Day Activities

Dec. 2

12:30 p.m.: Art Venture at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Kids 6+, $2/child, reserve a spot at 507 474-6626

5:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Holiday Lighted Parade in Goodview

Dec. 12

10:30-Noon: Toddler Tuesdays at Minnesota Marine Art Museum, $2/toddler, offers art projects, play & snacks

Dec. 16

9 a.m. to Noon: Toys for Kids Event at the Tandeski Center (Southeast Technical Campus)
Sexual assault is gaining attention on the national stage as more and more people call out celebrities, politicians and those in power.

But the issue is more than just the #MeToo social media hashtag: It hits home for a shocking number of La Crosse County teens, as more than 1 in 8 high school females reported being sexually assaulted in 2017.

The numbers come from the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a tool used by the Centers for Disease Control to assess the behaviors of high school students.

Along with questions about sex, dating violence and sexual assault, the survey also looks at topics such as healthy eating, bullying, substance abuse and healthy relationships with adults.

The survey asks two questions about sexual assault. The first asks students whether they had been coerced either verbally or physically to participate in sexual activity in the past 12 months. The second asks students whether they had been forced to do sexual things they did not want to do by a dating partner in the past 12 months.

In 2017, more than 12 percent of the 1,587 female students who responded, almost 200, responded yes to the first question. More than 206 female students, or 13 percent of those asked, responded yes to the second question. The 2015 survey produced similar numbers.

Individual districts results were similar to the countywide data, with the exception of Bangor High School. More than 22 percent of female students reported being forced to participate in sexual activity and more than 20 percent of female students reported being sexually assaulted by a dating partner.

Seventy-two female students took the survey in 2017. Bangor students did not take the survey in 2015, district staff said.

People dont know how many kids are affected and how significant this issue is, Gundersen Health System clinical social worker and sexual abuse counselor Rhonda Bryhn said. It is an enormous problem.

Despite laws requiring reporting and investigation of incidents of sexual assault and rape among minors, educators and health professionals say it is still a tricky subject to tackle. Due to cultural perceptions and myths about rape, students can feel uncomfortable about reporting incidents of sexual assault.

Adults and school staff could also do more to create an environment in which students feel comfortable confiding in them, as well as a culture in which healthy relationships, consent and bodily autonomy are better respected.

If we really want to lessen the problem, we need to be honest with ourselves about it, Brynh said. For this to be effective, education has to start young and has to be frequent and integrated in the childs world. We need to teach them what is OK, what is not OK and that they should go for help if they feel uncomfortable.

Broken trust

Jodi, a sophomore at a La Crosse County high school, was only 11 the first time she was sexually assaulted. Jodi is not this teens real name and personal details have been obscured to protect her identity.

Jodis cousin touched her in a sexual manner, and some nights she woke up to him doing things to her. The abuse happened over many days and progressed to forced penetration, or rape.

When she told her parents about what happened to her, they confronted the cousin and got her help and counseling through Gundersens sexual abuse counseling and support program. She was making progress, until a few years later, when she was in eighth grade, and her father started abusing her.

He touched her inappropriately, Jodi said, and the assault left her shocked and reeling. While she was angry at her cousin for what he did, she said she felt shocked and overwhelmed that her father, someone she trusted, would do this to her.

The incident came to light when she told one of her counselors at the middle school, who then reported the incident to the police. She was interviewed about the assault at the Family and Children Centers Stepping Stones facility.

She said it was weird going there, and it was hard being worried about her siblings and mom and what was happening to them. It was difficult to tell her story to strangers, and it was annoying that different people kept asking her the same questions over and over again about the abuse.

It was also hard to relive the assaults by answering the questions. Some days after the assault she had a lot of energy. Other days she felt drained.

I had good days and bad days, she said. I still have them. I felt like I had to start my life all over again.

After she was abused, Jodi said, she suffered from depression and cut herself. She never thought of suicide, but she said she felt like she would never be able to feel better.

I wanted to bottle it all up, she said. I didnt want to talk about it.

But being able to talk about it has helped her move on. A few trusted friends know about the abuse, she said, as well as her boyfriend, and they all know how to listen and be supportive on days when she is struggling or sad.

Working through things with her counselor at Gundersen has been helpful, too. Her therapist has been able to help her process, reflect and begin moving on and looking forward.

Joining theater and dance club at school has helped her process as well. Acting lets her take on another personality and think through things from a different perspective. Staying active, using relaxation techniques and listening to music help take the edge off and reduce stress.

Her mom has been supportive as well by doing what she can to make Jodi feel safe. Her mom always wants to know where she is going and who she will be with, something other teens may balk at but which Jodi said she really appreciates.

Having a parent looking out for you is a big help, she said. She asks if I am OK and if I ever need anything.

Helping those who have been abused

Brynh said that most of the teens she sees are abused by family members or very close family friends. The perpetrator is typically a partner of a parent, someone trusted and close to the child.

Closer to college age, she sees a lot of sexual assault by dating partners, friends or classmates. It is usually someone the person might trust to walk home with or a friend at a party.

It is usually someone they thought was a good friend, she said.

Bryhn encouraged teens who have been sexually assault to call a 24-hour information and crisis line at 608-775-5950 for a person who can offer information and provide emotional support.

Victims who come into Gundersens emergency room wee sexual assault nurse examiners who checking for and collect physical evidence of sexual assault. They can connect a victims with advocates who are willing to help navigate the legal system and provide emotional support.

Mental health professionals can help victims who are dealing with the effects of assault. Most victims of sexual assault in the week after the incident experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

The symptoms disappear in about a third of victims. Others can develop chronic PTSD.

Those symptoms can include sadness, fear and hopelessness. Some will contemplate suicide or self harm. Other symptoms include social withdrawal, eating changes, sleep disruption or concentration problems.

Victims can become afraid of being in a crowd or being in certain places. They might withdraw from friends and family, or their grades might plummet. Physical symptoms can include headaches, nausea and fatigue, as well as increased anxiety.

Over the long term, victims who do not get help or treatment are more prone to develop PTSD or depression. They are more likely to develop alcohol or drug problems or have an unintended pregnancy.

Victims of chronic sexual assault can fall behind their peers in academic and social development.

Having a supportive, believing and non-judgmental person in a childs life is the most important factor, Bryhn said. That person can offer protection and help a victim recover. Social supports can make all the difference, Bryhn said.

That is what is vital, she said. If a child doesnt have that, the picture is much darker in the present and the future.

Challenging myths and culture

Many of the women calling out abusers such as Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and others are doing so years and decades after the incidents. Fear, shame and intimidation are some of the many reasons they have cited for their reluctance.

Reporting an assault is no less scary for a teenager whose world has just been turned upside down and who may not know whom to confide in. All school staff are mandated by law to report a suspected incident of sexual abuse, but counseling staff at local high schools say the number of reports the school gets is a fraction of the actual number of assaults.

Students may be afraid of their classmates finding out, counselors said, or what their parents might do or think. If drugs or alcohol are involved, students might be afraid of getting in trouble or worry that the incident was their fault.

Even if a student has a trusted relationship with an adult, it can be a hard thing to report, Central High School social worker Tatiana Wolf said. We probably arent hearing about it as often as it is happening.

The Tribune asked all La Crosse County public school districts how many reports of sexual assault they received and reported to authorities during the 2016-17 school year. West Salem reported one, compared with the more than 10 female students who reported being assaulted in 2017. Bangor has received only one report of sexual assault in the past two years.

Staff at Holmen said they had no reported sexual assaults in 2016-17 or 2017-18. Staff at Onalaska and La Crosse said all incidents are reported to authorities according to state law but did not keep a tally of their frequency.

While the La Crosse County Health and Human Services Department handles more than 1,300 reports each year of abuse or neglect involving minors, and while the majority of those reports come from school districts, the agency didnt have an estimate on how many involve sexual assault or abuse.

When a report does come in, school counselors said they work with the student or the parent to provide needed resources. That might include referrals to outside counseling or creating a safety plan for the student.

If the assault involves a classmate, staff can work with teachers to rearrange lunch periods, lockers or even class schedules to help a victim avoid a perpetrator in the halls. Counselors also work with teachers so students struggling with the trauma can get extra time or help with homework or tests.

Every students needs are a little different, Wolf said. The most important thing to us is that students feel safe and mentally in a good place.

Schools also work to educate students about healthy relationships, boundaries and consent. This work begins in elementary school, with curriculum that shows what friendships between kids should look like. At the middle school and high school level, those lessons continue but also delve into dating and sexual assault.

Teachers and staff also promote bystander intervention and speaking up. They will reach out to administrators, the student or parents if they see behaviors or conduct that is troubling.

Ive made these calls myself to parents, Onalaska High School Principal Jared Schaffner said. Ive encouraged them to talk to their son or daughter about the incident.

More work to be done

There is still more that could be done to change a culture in which these incidents remain too common, Bryhn said.

Offenders commonly look for victims who will be vulnerable, and many people still unhealthy views on relationships. People can be coerced into having sex, and Bryhn sees that in adult and teen relationships. Not all teens and society recognize these behaviors as sexual assault.

People dont always know they can say no, she said. Or if they do, and the sex continues, that it is against the law.

More education is important, she said, and more can be done to teach children and adults to respect peoples bodies. It is also important to make sure society is holding perpetrators accountable and providing treatment for the offenders.

Bryan says there has been some progress, as the stats on sexual assault are beginning to go down. She said people are becoming more informed on how to be supportive and help victims heal.

Jodi said she also experienced problems in reporting and working with adults when she was assaulted. She agreed that people arent doing enough to educate others on the issue.

When she learned about the numbers on the YRBS survey, Jodi said she was shocked. She didnt think it would be that high.

People shouldnt have to be scared that this might happen to them or their child, she said.

She said counselors and school staff have more to learn. Her middle school counselor didnt know what to do, what to say or how to ask the right questions. She asked simple questions like where were you? or other questions that really didnt have much to do with the incident. People need to be more supportive, Jodi said and they need to reassure victims that they can get through the assault. They need to make teens who come forward feel listened to.

It can be hard for these adults to relate, she said. Thats a problem, and it makes it harder to talk and confide in them.

When she got to high school, Jodi said, the counselor she worked with was much easier to work with and talk to. The new counselor knew the right questions to ask and support to provide and was a big help in her moving forward. She looking at her future more, beginning to think about college and career.

Despite all she has gone through the past few years, Jodi said she is looking forward to the future, a contrast to when getting through just one day felt long and tiring. Now she is focused on making each day better.

I filled out my first job application this week, she said. That is a big step forward for me.
Angels do not govern men, a fact we face more and more often.

The U.S. Senate last week alone featured one member who may face an ethics investigation (Robert Menendez of New Jersey, whose corruption case ended in a mistrial), one member who asked for an ethics investigation into himself (Al Franken of Minnesota, accused of sexually assaulting a woman on a USO tour 11 years ago) and one aspiring member threatened with possible expulsion if he wins office (Roy Moore of Alabama, accused of inappropriate relationships with teenage girls decades ago).

Morality and its counterpart, hypocrisy, are again front and center in the political debate. Moore is of course an outspoken evangelical Christian who rose to prominence after installing, and defying a federal court order to remove, a 2-ton monument to the Ten Commandments in the Alabama state courthouse. Franken is a proponent of Obama-era guidelines for handling sexual assault and harassment cases on college campuses, rules which curtail due-process rights for the accused.

We could indeed use more virtue in the public arena. Might I suggest an oft-forgotten one: humility.

Many a victorious candidate speaks of being humbled by the electorates approval. Too few maintain that sentiment once in office.

Power can do that. But so can all that goes with it: cameras and microphones, ritual and pomp, flattery and favor-seeking. All of this grows as one moves up the ladder. Some stay humble, but many dont.

What takes humilitys place? Here are some guesses based on observation: Out-sized confidence in ones ideas and their impact on thousands, millions, hundreds of millions of other people at a time. A sense of being indispensable, even irreplaceable. A notion that ones mistakes, present or past, will remain conveniently unmentioned.

But the biggest threat to humility is that we, the voters, are inconsistent at best about demanding it.

We ask who can do the most, the fastest, once in office. We score debates based on who offers the zingiest one-liners, no matter how many words they might have to eat later. We have turned our elections  and the higher you go, the truer this is  into such warped spectacles that few people with healthy amounts of ambition and self-regard even dare to enter them.

Think about our last two presidents: Mr. Im LeBron, baby and Mr. I alone can fix it.

Or consider the history of Roy Moore. Here is a man who calls himself a constitutional conservative, but who not once but twice was removed from the bench for refusing to submit to our constitutional order as it pertains to the judiciary.

He had the right to disagree with higher courts about religious displays in courthouses and same-sex marriage. He did not have the right to defy their orders. In the name of his principles, he became what he hated: an activist judge ignoring the rule of law.

There is nothing conservative about that. There is nothing constitutional about that. And there is nothing humble, or otherwise virtuous, about that. Yet here he is, perhaps on the verge of winning a statewide election for the third time.

Humility can be just an election away, but only if voters make sure of it.
How many acts exhibiting ethics, kindness, or courtesy did you encounter during the recent nine-day gun deer season?

For that matter, how many acts were encountered during the entire year and the numerous hunting seasons within 2017?

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources invites hunters and non-hunters to nominate a hunter they believe deserves to be named the ethical hunter of 2017.

Each year for the last 20, a four-person committee studied these nominations and selected the person who they believed was most deserving of this award.

Here are examples of the first award winner, back in 1997, and the last winner in 2016, and what they did to help a fellow hunter and make that day safer or more enjoyable, sometimes at considerable time and effort or expense on their own part.

During the 1997 gun deer season, another hunter and his companion, a much younger man, found a dead deer that had fallen off a vehicle. The deer had been registered so the task was not impossible, but it took the better part of opening Saturday to track the deerless hunter down and return his deer.

Last year, a man gave up his cherished hunting location when he and another man arrived at the same time, each expecting to have a great opportunity to see and possibly kill a deer. The man who walked away and said, Ill find another location; you take this one, was awarded certificates and prizes for being courteous and ethical and not arguing about who was there first or had hunted there the most times on this public land.

The 2016 award winner, as well as the committee, was unaware that a generous company would come forward donate some outdoors items to the ethical hunter.

Vortex Optical, located in Middleton, put together a package of a range finder, binoculars and a rifle scope and gave it to Dan Burns, of Madison, for his selfless act.

As Vortex Optical prepares to move into its new building and location in Barneveld in March 2018, company officials have agreed to continue providing a significant token of appreciation to the committees choice of the 2017 ethical hunter.

Each year, anyone in the public can nominate a licensed Wisconsin hunter for the DNR Ethical Hunter Award for an action that took place during that calendar year. While many nominations are made during gun deer season, the ethical action could be something done during a squirrel hunt, turkey hunt, waterfowl hunting or any other Wisconsin hunting season.

Simply send the name, address and other contact information to Chief Warden Todd Schaller, by email or letter and explain what the ethical act was.

For more information, contact Warden Schaller or any Wisconsin conservation warden. The committee will do the rest.

Part of the reason for having this award is to recognize that most licensed hunters are ethical hunters, even though we dont hear much about those who do good things at their own expense to help make a hunting experience a happy one for a fellow hunter.
Report cards are out on local schools with both Columbus and Fall River receiving favorable ratings from the state.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released its annual accountability ratings for all schools in the state Nov. 21. Columbus received an overall grade of 69.1, a meets expectations score designated from the DPI. The department evaluates schools on a five-level grading scale from 0-100 with fails to meet expectations being the lowest and significantly exceeds expectations the highest.

Fall River received an overall score of 76.3, exceeding expectations.

In addition, each school in a district was graded separately. In Columbus, Discovery Charter School earned an 82, nearly hitting the significantly exceeds expectations grade, which is 83-100. Columbus Elementary came in the lowest at 47.3, failing to meet expectations. Other scores included Columbus High School (65.1) and the middle school (71.5).

Each school was evaluated on four different priority areas: student achievement, school/district growth, closing gaps and on-track and postsecondary readiness.

In a press release, DPI Communications Director Tom McCarthy said, report cards are intended to help schools and districts use performance data to target improvement efforts to ensure students are ready for their next educational step, including the next grade level, graduation, college and careers.

Becky Schmidt, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Columbus, said the grading system doesnt provide a fair and accurate account of a school/districts true performance. Schmidt said the DPI has changed evaluation criteria the past few years, making it difficult for districts to implement programs and adapt.

With these report cards, its difficult for a district to properly educate the public on what it means, Schmidt said. When you look at the results, you immediately see the star grading system, like the elementary school just had one star, but there are many more layers to it than that.

What people dont see when they just look at the scores and the star system is that every single report card has a completely different set of rules that help create these evaluations. For instance, what you dont see is that student achievement at the elementary school was 37.5 percent of what made up these scores, but at the charter school it was 75 percent  almost double of what that weighted score is.

Schmidt said scores dont accurately reflect performance because they dont measure schools of the same size on a level playing field. Schmidt plans to address the DPI report cards at the next Columbus School Board meeting Nov. 27.

In Fall River, the district has seen steady improvement in recent years. Superintendent Mike Garrow, in his third year as administrator, said Fall River improved by about eight percentage points from last years evaluation, going from meets expectations to exceeds expectations.

We saw improvement at all three grade levels, which was nice to see, Garrow said. Were not where we want to be yet, but we continue to improve.

In recent years, Fall River has worked with staff on more needs-based learning practices. Fall River has emphasized more individualized learning and its seen students reap the benefits. In particular, the district has worked on closing gaps in ELA (English-Language-Arts) and math scores.

I really have to give our staff credit, Garrow said. The teachers really work with students and try to improve every day.

While the DPI grading system isnt perfect, Garrow said it provides a suitable snapshot of each schools performance. He said its a good tool for the public, especially when parents are looking for quality schools.

In the grading system they had before, nearly every school received a favorable grade, Garrow said. Theyve retooled it in recent years and leveled the grading system off to offer more beneficial data.

In Columbus, Schmidt has implement programs to improve teaching and learning methods across the district. Columbus also has its Launch initiative to work with the community to improve all schools by 2030.

The teachers are working so hard every day to improve learning for students, Schmidt said.




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Veterans standard given to Wrexham Museum

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Nov 26th, 2017

A standard representing the veterans of the D-Day landings will soon be preserved in Wrexham.

The standard for Wrexhams Normandy Veterans Association was handed over by bearer Anthony Owens to Wrexham Museum last week.

It is one of four  along with those for the Eighth Army, Burma Star and Korean Veterans Associations  which were the subject of a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2016 to ensure their preservation and permanent display at the Guildhall.

The standard will now go to the Peoples History Museum, Manchester, for preservation, mounting and framing in preparation for its permanent display in the Council Chamber.

Cllr David Griffiths, Armed Forces Champion for Wrexham Council, said: Im very pleased that the Normandy Veterans Association presented their standard for preservation. This means that all four standards are now being safeguarded, and will soon take pride of place at the Guildhall.

Id like to thank the representatives of all those veterans associations who have worked with us throughout this process, and for entrusting us with the standards  they bear incredible significance for the associations and for the people of Wrexham in general, and their restoration and new presentation will do them justice.
THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WTXL) - Authorities are investigating a weekend shooting involving two juveniles.

Thomasville Police say it happened on the 300 block of East Monroe Street on Saturday.

One victim was taken to the hospital. Police could not confirm the victim's current condition.

The Thomasville Police Department has now turned the case over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.

Stick with WTXL on air and online for updates as we work to find out more on this developing story.
Expert Advice with Ken Raiss. 03/11/2017

Insurance is one of those things that some people mistakenly think isn't worth the cost.

Unfortunately that's why too many people choose not to take out appropriate insurance cover to insure their assets as well as their incomes.

Thankfully, when it comes to insuring their homes, most Australians wisely choose to do so.

And for strata-titled properties, building insurance is included in your quarterly owners corporation or body corporate fees so owners just need to ensure they have adequate cover for their property's contents.

One specific type of insurance is not on the radar of all property investors  but it should be.

Landlord insurance covers property investors for a variety of events that can result in a financial loss to you.

Plus, it's tax deductible, too.

While landlord insurance policies can and do vary, there are a number of inclusions that are usually standard or optional extras.

1. Rental loss

You can insure your investment property for loss of rent, but that doesn't mean during periods of vacancy.

Rental loss is when your property is damaged, perhaps by a storm, and it is uninhabitable for a period of time.

You can insure your property for such an event, but you must be able to provide evidence of everything, including the exact rental loss that you have experienced.

2. Rent default and theft

Unfortunately sometimes a tenant's financial or personal circumstances change and they can morph from an ideal tenant to a worrisome one.

Sometimes they may stop paying the rent and then one day your property manager informs you that they've skipped town.

A landlord insurance policy can cover you for rent defaults in such a circumstance.

It can also provide coverage for theft, such as if that tenant also took white goods with them, because your property was partly or fully furnished.

3. Malicious damage

During your property investment journey, your portfolio will need to be constantly maintained because of the wear and tear of tenants living in them.

Of course, tenants are protected from paying for normal wear and tear under the relevant legislation.

But sometimes damage can be done to your property that is not normal  in fact, it's malicious or even vandalism.

Perhaps your tenants hosted a party that got out of hand and significant damage to the walls was sustained.

In that instance, unless your tenants are prepared to pay to have the damage remedied (but you've probably given them notice to leave anyway), you can claim for your financial loss through an appropriate landlord insurance policy.

4. Legal costs

An investment grade property, as well as a professional property manager, should reduce the chances of you ever having to have legal representation, but sometimes bad things happen to good people.

Many landlord insurance policies can provide additional cover for legal expenses that are incurred in remedying an issue with a tenant, such as attending a tribunal hearing or retaining legal counsel.

5. Public liability

One of the most significant benefits of landlord insurance is its public liability cover.

Most policies should provide cover, up to about $20 million, which insures you against events such an injury or death that occurred at your property.

This is insurance for you as the owner if the tenant or a visitor injures themselves, or worse, at your property and decide to take legal action against you.

The bottom line is that landlord insurance should be an automatic part of every property investor's portfolio.

It's always advisable to double-check the fine-print to ensure the policies covers you for the basics, plus any additional extras like flooding in Queensland.

While landlord insurance policies do vary, they usually only cost a few hundred dollars a year, which is a very small price to pay for peace of mind, don't you think?

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Ken Raiss is director of Metropole Wealth Advisory and gives independent expert advice for property investors, professionals and business owners. He is passionate about real estate investing and small business and is a regular commentator for Michael Yardney's Property Update.

To read more articles by Ken Raiss, click here

Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property.
Expert Advice with Kevin Turner. 27/11/2017

Australian investors are shrugging off concerns about stricter lending conditions, property price bubbles and oversupply according to the third annual Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) Property Investor Sentiment Survey. Ben Kingsley  PIPA Chair  discusses the outcomes with Kevin.

Listen to the interview now :

Transcript

Kevin: Every year or thereabouts, PIPA  the Property Investment Professionals of Australia  conduct one of the largest independent surveys amongst property investors in Australia. There are other surveys that are done but they always have a bit of a vested interest. This doesnt have that; it carries a great voice for property investors.

Its interesting to note that in their most recent survey, which has just been released, Australian property investors remained very bullish about the long-term benefits of residential real estate, shrugging off concerns about stricter lending conditions, property price bubbles  thank goodness  and oversupply.

The third annual Property Investment Professionals of Australia  PIPA  Property Investment Sentiment survey has found a number of things. Were going to talk about those now with Ben Kingsley, who heads up PIPA.

Ben, thanks for your time.

Ben: Thanks for having me, Kevin.

Kevin: Quite representative: this gets across almost a thousand property investors around Australia. What about concerns over changes to investors lending policies? Has this been one of the key findings?

Ben: Yes. This was new to the survey this year. We wanted to have a look at that, because theres definitely been a shift from 2016 to 2017. Now, we know that APRA with their macro-prudential regulatory changes in August of 2015, but what weve seen is further tightening around servicing calculators, further pressure in regards to interest-only versus principal-and- interest lending, so we were keen to see where that sat.

The numbers speak for themselves in regards to what we found in regards to the lending side of things, and that is theres no doubt that these sophisticated lenders are finding it a little bit more challenging to be able to get lending.

One of the questions we did ask them is Is there a challenging lending environment for the past two years? Currently, do you find yourself unable to refinance an amount?

22% said yes, theyve basically hit a lending brick wall. 38% said no. There were 28% who were unsure, which leads me to think that they must be reasonably okay because they havent gone looking for more funding. And 13% basically said it wasnt applicable to them, which effectively means that we have some pretty sophisticated people probably who have no debts and are enjoying the passive income from their property portfolio.

Kevin: I noticed that interestingly, some people are still talking about a price bubble. Is it much of a concern for investors?

Ben: Not for these investors. What we have here is because this is going out to our member databases and they are obviously talking to what we would consider established investors as opposed to the broader consumer market, weve definitely seen that theres a maturity starting to form in the views of these more sophisticated investors.

Theyre trying to wash that noise out, and theyre getting on with the job of making sure that they move through their accumulation phase of buying one, two, possibly three properties and then retiring the debt out, looking for capital growth and also them looking for passive income to supplement their retirement.

Kevin: Maybe Im reading this wrong  correct me if I am  but it would seem to me that a number of property investors are actually really focused on paying down a lot of debt, talking about the number of investors who are currently negatively geared and those who expect not to be negatively geared in the next 12 months. Is that a fair reading of those results?

Ben: What I like about this result is just a reminder to all of the politicians out there as well that ultimately, negative gearing is just a moment in time. When we buy a property early on, we do need that little bit of support, just like when were buying a business and we might take on a loan. Once we pay that loan out and we stop paying the interest, that money starts flowing through to the bottom line, and its no different for a property investor.

What were definitely seeing here is we probably have a few experienced investors who have been doing this for the long term and their portfolio is now positively geared. Thats a real positive for me.

52% of investors are negatively geared, which means that 48% are neutral or positively geared, so their portfolio is generating passive income for them. And thats what we want. Thats why we invest. We dont invest for speculative tax incentives; we invest for capital growth or a passive income in retirement.

Kevin: Yes, because as you pointed out, negative gearing is not a strategy, its a moment in time.

Ben: It is. We hope that the politicians out there are listening to that message, because the reality is that any proposed changes to that will change the sentiment and the psychology and the confidence of investors out there, and they play an important role where state governments  if you look at the data  its so clear that theyve gotten out of providing affordable social housing because its very expensive for them not only to build but also to operate, so the moms and dads have stepped in and provided those services.

If those moms and dads then turn to other investment classes, whos going to step in? Because thats a state government responsibility, and theyre going to be asking the federal government for a higher GST to be able to support that.

It has a flow-on effect, so its really important to understand that.

Kevin: Im talking to PIPA Chair Ben Kingsley about their most recent survey.

Ben, did you ask investors where theyre looking at investing? What are the favored areas?

Ben: We did, Kevin. We basically looked at that, and again, for the second year in a row, we actually got Brisbane coming up with 43% of people looking to invest in Brisbane. We had 32% in Melbourne, and then we had Adelaide at 7%, Perth at 6%, Sydney at 8%, Canberra at 2%, and Hobart at 3%.

The clear winner at the moment is Brisbane, and I suspect that has a lot to do with the yield story and the affordability story that is provided not only in Brisbane, but if we also venture into those Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast markets, very low vacancy rates in those markets, some good yields, and some capital growth movement. I think people are finding that.

Kevin: Yes. Brisbane is getting a lot of good press too, coming up as the most livable city in Australia, as well. Just before I let you go, Ben, in terms of regulation, I know theres been some concern about property advice being given by certain groups of people. What are the moves there? Are you concerned about that?

Ben: We would love regulation to be a part of the landscape. It would stop speculators from coming in, it would stop the spruikers from entering into the market, and itll clean up effectively what makes for a good investment for the long term. At the moment, without regulation, there are a lot of property spruikers who are operating in the marketplace telling us that this is a great place to invest and potentially selling stock.

Its just important to understand that, yes, the survey clearly showed that they want basically regulation. 90% of people do want the marketplace to be regulated, so thats also telling the policy makers to get behind that and try to clean up the property investment space.

Kevin: Ben, great talking to you. Thank you very much for your time. Congratulations on the great work youre doing, and I look forward to talking to you again soon.

Ben: Cheers, Kevin. Take care.

Real Estate Talk  the only place where you hear all Australasias leading property experts.

Originally published as: https://www.realestatetalk.com.au/investors-not-fazed-about-bubble-talk-ben-kingsley/

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Kevin Tuner worked in radio as General Manager of various east coast radio stations. He started in real estate in 1988 and was ranked in the Top 10 Salespeople in the state until he was appointed as State CEO 1992.

He operated a number of real estate offices as business owner and was General Manager of several real estate offices in Christchurch.

He now hosts a real estate show on Radio 4BC and a weekly podcast at www.realestatetalk.com.au. He is the host of a daily 7 to 10 minute podcast show for real estate professionals at www.reuncut.com.au.

To hear more podcasts by Kevin Turner, click here

Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property.
Though much attention has been directed towards the housing shortage in some of Australias largest and fastest-growing cities, a new study from the Australian National University (ANU) says the country actually has a significant oversupply of housing.

The Regional Housing Supply and Demand in Australia working paper, prepared by associate professor Ben Phillips and researcher Cukkoo Joseph of the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods (CSRM), analysed 15 years worth of census data and building approvals to draw its conclusions.

Between the years 2001 and 2017, we estimate the Australian housing market experienced an oversupply of 164,000 dwellings, the report said. However, there are significant regional differences with some regions experiencing significant undersupply while others have significant housing surpluses.

According to the researchers, the majority of Australias housing surplus is in the inner-city areas of the major capitals, with Inner Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney all being oversupplied due to recent growth in unit developments. Many regional areas, especially those in mining-sensitive areas such as North Queensland and Western Australia, also retain housing surpluses.

In contrast, regions in the middle and outer rings of the major capitals, particularly Sydney, face modest housing shortages.

On a state level, the most oversupplied areas are the two territories: the Northern Territory and the ACT. Queensland has a significant oversupply, NSW has a relatively minor oversupply, and Tasmania has a mild housing shortage.

The surplus [of 164,000 dwellings] is not particularly substantial, but certainly suggest that housing supply in and of itself is probably not the primary driver of house-price growth in Australia. There are other factors that are going on, Phillips said.

We've looked at factors like changes in household types and dwelling types and unoccupied dwellings which we don't think have been taken into account in other studies in any substantial way in the past, and certainly not at the regional level.

The standard line of governments and industry seems to be that housing supply is a big problem in Australia. No doubt there are some areas where it is. But overall we dont see the housing shortage thats often talked about - in fact we see that there is a surplus.

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Yuma, Arizona - When it comes to reducing your cancer risk, one important step could be right under your nose, or below your feet. Getting your home tested for radon can help protect you and your family from a key cause of lung cancer.

Exposure to radon accounts for about 21,000 deaths from lung cancer each year according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While that is nowhere near the 480,000 deaths a year caused by smoking, its still significant. And its the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.

What is radon?

Radon is a gas that occurs naturally outdoors in harmless amounts. Its produced from the breakdown of uranium in soil and rocks. It sometimes becomes concentrated in homes built on soil with natural uranium deposits. It can enter buildings through cracks in floors or walls, construction joints, or gaps in foundations around pipes, wires or pumps. Radon levels are usually highest in the basement or crawl space.

When radon gas is breathed in, it enters the lungs, exposing them to small amounts of radiation. This may damage the cells in the lining of the lungs and increase a person's risk of lung cancer. The risk of lung cancer is higher in those who have lived for many years in a radon-contaminated house.

The lung cancer risk from radon is much lower than that from smoking. However, exposure to the combination of radon gas and cigarette smoke creates a greater risk for lung cancer than either factor alone.

Testing for radon

Because radon gas cant be seen or smelled, the only way to know whether its a problem in your home is to test for it. A Citizens Guide to Radon, produced by the EPA, explains how to test your home for radon easily and inexpensively, and what to do if your levels are too high.

You can hire a professional tester, or do it yourself with a kit you buy at a hardware store or online. Follow the instructions for leaving the kit in your house for the required number of days. Then mail it to a lab and wait for the results.

If you find out that your radon levels are high, you can take steps to lower the amount of radon in your home. The most common method is to have a vent pipe system and fan installed, which pulls radon from beneath the house and vents it to the outside.

It is also possible for radon to enter your home through your water supply, though this is a much lower risk than radon entering your home through the soil. If you have a private well, you can have it tested for radon. If the levels are high, you can have the water supply treated so that the radon is removed before it enters your home. If you are concerned about radon and your water comes from a public water supply, you should contact your supplier.

As with most home repairs, the cost of reducing radon in your home can vary widely, depending on how your home is built (whether you have a basement, crawlspace, or neither) and what kind of system you need.

If you think youve been exposed

There are no widely available medical tests to measure whether you have been exposed to radon. But if you think that you might have been, talk with your doctor about whether you should get regular health checkups and tests to look for possible signs of lung cancer. Possible symptoms include shortness of breath, a new or worsening cough, pain or tightness in the chest, hoarseness, or trouble swallowing.

If you smoke and you know youve been exposed to high levels of radon, its very important to quit smoking. The combination of cigarette smoking and radon exposure raises the risk of lung cancer more than either smoking or radon exposure alone.

For some people exposed to radon through their jobs, like uranium miners, millers and transporters, the US government has established the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program. It offers compensation for lung cancer and some other lung diseases to people who qualify.
News

Atlanta, Georgia - Major US tobacco companies will publish and broadcast messages beginning November 24 that clearly state they designed their products to be more addictive, even while knowing their health effects were deadly. The court-ordered messages will appear in big city newspapers, on national network television stations, websites, cigarette package inserts, and places where cigarettes are sold. These corrective statement advertisements are a result from a federal case that found cigarette makers guilty in 2006 of violating racketeering laws.

Full-page newspaper ads will appear in papers in more than 50 major cities through April 2018. The television ads will begin on November 27 and run on major network or cable stations during primetime for 52 weeks.

The decision holding the tobacco defendants liable was based on evidence that the tobacco industry knew smoking and nicotine were addictive, manipulated tobacco products to make them more addictive, and claimed light and low tar products were healthier than regular products even though they knew that was false. Judge Gladys Kessler, who presided over United States v. Philip Morris USA, Inc. et al., found that, over the course of more than 50 years, defendants lied, misrepresented, and deceived the American public, including smokers and the young people they avidly sought as replacement smokers, about the devastating health effects of smoking and environmental tobacco smoke.

After a decade of appeals, tobacco companies Altria, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard, and Philip Morris USA must now publish the corrective statements in order to fully inform the public and help prevent future harm from the health problems caused by smoking and secondhand smoke, and the addictiveness of smoking and nicotine.

Public health groups including the American Cancer Society (ACS), American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Americans for Nonsmokers Rights, National African American Tobacco Prevention Network, and the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund played a key role as intervenors in the case and made recommendations about the corrective statements the tobacco companies must finally make following more than a decade of appeals. Cliff Douglas, ACS Vice President for Tobacco Control and Director of the ACS Center for Tobacco Control, calls the publication of the corrective statements by the major tobacco companies a significant victory for public health.

Douglas said, In its ruling, the federal court relied on the expertise of the American Cancer Society and other public health groups in the fight to combat the tobacco epidemic in this country and to hold accountable the tobacco industry for decades of fraud and conspiracy and misleading the public and health authorities about the deadly health effects of their products. What this case has succeeded in doing is to finally force the tobacco industry to fess up to what it has known and done for the past 50 years. The industry has deliberately addicted millions of people with a product it knew would kill as many as half of them years before their time.

The messages will begin appearing in national media on November 24.

Examples of specific messages:

Smoking kills, on average, 1,200 Americans. Every day.

Smoking causes heart disease, emphysema, acute myeloid leukemia, and cancer of the mouth, esophagus, larynx, lung, stomach, kidney, bladder, pancreas, and cervix.

Smoking is highly addictive. Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco.

Altria, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard, and Philip Morris USA intentionally designed cigarettes to make them more addictive.

Cigarette companies control the impact and delivery of nicotine in many ways, including designing filters and selecting cigarette paper to maximize the ingestion of nicotine, adding ammonia to make the cigarette taste less harsh, and controlling the physical and chemical make-up of the tobacco blend.

When you smoke, the nicotine actually changes the brain  thats why quitting is so hard.

Many smokers switch to low tar and light cigarettes rather than quitting because they think low tar and light cigarettes are less harmful. They are not.

Low tar and light cigarette smokers inhale essentially the same amount of tar and nicotine as they would from regular cigarettes.

All cigarettes cause cancer, lung disease, heart attacks, and premature death  lights, low tar, ultra lights, and naturals. There is no safe cigarette.

Secondhand smoke kills over 38,000 Americans each year.

There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

A better-informed public

Douglas said, The American Cancer Society is pleased the American people and millions more around the world will finally learn the complete truth from the tobacco industry regarding the deadly health effects and addictiveness of their products, and the fact that this industry was responsible for fraudulently misleading the public for so long.

Despite significant progress in reducing smoking, at least 36.5 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, and cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing more than 480,000 Americans and costing the nation about $170 billion in health care expenses each year.

Douglas says he hopes the corrective statements will better inform the public, persuade many more people to try to quit smoking, reduce the number of kids who start using tobacco in the first place, and support accelerated anti-tobacco policy changes.

The American Cancer Societys affiliate advocacy organization, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACSCAN) has long worked to get policies passed at all levels of government that have been proven to reduce smoking rates and overall tobacco consumption. They include:

comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws

increased state and federal tobacco excise taxes

funding for tobacco prevention and quitting programs

increasing the legal sale age for tobacco to 21

preserving the FDAs authority to regulate all tobacco products

We can help

ACS is committed to helping people quit smoking and leading the fight for a world against cancer. We can help people quit smoking and provide quit-smoking programs, resources and support that can increase your chances of quitting successfully.

Read about the available tools, or call us at 1-800-227-2345.
Border News

Tucson, Arizona - Border Patrol agents from Arizonas Brian A. Terry and Douglas stations apprehended two registered male sex offenders from Mexico shortly after they entered the U.S. illegally during separate weekend incidents.

Agents first arrested 34-year-old Abigael Calvo-Calvo after he illegally crossed the border near Naco on Saturday afternoon. When agents conducted a records check on Calvo, they learned he was convicted in San Mateo County, California, for Lewd and Lascivious Acts with a Child Under 14 in 2012.

On Sunday evening, agents from the Douglas Station encountered 33-year-old Juan Herrera-Gameros after he illegally entered the United States west of Douglas. During processing, records checks revealed Herrera was convicted by the Cochise County Superior Court in Bisbee for Sexual Conduct with a Child in 2005.

Both men are in federal custody and are being presented for criminal felony immigration charges.
Border News

Sasabe, Arizona - A Tucson Station Border Patrol agent was assaulted by a 22-year-old Mexican man Friday morning near Highway 286, north of Sasabe, Arizona.

When the agent responded to a group of suspected illegal aliens north of the international boundary and attempted arrest one of the suspects, the Mexican national violently resisted by throwing dirt in the agents face and assaulting him. The agent managed to subdue the suspect after a brief struggle.

The agent was later evaluated at a local hospital and released. The Mexican national was un-injured and declined medical attention. He will be processed for immigration violations, per Tucson Sector guidelines, and charged for assault on a federal agent.
Border News

Naco, California - Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents from the Brian A. Terry Station apprehended a previously deported Sureno gang member west of Naco, Arizona, on Monday night.

Agents arrested Pedro Castro-Guillen, a 28-year-old Mexican national, for illegally crossing the border and transported him to the Brian A. Terry Station for processing. When agents conducted a records check on Castro, they learned he was previously deported from the U.S. as a Sureno gang member. He will remain in custody pending criminal prosecution for immigration violations in accordance with Tucson Sector guidelines.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - On Friday, night at approximately 9:21 p.m., two Yuma Police Department officers responded to a Domestic Violence call at a residence located in the 3500 block W. 12th Place.

The Officers make contact with a 51 year old male subject that was armed. A shot was fired and the male subject was transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center with undisclosed injuries.

No Yuma Police Department officers were injured during this incident.

The Yuma Police Department is conducting the investigation into the shooting.

The subject has been identified as 51 year old Steve Steenhard. Steve Steenhard was later pronounced deceased at Yuma Regional Medical Center. Next of Kin has been notified.

The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this case to please call the Yuma Police Department at (928) 373-4700 or 78-Crime at (928) 782-7463 to remain anonymous.
Twenty eight girls from Thailand and one from Ukraine were detained on Friday night after they were found to be working without a valid visa at five spas in the city.

RJ Pargi, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone-7, said, We had raided 11 spas in Ahmedabad alongwith Dr KLN Rao, Sector-1 JCP and Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) on a tip off that many foreigners have been working at spas in the city without permit. The aim was to nab the foreigners who are staying in the country illegally.

The 29 were detained from Lord Spa in Sola, Avon and Thai spas, both in Prahaladnagar, Primetime Spa in Shivranjani and Thai Wellness Spa in Navrangpura.

Several other spas in these areas were also raided.

Sources said a case will be lodged against these women under the FRRO Act.

We are still investigating the matter and checking the passport and visa of the women who worked in these spas, said Pargi.
Adalaj police raided a container depot located near Khoraj canal on Friday and seized 5,500 cartons of IMFL worth Rs 2.2 crore. This happens to be one of the biggest seizures by the police in the past five years.

According to the police, they got specific information that a huge amount of IMFL was to be delivered in Gandhinagar area through trucks. Acting on it, a team was put on watch and checking was carried out.

During the checking, officials got information that the liquor was stored in a godown in Khodiyar container depot and they raided the place. JG Vaghela, inspector of Adalaj police station, said, When they raided the godown, they saw a man fleeing the spot. Apart from that, no one else was present.

During the raid, the police found 5,500 cartons of IMFL inside the godown and even in four cars parked outside. IMFL worth Rs2.2 crore and five cars and a two wheeler, together worth Rs 84 lakh were seized.

The godown belonged to a person named Sasikant Patel, a resident of Khoraj and a month back he gave it on rent to a person called Yadav from Haryana.

Virendrasingh Gadhvi, superintendent of police, Gandhinagar, said, During investigation, it was revealed that the godown was rented out a month back for a junkyard but was used to store IMFL. We have started an investigation to nab the person and further investigation is on.

Investigation also revealed that the IMFL was transported in containers to a godown and from there, using cars, was supplied to bootleggers in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.
Kabul: Up to 20 militants were killed and 33 injured in military operations across Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

"The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces carried out 12 clean-up operations and 15 special operations in nine provinces in the past 24 hours, killing 20 insurgents and injuring 33 others," Xinhua reported quoting the Ministry.

The Afghan air force also launched airstrikes, destroying four militants` hideouts over the period, the Ministry statement said, without elaborating about casualties on the side of the security forces.

The Afghan troops have beefed up military operations as the Taliban militants and Islamic State terrorists are attempting to capture territory and consolidate their positions ahead of winter in the mountainous country.
At least two killed in blast in China port city: Official

At least two people were killed and two more seriously injured in a massive blast in China`s eastern port city of Ningbo on Sunday, local official said.
Bhagalpur: Three members of a family were hacked to death by unidentified assailants in their sleep at Bhagalpur district's Naugachia sub-division late last night, police said on Sunday.

An 18-year-old girl, who was also part of the family, was severely injured in the attack.

"Kanik Ram (55), his wife Meena Devi (48), son Chhotu (12) and daughter Bindi (18) were attacked with sharp-edged weapons late last night. While Bindi is undergoing treatment at a hospital where her condition was stated to be critical, the remaining family members had died on the spot," Sub-Divisional Police Officer Mukul Ranjan said.

He added that the incident took place in Harijan Tola under Jhandapur police outpost and apparently the family members were attacked while they were asleep.

"It is not yet clear what was the motive of the attackers. Investigation is on," Ranjan said.
The 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections should be a lesson for political pundits and journalists for all times to come. It showed how even the best in the business cannot completely gauge the mood of the people and the direction in which the so-called wind is blowing. It also highlighted the dichotomy between the narrative that the national media builds and what the ground reality is.

Cut to the present and one gets the same feeling about the upcoming Gujarat elections and its outcome. One can feel a sense of buoyancy in the air being built by the media about the Congress and its fortunes in the state and about its vice president Rahul Gandhi, who is said to be a new 47-year old since his return from the United States. There is a lot of talk about how his speeches have become sharper, how he is pulling more crowds to his rallies and how his social media ripostes are getting more traction.

Rahul too, going by his body language and the one-liners that he has been mouthing seems upbeat. He has been asserting that his party will sweep Gujarat in December and that a tsunami is coming and the BJP is scared of it. To endear himself to the locals he even spoke an entire sentence in Gujarati at a rally saying - "Gujarat ma Modi ji aave, Amit Shah ji aave, UP na CM Yogi ji aave, toye Bhajapa sarkar nahi aave (Narendra Modi, Amit Shah or Yogi Adityanath may come to Gujarat, but BJP won't come).

In a state which has been dominated by Hindutva politics, the Congress vice president has also been doing the rounds of various temples across the state. Plus, perhaps taking a leaf out of PM Modis style of functioning, Rahul has been on whistle-stop tours of Gujarat and has been constantly trying to engage with his audiences.

To be noted is the fact that the Congress has not raised the issue of discrimination of Muslims under the BJP rule, even though Rahul has talked about Modis flawed developmental model in his rallies. Clearly, it does not want to project itself as the party that is soft towards the minority community. And obviously, they have not forgotten the damage done by Congress president Sonia Gandhis maut ka sadagar (merchant of death) barb in 2007 Assembly polls.

Maybe sensing that his time has come, Rahul lost no time in tapping the anger and disenchantment among the traders vis-a-vis GST and promptly termed it as the Gabbar Singh Tax. The Congress VPs trips to places like Surat have been an attempt to wean away BJPs traditional voters. However, the moot point is - can the Gandhi scion breach the formidable fortress of Modi-Shah duo?

The Grand Old Party has a lot hope from the three young guns from Gujarat  Hardik Patel (Patidar leader), Alpesh Thakore (OBC leader, who has joined the Congress) and Jignesh Mevani (Dalit leader) - to take them to the pole position. Hardik has been relentlessly exhorting the voters to vote against the BJP. The same goes for the other two.

The Patidars, Dalits, OBCs and the Muslims form nearly 60 percent of the states population. However, its unlikely that they will vote as a block. Fissures amongst the Patidars can already be seen with several Patel leaders joining the BJP. The challenge is also to entice both Thakores and Patels who are opposed to each other.

Some 42 percent urban voters are also a major challenge for Rahul over whom the BJP has had a hold for many years now. There is another segment that the Gandhi scion will have to wean away from the BJP  the women voters who were diligently wooed by Modi when he was the CM of the state with a host of women-oriented schemes.

Add to that the well-oiled election machinery of the BJP and their booth-level management. Plus, the cult built around PM Modi and his charisma and popularity. Moreover, the BJP has been in a damage control mode, from cuts in GST rates to a slew of new projects worth crores to the ferry service linking Saurashtra to South Gujarat. On the other hand, the Congress still suffers from lack of solid organisation at the ground. It is also said that there are more leaders than workers in the Congress party.

And then there is the factor of Gujarati asmita. Can the people of Gujarat overlook the fact that the Prime Minister belongs to their state?

Keeping all of the above in mind, can Rahul do the unthinkable and upset PM Modis applecart? The million dollar question can only be answered on the counting day.
New Delhi: Veteran actor Kamal Haasan, who earlier came out in support of Padmavati actress Deepika Padukone amid protests and death threats hurled at her for being a part of the film, says people are being "over-sensitive" on the issue.

"We are being over sensitive. I am saying so in the capacity of being an Indian. In a country where politicians wanted citizens to come upfront in the past... that doesn't mean I am dismissing off a whole group of people... There are enough Kamals not enough podiums," said Kamal during a discussion at a Lit Fest on Saturday.

Bhansali's attempt to bring alive the story of Rajput queen Rani Padmavati on the silver screen with his movie Padmavati hasn't gone down well with Hindu groups backed by the BJP. It features Deepika as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as her husband and a warrior king and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji.

Bhansali faced many hiccups while shooting the film, but the protests escalated as the film neared its release date. There are conjectures that it "distorts history" regarding the Rajput queen, and Bhansali has denied it repeatedly.

The movie's release date has been deferred from the original December 1 date, but there are efforts from Hindu groups to have it banned.

Kamal, whose films too have faced threats on the same level be it for Hey Ram or Vishwaroopam, says the current clamour around Padmavati is a "problem", but it is not new.

"There is a problem but it's not new. When my film 'Hey Ram' was to release, somebody in Congress (political party) thought it should be banned just by looking at the poster. But they did not know what was in the film. Censors were being extra careful. Certification board behaved like censor board," said Kamal, who has been a part of the film industry for almost five decades.

"All my films had a problem for reasons I am still trying to understand. Same goes for rumours when you send an sms and it distributes. We are always ready to believe the negativity first. It (protests) is wrong. After it ('Padmavati') comes out and then people have problem... that I still understand," he added.

Speaking on the slamming culture on social media like Twitter where individuals are free to opine, Kamal says "those who want it regulated have some logic of their own".

"They shouldn't do it but... some are far exceeding their freedom which is why they are slammed perhaps," he said.

"Everyone blames it on youth. It's not age talking it is the lack of reverence talking. Deeper and hurtful things come from the grown up," he added.
Mumbai: Disappointed by a fan who sought to draw his attention with a stunt video, actor Tiger Shroff has urged everyone not to try action sequences on their own.

When a fan tagged Tiger in a video featuring him attempting a stunt, the actor wrote: "Sorry... But that's so stupid of you to try something like that. Never risk your life.

"When action heroes perform something alike on screens, they do it with safety and under the supervision of professionals. Never ever try doing all this on ur own. Disappointed to see this."

Tiger is known for action and dance skills, which he has showcased in films like Heropanti, Baaghi and A Flying Jatt.
Chennai: Two teachers of a government school in Panapakkam in Vellore district were suspended on Saturday in connection with the suicide of four girl students of the school.

Tragedy struck the Panapakkam village on Friday when four girl students committed suicide by jumping into a well as their teacher scolded them and wanted them to bring their parents to the school.

All the four students were studying in Class XI and were identified as Deepa, Sankari, Revathi and Manisha.

Following the death of students, the District Education Officer held an inquiry and suspended the school Principal and the students` class teacher.

Offering his condolences to the families of the deceased girls, PMK Founder S. Ramadoss said education should be made enjoyable for school students with games and without burden. "Only then suicides by students can be put an end to."
New Delhi: Arthur road jail in Mumbai will be the home of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya if he is extradited to India to face the law in connection with the Rs 9,000 crore loan default cases.

This will be conveyed to a British court next week by India through the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is arguing the extradition case against Mallya on behalf of the Indian government, a home ministry official said.

The Westminster Magistrates' Court in London will be told that it is the duty of the state to ensure security of prisoners and Mallya's apprehension about threat to his life is "misleading".

The court will be told that the prisons in India are as good as in any other country in the world and prisoners' rights are fully protected in Indian jails, the official, who is privy to the responses prepared by the government, told PTI.

The move came after Mallya's lawyers said that the fugitive businessman's life may be in danger if he is extradited to India and there were alleged incidents of human rights violations in Indian jails.

The Westminster Magistrates' Court will start hearing the extradition proceedings from December 4.

The London court will be told that there will be no threat to Mallya's life if he is lodged in Arthur road jail, which is highly secure as per the international standard, rejecting Mallya's reported apprehension that he will not be safe in Indian jails if sent back home to face trial in the Rs 9,000 crore Kingfisher Airlines loan default cases, another official said, on condition of anonymity.

Adequate medical facilities are available to treat the prisoners in Arthur road jail, where Mallya will get full security cover as an undertrial prisoner, the court will be told.

By making such allegations, Mallya is trying to save himself from getting extradited to India to face the trial in cases of cheating of a consortium of banks, the official said.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba last week had a long meeting with representatives of various authorities, including the Ministry of External Affairs, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate and discussed responses to be filed in the UK court.

The central government has already conducted an assessment of security cover given to prisoners in the Arthur road jail so that its findings could be conveyed to the UK court.

Mallya, 61, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by the Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18.

However, he was soon granted bail by the court.

If the judge rules in favour of extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallya's extradition within two months of the appropriate day.

However, the case can go through a series of appeals before arriving at a conclusion.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement.

Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent to India last October to face trial in connection with his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge.
New Delhi: A youth was injured after he was allegedly set on fire by unidentified men for objecting to them taunting his female friend in outer Delhi's Bawana, the police said today.

The police said there were some contradictions in the statements of the girl and the victim, and the possibility of self-immolation cannot be ruled out.

On November 23, the police were informed by the GB Hospital authorities that a 19-year-old man has been admitted to the hospital with burn injuries.

The victim told the police that when he was walking with his female friend, a minor, on Kanjhawla Road, three persons came on a motorcycle and allegedly taunted the girl, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Rishi Pal said.

When he objected to their taunts, the accused allegedly poured inflammable liquid on him and set him blaze, the officer said.

The families of the girl and the victim have been staying on different floors of the same house in Nangloi for five years, the police said.

Both the families, in their statements to the police, said that they were aware of their friendship.

Around 50 letters, many of which written in blood, were found from the bags of the duo. The contents of the letters were found bizarre and some had mention of something he wanted to do to prove his love for the girl, the officer said.

There are some variations in the statement of the victim and the girl about the exact sequence of events and further investigation is underway, Pal said, adding according to doctors a "petroleum product" had been poured on the victim.
New Delhi: To clean the national capital's air, the EPCA has set December 2018 as the deadline for the Delhi government to augment the city's bus fleet to 10,000 in a mega plan, which awaits the Supreme Court's clearance.

The deadline has been set by the Environment Pollution- Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) in its report on the 'Comprehensive Action Plan for Air Pollution', which was submitted to the Supreme Court (SC) on November 16.

The EPCA had earlier submitted the report in March. But the SC, recently, asked it to resubmit it after including clear timelines for implementation of the proposed measures.

The revised report would now be taken up by the apex court and, once cleared, it would have to be notified by the Centre.

"Delhi government must ensure total compliance with the orders of 1998 and 2016 by December 2018. This requires a total fleet of at least 10,000 buses," the report said.

The proposal to increase the city's bus fleet to 10,000 is not new. The SC had directed the Delhi government in 1998 and 2016 to hasten the process in this regard. However, this is for the first time a deadline has been set.

The AAP government recently initiated the process to procure 2,000 CNG buses (1,000 for DTC and 1,000 for the cluster scheme) by next year. No new bus has been added to the fleet of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) since 2010.

Currently, the DTC has a fleet of 3,944 buses while the Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System (DIMTS) runs 1,634 buses under the cluster scheme, as per the transport department statistics.

The combined strength of buses is around 5,600. This means that apart from the procurement of 2,000 new buses, the process for which has been initiated, the Delhi government would have to purchase nearly 3,400 more buses to meet the numbers set under the comprehensive action plan.

The plan is based on a 2012 blueprint prepared by the Sheila Dikshit government and a 42-point action plan of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Delhi Master Plan 2021, among others.

It focuses on 13 key pollution sources, as identified by an IIT-Kanpur study, and lists short, medium and long-term measures.

The percentage of reduction in PM10 required in Delhi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida and Meerut are 74, 64, 76, 56 and 60 per cent respectively while PM 2.5 and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels have to come down by 70 and 37.5 per cent in the national capital, the plan says.
New Delhi: AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, who shared an uneasy relationship with the party leadership, on Sunday asserted he would not quit the outfit and that the party strayed from the path it had chosen to tread five years ago.

Addressing party volunteers on the occasion of 5th Foundation Day of the AAP, Vishwas took on his detractors within the party and said he was like Abhimanyu, the warrior son of Arjun who lost his life while fighting in the epic 'Mahabharata'.

"I was told that I will be insulted and compelled to quit. I would like to say that I am not going anywhere. I am like the Abhimanyu who will be victorious even in his death," Vishwas said.

Vishwas also emphasised the need for dialogue within the AAP and said the people who built the party believed in disagreeing over issues. Running away from questions amounts to being timid, he said. The comment was seen as a jibe to a section of party leaders.

He said the easiest way to crush a movement is to give it a face, a comment also seen as a jibe to his detractors within the party.

"This is why it is paramount to keep the country first, followed by the party and then the leader," he said.

He retorted to the tag of being a "part-time politician" labelled by a section of party leaders and said he preferred being a "full-time Indian and part-time politician', and added it was essential to look after one's own livelihood to ensure a spotless political life.

"Don't you think, we have strayed away from the road we took five years ago. We have to walk on the right path from where we started. We have lost some good volunteers due to arrogance and insecurities and we need to bring them back," Vishwas said.

The poet-politician and founder member of the AAP has had an uneasy relationship with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Vishwas is unhappy with the leadership for several reasons and has been attacking a "coterie" surrounding Kejriwal. But a major reason has been revoking the suspension of AAP MLA Amantullah last month, who had accused Vishwas of being a "BJP-RSS agent".
New Delhi: Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has said it is mandatory for the big companies to pass on the benefit of reduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the end-consumer or else the government will act against them.

"We have now reduced taxes of bigger items. If we see any anomaly we will not get hold of the small retailers, we will catch the bigger companies," Adhia told DD News on Saturday.

The Goods and Services Tax Council during its last meeting on November 10 has lowered tax rates on 178 items from 28 percent to 18 percent. Most goods under the 28 percent slab earlier, except demerit goods, will now be taxed lower.

Regarding government`s demonetisation drive, Adhia said it was meant to cleanse the system and do away with black money.

"Demonetisation was meant to cleanse the system and do away with black money."

He further said people had lot of cash stashed away in the houses, demonetisation has brought those hidden cash into the main banking channel.

"People had lot of cash stashed away in their houses with which they bought only luxury items. Demonetisation has brought those money into banking channel and it will be now used for lending to people," he added.

The Indian government on November 8, 2016 started the demonetisation drive by banning high denomination Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
New Delhi: Low per capita income has become a stumbling block for India growth story with global rating agency Standard & Poor's citing it as a key reason for stalling the country's sovereign rating upgrade.

A week after Moody's Investors Service upgraded India's sovereign rating, S&P kept its India ratings unchanged at the lowest investment grade of 'BBB-minus' citing sizable fiscal deficits, a high net general government debt burden and low per capita income.

"Ratings are constrained by India's low wealth levels, measured by GDP per capita, which we estimate at close to USD 2,000 in 2017, the lowest of all investment-grade sovereigns that we rate," S&P said in a statement.

Per capita income is the average income earned per person in a given area (city/state/country) in a specified year. It is used as a means of evaluating the living conditions and quality of life in a specific area.

Though S&P is optimistic about the country's medium term growth prospects and welcomed the Indian government's recent reform measures including the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), bank recapitalisation plan, bankruptcy code among others, it raised concerns regarding the country's GDP per capita income.

According to S&P, India's per capita income stood at USD 1,948.69, while for China it stood as high as USD 8,876.84, Russia USD 10,478.74, Brazil USD 9,867.03 and South Africa USD 6,129.64.

Eminent banker Uday Kotak also reiterated the need to focus on improving the low capita income of the country.

"Time for India to accelerate. From USD 1,800 per capita to China present level USD 8,500, we need per capita growth 8 per cent and absolute 9 percent pa 20 years!," he said in a recent tweet.

Referring to the issue of low per capita income flagged by the rating agency, Principal Economic Advisor in the finance ministry Sanjeev Sanyal said: "Ultimately we think it's unfair because there is nothing we can do for per capita income in the short to medium term."

Moody's Investors Service which recently upgraded India's sovereign rating said India's GDP per capita on PPP basis stood at USD 6,694 (2016).

Like S&P, Moody's also said the high public debt burden remains an important constraint on India's credit profile relative to peers.

"That constraint is not expected to diminish rapidly, with low income levels continuing to point to significant development spending needs over the coming years. Measures to encourage greater formalisation of the economy, reduce expenditure and increase revenues will likely take time to diminish the debt stock," it had said.

Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser at SBI, however, termed S&P's argument of low per capita income as a detractor for sovereign rating upgrade as "fallacious".

"The argument given by S&P that India has low per capita income which is acting as detractor from the sovereign rating upgrade is fallacious as Indonesia which was upgraded seven times between 2002 and 2011 had a low per-capita GDP of USD 1,066 in 2003 when its credit rating was upgraded and India's GDP per-capita is now USD 1,709.4," Ghosh said in a note.

India's household wealth has been rising over the last few years; however, in terms of per capita income it is ranked low as compared to other emerging market peers.

As per a recent IMF report, India's per capita GDP rose to USD 7,170 in 2017, from USD 6,690 last year. But still among BRICS countries, India has the lowest per capita GDP.

Russia boasts of a GDP per capita of USD 27,900, while for China, it stood at USD 16,620, Brazil at USD 15,500 and South Africa at USD 13,400, as per the IMF report.

According to a Credit Suisse report, though household wealth has been rising in India, but not everyone has shared in this growth as 92 percent of the adult population has wealth below USD 10,000.

"Personal wealth in India is dominated by property and other real assets, which make up 86 percent of estimated household assets. Personal debts are only USD 376, or just 9 percent of gross assets," it said.

Moreover a small fraction of the population (just 0.5 per cent of adults) has a net worth over USD 100,000, while the average wealth per adult is expected at USD 5,980 in mid-2017.

"India has 340,000 adults in top 1 percent of global wealth holders. By our estimates, 1,820 adults have wealth over USD 50 million, and 760 have more than USD 100 million (this is why we should look at per capita and not just GDP)," Credit Suisse said.
New Delhi: Can cooking fats save the Earth from climate change? According to a study, fatty acid molecules released during cooking may be enhancing the formation of clouds, which have a major cooling effect on the planet.

In a first, scientists demonstrated that fatty acid molecules emitted from from deep fat fryers during cooking can spontaneously form complex 3-D structures in atmospheric aerosol droplets.

The formation of these highly ordered structures, the team believes, is likely to extend the atmospheric lifetimes of these molecules and affects how clouds form.

"It is known that fatty acid molecules coating the surface of aerosol particles in the atmosphere may affect the aerosols ability to seed cloud formation," Christian Pfrang, from the University of Reading in the UK.

"However, this is the first time scientists have considered what these molecules do inside of the aerosol droplet, and we have shown that they may be assembling into a range of complex, ordered patterns and structures. This means they may last longer in the atmosphere," Pfrang said.

The researchers studied a model system to represent atmospheric aerosol consisting of individually levitated droplets of mixtures of brine and oleic acid, a fatty acid associated with cooking emissions.

They observed that the fat molecules assembled into highly ordered "lyotropic" phases  crystal-like lattices of spheres or cylinders which are known to strongly affect water uptake from the surrounding environment, a key process in cloud nucleation, and viscosity, which affects chemical reaction rates.

Further experiments showed that the fatty acids were more resistant to chemical attack by ozone, and therefore can survive longer and travel further in the atmosphere, if they adopt these complex structures.

The extended lifetimes of these molecules may facilitate droplet growth and thus cloud formation.

(With PTI inputs)
Mumbai: The newly crowned Miss World, Manushi Chhillar, arrived in Mumbai in the wee hours of Sunday. The 21-year-old model`s win at the pageant comes 17 years after Priyanka Chopra won the crown in 2000.

A medical student hailing from Haryana, Chhillar competed against 108 contestants from various countries at a glittering event held at Sanya City Arena in China to grab the title.

Manushi has been showered with praise for her answer in the final round.

On being asked, "Which profession deserves the highest salary and why?", she replied, "I think a mother is of the highest respect. I don`t think its 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."

She was crowned the new queen by Miss World 2016 winner Puerto Rico`s Stephanie Del Valle.

Besides Chhillar, the first runner-up was Stephanie Hill from England, while Andrea Meza, hailing from Mexico, was announced the second runner-up.
A 40-year-man was arrested for allegedly trying to rape a seven-year-old girl in the Khoda area of Ghaziabad on Thursday evening. The accused has been arrested and sent to jail on Friday.

According to police, the accused has been identified as Ram Bahadur Sharma (40), a teacher by profession, who allegedly tried to rape the girl while he had gone to give her tuition classes on Thursday evening.

Narrating the ordeal, the victim's mother said that the teacher came to their house like every day on Thursday evening at around 7:30 pm.

"I was sitting in my room and Sharma was teaching my daughter. All of a sudden, I heard a loud cry from her. I immediately rushed to the drawing room to see what was wrong and found that Sharma had put his hands inside my daughter's clothes," the mother said.

The mother raised an alarm and gathered locals who then thrashed the tutor and rushed him to the police station.

"The accused was brought to the police station in an unconscious state. The mother lodged a First Information Report against the accused and on the basis of that, we arrested him. He was rushed to the district hospital for treatment and later sent to jail on Friday morning," said Akash Tomar, Superintendent Of Police (city), Ghaziabad.

Police have arrested the accused under sections 376 (rape), 511 (attempting to commit offence), 452 (House-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) and 7/8 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act..

According to a senior police officer, the accused was a separated man and had been giving tuitions to the girl for the past four months.

"He was a characterless man as his wife had also left him five years ago because of his wrong doings," said a senior police officer.
Gandhinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit poll-bound Gujarat on November 27 and 29, 2017 to spearhead the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign.



On Monday, he is scheduled to visit Kutch and Saurashtra region to address four public meetings ahead of the December 9 and 14 elections.



He will arrive in Bhuj on Monday morning to address a public gathering at RR Lalan College`s ground. Thereafter, he will visit Saurashtra region`s Jasdan and address a public meeting at Vichhiya Road.



Then he will visit Chalala and address a public gathering at the Gayatri Mandir Maidan on the Chalala-Dhari Road.



His last public address will be at Kadodra Aankdamukhi Hanumanji Mandir.

Tomorrow I begin my rallies across Gujarat. My first rally will be in Bhuj, Kutch. This district is close to my heart. Its spirit of resilience after the 2001 quake was seen by the world. Since then, Kutch has seen record progress, which has benefitted all sections of society. November 26, 2017

Tomorrow I would address rallies in Jasdan, Dhari and Kamrej. Guided by the Mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas we are committed to taking Gujarat to even new heights of growth and building on the good work done in the last two decades in the state.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 26, 2017

On reaching Gujarat tomorrow, I will first go to Mata no Madh in Kutch and seek the blessings of Ashapura Mata.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 26, 2017

Meanwhile, BJP leaders, including many senior Union Ministers, on Sunday took a sip of tea in all the 182 constituencies of poll-bound Gujarat as they listened Prime Minister`s `Maan ki Baat` with party chief Amit Shah taking part in an event in an Ahmedabad Assembly segment.

Other leaders such as general secretary Ramlal heard PM Modi`s radio address at Ellis Bridge in Dariyapur constituency while Union Minister Piyush Goyal was there at the event in Porbandar.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley joined the programme late in Sabarmati as his flight got delayed, and also addressed a rally later.

(With IANS inputs)
Hyderabad: The Special Operation Team (SOT) of Rachakonda Police recently apprehended three human traffickers and rescued a victim from Uzbekistan from their possession.

On a tip-off, the team busted an online sex racket.

In addition, Rs 25,000 cash, one Chevrolet car and five mobile phones were seized from their possession.

The apprehended Inter-state trafficking organiser namely Jogeshwar Rao and his associates Gopal and Gopi trafficked the Uzbekistan National into prostitution by arranging customers.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that courts cannot force a husband to "keep his wife" as it asked a man, a pilot by profession, to deposit Rs 10 lakh as interim maintenance for his estranged wife and upkeep of their son.

The apex court restored the bail order of the Madras High Court which was cancelled after the husband refused to comply with the compromise agreement.

"We cannot force a husband to keep his wife. It's a human relationship. You (man) deposit Rs 10 lakh with the trial court which will be withdrawn by the wife unconditionally to meet her immediate requirement," a bench of justices Adarsh Goel and U U Lalit said.

When the counsel appearing for the man said that the amount be reduced, the bench said that apex court is not a family court and no negotiations can be held.

"If you agree to deposit Rs 10 lakh immediately, the bail order would be restored," the bench said.

The counsel then agreed to deposit Rs 10 lakh but sought some time.

"We are inclined to restore the order of bail in view of the statement made on behalf of the petitioner that the petitioner will deposit a sum of Rs 10 lakh with the trial court within a period of four weeks," the bench said.

It said that the amount may be withdrawn by the wife unconditionally, so that she can meet immediate requirements for herself and the child.

"The said amount will be subject to adjustment in any future proceedings. The parties are free to reach mutual settlement for rehabilitation, as was earlier proposed. Accordingly, the order of bail will stand restored subject to above stipulations," the court said.

It directed that the pending proceedings may be completed by the trial court, as far as possible within a period of three months, as already directed by the high court.

The Madurai bench of Madras High Court had on October 11, cancelled his anticipatory bail saying the man has entered into a compromise memo with the complainant but contrary to the compromise memo, he had gone back from his promise and filed an evasive counter affidavit to wriggle out from his responsibilities.

It had noted that the very first condition of the memo that he would take her and their child to his place of working along with himself has not been fulfilled and under the pretext of reunion has made the wife to drop the departmental action that was initiated against him.

The high court had also noted that due to the false promise, the life of their child is in limbo as a transfer certificate has been obtained from the school.

It directed the police to complete the investigation and file the charge sheet before the trial court within three months.

The husband was booked under various sections of IPC including dowry harassment.
Kolkata: Amid controversies about growing threat on "security and privacy" with the digitisation of economy, a former official of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Sunday raised concern upon how digital companies are taking control over global economy.

"The platform provided by digital companies is not limited to only commerce. It has been expanded to logistics, finance, payments and others areas. Digital companies have now expanded to cover a large part of the economy without any governance.

"Digital companies are taking over control over global economy, which is a concern," said Supachai Panitchpakdi, a former Secretary General at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

In his address at the Horasis Asia Meeting, co hosted by the West Bengal government and the Indian Chamber of Commerce, he said that the "proliferation of Chinese companies" in the "digital space" in Asia and Southeast Asia in particular, was also a "concern".

"They are buying up production, trading units, inventories and others in Asia, particularly in Southeast Asia," he said.

Asked whether digitisation of economy could lead to a threat to security and privacy, he said, "Yes, of course."

Panitchpakdi advocated for bringing "more monitoring and governance" or "regulatory" measures on digital companies.

He also said the Asian countries have been going for "cash less" economy or "less cash" economy and what it promotes is easy consumption and according to him, too much focus on consumption could lead to disruption.

Asked about thrust on digital economy being given by the Indian government, he said: "I think India needs more savings than consumption. Cashless society must make people understand that consumptions have to be well planned."
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today stressed on the need for the three pillars of the Indian democracy -- government, judiciary and bureaucracy -- to strengthen each other and work together for a new India.

The three pillars of democracy are all members of one family and should work together to strengthen one another, Modi said.

There is a need for them to brainstorm on how to move forward in the present scenario, he said.

Addressing a gathering here to mark the National Law Day, Modi said instead of pointing at each other's weakness, the three pillars of democracy should work together for a new India.

He also emphasised on the Indian Constitution's important role in the country's overall development after independence and said it has withstood the test of time.
AHMEDABAD: The Election Commission (EC) has issued a notice to the archbishop of Gandhinagar for asking Christians to pray to save the country from "nationalist forces" in the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly polls.

Issuing a letter addressed to the Christians, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar, Thomas Macwan, had last week urged the members of the community to save the country from "nationalist forces" as its "democratic fabric" was at stake, amidst a growing "sense of insecurity" among the minorities.

In Gujarat's political circles, the appeal was seen as an indirect call to vote against the ruling BJP.

Gandhinagar Collector and District Election Officer Satish Patel said that the EC issued the notice after taking cognizance of media reports and asked the archbishop to clarify his intention behind issuing such a letter.

"We have issued a notice to the archbishop, seeking clarity over his intention behind the letter, which was widely publicised in the media. We have given him a few days' time to respond. We will decide on the future course of action on the basis of his reply," Patel said.

He added that the letter seemed to be aimed at "confusing" the voters of the minority communities and misguiding them when the poll code was in force in the state.

"We understand that the letter was an attempt to misguide the voters and confuse the minority community voters at a time when the model code of conduct is in force. Such a language should not be used," Patel said.

In an official communique dated November 21, Macwan had appealed to the Christians to organise prayer services at parishes and convents, "so that we may have such people elected to the Gujarat Assembly, who would remain faithful to the Indian Constitution and respect every human being without any sort of discrimination".

"The democratic fabric of the country is at stake amidst a growing sense of insecurity among the minorities, other backward classes (OBC), backward classes, poor etc.," he had said.

"The results of this election are significant and will have repercussions and reverberations throughout our beloved nation. It will influence the future course of our country.

"We are aware that the secular and democratic fabric of our country is at stake. Human rights are being violated. The constitutional rights are being trampled. Not a single day goes without an attack on our churches, church personnel, faithfuls or institutions," he said.

"The recitation of the Holy Rosary at individual, community, family and parish levels will be of great help. Encourage your faithful to pray the Rosary," he said.

In the letter, the archbishop had also cited examples of how such prayers saved Europe during the victory at Lepanto, referring to the battle of 1571, in which the Holy League of Venetian and Spanish empires had defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf of Patras, and how the "protecting hand of our beloved Mother Mary defeated communist governments and dictators in a number of countries".

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases -- on December 9 and 14. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.


ISLAMABAD: Several religious parties "contacted India" as deadly clashes ensued between Islamic protesters and police and paramilitary forces on Saturday that killed at least one person and injured 200. The Pakistani government later called in the army to control the situation.

The country's Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal claimed that protesters "contacted India".

"Why they did it, we are looking into it. They have inside information and resources that are being used against the state," Iqbal told a Pakistani daily Dawn News.

The admission came amid intense scrutiny faced by the country from several international quarters over sheltering terror outfits.

Earlier on Thursday, Mumbai blasts mastermind Hafiz Saeed was released from jail in Pakistan. India and US strongly condemned the act, with the later calling for his immediate re-arrest and prosecution.

"They are not your average citizens. We can see that they have various resources at their disposal. They have fired tear gas shells [at security forces], they also cut the fibre optic cables of cameras that were monitoring their protest," added Iqbal.

At least 200 persons, including 137 security personnel, were injured in the clashes as police tried to disperse the demonstration on Saturday. Forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets and demonstrators blocked roads and burned police vehicles around the site of the sit-in. As the violence intensified, protests sprouted in the major cities of Lahore and Karachi, as well as smaller towns across the country.

The interior minister claimed that the government, acting on court's order, was trying to evict protesters from Faizabad since last Friday.

"We have made all peaceful efforts, but we are forced to act as the group has not budged. These people do not know that anti-Pakistan elements are using this to spread malice against Pakistan," said Iqbal.

"We are all Muslims and believe in Khatm-i-Nabuwwat. There is no threat to Khatm-i-Nabuwwat," he asserted.

Khatm-i-Nabuwwat  an oath that election candidates must swear  is what triggered the clashes.

Pakistan`s law minister Zahid Hamid reportedly amended a clause in the oath. Protesters allege that the changed clause is regarding belief in the finality of Prophethood. Demonstrators have linked it to blasphemy - a highly contentious issue in Muslim Pakistan - and claim the oath was softened to enable the participation of Ahmadis, a long-persecuted Islamic minority sect.

It is a charge that Hamid has denied. "God forbid, we cant even think of doing such a thing.



With AFP and PTI inputs
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today suggested installing of "justice clocks", which rank the best performing courts of the country, at various court premises to encourage competition among judges in disposing of cases.

Addressing a gathering at a National Law Day event here, Modi said competition helps in faster development.

As of now, such a clock is installed at the office of the department of justice here, which shows the best disposal of cases among courts.
New Delhi: There can be no compromise on a citizen's fundamental rights, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra said on Sunday.

"The fundamental rights are in the core value and the bedrock of the Constitution. An independent judiciary with the power of judicial review has been conferred with the power of the ultimate guardian of the Constitution to strike a balance. To ensure that respective governments are functioning as provided by the law within their respective domains," he said.

There can be no compromise with the citizen's fundamental rights, the citizens' rights have to be at the pinnacle," Justice Misra emphasised at a function organised by the apex court to celebrate Constitution Day.

He made the remarks while responding to the assertion of Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad that governance "must remain" with those elected to govern.

On Prasad's remark that "PILs cannot become a substitute for governance", the CJI said the Supreme Court believed in and practised "constitutional sovereignty".

Calling the Constitution a 'lucid' and 'living' document, he said, "The Supreme Court of India today believed that we are only under Constitutional sovereignty and we shall practise it".

Though no right was absolute, there should be no fetters which "destroy the central dogma of the constitution", the CJI said.

Justice Misra further said that the focus of the judiciary should be on reducing pending cases, rejecting frivolous litigations and stressing on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to settle cases.

On the other, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded the Constitution and said it was the only document which has tied the whole nation with immense diversity together.

"It was not easy to make a historical document (Constitution) which binds a country which has more than a dozen sects, more than 100 languages and more than 1700 dialects and people living in places with various beliefs," he said while delivering a valedictory address on the National Law Day.

The PM added that the Constitution was not just a book but also contains social philosophy.

"On this day, 68 years ago, we decided the direction in which our country will move, those rules and laws were given by the Constitution and it is a day to remember those people who formed these epic documents," he added.

PM Modi stressed that the three arms of the government - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary - needed to work together and move in the direction of 'New India'.

"Unfortunately we have not been able to remove our internal weaknesses, so many years after independence. We need to think about it at all levels," he said.

He also said, "Baba Saheb said that Constitution is workable, flexible and has the power to unite the nation in times of war and peace. He also said if a wrong was done, it will not be the fault of Constitution but the institution which is making people abides by the constitution."

The PM appealed the nation to come together and work towards the strengthening of India.

"India is a young nation. To strengthen it, all the constitutional bodies will have to come together and work towards it," he added.

The National Law Day is marked on November 26.

(With PTI and ANI inputs)
SURAT: Days after Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed was released from house arrest, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley lashed out at Pakistan on Sunday.

Agar unhone (Pakistan) aaj ke kaand (26/11 attack) se 2 din pehle us apradhi (Hafiz saeed) ki rihayi ki hai, to puri duniya ek aawaz me bol rhi hai, ki aisa desh jo aatank ka samarthan karta hai, uske liye puri duniya ke parivaar me koi jagah nahi hai (Pakistan released accused Hafiz Saeed two days before 26/11 attacks. The entire world is now speaking up against it, saying a country that supports terrorism has no place in the world), said Jaitley while addressing a rally at Surat.

The finance minister further claimed that no Lashkar commander will be able to survive the onslaught on Indian security forces.

Pichhle 8 mahine se ye haal hai, ki jo Lashkar ka commander banega wo zyaada din nahi bachega (In state of affairs in 8 months is such that no Lashkar commander will be able to survive), added Jaitley.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation through radio message Mann Ki Baat, paying tribute to people who lost their lives in Mumbai attacks.

Saeed, Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT) co-founder and Jammat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief, was released from detention by a Pakistan court. The move was condemned across the world.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday lashed out at Pakistan over Hafiz Saeed's release, saying that a self-confessed global terrorist has been released.

"India, as indeed the entire International community, is outraged that a self-confessed and a UN proscribed terrorist is being allowed to walk free and continue with his evil agenda," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

The United States too condemned the Saeed's release, warning of repercussions if he isn't immediately re-arrest and prosecuted.
NEW DELHI: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval reportedly held secret telephonic conversations with his Pakistani counterpart Lieutenant-General Nasser Khan Janjua, confronting Islamabad on Pathankot terror attack of January 2016.

Doval confronted Janjua with evidence that challenged Islamabads claims of being unable to locate key suspects Kashif Jan and Shahid Latif who attacked the Pathankot Air Force base along with four others, sources told The Indian Express.

The duo also discussed Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorists.

The dialogue between the two NSAs has survived despite growing tensions between the two neighbouring nations. However, Dovals confidence in the dialogue process is reportedly swaying with Janjua unable to arrest the terrorists under possible resistance from Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.

Another reason for Doval's talk to Janjua was to test Islamabads situation under Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasis government.

Pakistan released Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest on Thursday. The move was condemned world over. The US called for his immediate re-arrest and prosecution, saying there will be repercussions for US-Pakistan relations unless Islamabad took action to charge Saeed.
Islamabad: In the wake of Islamabad sit-in, Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa recently called up Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, suggesting to handle the protest peacefully.

"COAS telephoned PM.Suggested to handle Isb Dharna peacefully avoiding violence from both sides as it is not in national interest & cohesion," Official spokesperson of Pakistan Armed Forces Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor tweeted.

The Army Chief weighed in after the protests spread to other main cities, including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar, following the crackdown against the protesters in Islamabad, reported the Express Tribune.

Earlier on Saturday, a number of reports claimed that the troops were called in Islamabad to restore peace after a police crackdown on protesters went violent, but it turns out, the army hasn`t been deployed.

According to sources, the civilian government requested the Commander 111 Brigade directly, as per the mail that was leaked to the Pakistan media, violating the protocol. The proper channel would have been through the Chief of Army Staff General (COAS), Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Several hours later, there was no sign of any army movement in Islamabad or Rawalpindi.

The crackdown was launched after negotiations failed and the protesters defied the orders of the top courts of the country to end their sit-in as it had paralysed life in the capital.

Reportedly, major social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, have also been blocked in the country.
MUMBAI: Pakistan has released 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed from "house arrest" in a bid to increase terrorist activities in India, Union minister Hansraj Ahir said today.

Calling Pakistan the "enemy" of the Kashmiri people, the minister of state for home said Islamabad was uncomfortable with Indian security forces eliminating militants in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Pakistan is uncomfortable with the way Indian security forces were eliminating terrorists. Even Saeed's relative, a terrorist, has been killed by our security forces. To give a boost to terrorist activities, Saeed has been released (from detention) by the Pakistani government," Ahir said.

He was speaking at an event commemorating the bravery of security force personnel during the Mumbai terror attacks. On November 26, 2008, ten heavily-armed LeT terrorists launched co-ordinated attacks in Mumbai in which 166 people died.

Saeed is the founder of the terrorist group Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT). He has an American bounty of USD 10 million on his head for his terror activities.

Pakistan freed him from "house arrest" on Friday, two days ahead of the ninth anniversary of the horrifying attacks.

"Terrorism is not letting us live. I can say it clearly that Kashmir's enemy is Pakistan. Even the Kashmiris agree to this," Ahir said.

The minister said the Indian government has increased the amount it spends to purchase new equipment and modern weapons for security forces to improve the internal security.

He claimed the Union government has succeeded in curbing the Naxal activities and preventing terrorist attacks in the past three years.

"The Naxal attacks have come down by 20-25 per cent. The government is also working on bringing down instances of smuggling through the coastal areas," he said.


MUMBAI: On the anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that Pakistan must do more than what it says to fight terrorism.

He added that the Indian government has been putting pressure on Pakistan to take action against terrorists breeding on its soil.

"The government of India's stand is very clear. We have been putting pressure on Pakistan, absolutely making very clear that it's breeding ground for terrorism and not doing enough to contain terrorism on its soil. They must do much more than what they say in words," Rijiju said.

His comments come at a time when Pakistan released Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed from house arrest.

Condemning Hafiz Saeed's release, the Ministry of External Affairs had lashed out at Pakistan saying that a self-confessed global terrorist has been let off.

"India, as indeed the entire International community, is outraged that a self-confessed and a UN proscribed terrorist is being allowed to walk free and continue with his evil agenda," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said.

Not just India, the United States had also called on Pakistan to ensure that the JuD chief is arrested and charged for his crimes.
RAJKOT: Actor-turned-politician Paresh Rawal on Saturday apologised for allegedly comparing the royals (raja) and music (vaja) with monkeys (vandra) amid the raging debate over the release of Padmavati.

His comment did not go down well with the Rajputs who took it to heart. Apologising for the remark, he said: "My statement was not on the Rajput community. They are a splendour community in India and they make us proud. Nothing wrong will come out of my mouth against such a brave community."

He also said that his comment was aimed at the "Nizam of Hyderabad." "If anyone was hurt by the statement I would like to apologise for it," he said.

He had made the statement while remembering Sardar Patel at a recent rally in Rajkot.

Soon after his statement, the Karni Sena had warned him for the same. Members of the Karni Sena have been protesting in various parts of the country claiming that they Rajputs have been wrongly depicted by director Sanjay Leela Bhansali in his movie Padmavati.

They were lathicharged by Haryana Police after they protested outside the deputy commissioners' office in Gurugram on Saturday.

Based on the life of a Rajput Queen Rani Padmavati, the movie is facing the ire of right-wing groups over alleged tampering with historical facts, a charge which Sanjay Leela Bhansali has categorically denied.

The release of the movie which was earlier slated for December 1 has been deferred till an indefinite.
There seems to be no end to attacks by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In his latest tweet, the Gandhi scion has said, PMs pet Make in India project just died.

Referring to a report on possible exit of Tata Nano from Gujarat, the Congress leader alleged that taxpayers money worth Rs 33,000 crore was turning to ash with this development.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modis ambitious Make In India programme, the Gandhi scion tweeted, PMs pet Make in India project just died. 33,000 crores of Gujarati taxpayer money turned to ash. Who is accountable?

This comes a day after the Congress leader attacked PM Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, questioning the modus operandi of the Rafale deal.

"Arun Jaitley gave a long press conference and talked extensively about the Rafale Deal. There are only few questions that I want to ask him - First what was the price of the aircraft? Was your price more or lesser than the price of the UPA?" he said.

Posing his second question, the Congress vice president asked that the Hindustan Aeronautical Limited, a company that from the past 60-70 years is making aircraft, was sideline on what basis and why was a contract given to an Industrialist with no experience in making aircraft?

He continued, "Third question that I want to ask is did Narendra Modiji or Arun Jaitley seek permission from the Cabinet Committee, where the Finance Minister sits as well?"

Rahul further asked whether or not Prime Minister Modi completed this work without any procedure.It said that on an average the Gujarat Nano plant is producing just two cars on an average daily.

Rahul alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi single-handedly finalised the Rafale fighter jets deal without following the due procedure.

"When Modi ji went to France, he changed Rafale contract, without consulting anyone. Instead of giving contract to company which knows how to build an aircraft, he gave it to his industrialist friend who knows nothing about it. Defence Minister was in Goa then," he said.
New Delhi: There has been a spike in transgressions by China into the Indian territory in October-November, 2017, according to Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) records.

As many as 31 incidents of transgressions were recorded in Depsang Area, Trig Height and Thakung Post (Pangong Lake) sectors in October-November, The Indian Express reported.

The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) troops entered as far as 20 km into Indian territory, the report quoted ITBP as saying.

The first transgression took place in Ladakh sector on October 12, 2017. PLA personnel are said to have entered Trig Height area by a vehicle and first drove two km inside Indian territory.

Later, as per the report, they drove another six km and then after a couple of days again entered six km into Indian territory, this time by boats on the Pangong Lake. The incidents reportedly took place on October 14 and 21, 2017.

Then on October 31 and November 5, 2017, PLA personnel are reported to have entered 19 km into Indian territory at Pangong Lake area.

Some transgressions have been reported in Uttarakhand also. The PLA soldiers are said to have flown into Indian territory on October 12, 2017.

Further, incidents of transgression were reported in Dichu and Asaphila areas in Arunachal Pradesh on November 1 and 2, 2017.

However, the Daily quoted a senior ITBP officer as saying, There is no need to be alarmed. Such incidents are regular. The Chinese troops come and leave. The problem will start if they camp at some place."

The force was raised in 1962 in the aftermath of the Chinese aggression.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam since June 16, 2017, after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed area by the Chinese Army. Bhutan and China have a dispute over Doklam.

The MEA on August 28, 2017, had announced that both sides were disengaging from the face-off site.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: Recalling the sacrifices of brave citizens in the Mumbai terror strikes nine years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said terrorism posed a global threat "almost as a daily routine", and stressed it had to be fought unitedly.

Modi said even a few years ago, when India talked about the threats of terrorism, not many in the world were ready to take it seriously.

"Now that terrorism is knocking at their doors, every government in the world, those who believe in humanity, governments with faith in democracy, are seeing this as one of the biggest challenges," he said in his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat'.

Terrorism, the prime minister said, threatened humanity across the world.

"Terrorism has taken an ugly shape and has become a global threat almost as a daily routine... Terrorism has challenged humanity. It is bent upon destroying humanitarian forces. So not only India but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism," he said in his address.

India, he stressed, was the land of Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavir, Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi and gave the message of love and non-violence to the world.

Modi said while November 26 was observed as Constitution Day, the nation could not forget that on this day nine years ago, terrorists launched attacks across Mumbai.

"The country remembers and bows to those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives then. This country can never forget their sacrifice," he said.

He also recalled the role of the Indian Navy in war and peace ahead of Navy Day to be celebrated on December 4.

While most navies of the world allowed women on their warships only in later years, a large number of women played leading roles in the Chola Navy, about 800 or 900 years ago, he said, referring to the Chola Empire.

He said while many recall the role of the navy in war, the force had also played a key part in extending humanitarian aid to India's neighbours.

On the Armed Forces Flag Day observed on December 7 every year, Modi said this was a day to take pride in, and to show respect to the country?s armed forces.

He said between December 1 and December 7, a campaign is being organised to spread information about the armed forces.

"Throughout the week every one, old or young, should wear the flag... Experiences and acts of valour of those from the armed forces...Can be posted on a hashtag for the armed forces flag day (#armedforcesflagday)," he suggested.

He said this was also an occasion to collect funds for the welfare of jawans, for dependants of those killed and the rehabilitation of those injured during wars. He pointed out that cashless donation was also possible.

To mark World Soil Day on December 5, Modi wondered what would happen if there was no fertile soil in the world.

"The very thought is dreadful. There will be no soil, no plants and trees will grow... Serious damage is caused because of an excessive use of urea. Can our farmers... Resolve that by 2022, when we complete 75 year of our independence, they will cut down the urea usage to half of what is being used presently," he asked.

Wishing people on the occasion of Id-e-milad-un-nabi, to be celebrated in the coming days, he said in the new year, people should forget their sorrows and remember their joys.

"Can?t we share five of our positive life experiences of the past year? Come, let us share our positive experiences with #PositiveIndia on the Narendra Modi App or MyGov portal.

"If you remember positive events, then you will be in a mood to do good around you," he said.
JAIPUR: Chief minister Vasundhara Raje on Tuesday called on Union Minister for Water Resources, Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi and requested him to expedite pending irrigation, river projects and release funds.

Rajasthan for a long time has been raising demand to declare Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) a national project so the Centre can share 60 percent of the its cost estimated at Rs 37,000 crores. Raje raised the very demand again before Gadkari.

Raje told him that Centre should assist the project which has been planned to meet water demands of 40 per cent population of state. The project has been envisaged to provide water to two lakh hectares land spread in 13 districts, she said. Gadkari once again assured her to consider the request.

The minister apprised Raje that his ministry has approved Rs14 crores for restorations of 36 water resources project. The first installment of the fund will be released soon for restoration and repairing of 36 projects, said Gadkari, quotes a statement released by Raje office.

Meanwhile the CM has floated several proposals demanding financial assistance of Center to support the projects. Raje urged him to approve Rs2000 crores to restore and repair Sirhind and Rajasthan feeder so the civil works could expedited to complete the project by April 2018. Similarly, she asked Center to nod Parwan project giving more financial assistance to it.

The Center has to release its share of Rs328 crores for Narbada and Gang Canal projects. A request has been made by Raje to release outstanding amount of Rs328 crores as the Central share for the projects Narbada and Gang Canal Project during the meeting. said the statement.

PROPOSAL APPROVED

Raje has expressed joy over union agriculture ministrys move to approve additional procurement proposal of moong floated by Rajasthan. The ministry of India has approved Rajasthan govts proposed additional 1,24,000MT Moong.
JAIPUR: Two days after 40-year-old Chetan Saini was found hanging on the outer walls of Jaipur's Nahargarh Fort with messages on Padmavati row on a nearby rock, the police has recovered his cellphone.

Saini reportedly took several selfies which are still saved on his mobile. The cops have handed it over to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) for examination. They are further examining if any video was

Meanwhile, Saini's family has ruled out suicide angle and called his death a 'murder'.

"My brother cannot commit suicide, it appears to be a murder. Will demand an investigation into the death. He has nothing to do with the threat note written on rocks Padmavati," said Ram Ratan Saini, brother of the deceased.



Controversial notes were found scribbled on a rock near Saini's hanging body.

It said, "Padmavati ka virodh. Hum putle nahin jalate....latkate hain (Padmavati protest. We don't burn effigies, we hang them)".

The release of Sanjay Leela Bansali's mythical-period drama Padmavati has now been postponed following massive outcry across the country from several quarters.

Protesters issued threats against the director and actors, alleging the depiction of romance between Padmini and Delhi Sultnate ruler Alauddin Khilji insults the Rajput community. The filmmakers have denied the allegations.

It protests tuned grotesque with Saini's death and the scribbled messages. Other such writings in the fort also hinted the death could be a fallout of protests, sparking sensation in Rajasthan's capital city.

"It's premature to comment on the issue. Investigations are on," said Satyendra Singh, DCP Jaipur (North) told DNA.

Lokendra Singh Kalvi of Karni Sena, at the forefront of protests, said the incident was regrettable. Rajput leader Giriaj Singh Lotwara demanded a probe and said everything should not be linked to the Padmavati controversy.

Police sources added that the writings could be an attempt to mislead investigations since the deceased is not a Rajput.

On Saturday, members of Rajput Karni Sena on Saturday launched a fresh protest against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmavati'. The police resorted to lathicharge to control the protests.
KANPUR: Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers allegedly beat up toll plaza workers in Jalaun. The incident was captured on Closed-circuit television or CCTV.

In the footage reported by Times of India, a group of people, alleged to be BJP workers, are seen inside the toll plaza building. The group start thrashing and hitting the workers. One person even lifted up a chair to throw at the workers. The scuffle goes on for a while.

The incident took place on Saturday morning when these BJP members were travelling from Kanpur.
NEW DELHI: While Hadiya on Saturday said that she was not forced to convert to Islam, her father's lawyer is denying to accept her statement on face value.

"What Hadiya is saying cannot be accepted at its face value because she was made to say so, and that is our impression. Her behaviour with her family was not normal. Whatever she has said to the media cannot be taken as her own free comments," her father's lawyer said.

Hadiya has been at the centre of controversy over her conversion from Hindu to Muslim.

On Saturday, Hadiya said "I am a Muslim. I want to go with my husband. Nobody forced me to convert."

She will be produced before the Supreme Court in connection with the Kerela 'love jihad' case on November 27. She was brought to Delhi on Saturday amid heavy police security. Her parents are also accompanying her for the hearing.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court had sent her to her parents KM Asokan and Ponnamma, who alleged that her marriage is a case of 'love jihad', and annulled her marriage to Shafin.

The case is under the consideration of the apex court, which had ordered the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to look into it.On September 16, Jahan filed a plea in the top court and requested to call off the NIA probe, alleging that the investigation agency "is not being fair".

On October 30, the Supreme Court directed her father to produce her on the next date of hearing.On November 21, Hadiya`s father moved a fresh application in the top court seeking direction for audio and video recording of the hearing.
New Delhi: Ahead of the November 27 hearing in an alleged `love jihad` case, Kerala woman Hadiya arrived in Delhi on Saturday to appear before the Supreme Court.

Before leaving from Kochi Airport, Hadiya told reporters, "I am a Muslim. I want to go with my husband. Nobody forced me to convert."

24-year-old Hadiya has been in the headlines after she converted to Islam following her marriage to Shafin Jahan.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court had sent her to her parents K. M. Asokan and Ponnamma, who alleged that her marriage is a case of `love jihad`, and annulled her marriage to Shafin.

The case is under the consideration of the apex court, which had ordered the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to look into it.On September 16, Jahan filed a plea in the top court and requested to call off the NIA probe, alleging that the investigation agency "is not being fair".

On October 30, the Supreme Court directed her father to produce her on the next date of hearing.On November 21, Hadiya`s father moved a fresh application in the top court seeking direction for audio and video recording of the hearing.

On November 23, the NIA submitted a status report in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court in connection with the case.
Kolkata: Fresh graduates will be given "rent-free space" for churning out big ideas at the proposed Centre of Innovation here, West Bengal IT Secretary Debashis Sen said on Sunday.

The state IT and Electronics Department has prepared a blueprint that would soon be placed before the Cabinet for approval, Sen said at the conference on 'Innovation 2017: Next Big Ideas', oragnised by the CII.

The innovation centre, at the IT Park being built at Bantala in the city, is expected to be operational in the fiscal year 2018-19, Sen said.

A team of experts, headed by the director of IIT-Kharagpur Partha Pratim Chakraborty, would oversee the screening process of the new innovators.

Interested graduates would have to submit a short project report, merit and quality of which would determine selection.

"The state government's vision is to improve the living standard of the common masses. The IT and Electronics Department will evaluate the performance of a student innovator every six months and decide whether he/she can continue," he said.

It will also consider offering scholarships to bright students, Sen said, adding, the upcoming centre would involve top academics, scientists, industry members as mentors.
BHOPAL: A youth in Madhya Pradesh, who had swallowed 263 coins, nails, needles and broken iron chains, was recovering on Sunday after doctors carried out a major surgery on him to remove the objects from his body.

The doctors at a government hospital in Rewa took nearly three hours to remove the foreign objects from his body.

He reportedly had swallowed the objects some six months ago.

We have removed 263 coins of Rs two, five and 10 denominations as well as nails and broken iron chains from the stomach, a media report quoted one of the doctors, who operated on him, as saying.

The coins valued Rs 790. It seems he is mentally deranged. He was in a serious condition when he was admitted to the hospital. He was now showing sign of improvement, he added.
Bhopal: In a landmark move, the Madhya Pradesh Cabinet on Sunday approved handing out death sentence to rape convicts in cases involving girls of 12 years and below.

The Cabinet also passed a resolution for death sentence for gang-rape convicts and approved the amendment in the penal code to increase the fine and punishment for rape convicts.

Once cleared by the assembly, the bill for capital punishment for rape of girls aged 12 or below will be sent to the Centre which will send it to the President for his approval.

The move comes after multiple cases of sexual violence against girl child and women surfaced in the state.

A differently-abled girl was allegedly raped in Damoh in Madhya Pradesh on Friday.

Earlier in November, the director of a centre for differently-abled children in Khandwa was arrested for allegedly raping two minors.

Also, a 12-year-old girl was found dead at her residence in a semi-naked state in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh on November 05.

The incident had come days after a 19-year-old daughter of a police couple was gang-raped by four men in the capital city of the state.

The incident caused much furore on the social media. The four men allegedly tied the girl and took turns to sexually assault her.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2015, released in August last year, showed that Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases (4,391) in the country.

According to the NCRB data for 2014, the state reported 5,076 rape cases, which was 14 percent of the total rape incidents reported in the country.

In 2013, 4,335 rape cases were reported in the state as against 3,425 in 2012.

(With ANI and PTI inputs)
Bhopal: A woman constable met Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to complain about the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), who allegedly sexually harassed her.

The woman constable working in Bhopal alleged that she was sexually harassed by Additional SP Rajendra Verma and hence, reached the Chief Minister`s house to talk about the negligence in her case.

"I met Madhya Pradesh CM and asked him why no action had been taken. The Chief Minister assured action against the culprits," she said.

She further said that her mental status is disturbed due the incident, post which Chief Minister Chouhan advised the constable to go on a three to four-month leave.

An FIR has also been lodged against the accused.

However, the woman constable has also alleged that the investigation was not taken seriously and has complained to the CM.

The victim narrating her ordeal said, "I wanted him (ASP) suspended as he is still sitting in office."

She also said the people are blaming her and looking at her as if she has "done something wrong."

Earlier this month, a 19-year-old civil services aspirant was allegedly abducted by four men and gang-raped near the Habibganj Railway Station in Bhopal. All the four accused are in custody.
New Delhi: The government should reduce GST on brokerages to 12 percent as well as scrap taxes on securities transactions and dividends, according to a leading stock brokers' group.

As preparations for the Union Budget 2018-19 is underway, the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (Anmi) has flagged concerns about the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime creating "some difficulty" in the financial market.

Post GST, the burden of taxation on the transaction charges has increased, the grouping said in a representation to the finance ministry.

"Rate of GST applicable on brokerage for share transaction is 18 percent which is on much higher side and has further inflated the cost of transaction. We appeal to reduce the rate of GST to 12 percent in the ensuing Budget," it added.

Besides, the brokers' group has requested the finance ministry to do away with the securities transaction tax and abolish dividend tax for growth of the capital markets.

According to the grouping, the STT plays a detrimental role in enhancing liquidity and creation of depth in Indian capital market.

"Removal of STT will encourage more liquidity and profitability in India, which in turn will increase depth in Indian capital market as well as more participation," the grouping said.

STT is the tax on transaction of equities as well as their derivatives and accounts for a bulk of the transaction cost after deducting the brokerage fee.

Further, Anmi has suggested for rationalising the STT calculation method for option trading by removing certain anomaly.

"Dividend distribution tax (DDT) should be done away with or the rates should be brought down to be nearly negligible" and amendment to Section 14A, Rule 8(d) of the Income Tax Rules are the two other demands for reforms by Anmi.

The applicability of Section 14A has impact on dividend income. DDT is levied at almost 20 percent on the company for distribution of dividend to its shareholders.

The tax burden for brokerages has been increasing over the last three years - it has risen to 18 percent from 12 percent, Anmi said.

Also, the brokers' body has said market intermediaries like sub-brokers should be exempted from registration under GST as they don't raise any invoice for clients directly but only through the brokerage.

It also asked that GST return should be submitted quarterly in order to promote 'ease of doing business' instead of monthly returns.

Stating that the stock broking community is the backbone of the capital market, Anmi reiterated its demand to give an industry status to the broking business.
New Delhi: Market manipulators have hooked onto dark web and private chat groups on messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram for sharing 'multibagger' stock tips and unpublished price sensitive information about listed firms.

This has prompted the exchanges and the regulator to beef up the 'whistleblower' framework to encourage people, including investors and those working with various market intermediaries, to anonymously give a tip-off on such groups.

The shift to these platforms follow an enhanced vigil by the capital markets watchdog Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and the stock exchanges on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, while the regulator can also seek call data records from telecom firms for its probe.

According to multiple sources from the industry, regulatory authorities and exchanges, the manipulators often disguise the price sensitive information about listed firms as 'heard on the street talks', while stock tips are also shared as 'multibaggers' -- a term used for multi-fold returns.

The two leading exchanges -- BSE and NSE -- have systems in place wherein anyone can submit a tip-off through a toll- free phone number, email or directly on their websites.

The tip-off can be shared by the whistleblower with or without sharing his or her details.

As it is difficult to track the dark web platforms and several new 'secure' messaging apps that keep propping up, the regulator and the exchanges are focussing on their surveillance systems to check any manipulative activities.

One proposal being considered include some kind of reward for them, an official said. However, this idea is at a very initial stage as of now, he added.

Once a tip-off is received, the exchanges can look into the trade history and forward the matter to Sebi if any suspected manipulation is noticed.

The markets watchdog can seek call data records (CDRs) of all the persons involved in alleged leak of unpublished price sensitive information, the official noted.

Sebi has powers to seek call data records, excluding the exact content of the communication, from telecom firms.

CDRs generally list out the number of conversations between two or more entities and are different from phone- tapping, where an agency can snoop on or record telephonic conversations of those suspected to be engaged in some wrong- doings.

Under Sebi rules, all the financial details of listed companies should be disseminated only through exchanges as they are considered price-sensitive.

These material news or rumour floating in the social media can have potential impact on the sentiments of investing population which can further impact price or volumes of securities traded on exchange platforms, officials said.

BSE and NSE have already implemented social media analytics using artificial intelligence to track rumours and news reports on various web platforms including Twitter and Facebook about listed companies and their impact on the stock prices.

Alerts generated by social media solutions are closely monitored by the exchanges and are passed on to surveillance teams for any material information.

Meanwhile, Sebi and exchanges have already started examining trade details of over two dozen firms, including several listed blue-chip firms, as part of a probe into alleged leak of key financial details of these companies through WhatsApp.

The exchanges are analysing the trade data of the last 12 months of such companies in order to detect any possible breach of norms while Sebi is taking the help of data warehouse and its intelligence systems.

While the regulator has already taken action in several such cases so far, it is investigating a number of others involving similar activities, the official said.

The regulator has already taken action against several entities for providing investment advice without registration. These included MCX Biz Solutions, Moneyworld Research and Advisory, Global Mount Money Research and Advisory, GoCapital, CapitalVia Global Research and one Imtiyaz Hanif Khanda and his maternal uncle Vali Mamad Habib Ghaniwala.

Besides, Sebi has stepped up its investor awareness campaign on these issues. Further, Sebi, in August, had got the help from telecom regulator Trai to curb fraudulent bulk SMSes that entrap gullible investors with stock tips promising huge financial gains.

Last year, Sebi had floated a consultation paper to ban unauthorised trading tips through SMSes, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, as also games, competitions and leagues relating to the securities market.

However, the regulator is yet to put in place a final regulation in this regard.
MUMBAI: On November 26, 2008, Mumbai was attacked by 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). One of the most dreadful terrorist attacks in Indian history, the incident killed at least 164 people and injuring several hundred. Today marks the ninth anniversary of the attack.

Recalling the events of the day, Mohd Taufeeq, a tea seller at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station said, I still get disturbed whenever I think of that moment (26/11 attacks). I rescued many injured people, the situation was devastating. I am just waiting for the day the real mastermind sitting in Pakistan is caught.

My daughter was just 9 years old when she got shot. It was traumatic. Yes, we are happy that Kasab was hanged. But we will not be satisfied till the real mastermind sitting in Pakistan is punished, said the father of 26/11 attacks survivor Devika.

Recalling he emotions on seeing Ajmal Kasab in court, Devika said, "When I saw Kasab in the courtroom I was livid. I wished I had a gun in my hand, would have shot him there. Anyway, Kasab was a mosquito, hope someday the big terrorists are brought to book."

"I went into depression after the incident. My relatives had no chance to escape. Happy that perpetrators were either killed or punished. Hafiz Saeed is in Pakistan, would be ideal if Indian Govt gets him here and punishes him," says Rahim Ansari who lost 6 relatives in 26/11 attack.

The mastermind of the attacks  Hafiz Saeed, the co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and the chief Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JuD)  was freed from house arrest by Pakistan on Thursday.

His release was condemned internationally, with the White House issuing the statement calling for his immediate re-arrest and prosecution on Thanksgiving holidays. It is rare for the US government to issue a statement during the holidays, but the State Department felt that the issue was urgent enough to ignore this tradition.

Lashing out at Saeed's release, the Ministry of External Affairs said that India is outraged that a self-confessed terrorist has been allowed to walk free.

"India, as indeed the entire International community, is outraged that a self-confessed and a UN proscribed terrorist is being allowed to walk free and continue with his evil agenda," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

With ANI inputs
A woman, who was literally apprehended at a private hospital in Patna, was on Sunday allowed to go home. The woman had given birth to a baby in the hospital, and had since been kept in the hospital allegedly over dues.

Local newspaper Prabhat Khabar had published the news of the woman at hospital, following which Member of Parliament Pappu Yadav pressured the hospital administration to free the woman.

According to reports, the stitches of the woman were not cut even 12 days after delivery.

In the presence of the civil surgeon are the region, Yadav sought the documents of the hospital, but the administration could not produce the same. The civil surgeon assured to act against the hospital.

The Sheetala Emergency Hospital waived off Rs 25,000, the pending dues of the victim, but also paid Rs 10,000 to her as an aid. She was sent to her home in Madhepura in an ambulance.
Shimla: The Lahaul-Spiti district magistrate on Saturday issued an order to close the road from Lahaul region to Manali.

This road was opened by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for two days.An evacuation exercise was undertaken by the BRO and rescue teams to save the stranded people from snow-bound Lahaul.

A heavy bout of snowfall has suspended the road connectivity to the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti leaving locals including patients stranded.

The inclement weather conditions prevailing over the last few days have made it impossible for vehicles to pass over this road stretch.
New Delhi: The existence of extraterrestrial life has been a topic of heated debate for years. While many UFO/alien hunters are confident about alien existence, there are also those who deny it.

2017 has been quite an eventful year when it comes to incidents of UFO spotting. While there have been no solid explanations for many of them, at least one mystery has been solved.

Reports of a UFO spotted in Google Maps and Google Earth photographs had been doing the rounds. A mysterious shape in the middle of a field had sparked questions.

A large triangle with bright lights evenly placed around it had been seen in Australia at coordinates 3030'38.44"S 11522'56.03"E.

(Image courtesy: Google Earth)

The triangle was first discovered in 2007 and had piqued the interest of many UFO enthusiasts.

Many were quick to claim it was a triangle UFO which had been captured hovering above Earth. However, on closer inspection, it was revealed that it doesn't actually anything to do with aliens at all.

The 'UFO' is actually the Alvernia Studios, used for films, as well as features for video games and music projects.

Meanwhile, a 2011 archive footage of NASA's shuttle launch has resurfaced after a strange white object was spotted.

UFO hunters across the internet have gone into a frenzy by the find, claiming it is evidence of an alien craft.

The shimmery white spectacle can be seen in the clouds alongside the fuel tank discarded from the space shuttle Endeavour after it blasts off for its final mission in May 2011.

(Image courtesy: YouTube)

The old footage, originally posted on NASA's official YouTube channel, has been dug up and re-examined by UFO enthusiasts. It was re-uploaded to the channel UFO Today, which is dedicated to "the UFO phenomena".

The channel has interpreted the object as the "White Knight Satellite"  a rumoured extra-terrestrial craft that has been secretly orbiting the Earth for thousands of years.

It can be seen in the clip when the fuel tank is jettisoned from the NASA craft minutes after take-off.

(Video courtesy: UFO Today)

While NASA has been quite outspoken about their doubts on alien existence, Tony del Genio, co-lead of NASA's NExSS project at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York has said that the discovery of alien life may only be a couple of decades away, Mirror.co.uk reported.

"I think that in 20 years we will have found one candidate that might be it," he said.

Del Genio recognises that alien life may well exist in forms and places so bizarre that it might be substantially different from Earth.
Hyderabad: A massive security cover will be thrown around the city with deployment of over 10,000 policemen as the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), being attended by US President Donald Trump`s daughter Ivanka Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, begins on Tuesday.

Telangana Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy told reporters on Saturday that all security arrangements have been made for the peaceful and smooth conduct of three-day event, which will be attended by 1,500 delegates from India, the US and other countries.

He said Ivanka will arrive at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad in the early hours of November 28 and will leave in the evening of November 29.

Modi will arrive at Begumpet Airport in the afternoon of Tuesday and will reach Miyapur in a helicopter. After inaugurating Hyderabad Metro project and riding in the train to Kukatpally and back to Miyapur, he will leave for Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), in a chopper.

The police chief said after attending GES inaugural session, Modi, Ivanka and other delegates reach Taj Falaknuma, a palace hotel in the old city, to attend the dinner hosted by the Indian Government.

After the dinner, Modi will depart from the airport at Shamshabad.

The force which will be deployed by Telangana police include personnel from anti-terrorist unit OCTOPUS, and anti-Maoist force Greyhounds.

The police chief said 50 dog squads and 40 teams for anti-sabotage checks will be pressed into service.

Anti-sabotage checks, access control, road openings, CCTV surveillance system, security vetting of individuals and quick reaction teams will form part of security arrangements

Reddy said the security arrangements were made in close coordination with US security agencies and Special Protection Group (SPG) and as per the security and protocol guidelines of the Indian Government for foreign dignitaries.

A command and control centre has been opened at DGP`s office to monitor security arrangements while a control room will work at HICC. The Police Commissioners of Hyderabad and Cyberabad will be incharge of security in their respective jurisdictions.

Besides the airports, helipads, HICC, Falaknuma, Miyapur and Kukatpally Metro stations, tight security will also be in place at 21 hotels where the delegates will be staying and also at Golconda Fort, where the Telangana government is hosting a dinner for delegates on November 29.

Eleven senior officers have been made incharge of security at the venues, hotels, airports and other places.

The DGP denied reports that Telangana policemen were asked not to be in their uniforms. "They will wear uniforms wherever required," he said.
Surat: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday accused the Congress of always trying to "degrade" Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and creating "hurdles" in his getting the Bharat Ratna.

Addressing a gathering at Limbayat Assembly constituency here, Adityanath also claimed that the Congress opposed the proposal put forward by Patel to restore the Somnath temple.

The UP chief minister congratulated the people for not letting Congress win a single seat in Gujarat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Referring to Mahatma Gandhi's call to disband Congress, Adityanath said the people were realising the dream of 'Bapu'.

"Gujarat feels proud of iron man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. If Maryada Purushottam Bhagwan Shri Ram united India culturally from north to east, then it was iron man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who united India politically," he said while campaigning for local BJP candidate and MLA Sangita Patil.

"You know that Congress always tried to degrade Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Congress had protested his proposal for the restoration of the Somnath temple as the party did not want it. When Sardar Patel took up the task to unite India's cultural heritage, Congress was the first to oppose," he claimed.

"Congress never hesitated in demoralising Sardar Patel at every step. It created hurdles so that he did not get (the highest civilian honour) 'Bharat Ratna'. It was made possible only when (former Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee proposed the same saying that Sardar Patel was a great son of India and has a huge contribution in India's unification," Adityanath said.

The UP chief minister also said the party that stood in opposition of Sardar Patel was today trying to stop Gujarat's development march.

"Our biggest identity is our spiritual and cultural heritage which we have received from our forefathers. India's identity and people's patriotic feeling are the characters of this country.

"The world is looking at Gujarat elections. The state will again pass through 'agni pariksha' (test by fire) and will carry forward the 'gaurav gatha' (the path of progress) which (Narendra) Modiji took up," he said.

Polling in Gujarat is scheduled to take place on December 9 and 14.
Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday rejected new elections and wanted to form a new government quickly, as a consequence of the failed government coalition talks with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens.

"The people have voted, and I absolutely do not favor, if we can`t do anything with the result, asking people to vote again," Merkel said at a party conference of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Kuehlungsborn, northeast Germany, according to Xinhua news agency.
Dhaka: The Bangladesh High Court on Sunday started delivering the verdict in the death sentence of 152 convicted soldiers of the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) over the killing of 74 people during the 2009 mutiny at the border guards' headquarters here.

A three-member bench of the High Court began reading out the verdict, which comes four years after a lower court handed down death penalty to 152 BDR mutineers, but adjourned till tomorrow.

"It is a long verdict and the court will require time to go through the entire judgment...It is unlikely that the bench could deliver the entire verdict today," a court official said.

The full text of the verdict is said to be of about 10,000 pages.

The bench said they will not be able to deliver the order today as it will take them some more time to finish the observation part and move to the next. The bench, however, did not fix the date for delivering the order in the case.

A Dhaka court had awarded death penalty to 152 jawans and non-commissioned officers of the erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), which was renamed as the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), in November 2013.

The court sentenced 158 to life imprisonment, three to 10 years of imprisonment to 251 others, and acquitted 271.

The BDR jawans had been accused of masterminding the mutiny plots, torturing and killing their officers, looting their belongings or keeping their family members captive during the rebellion.

They had also killed eight civilians, eight fellow BDR soldiers who apparently were opposed to the revolt and an army soldier apart from the 57 military officers.

Legal experts had called it the country's biggest ever criminal trial in which some 800 ex-paramilitary soldiers had been accused of the murder of 74 people, including 57 military officers during the revolt in February 2009.

The bench heard the death references and appeals for over a year during which BDR's former deputy assistant director Touhid Ahmed, a soldier-turned-officer, appeared as the key leader of the mutineers. He was also given the capital punishment.

Two civilians, who were awarded the life term, included former lawmaker of main opposition BNP Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and Awami League leader and ex-BDR soldier Torab Ali as they were found guilty of collaborating with the mutineers.

Pintu died few years ago.

Bangladesh had renamed the mutiny-stained force as BGB in 2012 under a massive reconstruction campaign that also witnessed the changes in the border force's law, uniform, flag and monogram as part of desperate efforts to free the force from the stigma of rebellion.

The rebel BDR soldiers staged the mutiny, alleging "deprivation", at the force's Pilkhana headquarters in Bangladesh capital on February 25, 2009. It soon spread at the frontier force's sector headquarters and regional units across the country.

The soldiers turned their guns on their commanders, shot them from close range or hacked and tortured them to death. They hid their bodies in sewers and hurriedly dug graves and also held captive their frightened family members and humiliated them in barracks.

They had set the date for staging the revolt coinciding with the annual Darbar or meeting of ordinary soldiers with the top brasses while the then BDR chief Major General Shakil Ahmed was their first victim.

The casualties took place at Pilkhana alone during the mutiny when the rebel soldiers outside Dhaka defied the command, took charge of the armoury and came out of their barracks confining their commanders from military inside.

The rebels went on a killing spree during the 33-hour revolt at Pilkhana when they also murdered the then Dhaka sector chief Colonel Mojibul Haque and other army officers.

The mutiny was a challenge for the newly elected government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It also angered the army officers as they lost 57 colleagues serving the paramilitary border force on deputation.
New York: With an aim to cause distrust among supporters of the Islamic State, young Iraqi hackers have launched an online operation where they stick pornographic images into the terrorist group's official communication channels, the media reported.



Daeshgram, whose name is mix of "Instagram" and "Daesh" -- a word used to refer to the IS -- is infiltrating messages on media sites and spreading fake information on encrypted application Telegram, often used by IS supporters.



"Our intention was to flood the market with fake Amaq content in order to dilute the credibility of Amaq, a so-called news agency," a Daeshgram hacker was quoted as saying to Newsweek.



"Daesh responded by telling supporters not to trust any of the Amaq links. They even had fights among themselves about the topic and deleted each other from various groups," the hacker added, referring to ISIS and its followers by the acronym Daesh.



In one of its first acts, Daeshgram photoshopped an image of a naked woman into a video announcement made by the IS leaders about the opening of a new media centre in Syria.



The video appeared as if the IS leaders were viewing the pornographic picture.



"We wanted Daesh to know that we are inside their groups to create a level of paranoia and distrust," the hacker told Newsweek.



"Many Daesh clicked on it and saw it as fake. The odd thing is that when Daesh marked the content as fake, even more Daesh clicked on it to understand why a genuine looking link and content is fake," he noted.



The hacking group also hit the terrorist group's media site Amaq with a distributed denial-of-service attack, which floods a website with such a large quantity of incoming traffic that it is forced offline.



The hackers then created an identical version of the page with messages that mocked the radical Sunni group's ideology, Newsweek added.



The activities were the result of months spent studying the extremist group's online messages to accurately mimic the way they posted.



It sparked controversy and confusion within pro-IS Telegram groups as supporters scrambled to understand which information was real and who was betraying them.



The hackers hope their activities will ultimately weaken the IS and work to delegitimise it.



"Go on Telegram and you will see that Daesh are confused about Amaq and don't trust it. So we think we have been successful to an extent, and we are only six people," the Daeshgram hacker said.



In 2016, an anonymous hacker Wachula Ghost disrupted IS social media accounts by filling them with gay porn.


Beirut: Russian air strikes on Sunday killed 34 civilians, among them 15 children, in a village held by the Islamic State group in Syria`s eastern Deir Ezzor province, a monitor said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit the village of Al-Shafah, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Observatory relies on a network of sources inside Syria, and says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.

Russia is a close ally of Syria`s President Bashar al-Assad, and in September 2015 began a military intervention in support of his government that has gradually helped Damascus regain territory.

Syria`s Deir Ezzor is one of the last places IS jihadists hold territory in the country, after being driven from their major strongholds including their one-time de facto Syrian capital Raqa city.

The oil-rich eastern province that borders Iraq was once almost completely under IS control, but the jihadists now hold just nine percent of Deir Ezzor, according to the Observatory.

They have faced two separate offensives there, one led by the regime with Russian backing and the other by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.

More than 340,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
Dubai: Saudi Arabia's assertive crown prince today opened the first high-level meeting of a kingdom-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism, vowing that extremists will no longer "tarnish our beautiful religion."

Mohammed bin Salman's words come as the Islamic State group, which sparked the creation of the alliance, has been driven out of Iraq and lost its self-described capital in Syria.

However, the alliance doesn't include Iran, Iraq or Syria, while member nation Qatar sent no one to attend the one-day Riyadh gathering amid a diplomatic standoff between Doha and four Arab nations led by the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia announced the alliance in December 2015, when the crown prince was still only the kingdom's defence minister.

Since then, his father King Salman has elevated the 32- year-old prince to be next in line for the throne in the oil- rich kingdom. The crown prince also recently put a number of wealthy princes, businessmen, military leaders and others under arrest over corruption allegations at various luxury hotels in Riyadh.

The alliance, initially announced with 34 nations, now includes 41, according the Saudi government. Addressing the defence ministers and other high-ranking officials, Crown Prince Mohammed said today's meeting sends "a strong signal that we are going to work together and coordinate together to support each other."

"The biggest danger of this terrorism and extremism is the tarnishing of the reputation of our beloved religion. ... We will not allow this to happen," he said. "Today we start the pursuit of terrorism and we see its defeat in many facets around, the world especially in Muslim countries. ... We will continue to fight it until we see its defeat."

The crown prince also offered his condolences to Egypt, which suffered an attack Friday by Islamic militants on a mosque in northern Sinai that killed 305 people.

"This is indeed a painful event and it is a recurrent and strong reminder the dangers of this terrorism," he said.

The meeting did not include Iran, which has aided embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad in his country's civil war and backed Shiite militias crucial in pushing the Islamic State group out of Iraq.

The Sunni kingdom is the Shiite power's archrival in the Mideast and remains concerned about its influence in the region after Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Saudi Arabia also leads a coalition of nations fighting in Yemen against Shiite rebels there who have Iran's backing. Saudi Arabia also made a point to put Qatar, absent from the gathering, at the end of the list of 41 countries that belong to the anti-terrorism alliance.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties to Doha in June, partly over allegations that Doha supports extremists and has too-close ties to Iran. Saudi Arabia also closed its land borders, sea ports and airspace to Qatar.
November 21, 2017

CAIRO  Egypt has officially announced that the technical negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan over the Renaissance Dam have failed. The announcement came following a round of tripartite deliberations between all the countries' ministers of water in Cairo on Nov. 11 and 12 regarding the completion of the impact assessment of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Egyptian Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty said in a Nov. 12 statement, Egypt is worried about the failure of the technical negotiations because it jeopardizes the future of cooperation between Sudan and Ethiopia and their ability to agree on the Renaissance Dam and to avoid its potential risks while preserving Egypts water security.

The statement of the Egyptian Ministry of Water and Irrigation was a bold revelation of the reality of the negotiations behind closed doors. The negotiations began when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Ethiopian and Sudanese counterparts signed the Declaration of Principles in March 2015 as a cooperation framework on the Renaissance Dam issue.

Ever since, Egypt has taken part in a series of deliberations involving experts and state officials. However, despite the deliberations, the two most contentious points concerning the filling and operation of the dam remain unresolved.

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia had formed a tripartite national committee that chose two French consultancy firms to conduct a technical study on the hydraulic, environmental, economic and social impact of the Renaissance Dam on Egypt and Sudan. After agreeing on the terms and the implementation method of the studies, contracts were signed in September 2016 to conduct the studies over a period of 11 months.

But the disputes began surfacing when the consultancy firms started their work.

In the statement issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Egypt accused Sudan and Ethiopia of trying to introduce amendments to the Declaration of Principles "in their interest, knowing that such amendments would undermine the results of the studies and render them useless.

An official in the Egyptian negotiation delegation revealed to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity the real reasons behind the dispute, saying, Egypt wants the technical studies to produce clear results about the negative effects of the Renaissance Dam on its water security, in particular the impact on water flow rates to the High Dam lake, the impact on the salinity in Egyptian agricultural lands in the Delta and the drop in electricity generation in the High Dam. But Ethiopia and Sudan are trying to direct the studies in a way that portrays the Renaissance Dam as having positive impacts and plays up shared interests.

The official added, The most contentious issue is the impact of the Renaissance Dam on Egypts current utilization of [its historical share of] the Nile Water guaranteed under the 1959 agreement, which Ethiopia refuses to acknowledge. The dispute is pivotal, and the Egyptian delegation cannot let it go it because it is a pillar to ensuring Egypts water interests.

The official noted, Sudan raised another issue of dispute related to the suitability of the mechanism to measure its share of the Nile Water, estimated at 18.5 billion cubic meters.

He went on, Egypt realized the danger of wasting time on the technical track in light of the intransigence of the other parties. It was important to reveal the truth after its efforts to use legal and technical arguments to support its stance in the course of the negotiations failed. A plan to take diplomatic, legal and technical action to garner regional and international support for the Egyptian position is underway.

Sudan condemned Egypts statement. Sudanese Ambassador to Egypt Abdul Hamid Abdul Mahmoud told Al-Monitor, Egypts reaction stirs suspicion about the future of negotiations and does not pave the way for any sort of action, be it in the interest of Egypt or any of the negotiating parties.

He asserted, Sudan has tried to save the technical and political negotiations, and it has the right to take the path that would serve its interests best.

Cairo did not stop with the press statement. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir on Nov. 14. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry released a press statement in the wake of the meeting, saying, The kingdom understands Egypts concerns over its water security and the importance of committing to the rules of international law.

Egypts Cabinet issued a statement during its first meeting following the Nov. 15 negotiations, saying, We will take the necessary measures on all levels, since water security is central to Egypts national security.

Rawiya Toufic, assistant professor at the University of Cairo and researcher at the German Development Institute, told Al-Monitor, Egypt finally admitted the failure of the technical track, which reached a dead end.  Egypt still has to outline the next steps to overcome the crisis.

She went on, The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Irrigation as well as the cabinet should take action in the next phase to clarify Egypts stance on all levels to the public at home and abroad.

Toufic argued, Egypts presidential intervention at this point will bring nothing new to the table. The presidential summit of the Nile Basin countries in Uganda in June proved that. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Irrigation should take the lead now and give a clear idea of Egypts stance, the concessions it expects Ethiopia to make and what Egypt can offer in return.

On Egypts escalatory steps so far, Toufic commented, Legal action at this point might not give decisive results in Egypts favor, because there is no tangible harm done yet. Besides, the political tools are weak amid the complex regional context. Gulf countries are preoccupied with their disputes and do not hold real cards to pressure Ethiopia. Eritrea is also fighting its own internal demons, and Sudans stance is known and grows firmer by the day.

With the deteriorating negotiations that have not produced any solutions to appease Egypts concerns about the Renaissance Dam, the Egyptian administration has no options left but to expose the truth of what is happening at the negotiation table and focus on direct ways of coming to agreements.

But like most Egypt's moves in the matter, any further efforts are likely to come too late, as the Declaration of Principles recognizes Ethiopias right and sovereignty in building and operating the dam without binding it to any written pledges to involve Egypt in the storage and operation processes.
Untouched sharable bikes on China's sidewalks are now being gathered in a massively grim pile of failed business endeavors.

Thousands of the bikes were dumped in the Chinese city of Xiamen after the country's third largest bicycle sharing company went bankrupt, according to The Guardian. Bluegogo, who claims to have had 20 million users at its peak, shut down its operations earlier this month due to a market apparently inundated with affordable shared bikes.

The pile contains multiple-colored bikes from all three companies. These bike sharing systems still have a healthy environmental impact, but overeager venture capitalism left behind an unfortunate mountain of aluminum and polymer.

Bluegogo's CEO Li Gang seems to have said it best when he described himself as "filled with arrogance" in an open letter apology. Gang also cited criticism for running a promotion on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests showing bike icons depicted as tanks for contributing to the company's downfall.
If Trump FCC chairman Ajit Pai had confined his attack on Net Neutrality to merely rolling back the 2015 Title II rules, he might have gotten away with it; but like the Republican plan to kill Obamacare, the Republican plan to rob the middle class to enrich billionaires, and, well, every other Republican plan in this administration, Pai's plan is so grotesque, so overreaching, so nakedly corrupt that it is likely to collapse under its own weight.



That's because the Supreme Court has held that a federal agency contemplating a significant change in policy must "examine the relevant data and articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action." But there are no new facts in evidence since the first Net Neutrality rules were enacted in 2004 to justify a change. We don't know what evidence Pai will bring to court when it comes time to fight his plans, but the cards he's played so far are hilariously weak: for example, he claims that the 2015 Title II rule led to a decrease in infrastructure investment by telcos. In fact, the telcos' own filings and investor calls reveal that the reverse is true (Pai is entitled to his own opinions, but not his own fact).

US democracy has many structural deficits, but it also has strengths, and Pai has blundered into them. The first is that the administrative branch is composed of "expert agencies" like the FCC and they are legally required to provide strong evidentiary backing for their actions. As Tim Wu  the competition and internet legal scholar who coined the term "Network Neutrality"  writes in the New York Times, "A mere change in F.C.C. ideology isn't enough."

The other structural strength of the US system is the independent courts who act on a well-litigated Constitution whose jurisprudence is voluminous, and who have the power to overturn both the administrative branch and Congress. Again, these are far from perfect, but they are an important check on the abuse of political power, and they are much more readily available to the public than the other two branches. To saw Congress, you have to buy a majority of Congressjerks with campaign contributions; to capture a regulator, you must represent an industry that can offer them lucrative employment after they leave government life; to use the court to neutralize these other branches, you need only convince three appeals court judges or five Supremes that the Constitution supports your position.





While the courts are packed with Republican appointees (thanks to GOP Senate dirty tricks in refusing to approve judicial appointments under Obama, all the way up to a vacant Supreme Court seat that Trump stole), there is a well-established moderating effect of judicial service on long-serving judges, because working your way up through the federal courts requires a showing of adherence to the Constitution, which, overall, favors policies at odds with the right-wing agenda.

This means that when Pai's plan gets to the courts, it stands a good chance of being struck down  and in any event, the court battle may last until 2020 and serve as a good argument to spur voters to vote against Trump and thus change the FCC leadership, mooting the whole point.



But Mr. Pai faces a more serious legal problem. Because he is killing net neutrality outright, not merely weakening it, he will have to explain to a court not just the shift from 2015 but also his reasoning for destroying the basic bans on blocking and throttling, which have been in effect since 2005 and have been relied on extensively by the entire internet ecosystem. This will be a difficult task. What has changed since 2004 that now makes the blocking or throttling of competitors not a problem? The evidence points strongly in the opposite direction: There is a long history of anticompetitive throttling and blocking  often concealed  that the F.C.C. has had to stop to preserve the health of the internet economy. Examples include AT&T's efforts to keep Skype off iPhones and the blocking of Google Wallet by Verizon. Services like Skype and Netflix would have met an early death without basic net neutrality protections. Mr. Pai needs to explain why we no longer have to worry about this sort of threat  and "You can trust your cable company" will not suffice. Moreover, the F.C.C. is acting contrary to public sentiment, which may embolden the judiciary to oppose Mr. Pai. Telecommunications policy does not always attract public attention, but net neutrality does, and polls indicate that 76 percent of Americans support it. The F.C.C., in short, is on the wrong side of the democratic majority.

Tim Wu: Why the Courts Will Have to Save Net Neutrality

[Tim Wu/New York Times]





(Image: Chris Potter, CC-BY)
AskMen's Ultimate Guide to Manscaping

The Dos and Don'ts of Manscaping Every Guy Needs to Know

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

All illustrations by Sarah Bean. Product photos from retailer site.

Manscaping. The term itself can be a bit off-putting  its vague, mysterious and downright intimidating if you dont know what it implies or how to do it correctly. But its actually a false alarm; manscaping is just the guy way of saying body grooming. It means smelling good, keeping your parts in order and making a good impression on others in addition to feeling good about yourself. (Yes, manscaping can have a positive effect on your confidence levels.)

Are you going to feel better about yourself going on a blind date knowing that youre ready for an intimate evening just in case? Its simple logic: Manscaping isnt something to be afraid of, but rather embraced. Especially if you expect your partner(s) to maintain a certain appearance or beauty standard, you owe it to them to return the favor. And trust us, youll feel more relaxed heading into any close encounter knowing that youre in your best form.

RELATED: What Women Think About Pubic Hair

Manscaping isnt about excessive grooming either  its not a given that women appreciate a guy whos obviously spent hours in front of the bathroom mirror any more than a man who neglects the area completely. You dont need to buy a bunch of useless products and you dont need to be someone youre not. Its simply about polishing up your natural assets and showing pride in the person you want to present to others.

What Is Manscaping?

First, lets start with an official definition. Google states that manscaping is the removal or trimming of hair on a man's body for cosmetic effect.

Although simplified, hair control is the essential component of manscaping, although the definition could be expanded to include other grooming tasks. In any case, however, the real question you should be asking is: How to manscape? Well, to understand the male grooming practice is to examine its full range, which could involve outlining one specific region of the body, or its entirety.

Best Manscaping Trimmers, Tips, and Tools

Wax. Razor. Trimmer. Scissors. Choose your weapon. Each one complements another and works best on specific body parts. Trimmers mow down hair most efficiently, while razors come into play once hair is cut short or to stubble length, giving the blades enough room for a sleek shave. Keep these grooming instruments on your radar.

Equinox Professional Razor Edge Series Hair Cutting Scissors

The most basic of trimming tools, these grooming scissors arent only for the hair on your head. Take these professional level scissors to your pubes with confidence thanks to high quality Japanese stainless steel and a comfortable, ergonomic design. Start by trimming your pubes and get comfortable with those before you go below to your balls.

$19.97 at Amazon.com

Philips Norelco Body Groomer

A 3D pivoting shaving head combined with a built-in trimmer hosting five length settings, the Body Groomer practically accommodates every major body part. Abs. Chest. Shoulders. You name it. Even operate it as an electric shaver to earn a velvety mug. The self-sharpening blades will cut through shrubbery without any lubrication.

$69.50 at Amazon.com

Braun Grooming Kit

Mowing the entire lawn requires a one-stop manscaping shop. Braun blesses you with a full-on electric razor grooming kit designed for precision control across the body. The bundle comes equipped with four combs covering 13 precision setting lengths, plus a few other attachments and a Gillette Fusion ProGlide manual razor for final touches.

$41.99 at Amazon.com

Mangroomer Ultimate Pro Back Shaver

Not a beard trimmer in design, Mangroomers extended trimmer is a godsend for grizzlies struggling to manage their back and rear, propelled by two shock absorber flex heads and a Power Burst mode that shaves over super-thick hair with finesse. The ultra-sensitive blades are hypoallergenic to warrant long-term use, and the ergonomic rubberized grip of the handle supports maximum control for stabilized trims.

$49.99 at Amazon.com

Meridian The Maintenance Package

The Meridian body groomer has made quite a name for itself in the sensitive skin shaving game. This waterproof trimmer isnt like those other trimmers your private parts have seen before. Specifically designed to trim the hair down there, and not your facial hair, this electric trimmer uses sensitive skin shaver technology to keep shaving rash at a minimum. We suggest you opt for the full  package  with these two backup blades and the citrus-scented ball spray that helps with odor neutralization and skin irritation.

$95 at MeridianGrooming.com

Andis Personal Trimmer

Eyebrow hair, ear hair, and nose hair  arguably three of the most misunderstood spots on a mans body. The Andis portable trimmer has the grooming prowess to clean up your mug in all areas with recessed cutting blades for closer, safer trims. Pack the device in any dopp kit when traveling or store it in the cabinet with a protective cap to preserve blade sharpness.

$15.59 at Amazon.com

Gillette Fusion5 ProGlide Razor

Sure, you could use a disposable razor, but flexibility is everything in a razor, especially when aiming below the belt. The Fusion5 ProGlide Gillette razors support patented FlexBall Technology to let the razor head contour every angle and shape of the body. The streamlined comfort guard and enhanced lubrication strip adds relief and security to the chore.

$12.97 at Amazon.com

Best Manscaping Tools for Waxing

Nightmares of Steve Carrell having his chest transformed into a checkers board run rampant as we speak. The scary truth is that the more hair you have, the more painful the waxing experience is going to be. Follow protocol and trim first, or better yet, have a professional do it. Once in the waxing phase, results can last as long as four to eight weeks, with hair growing back softer (and thinner) than before.

Parissa Men's Wax Strips

These cold wax strips come 20 per box and are sized perfectly for the back, chest and shoulders. Each strip can also be cut to manage smaller spots. Perfect for last-minute touch ups or when heading on vacation, they make for great quick fixes and help eliminate the messiness that usually comes with at-home wax application.

$10.49 at Amazon.com

VidaSleek Waxing Kit

Listen, if youve never waxed yourself before, this might not be the best place to start. However, if youre one familiar with the wax, its hard to go wrong with this VidaSleek kit. This is one of the most effective amongst men thanks to its all-natural contents (lemon, salt and sugar derived from honey). Equipped with two wooden spatulas, a 10 oz jar of all natural wax and eight non-woven wax strips, it pulls hair at the root-level to meet your Brazilian needs.

$19.99 at Amazon.com

RELATED: I Got a Brazilian Wax for Men and This Is What I Learned

GiGi Starter Hair Removal Waxing Kit

If youre really looking to learn how to wax at home, this Amazon best seller is a complete waxing set which most customers claim is easy to use with the wax heating at perfect temperatures to dab across the body. Inside are professional-grade products including a wax warmer, Brazilian hard wax, wood sticks, pre-epilation oil and post-wax cooling gel.

$43.12 at Amazon.com

Best Manscaping Creams and Sprays

Creams and lotions get no love these days. Shame seeing as this category of products has helped lay down the foundation for many manscaping routines. Interestingly, the results are said to last just as long, if not a little longer than a complete shave. It's not laser hair removal, but it's a lot easier to keep up with than shaving hair, with shaving cream, shaving foam, or whatever else it takes to create a smooth pubes free surface. Furthermore, using these liniments will naturally exfoliate your skin  certainly a bonus.

Nair Hair Remover Spray

Nairs affordability and simplicity has made it a consumer favorite depilatory cream for over 20 years. Now packaged in an easy spray, it works best on limbs and the back and chest areas. However, its ability to activate while in the shower is what differentiates it from the crowd, producing a cleaner wipe-down removal. Spray it on, wait 10 minutes, then let the shower rinse it off.

$7.79 at Amazon.com

Nad's Hair Removal Depilatory Cream

All manscaping groin jokes aside, Nad's four minute lotion is suitable for every body part, including your balls. Aloe Vera is one of its signature ingredients to protect and soothe skin after eradicating it of rough hair right from the hair follicle. If you can tolerate the less-than-lovely scent, then consider your testes as smooth as Dominic Torettos dome.

$5.99 at Amazon.com

Moom Organic Hair Remover

Moom maintains its all-natural integrity with a phenomenal hair removal topical suited for your underarms, legs, underwear line  even your face. It takes the pros of both waxing and sugaring, blending it into one complex minus the drawbacks of its counterparts. Tea tree oil is the signature ingredient used here to repair and sterilize skin, plus the inclusion of chamomile helps to fade out spots and treat acne scars.

$20.04 at Amazon.com

Pre-Manscaping Essentials

A whole world of hurt awaits if you attempt manscaping on poorly skin. Same shaving dos and donts you practice on the face apply when manscaping your junk. Now meet the go-to products you should adopt before moving ahead.

Baxter Of California Exfoliating Soap

Shower gels are cool but theres more bang for the buck in Baxters 3-in-1 exfoliating bar soap. Not only will you scrub off grime from the skins upper layer, but the product features rich ingredients to nourish skin without stripping moisture. Leave your coat feeling cleansed and refreshed right out of the tub before taking a blade to your bits.

$19 at Amazon.com

eShave Pre Shave Oil

Mainly used for facial purposes, shave oils soften hair and protect the skin from irritation. eShave offers a great selection  cucumber, orange sandalwood and verbena lime  each well mixed to keep skin moisturized and protected from colder, dryer temps. Cover the body part being groomed with a few drops and massage it in to give the razor smoother glide action.

$22 at eShave.com

Harry's Shave Gel

Natural ingredients. Rich lather. Soothing texture. Harrys aloe-enriched formula relaxes hair and skin, not to mention the gel forms a cushiony layer for superior razor glide to execute close shaves and protect your sheath against razor burn, irritation, nicks and cuts. Then theres the manly scent that sticks to your skin, doubling nicely as a fragrance for at least a short period  Something to keep in mind before sex.

$5.99 at Target.com

Dr. Carver Shave Butter

A shaver cream, gel, and oil blended into one beautiful product, DSCs top-selling shaving aide borrows elements from every popular facial salve and comes in translucent form for seamless blade guidance. Its consistency is so silky  blades wont clog and you'll reduce the risk of cuts and the formula is loaded with gentle ingredients to fight off ingrown hairs and razor bumps.

$7 at DollarShaveClub.com

Post-Manscaping Routine

Hair removal takes its toll on the skin. Apply these skincare solutions to keep your skin feeling great before and after manscaping.

Fur Oil

The companys hero product is formulated with active ingredients to simultaneously soften hair in between manscaping as well as tackle razor bumps, irritation and ingrown hairs post-shave. Gently rub it into problem areas and allow absorption. Its potent yet soothing ingredients include grape seed oil to hydrate, clary sage to soothe redness and tea tree oil  a powerful antimicrobial  to prevent ingrowns.

$46 at FurYou.com

Anthony Ingrown Hair Treatment

Several ingrown hair treatments are available to rid the body of coarse and curly threads. One of our favorites is Anthonys specialty hair serum, which uses glycolic acid to rid skin of dead cells. This in turn releases ingrown hairs by freeing bacteria under the skin and calming inflammation.

$34 at Amazon.com

Grooming Lounge Super Body Powder

This is the talcum powder youll fancy to help keep your privates comfortable and dry at all times. Use it anywhere (except the face) to avoid odorous funk, in addition to reducing itchiness. A light, fresh scent is an added touch since its suitable for all skin types.

$19 at Amazon.com

Manscaped Crop Preserver Ball Deodorant

Additives used in common spray deodorants and antiperspirants can lead to some gnarly jock itch. Manscaped sells a much milder solution  an all-in-one deodorant that also acts as a moisturizer for the boy downstairs. The cleverly-named Crop Preserver uses a fast-absorbing gel talcum formulation with antibacterial and anti-chafing protection to give your balls some relief during long shifts.

$12.99 at Manscaped.com

How to Manscape Body Hair

Some get a rush flexing hairless chests at the beach. Others love the reaction they get in the bedroom unveiling their crown jewels. But what exactly falls under the manscaping pyramid remains a mystery to most guys. The reality is your whole body is fair game  tip-to-tail  and we all have our own sweet spots. So, to guide you in the right direction, weve provided a full breakdown of all the major sections to consider deforesting, alongside expert manscaping tips, illustrations, and yes manscaping treatments.

Remember, you can do as much or as little manscaping to your body hair as you feel comfortable with. While some will naturally prefer less body hair, others will enjoy maintaining a bit of their wild side. All are valid options and dont be afraid to see a professional the first time around to learn the ropes.

How to Manscape Your Groin

Some get a rush flexing hairless chests at the beach. Others love the reaction they get in the bedroom unveiling their crown jewels. But what exactly falls under the body hair manscaping pyramid remains a mystery to most guys. Reality is your whole body is fair game; we all have our different sweet spots. So, to guide you in the right direction, weve provided a full breakdown of all the major sections to consider deforesting, alongside expert manscaping tips, illustrations, and yes, manscaping treatments.

Note: Remember, you can do as much or as little manscaping as you feel comfortable with. While some will naturally prefer less pubic hair, others will enjoy maintaining a bit of their wild side. All are valid options.

Step 1: Trim and Apply Shave Gel

Depending on the situation down there, a pair of hair-cutting shears might suffice, though make no mistake, electric clippers perform better. The different guard lengths and shave settings will remove the bulk of pubic hair. Head below the waist at a 45-degree angle and transition your way down to the perineum  the area between the anus and scrotum commonly referred to as the taint.

Lets be clear: Vision is key here so we must insist on using shaving gels. They work best for lifting whiskers off the body, require less application and provide skin protection plus nourishment. Most importantly, its translucent presence lets you see where your grooming tools should work, while averting slip-ups in areas where the skin is most delicate.

Step 2: Taut and Razor-Ready

Tug the skin back with your non-shaving hand because you dont want it getting caught under the blade. Start at the balls and perform one stroke, followed by a quick rinse of the blade. Go at it again. Head towards the shaft and hold everything upright as to not go against the grain with the blade and rinse often. Be gentle. Feel free to pass through the perineum if necessary, just be careful since this area is friction-sensitive.

Step 3: Use a Post-Shaving Agent

Shaving any body part, let alone your balls and pubic hair, can lead to some inflammation. Aftershave splashes and lotions can be risky as most utilize alcohol or fragrances that sting like hell. Opt for an aftershave balm to cool down and hydrate skin. Any containing aloe or camphor help reduce irritability.

For more deets on how to shave yourself like a pro, take the plunge and read our full pubic hair guide on shaving your balls.

How to Manscape Your Armpit Hair

Step 1: Trim. It. Down.

Same as the pubic area, its all about cutting back the forest. Match your hair length to the proper comb attachment and buzz away. If volume is light, use the trimmer head as is.

Step 2: Exfoliate the Skin

This necessarily applies everywhere, but arms and pits benefit hugely from a nice scrubbing. Learn how to exfoliate the body and value a good exfoliant to purge clogged pores and rid yourself of dead skin. Youll produce a smoother landscape for grooming tools to work better. (Razor. Trimmer. Whatever.)

Step 3: Lather Up

Stick with a shaving gel for the same reasons weve previously preached. Itll be much easier to navigate through the contours of your arms and pits. Application is much easier as well, since only a little is needed.

Step 4: Shave It Off

Take a cartridge razor, one with a pivoting head and with no less than three blades. Start at the inside of the wrist and transition up to the forearm. Stop at the elbow and move across the forearm with soft strokes. Do the same when tackling the upper part of your arms. When working the pits, shave any way you please since underarm hair naturally grows in all directions.

Step 5: Rinse and Cool Down

Manscaping in the shower lets you rinse off debris instantly. Let the water from the shower head manage all the dirty work. Once finished, pat down arms and pits gently. Then top it off with a skin-soothing lotion featuring aloe vera or other cooling ingredients.

How to Manscape Your Leg Hair

Step 1: Shorten Hair Length

Ads and commercials might lead you to believe it all begins with a razor and some shaving cream. Hell no. You will need to pre-shave your legs with a beard or body trimmer.

Step 2: Scrub-a-Dub

Jump in the tub and apply some form of scrubbing agent on your legs (exfoliating body wash, shower gel, etc.). You can spread it across a shower grooming tool, like a loofah or exfoliating gloves, and rub it over the skin in slight circles to get rid of dead skin.

Step 3: Apply Gel

Foam up those calves, kneecaps, thighs, and ankles. A translucent gel will ensure you dont miss any lingering hairs.

Step 4: Put in Blade Work

The way you approached the arms is no different from what youll need to do here. Take on the thinnest patches first to determine the razors maximum hair volume. Keep strokes short and be sure to rinse the blades. Shave with the grain (in the direction hair grows)  going against it in sensitive areas like the inner thigh could irritate the skin.

Step 5: Heal Your Legs

A mans skin produces more natural oils than a womans. Use a good moisturizer or post-shave conditioner to enjoy healthy, smooth legs. These solutions will destroy any existing bacteria as well. Moisturize every day to prevent friction burns.

How to Manscape Your Chest Hair

Step 1: Comb Through the Frizz

Hairy chests are obviously common, and some might love chest hair. But if you want to clear it up, heres what you need to do. The last thing you want are the trimmer blades getting caught in tangled patches. End result: Pain. Keep a premium hair comb on hand to run through the chest and shoulders (if necessary), which will help untangle any hair knots.

Step 2: Trust the Trimmer

Your chest is prone to accumulate a good amount of fur over time. The abdominal area, not so much. And thats a good thing. Grab a trimmer and go as short as possible within a 45-degree angle in the direction of the natural grain of your hair. Doing so will give your razor some breathing room.

Step 3: Use a Shaving Agent

Get a good amount of gel out of the jar or tube, lather it up, and spread across the chest and shoulders.

Step 4: Shave It Off

Play it safe with short strokes and shave following the direction of hair growth. Expect to pass the razor through the same spots a few times, primarily around the sternum and (rock-solid) pecs. Flare-ups might occur. Still, its nothing you cant treat.

Step 5: Cool It Down

A quick rinse with lukewarm water and a pat down might be enough depending on how flared up your chest becomes. Then again, an aftershave balm is always welcome.

How to Manscape Your Back Hair

Step 1: Flex and Trim

Were looking at two of the most difficult spaces to trim  your back and shoulders. Using a trimmer with flexibility and a long reach is a no-brainer. If it supports adjustable comb lengths, even better. Start with a low guard, power that sucker up, and put your contortionist skills to the test snatching up back and shoulder hair.

Step 2: Start Gelling

Youre probably capable of managing shoulder duty on this one. But a second pair of hands are required for the back. Get a girlfriend or part-time lover to smear some shaving gel right down to your crack  or lower, if that's your thing.

Step 3: Choose a Hair Removal Solution

Razors on your shoulder are no sweat. Same cant be said for the back. Waxes or a topical cream remain the better option. Either way, youre going to need another person to get it on. If youre insistent on using a razor, have the operator shave with the grain.

Step 4: Wipe It Down

Treat these areas the same way you would your arms and pits. Rinse, pat down dry, and prepare an aftershave balm.

Step 5: Clean Up and Exfoliate ... Later

The occasional ingrown hair is inevitable. Prevention is the next course of action. Look into getting a back scrubber or have someone gently rub on a good body scrub. This should avoid any bumps, buildups, or redness. Don't forget to rinse off when you're through.

How to Manscape the Rest

Step 1: The Moisture Effect

Lotion works for a quick fix, but a shower is even better. Again, steam opens up pores and moistens hair follicles for leveled trims. If too time-consuming, apply a warm compression pad to the area youre working on.

Step 2: Use a Portable Multi-Trimmer

Most body trimmers host extra accessories to trim facial spots. The problem is that these machines are heavy and provide little to no versatility to reach difficult areas. Invest in a nose hair trimmer, one with multiple heads to clear off the checklist.

Step 3: Clean Up

Most of those trimmed stray hairs stick to your body. Use a wet washcloth to wipe off any lingering whiskers. Maybe take a shaving brush or borrow a girlfriends makeup brush if need be. Our personal suggestion is body wipes for the cleansing and hydrating elements. Stock up on some and never forget to rinse the head of the trimmer.

Now that you have all the manscaping tips and tricks you could ever want, get out there and groom that body of yours to your heart's content.

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The Isabela StarDust is a small batch, limited edition cigar by Isabela Cigar Company. The company is the brainchild Johnny Piette, who in 1997 would connect with a Cuban Cigar Master named Vincente Ortiz. Ortiz had a small factory located in the Little Havana area of Miami. He would eventually become a mentor to Piette. This would lead to the start of Isabela Cigar Company and the cigars the two produced started to gain a following. Eventually, demand for the cigars and tobacco would move production to Nicaragua. In 2015, Isabela would make a strategic move and start to take its portfolio national. The companys cigars are made using traditional Cuban methods. Recently the company just announced StarDust a small batch, limited production release. Today we take a closer look at that cigar.

The origins of the StarDust actually traces back to another small batch limited release called The Time Traveler. This was a barber-pole release in the form of a 6 1/4 x 42 Corona. The StarDust uses the same tobaccos as the Time Traveler, but it comes in a smaller format  a 5 1/4 x 42 Corona. With the StarDust, the cigars rolled have been aging an additional 18 months. The cigars also feature a sweet-tip triple cap that uses a sugar-based sealant  something that is a signature of the Isabela Cigar portfolio.

Without further ado, lets take a closer look at the Isabela Stardust and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The barber-pole wrapper consists of an inter-twined Ecuadorian Desflorado and Nicaraguan Habano wrapper. Desflorado is a technique that involves removing the tobacco flower, resulting in nutrients being passed to the leaves; which in turn results in more flavor. High priming Nicaraguan tobaccos highlight the remainder of the blend  including the use of Medio Tiempo for the binder and filler. Medio Tiempo is the highest priming found on a tobacco plant. Since it only grows on a small percentage of tobacco plants, it has low yields and thus has limited availability to cigar makers. The company produces its cigars in the Condega region.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Desflorado and Nicaraguan Habano

Binder: Nicaraguan Aged Medio Tiempo binder

Filler: Nicaraguan (Including Aged Medio Tiempo and a sliver of Nicaraguan triple-aged ligero)

Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Vitolas Available

The Stardust is available in 25-count boxes. Production has been limited to 100 boxes.

Stardust: 5 1/4 x 52

Appearance

The barber pole arrangement of the Isabela StarDust features a nice light-dark brown contrasting effect. The Ecuadorian Desflorado wrapper is the light-colored wrapper while the Nicaraguan Habano wrapper is the darker one. There was a light coating of oil on each of the wrappers. I found the surface of this wrapper to be smooth and there were only some thin veins visible.

The band to the Isabela StarDust has an art-deco/Miami Beach style image on it. On the front of the band is a white panel with silver trim. On the white panel is the text ISABELA.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the Isabela StarDust, I used a straight cut to remove the cap. After the cap was detached I moved on to the pre-light draw. There was some light sugar sweetness from the sweet tip cap, but on each sample of the StarDust I had, I found this sweetness to be dialed back compared to other sweet tip cigars (which is something that I like). In addition, I picked up some chocolate malt notes. Overall, I considered this to be a very good pre-light draw. At this point, I was ready to light up the Isabela StarDust and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

Once lit, the effect of the sweet tip quickly dissipated and the start to the Isabela StarDust delivered a mix of cocoa powder, cedar, cream, and mixed-citrus sweetness. While it sounds like dessert, there was a definite tobacco taste to this cigar. The citrus sweetness had a taste of mixed fruit with a strong lemon component. During the early stages of the Isabela StarDust I found the cocoa and citrus notes to be the primary flavors, with the cedar and cream secondary. The cocoa and citrus alternated in intensity. Meanwhile, a mix of black and exotic pepper spices was present on the retro-hale.

By the second third of the Isabela StarDust, I found the citrus notes took control as the primary note. At times the citrus did produce a lingering sweet effect on the tongue. The cocoa notes receded into the background and joined the cedar and cream notes in the background. During this phase, the creamy component in the background receded. Simultaneously, a black pepper note surfaced on the tongue as a secondary note.

As the Isabela StarDust moved into the last third, the cocoa notes re-emerged as the primary note. I found the citrus sweetness to recede into the background and did not linger as much on the tongue. The pepper and cedar were still present in the background. This is the way the Isabela StarDust came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall the Isabela StarDust performed quite well when it came to the burn. This was a burn that was a low maintenance one. I found the StarDust had no problem maintaining a straight burn from start to finish. There was a slight amount of jaggedness on the burn line, but this was more cosmetic than anything as the cigar did not require any additional touch-ups. The resulting ash was firm with a silver-gray color. I found the burn temperature to be ideal. As for the burn rate, this cigar was a slow burner  but only resulted in a longer smoking time and did not have any adverse effects.

The draw to the Isabela StarDust was one of the best ones I have had in recent months. It had a slight amount of resistance on it which was at an optimal level for my liking. There was an abundant layer of smoke produced on this draw as well. This cigar earns our highest assessment level for draw with an exceptional.

Strength and Body

While there are some higher priming tobaccos in this cigar, this is not a cigar that was overpowering in strength and body. I found this cigar started out medium in both strength and body. For the most part the strength level remained constant. As for the body, by the second third it had moved into medium to full territory. The body continued to increase right until the last third, where it leveled off.

As for strength versus body, both attributes started out even but by the second third, I found the body had a slight edge.

Final Thoughts

This was my first experience with an Isabela Cigar and I was quite impressed with the Isabela StarDust. I liked the way the flavors transitioned with this cigar. While there was a little more sweetness than I prefer in the second half, I still found that the flavor profile was well-balanced. I also really liked the slower burn on this Corona. When forced to choose between a short/quick smoke or a longer smoking experience, Ill always pick the longer experience  and it was nice to get this with the StarDust. I actually found the slower burn gave me more value out of a very good cigar experience.

This is a cigar I would recommend to an experienced cigar enthusiast  and while it is a little heavier in body than I would recommend to a novice, Id still have no problem giving a newbie one. As for myself, its a cigar Id smoke again  and it definitely earns box-worthy consideration.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cocoa, Cirrus, Cream, Cedar, Pepper

Burn: Excellent

Draw: Exceptional

Complexity: Medium Plus

Strength: Medium

Body: Medium (1st Third), Medium to Full (Remainder)

Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: Box-Worthy Consideration

Score: 90

References

News: Isabela Cigar Company Releases Stardust

Price: ~$8.36 per cigar / $209.00 per box

Source: Isabela Cigar Company

Brand Reference: Isabela Cigar Company

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
       :   MLA ,        41 
Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has threatened that if Europeans interfere in Irans ballistic missile program, his country will extend the range of its missiles beyond the current 2,000 kilometers.

He has also said it is possible that Yemenis under changing conditions, might use their missiles against Saudi Arabia.

We are telling European countries, that if until now we have kept the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometers, it is not for lack of technologyit is because each action has a strategic logic; the range of our missiles will extend to wherever there is a threat, General Hossein Salami told a state television program.

Until now, we felt Europe is not a threat and we did not extend the range of our missiles to Europe. But if Europe wants to be threatened, the range of missiles will be extended. He added that the Islamic Republic is considerate and Europe should also be observant.

IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari announced in October that Supreme Leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei has limited the range of Iranian missiles.

Our missiles have a 2,000-kilometer range, based on a limit prescribed by the commander in chief (Khamenei).

French President Emmanuel Macron has adopted a tough position on Irans ballistic missile program in recent weeks, suggesting that it should be the subject of negotiations, much like the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Earlier this month, Macron said that either Iran negotiates or new sanctions become a distinct possibility.

Macrons foray into the subject was seen as a gesture toward President Donald Trump, who has refused to re-certify Irans compliance with the nuclear deal, as U.S. law demands the president to do every three months.

While refusing to re-certify, Trump mentioned Irans missile program as one reason why he believes Iran has not respected the spirit of the nuclear deal.

Irans missile program was always a side-topic in the nuclear negotiations, but by agreement of the sides to stick to the nuclear issues, the missiles were not part of the final agreement.

However, when the United Nations was putting its seal of approval on the deal, it mentioned the missile program in its resolution 2231, calling on Iran not to work on developing any missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Now, when the U.S. or others cite resolutions 2231, Iran insists its program excludes the development of nuclear capable missiles.

In another part of his remarks, Salami said Yemenis had a lot of missiles but abiding by some considerations, they refrained from massive use against Saudi Arabia, but it is possible for conditions to become such that they use their weapons.

At the same time, Salami repeated Irans position that it has never supplied missiles to its allies in Yemen.

Salami insisted that Yemens Houthi rebels in a scientific leap have improved the range and accuracy of their missiles to such an extent that despite the activation of all [Saudi] Patriots they hit their targets.

A missile was fired from Yemen on November 4, targeting Riyadhs international airport. Later, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. accused Iran of supplying the missile to Houthi rebels. Riyadh also said that this act was a declaration of war by Tehran.
Irans President Hassan Rouhani has expressed Iran's readiness to contribute to Syrias reconstruction.

According to Iranian presidents official website, Rouhani told his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on Saturday in a phone call, that the nations of Iran and Syria had a great achievement in the fight against terrorism and now Tehran is ready to play an active role in the reconstruction of Syria.

Last week, the Commander in Chief of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Mohammad Ali Jafari also said that IRGC was ready to help rebuild Syria and establish a lasting ceasefire there.

Jafari said that IRGC and the Iranian government had agreed that the Guards were in a better position to help Syria's reconstruction and added that the preliminary talks already have been held with the Syrian government over the issue."

But the Iranian government has not confirmed Jafari's assertions. The IRGC has supported the Syrian president with weapons and thousands of soldiers since the civil war broke out in 2011, which left hundreds of thousands of people dead and forced millions to flee in the worst refugee crisis since World War Two.

IRGC's economic record is a very controversial issue in Iran, where the all-powerful military machine operates virtually with no clear controls.

On June 22, Rouhani in a speech had criticized IRGCs control of a big chunk of Irans economy and advocated liberalizing the economy and expanding the private sector.

Part of the economy was controlled by an unarmed government and we delegated it to an armed government. This is not [a sound] economy or privatization, Rouhani said.

We are not afraid of such rebukes, IRGC commander, Mohammad Ali Jafari responded to Rouhanis criticism at the time.

According to media reports, Iran already has signed some lucrative contracts with Syria.

Early this month, Irans official News Agency IRNA quoted Syrian electricity minister as saying that 50% of his countrys power grid had been destroyed during the war and Iranian and Russian companies were helping to restore it.

Iranian companies have signed contracts worth of $1.2 billion for the restoration of the power grid in Syria, the minister announced. It is not clear whether the companies have any ties to IRGC.
(Reuters) - Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Saturday that he would not accept Iran-backed Hezbollah's positions that "affect our Arab brothers or target the security and stability of their countries", a statement from his press office said. The statement did not specify which countries he meant.

Hariri announced his resignation from his post on Nov. 4 in a televised statement from Saudi Arabia, a Sunni monarchy and regional powerhouse locked in a confrontation with Shi'ite Iran.

Hezbollah is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Gulf monarchies have accused the Shi'ite group of also supporting the Houthi group in Yemen and of backing militants in Bahrain. Hezbollah denies any activity in Yemen or Bahrain.

Hariri's resignation pitched Lebanon to the forefront of a regional power tussle this month between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which backs Hezbollah. The two regional powers back competing factions in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

After returning to Lebanon this week, he shelved the decision on Wednesday at the request of President Michel Aoun, easing a crisis that had deepened tensions in the Middle East.

Following his announcement, made on Lebanon's independence day, hundreds of Hariri supporters packed the streets near his house in central Beirut, waving the blue flag of his Future Movement political party.

On Saturday, he said that his decision to wait instead of officially resigning is to give a chance to discuss and look into demands that will make Lebanon neutral and allow it to enforce its "disassociation" policy.

"Disassociation" is widely understood in Lebanon to mean its policy of staying out of regional conflicts.

The regional role played by the Hezbollah political and military movement has greatly alarmed Saudi Arabia, Hariri's long-time ally.

On Saturday, Hezbollah's International Relations Officer Ammar Moussawi said that the Shi'ite group is ready to reach understandings with "our partners in the country", and that the group is open to real dialogue and cooperation with all, Lebanon's state news agency NNA reported.

Moussawi added that Hariri's resignation, which he said was done under coercion from Riyadh, was a spark that aimed to ignite Lebanon.

Top Lebanese Druze politician Walid Jumblatt on Saturday called on Saudi Arabia to enter dialogue with Iran and said that the kingdoms modernization plans could not work while Riyadh was engaged in a war in Yemen.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 26

By Gulgiz Muradova  Trend:

Trends interview with Dr. Farid Babayev, Assistant Representative of UNFPA Azerbaijan Country Office

Question: The UN previously stated that Azerbaijans population is expected to hit 10.68 million people by 2030 and 11.03 million people by 2050. In terms of economic reasons, what are the key factors favoring steady population growth in Azerbaijan?

Answer: Azerbaijan is the most dynamic nation in the South Caucasus in terms of demographic development with a population twice that of Georgia and three times that of Armenia. One of the most important characteristics features of Azerbaijans demographic situation is the relative rate of increase of the population number that depends on the fertility and mortality rates, balance of the external migration and the peculiarities of the population structure by sex and age.

In the next three decades Azerbaijans population is projected to grow by over half a million people per decade. It is expected that during the 21st century the population of Azerbaijan is likely to increase by over 3 million people and 70 percent growth will occur in the first half of the century. So, Azerbaijan will certainly retain its position of the demographic leader in the South Caucasus throughout the century.

Population growth in Azerbaijan was and continues to be ensured mainly (and almost exclusively) by the excess of the number of births over the number of deaths; while the impact of external migration on the change in the population size in Azerbaijan is insignificant.

The dynamics and the peculiarities of economic and social development in any country largely depend on the characteristics of the age structure of the population. The proportion of children, youth and people of retirement age are key factors of the structure of social expenditure on public health, education and pensions. Finally, the working age structure of the population is an important factor determining the state of the labor market.

Azerbaijans working age population has been growing rapidly over the past few decades. According to the UN medium projections , this growth will continue until 2018, with the number of females aged 20-59 and males aged 20-63 expected to reach six million (an almost 68% increase).

Azerbaijan will experience a big increase in the labor force during the first half of the 21st century when the population group aged 18-20 enter the labor market. Azerbaijans 18-20 population age group alternates every 10 years or so. The highest risk for youth unemployment took place between 2009-2011 when the number of 18-20 year olds was more than 550,000. This eventuality may occur again in the mid-2030s when this age group is again expected to number 500,000, despite the anticipated decrease in number to 330,000 in the early 2020s. Hence, the problem of youth employment in Azerbaijan will remain a development agenda priority in the decades to come, despite the stabilization of the size of the working-age population.

Q.: What is your assessment of the current state of reproductive health and family planning in Azerbaijan, what major milestones could you outline in particular?

The protection of reproductive health, including the health of mother and newborns, is under close attention of the state. The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On protection of public health" and other normative legal acts arising from this law are the guarantee of protection of public health, including maternal and children's health. The obstetrics and perinatal care are organized according to the three-level principle within the framework of the regionalization of perinatal care. To this end, seven perinatal centers have been established in the country: six in the regions and one in Baku (the Republican Perinatal Center).

National clinical protocols and standards based on the principles of evidence-based medicine for the provision of services during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum period and care of newborns have been developed; regular monitoring are carried out on the quality of services (antenatal, midwifery and neonatal care) in the regions by the staff of the Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Center for Public Health and Reform. Since January 2017, the pilot implementation of compulsory health insurance has been launched in two regions. Since 2018-2019 years it is planned to introduce compulsory health insurance in the whole country. The basic package of compulsory health insurance includes services on reproductive health, including antenatal care and obstetrics, perinatal care.

The global challenges facing all workers of maternal and child healthcare services are the reduction of maternal and child mortality, improvement of the quality of medical care for newborns, reduction of the morbidity and mortality, and protection of health of adolescents and young people.

The early antenatal coverage of pregnant women, that is, registration before 12 weeks, makes up 74.1 percent according to data for 2015. The country lacks effective incentives for pregnant women to promote their early registration at antenatal care services. Due to a shortage of staff in remote regions of the Republic, difficulties arise with the involvement of specialists of various profiles in the pre-divisional preparation for the family, especially women with extragenital diseases. Azerbaijan needs to adopt a state program to provide women with iron, folic acid medicaments, and enriched flour during pregnancy and in the post-natal period.

The analysis of the number of premature births reveals a general rising tendency of this indicator. In 2005-2014, the figure gradually increased from 1.8 to 2.7 percent, and the increase in the indicator in 2015 to 3.7 percent is due to the transition on new criteria of live birth.

At the same time, there is a decrease in the level of home births in the republic, whereas in 2008 the share of giving births at home was 2.5 percent, in 2015 it is 0.9 percent. The cases of home births are recorded mainly in remote villages, and there is a positive trend towards a decrease in this indicator.

To get a clearer and more detailed picture of the preventable causes of maternal mortality in Azerbaijan, it is necessary to improve the collection of information and implement the WHO methodology for the analysis of critical cases in obstetrics.

Geographical location of remote regions of the Republic, especially in the winter season, creates certain problems in transportation, as well as in providing timely emergency assistance to pregnant women, parturients, mothers and newborns. In the same localities, there are difficulties in collecting statistical data, analyzing and reporting on reproductive health.

Q.: What are some examples of organizational or governmental efforts that you can point to as best-practice cases that have been particularly successful in Azerbaijan to ensure stable population growth?

A.: Following the adoption of the Cairo Programme of Action in 1994, Azerbaijan began implementing a number of comprehensive population development measures. The Cairo Conference provided a new impetus to policy-makers to seek solutions to the population and development challenges in the country. By adopting the Programme of Action the national government recognized that investing into human capital, broadening peoples choices and creating opportunities to realize their capabilities were fundamental for sustained economic growth and sustainable development. Since the Cairo Conference Azerbaijan has continued to pursue a comprehensive approach to mainstreaming population issues into national development policies and strategies.

The principal objective of the national policy for demographic development is to ensure quantitative and qualitative population growth by curbing negative demographic trends, consistent with the long-term national development strategy. This priority is also duly stipulated in the development concept Azerbaijan - 2020: The Vision of the Future as well as the draft State Programme on Population Development and Demography of the Republic of Azerbaijan (2017-2030) was prepared with the technical support of UNFPA Country Office in Azerbaijan. The development of this Programme draft has been acknowledged the milestone achievement reflected the Governments efforts and commitment to better address population and development issues in the country.

UNFPA pays continuous attention and renders substantive support to the activities aimed at raising critical awareness and drawing public attention on broad range of population issues among wide public circles of Azerbaijan at national and regional level. One of the major UNFPA interventions in the area of Population and Development is to institutionalize inclusion of population issues and concerns in development policy dialogue, and to integrate population factors into development strategies that are people-centered and recognize that demographic, social, economic and environmental factors are interrelated.

Q.: Can you please provide an update on the prospects of UNFPAs cooperation with Azerbaijan, in particular future projects planned for implementation with the country?

A.: The UNFPA plays a unique role within the United Nations system by addressing population and development issues in partnership with national governments and other agencies, and emphasizing reproductive health and gender equality. In Azerbaijan, our mission is particularly focused on issues related to reproductive health and rights, gender equality and women empowerment and population dynamics.

Our office supports the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the integration of population and reproductive health issues into policies.

The United Nations Population Fund has closely cooperated with the World Health Organization in the development of the second cycle of "National Strategy on Reproductive Health and Family Planning", which is expected to continue from 2017 until 2025. The new cycle is expected to enable health providers to identify and focus on the following national priorities aspects of health care: safe care for mothers and newborn babies, family planning, control and prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and developing an adequate response to gender based violence and so on.

Responding to violence against women in development and humanitarian settings is a strategic priority for UNFPA. This includes eliminating harmful practices such as child marriage and others. The Fund also collects data to accurately document incidents of violence, and helps to develop, enforce and reform national laws and policies on gender-based violence. In Azerbaijan, UNFPA owns the USAID-funded project striving to eliminate gender-based violence through conduction of systematic and standardized collection of quantitative and qualitative data on GBV as well as development of inter-agency GBV database that will not only elaborately collect data on GBV incidents throughout the country, but also facilitate evidence based decision making.

UNFPA is one of the worlds largest supporters of population data collection. In addition to supporting censuses and surveys, UNFPA works with policymakers, civil society, health-care providers and educators at all levels to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights  including voluntary family planning. One of the major UNFPA interventions in the area of Population and Development in Azerbaijan is to institutionalize inclusion of population issues and concerns in development policy dialogue, and to integrate population factors into development strategies that are people-centered and recognize that demographic, social, economic and environmental factors are interrelated.

Supporting the government, at its request, in integration of population and reproductive health issues into its planning and policy making has been one of the key strategic direction of UNFPA activities since its establishment in Azerbaijan. A special emphasis was made to strengthen national capacity in collection, analysis, dissemination and utilization of reliable and gender-sensitive population, demographic and health, including reproductive health data, as it plays a fundamental role for policymaking and generation the political will to appropriately address both current and future needs.

The support was provided to the Government with the development of the population projection by economic regions of Azerbaijan for 2016-2050. The development of the State Program on Population Development and Demography (2017-2030) has been acknowledged the milestone achievement reflected the Governments efforts and commitment to better address population and development issues in the country.

UNFPA pays continuous attention and renders substantive support to the activities aimed at raising critical awareness and drawing public attention on broad range of population issues among wide public circles of Azerbaijan at national and regional level.

--

Follow the author on Twitter:@GulgizD
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 26

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

Among the steps taken to develop economic relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia, it is possible to mention the ceremony of opening of Azerbaijans trading house in Riga till late 2017, Latvian ambassador to Azerbaijan Juris Maklakovs told Trend.

"The organizer of the ceremony of opening of Azerbaijans trading house in Latvia intends to open Latvias trading house in Baku," he said. "We have already discussed this issue with Azerbaijani minister of economy. I think next year Latvia's products will be presented in Azerbaijan in the trading house and the countrys various trade networks. Of course, the trade turnover will increase."

Maklakovs added that a number of Latvian companies are currently working on opening representative offices in Azerbaijan.

In July 2017, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev paid an official visit to Latvia, where he and President of Latvia Raimonds Vejonis signed a Joint Declaration on Establishing a Strategic Partnership between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Latvia.

The visit also resulted with a memorandum of understanding, signed between the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Transport of Latvia on international combined cargo transportation, an agreement between the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan and the Latvian Ministry of Economy on cooperation in state supervision of safety of construction, and an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in education.
Tehran, Iran, November 26

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Gas power plants are going to be promising sites for investment in Iran, since the country is rich in gas reserves and its gas output is on the rise.

In July, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, Irans deputy oil minister for trade and international affairs, said Irans gas production would rise to 1 billion cubic meters a day by the end of the year from that times 800 million cubic metres (mcm) per day.

In the seventh month of the current fiscal year (September 23-October 21), gas power plants in Iran received a daily average of 196 mcm of gas.

Iran's power plants generated over 222.185 TWh (terawatt-hours) of electricity since the beginning of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21) till Nov. 17, according to the latest weekly statistics, published by Iran's Energy Ministry. The figure indicates a rise by 7 percent compared to the same period of the preceding year.

The Iranian government prefers exporting gas-generated electricity rather than directly exporting gas, citing added value. Irans electricity export increased by 14 percent up to 5.647 TWh from the beginning of the current fiscal year to Nov. 17.

The capacity of gas-fired power plants in this period grew by 1.1 percent to reach 27,258 MW, accounting for a share of 35.1 percent of the countrys total power generation

In the meantime, the nominal capacity of Iranian power plants has increased by 1.3 percent to stand at 77,446 megawatts (MW).

Combined-cycle power plants added 1.6 percent to their capacity to stand at 19,790 MW, taking a share of 25.6 percent of the countrys power generation.

The capacity of distributed power generation (DG) as well as combined heat and power (CHP) systems increased by 12.1 percent to reach 1,027 MW. Some 1.3 percent of the countrys total generation capacity went to the DG and CHP systems.

The capacity of thermal power plants stood at 15,829 MW and did not demonstrate any changes compared to the preceding year. The share of thermal power plants was 20.4 percent.

Iran has launched 37 projects to increase its capacity for producing power from solar energy by 400.27 MW. The country has also four projects under construction for producing 198.2 MW from wind.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 26

By Huseyn Valiyev  Trend:

Chinas ZTE corporation intends to develop a mobile phone sales unit in Azerbaijan through its partner network, ZTE vice-president Yang Jun told Trend.

Despite a small market volume, there are companies in Azerbaijan with which ZTE can see the possibility of cooperation to promote its mobile devices, he said.

"We are ready to provide the necessary support to our partners to ensure wide penetration of our products in the Azerbaijani market," he added.

Earlier, the company said that Moscows office deals with the development of the ZTE mobile phone sales unit in Azerbaijan. The Russian representative office is directly engaged in establishing relations with local distributors.

Moreover, one should also take into account Azerbaijani users awareness about ZTE mobile phones. The figures are not so big due to the lack of marketing.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 26

By Huseyn Valiyev  Trend:

The first Azerbaijani telecommunications satellite Azerspace-1/Africasat-1a started broadcasting Moldovas public TV channel "Moldova 1", according to FlySat, which publishes satellite frequency charts.

The channel is available at 11095 MHz (speed: 30000, polarization - V, FEC - 3/4).

Over 120 TV and radio channels are broadcast via the Azerbaijani satellite. The satellite is located at the orbital position of 46 degrees east longitude.

Azerspace-1 was launched on Feb.8, 2013. Azerbaijans telecommunications satellite Azerspace-1/Africasat-1a is designed to render digital broadcasting, internet access, and data transmission services, create multiservice VSAT networks and provide the government with communications.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 26

By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend

Turkmenistan has set an ambitious goal to become a tobacco-free country by 2025, Kristina Mauer-Stender, Program Manager for Tobacco Control in WHO Regional Office for Europe, said in an interview to Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper.

The number of smokers will not exceed five percent of the adult population of the country.

"I would like to stress that it is very important for other countries to learn from Turkmenistans positive experience, she said.

Turkmenistan has a leading position in the fight against tobacco smoking. As of April 2016, the lowest smoking rate (8.3 percent) in the WHO European Region was registered in the country.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was adopted on May 21, 2003 at the World Health Assembly and entered into force on February 27, 2005.

Turkmenistan ratified this international document in 2011. Turkmenistan adopted a national action plan for tobacco control, which includes a number of directions. Among those directions are raising public awareness on this issue, strengthening relevant legislation and regulations, governing the sale of tobacco products to minors, as well as strengthening cooperation with international organizations.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Nov. 26

By Diana Aliyeva  Trend:

The State Duma of the Russian Federation passed a bill on ratification of the agreement with Uzbekistan on the employment of Uzbek citizens in Russia, the Uzbek Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations said in a message.

According to the message, the implementation of the agreement will contribute to the strengthening of the Russia-Uzbekistan cooperation in external labor migration, the development of friendly relations between the two countries, as well as the prevention of illegal involvement of Uzbek citizens in labor activity in the Russian Federation.

The main provisions of the agreement are aimed at determining the order and conditions for the interaction of the competent bodies of the two countries in providing Uzbek citizens with temporary jobs in the Russian Federation, as well as preventing illegal recruitment in Russia.

The document also implies comprehensive training of Uzbek citizens for temporary employment in Russia even on the territory of their country, including medical examination.

According to the agreement, the employer must inform the competent bodies of the Russian Federation and the Agency for External Labor Migration under the Uzbek Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations about termination (including early termination) of the employment contract with the migrant worker.

Moreover, the agreement implies the main rights of Uzbek citizens temporarily working in Russia. In particular, the agreement envisages the right of a citizen to work, rest and social insurance (except compulsory medical insurance), pension provision in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
Armed clashes broke out on Saturday between a Libyan security force and gunmen in the western city of Khoms, killing five people, Xinxua reported.

"A security force of the Joint Security Chamber in cooperation with a number of other security services carried out a raid to a location in the city to arrest wanted persons accused of killing seven family members last week," Mohammed Abu-Soba, head of Khoms Security Directorate, told Xinhua.

"Three of the Joint Security Chamber personnel and two of the gunmen were killed, according to initial information," Abu-Soba added, stressing that the security situation in the city is stable.

"No information so far has been received about the arrest of the remaining gunmen," he added.

Last week, a dispute over an agricultural land escalated into armed confrontation between gunmen and residents of Khoms, located some 120 km east of the capital Tripoli.

Since the uprising of 2011 that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, Libya has been suffering from political division and unrest.
A boat carrying more than 100 illegal immigrants on Saturday drowned off the Libyan western town of Garrabulli, killing 31 migrants, according to a local official, Xinxua reported.

"The Coast Guard patrol spotted a rubber boat carrying more than 100 migrants, 24 miles north of Garrabulli. When the patrol arrived to the wrecked boat, dozens of bodies were scattered next to it," Libyan Coast Guard official Abu-Ajela Ammar told Xinhua.

"Initial information indicates that the boat broke due to overcrowding of migrants," added Ammar, confirming that the bodies of 31 migrants were recovered and about 80 migrants in a poor medical condition were rescued and taken to Tripoli naval base.

"As the Coast Guard patrol was returning after the rescue operation, another rubber boat was spotted with nearly 120 migrants on board," Ammar said.

The total number of migrants rescued on Saturday by the Libya Coast Guard is more than 200, Ammar revealed.

Libyan navy last week rescued 450 illegal African immigrants in two separate operations off the coast of the capital Tripoli.

Due to the insecurity and chaos that followed the 2011 uprising, Libya became a hotspot for migrants wanting to cross the Mediterranean towards European shores, many of who drown on the way.
A car carrying migrants sped toward police officers in the northern French city of Calais, with at least one serviceman receiving injuries, the LCI broadcaster reported on Saturday night. The incident took place when the officers stopped the vehicle to carry out the search of the car, Sputnik reported.

"As a result of the hit, an officer received a knee injury, [after which] security forces had to open fire," local authorities said as quoted by the broadcaster.

A total of nine migrants were reportedly in the car, namely six Iraqis and three Afghan nationals. They were supposedly trying to cross the border with the United Kingdom.
The plan, presented to EU leaders "behind closed doors," reportedly says that London would have a good transition deal if the British government accepts new Brussels rules for the post-Brexit period, according to Sputnik.

EU negotiators are preparing to set demands for the UK in the next stage of Brexit talks that would totally contradict the vision of key members in Prime Minister Theresa Mays government, The Independent reported, citing leaked documents.

The documents reveal that chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier wants to give the UK a good transition deal if London "automatically" accepts new Brussels regulations during a two-year period after March 2019.

"The plan, set out to EU leaders behind closed doors, would leave the UK with no say over rules it accepts during the transition and is likely to enrage Brexiteers in the Cabinet, who are determined 2019 should be the last year Britain accepts new rules from Brussels," the newspaper said.

In the papers, Barnier says that the "automatic application" of new rules means that Britain would have "no institutional rights, no presence in the institutions" and "no voting rights" under the plan.

According to The Independent, the plan is made in the interests of the 27 remaining member states and indicates obstacles that will probably surface in future rounds of the Brexit talks.

The plan also demonstrates that it is namely the EU negotiators who set the rules in Brexit discussions, while Prime Minister May is struggling to overcome the impasse and progress to the next phase of negotiations.

Brussels has refused to move to the next stage of Brexit talks, including discussing trade and transition agreements, until progress is made on the divorce bill and the issue of EU citizens rights and the Irish border.

On Friday, May met with European Council President Donald Tusk in a bid to gain approval for a divorce bill which may now include an additional 20 billion ($26 billion) from the British government.

In recent weeks, EU leaders have been mounting pressure on the British government due to fears that London risks missing the December deadline. At an EU summit in Sweden earlier this month, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker told May that "the clock is ticking," according to media reports.

The Brexit negotiations between London and Brussels, which kicked off on June 19, are expected to wrap up by the end of March 2019. In a referendum on June 23, 2016, about 51.9 percent of British voters said "yes" to their country leaving the EU.
Up to 20 militants were killed and 33 others wounded amid military operations across Afghanistan, Xinhua reported with the reference to the Defense Ministry.

"The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces carried out 12 clean-up operations and 15 special operations in nine provinces in the past 24 hours, killing 20 insurgents and injuring 33 others," the ministry said in a statement.

The Afghan air force also launched airstrikes, destroying four militants' hideouts over the period, the statement said, without elaborating casualties on the side of security forces.

The Afghan troops have beefed up military operations against militants as the Taliban militants and Islamic State (IS) fighters are attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions ahead of winter in the mountainous country.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Sunday said Turkey expects the US to stop providing weapons to the PKK/PYD terrorist group, Anadolu reported.

In a news conference held ahead of his two-day official visit to the U.K., Yildirim commented on US President Donald Trump's pledge to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on ending the supply of arms to the terrorist PKK/PYD and PKK/YPG in Syria.

"Since the very beginning, we have said that it is wrong for the US to partner with PKK's cousin PYD/YPG in the fight against Daesh terrorist group," Yildirim said.

He added: "Our friend and ally [referring to the US] told us every time that it was not an option rather an obligation. Since Daesh is now eliminated then this obligation has disappeared."

Yildirim urged the US to "immediately" end the partnership with PKK/PYD and return to its "real allies".

The PYD and its military wing YPG are Syrian branches of the PKK terrorist network, which has waged war against Turkey for more than 30 years.

While recognizing the PKK as a terrorist group, the US has treated the PKK/PYD/YPG as an ally in its anti-Daesh efforts.

Yildirim is expected to discuss regional matters concerning Syria and Iraq with U.K. Premier Theresa May.

"We will discuss the outcome of Sochi meeting," Yildirim said.

He will also meet business people in the U.K. and media representatives.

He said trade volume between Turkey and the U.K. will be discussed ahead of Brexit.

British voters opted to leave the EU in a referendum over a year ago and Brexit negotiations are supposed to be finalized in March 2019.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 26, 2017 - 13:50 | Feature, All

The son of a second-generation Japanese-American who served in the U.S. forces during World War II is searching for family members of 130 Japanese soldiers and civilians his father saved in the battle of Saipan in 1944.

In a recent interview with Kyodo News, Lawrence Kubo, 67, said he is hoping to hear Japanese side's stories of Bob Kubo who talked eight Japanese soldiers into releasing 122 civilians held captive in a cave.

With his Japanese language skills, Kubo was dispatched to the Pacific battlefront and landed on Saipan in July 1944 as an infantry man.

In the fierce battle that began in June, many Japanese soldiers and civilians from Okinawa committed mass suicide as they refused to surrender.

Following information that several Japanese soldiers were barricading themselves with more than 100 civilians, Kubo volunteered to go to the cave alone to persuade the soldiers on July 26.

Pointing guns at Kubo, the Japanese soldiers asked him "How can someone of Japanese descent fight against Japan?" according to Lawrence.

In reply, Kubo said, "I am also the son of Japanese parents but I was born in the United States. The United States is my country and I fight for it."

Kubo then expressed his emotional pain by citing an old story of Japanese military commander Taira no Shigemori in the Heian Period, (794-1185) who said "If I follow my duty to the emperor, I go against my father. But if I am filial, I fail in my obligation to the emperor."

Earning respect from the Japanese soldiers, Kubo emerged from the cave some two hours later. All eight soldiers and 122 civilians surrendered.

Based on testimonies by the Japanese soldiers, Kubo was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross before his death in 1998 at the age of 78.

"I would like to confirm my father's courageous act," by hearing stories from Japanese families, said Lawrence. He can be contacted at lhkubo@aol.com.
By Bikash Sangraula, KYODO NEWS - Nov 26, 2017 - 13:15 | World, All

Voting is under way Sunday in the first phase of Nepal's first general election under its federal, republican Constitution ratified in 2015.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time and are set to close at 5 p.m.

In Mahalaxmisthan village in Nuwakot district, one-and-a-half hours' drive north of Kathmandu, voters began arriving at a polling booth set up at Shree Bhawani Secondary School an hour before polls opened.

"I am voting for political stability," said Ambika Phuyal, a 49-year-old housewife casting a vote for the fourth time. "We have been electing representatives hoping they will bring prosperity. But frequent government changes have dashed our hopes."

Nepal has seen 10 coalition governments in as many years.

Phuyal, who lost two houses in the twin quakes in 2015, hoped a stable five-year government would expedite reconstruction and create jobs. "We don't want our sons and husbands to go abroad for jobs. If jobs continue to dry up here, there won't be anyone to participate in our funerals," she told Kyodo News.

But Jyoti Phuyal, a 50-year-old businessman, said political stability under an authoritarian government is a big no.

"What good is political stability if we don't have our democratic freedoms?" he questioned.

However, Surendra Balami, 18, who is casting a vote for the first time, echoed Ambika.

"Only a stable government can deliver reconstruction, education, and roads," said Balami, who works as a driver.

Security presence is heavy in districts where voting is taking place. Roads are dotted by security checkpoints and vehicular movement is limited to emergency services and those carrying permits from the Election Commission.

In the first of two phases, candidates are contesting 37 directly elected parliamentary seats in 32 hilly and mountainous districts.

Simultaneously, candidates are contesting 74 provincial assembly seats in the districts. The new Constitution has federated Nepal into seven provinces.

Over three million voters are eligible to cast votes Sunday, with 4,465 polling centers set up for voting, according to the Election Commission.

"We are expecting 75 percent voter turnout," Nawaraj Dhakal, the commission's spokesman, told Kyodo News.

In view of small explosions that marked the election campaigning period, the government has mobilized the military to bolster police efforts to provide security.

"Adequate security arrangements have been made. The polling will happen peacefully," Dhakal said.

Four international groups, including the Carter Center and the European Union, will be monitoring the polling.

The second phase of the election is scheduled on Dec. 7, when polling will take place in 45 districts in lower hills and plains. In the second phase, candidates will contest 128 directly-elected parliamentary seats, and 256 provincial assembly seats.

Combined, over 15.4 million voters are eligible to cast votes in the two-phased election.

The main contest is between an alliance of the country's two biggest communist parties and a loose democratic alliance led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's Nepali Congress party.

Pundits have predicted a comfortable majority for the communist alliance, which is contesting on the platform of political stability and economic transformation.

Deuba's alliance with ethnic Madhesi parties and a pro-monarchy party is running on a platform of protecting democracy, arguing that the communist alliance's win could herald an era of communist authoritarianism.

Vote counting will start on Dec. 7 after the second-phase polling is over. Because of logistical challenges, final results are not expected until mid-December at the earliest.
On Saturday, from the White House of America said there would be repercussions for U.S.-Pakistan relations unless Islamabad took action to detain and charge a liberated Islamist militant accused of masterminding a 2008 assault in Mumbai, India on 26/11.

"Hafiz Saeed's release, after Pakistan's failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a deeply troubling message about Pakistan's commitment to combating international terrorism and belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil," the White House said in a statement.

"If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistan's global reputation," it added. Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, walked free on Friday after his house arrest ended without any charges. While the world reacted harshly, Saeed celebrated his release with sweets and cake cutting in Pakistan.

The Judicial head, who carries a bounty of USD 10 million for his role in terror activities, was set free after the Pakistan government decided against detaining him further in any case. He has been under detention since January this year. The Judicial Review Board of Punjab province comprising judges of the Lahore High Court unanimously ordered Saeed's release yesterday, on the completion of his 30-day house arrest, which expired last night.
Auto company shares fell after the fifth round of renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement ended in Mexico without producing meaningful progress.

Canada and Mexico have been resisting U.S. demands to rewrite the 1993 deal. The situation has heightened concern among business groups that President Donald Trump will follow through with his earlier threats to withdraw the U.S. from NAFTA.

"While we have made progress on some of our efforts to modernize NAFTA, I remain concerned about the lack of headway," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement. "Thus far, we have seen no evidence that Canada or Mexico are willing to seriously engage on provisions that will lead to a rebalanced agreement. Absent rebalancing, we will not reach a satisfactory result."

Canadian and Mexican officials have rejected U.S. demands to change the rules for determining when a product can be labeled as "made in America" or "made in the U.S.A.," arguing that the changes would damage the auto industry, whose supply chain is spread throughout the continent, the Washington Examiner reported, citing an official with knowledge of the talks.

The Trump administration also wants to add an expiration clause to NAFTA as well as allow countries to opt out of its investment dispute settlement system.

"Significant differences remain on some key areas," Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters in Ottawa Tuesday. "These are proposals we simply cannot agree to."

NAFTA remains a tough lift.

The trade partners also disagree about a U.S. proposal that would require half of the content of all North American-built autos to be produced in the United States and the broader, North American allotment to be increased to 85% from 62.5%. There is currently no rule governing U.S.-only production.

The U.S. also wants to expand an existing "tracing list" to demand more products - including all steel - originate in North America.

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Trump has complained about the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to Mexico, and the rule changes are aimed at reversing the flow of work to Mexico and rebalance the U.S.'s automotive trade deficit with its southern neighbor, where wages are lower.

The proposed rules would be difficult to implement and lead to further job loss as companies could simply move manufacturing offshore to China, and then export the car back to the U.S. paying a relatively marginal tariff of just 2.5 per cent, according to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group of car makers operating in the U.S., including GM and Ford.

Freeland said both Canada and Mexico feel the plan is entirely unworkable, and would damage an already deeply integrated North American auto manufacturing market. "The net result would be negative for both of our countries," she said.

General Motors shares fell 74 cents, or 1.6% to $44.23 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange as of about 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Ford shares fell 1 cent, or about 0.2% to $12.10. Fiat Chrysler slipped 30 cents, or 1.6%, to $17.61.

A sixth round of talks is scheduled for Washington in December. The negotiators will then move to Montreal in January.

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Editors' pick: Originally published Nov. 22.

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Carnival says it will use the proceeds from this debt offering to pay off principal on existing debt (i.e., roll over the old debt), as well as for general corporate purposes. In theory, this should mean that Carnival will be paying off notes that carry higher interest rates, with money from new notes that cost it less in interest. Logically, when we consider that interest rates have been trending higher as the Fed continues to hike its targeted federal funds rate, it seems more likely that Carnival would end up paying more on any new debt it issues, than what it pays on the debt it's replacing.
From growers to investors, the marijuana industry has most everyone seeing green.

According to cannabis research firm ArcView, legal weed sales are expected to grow in North America by 26% a year through 2021, yielding a nearly $22 billion market. Of course, that could be touching the tip of the iceberg considering expansion opportunities in the U.S. and throughout the rest of the world.

At the heart of this growth in the U.S. has been a major change in the way consumers view pot. National pollster Gallup showed in 1995, the year before California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis for compassionate use, that just 25% of respondents favored the idea of national legalization. By October 2017, favorability toward national legalization rose to 64%, an all-time high. A separate poll from the independent Quinnipiac University in April 2017 found an overwhelming 94% support for medical cannabis' legalization.

A cannabis plant growing in an outdoor farm.

Image source: Getty Images.

Long story short, Americans are mostly believers in the green rush, and the result has been a steady increase in state-level legalizations in recent years. Currently, 29 states have OK'd the use of medical cannabis for specific ailments, while voters in eight states have green-lighted the sale of weed for recreational purposes to adults.

New rules change the face of California's legal weed industry

Among those eight recreational marijuana-legal states, none is more vital to the success of the pro-legalization movement, or to the industry, than California.

Voters in the Golden State easily passed Proposition 64 by a vote of 57% to 43% in November 2016, clearing the way for adult-use sales beginning in 2018. Considering California's size, the addition of recreational sales is expected to generate $1 billion in tax and licensing revenue for the state, on top of what it already receives from medical cannabis tax revenue. By comparison, Colorado generated less than $200 million in tax revenue last year from legal weed sales (and that's counting both recreational and medical cannabis sales).

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However, new regulations unveiled last week that'll govern California's budding industry could end up causing controversy. While some of the regulations were straightforward (e.g., licensing fees and guidelines for testing, growing, and distributing marijuana), two subtle changes in this long-awaited rules release stood out like sore thumbs.

A cannabis leaf lying atop a hundred dollar bill, with Ben Franklin's eyes exposed.

Image source: Getty Images.

First, prior to the release of legal-weed guidelines in California, it was expected that cannabis farms would have crop-size limitations imposed, ranging from one to four acres. The final product included farm-size limitations only on medium-sized growers' licenses, which could open the door for small- and large-scale cultivators to set up mammoth-sized grow farms.

Second, and most important, as outlined in the Los Angeles Times, large businesses appear to be allowed to obtain as many licenses as they can afford. Big businesses have deep pockets, and small businesses are likely struggling to find banks willing to lend, meaning a veritable growing oligopoly could be established in California's recreational weed industry in short order.

Is this good or bad news? It depends on your perspective

For some, the idea of big business working its way into the marijuana industry is bad news. The emergence of larger players would likely push smaller growers out of the picture. Remember, deeper pockets should allow larger grow farms to outproduce and outpartner smaller growers. In fact, there's the real possibility that larger growers could flood the market with supply with the intent of driving prices and margins down on an intermediate-term basis. This could put smaller growers out of business, much in the same way that Wal-Mart has used its size to push around mom-and-pop stores. Without any competition, prices for cannabis would probably rise over the long run.

This means consumers could also be long-term losers here. Even if the scenario above does play out and large cultivators oversupply the market in order to drive prices down, the effect would seemingly be only temporary. Larger players should mean an increase in long-term prices for cannabis to consumers. That's worrisome considering that California is planning to tax the daylights out of its consumers. Residents and tourists in some locales could see up to a 45% tax rate on legal cannabis sales when all is said and done.

Cannabis plants of descending size growing out of lined up piggy banks.

Image source: Getty Images.

Then again, it's not all bad news if you're an investor, or looking to get in on marijuana's rapid growth. One of the biggest detriments to investing in the U.S. weed industry (aside from it still being illegal at the federal level) is that it's been highly fragmented. In other words, there are too many mom-and-pop growers and not enough larger players that merit investment. If just a few larger players were to emerge, it would give investors a clearer channel to possibly make money.

The big question at this point is: Can California's recreational weed be price-competitive with the black market? Personally, I'm not too sure. The exceptionally high tax rate, compounded with the possibility of larger players dominating the market over the long run, could wind up driving consumers back to the black market. That would be a losing scenario for the state, growers of all sizes, and investors.

Only time will tell.

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Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The euro sign in front of the former headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) is photographed with long exposure in Frankfurt, Germany, November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach (Reuters)

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - Banks on mainland Europe have cut their exposures to Britain since the Brexit vote last year and are concerned about the legality of cross-border deals once the UK leaves, the European Union's banking watchdog said on Friday.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) said banks in the EU's 27 member countries have cut exposures in terms of assets from just over 1.9 trillion euros in June 2016 when the referendum took place, to just under 1.6 trillion euros by June 2017.

Liabilities fell from just under 1.7 trillion euros ($2.03 trillion) to just over 1.3 trillion euros over the same period.

The drop mainly reflects a sharp pullback in derivative deals, which could become a worry for London which competes with New York in this global sector.

EBA said in a regular risk assessment report that banks are worried about a "cliff-edge" if Britain, the bloc's most important financial market, leaves the EU without an agreement on trading terms.

"The Brexit negotiations continue to be a source of political risk for the EU financial market as a cliff-edge scenario could lead to substantial disturbances for the European banking sector," EBA said.

In one of the starkest warnings yet from a European regulator, it said a major worry for banks is continuity of financial contracts or ability to fulfil obligations that have been entered into once Britain is no longer part of the EU legal system.

Consumers and companies in the EU27 could face cancellation, amendment or renegotiation of contracts, loss of protection, disruption and financial losses, EBA said.

"It is important that banks and their counterparties, as well as consumers and public authorities, consider appropriate mitigating actions and contingency plans to address these concerns," it said.

Britain hopes for a breakthrough in EU divorce talks next month that will lead to transition arrangements and an outline of new trading terms to avoid a cliff edge, which would help to dispel doubts about derivatives and other financial contracts.

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Banks in the EU27 may also not be able to clear derivatives transactions in London, leaving companies and households unable to access wholesale and retail financial services in Britain. Deutsche Boerse has already launched a push to lure clearing to Frankfurt from London.

"A disruption of financial flows ... coupled with diminishing confidence of market participants, could lead to the drying up of market liquidity ... affecting financial stability in the EU banking system," EBA said.

The EBA report backs arguments made by the City of London financial district and others that mainland Europe has as much to lose as Britain from failure to at least agree on a transitional deal.

The watchdog also said that the EU's banks are still improving their resilience to shocks and whittling away at their 893 billion euro mountain of bad loans.

While profitability has improved, the average return on equity is 7 percent, its highest level since 2014, but still typically below the cost of capital, EBA said. It remains unclear if poor profitability is due to current market conditions or the sector's structure.

($1 = 0.8377 euros)

(Reporting by Huw Jones. Editing by Jane Merriman)
Donald Trumps favorite news network is much more important than the often critical CNN, the president tweeted Saturday.

Just days earlier, Trumps Justice Department filed a contentious lawsuit to block AT&Ts purchase of CNNs parent company, Time Warner. The action raised concerns that the federal government is trying to silence CNNs critical coverage of the president, rather than fears about a powerful media monopoly.

Bloomberg reported that Trump confidant Rupert Murdoch, head of 21st Century Fox, asked AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson twice in the last six months if CNN was going to be up for sale.

The president also accused CNN of spreading fake news around the world, saying CNN International represents America very poorly. CNN snapped back that its not the networks job to represent the U.S. to the world  its the presidents.

.@FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2017

It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S to the world. That's yours. Our job is to report the news. #FactsFirst   CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 25, 2017

CNN anchor Jake Tapper responded to the presidents tweet with a thank you to network reporters risking their lives around the globe.

Thinking about @cnni and my brave and hard-working colleagues there who cover famines and wars and politics and terrorism and everything else. Amazing men and women, thank you for your continued excellence. https://t.co/9sVaB0z4Li  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 25, 2017

Trumps animus toward CNN is well known, but the White House insists the president hasnt discussed the merger nor the lawsuit with the Justice Department.

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In a meeting before the lawsuit was filed, sources told The New York Times that the Justice Department had warned AT&T that either CNNs parent, Turner Broadcasting, or DirecTV would have to be sold before the federal government would allow the planned $85.4 billion merger. CEO Stephenson has said he has no interest in selling CNN.

Earlier this year, Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Time Warner executive Gary Ginsberg and said that 20 percent of the CNN staff should be fired because they were so wrong about the Trump campaign, sources told The Wall Street Journal. A White House official said the comments were not intended to be taken seriously, but they rattled Time Warner, the Journal reported.

The Justice Department says it is taking legal action because the combination of AT&T and Time Warner would create one of the biggest media monopolies in American history.

Jake Tapper noted that the timing of Trumps tweet about CNN coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putins signing of a law that allows American media outlets in Russia to be registered as foreign agents. The law is in retaliation for the U.S. governments request that the American office of the Russian TV network RT be registered as a foreign agent.

Norm Eisen, ethics chief for the Obama White House, also noticed the interesting timing with the Putin move. He also warned the dodo-in-chief that Trumps tweets against CNN could become part of the Justice Department lawsuit against the merger.

Dear Dodo-in-Chief: u realize that this tweet is going 2be an exhibit against u in the DOJ -TimeWarner antitrust case right? It also smacks of collusion since u did it on day when Vlad cracked down on US networks. For that reason, it may open u to other civil liability. Gnight! https://t.co/acyCYYSYeK  Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) November 26, 2017

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Gas exports have helped make Qatar one of the world's richest countries (AFP Photo/KARIM JAAFAR) (AFP/File)

Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia) (AFP) - Gas exporting countries, grappling with collapsed global markets, on Friday called for a "fair price" for the commodity after a summit in Bolivia.

The Gas Exporting Countries Forum seeks a "fair price for natural gas," taking into account its environmental benefits and energy efficiency, a declaration said.

The price of natural gas is linked to that of petroleum and its derivatives, and is down roughly 50 percent from peaks of three years ago -- partly from rising shale gas production in the United States, which does not belong to the Forum.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, one of the last Latin American leftist leaders, said producers should combat "those who want to appropriate our resources through abusive price manipulation."

In coming decades, the role of petroleum in the global energy mix will fall from 32 percent to 29 percent while gas will rise to 26 percent from 22 percent, Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli of Iran, the Forum's secretary general, told the group's opening session.

The 12-country group, which aims to strengthen collaboration among members, includes Venezuela, Russia and Qatar, the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.

Forum members hold about 70 percent of global natural gas reserves.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will not resolve the question of the Irish border after Brexit until it has also agreed the outline of a trade deal with the European Union, the country's International Trade Minister Liam Fox said on Sunday.

The EU has said "sufficient progress" needs to be made on the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland, along with two other key issues, before EU leaders meeting at a summit on Dec. 14-15 can approve the opening of trade talks next year.

However, Fox said it would be very difficult to address the issue of the border while Britain's relationship with the EU after Brexit remains unclear.

"We don't want there to be a hard border but the United Kingdom is going to be leaving the customs union and the single market," he told Sky News.

"We can't get a final answer to the Irish question until we get an idea of the end state, and until we get into discussions with the European Union on the end state that will be very difficult."

Dublin wants a written guarantee that there will be no hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Earlier on Sunday Ireland's EU commissioner said Dublin would "continue to play tough" over its threat to veto talks about trade after Brexit unless Britain provided guarantees over the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Phil Hogan, the EU's agricultural commissioner, said that Britain, or Northern Ireland at least, should remain in the single market and the customs union to avoid a hard border dividing the island.

"If the UK or Northern Ireland remained in the EU customs union, or better still the single market, there would be no border issue," he told the Observer newspaper.

Irish and EU officials say the best way to avoid a "hard border" - which could include passport and customs controls - is to keep regulations the same north and south, but the Northern Irish party that is propping up May's government will oppose any deal that sees the province operate under different regulations to the rest of the United kingdom.

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"We will not support any arrangements that create barriers to trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom or any suggestion that Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the UK, will have to mirror European regulations," the Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster said on Saturday.

Ruth Davidson, leader of the Conservatives in Scotland, said on Sunday that the Irish border was "one of the really difficult bits" of the negotiations.

She said Britain's unique future position as the only country that had left the European Union meant its did not need an "off-the-shelf" solution, although she did not specify how the issue should be resolved.

She said any delay in moving onto trade talks would have serious repercussions for businesses.

"I think that it is really important that we get the transitional deal nailed down; that's not for government, that's for businesses so they know what they are doing next year and they are able to plan," she said.

"If we don't make it through in the next two weeks to move onto that next phase, then we are rapidly going to run out of time in terms of getting us to a good position at the time that transitional deal is supposed to take place."

(Reporting by Paul SandleEditing by Giles Elgood, Greg Mahlich)
FILE PHOTO: OPEC President Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih talks to journalists before the beginning of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, on May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

By Alexandra Alper

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Libya's foreign minister said on Friday that OPEC could decide to extend crude oil production cuts to balance the global oil market when the group meets next week, and that Libya would cooperate with such a decision.

"If it is necessary for all, we should extend cuts," said Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit in Bolivia. "We will go with the interest of all the other countries."

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet in Vienna on Nov. 30. The group, along with Russia and several other major producers, have cut their combined output by about 1.8 million barrels per day since January to reduce bloated inventories and boost oil prices.

When asked if he believed OPEC's cuts should be extended to next year, Taher Siala said: "It is a matter of balancing the position of the consumers and the producers, and that is very important. If it is necessary for the interests of both, then we would be extending, yes.

Siala said he expected that other OPEC member nations would share his position. When there is a need for balancing, we will go with balancing for the market, he said, adding that OPEC representatives were in touch with non-OPEC countries like Russia about the issue.

Russia has said it is ready to support extending a deal among oil producers on cutting output, although it has yet to say how long it should be for.

(Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban is interviewed by hedge fund manager Kyle Bass on RealVision Television.

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban has seen a ton of change since he first got in the technology business in 1982, but he argues that artificial intelligence (AI) is going to change everything, 180 degrees.

He warns that if the U.S. allows other countries to take the lead in AI, then itll be SOL, an acronym that employs profanity to communicate urgency.

All these things have happened that have changed how we do business, changed how we lived our lives, changed everything, right, the internet. But what were going to see with artificial intelligence dwarfs all of that, Cuban said in an interview with hedge fund manager J. Kyle Bass of Hayman Capital on RealVision Television, a subscription financial video service.

AI is expected to soon bring an increase in productivity, resulting in fewer jobs all while the population continues to grow.

Its not a question of how it plays out over 100 years. Its a question of how plays out over ten years, 20 years, right? Who knows what exactly? But I can tell you, at the beginning, which jobs are going to be displaced, Cuban said. I can tell you the real estate is going to be displaced. Ive talked to major companies that, theyre asking me, Mark, were going to have all this extra real estate in all these towns. What are we going to do with it? Do you have any ideas?

Cuban sees AI as deflationary as the increased productivity brings prices down.

So, then the question, when I sit down with these companies, were not doing it just to commiserate how bad things are going to be. The question is what do we do?

New types of jobs will emerge

Cuban, who added that hes spent a lot of time teaching himself about machine learning and writing code, explained that it used to be that people would use spreadsheets and postulate different variables and build models. Smart people would think of more variables, resulting in better probabilities.

Machine learning, however, can think of infinitely more variables than people.

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Thats only the beginning, right? Then, we start getting into something called generative artificial intelligence where it starts to think, right? Cuban said. And for the most part, now, not all the way through, you still have to label everything. Here are my variables, right? But then when you give it to it, and you say, based off of these variables that are labeled as such, heres an unlimited number of opportunities, right? And so based off of those, were going to create biases and weights for them all and let you come up with some conclusion. Let it give you a variety of conclusions, and then you decide. Going forward, you wont have to label anything, right?

For the time being, the jobs that will be created are for people who can assist with labeling and variable definition.

Those are the types of jobs that are going to be available over the next five, ten years that didnt exist before. Now, theyre kind of like Amazon warehouse jobs. Theyre brutal, right? And its not anything negative towards Amazon. Its going to be good work. And then were also going to have our own Tennessee Valley Authority, where they had made good public works. Were going to have make good jobs where we may use programs like AmeriCorps just to walk kids to school or just to read to kids. We may have to tax robots, right? Whatever it may be.

Its a race

Regardless, AI is going to continue to happen, and other countries are investing, particularly in talent in those fields.

And so, Vladimir Putin says the winner in AI controls the world. China puts together a future plan saying whoever dominates in AI  and theyre subsidizing Tencent, Alibaba (BABA), et cetera, right? Cuban said. It is a race. We cut our Office of Technology and Science to one person who was an assistant to Peter Thiel. Thats where we stand.

Cuban made his first investment in a U.S.-based robotics company called Hirebotics. The company rents robots for hire.

Im not saying its a good thing for a bad thing. Its going to happen with or without me. But I wanted to learn whats going on, Cuban said. Those building up a robotics industry here, investing in our AI industry here, thats the new infrastructure. Because if we dont do it, and China or Russia win those wars, were SOL. Were out of luck, right?

Cuban thinks the first trillionaire is going to be somebody who comes up with something unique in AI.

Check out the full interview below:

Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
Tusk is meeting May as Britain tries to seal a divorce agreement that would allow Brexit negotiations to move on to the second phase. (AFP Photo/CHRISTIAN HARTMANN) (POOL/AFP/File)

Brussels (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said Brexit talks with EU President Donald Tusk on Friday had been "very positive", but admitted there was still work to do to reach a deal.

"There are still issues across the various matters that we're negotiating on to be resolved, but there's been a positive atmosphere in the talks and a genuine feeling we want to move forward together," May said after talks with Tusk on the margins of an EU summit in Brussels.

The British premier met Tusk, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders on the sidelines of the summit with ex-Soviet states as part of a bid to unlock negotiations on a future trade deal.

May said they were making progress on all of the major issues -- Britain's exit bill, the rights of EU nationals living in Britain and the Irish border, which has flared up as a major sticking point in recent weeks.

"In relation to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, we and the Irish government continue to talk about the solutions for that," May said.

"We have the same desire. We want to ensure the movement of people and trade across that border can continue as now and we don't create any new barriers to trade or the movement of people across that border."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he was more confident than before about a deal but added nothing would be decided before he had dinner with May on December 4.

Tusk said after the talks that a deal in December was possible, but still a "huge challenge".
Net neutrality nears a step closer to its death each day as the Federal Communications Commissions December 14 vote nears without any barriers in sight. The repeal of these Obama-era internet protections would signal the end of a free and open internet, and the imminent rise of major internet providers that can control access and speed as they see fit, unless Congress steps in.

One of the major issues lies in the monopoly that the top internet service providers have on access.

Four corporations  Comcast, Charter, AT&T, and Verizon  account for about 76 percent of the 94.5 million internet subscribers in the United States, as of 2017s third fiscal quarter, according to a report from the Leichtman Research Group. While conservatives say net neutrality is an unnecessary regulation, these ISPs will be able to force companies to pay for speed, shape internet access, and block websites as they see fit. The FCCs move would also take away a slew of consumer protections that let them dispute unfair prices and maintain privacy.

The net neutrality fight has pitted large ISPs who stand to gain financial benefits against tech companies, small business advocates, civil liberties activists, and everyday consumers. But some have been mysteriously vague or silent about their stances on net neutrality, which has made it difficult for consumers to understand their actual stances.

Go deeper: Net Neutrality Timeline: 10 Events That Led to Dec. 14 FCC Meeting

Heres what the biggest ISPs in the land have actually said about net neutrality.

AT&T Comments on Net Neutrality:

The latest: AT&Ts message can easily trip up readers. A page on AT&Ts website states in large letters, We support an open internet. But below this statement that seems to be in support of net neutrality, AT&T speaks out against the net neutrality regulations. The company claimed 15.7 million subscribers as of Q3 2017 and seems cautious at best and deceptive at worst in its appearance to advocate net neutrality  and in its call on customers to join with them in advocating their stance.

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Verizon Comments on Net Neutrality:

The latest: Verizon released a video back in April where one of its top legal counselors tries to explain that the FCC is not actually killing net neutrality. But a lot of what he says is deceptive or simply not true. Memorably, The Verge examined those comments in a scathing breakdown. Below is the video. First question, where in the hell did they film this video? Beyond that, this video glosses over the specifics and leans heavily into over-simplified examples and emotive gestures. Basically, Verizon doesnt want the internet to be treated as a utility, in spite of how important access to the internet is for tens of millions of people to find jobs, get an education, connect with the community, or just kick back and watch Rick and Morty episodes.

With almost 7 million broadband subscribers, Verizon has a big stake in the net neutrality controversy  not to mention that FCC commissioner Ajit Pai used to work on Verizons legal team.

Comcast Comments on Net Neutrality:

The latest: Comcast commended the FCC for its work to repeal the net neutrality laws in a corporate blog post this week, which also says that the company will not block, throttle, or discriminate against lawful content. Comcast, the largest broadband provider at 25.5 million subscribers, met with the FCC earlier this month to talk about ways to prevent states from enacting their own net neutrality laws.

Charter Comments on Net Neutrality:

The latest: Charter  which also markets as Charter Spectrum  is second-largest broadband provider with 23.6 million subscribers. The CEO of Charter said the FCCs plan would spur investment in and the deployment of the next generation of broadband.

Since it merged with Time Warner in 2016, Charter has been staunch in saying it has voluntarily adhered to net neutrality rules as one of the biggest internet companies. However, its unclear what kind of effect the repeal of net neutrality would have.

Whats Next?

The FCC will vote on the rollback of net neutrality regulations  enacted two years ago under the Obama administration  on December 14. There are various ways to protest between now and then for people who believe that internet access for the majority of Americans shouldnt be controlled by a handful of major corporations.

Photos via Getty Images / Toby Jorrin, Getty Images / Spencer Platt, Getty Images / Ethan Miller, Getty Images / Roy Rochlin, Getty Images / Chip Somodevilla

Photos via Getty Images / Toby Jorrin, Getty Images / Spencer Platt, Getty Images / Ethan Miller, Getty Images / Roy Rochlin, Getty Images / Chip Somodevilla

Written by Paige Leskin

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U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures hit a two-year high last week and international-benchmark Brent crude oil hovered near a multi-year high as investors reacted to the partial closure of the Keystone pipeline connecting Canadian oilfields with the United States. The news was bullish because it contributed to the tightening of U.S. supplies.

January WTI crude oil settled at $58.95, up $2.24 or +3.95% and February Brent crude oil finished the week at $63.47, up $0.92 or +1.47%.

Weekly January WTI Crude Oil

The oil spill that shutdown the Keystone pipeline helped flip prices into backwardation. This is a condition when front-month prices rise above those for future months, indicating an undersupplied market. January WTI crude oil is now trading 4 cents above the February futures contract, a condition not seen in about 3 years.

The Keystone spill on November 16 reduced the usual 590,000 barrel-per-day flow to U.S. refineries, driving down inventories at the main futures storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma.

In other news, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. crude inventories fell 1.9 million barrels in the week to November 17 to 457.14 million barrels.

U.S. energy companies this week added oil rigs, with the monthly rig count rising for the first time since July. Drillers added nine oil rigs in the week to November 22, bringing the total count up to 747, according to General Electric Co.s Baker Hughes energy services firm.

Weekly February Brent Crude Oil

Forecast

This should be an active week for crude oil traders. The key market driving events will be the Keystone Pipeline problem and the OPEC meeting on November 30.

WTI crude oil futures should continue to remain underpinned and prices could continue to rise the longer it takes to bring the Keystone pipeline back on line. Some traders are estimating the pipeline may be out for another two weeks.

On November 30, OPEC meets in Vienna, Austria. It is expected to extend the deal to cut production from March 2018 to December 2018.

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According to Bloomberg, OPEC and Russia have outlined the framework for an extension. However, at this time the details remain unclear and the news report says there is no final agreement yet.

The majority of OPEC members are endorsing an extension, however, Russian support is the key risk.

In October, President Vladimir Putin indicated that Russia backed extending the deal to the end of 2018, but comments by officials and in Russian media have created uncertainty since then.

As far as the price action is concerned, the pipeline shutdown is bullish news. The announcement of an extension can cause a volatile two-sided trade because it has already been priced into the market. Anything less than a 9-month extension should be bearish. The absence of Russia from the extension will also be bearish news. If the OPEC-led group decides to extend and expand the production cuts then this news will be extremely bullish.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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FILE PHOTO: Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo (Reuters)

By Reem Shamseddine

DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - State oil giant Saudi Aramco [IPO-ARMO.SE] and petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) signed a preliminary deal on Sunday to build a $20 billion complex to convert crude oil to chemicals.

The project, which the partners said would be the largest crude-to-chemicals facility in the world and the first in the kingdom, are part of the Saudi government's effort to diversify the economy beyond exporting crude.

Private investment has slowed in the kingdom in the last few years due to low oil prices and government austerity, so Riyadh wants to develop manufacturing industries, including chemicals.

After signing the memorandum of understanding, Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser told reporters a final decision on whether to go ahead with the project would be made by the end of 2019.

Investment costs for the complex, which could start production in 2025, would be shared equally.

"The two companies can pool their expertise and, given the large size of the capex, partnering hedges their risk," said Michael Arne, head of emerging technologies research at IHS Markit.

Aramco, the world's largest oil company, has been developing its downstream business as the government prepares to sell up to 5 percent of its shares next year in an initial public offering (IPO).

The CEOs of both firms said they were considering locating the complex at the Red Sea port city and industrial centre of Yanbu. But Nasser said there were also other options, with factors such as proximity to markets guiding a decision.

Yousef al-Benyan, SABIC's CEO said the two companies would examine the best technology to use, after they had been working on different technologies to convert crude to chemicals before deciding to team up.

Benyan said the project could involve two or three crackers, which are used to break heavy hydrocarbons into petrochemicals. The use of so-called flexi-crackers would enable the firms to break down a range of feeds - oil, gas or naphtha.

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The complex would process crude at international prices to make polyethylene, polypropylene, xylene, benzene and other products, Nasser said.

The Saudi project would process about 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Arabian light crude oil to make about 9 million tonnes of chemicals and base oils a year, plus 200,000 bpd of diesel for domestic use.

The new complex would create an estimated 30,000 jobs directly and indirectly, adding 1.5 percent to Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product by 2030, the companies said.

The venture would help SABIC expand operations in the kingdom and give it more feedstock options, Benyan said.

SABIC has been diversifying its feed base. In China, it plans to make chemicals from coal. In the United States, it wants to build a plant with Exxon Mobil that uses shale gas.

(Reporting by Reem Shamseddine; Writing by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Keith Weir)
Saudi Arabias powerful Crown Prince called the Supreme Leader of Iran the new Hitler of the Middle East in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday, sharply escalating the war of words between the arch-rivals.

The Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran back rival sides in wars and political crises throughout the region.

Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi defense minister in the U.S.-allied oil giant kingdom, suggested the Islamic Republics alleged expansion under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei needed to be confronted.

Read: Concerns Over Yemen as Saudi Arabia Agrees to Buy $7 Billion in Weapons From U.S. Firms

But we learned from Europe that appeasement doesnt work. We dont want the new Hitler in Iran to repeat what happened in Europe in the Middle East, the paper quoted him as saying.

Tensions soared this month when Lebanons Saudi-allied Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned in a television broadcast from Riyadh, citing the influence of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and risks to his life.

Hezbollah called the move an act of war engineered by Saudi authorities, an accusation they denied.

Hariri has since suspended his resignation.

Saudi Arabia has launched thousands of air strikes in a 2-1/2-year-old war in neighbouring Yemen to defeat the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement that seized broad swaths of the country.

Salman told the Times that the war was going in its favor and that its allies controlled 85% of Yemens territory.

The Houthis, however, still retain the main population centres despite the war effort by a Saudi-led military coalition which receives intelligence and refueling for its warplanes by the United States. Some 10,000 people have died in the conflict.

The group launched a ballistic missile toward Riyadhs main airport on Nov. 4, which Saudi Arabis decried as an act of war by Tehran.

Bin Salman said in May that the kingdom would make sure any future struggle between the two countries is waged in Iran.

For his part, Khamenei has referred to the House of Saud as an accursed tree, and Iranian officials have accused the kingdom of spreading terrorism.
(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON)  President Donald Trump has the power he needs to put his top budget aide in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), federal officials said on Saturday, weighing in on a battle for control over the powerful agency.

The leadership of the independent regulatory agency was thrown into question on Friday when its outgoing director Richard Cordray, a Democrat, named his deputy as his acting replacement until the U.S. Senate confirms a new director.

The CFPB was created by former Democratic President Barack Obama in the wake of the financial crisis and has imposed steep penalties on banks, auto dealers, student lenders and credit card companies for alleged predatory lending practices.

Trump named White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, a fierce critic of the agency, to temporarily oversee the CFPB until he nominates someone to take on the job  a pick expected in upcoming weeks, senior administration officials told reporters on a conference call.

Democrats, accusing the White House of finding a backdoor method to defang a banking watchdog, point to language in the Dodd-Frank law that created the CFPB, stipulating the deputy director replaces the director when he or she leaves.

But administration officials said the 1998 Federal Vacancies Reform Act gives presidents the power to temporarily fill agency positions, except for those with multi-member boards  an exemption that they said did not apply to the CFPB.

We believe this move by the president is a typical routine move exercised by presidents, said one of the officials, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, noting the White House had sought guidance from the Justice Department before Trump named Mulvaney to the job.

The Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel will soon publish a formal view, the officials said.

Cordray was the CFPBs first director, so this is the first time the agencys succession plan has been tested.

Story continues

Republicans have complained the agency is too powerful and lacks oversight from Congress on its operations. Industry critics said the succession battle was a case in point of how the agency had too much power.

The CFPBs current governing structure is a dictatorship, period, Richard Hunt, head of the Consumer Bankers Association, said in a statement.

Democrats and consumer advocates said it was unfair to put Mulvaney  who once described the CFPB as a joke  in charge.

Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives financial services committee, said the appointment would give Mulvaney a seat on the boards of two other financial regulatory agencies.

The White House would have an alarming degree of direct control over financial regulation, supervision, and enforcement, Waters said in a statement.

ENORMOUS CLOUD OF UNCERTAINTY

Trumps nominee must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, meaning that Mulvaney could be the acting director for months.

The fight has raised practical questions about how the agency would operate when its doors open on Monday.

The White House has not been in touch with Leandra English, the deputy who Cordray put in charge, officials said, saying they expected she would be at work on Monday and continue as Mulvaneys deputy.

We dont have any reason to think that anything out of the ordinary course will happen: we think (Mulvaney) will show up Monday and he will go into the office and start working, a senior administration official said.

We have gone out of our way to avoid an unnecessary legal battle with Mr. Cordray and his actions clearly indicate that hes trying to provoke one, another official said.

The issue will likely be challenged in courts, which could mean this enormous cloud of uncertainty hangs over the CFPB in the meantime, said Alan Kaplinsky, who heads the Consumer Financial Services Group for Ballard Spahr LLP.

Kaplinsky said he believes the Dodd-Frank law provides for the deputy director to take charge during a shorter-term leave, but Congress did not explicitly list the resignation of the director as a situation where the deputy would step up.

I think Trump wins, but unfortunately it is going to take a while, Kaplinsky said.
A top official in Afghanistan has come under fire for seeming to confirm for the first time that neighboring Iran has recruited thousands of Shiite Afghans and "warriors from other regional countries to fight in Syria.

Deputy Afghan Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqiq made the controversial statement during a trip last week to Tehran. His remarks were recorded on video and aired and reported by Afghan media, prompting critics to take to social media to denounce him and call for his removal from office.

While addressing an international summit of scholars from Iran and other Muslim nations, the Afghan deputy chief executive is shown praising Major General Qasem Soleimani, who commands foreign operations of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The gathering was convened to discuss ways to fight the dark ideology of Islamic State (IS) terrorists from a unified Islamic front, according to Iranian media.

The Iranian general is said to be one of the founders of the Fatemiyoun Division, made up of mostly Afghan Hazara fighters and deployed to the Syrian conflict zone.

I thank all the warriors who cooperated in these wars from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other parts of the world who attended the wars. In fact, it was the war of Islam against infidelity and against the conspiracies of the world arrogance, Mohaqiq said.

The Afghan official did not elaborate and went on to commend the prominent role of General Soleimani in the victory in Syria.

IS In Afghanistan

Mohaqiq claimed that more than 10,000 Islamic State members who escaped the conflict, including those from Central Asian states, have now moved to Afghanistan and are threatening stability of northern and western border provinces.

The northern part of Afghanistan, once a secure area, has now been destabilized after the incursion of Daesh, Mohaqiq said using local acronym for IS. The instability, he warned, will threaten neighboring Central Asian nations.

The Afghan government has not yet commented on Mohaqiqs remarks, but the foreign ministry has maintained that reports of Afghans being sent to conflict zones in the Middle East are under investigation and that the issue has also been raised with Iranian authorities.

Rights Abuses

Rights defenders have repeatedly drawn international attention to what they say is Tehrans training and deployment of Afghan refugees in Iran.

Human Rights Watch in a detailed report published last month also accused Iran of committing war crimes by recruiting and sending Afghan immigrant children as young as 14 to fight in Syria alongside government forces.

The report charged the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps with recruiting and providing combat training to mainly Shiite Hazara Afghans who have settled in Iran after fleeing decades of hostilities in their native country.

Recruits for Fatemiyoun Division are said to come mostly from about 2.5 million Afghan refugees, many of them without residency papers. Pro-government Iranian media describes the division as a volunteer Afghan force fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Rights groups have documented cases of Afghans, mostly Shiite Hazaras, in Iran who volunteered to take part in the Syrian conflict in the hopes of gaining legal status and a monthly income of around $600 for their impoverished refugee families.

Iranian authorities reportedly tell Afghan recruits they are being trained to fight to protect major Shiite shrines in Damascus, Aleppo and Raqqa.

Iran is reported to have poured billions into Syria in addition to raising Shiite militias from countries with significant Shiite population, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, which also hosts millions of Afghan refugees.

-- Voice of America
mymba99 wrote:

For the first time in the modern era, non-Hispanic Whites are officially a minority in California, which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters only a decade ago.





(A) which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters only a decade ago



(B) which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a decade ago, when it was nearly three-quarters



(C) and that amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a decade ago, when they were nearly three-quarters



(D) amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters a decade ago



(E) amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from what it was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters





Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Verb Forms + Pronouns + Comparison

A:

California

non-Hispanic Whites

B:

California

non-Hispanic Whites

C:

D:

Correct.

non-Hispanic Whites

because

a total of

E:

three-quarters more of the population

a total of

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

Dear Friends,Here is a detailed explanation to this question-Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that non-Hispanic Whites are officially a minority in California, because they amount to a little less than half the population of the state, and a decade ago, they were nearly three-quarters of the population. The introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- amounting in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship. "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refers to the noun just before the comma. A comparison must always be made between similar elements.This answer choice incorrectly refers to "California" with "which amounts...state", illogically implying thatamounts to a little less than half the population of the state; the intended meaning is thatamount to a little less than half the population of the state; please remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "non-Hispanic Whites" with the singular pronoun "it". Further, Option B incorrectly refers to "California" with "which amounts...state", illogically implying thatamounts to a little less than half the population of the state; the intended meaning is thatamount to a little less than half the population of the state; please remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma. Additionally, Option B incorrectly compares "a little less than half the population of the state" to "a decade ago"; please remember, a comparison must always be made between similar elements.This answer choice suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as the pronoun "that" lacks a clear referent. Further, Option C incorrectly compares "a little less than half the population of the state" to "a decade ago"; please remember, a comparison must always be made between similar elements.This answer choice avoids the pronoun errors seen in Options B, C, and E, as it uses no pronouns. Further, Option D uses the phrase "amounting to a little less than half the population of the state"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "amounting" in this sentence)" construction correctly implies thatare officially a minority in California,they amount to a little less than half the population of the state; remember, the introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- amounting in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship. Moreover, Option D uses the phrase "down from nearly three-quarters a decade ago", conveying the intended meaning - that a decade ago non-Hispanic Whites made upthree-quarters of the population of the state. Additionally, Option D correctly compares "a little less than half the population of the state" with "nearly three-quarters".This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "non-Hispanic Whites" with the singular pronoun "it". Further, Option E alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "down from what it was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that a decade ago non-Hispanic Whites made upof the state than they currently do; the intended meaning is that a decade ago non-Hispanic Whites made upthree-quarters of the population of the state.To understand the concept of "Comma + Present Participle for Cause-Effect Relationship" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):All the best!Team_________________
marine wrote:

For the last five years the Dutch economy has grown faster than Britain, France, or Germany, with the unemployment rate having remained well below that of the other three countries.



A)Britain, France, or Germany, with the unemployment rate having remained

B)have those of Britain, France, or Germany, and the unemployment rate remaining

C)have Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained

D)the economy of Britain, France, and Germany, with the unemployment rate that has remained

E)the economies of Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained

E is correct.A and C are incorrect. Dutch economy has grown faster than Britain, France and Germany (not their economy).D is incorrect. The economy of Britain, France, and Germany suggest that these countries have single economy which is compared to Dutch economy.B is incorrect. It is not parallel. Dutch economy has grown faster and Dutch unemployment rate has remained VS Dutch economy has grown faster and Dutch unemployment rate remaining.
Rohit6 wrote:

)

Going through your situation you're not absolutely convinced if you wish (and can) to work in EU or in the US. To my best understanding getting a job in US after LBS/INSEAD can be considerably difficult. There are number of reasons for that, most important being the visa issues. Even if you do an exchange in Kellogg still it would be substantially difficult to get a job in US. On the flip-side, Kellogg MBA would still be well recognised in EU ( at least better than what LBS/INSEAD will be perceived in US). Hence, Kellogg will will give you access to more opportunities, from a career standpoint. Of course, there are other factors to be considered here such as culture of school, long-term goals, personal reasons, $$ etc. but since these are subjective, I would leave them to you!



Hope that helps.



Best,

Rohit I would go with Kellogg in this case (and my views may be biased as I am a current Kellogg studentGoing through your situation you're not absolutely convinced if you wish (and can) to work in EU or in the US. To my best understanding getting a job in US after LBS/INSEAD can be considerably difficult. There are number of reasons for that, most important being the visa issues. Even if you do an exchange in Kellogg still it would be substantially difficult to get a job in US. On the flip-side, Kellogg MBA would still be well recognised in EU ( at least better than what LBS/INSEAD will be perceived in US). Hence, Kellogg will will give you access to more opportunities, from a career standpoint. Of course, there are other factors to be considered here such as culture of school, long-term goals, personal reasons, $$ etc. but since these are subjective, I would leave them to you!Hope that helps.Best,Rohit

Hi, another biased view for future applicants (I started this thread and chose INSEAD over Kellogg and LBS).I went to France, got an internship in VC in the US, got the offer and I am now working in Europe. While it is true INSEAD is not "street known" (if you're talking to someone in a bar people won't have a clue), I'd argue that as a general rule people who hire know what it is, so wouldn't quite name it as a big issue.I'd say biggest difference is that US MBAs allow students to stay and work for a year after graduation. So from INSEAD, getting a job in the US will mean more hustling from your side (except you're going for consulting, which will probably make it the same anywhere), but it is definitely possible. In my experience, INSEAD was highly regarded by the people who hired me.On the opposite example, I'd say it is equally hard, and it will demand the same hustling from your side, as the US schools don't make big efforts to attract European recruiters (again leaving consulting away from this). So for concrete, global company example: Amazon the US -> you'll find more Kellogg guys / Amazon in EU -> You'll find more INSEAD guys.So brushing up:-If you want to be in the US, don't make your life harder and go to Kellogg-If you want to be in EU/UK, don't make your life harder and go to INSEAD-If you want to do MC, pick whatever you like best cause if you're good enough you'll get the office you like-If you are picking what you like, I just don't get how you wouldn't choose INSEAD, where you can do Singapore, France Abu Dhabi and/or US all in one year. What a spectacular year! I want to go back! (Of course I am not biased
Re: LBS vs INSEAD [ #permalink

2 Kudos

In at both - these were the only two schools I applied to as well. Have a few weeks to make the final decision. After researching, going on campuses, etc, I feel like if the end game is consulting - definitely go to INSEAD. If you want to try to do London IB - definitely go to LBS. I think these are the two most likely career paths for me, with a slight pull towards finance over consulting (I come from real estate investing), so may end up picking LBS on that basis.



However - as far as lifestyle - INSEAD is the only school where you can do something like: 4 months singapore, 2 months abu dabhi, end in western europe. On that criteria alone - that sounds like an incredible year. On top of that - you are completely done after that year. No other school can feed students into elite consulting jobs after what amounts to a year around the world.



Everything I wrote above - not going to post stats or exact number of conversations I have - this is just the feel i've had. That to me, is the biggest pro of each and the one I am currently wrestling with. Will not pull the trigger on either for a couple of weekends. Whats your situation?
why an MBA is a crucial step

Mainly you need to explain:

skills

knowledge

else

Also, see this Master Thread: https://gmatclub.com/forum/why-mba-277349.html

specific

goals

Here is a good example of a "why MBA" essay:





Specializing in candidates with GMATs under 720 or low GPAs



Try our free Admissions Chances Calculator -



All statistics verified by Ernst & Young - https://ARINGO.com/  MBA Admissions ConsultingSpecializing in candidates with GMATs under 720 or low GPAsTry our free Admissions Chances Calculator - https://aringo.com/mba-admission-chances-calculator/ All statistics verified by Ernst & Young - https://aringo.com/aringo-mba-admission-statistics/ Signature Read More

Many MBA programs ask this question in their MBA essays . When writing such essay, the candidate has to make it clear to the admission committeefor him in order to achieve his career goals.- Whatyou still lack in order to achieve your stated goals, and how the MBA/school will enable you to get each of these skills?- Whatdo you still lack in order to achieve your stated goals? Will the MBA enable you to get this knowledge? For example: I still lack knowledge of X to achieve my goal Y.- Whatdo you still lack in order to achieve your stated goals? Experience? Contacts? How will the MBA enable you to get these things?Your candidacy is likely to be stronger if you are moreabout what it is exactly that you are lacking in light of your. For instance, what exactly within marketing do you need to achieve your stated goals? Positioning? Distribution? Advertising? Strategy? Pricing? Etc.My long term career goal is to become Senior Vice President and Head of Global Information Security Group in a major Information Security corporation such as $25 billion Cisco, $5 billion CheckPoint or $5 billion Netscreen. I plan to achieve that position after acquiring the necessary tools and experience required to manage a large-scale global business by completing my MBA, starting as Product Manager and working my way up.I find the information security industry exciting; it is ever-growing, ever-changing and provides a huge technological challenge in adapting to new technologies and attacks. Data security was a crucial element to business managers worldwide deciding to connect their intra-nets to the Internet. This made the transformation to a global-commercial network possible. I am proud to take part in maintaining the Internets revolutionary role by making individuals who use it feel secure. I hope to harness my motivation, technological ingenuity and managerial skills in developing the industry.My fascination with business, direct interaction with clients, strategic overview, and the view of a company as provider of products that meet customer needs has motivated me to move from technical roles to business positions. Both my current position as Group Manager in the military and my desired post-MBA position as Product Manager require team management. While today I use intuition and experience to guide my activity, I plan to strengthen my skills by learning formal methodologies at Tuck and benefiting from personal experiences of classmates and faculty. I feel that such knowledge will help me do my job effectively and achieve my long term objectives.In future positions I will be faced daily with situations which require interpersonal skills: interviewing a job applicant, rewarding an employee, providing constructive criticism, etc. While there is sometimes a suggested textbook solution to these situations, great skill is required to adapt the general solution to the particular case. I look forward to improving my "soft skills" by taking classes like "Leading Organization" or "Organizational Culture and Culture Change". Here, I can refine my skills with "hands on" experience in a forgiving environment.Product management and my subsequent positions also require close interaction with departments such as finance, marketing, sales and R&D. I will need to understand the activities of these departments, best practices for interacting with them and how to take them into account in decision-making. Tuck's Global General Management approach towards teaching business, providing the "CEO perspective", will allow me to obtain knowledge on this.I learned that an important part of being a manager is developing vision, knowing not only what your business unit is doing next month but also what you think it should do three years from now. The job requires developing a road-map and setting milestones that will lead to long-term objective while keeping short-term goals in mind. Knowledge gained through courses like "Global Strategy and Implementation" and "Top Management Teams" will allow me to take these considerations into account, balancing it with reality.I feel that Tuck is the place to receive my MBA education. The close community, the unique geographical location and the strong emphasis the MBA program has on team players and teamwork creates a special atmosphere. I feel most comfortable learning and exchanging ideas in this type of environment. Its informality allows me to easily open up and express my opinion or risk making a mistake. This special trait reflects also in the Tuck alumni community. Talking to Tuck students and Alumni, I was impressed with their willingness to go to great length to assist each other.Aiming to get back to the Information Security industry I am thrilled with Tuck's opportunities to expand my education in a technologically-oriented environment through programs like the Tuck Global Consultancy or the Glassmeyer/McNamee Center for Digital Strategies. I plan to take advantage of the fact that Tuck is part of Dartmouth University. The opportunity to enrich my education through classes in Physics, Psychology or History is something I look forward to as I feel this would allow me to develop a multi-disciplinary creative approach that will provide be with a better framework to achieve my goals._________________
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New Delhi, Nov 26 (IBNS): Uzbekistan has said that it is willing to offer unprecedented incentives for Indian pharmaceutical companies in its unique investment climate.

Seven new Free Economic Zones in pharmacy were created in Uzbekistan, where Indian business could be granted exemption of all taxes and customs duties for a certain number of years, if they would start joint cooperation in producing pharmaceuticals, the country's embassy in New Delhi said.

Speaking about the new investment programme, Uzebekistan Embassy spokesperson said: "We are quite optimistic, and at the first stage of cooperation will only request Indian companies to open their packaging facilities in order to add some value and get benefits of Uzbekistan business environment."

"The maximum demanded level of localization is 36 percent, which could be reached in next 3-4 years, so rest of the semi-ready products could be further continuously imported from their factories in India on duty-free basis," the spokesperson added.

"Since Uzbekistan has a Free Trade Agreements with CIS countries, Georgia and Ukraine, Uzbekistan could jointly enter the dynamically growing market of Central Asia and Afghanistan (with population of 95 million inhabitants) and CIS (with population over 300 million people).," the Embassy spokesperson said.

However the embassy also stated that there is lack of information regarding the opportunities provided to the Indian businesses in the country.

Embassy has conducted a Uzbek-Indian Business Forum on Nov 24 last.

During the event, representatives of Indian business were updated with current economic situation in Uzbekistan, as well as opportunities of doing business.


New York, Nov 25(Just Earth News): Unless the international community tackles violence against women, the world will not eradicate poverty or reach any of the other Sustainable Development Goals, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his message today for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

It is time to further our collective action to end violence against women and girls for good, the Secretary-General said marking the Day, which on 25 November, highlights that around the world, more than 1 in 3 women in their lives have experienced physical violence, sexual violence, or both.

The Day also spotlights the work of women's rights activists, who are being targeted at alarming levels, and violence against women politicians, which hamper women's rights.

It is time for united action from all of us, so that women and girls around the world can live free from harassment, harmful practices, and all other forms of violence, Guterres said.

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against women, one of the ways that the UN is helping the international community fight this scourge, is a grant system that has given away more than $129 million to groups and individuals supporting women's rights.

The UN is also involved in the recently launched 'Spotlight Initiative' with the European Union to connect UN efforts with the work of national governments and civil society; and the UN Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Initiative.

Among other efforts, the UN launched a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment and has said that it is committed to continuing the 'UNiTE to End Violence against Women' Campaign, under the new title 'UNiTE by 2030'.

The UNiTE Campaign will mark this year's 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, from 25 November through 10 December, under the theme Leave No One Behind: Ending Violence against Women and Girls.

Afghan women and girls

In Afghanistan, the top UN official in the country stressed that life free from all forms of violence is the right of every Afghan woman and girl.

Calling for violence against women in Afghanistan to immediately stop, Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said that no Afghan man will achieve his full potential unless women and girls in Afghanistan reach theirs.

For Afghan women to achieve their full potential and their immense capacity in development, in peace and in security, the violations of the rights of women and girls, particularly through violence, must cease, he said.

Violence against women and girls is not inevitable, said Rebecca Tavares, Country Representative ad interim for the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). There are many ways to prevent violence in the first place, and to stop its recurrence.

The UN family in Afghanistan stressed that alongside the effective legal and institutional mechanisms for access to justice, stopping violence against women requires an effort from all of us, from every individual, to speak out against violence in homes, workplaces and social settings.

Photo: UNICEF/Kate Holt

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, Nov 26(Just Earth News): Reflecting on the legacy of Nelson Mandela, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed called for investment in women and girls, decrying gender inequality as perhaps the most pervasive disparity around the world.

Sadly, the long walk to freedom for women and adolescent girls globally remains unfinished,

Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the 15th Nelson Mandela annual lecture in Cape Town, South Africa, referring to the title of Mandela's autobiography.

Speaking on 25 November, which is marked annually as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women, the Deputy Secretary-General issued a call to action for the international community to invest in the missing 50 per cent of our human asset base, the potential of our women and unleash their power for good.

Just as the world came together to support the end of subjugation on the basis of race in this great country, we need today to birth a new movement that calls for true equality, everywhere, she urged.

Mohammed noted that violence against women in homes and war zones is a global pandemic. Additionally, fewer than one-third of senior management positions in the private sector are held by women, and less than 25 per cent of all parliamentarians are women.

She said the new narrative must address the current context and constituency of young people left behind.

She discussed an unplanned meeting between Ekhlas Bajoo, a Yazidi woman who had been captured and held by the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) and Hauwa Mohammed, victimised by Boko Haram, who embraced and exchanged messages of hope.

I left that day, knowing that there is nothing more important than giving girls like this a platform to reach the world for those left behind without an authentic voice, Mohammed said.

Nelson Mandela had a very long walk to freedom, Mohammed said. Most of us could not even fathom this journey. At the end, he said he 'discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds there are many more hills to climb'. Leadership at all levels is the key.

She also paid tribute to other South African leaders, including the head of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and Navi Pillay, former High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mohammed, who as Deputy to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is the highest-ranking woman at the UN, said that Mandela's profound legacy contains the inspiration needed to address gender equality, which is putting people at the centre to reduce inequality through inclusion and sustainability.

In a speech peppered with personal anecdotes of growing up bi-racial in Nigeria at a time of apartheid in South Africa, Mohammed noted that she had never met Mandela, or Madiba as he is affectionately known, and so represents generations of people who take inspiration from his life without a personal encounter.

Before the speech, Mohammed toured the office and archives at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, reading Madiba's own writing, and had a personal tour of Robben Island, where he had been imprisoned.

Earlier, at a press briefing in Johannesburg, Mohammed said that tackling gender-based violence begins in the home and in communities.

"While progress has been made, a lot more needs to be done," she told the journalists.

She is scheduled tomorrow to visit to the nearby township of Khayelitsha, which is an historically important area where poverty remains high today.

UN Photo/Evan Schneider (file)

Source: www.justearthnews.com
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Diabetes mellitus is the name for several disorders with one thing in common: there is too much glucose, or sugar, in the blood.

The body uses a natural hormone, called insulin, to change sugar and other food into energy.

Diabetes develops when the body does not produce enough insulin or produces none at all. Or it develops when the body cannot use insulin.

People living with diabetes often suffer from other health problems. One complication can be damage to tissue on the feet. These foot ulcers can worsen if left untreated. Doctors may decide to remove the damaged area in an operation called an amputation. In some cases, the patient could die.

But a device being developed in Britain could help doctors recognize when ulcers are about to form.

Using a relatively simple temperature sensing device, doctors scan a patients feet for signs of an ulcer. The information may help them prevent ulcers from forming, as well as improve the condition of the patient.

The scanning device is called the DFirst. It works by looking for hot spots, or places of higher than normal temperature, on the feet of people with diabetes.

Doctors believe that hot spots help identify areas of inflammation, which could lead to foot ulcers.

Untreated ulcers are a leading cause of diabetes-related amputations.

Robert Simpson is a researcher with the National Physical Laboratory near London. He notes that studies have shown a link between amputations and patient survival rates.

If you have an amputation, then unfortunately the outlook is up to 50 percent of those who have an amputation are dead within two years, and up to 80 percent are dead within five years.

How ulcers lead to problems

Diabetes can cause damage to the nerves of the patient. Nerve damage can limit the patients ability to feel pain. People living with diabetes may not feel an ulcer developing in its early stages.

Using the new scanner, Simpson said, doctors can clearly see areas of inflammation in what he likens to a temperature map.

So what we have here is a thermal imaging camera core. This is sensitive to the infrared which has a strong relationship with temperature; so this provides you with a temperature map.

The problem of foot ulcers could be bigger than health experts have recognized.

A 2014 study by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that 400 million people live with diabetes. Some estimates say that 25 percent of patients will develop foot ulcers.

Simpson said, in Britain, the problem has led to an increase in the number of amputations.

There are 140 amputations every single week, so that is nearly one every hour, he noted. He added that 80 percent of these were driven by foot problems.

Researchers say that until recently doctors looked for hot spots with scanners that could not observe the whole foot. Because of this, problem areas could easily be missed.

Simpson said about 100,000 people in Britain have a foot ulcer. He said these people also are likely to develop another ulcer. He said it is important to help them better manage their health problems.

The current version of the DFirst is held with two hands. Researchers have been testing the scanner for two years. Designers hope that later versions of the DFirst will be as small as a smartphone.

Im Mario Ritter.

Kevin Enochs reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted his report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Quiz

Now, test your understanding by taking this short quiz.

Quiz - Scientists Developing Machine to Identify Diabetes-related Ulcers Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz



__________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

hormone  n. a natural substance that influences the way in which the body grows

complication  n. a health condition or conditions often caused or brought on by another condition or a medical procedure

scan  v. to use a special camera to make an image of something so that it can be studied closely

inflammation  n. a condition where tissue becomes red, painful and swollen

stage  n. a period in the development of something

thermal  adj. related to heat

infrared  n. a form of electro-magnetic radiation closely related to heat

manage  v. to direct; to take care of; to have control of
Bilal Bacha leads a group of men who have long hair, wear non-traditional military clothing, and drive white trucks around eastern Afghanistan.

The men look just like the militants they have promised to fight.

Bacha is the commander of the Afghan Local Police, or ALP, in the district of Achin. The area was once a base of operations for the self-declared Islamic State group, also known as IS.

Most of Achin has been cleared of IS fighters. But the day Bacha spoke to VOA, military airplanes were dropping bombs on the surrounding mountains. It was clear that the conflict was continuing.

People living in Achin described Bacha and his men as some of the fiercest fighters against IS militants. They have good reason to be: their families were among the victims of IS attacks.

Weve picked up these guns to protect our women and children, Bacha said. We are not doing this for money. The $100 or $150 we get per month is nothing. We can earn that doing anything else.

Bachas ALP force in Achin is part of a project started in 2010 with American money and support from U.S. Special Operations Forces. The plan was to create, train and arm local units that could defend their own communities against the Taliban and other militant groups. The idea was these units would be especially useful in areas where the Afghan governments security efforts were weak.

Many people, including the then-Afghan President Hamid Karzai, resisted the idea at first. They argued that local military units without the authority of the central government would be similar to the militias of the past. These militias helped start Afghanistans civil wars of the 1990s.

But in the end, Karzai accepted the proposal to create a 10,000 member temporary force. Under the plan, the force would either break up or join with traditional Afghan security forces in a few years.

Since then, the ALP has grown three times its original size. And it now operates in 31 of Afghanistans 34 provinces.

The U.S. Special Inspector General of Afghanistan Reconstruction described the strengths of the ALP in one of his reports. The report noted that one strength was the ability to know the difference between local residents and resistance fighters. Also, it said, the ALPs members have greater knowledge of villages, and local residents consider them to be more trustworthy than outside forces.

However, what makes the ALP strong in some communities is exactly what makes them a problem in others. Having local contacts made the men more invested in the security of the local communities. But it also made them more likely to react to pressure from local influences, including powerful leaders.

In several cases, local leaders have used the ALP as a way to employ their followers. This has helped those leaders extend their control over the population.

The Afghanistan Analysts Network is an independent group of researchers. They reported evidence of abusive behavior from the ALP, and the capture of units by local strongmen and the older militias, known as tanzims.

The group also noted that, political connections between ALP and figures in central government often [makes] control of abusive forces impossible.

The rights group Human Rights Watch released a statement on the ALP in September. It noted that, In many localities, these forces have been responsible for  abuses against civilians, as well as  executions of captured combatants and other violations of international humanitarian law.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission is the countrys own human rights organization. It reported that the ALP does not always follow the rules when recruiting members. Criminals, members of illegal armed groups, even the Taliban in some cases, have been able to find their way in.

The Afghan government has reacted to these criticisms. It said its Afghan Local Police Directorate would require the ALP to better explain its actions. The United States has also said it would only continue to support the ALP if it made reforms to its system. Currently, all of the money for the force comes from the U.S. government.

Even with the reported problems, almost everyone seems to agree that breaking up the ALP quickly is not a good idea. There is general agreement that this would weaken security and likely help the Taliban. That is why many observers suggest carefully combining the ALP with the traditional security forces, or returning the men to civilian life.

While the government considers these ideas, Bilal Bachas men care for the trees they have planted near their shelter. The men are hoping to watch the trees grow and someday enjoy their fruit.

Im Susan Shand. And I'm Pete Musto.

Ayesha Tanzeem reported this for VOA News. Pete Musto adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. How should the Afghan and American governments deal with the ALP? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

district  n. an area or section of a country, city, or town

authority  n. the power or right to direct or control someone or something

original  adj. happening or existing first or at the beginning

province(s)  n. any one of the large parts that some countries are divided into

resident(s)  n. someone who lives in a particular place

figure(s)  n. a person who has a specified status or who is regarded in a specified way

combatant(s)  n. a person, group, or country that fights in a war or battle

humanitarian  adj. concerned with or seeking to promote human life and happiness

recruit(ing)  v. to find people and get them to join a company, an organization, or the armed forces
VOA Learning English presents Americas Presidents.

Today we are talking about Jimmy Carter. His given name was James, but he liked to be called Jimmy.

Carter was elected president in 1976. Until he campaigned for the office, few Americans knew who he was.

But Carter said his lack of experience with the federal government made him the best candidate. After witnessing years of problems in the White House, many voters appeared to agree with him.

However, Carters inexperience also became a problem. Some of the issues he faced were complex and, at times, they seemed overwhelming.

After only one term, Carter failed to get re-elected.

But in time, his public image improved. His years after leaving the White House are generally considered more successful than his time in office.

Early life

Jimmy Carter was born in the southern state of Georgia. He was the oldest of four children. His father was a businessman. His mother was a nurse. The family owned a store, as well as a peanut farm and warehouse.

Although the businesses did well, Jimmy Carter grew up very modestly. His familys house did not have electricity or running water.

But he was hardworking and wanted to be successful. As a boy, he saved enough money to buy four houses. He earned more money by renting them to other people.

He also decided to attend college at the United States Naval Academy. And in time, he did so.

Carter was an excellent student. And he became a fine Naval officer. As a midshipman, Carter worked on one of the countrys first nuclear submarines. He later taught nuclear engineering to other crewmembers.

But Carters promising career in the Navy ended after only seven years.

His father was dying. And the family farm was in trouble.

Carter, his wife, Rosalynn, and their three sons, decided to return to Georgia and try to save it.

The first years back on the farm were difficult. But in time, the business became successful again.

Carter began to turn his attention to other issues. He became involved in his church, local school, hospitals and libraries. When he had a chance to compete for a position in the state senate, he took it.

As a politician, Carter developed an image as an independent thinker who tried to save the government money. He also acted and spoke strongly against racial discrimination.

In Georgia at the time, many voters did not agree with Carters support of racial equality. In 1966, even his own Democratic Party did not choose him to be its candidate to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.

So Carter began campaigning for the office of state governor instead. In 1970, he was elected. As Georgia's governor, Carter was known as a social and political reformer.

However, historian Robert Strong notes that Carter did not always work well with others in his party.

Strong teaches at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He writes that some Georgia lawmakers believed Carter was arrogant. He could appear to think he was morally right, and they were morally wrong.

Carters difficulty in getting along with other officials proved to be one of the problems he would later face.

But in the presidential election of 1976, many Americans seemed to like this quality. The little-known governor from Georgia defeated the sitting president, Gerald Ford.

Carter won, in part, by saying that he was different than other politicians. He was, he said, a Washington outsider.

Then suddenly, Carter was the biggest insider of all: the American president.

Presidency

One of the things Carter wanted to do was change the image of the president.

Earlier leaders, such as Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson, had increased the power of the presidency. Nixon had also been shown to be dishonest, and resigned from office.

Carter promised never to lie to the American people. And on the day of his swearing-in as president, he purposefully tried to keep things simple. He walked to the White House from the U.S. Capitol building instead of riding in the back of an automobile.

His wife, Rosalynn, wore clothes that she had worn in public before. The National First Ladies Library notes that her choice of clothing sent a message of "an old American value of thrift  or respecting money, and not spending it needlessly.

What she wore was meaningful because the country was going through difficult economic times. The Carters wanted to show that the new government would work to cut costs. They also wanted to show that they were there to help the American people, not enjoy the powers of the White House.

But in the end, the Carter administration received poor ratings in surveys of public opinion.

President Carter had trouble dealing with U.S. lawmakers, even when his party was in control of Congress. One result was that Carter could not advance many of his ideas for legislation. He appeared ineffective.

Many historians point out that, in fact, Carter had a number of successes. He helped reduce the countrys dependence on foreign oil. He took steps to make the federal government more efficient, and to improve the environment. He appointed a number of women and racial minorities to top government jobs -- an important move at a time when many were pressing for womens rights and civil rights. And, in many cases, Carter supported human rights causes, both in the United States and around the world.

But the public generally did not see Carter for his successes. Instead, many Americans blamed him for the countrys economic problems.

Some also disliked the way he spoke to them. In one speech, Carter blamed the countrys troubles on what he called a crisis of confidence. Some listeners were offended.

He also decided that the U.S. would not attend the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. The move was meant to punish the Soviet Union for its involvement in Afghanistan. But many Americans believed the move mostly hurt young American Olympians.

The administration also faced other problems. The president was never accused of wrongdoing. But other high-level officials were. So was the presidents brother, Billy. As a result, Jimmy Carters public image for honesty suffered.

Then came the Iran hostage crisis.

Iran hostage crisis

The conflict between the United States and Iran had a long history. One part involved the Shah of Iran. The U.S. government had supported his rise to power, partly because American interests wanted to control Irans oil.

But the Shah severely abused his power. Many Iranians resisted. Some wanted a leader who would more closely obey Islamic teachings.

In 1979, under pressure from those Iranians and others, the Shah fled the country. By now, he was suffering from cancer.

So, as a humanitarian act, President Carter permitted the Shah to come to the United States for medical treatment.

The move made many Iranians angry. In protest, a group of students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, the capital of Iran. They took 90 people, including 66 Americans, hostage.

Carter worked hard to get the hostages released. He tried diplomatic negotiations and economic restrictions.

But his efforts did not work.

Finally, he tried a secret military operation. He sent eight helicopters and a team of special forces to enter the embassy and rescue the hostages.

But that operation failed, too. The weather was bad. Three of the helicopters crashed. Eight Americans were killed.

And the publics approval of Jimmy Carter dropped even more.

After 444 days, the remaining hostages were released. In exchange, the U.S. government agreed to end some of its economic sanctions against Iran and promised not to interfere in the countrys affairs.

None of the hostages had been seriously hurt. But the crisis was the final blow to Carters presidency. A few months before they were released, his effort to seek re-election failed.

Legacy

As president, Carter did not meet the high expectations he had set for himself. And he faced some unusually difficult situations. His presidency also suffered from his problems communicating effectively with Congress, the media, and the American people.

But his four years as president did leave several marks on the office. For one, he showed that the U.S. president could help other nations and sides resolve their disputes.

Carters best-known success as president was his help negotiating the Camp David Accords.

The accords were a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Carter led the talks at Camp David in Maryland.

Carters efforts to protect human rights overseas also influenced the foreign policy of later presidents.

In time, his work as a defender of human rights has become his most important legacy.

Several years after leaving the presidency, he founded the Carter Presidential Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The center seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.

In addition to his work there, Carter has helped build houses for people who need them, written books, and negotiated with world leaders to take steps toward peace.

In 2002, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

Im Kelly Jean Kelly.

Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

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____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

overwhelming - adj. something that is so confusing or difficult that you feel unable to do it

nurse - n. a person who is trained to care for sick or injured people

rent - v. to allow someone to use (something) in return for payment

advance - v. to move forward

confidence - n. a feeling or belief that someone or something is good or has the ability to succeed at something
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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.
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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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Tyson Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. The company processes live fed cattle and live market hogs; fabricates dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts, as well as case ready beef and pork, and fully cooked meats; raises and processes chickens into fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken products; and supplies poultry breeding stock; sells specialty products, such as hides and meats. It also manufactures and markets frozen and refrigerated food products, including ready-to-eat sandwiches, flame-grilled hamburgers, Philly steaks, pepperoni, bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, flour and corn tortilla products, appetizers, snacks, prepared meals, ethnic foods, side dishes, meat dishes, breadsticks, and processed meats under the Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, State Fair, Aidells, and Gallo Salame brands. The company also offers its products under Tyson and ibp brands. It sells its products through its sales staff to grocery retailers, grocery wholesalers, meat distributors, warehouse club stores, military commissaries, industrial food processing companies, chain restaurants or their distributors, live markets, international export companies, and domestic distributors who serve restaurants and food service operations, such as plant and school cafeterias, convenience stores, hospitals, and other vendors, as well as through independent brokers and trading companies. The company was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas.
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.
Energizer Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer and Eveready brands, as well as primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries. The company also provides headlights, lanterns, and children's and area lights, as well as flash lights under the Energizer, Eveready, Rayovac, Hard Case, Dolphin, Varta, and WeatherReady brands. In addition, it licenses the Energizer and Eveready brands to companies developing consumer solutions in gaming, automotive batteries, portable power for critical devices, LED light bulbs, generators, power tools, household light bulbs, and other lighting products. Further, the company designs and markets automotive fragrance and appearance products, including protectants, wipes, tire and wheel care products, glass cleaners, leather care products, air fresheners, and washes to clean, shine, refresh, and protect interior and exterior automobile surfaces under the brand names of Armor All, Nu Finish, Refresh Your Car!, LEXOL, Eagle One, California Scents, Driven, and Bahama & Co; STP branded fuel and oil additives, functional fluids, and other performance chemical products; and do-it-yourself automotive air conditioning recharge products under the A/C PRO brand name, as well as other refrigerant and recharge kits, sealants, and accessories. It sells its products through direct sales force, distributors, and wholesalers; and through various retail and business-to-business channels, including mass merchandisers, club, electronics, food, home improvement, dollar store, auto, drug, hardware, e-commerce, convenience, sporting goods, hobby/craft, office, industrial, medical, and catalog. Energizer Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Dril-Quip, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, sells, and services engineered drilling and production equipment for use in deepwater, harsh environment, and severe service applications worldwide. The company's principal products include subsea and surface wellheads, subsea and surface production trees, mudline hanger systems, specialty connectors and associated pipes, drilling and production riser systems, liner hangers, wellhead connectors, diverters, and safety valves, as well as downhole tools. It also provides technical advisory services, and rework and reconditioning services, as well as rental and purchase of running tools for use in the installation and retrieval of its products; and downhole tools comprise of liner hangers, production packers, safety valves, and specialty downhole tools that are used to hang-off and seal casing into a previously installed casing string in the well bore. The company's products are used to explore for oil and gas from offshore drilling rigs, such as floating rigs and jack-up rigs; and for drilling and production of oil and gas wells on offshore platforms, tension leg platforms, and Spars, as well as moored vessels, such as floating production, storage, and offloading monohull moored vessels. It sells its products directly through its sales personnel, independent sales agents, and representatives to integrated, independent, and foreign national oil and gas companies, as well as drilling contractors, and engineering and construction companies. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Through a recently created worship service called God Loves You Dearly, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in West Salem handed a touch of that peace to special needs children, adults, and their families.

The service is the result of several people of faith who saw a need in the community and collaborated on a way to fill it. Debuting in October, the first two services averaged around 20 people and included those with Downs Syndrome and Autism as well as others who had come just to be an encouragement to families.

Its very interactive, said Pastor Jason Schockman, emphasizing that the setting takes into consideration individual requirements such as subdued lighting, and for those who need it, sign language and even ear mufflers.

Its for those who care to hear Gods Word without worrying about distractions, said Schockman. But he was quick to add, This by no means segregates our Sunday morning service. Our Sunday Service is by no means quiet. He said he works from the perspective that childrens noises are the light and life of the church.

The idea for a special service gradually emerged from conversations between Shockmans wife, Colette who works as a special needs para-professional at the West Salem School District and Sarah Kolander who works daily with the special needs population at Life in Harmony, also in West Salem.

According to Kolander, some families with special needs children feel uncomfortable attending a regular worship service. The Missouri Synod district of the Lutheran Church didnt offer any options in our area, she said. So, they innovated, crafting a way of helping special needs people engage in the life of the church by tailoring a service specifically for them. We meet them right where they are, she said.

Shockman said that the nature of the service is very fluid, constantly changing to meet the needs of those who attend.

Our first service in October went very smoothly but we saw some places where we could improve, he noted. In November we made the improvements and saw the way people responded.

Kolander was equally pleased. We had great participation when we added sign language and gestures, she added. The engagement was amazing. We used a lot of instruments during songs for those unable to sing.

The trio is assisted by Brooklynn Scholze and Patricia Horstmann who also have experience working with the special needs population.

The Church hosts the special service on the second Sunday of every month. The next service is Dec. 10 at 3 p.m.
The following companies are subsidiares of InterContinental Hotels Group: 2250 Blake Street Hotel LLC, 24th Street Operator Sub LLC, 36th Street IHG Sub LLC, 426 Main Ave LLC, 46 Nevins Street Associates LLC, Allegro Management LLC, Alpha Kimball Hotel LLC, American Commonwealth Assurance Co. Ltd., Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, BHMC Canada Inc., BHR Holdings B.V., BHR Luxembourg SARL, BHR Pacific Holdings Inc., BHTC Canada Inc., BOC Barclay Sub LLC, Barclay Operating Corp., Bristol Oakbrook Tenant Company, Cafe Biarritz, Cambridge Lodging LLC, Capital Lodging LLC, Compania Inter-Continental De Hoteles El Salvador SA, Crowne Plaza Amsterdam (Management) B.V., Crowne Plaza LLC, Cumberland Akers Hotel LLC, Dunwoody Operations Inc., EVEN Real Estate Holding LLC, Edinburgh IC Limited, General Innkeeping Acceptance Corporation, Guangzhou SC Hotels Services Ltd., H.I. (Ireland) Limited, H.I. Soaltee Management Company Ltd, HC International Holdings Inc., HH France Holdings SAS, HH Hotels (EMEA) B.V., HH Hotels (Romania) SRL, HI Sugarloaf LLC, HIM (Aruba) NV, Hale International Ltd., Hoft Properties LLC, Holiday Hospitality Franchising LLC, Holiday Inn Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Holiday Inns (China) Ltd, Holiday Inns (Chongqing) Inc., Holiday Inns (Courtalin) Holdings SAS, Holiday Inns (Courtalin) SAS, Holiday Inns (England) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Germany) LLC, Holiday Inns (Guangzhou) Inc., Holiday Inns (Jamaica) Inc., Holiday Inns (Malaysia) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Middle East) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Philippines) Inc., Holiday Inns (Saudi Arabia) Inc., Holiday Inns (South East Asia) Inc., Holiday Inns (Thailand) Ltd., Holiday Inns (UK) Inc., Holiday Inns Crowne Plaza (Hong Kong) Inc., Holiday Inns Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, Holiday Inns Inc., Holiday Inns Investment (Nepal) Ltd., Holiday Inns of America (UK) Ltd., Holiday Inns of Belgium N.V., Holiday Pacific Equity Corporation, Holiday Pacific LLC, Holiday Pacific Partners LP, Hotel Inter-Continental London Limited, Hotel InterContinental London (Holdings) Limited, Hoteles Y Turismo HIH SRL, IC Hotelbetriebsfuhrungs GmbH, IC Hotels Management (Portugal) Unipessoal Lda, IC International Hotels Limited Liability Company, IHC (Thailand) Limited, IHC Buckhead LLC, IHC Edinburgh (Holdings), IHC Hopkins (Holdings) Corp., IHC Hotel Limited, IHC Inter-Continental (Holdings) Corp., IHC London (Holdings), IHC M-H (Holdings) Corp., IHC May Fair (Holdings) Limited, IHC May Fair Hotel Limited, IHC Overseas (U.K.) Limited, IHC UK (Holdings) Limited, IHC United States (Holdings) Corp., IHC Willard (Holdings) Corp., IHG (Australasia) Limited, IHG (Marseille) SAS, IHG (Thailand) Limited, IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan LLC, IHG ANA Hotels Holdings Co. Ltd., IHG Bangkok Ltd, IHG Brasil Administracao de Hoteis e Servicos Ltda, IHG Commission Services SRL, IHG Community Development LLC, IHG Cyprus Limited, IHG ECS (Barbados) SRL, IHG Franchising Brasil Ltda, IHG Franchising DR Corporation, IHG Franchising LLC, IHG Hotels (New Zealand) Limited, IHG Hotels Limited, IHG Hotels Management (Australia) Pty Limited, IHG Hotels Nigeria Limited, IHG Hotels South Africa (Pty) Ltd, IHG International Partnership, IHG Istanbul Otel Yonetim Limited Sirketi, IHG Japan (Management) LLC, IHG Japan (Osaka) LLC, IHG Management (Maryland) LLC, IHG Management (Netherlands) B.V., IHG Management MD Barclay Sub LLC, IHG Management SL d.o.o, IHG Management d.o.o. Beograd, IHG Orchard Street Member LLC, IHG PS Nominees Limited, IHG Systems Pty Ltd, IHG Szalloda Budapest Szolgaltato Kft., IHG de Argentina SA, IND East Village SD Holdings LLC, Inter-Continental D.C. Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Investment Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Partner Corp., Inter-Continental Hospitality Corporation, Inter-Continental Hoteleira Limitada, Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Owning Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation, Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation de Venezuela C.A., Inter-Continental Hotels of San Francisco Inc., Inter-Continental IOHC (Mauritius) Limited, Inter-Continental Management (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental (Branston) 1 Limited, InterContinental (PB) 1, InterContinental (PB) 2, InterContinental (PB) 3 Limited, InterContinental Berlin Service Company GmbH, InterContinental Brasil Administracao de Hoteis Ltda, InterContinental Gestion Hotelera S.L., InterContinental Hotel Berlin GmbH, InterContinental Hotel Dusseldorf GmbH (Germany), InterContinental Hotels (Puerto Rico) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Canada) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Espana) SA, InterContinental Hotels Group (Greater China) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (India) Pvt. Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Japan) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (New Zealand) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Shanghai) Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Customer Services Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Healthcare Trustee Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group Operating Corp., InterContinental Hotels Group Resources Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group Services Company, InterContinental Hotels Group do Brasil Limitada, InterContinental Hotels Italia S.r.L., InterContinental Hotels Limited, InterContinental Hotels Management GmbH, InterContinental Hotels Nevada Corporation, InterContinental Management AM LLC, InterContinental Management Bulgaria EOOD, InterContinental Management France SAS, InterContinental Management Poland sp. z.o.o, InterContinental Overseas Holding Corporation, Intercontinental Hotels Corporation Limited, KG Benefits LLC, KG Gift Card Inc., KG Liability LLC, KG Technology LLC, KHP Washington Operator LLC, KHRG 11th Avenue Hotel LLC, KHRG 851 LLC, KHRG Aertson LLC, KHRG Alexandria LLC, KHRG Alexis LLC, KHRG Allegro LLC, KHRG Argyle LLC, KHRG Austin Beverage Company LLC, KHRG Baltimore LLC, KHRG Born LLC, KHRG Boston Hotel LLC, KHRG Canary LLC, KHRG Cayman Employer Ltd., KHRG Cayman LLC, KHRG DC 1731 LLC, KHRG DC 2505 LLC, KHRG Donovan LLC, KHRG Employer LLC, KHRG Goleta LLC, KHRG Gray LLC, KHRG Gray U2 LLC, KHRG Hillcrest LLC, KHRG Huntington Beach LLC, KHRG King Street LLC, KHRG La Peer LLC, KHRG Miami Beach LLC, KHRG Muse LLC, KHRG NPC LLC, KHRG Onyx LLC, KHRG Palladian LLC, KHRG Palomar Phoenix LLC, KHRG Philly Monaco LLC, KHRG Pittsburgh LLC, KHRG Reynolds LLC, KHRG Riverplace LLC, KHRG SFD LLC, KHRG Sacramento LLC, KHRG Savannah LLC, KHRG Schofield LLC, KHRG Sedona LLC, KHRG State Street LLC, KHRG Sutter LLC, KHRG Sutter Union LLC, KHRG Taconic LLC, KHRG Tariff LLC, KHRG Texas Hospitality LLC, KHRG Texas Operations LLC, KHRG Tryon LLC, KHRG VZ Austin LLC, KHRG Vero Beach LLC, KHRG Vintage Park LLC, KHRG WPB LLC, KHRG Wabash LLC, KHRG Westwood LLC, KHRG Wilshire LLC, KHRG Zamora LLC, Kimpton Hollywood Licenses LLC, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC, Kimpton Phoenix Licenses Holdings LLC, Kimpton Sedona Licenses LLC, Louisiana Acquisitions Corp., MH Lodging LLC, Mercer Fairview Holdings LLC, PML Services LLC, PT SC Hotels & Resorts Indonesia, Pollstrong Limited, Powell Pine Inc., Priscilla Holiday of Texas Inc., RM Lodging LLC, Regent Hotels and Resorts, Resort Services International (Cayo Largo) L.P., SBS Maryland Beverage Company LLC, SC Cellars Limited, SC Hotels International Services Inc., SC Leisure Group Limited, SC NAS 2 Limited, SC Quest Limited, SC Reservations (Philippines) Inc., SCH Insurance Company, SCIH Branston 3, SF MH Acquisition LLC, SPHC Group Pty Ltd., SPHC Management Ltd., Semiramis for training of Hotel Personnel and Hotel Management SAE, Six Continents Corporate Services, Six Continents Holdings Limited, Six Continents Hotels Inc., Six Continents Hotels International Limited, Six Continents Hotels de Colombia SA, Six Continents International Holdings B.V., Six Continents Investments Limited, Six Continents Limited, Six Continents Overseas Holdings Limited, Six Continents Restaurants Limited, SixCo North America Inc., Solamar Lodging LLC, Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation (BVI) Ltd., Southern Pacific Hotels Properties Limited, Universal de Hoteles SA, White Shield Insurance Company Limited, and World Trade Centre Montreal Hotel Corporation.

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VMware, Inc. provides software solutions in the areas of modern applications, cloud management and infrastructure, networking, security, and digital workspaces in the United States and internationally. It offers VMware multi-cloud solutions, including VMware vSphere, a data center infrastructure that provides the fundamental compute layer; vSAN and VxRail, which offers holistic data storage and protection options to applications running on vSphere; and vRealize Cloud Management solutions that manages hybrid and multi-cloud environments running in virtual machines and containers, as well as VMware Cloud Foundation, a cloud platform that combines its vSphere, vSAN, and NSX with vRealize Cloud Management into an integrated stack and delivers enterprise-ready cloud infrastructure for private and public clouds. The company also provides networking solutions, such as VMware NSX, NSX Distributed and Gateway Firewalls, NSX Network Detection and Response Engine, NSX Advanced Load Balancer, Tanzu Service Mesh, and VMware SASE; security solutions consisting of VMware Carbon Black Endpoint, Workload, and Container; and digital workspace solutions comprising Workspace ONE Unified Endpoint Management, Access, Intelligent Hub, and Horizon. In addition, it offers application modernization solutions, such as Tanzu Application and Operations Platform, Tanzu Application Service Platform, Tanzu Observability, Tanzu Community Edition, and Tanzu Labs; and cloud management solutions, including vRealize Cloud Management, vCloud Suite, and CloudHealth by VMware Suite. The company sells its products through distributors, resellers, system vendors, and systems integrators. VMware, Inc. has a strategic alliance with Amazon Web Services to build and deliver an integrated hybrid solution. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.
BP, plc, once known as British Petroleum, is one of the worlds 7 oil & gas supermajors with operations spanning the globe. In terms of revenue, it ranks 4th on the list and the company is vertically integrated as well with operations in all segments of the oil and gas sector. Operations are currently underway in 80 countries around the world, the company can produce 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalents per day, and it lays claim to nearly 20 billion barrels in proven reserves. On the retail end of the business, the company operates more than 18,700 fuel stations and its largest segment is in the US.

The company was founded in 1908 with the purpose of exploring for and producing oil in the middle east. The company expanded into Alaska in 1959 and then accelerated its expansion when it merged with Amoco in 1998. Another merger with Burhman Castrol in 2000 created the company that is traded today.

BP, plc rebranded itself in 2000 giving new meaning to its name. The once British Petroleum is now Beyond Petroleum and focused on a major shift in its business. The company is working hard to move away from non-renewable carbon-based energy and into biofuels, solar, and wind. The company hopes to be net-zero in regard to carbon emissions and production by 2050 or earlier and is well on the way to doing so. Among the many avenues of advance are the build-out of solar and wind farms as well as the expansion of a major EV charging network. The network totaled more than 9,000 stations around the middle of 2022 and expansion was ramping in order to meet the goal of 100,000 EV stations before 2050.

BP p.l.c. currently operates through 4 segments including Gas & Low Carbon Energy, Oil Production & Operations, Customers & Products, and Rosneft segments. The company produces and trades in natural gas and oil liquids, offers biofuels, and operates wind and solar power generating facilities. The company also provides de-carbonization solutions and services, such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, as part of its green agenda.

In addition, it produces and refines oil and gas for its downstream operations as well as invests in upstream, downstream, and alternative energy companies including advanced mobility. Advanced mobility is the future of transportation and includes technologies like EV, hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cells. To that end, the company is building 7 hydrogen production and storage hubs in key locations around the world. The company aims to produce blue and green hydrogen for the global transportation industry with production beginning in 2027. Blue hydrogen is hydrogen captured from the companys natural gas deposits using a process that captures the waste carbon.
Well, we have successfully met two of the holiday hurdles, Thanksgiving and the dreaded Black Friday. I hope whichever you participated in was time well-spent.

As Im sure you are all too well aware, the Big Day is less than a month away, and if you blink, it will be upon us. So kick your baking and gift wrapping into high gear.

I received numerous Thanksgiving recipes/tips after the last column had been turned in, but all of them are applicable to Christmas and New Years entertaining as well, so I will be passing some of them on to you.

Are you out of ideas for using up leftover turkey? And you know that a month from now you will face the same dilemma? Try the following turkey manicotti recipe. It might appear lengthy, but youd be surprised at how quickly it comes together. Save a little time and energy by using manicotti shells or egg roll wrappers instead of making the crepes, although the crepes are simple and Im sure they would complement the turkey nicely.

If your go-to cheese ball seems to be getting a little been-there-done-that-got-the-apron, go to http://allrecipes.com/recipes/404/appetizers-and-snacks/dips-and-spreads/cheese-dips-and-spreads/cheese-balls/?page=2, where you will find 100 or so cheese balls, ranging from savory to sweet and everything in between. Cheese balls are pretty quick to put together, and always a welcome treat.

Another very popular munchie is spinach dip, and I have a recipe for a hot one for you today. The hot might mean a couple of things  the dip is served heated; and it contains crushed red peppers, which will make it hot in a heartbeat. I would advise adding a pinch or two of the peppers and testing it. One half teaspoon might not seem like a lot, but with crushed red peppers it doesnt take a lot.

The dip recipe was shared with allrecipes.com by Becky of thetwobiteclub, who suggests serving it in a bread bowl. Since spinach dip will taste just as good when cooled, a bread bowl would make for a nice presentation, plus you can tear off pieces of the bowl once the crudites and crackers are gone. But you could keep it warm in a small crock pot.

For a little different texture, add some chopped water chestnuts or artichoke hearts.

Some of you out there are extremely organized when it comes to putting a big meal like for Thanksgiving or Christmas on the table. Everything is timed perfectly, so it is all ready to go at once, and you dont even have to dust yourself with flour to make it look like hard work.

I dont have to dust myself with flour either. By the time everything is ready, I look like I have showered in it. Its a good thing my family believes that the upper crust likes eating their meals in stages. Just serve the courses in the order in which they are ready. So what if dessert is ready between the mashed potatoes and the green bean casserole? I tell them pumpkin pie and ice cream cleanse the palate for the next course. Its very continental!

But allrecipes.com has timing dinner down to an art. And if you need a good laugh, read the turkey dinner timetable that follows.

Turkey Manicotti





Crepes:

2 eggs

 cup all-purpose flour

 cup water

 teaspoon salt

 teaspoon olive oil

Filling:

1 cup diced cooked turkey

1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese

1 egg

 cup freshly shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

 teaspoon dried marjoram

 teaspoon red pepper flakes

 cup chopped Italian parsley

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon olive oil, or as needed

1 cups marinara sauce, divided

2 teaspoons olive oil, divided

 cup freshly shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Chopped Italian parsley

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk 2 eggs, flour, water, salt, and  teaspoon olive oil together thoroughly in a bowl to make a very smooth batter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour. Mix turkey, ricotta cheese, 1 egg,  cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, mozzarella cheese, marjoram, red pepper flakes and  cup Italian parsley in a bowl until thoroughly combined; salt to taste. Place a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; brush generously with 1 teaspoon olive oil or as needed. Swirl about  cup batter in bottom of pan; tilt to form a thin pancake covering bottom of skillet. Cook until bottom of crepe is dry, 60 to 90 seconds. Flip crepe and cook until other side has small browned spots, 60 to 90 seconds more. Repeat with remaining batter to make 6 crepes. Transfer crepes to a plate as you make them. Spread about  cup marinara sauce in bottom of a 9-x12-inch baking dish. Use a brush to spread about  teaspoon olive oil in a thin layer up sides of dish. Place a crepe, dimpled side down, on work surface; spread about  to  cup filling on crepe in a line down the middle. Roll crepe over filling; tuck in ends if desired. Lay filled crepe in baking dish. Repeat with remaining crepes and filling to make 6 manicotti rolls. Spread remaining marinara sauce over manicotti in a line down the middle of the crepes, covering middle  of manicotti. Sprinkle  cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese all over manicotti. Drizzle manicotti with remaining 1 teaspoons olive oil. Bake until manicotti are slightly browned and puffy, about 45 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes to cool. Garnish with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and Italian parsley before serving. (Chef John, allrecipes.com)

Hot Spinach Red Pepper Dip





1 cup water

1 cup diced red bell pepper+2 tablespoons finely diced, for garnish

 cup thawed frozen chopped spinach

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese

2 tablespoons milk

 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

 teaspoon salt

1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon finely diced red bell pepper

Bring the cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat; add diced red pepper and chopped spinach. Bring water back to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until pepper is very soft, about 10 minutes. Drain spinach and red pepper in colander, pressing out as much liquid as possible. Combine cream cheese and milk in saucepan; cook over medium heat until hot and softened. Stir in cooked spinach and red peppers, Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and ground black pepper. Continue to stir until well combined and heated through. Spoon hot dip into a serving dish and serve with the tablespoon of finely diced red bell pepper sprinkled on top for garnish. (Becky, thetwobiteclub; allrecipes.com)



Turkey Dinner Timetable

9 a.m.: Peel, chop, and measure out all the vegetables and fruits you need for the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potato recipes. Submerge the potatoes in water to keep them from turning brown. Cube and toast the bread for the stuffing. Note that for this timeline, the stuffing will be baked in a casserole dish later.

10:30 a.m.: Assemble the pumpkin pie. Youll bake it in the morning to free up the oven for the turkey later.

11 a.m.: Pull the turkey out of the fridge and prep it for roasting. Bake the pumpkin pie.

Noon: Take the pie out of the oven and put the turkey in. Break time!

1 p.m.: Assemble and refrigerate your stuffing and green bean casseroles. Theyll go in the oven when the turkey comes out.

1:30 p.m.: Boil and mash your potatoes; keep them warm in a slow cooker.

2:30 p.m.: Make the gravy; youll add extra flavor with pan drippings from the turkey later. Now take a little break.

3 p.m.: Set the table so it looks festive and inviting. Remove green beans and stuffing from refrigerator; microwave briefly to take the chill off.

3:30 p.m.: Take the turkey out of the oven and put the casseroles in. Let the turkey rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.

4 p.m.: Turkey is carved, casseroles are done, potatoes and gravy are hot. Dinner is served! (allrecipes.com)
PGT Innovations, Inc., together with its subsidiaries manufactures and supplies impact-resistant aluminum frame windows and doors in the United States and internationally. The company provides heavy-duty aluminum or vinyl frames with laminated glass to provide protection from hurricane-force winds and wind-borne debris; and non-impact resistant vinyl windows with insulating glass and multi-chambered frames for various climate zones. It also offers customizable non-impact-resistant aluminum frame windows and doors; and non-glass vertical and horizontal sliding panels for porch enclosures, including vinyl-glazed aluminum-framed products used for enclosing screened-in porches that provide protection from inclement weather. In addition, the company provides premium aluminum impact-resistant products; aluminum impact-resistant windows and doors; vinyl energy-efficient impact-resistant windows; and commercial storefront window system and entry doors. Further, it provides impact and non-impact sliding glass and terrace doors; fixed picture, single hung, and horizontal rolling windows; aluminum thermally broken doors and windows; fixed and operating windows; sliding, folding, and hinged doors; and moving glass walls and windows. The company offers its products under the PGT, CGI, WinDoor, Western Window Systems, NewSouth, Eco Window Systems, and Anlin brands. It serves window distributors, building supply distributors, window replacement dealers, and enclosure contractors. The company was formerly known as PGT, Inc. and changed its name to PGT Innovations, Inc. in December 2016. PGT Innovations, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in North Venice, Florida.
Koppers Holdings Inc. provides treated wood products, wood preservation chemicals, and carbon compounds in the United States, Australasia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Railroad and Utility Products and Services (RUPS), Performance Chemicals (PC), and Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC). The RUPS segment procures and treats crossties, switch ties, and various types of lumber used for railroad bridges and crossings. It also provides rail joint bars to join rails together for railroads; transmission and distribution poles for electric and telephone utilities; and pilings. This segment also provides railroad services, such as engineering, design, repair, and inspection services for railroad bridges. The PC segment develops, manufactures, and markets copper-based wood preservatives, including micronized copper azole, micronized pigments, alkaline copper quaternary, amine copper azole, and chromated copper arsenate for decking, fencing, utility poles, construction lumber and timbers, and various agricultural uses; and supplies fire-retardant chemicals for pressure treatment of wood primarily in commercial construction. The CMC segment manufactures creosote for the treatment of wood or as a feedstock in the production of carbon black; carbon pitch, a raw material used in the production of aluminum and steel; naphthalene for use as a feedstock in the production of phthalic anhydride and as a surfactant in the production of concrete; phthalic anhydride for the production of plasticizers, polyester resins, and alkyd paints; and carbon black feedstock for use in the production of carbon black. The company serves the railroad, specialty chemical, utility, residential lumber, agriculture, aluminum, steel, rubber, and construction industries. Koppers Holdings Inc. was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 13125882 Canada Inc., 211 E. Russell Road LLC, 4458664 Canada Inc., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES ASIA PTE. LTD., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES BORROWER S.C.A., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES LLC, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES MIDDLE EAST FZE, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES SERVICES LIMITED, ASTRUM IT GmbH, Accudyne Industries Acquisition S.A r.l, Accudyne Industries Canada Inc., Accudyne Industries S.A r.l., Air Dimensions, Air Dimensions Inc., Albin Pump SAS, BOC Edwards Global Low pressure Air business, CISA S.p.A., Cameron-Centrifugal Compression, Comercial Ingersoll-Rand (Chile) Limitada, Comingersoll-Comercio E Industria De Equipamentos S.A., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Dosatron International SAS, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Proprietary Limited, FlexEnergy Holdings LLC, Frigoblock Grosskopf Gmbh, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First (UK) Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings II Inc., GD Global Holdings Inc., GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., GPS Industries, Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp (Canada), Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Limited, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica SL, Gardner Denver Inc., Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver International Inc., Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Investments Inc., Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan Ltd., Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte. Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia s.r.o., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH (f/k/a ILMVAC GmbH), Gardner Denver Thomas Inc., Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Ghh-Rand Schraubenkompressoren Gmbh, HASKEL EUROPE LTD., HASKEL HOLDINGS UK LIMITED, HASKEL INTERNATIONAL LLC, Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, Haskel France SAS, Haskel Sistemas de Fluidos Espana S.R.L., Hibon Inc., Highspeed Newco LLC, Hingerose Limited, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, INGERSOLL RAND ITS JAPAN LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHANG ZHOU) TOOLS CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHINA) INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND CHINA LLC, INGERSOLL-RAND COMERCIO E SERVICOS DE MAQUINAS E EQUIPAMENTOS INDUSTRIAIS LTDA., INGERSOLL-RAND DE PUERTO RICO INC., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL COMPANY B.V., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL SP. Z O.O., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL U.S. INC., INGERSOLL-RAND PHILIPPINES INC., INGERSOLL-RAND SPAIN S.A., INGERSOLL-RAND U.S. HOLDCO INC., IR HPS Holdco. Inc., ITO Emniyet, Ingersoll Rand Cyprus Investments Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Finance LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Investments LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Ventures LLC, Ingersoll Rand Hong Kong Investments Limited, Ingersoll Rand Inc., Ingersoll Rand Investments (SG) Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Investments B.V., Ingersoll Rand Schweiz Investments Gmbh, Ingersoll Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (Australia) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (China) Investment Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Guilin) Tools Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Hong Kong) Holding Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (India) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Ab, Ingersoll-Rand Air Solutions Hibon Sarl, Ingersoll-Rand Beteiligungs Und Grundstucksverwaltungs Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Colombia S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited (Uk), Ingersoll-Rand Company South Africa (Pty) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Cz S.R.O., Ingersoll-Rand De Mexico S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Equipements De Production S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Industrial Ireland Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International (India) Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Italia S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Italiana Manufacturing S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Korea Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Korea Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments II S.A R.I., Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Luxembourg Industrial Company S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Machinery (Shanghai) Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Malaysia Co. Sdn. Bhd., Ingersoll-Rand S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Services And Trading Limited Liability Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Singapore Enterprises Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand South East Asia (Pte.) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Superay Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technical And Services S.A.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Technologies And Services Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Tool Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Trading Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Vietnam Company Limited, Instrum Rand JSC, Interflex Datensysteme, Ir Canada Holdings Ulc, Ir Canada Sales & Service Ulc, Ir France Sas, Kryptonite corp, Lawrence Factor Inc., LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MILTON ROY (HONG KONG) LIMITED, MILTON ROY (UK) LIMITED, MILTON ROY EUROPA B.V., MILTON ROY EUROPE SAS, MILTON ROY INDUSTRIAL (SHANGHAI) CO. LTD., MILTON ROY LLC, MILTON ROY US PURCHASER INC., MP Pumps Inc., Maximum AG Technologies Inc., Maximus Solutions, Mb Air Systems Limited, Nash Elmo, Officina Meccaniche Industriali Srl, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Plurifilter D.O.O., Pt Ingersoll-Rand Indonesia, Robuschi, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, SEEPEX, Seepex (M) SDN, Seepex Australia Pty Ltd, Seepex Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft mit Beschrankter Haftung, Seepex France S.a.r.l., Seepex GmbH, Seepex Inc., Seepex India Private Ltd., Seepex Italia SRL, Seepex Japan Co. Ltd., Seepex Nordic A/S, Seepex OOO, Seepex Pumps (Shanghia) Co. Ltd., Seepex UK Ltd., Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Shanghai Ingersoll-Rand Compressor Limited, Shenzhen Bocom System Engineering Co., Superay, Syltone, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, Tamrotor Marine Comp AS Norway, Tecno Matic Europe s.r.o., Thomas Industries Inc., Trane Technologies, Tri-Continent Scientific Inc., Vacuum and Blower Systems division, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zaxe Technologies Inc., Zeks Compressed Air Solutions Llc, Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, Zinsser NA Inc., and crayon interface.

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Dear Mr. Dad: Over the past month, I dont think theres been a day without a news story of some famous person being accused of sexual assault or harassment. Im disgusted by these mens behavior, but Im concerned that one group of victims is being left out: men who are assaulted or harassed by women. At my last job, my female boss frequently made suggestive comments to me, touched my butt, and on several occasions told me that if I slept with her, it would be good for my career. I reported her to HR, but was told that men are the only ones who can sexually harass and that I should just enjoy it. I dropped my complaint and ended up quitting. I cant believe Im the only guy out there whos been through this. Am I?

A: Sadly, youre not alone. Male-on-female sexual harassment and assault is the most common kind (think Harvey Weinstein, Bill Clinton, and Louis C.K.), followed by male-on-male (think Kevin Spacey). But female-initiated harassment and assault are a lot more common than most people think  and they get practically zero attention. How common are they? Well, accurate data is hard to come by, because men drastically underreport being the victim of any kind of crime  especially if its at the hand of a woman or has anything to do with sex (more on that below). That said, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), about 17 percent of charges of sexual harassment are made by men. And a study done in Australia  where their sexual harassment/assault statistics are nearly identical to ours  found that about 5 percent of all formal sexual harassment complaints were lodged by men against women.

So why dont men file sexual harassment or assault claims? Sometimes its because were raised to think that we should be able to take care of our problems on our own and that asking for help is weak. When the harasser/assaulter is a man, some guys worry that others will think that theyre gay. If the perpetrator is female, guys are afraid of being ridiculed by their coworkers (after all, men always want sex, right, so what real man would turn down an offer?). And then theres the problem that you encountered: a lot of people simply dont believe  despite plenty of evidence to the contrary  that women are capable of harassment, assault, or violence. If a woman pats a mans butt, admiringly asks whether hes been working out, and suggestively compliments him on how good he looks, people chuckle. If the roles were reversed, those same people would be outraged (and rightfully so).

Unfortunately, when it comes to media coverage of sexual assault and harassment, I think weve seen only the tip of the proverbial iceberg  and thats a good thing. But its important to keep in mind that these problems have less to do with male and female than with power. Those who have more power, whether theyre male or female, will always abuse those with less. And as more women out-earn their male counterparts and climb higher up those corporate ladders, we can expect to see many more stories of powerful women abusing their power. Just recently, in fact, Mariah Careys former bodyguard has been talking about suing his old boss for harassment.

Bottom line, sexual harassment and assault are no joking matter, regardless of your sex. Aside from creating hostile work environments, they can leave the victims feeling depressed, anxious, ashamed, isolated, guilty and helpless, These and other feelings can interfere with the victims personal and professional relationships and can generally suck the enjoyment out of life.

The only shot we have at reducing the problem (eliminating it is an impossible dream), victims need to immediately report it and stand their ground until the perpetrator has been punished. And bystanders need to stop standing by and instead, start calling out the perpetrators and supporting the victims.

Female-initiated harassment and assault are a lot more common than most people think.
The following companies are subsidiares of TransDigm Group: 17111 Waterview Pkwy LLC, ARA Deutschland GmbH, ARA Holding GmbH, Acme Aerospace, Acme Aerospace Inc., Adams Rite Aerospace GmbH, Adams Rite Aerospace Inc., Advanced Inflatable Products Limited, Aero-Instruments, AeroControlex Group Inc., Aerosonic, Aerosonic LLC, Air-Sea Survival Equipment Trustee Limited, Airborne Acquisition Inc., Airborne Global Inc., Airborne Holdings Inc., Airborne Systems, Airborne Systems Canada Ltd., Airborne Systems Group Limited, Airborne Systems Holdings Limited, Airborne Systems Limited, Airborne Systems NA Inc., Airborne Systems North America Inc., Airborne Systems North America of CA Inc., Airborne Systems North America of NJ Inc., Airborne Systems Pension Trust Limited, Airborne UK Acquisition Limited, Airborne UK Parent Limited, Aircraft Materials Limited, AmSafe, AmSafe Aviation (Chongqing) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Private) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport Ltd., AmSafe Global Holdings Inc., AmSafe Global Services (Private) Limited, AmSafe Inc., Angus Electronics Co., Arkwin Industries, Arkwin Industries Inc., Armtec Countermeasures Co., Armtec Countermeasures TNO Co., Armtec Defense Products Co., Auxitrol SAS, Auxitrol Weston Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Auxitrol Weston Services China Ltd., Auxitrol Weston Singapore Pte. Ltd., Auxitrol Weston USA Inc., Aviation Technologies, Aviation Technologies Inc., Avionic Instruments LLC, Avionics Instruments, Avionics Specialties Inc., AvtechTyee Inc., Beta Transformer Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Beta Transformer Technology Corporation, Beta Transformer Technology LLC, Breeze-Eastern Corporation, Breeze-Eastern LLC, Bridport Erie Aviation Inc., Bridport Holdings Inc., Bridport Ltd., Bridport-Air Carrier Inc., Bruce Aerospace Inc., Bruce Industries, CDA InterCorp LLC, CEF Industries LLC, CMC Electronics Aurora LLC, CMC Electronics Inc., CMC Electronics ME Inc., Champion Aerospace LLC, Chelton Avionics Holdings Inc., Chelton Avionics Inc., Chelton Limited, Cobham Aero Connectivity, Cobham CTS Limited, Cobham Defence Communications Limited, Cobham Defense Products Inc., DART Aerospace, DDC Electronics K.K., DDC Electronics Ltd., DDC Electronics Private Limited, DDC Electronique S.A.R.L., DDC Elektronik GmbH, Darchem Engineering Limited, Darchem Holdings Limited, Data Device Corp., Data Device Corporation, Dukes Aerospace Inc., EST Defence Company UK Limited, Edlaw Limited, Electromech Technologies LLC, Elektro-Metall Export GmbH, Elektro-Metall Paks KFT, Esterline, Esterline Acquisition Ltd, Esterline Europe Company LLC, Esterline Foreign Sales Corporation, Esterline International Company, Esterline Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Esterline Technologies Corporation, Esterline Technologies Corporation, Esterline Technologies Europe Limited, Esterline Technologies France Holding SAS, Esterline Technologies French Acquisition Limited, Esterline Technologies Global Limited, Esterline Technologies Holdings Limited, Esterline Technologies SGIP LLC, Esterline Technologies Unlimited, Esterline do Brasil Assessoria e Intermediacao Ltda, European Antennas Limited, Extant Components Group Holdings Inc., Extant Components Group Intermediate Inc., GQ Parachutes Limited, Guizhou Leach-Tianyi Aviation Electrical Company Ltd, Harco, HarcoSemco LLC, Hartwell Corporation, Hytek Finishes Co., ILC Holdings Inc., IRVIN AEROSPACE LIMITED, IrvinGQ France SAS, IrvinGQ Limited, Janco Corporation, Johnson Liverpool LLC, Kirkhill Elastomers, Kirkhill Inc., Korry Electronics Co., Kunshan Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., Leach Holding Corporation, Leach International Asia-Pacific Ltd, Leach International Corporation, Leach International Europe S.A.S., Leach International Germany GmbH, Leach International Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., Leach International UK Ltd, Leach Mexico Holding LLC, Leach Technology Group Inc., MarathonNorco Aerospace Inc., Mason Electric Co., Mastsystem Int'l Oy, McKechnie Aerospace, McKechnie Aerospace (Europe) Ltd., McKechnie Aerospace DE Inc., McKechnie Aerospace DE LP, McKechnie Aerospace Holdings Inc., McKechnie Aerospace US LLC, Mecanismos de Matamoros S. de R.L. de C.V., NAT Seattle Inc., NMC Group Inc., Norco, Nordisk Asia Pacific Limited, Nordisk Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Nordisk Aviation Products (Kunshan) Ltd., Nordisk Aviation Products AS, Nordisk Aviation Products LLC, North Hills Signal Processing Corp., North Hills Signal Processing Overseas LLC, Norwich Aero Products Inc., Palomar Products Inc., Pexco Aerospace, Pexco Aerospace Inc., PneuDraulics, PneuDraulics Inc., Pressure Systems International Ltd, Schneller, Schneller Asia Pte. 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MINNEAPOLIS (TNS)  Sen. Al Franken broke an eight-day silence Sunday, reaching out to Minnesota media to talk about what hes done, and what hell do next.

President Trump stands firm in support for Roy Moore WASHINGTON (TNS)  President Donald Trump Sunday reiterated support for Roy Moore, the Repub

Im embarrassed and ashamed. Ive let a lot of people down and Im hoping I can make it up to them and gradually regain their trust, said Franken, who has kept a low profile since four women shared accounts of being groped, embarrassed and, in one case, forcibly kissed by the Minnesota Democrat.

Im looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow, he said.

Franken, who said he has posed for tens of thousands of photos over the years, says he does not remember any that ended with his hand sliding down to cup womens backsides, as several have alleged.

I dont remember these photographs, I dont, he said. This is not something I would intentionally do.

Franken said he has spent the past week thinking about how that could happen and I just recognize that I need to be more careful and a lot more sensitive in these situations.

Asked whether he expects any other women to step forward with similar groping allegations, Franken said: If you had asked me two weeks ago, Would any woman say I had treated her with disrespect? I would have said no. So this has just caught me by surprise  I certainly hope not.

Franken has been communicating with his constituents and the media mainly through terse written statements since Nov. 16, when Los Angeles radio broadcaster Leeann Tweeden accused him of forcibly kissing her during a 2006 holiday USO war zone tour. Her Twitter post was accompanied by a photo of Franken, then months away from launching his Senate candidacy, mugging for the camera with his hands hovering suggestively over her chest as she slumped, apparently asleep, on a military transport.

Franken skipped the rest of that Thursdays Senate votes and retreated from public view as the Senate adjourned for the weeklong Thanksgiving recess. In the days that followed, three other women provided accounts of uncomfortable encounters with Franken.

Lindsay Menz told CNN that Franken grabbed her buttocks while they posed for a photo at the Minnesota State fair in 2010  an encounter she documented on social media at the time. Two other women gave similar anonymous accounts

Frankens past as an irreverent comedian and founding member of Saturday Night Live returned to haunt him during his first Senate campaign, where he found himself apologizing for raunchy writing and off-color jokes  including at least one rape joke pitched during a late-night session in the SNL writers room. Those apologies, Franken said, were sincere, and he set out to prove that I knew the difference between being a comedy writer and a comedian and being a senator, and that I was going to take being a senator very seriously, and I have.

Over the past eight years, Franken built up a reputation as an advocate for womens issues, a foil to Trump administration appointees, and a powerhouse fundraiser who could draw crowds and donations across the country. The allegations of sexual misconduct brought that image crashing down. A rape survivor from asked him to remove his name from legislation hed sponsored in her honor. Other politicians

Ive been a champion for women, and I know this makes this all the harder, he said. I know Ive let people down. I know Im not going to regain their trust immediately. Theres no magic words I can say here to make that happen.

Franken says he can still be an effective senator. This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on President Donald Trumps nomination of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Franken, who viewed Stras as highly qualified but too conservative for the post, blocked the nomination.

Franken has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to look into his behavior, but resisted comparisons between his behavior and that of Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Alabama, who has been accused of propositioning a number of underage girls over the years.

Im going to take responsibility. Im going to be held accountable through the ethics committee, Franken said. And Im going to hopefully be a voice in this that is helpful  Again, I respect women. What kills me about this is it gives people a reason to believe I dont respect women.

Winning back the publics trust wont be easy, he acknowledged.

This is not going to happen quickly. I have to earn this over time and thats what I plan to do, he said. Franken said he planned to work as hard as I can to regain the trust of people Ive let down, and that especially means the people of Minnesota, it means people whove been supporters of mine, and it means my colleagues.
Residents of mountain villages and foothill towns voted yesterday in Nepals first provincial polls, with the hope of bringing government closer to the Himalayan nations rural and remote areas.

Nepals chief election commissioner, Ayodhi Prasad Yadav, said turnout was more than 65 percent among the 3.2 million voters who were choosing lawmakers in seven newly formed federal states as well as the national assembly.

The lawmakers who are elected on Sunday, and Dec. 7 in the remaining parts of the country, will be able to name their states, draft provincial laws and choose local leaders.

The central government is finally moving to our region. We will be closer to the government now with the state assemblies, said schoolteacher Swasthani Thapa, who was among the voters lining outside the polling station at Chautara, 80 kilometers east of Kathmandu, even before it opened at 7 a.m.

Chautara was one of the areas hardest hit by a devastating 2015 earthquake. People in Nepals mountain regions complained they did not get enough help from the central government because their voices were not heard. Two years later, destroyed and damaged houses are still scattered around Chautara and surrounding areas.

This is a historic day for us, said businessman Surya Lal Shrestha. The setting up of states will give final shape to the democracy process, which should finally bring stability and development for our country.

In nearby Balefi village, election official Rijedra Subedi said people walked up to four hours to reach the polling station from their remote mountain villages.

Farmer left their fields and laborers took the day off to come vote with their families, Subedi said.

Nepals slow path to democracy began in 2006, when protesters forced the king to give up his rule. Two years later, Nepal officially abolished the centuries-old monarchy and decided that a federal system would best deliver services to all corners of the nation, which remains one of the poorest in the world.

But bickering among political parties delayed until 2015 the implementation of the new constitution, which declared Nepal a republic.

Security was stepped up for the elections, with thousands of police and army soldiers deployed. According to the Home Ministry, more than 400 people were detained in days leading up to the vote.

Soon after the constitution was implemented in 2015, protests by ethnic groups in southern Nepal turned violent and left some 50 people dead.

The ethnic Madhesi group protested for months, saying they did not get enough territory in the province assigned to them. They said they deserved more land because they represented a bigger population. Their protest blocked the border with India for months, cutting off fuel and other supplies in Nepal. Binaj Gurubacharya, AP
Minister of Communications Mmamoloko Kubayi is supporting a bill to reduce the number of SABC board members from 12 to 9, and the number needed for a quorum to 7, reported the Sunday Independent.

The bill will also give power to the minister to recommend the appointment and removal of board members to the president  which currently lies with parliament.

The amendments were controversial when they were tabled two years ago, with opposition parties saying the government is trying to turn the SABC into a state-controlled broadcaster.

News of the ministers support of the bill comes after she announced her intention to appeal a High Court decision which gave the SABC board, and not the minister of communications, the right to appoint the broadcasters top executives.

The SABCs top three executives are currently serving in an acting capacity.

Now read: No hope that SABC may charge for channels anytime soon
The Sunday Times has reported that President Jacob Zuma is in talks to sell a majority stake in the state-owned arms manufacturer Denel to Qatar.

Zuma is reportedly also in talks with Qatar to sell stakes in South African Airways and Eskom, but these negotiations could not be confirmed by the Department of Public Enterprises or the Presidency.

The Sunday Times said the discussions between Qatar Defence Minister Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah and Zuma took place during a state visit to South Africa this month.

Denel and Zumas spokesman, Bongani Ngqulunga, denied that Denel is selling a stake to Qatar, however.

Ngqulunga said the Qatar Defence Minister simply paid a courtesy call to Zuma, and that no deal was discussed.

The Department of Public Enterprises, Treasury, and the National Conventional Arms Control Committee reportedly have no knowledge of the deal.

Challenging position

Denel is struggling financially, and the arms manufacturer recently tabled an incorrect annual report.

The auditor general told parliament it requested auditing firm SizweNtsalubaGobodo to change its clean audit opinion on Denel after irregular expenditure had come to light.

Denel has faced financial problems for years, and in 2015 it was reported that Denel could not pay its suppliers after exhausting its cash reserves on an ill-advised acquisition.

According to Rapport, the cash troubles started after an acquisition of land mine-resistant vehicle manufacturer BAE Land Systems SA for R855 million.

The company has also been linked to dealings with the Gupta family.
The Sunday Times has reported that President Jacob Zumas son is involved in Altron subsidiary Altech UEC, which was recently raided by the Hawks.

13 companies were raided as part of an investigation by the Competition Commission into collusion relating to a R5-billion digital TV set-top box tender.

According to the report, Zumas son Mxolisi was offered a R54-million bribe to influence the government contract.

The Hawks search-and-seizure raids followed the Competition Commissions investigation, and involved the companies listed below.

Altech Veltronix Tellumat QEC Worldtel Altron Altech Grand Tellumat Manufacturing Altech Multimedia Named Skills Development Institute Named Western Cape Namec NPO Equitron African Digital Solutions

STB collusion

In August, the DAs Shadow Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Marian Shinn called on Minister of Communications Ayanda Dlodlo to publicly release the report arising from the investigations into the procurement of state-sponsored set-top boxes.

This followed a Sunday Times report about attempts by Zumas son to influence the tender process in favour of Altech UEC.

This will reveal where the corruption in the process was identified in the R1-billion first phase of the STB procurement process and prompt the relevant criminal investigations, said Shinn.

Dlodlos predecessor Faith Muthambi requested National Treasury to investigate possible irregularities into the tender process for the assembly of 1.5 million STBs in 2015.

National Treasury commissioned PwC to investigate the process and its report was handed to Muthambi in 2016.

Because the entity charged with implementing the STB process, USAASA, reports to the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, neither department has taken action on the reports findings, which claim major irregularities in the procurement process, said Shinn.

Now read: MultiChoice welcomes judgement on digital TV encryption
Cyber Monday 2017 is underway in South Africa, with retailers discounting a wide range of products.

Prominent South African retailers are offering an array of Cyber Monday specials, with standout deals listed below.

Metro Home Centre  Click here for the deals

Featured deals below.

PlayStation 4 1TB Call of Duty WWII Edition  R5,999

Xbox One S 1TB + Free Game  R4,999

HP 250 G5 Celeron Laptop + Free 8GB Flash Drive  R4,999

Samsung 55-inch Curved UHD TV  R9,999

In-store Deal

Samsung 40-inch Full HD TV + Free DStv HD Decoder  R4,799

Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Plus x 2 + MHC R1,500 Gift Voucher  R329pm x24

In-store Deal

OneDayOnly  Click here for the deals

Digicape  Click here for the deals

Featured deals below.

Helicute Drone  R899

Skullcandy Wireless Headphones  R579

Thule Backpack  R1,199

Vodacom  Click here for the deals

Telkom  Click here for the deals

Rugged SA  Click here for the deals

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Blackview BV4000 PRO  R2,499

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"The research work to develop the layout of the Borei-B class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine is nearing completion," Rakhmanov said. According to him, the Project 955B submarine is an improved version of the Project 955A Borei-A class submarine.



As Rakhmanov said, it is a full-fledged fourth-generation vessel that will incorporate all the Navys requirements set to submarines of this generation. "The time of beginning the construction of the Project 955B lead ship will be set after the 2018-2027 state armament program is approved," he added.



As Russian General Staff Chief General of the Army Valery Gerasimov said earlier, the development of the Borei-B class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine has begun in Russia.



The Russian Navy currently operates three Project 955 Borei-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, i.e. the Yuri Dolgoruky, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh. They are armed with Bulava (NATO reporting name: SS-NX-32) solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missiles. Each submarine can carry up to 16 missiles of the type. Five more Project 955A submarines are currently under construction. The last submarine in the series, the Knyaz Pozharsky, was laid down in December 2016.



CEO of Russias Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering Igor Vilnit told TASS earlier that the project would be further improved even after the work on the series of improved Project 955A submarines was completed.



 Copyright 2017 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Oil prices may reach $120 a barrel and stay at this level for 2 years

Zelenskyy receives 'signals' that Putin wants direct talks

Security Service of Ukraine puts Ramzan Kadyrov on wanted list

Unidentified men open fire at market in Izeh city in southwestern Iran

Karen Donfried tries to explain State Department's decision to exempt Azerbaijan from 907th Amendment

Philip Reeker says U.S. administration representatives have no access to Nagorno-Karabakh

Rimac Nevera sets speed record for production electric cars

Reeker: Pace and depth of current talks between Yerevan and Baku demonstrate potential to resolve conflict

FBI director considers TikTok threat to US National Security

Bob Menendez says Ukraine supplies Azerbaijan with phosphorus bombs it used in Karabakh

Delegation headed by Speaker of Armenian Parliament is in Tbilisi

Austin: U.S. intends to continue supplying weapons and aid to Ukraine during winter

Armenian politician charged with abuse of office, money laundering

Karen Donfried says Armenia and Azerbaijan have historic opportunity to establish lasting peace

Bob Menendez: How can the U.S. justify security assistance to the Baku regime?

Azerbaijan fires at residents of Sarushen village of Artsakh

Head of Portugal's Finance Ministry: EU countries must work faster on energy intervention

Kuwait executes 7 prisoners

Czech Republic plans to train up to 4,000 Ukrainian servicemen next year

Ukraine once again asks US for powerful drones

Belarusian border guards shoot down drone intruding into airspace from Ukraine

Armenian Deputy PM: Regional electricity export opportunities significantly increased

Greek authorities temporarily ban export of firewood from country

Azerbaijan protests to France in connection with Senate resolution

Blinken calls on Aliyev to observe ceasefire and limit provocations

Pashinyan: We're advancing rights of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinyan: Armenia invites Azerbaijan to sign framework agreement on peace

Pashinyan: Most of the arable land of 4 villages in Tavush Province is occupied by Azerbaijanis

Armenian Prime Minister: Let the opposition loudly reject Russia's proposals

Pashinyan: 2023 budget growth in social protection compared to 2018 is 56%

Inflation in UK up to 41-year high of 11.1% in October

Pashinyan: We don't want to provoke war between CSTO and Azerbaijan

Pashinyan's explanation: How should we fight inflation?

Pashinyan: Armenia submitted its proposals for peace treaty to Azerbaijan, we are waiting for a response

Pashinyan: Army budget 2023 more than doubled compared to 2018

CNN: CIA director visits Kyiv

Macron urges Iran to calm down and respect the French

IRGC forces detain Mossad spy in southern Iran

Iranian Foreign Minister expresses dissatisfaction with number of 'unrealistic comments' by Azerbaijani officials

Parliament Vice-Speaker: Armenian military-industrial complex able to establish serial production of military products

Armen Grigoryan receives Major General Daniel Lasica

Poland says Ukrainian missile could be cause of explosion

Ivanka Trump says she will not participate in her father's presidential campaign

KGB of Belarus states about 'threat of intervention' from Baltic States, Ukraine, and Poland

Belarus says AFU blew up bridges in direction of Gomel and Mozyr

22-year-old soldier dies in accident with army truck in Armenia

Indonesian president hands over G20 presidency to India

Azerbaijani Ombudswoman's distorted perception of reality: French Senate Resolution 'will undermine peace in the region'

Nikol Pashinyan holds telephone conversation with Irakli Garibashvili

Four explosions blow up in sky over Belgorod

NATO Secretary General to hold meeting of alliance on incident in Poland

Finnish Foreign Ministry: Many in NATO believe that Turkey has created an awkward situation for the alliance

Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem receives group of wounded participants of 44-day Karabakh war

AP: Drone with explosives attacks oil tanker off the coast of Oman

LPR announces attack by AFU from Popasna to Kharkiv Oblast

Toyota reveals next-generation Toyota Prius hybrid

Central Bank head: State Budget deficit in Armenia to grow to 3.1% of GDP in 2023

Erdogan believes Russia had nothing to do with the missile incident in Poland

Thanasis Bakolas shares concerns that Armenian politician banned from leaving Armenia

Biden and Sunak discuss missile incident in Poland at G20 summit

Russian Defense Ministry: Elements of the Ukrainian S-300 system fell in Poland

Erdogan: Biden administration is determined to sell F-16s to Turkey

Gold price remains stable

Copper falls in price

Microsoft to leave Azerbaijan

G7 and NATO leaders say they are ready to support Poland in investigation of bombings

Joe Biden asks Congress for new funding for Ukraine

Finance Minister: Capital expenses will greatly increase in Armenia in 2023

Azerbaijani MFA accuses French Senate of undermining relations normalization process between Baku and Yerevan

Armen Grigoryan to pay working visit to India

AP: Missile falls in Poland may have been fired by Ukraine to shoot down Russian missile

Erdogan plans to discuss fertilizer transportation and grain deal with Putin

Oil price falls

Blinken calls on Armenian Prime Minister to maintain momentum of peace talks with Azerbaijan

CNN: NATO aircraft tracked the trajectory of the missile that fell in eastern Poland

Armenian FM to visit Tunisia

Yerevan draft budget 2023 revealed

U.S. Embassy: Major General Daniel Lasica arrives in Armenia

Armenian MOD refutes another misinformation of Azerbaijani MOD

Media: Fire in Istanbul is caused by several explosions, not just one

Drone 'allegedly' blows up oil depot in Oryol Oblast

Trump officially announces that he will run for president in 2024

Anwar Gargash: UAE has no interest in choosing sides between great powers

Ukraine suspends oil pumping through Druzhba pipeline towards Hungary

Germany urgently needs gas turbines to stabilize power grids

Polish media report on fall of two missiles on country's territory

Economic downturn worsens in eastern EU due to a spike in inflation

U.S. believes that meeting between Biden and Jinping was strong signal to rest of world

Karabakh MFA welcomes resolution adopted by French Senate

Italy bans facial recognition technology and smart glasses

Germany to establish maintenance center in Slovakia for weapons supplied to Ukraine

Energy Ministry: Russia carried out most massive shooting of Ukraine's energy system since war starts

French Senate passes resolution calling for sanctions against Azerbaijan

Rishi Sunak hints that he will abandon plans to declare China 'threat' to national security

EU supports any call to phase out fossil fuel use

Secretary of Security Council of Armenia receives delegation of EU special envoys, member states

Armenian President Vahagn Khachatryan receives newly appointed ambassador of Cyprus

Zelenskyy's adviser: The situation after Russian shelling is critical

Newly appointed ambassador of Cyprus visits Armenian Genocide memorial

Borrell: EU countries must work together to replenish their military stocks
Terry Jarrett (Tribune, Oct. 29) is right when he states Americas energy sector has reached an interesting crossroads. A decline in baseload power is not an immediate threat as Energy Secretary Perry and Jarrett outline. The grid has gained reliability even as America has lost an unprecedented amount of baseload capacity in recent years.

According to the North American Electric Reliability Corp., a not-for-profit regulatory body that oversees reliability of North Americas power system the failure of protective relays, associated communication systems, voltage-sensing devices, station batteries and other elements that handle glitches and faults in the power system -- have consistently declined for four years.

"In 2016, the number declined to 8.7 percent, according to NERC, down from 9.5 percent in 2015 and 10.4 percent in 2014.

The same study found that renewables are helping, not hurting, the grid by making the grid more -- not less -- diverse and thus reliable. Natural gas, which has expanded exponentially, is a great fit for todays grid as it incorporates more renewable energy. Marketplace and wholesale electricity prices have dropped 60 percent since 2008, making todays energy grid more reliable and more affordable.

Jarrett asserts that a decade of crippling federal regulations have served to eliminate a substantial portion of Americas coal fleet. In reality his assertion is not supported by research.

Coal mining as an occupation in the United States has been declining since the 1930s and did not see any statistically significant decline in the last decade. It even grew from 2008 to 2011. The ongoing large-scale switch in the power sector from coal to cheaper and abundant natural gas supported by wind and solar, is a trend driven more by investors and market forces than by environmental regulations. It would be much more helpful to regions that rely heavily on extractive industries to recognize that the economy is changing and that some regions are not going to have the jobs and opportunities they once did.

Providing power during disruptive events like massive storms and frigid winters is a great goal, but no amount of baseload power will get electricity to consumers if the power lines are down. Jarrett fails to explain the many causes of power outages, which include, overgrown trees, aging power lines, animals, transmitters, pole fires, planned outages and maintenance.

Not surprising, then, is the fact that limited power supply is responsible for only about 5 percent of service disruptions nationwide. This happens mostly during peak electricity hours -- usually during summer afternoons -- when there is a heavy load on the electric grid. Wind and solar have their best performance output during these high peak times.

It should be known that utilities have nearly met the emissions-reduction targets in the Clean Power Plan years in advance and even without its implementation due to increase in natural gas production and increases in wind and solar generation.

Market forces like flat energy demand, low natural gas prices, and declining costs for renewables have already pushed power sector emissions across the United States on track to fall between 27 percent and 35 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Our nation is growing, but due to technology advances energy demand remains flat and economic growth for the first time has decoupled from emissions growth. Technology innovation, energy efficiency, robust renewable energy job growth, more flexible fuels, an increasingly reliable grid and less air pollution are great news for Americans.
TOWN OF WESTPORT  Rosebud and Duchess seemed anxious to get to work as they heard trees being felled on a recent misty November morning.

The pair of harnessed American Suffolk horses would soon be hauling timber out of a wooded area near Lake Mendota. The work, which recalled an earlier era when land was cleared by muscle alone, also seeks to turn the clock back on this parcel of land to oak savanna, now one of the rarest ecological communities in America.

Holy Wisdom Monastery is undergoing a years-long project to convert some 30 acres of its property to oak savanna, characterized by a sparse placement of oak trees with long grasses and flowering plants covering the ground in between.

Once a robust part of Wisconsins ecological makeup, oak savannas are now listed as critically imperiled in both global and state indicators, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The habitat is now rarer in the Midwest than tropical rain forests are in equatorial regions, said Ryan OConnor, an ecologist for the DNR.

The Benedictine monastery is taking a crucial step this fall after it contracted with Adaptive Restoration of rural Mount Horeb to cut down and clear out non-oak trees using the low-impact horse logging method over a roughly 5-acre area around an abandoned barn.

Greg Armstrong, director of land management and environmental education for Holy Wisdom, said the area used to be a savanna before European settlement, but the suppression of wildfires since then has allowed other trees to fill in the gaps between the fire-tolerant oak trees.

The remnant savanna around the barn will eventually become part of a broader 30-acre project that includes converting some prairie land and an open field to an oak savanna, said Armstrong, a former executive director of the UW Arboretum.

To preserve the integrity of the existing oak trees and the soil, Holy Wisdom, located at 4200 Highway M, used a private grant from the John C. Bock Foundation to pay for the horse-drawn logging operation.

Luke Saunders, a forester for Adaptive Restoration, said he expected Rosebud and Duchess to pull out a couple hundred trees.

A focus on nature

The Christian monastery, which has five sisters, has a mission of prayer, hospitality, justice and care for the earth woven into a shared way of life, said Sister Mary David Walgenbach.

She said Holy Wisdoms conservation and restoration efforts, which includes about 125 acres of prairie land, is part of an effort by the monastery to get in a right relationship with the earth.

It moves one to live in right relationship with our neighbors, to be tuned into the beautiful creation that we have, Walgenbach said.

When the oak savanna project is finished, Walgenbach said, the oak trees and tall grasses would form a sort of earth chapel, or place of awe, or place of worship.

In 1954, the sisters purchased the monasterys original 40-acre plot just north of Middleton. They secured more land in 1960, bought another portion in 2012 and sold 60 acres of prairie to Dane County in 2013, leaving about 130 acres now under their care. The sisters dedication to conservation work has not gone unnoticed.

In July, Holy Wisdom received the inaugural Assisi Award, an honor created by the Society of Conservation Biology to recognize faith-based conservation and ecological practices.

If we can understand each other and appreciate one anothers work by cooperating, then our efforts  both the faith-based groups and the conservationists, biologists and scientists  we can meet the goal of caring for the earth, said Walgenbach.

Restoring the land

Prior to widespread European settlement in the early to mid-1800s, Wisconsin and the Midwest teemed with oak savannas.

The ecological community bridged the prairies of the west to the forests in the east. The DNR estimates such savannas once covered about 5.5 million acres of the state.

But through farming, grazing and the suppression of wildfires that killed non-oak trees, there are only about 500 acres of oak savanna listed on the states Natural Heritage Inventory, according to the DNR.

Armstrong said the monastery hopes to restore elements of prairies, savannas and woodlands, all native to South Central Wisconsin.

This past year, volunteers helped remove shrubs and smaller plants from the wooded area surrounding the barn in anticipation of the logging effort.

Weve been thinking about this and planning it for a long time, so its nice to be making some progress, Armstrong said.

Their work builds on other recent efforts to conserve native ecological systems throughout Dane County.

The 29-acre Parrish Oak Savanna, which is owned by The Prairie Enthusiasts conservation organization, just north of Blue Mounds was designated a state natural area in 2015. The Pleasant Valley Conservancy, another state natural area, also had extensive restoration done to preserve the oak savannas on its property just southwest of Black Earth. Across Highway M from Holy Wisdom, Governor Nelson State Park also hosts areas of oak savannas.

At the monastery, Armstrong intends to plant about 35 bur oak trees next spring, which will take at least 20 years to reach early stages of maturity, that will add to the former savanna the pair of horses are helping to rescue.

Visitors are welcome to walk the trails at the monastery if they come in a respectful and contemplative manner, he said.

Were trying to pay respect to the earth and put the landscape back, which is done through a religious respect, Armstrong said.
Fishers and Farmers Partnership is working with Valley Stewardship Network (VSN) on constructing farmer-led demonstration sites in the Kickapoo Watershed, similar to the STRIPS (Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips) model in Iowa. This conservation practice was developed by Iowa State University, USDA, and Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge Staff near Prairie City, Iowa. The Iowa STRIPS Team recently celebrated their 10-year anniversary of planting the first STRIPS on the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge.

STRIPS are an easily-integrated and low-cost management option that, when 10 percent of fields are planted in STRIPS, the fields are reported to: educe sediment transport by 90-95 percent; reduce phosphorous transport by 90 percent; reduce nitrogen transport by 85 percent and reduce annual surface water flow by 40 percent. This conservation practice has been shown to outperform others used to reduce sediment such as perennial grass buffers, contours and terraces. This new VSN project cost-effectively addresses the need to control streambank erosion in order to improve fish habitat as well as improve floodplain connectivity, soil health, wildlife, pollinators and biodiversity. More information about STRIPS can be found at: A Landowners Guide to Prairie Conservation Strips An excellent overview of the STRIPS program was featured recently on Wisconsin Public Radio and can be heard at https://www.wpr.org/node/1178701

The tallgrass prairie is a grassland ecosystem composed of a diverse assemblage of grasses, flowers and animals. The characteristic feature of the tallgrass prairie is its abundant array of grasses and flowers, with some that can grow more than 6 feet tall with dense roots that can reach more than 15 feet below the soil surface. This abundant forage sustained the large plant eating animals like buffalo and elk prior to European settlement, and the dense roots provided the rich soils that made the Midwest ideal for cultivation. The tallgrass prairie once extended north to south from Canada into Texas, and east to west from Indiana to eastern Nebraska. Much of southwest Wisconsin was historically prairie and savannah. Today in Wisconsin, less than 0.1 percent of the tallgrass prairie remains intact.

Valley Stewardship Network is currently working with Fishers and Farmers, Sand County Foundation, North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) program, The Pasture Project and the Wallace Center at Winrock International, along with local farmers and landowners, to establish prairie strips and similar prairie plantings adjacent to crop fields in the Kickapoo and surrounding watersheds. The new Fishers and Farmers Funding significantly increases the amount of prairie seed and management cost support available to local farmers in order to establish prairie conservation strips on farms. Contact John Delaney or Shelly Gradwell-Brenneman at VSN, 608-637-3615 if you are interested in participating in this project.
The Hague (AFP) - UN judges on Wednesday deliver their last ever verdict for war crimes committed in the 1990s Bosnian conflict, in the appeal case of six former Bosnian Croat political and military leaders.

The appeals verdict comes a week after the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) jailed top Bosnian Serb ex-commander Ratko Mladic for life on 10 charges of genocide and war crimes, and will draw the curtain on more than two decades of work.

On Wednesday, the judges sitting in The Hague will rule in the appeal brought by ex-prime minister of the breakaway statelet of Herceg-Bosna, Jadranko Prlic, and five others against their 2013 conviction and sentences ranging from 10 to 25 years in jail.

All six guilty were found guilty of taking part in a scheme to remove Bosnian Muslims "permanently and create a Croatian territory", which included the southern city of Mostar besieged for nine months.

The bloody 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, in which 100,000 people died and 2.2 million were displaced, mainly pitted Bosnian Muslims against Bosnian Serbs, but also saw some brutal fighting between Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats.

- 'Massive crimes' -

Prlic, 58, was sentenced to 25 years on 26 charges of aiding and abetting the murder, deportation and harsh detention of Muslims in eight municipalities and a network of detention centres.

He has vehemently denied the charges, telling five appeals judges in March he "was not part of the chain of command" of the main Bosnian-Croat army in Bosnia, the HVO.

But Croatian communities needed to organise themselves, militarily as well, as the Bosnian Republic had not defended them, he said.

The prosecution has also appealed, urging judges to impose 40-year terms on Prlic and three co-defendants, saying the "crimes were massive in scale."

"Tens of thousands of Muslims were evicted from their homes... thousands were arrested and detained in awful conditions," said prosecutor Barbara Goy.

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"Muslims were killed during attacks or when forced to work on the front-lines. They were raped, they were sexually assaulted. Muslim houses and mosques were destroyed," she said.

Prlic has been on trial since 2006, along with his co-defendants former defence minister Bruno Stojic, 62, and four other military officials: Slobodan Praljak, 72, Milivoj Petkovic, 68, Valentin Coric, 61, and Berislav Pusic, 65.

Praljak was specifically charged with ordering the destruction of Mostar's 16th-century bridge in November 1993, which judges said "caused disproportionate damage to the Muslim civilian population". The bridge was rebuilt in 2004.

Wednesday's verdict is the last at the ICTY set up in 1993 by the UN to prosecute those behind the Balkans conflicts.

Chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz told AFP it was "an important judgement ... there is a lot of attention coming from the Croatian community in relation to this case, also from Zagreb."

The Prlic case was one of the court's most complex. A total of 326 witnesses testified and almost 10,000 exhibits were presented.

- 'Reunification plan' -

In the 2,629-page judgement, judges said the six men were part of a plan to ultimately reunify with or have very close ties with Croatia.

"The crimes committed were not the random acts of a few unruly soldiers" but aimed "to permanently remove the Muslim population from Herceg-Bosna," they said.

This was achieved "by conducting mass arrests of Bosnian Muslims who were then either murdered, beaten, sexually assaulted, robbed of their property and otherwise abused".

In one example, Bosnian Croat soldiers forced a detained Muslim to lick his own blood from the floor so it would "not remain in Herceg-Bosna."

Then ICTY prosecutor Kenneth Scott told AFP in 2013 the ruling had been "the first time the court was very clear on the significant role played" in the conflict by Croatia's first president, the late Franjo Tudjman.

Tudjman died in 1999 and was never indicted.

Herceg-Bosna was proclaimed in August 1993, but dissolved in 1995 just before the Dayton peace accords that ended the war, and integrated with the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska to become Bosnia-Hercegovina.

The defendants all surrendered in 2004, with Croatia under pressure to cooperate with the ICTY as a condition for joining the European Union.
Furonda my dear I think its quite clear my PC is very shiny while your site is very lumpy.

And I thought...what could we possibly be doing on a gossip com? So I bless myself with the commenting. Click click cla click click
Best part of being at #GoldenHorse2017 was seeing how many women are involved in filmmaking. In the best director category 3 out of 5 were women. The Golden Horse Awards have become the highest accolade for all Chinese-language filmmakers.



We can learn something from this.  pic.twitter.com/p1mNvGIgbM  Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) November 26, 2017

Taiwanese director Ang Lee and American actress Jessica Chastain attended the Golden Horse Awards. The awards are held at the end of the month long Golden Horse Festival and are considered the Taiwanese Oscars.If, like me, you're wondering why an American actress was presenting at a Taiwanese film festival, she's a spokesperson for Piaget, which sponsers the Golden Horse Awards.Chastain, who also advocates for women directors, highlighted Vivian Qu's win and the fact that there was gender parity among the director nominees.The Bold, the Corrupt, and the BeautifulInmatesHave a Nice DayBabes Not AloneLosing Sight of a Longed PlaceVivian Qu  Angels Wear WhiteTu Men  Old BeastKara Hui  The Bold, the Corrupt, and the BeautifulBamboo Chen  Alifu, the Prince/ssVicky Chen  The Bold, the Corrupt, and the BeautifulHuang Hsin-yao  The Great Buddha +Rima Zeidan  Missing JohnnyZhou Ziyang  Old BeastHuang Hsin-yao  The Great Buddha +Nagao Nakashima  The Great Buddha +Johnny Lin, Perry Kain and Thomas Reppen  See You TomorrowAlfred Yau  See You TomorrowWilliam Chang and Cheung Siu-hong  See You TomorrowSang Lin  Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal BattlefieldLin Sheng-xiang  The Great Buddha +"To Have, or Not To Have"  The Great Buddha +Jean Tsien and Bob Lee  Plastic ChinaTu Duu-chih and Wu Shu-yao  Mon Mon Mon MonstersHu Ding-yiThe Bold, the Corrupt, and the BeautifulOld BeastLove EducationHsu Feng
Perfect

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I believe it. I voted for Hilary and I still lost friends because I dared to voice my displeasure with the DNC and how she shot herself in the foot with her VP pick



Politics bring out the worst in people, on all sides

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Definitely agree

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yeah i'm not friends with people like that anymore for the same reason

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Yeah. I expressed irritation with Obamacare a few years ago (when I made just enough money to have to buy a crappy plan) and my friends were like, "HOW DARE YOU?!" Things are totally out of hand. Even venturing to say THAT can and will get one ostracized.

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Politics really do bring out the worst in people, especially me. I dont wish rape on people though. Ill wish them no health insurance at the worst.

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same

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I think the problem for some people is that they don't see the seriousness in voting. And some people's life hangs in the balance due to voting.



This is a harsh lesson Americans have to experience/witness. All this progress has been stripped away with a Racist & Nazi administration.

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My ex-coworker became a passive aggressive dickhead towards me bc I voiced what was wrong with the DNC (same guy who insists the woman coming forward now are out for attention). We were friends before that so it really shocked me.

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"how she shot herself in the foot with her VP pick"



This really is one of the most underrated aspects of why she lost tbh. It was just a total stab in the back to people of color as well as progressives to pick a boring, white male centrist as her running mate.



The ticket felt like it was straight out of 1996.

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She shoulda gone with Julian Castro. Aside from the fact that I do like him, it's optics, baby, it's optics. I say this as a dyed-in-the-wool Hillary Supporter.

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goddamn...what. i don't know anyone like your friends irl.

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*looks at OP*



Starting off early this morning huh?

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Its never too early for Drama.

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I always thought the hatred that Susan Surround sound got was a little over the top but wishing rape on someone???? Lets do better.

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lmao irl

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crying

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Ill never not call her Susan Surround Sound now.

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Oh the Bernie Bros have been saying that shit and worse for the longest. Let's not forget they are the racist/misogynistic faction of the Democratic party.

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Im late AF here but Susan Surround sound for comment of the year tbh.

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Susan Sarandon: I thought Hillary was very dangerous. If she'd won, we'd be at war



I think of myself as a humanist because I think its less alienating to people who think of feminism as being a load of strident bitches.



And then suddenly it became OK to say feminist,



Were going to show them what the fuck we want. And I kept saying: Calm down, thats not the way were going to get things done.



Edited at 2017-11-26 05:52 pm (UTC) Susan Sarandon: I thought Hillary was very dangerous. If she'd won, we'd be at warI think of myself as a humanist because I think its less alienating to people who think of feminism as being a load of strident bitches.And then suddenly it became OK to say feminist,Were going to show them what the fuck we want. And I kept saying: Calm down, thats not the way were going to get things done.

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this train is never late or self aware, it seems

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"Now, Im sure theres a lot of men who were much smoother at seducing than- she bursts out laughing  James Toback and Harvey Weinstein, who a lot of women felt very flattered to be sleeping with, even if they didnt get the job. Theres just a culture, starting in the 60s and 70s, where there was a certain amount of liberation that made it possible for those things to happen without even seeing yourself as a victim.



In my case, I just said no, in many clumsy, stupid ways, but the people didnt push on. They didnt show up in my room. They didnt corner me, or batter me, or get on top of me. It was an invitation: Yeah, why dont you spend the night now that youre here in the middle of nowhere on location? And I said: No, I gotta get back to my room. But I didnt feel super offended, because it wasnt a thing that became super difficult.



Edited at 2017-11-26 05:59 pm (UTC)

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You aren't very bright, are you?

I think of myself as a humanist because I think its less alienating to people who think of feminism as being a load of strident bitches.

that's literally an old quote

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What is the context of that gif?

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She's just saying shit as it is, like come on now. It's not like she's saying she's NOT a feminist. But the cultural attitude around the word has certainly changed since like, her time in the 70s/80s lol/ugh

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Awful she went through that.

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There are both Hillary and Bernie supporters who were way over the top but I hate that people use those to generalize their supporters as a whole. Im not saying Susan is, but others have. Ive supported both (Bernie in the primary and Hillary in the general) and Ive seen supporters of both attack others for supporting the other.

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We've all made mistakes, beloved. But, mama, it's time for you to admit that you did the absolute most and move on. It's time to end this nonsense, Susan.

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That's not what I meant. What I meant is that she has gone on a press tour about her role in Bernie's campaign since the election ended and continues to subtly throw shade at Hillz crew without once admitting fault. Wishing rape on anyone is never acceptable and I wouldn't comment on it.

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tea



wait weren't you an avid bernie stan in 2016 or am i thinking of a different user with a jlo pic

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EXACLTY LMAOOOO I quoted the same shit and this too



And I said: No, I gotta get back to my room. But I didnt feel super offended, because it wasnt a thing that became super difficult.



She stays shitty

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Oh, jesus. This could probably be it's own post too

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oh

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Im tired of the whataboutism,false equivalences and gaslighting.



Nobody will convince me you're not a Trump supporter posing as a Berniebro.

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Oh, so she fell for that "Hillary will start a war" bs that Russia was peddling. Everyone kept repeating this with no clue how to explain why. Meanwhile, the Cheeto in charge is alienating US's allies and pulling on North Korea's pigtails, threatening fire and fury, attacking the country's tools of democracy, the press, the judiciary, and now threatening the last stalwart -- the internet.



Good job, Sarandon. I hope your dumb ass is happy.

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Oh, so she fell for that "Hillary will start a war" bs that Russia was peddling

LMAO, "bs that Russia was peddling"? That's literally so absurd to read. Hillary was literally pressuring Barack Obama to intervene in Libya and further intervene in Syria, openly stated the US needed a more "muscular" policy on an APAIC event of all places and voted in favor of literally every war and intervention. She praised Trump for bombing Syria. Can you turn off MSNBC for a second and actually get informed?

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There is no such thing as facts or accountability when it comes to Hillary, only Russian conspiracy.

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Oh, so she fell for that "Hillary will start a war" bs that Russia was peddling.



she literally went on video saying she supported intervention in syria. did the evil russkies brainwash her?

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I unfriended a former coworker on Facebook cause she was saying how Russia was making their ambassadors or diplomats or some shit like that come back to Russia and that we needed to wake up to how dangerous Hillary was. It was before the election, so I hadn't quite had my soul crushed yet and started speaking up more.



Edited at 2017-11-26 08:07 pm (UTC)

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She wanted to retaliate to the so called Russian hacking with military confrontation....

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This white liberal lady that interviewed Susan is such a P.O.S., acting as if Sarandon is saying the wildest shit. Sarandon point-blank states she doesn't believe the Dems immigration rhetoric because Obama was the president that deported the most and the journalist is still like "wow, she's so crazy!! She doesn't make sense!".

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there were 6 years of republic*n house control during obama's term he didn't exactly have free reign on immigration policy

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lmao sure sis. try this excuse with someone else. he deported more people than the previous republican presidents combined but sure, it's not his fault.

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the department of justice that enforces immigration policy is literally under the president

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ikr? and even leaving aside the fact that the journo swallowed neoliberal rhetoric hook line & sinker, the tone of the interview is judgemental af, like ffs an interview is supposed to be objective, it's not an oped. sf unprofessional.



on a different note, i knew this post was gonna be a wild ride as soon as i read the piece lol.

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LOL that headline i hate ha



i wonder what imaginary war she's fantasizing that hillary would have started?

meanwhile tramp has increased US presence like everywhere

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Well, for one, she claimed the U.S. needed a more muscular police when it comes to the Middle East in an APAIC (Israel government lobbyist event), so it would be very safe to assume she'd further intervene in the region. She claimed several times the US should be more aggressive when it comes to North Korea and Russia (a nuclear superpower), so obviously further conflicts in those regions were a big possibility. She was the one who pushed Barack Obama to intervene in Libya (which he claims is his biggest regret) and her and literally all her aides were openly in favor of intervening more strongly in Syria, meaning she'd probably escalate U.S. militarism in the region.



So nothing really wild about Sarandon's statement, is it?

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SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/  Rakuten Marketing , a leading technology company that that enables brands to increase sales through data-driven marketing, today reported its 2017 online retail shopping data for peak Thanksgiving week sales days, including Black Friday.

2017 holiday selling season, forecasted by Adobe to reach $107.4 billion overall. Rakuten Marketing supports these figures with Thanksgiving week highlights defining consumer shopping behaviors during the years most critical shopping week of the year.

2017 sales grew across the three-day period from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to Black Friday, showing 21 percent year-over-year (YOY) revenue growth and 11 percent purchase growth. Average order value (AOV) over the same period was up slightly, with YOY growth of nine percent. Additionally, purchases were up 17 percent during the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving week, supporting predictions of an early peak shopping period in 2017. These figures give retailers early promise to what the company expects to be a positive

Holiday retail sales results from Thanksgiving week show the continued power of peak promotions. Rakuten Marketing stresses the importance of cross-device measurement and attribution in order to capitalize on the overall holiday selling period. Insight into constant and rapidly evolving consumer shopping behaviors allows advertisers to anticipate, prepare and execute marketing strategies during peak sales hours on peak sales days.

Holiday shopping behavior is evolving year after year, and we continue to experience outstanding growth as consumers open their wallets in response to retailer strategies during the peak holiday shopping days, said Rakuten Marketing CEO, Tony Zito. We expect this upward growth to continue into Cyber Monday, and encourage brands to focus on strategies that re-engage the shoppers who have visited their site over the past week who may be holding out to see if there are deeper discounts on Cyber Monday.

Rakuten Marketing Thanksgiving week and Black Friday insights are based on aggregated and anonymous data pulled from same-store clients running display advertising campaigns across more than 35 unique U.S. retail verticals.

Additional information on Rakuten Marketing 2017 holiday retail sales data can be found here. For more information about Rakuten Marketing Integrated Marketing Solutions, visit https://rakutenmarketing.com.

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Rakuten Marketing is a division of Rakuten Inc. (4755: TOKYO), one of the worlds leading Internet service companies. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with offices in Australia, Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, and throughout the United States. Follow us on Twitter or learn more at https://rakutenmarketing.com.


A bouquet of flowers and banners in support of the 44 crew members of the missing at sea ARA San Juan submarine are placed on a fence outside an Argentine naval base in Mar del Plata, Argentina November 25, 2017. The banner below reads "God, give strenght to the submariners". REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci (Reuters)

By Hugh Bronstein

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - No sign of the Argentine submarine lost in the South Atlantic since Nov. 15 has been found despite a massive international search effort, while families of the 44 crew members face the increasing likelihood that their loved ones will never return.

Saturday marked the 10th day since the ARA San Juan submarine reported its last position off Argentina's southern coast. Reports of a sound detected underwater near the last known position of the vessel suggest it might have imploded after reporting an electrical problem.

But citing respect for the families, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi declined to say anything to confirm the now-common belief that the crew had perished.

"We are at a stage of hope and hopelessness at the same time," Balbi told reporters. "We will not speculate beyond the facts as we know them."

He said seven ships were braving 3-meter (3.28-yard) waves to map the ocean floor where the San Juan was most likely to be found.

The U.S. Navy said it had deployed unmanned underwater vehicles, or "mini-subs" equipped with sonar, to join the search. A Russian plane arrived in Argentina on Friday carrying search equipment capable of reaching 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) below the sea surface, Balbi said.

The search effort also includes ships and planes from Brazil, Chile, Great Britain and other countries.

Families of the crew were meanwhile stuck in an emotional purgatory.

"The problem with being the loved one of someone who is missing is that the mourning process cannot start, because they are still out there somewhere," local psychologist Guillermo Bruchstein said in a Saturday television interview. "They are gone but are not 'dead.'"

The families have said they suspect the more than 30-year-old vessel was not properly maintained, a charge the government denies, and that the navy has been slow in sharing information with them.

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Relatives expressed anger at the level of funding of the armed forces, whose budget has declined since the fall of a military dictatorship in the 1980s.

"The loss of the San Juan is a consequence of the fact that the abandonment and degradation of our defense forces has been an official policy," Argentine Senator Pino Solanas of the independent Project South party told local radio on Saturday.

Concerns about the crew's fate have set off a fierce political debate in a society sharply divided between supporters of President Mauricio Macri and opposition Peronists, who have been quick to find fault with the government's response.

"Until we find the submarine and have all the information," Macri said on Friday, "we are not going to speculate on who is at fault."

(Additional reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen attends the funeral of Cambodia's late Deputy Prime Minister Sok An in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring/Files (Reuters)

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday called for the closure of one of the country's main human rights groups because it was founded by detained opposition leader Kem Sokha.

A crackdown on critics of Hun Sen, the world's longest serving prime minister, has already led to the dissolution of the main opposition party and curbs on some independent media, prompting criticism from Western donors.

"The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) must be shut down because it was created by foreigners not Cambodians. The ministry of the interior should look into this," Hun Sen told a group of garment workers.

Hun Sen described the opposition as "children" of the United States and said he told this to U.S. President Donald Trump when they met in the Philippines earlier this month.

The CCHR was founded by Kem Sokha in 2002 before he returned to a political career in 2007.

Kem Sokha was arrested in September and charged with treason for an alleged plot to take power with American help. His Cambodia National Rescue Party was dissolved on Nov. 16 by the Supreme Court, acting at the government's request.

Kem Sokha has rejected the charges against him, which the opposition calls a ploy to ensure Hun Sen extended over three decades in power in next year's election.

Western countries have condemned the crackdown. The United States has stopped funding for the election and the European Union has raised a potential threat to Cambodia's duty free access if it does not respect human rights.

Hun Sen has brushed off the criticism. Cambodia's biggest donor is now China, which has voiced support for measures to ensure stability.

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
By Rupam Jain and Jose Devasia

NEW DELHI/ KOCHI, India (Reuters) - The Supreme Court will begin hearing a case on Monday that prosecutors say shows how Islamic State sympathisers are using Love Jihad  marrying Hindu women and converting them to Islam  to win recruits and spread their message.

Over the past 28 months, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has picked up dozens of interfaith couples in the southern state of Kerala to question them about their marriages.

The women - all Hindus who married Muslim men  were asked "extremely personal" questions during the interrogations, two police officers from the agency said: "Did you sleep with your husband before getting married? Did he suggest you visit Islamic shrines before marriage? Did he blackmail you before you converted to Islam?"

They were looking for cases of "Love Jihad", a term publicized by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other hardline Hindu groups soon after they helped propel Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power in 2014. It refers to what these groups say is an Islamist campaign to convert Hindu women through seduction and marriage.

Police investigations at the time found no evidence of any organised strategy, and the claim was widely ridiculed. But since then, the NIA began focusing on Kerala - a southern state along the Arabian Sea with strong economic links to the Middle East.

It investigated 89 cases of "Love Jihad" and found nine to be alliances planned by people linked to the Islamic State, two NIA sources said, requesting anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The NIA plans to present evidence in all nine cases to the Supreme Court. The agency declined to disclose the evidence they have. But in two of the cases the agency was examining money sent from an Islamic school in Iraq to the womens bank accounts, and in another case a woman and her husband had shared IS videos among people in their Kerala village, the sources said.

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RSS EXPANDING INFLUENCE

Opposition parties say the investigation shows the government is allowing the RSS and others to use the state apparatus to further an agenda of establishing Hindu dominance in India, where 13 percent of the population is Muslim.

M.B Rajesh, a federal lawmaker and member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which rules Kerala, said the NIA and the RSS are trying to prove that marriages between Hindus and Muslims "are forced unions".

"The NIA's probe is creating religious fault lines to help Modi's party win (Kerala's) state elections, but we will defeat them.

J. Nandakumar, an RSS leader who oversees the group's activities in the state, said the NIA probe vindicates the Hindu right's campaign against religious conversions.

"Their first step is to convert Hindu boys and girls, hypnotise them and prepare them for jihad," he said.

The RSS, which founded the first iteration of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party six decades ago, believes India is fundamentally a Hindu nation. Since Modi's election in May 2014, the RSS has expanded its membership and influence across India and either it or its affiliates now run key ministries, such as the home ministry that supervises the NIA and the finance ministry.

Muslims  who account for 172 million of Indias 1.32 billion citizens - have been under increasing pressure from the Hindu right. Muslims have been lynched for killing cows - considered sacred in Hinduism - and some of their slaughter houses forced to shut down.

Neither Modi's office nor the NIA would comment because the issue is before the Supreme Court.

'SIMPLE LOVE STORY'

One of the Muslim men, whose marriage to a Hindu woman was annulled by Kerala's High Court, has appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

The NIA has accused the man, Shefin Jahan, in court of trying to recruit people for the Islamic State, a charge he denies.

The 24-year-old woman, who converted to Islam before marrying him and changed her name from Akhila to Hadiya, was placed in her fathers custody by the high court after he said he feared for her well-being. There is no criminal case against her.

India's chief justice has summoned Hadiya to New Delhi to testify on Monday on whether she was converted forcefully. The lower court had rejected her husband's request to have her testify.

"This is for the first time in the history of India the top court will be asking a woman the validity of her marriage and her religious conversion," said Kapil Sibal, a lawyer and a leader of the opposition Congress party. Sibal is representing Jahan.

Jahan, 26, told Reuters he met Hadiya through a matrimonial website for Muslims while he was working in a pharmaceutical factory in Oman. He said he wants to live with his wife, with whom he stayed for only 48 hours before her father complained to the police.

"Our simple love story has turned into an ugly religious and legal battle," Jahan said.

IS HOTBED OF RECRUITMENT

The NIA's probe started in 2015 after the government identified Kerala, which sends tens of thousands of workers to the Middle East, as a potential hotbed of Islamic State recruitment. Nearly half of Kerala's 33 million people practice Islam and Christianity. Local police and the NIA said at least 100 people from Kerala have joined the IS in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The NIAs nine Love Jihad cases were based on complaints lodged by the parents of the Hindu girls and all were found to have links with IS, the NIA police sources said. The agency dropped the investigations into the other 80 cases because no links to militants were found, the sources said.

Across India, over 270 men and 20 women have been arrested for working directly or indirectly with the IS, according to data at the federal Home Ministry. But Kerala was the only state where the NIA found a direct link between cases of "Love Jihad" and the IS, the NIA sources said.

The agency says it has uncovered attempts by IS sympathizers to possibly send the women in "Love Jihad" marriages off to marry or stay with fighters from the militant group, the NIA sources said.

Two couples, who were questioned by the NIA last year, told Reuters police searched their homes.

"I was shocked when they said maybe my husband was a jihadi, and he could be planning to send me to Syria," said one woman who married a Muslim information technology professional in 2015.

Police questioned her for six hours, she said, and before leaving, took pictures of her wedding album.

(Editing by Paritosh Bansal and Bill Tarrant)
AFP News

Kenya's former president Uhuru Kenyatta arrived Tuesday in eastern DR Congo's main city of Goma, as fresh clashes with M23 rebels occurred just to the north, sending thousands fleeing. Troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were battling M23 fighters in Kibumba, 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Goma, security officials and local residents said. The M23 has recently seized swathes of territory in North Kivu province, displacing tens of thousands of people in their advance. Kibumba is considered one of the last obstacles to the rebels before Goma, a commercial hub of one million people on the Rwandan border. On Tuesday afternoon, rumours that the M23 was approaching sent a fresh wave of people fleeing to the Kanyaruchinya displacement camp, south of Kibumba. About 40,000 people are currently in the camp, according to its head. A security official who asked for anonymity said that people began to flee after seeing soldiers themselves retreating towards Goma after clashes with M23 rebels. North Kivu's military governor, General Constant Ndima, urged people to remain calm late Tuesday. "I want to reassure you... Loyalist forces are containing the enemy on the heights of Kibumba," he told reporters. The crisis has cratered relations between the DRC and its smaller central African neighbour Rwanda, which Kinshasa accuses of backing the militia. Uhuru Kenyatta, a mediator for the seven-nation East African Community (EAC), arrived in Goma on Tuesday and visited Kanyaruchinya. He told reporters late Tuesday that the stories he had heard were "heart-breaking". "I cannot ignore what I have seen," Kenyatta said. "I must say to all parties: You cannot negotiate in the face of human catastrophe". - 'De-escalation' - Kenyatta's visit to the DRC is the latest in a round of diplomatic bids to defuse the crisis in the impoverished country's volatile east. The former president landed in the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Sunday for talks, following on the heels of a visit from Angolan President Joao Lourenco. The EAC has also called for a "peace dialogue" in Kenya's capital Nairobi on November 21. In addition, the bloc has agreed to send a peacekeeping mission to eastern DRC. Kenyan troops arrived in Goma over the weekend, as part of that operation. On Monday, Kenyatta urged armed groups to put down their arms and return to the negotiating table. "There is nothing that can be gained through the barrel of a gun," he had told reporters. On Tuesday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had discussed the situation with Rwanda's Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, on the margins of the G20 meeting in Indonesia. "I underscored the United States deep concern about the continuing violence in eastern DRC, and called on Rwanda to take active steps to facilitate de-escalation," he said in a tweet. - Rebel return - Biruta, for his part, tweeted that Rwanda is committed to regional diplomatic mechanisms to bring peace to eastern DRC, as well as to finding a political solution to the crisis. Over 120 armed groups roam the region, many of which are a legacy of regional wars which flared at the turn of the century. The M23 -- a mostly Congolese Tutsi group -- first leapt to prominence in 2012 when it briefly captured Goma before being driven out. But the rebel group returned in late 2021 after years of dormancy, claiming the DRC had failed to honour a promise to integrate its fighters into the army, among other grievances. It captured the strategic town of Bunagana on the Ugandan border in June. In recent weeks, the rebels have also won a string of victories against the Congolese army, edging closer towards Goma. The DRC expelled Rwanda's ambassador in late October amid the renewed M23 offensive. Despite official denials from Kigali, an unpublished report for the UN seen by AFP in August pointed to Rwandan involvement with the M23. Rwanda accuses the Congolese government of colluding with Hutu militants who fled across the border after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. hbm-at/eml/kjm
Russian air strikes on Sunday killed 34 civilians, among them 15 children, in a village held by the Islamic State group in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor province, a monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit the village of Al-Shafah, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, in the early hours of Sunday morning. The Observatory relies on a network of sources inside Syria, and says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used. Russia is a close ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and in September 2015 began a military intervention in support of his government that has gradually helped Damascus regain territory. Syria's Deir Ezzor is one of the last places IS jihadists hold territory in the country, after being driven from their major strongholds including their one-time de facto Syrian capital Raqa city. The oil-rich eastern province that borders Iraq was once almost completely under IS control, but the jihadists now hold just nine percent of Deir Ezzor, according to the Observatory. They have faced two separate offensives there, one led by the regime with Russian backing and the other by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters. More than 340,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire killed 23 civilians on Sunday across the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region outside the capital Damascus, a monitor said. The deaths come despite the area falling within a so-called "de-escalation zone" put in place under a deal between government allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey. Eastern Ghouta is already in the grip of a humanitarian crisis caused by a crushing regime siege of the area since 2013 that has caused severe food and medical shortages. Sunday's air strikes on the towns of Mesraba and Madira killed 21 civilians, while artillery fire on the town of Douma killed two others, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. Several people were also wounded in the air strikes, and an AFP reporter who visited a hospital in Mesraba saw doctors and nurses treating those injured. Among them was a baby whose head was wrapped in a blood-stained bandage, as well as men and children who sat on the floor as they received first aid. A small girl cried as a doctor bandaged her head while nearby a man sat against a wall, sobbing silently with his face pressed against his folded arms, the reporter said. In a room of the hospital a morgue staff is placing identity tags on bodies wrapped in white sheets, victims of the air strikes, the reporter added. "The toll could rise further because of the number of wounded people in a serious condition," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. Among the dead were four children, the Observatory said. Regime bombardment of Eastern Ghouta in the last two weeks has killed more than 100 people, according to the Observatory. Rebels have also fired from the region into Damascus, killing several people. Humanitarian access to Eastern Ghouta has remained limited despite the implementation of the truce zone, and a United Nations official referred to the region as the "epicentre of suffering" in Syria. More than 340,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
You should never need a reason to fire up some Colin Kennedy gold to hype you up on a Sunday morning, so this week weve been rummaging around in the crates and have come up with Colins banging section from the second joint Blueprint/Panic VHS release Anthems (1998).

In classic Kinetic fashion, this three minute section is filmed everywhere from the skateparks of Cornwall to the backstreets of Edinburgh, with plenty of footage gathered on trips to London thrown in for good measure. Long gone Big Smoke spots, the recently liberated Victoria Benches, Livingston, Mount Hawke, hidden Scottish gems, Bristo Squareeverything gets hit, all of which is assisted by some timeless DJ Krush on the audio.

Hit that play button below now and transport yourself safely back to 1998!





Ollie to tail on homeground, Livi. The only bowl in the UK to rival Munsters death sink. Neat.

The Colin Kennedy Interview, Sidewalk issue 2, 1995. Photo: Wig.
Not only internationally known brands have their place in the ranking of the top largest lawyers in Slovakia.

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The ranking of law firms that we compiled met with very positive feedback last year, said Jan Pallo, publisher of The Slovak Spectator. Thanks to information from almost all, the big but also smaller players on the market, and complementary calculations, we have prepared an analysis of the top largest law firms in Slovakia, providing an overview for Slovak as well as foreign business people.

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The Slovak Spectator team used a broader criteria than last year when compiling the ranking, Pallo explained, using a more complex structure of persons with a law degree cooperating the firm, revenues, and net profit per partner.

These criteria are also used abroad the most often and they speak objectively about the size of law firms, Pallo noted.

The law firm Ecker-Kan & Partners repeated its success from last year and placed first in the general ranking, while it also achieved the highest profit from all companies in the ranking. The most important deals with which this law firm dealt in 2015/2016 included:

Deal1: Representing foreign investor in approx 1.1 bn property dispute.

Deal2: Advising major international investment group in approx. 400 million lawsuit.

Deal3: Representing private client in approximately 235 million international arbitration (VIAC) dispute.

Deal4: Representing Slovak Telekom, a.s. in approximately 110 million damages lawsuit.

Deal5: Representing National Property Fund in approximately 65 million damages lawsuit.

The 10 largest law firms achieved a 18-percent increase year on year in revenues from the revenues from their own outputs and merchandise in 2015. The aggregate net profit of the first 10 law firms grew 24 percent compared with 2014.

LARGEST LAW FIRMS IN SLOVAKIA 2016

1. Advokatska kancelaria Ecker-Kan & Partners

2. SOUKENIK  STRPKA

3. Ruzicka Csekes

4. Allen & Overy Bratislava

5. Advokatska kancelaria RELEVANS

6. Havel, Holasek & Partners

7. White & Case

8. Kinstellar

9. Skubla & Partneri

10. PRK Partners

The annual Investment Advisory Guide 2016/17 published by the English newspaper The Slovak Spectator provides more detailed data with published results of the analysis as well as complex ratings.

When looking at partial criteria used when setting up the general ranking, Allen & Overy Bratislava again achieved the highest sales revenues in 2015 out of all assessed law offices, while SOUKENIK  STRPKA dominated in the number of law graduates (53), as well as the number of attorneys (23). Ecker-Kan & Partners repeated their achievement of the highest profit per partner.

When looking at the Slovak market, the position of law firms in the ranking of Slovak and international attorneys is interesting when viewed on the basis of whether it has headquarters outside of Slovakia or is in association with / integrated into an international group (network) of law firms that helps in a significant way to apply systems and processes.

LARGEST SLOVAK LAW FIRMS 2016

1. Advokatska kancelaria Ecker-Kan & Partners

2. SOUKENIK  STRPKA

3. Ruzicka Csekes

4. Advokatska kancelaria RELEVANS

5. Skubla & Partneri

6. Bartosik Svaby

7. Advokatska kancelaria agner & partners

8. Hamala Kluch Viglasky

9. Futej & Partners

10. CECHOVA & PARTNERS

LARGEST INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRMS IN SLOVAKIA 2016

1. Allen & Overy Bratislava

2. Havel, Holasek & Partners

3. Kinstellar

4. PRK Partners

5. White & Case

6. TaylorWessing e/n/w/c advokati

7. PETERKA & PARTNERS

8. Deloitte Legal

9. bnt attorneys-at-law

10. Dentons Europe CS LLP

Allen & Overy Bratislava placed first among international law firms operating in Slovakia. The most significant cases in which the law firm provided legal services in 2015/2016 were:

Deal1: ENEL on the sale of its 66 percent stake in Slovenske elektrarne to EPH and creating a temporary joint venture with EPH

Deal2: Slovenske elektrarne, a.s. in a dispute with the Slovak Government regarding the Gabcikovo Hydro Power Plant

Deal3: Global retailer during a dawn raid carried out by the Slovak competition authority and in ensuing proceedings before the competition authority

Deal4: Consortium in connection with D4 / R7 motorway project (bypass of Bratislava) in the amount of 1.4 bn.

Deal5: Deutsche Bank on Romanian loan portfolio financing.

More complex information was published in the yearbook about the investment environment Investment Advisory Guide 2016/17.

This ranking of the 10 largest law firms in Slovakia was created based on five factors related to year 2015 to which we gave different weights:

- number of attorneys (36% weight);

- number of law graduates besides attorneys with more than 3 years practice (18% weight);

- number of law graduates besides attorneys with less than 3 years practice (6% weight);

- sales revenue (25% weight);

- net profit per partner (15% weight).

A few law firms decided not to provide information and were not analysed in this ranking. Based on calculations of The Slovak Spectator, their potential involvement this year would have had a minimum impact on the ranking of the first positions.

Investment Advisory Guide

The yearbook about the business environment that The Slovak Spectator has publishing yearly since 2000 brings an overview for investors either from Slovakia or abroad. This years edition was published also thanks to cooperation with the Investment Support Association (ISA). The general partner of the guide is the law firm Ruzicka Csekes. The content of Investment Advisory Guide brings well-arranged information about the economy, the labour market, support for investors, legislation, real estate as well as investment opportunities in Slovakia. Part of the guide is also a large analysis of the market of law firms with more detailed information on the most important of them. Within this section there are simultaneously published rankings of the largest law firms in Slovakia. The yearbook traditionally contains a wealth of statistics, for example, the regional comparison of wages, unemployment, structure of industry and the overview of the largest companies in individual regions.
Robber knight brothers, one of who became a governor, left his mark.

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Preservers of Bystricky castle found a surprise when reconstructing the castle walls. At first sight, the wall seemed to be ordinary stone. From under some masonry stuck out a piece of ornament indicating that it was not going to be just an ordinary stone, My Povazska portal wrote.

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The men were doing reconstruction in the north residential wing.

We were picking out the stones of a partition. When we picked out this one, I didnt have time to look closely and the guy was shouting that he saw something in there, explained Miro Tichy, the deputy chairman of citizens association of Bystrica castle that works for saving monuments, as quoted by My Povazska.

A piece of ornament was protruding from under the masonry. They decided to let a restorer uncover it, My Povazska reported.

Restorer Peter Zahora said that on one side of the stone there is a plait ornament that was used as a decoration. On the other side, there is a coat of arms. The stone was part of a balustrade placed in the castle, according to Zahora, My Povazska stated. The balustrade was probably a part of stairs, a balcony or oriel windows, according to Zahora.

It is the coat of arms of Rafael Podmanicky. The coat of arms of his family line is different so we can say that this one is his personal one from when the balustrade was built, between the years 1543  1557, explained Zahora for My Povazska. The ornament was probably placed after the year of a big fire in the castle but before the next year when Rafael Podmanicky died.

Rafael Podmanicky was a robber knight. In a fight between Jan Zapolsky and Ferdinand I. Habsburg, he and his brother Jan stood on the Zapolsky side. They began to occupy homesteads that were not their property. The Podmanicky family belongs to among the most important houses in the Hungarian empire and Zapolsky could do nothing, just watch their behaviour, because he needed them on his side, regionalnedejiny.sk wrote.

When Jan Zapolsky died, the brothers found themselves in an unpleasant situation. The Hungarian assembly pressured them to return stolen property. The brothers promised to return it, however, it took many more years until they did so. Jan Podmanicky died in 1545 and Rafael became a district governor of the Trencin region in 1554. After he made a peace agreement with the emperor, he reconstructed Bystrica castle, his residence, in the last years of his life, regionalnedejiny.sk informed.

There are more remnants of this historical person from Povazie also in Povazska Bystrica. Zahora noted that in the parish church in Povazska Bystrica is a renaissance gravestone of Rafael Podmanicky that has his coat of arms, as well as in a niche of the church wall, My Povazska reported.

In Soblahova, near Trencin, where he was did the reconstruction of the church, he also used his coat of arms, My Povazska stated.

Noblemen used to leave marks like these to stress that their credit in building some monument, said Zahora. The architecture features, both those mentioned and others, left after the brothers of the Podmanicky family are good examples of the early Renaissance from the Hungarian empire.
Telefonica, S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company's mobile and related services and products comprise mobile voice, value added, mobile data and Internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone services; local, domestic, and international long-distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; supplementary value-added services; video telephony; intelligent network; and telephony information services, as well as leases and sells handset equipment. The company also provides Internet and broadband multimedia services comprising Internet service provider, portal and network, retail and wholesale broadband access, narrowband switched access, high-speed Internet through fibre to the home, and voice over Internet protocol services. In addition, it offers leased line, virtual private network, fibre optics, web hosting and application, outsourcing and consultancy, desktop, and system integration and professional services. Further, the company offers wholesale services for telecommunication operators, including domestic interconnection and international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators; and local loop leasing services, as well as bit stream services, wholesale line rental accesses, and leased ducts for other operators' fiber deployment. Additionally, it provides video/TV services; smart connectivity and services, and consumer IoT products; financial and other payment, security, cloud computing, advertising, big data, and digital telco experience services; virtual assistants; digital home platforms; and Movistar Home devices. It also offers online telemedicine, home insurance, music streaming, and consumer loan services. The company was incorporated in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
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.
Conagra Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer packaged goods food company in North America. The company operates in four segments: Grocery & Snacks, Refrigerated & Frozen, International, and Foodservice. The Grocery & Snacks segment primarily offers shelf stable food products through various retail channels in the United States. The Refrigerated & Frozen segment provides temperature-controlled food products through various retail channels in the United States. The International segment offers food products in various temperature states through retail and foodservice channels outside of the United States. The Foodservice segment offers branded and customized food products, including meals, entrees, sauces, and various custom-manufactured culinary products packaged for restaurants and other foodservice establishments in the United States. The company sells its products under the Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Marie Callender's, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP, Duke's, Earth Balance, Gardein, and Frontera brands. The company was formerly known as ConAgra Foods, Inc. and changed its name to Conagra Brands, Inc. in November 2016. Conagra Brands, Inc. was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
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.
United Rentals, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities. The specialty segment rents specialty construction products, including trench safety equipment consists of trench shields, aluminum hydraulic shoring systems, slide rails, crossing plates, construction lasers, and line testing equipment for underground work; power and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment, such as portable diesel generators, electrical distribution equipment, and temperature control equipment; fluid solutions equipment for fluid containment, transfer, and treatment; and mobile storage equipment and modular office space. This segment serves construction companies involved in infrastructure projects, and municipalities and industrial companies. It also sells aerial lifts, reach forklifts, telehandlers, compressors, and generators; construction consumables, tools, small equipment, and safety supplies; and parts for equipment that is owned by its customers, as well as provides repair and maintenance services. The company sells used equipment through its sales force, brokers, website, directly to manufacturers, and at auctions. The company operates a network of 1,360 rental locations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. United Rentals, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
Illustration of the articulatory gesture based liveness detection on smartphone. Credit: Linghan Zhang, Sheng Tan, Jie Yang

(Tech Xplore)Face recognition. Fingerprints. Now there is also talk about voice recognition but thieves may come up with ways to spoof voice authentication.

A fresh look at the use of voice for security measures has cropped up, nonetheless, where a research team suggests a mouthprint application. In this application, a sonar detector, thanks to your smartphone, can monitor your lip movements as you speak for authentication. The phone's speaker and microphone become the detection system's tools.

The system was designed by researchers at the Florida State University in Tallahassee.

The discomfort with voice as an authentication method in the past has been an awareness that identity thieves can ace voice authentication tests fraudulently. (As Paul Marks in New Scientist put it, "someone with a recording of your voice could easily splice the right spoken words together and spoof their way into your digital life.")

Adding fuel to the fire is the popularity of social media, as people post audio as well as video.

Security engineer Jie Yang at the Florida State University in Tallahassee was quoted in New Scientist: "This makes it relatively easy to obtain voice samples from a target." (Jie Yang is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Florida State University. His research interests include biometrics and user authentication.)

A BBC report earlier this year quoted Mike McLaughin, a security expert at Firstbase Technologies.The report looked at voice-based ID. "Voices are unique - but if the system allows for too many discrepancies in the voiceprint for a match, then it's not secure."

The report also quoted Prof. Vladimiro Sassone, an expert in cyber-security, from the University of Southampton, who said "biometrics could, in general, be an effective security layer, but there were dangers if companies put too much faith in something that was not 100% secure."

As for this sonar system approach, called VoiceGesture, for detecting live users, Cecile Borkhataria in Daily Mail described how it works, by using the phone as a Doppler radar, which transmits a high frequency sound from the built-in speaker and listens to reflections at the microphone when users speak their passphrase.

It performs "liveness" detection by extracting features in the Doppler shifts caused by the unique articulatory gestures when a user speaks the passphrase. The articulatory gestures are movements of the lips, jaw and tongue, and these result in the Doppler shifts.

"When a user sets their passphrase, the VoiceGesture app emits a barely audible, high pitched 20 kilohertz acoustic signal from the phone's loudspeaker," said Borkhataria.

Their experimental evaluation with 21 participants and different types of phones showed that it achieves over 99% detection accuracy at around 1% Equal Error Rate, said Planet Biometrics. They noted the team's paper, "Hearing Your Voice is Not Enough: An Articulatory Gesture Based Liveness Detection for Voice Authentication."

The authors explained in their paper what occurs "in the user enrollment process," whereby the user-specific frequency shift features are extracted based on the spoken pass-phrase and stored in the liveness detection system.

"During online authentication process, the extracted features of a user input utterance are compared against the ones in the system. If it produces a similarity score higher than a predefined threshold, a live user is declared."

Their approach works with different types of phones and it works with different phone placements, whether you place your device by the ear or in front of your mouth.

More information: Hearing Your Voice is Not Enough: An Articulatory Gesture Based Liveness Detection for Voice Authentication, (PDF) Hearing Your Voice is Not Enough: An Articulatory Gesture Based Liveness Detection for Voice Authentication, (PDF) acmccs.github.io/papers/p57-zhangA.pdf

 2017 Tech Xplore
Recent reports of emissions exceeding the permissible amount at Formosa steel mills in north-central Ha Tinh Province were the result of a raised capacity to evaluate the companys emission treatment system, Vietnams Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) has said.

The ministry gave the explanation on Saturday afternoon following rumors that the Taiwanese steel business was once again bringing harm to Vietnams environment.

Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd., or Formosa for short, is the Vietnamese steel business of Taiwans Formosa Plastics Group.

Last June, the firms top executives admitted wrongdoing and pledged a hefty monetary compensation of US$500 million after wastewater from its factories was found responsible for mass fish deaths along the central coast of Vietnam two months earlier.

Formosa has been allowed to continue doing business in Vietnam regardless, though with increased monitoring and inspections by local authorities to ensure such incidents never repeat.

In a statement released on Saturday, MONRE acknowledged that some readings on Formosas emissions had exceeded the permissible amount recently.

Specifically, the sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and nitrogen oxides (NO x ) levels in Formosas emissions were above the standards at some points.

However, such incidents were due to the company raising its capacity above the usual level to inspect and evaluate the emission treatment system.

According to the ministry, responsible authorities have kept a close watch on the companys operations and emissions since the scandal last year, and so far have found no violation of environmental standards.

A $100 million SO 2 and NO x treatment system is being installed at its steel plants, with the completion date scheduled for June 2019.

In the meantime, the company is obliged to use clean fuel to power its mills to make sure no air contaminants are produced and emitted to the environment.

The ministry also dismissed claims that it was drafting a new set of environmental standards to legalize Formosas emissions.

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The proposal has been submitted to the municipal Peoples Council for review and approval.

According to the proposal, all airlines opening new routes to the Can Tho International Airport will be subsidized based on ticket price.

Specifically, passengers flying from the airport would enjoy an airfare of just 70 percent the normal cost, with the remaining 30 percent paid for by the city.

The subsidy is expected to encourage local and foreign airlines to open new routes to the airport, which is operating well below its design capacity of five million passengers a year.

Located in Can Thos Binh Thuy District, Can Tho International Airport was upgraded from the former Tra Noc Airport between 2006 and 2011 with a view to boosting the Mekong Deltas economy as well as improving defense, security and international integration.

Can Tho is considered the economic hub of the delta.

However, airlines have been reluctant to operate flights to the airport due to low demand, as it sits only 180 kilometers away from the busy Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

Airlines eligible for the planned subsidy must be committed to operating at least three flights weekly for domestic routes and at least two flights weekly for international routes.

All routes must be available for a period of at least three years.

According to the administration of Can Tho, the airport is expected to welcome over 612,000 passengers in 2017, which is only about 20 percent of its current maximum capacity.

Despite being an international airport, it currently serves predominantly domestic routes, including those to and from Hanoi, Phu Quoc, Con Island and Da Nang.

The only international route between Can Tho and Taipei is only available during the Lunar New Year travel season.

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The event took place from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm at the Childrens House of Ho Chi Minh City and from 8:00 am to 11:00 am at the Hanoi Childrens Palace on Sunday.

The Sunflower Festival is annually organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper and the Vietnam Youth Federation in the two major cities.

The festival commemorates the death of Le Thanh Thuy, a high school girl famous for her long fight against bone cancer prior to her surrender on November 2, 2007.

It also promotes the work of Thuys Dream Foundation," set up by Tuoi Tre to support children with cancer.

Good wishes are written on the paper sunflowers.

In Ho Chi Minh City, a series of activities including blood donation, art galleries, fair markets, and art performances were conducted to help raise money for young cancer patients.

Many items, from food, drinks to handmade accessories and greeting cards prepared by local university students, were offered at VND10,000 (US$0.44) to VND200,000 ($8.81).

Nicola Johnson, a tourist from Australia, supported the event by buying several items and wrote good wishes for the young patients on paper sunflowers.

Johnson and her friends took part in the festival after knowing about the 10th anniversary of the event.

Participants donate their blood at the festival in Ho Chi Minh City.

The corner reserved for blood donation was crowded this morning.

"This is a meaningful program that helps ease the pain of children with cancer," Tuyen Mai, a 54-year-old resident of District 8, said after donating her blood.

Meanwhile, in Hanoi, hundreds of volunteers from local universities and colleges heated up the atmosphere with vibrant dancing and singing.

Some 500 balloons were released to the sky, representing good luck wishes for young cancer patients.

Balloons representing good wishes are released at the event in Ho Chi Minh City.

Paintings made by children with cancer, along with other merchandise, were sold at the event to raise money.

According to Duong Duc Da Trang, deputy general managing editor of Tuoi Tre, the Thuys Dream Foundation has accumulated over VND20 billion ($880,509) as of November.

A ceremony is scheduled to be held at the Childrens House of Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday evening to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sunflower Festival.

Scholarships will also be granted to 85 children to aid their dreams of going to school.

A family make paper sunflowers to help raise money.

Participants buy souvenirs to support the foundation in Ho Chi Minh City.

Wishes of children with cancer are written on sunflower-shaped cards.

A young boy with cancer enjoys the Sunflower Festival at the Hanoi Childrens Palace.

Balloons are released to the sky in Hanoi.

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The Malaysian vessels arrived at Cat Lai Port in the southern hub on Saturday morning to commence the operational visit as part of an agreement reached by bilateral naval task forces.

Representatives from Ho Chi Minh Citys Department of External Affairs, the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense, and local military commands were among members of the welcome team.

After a welcome ceremony, the naval forces participated in activities that highlighted the history of both navies.

A maneuvering exercise joined by young military personnel from both sides was done to improve communication and cooperation in future joint missions.

The military men also participated in a friendly game of volleyball, before sitting down together for a dinner hosted by the High Command of Vietnams Naval Region 2.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maneuvering exercise between KD LEKIU KL GAGAH SAMUDERA and LY THAI TO during PASSEX <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/23NOV?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#23NOV</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RMN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RMN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VPN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VPN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mykamarul?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mykamarul</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/tldm_rasmi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tldm_rasmi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MPA_Barat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MPA_Barat</a> <a href="https://t.co/39T2ZM6O1I">pic.twitter.com/39T2ZM6O1I</a></p> KD LEKIU Frigate 30 (@KdLekiuFrigate) <a href="https://twitter.com/KdLekiuFrigate/status/934438790516506626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2017</a></blockquote>

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KD LEKIU is a missile defense ship with an overall length of 106 meters and a breadth of 12 meters, while the KL GAGAH SAMUDERA measures 75.9 meters in length.

The vessels are manned by a combined crew of 323 officers, sailors and naval cadets headed by Rear Admiral Dato' Rusli bin Ramli, who is currently Commander of Malaysias Naval Education and Training Command.

This is the ninth visit of Malaysian naval vessels to Vietnam.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A great way to spend Saturday morning - with our friends from Vietnams armed forces to welcome the brave officers and crew of <a href="https://twitter.com/KdLekiuFrigate?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KdLekiuFrigate</a> and KL <a href="https://twitter.com/GAGAHSAMUDERA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GAGAHSAMUDERA</a> at Cat Lai port, Ho Chi Minh City. Both ships are here for official operational visit. - CG <a href="https://t.co/SJHladC1C1">pic.twitter.com/SJHladC1C1</a></p> ConGen Malaysia HCMC (@MYCGHCMC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MYCGHCMC/status/934278251001679873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2017</a></blockquote>

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A seven-year-old girl in southern Vietnam has been found to be a victim of constant domestic violence by her father and stepmother, whose tortures include the use of a heated iron bar to burn marks on her skin.

The girl, N.H.N.T., has been living with the abusers since her parents got divorced.

According to T.s mother Huynh Thi Binh Van, 27, the ex-husband had forced her to give up custody of their child by threatening to kill the whole family if she dared to refuse.

With little knowledge about how the legal system works, Van complied with the demand.

According to neighbors of the father, 29-year-old Nguyen Van Hoa, T. has been subject to violent beatings ever since she moved in to live with her fathers new family.

At first T. screamed and cried a lot suffering from the violence, but over time she started to become more silent and submissive, the neighbors in Kien Giang Province said.

Each time a neighbor tried to persuade Hoa not to beat his own child, he would swear at them and threatened to stab them with a knife.

My siblings had intended to come over to get T. out of that place many times, but I begged them not to for fear of anything bad happening that would put them in jail, Van said.

The last straw was on Friday, when teachers at a local school that T. goes to discovered serious burned marks on the girls face and arms.

A video filmed by T.s teachers to document the state of her wounds as of November 24, 2017

When asked what had happened, T. said her father had heated an iron bar and stamped it on her skin, according to the teachers account.

They also found a soft dent on her head that felt as if it had been hit by something blunt and hard.

Suspecting those were signs of domestic abuse, the teachers immediately took T. to the police station of Chau Thanh District in Kien Giang to report the case.

However, T. would not say a word about how she got those wounds at the police station so the officers had no choice but to return the girl to her legal caretakers that are her father and stepmother.

Im worried the violence would continue, Van said

After hearing of the news, Nguyen Van Hoang, chairman of Chau Thanh District, said he had ordered the immediate separation of T. from her alleged abusers to ensure her safety as investigations are under way.

But a team of officials who arrived at Hoas house to implement the order on Saturday left empty-handed after every member of the house, including T. herself, said she had got her burns from falling over and hitting a hot oven.

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A ceremony was organized on Saturday morning to kick-start the citys river bus No. 1, connecting Bach Dang Port in District 1 with Linh Dong Ward in Thu Duc District.

Hundreds of residents gathered at the Bach Dang Wharf to experience the new type of transportation.

Tran Van Them, residing in District 1, stated he had waited for such river bus service for nearly a decade.

The new water bus route is suitable for the daily commute of my family. I will use this type of transportation regularly to avoid congestion on the streets, Them remarked. The boats are very safe and convenient.

Nguyen Van Tien, a passenger from the northern province of Hung Yen, stated he was able to witness the beauty of the Saigon River during the journey.

The waterbus is a cheap and good way to travel and sightsee for tourists, Tien added.

The river bus stop at Bach Dang Wharf is seen from above.

It costs VND15,000 (U$0.66) per person per trip, with ticket booths installed at the services two terminals and stops.

The route No. 1 is designed with a total of 12 stops, of which five have been completed, including Bach Dang, Binh An (District 2), Thanh Da (Binh Thanh District), Hiep Binh Chanh Ward and Linh Dong Ward (Thu Duc District).

The remaining stops will continue to be finished during the operation of the river bus.

The entrance of Bach Dang Station

The municipal Department of Transport is planning to establish new bus routes to link with the river bus stations.

Some current bus routes have been adjusted, while four electric bus routes will also be operated upon being approved by the central government.

Passengers at Bach Dang Station on November 25, 2017

The transport department is set to receive feedback from local residents to improve the quality and convenience of the waterbus service.

Specific measures will also be applied to expedite the preparations for the second river bus route, linking Bach Dang and Lo Gom in District 6.

An employee provides guidelines for passengers at the ticket booth.

A boat operates along the waterbus route No. 1.

Bui Xuan Cuong, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, talks to passenger on the river bus.

A captain steers the boat along the route No. 1.

Passengers read the instructions on the river bus.

A boat docks at Binh An Station in District 2.

Boats dock at Linh Dong Station in Thu Duc District, the final stop of the water bus route No. 1.

Residents wait for the waterbus at

Thanh Da Station in Binh Thanh District. The Thanh Da stop is connected with a local bus route.

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NITV will screen a panel discussion on Indigenous issues as featured this week in Struggle Street.

The second episode of Struggle Street focusses on homelessness and includes the eviction of Queensland resident Norma and her six children from public housing by a large contingent of police.

Struggle Street: The Point Responds is co-hosted by Allan Clarke and Julie Nimmo and will hear directly from Norma about her experience.

The show will also include a strong panel line-up including Chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute and Co-Chair of the Prime Ministers Indigenous Advisory Council, Chris Sarra; Greens NSW Spokesperson for Justice and Police, David Shoebridge, Family Law specialist, Cheryl Orr and CEO of St. Vincent de Paul Society, John Falzon.

NITV Channel Manager, Tanya Orman said: Struggle Street: The Point Responds investigates what its like for Indigenous families like Normas; surviving the threat of homelessness with children. Normas story is the story of many others and Struggle Street puts a spotlight on the experience of disadvantage and trauma, and the impact on the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.

The panel will explore discrimination and the need for culturally safe services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in regards to police, health and housing. It will also take a look at the issues of accessing and securing safe and affordable housing overcrowding and home ownership.

Other topics that the panel will shed light on will include the erosion of the welfare safety net, the spectre of child removal, and unresolved trauma and grief.

In 2015-16 an estimated 61,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people used specialist homelessness services.*

1 in 4 Indigenous clients (23%) are children aged under 10 and there is twice as many Indigenous female clients aged over 18 (42%) than Indigenous male clients (21%).*

Aboriginal women may face discrimination in the housing market or may be unable to find housing that is appropriate to their needs due to high birth rates** and the need for more than four or five bedroom homes which are in short supply both in housing and private rental.

*AIHW: Specialist Homelessness Services 2015-16

**ABS 2010: The Health and Welfare of Australias Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Struggle Street: The Point Responds Wednesday 29 November at 9.40pm on NITV.

Struggle Street 8:35pm 28-30th November and 5-7th December on SBS.
NSW Police have raided the Chippendale offices of production company CJZ seizing footage of upcoming true crime series, Undercurrent.

The series surrounds the 2009 murder of Tasmanian radiation physicist Bob Chappell aboard a yacht in Sandy Bay. Despite circumstantial evidence and no body, his partner, Sue Neill-Fraser, was arrested and sentenced to 26 years in jail. The story has featured in both Sunday Night and 60 Minutes in the past.

Seven has touted the series, in the style of Making a Murderer and The Jinx, as an active unfolding investigation involving underworld sources and the chase for a key piece of physical evidence that could free Neill-Fraser from prison.

The Australian reports a NSW detective acting on behalf of Tasmania Police seized CJZ footage of interactions between people potentially caught up in the investigation, which police allege involves a plot to present false evidence to Neill-Frasers current appeal application.

We had no choice but to abide by that warrant, said CJZ chief executive Matt Campbell. They were quite specific about what they wanted.

Copies of the footage had been made and the production plans to continue.
Former Burkes Backyard presenter Don Burke has hired lawyers following articles published jointly by Fairfax Media and ABC.

7:30 will tonight feature interviews with former production staff.

Veteran lawyer Patrick George told Daily Mail Australia he was acting for Burke.

CTC Productions produced Burkes Backyard from 1991  2004, after 4 years produced in house at Nine, as well as Backyard Blitz and Renovation Rescue.

Burke has denied all allegations in a statement to ABC, claiming a small number of ex-employees bore grudges against him.
FILE PHOTO - Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto attends an interview with Reuters in Budapest, Hungary September 12, 2017. Picture taken September 12, 2017. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo (Reuters)

By Sandor Peto

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary will publish a procurement tender on Monday for a modernised railway link with Serbian capital Belgrade to ship Chinese goods into Western Europe, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Sunday.

The tender will be published as politicians from China and Central European countries begin a two-day summit in Budapest, with the participation of 16 prime ministers including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

"We, in this region, have looked at China's leading role in the new world order as an opportunity rather than a threat," Szijjarto said in a news conference at Budapest's main airport ahead of the Chinese Premier's arrival.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will sign 11 bilateral agreements with China at the summit. Other participating countries and about 1,000 businessmen from the region and China plan to sign dozens of deals, the minister said.

The railway link upgrade had been agreed previously and construction of the Hungarian stretch, at an estimated cost of 550 billion forints (1.57 billion pounds), is expected to start in late 2020, with China's Exim Bank providing 85 percent credit coverage, Szijjarto said.

The line could become the main transport route for Chinese goods that arrive by sea at the Greek port of Piraeus and head into other parts of Europe, Szijjarto said.

Deals to be signed at the summit include a $500 million credit line from the Exim Bank of China to its Hungarian counterpart to finance lending.

China increasingly uses financing to strengthen its presence in the region.

Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic is also expected to sign a concession with the China Shandong International Economic and Technical Corporation in Budapest, the region's transport minister Nedjo Trninic said.

The deal would allow the company to charge a road toll on part of a 100 km road it plans to build and fund at an estimated cost of 320 million euros ($382 million) to connect the northwestern town of Banja Luka with the Croatian border.

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It would be the first road-construction concession for China in the Balkans.

The Serb Republic railway company Zeljeznice RS is expected to sign another deal with China Shandong International Economic and Technical Corporation for the reconstruction and modernisation of a railway track alongside the planned road from Banja Luka at a cost of 241 million euros.

(Additional reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo; Editing by David Goodman)
SWNS

<p>Feeling under the weather? Try the rom-com remedy  three in five Americans say its their go-to movie genre when down for the count.</p><p>Thats according to a new poll of 2,000 millennial parents of kids ages 4-12, where theyre also watching action and adventure movies (37%) and series like Harry Potter or the Hunger Games (36%).</p><p>When sickness strikes, more than four in five (82%) spend most of their time in their bedroom, with 42% staying put on the couch in their living room.</p><p>This may contribute to the fact that the average parent watches five hours of TV or movies each sick day.</p><p>Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of <a href="https://delsym.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-safelink="true" data-linkindex="1">Delsym</a>, results showed how respondents are optimizing comfort with their favorite things.</p><p>Results revealed that respondents get sick about three times per year.</p><p>Respondents were more likely to prefer old favorites than to wrap their heads around new content when feeling ill. (23% vs 15%).</p><p>When parents are sick with their children, the most popular movies to watch are the Harry Potter series (32%) and the Toy Story series (32%).</p><p>They also watch movies like Frozen (30%), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (28%) and Moana (25%).</p><p>More than half (56%) of respondents have a go-to or favorite feel-better comfort movie, with the average person saying they can watch it four times in a row without getting sick of it</p><p>In fact, 45% of those admit they can watch it more than four times and one in 10 of those (11%) even say they can watch it an infinite amount of times.</p><p>In total, respondents have watched their feel-better movie about 34 different times.</p><p>This movie has been respondents favorite for about six years, perhaps because it reminds them of good times (61%) and makes them laugh (53%).</p><p>Parents report feeling relaxed (54%), happy (48%) and calm (40%) after watching their favorite movie.</p><p>Almost two-thirds (63%) of parents agree that theyve passed their love of their favorite movie along to their child.</p><p>Nothing brings a family together quite like movie night, and nothing makes movie night better than a feel-good flick that fills you with warm, fuzzy feelings  especially when youre sick. We understand that feeling better means more than just relieving your cough symptoms  its about cozying up on the couch as you and your family work to feel better together, said Albert So, Marketing Director, Upper Respiratory Brands at Reckitt, including Delsym.</p><p>The survey also delved into how respondents are remedying their ailments by caring for their five senses. </p><p>In order to alleviate their symptoms, parents tend to want to taste soup (42%) and hot beverages like tea or coffee (26%).</p><p>They also want to touch things like their favorite blanket (40%), their significant other (19%) and their pet (14%).</p><p>When it comes to smell, respondents like to breathe in something clean like fresh linens (42%), medicine (36%) and something cooking in the kitchen (26%).</p><p>And while trying to feel better, respondents like to listen to music (58%) and their friends and family talking (29%).</p><p>When a family member is under the weather, the entire household is caught in the storm and that daily routine can be thrown off course, bringing with it discomfort and chaos. Families not only need fast-acting relief, but they need comforting remedies to help them navigate that storm, said So. Whether its moms chicken soup, your go-to feel better movie or cozying up with your kids, whatever it is that makes you feel better can go a long way.<br><br></p><p><em>Survey methodology:</em></p><p><em>This random double-opt-in survey of <strong>2,000 millennial parents of kids aged 4-12</strong> was commissioned by <strong>Delsym</strong> between <strong>October 6</strong> and <strong>October 10, 2022</strong>. It was conducted by market research company <a href="https://www.onepoll.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-safelink="true" data-linkindex="2">OnePoll</a>, whose team members are members of the <a href="https://www.mrs.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-safelink="true" data-linkindex="3">Market Research Society</a> and have corporate membership to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (<a href="https://www.aapor.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-safelink="true" data-linkindex="4">AAPOR</a>) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (<a href="https://www.esomar.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-safelink="true" data-linkindex="5">ESOMAR</a>).</em></p>
By Gabriel Stargardter

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras' U.S.-friendly leader looked poised to win a second term as voters cast their ballots in the Central American country on Sunday, eight years after he supported a coup to remove a previous president who flirted with re-election.

President Juan Orlando Hernandez, 49, of the center-right National Party, has lowered a sky-high murder rate, accelerated economic growth and cut the deficit since he took office in 2014, and appears set to benefit from a 2015 Supreme Court decision that overturned a constitutional ban on re-election.

Critics warn that Hernandez, a staunch U.S. ally on fighting drug gangs and migration, is tightening his grip on power, using a pliant Supreme Court and electoral tribunal to clear a path for his re-election bid in one of the Americas' poorest, most violent countries.

"I want to say to all Hondurans that we are building democracy," Hernandez said on Sunday at a news conference in a National Party operations base in Tegucigalpa. He urged his supporters, bedecked in blue and shouting: "Long Live Juan Orlando," to back his candidacy and secure a majority in the 128-seat Congress.

Opposition members say the second-term campaign is illegal and that they will not accept results from an election tribunal they accuse of being co-opted by Hernandez until they conduct their own vote count.

Opinion polls suggest Hernandez, born into a rural family of 17 siblings, will benefit from a splintered opposition and savvy political moves to clinch a historic second term and strengthen his militarized assault on gangs. Voters will also pick lawmakers.

Hernandez had a 15-point lead in a September poll, the last allowed under election rules.

In second place was sports and talent TV show host Salvador Nasralla, who leads a broad left-right coalition called the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship. It includes the Liberty and Refoundation Party, or LIBRE, which is controlled by former President Manuel Zelaya, whom many see as a force behind the bloc.

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Hernandez says he will build roads and bridges with public and private money to lure foreign investment, create 600,000 jobs and help lift economic growth to above 6 percent.

In the capital, Tegucigalpa, many are thankful for a lower crime rate and seem willing to overlook Hernandez's consolidation of power, even though he supported the 2009 coup that ousted Zelaya for proposing a referendum on re-election.

"Better the devil you know than the devil you don't," said Ada Solorzano, a 57-year-old nurse said of Hernandez. "During his time in office, he's fought the gangs and the drug traffickers and he's improved the employment situation. We know he will continue the war on crime and that he plans to create more work."

Another Tegucigalpa resident, Klenia Corea, 26, said she, her family and friends were all voting for Nasralla, citing a lack of jobs for young people and the president's grip on law enforcement.

"He's got all the police," said Corea's mother, Yadira Salgado, 61. "He's got it all tied up."

'WOULD-BE STRONGMAN?'

Central America has long struggled with leaders from the right and left who have sidestepped or ignored constitutional constraints on power.

Should Hernandez win, U.S. officials say they want him to quickly revitalize a stalled bill to cap presidential terms.

"A would-be strongman?" Earl Anthony Wayne, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, wrote on Twitter in reference to Hernandez.

Honduras has traditionally had close ties with the United States, which viewed the country as an ideological and military partner during the leftist guerrilla insurgencies in the region throughout the Cold War era.

Hernandez has won favor with Washington, working closely on U.S.-bound migration with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly when he was head of U.S. Southern Command and the Department of Homeland Security, and leading a purge of the police force as well as making it easier to extradite drug bosses.

But Hernandez makes for an awkward partner, having faced accusations that drug and graft-stained money entered his campaigns and criticism that he has stifled dissent. Hernandez's office denies he has financial ties to drug money.

Nasralla wants to bring a United Nations-backed investigative body to Honduras to tackle political corruption and organised crime.

While the election is Hernandez's to lose, the question of term limits is paramount, said Jason Marczak of the Atlantic Council in Washington.

"It's imperative ... that a continuation in power does not lead to any backsliding on some of the gains that have been made," he said.

(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Peter Cooney)
Hundreds of people took part in a demonstration in Melbourne, Australia, on November 26 to protest against the countrys offshore detention policies and an ongoing crisis on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Demonstrators from various activist and pro-refugee organisations gathered on Sunday, amid a police presence, to march against the Australian governments offshore detention policies. The protests escalated on Thursday and Friday following a violet standoff between PNG authorities in refugees inside the abandoned Manus Island detention center, that saw the latter forcefully relocated to transit facilities near Lorengau. Credit: Facebook/WACA via Storyful
By Ola Lanre

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's military has repelled an attempt by suspected Boko Haram militants to seize the northeastern town of Magumeri, a spokesman said on Sunday, a day after the attack.

The assault was the latest in a series of attacks in northeast Nigeria, where the conflict with the Islamist insurgency has dragged into a ninth year with little sign of an end.

Three soldiers were killed and six others wounded while fighting the militants in Magumeri, which lies 50 km (30 miles) from Borno state capital Maiduguri, which has been the centre of the conflict, the military spokesman said.

A member of a vigilante group formed to fight Boko Haram put the death toll at six soldiers and three vigilantes, while a resident of Magumeri told Reuters by telephone that at least three civilians were also killed.

A suicide bomber killed at least 58 people on Tuesday at a mosque in neighbouring Adamawa state, one of the deadliest attacks since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015 pledging to end the Boko Haram insurgency.

(Additional reporting by Ardo Hazzad in Bauchi; Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by Edmund Blair)
Four people, including a policeman, were killed on Wednesday after a terrorist mowed down pedestrians in a car before attempting to continue his rampage inside the Palace of Westminster, police said.

THURSDAY UPDATE: Police make seven arrests

The other dead included the assailant and pedestrians on Westminster Bridge. At least 40 others were injured - including some with "catastrophic" injuries - in the car incident.

Met Police Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, head of counter terrorism, said that at around 1440 GMT the assailant mounted the pavement and rammed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before crashing into the outer fence near the landmark Big Ben clock tower and running through the main gates into the houses of parliament.

He then stabbed a police officer after being challenged before he was shot dead. The policeman, who later died of his injuries, was named as 48-year-old Keith Palmer.

Prime Minister Theresa May was seen getting into a silver Jaguar as the incident was developing.

The French prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed that French students were among those injured. Junior doctor Colleen Anderson who ran across from nearby St Thomas' Hospital said there were "people across the bridge. There were some with minor injuries, some catastrophic".

"Some had injuries they could walk away from or who have life-changing injuries. There were maybe a dozen [injured]," she said.

London Ambulance Service confirmed that they had treated at least 10 patients on Westminster Bridge and had "put a number of hospitals on alert as we continue to respond to this incident".

The Port of London Authority confirmed that a seriously injured woman was recovered from the Thames.

"She has been brought ashore and is undergoing urgent medical treatment. The working assumption is that she fell or jumped from the bridge," said spokesman Martin Garside.

"We are treating this as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise," police said in a statement.

Parliamentary sketchwriter Quentin Letts told the BBC he saw a man attack a police officer inside the main gates to parliament before being shot two or three times as he tried to storm into the House of Commons.

I saw a thick-set man in black clothes come through the gates into New Palace Yard, just below Big Ben, he said.

"He had something in his hand, it looked like a stick of some sort, and he was challenged by a couple of policemen in yellow jackets."

"And one of the yellow-jacketed policemen fell down and we could see the man in black moving his arm in a way that suggested he was stabbing or striking the yellow-jacketed policeman."

"As this attacker was running towards the entrance two plain-clothed guys with guns shouted at him what sounded like a warning, he ignored it and they shot two or three times and he fell."

MPs in the House of Commons were kept in the chamber as events unfolded.

Transport for London said Westminster underground station has been shut at the request of the police.

Scotland Yard said in a statement: "Police are asking people to avoid the following areas: Parliament Square; Whitehall; Westminster Bridge; Lambeth Bridge; Victoria Street up to the junction with Broadway and the Victoria Embankment up to Embankment tube.

(Additional reporting by Michele Maatouk, Oliver Haill, Josh White and Andrew Schonberg)
London markets hit a five-month low on Wednesday, driven by continued Greece concerns, a sell-off in Chinese markets and weakness in the mining, construction and technology sectors.

As of 14:00 BST, the FTSE 100 was trading 0.42% lower at 6,683.

British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco led the risers, as Credit Suisse reinstated coverage on both stocks at outperform. The broker applauded BATs consistent track record and showed optimism about Imperials recent purchase of Reynolds assets.

National Grid was also boosted by positive broker sentiment, as Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the stock to overweight from equalweight and raised its price target on the shares to 955p from 910p saying it sees attractions in all three business areas.

GlaxoSmithKline was up on rumours it could become the latest takeover target in the sector. According to the Daily Mail, market participants are speculating that the company may face an approach from Switzerlands Roche or US company Johnson & Johnson at about 1900p per share.

Standard Chartered extended Tuesday's losses, which came as Jefferies cut its price target from 722p to 656p and warned the company may cut its dividend to bolster capital.

Mining stocks were among the worst performers, with Rio Tinto, Randgold Resources and Antofagasta all in negative territory.

Royal Mail was in the red after Ofcom announced a fundamental review to make sure the postal operator faces adequate competition following Whistls withdrawal from the direct-delivery letters market.

Leisure group Whitbread fell after missing forecasts slightly with a first-quarter update. Like-for-like sales rose by 4.3% as a flat performance in the restaurants division limited growth.

Shares of industrial equipment hire company Ashtead dipped after underwhelming investors with its with full-year results. The group posted a 33% rise in full-year pre-tax profit to 473.8m on strong US and UK markets.

Risers

British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,500.50p +2.61%

Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,229.00p +1.70%

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,364.50p +1.00%

Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 411.80p +0.96%

Centrica (CNA) 264.10p +0.80%

Barratt Developments (BDEV) 600.00p +0.67%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 232.50p +0.56%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 184.30p +0.49%

National Grid (NG.) 852.40p +0.45%

SABMiller (SAB) 3,310.50p +0.33%

Fallers

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Centrica plc operates as an integrated energy company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, North America, and internationally. The company operates through British Gas Services & Solutions, British Gas Energy, Centrica Business Solutions, Bord Gais Energy, Energy Marketing & Trading, and Upstream segments. It supplies gas and electricity to residential customers, as well as offers energy-related services; and generates power from nuclear assets. The company also provides installation, repair, and maintenance services for domestic central heating, plumbing and drains, home electrical, and gas and kitchen appliances; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, as well as offers breakdown services. In addition, it is involved in the procurement, trading, and optimization of energy; procurement and sale of LNG; and supplies energy efficiency solutions and technologies to residential customers. Further, the company produces and processes gas and oil; develops new fields to maintain reserves; constructs, owns, and exploits infrastructure; and engages in the social enterprise investment fund activities. Additionally, it provides vehicle leasing, commercial, and insurance services, as well as energy management products and services; and operates a gas storage and franchise network. The company was formerly known as Yieldtop plc and changed its name to Centrica plc in December 1996. Centrica plc was founded in 1812 and is based in Windsor, the United Kingdom.
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.
Events this week include an opera at NSU, Winterfest and Miss Aberdeen

Looking for something to do this week, check out an opera at NSU, Winterfest or the Miss Aberdeen coronation.
A grand holiday parade of lights will brighten the streets of Espanola on Dec. 9 in an event that usually attracts 40 to 50 entrants and thousands of spectators. (SOURCE: Espanola Downtown Action Team) Jorge Espino and Sarah Coit play the lead roles in the Santa Fe Operas production of Shoes for Santo Nino on Dec. 8-9 at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. (SOURCE: Santa Fe Opera) Los Ninos Bailadores perform during a past Holiday Fiesta at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos. (SOURCE: Millicent Rogers Museum) Several Victorian-style homes are part of the Dec. 2 Holiday Home Tour in Las Vegas, N.M. (SOURCE: Las Vegas Citizens Committee for Historic Preservation) The historic Castaneda Hotel in Las Vegas, N.M., which is being renovated, is among the highlights of the Dec. 2 Holiday Home Tour. (SOURCE: Kathy Hendrickson) Prev 1 of 5 Next

With the calendar ready to flip to the years final month, its a headlong flight into the Christmas and holiday season.

And across northern New Mexico, a number of towns have some special events to help get folks into the festive spirit a little early.

In Taos, there is a weekend of fun, beginning with the annual Yuletide Caroling and Tree Lighting on Dec. 1, followed the next day by a holiday fiesta at the Millicent Rogers Museum and capped by the Lighting of Ledoux the evening of Dec. 2.

Were going to have a lot of different local choirs and mariachi bands outside on the plaza, A. Karina Armijo, Taos director of marketing and tourism, said of the Yuletide event, from 4-6 p.m. We do the lighting of a tree that was donated by the Taos Pueblo many years ago.

The festive occasion includes rounds of hot chocolate and cookies, free stockings for the children and other surprises.

Its a great way to kick off the holiday season, she said. We have an electric light parade thats gotten bigger and bigger throughout the years. People put lights on their cars, and we make it all fun. It brings out a lot of families.

At the Millicent Rogers Museum, its time for some hands-on fun as families get a chance to make their own Christmas cards and ornaments, create retablos and learn about Hanukkah through fun activities, museum Executive Director Caroline Jean Fernald said.

In addition, local student music and dance groups will be performing holiday song and dance routines throughout the free event, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The day finishes up from 5 to 7 p.m. with the gentle glow of farolitos and bonfires along narrow and historic Ledoux Street.

In Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Opera (santafeopera.org) will be putting on a special performance of the holiday favorite Shoes for Santo Nino Dec. 8 and Dec. 9 at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.

The opera tells the tale of Julianita, who takes a pair of shoes that she has made to the Santo Nino and upon entering the church, the Santo Nino and saints come to life. She embarks on an evening of mystery, magic and miracles.

The streets of Espanola will come alive Dec. 9 with the annual Light Parade and Christmas on the Plaza, said Christine Bustos of the Espanola Downtown Action Committee.

Our parade has really evolved, Bustos said. It started in 1996 with 12 floats, and now we have between 40 and 50 each year. We have approximately 20,000 spectators. Its one of the largest in the state.

The parade starts at 6 p.m. at Industrial Park, winds along Paseo del Onate and the Onate bridge, traveling a couple of miles.

The theme for this years parade is the Chile Line Christmas, she said. The Chile Line train used to come through Espanola. It would bring produce and people back and forth. We expect quite a few trains this year.

The plaza will be filled with activities for children, including a first-ever gingerbread house contest.

Its beautiful. People in Espanola go all out for the parade, Bustos said. This is a parade town.

The historic Castaneda Hotel in Las Vegas will be a highlight of the annual Holiday Home Tour on Dec. 2.

Its going to be a really great tour, said Kathy Hendrickson, a member of the board of Las Vegas Citizens Committee for Historic Preservation, which organizes the tour. The Castaneda Hotel was a Harvey House hotel that was built in 1898, but its under renovation. The owner, Allan Affeldt, is going to be there, so thats going to be interesting.

And across the street, the Rawlins House, which originally served as the dormitory for the Harvey girls, also is under renovation but will be decorated for the holidays.

The Carnegie Library, the states last functioning Carnegie library, is also part of the tour. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The self-guided route also includes several Victorian-style homes and the Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. It was built in 1885 and contains a rare Kilgen organ, on which local noted musician David Escudero will be playing Christmas music.
From left, Joseph Yott, 51, his daughter Mabelle Yott, 12, wife Augusta Yott, 51, son LeRoy Yott, 7, and son Frank Yott, 16, stand in front of the home he built for the family in the North Valley in 1894. The Yotts moved to New Mexico from Chicago after a fire destroyed their business and one of their children contracted tuberculosis. (SOURCE: Yott/Moore family) Clayton Moore carries chairs back to an old barn that his ancestors built. He found the chairs and antique iron stove inside the barn after his great-aunt, who owned the house, died. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal) Susie Moore and her husband, Clayton, sort through an old tool drawer cabinet they found in their historic home on 12th Street. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal) A bell and weathervane sit on top of the old pump house at the Historic Yott house on 12th Street. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal) Vivian Yott had her family home declared a historic landmark in the 1970s. The house is still standing today on the west side of 12th Street just south of Candelaria. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal) An unknown man navigates the North Valley Yott property in a boat after a nearby levy broke in the summer of 1903. (SOURCE: Yott/Moore family) In this old family photo, from left clockwise, is Marion Yott (misspelled in the photo), his step-father LeRoy Yott, sister Vivian Yott, who passed away this August, and mother Sarah Yott. Marions grandson Clayton now lives in the historic home where Marion grew up. (SOURCE: Yott/Moore family) Two unidentified women stand in front of a salon owned by the Yott family. (SOURCE: Yott/Moore family) Clayton Moore holds silk-screen template for a political sign for his great-grandmother, Sarah Yott. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal) Prev 1 of 9 Next

When Joseph and Augusta Yott built their house on what is now 12th Street, New Mexico was not yet a state and the population of Bernalillo County had only recently crept past 20,000.

The year was 1894. A lot has changed since then but the house remains and inside it Yott relatives remain as well.

The Yotts became a prominent family in New Mexico, laying the groundwork for what would become the Youth Symphony and helping to start the Albuquerque Civic Symphony. They also owned a beauty salon, dry cleaners and had ties to the Curtiss Candy Co., which invented the Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars.

The home was placed on the states historic landmark registry in 1975. The two-story rectangular adobe home with a pitched roof is set back a few dozen feet from 12th Street, with a chainlink fence and a row of shrubs providing a buffer to the road.

A curved gravel driveway greets visitors to what is officially the front of the house but the family no longer enters there. Instead they use a back door that puts guests into the dining room.

Noticeable from the front is what looks like a wrap-around porch that was built in 1905. The family, at some point, enclosed the porch and made it part of the house. To the south of the home is a detached adobe building that contains a garage and workshop.

Behind the house is the barn built in 1897, another garage, an old pump house, a windmill, several trees and a large field used for farming until recently. An acequia runs along the sound end of the property, providing water for irrigation.

Arrival from Chicago

The Yott familys journey to the Territory of New Mexico occurred partly for the same reason it did for many other families at that time  tuberculosis. The family traveled south from Chicago in the late 1800s after a member of the family contracted the sometimes fatal condition. One of the great fires of Chicago had also obliterated Joseph Yotts business, so shortly after that in 1894 the family packed up and came to Albuquerque.

They bought the five-acre North Valley property and started building the two-story adobe house passers-by can see from the road to this day.

The U.S. Census puts the current population of Bernalillo County at approximately 677,000, but at the time the area the Yotts decided to call home wasnt yet a bustling, dense, urban neighborhood. In fact, it wasnt even a neighborhood. The property is located on the west side of 12th Street just south of Candelaria and was then mostly farmland, with each property sprawling over multiple acres.

The nomination paperwork for the historic registry describes the setting. The last known member of the Albuquerque clan bearing the Yott name, Vivian Yott Reeves, prepared the nomination packet.

Arriving in 1894, he (Joseph) settled in the country north of Albuquerque, it says. In 1894-1895, he built a two-story house which would have fit well into the Illinois country-side, only this house was made of two foot thick adobe walls.

According to a newspaper article, the acequia levee broke in June 1903 and flooded the entire property. Two newspaper articles from that time describe the impact on the Yott property.

He (Joseph Yott) has moved out and his place is surrounded by several feet of water, it said. He was seen and stated that the water crept upon him at 6:30 yesterday evening. Without any further parleying, he and wife commenced moving out, leaving the residence and outhouses to the mercy of the flood.

Another article describes his doubts about the fate of his home.

 and Mr. Yott was seen wading in the water, carrying out the remaining household effects from his residence, which is still surrounded by water, the article stated. He fears that the house will fall as soon as the water recedes, while others are of the opinion that it will not.

The others were correct. The homes stone foundation may have saved it from washing away.

Passed down

Vivian Yott Reeves was the granddaughter of Joseph and she died in August at the age of 97. Her parents were LeRoy (the son of Joseph and Augusta) and Sarah Yott. Sarah married LeRoy in 1918 after the death of her first husband, Harold Moore. Yott Reeves parents were both talented musicians helping start the symphonies in the early 1930s. LeRoy Yott supported his family by working for the Curtiss Candy Co. as a salesman.

Yott Reeves owned the home until her death and it has now passed to her nephew Kip Moore, who has turned over stewardship of the property to his son, Clayton Moore, and Claytons wife, Susie.

Clayton Moore said he has no intention of selling the family property and plans to make repairs.

I didnt want to the be the one in the family to get rid of it, he said. My grandpa grew up in this house.

Decades of memories

According to Clayton and his father Kip, Yott Reeves was extremely private and didnt like speaking about the familys history in private or public. After her death in August, the family began sorting through decades of belongings found throughout the house and in the barn the family built in 1897. They decided they wanted to share the familys history with the community.

Clayton and Susie moved to Albuquerque from Dallas in 2014 after Vivian Yott Reeves, who lived in California, asked them if they would take care of the house. The couple has had the task of not only sorting through Vivians personal belongings but sifting through enormous amounts of family and community history since her passing.

Claytons grandfather, Marion, was Vivians half-brother, son of Sarah Yott from her first marriage.

Among the items found in the barn were letters from Otto Schnering, the founder of Curtiss Candy. Schnering was the nephew of Joseph and Augusta Yott. The letters span a number of years and were written to Vivian and her parents. The letters discussed family events such as deaths, births, weddings and illnesses and the business. Along with the letters, they found several tin signs from the candy company, signs advertising Yott music lessons and boxes of old photos.

New old history

Historian Susan Schwartz has been trying for years to get information about the Yott family. Schwartz, the vice president of Historic Albuquerque Inc., has spent the past several years researching the history of the families buried at the Historic Fairview Cemetery, one of the citys first cemeteries. It contains the remains of some of Albuquerques most prominent and well-known former residents, including many members of the Yott clan.

Its how Schwartz first came across the family and attempted to learn more by contacting Yott Reeves, the only known living relative. She hit a roadblock when Yott Reeves declined to talk. Schwartz said Yott Reeves was reluctant and apprehensive about sharing her story with the public.

The familys willingness to now come forward, she said, is an exciting day in the local historical community. According to Schwartz, the family owned one of the first barber shops in the city and one of the first beauty salons.

I call it new old history, she said. Most people when I say Yott have not heard of them. Its a wonderful discovery for Albuquerque.
Rooted in front of the 1957 Mark Tobey abstract titled Lyric, Titus OBrien talked about the influence the Chinese art of calligraphy played in Tobeys paintings.

Many of his paintings are much more dense than this, said OBrien, assistant curator of art at the Albuquerque Museum. Here there are no characters, no letters. The energy of the mark making, inspired by calligraphy, is the message. It is radically non-symbolic.

Tobeys painting, tempera on board, is among the 50 works in the Albuquerque Museum show When Modern Was Contemporary, which continues through Dec. 31.

Lyric is an uninhibited shout out of color  pale yellows, whites, squiggles of red, patches of olive green. The effect on OBrien is to make him pause for a moment, to reflect.

Its painted in difficult colors, weird, strange colors, awkward colors, he said. I like paintings that resist you. They are sort of like Zen meditation. Its not so easy to sit still.

Integrated and engaged

In OBriens view, all works of art should be objects of meditation. But he noted that this is especially so in the works by artists of the avant-garde movement of the 1940s to the 1960s  painters such as Tobey (1890-1976), Kenzo Okada (1902-1982), Mark Rothko (1903-1970) and Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) and the composer and music theorist John Cage (1912-1992). Unlike artists who poured out their souls onto their canvases, OBrien said Tobey, Okada, Rothko and Pollock, all of whom have works in When Modern Was Contemporary, shifted the emphasis in their paintings from their own feelings to the objects depicted in the work.

He said thats due in part to the fact that these trailblazers were very much influenced by Asian philosophies and religions, especially Zen Buddhism.

Zen is about your whole body and your whole mind integrated and engaged, he said. Many of the artists in this exhibit were looking for ways to expand beyond materialism, consumerism and militarism. These artists are not depicting the world, they are organizing color, line and shape.

On Saturday morning,OBrien will lead a brief guided meditation followed by a tour of select works in When Modern Was Contemporary.

He is especially well suited to the task. He is an artist, a sculptor and a painter who does abstracts in casein (milk tempera). But he has also studied Zen for three decades and is an instructor in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition. On most days, he meditates in the morning and again in the evening.

My tradition is just sitting and allowing sensation and thought to arrive and depart without manipulation and engagement, he said.

And that works just fine for looking at abstract paintings.

Here I am

OBrien, 50, grew up in Littleton, Colo., and early on was unsure as to what path he would follow.

I had a grandfather who was a painter and a grandfather who was a biological scientist, he said. I wanted to be both. I was drawn to medicine, and I was also interested in anthropology. But the art won out in high school.

He earned a bachelor of fine arts from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1991 and master of fine arts from the Yale University School of Art in 1993. He was introduced to Zen when composer Cage was a visiting professor in Kansas City in the late 1980s.

Cage was born in Los Angeles and died in Manhattan, but his major influences were East and South Asian cultures. Cage attended D.T. Suzukis lectures on Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s and early 1950s and used the ancient Chinese text the I Ching as a tool for creating his musical compositions.

OBrien attended lectures Cage presented in Kansas City and interacted with the composer during one of those sessions.

He was saying really interesting stuff about the non-existence of the self, OBrien said. I said, What do you mean I dont exist? Here I am. He said, Yes, exactly. And what is that? My brain couldnt make anything of it.

He had this Cheshire cat smile and these twinkling eyes. It was a beautiful, transforming experience. I connected with him very strongly. He was a singular and radiant individual. He singled me out, and he started talking to me about Zen.

While doing graduate work at Yale, OBrien studied at the New Haven Zen Center. Between 1995 and 2000, he spent time at Zen centers in Rhode Island, Kentucky and Northern California.

Now, I use the I Ching to compose my paintings, he said.

Organized activity

Just as Cage helped form OBriens zeal for Zen, Tobeys interest in Eastern religions  he converted to the Bahai faith  may have influenced Cage to some degree. The men were friends and Tobey studied piano and music theory with Cage. And there are those who suggest that Tobeys oriental brushwork and calligraphic strokes prompted Jackson Pollocks drip paintings.

One of those Pollock paintings, Number 8, 1949, is in the show. OBrien refers to the piece  a roiling, twisted mass of oil, enamel and aluminum paint on canvas  as organized activity.

All art is a mediation between order and chaos, he said. But Pollock was clearly the most chaotic of his generation.

But that doesnt mean his work is not Zen.

Zen tradition is full of rogues, raconteurs and radicals, he said. Zen is not just the eternally beatific, monks and monastics.

Kenzo Okada was born in Yokohama, Japan, and was a realist painter before he moved to New York City in 1950.

Then he got swept up in the heated, abstract atmosphere, OBrien said. Even so, his abstract paintings retain a powerful Japanese sensibility and appreciation of form. His 1953 oil on canvas, Abstraction No. 7 is part of the exhibit. Large shapes and smaller ones stand out against a desert-sand background.

Notice the numbered title, OBrien said. You are not supposed to be able to tease out any kind of story. Clearly Okada wants you to view that painting on its own merits. You are approaching these elements in their relationship to each other. He leaves these sort of wonderful negative spaces  landscapes of the mind and heart.

Floating in space

Okada and Rothko were friends. Did Okadas Japanese-flavored abstracts influence Rothko? Maybe. Maybe not.

But Rothkos 1956 oil on canvas, Old Gold Over White, might just be the most Zen work in the show. OBrien describes the painting as hazy rectangles floating in space.

Do you fall into them, or do they come out and get you? he said. The best description of Rothkos paintings is meditative. They are not promoting any Zen doctrine. They are just inviting you to meditate on them, on your experience with them.

You can come back to a Rothko painting forever and have different experiences each time. You can say the same of Zen meditation.

If you go

WHAT: The Zen of Abstraction. Art curator and Zen practitioner Titus OBrien guides visitors through a brief meditation, followed by a tour.

WHEN: 10-11:15 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 2

WHERE: Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain NW

COST: Program is free with regular museum admission of $1-$4.
Tricia Simmons dabbled in a galaxy of mediums before landing in a rainbow of beeswax and pigment.

The Albuquerque artist discovered the 5,000-year-old technique at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, where she took an encaustic jewelry class. The results opened up a world of mixed-media paintings, one-of-a-kind prints, dolls, lanterns and more.

Simmons work will be available at the 29th Annual Old Church Fine Crafts Show in Corrales this weekend. The show, in the San Ysidro Church, features jewelry, paper, clay, prints, watercolor, pottery, fiber art, gourd art, handmade books, stained glass, beadwork and more. Prices range from $2 to $450.

This year marks Simmons debut at the show. Her inspiration springs from nature, architecture and symbols.

Originally from Chicago, the artist moved to New Mexico in 2006. She never took an art class in either high school or college. Simmons worked as a nurse but always kept busy with crafts. A 1997 pottery class led her to precious metal clay for making jewelry. Encaustic expanded her artistic vision even more.

Its a combination of beeswax and tree sap resin, she said. Its very forgiving. You can put something down on a wooden panel; if you dont like it, you can heat it off.

Simmons created a flower jewelry box using a repurposed carved wooden container. The top features an encaustic painting made with a dried flower petal.

The yellow lines and dots are carved in with a hot tool, she said.

Her altered paper collage A Walk on the Wild Side started with a National Geographic magazine. She sprayed the pages with Citrasolve concentrate, a cleaning solution that smells of oranges.

Its kind of mottled with unusual shapes, Simmons said of the results. Then I tear them up and apply them to mat board. Then I add images from other magazines.

She made what she calls a message doll using encaustic monotypes, pastels and India ink for the clothing. A purse hugs a rolled scroll.

Usually its a quote or a message I made up like courage or peace and healing,  she said. The string is her hair, and she has earrings on and a pendant. One time, I tore the strings apart and made curly hair. Theyre kind of talismans.

Some collages have included an avian theme.

One was a chicken crossing the road, Simmons said. I sold it to the guy who owns the chicken company in Corrales. It was, Id like to live in a world where chickens arent questioned about their motives.

Chickens dont cross the road. Theyre not stupid.

All event proceeds go toward preservation and maintenance of San Ysidro Church. The Corrales Historical Societys Visual Arts Council sponsors the event.

If you go

WHAT: 29th Old Church Fine Crafts Show

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3

WHERE: Old San Ysidro Church, 966 Old Church Road, Corrales

HOW MUCH: Free; information, call 301-0042
Kenny Leu jumped at the chance to work on the National Geographic miniseries The Long Road Home.

Not only was it a chance to stretch himself as an actor, but it was a chance to be involved in a great story.

The Long Road Home  an eight-part miniseries  is based on ABC News journalist Martha Raddatzs best-selling book of the same name.

The series re-examines a day during the Iraq War when the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas, was ambushed on April 4, 2004, in Sadr City, Baghdad, on what would become known as Black Sunday.

Leu appears opposite Michael Kelly, Jason Ritter, Jeremy Sisto and Noel Fisher.

The series airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The fifth installment will air on Tuesday, Nov. 28, on National Geographic.

Its a very authentic, genuine way of telling the story, he says. The one thing that stands out is the harrowing story. These men werent expecting to fight. It tells the story from all angles. It doesnt hide any facts.

In the series, Leu plays Sgt. Eddie Chen.

Chen was Taiwanese, and Leu was born in Taiwan.

I felt a connection to the Eddie, he says. We got a chance to meet many of the military personnel, and they all told me I looked the Eddie. We became a family.

Acting wasnt always at the forefront of Leus life.

He earned a mechanical engineering degree from the University of California, Berkeley, before founding a Silicon Valley startup and working as a programmer for the early part of his 20s.

Wanting to turn his focus toward creative pursuits and eager to work on projects that promote positive images of Asian-Americans, he decided to move to Los Angeles and pursue acting in 2014.

Its important that Asian-Americans are represented as well in the TV and film productions, he says.

Leu is used to working on big projects.

A few years ago, he spent some time in Albuquerque while filming Independence Day: Resurgence.

I had a small scene with Liam Hemsworth and it didnt make the film, he says with a laugh. My goal is to find another production out there so I can explore more.
State Police officers, along with Taos deputies, shot and killed an armed man on Saturday morning in Penasco, according to New Mexico State Police.

State Police Chief Pete Kassetas in a video statement posted on Facebook said no officers or deputies were injured in the shooting.

Kassetas said the incident began when Taos County Sheriffs deputies, along with State Police, went to a domestic violence call around 7:45 a.m. on Santa Barbara Road.

A man had barricaded himself in a trailer, he said. When deputies got inside, they found him in a bedroom armed with a rifle and pistol.

Kassetas said deputies backed off and the man got on the roof of the trailer.

We call that high ground, he said. Tactically, the officers are at a disadvantage because he has a position to fire.

One deputy and one State Police officer fired, striking and killing the man, Kassetas said.

I cant tell you if the suspect fired or not, Kassetas said.

Kassetas doesnt know how many rounds were fired by officers, but he said two State Police officers and two Taos County Sheriffs deputies are on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.

He did not identify the man, officers or deputies involved.
Last April, Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed legislation that could have saved New Mexico millions of dollars a year in prescription drug costs for state agencies and its employees and retirees. Senate Bill 354, which passed the Legislature with strong bipartisan support, would have required all New Mexico state agencies who purchase pharmaceutical drugs to work together to aggressively seek a better deal on drug prices.

Residents pay a huge cost for high drug prices. In fiscal year 2016 New Mexico state government spent over $670 million on prescription drugs, a staggering 54 percent increase in just two years. Senate Bill 354 would have leveraged the purchasing power of all of our state agencies that purchase prescription drug benefits including the Departments of Health, Human Services, Corrections, Medicaid, and General Services, and UNM and other agencies to aggressively pursue lower drug prices. Even though the legislation passed the Senate unanimously and the House with broad bipartisan support, Martinez vetoed it without explanation.

Several weeks ago the National Academy for State Health Policy (nashp.org) invited me to speak at their annual conference about my prescription drug purchasing reform legislation. The academy, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization of state health professionals, had identified this bill as a key strategy that states could implement to better control the rising health care and prescription drug costs.

Aggressively negotiating lower prescription drug prices could save New Mexicos state government millions every year. It can be done. The U.S. Department of Veterans of Affairs negotiates at least a 24 percent discount on the drugs it buys. Many other industrialized countries pay a fraction of what U.S. citizens and governments pay for the same drugs. Members of Congress have sought for decades to leverage the federal governments purchasing power for Medicare but have been fought tooth and nail by the pharmaceutical industry.

Other states are working to achieve savings and reform as well. Recently citizen-led referendums in Ohio and California have fought to lower drug prices, and California just passed legislation requiring the pharmaceutical industry to notify the state in advance of increases in drug prices.

At a time when budgets for classrooms and other key public services are being cut, and proposals are being pushed to force tens of thousands of public employees to pay more for their retirement and benefits, negotiating lower drug prices is just common sense.

The opponents of lower drug prices are formidable, however, and have many methods to stop progress. The pharmaceutical industry, one of the most profitable in America, has spent millions of dollars fighting efforts in Congress and in legislatures across America to get citizens a better deal on prices. In addition, the industry continues to make large contributions to politicians to maintain their foothold of opposition to reform. The pharmaceutical industry was the 10th-largest single contributor to the Republican Governors Association in the most recent election cycle, according to opensecrets.org.

This coming legislative session its time for Gov. Martinez to stand on the side of our citizens and use all the tools at our disposal to demand the very best deal possible on the purchase of prescription drugs. Requiring our state government to maximize its nearly $700 million in pharmaceutical purchasing power to lower the cost of prescription drugs is not just good business, its common sense.
The mountains surrounding the Mesilla Valley, which make up the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (OMDP) have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I still remember seeing my first rattlesnake, tarantula and coyote in these mountains as a little girl.

When I became a gung-ho, rebellious teenager, I remember climbing to the peaks despite my mothers disapproval. I remember giving guided tours of the Dripping Springs Natural area as part of my first job. I remember these peaks becoming a national monument in 2014, and watching my hometown celebrate with pride. Finally, this nomination ensured that these mountains invaluable contribution to the landscape, history and diverse culture of the United States was protected for future generations.

OMDP is undoubtedly a treasure worth its protected status. Before I called these mountains my home, Clovis people inhabited these lands. Grinding holes, arrowheads and wall art, which can still be found today, pay testimony to their legacy. These mountains hold infinitely priceless geologic and human history, which is why a coalition of local activists successfully urged the Obama administration to protected these lands under the Antiquities Act.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration undermined the dedication of these local advocates by ordering a review of 27 monuments established since 1996. This review undermined local democracy, and constitutes, in the words of a local activist, a slap in the face to faith-based groups, environmental groups, and other community members, especially Latina individuals, who made this monument possible in the first place. This review included two sites in New Mexico: OMDP and the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.

In response, the Hispanic Access Foundation organized a trip to Las Cruces for myself and six other Latinas from across the country to understand what this review would mean for places like OMDP. Sharing my home with other Latinas, many of whom had never been camping, reminded me how our national parks and monuments are places for everyone to enjoy.

We camped under the stars and visited ancient wall paintings and waterfalls. We met with local activists, park rangers, elected officials and residents who explained why these lands are so important to them. Being surrounded by my community, by other young, driven Latinas, and by the mountains that I call home reinvigorated my determination to ensure that everyone, including future generations, have access to such places.

Not long after this trip, news leaked that Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke was recommending both New Mexico monuments undergo management changes, specifically asking that the Pentagon and Homeland Security assess the border security threat supposedly posed by the protection of OMDP. Shrinking both of these monuments is still a possibility, similar to what Zinke has proposed for Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, as is opening these monuments up for resource extraction.

As an environmental studies major who has worked for the National Park Service, I believe that reducing the size of these monuments  or any for that matter  or opening them up to extraction interests is callously near-sighted. As a second-generation Mexican immigrant who has experienced firsthand the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) racially profiles and creates fear in the Latino community, I think Zinkes suggestion to address border security at my hometown national monument is dangerously misplaced. Instead, those of us who care about the mission of the National Park Service, conservation, and preservation should be asking ourselves How do we make our public lands more accessible to low-income Latinos and other marginalized communities?

Overall, this review is an attack not just on the OMDP but on all public lands. If you care about the environment, if you care about your public lands, if you care about making these natural and historical places more equitable, then speak up and share your support for protecting these special places for future generations.

Esperanza Chairez recently went on a trip to OMDP with other Latinas as well as a Teen Vogue reporter. She has participated in the Latino Heritage Internship Program, which placed her as an intern at a National Park Service site.
For more than a decade, legislators have considered, and defeated, bills that would prevent public officials convicted of felonies from receiving their overly generous state pensions.

The current case in point is former state Sen. Phil Griego, who last week was convicted of fraud, bribery and state ethics law violations for accepting a $50,000 commission on the sale of a historic state building he successfully ushered through the legislative approval process. State Attorney General Hector Balderas has asked a district judge to enhance Griegos as-yet-undetermined sentence by requiring forfeiture of his legislative pension and other payments he can lawfully receive as a senator after the criminal acts were committed.

Under current law, a judge can fine convicted public officials up to the value of their salaries and fringe benefits, though legislators are technically not salaried (they receive a $164 per diem and mileage reimbursement) and fringe benefits are undefined. Various attempts to clarify the law to include pensions as a fringe benefit have been unsuccessful, but Rep. Matthew McQueen, a Galisteo Democrat, who has sponsored several such bills over the years, says hell try again during the 30-day session that starts in January.

We hope hes successful because elected officials who have abused the public trust should not benefit financially for their malfeasance. Regrettably, recent history alone is replete with such abuse of the public trust:

 Griego stands to receive a state pension of about $1,350 per month, or slightly more than $16,200 annually.

 Former Secretary of State Dianna Duran, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to misusing campaign contributions to fuel a gambling habit, receives a state pension of about $4,800 per month, or slightly more than $58,000 per year.

 Former state Senate leader Manny Aragon, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiracy and mail fraud in connection with a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme related to the construction of the Metropolitan Courthouse Downtown, receives a state pension of $2,321 per month, or slightly less than $28,000 per year.

 Former state treasurer Michael Montoya, convicted in 2007 of taking kickbacks from investment advisers who helped arrange bids on state investments, receives a state pension of $4,077 per month, or slightly less than $49,000 per year.

 Montoyas successor, former state auditor and state treasurer Robert Vigil, was convicted in 2007 of attempted extortion for his role in steering state investments to select investment advisers who provide kickbacks. He receives a state pension of about $4,500 per month, or about $55,000 per year.

For every $1 lawmakers kick in to their pension, the public kicks in $43. Adding public insult to public injury, these pensioners are also eligible for periodic cost-of-living increases. How can a law-abiding public employee square all this with the perennial news pension funds are struggling to reach solvency? In these five instances alone, taxpayers are paying out more than $200,000 a year to convicted felons they once elected to serve their interests.

If you think thats as outrageous as we do, contact the governor and your state legislators before the January special session and tell them so.

As cash-strapped as New Mexico is, this is a huge waste of resources.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

District Attorney Raul Torrez cited the recent case of a man who strangled his wife with their four young children in the home to illustrate the need for a concerted community effort to improve family stability.

Carlos Alfredo Perez, 31, was sentenced Nov. 11 to 17 years in prison after a Bernalillo County jury convicted him of second-degree murder in his wifes 2016 killing. The tragedy has left the couples four children, all under the age of 10, without parents.

Their mother is dead, their father is in prison, Torrez said. Who is going to step in and help those kids?

Torrez is a co-chair of a new United Way of Central New Mexico initiative intended to develop programs that target families devastated by problems such as addiction, violence and the incarceration of a parent.

United Way recently sent a letter to leaders of more than 90 programs that currently receive United Way funding outlining Mission: Families  a strategy to coordinate and improve efforts, and steer more United Way funding to programs that focus on family stability and youth development.

The nonprofit plans over the next three years to target its unrestricted  or Community Fund  donations toward projects to increase secure and stable homes for children, improve childrens safety and well being, and support working families, the letter said. Unrestricted funding consists of those donations that donors do not specify should go to a specific agency or charity.

Torrez said its important for the public to realize that its crucial to invest in prevention in order to lower crime and incarcerations  and that public safety starts with children as young as 5. Mission: Family will identify programs that help break the cycle of family dysfunction that is driving a growing number of children into the criminal justice system, he said.

One of the more discouraging aspects of the criminal justice system for prosecutors (is) we always show up after tragedies have unfolded, he said. In terms of bringing about real public safety, I need to think about how and where we can invest time, energy and effort into prevention, as well as punishment.

He said that ideally there will be data that show if a family has a number of emergency call outs  such as violence, neglect, abuse or drug overdose  that would trigger early intervention and the offering of coordinated services.

Mission: Families is modeled after United Ways 5-year-old initiative Mission: Graduate, which set a goal of having New Mexicans receive an additional 60,000 certificates or college degrees by 2020, above what was already anticipated.

The challenges of educating children pointed to more profound problems that New Mexico teachers face teaching children from families in crisis, said Helen Wertheim, the other co-chair of Mission: Families.

We heard from some key leaders in education that they were spending half their time dealing with family stability issues with the kids, rather than teaching, she said.

The goal of Mission: Families is to bring people together to create efficiencies, accountability, transparency and shared goal setting to improve the chances that kids will succeed in school and life, Wortheim said.

Kyle Beasley, a senior vice president at Bank of Albuquerque, said United Way typically receives up to $4 million a year in unrestricted funding, which the nonprofit invests in more than 90 organizations, each receiving an average grant of about $35,000.

Over the next three years, United Way plans to identify and invest in programs that focus on family stability in an effort to move the needle on fundamental problems facing children, said Beasley, a member of the Mission: Families leadership team.

You want to see impact with your donor dollars, he said.

United Way board Chairman Kirby Jefferson said another goal is to attract funding from national groups, which he said Mission: Graduate has been able to do. That allows the local contributions to leverage into more funding, giving United Way efforts an even greater impact on the community.

Early response shows that donors are enthusiastic about the strategy, Beasley said.

Data collection and analysis will be a key part of assessing the impact of programs in improving child safety and well-being, Torrez said.

Were just seeing a lot more of these serious younger offenders at younger and younger levels, he said.

Torrez said a key indicator of success would be a reduction in the number of youthful offenders entering the criminal justice system.

If we can do that, he said, I think what you are going to see is a pretty significant decline in the types of crime you are seeing.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

Government data show that more New Mexicans have signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace compared to the same time last year.

The federal Center for Medicare & Medicaid services reported Wednesday that 12,652 New Mexicans signed up in the third week of the enrollment period. Last year, 12,071 had signed up a full week later.

It was not immediately clear whether the increase reflects a growing interest in the states marketplace or the shortened enrollment period this year.

The Trump administration, which has made undermining the act a cornerstone of its health care policy, cut the enrollment period from three months to six weeks. The last day to sign up is Dec. 15.

Nationally, sign-ups are also up: so far 1.5 million have selected Affordable Care Act plans compared to last years 1 million over a similar time period, according to CMS.

The release of the data midway through the enrollment period marks the first look at sign-up numbers in New Mexico. About 55,000 New Mexicans in 2016 signed up for plans through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

The administration has also ended certain subsidies to health insurance companies who cover low-income people; cut the consumer outreach budget by 90 percent; and planned outages of the federal marketplace website, Healthcare.gov, during peak enrollment times.

In New Mexico, middle and higher income consumers are likely to see another change: steeper premiums. In September, regulators approved premium increases ranging from 36 percent to 41 percent for mid-level insurance coverage. State Insurance Superintendent John Franchini told the Journal that the increases were heavily influenced by the expectation that the federal government would discontinue subsidy payments to insurers, which it ultimately did.

Still, tens of thousands New Mexicans could be eligible for tax credits to offset those higher premiums if they earn between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. According to a report by the nonprofit Health Action New Mexico, some individuals may be able to find plans that cost them nothing as a result of the credits.

In 2017, 73 percent of New Mexicans enrolled in the marketplace qualified for some amount of premium assistance, according to the report.

Things to know

BeWellNM, New Mexicos health insurance exchange, suggests New Mexicans keep these things in mind when thinking about their health insurance coverage in 2018:

 The open enrollment period is only 45 days this year and ends on Dec. 15.

 Regulators have approved premium increases for four BeWellNM insurance carriers, but average premium increases will vary. Consumers are encouraged to shop around.

 If you miss the open enrollment period and dont qualify for a special enrollment period, Medicaid, Childrens Health Insurance Program, or employer-based coverage, you will likely have to pay a penalty. (Recent changes to administration of the Affordable Care Act dont impact the penalty fee.)

 The insurance carriers participating in 2018 open enrollment are Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico, Christus Health Plan, Molina Healthcare and New Mexico Health Connections.

 BeWellNM offers a number of free resources and events for consumers, including community enrollment events, certified agents and brokers, open enrollment centers, enrollment counselors and a plan comparison tool through the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance. Check out www.bewellnm.com for more information.
BELEN  When 5-year-old Rylee Bretts beloved miniature horse, Chicken Nugget, was found dead from a bullet wound, the little girl was devastated.

Chicken Nugget was her friend and companion since she was born, said her mother, Kylee Brett.

The tiny horse with dwarfism was purchased eight years ago from a therapeutic riding organization when Brett thought she couldnt have children. Two years later, to her surprise, she became pregnant with Rylee.

As Rylee grew, the tiny horse became her cherished pal, but in the early hours of Wednesday, Nov. 15, the little brown horse with a fluffy blonde mane was shot dead.

The Brett family, of Hull, Texas, doesnt know who killed Chicken Nugget or why, but an investigation is pending.

Rylees loss was posted on Facebook and Jeff Lisowski, a Belen miniature horse breeder, was tagged by a friend on the post.

Lisowski said he read the story and was moved by the video.

I was just horrified that someone would senselessly go and shoot someones horse in the head, Lisowski said. The picture of (Rylee) laying on the horses grave after they buried him is what really tore me apart.

Co-owner of the Double J Farm on the west mesa in Belen, Lisowski and his partner, Joe Fraire, raise and train registered miniature horses. They currently have 20 colorful little horses on their sandy farm, each with its own shed and paddock.

The horsemen also offer lessons to children, adults and people with special needs on how to show and drive miniature horses in a buggy.

Perfect new horse

Lisowski was able to contact the family and spoke with Rylees mother. He told her he had a horse he thought would be perfect for Rylee. Shes 28 inches tall  short even for a miniature  and about 250 pounds. Lisowski and Fraire call her Allie.

But Rylee didnt want any other horse; she wanted Chicken Nugget. Rylee visits his grave every morning and evening, her mother said.

Rylee has her moments, usually at night, Brett said.

However, now that news of the new pony is sinking in, Rylee has decided that Allie is Chicken Nuggets sister and has named her Chicken Wing.

The only conundrum was how to pay to ship the horse to Texas.

Lisowski started a GoFundMe page to raise $1,200, a figure he arrived at by adding the costs of brand inspection and veterinarian services to obtain Allies health papers, which are required for transport across state borders. He also added in the cost to trailer the horse to Hull, Texas, which is near Houston.

I knew if I had that (amount) wed be safe, he said.

To Lisowskis amazement, within 12 hours the account raised nearly $1,600, and on top of that, he received a call from Mandie Harmon, a professional horse transporter in California, who said she would haul the horse to Texas  free of charge.

Another friend who works for Corrales veterinarian Dr. Mark Meddleton said they would provide free veterinary service.

Now that transportation costs have been donated, Lisowski said they are outfitting Rylee with horse supplies, such as feed buckets, brushes and other grooming supplies. The rest of the money will be donated to Spirit Horse Rescue in Texas at the Bretts request, and also the American Miniature Horse Association and its youth association fund, Lisowski said.

So, its a good thing all the way around, he said.

One of Double J Farms clients even made a pink tutu to go around the little grulla-colored mares neck.

So that Rylee can play dress-up-type things with Allie, Lisowski said.

Allies grandmother, Triple T Double J Sandmans Enchanted Beauty, won several awards and produced multiple national champion offspring, Lisowski said.

This one (Allie) has always been in your pocket  when you go out to the field, shes the first one to come up to see if you have cookies, he said. I think thats whats going to be important as shes going to interact with Rylee, and thats half the battle.

He said the equine is gentle and quiet and easy to be around, so shell adapt well.

Buggy-trained miniature horses sell from about $3,000 to $15,000 or more depending on how much training they have, Lisowski said. Allie is a registered miniature horse but smaller than most miniature show horses.

Im willing to sacrifice that monetary thing to know that shes placed good, and Im bringing joy to a family thats desperately in need of it, he said.

Lisowski doesnt have children of his own and said seeing pictures of Rylee and the horse that she lost just ripped him apart.

Ive had the luxury of having some good trainers in my life, who have always said that when someones in need you help them out no matter what,  Lisowski said.

The plan was to get the new horse to Rylee before Thanksgiving, Lisowski said, but it looks like it will have to be the following weekend.

In a phone interview, Brett said the family is very touched by all the Facebook posts and messages of support and condolence theyve received.

Jeff has been wonderful to us and he will always be family to us, Brett said, her voicing cracking.

Special farm

The Double J Farm is located in Belen on the west mesa. For information about miniature horses and training for shows, call Jeff Lisowski and Joe Fraire at 589-0822. Text messages are preferred because of poor cellphone reception in the area.
Warning: audio is explicit



Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

Questions about accountability and transparency have been at the heart of many recent news conferences by Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales regarding shootings involving deputies over the past 4 1/2 months.

Gonzales has dismissed the idea of on-body cameras and maintained that the belt tape audio recorders that deputies carry are sufficient to show the full story.

But in the case against a suspected auto burglar who had been shot and injured by a deputy last summer, a judge expressed concerns that the recorded audio differed from deputies account of events.

In an August filing, Judge Christina Argyres wrote that the documents presented by the state were inconsistent and not inherently reliable.

She wrote that, In sum, the state presented a criminal complaint and sworn affidavit that differ extensively from what is heard on the belt tape audio.

The order was her denial of the district attorneys motion to keep 26-year-old Charles Chavez behind bars until his trial. He was released on his own recognizance but ordered to wear a GPS device.

Chavez was suspected of breaking into vehicles at a South Valley apartment complex July 25 when he was confronted by deputies. He faced charges of battery on a police officer, disarming a police officer, burglary and other crimes.

In October, the DAs Office dismissed the case without prejudice when prosecutors didnt meet deadlines.

Michael Patrick, a spokesman for the DAs Office, said the original prosecutor left the office and the prosecutor who took over was unable to get the case together by the courts deadlines. The DAs Office does plan to look into the inconsistencies when deciding whether to re-file the case, he said.

A BCSO spokeswoman said she could not answer any questions Friday  including whether there are consequences for discrepancies between audio and sworn statements  because the sheriffs office was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, witnesses told Deputy Charles Coggins that Chavez had broken into their vehicles. He chased him down and initially used a Taser but said it had no effect.

D1 (a deputy) then jumped down off the wall, into the backyard with Charles, and started giving him commands again, a deputy wrote in the complaint. Charles still would not comply with D1s commands, stating (expletive) you, youre going to have to kill me. 

Thats when Coggins opened fire, wounding Chavez, who was not armed.

After the shooting, Sheriff Gonzales provided the media with the expletive-laden audio recorded on Coggins belt tape, as well as a printout of key points to the audio from deputy Coggins belt tape. The printout provided to the media did not include any profanities uttered by Coggins but did include the ones Chavez had said.

Neither the audio nor the printout includes the phrase youre going to have to kill me.

In an interview with the Journal, Chavezs mother, Lynn Dimas, questioned why the deputy who shot her son was still on patrol in the South Valley after shooting and killing someone else three weeks earlier. Three months after Chavez was shot, Deputy Coggins again shot at a suspect but missed.

Dimas, who used to work for the Valencia County Sheriffs Office, went to the scene of the most recent BCSO shooting Nov. 17 because she was worried that her son was again involved. She stood in a parking lot across the street from the scene, trying to identify bodies on either side of a white pickup truck, until Chavez called her and told her he was safe.

Dimas said the way BCSO handled her sons case changes her opinion of law enforcement and the people they have shot.

I have compassion for the cops, and I respect them, but I think they need to stop, she said.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

Human rights activist Selinda Guerrero is part of a group that started a Facebook page in 2010 called APD in Crisis in response to a spike in shootings involving Albuquerque police officers.

Last week, the group changed the name to APD & BCSO in crisis.

Advocates, civil rights organizations and attorneys are taking note of the recent spike in shootings by Bernalillo County sheriffs deputies. They say Sheriff Manuel Gonzales should examine the increase and whether the department needs more training, policies or checks for reviewing and addressing use-of-force cases. BCSO deputies have been involved in nine shootings in the past 4 months: Five people have been killed, three wounded  one of whom is still in the hospital  and two others were not hit. (See map and details below). That total is more than the number of times deputies opened fire in all of 2015 and 2016 combined.

Were seeing it again with BCSO and were very concerned about this trend, Guerrero said. Our goal with our page and our movement is to try to identify these issues and see if we can get ahead of the violence before it comes to a point where were No. 1 in the country again.

Guerrero said her group held a rally in August to address the shootings by BCSO and is in the midst of planning further action.

Civil rights organizations and attorneys echo her concerns.

It reminds me of the pattern we saw in the 2010 to 2013 range with the Albuquerque Police Department, where the officer-involved shootings were mounting at a regular pace, said Peter Simonson, the executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico. Before we knew it, we were in a full-blown crisis, where the department was shooting and killing someone every month.

While deputies have fired their weapons nine times since July, in the same time period Albuquerque police have shot at four people, killing one and injuring three.

APD officers have shot at a total of 11 people this year; the department is about three times bigger and patrols a much more populated area than BCSO.

Sheriff Gonzales declined interviews for this article, but he has previously said the increase in shootings is a result of more violent people who have very extensive records on the streets. At news conferences, he has said that he is not going to second-guess deputies for opening fire.

Given the recent ongoing investigations, pending press conference on the latest deputy involved shooting and upcoming holiday this week, the sheriff is not prepared for an interview, spokeswoman Felicia Maggard wrote in an email Wednesday.

Reform for ABQ

Many other activists and civil rights organizations growing concerned about the deputy-involved shootings over recent months were involved in the push for APD reform.

Albuquerque police are in the midst of a yearslong reform effort that was outlined in a settlement agreement between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice.

The agreement was reached after the DOJ found Albuquerque police had a pattern of excessive force, which included police shootings. For the last three years, the police have been working to meet the terms of that agreement.

The city now has a stronger civilian oversight system that reviews police shootings and use-of-force cases, whereas the county has no civilian oversight.

BCSOs standard operating procedures dictate that deputies shall use only that force which is reasonably necessary to protect the sanctity of human life, preserve and protect individual liberties, and to effect lawful objectives. All deputies will act in good faith in the exercise of force. The deputies options can range from a continuum of verbal persuasion to deadly force. In vesting deputy sheriffs with the lawful authority to use force to protect the public welfare, a careful balancing of all human interests is required.

Shannon Kennedy, a civil rights attorney who has brought suits against APD, said this policy is unconstitutional based on a Supreme Court ruling that requires authorities to determine whether force is necessary based on an objective set of factors, rather than a deputys perceptions. She said BCSO doesnt require deputies to consider the severity of the crime or the immediate threat a suspect poses.

No change here

Many of the communities in unincorporated Bernalillo County are predominately Latino, according to Ralph Arellanes, the executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, who described the area as traditional. He said many families have lived in those areas for generations, so he questioned how the sheriff could say the area has grown more violent recently.

Theres no way the population the sheriff is patrolling is more dangerous than what APD is patrolling, he said.Why is there such a disparity in shootings and killings?

The Sheriffs Office mainly patrols unincorporated areas of Bernalillo County, including the South Valley, Pajarito Mesa and parts of the East Mountains. Only about 117,000 of the entire countys 677,000 estimated people live in those areas, according to a 2016 estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The county law enforcement agency is much smaller than the citys police force. BCSO has a little more than 300 deputies, while the Albuquerque Police Department is authorized for 1,000 officers. APD, however, has only about 830 now and has been understaffed for several years.

Albuquerque has seen skyrocketing numbers of violent crimes and property crimes in recent years, while Bernalillo County has reported slight increases, according to data released by the FBI.

APD homicide detectives have investigated 67 murders so far in 2017, whereas BCSO detectives have investigated five homicides by civilians in addition to the nine shootings involving deputies.

The rate of violent crime in Albuquerque was 1.7 times the rate of violent crime reported in the county outside the city last year, and property crime rates were almost three times higher.

Call for meeting

Harold Bailey, the president of the NAACP in Albuquerque, said the association has been paying attention to the uptick in shootings by deputies, though he doesnt want to jump to conclusions as to why.

But he said its time for community groups to meet with Gonzales to discuss it.

I think it would be a good move on the sheriff to call such a meeting, Bailey said.

Simonson said the ACLUs main concern is that Gonzales continues to refuse to consider equipping deputies with body-worn cameras. He said that indicates that the sheriff is resisting accountability for his deputies in use-of-force cases.

Simonson said although cameras arent a magic bullet, they can be effective tools for training and correcting law enforcement.

That strikes me as an indication that the department doesnt have very good systems of accountability and that right now there might not be an effective check on the way the department uses force, he said.

Gonzales has previously said that instead of seeking funding to buy on-body cameras, he wants to hire more deputies. A spokeswoman said the department has 124 deputies assigned to field services.

Many of the shootings that have occurred so far this year are still under internal investigation and are being studied by a multijurisdictional team of local law enforcement agencies. Once those investigations are complete, they will be handed over to the District Attorneys Office for review.

Officers handcuffed

Not everyone thinks it would be a good idea for BCSO to try to incorporate some of the Albuquerque police reforms or practices into the BCSO.

I think it should be a concern for the entire community, County Commissioner Wayne Johnson said of the increase in shootings. But I would be really reluctant to start to blame anyone other than the criminals.

Johnson recently campaigned unsuccessfully for mayor of Albuquerque on a platform that he would renegotiate the city of Albuquerques settlement agreement with the DOJ.

He said those reforms have caused police officers to second-guess themselves, which could have contributed to escalating crime rates, and that hesitation by Albuquerque officers may have caused crime to increase in the county, which contributed to the uptick in shootings.

Im not a big fan of the DOJ consent decree. I think its handcuffed a lot of our officers, he said. I personally believe its made us all less safe.

County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins said she has reached out to the sheriff to try to get an explanation for the recent spike in shootings. But she pointed out that the sheriff, unlike the chief of Albuquerque police, is an elected official.

She said she currently has no plans to try to influence the sheriffs policy.

When you see a spike in deputy-involved shootings, we have to pay attention to that and find out why, she said. We need to understand the circumstances that led to (the shootings), and if there are any policy changes that would make a difference.

Journal investigative Reporter Mike Gallagher contributed to this report.
CAIRO  Egypt was reeling Sunday from the horrific militant attack on a mosque in northern Sinai that killed 305 people two days earlier  the deadliest assault by Islamic extremists in its modern history and a grim milestone in a long-running fight against the insurgency led by an Islamic State affiliate.

Survivors and Egypts top prosecutor have given accounts of the massacre that unfolded as more than two dozen assailants, carrying a black IS banner, unleashed gunfire and explosions during Friday prayers at the Al-Rawdah Mosque in a sleepy village by the same name near the small town of Bir al-Abd.

The attackers arrived in five SUVs, took positions across from the mosques door and windows, and just as the imam was about to deliver his sermon from the pulpit, they opened fire and tossed grenades at the estimated 500 people inside.

The worshippers screamed and cried out in pain. A stampede broke out in the rush toward a door leading to the washrooms. Others tried desperately to force their way out of the windows. Those who survived spoke of children screaming as they saw parents and siblings mowed down by gunfire or shredded by the blasts.

When the violence finally stopped, 305 people, including 27 children, had been killed and 128 wounded.

One of the witnesses, Ebid Salem Mansour, recalled how the attackers shouted Allahu Akbar, or God is great, as they fired on the worshippers.

So composed were the militants that they methodically checked their victims for any sign of life after the initial round of blazing gunfire. Those still moving or breathing received a bullet to the head or the chest, the witnesses said. When the ambulances arrived they shot at them, repelling them as they got back into their vehicles and fled.

Fridays attack targeted a mosque frequented by Sufis, members of a mystic movement within Islam. Islamic militants, including IS, consider Sufis heretics because of their less literal interpretations of the faith.

Egypts chief prosecutor, Nabil Sadeq, said the attackers, some masked, numbered between 25 and 30. Those with bare faces sported heavy beards and long hair, his statement added. Clad in military-style camouflage pants and black T-shirts, one of them carried a black banner with the declaration of the Muslim faith  there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.

Despite the banner, IS still has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

Survivors of the bloodshed spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, where some of the wounded are hospitalized.

We knew that the mosque was under attack, said Mansour, a 38-year-old worker in a nearby salt factory who had settled in Bir al-Abd three years ago to escape the bloodshed and fighting elsewhere in northern Sinai. He suffered two gunshot wounds to his legs on Friday.

Everyone lay down on the floor and kept their heads down. If you raised your head you get shot, he said. The shooting was random and hysterical at the beginning and then became more deliberate. Whoever they werent sure was dead or still breathing was shot dead.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi vowed that the attack will not go unpunished and that Egypt would persevere with its war on terrorism. He did not specify what new steps might be taken. On Saturday, he ordered that a mausoleum be built in memory of the victims of Fridays attack and cancelled a visit to the Gulf Sultanate of Oman that was scheduled for next week.

Egypts military and security forces have already been waging a tough and costly campaign against militants in the towns, villages and desert mountains of northern Sinai, and Egypt has been in a state of emergency since April. Across the country, thousands have been arrested in a crackdown on suspected Islamists as well as against other dissenters and critics, raising concerns about human rights violations.

Seeking to spread the violence, militants over the past year have carried out deadly bombings on churches in the capital of Cairo and other cities, killing dozens of Christians. Egypts IS affiliate has also claimed responsibility for the 2016 downing of a Russian passenger jet that killed 224 people over Sinai. That attack decimated the countrys already ailing tourism industry.

Fridays assault was the first major militant attack on a Muslim congregation, and it eclipsed past attacks, even dating back to a previous Islamic militant insurgency in the 1990s. The death of so many civilians in one day recalls the killing of at least 600 in August 2013, when Egyptian security forces broke up two sit-in protests in Cairo by supporters of Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist president ousted by the military the previous month.

The local IS affiliate has targeted Sufis in the past. Last year, the militants beheaded a leading local Sufi figure, the blind sheikh Suleiman Abu Heraz, and posted photos of the killing online. In the January edition of an IS online magazine, the Sinai affiliate vowed to target Sufis, accusing them of idolatry and heretical innovation in religion and warning that the group will not permit (their) presence in Sinai or Egypt.

Millions of Egyptians belong to Sufi orders, which hold sessions of ritual chanting and dancing to draw the faithful closer to God. Sufis also hold shrines containing the tombs of holy men in particular reverence.

Islamic militants stepped up their campaign of violence in northern Sinai after the military ousted the elected but divisive Morsi. Authorities followed up with a fierce crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group, jailing thousands.

The result has been a long, grinding conflict centered on el-Arish and nearby villages and towns in north Sinai. The militants have been unable to control territory, but the military and security forces have also been unable to bring security, as the extremists continuously carry out surprise attacks, mostly targeting outposts and convoys.
JERUSALEM  Weeks ahead of the expected completion of a U.N. database of companies that operate in Israels West Bank settlements, Israel and the Trump Administration are working feverishly to prevent its publication.

While Israel is usually quick to brush off U.N. criticism, officials say they are taking the so-called blacklist seriously, fearing its publication could have devastating consequences by driving companies away, deterring others from coming and prompting investors to dump shares of Israeli firms. Dozens of major Israeli companies, as well as multinationals that do business in Israel, are expected to appear on the list.

We will do everything we can to ensure that this list does not see the light of day, Israels U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, told The Associated Press.

The U.N.s top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, ordered the compilation of the database in March 2016, calling on U.N. rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on Palestinians.

The international community overwhelmingly considers the settlements, built on occupied land claimed by the Palestinians for a future state, to be illegal. Israel rejects such claims, citing the lands strategic and religious significance, and says the matter should be resolved in negotiations.

Israeli officials say that about 100 local companies that operate in the West Bank and east Jerusalem have received warning letters that they will be on the list. In addition, some 50 international companies, mostly American and European, also have been warned.

The companies have not been publicly identified, but one official said they include Israeli banks, supermarkets, restaurant chains, bus lines and security firms, as well as international giants that provide equipment or services used to build or maintain settlements. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

The only company to confirm receiving a warning letter has been Bezeq, Israels national telephone company. Bezeqs chief executive, Stella Handler, posted a copy of the letter sent by Zeids office in September on her Facebook page. It accused Bezeq of using West Bank land for infrastructure, providing phone and Internet services to settlements and operating sales offices in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Handler angrily wrote that Bezeq provides service to all customers, regardless of race or where they live.

The councils bias against Israel is so extreme that it has lost all relevance in the world, she wrote. We will not cooperate with a move that is all in all anti-Israeli propaganda.

But hours later, Handler removed the post, saying she had done so at the request of the government. The Israeli official confirmed the government has asked companies not to speak about the issue. Bezeq declined comment.

Israel has long accused the United Nations, and particularly the rights council, of being biased against it.

Israel is the only country that faces an examination of its rights record at each of the councils three sessions each year. Some 70 resolutions, or about quarter of the councils country-specific resolutions, have been aimed at Israel. That is nearly triple the number for the second-place country: Syria, where hundreds of thousands have been killed in a devastating six-year civil war.

Israeli leaders and many non-governmental groups also complain that some of the worlds worst violators of human rights, including Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Congo and Cuba, sit on the council.

Some Western diplomats have said the database could set a harmful precedent by blurring the line between business and human rights on issues that are better left to trade policy than the Geneva council.

Israel seems to have little leverage over the council. But its campaign has received a big boost from the United States. The Trump administration has taken a tough line against the U.N., demanding reforms and in October, withdrawing from the cultural agency UNESCO because of alleged anti-Israel bias.

In a speech to the council last June, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley railed against its makeup and demanded that Israel be removed as a permanent fixture on its agenda. She also hinted that the U.S. could quit the council.

The upcoming release of the database could test that commitment. It has triggered a quiet, but high-stakes effort by Israel and the U.S. to try to block its release.

We just view that type of blacklist as counterproductive, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said recently.

Danon, the Israeli ambassador, accused the council of unfairly targeting Israel at a time of conflict throughout the world, saying it amounted to a blacklist of Jewish companies and those who do business with the Jewish state.

He also said it would turn the rights council into the worlds biggest promoter of BDS, an acronym for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement  a grassroots international boycott movement against Israel. Most of the companies linked to the blacklist are frequent targets of the BDS movement.

What kind of message will this send? Dannon said.

But Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian official, said the list is an important step moving from verbal condemnation to practical action against the settlements. He expressed hope that it would lead companies to stop doing business with the settlements and even lead to sanctions against those that continue.

The original resolution calling for the list stipulates only that the councils high commissioner is requested to transmit the data therein in the form of a report to the council.

To that end, Israel and its allies have been encouraging the council to leave the list out and submit only a basic, broad-strokes report that doesnt name names, according to several U.N. diplomats familiar with the discussions. The diplomats were not authorized to comment publicly and demanded anonymity.

The pressure campaign has shown some signs of success. After an earlier delay, Zeids office said the release of the report has been pushed back again, from December to early next year.

For now, it does not appear that the lists publication would be the direct trigger that leads the U.S. to quit the council. Haleys office said it is focused on implementing reforms on the council, though publication of the list could make U.S. participation less likely.

Eugene Kontorovich, the director of international law at the Kohelet Policy Forum, a conservative think tank in Jerusalem, said he was deeply skeptical the report will not be published and said the Israeli government would be better off trying to discredit the report ahead of time. I think its important for people to understand how bad this is, he said.

The resolution, he warned, would cause reputational harm to companies and put a cloud over business in Israel. Although nonbinding, he said it could be used as a basis for future legal action. The goal of this is to cause problems for Israel, he said.

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Lederman reported from Washington, and Keaten reported from Geneva.
Did she bake the pie or not?

Its a question only White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders can answer. Its also a sign of where our polarizing politics have taken us in 2017.

In a year when questions about possible Russian collusion, voter fraud and the legitimacy of a proposed travel ban have clouded President Donald Trumps administration, the political discourse is now  briefly  centered on a holiday culinary ritual.

On Thursday, Sanders tweeted a photo of a chocolate pecan pie with a brief message:

I dont cook much these days, but managed this Chocolate Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving at the family farm!

And this is where the controversy began.

Sanders pie was pictured against a white background, and Twitter users  many partisans on the left, but also a journalist  wanted to see the pie in a more realistic setting. In Sanders kitchen, perhaps, or at her dinner table.

April D. Ryan, Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, skeptically tweeted, Show it to us on a table.

The tweet led to the hashtag #piegate trending on Twitter for several hours Thursday and Friday. Those on the right mostly viewed the spat as minor and silly, while those on the left continued to press for legit pie proof.

Indeed, on the surface the pie matter seems trivial, but it also speaks to the credibility of an administration and a president who have faced repeated questions about truthfulness, said longtime Republican strategist John Weaver.

At times, what weve found with this administration is a president, and even lower-level staffers, who are willing to lie about issues big and small  . Its now come to the point where some are even willing to question the legitimacy of a pie, said Weaver, who was an adviser to Ohio Gov. John Kasichs campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.

In January the issue of crowd size came to the forefront as Trump took issue with news outlets reporting that his inauguration drew fewer people than that of President Barack Obamas first inauguration in 2009.

Side-by-side aerial photos of both events clearly showed more people on the National Mall in 2009. The observation was also backed up by data on Washington train ridership the mornings of both inaugurations: There were 193,000 riders this year, compared with 513,000 in 2009, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Even so, Sanders predecessor, Sean Spicer, used his first news briefing to proclaim that Trumps inauguration was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period. His comments drew widespread ridicule on the internet and the talk-show circuit.

Around the time of Spicers comments, Trump himself said  without evidence  that between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes were cast in the 2016 presidential election. (Although Trump won the electoral college, he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes.)

Trumps comments were castigated by election officials on both sides of the aisle, who questioned the validity of his allegations. Nationwide studies have consistently shown that voter fraud is almost nonexistent. Still, Trump has formed a voter fraud commission to explore the issue.

When the administration is not truthful, it causes concern, Weaver said. When there is a crisis, can the American people believe the Trump administration? I think some will pause, and theyve been given reason to pause.

Prominent Republicans on Capitol Hill have also questioned Trumps truthfulness.

We must never regard as normal the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals, Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona said last month while announcing he would not seek reelection. We must never meekly accept the daily sundering of our country. The personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms and institutions, the flagrant disregard for truth and decency.

In a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 65 percent of Americans surveyed said they didnt think Trump was honest and trustworthy. That figure increased from 58 percent in April.

The partisan divide is stark. Seventy-six percent of Republicans polled said they viewed Trump as trustworthy, compared with 23 percent who did not. Meanwhile, 90 percent of Democrats said they did not view Trump as trustworthy, while 8 percent did.

More recently, Trump tweeted on Friday that he was likely going to be Time magazines person of the year  an honor awarded to him last year.

Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named Man (Person) of the Year, like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway! he tweeted.

Trump has, in the past, falsely said he holds the record for Time magazine cover appearances.

What did the magazine say about Trumps latest comment?

The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year, Time tweeted. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.

As for Sanders, she had a response to Ryan, the journalist who asked to see the pie on a table: Sanders said she would bake Ryan a pie in the days ahead.



2017 Los Angeles Times

Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Iranian state television aired videos Sunday targeting a Briton and an American serving time on espionage charges, likely trying to pressure the U.S. and Britain as London considers making a $530 million payment to Tehran.

The case of Iranian-British national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has gained momentum in recent weeks as British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson faces tremendous criticism at home over his handling of it.

Meanwhile, state television aired footage of an emotional Chinese-American national Xiyue Wang as U.S. President Donald Trump continues his hard line against Tehran and its nuclear deal with world powers.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, already serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the soft toppling of Irans government while traveling there with her toddler daughter, faces new charges that could add 16 years to her prison term.

On Thursday, Iranian state television aired a seven-minute special report on Zaghari-Ratcliffe. It included close-ups of an April 2010 pay stub from her previous employer, the BBC World Service Trust.

It also included an email from June 2010 in which she wrote about the ZigZag Academy, a BBC World Service Trust project in which the trust trained young aspiring journalists from Iran and Afghanistan through a secure online platform.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe left the BBC in 2011 and then joined the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency. Both her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, and Thomson Reuters repeatedly have stressed she was not training journalists or involved in any work regarding Iran while there.

The state television report comes as the British foreign minister faces criticism after he told a parliamentary committee that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was teaching people journalism when she was arrested last year. Though Johnson later corrected himself, the Iranian television report made a point to highlight them.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Sunday, Zaghari-Ratcliffes husband said the report and other Iranian comments about his wife seemed timed to exert as much pressure as possible on the British government. He said the material appeared to be from his wifes email, which investigators from the hard-line Revolutionary Guard immediately got access to after her arrest.

Its trying to justify the new charges, Ratcliffe said.

The report comes as Britain and Iran discuss the release of some 400 million pounds held by London, a payment Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi made for Chieftain tanks that were never delivered. The shah abandoned the throne in 1979 and the Islamic Revolution soon installed the clerically overseen system that endures today.

Authorities in London and Tehran deny that the payment has any link to Zaghari-Ratcliffe. However, a prisoner exchange in January 2016 that freed Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans also saw the United States make a $400 million cash delivery to Iran the same day. That money too involved undelivered military equipment from the shahs era, though some U.S. politicians have criticized the delivery as a ransom payment.

Late Sunday, Iranian state TV aired a feature focused on Wang, a Chinese-born American graduate student at Princeton who is accused of passing confidential information about Iran to the U.S. State Department. He was arrested while conducting research on the Qajar dynasty that once ruled Iran for his doctorate in late 19th and early 20th century Eurasian history, according to Princeton officials, who confirmed to the AP that he was in Iran to learn Farsi and conduct research for his dissertation.

Authorities have alleged he scanned some 4,500 pages of digital documents, paid thousands of dollars to access archives he needed and sought access to confidential areas of Tehran libraries. State TV aired footage of him in what appeared to be an Iranian courtroom, those around him blurred out, as well as footage of him emotional and later talking to a camera, as well as an image of his Iranian visa and a school ID.

About Iran in that regard, the more knowledge the United States possesses about Iran, the better for its policy toward Iran, he said in the footage. There is no doubt about it. It is quite obvious.

Wang was arrested on Aug. 8, 2016. Princeton, his wife and others had been quietly working toward his release when Iran publicly announced his prison sentence in July.

Wangs wife, Hua Qu, told The Associated Press on Sunday that she hasnt spoken with the U.S. State Department about the video but shes reiterating the allegations against her husband are untrue. Qu notes the videos airing come just before the mid-December deadline for Congress to decide whether economic sanctions lifted under the Iran nuclear accord should be re-imposed.

Analysts and family members of those detained in Iran have suggested that hard-liners in the Islamic Republics security agencies use the prisoners as bargaining chips for money or influence. A U.N. panel in September described an emerging pattern involving the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of dual nationals in Iran.

Others with ties to the West detained in Iran include Iranian-Canadian national Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani, a member of Irans 2015 nuclear negotiating team, is believed to be serving a five-year prison sentence on espionage charges.

Iranian businessman Siamak Namazi and his 81-year-old father Baquer, a former UNICEF representative who served as governor of Irans oil-rich Khuzestan province under the U.S.-backed shah, are both serving 10-year prison sentences on espionage.

Iranian-American Robin Shahini was released on bail last year after staging a hunger strike while serving an 18-year prison sentence for collaboration with a hostile government. Shahini is believed to still be in Iran.

Also in an Iranian prison is Nizar Zakka, a U.S. permanent resident from Lebanon who advocates for internet freedom and has done work for the U.S. government. He was sentenced to 10 years last year on espionage-related charges.

In addition, former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 while on an unauthorized CIA mission, remains missing.

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Bruce Shipkowski in New Jersey contributed to this report.

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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap . His work can be found at http://apne.ws/2galNpz .
The 4th CII Marketing & Brand Conclave, held today in Ahmedabad saw marketers and brand leaders from across the industry verticals, discuss and share experiences on the nuances of new age communication, technology enabled TECHNOcating across genres of product services

Today, technology and content marketing are relatively newfangled in India, still at a nascent stage. While the figures are miniscule compared to other international markets, India is fast establishing itself as a strong potential market in the future world of marketing & advertising.

Elaborating further, Mr Piruz Khambatta, Deputy Chairman  CII Western Region and CMD, Rasna Pvt Ltd, said, Brand extensions are flourishing for a number of reasons. More and more companies today, realize that one of their most valuable assets is the brand and not just their tangible assets and has a multiplier effect on your valuation. A strong brand commands loyalty, emotions, preference and associative powers, which are hard to duplicate by the competition. The brand is the USP for many products today.

In his inaugural comments, Mr Sam Balsara, Managing Director, Madison World & Madison Communication, said, A right story, right content, right medium, right partner, right category, right time, right pricing, and right controls makes a successful model. The opportunities in content marketing are limitless. We have only seen a trailer in India.'

The Conclave recognized the need for more and more of CSR money being spent on social cause marketing for Nation Building through the Areez Khambatta Trust supported Best Campaign on Social Cause trophy.

Many consumer product marketers believe that the brand has become more important than ever before and many a time, the only differentiator in many product categories. Brands with strong consumer connect, relevance and loyalty have been successfully extended into new product categories. But today, the scenario is changing, with more focus on other benefits that a carefully crafted content can deliver, apart from just royalty revenues.

In the much-cluttered marketplace, where it is very expensive and time consuming to get brand recognition and brand affinity, many companies choose content creation and marketing to launch new products, by leveraging the power of existing strong brands Mr. Khambatta added.

Some of the key note speakers included Kiran Khalap from Chlorophyll, Senjam Raj Sekhar from Flipkart, Jayen Mehta from Amul India, Anirudh Pandita from Pocket Aces, Devasis Chattopadyay from Adfactors PR Pvt Ltd., Amit Doshi from Divya Bhaskar, Prof. Siddharth Desmukh and Prof. Falguni Vasavada Oza from MICA, Glen Dsouza from MSLGROUP India and Chandan Nath from Ideas2Brands.

Indian advertising industry has made jaws drop and set eyeballs gazing with some astonishing pieces of work that it has given in the recent past. We have some excellent brands hailing from Gujarat and have reformed the face of advertising time and again.

Technology and communication has penetrated virtually all areas of operations of marketing & branding and entwined with advertising practices. To effectively benefit from technology and digital applications, it is essential that marketing professionals set themselves ready for transforming their practices and keep identifying effective ways for conversions in their contexts.
Aiken resident Marianne Pecoraro speaks at the Aiken County Council Development Committee meeting on June 20 about a draft ordinance concerning conditionally allowing domestic chickens in certain zoning districts in Aiken County where they are currently not allowed. County Councilman Sandy Haskell listens.
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November 22, 2017

According to a senior Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs official who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to react to a possible US peace plan "more positively than expected; perhaps even with a yes." Still, the official emphasized that Netanyahu does not want a two-state solution. The most he is ready to accept is a Palestinian state with limited sovereignty, providing that all of the West Bank remains under Israel's security control.

Following developments in Kurdistan and Catalonia, Netanyahu told his inner circle that Israel will publicly question the notion of sovereignty for all; definitely the notion of full sovereignty. He is actually thinking of a Palestinian autonomy plan, according to parameters acceptable by his right-wing coalition, although obviously unacceptable by the Palestinians.

The official said that intense deliberations are taking place between Jerusalem and Washington. On the Israeli side, it is the prime minister's office and Israel's Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer. On the American side, it is the Middle East peace team, with its two key players  White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt. Apparently, the administration is getting ready to announce a proposal for Israeli-Palestinian peace with a regional  mainly Saudi  component and with regional cooperation on the anti-fundamentalism front.

Netanyahu is interested in the regional anti-Iran cooperation while paying a minimal "price" on the Palestinian issue, so that he would maintain his special relationship with US President Donald Trump.

A senior US diplomat in Tel Aviv told Al-Monitor that the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, the Consulate General in Jerusalem and Greenblatt are all spending much time and effort to advance a rapprochement between the parties and agreement on general guidelines for a regional framework.

The diplomat noted that these efforts are developed specifically according to the orders of the president, with a significant involvement of national security adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster.

The administration would like to present a different approach to conflict resolution, compared with the Barack Obama and Bill Clinton administrations. While the previous Democratic Party administrations were under the impression that Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic progress would lead to regional cooperation, the Trump administration believes in an opposite dynamic, where regional cooperation based on the Riyadh declaration will led to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Trump and his national security team believe there is a common interest on the pragmatic side of the region, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia (championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman), to weaken the Iranian regional expansion ambition and to fight radical terror. Such a common interest could also bring about Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

According to the American diplomat, ever since the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has become a key player in the process, alongside the Saudi crown prince. Egypt also sides with Saudi Arabia in its war in Yemen and its anti-Hezbollah policies.

The American plan will most probably be made public in the weeks to come, and it will be of a regional nature. It will emphasize regional cooperation against radical Islamists and Iranian ambitions. The United States will lead cooperative measures and consultations with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations should take place within this context to bring about regional peace.

This is an ambitious plan, yet according to the American diplomat, a feasible one; it does not impose or rule out a two-state solution.

The plan restrains settlement expansion and incitement to violence. It also includes rigid security and anti-terror measures for Israel for the long run and rejects the right of return for Palestinian refugees. The plan refers to Jerusalem only in a religious sense.

A major emphasis will be placed on economic investments for the Palestinians, as well as regional cooperation, anti-terror measures and normalization of relations between the Arab states and Israel, on the basis of the 2002 Saudi peace initiative.

A kind of Pax Americana a la Trump in the whole region. Iran is the common enemy and the United States is the common friend.

As expected, the Palestinian leadership is still suspicious about the United States intentions. A senior PLO official noted on condition of anonymity, "While Trump is clearly in Israel's camp, we will coordinate our reactions with Egypt and Saudi Arabia."

Another Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told Al-Monitor that the Israeli reaction is expected to be more nuanced. He agreed with his colleague (at the beginning of this article) and confirmed that Netanyahu is ready to engage positively with an American initiative leading to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, provided that Israel's security control in the West Bank is maintained within a new agreement and that regional peace would strengthen Israel's security and anti-terror stance. Netanyahu, he noted, had said so to the American envoys.

And so, Jerusalem seems to be refocusing its agenda  a shift that might be influenced by the prime minister's troubles in other areas.
November 21, 2017

Umm Khalil, a Syrian who settled in 2012 in the Zaatari refugee camp, now has electricity 14 hours a day in her caravan since power began to be generated through solar panels Nov. 13. In the past, the 80,000 refugees in the Zaatari camp, 53 miles northeast of Amman in Mafraq, suffered regularly from power outages, receiving power through Jordan's electrical system for only six hours a day, which made life extremely difficult in the desert camp.

Umm Khalil told Al-Monitor, We were suffering. We were not able to save the food in the refrigerators or run fans for cooling the air at noon, with the temperature reaching 40 degrees [104 degrees Fahrenheit] in the camp. Life is very difficult with the lack of electricity supply.

Al-Monitor attended a press tour in Zaatari on Nov. 13. During that tour, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) declared that electricity is now being generated inside the camp through the largest solar power plant ever to exist in a refugee camp.

The operation is funded by the German government through the German Development Bank. The solar power plant, which cost 15 million euros (roughly $18 million) and is connected to the national grid, will provide renewable and clean energy to residents in the camp as well as those in urban areas around the camp.

Mohammad Hawari, the UNHCR spokesman in Jordan, told Al-Monitor, The solar power plant, with a maximum capacity of 12.9 megawatts, will allow the UNHCR to increase power supply hours to refugee camps to up to 14 hours. These additional hours will ease the harsh living conditions for the families in the camp and will improve their safety and security, providing them with the possibility of storing food and allowing children to do their homework.

The plant's work took about six months to be completed; construction works began in April and ended Nov. 13. Jordanian and Syrian workers contributed to its construction and installed 40,000 solar panels.

According to Hawari, The solar power plant will assist UNHCR in saving approximately 5 million euros [$6 million] a year in electricity bills paid to the electricity company. This amount could be redirected to expand other vital services for Zaatari residents. Other facilities are expected to benefit from the electricity generated by the plant in the near future, such as hospitals, community centers and offices of humanitarian organizations operating in the camp."

Abu Islam, who fled the Syrian civil war in Daraa, told Al-Monitor in regard to the harsh living conditions in the camp, The availability of electricity for longer hours will alleviate the suffering of refugees and limit the exploitation by [private] power generator owners who control prices, which sometimes exceed $300. Because of this, several refugees in many caravans share one generator in order to save on expensive diesel fuel on which the generator operates.

Birgitta Siefker-Eberle, the German ambassador to Jordan, said during the Nov. 13 press conference, Renewable energy and energy efficiency provide great potential for enhancing bilateral cooperation between Jordan and Germany. She noted that Jordan is developing an ambitious national strategy to diversify the energy sector, and Germany is keen to support Jordan's plans to cover 20% of its renewable energys needs by 2025. According to the UNHCR, the solar power plant will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 13,000 tons per year.

Jordanian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Saleh al-Kharabsheh told Al-Monitor, The solar power plant project is in line with the Jordanian energy strategy, which is moving toward clean energy. This plant will reduce the high electricity bill paid by the Jordanian government and will improve the refugees living conditions, in addition to supplying electricity to the Jordanian villages surrounding the camp.

Even before the clean energy operation at Zaatari went online, the Mrajeeb Al Fhood refugee camp in Azraq was using solar energy to produce electricity. The UNHCR had inaugurated in mid-April a solar power plant in the camp with funding from Swedish furniture company IKEA. The plant has a capacity of 2 megawatts that covers the needs of 20,000 Syrian refugees living in around 5,000 housing units in the camp. The plant provides electricity to the camps residents for free.

The Zaatari camp was inaugurated on July 29, 2012, across 8,500 dunams (2,100 acres) to accommodate the influx of refugees fleeing the war that erupted in 2011 in Syria. At its peak in 2016, the camp hosted more than 120,000 refugees, before falling to 80,000 in 2017, as refugees migrated to other countries, resettled in other camps in Jordan and possibly returned to Syria. In addition to the Zaatari and Mrajeeb Al Fhood camps, Cyber City in Irbid and a camp at Hadiqa also provide shelter to Syrian refugees.
November 26, 2017

By postponing his resignation, announced under seeming duress in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri struck a blow in support of Lebanese sovereignty and against interference in his countrys affairs by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Last week, we wrote that Hariri was his own witness in a court of conscience about what took place in Saudi Arabia, and what would happen next. If he had followed through on Prince Mohammed's diktat to resign and rally opposition to Iran and Hezbollah, in Lebanese politics, a popular backlash would have likely been the result, costing Hariri, and those who might have backed him, a catastrophic loss of face. Nobody was buying that you can be a champion of sovereignty at the behest of a regional power. And Hezbollah, despite its now frequent characterization as a "proxy" of Iran, is a Lebanese political party with its own popular and formidable constituency.

With Hariris decision to stay on, the center holds in Lebanon, at least for now. In addition to Hariri, credit goes to Lebanese President Michel Aouns steady statecraft and the resilience of the Lebanese people, who saw through the Saudi-created fiasco. Hariris remark Nov. 22  "We are staying together to be the first line of defense for Lebanon"  should remain the rallying point for Lebanon to address its many challenges.

The final chapter is not yet written. The Wall Street Journal reports that Saudi Oger, the Riyadh-based construction company owned by the Hariri family, is now relying on the Saudi government  its main client  to pay millions of dollars in wages owed to the companys former workers, say former employees. Saudi officials are also investigating the companys finances, said a former senior manager at the company.

As the crown prince stumbles in the region, Iran continues to roll. The princes intervention in Lebanon has revealed, again, the limits of his influence and the costs of his impulsive regional policies, which redound to Irans benefit.

Yemen, for example, remains a failure and quagmire for the kingdom  the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world, Bruce Riedel writes, with 7 million people on the verge of starvation.

Riyadh does not have a strategy to win the war, Riedel continues. The front lines have barely moved in months. The Houthis show no sign of giving up. More airstrikes are not likely to bring a decision. So the Saudi strategy by default is to rely on famine and disease to wear down the Yemeni people. All sides in this war are guilty of perpetuating a catastrophe, but the blockade and airstrikes are the principal cause of the famine and cholera. The Saudi government and leadership should be held accountable for their actions. A strategy of starvation is unacceptable.

Giorgio Cafiero adds that conflict in Yemen offers the Islamic State new opportunities and grievances to exploit as the internationally recognized central government remains entirely ineffectual. Should IS-Yemen lure more highly trained and battle-hardened fighters from the Levant, the local offshoot of IS could become an increasingly ascendant force to be reckoned with in southern Yemen, adding new dimensions of complexity and instability to the countrys civil war and growing famine threat.

The kingdoms isolation of Qatar has undermined Gulf Cooperation Council unity, another windfall for Iran. Cafiero explains the limitations of the Anti-Terror Quartet of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain in building a new regional alignment, given differing perspectives on how best to deal with Turkey and Iran. Meanwhile, Iran  allied with both the Syrian and Iraqi governments  comes out a winner in both countries, while Saudi Arabia scrambles for a foothold.

Mohammeds record of frustration may have implications for any perceived gains from the now open secret of an emerging Saudi-Israeli entente to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement and counter Iran. Ben Caspit writes, Peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not about to break out anytime soon. On the other hand, Israel is an unofficial member of the Sunni alliance led by young Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. For the past two years, he has been setting the Middle East on fire with a series of audacious moves. Given the regional climate, it is fair to ask whether Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will succumb to Saudi pressure to agree to a peace settlement or resign, as Adnan Abu Amer reports. Whether Saudi Arabia can deliver the Palestinians is an open question.

If the Trump administration is looking to back a winner in the Middle East, then it might think again about the seeming unconditional love offered Riyadh. Saudi Arabia should of course be a pillar of US strategy and posture, but given the scorecard to date, Washington may be overdue in counseling some restraint. As we wrote two weeks ago, The Trump administration should send a clear signal to the crown prince that the United States does not necessarily have his back in any and all confrontations with Iran, while urging a try at diplomacy between Tehran and Riyadh, which is essential and long overdue.

The courage and example of the Lebanese people to stand for sovereignty and against interference cannot be undersold. The country cannot escape its geography, at the crossroads of the Saudi-Iranian and Israeli-Iranian regional fault lines, and with over 1.5 million Syrian refugees within its borders. The trend, and pulse, of Lebanon, cannot be denied or ignored. We suggested back in 2014 that an exciting new post-sectarian social contract in Lebanon may be emerging, writing that the failures and dashed expectations of the uprisings in Egypt and Syria, which quickly fell prey to regional and ideological agendas and violence, and Lebanons own tragic past, could make it an incubator for a new approach to governance that would allow Lebanon to realize its potential, rather than fall victim to the rhetoric and false promise of what was once known as the Arab Spring.
November 23, 2017

As all attempts to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict faltered over the past years, the current US administration seems adamant about making efforts to reach a peaceful solution.

On Nov. 6, President Mahmoud Abbas was summoned to make an urgent visit to Saudi Arabia, where he was told that the US administration has started developing a new blueprint to end the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis through an ultimate deal offered by US President Donald Trump and his team based on the peaceful principle of the two-state solution.

According to Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, leaks from well-informed Palestinian sources revealed that during his visit to Saudi Arabia, Abbas received from Saudi mediator Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a US offer to establish a Palestinian state on paper only, without such a state being sovereign or having the ability to make decisions of any kind. In return, the Israeli settlements would be frozen, economic incentives in Area C set out by the Oslo agreement would be provided and circulation at the Karameh crossing with Jordan and the Rafah crossing with Egypt would be facilitated.

The newspaper showed that the US proposal is the only viable option for the United States and that if Abbas and the Palestinian leadership reject it, they wont be provided with another solution  meaning that the US administration may renege on its commitment to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Abdel Sattar Qassem, a political science professor at An-Najah National University in Nablus, told Al-Monitor, The way President Abbas was summoned to visit Saudi Arabia is unfathomable and raises several question marks, especially as it coincided with the resignation of Saad Hariri from the premiership of the Lebanese government.

He said, What was put forward during the meeting held between Abu Mazen [Abbas] and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was serious, as the latter briefed Abu Mazen on the future of the region and the fate of the Palestinian cause through the US offer and other decisive decisions aimed at ending the existing conflict.

Qassem added, The US administration will put forth plans aimed at solving the outstanding issue of the Palestinian refugees by settling them in the countries they reside in. Through the Saudi crown prince, the United States is seeking to get President Abbas' forced approval on such a step, especially at a time when the [Palestinian] president is taking tougher stances on the peace process and the two-state solution principle. Add to this his refusal to renounce the legitimate Palestinian constants that include the right of return and the need to put an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Also, [Abbas] refuses to take part in the increasingly tense regional conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

He noted, There are Arab parties firmly working to topple Abbas and find a suitable alternative, as President Abbas will not accept the US offer easily. There is a deeply entrenched national partnership working on finding satisfactory solutions to the issue, and it might take Abbas a while to respond to the offer given the lack of a suitable alternative to replace him. But if he does not accept the US demands aimed at bringing about peace and finding a two-state solution, then he would be forced to resign, and this would put the region in a complicated situation that would lead to bad repercussions.

Saudi Arabia had told Abbas to accept the US peace plan or resign.

Saleh al-Naami, an independent researcher focusing on Israeli affairs, told the PalToday website that Hamas handover of the Gaza Strip to the national consensus government and the movements subsequent visit to Iran, which is Saudi Arabias enemy, were two factors behind Saudi Arabias summoning of Abbas.

Naami noted in a Facebook post published by the same website, According to the Israeli leaks, the summoning of Abbas came following prolonged contacts between the Saudi crown prince and the US president two days before the visit, and Abbas is required to be very careful and keep a watchful eye on all developments.

In turn, Yusuf Ibrahim, an independent writer and political analyst, told Al-Monitor that Abbas visit came against the background of the secret visit paid to Saudi Arabia weeks ago by Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and special envoy to the peace process, in an attempt to push the settlement process forward.

Abbas received several dictates as part of the US plan to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Such a plan would grant full citizenship and rights to the Palestinians in the diaspora and would witness the return of direct negotiations with Israel. This comes at a time when the number of Palestinians in refugee camps in Lebanon is on the rise amid attempts to find a solution through a potential settlement process.

Ibrahim said, The ultimate deal that is being drafted by the US administration is based on many principles and conditions that Abbas alone does not have the right to decide on, as there are Palestinian rights and constants that cannot be easily relinquished.

He added, This step came at an inconvenient and very difficult time during which the Palestinian reconciliation is facing outstanding issues such as the security issue in Gaza and the issue of the Gazan employees.

According to Masr al-Arabia, the ultimate deal includes many articles, which, according to the United States, provide solutions based on the two-state principle, in return for generous financial Arab support, particularly from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to the Palestinian Authority.

In his September speech at the United Nations, Abbas announced that Israel had rejected all international initiatives aimed at finding a solution, including the Arab peace initiative, and said that the two-state solution is in jeopardy and that Palestinians cannot stand still in the face of this threat.

We will have to take steps or look for alternatives to preserve our national existence, he said.

The US president is trying to take advantage of Abbas presence to make the deal happen before Abbas suddenly disappears and plunges the region in a state of chaos and instability. Add to this the good relationship between Abbas and Saudi Arabia, which may lead Abbas to approve the US demands under Saudi pressure.
November 24, 2017

The US decision Nov. 17 to close the PLO office in Washington produced a rare instance of Palestinian unity. Palestinian officials, Palestinian-Americans and opposition activists are all in agreement that the US decision could help usher in a new path for Palestinians. All seem to agree that this could be a rare opportunity to break away from the current US attempts to dictate to Palestinians their strategy, actions and even words.

This unity helped the PLO reject any engagement with the US government and as a result the Trump administration on Nov. 24 reversed its decision and said it would allow the office to continue operations, albeit with some restrictions for the next 90 days.

Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian Authority (PA) ambassador to the United States and the head of the PLO mission in Washington, told Al-Monitor that the status of the Palestinian office cannot always remain under threat of closure. He said, We cant be bound by arbitrary decisions of the US legislature, whose decisions are based on pressure groups. He added that some of these decisions promote radical Israeli positions" and even "hurt US interests or the ability of the United States to act as a neutral partner for a comprehensive peace.

Zomlot, who spoke to Al-Monitor by phone from the PLOs Washington office on Wisconsin Avenue, said that the status of the office is based on a 1987 US law that had considered the PLO to be a terrorist organization. Despite all the bilateral agreements and cooperation on multiple levels since, it is unacceptable that the status of our office continues like that and we must correct it, Zomlot said.

Hanna Hanania, the president of the American Federation of Ramallah, agrees with Zomlot that Palestinians should refuse to go back to the status quo. Hanania told Al-Monitor by phone that if the US government does not back off completely, Palestinians should cut off the relationship. Otherwise, if we allow this small problem to fly, there will be other things in the future, he said.

Lara Friedman, the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, said the US Congress has continually slipped clauses into major laws over the years that have brought about the current legal debacle. She said former US President Ronald Reagan had considered the clause restricting the ability of the president in regard to foreign powers "to be unconstitutional"; Reagan argued on Dec. 22, 1987, that when it came to the issue of deciding on relations with the PLO, the right to decide the kind of foreign relations, if any, the United States will maintain is encompassed by the Presidents authority under the Constitution, including the express grant of authority  to receive ambassadors.

US State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez used similar language when explaining the reversal of the US decision regarding the PLO office, saying, "These actions are consistent with the president's authorities to conduct the foreign relations of the United States." US officials now say that the PLO office only faces certain restrictions for 90 days, and that those can be lifted if serious Israeli-Palestinian talks are underway.

On Nov. 21, three days before the reversal was announced, the Palestinians said they would freeze all contacts with the United States. President Mahmoud Abbas on Nov. 22 refused to take a phone call from Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and Middle East adviser.

Hanania, a Palestinian-American dentist in northern Virginia, said the decision to close the PLO office is a reflection of a lack of communication within the administration, the administration's lack of experience and pressure from the pro-Israeli lobby and the State of Israel. "[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has been publicly saying since September that Israel wants to close down the PLO office and it seems that he is getting his way, Hanania said.

The Times of Israel reported Sept. 28 that Israel was actively pursuing a plan to get the Trump administration to close down the Palestinian mission in Washington.

Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, told Al-Monitor that it is not enough that Palestinians suspended ties with the United States. This does not go far enough. [Mahmoud] Abbas should show he is serious by refusing any further payments of US aid money to the Palestinian Authority. This aid is after all given on condition, and for the purpose, of supporting PA collaboration with the Israeli military occupation.

Abunimah, author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine, said the Nov. 17 US decision to close the PLO office is a perfect opportunity to accelerate the work of the International Criminal Court. If it has to be either or, then pursuing justice for Palestinians murdered, maimed and expelled by Israel is of incalculably greater importance than the existence or not of a PLO office in Washington, he said.

Hanania said that some people have argued that another reason for the Trump administration's Nov. 17 decision to close the PLO office might be the effectiveness of the Palestinian ambassador to Washington. The activities and the effectiveness of the new ambassador are not making American Israel Public Affairs Committee happy. He is helping unite the Palestinian-American community and is doing things differently than what we have seen before. Hanania said most of the negotiations are going through Zomlot because he is known to have the trust of President Abbas.

Zomlot met Nov. 18 in New Jersey with representatives of Palestinian-Americans, who elected a liaison committee for Palestinian-Americans in the US northeast. This comes after similar efforts took place in Chicago and on the US West Coast.

The Nov. 24 reversal decision will not be enough if it is just a temporary one with the US secretary of state and the president continuously wielding an ax over the Palestinians' heads. No diplomatic mission can operate and engage freely and independently if it has to constantly worry about the fate of its mission for every word that is spoken by its leadership.

By acting so rashly and overextending itself, the Trump administration, Israel and the pro-Israeli lobby may have inadvertently provided Palestinians with a unique opportunity to help themselves. It might have allowed Palestinians to put a stop to the current situation in which Palestinian diplomats and officials have to be constantly pleading for US favor and acting in ways to avoid angering the United States, Israel and the pro-Israeli lobby just to be able to go to their office every day.

The reversal is the right step if it is followed up in writing with clear reference to the immunity that diplomatic missions are guaranteed. Otherwise the past weeks emergency situation facing the ambassador and staff of the Palestinian mission will be repeated every time the United States is unhappy with what the Palestinian leadership says or acts on.
November 23, 2017

Tunisia's parliament has resurrected a long-buried draft bill addressing police protection that once again is raising fears that the country will return to a "police state." The proposal is designed to prevent attacks on and abuse of police and customs officials and, ostensibly, guarantee the stability of society at large.

During a Nov. 15 parliament session, Interior Minister Lutfi Ibrahim called for the formation of a joint committee with representatives of the Defense, Justice and Interior ministries and the Committee on General Legislation to consider an amended edition of the draft law. He said, The draft law will not be withdrawn from the House of Representatives.

Speaker Mohamed al-Nasser said the draft law would be referred to a committee that would meet with civil society organizations to look into their proposals. He said, It is our duty to protect security men, but it is also our duty to protect human rights and respect the 2017 constitution.

The secularist Nidaa Tunis party, which holds the parliamentary majority, supports the draft law. But otherwise, the 2-year-old proposal is raising a storm of controversy, as some voices are calling for its complete withdrawal while others would settle for amendments.

Its most recent revival came after an extremist stabbed two security personnel Nov. 1 near the parliament in Tunis; one of them later died of his injuries. Security unions have threatened to withhold protection of parliament members unless the legislators pass the draft bill. This followed an incident in June when a policeman died after being injured during tribal clashes. His death spurred hundreds of police to protest outside parliament in July and demand that the draft be passed.

But in a joint statement issued July 14, 11 nongovernmental organizations announced their categorical rejection of the draft, as they considered the mere proposal of it an act of hostility targeting freedom of expression and demonstration. They called for its immediate withdrawal. Many political parties and professional organizations, and even some security unions, reject the proposal, insisting that it aims at causing dissension between citizens and security agents.

Opponents also say the bill won't protect police from violence  although it could help lessen their liability when using force against civilians. The proposal is being met with the same objections that put it to bed two years ago  that it would allow police to use force without discretion and endanger freedom of expression and the press.

Fada al-Hamami, a Tunisian affairs researcher at Amnesty North Africa, told Al-Monitor that the draft law legislates impunity and might be used to justify uncalled-for deadly force. She insists the legislation would be a fresh blow to the freedoms of demonstration, organization and expression.

Hamami considers the draft law a dangerous step toward institutionalizing impunity, even in cases when the lives of others are not endangered, which, according to Hamami, violates the provisions of international law and the constitution. The articles of the draft law include vague provisions that could criminalize legitimate criticism of security forces, including the criticism of practices that violate human rights," and place security forces "above the law.

According to Hamami, the proposal also includes a very vague definition that could be exploited to imprison whistleblowers on human rights abuses" and includes nothing to protect them or journalists.

One article of the draft law criminalizes denigration of police and other security forces with the aim of harming public order, which would be punishable by two years in prison and a maximum fine of 10,000 dinars (roughly $4,000).

The proposal also states that anyone who discloses or publishes national security-related secrets could spend 10 years in prison and pay a fine of 50,000 dinars. Such secrets are broadly defined as any information, statistical data or documents pertaining to national security.

The legal chapters of this draft law are illogical, Ameen Ghazi, a rights activist and director of Al-Bawsala, a nonprofit organization in charge of monitoring parliaments work, told Al-Monitor. Ghazi said the draft law is a blow to the freedoms of demonstration, organization and expression and does not suit a country going through a democratic transition.

Issam Dardouri, the head of the Tunisian Organization for Security and Citizens, told Al-Monitor, [Police] protection will never come through such law, but rather through providing them with equipment," insurance coverage and compensation.

The draft "neither helps security personnel nor contributes to their protection, as much as it is a mere tool that helps certain political agendas to rule," he said.

Political activist and Popular Front parliament member Ammar Amroussia told Al-Monitor, The draft law aims at violating the constitution, undermining democratic transition and safeguarding the return of a dictatorship and a police state in Tunisia. Amroussia called upon parliament to withdraw the draft law without discussing it further.

Zouhair Maghzaoui, the secretary-general of the Peoples Movement political party, told Al-Monitor, According to such law, it is not possible to hold accountable any forces carrying weapons. This law [also] discriminates among employees themselves, as it divides them into security employees who carry arms  and those are protected under the law  while employees who do not carry weapons do not enjoy the same privilege.

Mohamed Abbou, an opposition politician and founder of the Democratic Current Party, told Al-Monitor, The draft law brings to mind the arsenal of laws that established dictatorship before the revolution, as it raises fears of wiping out the achieved gains of freedom.

In a statement to Radio Nationale on Nov. 9, Naji al-Baghouri, the head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, insisted that it is necessary to withdraw the bill as it would violate journalistic freedoms because it allows for prison sentences for those who purposefully disclose secrets of national security without even specifying what those secrets might be.

However, during a parliamentary hearing in July, Minister of Defense Farhat Horchani said that despite what the draft bill's opponents say, it is designed to protect human rights. He claimed it would have no negative impact whatsoever on the human rights system as there will be safeguards and restrictions to protect freedoms.
The controversial proposal to undo net neutrality rules in the United States put forward by the Federal Communications Commission earlier this week prompted countless criticism in recent days, with one of the most vocal arguments against the draft order being the notion that the new FCC is still refusing to define the broadband Internet as a telecommunications service. Despite being one of the most revolutionary telecom technologies ever invented that transformed the way in which the global economy works, the broadband Internet is now close to being classified as an information service. By doing so, the FCC led by President Trump-appointment Chairman Ajit Pai is seeking to recuse itself from any net neutrality discussions despite formally acknowledging the importance of having an open Internet.

While the federal regulator isnt denying the benefits of a truly neutral World Wide Web, Pai remains adamant that ensuring such online environment doesnt fall within the scope of the agencys jurisdiction. The controversial move to reclassify ISPs as companies offering information instead of telecommunications services is an attempt to legitimize that notion and place any burden of sanctioning potential net neutrality violations on the Federal Trade Commission. The sole possibility of the FTC enforcing net neutrality rules also doesnt appear to be realistic as the only such regulations are now set to be repealed by the FCC in mid-December and were never actually enacted into law in the first place. That state of affairs prompted some net neutrality advocates to call for the U.S. Congress to codify net neutrality principles but without any significant success so far.

The FCCs 2015 decision to classify ISPs as utility providers under Title II regulations of the 1934 Telecommunications Act allowed it to regulate them as traditional telecoms and prevent them from selling prioritized access to the Internet or certain parts of the thereof. Most ISPs claimed the move was based on obsolete laws made for a different kind of companies, yet their opponents are now saying the same for the principles used by the new FCC to repeal the previous regulations by claiming the broadband providers arent offering a telecommunications service because they store some data in the process of connecting their customers online. While cynics are equaling that reasoning to saying that a smartphone isnt a telecommunications device but a movie theater because it can be used to watch Netflix, it appears that the Republican majority of the FCCs Commissioners are all but set to repeal the regulations next month and allow ISPs to throttle any content they want or make customers pay extra for not having their connections slowed down regardless of the domains theyre accessing.
One of the Catalan government programmes which the Spanish authorities have rushed to strike down after triggering Article 155 [of the Spanish Constitution] is the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia. This body, known as Diplocat, is the successor of the old Catalan Council for Europe and was tasked with explaining Catalonias reality to the public opinion abroad.

Since October 28, though, Diplocats management have been sacked, the internet address diplocat.cat no longer works and the institutionss Twitter account (@Diplocat) is gone. You cant even look up Diplocats activities prior to the day of its dissolution.

Spains discomfort over Catalonias projection abroad is more than well-known. Evidence of that are the biased reports which regularly appear on Spanish media about the cost of Catalonias embassies, which have also been shut down, their staff sacked and are now conspicuously absent from the Catalan governments official website (gencat.cat)

Yet there is another piece of information from the digital world that clearly exposes the Spanish governments eagerness to interfere with Catalonias visibility abroad: in the afternoon of Sunday October 1, while over two million Catalans were struggling to cast a vote [in the independence referendum], the Spanish Guardia Civil officers that had raided and taken over the Catalan governments main IT facility (the CTTI) the day before to interfere with the ballot management software received a second list of IP addresses to be added to the polling stations which they were already monitoring form Catalonias Cybersecurity Agency. At first the Agencys staff feared that the Spanish judge wanted to spy on any internet traffic within the Catalan governments HQ but, soon enough, they realised that the new addresses which the State was so keen to monitor belonged to Diplocat. Someone wanted to find out who the Catalan government was in touch with abroad, and perhaps block such contacts. The fact that the Catalan embassies reported to Catalonias Foreign Ministry and not to Diplocat was irrelevant. The point was to prevent the world from looking at Catalonia and seeing what was going on. This should be kept in mind now that the grassroots groups have called a massive rally in Brussels on December 7 with the slogan Wake up, Europe. Help Catalonia.
The citizen, still perplexed by the seriousness of recent events, has an ongoing internal debate, torn between emotion and reason. He opens his shop as he does every day and goes to work worried about whether the economy will slow down. The anxiety over staying afloat during the recession is still too fresh, and while during most of the independence process the economy didn't get carried away by politics, now he can see around him that this has changed since October 1st. The violence, its international exposure, and the flight of business headquarters are not the best calling cards for his company, nor for the brand image of his city, which has to compete with the main European capitals. He is not in a good mood. As a gullible fool, he sometimes thinks that he could have been born British or Norwegian and lived in a solid democracy where he could decide without collective drama.

Our perplexed citizen has long since become accustomed to reducing his business exposure to administration contracts and putting his efforts into exporting instead. He is thankful now, as the Catalan administration isn't contracting anything because Madrids direct rule has brought it to a standstill.

Our citizens attorney has an office in Madrid, too, and his partners call him to ask whether he supports independence. His attorney hesitates between voting for Ciudadanos or the PP, but has nevertheless become suspect in the eyes of his Spanish partners because the firm hasn't abandoned Catalonia and it is best to keep a low profile. This week he went to the HQ of Foment [an employers group] to listen to Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy, and he heard him tell business leaders not to move their businesses out of Catalonia. For a moment, seated in one of the last tables for guests, he recalled how the PP government had passed ad hoc legislation favoring the flight of company headquarters from Catalonia, but the lady next to him distracted him by asking him to pass the water and the topic changed.

Our citizen has a daughter who works as a lawyer for the Catalan administration. On Sunday she explained over lunch how she has been writing reports in Spanish because she was told that "this way we will all understand each other" and sending them straight to Madrid; that there is not much activity and the appeals which they had intended to file against the suspension of Catalan laws by the central government have been dropped. This affects legislation such as the audiovisual law, which has a direct impact on the budget for Culture, already increasingly lean. One of her hundred best friends works for a TV media company and is focused on exporting a cartoon series. Increasingly, fewer general programs are sold to TV3, because the Catalan public broadcaster can't predict the real consequences of Madrids economic intervention and is struggling to work out its mid-term program plans.

Our average hero is angry because he dislikes the fact that half the Catalan government is in prison and the president, removed by Article 155, is in Brussels. What is happening now reminds him of the end of the Franco years, and he is afraid of the consequences of Madrids direct rule on schools, the Catalan language, and TV because the actions of some judges and political leaders hint at a democratic regression. He is mortified that peaceful people who have led exemplary demonstrations in recent years are in prison and cannot see their children, nor express their ideas civically. He is indignant when he sees his legitimate president powerless in Brussels. He believes that the Catalan government erred in its strategy, and he sometimes wants to turn on them, but he is clear that now it is necessary to re-do the work of the last forty years and hold further demonstrations to free the prisoners, and to stay alert. His wife says that some have practiced sleight-of-hand by disregarding the difficulties of real politics. She runs a restaurant whose turnover has dropped and, when she is angry, she says she will vote for Miquel Icetas socialist party because it is the useful vote for blocking the conservative Ciudadanos and the PP. Her husband answers that the PSC voted to trigger Article 155, which has left the Generalitat in the hands of Rajoy, and reminds her that the Catalan police are still ruled by Madrid and that police boss Major Trapero is in an office handling paperwork while he awaits a judicial decision for not having acted like the Spanish Police on October 1st. For a moment our man thinks that maybe independence is a utopia, that he will cast a blank vote, and that it would be best for his business not to take a political stand.

On his way to the train he goes into a bar and finds a newspaper with an article by Duran i Lleida titled Fiction and Reality. Our friend has a revelation, an epiphany. Our average man feels that he has been treated like a dupe, insulted. He decided long ago that he preferred hope to cynicism, and truth to deception and moral degradation. The man realizes that this issue of sovereignty is here for the long haul, but that Spain has never given even a breath of air to those who want to reform it from within, and that they confuse negotiation with humiliation. Duran i Lleida reminds him what Spain is politically. Why should it be different, now? He suddenly remembers the Catalan Statute and the ruling handed down by the Constitutional Court, the Mediterranean railway corridor, the trouble with El Prat airport, the meagre investments in infrastructure, problems with the Port, the complete lack of collaboration from Spanish diplomacy in matters of exports, the commuter train service, the system for financing the regional governments, the "Spanish-ization" of Catalan children. He remembers how he has always had to apologize for speaking Catalan and the feeling of being patronized. He suddenly remembers why he stopped believing that the road to Catalan progress passes through Spain. He thinks that Catalan sovereignty will be a long journey, but that there is no turning back. That much, at least, is clear.
TWIN FALLS  Nearly 30 years ago, David Aullman fought the Republican Guard in Desert Storm.

After four years of active duty, Aullman received an honorable discharge, but came home with post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Five years ago, his daughter, Lilly, now 16, was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks its own tissue and organs.

I was a single parent with custody of a sick daughter, he said. The stress became too much.

Aullmans PTSD came back  although it had never fully gone away.

I knew I still had some old demons, the 48-year-old Twin Falls man said.

He began to have panic attacks. With PTSD, the body does what it needs to do to survive, he said.

He withdrew from friends and family, and isolated himself from society. Extreme depression set in, and Aullman began drinking to self-medicate.

The Veterans Administration helped with the emotional aspect  hes now clean and sober  but he still needed a boost to get back on his feet. Then he found South Central Community Action Partnership.

Its been a godsend, he said. They are saints in my book.

SCCAP initially put him in a transitional house, and recently got him into an affordable housing unit. The Department of Veterans Affairs pays his rent.

Then Aullman was in a wreck and his car was totaled. SCCAP case worker Karen Embleton entered Aullman in Progressive Insurance Co.s nationwide Keys to Progress car giveaway for veterans. He won a 2014 Honda Accord with only 14,000 miles on it, one of 500 cars given away in the programs first five years.

He now works full time hauling milk for a trucking company in Buhl, and will soon be able to pay his own rent.

Thats how SCCAP works, building bridges toward self-sufficiency, said Ken Robinette, executive director. SCCAP connects its clients to many partners  Idaho Power Co., Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Idaho Housing and Finance, Veterans Administration and Housing Urban Development, to name a few  to provide food assistance, weatherization, energy assistance, self-help housing and medical assistance.

David is an example of those individuals wanting to help themselves, Robinette said. And through that assistance, we provided him with the resources that he could pursue to reach self-sufficiency.
Allens has partnered with the University of New South Wales and the Law Society of NSW to confront the future of law.The Allens Hub for Technology, Law & Innovation brings together 22 UNSW academics and Allens staff to consider disruption to the law, lawyers and the legal system.'Technological advancements are causing significant disruption at all levels of our economy, with the law in many cases unable to keep up with the pace of change, says Allens partner and head of innovation Anna Collyer.She highlights the changes already seen to regulation, clients businesses and the way that lawyers work and says that the Hub will enable the firm to navigate ongoing disruption.The response of the law and lawyers to innovation will play a huge role in defining the benefits Australian businesses derive from new technologies and ways of working. It is essential that the law strikes the right balance between helping and hindering in this period of disruption, adds Ms. Collyer.The collaboration with UNSWs academics will enable the Hub to quickly move research theory into real-world scenarios.This is something Associate Professor Lyria Bennet Moses, who will act as the Hubs director, says will hugely benefit UNSWs research into law and the legal system.Legal systems all over the world are already working hard to keep pace with the rapid evolution of technological changes happening in our societies. Coming together to consider the kinds of technologies that will shape the environments in which we live and how they will impact the laws and governance of our communities is an important first step in addressing these challenges, she says.A study of in-house legal departments in 11 countries reveals that use of outside counsel is still a major part of their operation despite growing internal headcount.The study from the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium features responses from 156 companies across a wide variety of sectors, together with non-profits; with large (U$10bn+) and medium ($1-9.9bn) turnover firms making up around 42% each and small firms making up the other 16%.Across all respondents the average internal spend was $221K in the year while external spend was $607K on average. 62% of every $1 spent by legal departments was for external legal costs.Biotech and pharma industry firms spent by far the most on all legal costs, twice the amount of tech firms and 5 times more than manufacturing and energy firms.For large companies, the average in-house legal team headcount is 296 while medium (74) and small (11) firms have significantly fewer lawyers and other staff.Sydney partner Murray Wheater has led a team from Ashurst advising Clime Capitals $21.4 million capital raising to invest in ASX securities and other investments.This involved a non-renounceable entitlement offer and placement and the rarely used, listed redeemable convertible note instrument.Ashurst corporate partner Lisa Simmons, senior associate Rahil Patel and lawyers Rory McLeod and Pooja Anantha; and tax partner Ian Kellock and senior associate Sanjay Wayde; were also part of the team.
SUV

Available in five- and seven-seat configurations, the third-generation Santa Fe has been with us since 2012. That makes it five years old going on six, which is a lot of time in Hyundai years. 2018 will see the fourth generation go official in South Korea and other select markets, with the global rollout set to be completed during the MY 2019.Camouflaged prototypes with production-ready body panels speak volumes about how much prettier the Santa Fe will get, but Brenthon Desig n went one step further by rendering the newcomer into reality. Considering the Incheon-based company receives detailed documents of future models from Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis before launch, it wouldnt come as a surprise for the Santa Fe to look similar to the pixel work.One way the all-new Santa Fe will differ from the current model is the side mirrors, which are positioned on the doors instead of the base of the A-pillars. Then theres the split-headlight design, with DRLs sitting at the top and the projectors below. The interior is another area where Hyundai is expected to work its magic on the Santa Fe, passenger space included.On the subject of powertrain options, its anybodys guess what Hyundai has in the pipeline for the mid-size. The most likely outcome is for Hyundai to soldier on with the I4 and V6 engines in the current-generation Santa Fe. An eight-speed transmission developed for front- and all-wheel-drive applications is a given, though not much is known about the Santa Fe going green.Hyundai announced that the product lineup in the U.S. would welcome eight SUVs by 2020, the first two of the lot coming in the form of the Kona and Kona Electric. If one of those eight is a Santa Fe Hybrid or Santa Fe Plug-In Hybrid, that would help Hyundai improve its presence in this segment.
Weve known since 2016 that Subaru plans to launch an all-electric vehicle in 2021 in the form of a crossover. But according to a new report on the subject, there's a lot more coming from the Japanese automaker.
The FBI didn't alert dozens of American officials that a Kremlin-linked hacking group was trying to access their personal Gmail accounts, the AP reports.

The AP interviewed 80 of the current and former officials, many of whom worked in defense or intelligence, and only two had been notified. An anonymous FBI official said there were so many hacking attempts that the bureau couldn't keep up: "It's a matter of triaging to the best of our ability the volume of the targets who are out there," he said.

The same Russian hacking group, Fancy Bear, stole emails from the DNC during the election.

One worrying line: "An AP analysis of the data suggests that out of 312 U.S. military and government figures targeted by Fancy Bear, 131 clicked the links sent to them. That could mean that as many as 2 in 5 came perilously close to handing over their passwords."
In the weeks, months and even years leading up to the mass shootings in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Tehama County, California, the perpetrators were stockpiling, and in one case building, guns. Devin Kelley bought guns illegally, despite his domestic violence conviction, and . Stephen Paddock went under the radar even after buying 47 guns. Kevin Neal was barred from owning firearms as part of a protective order, but reportedly built his own.

The big picture: Their stories reveal cracks in a system that lets mass killers slip through. Jeff Sessions has now ordered a review of the federal background check system due to the Sutherland Springs case.

Texas church massacre

The guns: Four, including two rifles and two handguns, all of which were purchased illegally.

The backdrop: Kelley was charged with assault in 2012 while serving in the Air Force. He hit and kicked his wife repeatedly and struck his baby stepson with enough force to fracture his skull. After the incident, Kelley was placed in a psychiatric facility, from which he subsequently escaped. Police tracked Kelley down soon after and took him into custody. He later served a year in a Navy prison for the assault. The Air Force failed to enter Kelley's conviction into a federal database, so the warning signs  including his status as a felon and a man suffering from mental illness  did not crop up when Kelley purchased two guns in Texas and another two in Colorado.

Las Vegas shooting

The guns: Forty-seven, including 23 that Paddock brought with him into his Mandalay Bay hotel room overlooking the concert he attacked. Another 24 were recovered from Paddock's home, and 12 of the guns he brought with him to Las Vegas were outfitted with bump stocks, which can give semi-automatic weapons automatic capabilities.

The backdrop: Authorities said 33 of Paddock's 47 guns were purchased after 2016, in the year leading up to the massacre in Las Vegas. He bought them in stores across Utah, Nevada, California and Texas, CNN reports. And his purchases did not set off any alarms because there is no federal limit to the number of guns an individual can own, and there is no national database which keeps a count of who owns how many or which guns. Recent polling data shows that the average number of guns per gun-owning-household has jumped to 8 from 7 in 1994. While some states, like California, require a waiting period between gun purchases, others, like Nevada, have no such law, per CNN.

California shootings

The guns: Four, including two AR-15 semi-automatic rifles and two handguns.

The backdrop: Neal was charged earlier this year after he stabbed a neighbor; and as part of a protective order was barred from having firearms. He was able to sidestep that rule by building his own. According to ABC, the semi-automatic rifles were made by Neal, and NBC reports that they had "multi-round magazines that [Neal] assembled himself" by ordering the parts. These kits can be purchased legally. This is drawing more attention to the issue of "ghost guns," which have no registration. Per CBS, the handguns were registered under another person's name. Neal also seems to have abused an "honor system" by telling a judge in February he had no guns, even though his neighbors repeatedly saw him shooting.

Go deeper
There's an unusual echo on the front pages of the N.Y. Times and WashPost, which have nearly identical stories about the "waning public role" of Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser.

Be smart: Kushner allies say he has embraced and encouraged this new reality  playing by the rules of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who was installed with his support.

Kushner had irritated some colleagues with his high profile, which made him an even bigger target. So he has shrunk externally to stay viable internally.

The juiciest bits from the N.Y. Times:

"Kushner, ... who had been in seemingly every meeting and every photograph, has lately disappeared from public view and, according to some colleagues, taken on a more limited role behind the scenes."

... who had been in seemingly every meeting and every photograph, has lately disappeared from public view and, according to some colleagues, taken on a more limited role behind the scenes." "He is still forging ahead on a plan to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, ... and he has been credited with focusing attention on the government's technological needs. But he is no longer seen as the primary presidential consigliere with the limitless portfolio."

on a plan to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, ... and he has been credited with focusing attention on the government's technological needs. But he is no longer seen as the primary presidential consigliere with the limitless portfolio." Kelly has told associates: "Jared works for me."

"Jared works for me." Kelly in an interview: "There was honestly never a time when I contemplated getting rid of Jared and Ivanka."

"There was honestly never a time when I contemplated getting rid of Jared and Ivanka." Kelly said the Office of American Innovation, run by Kushner, had demonstrated its value, noting that he had recently sent some members of its team to Puerto Rico to report back on conditions.

the Office of American Innovation, run by Kushner, had demonstrated its value, noting that he had recently sent some members of its team to Puerto Rico to report back on conditions. "[I]n an email forwarded by the White House, the president said ... he still relied on Mr. Kushner. 'Jared is working very hard on peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and the last thing I would ever do is get in the way of that possibility.'"

And the WashPost:

"His still-evolving role in the investigations of Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice also make him a potential risk to President Trump."

in the investigations of Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice also make him a potential risk to President Trump." "In a rare interview in his West Wing office earlier this month  a silver bowl of Halloween candy still on the table  Kushner offered his own version of the fable of the fox, who knows many things, and the hedgehog, who knows one important thing."

in his West Wing office earlier this month  a silver bowl of Halloween candy still on the table  Kushner offered his own version of the fable of the fox, who knows many things, and the hedgehog, who knows one important thing." Kushner: "During the campaign, I was more like a fox than a hedgehog. I was more of a generalist having to learn about and master a lot of skills quickly."

"During the campaign, I was more like a fox than a hedgehog. I was more of a generalist having to learn about and master a lot of skills quickly." Kushner continues: "When I got to D.C., I came with an understanding that the problems here are so complex  and if they were easy problems, they would have been fixed before  and so I became more like the hedgehog, where it was more taking issues you care deeply about, going deep and devoting the time, energy and resources to trying to drive change."

Flashback ... Axios on Oct. 2, "Jared and Ivanka shrink roles to shield themselves" ... Vanity Fair on Nov. 21, "'Kelly has clipped his wings.'"
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Saturday that allows the Kremlin to make foreign media outlets reveal their funding sources and label their content as the work of "foreign agents," Reuters reports.

Why it matters: The move comes in retaliation to U.S. allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. The U.S. government recently branded Kremlin-funded Russia Today as a "foreign agent."
President Trump and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have one thing in common  both are defending men accused of sexual harassment who belong to their own party.

Why it matters: Allegations of sexual misconduct are a bipartisan problem, and more accusations are expected. Senior figures in both parties will help determine whether those allegations are career-ending. They'll also help set the climate in which other accusers come forward  or decide not to.

What Pelosi's saying

On John Conyers: Pelosi called Conyers "an icon in our country." She added, "He has done a great deal to protect women ... I believe he understands what's at stake here, and he will do the right thing." Pelosi also cast doubt on the allegations against the congressman and said he is innocent until proven guilty. She has called for an Ethics Committee review of Conyers.

Update: Pelosi released a statement after Conyers stepped aside as ranking member of the Judiciary Committee saying "zero tolerance means consequences." Read the full statement.

On Roy Moore: "We're talking about a child molester."

What Trump's saying

On Moore: "He totally denies [the accusations], you have to listen to him also ... we don't need somebody soft on crime like Jones," Trump said. Trump has given Moore a de facto endorsement by saying "the last thing we need in Alabama" is a Democrat in the U.S. Senate and calling Moore's opponent Doug Jones a "Schumer/Pelosi puppet."

On Al Franken: The president weighed in quickly on the accusations against Franken, tweeting, "The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words." Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the allegations against Franken are different from those against Trump because Franken admitted to them.
HAILEY  It was another rowdy evening at The Senior Connection. Betty Grant and other Connection members were dancing to the Beach Boys. Some of the men batted beach balls around the room. Executive Director Teresa Beahen Lipman began leading the group in spelling out the YMCA song.

Between games of bingo, Jake Provonsha recalled how his mother went to Beverly Hills High School when a grizzly bear was shot near the school in 1927. Wendy Collins recalled how girls didnt surf in the California of the 1950s.

Its a rare moment when nothings happening at The Senior Connection in Hailey. When seniors arent busy taking part in beach blanket bingo or dolling up for a senior prom organized by high school students, theyre preparing for an overnight trip to Jackpot, a shopping trip to Twin Falls, or taking part in an exercise class or book club.

They have so much more going on than the senior center I took my father to  and that was in a city, said Sun Valley resident Joyce Fabre.

Fred Naumann, 91, became part of the family after his wife died.

I come here for the companionship  and Chef Eriks turkey dinners, said Naumann, a retired engineer. Hes quite the chef, whereas my specialty is the microwave.

Fourteen hundred seniors use The Senior Connection on a yearly basis, making up nearly half of the 3,500 seniors in the valley.

The people we get are people who want to live life, be part of the community, Lipman said. Thanks to donors, were able to take a group to see the Met Live in HD opera at the theater. And, of course, we provide Meals on Wheels and help with things like showering and light housekeeping to help seniors stay in their homes.

Providing so many services is necessary because The Connection is based in a rural area and seniors dont have the access to resources that they would in Twin Falls, Lipman said.

Fortunately, the community is generous in its support.

One of the latest donors was Jack Margolis, an elementary school student who presented The Connection with $77.25 on Veterans Day.

We allow him to do what he wants with a third of his money. But we ask him to put a third of his money into savings and another third in philanthropy, said his father, Alex Margolis.

The Senior Connection is procuring a new van with a wheelchair lift with the help of the Idaho Department of Transportation and the philanthropic Wood River Womens Foundation. The $100,000 raised at last months Cocktails for a Cause will help build a dignity bathroom where spouses and opposite-sex caretakers can assist a spouse or client.

Right now, of course, The Senior Connection is welcoming Christmas gift donations of hand towels, lotion, bath soap, coloring books and coloring pencils, notecards, stationery, gloves, books, ground coffee and tea. But cash donations are always welcome  $40, for instance, will provide a day for a senior with dementia or Alzheimers at The Connection Club.

Most of our members are living off Social Security. If we were to charge for our services, it would out price accessibility, Lipman said. Fortunately, we have a very generous community that takes care of one another.
Presidents Obama and Trump had very different views toward private gun ownership, but gun manufacturers may be pining for the one who was much more critical of their industry:

Remington Outdoors, the country's largest gun-maker, has become unprofitable in 2017. The privately-held company reports a $60.5 million net loss through October 1 on $467 million in revenue, compared to a $19.1 million gain on $644 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2016. It also reported a whopping 78% drop in EBITDA between the third quarters of 2016 and 2017, causing downward pressure on its bond prices.

Sturm Ruger revenue has fallen nearly 20% year-over-year, and 35% during the third quarter. It remains profitable, but that too has become much narrower.

American Outdoor Brands, which previously was known as Smith & Wesson, swung to a quarterly loss in the third quarter and experienced a 38% decrease in revenue.

Go deeper: Government statistics show a boom in gun manufacturing and sales beginning in 2009, with a particular peak in 2013 (due, perhaps, to unrecognized gun control fears in the wake of the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School).
President Trump tweeted another de facto endorsement of Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore  who has been accused of unwanted sexual advances by several women, some of whom were children at the time. Last week, Trump said "We don't need a liberal Democrat in that seat ... [Moore] totally denies [the accusations]."
26 November 2017 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Mejlis (parliament) of Turkmenistan ratified the agreement on transit and transport cooperation ("Lapis Lazuli") on Saturday, which was signed on the sidelines of the 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA VII) in Ashgabat in mid-November.

It is expected that the railways and motorways will connect the city of Torgundi in the Afghan province of Herat with Ashgabat, then with the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi. The corridor will continue to Baku, then through Tbilisi to Ankara with branches to Poti and Batumi, then from Ankara to Istanbul.

The cost of the project, which is aimed at facilitating transit logistics and simplifying customs procedures, is estimated at $ 2 billion.

The project is designed to increase the economic integration of the region and the volume of trade.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
26 November 2017 10:46 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The possible oil swap deal between Iran and Iraq may not affect the latters conformity with OPEC/non-OPEC oil output cut deal, Alaa K. Alyasri, director general of Iraqs Oil Marketing Company SOMO, told Trend.

"Discussions with Islamic Republic of Iran are still ongoing. However, SOMO will announce the outcome in due course," he said. "Moreover, such agreement, or any other agreement if and when it is finalized, should not affect Iraq's conformity of OPEC guidelines."

Earlier, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi through a Facebook post said that Kirkuk will supply about 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil to the Kermanshah refinery in western Iran. He also said that the figure may reach 60,000 barrels per day in future.

According to Iranian media reports, Alaa al-Moussawi, director of the oil marketing company Oil Marketing Company SOMO, has also echoed plans for delivering Kirkuks oil to Iran.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh earlier said that his country preferred to swap oil with Iraq. He had mentioned that Kirkuk oil would feed refineries in northern and northwestern Iran, including Arak, Kermanshah, Tehran and Tabriz. In turn, Iran will deliver the same amount of oil to Iraq through its southern borders.

According to Iraqi oil minister, Kirkuks oil will be carried by road tankers and in the meantime, the sides will take measures to construct a pipeline to transfer the Arab countrys oil to Iran.

The Iraqi official has said that the oil swap deal is capable of contributing to the economic situation of the southern ports of the Arab state, as well as strengthening ties with its eastern neighbor, Iran.

Iraq used to ship Kirkuks oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan via a pipeline owned and operated by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). However, following the recent tensions in the region, the Iraqi Oil Ministry took control of the oil filed and started talks with Iranian officials about the provinces oil exports through the Islamic Republic.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
26 November 2017 11:02 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Turkmenistan and Afghanistan held talks on cooperation in the fields of energy and communications, the Turkmen government said in a message Nov. 25.

Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister Maksat Babayev presented his report on the working visit to the neighboring state at a government meeting.

The two countries discussed the issues related to the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power transmission lines (TAP) with a capacity of 500 kW and the fiber-optic communications line in the neighboring country.

Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed confidence that Afghanistans participation in the implementation of major infrastructure projects is a decisive condition for the restoration of this countrys economy.

Earlier, it was reported that Turkmenistan supplies electricity at a discounted price to the neighboring Afghanistan.

The construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI pipeline began in December 2015, and preparatory work is underway in the Afghan and Pakistani sections.

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ISIS is suspected to be behind Egypt's mosque attack, the death toll for which has risen to 305. A statement from the country's general prosecutor was quoted as saying that the attackers were carrying the Islamic State flag. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has reportedly instructed the Armed Forces to set up a memorial for the victims who lost their lives.
The fire broke out in the High Street area of Lurgan in the early hours of this morning / Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye

The fire broke out in the High Street area of Lurgan in the early hours of this morning / Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye

Firefighters in Lurgan on Sunday battled to extinguish a blaze at an old building in the centre of the town.

The Fire Service received a call out to a building on High Street at around 4.30am this morning and were on site in five minutes.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Group Commander Max Joyce said the fire had been started either in a bin or on rubbish, and by the time fire crews arrived it had burnt through the roof of the building.

He said it was his belief the fire was started deliberately, and asked any possible perpetrators to "think long and hard before doing these stupid actions".

"The building itself is in a row of old buildings on the main street and you have voids and dry timbers, and that is why the fire spread so quickly," he said.

"The firefighters did a first class job this morning by stopping that spreading from all of the adjoining properties."

In total 33 firefighters were in attendance, with four pumps, two aerial platforms, and a water platform.

Mr Joyce also praised the support given to the crews by the British Red Cross, who often attend incidents of this size and provide tea, soup and biscuits to the firefighters.
Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds during the DUP's annual conference at the La Mon hotel in Belfast

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has warned Sinn Fein to "get serious" about the terms of a deal to restore Stormont powersharing.

Accusing republicans of using rights issues as a cloak to "break unionists", Mrs Foster told her party conference in Belfast she was committed to resurrecting devolution, eleven months on from its collapse, but insisted any agreement between the DUP and Sinn Fein had to be balanced.

The former Stormont first minister got a rousing reception from Union flag-waving party faithful at the DUP's first conference since it became political kingmakers at Westminster.

She used her speech to restate her party's determination to see powersharing restored, insisting the party blocking its return was Sinn Fein.

Mrs Foster also warned European leaders the DUP would not accept a Brexit deal that forced Northern Ireland to adopt a different customs arrangement from the rest of the UK - Europe's preferred way of avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Reflecting the party's new-found influence at Westminster since it struck a confidence and supply deal with Theresa May's minority government, senior Tories Damian Green and Julian Smith were among guests at the event in the La Mon hotel.

Mrs Foster told delegates: "It's time Sinn Fein got serious.

"This party will conclude a balanced deal but we will not be party to a one-sided arrangement that rewards intransigent behaviour.

"Northern Ireland needs a government and we cannot continue without ministers.

"Time is short and those in Sinn Fein blocking the restoration of local decision-making need to decide whether they want to do business with us or have direct rule ministers in place.

"I still believe that devolution is the best way to govern Northern Ireland but to do that in a way that delivers for all of our people we need serious partners in government."

Significant issues still stand in the way of a deal between the DUP and Sinn Fein that would see them return as coalition partners in a devolved executive.

A return to Westminster direct rule looks a more likely prospect at present.

One of the key sticking points is a Sinn Fein demand for a stand-alone piece of legislation to protect Irish language speakers in the region.

The DUP will countenance such laws, but only as part of a wider Act that also protects British culture in Northern Ireland.

"The Irish language is spoken and enjoyed by thousands of people in all parts of Northern Ireland," said Mrs Foster.

"It does no damage to our unionism or the Union we cherish.

"I respect the Irish language and those who speak it.

"However, respect isn't a one-way street. Respect works both ways.

"It is time that Sinn Fein started to respect our British culture.

"For too long they have shown nothing but disdain and disrespect for the national flag, the royal family, the armed forces, British symbols, the constitutional reality and the very name of this country.

"So we are up for respect. And we're up for rights. Republicans like to lecture us about rights. They're fond of rights now. They weren't so concerned about that most fundamental of rights - the right to life - during the Troubles.

"We are for rights. We respect rights. What we oppose is using the cloak of rights as a Trojan horse designed to break unionists."

During the address, Mrs Foster reflected on a rollercoaster year for her and her party.

From facing down intense calls to quit amid a furore about a botched green energy scheme that ultimately torpedoed the Stormont executive, to standing on the steps of Downing Street with the fate of the Prime Minister in her hands, 2017 will not be one Mrs Foster forgets in a hurry.

"If the last year has proved anything, it is that we live in an uncertain world," she said.

"We've been through a lot together over these past 12 months."

Responding to Mrs Foster's speech, Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill insisted her party was committed to the restoration of powersharing.

But she said it could only be restored on the basis that people in the region were afforded the "same rights enjoyed by citizens across these islands".

"Locally-elected ministers are best placed to run local public services and fight back against the austerity imposed by the British government," she said.

Mrs O'Neill also criticised the DUP's support of Brexit and Mrs May's government.

"Tory austerity measures have had disastrous consequences for communities across the north of Ireland," she said.

"This will be further exacerbated by the threat which Brexit will bring.

"The DUP support for these policies is against the interests and wishes of the majority of people in the north."
A man is in hospital after a murder attempt in east Belfast on Sunday morning / Credit: Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye 

A man is in hospital after a murder attempt in east Belfast on Sunday morning / Credit: Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye 

A man is in hospital after a murder attempt in east Belfast on Sunday morning / Credit: Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye 

A man is in hospital after a murder attempt in east Belfast on Sunday morning / Credit: Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye 

A 47-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following an incident in Belfast.

Detectives are appealing for witnesses following a disturbance in the Lendrick Street area of east Belfast at 8.30am on Sunday morning.

After forcing entry to a property police detained the man before arresting him.

Detective Sergeant Mason said: A 39-year-old man was taken to hospital for treatment to lacerations to his head and cuts to his hands. His condition is not thought to be life-threatening at this time.

"We would urge anyone who was in this part of the Newtownards Road between 8am and 8.30am this morning and saw any suspicious activity to get in contact with detectives at Musgrave on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 446 of 26/11/17.

"Alternatively, information can also be provided anonymously to the independent charity, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."
TWIN FALLS  As Lisa Gibson strolls through aisles of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, she stops as she approaches one of her volunteers.

Are you doing okay? Gibson asks, holding firm eye contact with the young man who could pass for a high school-aged kid. Are you taking vitamins? You really need to take vitamins.

Gibson is the store manager at Habitat for Humanity, a charity that secures housing opportunities and funding for individuals and families who otherwise would not be able to buy a home. The ReStore, which sits next to the charitys office building on Eastland Drive, functions as cross between a thrift store and a Home Depot.

Gibson welcomes any and every household item, from lightbulbs to bathroom sinks, from baseboards to front doors. Some items that she cannot legally sell for sanitary reasons, like washing machines, are given away based on need.

What one perceives as junk, another perceives as treasure, Gibson said.

Habitat for Humanity, like most charities in south-central Idaho, are in the business of turning around unfortunate circumstances, and turning junk into treasure. Those charities tend to receive more donations around the holiday season, but plenty of challenges remain for nonprofits.

Were going to have an epidemic

Jeanette Roe was scrambling. Then again, shes usually scrambling. Such is the life of a nonprofit director.

On Nov. 9, Roe was waiting to see if the Twin Falls Senior Center would receive a $20,000 grant. In a span of 30 minutes, four separate visitors and a nurse popped into her office. The final visitor offered good news. She got one of Roes clients back on his medicine after a period of extended confusion.

He gets confused so easily, Roe said. Hes just lonely.

After a brief moment of good news appreciation, she was back to scrambling.

Roe is in her sixth year as the site/financial director at the senior center. The charitys Thanksgiving dinner was seven days away  one full week before actual Thanksgiving Day  and her list of duties seemingly never ends.

One of those duties is informing people about what the senior center actually does.

As much as Ive been on TV and done interviews, people dont understand what the senior centers purpose is, Roe said. They think its like the Moose Lodge, a social club. Its a lot of things, but primarily, we feed people.

The center hit an all-time high in October with 6,481 meals provided, including 4,838 that were delivered through their homebound services like Meals on Wheels. Those services, Roe said, take up about 65 percent of the centers budget.

Twin Falls has become a hub for retirees. The low cost of living, coupled with the close proximity to health services makes the city an appealing place to write the final chapter of a life. As the elderly population of Twin Falls explodes, however, the senior centers budget is tighter than ever.

The demand is going up, but the funding is going down. Theres a huge, major deficit in funding, Roe said. Were going to have a huge crisis. Were going to have an epidemic.

The center relies heavily on grants for funding, but federal funding cuts, especially to the Meals on Wheels program, are imminent. That logic, according to Roe, is backward.

If we can just take people and feed them here, we would be paying a lot less in Medicaid costs because theyd be healthier. Every one dollar we spend here saves $50 of Medicaid spending, Roe said. You can feed a person for an entire year here for $2,000. You cant even go to a hospital for one day or live in a nursing home for three days for that same price.

About a mile and a half north of the senior center, in a small building in which rent is $275 a month, Interlink Volunteer Caregivers faces similar challenges.

IVC does not accept federal funding, so it relies heavily on local grants and community partners like St. Lukes Magic Valley, Glanbia and United Way.

When you accept federal funds, you have a lot of hoops to jump through, and they get to set all of the rules, said executive director Edie Schab. We dont have that, so were able to help people no matter what age they are.

Interlink provides myriad services to elderly, disabled and chronically ill people, including yard work and the building of wheelchair ramps, but Schab estimated that 85 percent of their time and resources are reserved for providing transportation to and from medical visits. Eighty-five percent of those services, she estimated, were for people over the age of 65.

Interlink is a significantly smaller operation than the senior center  Schab is the only full-time employee, and she has just one part-time assistant  but the director echoes many of the same frustrations as Roe.

In addition to the rapid influx of elderly people in Twin Falls, another outside force increased demand for its services: College of Southern Idahos Office on Aging.

About two years ago, the Office on Aging stopped providing free transportation for the elderly. That left IVC as the lone cost-free provider in south-central Idaho.

They served a lot of people. I took it to my board, we talked it over, and they said that if we dont take over their clients, theyre going to come our way eventually anyway once their transportation gets shut down, Schab said.

When Schab accepted the position of executive director, Interlink served just four counties: Twin Falls, Jerome, Lincoln and Gooding. After CSI stopped offering free transportation, IVC expanded to all eight counties of south-central Idaho. But while the programs client base has expanded, its funding is still tight, and volunteers are always needed.

Schab said IVC and its 53 volunteers will provide services for more than 7,000 people this year. But if that number outpaces the rate at which IVC recruits volunteers, the lone source of free transportation in the Magic Valley could be forced to turn people away.

I never thought it would explode this quick. The need is not going away, Schab said. To this point, we havent had to say no. I dont want to get there, and I dont want to get to the point where we can only do medical appointments instead of the other services too.

Why volunteer?

The rewards reaped from charities are not just limited to customers and clients for Lisa Gibson and Habitat for Humanitys ReStore. It also extends to the volunteers who keep the store running.

Some are just looking to give back to the community, but others are completing court-ordered community service hours.

Gibson makes little distinction between the two, and fellow volunteers rarely know who is volunteering for which reason.

If theyre volunteering, theyre volunteering, Gibson said. Whether theyre being forced to or not doesnt really matter.

Gibson, a California transplant and mother of three sons, describes herself as having broken wings syndrome. She relishes the opportunity to mentor those who are repaying a debt to the community, especially if they are young and impressionable. She also sees the long-term effect the store has on her volunteers.

It shows them compassion. You put everyone on an even playing field and let them help people. Its an extension of my motherhood, she said.

Gibson also told a story of a young Hispanic man who had a few young kids of his own, and landed at Habitat for Humanity through court-ordered community service. A filthy, muddy bike came in as a donation, and he did a cursory job of cleaning it up before putting it on the floor to be sold. Gibson pulled him aside and suggested he clean it up to the point that he would buy it for his own 5-year-old child.

When the bike returned to the floor, it was sparkling. The store charged just five dollars for the bike, so it was snatched up in no time by a young child who gasped at the low price. When the volunteer saw the elation on the boys face, Gibson said he broke down in tears.

He thought at first, What difference does it make? Its some stupid old bike. But when he saw the excitement of the little kid, he got it, Gibson said. When you see mothers qualify for homes and cut a ribbon on a home they never would have been able to own otherwise, you get it.

At Interlink, most of the volunteers are retired, like Gary Babbel of Twin Falls.

Babbel, 77, was born and raised in Twin Falls, and spent nearly 40 years of his life in the Magic Valley. He, like many volunteers at IVC, primarily drives clients to and from appointments. But he also does some odd jobs for clients, like repairs, lawn mowing and simple social visits for people who just need some company.

It sounds trite, but Ive been blessed in my life with a lot of wonderful things. I want to give some back, Babbel said. I get to meet people who have had different experiences than I have. I never would have met these people otherwise.

The holiday season

Money is unquestionably welcome at charities. Without money, those charities fold. But Jeanette Roe at the senior center urged people to think outside the box when donating during these winter months.

If theyre going to give you a free turkey when you grocery shop, take it. Dont throw it away. Bring it to us, Roe said. We can use a turkey. We can use canned goods and potatoes. We can use that.

Roe laments the tendency of people to donate to charities concerning animals and children instead of the elderly, noting that she cant make getting old warm and fuzzy.

People will give to puppies before they give to old people. If there were kids out in the street and they were not getting fed, people would be rioting in the streets, demanding that people take action, Roe said. Why arent you in the same realm doing it for old people? These are people that served their country. They raised families. Theyve paid their taxes. Theyre part of the community. And were just supposed to throw them away?

This is the time of year, however, when people are more likely to turn an eye  and a wallet  toward local charities.

A 2012 Guidestar survey showed that 50.5 percent of organizations surveyed said they received the majority of their contributions between October and December. The same year, a survey by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University found that 42.7 percent of high-net donors (identified as households with income greater than $200,000 and net worth over $1,000,000) gave more during the holidays than the rest of the year.

The same is true at the Twin Falls Senior Center, where Roe said food donations tend to be heavier during the holiday season. Still, on days like Thanksgiving and Christmas when the shelter is closed, people need to eat. That puts the center in a bind of preparing meals and deliveries ahead of time.

Weve more than doubled the number of meals that we do on homebound, but we havent doubled our budget, Roe said. Its not just a problem for us. We have to run this like a business, and its tough.
Iranian state TV has aired more allegations against a detained British-Iranian woman.

The TV programme focused on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the soft toppling of Irans government.

The programme showed pictures of a BBC pay stub and an email from 2010 showing she once worked to train Iranian journalists.

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Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said that the report was intended to increase pressure on the British government which is working to secure her release.
Resolving the issue of Northern Irelands border after leaving the European Union cannot be completed until trade talks with Brussels have progressed, Liam Fox said as Dublin warned it could veto the next stage of Brexit negotiations unless there is movement on the dispute.

International Trade Secretary Dr Fox said a final position could not be reached until it was known what the end state of the UK-EU relationship after Brexit would be.

But an Irish minister indicated trade talks could be held up unless firm guarantees on the border are given by Prime Minister Theresa May.

Dublin has put fresh pressure on the Government to accept a solution which would see either the whole of the UK or just Northern Ireland remain in the single market and customs union as a deadline in the Brexit process approaches.

Theresa May has been given until December 4 to come up with further proposals on issues including the border, the Brexit divorce bill and citizens rights if European leaders are to give the green light to moving on to the next phase of negotiations covering the future trading relationship between the UK and Brussels.

Dr Fox said: We dont want there to be a hard border but the UK is going to be leaving the customs union and the single market.

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He told Sky Newss Sunday with Niall Paterson: We have always had exceptions for Ireland, whether its in our voting rights, our rights of residence in the UK, we have always accepted a certain asymmetry and that will have to be part of whatever agreement we come to with the European Union but we cant come to a final answer to the Irish question until we get an idea of the end state.

And until we get into discussions with the EU on the end state that will be very difficult, so the quicker that we can do that the better and we are still in a position where the EU doesnt want to do that.

He blamed the European Commissions obsession with forging a closer union for the delays in the Brexit talks, which the UK hopes will move on to discussing trade after a meeting of EU leaders on December 14-15.

I think the European Union countries need to consider the welfare and the economic prosperity of their people as opposed to the obsession of the commission about the concept of ever closer union. he said.

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Irish European affairs minister Helen McEntee acknowledged that some of the final details would have to be dealt with in the next phase of Brexit talks but the UK must come forward with further proposals now to achieve the aim of maintaining a soft border.

Progress on to phase two of the negotiations can only happen if all 27 leaders of the remaining EU countries agree sufficient progress has been made on the first set of issues.

Ms McEntee told Channel 4 News: We cannot say that there is sufficient progress on the Irish issue when there has not been.

Theresa Mays speech in Florence was very welcome, the commitment to no return to a hard border on the island of Ireland is welcome.

However if all of the options that we feel can make that possible have been taken off the table then we need them to produce something else that will give us confidence, moving into phase two, that this can actually be achieved. To date this has not happened.

But obviously I would hope, we need to be optimistic, that negotiations can continue before the December council meeting and that we can see some solution to this.

Speaking on ITVs Peston On Sunday, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he was worried about Dr Foxs comments and said the option of remaining in the customs union and single market should remain on the table.

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I think the one thing that we dont want to do is jeopardise any movement quickly, because we need movement to enable us to get into the proper trade negotiations.

So Im hoping that isnt a Downing Street sanctioned statement thats hes made.

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said that unless progress on to the next phase is made in December we are rapidly going to run out of time for a transitional deal to be put in place.

I dont think it means that the world has ended but I do think its a setback, she said.
A compromise deal will be found to quell Tory unrest over potential cuts to the armed forces, Cabinet minister Liam Fox has suggested as Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson prepared to face MPs on the issue.

Dr Fox, a former defence secretary, acknowledged that a review of security capabilities was causing concerns and it was not unknown for tensions to become public.

The International Trade Secretarys intervention came after backbenchers threatened a scrap over cuts and a defence minister signalled he could be prepared to quit if plans are implemented to slash the Armys manpower.

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Tobias Ellwood, the minister responsible for defence personnel and veterans, is understood to have concerns about proposals which could see the Armys full-time strength reduced by 12,000 to 70,000.

With Mr Williamson facing his first set of defence questions in the Commons on Monday, and Mr Ellwood set to be alongside him on the front bench, the issue has the potential to cause trouble for the Government.

Tory MP Johnny Mercer, a former army officer and a prominent member of the Commons Defence Select Committee, has warned the party leadership a number of Conservative colleagues are prepared to fight back over the threat of cuts and feelings are running high on the issue.

Heading back into town for another scrap this week, he said on Sunday night.

I am determined that as the party of defence, we as a team will get it right.

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Speculation about defence cuts has mounted in recent months since the launch of a review led by Theresa Mays national security adviser Mark Sedwill.

As well as rumours about potential cuts to the strength of the Army, there have been concerns about the future of armoured vehicle programmes and suggestions that amphibious assault ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark could be axed alongside the loss of 1,000 Royal Marines.

But Dr Fox said: You have to look at our record. We are one of the very few Nato countries that actually spends 2% of our GDP on defence.

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Theres a review going on at the present time and I think back to my time as secretary of state for defence where we had a similar review ongoing and theres always a lot of tension, not just between the MoD and the Treasury but also inside the MoD between the different parts of the armed forces and naturally there are concerns about the future shape of that.

But this is an ongoing discussion. Im afraid its not unknown for some of these tensions to spill over into the public domain.

He told Sky Newss Sunday with Niall Paterson: I think we should wait and see exactly what sort of compromise we reach, because thats what it will be and remember that the UK is the fourth biggest military budget in the world and is one of the very few Nato countries actually fulfilling promises to spend and help protect our partners.

The MoD said no decisions had been made and dismissed reports about the options being considered for cuts as speculation.
There is at least a 20% chance that Brexit will not happen, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable has suggested.

The former Cabinet minister said there was a distinct possibility that the UK could remain in the bloc even though the process that will lead to Brexit in March 2019 is already under way.

Sir Vince acknowledged that there could be an amicable divorce with Brussels which would be acceptable to the public  but there was also the potential for a terrible mess.

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He told Sky Newss Sunday with Niall Paterson the sheer complexity, the practical difficulties, the fact the Government is internally divided could all impact on the process.

We may get to the middle of next year and find this is just a horrible mess and there will be a growing political mood in the country and in Parliament to find a way out, he said.

Thats why we think at the end of the day the public should have a choice as to whether they want to go ahead with Brexit when weve discovered what its about or whether they want an exit from Brexit.

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He added: We absolutely do not know what Brexit will look like  eventually we could get an amicable divorce.

It looks increasingly unlikely but its possible, in which case I suspect the public will settle for that.

But if it is a terrible mess and very divisive and very costly then I think people will want to reopen the question.

Pressed on whether the Lib Dems should be performing better under his leadership, he said: Im confident that in time we will make an impact, initially probably in local government and then at a national level at the next election.
Police close to the Manchester Arena after the terror attack (Peter Byrne/PA)

Theresa May has promised the Government will fully fund the costs of dealing with the Manchester Arena bombing after criticism that an initial offer fell at least 5 million short of what local authorities said was needed.

The Government had previously said Manchester had been assured it will receive 12 million, with 3 million being made available immediately.

But Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said more than 17.5 million had already been spent and suggested at least 10.4 million more could be needed to cover costs including the inquests into the 22 deaths and an inquiry.

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The 12 million figure would have meant local authorities being forced to cut services to make up the 5 million shortfall on what had already been spend, he had warned.

The Prime Minister told the Manchester Evening News: Be in no doubt, Manchester will get the financial support it needs  and if that costs 28m, as Andy Burnham has estimated, then that is what we will make available.

In a statement the Prime Minister said a taskforce had been established within the Cabinet Office to oversee progress on meeting the costs.

She said: The terror attack in Manchester was one of the darkest moments in the citys history.

Twenty two people were killed in a brutal act of hatred deliberately aimed at innocent children on what should have been one of the best nights of their young lives.

In the hours, days and weeks that followed the Arena bombing, the spirit of Manchester shone out in defiance of an attack designed to destroy lives and devastate a community.

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She added: I promised in the wake of that appalling atrocity this Government would do all it could to help victims recover and the city to heal.

I repeat that commitment today.

Where your public services have had to bear, or will bear, unexpected and exceptional costs in coping with this terrible attack, these will be met by the Government.

The process of making those payments is on-going and I understand the frustration felt at the pace of delivery.

So I have taken steps to speed up our response.

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Over the weekend a taskforce has been established within the Cabinet Office to oversee progress and expedite payments when necessary.

It will co-ordinate the cross Government response, pulling together the work of the Home Office, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department of Health and the Ministry of Justice.

Not all the funding will be needed immediately.

For example the inquests, opened and adjourned this month, will not begin until next June.

Be in no doubt, however, Manchester will get the financial support it needs, and if that costs 28 million, as Andy Burnham has estimated, then that is what we will make available.

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Mr Burnham said on Twitter: I thank the Prime Minister for her helpful words this evening.

We will work constructively with the taskforce to achieve a fair resolution.
Brexit is never far from the top of the news agenda and forms the focus of several papers this Sunday.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that Eurosceptics are fighting against a plot to encourage Theresa May to compromise with Brussels over the role of the European Court of Justice after Brexit.

The paper says the row threatens to engulf the Government in the final weeks before crunch talks with European leaders.

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The Independent claims that EU negotiators are looking to make the UKs transition deal conditional on the country accepting new Brussels regulations during the two-year period after Brexit.

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Meanwhile, Irelands European commissioner has urged Mrs May to change her plans for Brexit and said the country would continue to play tough to the end over its threat to veto trade talks until it had guarantees over the Irish border, the Observer reports.

And the Mail on Sunday says it has uncovered a Russian link to Boris Johnson and Michael Goves Brexit coup to persuade the Prime Minister to take a tougher stance on Britains departure from the EU.

The paper also jokes about Prince Harry keeping the nation waiting for news of a royal engagement, saying do hurry up, Harry!

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Meghan Markle is being guarded by royal protection officers ahead of an expected announcement, the Sunday Express claims.

The Sunday Times says speculation surrounding the couple is rife, and claims Theresa Mays diary had been cleared last Thursday for news that never came.

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Meanwhile, The Sun and the Daily Star lead on Davina McCall announcing the break-down of her 17-year marriage.
A train passes by dead reindeer, near Mosjoen, North of Norway (AP)

Freight trains have killed more than 100 reindeer on Norway's tracks in three days, a herder has said.

Torstein Appfjell, a reindeer herder in Helgeland county, said on Sunday that the worst incident happened on Saturday when 65 animals were mown down.

Mr Appfjell said by telephone it was "totally tragic" and "unprecedented" for so many reindeer to lose their lives in this way.

A total of 106 reindeer were killed since Thursday.

Mr Appfjell represents four families in the area with a total of around 2,000 reindeer.

He said that in the worst previous 12-month period, 250 animals were killed in train accidents.

VG newspaper reports that Bane Nor, which operates the trains, has now reduced speeds in the area.

AP
Troops were deployed to try and keep the peace

More than 20 people have been killed in renewed clashes in Ethiopia between ethnic Oromos and Somalis in the past week.

Government spokesman Negeri Lenco said 98 people were arrested in the Oromia region and five arrested in the Somali region.

A long-standing border dispute and an increased military presence in the regions triggered the recent fighting.

Officials agreed to reconcile differences in April and troops were deployed to major roads, but clashes have continued.

Fighting in September killed several dozen people and displaced tens of thousands of Oromos.

"People were fighting with whatever means they have against the Somali Special Police," Galagalo Daalacha, an ethnic Oromo, said of Friday's fighting in the Borana area.

"Many people fled to the forest after troops ... entered the area."

AP
TWIN FALLS COUNTY

FELONY SENTENCINGS

Joshua Lee Stritesky, 35, Twin Falls; unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, $245.50 costs, $500 public defender, $1,000 fine, $100 DNA, five years penitentiary, two determinate, three indeterminate, credit for time served, sentence to run concurrent to other charges, consecutive to 2015 Canyon County case. Possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use charge dismissed. Possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $923.32 restitution, five years penitentiary, two determinate, three indeterminate, credit for time served, sentence to run concurrent to other charges.

Joseph Alexander Danca, 72, Shoshone; assault or battery upon certain personnel, $245.50 costs, $100 DNA, three years penitentiary, two determinate, one indeterminate, credit for time served, three years supervised probation.

Danielle Dawn Holton, 36, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $500 public defender, $100 DNA, $60 workmans comp. program fee, $500 drug program fee, five years supervised probation.

Donnie Dee Brown, 53, Twin Falls; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon or instrument, $245.50 costs, eight years penitentiary, three determinate, five indeterminate, credit for time served, 365 day retained jurisdiction. Second aggravated assault with a deadly weapon or instrument, $245.50 costs, $500 public defender, $100 DNA, $1,000 fine, eight years penitentiary, three determinate, five indeterminate, credit for time served, 365 day retained jurisdiction, sentence to run concurrent to other charge.

Ryan James Deruiter, 36, Twin Falls; manufacture or deliver or possession of a controlled substance or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, $285.50 costs, $1,000 fine, five years penitentiary, two determinate, three indeterminate, credit for time served, sentence to run concurrent to Jerome 2008 and Twin Falls 2013 cases. Possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver, $285.50 costs, eight years penitentiary, two determinate, six years indeterminate.

Timothy Charles Anderson, 41, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, three years penitentiary, one determinate, two indeterminate, sentence to run consecutive to 2007 Ada County case. Two charges possession or use of a legend drug or precursor without authorization of a prescription drug order charges dismissed. Two other possession of a controlled substance charges dismissed.

Kevin Michael Amundson, 25, Twin Falls; grand theft, $245.50 costs, six years penitentiary, three determinate, three indeterminate, credit for time served, 365 days retained jurisdiction, sentence to run consecutive to 2016 case and concurrent with the other charges in this case. Criminal possession of a financial transaction card, $245.50 costs, six years penitentiary, three determinate, three indeterminate, credit for time served, 365 days retained jurisdiction, sentence to run consecutive to 2016 case and concurrent with the other charges in this case.

Jaime Phillip Barnes, 30, Jerome; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, seven years penitentiary, four determinate, three indeterminate, credit for time served, 365 days retained jurisdiction, sentence to run concurrent to Twin Falls 2015 and Jerome 2014 cases.

Cory David Harmon, 28, Twin Falls; $285.50 costs, $100 DNA four years penitentiary, two determinate, two indeterminate, 169 credited, 365 days retained jurisdiction.

Daniel Winans, 21, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $100 DNA, $60 workmans comp. program fee, three years penitentiary, one determinate, two indeterminate, sentence suspended, two years supervised probation. Second charge possession of a controlled substance charge dismissed.

Michael J. Morrison, 33, Gooding; aggravated battery, $245.50 costs, $80,200.56 restitution, eight years penitentiary, five determinate, three indeterminate, 12 months supervised probation.

Dennis Leroy Barnes II, 38, Twin Falls; preparing false evidence, $245.50 costs, five years indeterminate, credit for time served, sentence to run concurrent to 2017 and 2014 cases.

Dennis Leroy Barnes II, 38, Twin Falls; assault or battery upon certain personnel, $245.50 costs, 10 years penitentiary, five determinate, five indeterminate, credit for time served, sentence to run concurrent to 2017 and 2014 cases. Attempting to elude a police officer charge dismissed.

Raymond Ruben Esparza, 31, Twin Falls, flee or attempt to elude a police officer in a motor vehicle, $245.50 costs, five years determinate, 217 days credited, three years drivers license suspensionmay apply for permit after one year, sentence to run concurrent to 2017 case.

Raymond Ruben Esparza, 31, Twin Falls, grand theft, $245.50 costs, 14 years penitentiary, five determinate, nine indeterminate, 217 days credited, sentence to run concurrent to other 2017 case.

Sergio Bautista Chavez, 24, Jerome, drug trafficking in marijuana five pounds or more but less than 25 pounds or consists of 50 to 99 plants, $285.50 costs, $100 DNA, $5,000 fine, seven years penitentiary, one and a half year determinate, five and a half years indeterminate, 159 days credited.

Juanita Mae Fossen, 24, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $100 DNA, four years penitentiary, two determinate, two indeterminate, sentence suspended, three years supervised probation. Driving without privileges, $172.50 costs, 43 days jail, 43 days credited, 30 days drivers license suspension. Failure to provide second or subsequent offense charge dismissed.

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE SENTENCINGS

Abby Layne Pabillore Zampedri, 21 Twin Falls; DUI, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, 176 suspended, one day credited, 10 days discretionary, 24 hours work detail, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation.

Christopher Dee Wilder, 40, Twin Falls; DUI, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, 180 days jail, 178 suspended, two days credited, guilty withheld judgment, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation.

Bryan Ken Patterson, 41, Twin Falls; operating a boat or watercraft under the influence of alcohol, $300 fine, $187.50 costs, $100 restitution, 180 days jail, 178 suspended, two days credited, 12 months supervised probation.

Jose Wilfred Trevino, 43, Twin Falls; DUI excessive, $500 fine, $202.50 costs, 365 days jail, 345 suspended, six days credited, 365 days suspended drivers license, 24 months supervised probation, two years interlock device.

Marvin Christopher Locke, 53, Twin Falls; DUI, $202.50 costs, 180 days jail, 180 days credited, 180 days drivers license suspension.

Santiago Aburto, 46, Kimberly; $400 fine, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, 177 suspended, one day credited, 10 days discretionary, guilty withheld judgement, 16 hours work detail, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation.

Pablo Daniel Linares-Carreno, 28, Twin Falls; DUI, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, 180 days, 176 suspended, one day credited, 24 hours work detail, 120 restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Norma E. Godinez Esparza, 32, Kimberly; DUI excessive, $500 fine, $202.50 costs, 365 days jail, 355 suspended, two days credited, 20 days discretionary, 365 days drivers license suspension, 12 months supervised probation.

Brandon Lee Douglas, 40, Filer; DUI, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, 180 days jail, 178 suspended, one day credited, guilty withheld judgment, eight hours work detail, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation.

Nathan Henry Brown, 32, Idaho Falls; DUI excessive, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 365 days jail, 355 suspended, one day credited, 20 days discretionary, guilty withheld judgment, 365 days drivers license suspension, 12 months supervised probation.

Jeffery Lee Hall, 46, Paul; DUI second offense, $500 fine, $202.50 costs, 365 days jail, 335 suspended, credit for time served, 20 days discretionary, 365 days drivers license suspension, 12 months supervised probation.

Peter Trent Sargent, 52, Idaho Falls; DUI, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, 175 suspended, two days credited, 10 days discretionary, 24 hours work detail, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation.

John Philip Massey, 65, Homeless; pedestrian under the influence of alcohol or drugs, $157.50 costs, 44 days jail, 44 credited.

Joseph Michael Slovick, 38, Twin Falls; DUI, $500 fine, $400 suspended, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, 178 suspended, two days jail, 10 days discretionary, 120 days restricted drivers license, 12 months probation with six months supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Earl Augustus Boyer, 48, Twin Falls; DUI, $500 fine, $500 suspended, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, 170 suspended, eight days credited, 10 days discretionary time, 16 hours work detail, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Phung Nguyen, 55, Twin Falls; DUI, $500 fine, $300 suspended, $202.50 costs, 90 days jail, 89 suspended, one day jail, 10 days discretionary, guilty withheld judgment, 120 days restricted drivers license, 12 months probation with six days supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Robert Bruce Whitmire, 60, Jerome; DUI, $500 fine, $300 suspended, $202.50 costs, 180 days jail, 179 suspended, one day credited, 10 days discretionary, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months probation with six to be supervised, attend victim impact panel and attend court alcohol school.

Mike Yaranga, 71, Twin Falls; DUI, $500 fine, $300 suspended, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, 170 suspended, one day credited, 10 discretionary, 180 days drivers license suspension, 12 months supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Rickie D. Wilson, 55, Twin Falls; DUI, $500 fine, $300 suspended, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 90 days jail, 88 suspended, two days credited, 10 days discretionary, 120 days restricted drivers license, 12 months probation with six months to be supervised, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

DIVORCE CIVIL PROCEEDINGS

Seth Platts v. Heather States-Platts

Jamie Benjamin v. Jason Benjamin

Samuel Gebreegziabher v. Tigist Mengesha

Donna Woodhead v. Michael Woodhead

Joseph Rodriguez v. Jaqueline Rodriguez

Kelly Price v. Karen Longfield

Laurie Clark v. David Clark

Ashley Batteate v. Duke Batteate

Sanjuana Sarabia v. Mario Benevides

Jennifer Legg v. Charles Legg

Amber Benson v. Zachary Benson
Syrian government airstrikes and shelling have killed at least 23 civilians outside the capital Damascus, according to activists.

The figures were given by the locally run Ghouta Media Centre.

But at least 25 deaths were reported by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group as residential areas of Damascus's Eastern Ghouta suburbs suffered attacks from government jets and artillery,

Rescuers in the town of Misraba, in the eastern Ghouta region, picked up dead and wounded from streets in a residential area, as seen in a video.

Syrian rebels attacked a military installation in the area earlier this month, seizing weapons and ammunition.

Rebels and pro-government forces were still fighting for the compound, outside the town of Harasta, also in Eastern Ghouta, on Sunday.

A major general in the army was killed in the battle on Saturday, according to the Observatory, with pro-government pages on social media announcing his death on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, at least 10 people were killed in an airstrike on an Islamic State-held village in eastern Syria, said an activist-run group.

The Observatory said a Russian airstrike killed at least 34 civilians, and the Justice For Life group also reported the attack on al-Shaafa, saying civilians were killed.

At least 400,000 people have been killed in the civil war that followed a violent crackdown on demonstrations in 2011 against the rule of the family of President Bashar Assad.

The UN is set to resume peace talks between the government and the Syrian opposition in Geneva on November 28. The opposition said last week it was prepared to enter into direct talks with the government without preconditions.

The talks would cover four main topics - a new constitution, governance, elections and combating terrorism, said the UN's deputy envoy to Syria, Ramzy Ramzy, after meeting Syrian deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad in Damascus.

Syria's Foreign Ministry said the government would attend Russian-sponsored talks in Sochi, due next month.

AP
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TWIN FALLS  The College of Southern Idaho Latino Movement Club will host its inaugural Dance-A-Thon: Dancing-Hunger-Out-of-Town from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday in the Student Union Building, 315 Falls Ave. This event offers a chance to dance and make a difference, plus win great prizes. The last person standing after the dance-off will win a prize of $200; second place will win $100; and third place will win $50. There will be raffle prizes throughout the night.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/11/2017 (1817 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seven municipalities in southwestern Manitoba will present a united front next week against the planned shuttering of their EMS stations.

Critics of the plan met Friday afternoon in Hamiota to hash out the questions theyll pose to the provincial health department at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities convention next week in Brandon.

The session will represent their first opportunity to question the province on why their EMS stations are on the chopping block, explained organizer Scott Phillips, a Municipality of Sifton councillor.

We just want to see how they came up with this approach and how it makes sense, said Phillips, still baffled by the provinces motivation five months after the overhaul was announced.

No ones been informed to any rhyme or reason. Were just wondering why the PCs are making these decisions on a 2013 NDP study? Have they come out to see the sites? Have they looked at the number of calls? he asked. Nothing is jiving for us.

The participating municipalities are Sifton, Boissevain-Morton, Hamiota, Grassland, Oakland-Wawanesa, Pipestone and Whitehead.

Their task force, which formed two weeks ago and is led by Phillips and Boissevain-Morton Coun. Judy Swanson, also holds at least a dozen letters of support from neighbouring municipal governments, local businesses and people whose lives were saved by EMS care.

Phillips said the municipalities asked for a meeting with the province, where they were informed about the plenary hosted Tuesday morning at the AMM convention. At 9 a.m., the provincial health department, in front of all meeting delegates, will explain their rationale, and field questions from the audience.

During that session, the newly formed task force expects to ask the questions it has been meaning to advance for months.

Phillips has few expectations for the meeting beyond that.

We know its an uphill battle; we just need to be told why this makes sense, he said.

If you take the Hartney, Reston and Oak Lake (stations) out, thats a big area for Virden or Souris or Deloraine to cover.

The list of stations to close includes the communities in the aforementioned municipalities: Oak Lake, Boissevain, Hamiota, Hartney, Wawanesa and Reston.

The other EMS stations set to close in western Manitoba are in Baldur, Birtle, Cartwright, Elkhorn, Ethelbert, Grandview, Manitou, McCreary, Rossburn and Treherne. Elsewhere, Elie, Swan Lake, Bissett, Lundar, Pinawa, Reynolds and Riverton will lose their stations, too.

As a replacement, new stations will be located in Alonsa, Cowan, Miniota, Eriksdale and Manigotagan, while sites in Virden and Glenboro will be enhanced.

The province is rolling out the plan to develop a 24-hour, seven day a week paramedic and EMS service.

The seven-municipality group formed with the intention of raising its concerns with the province. They expect to continue advocating past the AMM convention, Phillips said.

Theyve been told it may take as long as a decade for the necessary staffing to be hired so the revamp can take place.

We want to go in with a passive approach, and see what we can do to work together to make it sustainable, Phillips said.

In his municipality, Phillips said the Oak Lake station is already busy, overseeing emergencies at the Trans-Canada Highway, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, Oak Lake beach, workers in the agriculture and oil industries, and elsewhere. The station normally handles a call a day, he said.

Closing the Oak Lake station, or any of the six others, does not make one bit of sense to us, Phillips said of the task forces thinking.

Were not going to split up (as a group) until were convinced that this is a good thing, but I dont think well think its a good thing.

 ifroese@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianfroese
TWIN FALLS  The Twin Falls County Farm Bureau Federation is hosting a forum this week for those vying for the county assessors position.

Twin Falls County Assessor Gerald Bowden retires Dec. 1. County commissioners will appoint one of the candidates to replace Bowden.

Precinct chairmen in the county will make recommendations to the commissioners, said Tom Billington, a Republican precinct chairman in Twin Falls County.

The Farm Bureau Federation has a vested interest in the assessors position, said President Elizabeth Quesnell Kohtz. Whoever is appointed to the position will have a slight advantage over other candidates in the next election.

Four candidates are vying for the position. All live in Twin Falls:

Erick Mikesell, 67, is a Twin Falls accountant.

Brad Wills, 62, is the owner of Wills Construction.

John Knapple, 61, is chief deputy assessor and supervisor of appraisal department.

George Haney, 72, is a third-grade teacher and former real estate appraiser.

The forum will be at the Twin Falls County Farm Bureau meeting room, 2732 Kimberly Road, and is open to the public.
Australians will be kept in the dark about taxpayer funds earmarked for individual Catholic schools after the Turnbull government quietly revamped its online funding estimator.

The federal government has removed how much Commonwealth funding more than 1700 Catholic schools are set to receive over the next decade under the Gonski 2.0 model.

Credit:Mario Borg

The estimator, which aims to promote transparency around school funding, now shows average per-student funding projections for Catholic education systems across Australia.

Similar changes have also been made for 18 independent school systems across Australia, including the Seventh Day Adventists, Lutherans and Anglicans.
Franco Missaglia's livelihood is the road. As a tow truck operator, he's out there every day picking up the pieces when things go wrong.

But more and more he's worried that it will be him or one of his drivers at Code 12 Towing Service that will need recovering from the side of a freeway.

Franco Missaglia wants to stay safe on the roads so he can come home to his son Jordan. Credit:Darrian Traynor

Like everyone else in the industry, he just wants to come home to his family.

"If the coppers aren't there, we're not safe. It's as simple as that," he said.
Manus Island is a sleepy, pretty Melanesian island in the Bismarck Sea off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. It has few claims to fame. Japanese war trials were held there. The anthropologist Margaret Mead lived there. But now, its name has been dragged through the international mud as a byword for Australia's shameful refugee detention policies

Over the past two days, PNG police have done the Australian government's dirty work, breaking up the former detention centre and forcibly removing more than 300 men who were refusing to go to new facilities, in no small part because it consigns them to further indefinite detention.

But if Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton think that's the end of the matter, they're kidding themselves. All they have done is move the old problem to a new location, a few kilometres away. Without hope, without a solution this problem goes on and it remains Australia's responsibility.

The language used by Peter Dutton, describing the refugees as "bad tenants", has been appalling. They are not bad tenants. They are refugees. They were the unlucky last who tried to reach Australia before the gates banged shut, who put their money into the hands of unscrupulous people smugglers and hoped the ocean would not kill them before they reached freedom.
Saint Jamie Oliver has been speaking about refusing to let his daughters post provocative selfies.

He told the podcast The Lifestyle News Hound: "The kind of pictures girls are putting up, from what I have seen, are split 50/50  a normal young girl and then this weird hybrid of, dare I say it, quite porno, luscious, pouty lips, pushing boobs out. I'm like, 'My God!' I don't even want to look at some of the things my daughter shows me. I'm like, 'Really? Aren't their parents all over that like a rash?' We banned Daisy from doing selfies."

And yet, as critics have pointed out, Mr Oliver shows no restraint about publishing pictures of his children online. Six out of his wife's nine latest social media posts have featured their offspring, while only last week Oliver shared a clip of his youngest.

But the Olivers are by no means alone. These days we are all guilty of divulgence incontinence. We live in a postlapsarian age and the fall in question was from reticence to exhibitionism; a pre-social media stiff upper lip to a virtual letting it all hang out. The clinical term for this would be "disinhibition" and, as a culture, we've got it bad. Celebrities, in particular, appear to feel that no aspect of their lives remains unfascinating, nothing too intimate to be imparted.
Labor's Annastacia Palaszczuk is edging towards retaining government in Queensland and becoming the first woman in Australian history to claim a second term as Premier, while One Nation has flopped and looks set to miss out on winning any seats despite a surge in the party's vote.

The result was on a knife edge on Saturday evening and, although Labor looked like winning the highest number of seats, it could be days before the final count is declared and it was not clear the ALP could secure a majority of 47 seats in the expanded 93 member Parliament, with a hung parliament and minority government in prospect.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk casts her vote in the state's election at Inala State School on Saturday.

In a disappointing night for the Liberal National Party, and one that could have significant federal implications for the Turnbull government, the opposition saw big swings against it and votes bleed away to One Nation.

Federal LNP MPs led by Barry O'Sullivan and George Christensen are planning to defy Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull and cross the floor in Canberra to set up a banking commission of inquiry. And, after a night in which the LNP recorded big swings against it and One Nation claimed a double digit percentage of the vote, other Coalition MPs may be emboldened to follow suit.
Hugh White, a provocateur among his academic colleagues, publishes a Quarterly Essay this week that reads like a Tom Clancy novel  a version, perhaps, of Red Storm Rising.

In this case White is not describing the possibility of war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, but conflict between the US and China over the latter's encroachments in the South China Sea.

According to this scenario Washington and Beijing venture to the brink of nuclear conflict, before a US president  unnamed  pulls back with the words in a tense White House situation room: "I'm not willing to risk a major war."

Leaving aside White's version of superpower conflict that might be retitled "Red Star Rising", no one could reasonably say in 2017 that a confrontation between a rising power and a status quo power in our neighbourhood is out of the question.
GOODING  The Gooding Basque Association hosts a First Friday Dinner every month as a fundraiser. This month's meal is from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Basque Center  intersection of Idaho 26 and Idaho 46, Gooding.

The menu for the December meal is: grilled lamb chops, battered fish, Basque rice, green beans, green salad with Basque dressing, home-made soup, home-made Basque sheepherder bread and many desserts.

Prices are $16 per meal with seniors $14. Debit and credit cards are accepted.

The Oneida family will be there with their hand-made items for purchase.

More information: call Julie Cortabitarte Gough at 208-308-5051.
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At a moment in history where we are searching not just for great leaders but great humans, I offer as a shining example former Vice-President Joe Biden.

I read his new memoir this weekend, Promise Me, Dad, and it is hard to come away from this poignant book with anything but admiration and respect for Biden  the politician, the father, the family man. The great American.

Biden has been on the national stage for four decades and like all humans, he has had his gaffes and mistakes  there was the plagiarism of a British leaders speech and his tone deafness at the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings in the early 1990s.

But his few missteps are overshadowed by his stellar public service career  his bold support for gay marriage, before his boss, Barack Obama, signed on, was a watershed moment in our civil rights history.

Biden is a Democrat who has a worked both sides of the aisle  his early career in the Senate came during an era when Democrats and Republicans occasionally united to ratify legislation that truly helped Americas middle class.

Biden is as blue-collar a guy as youll meet in Washington. His middle class, Scranton, Pennsylvania roots him the life experience to really empathize with the hurting workers of our country. He is well know as good old Joe Biden, a regular guy who everybody would feel comfortable grabbing a beer with.

In the book, Biden recounts the scene when candidate Barack Obama told his running mate pick that he passed the vice-presidential vetting process.

That was the easiest vetting I ever saw, said Obama incredulously. You dont own anything.

Biden readily admits that hes a demographic anomaly in todays American politics  he owns a modest home in Delaware but has no stocks or bonds. He and his former school teacher wife will rely on their pensions in retirement  like millions of Americans.

But we should all hope that Biden doesnt retire for at least seven more years  he is the Democratic Partys best hope to reclaim the White House in 2020.

I fear that Biden will then experience what the last two Democratic Presidents did: Cleaning up the mess created by their Republican predecessors. In 2008, Obama-Biden saved the country  and the global financial system  from going off a cliff. The Bush-Cheney regime couldnt have messed things up more  two expensive and unwinnable wars (Iraq and Afghanistan) as well as a cratering Wall Street. The de-regulation of our financial system coupled with regressive tax cuts allowed the financial sector to take risks that nearly destroyed the global financial system.

Sound familiar?

Biden is a diplomatic man who can help bridge our divide nationally and with our adversaries around the world. Hes tough, experienced, and supremely empathic  qualities we sorely need from our President.

Biden has weathered a lot of heartbreak in his life and his perseverance and stoicism is truly heroic. Forty years ago, as a rookie legislator in Washington, he received news on the floor of Congress that his young wife and daughter were killed in a car crash right before Christmas. His two young sons, Beau and Hunter, survived but the newly widowed father had to nurse them back to health alone.

He eventually recovered from this indescribable heartbreak and started a new family. His sons went on to impressive careers in both the military and public service  in fact, Beau, served as attorney general of Delaware and was on his way to becoming governor back in 2014.

But then tragedy struck Biden again: Beau was diagnosed with a lethal brain cancer and his father had to once again put family before country. Despite his dying sons plea for his dad to run for president, Biden decided that he needed to focus on his extended family  including his grandchildren in this sorrowful period after his beloved sons death.

It is painful to contemplate what might have happened if Beau Biden hadnt become ill. We probably would have a President Joe Biden in the White House now and the whole picture of America would be more optimistic.

But in politics, as in life, there is always tomorrow and the next campaign.

Heres hoping that Joe Biden this time can heed his late sons call to duty.

Run, Joe, run.
Tenants in a village in Daxing district in southern Beijing load their belonging into a truck on Friday after local authorities started to close overcrowded rental housing following a deadly fire a week ago. Photo: Xu Weichao/ Caixin

Yan Zhiqi, a 37-year-old man from Northeast China, left his friends dorm rented by a clothing plant in southern Beijing on Saturday morning after learning the unregistered plant is also affected by a deadly fire nearby and has to be relocated out of Beijing.

Local governments launched a 40-day campaign to inspect buildings unlawfully mixed with residential and industrial facilities, or those overcrowded apartments after the fire killed 19 migrant workers and their family members living in the residential compound, Jufuyuan, which also has a refrigerated underground storehouse.

Many tenants who shared crowded cheap apartments in the suburban areas of Daxing district have been forced to move out in the past few days. The campaign has been expanding to other areas of Beijing.

Yan spent one night in a motel, a few nights in a heatless spa center and two nights at his friends dorm after evacuating from his own rented apartment following the deadly fire in the neighboring building on Nov. 18.

Yan said his friend at the clothing plant is luckier than him, as the friend had at least half a day to move away all his belongings in the apartment, and was refunded part of his rent. When Yan left his own rented place, Jiyuan Apartment, during the fire, he left most of his belongings there. He was only allowed to go back to claim some of his things for an hour on Thursday accompanied by police, and had to left again.

He was still frightened by the fire on Nov. 18.

I was lying on my bed on Nov. 18 evening before the fire broke out, thinking about what I should eat for dinner, Yan told Caixin. Then he saw black smoke coming out of the bedside, and heard someone shouting run! He jumped out of bed, put on slippers, and ran out the door. He turned back again to grab a coat, and ran out of the building.

More than 200 residential households evacuated Jiyuan Apartment and had to find temporary places to live or have become homeless. The building adjacent to Jufuyuan, which housed more than 300 households before the fire, has also been sealed off.

The clean-up campaign is not limited to these two buildings. Many rental apartments, small hotels, restaurants, stores and other businesses around the area have been ordered to shut down. In fact, local authorities have been pushing for this campaign before the fire. The two apartment buildings involved in the Nov. 18 fire were already slated for demolished soon, as part of Beijings drive to phase out low-end industrial and business clusters. The fire triggered an acceleration of the drive.

Contact reporter Wu Gang (gangwu@caixin.com)

Residents at a village in Xihongmen in Beijings Daxing district prepare to move away on Friday. Photo: Caixin

A banner in a village in Xihongmen says, Get rid of fire hazards, protect safety of rental housing. Photo: Caixin

A room formerly used for renting is emptied on Friday in a village in Xihongmen as a result of a local government campaign to clean up rental housing and small businesses. Photo: Caixin

An apartment for rent has a sign on a table saying the tenants must move out by the afternoon of Nov. 22, following instructions from the authorities. Photo: Huang Ziyi/ Caixin

Signs on a building in a back alley in Beijings Chaoyang district say the authorities will carry out a campaign to deal with illegal industrial operations that are prone to fires. Photo: Chen Weixi
If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,...
'Coco' director talks about anxiety of directing Mexican-themed animated film

Pixar released its newest animated film, the family-oriented, Mexican-themed "Coco" this week. While a veteran in the world of animation, its director, Lee Unkrich, still felt great pressure in re-creating a real world culture as an animated film.

Unkrich recently spoke about the anxiety that came with directing a film like "Coco," which largely revolved around Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead, and the Mexican culture of honoring those who have passed onto the afterlife.

"I did have a lot of anxiety when we were making this film about the fact that we were taking on a real culture in the world, and the fact that I'm not Mexican or Latino myself," shared Unkrich. The director added that there was an enormous responsibility to get things right. In the process, he surrounded himself with experts and had also immersed the production team in Mexican culture.

The director compared the anxiety to what he called "fear-based filmmaking," that he experienced when he was directing one of the most successful films of the company, "Toy Story 3." In the film, he worked very hard in fear of letting people down. "I was petrified of going down in film history as the guy who directed the bad sequel to the two beloved Toy Story films," he said.

Unkrich utilized extensive research and travel to enable the team to confidently tell a story located in Mexico, and from the perspective of Mexican characters. He also had advisors that provided more information about the culture.

The veteran director went to as far as partnering with young writer and animator Adrian Molina, who is of Mexican descent, to handle the directing tasks for the movie.

These steps contributed to an accurate animated portrayal of the Mexican culture, which was very important since "Coco" also represented Pixar's move toward racial diversity in its films. This is something that, for many years, has been neglected by the company.
Getting over evolution: Is Charles Darwin's theory still controversial for Christians?

Today marks the anniversary of an iconic book's publication: Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, first released in 1859. The day has long been remembered (known to some as Evolution Day), and lamented by some religious believers. But is Darwin's culture-shifting theory still controversial?

Darwin's work is considered to be the foundational document for modern understandings of evolutionary biology  although scientific consensus has progressed and in some ways deviated from some of his ideas. At its heart it has come to represent the idea that humankind was not 'created' in its current form but as a species has evolved over a process of millennia, descending from apes and developing through natural selection.

It has been characterised as a cornerstone of secular, naturalistic materialism  since it supposedly pushed God and the Bible's account of creation out of the picture. It certainly did spark a new antagonism between science and religion, promoting a popular caricature between reasonable science and irrational faith. Was our world the work of an intelligent designer, or just the result of indifferent evolutionary processes?

It's worth noting that Darwin himself intended no such fight: he believed in God, and though he admitted his theology was 'a muddle'  his main struggle with Christianity was not about how humankind came to be, but the existence of pain today. Although his theory certainly challenged prevailing paradigms, and presents a puzzle for theologians trying to understand our origins  Darwin didn't see his work as a 'God-killer'.

But a century and a half later, what is to be made of On The Origin of Species? Among mainstream Christians today, evolutionary theory isn't that controversial. That is largely because, contrary to popular caricature, science isn't the enemy of faith. Darwin himself had an American friend, Asa Gray who believed evolution and Christianity to be perfectly compatible.

It's easy to imagine Christians just retooling their theology in the wake of Darwin to, for example, be a little more relaxed about interpreting the six-day Genesis account of creation. But thinkers as early as fourth-century theologian Augustine understood Scripture to be complex, and warned against taking literally what wasn't intended as such.

A more mature understanding of the relationship between biology and the Bible puts it thus: 'Science is about how things work, religion understands what they mean.' Christians have historically sought truth not just from the book of revelation (Scripture) but from the book of nature (the world around us, as mediated through scientific wisdom). In a world divinely made, all truth is God's truth  including the details about how exactly we got here.

That means it's not woolly liberalism to read the Bible's first chapters as they were intended: an ancient account detailing humanity's identity, purpose, and ultimate 'origin'  rooted not in blind forces but in a personal creator God. Modern groups like BioLogos make the case for 'an evolutionary understanding of God's creation', with key evangelical leaders like NT Wright, Francis Collins and John Ortberg standing behind them.

Pope Francis has also supported such an embrace, saying God is not 'a magician with a magic wand'.

Of course some still resist. Young Earth Creationists (YEC) passionately contradict evolution theory, insisting in an earth created between six and ten thousand years ago  with mankind not descended from apes but from Adam and Eve as Genesis says. One prominent YEC, Ken Ham, is clear that all we need to know about where we came from is in the Bible  those who say otherwise are opposing God.

As he put it: 'No scientist witnessed the origin of man, and evolutionary scientists only believe there were intermediate evolutionary links between an ape-like ancestor and man because they have disregarded God's Word and substituted their own fallible opinions in its place.'

But Ham's brand of creationism, though popular, is in the minority. One recent YouGov study found for example that amongst Brits and Canadians, most accept evolutionary theory. Meanwhile one in five UK atheists (and one in three in Canada) agreed that evolutionary processes couldn't explain human consciousness.

Perhaps that remains the only tension with evolution for religious believers, not that it's inherently wrong  but that it doesn't say enough. That it's one thing to say how we got here, but another to say why. That life is full of beauty, love, wonder - and must be about more than just a 'survival of the fittest'. On life's inherent meaning and origin in God, on its hope through God's grace and redemption - on these existential tenets Christians shouldn't be expected to shift.

Even Darwin, who ended his life an agnostic, couldn't deny some meaning behind reality. He wrote to Asa Gray: 'I cannot anyhow be contented to view this wonderful universe and especially the nature of man, and to conclude that everything is the result of brute force.'

He later described the 'impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance'.

As it seems Darwin grasped, you could  and should  understand the facts of how humans came to be, but when it comes to 'origins'  evolution isn't all we need.

You can follow @JosephHartropp on Twitter
TWIN FALLS  The holiday season officially kicks off Friday in downtown Twin Falls.

The Festival of Lights Parade, presented by the Times-News, will coincide this year with the grand opening of the new Twin Falls City Hall and a tree lighting ceremony.

The theme of this years parade is Hometown Holiday.

Were just excited to be part of this great tradition, said Michelle Campbell, director of events and marketing for the Times-News.

Heres what you need to know about Fridays events:

Festival of Lights Parade

The parade starts at 6 p.m. Friday. It will feature 40 floats and last about an hour.

The route is different this year and will go in the opposite direction than usual, starting at Magic Valley High School and ending at Jerome Street.

The purpose of the change is to end at the downtown commons near the new Twin Falls City Hall. As soon as the parade wraps up with Santa Claus appearance, the tree lighting ceremony will follow.

Typically, the parade draws 5,000 to 10,000 spectators to downtown Twin Falls. But Campbell expects this years attendance will be even bigger, thanks to the tree lighting ceremony.

If youre planning to attend the parade, bring canned food to donate to a local nonprofit and new, unwrapped toys for the U.S. Marine Corps League Magic Valley Detachments yearly drive, Toys for Tots.

A photo of each parade entry will be posted Saturday at Magicvalley.com. Youll have a week to cast a vote for your favorite entry.

The winner of the peoples choice award will be announced in the Dec. 13 edition of the Times-News.

City Hall opening and tree lighting ceremony

Community members are invited to take a guided tour of the new Twin Falls City Hall from 1-4 p.m. Friday at 103 Main Ave. E.

Hot chocolate and refreshments will be served in the lobby. Department staff will also be available to answer questions.

It was our citizens who led this public investment and they patiently worked with us during this transition, Twin Falls Mayor Shawn Barigar said in a statement Nov. 16. Now we want to thank our community by joining us in celebrating the opening of this beautiful new Twin Falls City Hall.

The $5.7 million remodeling project transformed the formerly vacant Banner Furniture building into the new City Hall. The building features 36,000 square feet for current services and an additional 12,000 square feet of shelled space for future growth.

The city also recently completed a $9.5 million remodel of the old City Hall into a public safety complex.

Street closures

If youre planning to head downtown Friday, be prepared for street closures.

Starting at 11 a.m., parking and vehicle traffic wont be allowed on Main Avenue from Shoshone to Idaho streets. Another section of Main Avenue, from Eden to Idaho streets, will also be closed starting at 4 p.m.

Public parking lots on Second avenues will be open.
Russ Chung once lived in a sizable Midwest home, but he recently downsized to a luxury one-bedroom rental in Midtown Manhattan just blocks from Central Park.

Now, rather than mowing a lawn, the 60-year-old higher education administrator spends his free time visiting museums and taking in New York's other cultural offerings.

"As you get older, there are only so many things you want to concentrate on. Apartment life lets you focus on things that matter and get rid of stuff that takes up a lot of time," said Chung. His building's concierge signs for his packages, and arranges for housecleaning.

Chung is one example of a subset of baby boomers who have become the fastest-growing group of renters across the nation. Since they tend to have more money to spend than their millennial counterparts, developers are actively figuring out how to lure them to into one of the luxury buildings sprouting up across the city.

Both boomers and millennials are flocking to areas like downtown Brooklyn, where a flurry of new full-services high-rises are springing up  and they sometimes compete over units, Citi Habitats agent Jason Burke told CNBC.

According to Burke, even though there is a glut of these new apartments, there is only a limited number in certain price ranges. Most people want to get in first when the developers are offering the best discounts, he said.

"The boomers are the biggest demographic that can afford it," he said. "But tech levels everything. We're seeing a lot of engineers come to New York, a lot of people in tech who don't work from an office."
For the Shamas family, the decision to sell seven auto dealerships in Southern California was not easy. After all, the family has been selling cars in and around Los Angeles since 1955.

Still, Carol Shamas' husband, Darryl Holter, says selling the dealerships for an undisclosed amount in July was the right move given the potential changes coming to the auto industry.

"With all the things we've talked about, autonomous cars, ride-sharing and car-sharing, you wonder if the auto dealership will be transformed from a full-service automotive provider to basically a delivery agent for the manufacturers," Holter tells CNBC.

Holter's feelings about the uncertainty of the future of the auto business is not a surprise to Erin Kerrigan, who runs Kerrigan Advisors, which consults companies or individuals buying and selling dealerships.

In the last year, Kerrigan has noticed an important shift in how small, independent auto dealers view the future.

"More and more dealers are saying, 'Well, it probably is time to exit instead of rolling the dice for the next generation and have them handle potentially a lot of changes in the future,'" said Kerrigan.

There are more than 18,000 auto dealerships in the U.S. owned by more than 8,000 individuals, private companies and publicly traded firms. The overwhelming majority of them enjoy strong profits due to two straight years of auto sales topping 17 million vehicles, with 2017 on pace to do the same.

So why would someone want to sell a dealership right now?

For starters, the value of the average dealership (real estate and goodwill) is at a record high of $16.9 million, according to Kerrigan Advisors. In addition, many independent dealers, the so-called mom and pop shops, are family run and the owners may not have someone in the next generation interested in being an auto dealer. That brings in the third factor Kerrigan is hearing: The auto business could dramatically change as automakers develop ride-share companies, autonomous-drive vehicles and electric models that may not require as much service.

"There's no question that auto retail and dealerships have a business model future," said Kerrigan. "It just might not be the one that dealers want to be a part of."

Mark Scarpelli, who owns Raymond Chevrolet in Antioch, Illinois, sees the future in a different light. His family has owned Its dealership for 60 years and has no intention of selling it anytime soon.

"If we have autonomous cars, electrification, we are here to serve the public and sell automobiles," said Scarpelli. "I think you are going to see a new breed, a new generation and excitement in our business for dealers going forward."

Last month Adam Jonas, a widely followed auto analyst with Morgan Stanley, predicted the industry's 8,000 plus auto dealers will eventually consolidate and become 10 mega-dealers who operate more as fleet management operators overseeing huge ride-hailing and car-sharing operations.

Extreme? Perhaps.

But as more mom and pop auto dealers survey their operations, there are people like Holter, who believe this is the time to sell.

"Stand-alone dealers may be able to continue in small markets, but I think they'll have trouble in big metro markets," he said.

"There are these trends, and they are a challenge for the future."

Questions? Comments? .
A lack of investment in oil projects will likely come back to bite the energy market, the CEO of one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds told CNBC.

"When you look at the investments in exploration projects all over the world  It has been depleted, and I believe we will see the results of that in the coming years," Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak told CNBC. Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala has around $125 billion of assets under management and specializes in buyout investments.

The price of oil tumbled from $120 a barrel in June 2014 due to weak demand, a strong dollar and booming U.S. shale production. OPEC's reluctance to cut output was also seen as a key reason behind the fall. But the oil cartel and other crude-producing nations moved to curb production in late 2016. Oil and gas firms worldwide have subsequently cut their share in investment given the subdued market prices.

"It has been challenging from one perspective dealing with a lower oil price environment but at the same time, very opportunistic because it helped us move faster down the diversification strategy," Mubadala's Al Mubarak said.
One of Wall Street's top commodity strategists sees the latest OPEC meeting taking on renewed importance.

RBC Capital Markets' Helima Croft, who'll be attending Thursday's gathering in Vienna, told CNBC there's an emerging Russia factor  and it's contributing to jitters in the oil market.

According to Croft, there's a chance Russia won't agree to rollover the 1.8 million barrel a day production cut for all of 2018, a plan that has been expected to get approval. She noted a number of major Russian oil firms have been expressing their displeasure about extending the agreement.

"If Russia is not willing to sign up again to extend the cut, people fear that we're going to get something shorter than anticipated," the firm's Global Head of Commodity Strategy said recently on CNBC's "Trading Nation."

Croft's latest take on the global oil markets comes as crude oil hit $58 a barrel last week for the first time since 2015. WTI Crude oil is now up 8 percent for the year, but down more than 40 percent over the past ten years.

"From a price perspective, some of the risks are really to the downside because if we don't get a full extension for all of 2018, I think this market could sell off very similar to what happened in May when the statement out of OPEC did not reach market consensus and expectations," she said.

At that time, crude oil prices fell 2 percent. Since then, prices have rebounded by 20 percent.

Even though Croft believes there's more downside risk in the oil markets right now, there is one thing in particular that could lift prices.

Croft, a CNBC contributor, is also watching OPEC member Venezuela. Its state oil company has been on the brink of default.

"The big wildcard for Q1 [2018], I think, is going to be what happens to a country like Venezuela," Croft said. "Do we really start to see those barrels roll off the market in a lot faster fashion? That could be one of our big upside stories."
TWIN FALLS  So you want to give to a nonprofit this holiday season. But theres so much to consider when trying to pick the right one, where do you even begin?

Does the charity have tax-exempt status? How much money is spent on programs versus salaries? What services are offered to those in need?

It can be overwhelming.

According to Brett DeLange, chief of the Consumer Protection Division for the Idaho Attorney Generals Office, donating to a charity is not much different from shopping around before purchasing an appliance or a car.

Idaho law prohibits misleading or false charitable solicitations, but he said hes seen his fair share.

Typically what we try to tell people is when you donate to a charity, its more important than ever to vet where youre sending your money, said Veronica Craker, a spokeswoman for Better Business Bureau Northwest in Boise.

These warnings may sound intimidating, but DeLange said he still wants to encourage people to donate to nonprofits.

Know who you want to donate to and send it to them directly, DeLange said.

Whether you plan to give online, in person or by mail this holiday season, here are five things to consider before locking in that donation:

How much is used for programs?

The BBB recommends no more than 35 percent of a nonprofits contributions should go toward fundraising. At least 65 percent of expenses should be for programs  providing a service to those in need.

We dont have anything set on how much they should be paying an executive director, Craker said. We just want to make sure the majority of the funds are going into the organization  not paying the overhead.

Be wary of phone and online solicitations

DeLange advises being wary of making a donation over the phone.

If theyre calling you on the phone, theyre a professional fund raiser, he said.

The fund raiser could get 80 percent of your donation before it even goes to the charity, DeLange said. That means if you donate $100, theres a possibility only $20 will go to the organization.

There are many charities in the Magic Valley and Idaho operating on a shoestring budget that are doing great work, DeLange said. The few programs that dont do what they indicate, however, sully the ones that do.

They lose out when professional fund raisers call you and the money is siphoned off, DeLange said.

Also, its easy for someone to claim theyre from a charity when theyre actually not.

You just dont know whos on the phone, DeLange said.

A more recent trend in charity work is online crowdfunding. Some websites vet the causes to make sure theyre legitimate and delete pages that dont meet their standards, but not always.

Craker recommends knowing the person or organization behind the crowdfunding page before donating.

Do your homework

Its important to do your homework with who you want to donate (to), DeLange said. You cant judge a charity by its name.

Donate directly to organizations you know, he said, and also the ones in which you have confidence in their work and mission.

For local nonprofits, word-of-mouth is a great way to help with the vetting process.

One source of information is the Better Business Bureaus give.org. BBB provides accreditation for charities. It doesnt cost a nonprofit anything to go through the process, but its rigorous, and they must meet 20 standards.

Beyond just finances, BBB covers topics such as board of directors oversight, conflicts of interest and effectiveness of the nonprofit  whether theyre able to do what theyre promising.

Another good source of information is Guidestar.org. You can look up a few years worth of a nonprofits Form 990, which is filed with the Internal Revenue Service. It outlines information such as revenue, expenses, salaries and how donation money is being used.

Other resources include charitynavigator.org, and the Idaho Attorney Generals Office has a webpage under its consumer protection division with resources for donors and nonprofits.

Does it have tax-exempt status?

The BBB encourages charities to gain tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3), but not all of them do.

That is something you should look for, Craker said. Thats one good way to see if thats a good charity to donate to.

One easy way to check is to put the organizations name into the IRS online charity database.

What is the charity asking for?

If youre donating to a charity thats asking for items such as clothing or food  especially, after a natural disaster  be cautious, Craker said. Its hard to guarantee items will reach their final destination in a timely manner.

Instead, Craker said, find a charity thats already on the ground doing things and donate funds that way.
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A sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is seeking to ramp up its investment capital in one of the world's biggest technology funds. The Mubadala Fund, which is based in Abu Dhabi, is searching for ways to convert oil money into tech money. CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak told CNBC the firm was currently looking at investment opportunities in artificial intelligence, virtual reality and e-commerce. When asked about Mubadala's investments as part of the SoftBank Vision Fund to date, Al Mubarak said: "We have done more than 20 transactions since we entered into this partnership, all of which we are very excited about."

SoftBank Vision Fund

Unveiled less than a year ago, the SoftBank Vision Fund has already become one of the largest tech funds in the world. By May, the fund had closed $93 billion in capital, and it hopes to raise $100 billion by the end of 2017. Saudi Arabia is the most prominent investor into the Vision Fund, followed by SoftBank . Other investors include Mubadala, Apple , Foxconn , Sharp and Qualcomm .

The logo of Japanese mobile provider SoftBank is displayed at an entrance of a shop in Tokyo's shopping district Ginza on February 8, 2017. Kazuhiro Nogi | AFP | Getty Images

Mubadala's CEO said the company had been following the performance of SoftBank for more than three decades, adding that the Japanese tech giant had a "very strong track record" with previous investments. However, while SoftBank's previous investments were certainly relevant, Al Mubarak said the key for the UAE's state fund was to find the "right assets at a risk-acceptable valuation."

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Switching oil for tech

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and home to around 6 percent of the world's proven oil reserves, is looking to reduce its reliance on crude after prices collapsed in recent years. Instead, Mubadala is actively searching for ways to gain exposure to lucrative technology firms. In an effort to diversify away from a heavy reliance on oil, the UAE government has slashed expenditure and merged some state-owned firms. Earlier this year, Mubadala merged with International Petroleum Investment Co to become the world's 14th largest fund, according to data published by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. The government-owned fund reportedly manages approximately $125 billion in assets.

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Space-strapped cities like New York and San Francisco may think they have it rough, but the booming Hong Kong may have an even more immediate problem.

The population surge is making real estate developers consider becoming cave-builders.

The Hong Kong government has begun searching for a long-term solution, one that may include building underground for non-residential purposes, according to a report in Wired. Hong Kong officials have considered cavern excavation since the 1980s, following in the footsteps of engineers for projects in Norway and Kansas.

Already one of the most expensive cities in the world, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places on the globe, and is simply running out of space as its headcount jumps further above 7 million. A booming economy has led to commensurate economic growth, with 2017 growth expected to check in around 3.7 percent.

Developers are struggling to house key sectors that help the economy run. Additionally, they are being forced to navigate stiff building restrictions that make it harder to build more in developed areas.

"All the urban flat land in Hong Kong is already a built-up area," Tony Ho, chief geotechnical engineer of the Hong Kong Special Administrative region's Civil Engineering and Development Department told Wired.

However, rezoning and building in rural areas could provide some temporary relief, the report noted. The government is exploring options to make more space for housing above ground by relocating facilities  like water and sewage treatment plants, data centers and reservoirs  underground.

"What we are thinking is, if we can best use the underground space resources, we can turn the constraint into an opportunity," Ho told Wired. Longer-term, the project could redefine public spaces in the region.

The government has already earmarked funds for future projects and kicked off feasibility studies. In 2017, the government conducted a study, pinpointing 48 prospective caverns for long-term development, and has six more studies underway.

Read more on Hong Kong's underground city planning on Wired.
The CEO of one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds has told CNBC that he sees continued growth for the Chinese economy  and he named one of his favorite companies there.

Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi-based fund, has invested in the country by partnering with China Development Bank Capital and China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange to establish UAE-China Joint Investment Fund.

Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak told CNBC Thursday that the fund had already deployed more than $700 million in a big bet on Chinese growth.

"We believe China is an economy that's going to continuously grow at attractive growth rates and that the opportunities lie within that economy," he said.
An Taoiseach and Leader of Fine Gael, Leo Varadkar, arrives at Fine Gael HQ on 5 Oct. 2017, in Dublin, Ireland.

Support for Ireland's governing Fine Gael party fell in a poll on Saturday as a political crisis that has left the country two days away from the calling of a snap election showed no sign of being resolved.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's minority government was on the brink on Friday after the party propping it up submitted a motion of no confidence in the deputy prime minister, weeks before a summit on Britain's plans to leave the European Union where Ireland will play a key role.

Varadkar has said that if the motion put down by Fianna Fail, the main opposition party, is not withdrawn by Tuesday, he would be forced to hold an election before Christmas.

Support for his party dropped two points to 27 percent in the Sunday Business Post/Red C poll, only marginally ahead of the 25.5 percent it achieved at last year's election and its worst performance in recent opinion polls.

Fellow center-right party Fianna Fail rose to 26 percent from 25 percent a month ago and leftwing opposition Sinn Fein were up two points to 16 percent, both also marginally higher than the last election.

The survey was taken between November 20 and 24, the day the crisis escalated rapidly and suggested the parties would struggle to form anything but another minority administration.

"Again (the poll) suggests no one wins at a Christmas election if these numbers hold," Richard Colwell, the chief executive of Red C, wrote on Twitter.

Varadkar has said that there is still time to avoid the snap poll but neither side were stepping down on Saturday ahead of the motion of no-confidence, to be debated on Tuesday.

"Although the leaders will do their best, it is unlikely that the positions are going to shift between now and Tuesday, and if that is the case the only way we can prevent an election is for the Tanaiste to resign," senior Fianna Fail MP Jim O'Callaghan told national broadcaster RTE.

The Tanaiste is the name given to the position of deputy head of government in Ireland, currently held by Frances Fitzgerald.

Health Minister Simon Harris said the price of any talks over the next three days "will not be the head" of the deputy prime minister and that the agreement with Fianna Fail that allows the minority government to function was "extremely badly damaged."

Varadkar is due to play a major role in the December 14-15 EU summit on Brexit, telling fellow leaders whether Dublin believes sufficient progress has been made on the future border between EU-member Ireland and Britain's province of Northern Ireland.

The government has said enough progress has not been made to date.

The border is one of three issues Brussels wants broadly resolved before it decides whether to move the talks on to a second phase about trade and EU officials have said a snap election in Ireland would complicate that task.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe looks on as he attends the 2nd Session of the South Africa-Zimbabwe binational Commission (BNC) on October 3, 2017 at Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria. Phil Makagkoe | AFP | Getty Images

Inside State House in Harare, Robert Mugabe was in the tightest spot of his 37-year rule. Tanks were on the streets and troops had occupied the state broadcaster, from where the army had announced it had taken control of Zimbabwe. Mugabe, 93 years old but still alert, remained defiant. The only leader the country had known since independence was refusing to quit. At a tense meeting with his military top brass on November 16, the world's oldest head of state put his foot down: "Bring me the constitution and tell me what it says," he ordered military chief Constantino Chiwenga, according to two sources present. An aide brought a copy of the constitution, which lays out that the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Chiwenga, dressed in camouflage fatigues, hesitated before replying that Zimbabwe was facing a national crisis that demanded military intervention. Mugabe retorted that the army was the problem, according to the sources present. Then the beleaguered president indicated that perhaps they could find a solution together. The meeting marked the start of an extraordinary five-day standoff between Mugabe and Zimbabwe's supreme law on one side, and the military, his party and Zimbabwe's people on the other. The generals wanted Mugabe to go, but they also wanted a peaceful "coup," one that would not irreparably tarnish the administration aiming to take over, according to multiple military and political sources. The president finally accepted defeat only after he was sacked by his own ZANU-PF party and faced the ignominy of impeachment. He signed a short letter of resignation to parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda that was read out to lawmakers on November 21. Mugabe, who had run Zimbabwe since 1980 and overseen its descent into economic ruin while his wife shopped for luxury goods, was gone. The country erupted into ecstasy. Parliamentarians danced and people poured onto the streets in their tens of thousands to celebrate a political downfall that sent shockwaves across Africa and the world. To many, the end of Mugabe had been unthinkable only one week before. Reuters has pieced together the events leading up to Mugabe's removal, showing that the army's action was the culmination of months of planning that stretched from Harare to Johannesburg to Beijing.

Bitter rivalry

Drawing on a trove of intelligence documents from within Mugabe's feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Reuters reported in September that the army was backing Emmerson Mnangagwa, then vice president, to succeed Mugabe when the time came. The report detailed how Mnangagwa, a lifelong friend and former security chief of Mugabe, might cooperate with Mugabe's political foes in order to revive the economy. It caused furore in Zimbabwe's media and political circles. Bitter rivalry intensified between Mnangagwa and Grace, Mugabe's 52-year-old wife, who also hoped to take over as president and had the backing of a ZANU-PF faction known as G40. In early October, Mnangagwa said he had been airlifted to hospital in South Africa after a poisoning attempt in August. He pointed no fingers - but he didn't need to. Grace's swift response was to deny it and accuse her rival of seeking sympathy; she belittled him as nothing but an employee of her husband, according to a report in the state-run Herald newspaper. As the pressure built, Mugabe became increasingly paranoid about the loyalty of army chief Chiwenga, a career soldier and decorated veteran of Zimbabwe's 1970s bush-war against white-minority rule. Mugabe's spies, who permeated every institution and section of society in Zimbabwe, were warning him the military would not accept Grace as president. "Mugabe is very worried of a coup," one intelligence report, dated October 23, said. "Mugabe was openly told by senior CIOs that the military is not going to easily accept the appointment of Grace. He was warned to be ready for civil war." Reuters reviewed the document, and hundreds of other intelligence reports dating back to 2009, before the coup took place. The documents come from within the CIO, but Reuters could not determine for whom they were written. The CIO is split into factions, some pro- and some anti-Mugabe.

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In late October, Mugabe summoned Chiwenga to a showdown, according to another of the documents, dated October 30. It said Mugabe confronted the army chief about his ties to Mnangagwa and told him that going against Grace would cost him his life. "Chiwenga was warned by Mugabe that it is high time for him to start following. He mentioned to Chiwenga that those fighting his wife are bound to die a painful death," the intelligence report said. At the same meeting, Mugabe also ordered Chiwenga to pledge allegiance to Grace. He refused. "Chiwengwa refused to be intimidated. He stood his ground over his loyalty to Mnangagwa," the report said. Reuters put questions about this exchange and other aspects of this article to Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba. In an enigmatic text message dated November 23, he replied: "Enjoy Reuters copy. Goodnight." Two spokesmen for Chiwenga declined to comment. After another tense meeting with Mugabe on November 5, Chiwenga left Harare on a pre-arranged official trip and travelled to China, which wields significant influence as a major investor in Zimbabwe. A day later, Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa as vice president and purged him from ZANU-PF, the liberation movement that Mnangagwa had served since his youth and for which, as a young militant caught bombing a train, he had nearly been executed. For the generals, Mugabe had gone too far. The military immediately activated a "Code Red" alert, its highest level of preparedness, a military source said.

Assassination plot

Moments after Mnangagwa was ousted on November 6, the security details assigned to him and his house were withdrawn, according to a statement he issued later. He was told his life was in danger. "Security personnel, who are friendly to me, warned me that plans were underfoot to eliminate me once arrested and taken to a police station," Mnangagwa said in a November 21 statement. "It was in my security interest to leave the country immediately." From Harare, he managed to escape over the border into neighboring Mozambique, where he caught a plane to China, according to one source familiar with his movements. There he met up with Chiwenga, the source said. Reuters could not confirm the account; but an intelligence report from November 13 indicates that Mugabe suspected some of his generals of preparing to overthrow him from China. "A number of generals are now in China ready to plot Mugabe's ouster with Mnangagwa," the report said. It was not clear which generals, and whether their travel to China was authorized. Mugabe's spies suspected old allies had turned against the ageing president. An intelligence report, dated October 30, said Beijing and Moscow both supported regime change out of frustration at Zimbabwe's economic implosion under Mugabe.

President Robert Mugabe listens to his wife Grace Mugabe at a rally of his ruling ZANU-PF party in Harare, Zimbabwe, November 8, 2017. Philimon Bulawayo | Reuters

"China and Russia are after change," the report said. "They are after change within ZANU-PF as they are sick and tired of Mugabe's leadership." "The two countries are even ready to clandestinely supply arms of war to Mnangagwa to fight Mugabe." Neither China's Defence Ministry nor Foreign Ministry responded to a request for comment. The Foreign Ministry had previously said Chiwenga's visit was "a normal military exchange mutually agreed upon by China and Zimbabwe." Reuters sent written requests for comment to the Kremlin, the Russian Defence Ministry and the Russian Foreign Ministry. None of them responded. China has long taken an interest in Zimbabwe, having supported Mugabe's forces during the liberation struggle. After independence it developed connections there in mining, security and construction. Russia has also had ties to Zimbabwe since the early 1980s, and in 2014 a Russian consortium entered into a partnership to develop a $3 billion platinum mining project in the country. Chiwenga's trip to China culminated in him meeting Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan in Beijing on November 10. Two sources with knowledge of the talks told Reuters that Chiwenga asked if China would agree not to interfere if he took temporary control in Zimbabwe to remove Mugabe from power. Chang assured him Beijing would not get involved and the two also discussed tactics that might be employed during the de facto coup, the sources said. Reuters could not establish whether Mnangagwa met Chang. Having got wind of the talks in China, Mugabe summoned his still-loyal police commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, and his deputy, Innocent Matibiri, to detain Chiwenga on his return to Harare, government and security sources said. The pair assembled a squad of 100 police and intelligence agents. But the plot leaked and Chiwenga supporters managed to pull together a counter-team of several hundred special forces soldiers and agents as their commander's plane approached. Some were disguised as baggage handlers, their military fatigues and weapons hidden beneath high-visibility jackets and overalls, one security source said. Realising they were outnumbered and outgunned, Chihuri's police team backed down, allowing Chiwenga to touch down without incident, the security source said. Mugabe's spokesman did not comment on the incident.

Two days later, Chiwenga and a group of military commanders demanded a meeting with Mugabe at his official State House residence in Harare, an ornate colonial villa complete with stuffed leopards and thick red carpets, according to a government source. They said they were "very alarmed" at the firing of Mnangagwa and told Mugabe to rein in his wife and her G40 faction, whom they accused of trying to divide the military, according to the government official, who was present at the discussions. "What do you think should be done?" Mugabe demanded of the soldiers as he sat slumped in an armchair. The generals asked him to give assurances that they too would not be purged. Mugabe's response was lukewarm, the government source said. Chiwenga told Mugabe he would be making his concerns about the G40 faction public. Hours later, Chiwenga summoned reporters to the military's main barracks near Harare to issue a statement. "We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that, when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in," he said, reading from a prepared text. The following afternoon, Reuters reported six armoured personnel carriers heading towards the headquarters of Mugabe's Presidential Guard on the outskirts of Harare. It was unclear whose command they were under. At the time, the city's residents were on edge but still unsure what it all meant.

The line went dead

At around 6 p.m. on November 14, Mugabe's motorcade headed to his private "Blue Roof" residence, a heavily fortified compound in the capital's leafy northern suburb of Borrowdale. Meanwhile, social media buzzed with pictures of armored vehicles driving along roads to Harare, sparking frenzied speculation about a coup. Increasingly concerned, Grace put in a call shortly after 7 p.m. to a cabinet minister asking to get WhatsApp and Twitter shut down, according to one source familiar with a recording of the conversation. The minister, whose identity Reuters is withholding for safety reasons, replied that such a move was the responsibility of state security minister Kembo Mohadi. "No-one will stand for a coup. It cannot happen," said Grace, commonly referred to as Amai, which means Mother, according to a source who heard the recording. Mugabe's voice is then heard on the line: "As you have heard from Amai, is there anything that can be done?" The minister gave the same response, about the responsibilities of state security, and the line went dead, the source said. Mohadi declined to comment. Two hours later, two armored vehicles rolled into the Pockets Hill headquarters of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), according to ZBC sources. Dozens of soldiers sealed off the site and stormed into the studios where they accosted staff, snatching their phones and halting programmes. State-owned ZBC, widely seen as a mouthpiece for Mugabe, switched to broadcasting pop music videos. Mugabe's inner circle, nearly all of them G40 loyalists, had no idea what was under way, according to four sources familiar with their conversations. Information Minister Simon Khaya Moyo called Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi to ask if he had any information about a possible coup. Sekeramayi said no, but tried to check with military chief Chiwenga. Chiwenga told Sekeramayi he would get back to him. According to the sources, Chiwenga never did. Moyo remains in hiding and was unavailable for comment. Sekeramayi declined to comment.

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When I was about 8, I heard Dorothy tell Toto, Were not in Kansas anymore. Its unfortunate that we frequently need to remind people that times and situations change and we must be prepared for whats ahead. Bob Dylan summed it up with his lyrics, The times, they are a changin.

For most of our history, American economic growth has been the envy of the world. Natural resources, habitable land, entrepreneurial spirit, energy and innovation seemed boundless. The one resource in short supply from even the earliest settlers was skilled labor. Historically, our economy was fueled by a constant supply of foreign-born labor as early immigrants were fleeing religious and political persecution. They saw America as a land of opportunity, not available under European monarchies. In 1875, the first limitation on immigration was imposed on persons from China and Japan. A variety of changes continued and by 1921, quotas were established to limit the flood of labor from Europeans fleeing the devastation of WWI and the Russian revolution.

However, immigration from Canada and Mexico was open, so many Europeans simply immigrated into the U.S. through Canada and Mexico bypassing quota limitations. They became some of the first illegal immigrants. Currently there is much debate on what to do about the millions of undocumented workers in the U.S.

Documentation issues accelerated in 1964 when the Bracero program was cancelled and ended a legal means for U.S. employers and foreign-born workers from Mexico to connect. Today there are two noted ways for foreign-born guest workers to legally enter the country. The federal H2a (agriculture) and H1b (professional) Guest Worker visas provide a legal program for employers to fill some workplace shortages. In southern Idaho, the H2a program accommodates many workers for traditional agricultural needs. However, the H2a limits visas to seasonal labor, which does not match the 24/7/365 needs of the dairy industry.

A new version of the H2a worker visa is needed to address the shortage for our non-seasonal ag labor. We often hear complaints that these foreign workers are taking work from natural-born citizens. Just as history reveals, legal or undocumented immigrants have largely filled the workforce for intensive manual labor requiring long days and nights, which are currently available at hourly rates well above minimum wage.

Here in the Magic Valley, we have many available positions in agriculture. With our unemployment rate at 2.9 percent, there are fewer people looking for work. Guest workers, through a revised H2a visa, can fill those workforce vacancies with documented employees, which is preferable to the alternative.

While the current Guest Worker programs provide some documented workers to our agricultural industry, there needs to be modifications to meet the changing times and the workforce needs of an all-day-year-round industry. Congress must reform the Guest Worker laws to address identifiable workforce shortages and border security.

The discussion of immigration and guest worker programs do stir emotions derived from the same history but not necessarily with the same historical perspective. Before I form my own opinion, I try listen to all sides of an issue and look for solutions. We need to find ways to deal with real challenges and stop the unproductive rhetoric from all sides of the debate. It is time to implement solutions to workforce shortages, including workforce training and guest worker programs. A growing economy is important for Idaho and America.

We are at that point in history to consider the wisdom of Theodore Roosevelt, The best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing. We have had enough of the wrong thing and doing nothing about it. The times, they have changed.
Ireland hates Brexit, and with reason. For our nearest and closest neighbour, it is an ill wind blowing little good. Economically, it takes the two countries out of the same arrangements, and the negative impact on Irelands GDP could be somewhere beween two to four per cent relative to base. Politically, it tilts the balance within the EU towards more protectionist and interventionist countries in Europes south and east, leaving Ireland exposed as an English-speaking, free-trading and America-friendly economy. And culturally, Brexit disturbs the Irish psyche at an elemental level. To become an EU member has become synonymous in much of Ireland with being a modern country. Britain leaving the EU is thus seen as risking a return to a troubled past, and unpicking the delicate settlement in Northern Ireland. Europe is synonymous with civilisation, and Britain is quitting it, or so some in Ireland believe.

Finally, Brexit throws into sharp relief the countrys own difficulties with the EU. It has become a creditor country, paying in to the EU budget. Ireland has a very low corporation tax rate, and there is an EU push for harmonisation  i.e: raising it. The Commission is on Irelands back over its broader tax arrangements, seeking up to 13 billion over what it claims is illegal state aid. There is a lively movement for Irexit in the country, given the economic links between Britain and Ireland, a case for which has been put on this site by Ray Bassett. It is getting nowhere much. The EU is too bound up with modern Irelands self-image for matters to be otherwise. But Britain is not thanked in Ireland for dragging these issues into the light, and making discussion about its future more problematic.

Since all this was as true on June 13, when Enda Kenny resigned as Taoiseach, as it is today, a question follows: why has Leo Varadkhar, his replacement, broken with his predecessors careful position on Brexit, and chartered a confrontational course  to the point where disagreements over the Irish border may bring down a free trade deal? We give you the British and Irish version of events.

The British version is that while Kenny was an experienced politician who enjoyed hero status among his fellow EPP leaders in Europe, Varadkar doesnt have the same sure-footedness. There are claims that he is worried about domestic pressure from Sinn Fein and, closer to home, from Fianna Fail, with which his Fine Gael party has a confidence and supply deal. That the former is threatening to withdraw support from the latter, and force an early election, will do nothing to make the situation more straightforward. Varadkar may also be guarding his back against Simon Coveney, Irelands Foreign Minister, who has said that that no border is acceptable.

The DUP says that the Irish Government is moving to redraw the border in the Irish sea, and using Brexit to undermine the unity of the United Kingdom. ConservativeHome believes that the truth lies elsewhere. The point isnt that the Irish Government wants Northern Ireland in the Customs Union and Single Market. It is that it wants the whole of the UK within it. It may seem obvious that we are set to leave both. But there is wishful thinking abroad as well as in, say, the pages of the Financial Times. From Dublin and Brussels, Theresa Mays Government looks even weaker that it does in Britain. Veradkar may believe that if he pushes for Ulster not to leave the Customs Union, May will have no option but to concede that the UK as a whole will stay in it. Bits of official Ireland may be thinking that if she and the Conservatives collapse completely, Keir Starmer and his colleagues will be easier to deal with.

The Irish version is that British proposals for a light-touch border, enabled through technology and waivers, are what the EU has labelled magical thinking, and that no real work has been done on them since they were first advanced. Furthermore, it claims that its own mapping has found 142 areas of north-south co-operation that Brexit could unpick, all of which operate within a framework put in place by the Belfast Agreement, since buttressed by agreements made by the North-South ministerial council. They counter British charges of Varadkar being in hoc to Fianna Fail with its own of May being in thrall to the DUP.

Certainly, Brexit is shining a harsh spotlight on the pecularities of Northern Ireland. The Irish Government is right to point out that parts of the islands economy operate as whole (such as the electricity market). But, by the same token, much of it clearly doesnt: Northern Ireland operates under British, not Irish, tax and excise arrangements. Cross-border trade is relatively low for two parts of an island. Essentially, the two governments are now putting different constructions on what would constitute a hard border. To the UK, it means border posts and checkpoints  all the paraphernalia of the Troubles. To Ireland, it means any departure from the present arrangements. Its position is not made easier by a paradox: that is in neither London nor Dublins interest for this to happen, but that some EU countries take a different position. France, for example, is taking a strong position on maintaining the integrity of the Single Market.

EU membership for Northern Ireland isnt written into the Belfast Agreement (unlike membership of the ECHR). But a broader point arises from the islands recent history  namely, the applicability of the politics of fudge. So, for example, there may be mileage in Varadkars floating of a special customs union between the UK and EU. This suggestion, made a speech in Belfast, mirrors Mays own suggestion of British associate membership of the Customs Union, made at last years Conservative Party conference. Varadkar will surely have to look again at British proposals for checks carried out away from the border and for the use of new technology. May, in turn, will have to guarantee, say, continuity of animal welfare standards, including checks at the Irish sea.

The crucial issue is regulatory divergence  which has implications for the rest of the UK  to which the key is mutual recognition of standards. But amidst the grinding detail, a big picture stands out: that if Britain has shown a lack of interest in the effects of Brexit on Ireland, Ireland is showing a lack of imagination when contemplating the referendum result. Irish opinion doesnt quite seem to grasp that it is for real. This being so, the art is to make change happen with minimum disruption. The alternative is the collapse of the Brexit talks  which could all but ruin Irish farmers, if the UK went for tariffs in such an eventuality. Varadkhar is pushing at the point of Irelands maximum leverage, before talks move on to broader issues (if they do). But if his gamble is that Britain will back down, Ireland will want to ponder what could happen if he gets it wrong  assuming that his government survives in any event.
Dr. Michelle Corfield has been elected as the Chair of the Nanaimo Port Authority Board of Directors by acclamation following the resignation of Moira Jenkins, according to a statement.

Dr. Corfield is the Municipal Appointee on the Board, appointed by the City of Nanaimo on July 1, 2015.

I am excited to work with the team in this new role," she said. "I believe that we will be able to work collaboratively and collectively with our community partners to position Nanaimo for new economic opportunities.

Dr. Corfield is an entrepreneur with businesses from the Commercial fishing industry to independent management consultant.

Over the years she has served as a board member for various organizations and societies including the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia. She is one of the founding partners and designers of the BC Multi-Sectoral Leadership Initiative. She holds a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership Management, Masters of Conflict Analysis and Management, and B.A. in First Nations Studies. Dr. Corfield has proven herself to be an innovative facilitator, mediator, and process designer. She has spent many years working towards developing ways to move First Nations people and communities forward using a balanced, holistic approach.

Donna Hais has been elected as the Vice Chair of the Board. Donna is a Federal Appointee representing the Lessee User Group and been on the Board since October 30, 2014. She is currently a partner and General Manager of R.W. (Bob) Wall Ltd., a reputable construction company doing business in Nanaimo for over 25 years. Among her many accomplishments, Hais has been the President of the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, President of the Nanaimo Executive Association, and an active member of the Young Professionals of Nanaimo Advisory Group for almost 10 years. In 2014, she won the Community Business Leader  BC Business Excellence Award in 2014.

Vice  Chair Donna Hais remarks: I am excited to be working with such a dynamic and innovative group of people as we grow the business of the Port and create new opportunities for our Community .

Nanaimos Port Authoritys President & CEO Ewan Moir comments: I have worked with Michelle and Donna on a number of initiatives since joining the port authority in early October and have been very impressed with their local knowledge, business acumen and board governance experience. It will continue to be a pleasure to work with both of them in their new roles as board chair and vice-chair.
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The week began with a glittery, typically star-studded opening ceremony for the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji, Goa. Many of Bollywoods biggest movie stars were in attendance, smiling for shutterbugs and posing for selfies.

Information and broadcasting minister, Smriti Irani, was photographed deep in conversation with Shah Rukh Khan, who kicked off proceedings with his trademark charm. She beamed as she took the stage to address the gathering, which included delegates of film industries from various parts of the country and the world, including acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi.

At the same time, on social media, on news channels, and the front pages of newspapers, there seemed to be only one thing a large number of people across the nation were discussing: the deferred release of Padmavati, which has stoked the ire of fundamentalist Rajput and Hindu groups. The historical epic - directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor - is said to be based on Malik Muhammad Jayasis epic poem, Padmavat, considered by historians to be a fictitious account of Allaudin Khiljis lust for Rani Padmini, the queen of Chittor.

Fringe outfits such as the Rajput Karni Sena, who vandalised the sets of the film when it was being shot in Jaipur this January, have threatened to chop off Padukones nose (she plays rani Padmini) if the film were to reach theatres. Thakur Abhishek Som, the Meerut-based national president of another "fringe" outfit named, Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Yuva Mahasabha, went a step further by offering Rs 5 crore to anyone who would behead Padukone and Bhansali. Suraj Pal Amu, the ruling BJPs chief media coordinator for Haryana, went yet another step further, offering to raise the bounty to Rs 10 crore.

Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar, usually vocal on a number of issues, called upon Bollywood celebrities to boycott IFFI, but clearly no one got that memo. They were all there: posing for pictures, smiling at each other, wearing designer clothes. Meanwhile, the protests and opposition against the film have only intensified, even though a) the films release has been pushed indefinitely; and b) none of the offended parties have actually watched it.

At the time of writing this piece, at least three chief ministers - Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh and Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh - have placed either conditional or outright bans on the film.

Minor detail: all three happen to belong to the BJP - as do Amu and Irani - which at the time of writing this was yet to unanimously condemn or, I dont know, expel Amu for essentially instigating murder against a public figure.

The Bollywood fraternity is notorious for largely playing safe in the face of controversy. Occasionally, they band together for the odd common cause, usually one that isnt overtly affected by politics or religion, such as when Udta Punjab was initially banned by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) a year ago.

Top male stars like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan spoke out against growing intolerance in late 2015, only to face backlashes and calls for boycott, and have since refrained from making political comments in the public domain.

Salman Khans friendliness with the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are well documented - he rarely takes anti-establishment stances. Ditto Amitabh Bachchan, who, when grilled by TV anchor Arnab Goswami in a 2015 interview, famously claimed that the film fraternity is vulnerable when it takes political stands; he also admitted that allegations levelled at him and his family for their purported involvement in the nearly three-decade-old Bofors scandal had hurt him deeply and strengthened a resolve to stay away from controversy.

Akshay Kumar usually keeps mum on most issues, but is openly pro-establishment and nationalistic, his politics now more and more visible in his on-screen roles (his last release, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, was a glorified paean to Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan).

Youd think a direct, open call to murder an A-list actor and director would encourage the industry to set aside their differences temporarily and come together in united condemnation, but youd be mistaken. On the red carpet, according to tweets and social media updates from journalists at the venue, there was a palpable sense of fear.

HuffPost India Bollywood editor Ankur Pathak, live-tweeting from the venue, tried to speak to a number of notable Bollywood personalities on the issue, with mixed results. Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, he claims, very reluctantly said I stand with Mr Bhansali, after being reminded how hed received support for his 2014 film Haider, which had faced the ire of nationalists for purportedly portraying the Army in poor light.

Producer Boney Kapoor delivered an even more clipped response: Padmavati is, well, not my film. Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman refused to speak at all, reportedly walking away with a Sorry I will speak to you later. Padmavati star Kapoor, who incidentally went on to give a speech at the inauguration that spoke of how cinema is meant to do more than entertain, even provoke, produced a diplomatic statement: I am very optimistic about the release of Padmavati. There are people who are being angsty and losing their cool. I dont want to be one of them. I will be disappointed if the film doesnt get a release at all. Having said that, right now I dont have a clue when the film will come out. Your guess is as good as mine.

Dont get me wrong - not everyone associated with Bollywood has reacted this toothlessly. Directors such as Hansal Mehta, Anurag Kashyap, Anurag Basu, and even Madhur Bhandarkar (who is generally pro-government and once famously participated in a march led by Anupam Kher to declare that concerns of growing intolerance were unfounded at best and malicious at worst) have condemned the threats of violence, which have been made without even seeing the film, on social media.

Padukone herself has reacted defiantly - and bravely - to threats directed as her, commenting that we have regressed as a nation. Many of Bollywoods newer stars, such as Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor and Siddharth Malhotra have also put out cursory statements on Twitter.

Bhansali, whose 2015 epic Bajirao Mastani faced similar protests and censure for taking several liberties, has stayed silent and, as of Friday afternoon, is yet to make a statement.

Last reported, on Tuesday evening, a complaint by one Pawan Kumar, a resident of Haryanas Chakkarpur village, against Amu for criminal intimidation remained the only real legal response made by anyone to counter his heinous provocation. Clearly, this isnt enough.

Concurrently, another controversy has been playing out at IFFI this year. Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharans film S Durga, which had been selected for screening under the Indian Panorama section of IFFI, was one of two films unceremoniously dropped by the I&B ministry days before the festival began, overriding the decision of the jury appointed by them. The other was Ravi Jadhavs Marathi film, Nude.

No official reasons were given for this decision. With Nude, it has been surmised that its title and content - its the story of a woman who works as a nude model at an art college - may have been the problem, although films screened at IFFI havent traditionally been subjected to the same censorship that theatrical releases face.

With S Durga, the issue has been a little more complex. With its original title, Sexy Durga, the film has won accolades at film festivals around the world. However, for the better part of this year, Sasidharan has received threats and abuse online from people claiming to be aggrieved Hindus objecting to the title on grounds of "hurt religious sentiments". Because, as we all know, "sexy" is an objectionable word in India.

In early October, following many months of vociferous online trolling by aggrieved Hindus and a typically perplexing directive by the CBFC, the title had to be changed so that it could play at the 18th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival and subsequent film festivals within India.

Sasidharan made the change, reducing the title to S Durga, with the poster now edited to read Sxxx Durga. Cheekily, he added a tagline: "You cant censor imaginations!"

Farcically, this title change is only for the benefit of Indian audiences. The international title remains the same. The Facebook page for the film is still "Sexy Durga".

Sasidharan has minced no words when it comes to expressing his feelings about the matter. In several interviews, he has denounced the I&B ministrys interventions as "fascist" and expressed grave concern for the future of freedom of expression in this country - an ongoing national conversation in this country that has undoubtedly intensified in the past three years, ever since the nationalist, right-leaning BJP assumed power at the Centre.

Lending support, three members of the IFFI jury - including jury head and filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh, writer-editor Apurva Asrani and filmmaker Gyan Correa - resigned from their positions mere days before the festival began while six members wrote a formal letter of protest to Irani.

On Facebook, he has been posting regular updates on the goings-on at IFFI as well as his films, in English and Malayalam, with one update from last week concluding with: We are living in a society, where people shamelessly compromise to get the benefit of governments. These compromises make things smooth for dictators.

He has also followed his words with action. A week ago, he filed a writ petition against the I&B ministry and senior IFFI officials, for illegal, aribitrary, and unjust exclusion of his film, adding that they hadnt understood the context and setting of his film. Perhaps it helped that the two-time Kerala State Film Award winner used to be a lawyer and is familiar with judicial process.

On Tuesday, as Bollywood continued to dither around with their reaction to Padmavati, Sasidharan had a huge victory: the Kerala HC directed the I&B ministry to reverse its decision and add S Durga back into the line-up. In an ecstatic Facebook post, he said: I usually don't celebrate victories. But this I cant (sic) stay away. This is the victory of cinema. This is the victory of our democracy. This is the victory of those people from jury who sacrificed. Cheers India!"

This celebration may have been premature. As of Friday, the fourth day of the festival, the order was yet to be implemented. No screening for S Durga - a censored version, with the changed title and 21 audio mutes - was added to the schedule. On Facebook, an unrelenting Sasidharan declared: What is going on in our country! I am moving for a contempt of court case tomorrow.

As anti-climactic as this may sound, there are a few lessons to be learnt here.

With all this talk of bounties and beheading, aired by news channels that invite these perpetrators into their studios for "debates", it is perhaps easy to forget that India is a democracy.

In the current political climate, intolerance is seen as the new normal. Talking about religion and history is dicey, discussing or depicting sexuality is taboo, and the mix of the two is a Molotov cocktail. Often, the underlying emotion behind objections to films like Sexy Durga or Padmavati, which some fear may challenge established worldviews and long-held beliefs is along the lines of "What is the need to do this?".

Ideally, in a democracy, this is not a question that should hold much value. Ideally speaking, the filmmaker, writer, poet, and artist should have the right to create anything - as much as any other citizen should have the right to deride it, criticise it, disagree with it, and boycott it.

In India, freedom of speech is a shaky concept, at the mercy of the vagaries of subjective interpretation. But laws against violence or threats of violence are unambiguous. Why didn't we see a counter-offensive in the form of what Sasidharan did from the likes of Padukone, Bhansali, or Viacom 18 right away?

We could all come up with any number of hypothetical answers to this question. Theyve always been spineless, says one opinion. There are too many vested interests, says another. No one will go against this government, says a third. Mukesh Ambani owns Viacom 18, the producer of Padmavati, says a fourth, in a manner that supposedly explains everything.

You may argue that this has always been the case in India. You may argue that the current political climate is so dangerous that dissent could lead to one being murdered. After all, if fringe outfits can openly threaten a top Bollywood star, what can an ordinary citizen do?

Sasidharan is one of those ordinary citizens who chose not to revel in this defeatist view of Indias democracy. Perhaps he hasnt received open, nationally broadcast death threats like Padukone, but has received threats from right-wing outfits all the same. This is an unfortunate comparison to have to make, but hypothetically, if the people making threats were to follow them up with violent action against him or his film, he - a relatively unknown independent filmmaker from Kerala - would perhaps be a much easier target than Padukone, a revered star with millions of fans across the globe (and the ability to afford top-notch security, which has now already been provided to her by the Karnataka government).

We tend to get so swept up in the grim narrative peddled by social and traditional media that its easy to forget that, despite all the problems, much of the law is actually on our side. When we use these tools at our disposal, as Sasidharan did and Bollywood ought to have done, it helps renew faith in our democracy.

Even if the perpetrators - in Sasidharans case, its the state itself - ignore these directives, the filmmakers insistence to continue pressing on reminds us that values such as fairness and justice are worth fighting for, and prevent us from slipping into a state of perpetual cynicism.

Bollywood stars are idolised by millions. When they choose to stay mum, it distorts our ideas of what is permissible and what isnt. They wouldve been right to boycott IFFI and thereby send a strong message. They wouldve been right to file criminal complaints against the likes of Amu, as an ordinary resident of Chakkarpur, Haryana, did for them. But at the time of writing this, the industry as a whole has shown nothing that resembles a strong stance.
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.
Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Electric Utilities and Gas Utilities. The Electric Utilities segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 218,000 electric utility customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and owns and operates 1,481.5 megawatts of generation capacity and 8,892 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines. The Gas Utilities segment distributes natural gas to approximately 1,094,000 natural gas utility customers in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming; owns and operates 4,732 miles of intrastate gas transmission pipelines; 41,644 miles of gas distribution mains and service lines; six natural gas storage sites; and approximately 50,000 horsepower of compression and 515 miles of gathering lines. The company also constructs and maintains gas infrastructure facilities for gas transportation customers; and provides appliance repair services to residential utility customers, as well as electrical system construction services to large industrial customers. In addition, it produces electric power through wind, natural gas, and coal-fired generating plants; and coal at its coal mine located near Gillette, Wyoming. The company was incorporated in 1941 and is headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota.
In counting my blessings at Thanksgiving, good health was at the top of my list. In January I learned I had pancreatic cancer, but it is now in remission thanks to the talented doctors at the Mountain States Tumor Institute. Dr. Akshay Gupta diagnosed it, Dr. Joshua Barton skillfully removed the cancerous tissue, and Dr. Dan Zuckerman finished off the cancer with the help of the MSTI staff. We are lucky to have such highly skilled medical practitioners in our fair state.

Unfortunately, some of our most vulnerable citizens are not able to share in the blessing of good medical care. Young children of the Followers of Christ, mostly in Canyon County, are denied necessary medical treatment because of their parents religious practices. Idaho law exempts faith-healing parents from two statutes prohibiting neglect or endangerment of their children. Section 18-1501 of the Idaho Code prohibits conduct that is likely to endanger the life or health of a child. Section 18-401 prohibits the denial of necessary medical care to children.

However, there is an exemption in both statutes that has allowed these parents to refuse to provide readily available medical care to their children, resulting in needless suffering and death. The exemption says that the practice of a parent or guardian who chooses for his child treatment by prayer or spiritual means alone shall not for that reason alone be construed to have violated the duty of care of such child. This awkward language should be eliminated from both statutes in order to protect the helpless children of faith healers.

Adults can decide for themselves on healthcare matters. If they decide to forego medical intervention for themselves for religious reasons, that is their prerogative. The State has an interest, however, in safeguarding the health and safety of minor children, who cannot decide for themselves. Our laws have numerous protections for children that do not contain religious exemptionsmarital age, child labor, ability to contract, and the like. The right to have basic life-saving healthcare trumps all of those protections.

Article I, section 4 of the Idaho Constitution guarantees religious liberty for Idaho citizens. However, it mandates a strict separation of church and state, more so than the U.S. Constitution. Among other things, it flatly states that no preference shall be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship. The statutes purporting to exempt faith-healing parents from child-protection laws certainly appear to violate this constitutional provision. The great majority of Idaho citizens who do not advocate or practice faith healing are subject to criminal penalties under Idaho Code sections 18-1501 and 18-401 for endangering the health of their children. Yet, those same statutes provide a specific legal preference for faith-healing parents by giving them the right to deprive their children of medical care.

During the last several decades, the Legislature has passed numerous statutes intended to support the right to life by using the power of the government to require women to carry a fetus to term. None of those measures contained a religious exemption. The question arises as to whether the right to life of some children in Idaho ceases upon birth. It is time for the Legislature to stand up for our children and to require faith-healing parents to provide basic healthcare to their children. Tell legislators it is morally and legally wrong to allow parents to deprive their children of life-saving medical care.
Ashland Inc. provides additives and specialty ingredients worldwide. It operates through Life Sciences; Personal Care & Household; Specialty Additives; and Intermediates and Solvents segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions. The Personal Care & Household segment provides a range of nature-based, biodegradable, and performance ingredients; solutions for toothpastes, mouth washes and rinses, denture cleaning, and care for teeth; and household supplies nature-derived rheology ingredients, biodegradable surface wetting agents, performance encapsulates, and specialty polymers. The Specialty Additives segment offers rheology modifiers, foam control agents, surfactants and wetting agents, pH neutralizers, advanced ceramics used in catalytic converters, environmental filters, ingredients for the manufacturing of ceramic capacitors, plasma display panels and solar cells, ingredients for textile printing, thermoplastic metals, and alloys for welding. The Intermediates and Solvents segment produces 1,4 butanediol and related derivatives, including n-methylpyrrolidone. It offers its products to customers in a range of consumer and industrial markets, such as architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care, and pharmaceutical. The company was formerly known as Ashland Global Holdings Inc. Ashland Inc. was founded in 1924 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.
Navistar International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells commercial trucks, diesel engines, school and commercial buses, and service parts for trucks and diesel engines worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Truck, Parts, Global Operations, and Financial Services. It manufactures and distributes Class 4 through 8 trucks and buses in the common carrier, private carrier, government, leasing, construction, energy/petroleum, and student and commercial transportation markets under the International and IC brands; and designs, engineers, and produces sheet metal components, including truck cabs and engines. The company also provides customers with proprietary products needed to support the International commercial truck, IC bus, and engine lines, as well as other product lines; and a selection of other standard truck, trailer, and engine aftermarket parts. In addition, it manufactures and distributes mid-range diesel engines, as well as provides customers with additional engine offerings in the agriculture, marine, genset, and light truck markets; sells engines to original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for various on-and-off-road applications; and offers contract manufacturing services under the MWM brand to OEMs for the assembly of their engines. Further, the company provides retail, wholesale, and lease financing of products of its trucks and parts, as well as financing for wholesale and retail accounts receivable. Additionally, it exports trucks, buses, and engines. The company markets its commercial products through an independent dealer network, as well as through retail outlets; and its reconditioned used trucks to owner-operators and fleet buyers through its network of used truck dealers. It operates approximately 1,052 outlets in the United States and Canada, and 89 outlets in Mexico. Navistar International Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois.
Idahos government, business and education leaders know that our state needs skilled and educated Idahoans to fill the jobs of the future. Employers are looking for individuals with training and expertise that can often only be learned through post-secondary certificate and degree programs. Jobs that require advanced certification, training or education empower our citizens to provide for themselves and their families.

There are admittedly substantial barriers to overcome in convincing our young people to continue their education once they graduate high school. Post-secondary training and education is an investment in ones future, and we must continue our efforts to help students understand this. My colleagues and I on the State Board of Education believe we must do our part to make the process of getting to college easier, and we have been working closely with our public colleges and universities to that end.

Since 2015, tens of thousands of Idaho students, parents and educators have logged on to the State Boards Next Steps Idaho website to learn about career training and college options, to understand how to pay for college, and to discover educational opportunities after high school. The site is also a key resource for college and career advisers across the state who are supporting Idahos nearly 89,000 high school students navigate planning for the future.

In 2016, the State Board launched its Direct Admissions initiative, which proactively admits approximately 20,000 high school seniors each year to Idahos public institutions. Using college entrance exam scores and GPA information, the State Board offers students admission to between six and eight colleges and notifies them by mail of their acceptance during the fall of their senior year in high school.

Thanks to the close collaboration and generosity of our colleges and universities, the State Board recently unveiled the newest tool making it easier for students to choose a college: Apply Idaho. This online application allows students to submit their information to one or more of Idahos public schools in just four simple steps  and for free.

As of Nov. 15, over 20,000 applications have been submitted by nearly 8,200 students from every corner of the state. Seniors from some of Idahos smallest and largest high schools are among the applicants. Their interests and intended majors span the array of quality programs our colleges and universities offer  from diesel mechanics to engineering. Each institution has received hundreds of applications through Apply Idaho. Were off to a great start!

The State Board believes there is a post-secondary path and a bright future for every student. We strive to help them see and realize their potential. We encourage them to think boldly about their future. Idaho believes in the promise of our youth, and we look forward to seeing more of them use our tools to explore and pursue the post-secondary options that are right for them.
This is a current list of the top 250 companies by market capitalization on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Learn more .

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is one of the largest, and most recognizable, stock exchanges in the world. The NYSE is in New York City, New York at 11 Wall Street. The NYSE has been in existence since the earliest days of the United States becoming a nation, in 1792 and is primarily made up of blue-chip companies with large market capitalizations. In fact, many of the stocks that make up the Dow Jones Composite Index (i.e. The Dow) are listed on the NYSE.

This article gives a brief history of the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, it covers topics such as what kind of stocks trade on the exchange, what are the listing requirements, how trading is performed, and what the daily price movement of the NYSE tells investors about investor sentiment.

What Were the Origins of the NYSE?

Today, the New York Stock Exchange is known as the center of the financial universe. However, the exchanges origin is far more humble. On May 17, 1792, 24 stockbrokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement creating a centralized exchange to help provide order to the securities market in what was still a young nation. The "Buttonwood Agreement comes from the tree of the same name under which the founders signed the agreement.

An initial benefit of the exchange was how it removed the need for auctioneers when trading commodities like wheat and tobacco and to set a commission rate. The exchange initially focused on government bonds.

However, the exchange had no formal home. Business was usually conducted informally in the local coffeehouses. In 1817, the exchange changed its name to the New York Stock & Exchange Board which later became the New York Stock Exchange. At this time, the exchange adopted a constitution that set the rules for trading. A group of stockbrokers met twice a day at 40 Wall Street to trade 30 stocks and bonds.

Over time, the exchange moved became the financial hub of the country and moved to its current location in 1865.

What Kind of Stocks Trade on the NYSE?

As of June 2022, the NYSE includes approximately 2,400 companies with a market capitalization of over $28.2 trillion. Although the NYSE trades stocks of all market capitalizations, its best known for trading the stocks of large cap companies. These have the benefit of being mature companies in mature industries. And many of these companies reward shareholders with dividends.

However, that also means that many of these companies are better suited for value investors as opposed to growth investors. In bear markets this stability can be a benefit for investors as these stocks tend to perform less bad than more volatile stocks. But in a bull market, these stocks are not likely to provide investors with the growth that they look for.

An interesting fact about how the NYSE and NASDAQ operate is that the companies with the five largest market caps on the NYSE are also listed on the NASDAQ exchange.

What Are the Listing Requirements For the NYSE?

The NYSE has strict guidelines that govern the types of companies that can list on the exchange. Here are the major requirements that all companies must meet:

The company must have at least 2,200 shareholders

The company must trade over 100,000 shares per month

The company must have a market valuation of over $100 million

The company must generate more than $75 million in annual revenue

However, there is at least one advantage of having such stringent requirements. That is the companies that meet the requirements generally find it easier to get more investors funds when they hold their initial public offering (IPO).

Once a company begins trading on the NYSE, it must continue to meet these requirements. If it doesnt it can be delisted. In addition to these requirements, the stock must continue to trade above $1. If the price of a stock drops below $1 for more than 29 consecutive trading days, the stock receives an Initial Price Violation Notice.

At that point, the company has 10 days to provide the exchange with a plan for bringing their shares above $1.

How are Trades Executed on the NYSE?

For over a century, the floor of the NYSE was the place for investors to be. This meant trades were conducted by traders who ran buy and sell orders across the trading floor looking to broker a deal for their clients. But with the birth of the NASDAQ exchange in 1971, the New York Stock Exchange began conducting electronic trading.

However, the NYSE continues to conduct trades in an auction style. Brokers purchase stocks on behalf of their clients or firms. Every order features a broker who will enter the order electronically and a specialist who serves as the market maker for that stock. The specialist posts bid and ask prices and manages the actual execution of the trades. And there are still a handful of stockbrokers who still traffic buy and sell orders physically on the floor of the exchange.

How Does the NYSE Signal Investor Sentiment?

Like its counterpart, the NASDAQ, the NYSE measures the risk appetite of investors. When the NYSE is moving higher over a length of time, it signals that a risk on environment. Conversely when the NYSE moves lower over a significant period, it signals that investors are moving to a risk off position.

Some Final Thoughts on the NYSE

Financial news networks plan their programming schedule around the opening and closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange. Its still considered a distinguished honor when individuals or groups are invited to ring the opening bell. In fact, Warren Buffett is attributed with saying that in the short term, the stock market acts like a voting machine. A fact that many U.S. presidents will attest to.

The NYSE is the oldest and most recognizable of all the stock exchanges. It also has the most stringent requirements for inclusion. And those requirements must be maintained even after a stock begins publicly trading on the exchange.

Although the NYSE still has a small in-person Trading Floor, much of the trading is done electronically to provide traders with the speed to execute trades.
Since early 2016, when we first gathered as a group of various local religious leaders and formed the Magic Valley Inter-religious Dialogue, we have regularly met together to discuss our beliefs and to better understand one another. Our purpose is to learn about each other, build friendly relationships among each other and our neighbors, and with integrity more fully comprehend our different religions. In doing so, we have developed trust and sincere friendships. This is true even though we each maintain unique doctrines, practices and beliefs, and different understandings about the nature of God  and even about whether we worship the same God.

In a very real sense, though, our differences in theology highlight our unity on the issue of religious freedom for all. We unequivocally and in the strongest terms stand united in opposition to the recent act of disrespect against our Muslim neighbors in Twin Falls. It is distressing and offensive that anyone would consider such a deed, clearly calculated to be pointedly offensive, as a legitimate form of disagreement or protest. There is also a sick irony that the perpetrators defiled a cross, a symbol sacred to Christians, in carrying out such an un-Christian act. We are fully aware that acts of aggression, vandalism, prejudice, disrespect, and violence toward religion and worshippers occur around the country and around the world. We likewise condemn all such acts directed towards any religion or believers. An assault on one religion is ultimately an assault on all religions.

It would not be difficult for any of us to imagine how we might feel if someone in the dark of night deployed a pre-meditated attack  deliberately selected to demonstrate maximum disrespect  against the places or institutions we each consider sacred, be it our places of worship, our homes or families. With this in mind, we in the Dialogue also feel compelled to show compassionate support for our Muslim neighbors for the simplest of reasons. Not because our beliefs are the same, but because we share this community, and they are our neighbors and friends. Though we have different doctrines, we all know we should love our neighbors. When our friends and neighbors are disrespected and mistreated, when things sacred to them are defiled, it is fitting and proper to come to their defense. In the famous words of Martin Niemoller, we are compelled to speak out!

At the heart of this issue lies the freedom for each of us to worship as we choose. We unitedly affirm that  despite any of our differences in theology or culture  we stand together united in the defense of Religious Freedom the freedom for all people to express their religious beliefs openly, free from persecution, discrimination and fear. We encourage all people in our community  of whatever faith or creed, and despite differences in belief or culture  to find ways to come together, united in defense of religious freedom.
The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc.,      ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics.

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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.
Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. manufactures and sells cellulose specialty products in the United States, China, Canada, Japan, Europe, Latin America, other Asian countries, and internationally. The company operates through High Purity Cellulose, Paperboard, and High-Yield Pulp segments. Its products include cellulose specialties, which are natural polymers that are used as raw materials to manufacture a range of consumer-oriented products, such as liquid crystal displays, impact-resistant plastics, thickeners for food products, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, cigarette filters, high-tenacity rayon yarn for tires and industrial hoses, food casings, paints, and lacquers. The company also offers commodity products, such as commodity viscose pulp used in woven applications, including rayon textiles for clothing and other fabrics, as well as in non-woven applications comprising baby wipes, cosmetic and personal wipes, industrial wipes, and mattress ticking; and absorbent materials consisting of fluff fibers that are used as an absorbent medium in disposable baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, incontinence pads, convalescent bed pads, industrial towels and wipes, and non-woven fabrics. In addition, it provides paperboards for packaging, printing documents, brochures, promotional materials, paperback books or catalog covers, file folders, tags, and tickets; and high-yield pulps to produce paperboard and packaging products, printing and writing papers, and various other paper products. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
As Republicans on Capitol Hill sort out the details of their plan to overhaul the tax system, Idahos senators seem to be taking a wait-and-see approach.

Parts of the plan are hugely unpopular with the public, especially elements that non-partisan watchdog groups say could actually increase taxes for the poor and middle class while cutting taxes for the wealthy and corporations.

Also troubling are projections that say the federal deficit could explode under the GOP plan, especially if temporary tax cuts arent extended by Congress when they expire years down the road. Theres no guarantee that the GOP will still control Congress years from now, of course, and if cuts arent renewed later they will have to be paid for with additional debt.

Under congressional rules, lawmakers cannot add more than $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years and none beyond that.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group, says the bill would actually cost $1.41 trillion over the next decade and $2.2 trillion if all the temporary cuts are made permanent.

That figure should cause senators like Idahos Mike Crapo to pause.

Crapo is at the center of this debate as a member of the senates budget group and chairman of the Senates banking committee. Crapo is a so-called deficit hawk, a senator whos been critical of legislation that adds to the national debt.

Crapo seems to be counting on a surge of economic growth to help offset the rising deficit, a popular talking point coming from the Trump administration. The thinking goes like this: The tax cuts are likely to spur so much economic growth, the deficit wont be affected nearly as greatly as projections show.

The concept is called dynamic scoring, and accounts not just for what the tax cuts will do on paper but also considers what the tax cuts will do to the economy at large.

The reality is that if we could get agreement to use a fair dynamic score, which I think would be supported by most economists, these issues would go away, Crapo recently told the New York Times.

The question, then, for senators like Crapo is how to create a tax policy that grows the economy without totally forsaking the strong position on deficits that fiscal hawks have held for years.

As it stands now, too many Americans see this plan as a giveaway to corporations and the wealthy  that could add billions more to the rising national debt. And Republicans in the Senate can stand to lose only two votes if they want their tax plan to pass.

The House has already passed its version of tax reform, and itll likely take weeks for the Senate to finalize its bill and reconcile the two pieces of legislation into a single bill to present to President Donald Trump. The final version will almost certainly be different than the proposals now being scrutinized.

We hope senators like Crapo stick to their principles as they work through the process. We need tax reform built on sound GOP ideals that benefits every day Idahoans, not a giveaway to the wealthy meant to score the president a quick political victory.
Valvoline Inc. manufactures, markets, and supplies, engine and automotive maintenance products and services. It operates through two segments, Retail Services and Global Products. The company offers lubricants for passenger car, light duty, and heavy duty; antifreeze/coolants for original equipment manufacturers; functional and maintenance chemicals, such as brake fluids and power steering fluids, as well as specialty coatings for automotive and industrial applications; and oil and air filters for light-duty vehicles. It also provides batteries, windshield wiper blades, light bulbs, serpentine belts, and drain plugs. In addition, the company operates Valvoline instant oil change service centers. As of September 30, 2021, it operated and franchised approximately 1,594 quick-lube locations under the Valvoline Instant Oil Change brand in the United States and the Great Canadian Oil Change brand in Canada. The company also serves car dealers, general repair shops, and third-party quick lube locations, as well as through distributors and licensees. It has operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky.
China Telecom Corporation Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides wireline and mobile telecommunications services primarily in the People's Republic of China. It offers wireline voice services, including local wireline telephone services and long distance wireline services; CDMA mobile voice services, such as local calls, domestic and international long distance calls, intra-provincial roaming, and inter-provincial roaming and international roaming; wireline Internet access services comprising dial-up and broadband services; wireless Internet access services; and wireline, Internet, and mobile value-added services. The company also provides Best Tone information services; and information technology-based integrated solutions, such as system integration and consulting, outsourcing, special advisory, information application, knowledge, and software development services. In addition, it offers managed data services that include digital data network, frame relay, and asynchronous transfer mode services for government agencies, large corporations, and institutions; and leased line services, as well as sells, repairs, and maintains customer-end equipment. Further, the company provides international telecommunications services, including network, Internet access and transit, Internet data center, and mobile virtual network services in various countries, including the Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, South America, and North America; and music production and related information, instant messenger, finance leasing, capital and financial management, and e-commerce services, as well as sells telecommunications terminals. As of December 31, 2019, it had approximately 336 million mobile subscribers; 153 million wireline broadband subscribers; and 111 million access lines in service. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Wanchai, Hong Kong. China Telecom Corporation Limited is a subsidiary of China Telecommunications Corporation.
USANA Health Sciences, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells science-based nutritional and personal care products. The company offers USANA nutritional products that comprise essentials/CellSentials, such as vitamin and mineral supplements that provide a foundation of total body nutrition for various age groups; optimizers comprising targeted supplements that are designed to meet cardiovascular, skeletal/structural, and digestive health needs; and foods that include meal replacement shakes, snack bars, and other related products. It also provides Celavive, a skin care regimen for various skin care types and ethnicities; and other products for prenatal, infant, and young child age groups. In addition, the company offers materials and online tools to assist associates in building their businesses, as well as in marketing products. It offers its products directly in the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Europe, as well as online. The company has a research collaboration agreement with Beijing University of Chinese Medicine for research in the field of traditional Chinese medicine; and National Sports Training Bureau. USANA Health Sciences, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Harley-Davidson, Inc. manufactures and sells motorcycles. The company operates in two segments, Motorcycles and Related Products and Financial Services. The Motorcycles and Related Products segment designs, manufactures, and sells Harley-Davidson motorcycles, including cruiser, touring, standard, sportbike, and dual models, as well as motorcycle parts, accessories, apparel, and related services. This segment sells its products to retail customers through a network of independent dealers, as well as e-commerce channels in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The Financial Services segment provides wholesale financing services, such as floorplan and open account financing of motorcycles, and parts and accessories; and retail financing services, including installment lending for the purchase of new and used Harley-Davidson motorcycles, as well as point-of-sale protection products comprising motorcycle insurance, extended service contracts, and motorcycle maintenance protection. This segment also licenses third-party financial institutions that issue credit cards bearing the Harley-Davidson brand. Harley-Davidson, Inc. was founded in 1903 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Insperity, Inc. provides human resources (HR) and business solutions to improve business performance for small and medium-sized businesses. The company offers its HR services through its Workforce Optimization and Workforce Synchronization solutions that include a range of human resources functions, such as payroll and employment administration, employee benefits, workers' compensation, government compliance, performance management, and training and development services. It also provides Insperity Premier, a cloud-based human capital management platform that offers professional employer organization HR outsourcing solutions to its clients; personnel record management services; and employer liability management services, as well as solutions for middle market. In addition, the company offers MarketPlace, an e-commerce portal that offers a range of products and services; and Workforce Acceleration, a human capital management and payroll services solution; time and attendance; performance management; organizational planning; recruiting; employment screening; retirement; and insurance services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated through 85 sales offices in the United States. The company was formerly known as Administaff, Inc. and changed its name to Insperity, Inc. in March 2011. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Kingwood, Texas.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE), an S&P 500<sup></sup> urban office real estate investment trust ("REIT"), is the first, longest-tenured, and pioneering owner, operator, and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology, and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, with a total market capitalization of $31.9 billion as of December 31, 2020, and an asset base in North America of 49.7 million square feet ("SF"). The asset base in North America includes 31.9 million RSF of operating properties and 3.3 million RSF of Class A properties undergoing construction, 7.1 million RSF of near-term and intermediate-term development and redevelopment projects, and 7.4 million SF of future development projects. Founded in 1994, Alexandria pioneered this niche and has since established a significant market presence in key locations, including Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Alexandria has a longstanding and proven track record of developing Class A properties clustered in urban life science, technology, and agtech campuses that provide our innovative tenants with highly dynamic and collaborative environments that enhance their ability to successfully recruit and retain world-class talent and inspire productivity, efficiency, creativity, and success. Alexandria also provides strategic capital to transformative life science, technology, and agtech companies through our venture capital platform. We believe our unique business model and diligent underwriting ensure a high-quality and diverse tenant base that results in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns, and greater long-term asset value.
Navigant Consulting, Inc. provides professional services worldwide. It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Energy, and Financial Services Advisory and Compliance. The Healthcare segment offers consulting and business process management services to healthcare providers, payers, and life sciences companies. This segment helps clients respond to market legislative changes, such as the shift to an outcome and value-based reimbursements model, ongoing industry consolidation and reorganization, Medicaid expansion, the implementation of a electronic health records system, and product planning and commercialization expertise. The Energy segment provides life-cycle solutions that help clients businesses in changing energy environment, manage complexity, accelerate operational performance, and meet compliance requirements, as well as transform its organizations and systems; and various benchmarking, and data and market research services. This segment serves utility and energy companies, government and nongovernmental organizations, large corporations, product manufacturers, and investors. The Financial Services Advisory and Compliance segment provides strategic, operational, valuation, risk management, investigative, and compliance advisory services to financial services industry, including financial and insurance institutions. This segment also offers anti-corruption solutions and anti-money laundering consulting, litigation support, and tax compliance services. Navigant Consulting, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Matson, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides ocean transportation and logistics services. The company's Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia. It primarily transports dry containers of mixed commodities, refrigerated commodities, packaged foods and beverages, building materials, automobiles, and household goods; livestock; seafood; general sustenance cargo; and garments, footwear, e-commerce, and other retail merchandise. This segment also operates an expedited service from China to Long Beach, California, and various islands in the South Pacific, as well as Okinawa, Japan; and provides container stevedoring, refrigerated cargo services, inland transportation, container equipment maintenance, and other terminal services to ocean carriers on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, as well as in the Alaska locations of Anchorage, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor. In addition, the company offers vessel management and container transshipment services. Its Logistics segment provides multimodal transportation brokerage services, including domestic and international rail intermodal, long-haul and regional highway trucking, specialized hauling, flat-bed and project, less-than-truckload, and expedited freight services; less-than-container load consolidation and freight forwarding services; warehousing and distribution services; supply chain management services, and non-vessel operating common carrier freight forwarding services. The company serves the U.S. military, freight forwarders, retailers, consumer goods, automobile manufacturers, and other customers. The company was formerly known as Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Matson, Inc. in June 2012. Matson, Inc. was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.
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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The following companies are subsidiares of Prudential Financial: 210-220 E. 22nd Street SSGA Owner LLC, AIG Edison, AIG Star, AREF Cayman Co Ltd., AREF GP II Pte. Ltd., AREF GP Ltd., ASPF II - Feeder Fund GmbH, ASPF II - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, ASPF II Management GmbH, ASPF III Scots L.P., ASSURANCE, AST Investment Services Inc., Adlerwerke CB Investment LLC, Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Habitat S.A., Administradora de Inversiones Previsionales SpA, Aoba Life Insurance Company, Aoba Life Insurance Company Ltd., Asia Property Fund III GP S.a.r.l., Assurance IQ LLC, Assurance Intelligence LLC, BSC CP LP, Braeloch Holdings Inc., Braeloch Successor Corporation, Brazilian Capital Fund GP Limited, Broad Street Global Advisors LLC, Broome Street Holdings LLC, CB German Retail LLC, CLIS Co. Ltd., COLICO INC., Capital Agricultural Property Services Inc., Chadwick Boulevard Investment Holdings Co. LLC, Cibecue LLC, Coconino LLC, Colico II Inc., Columbus Drive Partners L.P., Commerce Street Holdings LLC, Commerce Street Investments LLC, Coolidge LLC, Coral Reef GP, Coral Reef L.P., Coral Reef Unit Trust, Cottage Street Investments LLC, Cottage Street Orbit Acquisition LLC, DICKENS AVENUE HOLDINGS VI LLC, DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI Ireland L.P., DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI US L.P., Dale/P Minerals Limited Partnership, Don Cesar Investor LLC, Dryden Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Dryden Finance II LLC, EVP II GP S.a r.l., EVP II Horizon GP S.a r.l., EVP II Sprint GP S.a r.l., Edison Place Senior Note LLC, Essex LLC, EuroCore GP S.a r.l., European Value Partners GP S.a.r.l., Everbright PGIM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Flagstaff LLC, GA 1600 Commons LLC, GA 333 Hennepin Investor LLC, GA BV LLC, GA Bay Area GP LLC, GA Bay Area Investor LLC, GA Belden LLC, GA CLARENDON LLC, GA Cal Crossings LLC, GA Collins LLC, GA E. 22nd Street Apartments Holdings LLC, GA East 86 Street LLC, GA JHCII LLC, GA MENLO PARK INVESTOR LLC, GA Manor at Harbour Island LLC, GA Metro LLC, GA TRITON INVESTOR LLC, GA W Paces LLC, GA/MDI 333 Hennepin Associates LLC, GIBRALTAR BSN HOLDINGS SDN BHD, GIBRALTAR INDIA SOLUTIONS LLP, Gateway Holdings II LLC, Gateway Holdings LLC, German Retail Income CP LP, Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad, Gibraltar International Insurance Services Company Inc., Gibraltar International Service LLC, Gibraltar Reinsurance Company Ltd., Gibraltar Universal Life Reinsurance Company, Glenealy International Limited, Global Portfolio Strategies Inc., Gold GP Limited, Gold II L.P., Gold L.P., Graham Resources Inc., Graham Royalty Ltd., Green Harvest Asset Management LLC, Green Tree GP, Green Tree L.P., Greenlee LLC, Halsey Street Investments LLC, Hirakata LLC, IVP Fund GP LLC, Impact Investments Bridges UK S.a.r.l, Inter-Atlantic G Fund L.P., Inversiones Previsionales Chile SpA, Inversiones Previsionales Dos SpA, Ironbound Fund LLC, Jennison Associates LLC, Kyarra S.a r.l., Kyoei Annuity Home Co. Ltd. Kabushiki Kaisha Kyouei Nenkin Home, LINEUP LLC, Lake Street Partners IV L.P., Lotus Reinsurance Company Ltd., MC GA COLLINS HOLDINGS LLC, MC GA COLLINS REALTY LLC, MC Insurance Agency Services LLC, Manor at Harbour Island LLC, Marble Canyon LLC, Maricopa LLC, Market Street Holdings IV LLC, Montana Capital Partners, Morenci LLC, Mulberry Street Holdings LLC, Mulberry Street Investment L.P., Mulberry Street Partners LLC, Mullin TBG Insurance Agency Services LLC, MullinTBG Insurance Agency Services, National Family Assurance Group LLC, New Savanna, Northbound Emerging Manager Fund A LP, Northbound Emerging Manager Fund II - A LP, Orchard Street Acres Inc., PAI Bay Farm LLC, PAI Bayrock Groves LLC, PAI Belvidere Farms LLC, PAI Big Cypress Farm LLC, PAI Corcoran 640 Ranch LLC, PAI DeKalb Farm LLC, PAI Delano 1500 Ranches LLC, PAI Desert Falcon Farms Manager LLC, PAI Flicker Orchard LLC, PAI Good Hope Farm LLC, PAI Hawk Creek Ranch LLC, PAI Hills Valley Ranches LLC, PAI Holly Hill Groves LLC, PAI Hunt Farm LLC, PAI Jackson Bayou Farm LLC, PAI Lake Placid Groves LLC, PAI River Bend Ranches LLC, PAI Wallula Gap Vineyard LLC, PCP V Cayman AIV GP L.P., PEREF II Co-Invest 1 GP S.a r.l., PEREF II GP S.a r.l., PFI EM-Tech Fund I LLC, PG Business Service Co. Ltd, PG Collection Service Co. Ltd., PG Friendly Partners Co. Ltd., PGA Asian Retail Limited, PGA European Limited, PGI Co. Ltd, PGIM AC Co-Invest GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM AVP IV GP S.a r.l., PGIM Advisory Shanghai Co. Ltd., PGIM Agricultural Investments GP LLC, PGIM Australia Pty Ltd, PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Fund L.P., PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Partners LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Feeder VI LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Fund VI L.P., PGIM Custom Harvest LLC, PGIM DC Co-Invest GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM DC JV GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM DC Solutions LLC, PGIM European Financing Limited, PGIM European Services Limited, PGIM Financial Limited, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund II L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives GP LLC, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives II GP LLC, PGIM Foreign Investments Inc., PGIM Holding Company LLC, PGIM Holdings Limited, PGIM Hong Kong Ltd., PGIM INDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM INDIA TRUSTEES PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM IRELAND LIMITED, PGIM Inc., PGIM International Financing Inc., PGIM Investments Ireland Limited, PGIM Investments LLC, PGIM Japan Co. Ltd., PGIM Korea Inc., PGIM LTIF Berlin GP S.a r.l., PGIM LTIF Berlin MLP S.ar.l., PGIM LTIF GP S.a.r.l., PGIM Limited, PGIM Loan Originator Manager Limited, PGIM M Campus GP S.a r.l., PGIM Management Partner Limited, PGIM MetaProp Investor LP LLC, PGIM Netherlands B.V., PGIM Overseas Investment Fund Management Shanghai Company Ltd, PGIM Private Capital Ireland Limited, PGIM Private Capital Limited, PGIM Private Placement Investors Inc., PGIM Private Placement Investors L.P., PGIM QUANTITATIVE SOLUTIONS LLC, PGIM REF EUROPE SCSp, PGIM REF Europe GP S.a r.l., PGIM REF Europe Member LLC, PGIM REF Intermediary Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate CD S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Capital VII GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest L.P., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest SCSp, PGIM Real Estate Co-Invest Holdings LLC, PGIM Real Estate Debt GmbH, PGIM Real Estate Finance Holding Company, PGIM Real Estate Finance LLC, PGIM Real Estate France SAS, PGIM Real Estate Germany AG, PGIM Real Estate Global Debt GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Global Master Fund GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles II S de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles S. de R.L. de C.V, PGIM Real Estate Italy S.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Japan Ltd., PGIM Real Estate Loan Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate Luxembourg S.A., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Management Luxembourg S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Mexico S.C., PGIM Real Estate S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate U.S. CORE Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate U.S. Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate UK Limited, PGIM Scots Limited, PGIM Securities Investment Trust Enterprise, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management (Feeder) I LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management Fund I L.P., PGIM Shanghai Company Ltd., PGIM Singapore Pte. Ltd., PGIM Strategic Financing LLC, PGIM Strategic Investments Inc., PGIM Taronga Investor GP LLC, PGIM U.S. Agriculture Fund LP, PGIM USPF VI Manager LLC, PGIM Wadhwani LLP, PGIM Warehouse Inc., PGLH of Delaware Inc., PIFM Holdco LLC, PIIC Limited, PIISC Holdings UK Limited, PIM KF Blocker V Holdings LLC, PIM USPF V Manager LLC, PLA Administradora Industrial SRL, PLA Administradora LLC, PLA Administradora S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional II S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional S.de R.L. de C.V., PLA Co-Investor LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager I LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager II LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Blue LP, PLA Retail Fund I Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LP, PLA Retail Fund II Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II U.S. Carry/Co-Invest LP, PLA Services Manager Mexico LLC, PLAI Limited, PMCF Holdings LLC, PMCF Properties LLC, PPPF General Partner LLP, PR GA SCP Apartments LLC, PRAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP LLP, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP SCOTS FEEDER LLP, PRECO Account IV LLC, PRECO Account Partnership IV LP, PRECO III GP LLP, PREFG Hanwha Manager LLC, PREI Acquisition I Inc., PREI Acquisition II Inc., PREI Acquisition LLC, PREI HYDG LLC, PREI International Inc., PRIAC Property Acquisitions LLC, PRICOA Management Partner Limited, PRISA Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Pooled Manager LLC, PRISA III Fund GP LLC, PRISA III Fund PIM LLC, PRREF Debt Fund Manager LLC, PRREF II Fund Manager LLC, PRU 3XSquare LLC, PRUCO LLC, PRUDENTIAL CAPITAL ENERGY PARTNERS MANAGEMENT (FEEDER) LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP MEMBER LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP REIT LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE 2 LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE LLC, PT PFI Mega Life Insurance, Passaic Fund LLC, Pine Tree GP, Pine Tree L.P., Platinum GP Limited, Platinum II L.P., Platinum L.P., Pramerica Business Consulting Shanghai Company Limited, Pramerica EVP CP LP, Pramerica Financial Asia Headquarters Pte. Ltd., Pramerica Financial Asia Limited, Pramerica Fixed Income Funds Management Limited, Pramerica Fosun Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Pramerica Holdings Ltd, Pramerica Hong Kong Holdings Limited, Pramerica Insurance Agency China Company Ltd., Pramerica Luxembourg CP GP S.a.r.l., Pramerica PRECAP I GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP II GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP III GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP IV GP LLP, Pramerica Pan European Real Estate Scots LP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I GP Scots Feeder LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I Scotland Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital II Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital III Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Limited, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Scots Feeder LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V Netherlands GP LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital VI Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Scots CP GP LLP, Preco III Scotland Limited Partnership, Pru 101 Wood LLC, Pru Alpha Partners I LLC, Pru Fixed Income Emerging Markets Partners I LLC, PruVen Capital Partners Fund I L.P., Pruco Assignment Corporation, Pruco Life Insurance Company, Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey, Pruco Securities LLC, Prudential 900 Aviation Boulevard LLC, Prudential Affordable Mortgage Company LLC, Prudential Agricultural Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Annuities Distributors Inc., Prudential Annuities Holding Company Inc., Prudential Annuities Inc., Prudential Annuities Information Services & Technology Corporation, Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Captive Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Universal Company, Prudential Bank & Trust FSB, Prudential Capital Energy Opportunity Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners Management Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Partners Management Fund IV L.P., Prudential Capital and Investment Services LLC, Prudential Chile II SpA, Prudential Chile SpA, Prudential Commercial Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Equity Group LLC, Prudential Financial Inc., Prudential Fixed Income Global Liquidity Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Fixed Income U.S. Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Funding LLC, Prudential General Services of Japan Y.K., Prudential Gibraltar Agency Co. Ltd. Prudential Gibraltar Agency Kabushiki Kaisha, Prudential Global Funding LLC, Prudential Holdings of Japan Inc., Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates LLC, Prudential IBH Holdco Inc., Prudential Impact Investments Mortgage Loans LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Debt LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Equity LLC, Prudential Insurance Agency LLC, Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd., Prudential International Insurance Service Company L.L.C., Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC, Prudential International Investments Company LLC, Prudential International Investments LLC, Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, Prudential Japan Holdings LLC, Prudential Legacy Insurance Company of New Jersey, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 1 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 2 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Capital Asset Holding Company LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Funding LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC, Prudential Multifamily Mortgage LLC, Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC, Prudential Newark Realty LLC, Prudential QOZ Investment Fund 1 LLC, Prudential Realty Securities Inc., Prudential Retirement Financial Services Holding LLC, Prudential Retirement Holdings LLC, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, Prudential Securities Secured Financing Corporation, Prudential Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., Prudential Seguros S.A., Prudential Select Strategies LLC, Prudential Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Prudential Structured Settlement Company, Prudential Systems Japan Limited, Prudential Tax Services LLC, Prudential Term Reinsurance Company, Prudential Trust Co. Ltd., Prudential Trust Company, Prudential Universal Reinsurance Company, Prudential Workplace Solutions Group Services LLC, Prudential do Brasil Seguros de Vida S.A., Prudential do Brasil Vida em Grupo S.A., Prudential/TMW Real Estate Group LLC, Pruservicos Participacoes Ltda., QMA JP EM All Cap Equity Partners LLC, Quartzsite LLC, Residential Services Corporation of America LLC, Rio CP LP, Rock European Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock Global Real Estate LLC, Rock Kensington Limited, Rock Marty GP S.a r.l., Rock Oxford S.a r.l., Rock UK Real Estate II S.a.r.l., Rockstone Co. Ltd., Rosado Grande LLC, Ross Avenue Energy Fund Holdings LLC, Ross Avenue Minerals 2012 LLC, SCP Apartments LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERS VI GP LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERSHIP FUND VI GP LLC, SHP IV Carried Interest LP, SHP V Carried Interest L.P., SMP Holdings Inc., SVIIT Holdings Inc., Sanei Collection Service Co. Ltd. Kabushiki Kaisha Sanei Shuuno Service, Senior Housing Partners V LLC, Senior Housing Partnership Fund V LLC, Sterling Private Placement Management LLP, Stetson Street Partners L.P., Strand Investments Limited, TBG Insurance Services Corporation, TENSATOR HOLDINGS LTD, TF Proveedora S.C., TMW ASPF I Verwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, TMW ASPF Management GmbH, TMW Management LLC, TMW Real Estate Group LLC, TMW Realty Advisors LLC, TMW USPF Verwaltungs GmbH, TRGOAG Company Inc., The Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Keynes Dynamic Beta Strategy US Fund GP LLC, The Prudential Assigned Settlement Services Corp., The Prudential Brazilian Capital Fund LP, The Prudential Gibraltar Financial Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Prudential Home Mortgage Company Inc., The Prudential Insurance Company of America, The Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd., The Prudential Real Estate Financial Services of America Inc., The WMF Group, Thurloe Commercial Guernsey Limited, USPF V - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, USPF V Carry LLC, USPF V Co-Invest LLC, USPF V Investment LP, United States Property Fund VI GP S.a r.l., VIP Australia Holding Company LLC, VIP Australia Trustee Pty Ltd, Vailsburg Fund LLC, Vantage Casualty Insurance Company, Wabash Avenue Holdings V LLC, Wabash Avenue Partners V L.P., Wadhwani Capital Limited, Waveland Avenue Holdings I LLC, Waveland Avenue Partners I Ireland L.P., Waveland Avenue Partners I US L.P., Wellness Services Ecossistema De Bem Estar Ltda., Wellness Services SRL, Yamato Life, and Yavapai LLC.

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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.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. provides technical, professional, and construction services. The company's Aerospace, Technology, Environmental and Nuclear segment offers scientific, engineering, construction, nuclear, environmental, and technical support services to the aerospace, defense, technical, and automotive industries. Its Buildings, Infrastructure and Advanced Facilities segment develops/rehabilitates plans for highways, bridges, transit, tunnels, airports, railroads, intermodal facilities, and maritime or port projects; develops or rehabilitates critical water resource systems, water/wastewater conveyance systems, and flood defense projects; and provides engineering design, construction management, design build, and operations and maintenance. This segment also designs and constructs buildings; offers consulting, engineering, procurement, construction management, and delivery services for life sciences clients; and provides services relating to modular construction and other consulting and strategic planning services, as well as offers services in containment, barrier technology, locally controlled environments, building systems automation, off-the-site design, and fabrication of facility modules. The company's Energy, Chemicals and Resources segment offers services relating to onshore and offshore oil and gas production facilities, processing facilities, gathering systems, and transmission pipelines and terminals; feasibility/economic studies, technology evaluation, conceptual engineering, front end loading, detailed engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and commissioning services; and engineering, procurement, and construction solutions. This segment also provides services, such as manufacturing complex, expansions, modifications, and management of plant relocations; construction management and field construction services; and services to operate and maintain facilities. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United states and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers workers' compensation, commercial automobile and property, general liability, commercial multi-peril, employers' liability, public and product liability, professional indemnity, marine, aviation, onshore and offshore energy, construction, terrorism, personal accident, and kidnap and ransom insurance products. This segment operates through select accounts, which serve small businesses; commercial accounts that serve mid-sized businesses; national accounts, which serve large companies; and national property and other that serve large and mid-sized customers, commercial trucking industry, and agricultural businesses, as well as markets and distributes its products through brokers, wholesale agents, and program managers. The Bond & Specialty Insurance segment provides surety, fidelity, management and professional liability, and other property and casualty coverages and related risk management services through independent agencies and brokers. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals through independent agencies and brokers. The Travelers Companies, Inc. was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York.
The following companies are subsidiares of Pfizer: AH Robins LLC, AHP Holdings B.V., AHP Manufacturing B.V., Agouron Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alacer, Alpharma Holdings LLC, Alpharma Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alpharma Specialty Pharma LLC, Alpharma USHP LLC, American Food Industries LLC, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., Angiosyn, Array BioPharma, Ayerst-Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, BIND Therapeutics Inc., BINESA 2002 S.L., Bamboo Therapeutics, Bamboo Therapeutics Inc., Baxter International - Marketed Vaccines, BioRexis, Bioren, Bioren LLC, Blue Whale Re Ltd., C.E. Commercial Holdings C.V., C.E. Commercial Investments C.V., C.P. Pharmaceuticals International C.V., CICL Corporation, COC I Corporation, Catapult Genetics, Coley Pharmaceutical GmbH, Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Coley Pharmaceutical Group Inc., Continental Pharma Inc., Covx, Covx Technologies Ireland Limited, Cyanamid Inter-American Corporation, Cyanamid de Argentina S.A., Cyanamid de Colombia S.A., Distribuidora Mercantil Centro Americana S.A., Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Encysive Pharmaceuticals Inc., Esperion LUV Development Inc., Esperion Therapeutics, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals Inc., Farminova Produtos Farmaceuticos de Inovacao Lda., Farmogene Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Ferrosan A/S, Ferrosan International A/S, Ferrosan S.R.L., FoldRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Foldrx Pharmaceuticals, Fort Dodge Manufatura Ltda., G. D. Searle & Co. Limited, G. D. Searle International Capital LLC, G. D. Searle LLC, GI Europe Inc., GI Japan Inc., GenTrac Inc., Genetics Institute LLC, Greenstone LLC, Haptogen Limited, Hospira, Hospira (China) Enterprise Management Co. Ltd., Hospira Adelaide Pty Ltd, Hospira Aseptic Services Limited, Hospira Australia Pty Ltd, Hospira Benelux BVBA, Hospira Chile Limitada, Hospira Deutschland GmbH, Hospira Enterprises B.V., Hospira France SAS, Hospira Healthcare B.V., Hospira Healthcare Corporation, Hospira Healthcare India Private Limited, Hospira Holdings (S.A.) Pty Ltd, Hospira Inc., Hospira Invicta S.A., Hospira Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, Hospira Ireland Sales Limited, Hospira Japan G.K., Hospira Limited, Hospira Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Hospira NZ Limited, Hospira Nordic AB, Hospira Philippines Inc., Hospira Portugal LDA, Hospira Produtos Hospitalares Ltda., Hospira Pte. Ltd., Hospira Pty Limited, Hospira Puerto Rico LLC, Hospira Singapore Pte Ltd, Hospira UK Limited, Hospira Worldwide LLC, Hospira Zagreb d.o.o., ICAgen, Idun Pharmaceuticals, Industrial Santa Agape S.A., InnoPharma, InnoPharma Inc., International Affiliated Corporation LLC, JMI-Daniels Pharmaceuticals Inc., John Wyeth & Brother Limited, Kiinteisto oy Espoon Pellavaniementie 14, King Pharmaceuticals Holdings LLC, King Pharmaceuticals LLC, King Pharmaceuticals Research and Development LLC, Korea Pharma Holding Company Limited, Laboratoires Pfizer S.A., Laboratorios Parke Davis S.L., Laboratorios Pfizer Ltda., Laboratorios Wyeth LLC, Laboratorios Wyeth S.A., Laboratorios Pfizer Lda., MTG Divestitures LLC, Mayne Pharma IP Holdings (Euro) Pty Ltd, Medivation, Medivation Field Solutions LLC, Medivation LLC, Medivation Neurology LLC, Medivation Prostate Therapeutics LLC, Medivation Services LLC, Medivation Technologies LLC, Meridian Medical Technologies Inc., Meridian Medical Technologies Limited, Monarch Pharmaceuticals LLC, Neusentis Limited, NextWave Pharmaceuticals, NextWave Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, P-D Co. LLC, PAH USA IN8 LLC, PF Americas Holding C.V., PF Asia Manufacturing B.V., PF PR Holdings C.V., PF PRISM C.V., PF PRISM Holdings S.a.r.l., PF Prism S.a.r.l., PFE Holdings G.K., PFE PHAC Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Pfizer Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Wyeth Holdings LLC, PFE Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) LLC, PHILCO Holdings S.a r.l., PHIVCO Corp., PHIVCO Holdco S.a r.l., PHIVCO Luxembourg S.a r.l., PN Mexico LLC, PT. Pfizer Parke Davis, Parke Davis & Company LLC, Parke Davis Limited, Parke Davis Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Parke-Davis Manufacturing Corp., Parkedale Pharmaceuticals Inc., Peak Enterprises LLC, Pfizer, Pfizer (China) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Pfizer (Perth) Pty Limited, Pfizer (Thailand) Limited, Pfizer (Wuhan) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer AB, Pfizer AG, Pfizer AS, Pfizer Africa & Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Veterinarian Products & Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer Anti-Infectives AB, Pfizer ApS, Pfizer Asia Manufacturing Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., Pfizer Atlantic Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Australia Holdings B.V., Pfizer Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Pfizer Australia Investments Pty. Ltd., Pfizer Australia Pty Limited, Pfizer B.V., Pfizer BH D.o.o., Pfizer Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer Biofarmaceutica Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Pfizer Biologics (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Pfizer Biologics Ireland Holdings Limited, Pfizer Biotech Corporation, Pfizer Bolivia S.A., Pfizer Canada Inc., Pfizer CentreSource Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Chile S.A., Pfizer Cia. Ltda., Pfizer Colombia Spinco I LLC, Pfizer Commercial Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Commercial Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Commercial TRAE Trading Kft., Pfizer Consumer Healthcare AB, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare GmbH, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Ltd., Pfizer Consumer Manufacturing Italy S.r.l., Pfizer Corporation, Pfizer Corporation Austria Gesellschaft m.b.H., Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Pfizer Croatia d.o.o., Pfizer Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Development LP, Pfizer Development Services (UK) Limited, Pfizer Domestic Ventures Limited, Pfizer Dominicana S.R.L, Pfizer ESP Pty Ltd, Pfizer East India B.V., Pfizer Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer Egypt S.A.E., Pfizer Enterprise Holdings B.V., Pfizer Enterprises LLC, Pfizer Enterprises SARL, Pfizer Europe Finance B.V., Pfizer Export B.V., Pfizer Export Company, Pfizer Export Holding Company B.V, Pfizer Finance Share Service (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Financial Services N.V./S.A., Pfizer France International Investments, Pfizer Free Zone Panama S. de R.L., Pfizer GEP S.L., Pfizer Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer Global Supply Japan Inc., Pfizer Global Trading, Pfizer Group Luxembourg Sarl, Pfizer Gulf FZ-LLC, Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation, Pfizer HK Service Company Limited, Pfizer Health AB, Pfizer Health Solutions Inc., Pfizer Healthcare Ireland, Pfizer Hellas A.E., Pfizer Himalaya Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Holding France, Pfizer Holding Ventures, Pfizer Holdings Corporation, Pfizer Holdings Europe Unlimited Company, Pfizer Holdings G.K., Pfizer Holdings International Corporation, Pfizer Holdings International Luxembourg (PHIL) Sarl, Pfizer Holdings North America SARL, Pfizer Hungary Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Inc., Pfizer Innovations AB, Pfizer Innovations LLC, Pfizer Innovative Supply Point International BVBA, Pfizer International LLC, Pfizer International Markets Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer International Operations, Pfizer International S. de R.L., Pfizer International Trading (Shanghai) Limited, Pfizer Investment Capital Unlimited Company, Pfizer Investment Co. Ltd., Pfizer Investment Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Ireland Investments Limited, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 1 LLC, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 2 LLC, Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Ireland Ventures Unlimited Company, Pfizer Italia S.r.l., Pfizer Italy Group Holding S.r.l., Pfizer Japan Inc., Pfizer LLC, Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Limited, Pfizer Laboratories Limited, Pfizer Laboratories PFE (Pty) Ltd, Pfizer Leasing Ireland Limited, Pfizer Leasing UK Limited, Pfizer Limitada, Pfizer Limited, Pfizer Luxco Holdings SARL, Pfizer Luxembourg Global Holdings S.a r.l., Pfizer Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer MAP Holding Inc., Pfizer Manufacturing Austria G.m.b.H., Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland Grundbesitz GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizer Manufacturing Holdings LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Manufacturing LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Services, Pfizer Medical Technology Group (Belgium) N.V., Pfizer Medicamentos Genericos e Participacoes Ltda., Pfizer Mexico Luxco SARL, Pfizer Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pfizer Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Animal Health and Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Norge AS, Pfizer North American Holdings Inc., Pfizer OTC B.V., Pfizer Overseas LLC, Pfizer Oy, Pfizer PFE ApS, Pfizer PFE AsiaPac Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Pty Ltd, Pfizer PFE B.V., Pfizer PFE Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Belgium SPRL, Pfizer PFE Brazil Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE CIA. Ltda., Pfizer PFE Chile Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Colombia Holding Corp., Pfizer PFE Colombia S.A.S, Pfizer PFE Commercial Holdings LLC, Pfizer PFE Croatia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer PFE Finland Oy, Pfizer PFE France, Pfizer PFE Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Ireland Pharmaceuticals Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco 2 S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Pfizer PFE Limited, Pfizer PFE Luxembourg S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Mexico Holding 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE Netherlands Holding 1 C.V., Pfizer PFE New Zealand, Pfizer PFE New Zealand Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Norway Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE PILSA Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Peru Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Peru S.R.L., Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer PFE Private Limited, Pfizer PFE S.R.L, Pfizer PFE Service Company Holding Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer PFE Singapore Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Singapore Pte. Ltd., Pfizer PFE Spain B.V., Pfizer PFE Spain Holding S.L., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding 2 S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Switzerland GmbH, Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 2 B.V., Pfizer PFE UK Holding 4 LP, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 1 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 2 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 4 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 5 LLC, Pfizer PFE spol. s r.o., Pfizer PFE Ilaclar Anonim Sirketi, Pfizer Pakistan Limited, Pfizer Parke Davis (Thailand) Ltd., Pfizer Parke Davis Inc., Pfizer Parke Davis Sdn. Bhd., Pfizer Pharm Algerie, Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Pfizer Pharma PFE GmbH, Pfizer Pharmaceutical (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceutical Trading Limited Liability Company (a/k/a Pfizer Kft. or Pfizer LLC), Pfizer Pharmaceuticals B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Global B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea Limited, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals LLC, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Pfizer Pigments Inc., Pfizer Polska Sp. z.o.o., Pfizer Private Limited, Pfizer Production LLC, Pfizer Products Inc., Pfizer Products India Private Limited, Pfizer Research (NC) Inc., Pfizer Romania SRL, Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A. (Belgium), Pfizer S.A. de C.V., Pfizer S.A.S., Pfizer S.G.P.S. Lda., Pfizer S.L., Pfizer S.R.L., Pfizer SRB d.o.o., Pfizer Saidal Manufacturing, Pfizer Sante Familiale, Pfizer Saudi Limited, Pfizer Seiyaku K.K., Pfizer Service Company BVBA, Pfizer Service Company Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Services 1, Pfizer Services LLC, Pfizer Shared Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Shareholdings Intermediate SARL, Pfizer Singapore Holding Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Singapore Trading Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Spain Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Specialties Limited, Pfizer Strategic Investment Holdings LLC, Pfizer Sweden Partnership KB, Pfizer TRAE Holdings Kft., Pfizer Trading Polska sp.z.o.o., Pfizer Transactions Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Transactions LLC, Pfizer Transactions Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer Transport LLC, Pfizer Ukraine LLC, Pfizer Vaccines LLC, Pfizer Venezuela S.A., Pfizer Venture Investments LLC, Pfizer Ventures LLC, Pfizer Worldwide Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Zona Franca S.A., Pfizer spol. s r.o., Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn S.A. de C.V., Pharmacia Brasil Ltda., Pharmacia Hepar LLC, Pharmacia Holding AB, Pharmacia Inter-American LLC, Pharmacia International B.V., Pharmacia LLC, Pharmacia Limited, Pharmacia Nostrum S.A., Pharmacia South Africa (Pty) Ltd, PowderJect Research Limited, PowderMed, Purepac Pharmaceutical Holdings LLC, Redvax, Renrall LLC, Rinat Neuroscience, Rinat Neuroscience Corp., Roerig Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Roerig S.A., Sao Cristovao Participacoes Ltda., Searle Laboratorios Lda., Serenex, Servicios P&U S. de R.L. de C.V., Shiley LLC, Sinergis Farma-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Site Realty Inc., Solinor LLC, Sugen LLC, Tabor LLC, The Pfizer Incubator LLC, Therachon, Thiakis Limited, Treerly Health Co. Ltd, US Oral Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd, Upjohn Laboratorios Lda., Vesteralens Naturprodukter A/S, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AB, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AS, Vesteralens Naturprodukter OY, Vicuron Holdings LLC, Vinci Farma S.A., W-L LLC, Warner Lambert, Warner Lambert Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Warner Lambert del Uruguay S.A., Warner-Lambert (Thailand) Limited, Warner-Lambert Company AG, Warner-Lambert Company LLC, Warner-Lambert Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Warner-Lambert S.A., Whitehall International Inc., Whitehall Laboratories Inc., Wyeth (Thailand) Ltd., Wyeth AB, Wyeth Australia Pty. Limited, Wyeth Ayerst Inc., Wyeth Ayerst S.a r.l., Wyeth Biopharma, Wyeth Canada ULC, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare LLC, Wyeth Europa Limited, Wyeth Farma S.A., Wyeth Holdings LLC, Wyeth Industria Farmaceutica Ltda., Wyeth KFT., Wyeth LLC, Wyeth Lederle S.r.l., Wyeth Lederle Vaccines S.A., Wyeth Pakistan Limited, Wyeth Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Company, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals FZ-LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Limited, Wyeth Puerto Rico Inc., Wyeth S.A.S, Wyeth Subsidiary Illinois Corporation, Wyeth Whitehall Export GmbH, Wyeth Whitehall SARL, Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) Limited, Wyeth-Ayerst International LLC, and Wyeth-Ayerst Promotions Limited.

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New Delhi: Amid the Padmavati row, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu said on Saturday that giving violent threats and announcing rewards for physical harm was not acceptable in a democracy.

Not directly referring to the controversy, but films and art in general, he warned against undermining the rule of law in the country.

Mr Naidu, at a literary festival here, said there is now a new problem over some films where people feel that they have hurt the sentiments of some religions or communities and that has led to protests.

Whether these fellows have that much money or not, I doubt. Everyone is announcing Rs one crore reward. Is it so easy to have Rs one crore? This is not acceptable in a democracy. You have the right to protest in a democratic manner, go to the appropriate authorities... you cannot physically obstruct and cant give violent threats. Let us not undermine the rule of law, he said.

Stressing that he was not talking about a particular film but in general, Mr Naidu read out names of previously banned films like Garam Hawa, Kissa Kursi Ka and Aandhi.

His remarks, however, assume significance as they come amid protests by many groups against Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed Padmavati, alleging that it distorts history.
Ramanathapuram: Slamming the Opposition for unfair criticism that his government was acting subservient to the BJP regime at the Centre, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday said here that the state had now secured much by way of Central assistance and allocations only because of the close rapport between the two governments.

Recalling the announcement of a massive Rs.one lakh crore Central allocation to Tamil Nadu that Union Minister Nitin Gadkari made during his recent visit to Chennai, the Chief Minister said such a massive help was possible only because of the good relationship between his government and the Centre.

They (DMK) are accusing us of being subservient to the Centre. But can they tell us what they had done for the people of Tamil Nadu when they were part of the Union Government as Congress allies? asked the CM while addressing a massive rally as part of the MGR centenary celebrations.

Listing out the various projects initiated by the Jayalalithaa government, such as the Rs 20,000 crore Chennai-Bengaluru expressway and the Rs 900 crore expansion for Tuticorin port, the Chief Minister said, The Centre has been supporting our government to carry out various projects only because of our close rapport with the Centre.

Speaking earlier, deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam recalled a story narrated by his late leader Ms Jayalalithaa that stressed the need for unity in order to be able to defeat the enemy. It was a story about the five fingers in a wrestlers hand. While the man slept, the fingers fought among themselves on who was superior to the rest. But when an enemy attacked, the fingers got together and vanquished the adversary. Such is the power of unity, he said.

Party MP Dr V. Meitreyan, who has been in the news for his charge that the OPS followers are being treated as second class members in the party, lashed out at the CM again on Saturday when OPS was not invited for the partys celebration of the MGR centenary together with Jayalalithaas birthday and the retrieval of the two-leaves symbol at Madurai despite the temple town being OPS stronghold and his constituency Periyakulam is barely an hour away.

Also missing in the invitees list were the party MP and MLA from Madurai, which made it look that the CMs gala celebration there was out of bounds for the OPS camp, argued Dr Meitreyan, looking very sad and bitter before the huge media gathering outside the Raj Bhavan, where he had gone to meet Governor Banwarilal Purohit.

Dr Meitreyan insisted that he had not discussed politics at the Raj Bhavan and was there along with industrialist A.C. Muthiah to invite the Governor for the 75th anniversary celebration of Tamilisai Sangam at the Raja Annamalai Manram on December 21.
Nellore: After a four-month lull following the failure of the PSLV-C39/IRNSS-1H Mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation has been gearing up to launch its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle- PSLV-C40 with Cartosat - 2 series satellite and a host of foreign satellites including some Indian satellites. The launch will take place at the end of December, 2017 or the first half of January 2018.

Isro scientists have been paying special attention to the current mission in view of the setback to the PSLV-C39/IRNSS-1H Mission launched on August 31, 2017. It may be recalled that the heat shield of the PSLV rocket did not open though the IRNSS-1H (Indian Regional Naviga-tion Satellite System) satellite reached sub- geosynchronous transfer orbit. This was attributed to malfunctioning of the rockets payload-fairing pyrotechnics. The snag had left the combined fourth stage-fairing-satellite stack stranded in a lower orbit.

Incidentally, IRNSS-1H was supposed to replace IRNSS-1A, which was the first satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. The replacement has become a necessity in view of the failure of atomic clocks in IRNSS-1A. This letdown by Indias most dependable workhorse launch vehicle with 39 successful flights out of a total of 41 to its credit, had left everyone, especially ISRO scientists, unnerved.

In this backdrop, the entire space community across the globe will be observing the launch and its success is crucial for ISRO to restore confidence among international clients waiting to launch their satellites through PSLV, a potential forex garner for the country through the launch of foreign satellites. According to sources in ISRO, the payload of PSLV-C40 is likely to be 30 satellites, including Indias Cartosat - 2 series satellite and two more micro satellites, besides 26 satellites of different sizes and shapes belonging to other countries.

With respect to the primary satellite, Cartosat-2 Series Satellite, it is a follow-up mission in the Cartosat-2 Series with the primary objective of providing high resolution scene-specific spot images for civilian and military applications. It carries Panchromatic and Multi-spectral cameras operating in Time Delay Integration (TDI) mode and is capable for delivering high resolution data. Cartosat-2 Series Satellite will be launched by PSLV-C40 along with co-passenger satellites.

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Standard&Poor's has become the second major agency to cut its rating on South Africa's long-term sovereign debt to 'junk' with the third, Moody's, placing its own ratings under review for a possible downgrade.

After the market close in London on 24 November, S&P lowered the country's long-term local currency debt rating by one notch to BB+ and that on its foreign currency-denominated debt also by one notch to BB, because of the impact weaker-than-expected economic growth was having on the public accounts

The day before, Fitch Ratings kept the local and foreign currency ratings at BB+, having already lowered them to junk in April.

Fitch issued a stark warning on Thursday, saying: "Government and the country collectively cannot afford to become complacent about these rising risk exposures."

On the other hand, both of S&P's ratings carried a 'stable' outlook, meaning that further downgrades were unlikely in the short-term.

Yet loss of investment grade status meant officials in Pretoria would be under increased pressure to put the government's financial books in order, as many investment funds are prohibited by mandate from holding debt rated as 'junk' by more than two of the top agencies - as it is deemed to be simply too risky.

"The downgrade reflects our opinion of further deterioration of South Africa's economic outlook and its public finances. In our view, economic decisions in recent years have largely focused on the distribution--rather than the growth of--national income. As a consequence, South Africa's economy has stagnated and external competitiveness has eroded," S&P said.

Furthermore, S&P now judged that "off-setting" measures by Pretoria to stabilise the public finances would fall short of what was needed.

In terms of the risks looming over the economy, analysts at S&P highlighted the possibility that the central bank's independence might come under threat.

On a more positive note, the analysts believed the upcoming party congress of the African National Congress, then in power, scheduled for December 2017, might lead to lessened political instability, allowing policymakers to focus on "designing and implementing measures to improve economic growth and stabilize public finances."

Hence, the 'stable' outlook issued by S&P.

Moody's on the other hand stuck kept its long-term ratings at investment grade level, Baa3, but placed them under review for a possible downgrade.

Analysts said a downgrade by Moody's might trigger significant outflows from the country's debt, placing the economy under further strain.
Brits simply need to get outside more and drop the hermit-lifestyle for a longer life

The Swiss are renowned for living a healthy outdoor-based lifestyle, with the longest lifespan in Europe. Swiss brand, Dr.Dunner, specialists in natural plant-based supplements, have carried out a health and lifestyle survey of 1,000 UK adults to see how we compare.

Most shockingly, the survey revealed that almost three quarters (70%) of Brits do not get out of the office at all during their working day and near to an astounding fifth of respondents (19.8%) choose not to spend any of their spare time outside either. When it comes to exercise, 67% of Brits agree that regular exercise is key to living a longer life, however, 24% of people exercise less than 5 times per month (once per week).

Its not all bad though! Close to three quarters (69%) of respondents also said that eating healthily is key to a longer life and nearly a third (30%) of us are getting our 5 a day with a further 44% sometimes achieving the feat. The majority of us are also making a concerted effort to drink 2-2.5 litres a day (69%) but interestingly, over half (51%) do not take any vitamins or supplements.

Despite the more alarming statistics, when comparing overall survey figures to their Swiss counterparts, Dr.Dunner established that the UK often come out on top. We get our 5 a day more often, drink more water and even do more exercise. However, its our reluctance to embrace nature and get outside that seems to be the key influence to our health and stress levels  even though nearly half (48%) agreed that science and nature can work together when it comes to a healthier lifestyle.

Robert Bastong, Managing Director of Dr.Dunner said: In Switzerland we have the Alps, beautiful lakes and idyllic scenery so its unsurprising that we like to spend so much time in nature and appreciate it so much! What was more surprising was how few differences there are between the UK and the Swiss in terms of lifestyle, the only significant difference being in attitudes towards nature and the great outdoors.

However, the essence of that Swiss attitude to nature is something Dr.Dunner has been putting into practice for 69 years. Our herbal health products are developed in line with the science based principles of phytotherapy, which taps into the health-giving properties of plants and herbs. Many of the plants and herbs in our products are sourced right here in Switzerland, so now weve launched our Phytovitality brand in the UK perhaps Brits can take advantage of some of the Swiss secrets to a long life!

Dr.Dunners new Phytovitality product range is now available to purchase in health stores and online at drdunner.co.uk.
Getting to Mallorca has never been easier as 2018 brings new flights to this property hotspot

Mallorca is set to receive even more British visitors in 2018 as new flights scheduled from the UK are announced by both Thomas Cook and Jet2.com.

The news comes shortly after latest figures reveal that it was an excellent summer for Spain with a record number of overseas visitors flocking to the Iberian nation. According to National Statistics Institute (INE), Spain received nearly 40 million tourists during peak season and experts fully expect the number to increase next year.

The Balearic Islands are an especially popular destination for Britons as the Mediterranean jewel can be reached for as little as 30 if booked in advance through low-cost airlines such as easyJet.

And due to the largest island, Mallorcas popularity, British travel firm Thomas Cook will launch a new Spanish airline based in the capital, Palma de Mallorca, from spring 2018. The new airline will be called Thomas Cook Airlines Balearics and will provide greater flight flexibility from the island for both holidaymakers and those with second homes on the island.

With more than one million Thomas Cook customers flying into Palma every year, we have a strong existing infrastructure on which to build.

Christophe Debus, Chief Airline Officer, Thomas Cook Group

Budget airline Jet2.com is also supporting the growing demand by adding 250,000 extra summer seats from its Birmingham base to most popular destinations, including Alicante, Malaga and Mallorca. Last May, the popular low-cost airline unveiled already over 940,000 seats to Palma for next year.

This news is welcomed by leading Spanish housebuilder, Taylor Wimpey Espana, which has been headquartered on Mallorca for almost 60 years. The Taylor Wimpey Espana team are delighted to hear that Britons will have an even greater selection of routes available next year to Spanish airports including Palma as their latest trading statement revealed just how much Brits have contributed to the surge in international inquiries for property in 2017.

Low-cost airlines have a great exposure to Spain and often offer attractive flight deals for Brits. Accessibility is a key factor for those considering buying a home abroad and with an ever-growing number of flights from the UK, property owners can enjoy even easier access to their second homes on Mallorca.

Marc Pritchard, Sales and Marketing Director, Taylor Wimpey Espana
Chocolate versus cheese choice grates on Brits

Its a question that has the potential to be as divisive as Leave vs Remain, Tory vs Labour, or Strictly vs X-Factor. If Brits had to choose between cheese and chocolate, which would they pick? When Mintel asked the nation, cheese edged ahead  but its a close-run thing.

New research from Mintels latest Cheese report reveals that when asked if they had to choose between never being able to eat cheese again or never being able to eat chocolate again, 50% of British consumers say they would never eat chocolate, compared to 47% who would give up on cheese. Meanwhile, a contrarian 3% say they dont like either.

When looking into the regional differences, it seems it is a nation divided. Consumers living in Scotland (56%), West Midlands (52%) and the South East and East Anglia (52%) are the most likely to say theyd give up on chocolate. Meanwhile, the South West and Wales (50%), London (50%) and the North East and North West (49%) were the only regions where consumers are more likely to give up cheese.

It seems its younger consumers who have the sweetest tooth. Three in five (59%) UK consumers aged over 44 say they would give up chocolate, compared to 54% of those aged between 16 and 44 who would rather give up cheese.

And while overall cheese just pips chocolate to the post in popularity stakes, its chocolate that Brits are buying more of. According to Mintel research, UK consumers are estimated to buy 356 million kg of cheese in 2017, while sales of chocolate are forecast to reach 444 million kg.

Richard Caines, Senior Food and Drink Analyst at Mintel, said: When it comes to the battle between cheese and chocolate, two great British indulgences, cheese more than holds its own. It is a menu staple in the vast majority of UK homes. Recipes and ideas for using cheese with meals offer significant scope for driving increased usage and cementing British consumers love of cheese.

Overall, nine in 10 (91%) Brits have bought cheese in the past 3 months*, with 72% buying Cheddar, 37% regional British cheeses such as Red Leicester and Double Gloucester and 36% buying cream and soft cheese.

And while cheese may be a kitchen staple, a considerable proportion of the population are confident in their own status as turophiles. As many as one in four (25%) UK cheese buyers consider themselves a cheese connoisseur, peaking at 42% of men aged 25-44.

Despite Londoners being among the most likely to say theyd give up cheese rather than chocolate, it is in the capital that youd be most likely to sniff out an expert in fromage. Two in five (39%) Londoners consider themselves cheese connoisseurs, compared to just one in five (20%) of those in the West Midlands.

Indeed, Londoners have the most exotic tastes when it comes to cheese. Almost half (47%) of Londoners have bought continental cheese in the past three months, compared to a UK average of 37%, while 18% have bought goat or sheeps cheese, compared to an average of 13%. Meanwhile, theyre less likely to have bought the nations favourite cheese, Cheddar. Indeed, just three in five (60%) Londoners have bought cheddar in the past three months, below a UK average of 72%.

On the other hand, consumers in Yorkshire and Humberside are the most likely to favour regional British cheeses such as Red Leicester and Double Gloucester, with half (49%) of consumers in this region buying these cheese varieties in the past three months, above the UK average of 37%.

The fact that a higher proportion of those living in London buy continental and goat or sheeps cheese reflects both the diversity of the citys population and the usage of such cheeses for meals influenced by foreign cuisine. Significant scope exists for cheese brands to offer ideas on using cheese in less traditionally British recipes. Sales of cheeses such as feta and halloumi have been growing, but further growth could come from taking more ideas from the cheese culture in other countries. Richard adds.

Mintel research highlights that cheese is seen more positively than negatively in terms of nutrition. Over half (54%) say it is a good source of calcium, while 38% say it is a good source of protein. In comparison, less than three in 10 (27%) say it is high in saturated fat.

Looking to the future, many have artisanal tastes. Over two in five (42%) cheese buyers say they would pay more for cheese made by smaller or independent cheese-makers and three in 10 (29%) say they would like to see a wider range of cheese from different British regions.

Our research shows that over two in five Brits would pay more for cheese made by smaller or independent cheese-makers, emphasising that there is significant room for retailers to encourage trading up. This can be achieved through having a separate cheese section for smaller cheese brands similar to what were seeing in the craft beer segment. Richard concludes.
ALLENTOWN, Pa.  How will your family farm business operate in the future when the owner retires or is gone? Are you currently working with another generation who may be questioning its role in the future of the farm business or are you yourself questioning your current role?

More than 80 percent of farm families hope to pass the family farm on to the next generation, but research shows only 30 percent of family farms survive to the second generation, and only 12 percent survive to the third generation.

A successful transition to the next generation takes careful planning and preparation. To help farm families start their succession planning process, Penn State Extension is offering a new interactive program, Whats your exit strategy?

This program provides many of the tools and resources for producers who want to begin the succession planning process. This program is being offered in six locations across Pennsylvania.

In northwestern Pennsylvania, the program is scheduled for Fridays, Jan. 5 and Jan. 12, 2018, at Burch Farms Country Market & Winery, 9210 Sidehill Road, North East, Pa.

Participants will have an opportunity to open the lines of communication with family to create a shared vision for the family business. They will also learn to choose and work with professionals such as attorneys, accountants, lenders, insurance agents and tax experts to construct a plan and documents that put the familys vision into action.

For more information, call John Berry at 610-391-9840, or johnberry@psu.edu for information on a workshop near you, or visit https://extension.psu.edu/succession-planning-what-s-your-exit-strategy.
King Mohammed VI of Morocco started Sunday a work and friendship visit in Cote dIvoire, where he will attend the Europe-Africa summit to be convened in Abidjan next Wednesday and Thursday (Nov. 29-30).

The participation of King Mohammed VI at the European Union-African Union summit in Abidjan was confirmed in a statement released Sunday by the Ministry of the Royal household, Protocol and chancellery, putting an end to speculations about the Moroccan Kings presence at the Summit because of the probable participation of the Polisario Front, which is claiming the independence of the Moroccan Sahara and which is not recognized by a majority of African States.

This will be the Kings first participation in an African Union major event since Morocco reintegrated its African family last January.

The African Union-European Union summit will provide an opportunity to strengthen political and economic ties between Africa and Europe, two continents with which Morocco has privileged relations.

Last May, in preparation for the summit, the European Commission and the High Representative/ Vice-President had set out the EUs political priorities and concrete proposals for a stronger strategic partnership with Africa.

This revitalized framework for joint action, designed to build a stronger strategic partnership between Europe and Africa for more prosperity and stability in the two continents, presents innovative proposals in a number of key areas. These include peace and security, migration, job creation or energy, based on priorities defined by African countries and stepping up the existing fruitful cooperation between the two continents.

The 5th Africa-EU Summit will lay a specific focus on youth.

King Mohammed VI was welcomed upon arrival at the airport by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara and the two heads of state, who are bound by excellent relations, are expected to hold a meeting Monday at the presidential palace in Abidjan.
British poultry industry leaders have said they are very concerned about a United States suggestion that the UK will have to accept chlorinated chicken to secure a trans-Atlantic free trade deal.

Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier has also voiced concern about the US call for the UK to weaken environment, health and food standards following Brexit.

US president Donald Trump's commerce secretary Wilbur Ross told business leaders at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in London that any post-Brexit deal with Washington would hinge on the UK scrapping rules set by Brussels, including regulations governing imports of chlorinated chicken.

Chlorine-washed chicken is currently banned by the EU and UK farmers' leaders have been lobbying against accepting lower standard food imports in order to win trade deals.

A number of ministers, including Defra Secretary Michael Gove, have insisted that the UK Government will seek to maintain farming standards in any negotiations, but Wilbur Ross's intervention has caused alarm.

He told CBI delegates: Discussions with the private sector reveal that the removal of both tariff and non-tariff barriers will be a critical component of any trade discussions between us. We must reduce unnecessary divergences in regulations and standards that many of our companies, especially our SMEs, face.

'Compromise'

Shraddha Kaul, public affairs and public relations manager with the British Poultry Council (BPC) said it is a "very big concern" for the industry and British farming.

She said the BPC view was that it was completely unacceptable that standards should be given up in order to secure a free trade deal with the United States.

"From the BPC's point of view, any compromise is not acceptable. At the end of the day anything we agree to in post-Brexit agreements must be about Britain's food security and safety," she said. "The Government should stand up for standards that have been hard won over many years.

"The poultry industry here in the UK already has an excellent track record of producing food that is affordable and safe. We have shown that we are capable of scaling up production to meet the demands of a growing population.

"It is important now that the Government supports the industry. The Government should show confidence in our world leading standards rather than throwing them away."

'Wrong message'

Gary Ford, chief poultry adviser with the NFU, is also worried. He said the farming union is against any imports of poultry products from countries that have different standards to UK production that may undermine high animal welfare and food safety standards.

"I think there is a risk that we send out the wrong message to our producers if we allow such product to enter the UK," Mr Ford said.

"In the UK we have a farm to fork approach to food safety, which is key at all stages of production. Our standards are heavily regulated both from a food safety, welfare and environmental aspect.

"In addition Red Tractor farms are independently audited, ensuring food is traced back to a British farm. We are rightly proud of our high standards of animal welfare and food safety in the UK.

"Further, as I understand it, certain practices in the USA are not allowed in the UK/EU. Accordingly I believe that UK poultry meat producers would rightly feel let down if such product was allowed into the UK."

Michel Barnier, who is leading the EU team negotiating with the UK over the terms of Brexit, expressed concern following Wilbur Ross's comments.

When I hear the US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in London call on the British to diverge from Europe to better converge with others  towards less regulation, environmental, health, food and no doubt also financial, fiscal and labour regulation  I have to wonder, he said during a speech in Rome.

The United Kingdom has chosen to leave the European Union. Does it also want to distance itself from the European model? Thats another question.

It is up to the British to tell us whether they still adhere to the European model. Their answer is important because it sets the direction for the discussion on our future partnership and the conditions of its ratification, he said.

Controversial foods

International trade secretary Liam Fox, the Government Minister responsible for setting up new trade deals in the wake of Brexit, has previously expressed some support for controversial foods such as chlorinated chicken and hormone-injected beef - another long-running issue between the United States and the EU.

However, following Wilbur Ross's intervention at the CBI conference, the trade secretary appears to have fallen into line to some extent with other Ministers.

We have made very clear we are not going to see reductions in our standards as we move forward, partly because British consumers wouldnt stand for it, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

"We are entering an era where, I think, people will take a much bigger interest in trade agreements than they might have done in the past, on environmental standards, quality and safety, they will clearly have very strong views.

He said the government would commit to a wider consultation process before signing new trade deals. Consumers will want to be consulted  we dont want to get into a situation where weve been with the TTIP agreement with the US and the EU where a huge amount of work is done only to find the public wont accept it. We need to understand those parameters early on, he said.

British farming standards

Shraddha Kaul said she welcomed Liam Fox's comments. She told FarmingUK that Michael Gove, the Minister responsible for agriculture, had previously spoken in support of British farming standards. The BPC hoped that such support would be maintained, she said.

In one interview following his Defra appointment, Michael Gove said: "Farmers recognise that, as we leave the EU, there are opportunities because of the high quality produce that the UK is famous for."

He said: "There is an opportunity to sell more abroad  but we also need to make sure that, as we do sell abroad, we do not compromise our high environmental and animal welfare standards.

Farming Minister George Eustice has said: "We want to make the UK the international exemplar when it comes to animal health and welfare. I would like us to pioneer new policies, new ways of working, to create a policy that is the envy of the world. I want us to get to a place where a decade from now the rest of the world will want to emulate policies that we put in place."

Large trading partner

During his speech to the CBI, Wilbur Ross said that the UK was already the USs seventh largest trading partner, with nearly $230bn in bilateral trade. He said the US would like to be the UKs number one trading partner.

While we cannot negotiate a free trade agreement until the UK exits the EU, we are holding preliminary scoping discussions on how to strengthen our economic ties in support of job creation and growth in both our economies.

He said a trade and investment working group had been created, bringing together UK and US trade and industry experts. The first meeting had been held in Washington in July. Another one was due in London.

However, the US commerce secretary went on to list a number of issues he saw as obstacles to trade. He said European regulations governing the safety of imports such as chlorine-washed chicken ignored US scientific research.

Changing these regulations would form a critical component of any trade discussion between the United States and the United Kingdom, he said.

As the UK stands on the edge of the major changes coming with Brexit, we stand ready to use this opportunity to support our friends across the pond and to deepen our ties even further but while Brexit opens up the prospect of such trade talks, it also provides a challenge.

Difficult trade talks

The Government has made clear that it is seeking to establish a series of free trade agreements with countries around the world ready for when the UK withdraws from the European Union in 2019.

However, a briefing paper in the House of Commons Library, has warned that agriculture can prove difficult in trade talks.

The authors of the document, 'Brexit: Agriculture and Trade,' said: "Agricultural issues can be a sticking point in trade negotiations. The interests of consumers and producers need to be balanced. Other issues, such as food security, differing approaches to ensuring food safety, animal welfare and environmental standards, are also likely to come into the equation. Agricultural interests may also have to be balanced against those of other industrial sectors."

The paper said: "On leaving the EU customs union, the UK will be able to negotiate its own free trade agreements. This has the potential to open up new markets for UK agriculture."

However, it said: "It remains to be seen how easy these trade negotiations will be. Examples have already been raised where there could be issues such as around the import of hormone-fed beef and chickens washed in chlorine, which are currently banned in the EU."

The House of Commons briefing paper pointed to evidence to the House of Lords EU Committee that many UK farm businesses would be put at significant competitive disadvantage if current tariff barriers were removed or slashed without great care being taken to ensure a level playing field.
Defra Secretary Michael Gove has confirmed the government will continue to recognise animal sentience after the UK leaves the EU.

The acknowledgement follows news of MPs voting to reject the inclusion of animal sentience into the EU (Withdrawal) Bill last week, with one group saying the move undermine Gove's high animal welfare pledge.

However, in a written ministerial statement published on Thursday (23 November), Gove said the government is committed to the "very highest standards" of animal welfare. He said the UK will become a world leader in the care and protection of animals.

He wrote: "It has been suggested that the vote last week on New Clause 30 of the EU Withdrawal Bill somehow signalled a weakening in the protection of animals - that is wrong. Voting against the amendment was not a vote against the idea that animals are sentient and feel pain - that is a misconception.

"Ministers explained on the floor of the house that this Governments policies on animal welfare are driven by our recognition that animals are indeed sentient beings and we are acting energetically to reduce the risk of harm to animals  whether on farms or in the wild."

The Defra Secretary said the vote against New Clause 30 was the "rejection of a faulty amendment", which would not have achieved its stated aims of providing appropriate protection for animals.

He said that the government will ensure any necessary changes required to UK law are made in a "rigorous and comprehensive" way to ensure animal sentience is recognised after the UK leaves the EU.

"The Withdrawal Bill is not the right place to address this, however we are considering the right legislative vehicle," Gove wrote.

The government has said they are proposing primary legislation to increase maximum sentences for animal cruelty from six months to five years, and the creation of a new statutory, independent body to uphold environmental standards.

"The current EU instrument  Article 13  has not delivered the progress we want to see. It does not have direct effect in law  in practice its effect is very unclear and it has failed to prevent practices across the EU which are cruel and painful to animals."

The RSPCA, the leading body which initially criticised the government's action, has welcomed Goves reassurance.

But the animal charity believes a formal acknowledgement that animals are sentient written into the EU Withdrawal Bill would send a strong message to politicians to help shape future legislation, ensuring the best protection for animals.

The call for legal recognition of animal sentience is echoed across animal protection groups and members of the public. As the EU (Withdrawal) Bill continues its progress through Parliament we will once again be urging for this important acknowledgement of animals sentence to be included, the RSPCA said in a statement.


Jacqueline Fernandez is one of the hottest divas of this time. With that hot bod, a smile to die for and dance moves that set the floor ablaze.., she's gold stuff. The hottie was snapped at the airport a couple of hours back flaunting her washboard abs. Dressed in a black crop top, golden bomber jacket and denims... she looked chic AF. A high pony and pink lips complemented the look.









We hear, she was heading to the sets of Salman's Bigg Boss to promote Race 3. Jackie and Salman share a great bond off and on screen and the Sri Lankan beauty is party of all of the Khan clans close gatherings. It was with Kick2 with Salman that she entered the league of big players in Bollywood and there has been no looking back for her ever since. She was last seen in Judwaa2 with Varun Dhawan and Tapsee Pannu.

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Alibaba (BABA -1.44%) has ambitious plans. Earlier this year, founder Jack Ma compared the company to sovereign nations by noting that the e-commerce giant's goal is to become the fifth largest economy in the world by 2036. By then, Ma expects that Alibaba will have created 100 million jobs and support 10 million businesses on its platform.

While investors may not fully share Ma's vision, Alibaba has a powerful investment thesis. First, the company and its enigmatic founder are reminiscent of Amazon.com, arguably the most disruptive company ever. Second, Alibaba's home market is China, a country of over 1.2 billion people that's estimated to eclipse the United States and become the largest economy before 2030. Both demographically and operationally, the company seems destined for success.

Recently, the high-flying e-commerce platform did something unconventional to continue its torrid growth and to fend off current retail megaretailer Wal-Mart (WMT 0.72%): It went into the boring grocery industry, and through the traditional brick-and-mortar channel, no less.

Alibaba goes grocery shopping, literally

Alibaba announced that it has a $2.9 billion stake in Sun Art Retail Group, good for a 36% share of the company. Sun Art has roughly 400 hypermarkets, a retail concept that carries both groceries and traditional department-store goods reminiscent of Wal-Mart's Supercenters.

According to a report from Bain & Company and Kantar Worldpanel, hypermarket stores have recently shown signs of strain. For fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), hypermarkets account for 20.9% of total sales -- down from 24.1% in 2012 because of an annualized growth rate of 1.1%, which is lower than the overall FMCG growth rate. Meanwhile, e-commerce has grown from 2.1% to 7% of total FMCG sales, because of 40.8% annualized growth from 2012 to 2016.

However, what this gives Alibaba are tremendous synergies and the ability to create an omnichannel experience, much as Wal-Mart has done with its grocery pickup service and as Amazon appears to be building with its purchase of Whole Foods Market.

Wal-Mart already has an online grocery presence

While Alibaba is looking for a way to integrate its online platform with its new grocery business, Wal-Mart is already there through its partnership with Chinese retailer JD.com. During the company's third-quarter earnings call, CEO Doug McMillon noted (emphasis mine):

In China, we saw solid net sales growth of 4%. The team continues to do a nice job of improving key categories like fresh and consumables. We also further expanded the number of Wal-Mart stores in China that offer grocery delivery in less than one hour through the JD Daojia delivery platform, to nearly 140 stores.

After the quarter, Wal-Mart further aligned itself with JD.com, with my colleague Leo Sun reporting that the two allowed members to receive the same discounts and benefits in time for the important Singles Day.

China's not a winner-take-all market

Even if Alibaba is able to steal market share away from Wal-Mart, China's demographics are supportive of both retailers. In 2016, China's National Bureau of Statistics reported that retail sales increased 9.6%. However, online sales surged 26.2% year on year. At that time, only 53.1% of China was online. Look for both Wal-Mart and Alibaba to continue to post strong growth in the Middle Kingdom as more people come online and the middle class continues to expand.
One issue that has been discussed many times during the tax reform saga is the marriage penalty: Many married couples pay more taxes as a couple than they would if they were single. In fact, President Trump's campaign tax plan called for the elimination of the marriage penalty in a new, simplified tax code.

Here's an overview of the marriage penalty under current tax law, and what the House and Senate versions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would do about it.

What is the marriage penalty?

When most people use the term "marriage penalty," they're referring to the difference in the tax brackets for single filers and married couples filing jointly.

As a simplified example, if a certain tax bracket applies to income above $75,000 for single filers, you might expect the same bracket to apply to income above $150,000 for joint filers. However, this isn't how our tax system works.

Take a look at our highest 2017 tax bracket, which is a rate of 39.6%. This rate applies to income above $418,401 for single filers, but the threshold for married joint filers is $470,701. That's just 12.5% more, not double the single threshold, as you might expect.

Here's why this is considered to be a penalty. Let's say that two successful single individuals each earn $250,000 per year. According to the 2017 tax brackets, these individuals would each fall in the 33% marginal tax bracket. On the other hand, if these two individuals get married and file a joint tax return, their combined income of $500,000 would put them into the 39.6% bracket and result in significantly more tax liability.

There are other marriage "penalties" in our tax code

In addition to the tax brackets, there are other ways that married couples can potentially be penalized. Just to name a few:

The child tax credit phase-out begins at $75,000 for singles and $110,000 for married couples filing jointly.

You can deduct up to $3,000 of capital losses against your other income, regardless of your filing status. In other words, you can't do this for each spouse.

The threshold for the additional 3.8% net investment income tax is $200,000 for single filers and $250,000 for married couples.

A single individual can deduct the interest on as much as $1 million of mortgage principal and $100,000 of home equity debt. This limit is not doubled for married couples.

Finally, it's worth stressing that the marriage penalty is only a "penalty" if both spouses work. In other words, if an individual earns say, $75,000 and marries someone who doesn't work, their taxes will almost certainly be lower as a married couple.

The GOP tax reform bills reduce the marriage penalty

Elimination of the marriage penalty, as far as the tax brackets go, would mean that the income thresholds for each marginal tax rate for married couples would be exactly double those that apply to single individuals.

While both the House and Senate versions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would certainly reduce the marriage penalty, neither would eliminate it entirely.

The Senate's tax brackets would eliminate the marriage penalty in most tax brackets. The plan proposes a seven-bracket structure, and the income thresholds for the first three tax brackets, as well as for the highest bracket, would be exactly double for married couples as they are for singles.

The House version of the bill has a similar feature. The plan would create four tax brackets, and the income thresholds for the lowest and highest brackets would not have a marriage penalty.

For comparison, only the lowest two tax brackets are without a marriage penalty under the current 2018 tax brackets.

Will the marriage penalty go away?

We don't yet know what a final tax reform bill will look like. In order for a tax bill to become law, the House and Senate need to pass identical bills, and as they stand right now, there are several significant differences.

Having said that, both versions seem to have similar ideas about the marriage penalty: keep it out of the lower tax brackets, and eliminate it for the highest earners. The bottom line is that it looks like the marriage penalty will still exist if and when tax reform is passed, but to a lesser extent than it does now.
Fridays practice sessions in Abu Dhabi were particularly busy, with teams eager to maximise their last opportunity of the year to gather data and trial new parts for potential 2018 use. (Though there is a post-race test at Yas Marina next week, its for tyres, so cars have to be run in a spec that was raced in 2017). Among the parts seen at Ferrari was this new diffuser

The Italian team tried this experiment on Raikkonens car only, with a solution very similar to that on the Red Bull. The rear of the diffuser, especially the outer edges in the area around the rear tyre, is almost identical to that on the RB13, as can be seen from the drawing below.

A similar design has also been used on the Ferrari-powered Haas, which can most likely be considered another evaluation test for Ferrari as they look to decide whether next years car should retain this seasons philosophy of the round section beside the rear tyre with a lot of little flip-ups, or instead move to the much cleaner solution used by Red Bull and Mercedes.
Iran is set to demonstrate its ability to project power far beyond its shores with the sending of a warship to the Gulf of Mexico.

In his first press conference in Tehran since being appointed, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said that Iranian naval forces will cross the Atlantic and stop over at friendly South American countries before flying the Iranian flag in the Gulf of Mexico, local media reported lately.

Our fleet of warships will be sent to the Atlantic Ocean in the near future and will visit one of the friendly states in South America and the Gulf of Mexico, Fars news agency quoted him as saying.

Earlier this month, former navy chief and now deputy commander of the Iranian Army Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said that it was a crucial objective for the Iranian Navy to be able to project its power far beyond the shores of Iran.

Khanzadi also announced plans to revitalize the Iranian Navys hardware with upgraded vessels and helicopters, as well as a new ship and submarine fleet, which will be unveiled within the next year. Khanzadi added that a new Peykan-class Separ (shield) missile-launching corvette would join the countrys Caspian Fleet next week, and that there are also plans for the Navy to build an airport in the southern port city of Jask.

In 2014, Iran announced that it was sending its vessels to the Gulf of Mexico, located between the eastern coast of Mexico and the southern American states of Texas, Florida and Louisiana. The intention was to protest the constant US presence in the Persian Gulf, the Navy 5th fleets Bahrain base having occasionally led to confrontations.
Reasons to buy the Nokia 2

First, we will take a look at the reasons that you can consider to buy this budget Nokia smartphone.

Nokia 2 has an impressive battery

The USP of the Nokia 2 is the capacious 4100mAh battery that operates under its hood. The smartphone is power efficient and the software is not power hungry. Eventually, the Nokia 2 is touted to deliver up to two days of battery backup under normal usage. Even on intense usage, we can expect the Nokia 2 to last up to one day without leaving you concerned about the battery life.

Theres a dedicated microsD card slot

The Nokia 2 gives users the privilege using two SIM cards without compromising on the ability to expand the storage space. While competitors such as Redmi lineup of smartphones have a hybrid SIM slot, the Nokia 2 features a dedicated microSD card slot supporting up to 128GB of additional storage and a dedicated dual SIM card slot as well.

Will get updated to Android Oreo

Like the other smartphones launched by HMD, the Nokia 2 will also receive the Android 8.0 Oreo update. The device runs on stock Android Nougat and HMD has confirmed that this device will receive the Oreo update later.

Reasons to not buy the Nokia 2

After having seen the reasons to buy the Nokia 2, here we tell you the possible reasons why you should consider any other device.

Could have had improved storage

Nokia 2 has been launched with 1GB RAM and 8GB default storage space. These days, the manufacturers are coming with better budget smartphones. It has become a norm for the entry-level devices to have 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. There were speculations that the Indian market will get an upgraded Nokia 2 smartphone with such improved specifications but it did not happen until now. Though you have the liberty to expand the storage up to 128GB using a microSD card, it looks like 8GB of default memory is too low.

Fingerprint sensor is missing

It is common to see entry-level and budget smartphones come with a fingerprint sensor for added security purposes. However, the Nokia 2 is missing on this particular aspect. Though the lack of a fingerprint sensor might not be a great deal breaker for many, it might not be a good choice for some users at least.
King Mohammed VI of Morocco, who is expected in Cote dIvoire this Sunday (November 26), will participate in the fifth African Union-European Union summit scheduled to be held in Abidjan November 29-30.

The announcement came in a statement released Sunday by the Royal Household, Protocol and Chancellery.

The Monarchs participation in the summit will be preceded by a working and friendly visit to the West African country, the statement said.

This is the Kings fifth visit to Cote dIvoire since President Alassane Ouattara came to power in 2011, and since that time cooperation relations and partnership between the two countries have been steadily progressing.

Cote DIvoire has become the first recipient in the region of Moroccos foreign direct investments thanks to the existence of a strong political willingness evidenced by the close ties between the leadership of the two countries and to the sustained efforts by the Moroccan and Ivorian business communities.

Bilateral cooperation is covered by several agreements covering various sectors, including military collaboration, pharmaceutical industry, road infrastructure, finance, small and medium sized enterprises, social development, techno parks, data processing, transportation and logistics.

Morocco is also financing socio-development projects in Cote dIvoire, including two fishing projects, designed to promoting small-scale fisheries sector, by organizing and supervising the trade, improving the quality of the product, and promoting the living and working conditions of traditional fishing communities, fishmongers, fish dryers and fish smokers.

As to the African Union-European Union summit, it will be a key moment and opportunity to strengthen political and economic ties between the two continents, the European Council deeming that 2017 is a defining year for EU-Africa relations, as it has been ten years since the adoption of the joint Africa-EU Strategy.

At the summit, African and EU leaders will discuss the future of EU-Africa relations, and focus on investing in youth. This is a key priority for Africa and the EU as 60% of the African population is under the age of 25.

Other priority issues of the EU-Africa partnership to be discussed during the summit, include peace and security, governance and democracy, human rights, migration and mobility, investment and trade, skills development and job creation.


@PatriciaMazzei

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday that Democratic Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota "should consider resigning" over accusations that Franken inappropriately groped women before and after being elected to the Senate.

"I think the accusations against him, many of which he's admitted, are horrifying," Rubio told Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS 4's Jim DeFede. "The things he's already admitted to I find to be outrageous and offensive -- and I do think on that alone he should consider resigning."

Putting Franken aside, DeFede asked, "Is groping a woman's butt, is that grounds for expulsion from the Senate?"

"I believe it is," Rubio said.

Asked about Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, who has been accused of preying on adolescent girls, Rubio reiterated that, if elected, Moore will immediately face ethics investigations in Congress.

"I find the accusations against him to be incredibly credible. I dont think anything hes done or said in the last two weeks has been convincing or effective," Rubio said. "If he's elected to the Senate  he will find himself immediately in an ethics situation or some other hearing where perhaps even more will be revealed."

Photo credit: Aaron P. Bernstein, Getty Images
Iran rejects military aid to Yemen

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sat / 25 November 2017 / 16:32

Tehran (ISNA)  A high-ranking Iranian military commander stressed that Yemen desperately needs international humanitarian aid, urging all countries across the world to help Yemenis in every possible way.

Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri, who is a senior spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces said, "Iran's aid to Yemen is part of the humanitarian aid and Yemeni forces have such an ability that don't need anyone's help for fighting against their enemies".

Rejecting news about Iran's military and ballistic aid to Yemen, General Jazayeri said, "The Yemeni forces and legitimate government themselves provide their defensive needs".

End Item

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Yemen's Houthi leader warns Saudi planning to escalate war on Yemen

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 06:51PM

Leader of Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement Abdul Malik Badreddin al-Houthi has warned that Saudi Arabia and allies are seeking to escalate their deadly campaign against Yemen to compensate for the losses they have suffered in other regional conflicts.

Houthi said in a televised speech on Saturday that Saudi Arabia was planning to expand the scope of its military aggression against Yemen.

For nearly three years, Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen's infrastructure on the grounds that it wants to reinstate a president who has resigned and drive out the Houthis from the Yemeni capital, Sana'a. More than 12,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed and millions more have been displaced as a result of the campaign.

Abdul Malik urged the Yemeni people to be prepared for an all-out aggression by Saudi Arabia and allies, saying the kingdom is seeking a way out of the crisis of legitimacy it has been facing following defeats in wars in Iraq and Syria.

Saudi Arabia was a major supporter of militant groups that have been operating against the governments of Iraq and Syria for the past several years. Those groups are now considered eradicated with Syria's recent declaration of full final victory against the Daesh Takfiri terrorists in the east of the country.

Saudi- Israeli normalization affront to the Prophet

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Ansarullah leader hinted at recent Saudi efforts to normalize ties with the Israeli regime, saying Riyadh had become part of a club of regional and Western powers that seek to undermine Islam and destabilize the Muslim world.

Abdul Malik, who was speaking on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), said Saudi Arabia's negligence to allow a Zionist figure to enter the shrine of the Prophet was an affront to the Prophet and to Islam in general.

The Houthi leader was making a reference to an Israeli blogger who released images of his presence in the shrine in the city of Medina earlier in the week. The incident sparked huge outrage across the Muslim world and many called it an instance of Saudi double standards, as the blogger, who has a history of journalism for the Times of Israel, had been invited by the Saudi authorities to attend a conference in the country.

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US seeks to divide Sudan into 5 parts: President Bashir

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 06:31PM

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir says the US seeks to divide his country into five regions, more than a month after Washington announced that it had lifted its strict sanctions on the east African country.

"We have information that the US desire is to divide Sudan into five states if we don't find protection," said the Sudanese leader in an interview with the RIA Novosti agency. The transcript of the interview was published on Saturday.

Bashir added that his respective country faced "great pressure" from Washington, which he blames for "ravaging the Arab world," referring to the situations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen as examples.

Some 20 years ago, the White House imposed a tough trade embargo against Sudan, accusing Khartoum of serving as a safe haven for Osama bin Laden, who allegedly spent five years there before being expelled in 1996.

On October 6, the administration of US President Donald Trump announced that it was ending US sanctions against the poor country. Washington also dropped Sudan from a travel ban list in September after being in place for some eight months.

The original travel ban, which came right after Trump assumed office in January, targeted six Muslim-majority countries, including Sudan. The ban had faced growing opposition from rights campaigners and governments while courts in the US had also ordered its partial annulment. The new list targets North Korea, Chad, Venezuela, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

Trump's removal of Sudan from the list and his potential decision to permanently lift the US sanctions imposed on the African country in 1997 comes after Khartoum clearly adopted a shift in its foreign policy.

Khartoum has sided with Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the US, in regional conflicts, a policy which seems to have appeased Washington.

However, President Bashir did not provide details on why he thought the US wanted to divide his country after it lifted the crippling sanctions on the African country. The Sudanese leader, instead, announced that Khartoum had requested Russian warplanes and that it could further ask for S-300 air defense systems.

"We requested Su-30 [fighters] because they cover the Sudanese airspace, as well as Su-35. We have no intentions to carry out aggression abroad, we want to protect our country," Bashir said

On Thursday, the Sudanese president met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in the coastal Russian city of Sochi. After the meeting, Bashir said that they had discussed the creation of a military base on the Red Sea, expressing readiness to renew military-technical cooperation with Moscow.

Bashir added on Thursday that his country needed "protection from the aggressive actions of the US," as he believed that the division of Sudan into two parts in 2011 was a result of American policy. Since 2013, tens of thousands of people have lost their lives in South Sudan due to a civil war.

The crisis-hit Sudan has also been affected by years of insurgency as armed groups continue to pose threats to government forces and civilians.

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Gen. Nicholson says war in Afghanistan 'still in stalemate'

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 05:13AM

General John Nicholson, the top US Army commander in Afghanistan, has acknowledged that the war in the country "is still in a stalemate."

"We are only 90 days into this new policy, but with the US forces that will be arriving, with the new authority that we have been given, put the pressure on external enablers, with the fact that we are condition based and not time based, we've set all the conditions to win," Nicholson told NBC News.

Nicholson's assessment of the overall status of the war in Afghanistan reflected President Donald Trump's speech he gave in a video conference Thursday to US troops in that country.

"I have to say just directly to the folks in Afghanistan: Everybody's talking about the progress you've made in the last few months since I opened it up," Trump told members of the Army's 82nd Airborne First Brigade Combat Team.

"We opened it up, we said go ahead, we're going to fight to win. We're not fighting anymore to just walk around; we're fighting to win, and you people are really  you've turned it around over the last three to four months like nobody's seen."

Trump outlined his strategy in Afghanistan in August, indicating that American troops would remain in the country for an indefinite period of time. The announcement was followed up by the deployment of 3,000 additional troops.

That was a major U-turn for Trump, who as a candidate had denounced the US military intervention in Afghanistan as a "total disaster" that drained resources at a time of more pressing needs at home.

Nicholson, meanwhile, said the new strategy has created momentum for the United States.

"This change in policy has reversed this decline that we've been in since 2011," he said, adding that the drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan was "too far and too fast."

"We communicated to the enemy that we had lost our will to win, and now with a new policy as of August, we are going to win. And winning means delivering a negotiated settlement that reduces the level of violence and protecting the homeland," the four-star general said.

As Trump weighed his options in Afghanistan this summer, he expressed frustration with the lack of progress in America's longest war, suggesting that he might dismiss Nicholson for failing to win the war.

Nicholson has said he needs nearly 16,000 troops in Afghanistan, and NATO allies have pledged to help make up the difference.

The United States -- under George W. Bush's presidency -- and its allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 as part of Washington's so-called war on terror.

The offensive removed the Taliban regime from power, but after more than 16 years the country is plagued by violence and insecurity.

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Trump admin retracts decision to close Palestinian office in DC

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 02:54AM

The administration of US President Donald Trump has backtracked on a decision to shutter the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Washington, DC, after facing heavy backlash.

Last week, US State Department officials said the PLO couldn't stay open because of its support for a Palestinian bid to prosecute Israeli officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez said Friday that the US had "advised the PLO office to limit its activities to those related to achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians."

Instead, he said, the State Department would put some limitations on the office that it expected would be lifted after 90 days.

"We therefore are optimistic that at the end of this 90-day period, the political process may be sufficiently advanced that the president will be in a position to allow the PLO office to resume full operations," Vasquez said.

According to a law passed by the US Congress, Palestinians would be stripped of the right to have a mission in the US capital if they support an ICC investigation of Israelis for committing crimes against them.

Apparently, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held the view that Palestinian leaders had ran afoul of that law but it was up to Trump to make the final decision, the Associated Press reported, citing a State Department official.

The news triggered a major rift in US-Palestinian relations, with Palestinian officials threatening to cut all communications with the US in case Washington pushed ahead with the plan.

Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat also reacted harshly, accusing the Trump administration of bowing to pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "at a time when we are trying to cooperate to achieve the ultimate deal."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in his September speech at the United Nations, said his country had "called on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation and to prosecute Israeli officials for their involvement in settlement activities and aggression against our people."

The tensions threatened to scuttle Trump's efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a plan led by adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

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Zimbabwe Military Takeover Dubbed Legal by Court - Reports

Sputnik News

12:41 25.11.2017(updated 14:00 25.11.2017)

The court's decision comes just a day after Zimbabwe's new president was sworn in.

According to state-run media ZBC, a Zimbabwe High Court has ruled that the military takeover that had rocked Harare last week and led to Robert Mugabe's resignation announced by the ruling party has been legal and "constitutionally permissible."

"Actions by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to stop the usurping of power by those close to former president Robert Mugabe are constitutional," the court has stated as quoted by the media.

Last week, the country's military deployed armored vehicles to the Zimbabwean capital city, confining former President Mugabe to his residence, with his resignation following on Tuesday after the ruling party decided to begin impeachment proceedings against the 93-year-old leader.

Following the resignation of Mugabe, who has de-facto ruled the country for almost 40 years, the Zimbabwean African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party nominated former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who previously fled the country shortly after being sacked by the former president resulting in the recent turmoil, as a presidential candidate.

Mnangagwa, 75, who has been enjoing military's support and has been widely considered as a likely successor to Mugabe, has been sworn in on Friday, with the new leader of the African nation vowing to fight corruption and calling on states that had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe to reconsider them. He will serve as interim president until late August 2018 when Mugabe's term was set to expire, with new election in the country set to be held as scheduled next year.

 Sputnik

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Egypt's Aircraft Destroy Terrorist Vehicles, Weapons Depots After Mosque Attack

Sputnik News

09:15 25.11.2017(updated 14:01 25.11.2017)

The deadly blast in Egypt's northern Sinai has claimed the lives of 235, injuring 130.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Egyptian military aircraft have struck the terrorists' positions in northern Sinai destroying the vehicles of terrorists and their weapons depots, Egyptian military said Saturday, quoted by the Al Arabiya broadcaster.

On November 24, terrorists broke into the Rawda mosque near the Egyptian city of Arish during prayers, detonated an explosive device and then began shooting. According to the latest media reports, the number of people killed has climbed to 235 with another 130 injured.

Following the attack, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi vowed to respond with "brutal force" against militants, adding that "the army and police will avenge our martyrs and rapidly return security and stability with force to the region.

At the same time, Egyptian law enforcement agencies and the armed forces launched an operation to root out the attackers. The servicemen launched a clean-up operation, blocked a number of roads and strengthened several checkpoints in the area.

The authorities also closed the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, which was opened recently to ease the difficult humanitarian situation in Gaza, the broadcaster added.

After the statement, Sky News Arabia reported that Egyptian drones eliminated 15 militants who were involved in the attack, adding that the strikes had been carried out in a desert area near the scene of the deadly blast.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, however, Egypt has been fighting a jihadist insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula since the army overthrew then-President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. The militants on the Sinai pledged allegiance to the Daesh terrorist group in 2014, and have claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks in the region since then.

 Sputnik

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Saudis Set to Launch Counterterror Coalition Commanded by Ex-Pakistan General Sharif

By Ayaz Gul November 25, 2017

A Saudi-led Muslim military coalition, commanded by a celebrated former Pakistan army chief, will be officially launched on Sunday when Riyadh hosts defense ministers of the participating nations at its inaugural meeting.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia, will open the meeting of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition or IMCTC, said an official statement issued on the eve of the event.

The statement explains that the "pan-Islamic coalition" of 41 predominantly Sunni Muslim countries will coordinate and multiply their individual efforts in the global fight against terrorism and violent extremism.

"The meeting [in the Saudi capital] marks the official launch of the IMCTC and strengthens the cooperation and integration of member countries in the coalition," it reads.

While supporters dubbed the Saudi-led coalition the "Muslim NATO," skeptics, including those in Pakistan, continue to question its objectives and see it as a sectarian-based grouping against rival Shi'ite Iran, Syria and Iraq.

Saudi officials announced formation of the coalition in 2015, headquartered in Riyadh, with a mission to fight terrorism, particularly to counter the threat of Islamic State.

Tehran has opposed the move from the outset, however, and has been lobbying against it, believing it is aimed at increasing Saudi influence in the region.

The coalition's formation specifically has been the focus of debate in Pakistan after former Pakistani military chief Raheel Sharif was appointed as IMCTC's first commander.

Critics have warned that Islamabad's participation could upset the country's minority Shi'ite community and undermine bilateral relations with Iran, which shares a nearly 1,000-kilometer border with Pakistan.

The Pakistani Senate  upper house of parliament  witnessed another heated debate on the issue this week where opposition members urged the government not to give any undertakings in Sunday's meeting in Riyadh without taking the parliament into confidence.

Senator Farhatullah Babar, in his speech, noted that the coalition encompasses four key areas, including ideology, communications, counter-terrorism financing and military. Those areas, particularly ideology, present potential pitfalls and challenges with possible consequences for Pakistan, local media quoted Babar as saying.

A day after IMCTC's inaugural meeting, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and head of the country's main spy agency, ISI, among others also plan to visit Riyadh on Monday at the invitation of the Saudi leadership for important consultations, although it is not known exactly what the issues are.

"If the IMCTC turns out to be a Saudi platform to bash geopolitical enemies and advance sectarian narratives, then this country [Pakistan] would best stay away from such a misadventure," warned the leading English language newspaper, DAWN, in an editorial Saturday.

The newspaper noted with concern the Saudi crown prince's statement issued Friday in which he dubbed Iran's supreme leader "the Hitler of the Middle East."

In its announcement ahead of Sunday's meeting, the IMCTC quoted its commander, General Sharif, as saying that terrorism is the biggest challenge confronting the Muslim world.

"The IMCTC encompasses an integrated approach to coordinate and unite on the four key domains of ideology, communications, counterterrorism financing, and military, in order to fight all forms of terrorism and extremism and to effectively join other international security and peacekeeping efforts," Sharif said.

The general retired in November 2016 and is credited with effectively countering terrorist groups operating in Pakistan during his three-year tenure as the chief of the powerful military.

But Shi'ite community leaders and independent critics in Pakistan have criticized the government, as well as Sharif, for accepting the assignment, fearing it would fuel domestic sectarian rivalries.

Pakistan has always walked a tightrope while trying to maintain a balance between its immediate neighbor, Iran, and also Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Kingdom hosts hundreds of thousands of Pakistani expatriates, and is a key source of oil supplies to Islamabad on deferred payments and cash grants to help Pakistan's traditionally struggling economy.

The Pakistan government, under extreme domestic pressure, had refused to join Saudi-led military operations against Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen in 2015.

The parliament barred then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif from joining the operation, saying Pakistan's involvement in a foreign conflict would exacerbate sectarian tensions at home and upset its friends in the Muslim world.

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US Reverses Decision to Close Washington PLO Office

By VOA News November 25, 2017

The U.S. has reversed its decision that would have closed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington.

The U.S. said last week the PLO had to close its office because the organization had violated a little-known provision in U.S. law prohibiting a PLO Washington office if the organization asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Israelis or prosecute Israelis for crimes against Palestinians.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked the international court earlier this year to "open an investigation and to prosecute Israeli officials for their involvement in settlement activities and aggressions against our people."

Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian legislator, told the Associated Press that the U.S. made a "correct" decision in reversing its original choice. He said the first decision should not have been made because "the United States cannot play the role of a mediator and at the same time take the side of the Israelis against the Palestinians ...We cannot have peace in this region if the United States government continues to be biased to the Israeli positions."

A State Department spokesman says the U.S. has "advised the PLO Office to limit its activities to those related to achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians."

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Zimbabwe Court: Military Takeover Was Not A Coup

By VOA News November 25, 2017

The Zimbabwe High Court ruled Saturday that the military takeover that led to Robert Mugabe's resignation was legal, a key decision since the military had insisted that its moves did not result in a coup.

The court said that the military acted to stop the takeover of Mugabe's powers by those around him, thus ensuring that non-elected individuals do not exercise executive functions

The court's decision comes a day after Zimbabwe's first new leader in nearly four decades was sworn in, promising major reforms to ease the country's long-running economic crisis.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa took office Friday in a nation left deeply scarred by 37 years of authoritarian rule by Robert Mugabe, who resigned Tuesday under intense pressure from the military and the ruling party.

In his inaugural address, Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe would attempt to pay its international debts, would loosen import restrictions, and would work to ensure Zimbabweans get easier access to hard currency  a promise that drew massive cheers in a nation where nine currencies are legal tender, but where cash is woefully scarce.

He also said he is committed to compensating farmers whose land was taken under Mugabe's rule. Mugabe critics say the country's controversial land-reform program, which forced experienced white commercial farmers off their property, has caused hunger in the nation once considered the breadbasket of southern Africa.

Mnangagwa will serve out the remainder of Mugabe's term, which is slated to end in mid-2018 after elections the new president promised will be "democratic."

"I encourage all of us to remain peaceful even as preparations for political contestations for next year's harmonized free and fair elections gather momentum. The voice of the people is the voice of God," the new president said Friday.

Mnangagwa also took time in his inaugural address to praise his predecessor. He called Mugabe the "father of our nation," while also acknowledging the former president had made "errors of commission and omission."

Mugabe remains a hero to millions for his role in freeing Zimbabwe from British colonial and white minority rule. But human rights groups have accused him of rigging elections, allowing his cronies to steal millions from the treasury and being responsible for the torture and killing of thousands of political opponents.

Mnangagwa's inauguration culminates a dramatic turn of events for Zimbabwe. On November 5, Mnangagwa was fired from his position as Zimbabwe's vice president amid a succession struggle with Mugabe's wife, Grace.

He fled into exile for two weeks while the military, which has close ties to Mnangagwa, seized control of state institutions and put pressure on Mugabe to resign.

Mugabe and his wife, Grace, who were granted immunity from prosecution on Thursday, were nowhere to be found among the front row of Southern African presidents at Friday's ceremony.

Zimbabweans packed a 60,000 seat stadium in the capital to see Mnangagwa take the oath of office. Across Harare, attendees draped themselves in Zimbabwean flags and enthusiastically applauded military and police bands.

Some attendees traveled a long ways for the ceremony, like 34-year-old Solomon Gatsa, who took a five-hour bus ride from the nation's second city of Bulawayo. He offered the new president some simple advice.

"The first thing, he starts to change the economy," he told VOA outside the stadium. "After that, the people need to have a job."

Emillia Majandari, who is 35, said she was less focused on the details of his speech. She said she has only ever known one president, Mugabe, and had to see this event in person.

"I'm very excited, I wanted to see for myself, is it real?" she said. "I'm overexcited. I'm overjoyed. The joy I have  ah!"

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Cuba - Politics

Cuba is an authoritarian state led by Miguel Diaz-Canel, president of the republic, with former president Raul Castro serving as the first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (CCP). Despite ratifying a new constitution on February 24, Cuba remains a one-party system in which the constitution states the CCP is the only legal political party and the highest political entity of the state. The constitution recognizes the CP as the only legal party and the leading force of society and of the state.

The new constitution includes many sections that restrict citizens ability to participate fully in political processes by deeming the CCP as the states only legal political party and the superior driving force of the society and the state. For example, Article 4 states, Citizens have the right to combat through any means, including armed combat when other means are not available, anyone who intends to overthrow the political, social, and economic order established by this constitution. Because the CCP and its ideology are so entrenched in the document, the article effectively empowers ordinary persons to violently attack those who publicly disagree with the party.

The Cuban political system allows for legal and formal channels so that the people can vote for its leaders. Above the municipal level, Cuban elections are choices between candidates preselected by the Cuban Communist Party and related organizations. The municipal elections are one of three tiers of voting in Cuba's government, along with provincial and national elections. National elections are held every five years [eg, 2013, 2018]. Municipal level voting takes place once every two and a half years [eg, 2013, 2015, 2017]. Since the mid 1970s, all municipal elections have had turnouts above 90 percent of eligible voters, though voting isn't compulsory in Cuba. According to government figures, the municipal level elections in 2012 saw turnout just over 90 percent  similar levels to the national and provincial elections of 2013.

Arbitrary arrests and short-term detentions continued to be a common government method for controlling independent public expression and political activity. By law police have wide discretion to stop and question citizens, request identification, and carry out arrests and searches. Police used laws against public disorder, contempt, lack of respect, aggression, and failing to pay minimal or arbitrary fines as ways to detain civil society activists.

Police officials routinely conducted short-term detentions, at times assaulting detainees. The law provides that police officials furnish suspects a signed act of detention, noting the basis, date, and location of any detention in a police facility and a registry of personal items seized during a police search, but this law was not always followed. Arbitrary stops and searches were most common in urban areas and at government-controlled checkpoints at the entrances to provinces and municipalities.

The law allows for preventive detention for up to four years of individuals not charged with an actual crime, based on a subjective determination of precriminal dangerousness, which is defined as the special proclivity of a person to commit crimes, demonstrated by conduct in manifest contradiction of socialist norms. Mostly used as a tool to control antisocial behaviors, such as substance abuse or prostitution, authorities also used such detention to silence peaceful political opponents. Multiple domestic human rights organizations, including the Spain-based NGO Cuban Prisoners Defenders, published lists of persons they considered political prisoners; individuals appearing on these lists remained imprisoned under the precriminal dangerousness provision of the law.

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press only insofar as it conforms to the aims of socialist society. Laws banning criticism of government leaders and distribution of antigovernment propaganda carry penalties ranging from three months to 15 years in prison. The government had little tolerance for public criticism of government officials or programs and limited public debate of issues considered politically sensitive. State security regularly harassed the organizers of independent fora for debates on cultural and social topics to force them to stop discussing issues deemed controversial.

The government directly owned all print and broadcast media outlets and all widely available sources of information. News and information programming was generally uniform across all outlets, with the exception of broadcasts of Venezuelan government news programming. The government also controlled nearly all publications and printing presses, and the CP must give prior approval for printing of nearly all publications. The party censored public screenings and performances. The government also limited the importation of printed materials.

Foreign correspondents in the country had limited access to and often were denied interviews with government officials. The law prohibits distribution of printed materials considered counter-revolutionary or critical of the government. Foreign newspapers or magazines were generally unavailable outside of tourist areas.

The Cuban Commission on Human Rights and Reconciliation (CCDHRN), an independent human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO), counted 9,940 detentions through the end of the year, compared with 8,616 in 2015. Members of the #TodosMarchamos campaign, which included Damas de Blanco, reported weekly detentions of members to prevent demonstrations. The largest opposition group, Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), also reported an increase in short-term detentions. Long-term imprisonment of peaceful government critics, while rare, sometimes occurred.

The government continued to deny holding any political prisoners but refused access to its prisons and detention centers by international humanitarian organizations and the United Nations.

The number of political prisoners was difficult to determine. Lack of governmental transparency and systemic violations of due process rights obfuscated the true nature of criminal charges, investigations, and prosecutions, allowing government authorities to prosecute and sentence peaceful human rights activists for criminal violations or dangerousness. The government used the designation of counterrevolutionary for inmates deemed to be political opposition, but it did not release those numbers. The government continued to deny access to its prisons and detentions centers by independent monitors who could help determine the size of the political prisoner population. At least two independent organizations estimated there were 75 to 95 political prisoners. The government closely monitored these organizations, which often faced harassment from state police.

Political prisoners and the general prison population were held in similar conditions. Political prisoners who refused to wear standard prison uniforms were denied certain privileges, such as access to prison libraries and standard reductions in the severity of their sentence (for example, being transferred from a maximum-security to a medium-security prison). Political prisoners also reported that fellow inmates, who they believed were acting on orders of prison authorities, threatened or harassed them.

According to independent reports, state-orchestrated counter protests directed against independent civil society groups and individuals, including the Damas de Blanco and other organizations, were organized to prevent meetings or to shame participants publicly. The Damas de Blanco and other members of the #TodosMarchamos campaign experienced weekly government-sponsored counter protests at their usual gathering place in Havana from January 2016 until March 2016, when the government shut down the demonstrations altogether.

The government also continued to organize repudiation acts in the form of mobs organized to assault and disperse those who assembled peacefully. Participants arrived in government-owned buses or were recruited by government officials from nearby workplaces or schools. Participants arrived and departed in shifts, chanted revolutionary slogans, sang revolutionary songs, and verbally taunted the targets of the protest. The targets of this harassment at times suffered physical assault or property damage.

In January 2013 the government largely dropped travel restrictions that prevented citizens from leaving the island, but these reforms were not universally applied, and authorities denied passport requests for certain opposition figures or harassed them upon their return to the country.

The government continued to require several classes of citizens to obtain permission for emigrant travel, including highly specialized medical personnel; military or security personnel; many government officials, including academics; and some former political prisoners or well-known activists. In December 2015 the government reimposed exit permit requirements on medical personnel for nonimmigrant travel, reversing a 2012 law that simplified the process by only requiring a supervisors permission.

The law provides for imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of 500 nonconvertible pesos (CUP) ($20) for first-time rafters (those who attempted to depart using clandestinely constructed vessels). The largest fine reported during the year 2016 was 3,000 CUP ($120) for an unauthorized departure from the country. Most persons caught attempting unauthorized departures via sea were detained briefly. In the case of military or police defectors, or those traveling with children, the punishment could be more severe. Prison terms were also more common for persons attempting to flee to the United States through the Guantanamo U.S. Naval Station.

All 612 candidates in the February 2013 National Assembly elections were prescreened by government-run bodies and, once approved by the CP, ran for office uncontested. All candidates for office were preapproved by government-run commissions, which rejected independent candidacies without explanation or the right of appeal. All 612 candidates elected in February 2013 and serving during the year were either CP members or affiliated and approved by the CP.

Government-run bodies pre-screened all candidates in the April 2015 municipal elections and, once approved by the CP, candidates ran for office mostly uncontested. The first round of voting took place on April 19. Runoff votes were held on 26 April 2015 for any positions where no candidate secured more than 50 percent of the vote.

According to the National Electoral Council (CNE), 167,263 Cubans stepped forward as potential candidates. Around 44 percent of the hopefuls were women. The final candidates vied for positions in Cuba's 12,589 municipal councils, with between two and eight candidates required by law for each position. Any of Cuba's roughly 8 million eligible voters can run, but not along party lines. Municipal elections are strictly non-partisan and very little campaigning took place. Instead, candidates wooed voters familiar with their track records as responsible members of the community.

Over 7.7 million Cubans out of 8 million registered voters cast their ballots to elect close to 12,600 delegates to the countrys Municipal Assemblies, which function as local councils overseeing services such as water and power. Cuban assembly members eleted at the local level hail from diverse sectors of society, and usually continue to work at their regular jobs in addition to their parliamentary duties which are unpaid, volunteer positions.

Government-run commissions pre-approved all candidates for office and rejected independent candidacies without explanation or the right of appeal. The government routinely used propaganda campaigns in the state-owned media to criticize opponents. In the April 2015 municipal elections, the government summarily refused some candidates the opportunity to run. Members of unrecognized, dissenting political parties attempted to run in local municipal elections. Two non-CP candidates secured places on the final ballots after being selected by a show of hands in a local neighborhood meeting in March 2015, but ultimately were unsuccessful due to reported tampering with their biographies and government-organized protests to besmirch their names.

The Council of State said 14 June 2017 that voting for municipal assemblies would take place on 22 October 2017 [in fact, it was delayed by a month]. The election timeline had to be modified for this years municipal assembly elections due to Hurricane Irma, which hit the island in early September. The first round of elections for municipal representatives was to be held on October 22, 2017, and the second round runoff for candidates who haven't obtained at least 50% of the vote was to be held on October 29th. It did not set the date of voting for the country's parliament, which selects the Council of State and the president. Raul Castro said he would step down as president in February 2018, although he was expected to remain head of the ruling Communist Party.

Cubans elected their municipal authorities Sunday 26 November 2017, in elections without opposition candidates. This will be the first round of votes, the second round is on Nov. 29, and there will be a runoff election if any of the candidates dont get a majority of votes on Dec. 3.

These votes lead to the election of Raul Castro's replacement in 2018, marking the first generational change in almost six decades. More than eight million over 16 years (in a population of 11.2 million), were called to elect by direct and secret vote to 12,515 councilors among some 30,000 candidates proposed by show of hands at neighborhood assemblies , none of them members of the opposition. The elections are held a day after the discreet commemoration of the first anniversary of the death of Fidel Castro, who put into force in 1976 the unique political-electoral system of Popular Power, which Havana defends as "the most democratic and transparent" and the opposition calls "farce". The vote is not mandatory, but it constitutes an act of "revolutionary reaffirmation" and abstentionism is politically frowned upon.

Three opposition organizations (OTRO18, Candidates for Change and the Autonomous Pinero Party) failed in their attempt to nominate some 550 independent candidates to councilors.

All the expenses needed to run the elections are provided by the national state budget, and therefore no candidate has the need to raise money or contribute their own money to the campaign. The Cuban electoral process doesn't allow discriminatory, offensive, defamatory and demeaning political campaigning and no political, social or financial organization can pay for any campaign.

It is the first step of the process that must end in February (on a date yet to be defined) with the election of the replacement of President Raul Castro, 86 years old and re-elected in 2013 for his last term of five years, setting in motion the first generational changeover in almost 60 years of communist government.

All the forecasts point to the current first first vice president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, a 57-year-old engineer who in three decades was gradually climbing the steps of power, in the hands of Raul. However, nothing indicates that Raul will leave the leadership of the ruling Communist Party (PCC, only), the country's main political office, before his next Congress in 2021. He will be 90 years old by then.







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At Least 300 Killed In Attack On Sufi Mosque In Egypt

RFE/RL November 25, 2017

Egypt's military says warplanes have attacked several vehicles used in a November 24 attack against a Sufi mosque that killed hundreds of people in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

The military's November 25 statement said the vehicles were hit in the vicinity of the attack that took place a day earlier in the town of Bir al-Abd, about 40 kilometers from the provincial capital, El-Arish.

Meanwhile, Egyptian prosecutors said on November 25 that the death toll from the attack had risen to 305, including 27 children.

A statement from Egyptian prosecutors also said that 25 to 30 militants who were involved in the attack were suspected Islamic State (IS) militants and had "raised the flag" of the extremist group.

Authorities say another 128 people were injured when militants with explosives and assault rifles stormed the mosque during Friday Prayers on November 24 -- the deadliest attack by Islamic extremists in Egypt's modern history.

Sunni Islamic extremists, including IS militants, consider Sufis to be heretics.

Egypt has been battling an insurgency led by an IS affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula that intensified after the military's 2013 ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood from power.

Hundreds have been killed in what has become a grinding stalemate in Sinai. The militants also have expanded their attacks to other parts of Egypt, carrying out deadly bombings of churches to terrorize the Christian minority and deadly gunbattles with security forces.

Egypt's government declared three days of mourning following the November 24 attack.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also convened an emergency security meeting shortly after the attack and vowed to "reply to this terrorist act with harsh force against those terrorists."

"What is happening in Sinai, is a real reflection of the efforts that we're making in facing terrorism, that we are fighting and we are fighting by ourselves," Sisi said in a televised statement.

"Egypt is facing terrorism, on behalf of the region, and on behalf of the whole world," Sisi said. "Because of that, all of this that is taking place is an attempt to stop us in our efforts to fight terrorism, and an attempt to make us lose our will, our moves to stop the horrible criminal plans that aim to destroy what remains of our region."

The Associated Press quoted three police officers as saying that assailants who arrived in four off-road vehicles detonated explosives outside the mosque and then stormed inside -- opening fire on worshipers during weekly Friday Prayers.

Sheikh Mohamed Abdel Fatah Zowraiq, the main cleric at the mosque, said at least a dozen attackers charged inside the mosque during the attack.

U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the attack as "horrible and cowardly" and called Sisi to offer condolences.

"The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

With reporting by AP, dpa, Reuters, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/egypt-hundreds-killed-attack -sufi-mosque-sinai/28876180.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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Suspected Militants Kill 305 in Sinai Mosque Attack

By VOA News November 25, 2017

Egyptian officials said 305 people were killed Friday by suspected militants in an attack on a packed mosque in the volatile northern Sinai Peninsula. Twenty-seven of the dead were children.

The public prosecutors office said Saturday that 25 to 30 extremists targeted the al-Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed, west of the provincial capital, el-Arish.

Militants arrived at the mosque in four-wheel-drive vehicles, set off an explosion and then ran inside, where they opened fire on worshippers as they tried to escape. The gunmen also used burning cars to block exits from the building.

Eyewitnesses also said the militants fired on ambulances as emergency personnel tried to evacuate the wounded to hospitals. The state news agency said 128 people were wounded in the attack.

The attack targeted a mosque frequented by Sufis, members of a mystic movement within Islam.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but an Islamic State affiliate has been carrying out attacks in the region since 2013.

Egyptian government warplanes reportedly attacked terrorist targets in the Sinai following the carnage at the mosque.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi vowed that the attack "will not go unpunished" but did not specify what steps might be taken.

U.S. President Donald Trump reacted to the violence, calling it a "horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshippers."

Trump added, "The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence!" in a tweet sent from Florida, where he is staying over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Neighboring Israel sent condolences to Egypt following the attack. Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979 and maintain close security cooperation.

Egypt's security forces are battling an Islamic State insurgency, mostly in the northern region of Sinai, where militants have killed hundreds of police officers and soldiers since fighting there intensified in the past three years.

Militants have targeted security forces, but have also struck beyond the Sinai by hitting Christian churches and civilians in other parts of Egypt.

Egyptian media reported that Sissi met with top security officials, including the defense and interior ministers, immediately after the attack as security was stepped up around government buildings.

List of Recent Militant Attacks in Egypt:

- Nov. 24, 2017, Egyptian security officials say 305 people were killed by suspected Islamic militants in an attack on a mosque in the northern Sinai peninsula.

- May, 2017, Twenty eight people were killed when militants opened fired on a bus that carried Coptic Christians who were making their way to St. Samuel the Confessor monastery in the southern town of Maghagha.

- April, 2017, two churches were hit by suicide bombers in Alexandria, a coastal city, and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. The attack, during Palm Sunday services, killed at least 43 people and dozens were wounded.

- December, 2016, a bombing at a chapel next to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo killed 30 people.

- October, 2015, a passenger airliner crashed in the Sinai Peninsula after it took off from Sharm el-Sheikh Airport. More than 220 people on board the Russian Metrojet plane were killed. Islamic State took responsibility.

- July, 2014, a gunman associated with an Islamic State affiliate group attacked Egyptian police and military personnel with rocket-propelled grenades near a post in Egypt's western desert at the Libyan border. Militants killed 21 soldiers.

- October, 2014, another strike in the Sinai in killed 30 officials at a military checkpoint.

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Live-fire exercises conducted by PLA base in Djibouti

People's Daily Online

(China Daily) 13:59, November 25, 2017

The Djibouti Logistics Support Base of the People's Liberation Army conducted a live-fire exercise on Thursday with its heavy-duty weapons, according to the Chinese military.

Several wheeled tank destroyers and wheeled infantry fighting vehicles from the base in the Horn of Africa took part in the exercise at a local shooting range and fired dozens of shells, according to a news release published late Friday by the PLA Navy, which administers the logistics support base.

Infantry practiced assault maneuvers with the armored vehicles, it said. It quoted Senior Captain Liang Yang, commander of the base, as saying that the move was intended to verify the combat capability of troops and their weapons and to improve their adaptability in the local environment.

The PLA established its Djibouti Logistics Support Base, the first of its kind for the Chinese military, on July 11 and put it into formal operation on Aug 1.

Located in Djibouti City, the African nation's capital, the base will support the Chinese military's naval escort, peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in Africa and western Asia, the Navy said. It will also help China improve its capabilities in international military cooperation, joint exercises, emergency evacuations and overseas rescue.

It will enable the nation to better guard the safety of international strategic maritime passages with other countries, it said.

President Xi Jinping, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, had a teleconference with troops at the Djibouti base this month during an inspection of the CMC Joint Command Headquarters in Beijing. Xi told them to gain a good reputation for Chinese soldiers and to contribute to regional peace and stability.

On Friday, Premier Li Keqiang met with Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh in Beijing. Calling Djibouti a major partner in East Africa, Li said China is willing to work with the nation to make use of each other's advantages to foster economic cooperation and to build a regional hub of trade and logistics.

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Chinese Military Holds Live-Fire Drills at its First Overseas Base

Sputnik News

21:10 25.11.2017(updated 23:57 25.11.2017)

China opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti in August.

The Chinese military has announced live-fire drills conducted at its base in Djibouti, with tank destroyers and infantry vehicles taking part in the maneuvers and firing dozens of shells.

According to China Daily citing the commander of the base, Liang Yang, the exercises are aimed at verifying "the combat capability of troops and their weapons and to improve their adaptability in the local environment."

The military drills took place in the wake of Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh's visit to Beijing, during which he met Prime Minister Li Keqiang who called the nation a major Chinese partner in east Africa.

China opened its first overseas military base on August 1, 2017, in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa after the country's Defense Ministry officially announced the establishment of a naval logistics center and sent its military personnel there.

The center is designed to be used by the Chinese patrol boats in the Gulf of Aden and other areas and serve as a supplies center and a recreation facility for sailors, according to Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian.

Djibouti, which is located on the Horn of Africa and borders Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, is plagued by piracy, while Beijing has been actively participating in anti-piracy measures in the region.

 Sputnik

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Iran warns of fallout as Trump hints at oil embargo

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 09:02AM

Iran's Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says a possible boycott of the Islamic Republic's crude oil as sought by US President Donald Trump would affect the market.

Trump issued a statement last Saturday, saying because there was enough supply of oil from other countries, it was possible to limit the purchase of oil and its derivatives from Iran.

"Iran's oil supply to the market is up to 2.5 million barrels a day, and the removal of this amount would definitely affect the market," the Fars news agency on Saturday quoted Zangeneh as saying.

Trump's remarks, the minister said, have had no impact on Iran's oil trade so far and the exports are going ahead without any problem.

More than 60% of Iran's crude oil is shipped to Asian countries and about 40% to Europe.

Zangeneh also said oil exports to India were moving ahead normally despite claims that Indian refiners had cut purchases from Iran amid a standoff over development rights to a giant gas field in the Persian Gulf.

The Indians have been demanding special treatment on the offshore Farzad B gas field which they discovered in 2008, but Iran has refused to submit to the demands.

"The Indians are buying oil from Iran, and there is nothing special in this regard," Zangeneh said.

The US has been looming large on the future of Iran's oil trade with India. Increased output from US shale producers has been a major bug-bear for traditional oil producers, hindering OPEC's ability to eliminate the supply overhang and limiting the market upside.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers have been working for some time to restore the stability of the oil market. They are about to meet in Vienna next week to discuss a possible extension of production limits.

The unprecedented cooperation among the traditional rivals has helped the market rebound from its worst doldrums. On Thursday, oil hit two-year highs amid news that US crude stockpiles were declining.

Zangeneh said, "Most OPEC members agree with the extension of the oil freeze, but the final decision has to be taken at the OPEC meeting."

Under the freeze program, producers have agreed to maintain their output at current levels after deciding in November 2016 to shave 1.2 million barrels per day off their production.

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Hashd al-Sha'abi forces recapture 4 villages in anti-Daesh offensive in northern Iraq

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 04:30PM

Iraqi fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) have retaken control of four villages as part of a large-scale military operation to dislodge the remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group from their hideouts in the desert in northern Iraq.

The media bureau of the volunteer pro-government forces, commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, announced in a statement on Saturday that they had recaptured the villages of Shaheriyah, Tar al-Baghal, al-Hajal and Wadi az Qaytoun southwest of Hawijah, located 45 kilometers west of the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported.

The development came only a day after the commander of Upper Euphrates and al-Jazira Liberation Operations, Major General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said the Iraqi army, Hashd al-Sha'abi brigades and federal police forces had established control over 45 villages as they cleared some 2,400 square kilometers of land from the Daesh extremists.

The troops destroyed two car bomb-making sites, five booby-trapped vehicles and two vehicles carrying heavy machine guns, along with detonating and defusing more than 450 explosive devices, Yarallah noted.

On Thursday, Yarallah announced the launch of the second phase of the offensive aimed at clearing the vast desert near the border with Syria, which extends to the northern provinces of Nineveh and Salahuddin and the western province of Anbar.

The forces ended the first phase of the offensive on November 17, when they drove out the Daesh extremists from their last urban stronghold in Iraq and raised the Iraqi flag over buildings in the western town of Rawah and nearby border areas north of the Euphrates River.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-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 out of its last bastion in the northern province of Kirkuk.

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Any US measure will fail to hinder anti-terror activities: Iraq's Nujaba

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 03:45PM

An Iraqi resistance movement whose forces have been fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorists since 2014 has dismissed Washington's recent threats to impose so-called terrorism-related sanctions on it, saying the decision would not affect the group's resolve in the battle against terrorism.

Hashim al-Mousawi, a spokesman for Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, said Saturday that any US measure against the movement would fail to impede its anti-terrorism activities.

Stating that Washington wants the resistance group to withdraw from Syria, Mousawi said the Nujaba forces would remain in the neighboring country until terrorism is totally eradicated.

Earlier this month, American lawmakers introduced a bill to the House of Representatives that would place Nujaba on a list of terrorist groups over accusations of having links to Iran. If passed, President Donald Trump would have 90 days to order the imposition of the sanctions.

The bill has sparked widespread condemnation in Baghdad, with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi saying he would not allow anyone who fought Daesh to be treated as criminals.

Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, which has contributed about 10,000 fighters to the battle against Daesh since 2014, is a branch of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (Hashd al-Shaabi).

Hashd al-Shaabi is an Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization composed of some 40 groups, which are mainly Shia Muslims. The fighters of the organization reportedly number more than 100,000. Iraqi authorities say there are between 25,000 and 30,000 Sunni tribal fighters within its ranks in addition to Kurdish Izadi and Christian units.

The volunteer force was formed in 2014, when Daesh managed to make sweeping territorial gains in Iraq's western and northern parts, helping the government forces regain their strength and speed up their counteroffensives.

The volunteer fighters have been on the forefront of the fight against Daesh and played a major role in the liberation of militant-held areas to the south, northeast and north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

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Myanmar, Bangladesh sign deal to repatriate Rohingya Muslim refugees

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 10:28AM

Bangladesh says it has agreed with Myanmar on repatriating hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees back to Myanmar amid widespread expressions of distrust of the process among the displaced.

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali announced on Saturday that the two sides signed a repatriation agreement for the return of the refugees  forced out of their homes in Myanmar in a brutal, state-sponsored campaign widely described as ethnic cleansing  with assistance from the United Nations refugee agency.

"Primarily they will be kept at temporary shelters or arrangements for a limited time," Mahmood Ali said in a press briefing in the nation's capital of Dhaka, adding that the repatriation process will begin within two months and be completed within a reasonable time.

'Repatriation to begin in two months'

"The 'Arrangement' stipulates that the return shall commence within two months," a press release from the Bangladeshi government further declared in initial statements about the deal.

While the top Bangladeshi diplomat referred to the deal as a "first step," senior Myanmar official Myint Kyaing said his country was prepared to receive the Rohingya "as soon as possible."

More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar after its military launched a bloody campaign against residents of villages across the northern parts of Rakhine State following a number of attacks on security checkpoints on August 25.

Fleeing the brutal campaign of indiscriminate killings and arson attacks, the Muslim refugees sought sanctuary in neighboring Bangladesh.

Under the agreement, Myanmar "would restore normalcy in Northern Rakhine (State) and to encourage those who had left Myanmar to return voluntarily and safely to their own households" or "to a safe and secure place nearest to it of their choice," said the statement by the Bangladeshi government.

"Myanmar will take all possible measures to see that the returnees will not be settled in temporary places for a long period of time and their freedom of movement in the Rakhine State will be allowed in conformity with the existing laws and regulations," it further underlined.

The Bangladeshi minister, however, clarified that since most of the Rohingya villages were burnt during the violence, many would have no choice but to live in temporary shelters.

"Most villages are burnt. So where they will return? There are no houses. Where they will live? It is not possible to physically (return to their houses)," Mahmood Ali added.

However, uncertainty over whether the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would have a role in the repatriation process prompted rights groups to insist on the deployment of outside monitors to safeguard the return of the Rohingya back to Myanmar.

The UNHCR also raised concerns over the agreement on Friday, saying "at present, conditions in Myanmar's Rakhine State are not in place to enable safe and sustainable returns."

Refugees fear repatriation

Many of the refugees, meanwhile, voiced skepticism about returning to Myanmar without solid guarantees about their future safety.

Fatema Khatun is a Rohingya refugee who fled Myanmar in 1992 following a military crackdown and eventually returned to the country before fleeing again recently.

She is now living in makeshift housing near the border in Bangladesh.

Khatun told Reuters that her latest displacement experience was much worse, saying that Myanmar soldiers kicked and slashed babies and threw them into the houses which had been set ablaze.

"I cannot trust the Myanmar government. If the international community promises to keep us safe and if there are people there to protect us, we will go. If they send us back without this (guarantee), we will be persecuted again," she emphasized.

According to the report, another refugee identified as Abdul Hamid was still a boy when he first came to Bangladesh and does not remember everything about the first trip, but he described the current one as terrifying.

He expressed willingness to return back though he also remains fearful about protection and the issue of citizenship.

"We've been complaining about the persecution against us for the past 26 years. We've complained to every kind of UN delegation, whenever we complained about our persecution to the U.N. the Myanmar government just persecutes us more, and we didn't even get one percent of our rights," he added.

Myanmar's army chief meets Chinese president

In another development, Myanmar's top military general announced in a statement that he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday and discussed China's support for his country.

According to a statement on the Facebook page of Myanmar's General Min Aung Hlaing, he and Xi discussed the "promotion of cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries, the situation of China standing on Myanmar's side at the forefront of the international community regarding the Rakhine issue," and other issues.

Hlaing arrived in China on Tuesday and has mainly held talks with Chinese military officers during his visit.

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Bangladesh Confirms Agreement With Myanmar on UN Assistance in Rohingya's Return

Sputnik News

17:35 25.11.2017

Myanmar and Bangladesh have recently signed a repatriation agreement on the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar's Rakhine state into Bangladesh.

"Both countries [Bangladesh and Myanmar] agreed to take help from the UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] in the Rohingya repatriation process," Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said addressing a news conference in Dhaka, adding that "Myanmar will take its assistance as per their requirement."

"The signing of the deal is a first step. The two countries will now have to work on more steps," Ali stated, emphasizing that the priority is the refugees' safe return to their homeland.

Speaking about measures needed to be taken in order to facilitate the Rohingya refugees return, the minister said, "Homes have been burnt to the ground in Rakhine, that need to be rebuilt. We have proposed Myanmar to take help from India and China in building camps for them."

The official's statement came just ahead of Pope Francis' visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh slated for November 26 to December 2 which is aimed at spreading "reconciliation, forgiveness and peace".

On November 23, Myanmar and Bangladesh reached a pact on the repatriation of refugees after the US declared the actions of military in the Rakhine state "ethnic cleansing" against the Rohingya, whereas in early November, Washington made one of its strongest efforts to intervene in Rohingya crisis introducing the bill on sanctions and travel restrictions on Myanmar's military officials.

Rohingya militants' attacks on police posts in August provoked harsh response from the government with the military launching an operation in the villages of Rohingya, which forced more than 600,000 Rohingyas to flee the violence in the country to bordering Bangladesh and prompted worldwide condemnation.

On November 7, the UN Security Council issued a presidential statement expressing serious concern over human rights violations in Myanmar and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Rakhine state that could potentially further destabilize the situation in the region

 Sputnik

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U.S. Warns On Pakistan Ties Over Release Of Militant Suspect

RFE/RL November 25, 2017

The United States has warned Pakistan that there will be repercussions for bilateral ties unless Islamabad takes action to detain and charge a U.S.-wanted militant accused of masterminding a deadly attack in India.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on November 25 that Washington "strongly condemns" the release of Hafiz Saeed from house arrest this week.

Saeed's release "sends a deeply troubling message about Pakistan's commitment to combating international terrorism and belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil," Sanders said in a statement.

"If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistan's global reputation," she added.

Saeed is allegedly the founder of a group linked to the 2008 attack that killed 166 people in the Indian city of Mumbai.

He has been designated a terrorist by the U.S. Justice Department and the United States offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

In January, Saeed was placed under house arrest in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore under antiterrorism laws.

However, authorities released him early on November 24 after a court rejected a provincial government request to renew his detention for a further 90 days.

U.S. and Indian officials have accused Saeed of helping plan the Mumbai attacks in which 10 gunmen rampaged through India's largest city, shooting up two luxury hotels, a Jewish center, and a train station during a siege that lasted several days.

New Delhi also accused Islamabad of helping organize the attacks in cooperation with Saeed -- the head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) charity which U.S. officials say is a front for the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e Taiba militant group.

Both Pakistan and the JuD have denied involvement in the Mumbai assault.

Saeed's release came amid fraying bilateral relations between the United States and Pakistan, with Washington accusing Islamabad of providing "safe havens" for Taliban militants who stage attacks in Afghanistan. Pakistan denies doing so.

U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Islamabad of harboring "agents of chaos," and vowed to get tough with Pakistan unless it changed its behavior.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-us-warns-on -militant-release/28876805.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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Pakistani Police Hold Journalist, Security Guard After Bomb Found Beneath Car

Khalid Khan November 25, 2017

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Pakistani security forces are holding a journalist in custody and have and detained a security guard at a press club in the Khyber tribal region, a day after a bomb was discovered beneath a car used by four journalists in northwestern Pakistan.

The detained journalist, Khalil Afridi, works for the Khyber News TV Channel. He was one of the four journalists traveling in the car on November 24 when the magnetic bomb was discovered.

The group, which also included RFE/RL correspondent Farhad Shinwari, was covering a vintage-car rally in the Khyber tribal region.

Afridi rented the car in the town of Jamroud, where the car rally began, and was traveling ahead of the race with the three other journalists when two men in a vehicle behind them spotted the explosives.

At a checkpoint near Landi Kotal at the western edge of the Khyber Pass, the two men warned the journalists and the Khasadar paramilitary police.

A bomb-disposal unit from Pakistan's Frontier Corps defused about 2 kilograms of explosives.

An unnamed security official said that, if detonated, the powerful device would have killed the occupants of the car and would have caused multiple casualties among anyone nearby watching the car rally.

Security officials said the bomb appeared to be "locally manufactured" in Pakistan.

Initially, police detained all four journalists along with the two men who spotted the explosives.

Shinwari said he and two other journalists were released shortly after midnight on November 25. He said Afridi was still being held on November 25 because the car had been rented in his name. Afridi was not immediately charged.

"When we were stopped and told there were explosives attached under our vehicle, we were terrified," Shinwari said. "We were so close to being killed. And then we suffered through the pressure of the interrogation as if we were responsible for planting the bomb. It was very disturbing."

The authorities also detained a security guard at the Jamroud Press Club responsible for the parking lot where Afridi left the car earlier in the week.

Authorities were questioning the press club security guard on November 25.

After the discovery of the explosives, authorities stopped local media from covering the car rally -- which began at the Bab-e Khyber border crossing with Afghanistan and was continuing to Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi.

Earlier on November 24, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed a senior regional police official in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Pakistani Taliban often target security forces.

A person who claimed to be a spokesman for the militant Lashkar-e Islam (Army of Islam) group called RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal on November 24 and claimed responsibility for the attack.

That claim could not immediately be independently confirmed.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal correspondent Khalid Khan in Peshawar and Tribune.com.pk

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan -mashaal/28876046.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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US Warns of Repercussions for Pakistan Over Release of Alleged Terror Mastermind

By Ayaz Gul November 25, 2017

The United States warned Pakistan on Saturday that there would be "repercussions" in bilateral relations unless Islamabad immediately re-arrested and prosecuted an Islamist leader accused of masterminding the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India.

The warning came after Pakistani authorities on Friday acted on a court order and freed Hafiz Saeed, a U.S.-designated global terrorist, from months of house arrest for a lack of evidence. Detention of the firebrand cleric had stemmed from allegations of terrorism.

Washington has been offering a $10 million reward since 2012 for information that would lead to bringing Saeed to justice for plotting the Mumbai bloodshed through his outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) global terrorist organization.

The White House on Saturday condemned Saeed's release, saying it "sends a deeply troubling message" about Pakistan's international counterterrorism commitment and "belies" claims the country will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil.

"If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistan's global reputation," the statement said.

Trump policy

It also reminded Islamabad of U.S. President Donald Trump's South Asia policy, which seeks a constructive U.S.-Pakistan relationship but expects decisive action against militant and terrorist groups operating out of Pakistani soil that are a threat to the region.

"The release of Saeed is a step in the wrong direction. The Pakistani government now has an opportunity to demonstrate its seriousness in confronting all forms of terrorism, without distinction, by arresting and charging Hafiz Saeed for his crimes," the statement said.

Saeed heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Islamic charity. But the U.S. and the United Nations both have listed JuD as a global terrorist group, calling it a front for LeT, also founded by Saeed and later outlawed by Pakistan. Saeed denies any link to the massacre in Mumbai.

The Pakistan foreign ministry, while responding to the criticism over Saeed's release from house arrest, said Friday that the country's courts were determined to uphold the rule of law and due process for all Pakistani citizens.

"Legal processes are anchored in rule of law, not dictates of politics and posturing," the ministry spokesman said. He reiterated that Pakistan condemns all forms of terrorism by any individual or group and says its successes in the fight against terrorism are "unmatched."

U.S., Indian pressure

Saeed claimed his detention was the outcome of U.S. and Indian pressure on the Pakistani government. Meanwhile, New Delhi asserts that supporters of the Pakistani cleric are assisting armed Muslim separatists in the divided Kashmir region.

Hours after his release from house arrest, the cleric addressed a massive Friday congregation of supporters at a Lahore mosque, urging the government not to engage in talks with India until the rival country had withdrawn its troops from Kashmir.

Saeed credited Pakistan's independent judiciary for his freedom, saying he had been put under house arrest for highlighting the Indian "atrocities" against Kashmiris.

"I want Kashmir's freedom from India, and this is my crime. I was arrested for it," he told worshippers, who chanted, "God is great."

Saeed's release angered India, prompting foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar to call him a "self-confessed and U.N.-proscribed terrorist ... being allowed to walk free and continue with his evil agenda."

A statement quoted Kumar alleging the cleric "was not only the mastermind, he was the prime organizer of the Mumbai terror attacks, in which many innocent Indians and many people from other nationalities were killed."

Islamabad maintains that neither Washington nor New Delhi has offered any evidence linking Saeed to attacks in Mumbai.

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Pakistan Calls In Army to Handle Islamist Protesters in Capital

By Ayesha Tanzeem November 25, 2017

Pakistan's government has called in the army to deal with thousands of protesters in the capital, Islamabad after a security crackdown led to violent clashes. More than 100 security personnel and several dozen protesters have been injured, according to local hospital sources.

The operation started about 7 a.m. local time Saturday after the protesters were given a deadline to peacefully disperse and they ignored it.

Several Islamist groups had been carrying out a sit-in for the past 20 days demanding that the federal law minister resign after a minor amendment in an electoral oath, which the protesters insisted undermined their religious beliefs. The government said the amendment was a clerical error and had been reversed.

The sit-in has paralyzed life in the capital city, and at least two people, including a child, have died over the last three weeks when their ambulances could not reach hospitals in time. The protesters also defied court orders to disband.

Once the operation started, the protests quickly spread to other cities, and by Saturday afternoon, Pakistan's largest cities Lahore and Karachi, also experienced clashes between police and supporters of the Islamist parties.

Several main entrances to Lahore were blocked by protesters, while several major highways in different parts of the country also were cut off by groups of protesters who set fire to tires.

By early afternoon, the government shut down all the news channels and blocked access to social media sites Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to try to contain the fallout.

Pakistan Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said his government was ready to negotiate with the protesters and would try to minimize losses during the operation. The government had resisted carrying out the operation, indicating some among the protesters carried weapons, and the fallout could spread across the country. It was forced, however, after a court ordered that the area be cleared.

More than 8,000 security personnel took part in the initial operation Saturday morning. Police used tear gas, water canons, and riot gear. The protesters set fire to several vehicles. The operation was suspended before the decision to call in the army.

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Russian President Signs 'Foreign Agents' Media Legislation

RFE/RL November 25, 2017

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that empowers the government to designate media outlets receiving funding from abroad as "foreign agents" and impose sanctions against them.

The new law was published on Russia's official legal information Internet portal on November 25.

The measure passed the Federation Council, the upper chamber of parliament, on November 22 in a unanimous 154-0 vote, with one abstention.

And it was unanimously approved in the third and final reading in the lower house, the State Duma, on November 15. Within hours, the Justice Ministry sent warnings to several Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (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 required to label published material as coming from a foreign agent.

RFE/RL was among several media outlets that Russian officials warned could be labeled a foreign agent, a list that also included the Voice of America (VOA), CNN, and Germany's international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle.

In response to news that Putin signed the law, RFE/RL President Thomas Kent said, "We cannot speculate at this time on the effect of the new law, since no news organization has yet been specifically named as a 'foreign agent' and the restrictions to be imposed on such 'agents' have not been announced."

"We remain committed to continuing our journalistic work, in the interests of providing accurate and objective news to our Russian-speaking audiences," he added.

The international rights organization Amnesty International has said the legislation would deal a "serious blow" to media freedom in Russia, although Russian officials have said it would not apply to domestic media.

Russian officials have called the new legislation a "symmetrical response" to what they describe as U.S. pressure on Russian media. On November 13, the Russian state-funded television channel RT registered in the United States under a decades-old law called the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The U.S. Justice Department required RT to register in the wake of a January finding by U.S. intelligence agencies that RT and Russia's Sputnik news agency spread disinformation as part of a Russian-government effort to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

John Lansing, the chief executive officer of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, said in a statement on November 25 that "any characterization of such steps as reciprocity for U.S. actions severely distorts reality."

"Russian media, including RT and Sputnik, are free to operate in the United States and can be, and are, carried by U.S. cable television outlets and FM radio stations," Lansing added. "However, U.S international media, including VOA and RFE/RL, are banned from television and radio in Russia."

He also said that "our journalists on assignment are harassed by Russian authorities and face extensive restrictions on their work."

Visiting the Moscow bureau of RFE/RL and VOA on November 17, U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman said that the Russian legislation was a "big concern" for the United States and that "the principles of free media in any free society and democracy are absolutely critical for strength and well-being."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-putin- signs-foreign-agent-media-law-rferl-voa- cnn-deutsche-welle/28876680.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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Sea Warrior: Capabilities of Russia's Cutting-Edge Karakurt Corvettes

Sputnik News

15:23 25.11.2017

The fastness of a destroyer, the size of a cruiser and the stealth nature of a submarine  this is what Russia's Karakurt-class small-size missile corvettes pack. On Friday, the Taifun, the second ship of its class, was floated out in St. Petersburg.

The Russian Navy expects to receive 18 Karakurt-class corvettes (project 22800) by 2020, building a small squadron with each of its fleets. The flagship, Uragan, was commissioned earlier this year, in July.

Not a Matter of Size

The Uragan and the Taifun bear the legacy of the small missile-carrying corvettes of project 21631 Buyan-M which are currently in service with the Russian Baltic Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla. Initially, they were designed for the littoral zone, but their combat use, including Kalibr missile strikes on terrorist targets in Syria, proved they are more than meets the eyes.

Their combat use, at the same time, exposed a series of disadvantages to the Buyan-M class ships, including insufficient air-defense capabilities, difficulties while operating in the open ocean and a sea endurance of only 10 days, which is not enough for a distant voyage.

As for the Karakurt-class corvettes, they are free from those shortcomings. With a displacement of nearly 800 tons (less than that of a Buyan-M corvette), they have a sea endurance of up to 15 days and are designed for better performance in the open ocean. They are also built with stealth technology, which, taking into account their relatively small size, make the corvettes a hard target even for the most advanced anti-ship missile of a potential enemy.

The Karakurt-class ships are also well protected against aerial threats. While the first two ships are equipped with the AK-630M anti-aircraft artillery system, the rest will have the Pantsir-M, a naval version of the Pantsir-S1 combined surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system which is capable of destroying aerial targets at a distance of up to 20 kilometers.

Striking Power

The main advantage of the new ships is their missiles. Each of the Karakurt-class corvettes carries eight vertical launching systems for the P-800 Oniks anti-aircraft missiles and the Kalibr-NK cruise missiles, which can be used against ground targets.

The Oniks missile has an operational range of 500 kilometers and the Kalibr-NK can destroy a target at distance of up to 2,500 kilometers.

A Karakurt corvette can reach speeds of up to 30 knots (55.6 kilometers/hour), which allows it to quickly leave the launching area after firing a ship's entire missile arsenal.

According to information from open sources, the project 22800 ships should also be equipped with the Sigma-E combat system, the Trassa-E automatic data exchanging complex and four different types of radio-radars.

Hit and Run

The combat tactics of the Karakurts are determined by the ships' technical specifications and design features. They are small, powerful and stealthy and can form a small fleet that would be able to come close to an enemy, deliver a missile strike and immediately leave the area, which is called the "hit and run" tactic.

In terms of striking power, the new missile corvettes can hold a candle to a larger ship of a potential enemy. For example, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser of the US Navy has a displacement of 9,800 tons and carries 26 Tomahawk cruise missiles with an operational range of up to 2,500 kilometers.

At the same time, a group of three Karakurt corvettes can deliver a strike with a total of 24 Kalibr missiles at the same distance. What is noteworthy is that the cost of a Ticonderoga-class cruiser is nearly $1 billion, which would be enough to build some 30 ships from project 22800.

The development of the Karakurt project is part of the trend within the Russian Navy to increase the number of small but mighty ships, and it has already attracted the attention of Western military analysts.

In 2015, military and defense expert Dave Majumdar wrote for The National Interest, "The Buyan-M's eight Kalibr missiles give it a heavier long-range punch than the U.S. Navy's now-retired Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate and certainly much more firepower than either version of the service's Littoral Combat Ships (LCS)."

"Russia's small corvettes pack a much stronger punch than the corvettes of other navies, being able to employ new, long-range, precision-guided Kalibr cruise missiles that are usually found on larger ships," a 2016 article in Forbes read.

 Sputnik

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Russian strategic bombers strike Takfiri targets in northeastern Syria

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 05:51PM

Russian long-range bombers have delivered a stinging blow to the remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group on the western bank of the Euphrates River, destroying the extremists' command posts and killing scores of them in an airstrike.

Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that six Tupolev-22M3 aircraft left an air base in Russia, and bombarded Daesh's fortified areas, manpower and armored vehicles near Abbas town, which lies northwest of the recently-liberated al-Bukamal town and near the border with Iraq.

Surveillance equipment has confirmed that all of the designated targets had been hit, the statement added.

It noted 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 airspace, and that all the bombers had safely returned to their base.

On November 17, six Tupolev-22M3 bombers left an air base in Russia, crossed over the Iranian and Iraqi airspaces and carried out a massive airstrike against the Daesh positions near the town of Bukamal in Syria's eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.

The development came only two days after six Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers bombarded the Daesh outposts near Bukamal.

On November 4, TU-22m3 bombers flew from Russia across Iran and Iraq, and conducted airstrikes against the 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 also launched six Kalibr cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea against the Daesh outposts in Bukamal on November 3.

Six Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers launched a massive aerial assault against the 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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Turkey confident US will stop arming Kurdish fighters in Syria

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 01:57AM

The administration of US President Donald Trump is considering making a series of "adjustments" to its strategy in Syria, which Turkish officials say might include an end to arming Kurdish fighters in the Arab country.

The White House on Friday stirred speculation in a cryptic statement about an earlier phone conversation between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Consistent with our previous policy, President Trump also informed President Erdogan of pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria, now that the battle of Raqqah is complete and we are progressing into a stabilization phase to ensure that ISIS cannot return," the White House statement said, referring to the recent liberation of the Syrian city that had served as the Daesh terrorist group's de facto capital.

Later in the day, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters that the American head of state had actually pledged to stop arming the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

"Mr. Trump clearly stated that he had given clear instructions, and that the YPG won't be given arms and that this nonsense should have ended a long time ago," the Associated Press quoted him as saying at a news conference that followed the call.

Ankara views the YPG as the Syrian branch of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has been fighting for an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984.

The Trump White House's decision to stop arming Kurdish fighters is expected to eliminate what has become a major source of tension between Washington and Ankara, which is also a key NATO ally.

The military support first began under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, whose administration provided the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with weapons and training.

The SDF, which opposes the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is controlled by the YPG.

Trump and Erdogan talked over the phone days after the Turkish leader attended a trilateral summit on Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Putin also talked to Trump ahead of the summit, emphasizing the "need to keep Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity intact."

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Russian Strategic Bombers Strike Daesh Targets in Northeastern Syria

Sputnik News

18:07 25.11.2017(updated 19:15 25.11.2017)

After the last major Daesh stronghold in Syria, the town of Abu Kamal, was liberated, Russian Aerospace Forces continue to support the offensive in the Euphrates River Valley conducted by the Syrian army.

The Russian Defense Ministry has announced the strikes by six Tu-22M3 long-range bombers on Daesh targets in Northeasern Syria.

The airstrikes hit terrorists' strongholds, a number of militants and some armored vehicles with means of reconnaissance confirming the targets' destruction.

This is the third aerial operation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria this week.

Successful military actions in Deir ez-Zor and Abu Kamal led to the expulsion of Daesh militants from the province with the west bank of the Euphrates River remaining the only area where Daesh units are currently still operating. According to the Defense Ministry, at the moment Syrian army units are pursuing and eliminating groups of terrorists in the area.

Over past months, as a result of the Syrian government forces' offensive Daesh terrorist group has lost most of the territory it had occupied during the Daesh rampage across Syria and Iraq in 2014.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry's data, over 90 percent of the Syrian territory has already been freed from militants with the Moscow's aerial suuport that had launched the operation in the Arab Republic at the request of President Bashar Assad in September 2015 and is due to "be completed soon."

 Sputnik

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British defense minister threatens to quit over army budget cuts

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 25, 2017 02:25PM

The British defense Minister has threatened to resign if the ministry goes ahead with spending cut plans, under which the army would lose 12,000 soldiers.

Tobias Ellwood, the minister responsible for service personnel and veterans, expressed his "deep discomfort" to his colleagues over the military's cost-saving measures, which would cut the army's full-time strength to 70,000 soldiers, The Times reported Saturday.

The cost-cutting proposal that is currently being considered by the Ministry of Defense would reduce the army's full-time strength to 70,000 soldiers. Other options being considered are delaying an upgrade of tanks and armored vehicles and reducing the number of new Ajax mini-tanks.

The conservative politician implied he would resign if the measures are imposed, the newspaper said.

Citing government sources, The Times said the ministry of defense is "beginning to try and push back" against proposals.

"Right across the Tory party there is anxiety about the impact they would have on Britain's ability to defend itself," the newspaper quoted a source on condition of anonymity.

"There is a need to mobilize every effort to convince the Treasury to wake up to the consequences of these cuts," the source added.

A ministry spokesman said Britain has "the biggest defense budget in Europe."

"In the face of intensifying threats, we are contributing to the cross-government review of national security capabilities and looking at how we best spend the rising defense budget to protect our country," he said.

Chief of British military capability, General Mark Poffley, told the House of Commons earlier this week that rising costs might force the military to reduce its order of F-35 fighter jets.

The UK has ordered 48 of the jets, and 13 have been delivered to Royal Air Force (RAF) training squadrons based in America so far. The fighter jets, capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, are the only modern warplanes capable of flying from Britain's two new aircraft carriers the Queen Elizabeth-class.

The proposed cutbacks in the army, navy and air force have also poses a major headache for the recently appointed Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson. Several conservative MPs wrote a letter to him three weeks ago, warning him that attempts to cut the armed forces will provoke a backbench rebellion significant enough to the defeat of the Government in a Commons vote.

The ministry of defense, however, is not expected to conclude the major review of the proposal for cuts until 2018.

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NEUVO, Calif.  Strolling through a flock of free-roaming rust-colored hens, Christopher Nichols admits that no one truly knows whether his chickens are happier because they can strut around and wander outside.

But consumers are happier, and that matters a lot to the third-generation egg farmer and a slew of other egg producers who charge a premium price for eggs bearing the U.S. Department of Agriculture's organic certification, which governs not only what hens eat, but nearly everything about how they live their lives.

"The consumers have an idea of what this sort of operation looks like," Nichols said, raising his voice above the chorus of clucks emanating from more than 7,000 Rhode Island red hybrids at a Nuevo, California, ranch that supplies his family company, Chino Valley Ranchers.

"When you give them a building with no windows, no natural light and a screened porch and label it as 'organic,' I think they're going to be a little bit ticked off."

Those consumers will have to be ticked off for at least another six months. In early November, the USDA quietly shelved a rule that would have given consumers a bit more of what they assume is part of organic eggs  open air.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue (who is not related to the chicken family) left open a loophole in organic regulations that has allowed factory egg farms, some with 100,000 hens to a barn, to earn an organic imprimatur without much more than a nod to letting chickens leave their coop  that is, attaching a gated, screened porch to their barns.

It was the third delay for the obscure but highly contentious rule, which had made it into the Federal Register on the day before President Donald Trump took the oath of office, only to fall victim to his "regulatory freeze" executive order.

The well-being of a laying hen may seem an esoteric concern to the average consumer confronted with a slew of labels that grade eggs and purport to explain how they were laid  free-range, cage-free or pasture-raised, for instance.

But how much space, and what kind, each hen gets is crucial to the $5.5 billion egg industry. Producers owe a good deal of their growth to organic, free-range, cage-free and other marketing labels  more than 13 percent of the flock is in those niches now, according to the American Egg Board.

Less than a third of those, or about 14.6 million hens, are certified organic  roaming free, with some access to the outdoors, and fed only on grains raised without conventional pesticides or fertilizers.

Organic eggs now fill the refrigerators of big-box stores such as Costco and Wal-Mart. Most of those eggs come from the titans of the egg industry, such as Herbruck's Poultry Ranch in Michigan and Mississippi-based Cal-Maine.

Those and other egg farms have built their facilities around a 2002 ruling by USDA that allowed farms to attach a screened porch to a chicken barn and qualify it as "outdoor space" under the organic rules. At least a third of organic egg producers operate under that model, according to USDA.

Big egg farms would like to keep it that way, saying any change would drive nearly half of them out of the market and expose birds to disease from wild birds and rodents.

"We are pleased implementation of the rule has been delayed, allowing for more detailed and accurate evaluation of the economic impact of the proposed regulation," said Oscar Garrison, vice president for food safety and regulatory affairs for United Egg Producers, an industry advocacy group whose members sell about 97 percent of the eggs in the country.

USDA has said it would cost the industry $8 million to $30 million over about 15 years to comply with the revised organic rules. Consumers would pay an additional 21 to 50 cents per dozen eggs, the agency estimated. (The agency said benefits of the change, including increasing the willingness of consumers to pay more for the certified eggs, are worth $4 million to $50 million.)

But United Egg Producers contends that nearly half the organic producers will simply leave the market, leaving shortages that will drive up prices.

Nichols, who is vice president of Chino Valley Ranchers, isn't buying it.

"Don't let them fool you," he said. "They knew darn well that they were building these buildings out of compliance. And they knew that when this day came, that they were going to have to face this decision. But they probably figured that they had the money and the political muscle to overrule it."

Smaller producers, he said, "just don't have that."

Under the new rules, even Nichols will have to expand some open areas shared by his barns. "We're OK with that," he said. "It's a small price to pay in order to preserve consumer confidence."

The egg industry has a longer-term strategy in mind when it fights the organic egg rules. Even as scores of restaurants and food companies, including McDonald's, have pledged to switch to cage-free eggs, the industry is using the federal farm bill process to preempt state efforts to ban cages. So far, these "rotten egg" measures, as opponents dub them, have failed.

In California, a proposition making its way to next year's ballot would close the cage loopholes left in a 2008 ballot proposition that gave hens more space, but fell short of mandating cage-free farms.

United Egg Producers, meanwhile, has promoted its own certification program with less generous allocation of space, both indoor and out.

Virtually no one in the organic industry expects the Trump administration to side with smaller producers six months from now, when USDA must again decide whether to enforce the rule.

As a preemptive move, the Organic Trade Assn. sued USDA in September over its previous delays  making it difficult for the agency to bow to industry pressure and withdraw the rule while a federal court case is pending.

"It's not just the egg industry, but commodity livestock interests," said Laura Batcha, CEO and director of the Organic Trade Assn. "We believe they don't want to see this go forward, despite the overwhelming majority that supports it."

More than 40,000 comments were sent to USDA during the rulemaking process, the group noted. The vast majority favored passing it  in part due to consumer form-letter campaigns. Just one comment, from a consumer in Florida, suggested postponement.
The X series used to be Motorola's flagship line but they had to step down when the Z series came to be in 2016.

The last Moto X, the X Force, came and went in 2015, so we were really excited when we heard that Motorola was bringing the line back in 2017.

The Moto X4 has no flagship chipset nor flagship screen. But if you look past what the Moto X4 isn't, you'll see just how great it is.

The first thing you notice when you take the Moto X4 out of its retail box is the beauty of its glass back. It reflects the light in different ways depending on angle so you're never sure if the phone is grey or blue.

The metal frame is reassuringly solid, while the buttons are very sturdy and comfortable.

The screen on the front doesn't have the trendy 18:9 aspect, but it's a great 1080p IPS LCD. It's relatively small at 5.2-inches and it makes room for an LED flash above and a snappy fingerprint reader underneath.

The phone comes with IP68 certification for water and dust resistance, to give you piece of mind.

The back is where the upside-down emoticon is - at least that's what the camera modules and LED flash look like. It's a dual camera made up of a 12MP f/2.0 normal camera (with large 1.4m pixels) and a wide-angle 8MP shooter, a setup similar to the one on recent LG flagships.

Inside the Moto X4 has a Snapdragon 630 with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM - a combination that ensures smooth performance and enables 4K video recording.

Here are a few samples taken with the regular and wide cameras. Our full review will delve deep into the quality of the snaps.



12MP normal  8MP wide-angle



12MP normal  8MP wide-angle

The Motorola Moto X4 costs around 350 at the time of writing. Considering the package you're getting we'd say that's a good price.

But before we can confirm that the Moto X4 is worthy of your cash we'll need to complete our detailed review.

There are a few questions that need addressing, like the battery endurance from the 3,000MAh power pack. Stay tuned for that - the review should pop on our homepage next week.
New associates

Amanda Reed has joined the staff of Child Care Resources as the Front Office Assistant providing support to all areas of the program as well as assisting CCR clients. She has extensive experience in customer service and has worked for companies such as Hyatt, DirecTV and locally for Bob Wards website. She attended the University of Montana and The Culinary Institute of America in New York.

Trever Throop has joined EXIT Realty Missoula. He has real estate experience and is familiar with the Bitterroot Valley. He can be reached at 406-544-4907.

Keri Hill has joined Great West Engineering in the Boise office as an associate project manager. Hill is a University of Idaho alumni with eight years of experience helping Idahos communities solve a multitude of water and wastewater issues. Great West Engineering, Inc. is a major multidisciplinary civil engineering and consulting firm with offices in Helena, Billings, Missoula and Boise.

Kelly Whitmoyer joined EXIT Realty Bitterroot Valley.

Rich Bruner has joined Farmers State Bank as a vice president/commercial lender. A Montana native, Bruner brings years of banking and lending experience to his position. Bruner is based out of the Hamilton branch.

New branch

Farmers State Bank has opened a new branch in Helena, and named Travis Brazill vice president of Helena Market/Commercial Loan Officer. Farmers State Bank is one of Montanas oldest independent banks, opening in Victor in 1907. They currently have seven Bitterroot Valley and Missoula locations, in addition to a lending office in Kalispell. Brazill brings a long history in business, banking and real estate to the position and can be reached at 406-439-0912, or visit the bank online at farmersEbank.com.

Promotions

Casey Erickson has been promoted to Quality Assurance Manager at Elite One Source  Nutritional Services. Erickson holds a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from the University of New Mexico. She joined Elite One Source  Nutritional Services in 2009, and held several different roles within the Quality Assurance Analytical Laboratory and Product Development areas of the business.

Appointed

Local real estate broker C.E. "Abe" Abramson has been appointed to a year term as a public member on the Montana board of medical examiners.

Recognition

Carrie Brushia was EXIT Realty Missoula's Top Agent for the month of October 2017. She can be reached at 406-531-5691 for all real estate needs.

The Montana Dental Hygienists Association has named Karen Thomas the recipient of the Missoula 2017 Community Leadership Award. The award recognizes hygienists who have proven extraordinary service to the field of dental hygiene and contribution to the community. Thomas was honored at the Montana Dental Hygienists Association Annual Session in Kalispell in September. Thomas, of Missoula, graduated from Carroll College in Helena in 1977. She owns her own company, KT Dental Hygiene at Home Support. She volunteers for the Missoula Urban Indian Health Center Wellness Fair as well as Project Homeless.

The Montana Land Title Association (MLTA) has awarded Cindy Davis, a Senior Title Examiner with Western Title & Escrow in Missoula as the 2017 Montana Land Title Association Employee of the Year.

The Big Sky Chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management honored Robert Farmer, SHRM-SCP, SPHR with its highest annual award, the Circle of Excellence for 2017. This award recognizes a Human Resource Professional who sets a high standard for performance excellence in Human Resource Management and Organizational Development and has made significant contributions to advance the profession. Farmer is a senior vice president of HR at the Missoula Federal Credit Union.
How good are these two guys, Penn State fans? It may surprise you ...

football
Twenty years ago, David M. Buerge had a brilliant idea: write a biography of Chief Seattle, the city's Native American namesake. Then the second thoughts came flooding in.

A historian and teacher, Buerge had written a series of articles for the Seattle Weekly about Seattle and King County's deep history, including the story of the native people who call our area home. At that point just one biography of the chief, a children's book, had been published. But written accounts of Chief Seattle were almost nonexistent, as far as Buerge knew. Still, "there were a few clues to how articulate and poetic he was," he remembers.

A literary agent shopped the idea to eastern publishers. No one bit, but like most inspired notions, the idea wouldn't go away. Buerge, a genial imp of a man with a bottomless love of history, made a pact with himself, that he would keep working on the book as long as it didn't interfere with earning a paycheck. He went on the hunt, mining explorers' journals, Catholic priests' diaries, Indian agents' records, pioneer reminiscences and the memories of Seattle's Duwamish Tribe, one of two local tribes (along with the Suquamish) that calls Seattle its own.

The result, "Chief Seattle and the Town that Took his Name" (Sasquatch, 325 pp., $25.95) is a thoroughly researched, insightful and at times heartbreaking book that transforms the chief's image as a gloomy prophesier, an impression largely based on a rewrite of his most famous speech by white pioneer Henry Allen Smith.

Buerge grew to know the chief as "a survivor of cataclysm ... as a ruthless war leader, as a single-minded impresario, as an influential head chief, and as a Christian convert who successfully navigated the transformation of his world," he writes. Seattle's first priority was the welfare of his people, but his decision to work with the whites would help cement our city's survival.

Buerge answered some questions about his book  here's an edited version of the conversation:

Q: Seattle lived a full life for that era. How long did he live?

A: We don't know exactly when he was born. On his gravestone (at the Suquamish Indian reservation  Seattle was the leader of both the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes during the pioneer era, and both tribes claim him) it says he lived about 80 years. He told Americans he remembered (British naval officer George) Vancouver's visit in 1792. He would have been 6 years old ... he said he was born on Blake Island  it was a contemporary camping spot.

Q: Paint a picture of him as you have come to know him.

A: Tolmie (William Fraser Tolmie, a doctor who worked for the Hudson's Bay Company) called him the "handsomest Indian" he had ever seen. ... Tolmie said he had an aquiline nose, fine features, expressive eyes, a commanding presence.

Other people said he was tall. He was not fat. He was immensely strong. He had this incredible temper and this powerful voice. One contemporary said: "When Seattle spoke, it was the other person that shook."

Q: What made him a leader?

A: He was impressive for his good sense, (though) he was very belligerent early on. He made an impression because of his open attitude, and also his sense of humor.

For a long time, he was also a war leader. When he was supposed to confess his sins he said, yes, he killed a great chief. That was what war leaders did. He was tactical and strategic, but he was fearless.

He also had a way with words. His ability to come up with vivid analogies and similes and metaphors was really impressive.

Q: Seattle actually recruited Doc (David) Maynard, one of the city's first pioneers, to move from Olympia to Seattle to start a fishery business with him. What were his motives in partnering with the pioneers?

A: Seattle was nothing if not single-minded. He realized that being a war leader with the Americans was not a good choice. He decided he would side with the Americans, come what may. It was a strategic choice.

Q: I was surprised to learn that when the pioneers decided to name their settlement after Seattle, he felt ambivalent about it!

A: This was his name; it was like a copyright. He seems to have been not amused. According to Ezra Meeker, he charged a sort of tribute payment. They gave him an unnamed sum. It was an interesting arrangement.

Q: Why did the pioneers name the town for him?

A: The settlers owed their lives to Seattle. The Duwamish made sure they survived that first winter. In 1851-1852, there were 14 whites among at least 100 Indians, and sometimes many hundreds more at the winter dances. He ensured that the Indian attack on Seattle (the 1856 Battle of Seattle, when some tribes attacked the city out of anger at white incursion and the terms of the Treaty of Point Elliott) was not fatal. I think the settlers recognized that he was crucial to the city.

Q: How do you think Chief Seattle's flexibility, and his people's willingness to live and work with white people despite many sacrifices, shaped the city?

A: Without it I don't think the city or town would have evolved the way it did. Certainly he had a role to play as positive as any of the pioneers. I think he has to be regarded as a co-founder and protector _ the impresario of the town.

Q: What was the most surprising thing you learned about him?

A: His vision (of the town) was that of a racially hybrid community. That was what he strove to create and for the first two years or so, it worked. Most of the whites in town were young unmarried males. They married with the Indians, and many had families and descendants. (The city's history) has been riven with class disputes, but it has never lost its cosmopolitan nature ... the treaty of Point Elliott at Mukilteo, he said, pay attention to these Changers (white people), follow what they do, and learn from them.

Q: It's shocking to me that, as you write, no Seattle mayor has ever met with the Duwamish. In your opinion, what political considerations have kept that from happening?

A: The (federally) recognized tribes are no more sympathetic to the Duwamish than the whites. The recognized tribes depend on their political and economic relationships with the federal government. ... There's only so much in the federal pie, and the city fathers don't want to run afoul of the recognized tribes.

The Duwamish are an unrecognized people, thanks to the city of Seattle. (Buerge has worked with the Duwamish researching their applications for recognition.)

The federal government provided the Duwamish with a sub-agency in West Seattle and was amenable to the Duwamish having a full reservation. However, on at least three occasions, the white residents of Seattle lobbied successfully to kill the idea of a reservation, because the land was too valuable. ... They actively lobbied against it, and they succeeded.

To me it's a moral question. It's genuinely embarrassing.
A hand-picked team of Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials are quickly working to try and design a first-of-its-kind special hunt to determine how widely chronic wasting disease has spread among deer in south-central Montana.

Details about how many deer need to be shot for a statistically valid sample and the boundaries of that hunt are still being worked out, but the goal is to have a proposal before the Fish and Wildlife Commission at its next meeting Dec. 7.

Its a tight window, said Barb Beck, supervisor for FWPs Region 5, based in Billings, and the leader of the incident command team.

But things are coming together, she added. It will be a milestone for how the commission handles this issue.

Draft plan

Guiding the teams decision-making is a yet-to-be-approved CWD management plan for the state that was released in draft form only earlier this month. In short, FWP is working off a plan that has not yet been approved.

With the commissions blessing we are largely following the plan, even though its a draft, Beck said. Were trying to keep track of anything we think may need to be improved.

The incident team is still awaiting more test results from hunter-harvested deer taken in the Bridger area south to the Wyoming border in Hunting District 510 before outlining the hunt area. So far, two mule deer bucks have been killed south of Bridger tested positive for CWD, even though they both appeared to be healthy animals.

Its not safe for people to assume that because my mule deer buck looks healthy, it is, Beck said.

The disease has an incubation period of about 16 months to two years, said Jennifer Ramsey, FWP veterinarian. Its not known within that time span when the deer start showing symptoms, which can include weight loss, listlessness, drooling and lowering of the head. The disease is always fatal.

Identifying CWD requires tissue samples from dead animals. Lab tests can take a week-and-a-half to three weeks to confirm infection.

Hunt questions

Mike Birrer, a deer hunter who lives in the Bridger area, said a Belfry-area landowner told him about seeing a deer that acted strange this fall, with its head laying over. Now that CWD has been confirmed, he thinks that animal may have been infected. Birrer isnt surprised deer have tested positive near his home and where he hunts, considering the disease surrounds Montana on three of its four borders.

Its probably been here a while, he said, but stepped-up testing by FWP this fall turned up the sick animals.

If, or when, FWP offers a hunt to remove deer for sampling, Birrer said hes not sure if hell take part. The tags must be purchased, although several can be bought, instead of using unfilled tags from the general season. Some bucks, proportionate to the overall number of bucks in the herd, could be shot.

One hunter could potentially harvest a number of deer, Beck said, to determine the diseases presence with a high level of confidence.

All animals would have to be tested, and hunters would then have to make the choice of whether to consume the meat. Although no case of CWD transference to humans has been confirmed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises against consumption of meat that has tested positive.

It doesnt make sense to hunt them if the hunters cant keep the meat, Birrer said, although he praised FWP for using a hunt as a way to figure out how far the disease has spread.

Yet Beck said FWP has already received calls from Montana hunters, as well as from out of state hunters, seeking information about a possible hunt.

With two deer already in the freezer from this seasons hunting that his children shot, Birrer is less inclined to buy another tag. Looking ahead, hes also a bit hesitant about how CWD may affect his hunting in the future.

I told my wife, Maybe we need to start hunting whitetails, he said, which are less likely to contract CWD.

Mobile disease

Ramsey said the disease likely moved north from infected animals in Wyoming, where CWD has been confirmed in deer, elk and moose. In that state, the infections are believed to have come from Colorado and slowly marched north.

Weve seen it showing up all around our borders, Ramsey said. Those animals dont see our borders like we do.

Thats likely the same way that brucellosis-infected elk came to south-central Montana, from animals migrating north from Wyoming along the Beartooth Front. That disease, which can be spread to cattle, is also being monitored by FWP and the Department of Livestock around the edges of Yellowstone National Park.

Upon hearing about the two deer testing positive, Beck said Crow tribal members have also been trained on how to take tissue samples from deer for testing, since the infected animals lived close to the reservation. The states of Washington and North Dakota have also taken action, implementing bans on the importation of certain deer body parts, like heads and spines, from animals that were shot in Montana. The concern is that the disease could spread in those states if infected Montana carcasses are dumped.

Its not understood how animals contract CWD. It could be from contact with an infected animals feces, saliva or urine, but the infectious agent seems capable of living in the soil for an extended period. Its also not known when the animals shed the disease, but it seems to be more prevalent in animals that are crowded closer together, like on a winter range.

Unlike brucellosis, cattle appear to be resistant to CWD infections, but FWP is still encouraging landowners in the region to attend two meetings this week to discuss the outbreak. The meetings are scheduled on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 5 p.m. at the Bridger Civic Center and at 7:30 p.m. at Mountain View Elementary School in Red Lodge.

We really need landowners at the table with us for this to be successful, Beck said.
Former Glee actress Naya Rivera is facing a domestic battery charge after being booked by police in West Virginia. According to TMZ, Rivera supposedly struck her husband, Ryan Dorsey, multiple times while they were walking with their 2-year-old son.

The Kanawha County Sheriffs Department deputies were given a video of the attack by Dorsey, which led to Rivera getting taken into custody around 9:30 PM Eastern Time Saturday. She then appeared before a judge early Sunday morning and was subsequently released on $1,000 bond. Interestingly, it was her father-in-law who reportedly picked her up from the prison. Both Rivera and Dorsey were in West Virginia to spend Thanksgiving weekend with his family.

[Dorsey] says his wife, Naya, had struck him in the head and the bottom lip while the two were taking their child for a walk down the street, reported Jatara McGee and Markie Owens of WSAZ, a local NBC affiliate that broke the story late yesterday. The couple have been married since 2014, with nuptials that came under quite a bit of scrutiny from the hip-hop world.

Rivera infamously walked down the aisle with Dorsey just three months after breaking off her engagement with Big Sean, the Detroit-area rapper who now counts Jhene Aiko as his romantic partner. Soon after that very public breakup and aftermath, Rivera was assumed to be the target of Seans IDWFU, a track that has since been certified 4x Platinum. Theres no real way of telling if the emcee meant it as a direct shot at his ex, but there seems to be little coincidence between their past and his early-morning Sunday tweet, which you can see below.

Born in Santa Clarita, California, Rivera is best known for portraying Santana Lopez on Foxs hit musical comedy series Glee, which wrapped up its run in 2015. Shes since tried to translate that success into some big screen roles, as well as focusing on a memoir that she published in 2016. If her streak of violent outbursts continues, there may have to be a revised edition of that print story of her life that eventually sees the light of day.

Naya Rivera
One of hip-hops best known producers is celebrating his 42nd birthday today.

DJ Khaled, undoubtedly one of the most recognizable figures in the music industry, has ascended to heights that most artists cant even fathom this year, on the strength of his two monster singles Im The One and Wild Thoughts. A mainstay on social media as well, Khaled wasnt going to pass up the opportunity to show his fans as well as those close to him some love to mark the occasion.

In a heartfelt message that he wrote as the caption a short GIF he uploaded to his Instagram profile, DJ Khaled proceeded to let the world know who he really had to thank for what has been a stellar past twelve months. Its my B DAY !!!!!!!!!!! GOD IS THE GREATEST!! THANK YOU GOD FOR MY SON ! MY FAMLIY ! FRIENDS ! AND MY TEAM, he said. He also gave a special shout out to his supporters, adding: MY FAN LUV!!! GOD IM SO GRATEFUL FOR YOU ! IM AM SO BLESSED ! GOD I LOVE YOU ! THANK YOU !!! #GRATEFUL  I WILl NEVER STOP!!!!!!!! LETS WIN MORE ! MORE BLESSINGS !! ALL PRAISE THE MOST HIGH! #WeTheBest

The producer/DJ has been grinding it out in the hip-hop world for many years, starting out as a DJ on the Miami club circuit before beginning to make his own beats. That has led to a long a prosperous career at an in-studio hitmaker, having collaborated with the likes of Drake, Jay-Z, Future, Lil Wayne, Migos, Travis Scott and many, many more. Despite being in the business of making music for as long as he has, DJ Khaled has only tasted superstardom over the last two or three years, where tracks like For Free, Do You Mind and I Got The Keys paving the way for Grateful to be as successful as it has been.

Theres no telling what the next move will be in terms of musical output for DJ Khaled, but today, hes got every right to toast to a year when hes mowed down many of his competitors and staked his claim for the title of most important mogul working in the industry today.

Happy birthday DJ Khaled!

DJ Khaled
In a time when a new celebrity, Hollywood or otherwise, seems to have their careers melt away in an instant because of an allegation of sexual harassment, one moment that has been strangely overlooked in recent weeks is Donald Trumps infamous Access Hollywood tape. While answering questions from then-host Billy Bush, Trump admitted to making unwanted sexual advances towards several women, including his statement that powerful men could grab a woman by the p***y without there being consequences. Now, a new report from The New York Times is claiming that Trump believes the video is a fake.

The President apparently told some of his constituents that the Access Hollywood feature may have been doctored in some way. In other words, he doesnt think that the voice in the footage is actually his. Check out the full passage form the NYT article below.

He sees the calls for Mr. Moore to step aside as a version of the response to the now-famous Access Hollywood tape, in which he boasted about grabbing womens genitalia, and the flood of groping accusations against him that followed soon after. He suggested to a senator earlier this year that it was not authentic, and repeated that claim to an adviser more recently.

This is a curious turn of events for a few reasons. Firstly, after the tape was originally leaked in October of 2016, he stated that the voice on the tape was in fact his and that he did in fact say what is heard on the tape, though he later tried to downplay those remarks as simply locker room talk. Second, this comes on the heels of Trumps consistent defense of Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has had sexual harassment accusations leveled against him over the past week. The fact that Donald Trump is now trying to make his Access Hollywood incident seem like a fabrication is carrying an odor of political desperation that can be detected by those on either side of the aisle.

Do you believe that Trumps remarks were doctored? Or is he just trying to backpedal? Sound off in the comments.

Donald Trump
DRAM recently dropped the periods from his name, but he still sings with an exclamation point at the end of every phrase. On his new #1EpicHoliday EP, he brings he pairs his already joyous music with the sound of the holidays, and on #1HappyHoliday, that happens to be sleigh bells, string samples, and pitched up choirs.

At the center of it all is DRAM, who sounds like a man whos had just the right amount of egg nog for the occasion as he slurs through a heartfelt falsetto performance. The Virginia vocalists debut album Big Baby DRAM, just celebrated its one year anniversary, and the follow-up doesnt seem too far away. Well probably have to wait til next year however, so this short collection is the perfect holdover in the meantime, and should go well with some Turkey leftovers this Sunday afternoon.

Quotable Lyrics:

Girl, how did we get under the mistletoe?

But if I kissed your lips, how far would this here go?

Now you can give me gift, underneath the tree

But the greatest gift is if you spend the night with me




Reverend Al Sharpton has announced plans to visit Meek Mill in prison this coming Monday, according to The New York Daily News. Sharpton will meet with Meek at the Pennsylvania prison, where he is being held after being sentenced to two to four years behind bars due to two probation violations stemming from arrests in which charges were later dropped.



I think this is about an injustice that is representative of many young men of color that face an abuse of a probation or parole system, said Sharpton at the Harlem headquarters of the National Action Network Saturday. This is not about an artist. This is about a system.

Sharpton feels Meeks case is representative of the mass incarceration that has affected black men throughout history. I think whats happening with Meek Mill is something that the National Action Network has always fought, and I hope that me going there is going to raise the pressure on the issue and help begin a drive by us in supporting others and demanding a new hearing for him and a new judge, he said. This has happened to countless young black men, and Meek Mill represents that, and he can be an example of how we correct that.

Jay-Z has also spoken out about the unfair treatment of Meek Mill, who was sentenced to prison time despite his probation officer and prosecutors advising against it. On the surface, this may look like the story of yet another criminal rapper who didnt smarten up and is back where he started, he wrote in an Op-Ed for the New York Times. But consider this: Meek was around 19 when he was convicted on charges relating to drug and gun possession, and he served an eight-month sentence. Now hes 30, so he has been on probation for basically his entire adult life. For about a decade, hes been stalked by a system that considers the slightest infraction a justification for locking him back inside.

If they can do this to someone with the profile of a Meek Mill, imagine what theyre doing every day, says Sharpton.

Meeks lawyer, Joe Tacopina has argued that Genece Brinkley, the judge who sentenced Meek, has a persona vendetta against the rapper. Tacopina previously filed paperwork to have Brinkley removed from the case.
The role that Bad Boy Records played in 90s hip hop cant be overstated. From the emergence of the legendary Notorious B.I.G., to a genre-rattling beef with Death Row, to ushering in the much-maligned shiny suit era  Bad Boy was everywhere. As the vision of Sean P. Diddy Combs, Bad Boy had a roster positioning them as a titan in the music industry: B.I.G., Ma$e, The Lox, Faith Evans, Shyne, and many more, were a formidable team that loomed large on the rap landscape.

When the 90s ended and the jiggy era largely went with it, Bad Boy stayed relevant through reinvention. From the advent of Bad Boy South, with signees like Yung Joc and 8Ball & MJG, to the debut album of r&b siren Cassie, the label continued to crank out hits. Even up to today, with French Montana and Janelle Monae, the label remains near the musical zeitgeist.

Bad Boys influence is undeniable, even in regards to what seemed clownish at the time. Putting a producer in the forefront of your videos was roundly mocked  famously so by Suge Knight  but its a concept that artists like Pharrell ran with, and now its a common occurrence. With Diddy as chief architect, Bad Boy sculpted an attitude, and beyond the radio hits and glossy visuals, theres an irreverence and flamboyance thats worn by his disciples to this day.

With a sprawling catalog thats adorned with classics, Bad Boy has had a run without many peers. These are the top 25 tracks in the labels diverse, consequential, and ongoing history.

French Montana feat. Charlie Rock  Shot Caller

Shot Caller was released as French Montanas debut single with Bad Boy records. The 2012 track  whose title gives a nod to Puffs Its All About the Benjamins  introduced the Bronx rapper to a commercial audience, and hes been on a wave ever since. Featuring Charlie Rock, the Harry Fraud-produced track centers around a whining horn that harkens back to Bad Boys 90s heyday. French floats on Shot Caller with a braggadocio befitting of his labels legacy, dropping bars throughout his verses that pay homage to the New York legends that came before him.

G-Dep Feat. P.Diddy, Ghostface, G-Dep & Craig Mack  Special Delivery (Remix)

The story of G-Dep is a tragic one. The Harlem rapper signed a five-album deal with Bad Boy in 1998, but was dropped just a few years later after underwhelming sales. In the early 2000s, he spiraled further into an addiction to PCP, and in 2010 he turned himself in for a cold case murder. Its a cautionary tale about the illusions of making it, but G-Deps short stint with Bad Boy was not without its high points. On 2001s Special Delivery (Remix), G-Dep brought out legends Ghostface Killah, Keith Murray, and Craig Mack on a song that further cemented Bad Boys reign as the ruler of the remix.

Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi  Tight Rope

Though its a fact that seems to fly under the radar, the multi-grammy nominated Janelle Monae is indeed on the Bad Boy roster. The multi-faceted talent, whos seen a run of film success of late, dropped 2010s Tightrope as the lead single to her album The ArchAndroid. Featuring her mentor Big Boi, Tightrope finds Monae delivering taut couplets about the importance of maintaining ones balance, while also offering a booming, soul-soaked chorus. Its just one standout track in a catalog of many penned by one of Bad Boys most eclectic and daring artists.

The Lox feat. Lil Kim & DMX  Money, Power, Respect

In the intro of Money, Power, Respect, Lil Kim lays out the formula for attaining the trinity of success: First you get the money / Then you get the muthafuckin power / After you get the fuckin power, muthafuckas will respect you. Its an ethos in line with where Bad Boy was at in 1997, but instead of being packaged as a glossy, flexing radio hit, Money, Power, Respect is a grittier, outright dark song. The first single from the Lox debut album of the same name, Money, Power, Respect also features a DMX in his prime, and all five rappers on the track pull no punches about the dirt required to reach those three tenets of triumph.

Diddy  Dirty Money feat. Swizz Beatz  Ass On The Floor

Puffys experimental r&b project Diddy  Dirty Money is a testament to the moguls ability as a tastemaker. When the group  which featured singers Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper  released Last Train to Paris in 2010, it was a bold, Euro-house inspired outing that was altogether different from mainstream r&b of the time. Filled with moments of coldness and sleaze, Last Train to Paris did as much to influence the current wave of alternative r&b as the oft-cited genre touchstone 808s and Heartbreak. On the albums sixth single Ass on the Floor, Swizz Beatz drum march production offers the perfect bed for a song about soldiering through a night at the club with a broken heart. Complete with a chorus thats more cynical than optimistic, Ass on the Floor is one of Diddys most creative and underrated songs.

8Ball & MJG  You Dont Want Drama

With the formation of Bad Boy South in 2004, Diddy sought to expand his empire into a region that was starting to blow up nationally. By recruiting veterans 8Ball & MJG, Bad Boys southern imprint had an instant credibility, and their first album for the label, Living Legends, remains the duos highest charting effort to date. The lead single from the Memphis rappers Bad Boy era, You Dont Want Drama, features a synth-heavy, early-Bangladesh beat, and 8Ball & MJG give a clear warning that theyre not beyond going to the trunk.

112  Cupid

Cupid was the third single off of 112s 1996 album of the same name. It was the groups second full-length effort, and would eventually go platinum as another highlight in the Atlanta r&b quartets massive run of success in the 90s. On a slow, acoustic guitar-driven track, Cupid sees 112 singing about the creeping doubt that comes with diving into a new relationship, all while offering a chorus to calm that prospective lovers fears: Cupid doesnt lie, but you wont know unless you give it a try.

Total feat. Notorious B.I.G.  Cant You See

1995s Cant You See was the debut single from Total, Bad Boys first r&b group. The New Jersey trio had previously provided vocals for the Notorious B.I.G.s first single Juicy, so the Brooklyn legend returned the favor in kind. With Biggie offering a blistering verse as an intro, the Puff Daddy-produced track segues into a more lush, slow tempo anchored around a sample from James Browns The Payback. Totals rich, textured vocals on Cant You See would prove to be a preview, as the group went on to feature on numerous top-10 singles in the 90s.

P. Diddy feat. Black Rob & Mark Curry  Bad Boy For Life

2001 saw Bad Boy founder Puff Daddy re-brand as P. Diddy. It was a move that cleaned the slate for an artist who watched the 90s end with a series of lows: the death of the Notorious B.I.G., an assault charge after a run-in with Interscopes Steve Stoute, and the 1999 Club New York shooting that put Shyne behind bars for the next decade. Bad Boy For Life, the second single from The Saga Continues, finds the newly minted P. Diddy triumphantly announcing Its official, I survived what I been through, on a track that features then-Bad Boy signees Black Rob and Mark Curry. Over a beat by Megahertz that surges around a sampled guitar riff, P. Diddy is a man re-charged, who, even through all the drama of the years prior still maintains that its Bad Boy for life.

Faith Evans feat. Black Rob  Love Like This (Remix)

Faith Evans Love Like This (Remix) remains a ubiquitous r&b song to this day. That signature guitar lick and disco bass line sample seems to play in the background of TV shows and commercials in perpetuity. The uptempo track  a remix to the lead single from her 1998 album Keep the Faith  displays Bad Boys premier songstress near the top of her game, celebrating the optimism that comes with new love. Garnished with a Black Rob verse that sees the rapper whisking away his girl, this is one of Bad Boys more heartfelt, yet danceable remixes.

Black Rob  Whoa

During his time on Bad Boy in the 90s, Black Rob featured on a lot of remixes, but didnt get much of the spotlight to himself. The Harlem rapper finally got his due in early 2000, when he released Whoa!, the lead single to his platinum-selling album Life Story. Produced by Buckwild, Whoa! uses a chopped orchestral sample and heavy drums to underline Black Robs gravely, abrasive flow. With every line ending in the word whoa  a 99 Benz Coupe is whoa; C.O.s and P.O.s are not  the song has a catchy design, and it remains a highlight in the Bad Boy catalog.

Cassie  Me & U

A sultry, late-night r&b track with a minimalist keyboard riff, Cassies debut single Me & U was a radio constant in 2006. Written and produced by Ryan Leslie, Me & U introduced the world to Cassie, whose haunting vocals hang over the sparse instrumental, punctuating the occasional surging bass line with a hit-magnetic hook. Its an r&b song thats a throwback to an electro-addled 80s, and it was a major success, spending almost five months in the Top 40. Me & U is a crown jewel of the mid-2000s Bad Boy era, and its also just a dope song from an artist we dont hear enough from. She also happens to be Diddys current bae.

112  Peaches and Cream

Produced by Mario Winans and P. Diddy, 112s Peaches & Cream has one of the most recognizable r&b beats of the past 20 years. With distorted synths and an electro-bounce feel, the song is a relic of its time, a track not dissimilar to what saw Timbaland and the Neptunes flooding the radio in the early 2000s. An after-hours thirst anthem with few moments of subtlety, Peaches & Cream would go on to be 112s highest charting single, even snagging a Grammy nomination in 2002 for Best R&B Performance by a Group or Duo.

Yung Joc feat. Nitti  Its Goin Down

By the mid-2000s, Atlanta was well on its way to becoming the center of the rap universe. With the creation of Bad Boy South, Diddy had designs on solidifying the future of his empire, and with the signing of A-Towns Yung Joc, the new imprint got its first major hit. The lead single from 2006s New Joc City, Its Goin Down became a snap anthem that hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Nitti-produced track has stood the test of time, with some of Jocs more memorable lines popping up in other rappers verses to this day.

Ma$e feat. Puff Daddy  Lookin at Me

Lookin at Me was the third single from Ma$es 1997 album Harlem World. Its a song with an eerie atmosphere  dark synths pulse over punchy drums, and Ma$e raps with near-paranoia about those monitoring his successes. Puff Daddy, for his part, offers a quiet, whispery hook that furthers the tracks altogether different feel from typical Bad Boy fare of that time. The then-unique sonic aspects of Lookin at Me can be credited to the Neptunes, who at that point were still a relatively unknown production tandem.

Shyne feat. Barrington Levy  Bad Boyz

Shynes debut single Bad Boyz hit like a punch to the jaw. The first offering from the Brooklyn rapper, an eponymous shoutout to his label, remains the most viscerally impactful effort from a Bad Boy signee not named Christopher Wallace. Over a booming beat by EZ Elpee  whose piercing drums are matched by a thundering piano riff  Shyne introduces himself without mincing words: Now tell me who wanna fuck with us? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust / I bang  and let your fuckin brains hang, snitches.

Complimented by legendary singer Barrington Levy, Shynes gritty flow flashed on a track that shouldve ushered in a new flagship artist for Bad Boy. Unfortunately, after taking the rap for a 1999 shooting incident, Shyne spent the next nine years in prison, leaving a major question mark on what could have been

Notorious B.I.G.  Who Shot Ya?

Originally a B-side to the 1995 single Big Poppa, the Notorious B.I.G.s Who Shot Ya? went on to have a controversial life of its own, as many have interpreted the song to be about Death Row rapper 2Pac. The then-rival west coast rapper had been shot in New York just one month prior to the songs release, and B.I.G.s evocative, violent lyrics seem to imply a specific target: Youll die slow but calm / Recognize my face, so there wont be no mistake / So you know where to tell Jake, lame nigga / Brave nigga, turned front page nigga.

Whether or not the song was influenced by his burgeoning beef with 2Pac remains up for debate, but Who Shot Ya? has held up as a lasting tribute to Biggies lyrical dexterity and ability to conjure an image.

Notorious B.I.G.  Hypnotize

Hypnotize has the unfortunate distinction of being the last song released during the Notorious B.I.G.s lifetime. The lead single from his album Life After Death, the record made it to stores on March 1, 1997, just one week before the rapper was gunned down in Los Angeles. Though its a song thats irrevocably tied to an untimely death, Hypnotize is an upbeat, jubilant track whose booming bass line and catchy hook has kept it in rotation for over 20 years. Produced by Puff Daddy and D-Dot, Hypnotize would be Biggies first #1 single, an accomplishment he sadly didnt get to witness.

Puff Daddy feat. Faith Evans & 112  Ill Be Missin You

A tribute to the fallen Notorious B.I.G., Ill Be Missing You was the second single from Puff Daddys 1997 album No Way Out. With a memorable sample from the Polices 1983 hit Every Breath You Take, Ill Be Missing You has a somber, heartfelt tone that earnestly reflects a man who misses his friend. Calling on Bad Boys stable of capable crooners, Faith Evans and 112 offer affecting vocals to bookend Puffs forlorn verses. Ill Be Missing You remains Diddys biggest hit, claiming several Grammy Awards and spending a staggering 11 weeks atop the Hot 100.

Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy and Ma$e  Mo Money Mo Problems

A funk sample-driven, club-friendly anthem about the perils of prosperity, Mo Money Mo Problems saw Bad Boy at the zenith of their success. The second single from the Notorious B.I.G.s Life After Death, the 1997 radio mainstay would be the rappers second posthumous #1 hit  a feat that had not been previously accomplished. Beyond being a pop smash, the glitzy, Hype Williams-directed visuals for Mo Money Mo Problems perfectly captured the Bad Boy aesthetic of the time: joyful, shiny, and on top of the world.

Puff Daddy feat. Ma$e  Cant Nobody Hold Me Down

Though Puff had by no means shied away from the spotlight, it wasnt until 1997s No Way Out that he really put himself forward as a rapper. His debut album would be certified platinum seven times, proving he was more than viable commercially, and it all kicked off with his lead single Cant Nobody Hold Me Down. With a fitting title for a behind the scenes artist thrusting himself into the limelight, Cant Hold Me Down relied on an iconic Grandmaster Flash sample as the vehicle for Puffs message: You name it, I could claim it / Young, black, and famous, with money hangin out the anus.

Ma$e  Feel So Good

Ma$es 1997 hit Feel So Good was a quintessential late 90s Bad Boy experience. The anthemic party staple  which samples Kool & The Gang and Miami Sound Machine  had considerable pop appeal, charting as high as number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Visuals for Feel So Good were also par for the course in that era of Bad Boy: directed by Hype Williams, a wardrobe of shiny suits, and a few celebrity cameos. This track remains the biggest hit of Ma$es career, and its not unusual to hear its familiar bass line coming from car stereos to this day.

Craig Mack feat. Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J, Rampage & Busta Rhymes  Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)

There are few early 90s rap songs as instantly recognizable as Craig Macks Flava in Ya Ear (Remix). With Puff Daddys rendition of a famous scene from The Warriors, followed by a stuttering horn sample that kicks in to a stellar B.I.G. verse, this 1994 classic opens hard and delivers throughout. Serving as the remix and B-side to the Craig Mack single  which was Bad Boys first-ever release  the track features Biggie, LL Cool J, Rampage, and Busta Rhymes. Boasting a loaded lineup, the Flava in Ya Ear (Remix) shows each rapper going in over one of the greatest Bad Boy beats of all time.

Notorious B.I.G.  Juicy

Released in 1994 as the debut single from the Notorious B.I.G., Juicy is considered by many to be one of the greatest hip hop songs of all time. Over a bouncing drum-centric beat produced by Puff Daddy and Poke of the Trackmasters, Biggie glides effortlessly, detailing in vivid imagery the story of his come-up. Announcing in defiance on the tracks info that This album is dedicated to all the teachers that told me Id never amount to nothin', B.I.G. goes on to lay it all out in breakneck pace: looking up to rappers as a youth, the perils of drug dealing in his teens, and eventually sold out shows and condos in Queens. Beyond being a stunning song by a genius rapper, its one of the best pieces of American art about truly going from rags to riches.

Puff Daddy feat. Notorious B.I.G., The Lox & Lil Kim  Its All About the Benjamins

Its All About the Benjamins was yet another watershed moment for Bad Boys influence on pop culture. The 1997 single from Puff Daddys No Way Out found the word Benjamins becoming commonplace slang, while the track itself shot to #1 on the Hot 100 chart. Featuring the Notorious B.I.G., Lil Kim, and the Lox, Its All About the Benjamins showcases the labels flagship artists over an almsot menacing Deric D-Dot Angelettie beat. Emblematic of a cultural shift happening in hip hop in the late 90s, Its All About the Benjamins is a matter-of-fact song about flaunting cash and reveling in prosperity.
Artificial intelligence, or AI, as the ability of machines or software to imitate aspects of intelligent behavior. AI is important not just to the future but to the present. It is already embedded into many of todays applications in the form of speech recognition, language translation, predictive analytics and more. AI is affecting many industries and professions, including HR, and the impact will almost certainly grow in coming years. AI is sometimes integrated into a variety of HR-related technologies, such as systems that identify qualified job candidates or technologies that help predict employee turnover. But how well do todays HR professionals really understand it, and how can they leverage it? This Virtual Event will provide a detailed snapshot of where AI and HR are today. Please join us and register now!

Please ensure that your profile is up to date, including your email address, as a link to access the event will be emailed to you before the start of the event.

The access link will transport you to the Conference Hall Lobby. From here, you can click on the menu items to travel anywhere inside the Conference Hall, including the Exhibit Hall, Webcast Auditorium, Resource Center, and Networking Lounge.

If you have any questions, please send them to events@hr.com or call us at 1-877-472-6648.

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We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright 2008 by Naomi Shihab Nye, Bees Were Better, from If Bees Are Few: A Hive of Bee Poems, Ed., James P. Lenfestey, (University of Minnesota Press, 2016). Poem reprinted by permission of Naomi Shihab Nye and the publisher. Introduction copyright  2017 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.
It might seem strange to nitpick a nearly 60 percent win in an election.

As Mayor John Engen pointed out last week, most people would be happy with 51 percent.

It was a strong showing and what I take from that is, while a majority of Missoulians believe in the vision and the work weve been doing, and what weve been doing, there are clearly concerns out there, Engen said.

Those concerns manifested themselves in his opponents campaign. Lisa Triepke, a local director for CostCare, ran on a platform based on the idea that Engens 12 years in office have been a spend-happy boon  for him, not for taxpayers.

Triepke garnered nearly 41 percent of the vote in the Nov. 7 election, the strongest showing by far for a challenger of Engens, the first to hold him below 60 percent in a win, to 58 percent.

So it merits asking Engen if he took seriously the show of opposition. As hes said many times, the performance review for his job is the election, and while 58 percent approval is great, 41 percent disapproval  for the first time in his career  may say something as well.

Last week, in his City Hall office, Engen sat by the window in a zip-up sweater and didnt hesitate to say what he heard from his opponent and her supporters.

Loud and clear, and more than than hes ever heard, Engen said, was that property taxes are an issue.

As a function of the campaign, no one was really able to present a viable alternative, Engen said. My job for the next four years is to figure out ways to better strike that balance.

Hes already had people in his office, showing their tax bills, their valuation notices from the Montana Department of Revenue, pointing out percentage increases that make eyes go wide.

The Missoulian, through emails and letters to the editor, has heard from multiple property owners of tremendous valuation increases in the past year, on properties that have been owned for decades.

Its hard to connect the dots there, Engen said. Its hard for the property owner to connect the dots and frankly, its challenging for us to connect the dots.

Hes committed to working out how Missoulas growth  a nearly $2 billion increase in taxable value in the past few years  has also meant skyrocketing property values for people who simply havent ever seen such an increase.

Taxation is complicated, he said. We havent done a great job of explaining it, and in some cases we need some additional explanation from the state.

Its an opportunity, Engen thinks, to work with other cities and towns similarly hobbled to lobby the state for relief and explanations.

A key part of the plan starts with alternative revenues.

Engen, as well as several members of the Missoula City Council, have talked in recent weeks about petitioning the state Legislature to increase the population cap for local-option sales taxes, used in towns like Whitefish to offset property taxes and take advantage of a strong tourist economy.

Right now Missoula isnt eligible, but Engen already has plans for how to shape a local-option tax to best help Missoulians.

Take a look at Whitefish.

A town of roughly 7,000, Whitefish voted to enact a local-option tax more than 20 years ago.

It started at 2 percent, and was applied to touristy items, such as hotel rooms, restaurants and drinks and retail items, according to a Flathead Beacon article from 2016.

In 2015, the town approved a 1 percent increase, which brought their two-decade total haul to more than $30 million, from just $770,000 its first year to $2.5 million in 2016.

In the story, Whitefish City Manager Chuck Stearns credited a lot of the growth to newly built hotels, which bring a steady flow to the sales tax fund.

Missoulas hotel industry is looking up in 2017, with the Marriott being built on the former Mercantile site and a massive hotel/conference center planned at the Riverfront Triangle.

By the time the Legislature allows cities Missoulas size to enact such a tax, and by the time Missoulians vote on the option, Missoula will have more taxable tourist economy items than it does now. If the citys tourism office has its way, many more people will visit from cities like Dallas and Chicago to spend their money here.

It most heavily impacts tourists, Engen said. It works in other jurisdictions. This isnt a kooky idea dreamed up by a tax-and-spend liberal.

Aside from infrastructure relief, Engen said any local-option tax plan brought to voters would have a property tax relief portion, to pay Missoulians back on a pro-rata basis.

Whitefish, again, has done this. Nearly $8 million  from 1997 to 2016  was refunded to Whitefish taxpayers from the local-option tax account.

What I wont do is just ask people to pay more money without getting relief, Engen said.

Hes not worried about Missoula's growth spiraling out of control, though, like other fast-growing (and admittedly much larger) western cities like Seattle, Denver or San Francisco, whose focus on tech-based jobs has left old-timers and those in the economic margins behind while expensive housing is built as fast as possible to meet demand.

Engen believes Missoula is growing, not booming, which is a manageable growth.

I do not want to be Boulder, Colorado. I dont want to be Bozeman, he said, pointing out some regional examples. There are cities that are not paragons of affordable housing and inclusive economies. Were being intentional about that.
IFS Officer Shares Photo of 'Mighty' Vulture With a Question, Do You Know The Answer?
Phil Hogan said the problems around the border could be solved by remaining in the customs union and single market, or allowing Northern Ireland to do so

Resolving the issue of Northern Ireland's border after leaving the European Union cannot be completed until trade talks with Brussels have progressed, Liam Fox said as Dublin warned it could veto the next stage of Brexit negotiations unless there is movement on the dispute.

International Trade Secretary Dr Fox said a final position could not be reached until it was known what the "end state" of the UK-EU relationship after Brexit would be.

But an Irish minister indicated trade talks could be held up unless firm guarantees on the border are given by Prime Minister Theresa May.

Dublin has put fresh pressure on the Government to accept a solution which would see either the whole of the UK or just Northern Ireland remain in the single market and customs union as a deadline in the Brexit process approaches.

Theresa May has been given until December 4 to come up with further proposals on issues including the border, the Brexit divorce bill and citizens' rights if European leaders are to give the green light to moving on to the next phase of negotiations covering the future trading relationship between the UK and Brussels.

Dr Fox said: "We don't want there to be a hard border but the UK is going to be leaving the customs union and the single market"

He told Sky News's Sunday with Niall Paterson: "We have always had exceptions for Ireland, whether it's in our voting rights, our rights of residence in the UK, we have always accepted a certain asymmetry and that will have to be part of whatever agreement we come to with the European Union but we can't come to a final answer to the Irish question until we get an idea of the end state.

"And until we get into discussions with the EU on the end state that will be very difficult, so the quicker that we can do that the better and we are still in a position where the EU doesn't want to do that."

He blamed the European Commission's "obsession" with forging a closer union for the delays in the Brexit talks, which the UK hopes will move on to discussing trade after a meeting of EU leaders on December 14-15.

"I think the European Union countries need to consider the welfare and the economic prosperity of their people as opposed to the obsession of the commission about the concept of ever closer union." he said.

Irish European affairs minister Helen McEntee a cknowledged that some of the final details would have to be dealt with in the next phase of Brexit talks but the UK must come forward with further proposals now to achieve the aim of maintaining a soft border.

Progress on to phase two of the negotiations can only happen if all 27 leaders of the remaining EU countries agree "sufficient progress" has been made on the first set of issues.

Ms McEntee told Channel 4 News: " We cannot say that there is sufficient progress on the Irish issue when there has not been.

"Theresa May's speech in Florence was very welcome, the commitment to no return to a hard border on the island of Ireland is welcome.

"However if all of the options that we feel can make that possible have been taken off the table then we need them to produce something else that will give us confidence, moving into phase two, that this can actually be achieved. To date this has not happened.

"But obviously I would hope, we need to be optimistic, that negotiations can continue before the December council meeting and that we can see some solution to this."

Irish MEP Mairead McGuinness, a member of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's Fine Gael party, told BBC's Sunday Politics she was "troubled" by Dr Fox's comments, adding: "I hope that the UK is not holding the Irish situation to ransom in these negotiations, it is far too serious and far too critical."

Ireland's European Commission member Phil Hogan said it was a "very simple fact" that "if the UK or Northern Ireland remained in the EU customs union, or better still the single market, there would be no border issue".

He told The Observer: "I continue to be amazed at the blind faith that some in London place in theoretical future free trade agreements.

"First, the best possible FTA with the EU will fall far short of being in the single market.

"This fact is simply not understood in the UK."

A ny arrangement which appeared to give Northern Ireland a separate status would be strongly resisted by the DUP, whose 10 MPs are effectively keeping Mrs May in Downing Street after she lost her majority in the general election.

Speaking on ITV's Peston On Sunday, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he was worried about Dr Fox's comments and said the option of remaining in the customs union and single market should remain on the table.

"I think the one thing that we don't want to do is jeopardise any movement quickly, because we need movement to enable us to get into the proper trade negotiations.

"So I'm hoping that isn't a Downing Street sanctioned statement that's he's made."

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said that unless progress on to the next phase is made in December "we are rapidly going to run out of time" for a transitional deal to be put in place.

"I don't think it means that the world has ended but I do think it's a setback," she said.

The Scottish Government's Brexit minister Mike Russell said if Dr Fox's comments were "an authorised intervention" then the possibility of progress was "receding fast".
A row over the future of Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald could lead to a snap election

Ireland's two main parties remain locked in a stand off over a whistleblower controversy that threatens to bring down the country's government.

If the Fine Gael-led minority administration fails to resolve the bitter row with main opposition party Fianna Fail by Tuesday, a snap pre-Christmas election looks the only option.

Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin held talks over the weekend in a bid to avert a government meltdown at a time when ministers are preparing for December's crunch EU summit, when the fate of the Irish border post-Brexit could effectively be determined.

The wrangle surrounds the future of deputy premier Frances Fitzgerald who is under intense pressure to resign over her handling of a 2015 email that revealed attempts to discredit a Garda whistleblower, Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

The email has raised questions over Mrs Fitzgerald's denials, a year later, that she knew nothing of the contentious legal strategy deployed by the Garda to question the motives of Mr McCabe during a 2015 tribunal that examined his claims of police malpractice.

The controversy took another twist on Sunday when it emerged then Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan had discussed the strategy in a phone call with a senior Department of Justice official while the tribunal was still ongoing.

The revelation raised further questions about the extent of contact about the matter between the Garda and the Department of Justice at the time.

Mr Martin, whose party is keeping Mr Varadkar's coalition government alive through an 18-month-old confidence and supply agreement, has refused to back down on a motion of no confidence in Tanaiste Mrs Fitzgerald.

It is scheduled for Tuesday night and, if Fianna Fail follow through with it, the confidence and supply pact would be broken and the Government would fall.

One way out of the impasse could be for Mrs Fitzgerald to fall on her sword but Mr Varadkar has made clear he does not want her to walk away.

If the Dail is dissolved, Mr Varadkar would be reduced to the role of caretaker taoiseach when he travels to Brussels for the summit.

The crisis has erupted at a time when Ireland's stance on Brexit - in particular its call for Northern Ireland to adhere to an EU customs framework - is threatening to thwart the UK government's desire to progress negotiations with Europe on to a future trade deal.

On Sunday, Employment and Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty tried to assure the Irish public that the Government would still be able to represent Ireland's best interests in Brussels.

"Regardless of what happens on Tuesday you will still have a government and you will still have a department and team of people who will go to Europe in December, despite of what the political establishment is going to force us into, and make sure we get the best deal that we can," she said.

"Because absolutely that trumps everything that we are talking about, not to be disrespectful to Maurice McCabe who absolutely deserves justice for the years he has been put through, the pain and torture he has been put through."

On Saturday, Mr Varadkar provided Mr Martin with an update on a emergency trawl of documents within the Department of Justice to locate any additional information on the whistleblower furore.

That trawl unearthed details of Ms O'Sullivan's phone call to the Department of Justice official.

Ms Doherty told RTE's The Week in Politics that the Taoiseach was trying to provide "confidence and comfort" to Fianna Fail's "misgivings".

Fianna Fail TD Dara Calleary said his party was trying to hold the Government to account.

"We are trying to get answers, that's what our job is," he said.

Mr Calleary added: "Confidence and supply is dependent on us having confidence in the Government.

"The Government must realise that in order to earn confidence we must trust them."

He also denied claims from critics that recent events were less about the specific issue and more about the Fianna Fail base growing frustrated with propping up a government led by their arch rivals.

Mrs Fitzgerald has defended her handling of the email issue amid allegations she was aware of the campaign by lawyers for the Garda Commissioner and took no action.

On Sunday, she faced fresh questions as to whether she discussed the email with Ms O'Sullivan when she attended a memorial event with her the day after she received it.

Sinn Fein were first out of the blocks earlier this week with plans for a motion of no confidence, with Fianna Fail then declaring its intention to follow suit.

Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald said the only way an election could be averted was for Mrs Fitzgerald to go.

"The ball is in Leo Varadkar's court," she said.

"He has to decide does he put his party and his colleague first or is he willing to accept the fact that confidence in Frances Fitzgerald has run out and for very good reasons."

The Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin made a pointed reference to the political stand-off in a homily on Sunday morning.

"Our city and our country have many urgent needs," he said.

"I appeal this morning to political leaders to place these needs first.

"Splintering and bickering damage not just politics but damage the service people need."
Former Treasury Holdings chiefs Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett are responsible for some of Ireland's most high-profile commercial property developments, including the Treasury Building on Dublin's Grand Canal Street, the Convention Centre Dublin at Spencer Dock, Central Park in Leopardstown and the Ritz Carlton Hotel (now trading as the Powerscourt Hotel) in Co Wicklow.

Its assets had, at one point, a combined value of more than 4.6bn.

Treasury went down in flames in 2012 however, with Nama's appointment of receivers to certain of its assets.

While Ronan (pictured) and Barrett went their separate ways after, both are now back in business. Since exiting Nama in 2015, Ronan has formed Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE), and is already working on over 1bn in new projects. RGRE's biggest development to date is the 150m Vertium office building on Dublin's Burlington Road. Other major projects under way and in the pipeline include a 300m mixed-use development extending to one million square feet of offices, and comprising a hotel and retail units at Spencer Place on Spencer Dock, and a 300m office campus at AIB's headquarters in Ballsbridge.

Ronan is also involved in an ambitious bid to build Dublin's tallest office building next to Tara Street station in Dublin city centre. While Dublin City Council rejected plans for the development of the proposed 22-storey (88m) Aqua Vetro building, Ronan has appealed the decision.

Shanghai-based Richard Barrett, meanwhile, has been involved in a series of start-ups through his new company, Bartra Capital Property Group. Among his interests are HengXinLi - an online platform which aims to give Chinese investors access to property in major international cities. Since its establishment in 2016, Barrett's new company has been actively acquiring residential development sites across the most-sought after locations in Dublin. Last April, Barrett teamed up with New York-based investment group Avenue Capital with the launch of Real Estate Loan Management. Backed by a fund of 200m, the new company intends to lend sums ranging from 1m to 25m over five years for commercial property development.

Others who cut their teeth at Treasury Holdings prior to the crash are now driving some of the country's most significant commercial property projects:

David Killion is now working as development director at Ballymore Properties' Dublin Landings scheme in the Dublin Docklands, while another Treasury alumnus, Brian Coppinger is leading the DAA's development of Dublin Airport Central.

Former Treasury Holdings man Niall O'Buachalla is now working as chief financial officer at Green Reit, while Kevin Nowlan is the CEO of Hibernia Reit. Derek Nolan is development director at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the sovereign wealth fund now bankrolling the delivery of Lansdowne Place on the site of the former Berkeley Court Hotel in Ballsbridge.

The former chief executive of Treasury Holdings' Irish operations, John Bruder, teamed up with another former executive, Niall Kavanagh, to form Burlington Real Estate. Last year, Bruder established the Appian Burlington Fund. A tie-up between Appian Asset Management and Burlington Real Estate, the fund was set up to invest 50m in commercial real estate across Ireland.

Former Treasury executive Rob Davies is CEO of the Arendon Development Company, Prague, while the former managing director of Treasury's international operations, Rob Tincknell, is chief executive officer of the Battersea Power Station Development Company in London.
The Missoula Police Department has opened applications for anyone interested in attending its free Citizens Law Enforcement Academy.

The academy is an opportunity for anyone who wants an immersive look into the way the department operates and to learn from officers themselves what their day-to-day jobs look like.

The academy will begin on Jan. 10 and run for eight weeks, with meetings every Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Each week is a different presentation from officers who will talk about what their division does, including detectives, patrol, K-9 handlers, SWAT and the bomb squad.

During the 2016 academy, representatives from the patrol division talked about the amount of training their officers undergo both at the state academy and additional mentored training when they start in Missoula. The amount of training is necessary for a department that handles roughly 117 calls for service every day in the city.

School resource officers talked about making sure that more than 10,000 students at schools across Missoula stayed safe. The lead of the negotiation team talked about how local law enforcement handled a 1993 standoff that lasted for six days.

It also includes presentations by the specialists who investigate illicit and prescription drug trafficking cases, work on the special victims unit and look into child pornography crimes, as well as the plainclothes officers of the street crimes division.

In addition to the weekly sessions, participants have the ability to go on a ride-along and take part in training simulations that mirror the quick use of force decisions officers make as part of their work.

Applications for the citizens academy are available online at ci.missoula.mt.us/police under the public relations tab, or by calling Laurie Clark at 406-552-6320. Around 30 applicants will be selected for an invitation to attend. The application deadline is Friday, Dec. 29.
The UK and European Unions plans to share out quotas for cheap food imports from countries around the world after Brexit have come under fire from Australia.

Restrictions on how many products can be imported into the EU on favourable rates are set across the bloc and concerns have been raised internationally that exporters could take a financial hit when the UK quits.

The Government has agreed with Brussels to divide up the numbers of goods that can be brought in on low or zero tariffs based roughly on current rates.

It would mean products imported into the UK in higher numbers than other parts of the bloc would continue to be traded in similar numbers.

Australian trade minister Steven Ciobo said the move would impose unacceptable restrictions on nations exporting to the bloc.

The point is that you have a choice about where you place your quota at the moment, he told the BBC. Therefore, given that you could put it in the UK or you could put it into continental Europe, why would we accept a proposition that would see a decline in the quota available because of the Brexit decision?

Other countries with concerns about the quota-splitting plan include the United States, New Zealand, Brazil and Canada.

A Department for International Trade spokesman said: As we leave the EU, we will need to update the terms of our World Trade Organisation membership to reflect an independent UK trade policy.

We want to ensure a smooth transition which minimises the disruption to our trading relationships with other WTO members and tariff rate quotas are one of the issues that we are discussing with them. This is largely a technical process and we will continue to engage WTO members including Australia in an open, inclusive and transparent way.

Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner said Liam Fox had been warned about the danger of a dispute over the quota share deal. He also cautioned against accepting higher amounts of low-tariff imports of products such as lamb because of the impact it would have on UK farmers and the countryside.

We warned the Secretary of State Liam Fox about this a number of months ago and he said this was going to be very easy because it was not going to make any changes in the current total quota that the EU has, he told Today.

Mr Gardiner said the countries raising objections about the quota-sharing plan have a point and this is something that is going to be a tougher negotiation than the Government ever thought.

He added: We must not look at this simply as a matter of economics. Its not simply about, are we going to get cheaper lamb in the UK if we import a lot more from New Zealand?  the real issue here is what these things do to our wider economy and the landscape of this country. As you affect farming, so you affect the way our country looks, that means you also affect the tourist trade.
It's 20 years since Paul Daly decided to put a shamrock on a box of low-cost offal destined for China and it proved to be an inspired decision.

The managing director of Irish Casing Company was looking for that extra edge to make his offering stand out above the others on the Asian market at the time.

"In the early stages one of our competitors for one of the items was a UK company and they had a Union Jack on the box," says Paul. "I knew our produce was better and met the specification but they had a brand and seemed to get more money for it than ours. I put an Irish flag on it and the shamrock that is our logo."

The move helped turn the Offaly-based company into a firm with a 70m annual turnover from casings for sausages and puddings, and a thriving business selling 'fifth quarter' meat products abroad.

"You'd go to companies and sometimes none of them would speak English but they'd ask for the box with the leaf on it or the flower," says Paul.

It meant they could command a higher price for the lower-value offal from pigs, cattle and sheep. "It was brilliant. You wouldn't realise how important the box is, You'd think it would be the product that sells it but in a lot of these places, it is the brand."

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In addition to its base in Tullamore, Irish Casing, which is owned by a German family, has its own staff in 25 plants in Ireland following an agreement with the abattoirs to collect offal. It also buys offal from abattoirs in Ireland, English, Scotland, Wales, Poland, Spain, Portugal and Iceland.

This is sold on to buyers in Japan, Korea, Singapore, China, Hong Kong in Asia, and in Africa they sell to Ghana, Benin and Togo, Senegal, Congo, Mozambique, South Africa, Liberia and Libya. The company, as the name suggests, began by specialising in casings but noticed that offal products were often going to waste. "We started with one item - the stomach and it went from there. We then got customers asking 'can you give us something else' like bladder belonging to pork," he says.

Very little of the animal is wasted now. "There is someone for nearly every part," he says, with beef feet, ears and lambs' heads destined for African markets as ingredients in stews.

"It is known as the fifth quarter and the factories considered it a bonus if they got money for it," he says, but now it is a key part of driving value from the carcase. "It is much more important that they get the maximum out of the product to the price paid for cattle and sheep."

The firm sells beef tongue and stomach parts and also some pork offal to Japan. "It will grow for sure," he says of the Japanese market. "You've to get the right relationship and start off slowly and get a product that has a very good specification and is very regular. Otherwise you won't make it in Japan."

He says that many of the big meat companies are also selling beef tongues under 30 month to Japan because it generally commands a higher price than in Europe. Irish beef will have to be marketed as a different grassfed-product to capture some of the market as the Japanese are used to high marbling beef, he stresses.

Ever mindful of getting the basics right, Paul says the company realised the importance of a good quality box.

"In some of these places there might not be refrigeration and when the pallet would be picked up you might have to bring it a few thousand miles without a freezer. You don't want the product disintegrating and falling apart. They might not be expensive products but they need good quality cartons."

In recent years, Irish Casing Co began working with abattoirs in Iceland after a chance meeting which led to the firm sending 15 workers there for two months to process offal. Paul has been impressed by the collaborative attitude in Iceland. For example, a problem with water that was not hot enough for processing led to the local mayor getting involved in providing a solution. Now rather than the offal being processed for the Arctic foxes, it is destined for China.
The family of Stephen Cullinan, the missing University of Limerick student who was last seen on November 2, are asking the public for help.

The 25-year-old computer science student left his student accommodation in Castletroy on Thursday, November 2, before heading to Dublin.
Ryanair's new incoming chief operating officer Peter Bellew must repay four months' salary to Malaysian Airlines (MAS), the deputy finance minister of Malaysia has demanded.

The minister told the country's parliament in recent days that Bellew's resignation last month - to return to his old employer in Ireland - was given without sufficient notice.

The hiring of Kerry-native Bellew is viewed as a crucial part of Ryanair's response to its recent spate of flight cancellations, as well as its ongoing industrial relations difficulties with pilots. But Bellew's sudden departure from the Malaysian carrier, which is owned by the Asian country's sovereign wealth fund, has sparked a major political backlash in that country.

The Kerryman has been leading MAS' ongoing recovery from two high-profile plane crashes - the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 over the South China Sea in March 2014 and the shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine just four months later. Last month, Bellew announced that MAS was on track to return to profit in 2018 and on October 3rd he had was awarded Travel Personality of the Year at the TTG Travel Awards in Bangkok.

"These awards are huge milestones for us as we continue working hard to restore ourselves to our former glory," he said at the time.

Just over a week later Bellew tendered his resignation. In a statement released on his own behalf, the Kerryman said that his return to Ryanair was due to "love for country" and that he could not turn down a request to help the under-fire airline. "It is Ireland's greatest company. They need my help and there is a big challenge. It is a form of national service," he said in the statement.

But in a separate press statement the Asian airline noted the "unexpected" nature of Bellew's departure. "At a press conference with Malaysian and international media on 27 September 2017, Bellew had expressed his commitment to Malaysia Airlines when asked to comment on speculation that he would rejoin Ryanair," said the statement. "He said that he was happy to be in Malaysia and that the turnaround of Malaysia Airlines would be 'the greatest achievement of my life'," it said.

Then, last week, Malaysia's deputy finance minister Johari Abdul Ghani told the country's parliament that Bellew's three-year work contract dictated that he must tender six months' notice before resigning.

Bellew left Ryanair in August 2015 to become chief operations officer at Malaysian Airlines. Less than a year later in June 2016 he was promoted to the position of chief executive. But last month he was persuaded by Michael O'Leary to rejoin the embattled low-cost carrier in a bid to fix an operations mess over pilot rosters that saw it cancel thousands of flights this autumn.

The airline is also facing difficult negotiations with pilots over pay and contracts with transport unions warning over recent weeks that some flight crew could resort to strike action. Chief operations officer Michael Hickey abruptly resigned in early October. A week later, after earlier rumours of his return had been denied, it was announced that Bellew had been hired to replace Hickey.

But the deputy finance minister told the Malaysian parliament that Bellew had only given two months' notice.

"The [term] for the MAS CEO's contract is three years and in the contract, both parties can give six months' notice. The CEO can give a six-month notice, or MAS can give a six-month notice. In the case of this MAS CEO, he resigned and gave a notice short of four months. So we accepted it and he has to pay us four months salary," Johari told the parliament, according to reports in the Malaysian press.

Johari refused to give details of how much Bellew was paid by the airline and how much money the government was seeking to have him pay back, said the reports. Johari told the parliament that he had always advocated that MAS should appoint a Malaysian to the role. The airline has appointed its current chief operating officer, Malaysian native Captain Izham Ismail as Bellew's successor. Neither the airline nor the Malaysian government responded to queries.

Bellew is the second Irish-linked aviation executive in succession to suddenly quit the top job at Malaysian Airlines. In April 2016, former Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller, who is German but has a home in Howth, resigned a year into his three-year contract at Malaysian citing personal reasons that were "beyond my control".

"The show must go on," Mueller wrote to employees at Malaysian. In September 2016 Mueller joined middle eastern carrier Emirates as its chief digital and innovation officer, having been replaced at Malaysian by Bellew.

When contacted by this newspaper, Bellew responded to queries saying it was "no big issue and I wish them all the success in the world. As is normal in all employment contracts the contents are private and confidential and I've no further comment".

Ryanair had no comment on the issues raised in the Malaysian parliament and said: "Peter Bellew will join Ryanair on 1st December next."

Bellew first rose to prominence as general manager of Kerry Airport, a role he held for five years. There he helped win funding for new airport development and grew traffic from 10,000 to 450,000 in three years with 11 scheduled and charter services. He left the airline industry for a time to focus on property and web startups but was appointed deputy director flight operations at Ryanair in 2006.

In that role he had responsibility for 3,500 pilots across 63 European locations "motivating them to maximise productivity, maintain safety standards and lower network costs", according to his business profile. In 2013 he was appointed as head of sales and marketing at the airline, followed by a brief two-month stint as director of training and recruitment flight operations.

Subsequently he was appointed as director of flight operations where he was tasked with "building a new team and developing the processes to operate our new fleet order of 385 aircraft".

The "challenge to rapidly ramp up" after the new aircraft orders was "all about the process and sweating the detail", said Bellew's profile.

Industry sources have noted that Bellew is known for how well he has always interacted with pilots in his various roles, in contrast to the stormy relationship his new boss Michael O'Leary has sometimes had with flight crew.
If Anne Anderson, Ireland's recently retired Irish Ambassador to the US, takes an aim at Phoenix Park and runs for the Presidency, I'd be tempted to quit the day job and offer my services as her campaign manager. Man, I'd probably even settle for the tea caddie such is my admiration for this trailblazer for Irish feminism.

The first married woman (post marriage ban) to be posted abroad for the department of foreign affairs, Anderson was the first female Irish ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ireland's first female ambassador to France and the first female ambassador to the European Union - itself historic as she was the first woman from any EU country to serve as permanent representative to Brussels. As the Financial Times noted in 2004 when Anderson chaired Ireland's presidency of the EU, she made history by simply "sitting down" among hordes of her fellow male ambassadors.

Anderson's diplomatic career ended on another spectacular high when the now 65-year-old became Ireland's first female Ambassador to the US, the Irish foreign service's most coveted post in Washington DC now occupied by Dan Mulhall.

And although this formidable First Lady of Irish diplomacy was dutifully reticent, as ambassador, about the potential impact on Irish-US relations by the election of US President Donald Trump, the woman singled out for high praise by his predecessor Barack Obama offered a much more sobering and realistic view of that very special relationship last Thursday.

That was when Anderson was honoured by the American Chamber of Commerce with a Lifetime Achievement Award (the first woman to be so recognised) at the chamber's annual Thanksgiving lunch. Noting Ireland's "defining" and "dual-facing" relationship with both Europe and the US, Anderson observed that of all European countries, Ireland has perhaps the deepest stake in the relationship between Europe and the US.

"We thrive when that partnership thrives and no one has more grounds for concern when tension or brittleness or misunderstanding or neglect enter that relationship," Anderson told an 850-strong audience that included Taoiseach (for now) Leo Varadkar, acting US Ambassador Reece Smyth, outgoing Chamber President James O'Connor, MD of Microsoft's International Operations, and the predominantly (but not exclusively) male captains of US industry in Ireland.

"And, yes, I do believe there are some grounds for concern today," warned Anderson, tactfully if forcefully.

"All relationships, of course, have their daily share of irritants. But of deeper significance, we see the isolationist trends taking hold in America and hear the drumbeat of sovereignty that is becoming more insistent.

"Europe, like the rest of the world, is reading these signals and beginning to plan accordingly," said Anderson, who earlier told the gathering that Europe is more than ever Ireland's home, adding a "widening Atlantic" is not something to which we should resign ourselves.

What was refreshing about Anderson's address was her willingness to cut through the saccharine, paddy-whackery that often accompanies conversations around the Irish-US relationship and her firing of a warning shot, of sorts, on how we navigate that friendship in the future.

And it is a special relationship.

Leaving aside the strong personal and cultural ties over centuries, the modern commercial relationship between the two countries has transformed in recent decades from the begging bowl (Ireland), to a benevolent benefactor (the US), to one of tangible reciprocity.

US investment, at almost 300bn, is currently at record levels. More than 700 US firms have a presence here, employing some 10pc of our workforce - and that's before the critical multiplier effect.

Irish companies, including behemoths such as CRH, Glanbia, Kerry and a host of tech wunderkinds, have also invested some $85bn in America, employing more than 80,000 across 50 US states.

And yet for all of the glowing rhetoric and metrics - Ireland was again named the best country in the world for attracting high-value FDI by IBM's recent Global Locations Trends Report - what Anderson describes as Ireland's "dual-facing" perspective is placing certain strains on the special relationship.

Having firmly nailed its colours to the European mast, Ireland now finds itself in the crosshairs of a series of controversial pan-European rows over the tax treatment of US multinationals.

The Apple tax ruling against Ireland was the biggest bite yet inflicted by European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager - the woman who will decide whether Ireland can access special treatment under state aid rules to shore up Irish companies most at risk of collapse after Brexit.

By defending its tax treatment of Apple and providing sophisticated tax offerings to a range of foreign investors, Ireland is perceived in many quarters - rightly or wrongly - as a proxy for Uncle Sam, or its multinational arm at least.

Not that that perception has stopped Ireland falling out of Twitter favour with President Trump. Speaking at the American Chamber lunch, Varadkar said that the overall trade flows between Ireland and the US are "remarkably balanced".

This assertion is at odds with data from the United States Census Bureau last April which showed that Ireland - which had a trade surplus with the US of $36bn last year - was responsible for over a fifth of the EU's trade surplus with the US.

That data, along with other countries who enjoy a trade surplus with the US, prompted a "country by country, product by product" study of trade deficits by the US administration. It also prompted a not entirely unpredictable war of words from President Trump's Twitter account.

The ante was upped last October when Trump told reporters in the White House: "I hear that Ireland is going to be reducing their corporate rates down to 8pc from 12pc." That prompted a testy rebuke from Varadkar who told the Dail: "I can confirm that President Trump's claim that we are proposing to reduce our corporation profit tax to 8pc is indeed fake news" - a retort ostensibly not too well received in Washington DC.

So, what next for the US-Ireland relationship when the latter is convulsed with Brexit and when Europe is battling to shape its own future?

A confident and robust transatlantic partnership remains as vital in this century as the last and Ireland is best equipped to interpret Europe to America and vice versa, according to Anderson.

A unique relationship? Certainly. Unconditional? Less so. One thing's for sure in this post-Brexit, Trump unreality: we can't take any of our relationships for granted. And like all candid friendships, we may have to have some very difficult conversations.
Dublin-based peer-to-peer lending business Flender is close to raising more than 2m in its latest funding round.

Some 400,000 of the money has been raised from its own platform - the first peer-to-peer equity investment on an Irish platform. Terms are close to being agreed for the remaining balance of a 2m (2.25m) round The equity raised from the crowdfunding platform is structured as a series of convertible loan notes. The notes convert into shares either after 12 months, or when the rest of the equity round closes which the company expects shortly.

Chief executive Kristjan Koik said the company will look at making the equity-raising service available to other businesses if they are interested in it. "In the UK, platforms like Seedrs and Crowdcube do run these kinds of campaigns [raising equity via crowdfunding].

"Nobody in Ireland is doing it so if there is demand then we would definitely look at it although our core business at the moment is lending rather than equity-raise campaigns.

"We've been very focused in terms of what we want to do and we will continue to be focused on this. Lending and bringing cheaper finance to SMEs, while letting the public earn a good return."

The company has recently added property-backed peer-to-peer loans to its system.

"Borrowers knocking on our door and the lenders who are participating want a different type of product. So we listened to them, and what they wanted was asset-backed finance.

"There's a huge gap in the market for developers looking for finance between 500,000 and 1m. The mezzanine finance guys and the banks, they want to look at deals of 2m and up."

The company, initially focused on Ireland and the UK, raised 500,000 earlier this year. It is looking at expanding to Spain and Eastern European markets in future.

Backers of the business include Ding founder Mark Roden.
Black Friday didn't quite live up to the hype that was generated in the run-up.

Retailers were expecting a spike in sales compared to last year but a poll of Independent.ie readers revealed just a third of those asked bagged a Black Friday bargain while over half of readers said they "werent bothered with Black Friday at all".

While most years there are reports of American shoppers stampeding into shops, trying to get their hands on a bargain, Irish shoppers were much more reserved.

Dublin Chamber of Commerce spokesman, Graeme McQueen said retailers are "quietly optimistic" coming up to Christmas in the aftermath.

He told Independent.ie: "I dont think anybodys really jumping up and down (about it). I dont think it was out of this world. I think everyones reasonably happy.

"I think it was a bit of hype (leading up to it), that itd be extraordinary. Consumers are strategic. The evidence is they picked out what they wanted and got it."

On Friday, there were queues of motorists spotted at Topaz garages around the country eager to get a Black Friday bargain on fuel which was on sale for 99c a litre at selected garages for 99 minutes.

Topaz had extra staff working at 17 locations to meet the expected increase in demand. And both Bord Gais Energy and Just Energy offered discounts to mark the US-inspired, price-cutting shopping day.

Tayto Park, Aer Lingus, Littlewoods, DID Electrical and a host of other brands and stores jumped on the bandwagon with some rolling out discounts all weekend.

Mr McQueen said, however, that Irish shoppers are far from becoming like the hard-core bargain hunters that hit the shops on Black Friday in the States.

He said: "There were reports of small queues [on Friday], especially in the evening after work. But there was nothing mad, no fighting in the aisles or anything like that. I think were more reserved. It might be the legacy of recession  were more considerate of how we spend money. I think were different to America."

He added that "Black Friday is here to stay."

He said: "I think retailers will use it as a tool to get people into shops. Retailers I spoke to saw really strong activity on websites.

"Consumers are very reserved in what they buy this year. I dont think were seeing anything like whats happening in America."

He said store owners he spoke to think its "shaping up to be a good Christmas" and that while the queues were like nothing seen in the US, it was their busiest day of the year.

"(Theyre) cautiously optimistic," he said.
When we saw the recent news that the House of Representatives had just passed a massive tax cut for multi-national corporations that would add over $1.5 trillion to the national debt, we recalled a moment in 2010 when then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the national debt was the single biggest threat to our national security. Having personally spent time overseas countering the terrorist threat to the United States, we understand the seriousness of Admiral Mullens assessment and know personally whats at stake. We are deeply concerned that Congress is on the verge of adopting a tax policy that would greatly undermine our countrys strength at home and its ability to project power abroad.

Dont get us wrong  some deficit spending to fund targeted investments in infrastructure and education could make our country stronger and more competitive, but the policy Congress is advancing sets us on the wrong course. Our rivals on the world stage know the strategic value of massive investments in public education. Weve seen too clearly how other countries have quickly advanced their cyberwarfare capabilities. Without decisive investment in the future, there will not be enough highly skilled Americans trained and ready to fight back.

The U.S. House of Representatives proposed changes to the tax code would gut American higher education and weaken national security. For example, tuition waivers allowing graduate students to engage in advanced studies would be redefined as taxable "income." The result? Overnight, the tax burden on graduate students would more than double. Countless American students would be shut out from top programs in computer science, nuclear engineering, and critical languages like Chinese and Arabic. These are the exact fields our military and civilian agencies need to defend against rapidly evolving threats to American security.

Imagine if our space program wasnt staffed by top scientists, but by mediocre ones simply lucky enough to be born into wealth. Imagine if the analyst deciphering chatter on terrorist networks rose to their position not because they were the brightest, but because they were among the few with a trust fund to pay for their education. This would be the new reality under the proposed tax regime and would not only compromise American national security, but also cause the United States to fall further behind the world in scientific achievements, thereby damaging our country for generations to come.

Furthermore, most Americans wont even see any significant short-term benefits. Millions, including small business owners, will actually see their taxes rise. Eliminating personal exemptions and deductions for state taxes will hit Montanans particularly hard. Thirteen million Americans are expected to lose health insurance. Premiums are guaranteed to rise, as will medical-related bankruptcies.

Who will benefit? According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, those with incomes above $730,000 will get a big tax break. The heirs of the wealthiest people in America will now collect their inheritance with little to no taxes paid. Corporations will have greater incentive to fire Americans and ship their jobs overseas. The few provisions meant to provide middle class tax relief are temporary. The corporate tax cuts? Permanent.

As individuals who have served our nation overseas in harms way, we say this with great seriousness: The senators and representatives who support such policies are threatening American national security. These politicians should be willing to release their own tax returns, to show just how much they will personally benefit. If they are unwilling to do that, then you know whose interests theyre really serving. Its not the United States of America, and its not the people of Montana.
Irish-listed Ovoca Gold is considering opportunities in the oil and gas sector as it seeks to close the gap between its market capitalisation and its net current assets.

The company is valued by the market at just over 7m, despite the fact it has cash in the bank around $6.5m (5.5m) and a stake in gold and silver mining business Polymetal currently valued at around 15m.

Around half of the shares are owned by Russian board members, and the company's exploration assets are located in Russia.

The company is currently embroiled in legal action after a loan it gave to another business went into default. Chief executive Kirill Golovanov told shareholders at the company's AGM in Dublin last week that Ovoca management believes there is the potential to acquire oil and gas assets on foot of this process.

"That would fundamentally change the business of the company and for sure we would need to seek shareholders' approval to do that ... there is a big fight regarding these assets among the creditors.

"Before we resolve this issue we cannot consider any dividends because if we are to acquire that property ... we would need funds to develop those assets," Golovanov said.

"I do understand there is a substantial gap between our market cap, and the value of our cash in the bank and securities that we have. We can argue why that is going on but there are probably some issues because of the Russia issue - that the company has all its assets in Russia - which is not true technically because the cash is in foreign banks and Polymetal is an international public company. Its shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange."

Golovanov said he believed the best way to close the gap between market cap and assets was to acquire new projects.

"My view on our company is that we have enough of our own funds, and we are in a better position than other companies. So for us it is more a question of finding the right project which would create value for the shareholders and change this gap."

The company's Russian gold exploration project - known as Stakhanovsky - needs a gold price of $1400 an ounce to be commercially viable, Ovoca director Tim McCutcheon told the AGM. Gold is now trading around $1300 an ounce. McCutcheon was formerly the company's chief executive.

"Ovoca has enough money to actually do something, and the question has always been what project do you take when you can actually do something.

"I can fully appreciate the fact that it's been a while [looking for a new project] but when we find the right project we'll have enough money to actually do something and not have to raise shares and beg other people for funds."
Aer Lingus is to move its key complaints department to the US in what staff fear is part of a major outsourcing move.

At a town hall meeting, the IAG-owned former national airline told up to 30 staff impacted by the plans that it is to establish a new Global Guest Relations Service Centre in the US just after Christmas, leaving them to compete for three remaining Irish jobs.

The guest relations department - which handles passenger complaints over baggage, delays and other issues - will move by February 28, chief operating officer Mike Rutter told the workers.

Trade unions were later told by management that the move was "a strategic decision" rather than a proposal and that there would be no consultation.

Siptu officials threatened to ballot for industrial action in response, telling management at a follow-up meeting that the manner in which the Dublin jobs were to be eliminated was "unprecedented" in the airline's history.

"If you come at us with a big stick we will respond with a bigger one," a trade union official told senior management. Staff had been told before the initial town hall meeting that it would be a business update and there was no need to bring trade union representation.

But at that meeting, after a long update on the business, Rutter delivered the shock blow to staff. Rutter - who previously led British airline Flybe's outsourcing push - went on to outline his concerns saying that the guest relations department "is not what good looks like", according to documents from the meeting seen by this newspaper.

Rutter said that staff had failed to engage with the airline's management-change programme, according to the presentation documents.

There had been a failure to engage with basic and universal protocols around attendance, leave and work patterns for which industrial agreements exist, Rutter told the meetings.

Rutter said that the airline was concerned about poor levels of efficiency and case closure rates in the complaints department, according to sources.

These claims have been strongly rejected by staff working in the section and sources said they were shocked by Rutter's comments and blunt manner.

Rutter told the town hall meeting that the Aer Lingus Global Sales & Guest Services team was already located predominantly in the US.

"We now believe that they should be supported by a fit for purpose Global Guest Relations Service Centre.

"Having considered all the elements our decision is to locate this centre in the US," he said.

Staff affected will be invited to apply for the three new positions, apply for other positions in the airline or will transfer to the "redeployment pool", a special category for staff whose jobs at the airline have been eliminated or moved abroad.

In a second meeting, union officials rejected an assertion by airline management that the move did not classify as outsourcing because the positions would remain in-house despite moving to America.

In the previous town hall meeting, before announcing the decision, Rutter had outlined to staff the benefits of change at the airline since it was taken over by IAG in 2015. He had told the staff that Aer Lingus was leveraging synergies with IAG, using the British-based company to carry out many back office functions such as IT, fleet acquisition and cargo. IAG has also taken over the strategic sourcing function from Aer Lingus.

Rutter said that "the stabilisation and subsequent rapid growth of Aer Lingus has been based on becoming a truly global business", according to documents.

America had been the engine of growth of the airline over the past three years and over 60pc of north Atlantic business had come from US points of sale, he said.

"Our business structures have started to reflect that globalisation. A number of guest-facing services have been switched to global leadership."

The bulk of the sales, marketing and guest services functions at Aer Lingus are now run from north America with a north American workforce, said Rutter.

Rutter highlighted the fact that Aer Lingus is now a private sector company operating in a highly-competitive market place.

Sources at the meeting said that Rutter outlined how the journey from state company to private sector company has been painful and hasn't been without industrial and cultural issues.

Rutter told staff how IAG had launched Level, a new long-haul low-cost airline and "internal competitor" to Aer Lingus. It had "a fully-outsourced business model" and an "aggressive growth plan targeting the Atlantic".

"IAG, as a rational parent company, would deploy Group capital resources to the operating company that can generate the highest return on invested capital," he said, warning Aer Lingus must focus on remaining competitive.
The Central Bank has decided not to take the nuclear option when it comes to how much commission investment brokers selling various products receive from the banks, insurance companies or investment firms behind the products.

That would have seen Ireland follow countries such as Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK in banning these commissions altogether.

The system where brokers receive commissions of around 3pc to 6pc on policies and investments has been wide open to abuse or mis-selling, mainly through conflicts of interest.

The easiest way to deal with it would have been to abolish commissions and simply let the broker collect other fees, usually payable over the lifetime of the product.

In theory at least it would have ensured the broker was working for the customer and not himself when selling particular products.

But there is a downside to abolishing commissions altogether.

Firstly, it can shift greater fees on to the customer. Secondly, it could result in less independent advice, not more.

In the UK, it is said that it resulted in an "advice gap", where only those who can afford to pay for advice get independent recommendations.

If you do not want to pay for independent advice, you will end up getting sometimes dodgy advice from friends, neighbours or other sources online.

The best model is to ensure that brokers are as transparent as possible and not incentivised to push certain products over others simply because they are being rewarded with higher commissions on them based on how many they sell or the value of the product sold.

It would certainly be a lot cleaner to just abolish commissions but the Central Bank is proposing in its consultation paper a more nuanced approach. Bear in mind the abolition of commissions would reduce the number of brokers, thereby reducing competition and hiking up other fees.

The Central Bank is proposing that brokers will have to be upfront on the commissions they get from investment firms, banks and pension providers. Intermediaries will have to inform clients how they are paid whilst the Central Bank will also introduce restrictions on intermediaries describing themselves as independent.

In order to avoid conflicts of interest, the Central Bank also suggests banning financial advisers from getting a larger commission based on selling a larger loan, or get paid more for hitting certain sales targets.

Overall the proposals are a step forward but are they a step far enough? By seeking out a middle way on this issue, the Central Bank is looking to put together what it sees as a more sensible, nuanced approach. But ultimately, better outcomes will depend on enforcement.

It will be much more difficult to regulate a more subtle model for commissions than if they were simply banned altogether. If it can be regulated effectively, then it appears to try and keep the best of both worlds - genuinely independent advice at an accessible cost.

As Goodbody Stockbrokers pointed out during the week, revisiting fee structures will present an opportunity to drive down commissions particularly if brokers are less incentivised to drive volumes.

"On balance, this may negatively impact the banks that have been more reliant on intermediaries for volume (PTSB, Ulster and KBC)."

The broker industry has welcomed the initiative which suggests they are breathing a big sigh of relief that the Central Bank has not gone for the sledgehammer approach.

We shall have to wait and see if it is the best solution.

UK move shows corporate tax battles are just getting started

British Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced a new way of taxing tech companies in his Budget. He plans to introduce a measure to tax them on sales generated in the UK, rather than simply paying tax in the country where the company making the profits is resident. UK-based legal experts were quick to describe the initiative as a "game-changer" for how large digital firms are structured.

It isn't the first measure the British have introduced in this area but it does signal a further tightening of the screw on the use of low-tax jurisdictions, like Ireland, to reduce the overall tax paid.

But before Apple, Google or Facebook start rushing for Dublin Airport to leave the country and set up somewhere else, it is worth looking at the tax take the UK expects to get from this "radical" new measure.

The chancellor pencilled in an extra 800m over the next five years. Not an insignificant amount, but not the tightest screw imaginable either.

The new measure is due to kick in after the UK leaves the EU in 2019. But who believes that will happen? After Brexit the UK will want to do everything it can to attract foreign direct investment to the country, so it doesn't want to alienate these digital companies too much.

The measure sounds broadly similar to that advocated by the French which would involve a turnover tax on digital revenues in the country in which the service is bought. Ireland has been fighting a rearguard action and vetoing that particular proposal.

Tax experts say that France, Germany or Italy could go ahead and introduce a measure like that anyway, but it might put them outside existing tax treaties with countries like Ireland.

Corporate taxes could be a whole new economic battle ground between the UK and the EU (including Ireland) after Brexit.

Financial Times writer Matthew C Klein, had a real pop this week at the part played by countries like Ireland in hoovering up American assets but not necessarily real direct investment.

He said that since 1982 American businesses have spent $5.1trn accumulating direct investment abroad. About $2trn of that has come from re-investing profits in seven small countries known for helping multinationals avoid tax: Bermuda, the UK Caribbean Islands, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and, of course, Ireland.

In fact, just over half of America's foreign direct investment assets are now held in these seven countries - up from a fifth in the mid-1990s. Yet, since 1982, 29pc of America's outbound direct investment went to the UK. Mr Klein goes on to claim that none of the direct investment assets owned by American companies in Ireland or the Cayman Islands were acquired through traditional outflows.

"The seemingly large stock of direct investment assets in those two tiny countries is simply due to the need to 'reinvest' profits 'earned' there to avoid paying tax."

His argument is interesting but it doesn't explain how there are literally tens of thousands of people working for these companies in Ireland and they aren't all just tax accountants.

Either way, it looks like the global corporate tax battles are only just beginning.

Ballsbridge hotel that just keeps on giving despite plans for site

The former Jurys Hotel in Ballsbridge just keeps on going. It is now 12 years since developer Sean Dunne bought it with a view to levelling it - and the rest is history.

In recent years it has been run by the Dalata Hotel Group under lease from current owners, Chartered Land. The site has planning permission for a mix of apartments, a hotel and other mixed use but it isn't ready to go. So Dalata is extending its short-term lease to operate the hotel possibly until 2019 - 14 years after the original site deal.

Dalata has operated the hotel under lease since January 2012 and should be happy to continue the arrangement. A short-term lease rules out any major refurbishment spend, while the demand for hotel rooms in Dublin continues to boom.

The extension will allow Dalata to keep its Dublin hotel room count up until proposed new builds elsewhere in the city come on stream.

Dalata chief executive Pat McCann has made many shrewd moves since floating the company but Ballsbridge is the hotel-turned-property-play, turned hotel again, that just keeps on giving.
One morning in early 2010, Sinead Fitzmaurice, chief financial officer of Terry Clune's Taxback Group, climbed the stairs with her boss to the unoccupied top floor of the company's then new Kilkenny headquarters. She had only just begun working on the vast amount of international licence applications needed if they were to develop their idea for an international payments platform. The tiny team that would become TransferMate was in a small corner of the group's office below.

"I want you to fill this with TransferMate people Sinead," said Clune, gesturing across the silent, empty top floor. Fitzmaurice, co-founder and now chief financial officer of TransferMate, was aghast.

"The next day we set about our task. Now that floor is full of staff. I always remember that moment. He had the belief that we could do it and he instilled that belief in me. Now we have 185 people employed in TransferMate, with significant employment growth to come."

The company, now a separate entity to Taxback and until last week 80pc owned by Clune and 20pc by Fitzmaurice, is on the cusp of extraordinary growth, she says. The goal - over two to three years - is to turn TransferMate into a 1bn global payments business based out of Kilkenny, says Fitzmaurice.

A major step on that growth path came when last week it signed a 30m strategic partnership deal with AIB, revealed by this newspaper. It is just the first of a series of banking collaborations the company hopes to agree and, with AIB taking a small minority stake, values TransferMate at between 250m to 300m.

"It is a proud moment for us," says Fitzmaurice. "The biggest bank in Ireland, a pillar bank, has looked at us inside and out and said that we tick all the boxes for them. Now we can start putting the foot down in terms of building our volumes."

The AIB deal gives TransferMate the wherewithal to execute its strategy. It plans to concentrate in particular on the US, Australia, Canada and Europe. Fitzmaurice believes the opportunity is huge in a 138trn global payments market. "We are in pole position for a land grab in that market," she says.

Other players in the sector have focused on fundraising first and building the infrastructure later. "We've done it the other way around," she says. This has meant that the company can offer banks a fully-functioning international-payments platform that has already transferred $10bn to over 100 countries. Apart from the AIB partnership, Fitzmaurice says there is potential for further deals in 2018 with a top five US bank and a pan-European bank, giving TransferMate access to potentially huge distribution channels.

The temptation for many up-and-coming fintechs is to become market disruptors, to do to banks what Uber has done to taxis and what Airbnb has done to hotels. But, says Fitzmaurice, a partnership approach was always likely to be a more lucrative option for TransferMate.

"Because of the platform that we have, particularly on the receivables side, we always knew that there was an opportunity to bash the banks here in the short term. But we never did that. Yes, we were competing in the same market but our vision was always about what we could do overseas, particularly in the US market. For us, it's about being stronger together.

"The opportunity is immense," she says. "We were always building towards this. We already have thousands of clients around the world. But the AIB partnership is really exciting because it is an opportunity for us to scale at a different pace."

It is little wonder so that Fitzmaurice describes the signing of that deal last week, after months of negotiation and due diligence, as a turning point in her own career. TransferMate has long kept itself below the radar and Fitzmaurice professes to not relishing the media spotlight. She cringes at having her photo taken for the newspaper. "The one thing they don't train you for as an accountant is having your photo taken," she says with a smile. "Myself and Terry are similar like that. I much prefer wheeling and dealing on deals. But sure it has to be done."

Fitzmaurice, who grew up in New Ross, Co Wexford, went straight from school to train as an accountant with PwC in its Kilkenny office. She was qualified by the age of 20 and quickly rose to management level in the office. In 2000 she went on secondment to PwC's Jersey office.

"Jersey is a hub for the financial services industry and I learned everything from anti-money-laundering to compliance. I also got to work with US clients and learned about SEC regulation."

By age 24 she was regularly sitting in a boardroom with up to 30 older colleagues, nearly all men. But she was not particularly daunted.

"Red hair is always good in these situations," she jokes. "People always ask me about the glass ceiling and of course it can be daunting. But if you are confident in what you are doing and passionate about the subject, that goes a long way. I always try to excel at what I am doing. That I think is more important than whether you are female or male."

After having their first child in 2005, Fitzmaurice and her husband, also a chartered accountant, decided that they wanted to return to Ireland.

"I came across Taxback on the internet and sent in my CV. When I met Terry I instantly clicked with him - his entrepreneurial spirit, his belief in talent and his vision and strategy is inspirational."

Fitzmaurice brought with her a particularly important skill set - including risk management and multinational experience - at just the right time. The company was already making international transfers for its own business but by 2005, it was tapping into the booming Australian visa market for Irish students. That process required money transfer to Australia so Fitzmaurice set about applying for an Australian bureau de change license for Taxback as a way to avoid the exorbitant international money transfer charges levied by banks on painfully slow inter-country transfers.

"That was our first dip into the regulation of these services," she said.

At the same time the EU was preparing the payment services directive, which would bring sweeping changes to how the payment services sector would be regulated right across Europe.

"We began asking ourselves what else we could do with these licences. We sat around a table and hammered out what, as accountants and financial controllers, we would like from such a service. Terry would say 'Well, Sinead, what would you like to see? You're doing our accounts ... what would make your life easier?'

"It was very much all of us together at the table sketching it out. And what we realised was that if you had a tech-enabled international payments platform that was fast, cheap and easy to use then you were on to something pretty powerful."

They also came to the conclusion that the best way to achieve this was to set up a network of domestic bank accounts in each country that allowed them to control both ends of the transaction rather than relying on international banking infrastructure to process payments.

If a customer could pay into a domestic bank account in their own country at one end and their client could receive the payment through a domestic bank account at the other end, this would avoid the expensive, messy and time consuming route that international bank transfers traditionally used. Even better, if all this could be tied seamlessly into the major cloud-based accounting software packages at both ends, then TransferMate could be on to a massive winner.

But to achieve its potential, Transfermate needed to get the required licences individually in Europe, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and, most daunting of all, every one of the 50 US states, each of which has its own set of payments regulations.

Fitzmaurice set about researching the regulations for each state and country and began hiring staff to tackle each one in turn. In May of this year TransferMate finally achieved the last US licence it needed - New York. It had taken seven years to get every licence but the success of Taxback and the resources that was generating had meant that it was able to dedicate this time without having to seek external funding.

"When the New York licence came through that was when we put the accelerator down and said 'let's go for it'. We are in pole position in the US now because with a licence in every state, we have something very powerful to sell.

"The backing of a bank like AIB really gives us the fuel in the engine we need. It is a rarity in the industry to have the regulation platform that we have. No other Irish company has ever done it and there are only about three others in the world. The difference with us though is that they don't have the technology platform and integration with accounting software that we have," she says.

Right throughout the time that the company had been tackling the regulatory side, Fitzmaurice had engaged with senior AIB people to keep them informed as to progress.

"'OK,' we said to them when we got our licences, 'Now we have something pretty powerful ... let's collaborate and bring something really powerful to your exporting client base, extend your reach and promote employment in Ireland.' The bank saw the opportunity and the innovation we had brought to it."

The timing, she agrees, was perfect. The bank was just emerging from its successful flotation with an appetite for innovation. But it could also see the huge breadth of opportunity that TransferMate has internationally. This, says Fitzmaurice, also makes the company a huge and growing asset to the economy in Kilkenny and the southeast.

"The international dimension allows us to attract talent home and to develop talent locally. It provides an opportunity for local people who are working in Dublin and want to get out of the city. And we are also very encouraging, as we scale our offices around the world, to provide an opportunity for staff to co-locate in the States for example. It is a great way for a young person to get experience abroad. I spent six years abroad and I know what that can bring to the table."

It has been a busy decade for Fitzmaurice since her own return to Ireland. But, she says, it is only now that the TransferMate story is really about to start.

Name

Sinead Fitzmaurice

Age

42

Position

Co-founder and chief financial officer, TransferMate Global Payments

Lives

Kilkenny

Previous experience

Trained with PwC in Kilkenny before spending six years at the company's Jersey office

Family

Married with four children

Pastimes

Swims every morning at 7.30am

Favourite movie

Meet the Fockers

Favourite place for a holiday

The Canary islands
Ireland has not always considered itself a design nation. Yet our understanding of what good design means has evolved as companies recognise its commercial potential across sectors. One milestone occurred when the Design & Crafts Council delivered Irish Design 2015 on the behalf of Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation. Since that year-long programme, the commercial impact of design in Ireland has continued to evolve. Businesses that may once have viewed design as inessential now recognise its potential.

For today's exporters, an approach to design should embrace two main elements: technology and user experience. Technology describes how a product functions, and user experience how customers engage with the solution, or more importantly, how the solution engages its users. The importance of both has been clear to B2C companies for some time, with the iPhone a famous example of excellence in both. Awareness has spread to less obvious applications, like the production of agricultural machinery. Manufacturers in B2B industries now understand that design can make products look efficient, so that a user's impression of quality is often shaped by design.

Enterprise Ireland has always supported design, mostly with a small 'd', as a crucial component of product development. Irish businesses are actively encouraged to approach Design with a capital 'D', by introducing it into strategy and planning at an earlier point. That focus allows design to have a greater impact than when it is treated as one aspect of product development.

Exporters, in particular, must treat design as strategic. Customers in different markets often have different responses to technology and user experience. It cannot be assumed that design will translate across markets. Firms must, at the very least, consider how to adapt to each market targeted.

Enterprise Ireland supports more and more companies to give design the focus it deserves. The success of Marco Beverage Systems, a hot water delivery systems company, has been fuelled by design-driven innovation. Paul Stack, operations director, explains that design transcends surface styling.

"The main considerations for our design team are energy efficiency, beverage excellence and design excellence, incorporating user experience and aesthetics," he says. With just under 100 employees globally, its products can be seen in major businesses, including Starbucks, Bewley's and Costa Coffee. "A reputation for good design and innovation increases your brand value and drives sales all by itself," says Stack.

For Mcor, a Louth-headquartered company that develops the world's only line of paper-based 3D printers, RD&I enabled a software redesign and a complete architectural change of electronics. The resulting Arke is an integrated printer, with a low price-point that opened up new markets. The benefits of design-driven innovation are clear in Mcor's projection that 2018 will see a doubling of staff and fivefold increase in sales revenue.

Alpha Wireless, an antenna manufacturer headquartered in Portlaoise, worked closely with customers to design a product tailored to specific regulations. "Enterprise Ireland's Business Innovation Initiative funding allowed us to set up an advisory group of industry experts from across the globe," says CEO Fergal Lawlor. "We worked with them to review the market, decide what technologies were needed and develop a new concept."

Since applying for funding in 2015, Alpha Wireless sales in the UK are now in the millions and it has more than doubled its Irish workforce to 120 employees. These examples show the potential of design to shape business results.

Stephen Hughes is Enterprise Ireland manager for construction, timber and consumer retail
China's new plan to slash import taxes on a wide range of consumer goods promises to boost the prospects of multinationals in the Chinese market, with everything from Procter & Gamble's nappies to Diageo's whiskey becoming more affordable to local consumers.

Tariffs for 187 product categories will drop from an average 17.3pc to 7.7pc after the cut takes effect on December 1, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Friday, citing the need to help consumers access quality and specialty products that aren't widely produced locally.

The new policy follows President Xi Jinping's call at the October Communist Party conclave to meet citizens' demands for improved living standards and better quality products in the world's largest consumer market.

Foreign multinationals stand to benefit as middle-class shoppers seek out goods stamped with foreign brands, while the cuts also encourage consumers to spend at home rather than on trips overseas.

"It's aimed at three things: helping boost consumption in China; reforming the Chinese economy by continuing to open it up; and sending a signal to the world and particularly to the US that it is committed to advancing global trade," said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors in Sydney.

Tariffs for some types of baby formula were cut to zero, triggering losses in Chinese dairy stocks. Shares climbed, meanwhile, for European food and beverage companies.

The moves will help companies like Irish giant Glanbia, Danone and Nestle that compete with local brands in the large market for infant formula. That industry will see sales increase about 15pc to 123 billion yuan (15.6bn) in China by 2020, according to a Goldman Sachs Group report in October. Chinese parents worried about a series of food-safety scandals often favour foreign brands.

"This is very good news for Nestle, and excellent news for its infant milk formula," said Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at Bank Vontobel. "It's a win-win situation for both consumers and high-quality global consumer-goods companies." China has faced criticism for not doing enough to bolster imports, a move that would help balance the trade surpluses that it runs with a raft of other countries. US President Donald Trump has long complained that China engages in unfair trade practices and has pledged to close the trade deficit with China.

Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said this month that a range of measures to open domestic markets will be taken to support demand for imports, a move that could help narrow the $327bn trade gap with the US.

"It is unlikely to move the needle much on the trade balance but it is still a small, solid step forward," said Christopher Balding, an associate professor at the HSBC School of Business at Peking University in Shenzhen.

"China is moving to a consumption economy and with so much cross-border commerce streaming in across these product segments, they are under pressure to lower tariffs."

Taxes for a range of medicines, including various antibiotics and insulin products, were lowered to 2pc from as much as 6pc, potentially a big win for multinational drug companies such as Pfizer and Novartis that import many of their drugs into the country.

China's medical imports stood at $22bn in the first 10 months of 2017, according to latest data from the General Administration of Customs.

The biggest reduction came for vermouth or similar alcohol, from 65pc to 14pc, according to the statement. Whiskey tariffs were cut to 5pc from 10pc.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose government is brokering the oil deal, hugs with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, last week. Photo: AP

Oil briefly surpassed $59 a barrel in New York for the first time in two years as OPEC and Russia were said to have crafted the outline of a deal to extend their oil production cuts.

Futures closed 1.6pc higher Friday, just 10 cents below a fresh two-year high. After days of talks, Moscow and Riyadh now agree on the need to announce an additional period of cuts at the November 30 meeting, although both sides are still hammering out crucial details, according to people involved in the conversations.

Moscow had been hesitating over the need for an extension because the current deal doesn't expire until the end of March.

"Russia has been scared of higher prices and has been sort of unwilling to commit to a nine- month" extension of cuts, said Sam Alderson, analyst at Energy Aspects.

Oil market strength comes from "the more positive signs from Russia", Alderson added.

The US benchmark last week traded at levels last reached in mid-2015 on heightened optimism that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies will agree to prolong cuts until the end of next year.

As of Friday prices were up more than 8pc in November, heading for a third monthly gain in what would be the longest winning streak since May last year.

"Everyone is in favour of extending the deal to reach its final goals. Russia also supports these proposals," Energy Minister Alexander Novak told RBC TV.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery rose by 93 cents to $58.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after touching $59.05. There was no settlement Thursday because of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US and all transactions were booked on Friday.

Brent for January settlement climbed 31 cents to $63.86 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $4.91 to WTI.

The oil market is being driven by Russia, Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, said in a phone interview. The oil producer has been sending mixed signals.

"At the end of the day, Vladimir Putin kind of favoured" an extension, Flynn said. "It's definitely supportive of the market."

Prices have also been supported by the shutdown of the Keystone pipeline that supplies as much as 590,000 barrels a day of Canadian crude to the US. The shutdown entered its second week on Friday after a November 16 leak spilled 5,000 barrels in South Dakota. The line carries Canadian crude to Cushing, Oklahoma, the main pipeline and storage-tank hub in the US.

US crude inventories declined to about 457.1m in the week ended November 17, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, dropped by 1.83m barrels to 61.2m, the largest draw since July.

Meanwhile, American production gained for a fifth week to 9.66m barrels a day.
The soap opera is set in a Dublin seaside town.

TV3's Red Rock gets off to an explosive start on January 7 with the discovery of a body on a Dublin pier.

These are the dramatic opening scenes of TV3's new soap Red Rock.

The much-hyped series, based around a busy Dublin garda station in a coastal town, is due to air in just over two weeks time and the first two episodes don't disappoint.

The debut episode of Ireland's newest continuing drama will introduce us to two main families - The Kielys and The Hennessys.

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And in the first episode Red Rock opens with a body discovered on the pier. The two feuding families are immediately in the spotlight and it's not all plain sailing for Garda Sharon who, while searching the security footage, discovers shocking information about a colleague, and must decide whether or not to reveal.

Denise McCormack, who plays the show matriarch Bridget Kiely, says that she is relishing playing her new formidable character. "She is not a pure baddie, as such," the former Love/Hate star said.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close TV3's Red Rock gets off to an explosive start on January 7 with the discovery of a body on a Dublin pier. The soap opera is set in a Dublin seaside town. / Facebook

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Whatsapp TV3's Red Rock gets off to an explosive start on January 7 with the discovery of a body on a Dublin pier.

The soap, has already been commissioned for two years and has a talented cast and crew behind it.

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Red Rock is TV3's "largest commission ever" and is set to be a ratings winner in the looming absence of Emmerdale and Coronation Street as they get set to move to UTV this month.

The much anticipated soap will premiere on TV3 on Wednesday January 7 at 8.30pm.
Hollywood star Gabriel Byrne has credited Biddy White Lennon with nurturing his talents and helping him learn how to perform on camera.

He was paying tribute to Ms White Lennon yesterday after hearing that she had died following a battle with illness.

The pair worked together on RTE's hit drama The Riordans during his early forays in the industry. The drama was a household staple in living rooms nationwide between 1965 and 1979.

It focused on the lives of Tom and Mary Riordan. Their son Benjy, played by actor Tom Hickey, was married to Ms White Lennon's character Maggie. However, Maggie scandalised the nation when she had an affair with Pat Barry, played by Mr Byrne.

Speaking to the Sunday Independent yesterday Mr Byrne said she helped him during his first days on set.

"My first encounter with Biddy was when I went out to RTE one Sunday afternoon to do an audition with her. I had never been to RTE, I had never done an audition there. She came in that afternoon and she was so supportive. I never actually forgot it. She had a tremendous generosity of spirit and vivacity. It was a remarkable thing about her.

"We worked very well together. She would often crack up in the middle of a scene, and so would I, when we realised what it was we were actually doing as sometimes you can in acting when you are in sometimes bizarre scenarios."

At that stage, Ms White Lennon was able to guide an inexperienced Byrne through scenes and help him make the step from stage to screen.

"She had really mastered the art of being an absolute professional in front of the camera," he said yesterday.

"All of the actors working on that show had mastered the art of performing on camera. If you look, they were never just standing there delivering lines. They actually inhabited those characters. They cooked, they ate, they drove tractors. They were always doing something so they gave the programme a naturalness that other programmes did not have. You really believed these people existed.

"They made me understand that acting for television and theatre were two very different things."

He said he enjoyed working with Ms White Lennon and the pair often shared stories about how the public were reacting to Maggie's affair with Pat.

"Adultery was an issue that was not being spoken about publicly around that time," said Mr Byrne.

"Perhaps it was in theatre but certainly not on television. It created something of an uproar in the country and she and I used to laugh at how it provoked certain reactions from people.

"She would tell me that she would go into the shop to buy something and someone would warn her: 'Your husband is away and you should not be fooling away with that Pat Barry'. "The people believed in these characters to such an extent that they reacted to Biddy and myself in the street as if they were real. People said the same kind of things to me. 'You leave that woman alone'."

After The Riordans finished Ms White Lennon moved on to become an accomplished food writer. She wrote about Irish food and cooking for decades and contributed to several newspapers, magazines and TV programmes with her passion for all things culinary.

She was a founding member and former chairwoman of the Irish Food Writers Guild and also worked on TV3's 'Great Irish Bake-Off' where she demonstrated a passion for people cooking great food in their own homes.

"Yes, absolutely she will be missed," said Mr Byrne.

"I know people say it is the end of an era. It is the passing of somebody who was deeply loved by people who didn't just know her as an actor but also knew her as a food writer."
Now that millions of Americans have been pauperized by corporate welfare for multiple wars in Muslim lands, and so many war vets, mentally ill, wander homeless in the streets of America after the huge loss of blood and resources, the time is apparently ripe for regents and our right-wing rulers to saddle the University of Montana with a militarist and war industry CEO out of General Electric; war contracts to follow.

Meanwhile, its clear that our fine Montana leaders have placed college education out of reach for all but the wealthy and out-of-state elites; such a great victory in the war against us common folk. And so I guess its only natural that bankers are regents now with money to loan, whereas when I was at the University of Montana from '60 to '63, it was affordable at nominal cost to Montana kids.

We the people have been and continue to be robbed by our representatives, who hate to tax the huge corporations and the super-rich who imagine that they own our country.

Phil Atkins,

Missoula
The daughter of a man who was hospitalised after a "traumatic" accident has claimed the health "system is breaking down" after he spent almost ten hours in an A&E waiting room, then slept on a trolley overnight and was given just two painkillers over 24 hours.

On November 9 Gerard McKenna, who is from Tallaght in Dublin, had an accident in the yard of the garage where he works. He fell from his truck and broke his arm in two places and caused significant damage to his shoulder.

His daughter Katherine said that the nurses who cared for Gerard (65) in Tallaght Hospital are "angels" but she said they are under too much pressure and the system is at breaking point.

She told Independent.ie: "We went in at 10pm on the Thursday night and he didn't get seen for an x-ray until 8.30am on Friday morning, by that stage his arm was so swollen and painful.

"He had been left in the A&E department overnight and it's so uncomfortable, there's no food and he was in pain.

"The most concerning thing was when we got the x-ray done they only checked one part of his arm and they thought it was just a crack in the arm.

"Initially they were going to manipulate the arm and they had the oxygen and gas ready to go but one of the nurses stopped it and suggested that they get another x-ray done.

"They found there were a couple of broken parts and there was no way they could have manipulated the bone back into place - it needed an operation, there was a lot more work that needed to be done than they initially realised."

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Gerard had to wait another 24 hours for surgery as there was no bed available, so he was kept overnight on a trolley in the A&E corridor.

When he finally was being brought for his procedure on the Saturday afternoon, Katherine said another issue was flagged.

She explained: "He felt really unwell after the fall, it wasn't just the pain in his arm but he didn't know if he had blacked out of tripped over his own foot or what had happened.

"We had asked the hospital staff could they do checks to make sure everything was okay but when he eventually got to surgery they realised an ECG was never done to check his heart, which should have been carried out at an early stage."

Katherine also said that she feels her father's ordeal was made worse by a lack of pain relief.

She said: "He was initially given two Nurofen when he first went in on Thursday but he wasn't given any more pain relief until he got onto the ward 24 hours later.

"My dad was in a lot of pain, he had fallen quite a distance and he had broken his wrist and damaged his shoulder.

"It just seems like every step of the way there were problems - they didn't do the x-rays properly, so they had to do a second one; they hadn't done the ECGs; he got hardly any pain relief so he was just left sitting there.

"My dad is a man who has worked all of his life, he would leave for work at 6 in the morning and you wouldn't see him again until seven that night.

"He's paid his fair share of taxes in this country, he has very rarely every needed help from the health system in this country so for him to be left like that is so frustrating, the accident was a traumatic enough experience for him."

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Both Gerard and Katherine have stressed that the frontline staff they met were "lovely" but they feel they were put under too much pressure.

Katherine explained: "He really wants to thank the nurses, they were really, really lovely but they just don't have enough staff or bed or resources.

"It's really disheartening and you really do feel for them.

"Even the night we arrived in we were told that there wasn't a doctor available to examine dad and that's why he was left sitting there so long.

"The staff we met are fabulous but perhaps it's an upper-management problem that needs to be highlighted."

She continued to say that she feels there is a lack of accountability and structure within the health system.

Katherine said: "I work for the Department of Education and we have a ratio of staff to pupils in place and if we don't adhere to that we would be in serious trouble.

"It made me think, why don't the HSE have to maintain a proper ratio of doctors and nurses to patients, there has to be a system in place but there's too many people missing from that system.

"The system is breaking down and they don't even have time to communicate effectively with each other so then they're missing out with all of the different details.

"There just doesn't seem to be enough people on the ground and it's causing a huge amount of stress for the staff who are there and are doing their best.

"The staff we met were under so much pressure and it's not fair on them, especially over a long period of time.

"One nurse told us it had been this busy since she started in 2008, they seem to do it for the love of their job but I don't know how they keep going."

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Gerard returned home on the day after his operation, following almost three days in hospital and Katherine said that the experience has opened her eyes to the crisis within the health system.

She said: "I genuinely didn't realise it was this bad, I had heard people complaining about the health system before and about patients having to wait on trolleys in corridors but my god, I was shocked when I saw how bad it really is.

"This was for something that is supposed to be simple process and he should have been in and out within 24 hours."

A spokesman for Tallaght Hospital said: "Tallaght Hospital cannot comment on individual patient cases however we apologise to any patient who has had a negative experience during treatment at the Hospital.

"We would also urge them to engage with the Hospitals patient advocacy co-ordinator about their experience as feedback is very important in helping to improve our services."
Broadcaster Al Porter revealed he was accused of sexually assaulting three young people in his secondary school when he was in transition year.

In a lengthy interview with comedian Des Bishop, Porter said his father was called into school when the students made the allegations.

The interview appeared on Bishops website, but was taken down last Thursday, the Sunday World reports.

Porter has stood down from Today FM following allegations of inappropriate behaviour, insisting that he was completely taken aback by the reports.

St Patrick's Hospital has said it was investigating a complaint following claims made by a former patient about the Tallaght comedian.

It has also emerged that gardai are investigating Porter (24) in relation to the alleged sexual assault of a man in his late teens.

The male teenager has alleged that the incident occurred at a social event in Dublin city centre in the last year.

He told Des Bishop: When we were in transition year, guys were like slapping each other on the ass and like f***ing grabbing each other and I was doing it too.

But three guys went to my guidance counsellors room and he was like: 'Hey, we actually know that you werent and we totally dont think that there was anything wrong here, but as a matter of course, we have to tell your parents'.

So I said 'please dont ring my mother'.

They rang my dad and he came and he just kind of listened and was like, right, good, lets never talk about this again.

Porter claimed that the three students later apologised to him for making the complaints. He said all three of the complainants have been to see his shows.

One of the guys turned out to be gay and said that he was really ashamed about it and was just kind of trying to deflect.

The other two guys said that they were just trying to get me in trouble; that I was too much of a goody two shoes and they just didnt like it.

Porter also tells Bishop that he had a number of sexual encounters with other pupils when he was in secondary school in Tallaght, West Dublin

Porter also said that because he is up-front about his sexual encounters, no newspapers would be able to find any dirt on him.

He added in the Podcast: I feel guilt is exhausting. Like honestly, for the emotions you can feel, guilt and shame are exhausting. And I also think one of the worst feelings you can ever feel in real life is getting caught out. That has to be one of the worst feelings. Its somebody going hey, I know you did this thing and you dont want people to know and I have this thing over you.

As an adult, I said nobody will ever have dirt on me because Im just going to own it.
Forecasters have said "the worst of it is over" after a yellow snow-ice warning was put in place across the country over the weekend.

Temperatures are expected to rise and experts are predicting theres a dry week ahead with only scattered showers in the West and North.

Met Eireanns Vincent OShea told Independent.ie: "It is going to get less cold. I wouldnt use the word warm, but it will be milder. The worst of it is over. Its already cleared everywhere.

"I want to emphasise the frost is effectively gone. Its going to be a much milder day today than in recent days. It will be a mild day everywhere. It was a short-lived affair.

Met Eireann has predicted its going to be a dry week with temperatures climbing to between 9 and 12C.

"It wont be warm exactly but generally speaking it will be dry," said Mr OShea. "(There will be) coldish nights but nothing out of the ordinary.

"Therell be a lot of dry weather over the coming week. Theres not much rain expected. Therell be showers at times but mainly in the North. Some places wont see any rain at all for a few days  like Cork and Dublin."

Its predicted coastal areas in the southwest will be hit with gale force 8 winds tonight with a status yellow warning in place.

Strong winds are expected to hit Loop Head, Erris Head and Malin Head before extending to all coastal areas tonight.

While forecasters have said the frost is "effectively gone", officially a status yellow weather warning remains in place across Ireland this morning until 10am.

Motorists are being urged to take care if they come across icy conditions.

AA Roadwatch has issued a warning to drivers that frost is likely across the country.

"Remember stopping distances are 10 times longer on snow and ice and gentle manoeuvres are the key to safe driving," they advised.

"Use major routes as they are more likely to have been gritted than secondary routes."

The cold snap first hit the country on Friday.

Pictures and videos posted on Twitter showed a snow-capped Croagh Patrick Friday morning and snowfall along the Mayo/Sligo border.

Video also showed a Mayo village had been transformed into a winter wonderland.

As the frost clears this afternoon, forecasters expect scattered outbreaks of rain in the West, becoming heavy in the northwest.
A MAN found lying unconscious on a Cork city centre street remains in a serious condition in hospital.

The man was found lying unconscious on the pavement off Cove Street shortly before 3am on Sunday.

He was rushed to Cork University Hospital (CUH) where he is being treated for serious head injuries.

The man's condition is currently being treated as critical.

Gardai are trying to determine the precise circumstances in which the man suffered the head injuries and have launched a full investigation.

Uniformed gardai conducted door-to-door inquiries in the area to determine if anyone locally heard or saw anything suspicious between 12 midnight and 3am on Sunday.

Gardai are also examining CCTV security camera footage from around the area to determine the movements of the man and anyone else who may have been in the area at the time.

It is believed a number of people are likely to have been in the area given a number of social events taking place in the city centre.

A garda source stressed that it remains unclear if the man was the victim of an assault or if the injuries were sustained in a fall.

It is understood the injured man had been out socialising on Saturday evening.
FIANNA Fail is tonight examining Department of Justice correspondence as part of an attempt to establish the extent of Tanaiste Frances Fitzgeralds knowledge of a Garda legal strategy against Sgt Maurice McCabe.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar handed over a series of documents to Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin when they met to discuss the latest Garda whistleblower scandal which is threatening to collapse the Government.

Mr Varadkar also pledged to order a fresh trawl of Department of Justice documents which would also be given to the Fianna Fail leader.

However, it remained unclear if Fianna Fail would be willing to call off their motion of no confidence if the Department of Justice documents show Fitzgerald acted appropriately.

The documents were exchanged when the two party leaders met this afternoon to discuss the escalating political standoff which could result in an election before Christmas.

Neither side have moved on their positions. Mr Martin is still insisting the Tanaiste should resign over claims she failed to act when she became aware of the legal strategy that was to be pursued against Sgt McCabe.

However, the Taoiseach is sticking by Ms Fitzgerald and is understood to have called after his meeting with the Fianna Fail leader to reassure her that she still has confidence and support.

At the meeting, the two party leaders also discussed what role the Charleton Tribunal would have in establishing the extent of the Tanaistes knowledge of the Garda legal strategy and whether she acted appropriately or not.

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Mr Varadkar and Mr Martin also discussed a major overhaul of the Department of Justice in the wake of a continuing stream of controversies.

Sources said both sides are genuinely trying to avoid an election.

The Taoiseachs spokesperson said: "There was a good exchange of views at the meeting and contact continues this weekend."

A Fianna Fail spokesperson said there would be more engagement tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Labour Party Leader Brendan Howlin called for the documents provided to Fianna Fail from the Department of Justice to be provided to all opposition parties.

"In an attempt to salvage the confidence and supply agreement it has been reported that the Taoiseach has now furnished to Fianna Fail a new trove of documents from the Department of Justice," Mr Howlin said.

"This correspondence has obviously been provided because Fine Gael believe it is relevant to recent events.

"If that is the case then this new evidence should also be provided to other opposition parties and groupings.

"If these new documents form part of the evidence trail surrounding the email released this week then we also need clarity on whether this new material has been furnished to the Disclosures Tribunal.

"At the heart of this controversy is the failure to answer questions in an honest, straight-forward manner. This correspondence should now be released to avoid further controversy."
Leo Varadkar "is doing everything he can" to avoid a snap general election, his spokesman said, but the crisis that has brought his minority government to the brink showed no obvious sign of resolution on Sunday.

Varadkar has two days to end the standoff with the party propping up his government before it submits a motion of no confidence in his deputy prime minister, a move that Varadkar says will force him to call a snap election before Christmas.

The crisis has erupted less than three weeks before a summit on Britain's plans to leave the European Union, where Ireland will play a major role in deciding whether the negotiations can move onto the next phase.

Talks between Varadkar and Micheal Martin, the leader of the main opposition party, Fianna Fail, will continue on Sunday ahead of Martin bringing the motion of no confidence in Deputy Prime Minister Frances Fitzgerald before parliament on Tuesday.

"The Taoiseach (prime minister) is doing everything he can to avoid an election, and hopes it will be possible to reach agreement with Micheal Martin," Varadkar's spokesman said in a statement on Sunday.

The spokesman added that there was no question of Fitzgerald being asked to resign over her handling of a legal case involving a police whistleblower. Fianna Fail say this is the only way to avoid an election.

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The Sunday Times newspaper reported that the leaders agreed the outline of a deal that would allow an ongoing judge-led tribunal to investigate the issue but that sources in Varadkar's Fine Gael party said an election was unavoidable if Fianna Fail continued to call for Fitzgerald to step down.

Varadkar is due to play a major role in the December 14-15 EU summit on Brexit, telling fellow leaders whether Dublin believes sufficient progress has been made on the future border between EU-member Ireland and Britain's province of Northern Ireland.

The government has said enough progress has not been made to date and Ireland's EU Commissioner Phil Hogan said on Sunday that Dublin would "continue to play tough" over its threat to veto talks.

The border is one of three issues Brussels wants broadly resolved before it decides whether to move the talks on to a second phase about trade and EU officials have said a snap election in Ireland would complicate that task.

Bosses at a number of Ireland's top companies were quoted by the Sunday Business Post as telling the parties to step back from the brink.

"This thing of bringing the country to a standstill at a critical time is just unacceptable," Dalata Hotel Group chief executive Pat McCann told the newspaper.

Politicians say they also know there is no appetite among voters for an election just 18 months after the last one and an opinion poll on Saturday suggested there would be little change with another minority administration the most likely outcome.
The treatment of the Garda whistleblower, Maurice McCabe, has a way of tripping up important people, often when they least expect it.

It caught up with Frances Fitzgerald, the Tanaiste and Minister for Business and Enterprise, last Monday night. It was late and she was tired when her mobile phone rang. She was in transit, making her way through airports en route to Dublin from trade missions in the Middle East and the US. It was the Taoiseach's office, demanding to find out what she knew about an email that had surfaced in the Department of Justice, flagging up the aggressive legal strategy Garda management planned to deploy on Maurice McCabe at private hearings of a Commission of Investigation.

Frances Fitzgerald had only been reminded of the email herself days earlier.

In May 2015, when she was Minister for Justice, an email landed in her inbox at 17.04 one evening. By then, Sergeant Maurice McCabe's whistleblowing about Garda malpractice had helped topple the former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, who called him "disgusting", and Alan Shatter, the Minister for Justice, had been sucked into the vortex of Garda controversies. When she succeeded him, Frances Fitzgerald had placed herself firmly on the side of McCabe.

In a nutshell, the email was from a senior official in the Department of Justice to a second senior civil servant, purportedly putting the Minister on notice that the Garda Commissioner, then Noirin O'Sullivan, had authorised her legal team to raise an issue relating to a serious criminal complaint against McCabe at private hearings of the O'Higgins Commission. This was "presumably because it was potentially relevant to motivation", the email said. The information had come to the Attorney General's office and no action was required from the Minister. While publicly championing Maurice McCabe, Garda management were privately attempting to discredit him.

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The email should have raised red flags. Particularly as Frances Fitzgerald had publicly supported Maurice McCabe. But what she thought of this aggressive legal strategy behind the closed doors of the O'Higgins Commission remains unclear.

The veteran Fine Gael politician could not remember reading the email, she said last week.

But officials in the Department of Justice believed she had. "The email was passed to the Tanaiste who is recorded as having noted its contents. There was no oral discussion or briefing with her about it," a Department statement said yesterday. According to the Department of Justice, the term "noted" means that it was seen. However, her office would prevent her from interfering with Garda's legal strategy.

Time marched on. Scandals surrounding the treatment of Maurice McCabe escalated. The news about McCabe being the subject of an attempted take-down by Garda management at a Commission of Investigation eventually became public and was roundly condemned. Shocking revelations of false allegations against him precipitated a full-scale Tribunal of Inquiry.

Not a word surfaced about this email alerting the Department of Justice to the Garda's much commented-on legal strategy against McCabe. And there it lay, buried away somewhere in the Department.

Until last month, when the ambitious Labour deputy, Alan Kelly, started tabling awkward parliamentary questions about what the Department of Justice knew about McCabe. Kelly had become familiar with the dysfunction in the force as vice-chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, from Templemore, to Garda management at each others' throats, fake breath-tests and a Garda Commissioner who eventually stepped down, claiming the scrutiny was making it impossible to do her job.

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From this vantage point, Kelly had been sending in questions to know what the Department of Justice knew about Garda management's anti-McCabe strategy, and the special unit that had been set up within An Garda Siochana to deal with the Disclosures Tribunal.

On November 9, sparked by the latest batch of Kelly's parliamentary questions, the apparently long forgotten email was discovered by officials in the Department. The email clearly showed that the Department did know about the Garda's planned strategy. The Department's secretary general, Noel Waters, referred it for legal advice, according to a Department statement. The Minister, Charlie Flanagan, was not told at that stage even though Kelly's parliamentary questions were piling up. Flanagan was informed about the email on Monday, November 13, when Noel Waters rang him to let him know he was retiring.

According to a statement yesterday on behalf of Flanagan, Waters told him that "an email had been found in the Department that referred to the O'Higgins Commission and Sgt McCabe". When Flanagan replied that the document should be passed to Tribunal, Waters told him "a legal view was being sought but he anticipated that the email would be furnished to the Tribunal (which it subsequently was)". Beyond that, according to the Department, Flanagan was "unaware" of the "specific content" of the email.

However, Flanagan was aware of the rumours in political circles, fuelled by Kelly's questions, about what the Department of Justice knew about McCabe. Fianna Fail and the Labour Party threw their weight behind Kelly.

On November 14, the day after Flanagan was told about an email that "referred to the O'Higgins Commission and McCabe", Micheal Martin, the Fianna Fail leader, questioned the Taoiseach on this very subject at Leaders Questions in the Dail. Brendan Howlin, the Labour Party leader, followed suit.

Each time, Flanagan sat in the Dail chamber and listened to the Taoiseach deny that the Department of Justice had advance knowledge of the Garda's legal strategy against McCabe.

Varadkar had spoken to both Charlie Flanagan and Frances Fitzgerald and "the information I have, which I believe, is that the Tanaiste had no hand, act or part in determining the legal strategy of the former Commissioner and had no prior knowledge of the legal strategy pursued by the former Commissioner. I am also informed by the Department of Justice and Equality that it was told about the approach taken by the Commissioner's senior counsel after the cross-examination had already taken place. As the Department was informed after the fact, it was certainly not in a position to express any reservations about the legal strategy".

The only intervention Flanagan made was to assert in a bizarre point of order, on the coat-tails of the Taoiseach's statement, to "desist from engaging in a smear campaign against me both personally and professionally". Alan Kelly had not uttered a word. "Deputy Kelly has not said anything in my hearing," said the Ceann Comhairle.

On Thursday, November 16, although abroad, Frances Fitzgerald had been following these events. She rang the Department of Justice to check in. She later said that was the first she heard about the email. As she was abroad until after the weekend, she planned to tell the Taoiseach before the Cabinet meeting of last Tuesday morning.

That's where things stood on Monday night, until events took a different turn.

RTE reporter Katie Hannon had news of the email confirmed to her by the Department of Justice. The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, was at home in west Dublin when his officials broke the news that RTE was looking for a response to a Department of Justice statement that confirmed what the Taoiseach had been denying all week.

Varadkar didn't get a copy of the email until 11.30pm that night and calls to Fitzgerald and Flanagan produced no further enlightenment. Fitzgerald travelled back from her foreign trade mission to what has proved to be biggest crisis of her political career,and for the Government. Her flight landed at Tuesday morning at 5am. She got two hours' rest in her house before rushing to a pre-Cabinet crisis meeting with Flanagan and the Taoiseach.

The story was a game-changer for two reasons; it meant the Taoiseach had misinformed the Dail and confirmed the allegations he had been denying, that the Department of Justice had advance knowledge of the Garda legal strategy against Maurice McCabe, even though the then Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, she claims that she has no memory of reading it.

To compound the damage, key facts were wrong, such as Fitzgerald's dates. Maurice McCabe alerted the Taoiseach that the email itself was inaccurate. There was growing confusion over what the then silent Minister for Justice knew about the debacle. Varadkar backed Frances Fitzgerald and took aim at the Department of Justice for giving him misleading information - and not for the first time. She had done nothing wrong; the email required no action and she took none, and her role prohibited her from the interfering with An Garda Siochana's legal strategy anyhow.

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But there was too much confusion, too many unanswered questions. Sinn Fein's announcement that it would table a motion of no confidence in Fitzgerald was expected. Even still, few in Government circles saw this coming: "It didn't feel like a crisis on Tuesday or Wednesday night. Maybe we were complacent, but I don't think it could have been envisaged where this was going."

Whatever Sinn Fein did, Fianna Fail's plans were what counted. The party's Confidence and Supply arrangement that propped up the Government had been on shaky ground. Was it worth threatening to pull the house down over Fitzgerald's supposed incompetence?

Micheal Martin clearly had pause for thought. At 2.30pm on Wednesday, he picked up the phone to Leo Varadkar. He wanted to tell him quietly that he had no confidence in Fitzgerald, according to a source. What was Varadkar going to do about it? Varadkar promised to call him back. He never did. It was all everyone wanted to talk about at the Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting that night. But Martin shut down debate.

He needed time and space to think, he told people. The next afternoon, travelling back to Dublin from engagements in Cork, he instructed Jim O'Callaghan, the party's front bench spokesperson, to break the news of their own motion of no confidence on the Six One news. Martin then rang Varadkar to tell him he was "going public", said the source.

O'Callaghan's announcement - in the words of one TD - "pulled the pin out of the grenade".

The last three days have been a game of who blinks first. Leo Varadkar wants Micheal Martin to withdraw his motion. Martin is not budging unless Fitzgerald stands down. Both men talked on Friday with no success. Backroom people are talking, and if a subtle shift is detected on either side , both men will talk again. Varadkar stole the march, declaring on the Six One news last Friday that he will back Fitzgerald all the way, just as he backed McCabe when it was unpopular to do so, and calling on Martin to "calm down".

"A lot of people are surprised that Fianna Fail are taking such a bullish approach. Is this issue really worth a collapse of government?" asked one source close to government.

One backbench Fine Gael TD claimed Fianna Fail just wanted to "get their hands on the tiller"; "The economy is well on its way to recovery It's very easy to govern when you've balanced the books", he said.

Fianna Fail sees it differently. One senior Fianna Fail TD said: "We don't want to precipitate an election but there comes a point when you have to stand up and say what happened here is wrong. In a normal government, a minister would be gone when they show that level of incompetence."

If this breathless political drama subsides, troubling issues remain. The Garda strategy to question Maurice McCabe's motivation was abandoned when he produced a secret tape recording that disproved the Garda line. But questions remain about what the Department knew.

McCabe has made known his horror at the misinformation being peddled within the Department of Justice in the email. The Department of Justice must answer questions on its mishandling of the email, exposing the Taoiseach to accusation and suspicion for misinforming the Dail.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton, who chairs the Disclosures Tribunal, took the unusual move of issuing a statement last Friday to say he will be examining the issues around the Garda's legal strategy in the New Year.

Last Friday Social Protection minister Regina Doherty implored: "Nobody wants an election. Can we come back from the brink please? Of whatever this particular row is over and I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out what the charge is against Frances Fitzgerald."

According to one of her party colleagues, her sentiment seems to reflect the broader mood of an electorate preparing for Christmas.

This weekend, politicians left the histrionic cocoon of Leinster House to fan out in their constituencies across the country, to rally the troops for a general election. One veteran politician surveyed the snowy landscape. "How are we expected to canvass in that?" he asked.

"Letters have gone out to activists and we are call meetings next week. But how do we get election teams together between now and Christmas?

"No one wants it, that's for sure."
Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald is not the only politician who has struggled with their emails in recent times.

Two previous scandals involving emails and Fianna Fail ministers garnered very similar responses to those being used by the Tanaiste and Government to defend their actions - or more so inactions - last week.

One of the Tanaiste's predecessors in the Department of Justice, Dermot Ahern, was the first Cabinet member ever contacted by Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.

Sgt McCabe wrote to the then minister for justice in 2009 to alert him to some of the allegations of Garda misconduct he witnessed while working in the force.

Years later, at the height of the Garda scandals, Mr Ahern was forced to deny any knowledge of the damning information sent to his department.

"To the best of my knowledge, no official, either in the guards or in the department or in the confidential recipient's office, briefed me about any of these allegations," Mr Ahern said.

However, a senior government source yesterday insisted there were emails in the Department of Justice which show Sgt McCabe made contact long before his plight became public knowledge and threatened to cause a general election.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin also had a run-in with emails which landed him in hot water while he was the minister for health.

Back in 2005, it emerged elderly patients were being wrongly charged by the State for nursing home beds which should have been free.

It was estimated the controversy would cost the Government 2bn in compensation for people affected by the monumental blunder.

It then emerged Mr Martin and his officials had received a report which outlined the problem almost two years before it became public knowledge.

Mr Martin was severely criticised in the Dail by the Opposition over his failure to act on the report.

The Travers Report, which was carried out after the scandal emerged, was highly critical of the department and Mr Martin. It also revealed conflicting evidence from Mr Martin and senior civil servants involved in issue.

Michael Kelly, the then secretary general of the Department of Health, said he fully briefed Micheal Martin on the illegal charges on at least two occasions.

Kelly said one of those was an oral briefing outside a Management Advisory Committee meeting in December 2003. "I am quite clear that I did alert him to this and I don't have any doubt about that," Mr Kelly said. Mr Martin denied this was the case.

Mr Martin claimed he was emailed the briefing document but did not have time to read and said he left a Department of Health meeting early where it was discussed.

The then Tanaiste, Mary Harney, said there was a "serious conflict of evidence" between Mr Kelly's memory of events and Mr Martin's recollection.

In response to criticism from the Opposition, Mr Martin said "the culture of playing the man and not the ball and foundation-rocking is now so all-pervasive for the opposition that they have no interest in serious debate".
The grieving husband of a Limerick garda who passed away earlier this year has said that he misses his late wife "every day".

Garda Annette Ahern (37) from Murroe, Co Cork passed away suddenly on September 10 from an unknown illness.

Annette's husband Gary Ahern told Independent.ie that her death was a "massive shock".

"I was out of the country working when I got a call to say that Annette had died suddenly. I had just been speaking to her that morning. A friend of hers went over to the house to visit and Annette was unresponsive leaning on the counter top. We have no idea what happened to her."

Gary added that Annette wasn't suffering from any illnesses and that the family are eagerly awaiting her autopsy reports from the coroner.

"It's more difficult not knowing what happened to Annette. We need answers. We're trying to come to terms with what happened but we don't know what happened."

The grieving husband said that Annette was "loved more than she knew" and that hundreds of people turned up to her removal and funeral.

"The gardai have been a huge support for me and Annette's family. Annette was a treasured member of An Garda Siochanna and we all miss her terribly," he said.

Gary also praised the local community in Mitchelstown, where Annette was from and said that the whole town was shut down on the day of Annette's funeral.

"The whole town went into mourning and shops were closed. It showed how much Annette was loved," he said.

Gary and Annette married in 2016 and were looking forward to their new lives together.

"Annette was a girl I could bring to any party or celebration and everyone would love her. It was love at first sight.

"She had the biggest smile and the biggest heart."

Gary also described Annette as "headstrong" and recalled how she fought her way into An Garda Siochana.

"She was half an inch too short for the guards and she was devastated. Her father will tell you how stubborn she can be and he managed to convince her to apply again when restrictions were changed. Annette was amazing, she was the love of my life and I miss her every day," he said.
In an unconventional move, Anacondas county commission approved a major development permit for Premier Industries processing facility last week, after an initial motion to approve the measure died for lack of a second.

Since late June Premier, through its contractor FX Solutions, Inc. has been performing earthwork on a 93-acre parcel southwest of Montana Highway One on Mill Creek Highway, where its backers say they want to build a facility that will turn Anaconda slag into proppant  a material used to frack oil and natural gas. Proponents of the facility say the $50-million facility will bring 700 jobs to Anaconda when functioning at maximum capacity, though thats not expected to happen right away.

At issue at the commission's meeting Tuesday night was whether the commission should follow the recommendation of the countys planning board, who in earlier in November recommended approval of the permit contingent on several conditions, including that the company submit final plans and specifications for its facility to the county, get approval to use potable water and municipal sewer extensions and submit copies of necessary permits from environmental agencies.

Chas Ariss, planning director, said Wednesday the permit is required because of the size of the facility, which will reside in an industrial zone where large facilities are required to get major development permits.

When the major development permit came up for discussion Tuesday, no one spoke in favor of the project. Representatives for Premier were not present, and neither County Attorney Ben Krakowka or Anaconda Chief Executive Bill Everett were in attendance.

But there was an opponent in the room - John Fitzpatrick, a former Anaconda resident who has written op-eds in both The Montana Standard and Anacondas local newspaper, the Anaconda Leader, criticizing the viability of the project.

In his op-ed to The Standard, Fitzpatrick questioned a figure that Rick Tabish of FX Solutions gave during a public information session earlier this month, during which Tabish said the facility would yield between $200 and $225 million in tax revenue for Anaconda-Deer Lodge County. The figure was quoted both in The Standard and in The Leader, but Tabish told The Standard Wednesday that the figure he gave was the facilitys taxable income, and not the amount of property taxes the facility would generate. He said he thought this was understood by the consortium who attended the meeting.

On Tuesday, Fitzpatrick urged commissioners to hold off on approving Premiers major development permit.

Among other criticisms, Fitzpatrick said that if the company begins construction on its buildings in November in order to meet its goal of opening by the end of the first quarter in 2018, it would likely be in violation of the Montana Air Quality Act because the company would not have enough time to apply for an air-quality permit, which must be applied for 180 days before construction begins on a facility that produces emissions, Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick cited a Nov. 15 Leader article that discussed the planning boards recommendations, including the condition that the company provide a timeline for applying for an air-quality permit from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

He quoted Tabish, who told the Leader that if the facilitys footings and foundations arent installed soon, it would be difficult for the company to reach its goal of opening in the first quarter 2018 (around April or March that year.)

This suggests to me the Premier plans to obtain its major development permit and then hurry out to the project site and start pouring concrete, perhaps as early as next week," Fitzpatrick said Tuesday. If Premier wanted to be pouring concrete in November, they should have applied for the Air Quality Permit last May. A prudent man would have done so. Mr. Tabish did not.

But Ariss said Wednesday that Premier needs an air-quality permit only for the facilitys emission source, a point he brought up with commissioners Tuesday.

Early plans for Premiers facility call for four buildings: a main plant of 60,100 square feet, a warehouse, an office and maintenance shop. The company needs an air-quality permit to build the main plant, he said, but the 180-day requirement does not impact the other buildings.

Premier wants to move forward as much as they can, said Ariss, noting that the air-quality permit is important, but that it doesnt preclude moving forward with parts of the project that dont involve the main plant  the aforementioned emissions source.

Jeni Garcin, public information officer for DEQ, told The Montana Standard Friday that an air-quality permit for buildings that could potentially come later during a project arent necessary for construction, adding that she couldnt give any more detail than that without seeing the finer details of the project.

Nonetheless Fitzpatricks testimony seemed to have some impact on commissioners.

Were in the process of cleaning up stuff that we may be putting back in the air, said Commissioner Kevin Hart in reference to questions Fitzpatrick raised about how arsenic and leadboth of which the slag contains in small amountswill be captured and contained.

Afterward, Commissioner Paul Smith put forward the motion to approve the major development permit, but none of the other commissioners seconded the motion.

This is uncharted territory, said county commission chair Terry Vermeire, who moments later said the motion was dead for lack of a second.

Commissioners then began discussing the next agenda item, a resolution that would have set procedural guidelines in place for public hearings across county boards.The resolution was ultimately tabled.

Some time later, a recess was held, Commissioner Steve Gates told The Montana Standard. When commissioners came back, he said, they took up the major development permit issue again. A motion was again made to approve the major development permit, which Gates said he seconded. The major development permit ultimately passed 5-0, he said.

Tabish, meanwhile, say he plans to attend public meetings regarding Premier Industries from here on out.

He added that he is impressed with Fitzpatricks knowledge base but respectfully disagrees with his opinion.
A bad marriage in reverse: Leo, Mary Lou and Micheal are preparing their arsenal of insults for the next general election

Gerry Adams has finally announced that he will quit, probably to spend more time with his rubber ducks lolling about in his bath and tweeting cringeworthy inanities to his 150,000 followers.

Now that Adams is finally being decommissioned and will soon be put beyond use, the real political war will begin - and no prisoners will be taken.

We can now see the shape of the coming conflict, and the dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone are not part of this vista.

The Rathgar republican Mary Lou McDonald, heir presumptive of Sinn Fein, will slug it out with posh boy Leo Varadkar.

And we should not forget Micheal Martin, the leader portrayed as a choirboy who can deliver a punch from beneath his lilly-white surplice.

The results of this electoral scrap are unlikely to be pretty, with insults flying in all directions, but it will be a compelling spectacle, with no quarter given.

The coming election campaign - whatever its timings - will be like a bad marriage in reverse.

First there will be fights, acrimonious rows, outbreaks of ill feeling and accusations of bad faith on all sides.

But at the end of it all, two of these parties will have to form a loving partnership, or at least consummate a shotgun marriage.

We have already seen the opening skirmishes. Until now, as the leader of a party propping up the Government, Micheal Martin has had to be restrained.

But as the latest controversy over Sgt Maurice McCabe unfolded and the Taoiseach answered questions, the look on Martin's face in the Dail this week was one of thinly-veiled disdain and weary contempt.

Martin has already branded Varadkar as the standard bearer for an "out-of-touch elite". The Taoiseach will be cast as Ross O'Carroll-Kelly's oddball cousin with a penchant for novelty socks, and a narcissistic obsession with self-promotion on social media.

As Martin put it recently: "He has appointed no expert to advise on health, or housing, or Brexit or any other of the most urgent problems - but he has an entire team to shoot videos to sell his image."

Varadkar has to hold back in delivering his customary barbs while he seeks Martin's support, but behind the scenes his troops have already been given their battle plans.

The Blueshirt battalions have been instructed to portray Fianna Fail as a backwards-looking party "without substance", "stuck in the 1980s" and preparing to enter government with Sinn Fein.

On the hustings, Varadkar will highlight Martin's role in Fianna Fail's past calamities as the ditherer-in-chief. Leo recently fired off an opening salvo.

He said of Martin: "He became a TD during the Haughey era, he became a Minister during the Ahern era, and he became an expert during the Cowen era. And he's spent the last seven years learning to be the new kid on the block."

Ceiling of support

Just as the departure of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe changed the order of things, the departure of Adams and the expected coronation of Mary Lou - with the support of the Army Veterans - has created a new dynamic for the next election.

Nobody should be in any doubt that Adams has been an enormously successful politician.

But in the south, his shaky grasp of economics, his demeanour resembling a somewhat batty Christian Brother desperately trying to be groovy with his laboured cupla focail ("Ta me ar Snapchat"), and above all his murky past, put an impregnable ceiling on Sinn Fein's support.

That barrier may now have been removed, as a more palatable version of Sinn Fein is sold by Mary Lou and her less militaristic followers.

It was said of Gerry Adams' poor grasp of finance that he had to take his socks off to count to 20. In the Dail and on TV, Mary Lou has been a much more polished performer, capable of broadening her party's appeal with populist messages.

We were given a glimpse of her Rathgar republicanism some years ago when the Dublin Central TD took a leaf out of Mrs Thatcher's book, and was filmed for a TV3 documentary as she roamed around her local supermarket in Blanchardstown.

As she was discussing an article of faith of the Sinn Fein brand - a united Ireland - she broke off to say she was looking for Cheerios: "Cheerios and a united Ireland."

Mary Lou then went on to announce that she was also looking for prawns.

As the boys of the old brigade move back into the shadows, the boys and girls of Sinn Fein's prawn sandwich brigade are likely to have a more dominant position.

Both Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin have already set their sights on Mary Lou, and each has different reasons for going on the offensive.

It is in Leo's interests to elevate Sinn Fein as its principal opponent, because it marginalises its main opposition rival, Fianna Fail.

Varadkar's underlying message in the next election, and before it, will be: "Unless you vote for us, you get Sinn Fein in government."

He spelled out his position early during his campaign to be leader: "Sinn Fein remains the greatest threat to our democracy and our prosperity as a State. Part of my mission... is to take Sinn Fein on and expose them."

Varadkar has been true to his word, not only comparing Mary Lou to Marine Le Pen in her style of presentation, but accusing her party of "an innate contempt for democracy and free speech".

Mary Lou was initially rattled by the forcefulness of the Varadkar attacks. But she will give as good as she gets when the election debates start, and in their most recent exchanges, described the Taoiseach as "facile and dismissive".

When he claimed that her concern for young families was "bogus", she snapped back that she was raising two young children.

That remark was interpreted as a reference to his childlessness, although it may not have been intended that way.

When Varadkar used a question about possible sexual harassment in Leinster House to attack Sinn Fein's heckling, she accused him of "glib, snide, political point-scoring".

Enmity between a Fine Gael Taoiseach and a Sinn Fein leader is only to be expected.

The more bitter battle over the coming months will be between Mary Lou and Micheal Martin, who are likely to compete ferociously for votes.

Some years ago, before the IRA decommissioned, Sinn Fein was described by at least one commentator as "Fianna Fail with guns".

Now that the weapons have been buried, the organisations are closer in terms of their policies, as nationalist parties, with an agenda that pays homage to vague notions of fairness and social justice. That perhaps explains why the enmity between them has become so intense, and it is only likely to worsen as the election comes closer.

There are genuine fears in Fianna Fail that Sinn Fein under Mary Lou will steal its clothes as a slightly edgier nationalist party, capable of winning over younger voters with a veneer of radical chic and a Che Guevara T-shirt.

Eamon O Cuiv has warned in the past that Fianna Fail is in danger of becoming a southern version of the SDLP, the once dominant party among the nationalist population of the North that was pushed to the sidelines and has almost become an irrelevance.

As much as Leo Varadkar, Micheal Martin will play up Sinn Fein's shadowy connections, and his attacks on Mary Lou McDonald are likely to become more personal in the coming months.

In recent days, Martin has referred to Sinn Fein as a "cult, a party that enforces rigid control from the centre".

He has repeatedly referred to the influence of the IRA army council on the party's decision making.

'Republic of Opportunists'

In the next election, Mary Lou will not be slow in returning fire. At the recent Ard Fheis she referred to Fianna Fail as "paid-up members of Leo's Republic of Opportunists".

And she recently said of Martin: "There's more brass on the necks of the Fianna Fail leadership than we would expect in a marching band."

Mary Lou's biggest advantage is that Fianna Fail cannot be a fully-fledged opposition while it props up the Government with its votes.

Micheal Martin has one advantage over Mary Lou, and possibly over Leo. He can pull the plug on the Government at a time of his choosing, so long as Leo does not do it before him.

Martin may not be able to distance himself entirely from Fianna Fail's colourful past of planning tribunals and economic collapse.

But he is more battle-hardened as an experienced electoral campaigner than his two rivals, who are in some ways untested.

As the election battles start, the effect of Brexit on the economy and the political landscape will be one of the great imponderables.

It remains to be seen if the Taoiseach's outspoken criticisms of the British government help to secure a deal that suits Ireland's national interest. But Leo's unlikely attempts to wrap himself in the tricolour play well at home.

As at least one commentator on social media has pointed out, the casting of Leo Varadkar as some sort of firebrand Irish nationalist by more jingoistic elements in the British media is one of the most amusing aspects of the whole Brexit debacle.

@KimBielenberg
Researchers say flies may have been overlooked by public health officials as a source of disease outbreaks. Photo: GETTY

Flies in urban areas were found to carry more bacteria than the countryside. Photo: Getty

Most picnickers would brush away flies from food, thinking nothing of bugs briefly landing on their sandwiches.

But a new study suggests the insects carry far more dangerous bacteria than previously thought, meaning sandwiches are best avoided if they have been contaminated by flies.

Researchers at Penn State Eberly College of Science in the United States found that common houseflies carry salmonella, e-coli and even bacteria which lead to stomach ulcers and deadly sepsis.

The researchers say flies may have been overlooked by public health officials as a source of disease outbreaks.

Flies in urban areas were found to carry more bacteria than the countryside leading scientists to suggest avoiding city parks for a picnic, and eating food into more rural locations.

''People had some notion that there were pathogens that were carried by flies but had no idea of the extent to which this is true and the extent to which they are transferred, said Dr Donald Bryant, Professor of Biotechnology at Penn State University.

"We believe that this may show a mechanism for pathogen transmission that has been overlooked by public health officials.

"It will really make you think twice about eating that potato salad that's been sitting out at your next picnic.

"It might be better to have that picnic in the woods, far away from urban environments, not a central park."

DNA sequencing techniques were used to study the collection of microbes found in and on the bodies of the house fly (Musca domestica) and the blowfly (Chrysomya megacephala).

The house fly, which is ubiquitous around the world, was found to harbour 351 types of bacteria. The blowfly, which is found in warmer climates, carried 316. A large number of these bacteria were carried by both types of fly.

The team even investigated the microbes on individual fly body parts including legs and wings.

Flies probably pick up the bacteria from faeces and decaying organic matter which they use to nurture their young, the study indicated.

Scientists found 15 instances of the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori - which causes ulcers in the human gut - on Brazilian blowflies.

Dr Stephan Schuster, research director at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, found that the legs transferred most of the microbial organisms from one surface to another, suggesting even a brief step onto food by the bugs could leave behind bacteria.

"The legs and wings show the highest microbial diversity in the fly body, suggesting that bacteria use the flies as airborne shuttles," said Dr Schuster.

"It may be that bacteria survive their journey, growing and spreading on a new surface. In fact, the study shows that each step of hundreds that a fly has taken leaves behind a microbial colony track, if the new surface supports bacterial growth."

However, the researchers believe flies could have their uses - acting as early warning systems for disease or even living drones sent into tight spaces to search for microbes.

"In fact, the flies could be intentionally released as autonomous bionic drones into even the smallest spaces and crevices and, upon being recaptured, inform about any biotic material they have encountered," added Dr Schuster.

The research was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Earlier this month, the biannual Cais Irish Cheese Awards 2017 were announced at an event held at the Ballymaloe Grainstore in Co Cork. The awards celebrate the diverse range of Irish Farmhouse Cheeses produced across the country, and the list of winners is a handy reminder of some of our best cheeses and names to be looking out for in the shops.

The birth of Irish Farmhouse Cheese movement began in the late 1970s when a few enterprising dairy farmers commenced making farmhouse cheese. For at least 25 years before this, cheese-making in Ireland had been almost exclusively confined to large-scale factory production concentrating on cheddar production and mainly owned by the dairy cooperatives. Among the initial founding members were the Steele family who produce Milleens, the Willems family who produce Coolea, Jeffa Gill who produces Durrus, the Berridge family who produce Carrigbyrne, the Ferguson family who produce Gubbeen, the Brodie family who produce Boilie, the Maher family who produce Cooleeney and Bill Hogan and Sean Ferry who produce Gabriel and Desmond. At the outset, members agreed that in order to qualify as a farmhouse cheese, a cheese should be made by hand with milk from one source or a limited number of local sources, that production should be small and that only raw milk should be used. These days, raw milk cheeses form a separate category.

The 2017 Supreme Champion award went to Tom Burgess for his Mount Leinster Clothbound Coolattin Cheddar (pictured above), which was also named the Best Cow's Milk Cheese. The winner in the Goat's Cheese category was the St Tola Ash Log made by Inagh Farmhouse Cheese, while the best Other Milk Cheese went to Crozier Blue, a sheep's milk cheese produced by the Grubb family of Cashel Farmhouse cheese makers. Aldi's Specially Selected Tipperary Blue won the retail class. Other winners included Bluebell Falls Original, Ardsallagh's Cranberry Roulade, Gubbeen, Milleens, and Durrus Dote. The best new cheese was Ardsallagh's Corabbey-Romano. With so much choice, patriotic shoppers have no excuse for not buying Irish when it comes to cheese. For more information, visit irishcheese.ie.

Bites...

MUSTARD SEED CHRISTMAS

The Mustard Seed at Echo Lodge in Ballingarry, Co Limerick, is hosting special Christmas evenings on Thursdays in December with a classic four-course dinner to include bubbles and canapes for 60 pp, with a B&B rate of 55 B&B pps. (069) 68508 mustardseed.ie

MAYFIELD BYOW

Anyone looking to keep costs down for a Christmas get-together might consider Mayfield in Terenure, Dublin, now open for dinner five nights a week, where parties and large groups can enjoy free corkage with their dinner. The excellent Green Man Wines is close by. (01) 4926830 mayfield.ie
Once in blue moon, pop music conjures up a cosmic alignment of star quality, melody, lyric, arrangement and emotional heft, all chiming in perfect harmony. Thirty years ago, Christmas 1987 produced one of these magic moments in 'Fairytale of New York' by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl.

On first hearing, I deemed the raggle-taggle playing too clunky, and the ragged singing too hokey. I even wagered a work colleague a tenner that it wouldn't make Number 1. 'Fairytale' duly stalled at Number 2, held off by The Pet Shop Boys' camp, swooshy version of 'Always on My Mind'.

Pocketing my winnings back at work in January, it somehow felt like taking dirty money. It was already dawning that 'Fairytale' - itself written for a bet - was different, special, something closely fitting the description of music of the spheres. As Pogue James Fearnley noted: "It's like Fairytale went off and inhabited its own planet."

Some months later I'm ringing the doorbell of a London studio to meet Kirsty MacColl. I'm ushered inside by Steve, a fresh-faced youth I take to be the studio gofer. He says Kirsty is on her way and makes me a coffee. Bustling through the door she plants a big smacker on Steve's lips. Doh! The gofer is hubby Steve Lillywhite, producer of U2, The Rolling Stones, Talking Heads and The Smiths.

We go to dinner, scampi and chips all round, and Kirsty tells how 'Fairytale' has given her a new lease of life. Steve, who produced the classic, is content to tuck in, a model of quiet modesty.

Once a Top of the Pops regular, Kirsty's career derailed in the mid-80s after her record label went bust. Most acts would put together a tour to plug the gap until a new deal came along, but she'd been afflicted with crippling stage fright caught on her very first tour - a confidence-shattering jaunt around Ireland's ballrooms during her first flush of fame.

Mallow stage fright

"I was dreadful. I was so completely scared by the whole experience that I swore I would never again put myself or an audience through that again," she recalled.

"I just wasn't ready. I was under-rehearsed, I'd never fronted a band before and the first place we got to was Mallow where I found myself staring out at 1,800 people and I just panicked! The audience just looked bemused throughout. It was torture for everybody."

Her electrifying performance as Shane MacGowan's foil had restored her self-confidence and a touring comeback was now in sight for a woman who wasn't the first choice for 'Fairytale', nor even the second. Success has many parents, and 'Fairytale' has several creation stories, but the most widely accepted is that Shane and co-writer Jem Finer accepted a bet from producer Elvis Costello that they couldn't write a non-slushy Christmas duet for Shane and Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan. Cait was Elvis's squeeze at the time.

The wager was made in 1985, along with a rough demo. There followed two frustrating years of chopping and changing, the jigsaw pieces refusing to fit. "I don't think the band was capable of playing it as it needed to be played at that point," Finer reflected. "Shane and I batted arrangements around for ages and we'd periodically try to record it."

MacGowan added: "Every night I used to have another bash at nailing the lyrics, but I knew they weren't right. It is by far the most complicated song I have ever been involved in writing and performing. The beauty of it is that it sounds really simple."

Video of the Day

Brat-pack video

The following year, 1986, The Pogues arrived in New York for their debut US tour. After their first show, Hollywood's hottest new brat-packer Matt Dillon kissed Shane's hand backstage and gushed: "I dig your shit man, I love your shit!" A year later Dillon would play a New York cop in the video shoot for 'Fairytale'.

Back home, Cait announced she was quitting the band for a life of wedded bliss with Costello. Steve Lillywhite was drafted in to produce, and he elegantly solved the two-year-old problem of how to join the detached sections of Shane and Jem; record them separately and he'd knit them in the edit.

Shane had Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders in mind for his bawdy lover, but they'd need a guide vocal while they built the track.

Steve suggested Kirsty. She was well known, well liked, and she was in a good place right then, having come up with the running order for the gazillion-selling Joshua Tree when U2 couldn't make up their minds.

Lillywhite recorded Kirsty's guide vocal over a weekend in his home studio. "I spent a whole day on Kirsty's vocals," he recalled. "I made sure every single word had exactly the right nuance. I remember taking it in on Monday morning and playing it to the band and they were just dumbfounded."

Her vocal was so good that Shane felt shamed into rerecording his own. Chrissie Hynde was out. "I was madly in love with Kirsty from the first time I saw her on Top of the Pops," Shane said. "She was a genius in her own right and she was a better producer than Steve! She could make a song her own and she made 'Fairytale' her own."

The title came last. Elvis had suggested 'Christmas Day in the Drink Tank'. Shane nixed it on the grounds it didn't sound like a hit. Finer was reading JP Donleavy's 1973 novel A Fairy Tale of New York, so they lifted that as a warmer, festive choice.

The song tells of "the boys of the NYPD choir still singing Galway Bay". Lacking a choir, the NYPD were happy to lend their pipe band for the video. They didn't know Galway Bay so they played 'The Mickey Mouse Club March' instead. With a sprinkle of studio magic, the end product was a memorable video worthy of an enchanting song.

Years later, with political correctness going madder by the day, the BBC blanked the words "faggot" and "slut" from airplays, before a public backlash forced a speedy U-turn.

The beauty of 'Fairytale', the thing that sets it apart from all those smooth and cheery Christmas classics, is its poignant portrayal of flawed humanity in all its earthiness, its rawness and ultimately in all its loving tenderness.

The closing verse is magnificent poetry in motion.

Him: I could have been someone.

Her: Well so could anyone/You took my dreams from me/

When I first found you.

Him: I kept them with me babe/I put them with my own/

Can't make it all alone/I've built my dreams around you.

Timeless is what they were going for from the start. It took them two years, but timeless is what they got.

Christmas classics that never made No1

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

John Lennon & Yoko Ono (1972)

The ex-Beatle borrowed the trad ballad Skewball for this protest against the Vietnam war. It was denied the top spot first by Little Jimmy Osmonds Long Haired Lover From Liverpool, and, following his murder in 1980, by St Winifreds School Choir with Theres No One Quite Like Grandma.

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

Wizzard (1973)

Masterminded by Move and ELO founder Roy Wood, this sax-driven classic has charted 13 times since its original release, including the last 10 years unbroken. In its first bid for the Christmas No1 slot, it lost out to Slades Merry Christmas Everybody.

I Believe In Father Christmas

Greg Lake (1975)

A departure from the comical bombast of his day job with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, this gentle ditty has become a standard. Lake called it a protest against the commercialisation of Christmas, then griped when it was far outsold by Queens Bohemian Rhapsody.

Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy

David Bowie & Bing Crosby (1982)

Bings White Christmas is the biggest selling song of all time, while this standard is amongst Bowies bestsellers. Recorded in 1977, it was kept at No3 in 1982 by Renee and Renato and Ultravox. Bing died four weeks after recording it.

Last Christmas

Wham! (1984)

This was destined for the Christmas No1 slot from the moment George Michael pulled the naive melody out of fresh air. It was kept down by Band Aids Do They Know its Christmas?, on which he starred. He died on Christmas Day last year, and its the bookies favourite to take its rightful place this year.
Phew! I've begun sifting through the thousands of votes submitted so far in this year's Weekend and Independent.ie Reader Travel Awards.

The voting process closes at midnight tonight (Sunday, November 26), and we judges are going to have some real headaches on our hands.

Vote now in our Reader Travel Awards 2018 here.

That's a good thing. As we know, industry awards are ten-a-penny in Ireland, but ours are driven by the real travel experts - i.e. you.

Last year, we were amazed at the depth of detail and insight you provided in your nominations, but this year blows that out of the water.

We've had nominations ranging from guesthouses on Inis Oirr to the Great Barrier Reef, from hidden lagoons in Lanzarote to "the Ryanair air hostess who suggested I marry a pilot".

One trend I'm noticing is your emphasis on customer service.

Ireland's visitor numbers have been skyrocketing, but readers clearly have a radar for quality over quantity - be it the chef who invited his guests to go foraging with him, the airline that swooped to the rescue after a family bereavement or the spa receptionist who went out of her way to accommodate a pregnant guest.

Read More

Great customer service is not a guarantee in Ireland, but the cead mile failte is no fantasy. When it clicks, Irish hospitality gives you goosebumps.

It's not just about home holidays, of course. You've been busy nominating your favourite airlines, cruise lines, travel agents, tour operators and a wild array of overseas destinations. "World a big place," as one reader noted simply. We should put that on a T-shirt.

Voting remains open until midnight tomorrow and, don't forget, everyone who completes the online form goes into a bumper draw for seven bucket- list travel prizes (see below).

After that, the busy work of judging begins.

I can't wait.

The prizes

Expand Close Alfama, Lisbon. PA Photo/thinkstockphotos. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Alfama, Lisbon. PA Photo/thinkstockphotos.

 A luxury stay in Lisbon

A three-night city break for two adults and two children, staying at Martinhal Chiado, the world's first city-centre elegant family hotel.

 Escape to iceland!

A trip for two to Iceland with WOW Air including return flights and a two-night stay at the Radisson Blu Saga Hotel in Reykjavik.

 So Hotels special

A two-night stay with B&B and dinner on one evening for two people sharing in any of the luxurious So Hotels. Choose from Castletroy Park Hotel, Limerick; Lough Rea Hotel & Spa, Co Galway; Charleville Park Hotel, Co Cork, or the Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise.

 3 nights of CLIFF luxury: Coastal, City and Country

Enjoy dinner and an overnight stay in each luxury Cliff location: Cliff House Hotel, Ardmore, Co Waterford; Cliff at Lyons, Co Kildare, and Cliff Townhouse, Dublin 2.

 Perfection in Prague

A two-night B&B stay in Prague with return flights, thanks to Jurys Inn.

 A 5-Star City Break

A luxury city break for two with clickandgo.com to Rome or Lisbon, with flights included, for travel in January or February 2018.

 Blue Book Brilliance

A two-night stay, with one dinner, for two people sharing at the Wineport Lodge, Athlone, Co Westmeath, thanks to Ireland's Blue Book.

Cast your vote here for your chance to WIN these exclusive prizes*

*Terms & Conditions apply
Premium

Ian O'Doherty Opinion For once, the UN is right  were standing on the edge of a deadly nuclear precipice

For those of us of a certain age, the last few months have felt as if we have somehow time-warped back to the 1980s. Stranger Things, which is set in that decade, has been the biggest show on TV. Kate Bush  thanks, incidentally, to Stranger Things  is now regularly played on the radio and she has reached number one in 2022 with the re-release of her 1985 hit, Running Up That Hill.
Apparently crime doesn't pay. But for the first Irish convicts who arrived in New South Wales, Australia, on this day back in 1791, at least punishment brought the consolation prize of warmer climes.

No wonder it's pleasure and not penance that has Paddies actually paying to go Down Under these days. Some never return, especially since social media makes it possible to stay virtually in touch with loved ones on the old sod.

But plenty more view an adventure in Australia as a rite of passage rather than a permanent destination, combining work experience with decent pay and all the exotic extras that come with long distance travel. While the savvy try to time their trip so they can steal themselves a second summer.

Like Katie, the petite powerhouse who works in the convenience store on the main street of this country town.

She is only in her early twenties but has common sense in spades and her head firmly on her shoulders. Katie always has a kind word for everyone who enters this treasure trove of trivia, no matter whether she's busy stocking shelves, buttering breakfast rolls or serving ice-cream sundaes to kids who seem to think we're enjoying Australia's current temperatures.

But right now, Katie is "all over the place, trying to get sorted" before she heads to Australia for a month's break. A major part of her preparation is not what she's packing but leaving behind: PJ and his Mrs Mutt, Phoebe; along with their three daughters, Maxi, Rose and Phoenix, who Katie also adopted when it became clear that nobody else was going to offer them a home.

And forget Mary with her lonesome lamb, for Katie also has two fleecy friends, Sean and Shirley, along with a cat called Thomas and 13-year-old Toby, the geriatric goldfish.

At least her boss, Catherine, understands the fussing for the voyage, for some of her children have been living in Australia for years.

But it's not just young guns that can hack the considerable hike involved in getting there - as Catherine discovered some years ago when her then 80-year-old mother asked if she would accompany her on a visit to see her two sisters, who were both nuns.

Catherine agreed, thinking she was joking. But the next day her mother started looking into flights and visas. Till next thing Catherine knew, they were fastening their seat belts and on their way to the other side of the world.

The aunts promised to spoil them and offered free accommodation. No wonder Catherine had fantasies of hanging out in hammocks and eating Bounty bars for breakfast.

Which was a far cry from the convent dormitory that awaited her, single beds separated from each other by what looked like hospital curtains.

Leaving Catherine feeling like she was doing time, instead of having a good one.

And guilty of being very glad to escape back home.
Airbnb challenger Altovita could launch in London within the next 12 months after getting a stamp of approval for its vetted-rental model in Eastern Europe.

The short-term holiday rental site launched in July but has grown to around 200 listings across Prague, Budapest, Vienna and Warsaw, having set itself apart by only listing properties that have been personally vetted and given quality ratings by its staff.

Co-founder Alison Ip said there are another 100 or so listings in the pipeline, and with Marbella and Lisbon in the works she hopes that number will climb to 500 by the first quarter of 2018.

We are growing quickly but I think we caution to say that we dont want to grow so quickly as to compromise our policy  so I think its more of a measured expansion.

But in a move that will mark Altovitas first foray into western Europe, Ms Ip says London  where the company has its headquarters  is in our expansion plans.

Well consider coming to London as a city, potentially in the next six to 12 months.

It will bring another rival in the short-term rental industry, which has been largely dominated by the likes of Airbnb, but Ms Ip  a former UBS investment bank director  says Altovita is trying to make up for a lack of quality assurance.

The sharing economy is becoming increasingly popular and yet there is no standard of quality for this sector  unlike in the hotel sector, which is very well defined in a five-star rating system that applies across the world and has done so for decades, she said.

Some of the poorer properties have fallen through the cracks and effectively frustrated a lot of the customers who effectively loved this model.

Altovitas staff personally interview prospective hosts and inspect properties against a standardised checklist.

Hosts are then given an Alto rating of 1-3, reflecting quality of amenities, location and host, with extra points given for thoughtful interior design and extra services such as breakfast delivery.

While short-term rental sites are also plagued by horror stories of misbehaving guests who have held raging parties or left homes in disrepair, Ms Ip said the company cannot screen everybody but targets marketing on families, couples and friend groups.

If its becoming clear that its a party of 10 boys who are going to Prague for a stag-do then we have to caution the hosts whether they wish to accept that kind of dynamic.

Altovita is also keeping an eye on regulatory crackdowns and local backlash over the impact that short-term rentals have had on home prices and housing crunches in major cities such as London, Paris, Vancouver and New York.

The chief executive explained that Altovita is sensitive to its impact on local markets, but did not say whether it could derail expansion to the likes of Paris or London.

All I can say is that will be a factor in our decision-making.

Sights are now set on an initial funding round in the next 12 months, though a target amount has yet to be decided.

Anyone who can bring us local contacts or industry know-how will be at the top of our lists, Ms Ip said.
When county officials made major moves to fix Buttes antiquated and ailing parking department in 2014, they hoped to reverse years of operating deficits, too.

They hired a new director with backgrounds in business and management and gave her a year to turn things around.

At that persons urging, commissioners spent more than $40,000 on new computer programs and hand-held devices to issue and track tickets and get more people to pay their fines.

The board that oversees parking increased fines for 18 violations, including the common offense of parking too long in those free two-hour zones Uptown.

New protocols were put in place, including guidelines about waiving tickets. For years, a board member said in late 2013, making a ticket disappear was seemingly a case of just talking to this person or that.

All those changes were made in 2014, and three full years later, some things have improved. Officials say the computerized ticketing system works great, for example, and collection rates on fines have shot up.

But the department, a group of three when fully staffed, is still very much in the red.

Its deficit  how much department payroll and other expenses exceed revenues from fines, parking permits and other sources  has topped $37,000 in each of the past three fiscal years. It hit $52,240 two years ago.

A sizable deficit is expected in the budget year that began July 1, so to cover it, officials penciled in a $25,000 transfer from the Uptown taxing district and $15,000 from the general fund  the countys primary checking account.

To be fair, there were no guarantees the big changes in 2014 would make the department  also called the parking commission - self-sustaining.

Rob Dwyer, who has been on the parking board a dozen years under three separate chief executives, had his doubts then and isnt surprised about the lingering shortfalls now.

For some reason the parking commission has always been viewed as a self-sustaining entity, but its sort of a false premise, said Dwyer, who has chaired the five-member board the past six years.

Over the course of the years, almost every reasonable source of steady revenue has been removed, the most significant being the meters because back then, you paid from the first minute you parked, he said.

Still, there were high hopes among county officials and commissioners that all the changes would make a big difference to the bottom line. They simply havent.

So what should be done?

Chief Executive Dave Palmer, Budget Director Danette Gleason and Community Development Director Karen Byrnes have been looking at several options of late. One is to simply accept it as a service requiring taxpayer funding, but there are other options on the table.

We dont think there is going to be one way to solve it, Gleason said. It is going to be a combination of things.

They do agree on one thing: The status quo isnt cutting it.

HOW WE GOT HERE

The shortfalls go back to at least 2000, when the department was about $10,500 in the hole, according to figures from the Finance and Budget Department.

There have been surpluses three times since then but they were short-lived and at least one  in 2008/2009  occurred only because of a big infusion of tax dollars.

The department for years has relied on implicit loans from other funding streams and accounts to keep going. But the collective deficit over the past 17 years is $466,185.

There are plenty of reasons behind that, officials say.

Dwyer points first to parking commissions longstanding, primary mission  encouraging commerce in Uptown Butte and its commercial district.

The vast majority of patrolling and ticketing is done Uptown -- not to make money but to keep vehicles moving along so there are spaces for parking and visiting stores, restaurants and other businesses.

Without rules or enforcement, officials say, people would park wherever they wanted for as long they wanted. All day in some cases, days at a time in others, shops and businesses be damned.

In the early 1980s, when the economy took a blow from sagging mine operations, the county stopped using most parking meters. That erased a giant slice of revenues.

Meters are a big deal in many cities and they used to be here, as well.

According to a county analysis, Missoula gets 48 percent of its $1.8 million parking enforcement budget today from meters. Helena gets 45 percent of its $1.6 million budget from meters.

Butte-Silver Bows last parking budget was $146,875, but the few meters left accounted for less than 1 percent of revenues. It got 33 percent of its self-generated money from fines and 46 percent from lot permits and leases. Actual expenses were $185,645, leaving a deficit of nearly $40,000.

Missoula and Helena get a lot of money from permits, too, but only 11 percent of Missoulas money comes from fines and Helena gets only 5 percent from tickets.

Remember, Dwyer says, the departments primary mission is to promote commerce by keeping Uptown traffic flowing.

The way it is currently established, ideally, we would never make a dime because everybody would be following the rules. There would be no parking violations.

Byrnes put it like this:

If we are fully staffed and out there enforcing and doing our job, we are going to work our way out of a job because people will be more educated and they are going to follow the law, she said.

The parking board raised fines  stagnant for years and a bargain in Montana - for almost all violations in 2014. The fine for overtime parking in a two-our zone went from $5 to $10.

But even three years ago, Dwyer and others were cautious about raising fines too high because that might anger people and discourage visits Uptown  which goes against the very thing they want to encourage.

In 2014  the same year technology upgrades were made and fines were raised  a special taxing district that charged Uptown residents and businesses a fee for parking enforcement expired and was not renewed. In one swoop, more than $15,000 in revenue went away.

Officials cite other reasons for the deficits, including:

- The two-hour free zones. Great for motorists but they bring in nothing.

- Services that cost time and money but produce little or no revenue. There are several of those, but one of the biggest is patrolling neighborhoods around Montana Tech.

In many cities, residents next to college campuses pay fees for parking enforcement. They get tags to show their vehicles belong there, so students and others without them are ticketed and, in theory, are discouraged from clogging up neighborhood streets.

Residents near Tech get tags, too, but pay nothing for them even though county parking officers patrol the areas, sometimes two or three times a day. And those officers are fighting an uphill battle.

Thats because the county fine for parking illegally in those neighborhoods is $10. Tech charges $40 for similar violations on its campus.

These students arent dumb, Palmer said. They park illegally off campus and get a $10 ticket versus a $40 ticket on campus.

- Loss of lot-permit revenue. County officials are still thrilled with NorthWestern Energys decision to build a new Montana headquarters building Uptown. But its right where a 38-space lot used to bring in parking revenue.

- Frequent staff turnover. Byrnes now oversees the department, which has three enforcement officers. One  Butch Harrington  does some patrolling but also handles administrative duties. Two others do most of the patrolling.

Its an entry-level job but it has always been viewed as a great stepping stone to other county positions that pay more. Several have left the department in recent years for just those positions.

Our budget is almost fully tied to enforcement, Byrnes said, so officer vacancies mean fewer tickets. Even when they are filled, it takes time to train the new person.

WHAT TO DO

The steps taken in 2014 are still viewed as very positive moves, including the hiring of Stephanie Marshall  the one with a business and managerial background  as parking director.

She inherited a department that had unreliable software, corrupt data and still issued hand-written tickets that were hard to track, among other problems.

Marshall left after 11 months to take a state job. But in her brief tenure, the department installed a new computer system that spits out tickets on the spot through hand-held electronic devices, tracks violations and links with a state database so its easier and faster to find vehicle owners who have been fined. Collection rates have gone from 37 percent in 2014 to 69 percent now.

The system continues to work well and the staff is great, Byrnes said, but even with all the changes, the current model will not get the department into the black.

Without more changes, she said, We cannot collect enough revenue to cover costs."

The goal now, she and Palmer and Gleason say, is to close the gap between revenues and expenses as much as possible.

We have to look at the long run and see if they can come out of the hole or the council has to decide whether its a service (that taxpayers fund), Palmer said.

Some thought had been given to charging everyone in Butte-Silver Bow a fee to fund enforcement, since the department responds to complaints on the Flat, too, especially about trailers parked for days and weeks at a time.

But if fees are sought again, officials say they should probably be limited to Uptown and Tech neighborhoods since that is where most of the patrolling and enforcement takes place.

Palmer said county and Tech officials have been talking about ways to address the dilemma of campus neighborhoods. When the idea about charging for residential tags was pursued a few years ago, Tech officials objected because they didnt want recent growth of the campus to adversely affect residents.

There is consensus on one thing: No major changes should be made until the new parking garage on Park Street is completed and opened, most likely in January.

The first month of parking in the garage will be free in hopes of getting people to try it out. Many of the spaces will then be leased on a monthly basis, mainly to NorthWestern Energy employees, and others will be charged hourly.

The plan is to have free parking from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays and free all weekends, too, but it will take time to determine how the garage and its 250 spaces affects Uptown parking as a whole.

Construction of the $7.4 million parking garage was funded through bonds backed by revenues from the Uptown tax-increment district. Money it makes is to go toward its maintenance and operations.

But if major changes to parking elsewhere are made now, Byrnes said, some people will perceive them as ways to pay for the big, new parking garage, even though its already paid for.

So the consensus for now is to keep the dialogue for changes alive but delay any actions until the garage has been operating for a while.

Lets get that going, lets see how that rolls and lets not throw a bunch of changes at the community now, Byrnes said.

And whatever is done, Gleason says, the changes should be tailored to Butte.

"We don't want people to come into the community and have to pay for parking what they are paying in Seattle," she said. "There is a balancing that needs to take place."
Sadiq Khan made a pretty important announcement on Sunday afternoon: he is now the proud owner of a puppy.

The little puppy, named Luna, was unveiled to the world in a Twitter post by her new owner, along with a picture showing Londons mayor cuddling his new pet.

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Most Twitter users were besotted with the golden pooch

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 but others wanted to know if Khan had adopted a shelter puppy or bought from a breeder. As yet Khan has not revealed where Luna came from.

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Regardless of the naysayers, the tweet was one of his biggest in recent weeks, garnering over 300 retweets in the hour after it was posted.
Israel's health minister, who heads a powerful ultra-Orthodox political party in Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, has resigned, saying he opposed continued maintenance work on the country's railways on the Sabbath.

All labour is strictly prohibited by Jewish law on the Sabbath.

Ultra-Orthodox parties have provided Mr Netanyahu with support to stabilise his coalition, while the government carves out large budgets for the minority community.

They have traditionally acted as kingmakers in Israel's fractious coalition building and have in the past threatened to topple coalition governments by robbing them of their majority.

The issue of desecration of the Sabbath has triggered crisis in the past and highlights the cultural chasm between Israel's ultra-Orthodox population and its secular majority.

Much of Israel, including public transport, comes to a halt at sundown Friday for the Sabbath, but few Israelis strictly observe the day of rest.

Many restaurants, cinemas, sporting events and national parks operate, and in secular bastions such as Tel Aviv even some corner stores and shopping centres are open.

Yaakov Litzman's resignation on Sunday did not immediately threaten Mr Netanyahu's coalition, but it risked setting off a chain reaction that might.

Later Sunday however, any crisis appeared to have been averted when Mr Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox coalition partners agreed to maintain the Sabbath status quo.

Mr Litzman said the work conducted publicly on the railway prompted him to resign.

He said "as a minister in Israel, I can't maintain the ministerial responsibility" of government-sanctioned Sabbath "desecration" that contradicts the "holy values of the Jewish people".

While Mr Litzman said the weekend maintenance work on the railway was not warranted, Israel's railways authority says it must carry out work on Saturday so it does not disrupt transportation for thousands of Israelis during the work week.

Railway and some other public works have occurred for years on the Sabbath.

Mr Litzman's resignation could have exerted pressure on the other two ultra-Orthodox coalition partners to squeeze out concessions from Mr Netanyahu to prove to their constituents that they respect the Sabbath as much as the resigning health minister.

Mr Netanyahu may be hesitant to offer anything perceived as being too generous for fear of alienating secular voters at a time when opposition party Yesh Atid, led by charismatic former journalist Yair Lapid, has been gaining traction in polls.

Mr Netanyahu said later at a government meeting that he regrets Mr Litzman's decision, describing him as "an excellent health minister who did much for the health of Israel's citizens".

He said his coalition would not dissolve over the issue.

Mr Netanyahu stressed that the Sabbath is important to all Israelis, as is the need for "safe and continuous" transport, and added that he was convinced a solution can be found.

AP
Fifty years on, and the Summer of Love still endures. Love-ins, beads and tie-dye, LSD, peace signs, CND symbols: the social and cultural totems of the hippie movement remain as iconic as ever, even if these days they're often layered with a patina of irony.

On the obverse, of course, the dark side of the 1960s endures too. Charles Manson, who died last Sunday, was the starkest personification of how the dream turned sour, his cult's seven murders in 1969 among the most shocking crimes of the 20th century.

In a coincidence that seems like something from a movie - you'd imagine fame-obsessed Manson would appreciate it - a memoir about life inside the Family, by a woman who survived the madness, was published just weeks before his death.

Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties is the story of Dianne Lake, who lived with the Family from the (astonishingly young) age of 14 to 16.

By 17 she was testifying against Manson and other murderers, piecing herself back together and beginning the path to normality and happiness.

Her book is divided into three parts, their titles echoing the clarion cry of LSD guru Timothy Leary: "Turn on, tune in, drop out." She says at one point, "Most of (my time with Manson) was as complex and bizarre as the legends have it" - but even before she met the wannabe messiah, Dianne's life was peculiar, to say the least.

Her Minnesota parents were singularly lacking in certain parenting skills. In her early teens, the family upped sticks, for no particularly good reason, trading their large home for a trailer. After a series of tragi-comic misadventures, they finally reached the Promised Land of California. Dianne was, by temperament, quite conservative. Her folks, though, allowed - even encouraged - her to smoke pot and sleep around from a very tender age. They let a bunch of cultists called The Oracle move into their home.

The damage caused by the neglect was considerable. A few years before, Dianne had been molested by her grandfather. She was a prime target for someone like Manson, and in 1967, Dianne was drawn into his spiderweb. The Family comprised a few guys but mostly girls: young, pretty, pliable. Life was centred around drug-taking, orgies and Manson's risible philosophical spiels; one particularly self-aggrandising favourite compared him, "Man's Son", to none other than Jesus.

Manson treated the girls like sex slaves, essentially, despite all his "love is beautiful and I love you all" cant. There was some physical and sexual violence, but especially, psychological manipulation: "The idea we were each his favourite (girl)," Dianne writes, "was the lie that kept the group together."

They periodically moved, like a bizarre travelling clan, from one abandoned property to the next. One extended stay was at Spahn Ranch - an ex-movie set, replete with Wild West saloon - where life consisted of "chores, acid, talk-tos (these were rambling, condescending lectures from Manson), dumpster runs (for food), horses, sex, and most of all, Charlie". Famous people drifted into their midst: the counterculture legend Wavy Gravy (member of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters), music mogul Terry Melcher (Doris Day's son), and Dennis Wilson and his family, AKA The Beach Boys. For a while some of the Family moved into Wilson's house.

By 1969, good vibes had been replaced by bad men and bad doings. Bikers appeared on the scene, and with them guns. Manson shot, but didn't kill, a drug dealer; the man later testified against him.

Manson tried to worm his way into the Fountain of the World cult's compound, failed, moved on again. Eventually they fetched up at Barker Ranch, an isolated spot where Manson could plot "helter skelter" - his name for an inevitable race war.

He had become obsessed with the Beatles' White Album: apparently it predicted the violent rise of black America and whites' demise. Manson began inciting his people to steal from "pigs" on night-time "creepy-crawly missions".

The notorious killing spree that claimed the lives of Sharon Tate and others, was intended to be blamed on the Black Panthers and thus kick off this race war. Manson and acolytes would live underground for a while (inspired, believe it or not, by Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth) before rising to claim dominion.

Dianne wasn't involved and was shortly thereafter rescued from this living hell by the authorities.

Possibly the saddest moment in the book is when she admits to police that she's just 16; the reader has nearly forgotten that the person being whipped around in a whirlwind of sex, drugs, violence and madness is only a kid. She spent several months recuperating in Patton State psychiatric hospital. Investigating cop Jack Gardiner and his wife fostered her.

In 1970, she helped put Manson and others away (Charlie got nine life sentences). Her story is draining, shocking and beyond surreal, though thankfully it had a long and happy ending.

Perhaps surprisingly - or perhaps not - Manson's cult seems pretty much the same as every other cult. In terms of freaky-deaky gurus, Charlie was a cliche. He was a bore; even, dare we say it, a square conformist.

Among his final words was this typically grandiose statement: "I'm the most famous human being that has ever lived." Nah - as Brad Pitt's character spits at Kevin Spacey's serial-killer in Se7en, "You're no messiah. You're a movie of the week. You're a f***ing T-shirt, at best."

Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties by Dianne Lake is out now from HarperElement
YoYo Jobs

The five-day event will showcase Innovation and Implementation of Best Practices in Energy Efficiency Technologies, Policies and Financing.



Ashok Jain I.A.S, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan will inaugurate the event and the key note address will be provided by Akhil Arora I.A.S., Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Information Technology and Communication Department, Government of Rajasthan.



More than a hundred international delegates representing countries such as the United States of America, Singapore, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Korea, Turkey, Nepal, Thailand, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, and United Kingdom will attend the symposium.



Several global organizations like the Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, International Finance Corporation, The World Bank, International Energy Agency, International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation, Clean Energy Ministerial, Copenhagen Center on Energy Efficiency, GIZ, will share their perspectives at INSPIRE.

In addition to many private sector organizations from India and around the world several international think tanks, NGOs and research organizations will also be there such as the Alliance to Save Energy, American Council for An Energy Efficient Economy, World Resources Institute, National Resources and Development Council, Carbon Trust, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, et al.



Aimed at mutual exchange of the best practices and success stories in the global energy landscape, the symposium will focus on the opportunities in Indias energy efficiency sector. Deliberations at the event will revolve around policy solutions, programme implementation models, and delivery mechanisms that triggered large-scale market transformation around the world. Through this platform, India will also present its success stories such as EESLs Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme, Bureau of Energy Efficiencys Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) platform and Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC).



Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, Energy Efficiency Services Limited said, Indias journey towards radically transforming its energy efficiency scenario has already begun. International symposiums like INSPIRE 2017 assume significance in such a scenario considering innovation is the key theme. I am confident that all participating countries will benefit from this event through mutual learning and exchange of ideas.



The event will include sessions on global innovation in financial instruments, and energy efficient technologies. It is estimated that together these technologies will not only scale up energy access but also create 10 million green jobs.
New Delhi, Nov 26 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will address the nation through his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat at 11 am.

According to reports, this address will mark the beginning of Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign ahead of the Gujarat polls.

As many as 199 party leaders in Gujarat are reportedly set to listen to PM Modi's address while having tea with people across the poll-bound state.

The address will cover 50,128 polling booths in 182 Assembly seats of Gujarat, said reports.

Welcoming the moves, PM Modi tweeted:
New Delhi/ Mumbai, Nov 26 (IBNS): Amid pain and agony, India remembers the deadly 26/11 Mumbai attacks on its 9th anniversary on Sunday, even as the country awaits justice for the brave martyrs.

To mark the day, the Mumbai Police organised a Salutation Ceremony to pay homage to the people killed on Nov 26, 2008 at the Shahid Smarak, Police Gymkhana at Marine Lines.

Remembering the deadly attack in 2008, President Ram Nath Kovind stated: "On the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, we mourn with the families that lost their dear ones. And we recall with gratitude the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil."

Taking a firm resolve to fight against terrorism, Kovind said: "On this day, we renew our resolve to take on, defeat and eliminate terrorism in all forms  and to make our people, our country and our world safer."

On Saturday, the Embassy of Israel in India expressed its deep condolences and solidarity with the people of India on the anniversary of the 'harrowing terror attack of 26/11 Mumbai attacks.'

Ambassador of Israel in India, Daniel Carmon said, Together with India, the people of Israel mourn the victims from countries all over the globe including Israel, embrace their loved ones and the survivors. India and Israel, along with nations of the world, must do everything in their power to eradicate extremism and terrorism for a better future.

Meanwhile, in a major setback to India and just days ahead of the anniversary, Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafeez Saeed, the leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), walked free from house arrest after a Pakistan court granted him independence.

The United States had also expressed 'deep concern' over the release of the JuD chief.

The 2008 Mumbai attacks were twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai by members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker who was captured alive, later confessed upon interrogation that the attacks were conducted with the support of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Kasab was hanged on Nov 21, 2012 at Yerwada Jail in Pune.

The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 and lasted until Saturday, Nov 29, 2008, killing 164 people and wounding at least 308.

Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai - at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital (a women and children's hospital), the Nariman House Jewish community centre, the Metro Cinema, and a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College.

There was also an explosion at Mazagaon, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle.
New Delhi, Nov 26 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday saluted all those brave women and men who lost their lives in the gruesome 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

Addressing the nation through his monthly radio broadcast-'Mann Ki baat', Modi first paid tributes to the makers of Indian Constitution.

Observing the Constitution Day, Modi said: "The makers of our Constitution worked hard to give us a Constitution we would be proud of."

However, he said that how people can forget that on the same day, nine years back, terrorists had launched an attack on Mumbai.

"26/11 marks our Constitution day, however, the nation cannot forget that on the same day nine years back, terrorists launched attacks in the city of Mumbai," Modi said during his 38th Mann Ki Baat address.

"The country salutes all those brave women and men who lost their lives in the gruesome 26/11 attacks in Mumbai," said he.

The 2008 Mumbai attacks were twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai by members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker who was captured alive, later confessed upon interrogation that the attacks were conducted with the support of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Kasab was hanged on Nov 21, 2012 at Yerwada Jail in Pune.

The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 and lasted until Saturday, Nov 29, 2008, killing 164 people and wounding at least 308.

Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai - at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital (a women and children's hospital), the Nariman House Jewish community centre, the Metro Cinema, and a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College.

There was also an explosion at Mazagaon, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle.
If you think you've seen a car driving around Helena that looks like it's straight out of a scene from "Ghostbusters," it's not just your imagination.

You probably just found the crew from the Montana Ghostbusters on their way to visit a sick child.

A nonprofit group with 17 members, the Montana Ghostbusters have chapters all over the state, from Billings to Missoula, Great Falls, Butte and Helena.

Chad Shafer is the founder of the Montana Ghostbusters. He started the group in 2013 and recruited any fans of the movie who want to make a difference in their community while using the love of Ghostbusters.

Dustin Semans is the Montana Ghostbusters co-lead and is head of the Helena division. Semans has always loved Ghostbusters and passed that love on to his son, Nate.

Nate was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that wasnt allowing enough oxygen to enter his bloodstream. The Semans had to go to Salt Lake Citys Childrens Hospital for Nates surgery to fix the issue. Dustin was familiar with a group called the Salt Lake Ghostbusters, and knowing how much Nate liked the movie, he gave them a call.

They showed up the night before the surgery with 12 of their members and Ecto. The next day when Nate went in to surgery, he said, Dad, I am going to be alright. I can do this. I am a Ghostbuster now! Seeing what they did for my boy, I knew I had to join MTGB and see if we could do the same, Semans said.

After seeing how Nate responded to the Salt Lake Ghostbusters, Dustin decided he had to get involved with the group somehow. Because Ghostbuster groups are licensed through a Sony subdivision called Ghostcorps, groups pop up all over the United States, which is how Semans was able to find Shafer.

I got into contact with Chad and he let us start a Helena Division of the Montana Ghostbusters, Semans said. We wanted to help the community, raise money to help with medical debt regarding children as well as help children with moral support with their disabilities/illness.

The Montana Ghostbusters show up all over, kitted up in homemade Ghostbusters gear and in a couple of tricked out cars modified to look like the famous Ghostbusters hearse. The group even has a special patch that has a cowboy hat on it, a nod to the Montana nature of their existence.

The team also helps raise money for people with major medical issues and is willing to spend time with children who are bullied, all at no cost. They will even make an appearance at birthday parties or other events in return for a donation to a charity they support.

But the real emotional center of their work is the unexpected happiness they bring to people around Montana.

Anytime I put the suit on, its memorable. You never know whats going to happen or whose day you may make but it is always a memorable experience, Semans said.

To contact the Montana Ghostbusters, email montanaghostbusters@gmail.com or send them a message on Facebook at facebook.com/montanaghostbusters.
New Delhi, Nov 26 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed the nation through his 38th 'Mann Ki Baat' where he saluted the victims as well as the martyrs of the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and and said terrorism is a threat to humanity.

Addressing the nation through his monthly radio broadcast-'Mann Ki baat', Modi first paid tributes to the makers of Indian Constitution.

Observing the Constitution Day, Modi said: "The makers of our Constitution worked hard to give us a Constitution we would be proud of."

However, he said that how people can forget that on the same day, nine years back, terrorists had launched an attack on Mumbai.

"26/11 marks our Constitution day, however, the nation cannot forget that on the same day nine years back, terrorists launched attacks in the city of Mumbai," Modi said during his 38th Mann Ki Baat address.

"The country salutes all those brave women and men who lost their lives in the gruesome 26/11 attacks in Mumbai," said he.

Modi said terrorism is a threat to humanity.

"For over 4 decades, India has been raising the issue of terror. Initially the world did not take us seriously but now the world is realising the destructive aspects of terrorism," said PM Modi.

The 2008 Mumbai attacks were twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai by members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker who was captured alive, later confessed upon interrogation that the attacks were conducted with the support of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Kasab was hanged on Nov 21, 2012 at Yerwada Jail in Pune.

The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 and lasted until Saturday, Nov 29, 2008, killing 164 people and wounding at least 308.

Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai - at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital (a women and children's hospital), the Nariman House Jewish community centre, the Metro Cinema, and a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College.

There was also an explosion at Mazagaon, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle.


TV Grab

Udupi, Nov 26 (IBNS): Swami Govindadev Giriji Maharaj of the Bharat Mata Mandir in Haridwar on Sunday said that Hindus must have at least four children while speaking to reporters in the temple town of Udupi of coastal Karnataka.

He noted that the two-child policy should not be restricted to Hindus alone.

The Sawmi said that Hindus need to have four children since India lost many of its territories wherever Hindu population reduces.

He said the situation has resulted in demographic imbalance.
New Delhi, Nov 26 (IBNS): President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday paid homage to those who lost their lives in the Mumbai terror attack incident in 2008.

The President also paid his tribute to the security personnel who lost their lives during the attack.

The official Twitter page of the President read:"On the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, we mourn with the families that lost their dear ones. And we recall with gratitude the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil #PresidentKovind."

He said: "On this day, we renew our resolve to take on, defeat and eliminate terrorism in all forms  and to make our people, our country and our world safer #PresidentKovind."
New Delhi/Mumbai, Nov 26 (IBNS): Nine years after terrorists played a blood ridden game in Mumbai, leaving at least 166 people killed, India on Sunday paid tributes to those who lost their lives in the incident and remembered the security forces who battled hard to win back the city from captivity.

Politicians, including President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bollywood celebrities and people across the nation paid rich tributes to the bravehearts who lost their lives in the tragedy.

President Ram Nath Kovind tweeted: "On the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, we mourn with the families that lost their dear ones. And we recall with gratitude the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil #PresidentKovind."

On the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, we mourn with the families that lost their dear ones. And we recall with gratitude the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil #PresidentKovind  President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 26, 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday saluted all those brave women and men who lost their lives in the gruesome 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

Addressing the nation through his monthly radio broadcast-'Mann Ki baat', Modi first paid tributes to the makers of Indian Constitution.

Observing the Constitution Day, Modi said: "The makers of our Constitution worked hard to give us a Constitution we would be proud of."

However, he said that how people can forget that on the same day, nine years back, terrorists had launched an attack on Mumbai.

"26/11 marks our Constitution day, however, the nation cannot forget that on the same day nine years back, terrorists launched attacks in the city of Mumbai," Modi said during his 38th Mann Ki Baat address.

"The country salutes all those brave women and men who lost their lives in the gruesome 26/11 attacks in Mumbai," said he.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: "On 26/11/2008 terrorists attacked many places in Mumbai and showed their deplorable cowardice. Let us stand against terrorism and pay tribute to our brave security personnel who sacrificed their lives for our security. We pray for all those who lost their lives in this attack."

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "Solemnly remembering the innocent civilians who lost their lives during the terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008."

Solemnly remembering the innocent civilians who lost their lives during the terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 26, 2017

Apart from politicians, Bollywood celebrities also paid tribute to the 26/11 attacks victims.

yes a harsh reminder .. and tomorrow its event in commemoration .. !! https://t.co/PnwbBGZI5T  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) November 25, 2017

Actor Rishi Kapoor tweeted: "and the perpetrators of this heinous crime which claimed 164 lives still live!"

............and the perpetrators of this heinous crime which claimed 164 lives still live! pic.twitter.com/biJ8Q9nfAl  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) November 26, 2017

Posting a video message, actor Anupam Kher posted: "26/11 attacks on our country. #NeverForgiveNeverForget. ."

Actor Suniel Shetty said: "Not just faces & names but sagas of selfless service to the city & the nation! Saluting the martyrs of 26/11 #MumbaiAttacks."

Actress Raveena Tandon posted: "26/11 . Never Forget , Never Forgive . #Justicefor 26/11 . Evil still roams free."

Even common people of India took to social media to remember those who lost their lives in the attacks.

The 2008 Mumbai attacks were twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai by members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker who was captured alive, later confessed upon interrogation that the attacks were conducted with the support of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Kasab was hanged on Nov 21, 2012 at Yerwada Jail in Pune.

The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 and lasted until Saturday, Nov 29, 2008, killing 164 people and wounding at least 308.

Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai - at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital (a women and children's hospital), the Nariman House Jewish community centre, the Metro Cinema, and a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College.

There was also an explosion at Mazagaon, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle.

Recently, Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafeez Saeed, the leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), walked free from house arrest in Pakistan.

The United States government on Friday said that Pakistan should 're-arrest' Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed.

The US has expressed 'deep concern' over the release of the JuD chief.

"The United States is deeply concerned that Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) leader Hafiz Saeed has been released from house arrest in Pakistan. LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens. The Pakistani government should make sure that he is arrested and charged for his crimes," read the US government statement.

"In May 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224. Saeed was also individually designated by the United Nations under UNSCR 1267 in December 2008 following the November 2008 Mumbai attack in which 166 people, including six American citizens, were killed. LeT and several of its front organizations, leaders, and operatives remain under both State Department and Treasury Department sanctions. Since 2012, the United States has offered a U.S. $10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice," it said.

Saeed was quoted in the media as saying, "I fight the case of Kashmiris. I will gather the people from across the country for the cause of Kashmir. And we will try to help Kashmiris get their destination of freedom."

Saeed was placed under house arrest for 10 months.
Amitabh Bachchan Twitter Handle

Mumbai, Nov 26 (IBNS): Megastar Amitabh Bachchan recalled the 'harsh' memories of 26/11 on Sunday, which marks the ninth anniversary of the deadly terror attacks.

In a post, Bachchan wrote:

yes a harsh reminder .. and tomorrow its event in commemoration .. !! https://t.co/PnwbBGZI5T  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) November 25, 2017

The 2008 Mumbai attacks were twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai by members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker who was captured alive, later confessed upon interrogation that the attacks were conducted with the support of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Kasab was hanged on Nov 21, 2012 at Yerwada Jail in Pune.

The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 and lasted until Saturday, Nov 29, 2008, killing 164 people and wounding at least 308.

Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai - at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital (a women and children's hospital), the Nariman House Jewish community centre, the Metro Cinema, and a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College.

There was also an explosion at Mazagaon, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle.
Beijing, Nov 26 (IBNS): Casualties are feared as an explosion rocked a factory in China's Zhejiang Province on Sunday, media reports said.

The exact number of dead in the incident is not clear so far.

The accident happened at around 9 a.m. in the plant in Jiangbei District of Ningbo City, causing some buildings to collapse, the city's fire department was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Picture: Representative Image
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The world is full of sights and phenomena that inspire awe, wonder and marvel at the onlooker. From cascading waterfalls to endless deserts that leaves people captivated, there is something for everyone.

But allegedly hidden away from prying are certain wonders that people like you and I will never see. Whether it is secret rooms or secret islands, there are laws and restrictions in place and the message is clear: STAY OUTOR ELSE!! Here are 11 places that you will only ever hear about:

1. Vatican Secret Archives, Vatican

Saints123

An independent state within a city, the Vatican lies nestled in the City of the Seven Hills. With magnificent cathedrals and palaces, it is the seat of the Catholic Church and home to its spiritual leader  the Pope. But lurking beneath this stunning edifices are secrets, archives, state papers, correspondence, account books along with many significant documents that the church doesnt want you to see. Only certain highly qualified scholars have ever gained access to these secret rooms.

2. North Sentinel Island, India

aanavandi

This island in Indias the Andaman Islands is known for its pristine beauty, but also for extremely hostile native tribes. These tribes do not want to encourage any sort of contact with the outside world and have allegedly killed anyone who tries to intrude. Access to this place is therefore forbidden.

3. Surtsey, Iceland

imaggers

Also touted to be one of the youngest islands in the world, Surtsey island located in the Vestmannaeyjar Archipelago off the southern coast of Iceland. It was the site of a major volcanic eruption that lasted an unfathomable four years. As a result, the place is only accessible to certain scientists who study the place on its ecological development.

4. Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway

croptrust

A mere 1,300 kilometres south of the North Pole, Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secured seed bank. This place is home to a wide variety of plant seeds that are duplicate samples, or "spare" copies of seeds held in a global gene bank. In case of any regional or global agricultural crisis, this seed bank will come to the rescue. There are over 1 million seeds, although it has a capacity of over 4.5 million seeds.

5. Metro 2, Russia

EarthTripper

In ancient times, castles would have secret tunnels to hide in and escape or just to keep things away from the light of the day. Modern-day Russia also has a secret, Metro 2  a secret underground system built parallel to the official underground system in Moscow. Also known as codename D-6, this place was built under the Stalin regime to connect important governmental and administrative institutions.

6. Coca-Cola Vault, Georgia, US

CocaCola Company

It may not be the most exciting place in the world, but that does not mean its less guarded. Buried deep under the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, the Coca-Cola vault has been holding the recipe for one of the most recognised beverages in the world.

7. Snake Island, Brazil

Youtube

Ilha da Queimada, or Snake Island, is infamous for homing thousands and thousands of snakes. The island is also touted to host one of the most venomous snakes in the world, Golden Lancehead Viper. Its poison is said to be so deadly that it can melt the human body with a single bite. Locals claim that there are 5 snakes per mile on this island, and most of them are lethal.

The Brazilian government has banned visitors and any sort of tourism on this island for safety reasons.

8. North Brother Island, New York, US

Wikipedia

Owing to a rather unusual history, the North Brother Island in the US is one of the most well-known forbidden places in the world. The island was initially established as a quarantine hospital when the first American identified as a carrier of typhoid fever was found here. Since then, the island has been off limits. It now is a popular habitat for birds.

9. Dulce Base, New Mexico, US

OnlyInYourStates

This has not ever been substantiated but sources claim that the Dulce Base hosts human-animal hybrids, human-alien hybrids, and extremely advanced technologies. Close to Colorado, Dulce is a small town with only 2,600 inhabitants and hardly any people from the outside world coming to visit it. Visitors are usually scared away based on the presence of giant underground facilities and unimaginable experiments that are said to happen at the base.

10. Heard Island, Australia

HeardIsland Expedition

Volcanoes are among the most fascinating facets of nature and are also responsible for long-lasting devastation. Heard Island can easily be amongst the most isolated places in the world because of major volcanic activity. Home to two active volcanoes, this island is composed of limestone and debris from years and years of eruptions.

11. Tomb of Qin Shi Huang, China

Wiki

The tomb of Chinas first Emperor and the founder of the Qin Dynasty Qin Shi Huang is one of the most inaccessible in the world. The builders of the tomb created a complicated network of caverns filled with things that the emperor would need in the afterlife. The Chinese government have forbidden the excavation of the tomb, in deference to the afterlife.
After coming out in support of Padmavati actress Deepika Padukone amid protests and death threats, Kamal Haasan now says that people are being over-sensitive on the issue. Talking about the same, Kamal Haasan was a part of the discussion when he said,

BCCL

We are being over sensitive. I am saying so in the capacity of being an Indian. In a country where politicians wanted citizens to come up front in the past that doesnt mean I am dismissing off a whole group of people There are enough Kamals, not enough podiums."

The ongoing protests by several religious groups have not just pushed the release date of Padmavati but it has again thrown light on the fact that there is a constant threat to freedom of speech and expression. Even though the film is not releasing on December 1, as per original plans, now several Hindu groups want it banned.

Kamal Haasan himself has been in the center of such controversies, whose films too have faced threats on the same level be it for Hey Ram or Vishwaroopam.

Talking about the same, he added,

BCCL

There is a problem but its not new. When my film Hey Ram was to release, somebody in Congress (political party) thought it should be banned just by looking at the poster. But they did not know what was in the film. Censors were being extra careful. Certification board behaved like censor board."

Kamal Haasan who has been a part of the film industry for over five decades added,

BCCL/Chad Crowe

All my films had a problem for reasons I am still trying to understand. Same goes for rumors when you send an sms and it distributes. We are always ready to believe the negativity first. It (protests) is wrong. After it (Padmavati) comes out and then people have problem that I still understand."

He went on to slamming culture on social media like Twitter where individuals are free to opine, he said,

Agencies

Those who want it regulated have some logic of their own. They shouldnt do it but some are far exceeding their freedom which is why they are slammed perhaps."

He concluded by saying that it's not just youth who talk about such things. He said,

Agencies
Dengue continues to remain a serious concern across India as it results in hundreds of deaths every year in the country, mostly because there is no proper treatment or preventive medicines for the disease spread by mosquitoes.

But after many years India may have finally got a breakthrough. India could have a vaccine for the dreaded dengue as early as end-2019, according to drug maker Panacea Biotec.

PTI/ Representational Image

Mint reports that the pharma company has already granted permission to conduct clinical tests, which they aim to begin in 2018.

ALSO READ: West Bengal Govt Suspends Doctor For Writing A Facebook Post On Rising Number Of Dengue Cases

As dengue is a big challenge for India and a vaccine is direly required, we have given a go-ahead for trials for dengue vaccine by TDB and Panacea Biotec, G.N. Singh, DCGI told Mint. We are facilitating the trials in a speedy manner. As a regulator, we are ensuring that the vaccine is effective and safe for the people, he added.

The mosquito-borne disease affects the blood, resulting in a drop of platelets, causing deaths in many cases.

BCCL

Panacea Biotec, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), US, has developed the advanced dengue vaccine with proven safety in preclinical studies.

Their single-dose shot vaccine has been found to stimulate a strong immune response against all four types of viruses in all age groups.

BCCL

If successful, this will be a major achievement in combating the disease which has so far killed over 200 people in India this year alone. A total of 245 people died of dengue in 2016 and 220 the previous year.

ALSO READ: No Respite From Dengue As Scientists Have Found A New Dengue Virus In India

Kerala which was the worst affected Indian state had recorded more than 19,000 cases this year, an all time high. The previous was in 2013 with 8000 cases.
In the recent special session, Governor Bullock and Democratic legislators fought successfully to protect $124 million in essential health and community services that mean life or death for many Montana families.

The stakes were high: if Governor Bullock hadnt called us back to Helena, we would have seen a steep hike in college tuition, devastating cuts to rural hospitals and the loss of essential services for elderly and disabled Montanans. The pain from these cuts would have been felt all across the state.

While I am relieved that we managed to avert catastrophe, the people of Montana need to understand the truth about what just happened and what were going to face in the future if we continue down this road.

For starters, the Republican majority demanded up front that Governor Bullock cut at least $76 million in essential services before they would even come to the negotiating table to work with Democrats on a solution. These are the same Republicans who overestimated revenue by $97 million during the 2017 Legislative session, contributing to this budget shortfall in the first place.

Out of these cuts, about $50 million are to the Department of Health and Human Services. Every dollar we cut in state money triggers a loss of matching federal funds, causing our state to lose over $110 million in essential human services.

In a bizarre twist, Republicans chose to make these cuts permanent. They didnt have to, but they chose to do it anyway. So even if our budget improves before the 2019 Legislative session, these eliminated health services cannot immediately be restored by the governor.

But these cuts were just the beginning. What became clear was that for the Republicans, the special session meant open season. We saw a series of bills which used the states $227 million budget shortfall as a political opportunity to push unrelated and extreme policies.

One of the more egregious examples of this was the cynical effort to use Montanas budget shortfall as a way to force the Governor to prematurely renew a contract with a private, for-profit prison in Shelby, Mont. This prison is run by CoreCivic, a multi-billion dollar Tennessee company which gets $15 million a year from its contract with Montana.

This contract is up for review in 2019, when the Legislature is back in session. But in the face of mounting complaints about human rights abuses and safety concerns, CoreCivic worked with Republican legislators from the Shelby area to beat the clock and force us into a new contract right away. You see, CoreCivic has an escrow account with $30 million of Montana taxpayer money in it. If we choose not to renew the contract in 2019, we can access that account to buy back the prison with a goal toward better management and reduced recidivism.

So Republican legislators intentionally left a $30 million gap in the budget and created a legal loophole which allows the CoreCivic contract to be renewed immediately. This puts the Governor  and the State of Montana  in a terrible negotiating position, because if Governor Bullock doesnt agree, he will have to consider cutting another $30 million in essential services to the elderly, disabled, and most vulnerable in Montana.

Yes, you read that right. Thats $30 million of your taxpayer dollars being held hostage to give an out-of-state company a lucrative contract with the State.

It doesnt have to be this way. During the last session, Democrats, along with Governor Bullock, proposed fair and reasonable ways to balance our budget by asking millionaires to pay their fair share, stopping out-of-state corporations from hiding their money offshore, and making people who earn more than a million dollars from investments pay the same tax rate as everyone else. If that budget had passed, we wouldnt be in this situation.

This budget shortfall didnt happen in a vacuum. Republicans have chosen to protect giveaways to out-of-state corporations and multimillionaires on the backs of Montanas working families. These kinds of policies force Montanans to pay more in property and local taxes, as well as higher out-of-pocket costs for in-state tuition, medical care, and services for our aging population.

Its time to change course.

As Montanans, we cant afford to absorb any more of these hits to our communities, to our families, or to our livelihoods.

I can promise you that Democrats will continue to fight for solutions that put hardworking Montana families first. We are eager to work with anyone who is willing to do the same. Together, we can change course.

-- Rep. Jenny Eck, D-Helena, House Minority Leader,
On the unfortunate night of November 26, 2008, Mumbai Police had no clue what was going in the city when 10 army-styled trained terrorists entered Mumbai and killed at least 166 people.

The question remains as to how far has Mumbai Police come? Can it tackle such warlike situations now? With new technology and time, it is expected that police can handle such attacks with more efficiency. Mumbai police have also claimed that they are better equipped and well prepared now.

Reuters

According to the claim, the police is better trained to tackle such situations now. However, the state government assessment still says that police is still not well equipped to deal with the grave situation like 26/11.

Major areas where police still need to pull its socks up were porous coastal security, advanced weaponry and having specialised men in the force to tackle such attacks.

BCCL

The Ram Pradhan Committee that was formed to assess to lapses in the security system in the state, had recommended that better sharing of intelligence and cohesion is required between police and other agencies like the Navy, Coast Guard and Central government agencies.

"We have certainly come a long way in these nine years. We are better equipped and trained now. After the 26/11 attacks, several changes have taken place in the Mumbai police machinery," Deven Bharti, Joint Commissioner of Police, Law & Order was quoted DNA.

bccl

Shedding light on how policing has changed since the attack, Bharti said, "The state police has set up an elite counter-terrorism commando squad Force One, trained on the lines of the NSG. We also have Quick Response Teams and 39 armoured vehicles that have at least five to six fully trained policemen with sophisticated weapons, and would act as first responders in case of any terror attack."

bccl

Another officer told that bomb detection and disposal squad is more equipped and trained. "We have set up anti-terror cells in every police station," this officer said, asking not to be named.

"We also have regular intelligence sharing meetings with multi-coordination agencies. The city is also covered under a network of more than 4,000 CCTVs and coastal security to has been strengthened. We have also upgraded the security of vital installations in the city."
Burma In Prison We Wrote on the Floor. You Cant Ban Poetry

San Zaw Htway / Dana Lixenberg

San Zaw Htway (b. 1974) is a visual and performance artist who spent fourteen years in prison because of his political activism as a student. Banned from painting in jail, he collected discarded colorful plastic, cut them into pieces and created recycled-art collages from this garbage, as a form of political resistance. He is also an amateur poet and a trauma counselor for former political prisoners and their families.

When did you start writing poetry?

When I was around 21 years old. But I didnt send my poems to magazines at that time. I wrote poems just in my notebooks.

In 1999, I was arrested and put in prison. I met with poet Maung Aung Pwint in prison. He had organized poem recitals every evening. I wanted to participate, so I had to write a poem every day. It made me feel happy.

Why were you arrested?

I should back up a step and tell you about my life from the start. I am 42 years old. I was born in Yay township, in Mon state. When I was born, we moved to Tavoy township, and I grew up in Mie Gyaung Ai village. This was a village in the middle of the civil war: there were Karen armed groups there, Mon armed groups, and Burmese military. Battles often happened when the Burmese military came into the area. And when they did not come, Mon and Karen rebels came to ask for rice, oil and food. We didnt have peace or any kind of stability.

My mother sent my three sisters to Yangon to learn a trade  tailoring  and the rest of the family followed them shortly thereafter. We moved to Yangon with all of our savings. Then in 1987 the government cancelled the currency, making it worthless overnight, and all our savings were gone. Just like that.

Why had they cancelled the banknotes? We had saved that money so slowly, day after day, with such patience. Who gave them such authority to do so? I asked my father: he replied that they did it because they could. There was no explanation. I was so angry. They showed no responsibility or accountability.

I decided to fight against the government. I became a member of the Burmese Student Union. After the Hledan student strikes in 1998, I had to go into hiding, for the secret police followed me whenever I went outside my home. I went underground for almost a year. I hid in a monastery in upper Myanmar. Our cover story was that because the universities were closed by the government, we had come there to sell dried fish to make a living. Id return to Yangon from time to time to meet other activists. We published and distributed political pamphlets

My luck ran out, and I was arrested for protesting in 1999 and sentenced to thirty-six years in jail. I was released after the Presidential amnesty in 2012.

You met with the famous poet Maung Aung Pwint in prison?

I met with Saya U Aung Pwint while we were at interrogation center but I didnt get a chance to talk to him. I heard they were beaten by special police or military intelligence personnel. We were sent to prison at first and we left them including Saya Aung Pwint at Aung Thapyay interrogation center.

We then met in prison. He introduced himself as Maung Aung Pwint who writes poems when he came out of his cell to take a bath.

Why did you start making recycled art in prison?

Painting was forbidden in jail. So I found a way around that: by making collages out of discarded plastic. I cut up plastic wrappers, instant coffee packaging, and any other colorful plastic bags and wrappers I could find, and transform them into art.

I still do this art now, and travel around the country now giving workshops. I want to encourage everyone  particularly victims of trauma  with the idea that we have nothing but we still can do something.

We also have a big problem with garbage in Myanmar  there is little, or no garbage disposal in most places still. I believe that throwing trash on the street means neglecting ones morality. If one can create artwork out of rubbish, this is a way to boost your morality. This is the message I want to give.

Why do you concentrate on visual art instead of poetry?

Making collages for me is all-consuming  in some ways I feel that it is a way of transforming words into colors. When I am working on my art, I cant write poems. Of course, when I feel deeply about something, I write a poem.

How was poetry affected by censorship?

If you are banned from doing something, you must overcome it. According to Buddhisms Pahtana, bad deeds may support good deeds. We had restrictions and barriers and so we had to try hard to overcome such restrictions and barriers. New words were born; new expression came from this struggle.

In every country that suffers from dictatorship, the expression of art is so strong because of such restrictions.

In prison, they didnt allow us to write poems but we wrote down poems on the floor, or we made poems just by reciting them, and memorizing them. You could not ban poetry. Poetry was always in our mind.

What do you think about the changes in Myanmar today and how does this affect poetry?

The changes are happening at many places and they are very fast right now. But I see the peoples character does not change.

We now have the right of freedom of speech or expression. But everybody needs to practice it. We need to express our feelings freely, but without being angry or disrespectful.

Authors Note: These interviews are excerpted from Burma Storybook, a poetry and photography book inspired by the documentary film of the same name, produced by Corinne van Egeraat and directed by Petr Lom.

The English language hardcover edition of the book is for sale at Hla Day, Innwa Bookstore, Myanmar Book Center and the Strand Hotel. A Burmese language-only paperback edition of the book is for sale through Yangon Book Plaza.

From Nov. 25 to Dec. 4, you can visit the Burma Storybook Photo Exhibit at the Tourism Burma Building.

For more information: www.burmastorybook.com
Burma From Star of the Screen to Carrying Coffins

Kyaw Thu / Dana Lixenberg

Kyaw Thu (b. 1959) has acted in more than two hundred films and won two Burmese Oscars. Retired from acting, he is now Myanmars most famous philanthropist, the founder of the Yangon Free Funeral Service. He seems to live inside his office, a cluttered place full of photos and awards from his screen idol days, which is constantly full of visitors coming to offer donations and have their picture taken with him.

Tell me about your life.

My parents were in the film industry, and I became a successful actor. I acted in a lot of films. The government asked me to star in several propaganda films. And then one was a film about students taking up arms and fighting against the military government  this was after the failed student protests of 1988. I didnt want to do it, so I refused. That didnt help my career, but I still was able to keep making films.

Then one day, during a summer holiday at a Buddhist literature camp, my children asked a prominent monk whether actors went to heaven or hell when they died. The monk said they go to hell. He explained that actors make people cry, they make people angry, make them laugh, all of which are misdeeds. I was terrified. This led me on to the road to participate in social obligations and worthy meritorious deeds.

How did you set up the Free Funeral Service?

My director Sayar U Thuka started it. In 2000, he was sick and in the hospital. An old woman lay beside him in his hospital room. She was sick too. Her family members visited her and took care of her every day. One day the doctor told them they should take their grandmother home because there was nothing else he could for them. Instead of taking her home, the family stopped coming to the hospital. The woman died alone, and was buried in a common grave. Sayar U Thuka was shocked. He found the family; they confessed they had abandoned their grandmother because they did not have money to pay for her funeral. That is why he decided to set up the free funeral service society  to help people without discrimination on race, religion or class. We collaborated with him, and have buried over 160 000 people  on average forty per day  since 2001.

Why are funerals unaffordable in Myanmar?

Most people are desperately poor in this country  Myanmar is the poorest country in South East Asia. Traditional funeral costs are on average about $7500 (according to a 2014 survey), and that does not include cemetery costs in Yangon, which will easily cost around another $2000. So a typical funeral and burial costs run to at least $9000. And undertakers expect to be paid in full at the time of the funeral. That is impossibly unaffordable for many people.

You encountered many difficulties in your work.

Most people in Myanmar are extremely superstitious about funerals. Authorities do not allow hearses to drive through some neighborhoods, and some streets are even marked by signs saying, No hearses allowed.

My show-business friends were initially shocked that I carried coffins at funerals  this is a task often shunned by the superstitious. Some even started to refuse to co-star with me in films because they believed that my work with the dead would bring them bad luck. With time this has now changed, and we have many donors from all over the country.

We have expanded our philanthropy beyond funerals, we now run an emergency rescue team and ambulance service  there are almost no ambulances in Yangon. We run a free healthcare clinic that treats more than two hundred patients a day. We have set up a library and free educational and vocational training school. We set up a camp for leadership training and capacity building. We have a meditation center. And we are also working on a pilot project for garbage disposal in our neighborhood.

We encountered a lot of resistance from the past military government. They ordered our head office closed during our rescue efforts in the aftermath of the May 2008 Nargis Cyclone, which devastated Burmas Irrawaddy Delta. They forced us to move to an abandoned garbage dump. During last years student protests  we were providing emergency medical care  the police smashed one of our ambulances as they were arresting students. Why would anyone do that?

The past military government also banned you from acting.

During the 2007 Saffron Revolution, we donated food and water to the protesting monks. This was our responsibility as Buddhists. We were briefly arrested, and I was banned from acting and my films were prohibited from the cinemas.

I was angry, but had the opportunity to do more social work. So I was happy for that. An actor does his work just for himself, for his own fame and for money. All for his own ego. In social work, we do work for the public. Meritorious deeds. My acting ban was lifted in 2015, but I do very little acting now. I am so busy with philanthropy.

I love what I am doing. I have a better understanding of lifes value now. And I am not afraid of dying.

We all are on the path to death. Whether you are rich or poor, famous or not, you will have to walk the same path leaving your wealth and popularity behind. Death is our inescapable destination. Once we die, we leave nothing behind except our good deeds. So we should do as many good deeds as we can while we are still breathing.

And you are an amateur poet.

Yes, I write a poem from time to time, though I am by no means a professional. It is part of our culture. It is how we are able to give expression to our feelings. As a charity worker and artist, I try to reach the heart of our community with poetry.

Why is poetry so important in Burmese culture?

Sixty years ago in Myanmar, all progress in economic, health and social matters was blocked by the military government. They shut the door on society. Many Burmese found a way to open this door through painting, literature, music and poetry. Culture was an effective outlet, and poetry was the main tool to open this door.

Authors Note: These interviews are excerpted from Burma Storybook, a poetry and photography book inspired by the documentary film of the same name, produced by Corinne van Egeraat and directed by Petr Lom.

The English language hardcover edition of the book is for sale at Hla Day, Innwa Bookstore, Myanmar Book Center and the Strand Hotel. A Burmese language-only paperback edition of the book is for sale through Yangon Book Plaza.

From Nov. 25 to Dec. 4, you can visit the Burma Storybook Photo Exhibit at the Tourism Burma Building.

For more information: www.burmastorybook.com
The UNSW Canberra has launched a miniature satellite into orbit from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The Buccaneer cube satellite, developed by a team of scientists from the university and the Australian defence department, is now being tested in orbit.

A statement from the university said the satellite was now in stable orbit and scientists were able to obtain telemetry from the device.

Buccaneer is the size of a shoe bow and will help to calibrate the Jindalee over the horizon radar and also provide data on predicting the orbits of space objects

The satellite will undergo operations to check and commission its systems over the next few months, before undertaking risk mitigation activities and experiments in early 2018.

The team that developed the miniature satellite.

UNSW Canberra Space director Professor Russell Boyce said: Being able to avoid collisions in space is essential if we are to safeguard the space-based technologies upon which society depends.

"Our cube satellites will play an important role in gathering data for this research, among other outcomes such as demonstrating space-based capability ranging from remote sensing to ultra-secure quantum communications.

With a team of more than 40 space engineers, scientists and PhD students, we have the in-house ability and capacity to conceive, develop and fly innovative space missions with our own hands, supported by world class space research, rather than relying on others.

Its about building a sustainable domestic space capability with affordable methods of delivery.

UNSW Canberra Rector, Professor Michael Frater, said: What were seeing now, throughout government, is an understanding that it is critically important for Australia to operate in space, both from a security point of view and economically.

We want Australia to have a really vibrant space industry. It makes sense for Australia to play niche roles and benefit from the innovation, spin offs and export dollars that come with it.

Buccaneer is one of five funded satellites with another three in early development, at UNSW Canberra Space, a programme established with a $10 million internal investment.

The cube satellite is jointly owned and developed with the Defence Science Technology Group.

Photos and video: courtest UNSW Canberra
The Australian Computer Society has appointed Yohan Ramasundara as its president for two years from next year onwards.

An ACS statement said Ramasundara (below, left) was the youngest to take up the job for more than two decades.

Currently the vice-president overseeing the ACS Membership Advisory Board, he previously served as the national treasurer for five years from 2012 to 2016.

Ramasundara is also the secretary-general of the Asia Pacific forum for professional ICT associations and the the head of Governance for IP Australia.

He recently returned from secondment as the innovation manager for international operations in San Francisco with AusTrade.

Along with Ramasundara, the ACS leadership team will include Dr Nick Tate, vice-president overseeing the Profession Advisory Board; Dr Ian Oppermann, vice-president overseeing the Technical Advisory Board; Anthony Wong (immediate past president); Andrew Johnson (chief executive); and four branch representatives.

Ramasundara said, As president, I will build on the platforms ACS has laid over the last 50 years. I look forward to collaborating across ACS and building our credibility as a trusted adviser to government, industry, academia and our members.

Outgoing ACS president Wong congratulated Ramasundara. Yohan brings exceptional leadership and knowledge of the ICT industry and digital economy, and resolute commitment to the ACS Presidency," he said. In 2018, as the immediate past president, I look forward to working with Yohan to continue to bring ACS vision and five-year strategy to fruition."
It was a uniquely cheerful stride. It was a distinctive walk that I had never observed in a hospital until I met Brett at St. James Healthcare in Butte. It was charged with the positive energy that she brought to her practice of medicine. There was something infectiously comforting about it.

TRUE MEANING OF HEALING

One day Brett asked me, in my capacity of hospital chaplain, to participate in a conference with a patient, his family and his nurses. His health had stubbornly defied all the concerted efforts of the healthcare professionals. It was an enigma to resolve and Brett knew that the patient himself held the key. How do you help someone recover the will to live and to contribute to the recovery?

Over a month later, the same participants gathered once again. This time the purpose was celebration. The nurses were smiling, the family was eating cake and the patient had tears of joy. Moments before he was about to be discharged the patient spoke very touching words of gratitude to his remarkably deserving nurses. Then he provided the insights into the mystery of his great transformation.

As his primary physician, Bretts empathy, her tender persistence, her sincere interest in his health had finally reopened his eyes to the preciousness and the sacredness of life. Her thinking was that without reacquainting the patient with the joy of living, any healing remains incomplete. The patient is treated as a complex person and not just as a pathology -- it was a strikingly enlightened and beautiful philosophy of medicine.

CONTAGIOUS LOVE OF LIFE

A Texas native, she left her home state after medical school. With her husband, Don, she went to the mighty Northern Rockies called by their majestic vastness and mystical beauty. She had always been an adventurer and the journey took them to Butte.

She announced to me once that she intended to take her family on a vacation to Mexico City. I expressed my admiration for the sophistication and the fascinating history of the destination. I also wondered whether she was concerned about all the reports of Cartel warfare. While she was well aware of them she also rejected any temptation to have an existence of fear. Her voracious appetite for life knew no ambiguity.

Like all passionate lovers of life, she had also a deep respect for death. Most of our conversations were about patients and their families painfully wrestling with a diagnosis of an imminent end of life. These were intensely emotional episodes for Brett.

One afternoon, we both went to a hospital room where a relatively young patient had just died very unexpectedly. His family was utterly devastated. Brett walked into their darkness with great vulnerability. She entered with her own mortality. As she explained softly and caringly what had happened, she placed a hand on the deceased. It was a gesture of authentic affection and the family immediately felt her closeness. It was a moment of Grace.

I once assumed that she harbored some possibly unconscious terror of dying. I was entirely wrong. Later events would fully dispel that notion. She was just immeasurably sensitive to the suffering of others and she had great difficulty in relinquishing her role as healer.

WOUNDED HEALER

Soon after she left St. James to practice at Deer Lodge Medical Center, I heard that she wanted to talk to me. It turned out to be an unforgettable conversation. An improbably rare and cruelly aggressive tumor was pressing against her heart and lungs and she had difficulty speaking. But she made every word count and the merciless illness impenetrably made her even more radiant with dignity. Cancer does not change you -- it makes who you are more transparent.

Her battle was brief, painful, breathtakingly brave and always tender to those around her. Consistently, she comforted her family and friends.

Throughout her life Brett could be stunningly persuasive when on a crusade for her patients. She was very comfortable making fervent appeals to elected officials including those in Congress. She was a tireless and effective advocate for healthcare issues. Until her evanescent strength filled her lungs one last time, she remained a healer.

HEALING OUT OF LOVE

The crowd who attended her funeral filled a very large theater. It gave a moving testimony of her power to touch many very meaningfully. During the service poetry was used frequently in attempts to lift veils from the unsettling mystery of losing so much talent so soon. The immortal Tennyson line Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all was used several times to great consoling effect. Brett had the brain of a scientist, but her soul will forever belong to the Arts.

On the edge of the Roman Forum stands a very ancient building. Once a library, it has been a church since late antiquity. Behind the main altar is one of the greatest masterpieces of Mosaic Art -- a spirit-stirring portrait of two brothers. They are Cosmas and Damian, Syrian physicians from the 3rd Century. Once you look into their eyes you simply cannot forget the impression they make on you.

In the course of their lifetime they earned an impressive reputation of holiness. About them was crafted a Greek expression that translates as: Healing out of Love. It described the true motivation of their medical work. More significantly, it also reflected their conviction that loving your patients is a substantial factor in their recovery.

There is a prevalent sense that this kind of medicine is obsolete and cannot be practiced anymore. Brett proved the opposite. She made this venerable tradition a vibrant reality.

Healing without love is just a momentary illusion.

Note: Brett Naylor Kronenberger, M.D., graduated in 1992 from Baylor College of Medicine. She was a member of Mercury Street Medical staff from 1995 to 2005 and Chief Hospitalist at St. James Healthcare from 2005 to 2017. Very recently, she joined the medical staff of the Deer Lodge Medical Center. She was married to Don and they have three children, Claire, Louis and Oscar. All four surrounded her when she died peacefully on October 27, 2017, and gave magnificent and memorably moving eulogies at her funeral service. She was 52.
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Trump is alleged to have promised Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan that he will cease arming the YPG Kurds in Syria.

This news comes just around the time there is a flurry of articles about how the Trump administration wants to stay long term in eastern Syria, where 2,000 US special forces personnel are embedded with the left-anarchist Kurds.

So if the US wants to stay embedded with the Kurds, why is it stabbing them in the back to please Erdogan?

They say in the army that everyone wants to do strategy but the real experts do logistics. Logistics is the science of moving troops, supplies and weapons around.

The fact is that the US special ops forces in eastern Syria have logistics difficulties. The al-Assad regime does not want them there now that Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) has been largely defeated. Iran and Hizbullah and the Iraqi Shiite militias do not want them there. They can be blockaded.

Plus you would never want special ops guys in the field in a treacherous place like Raqqa (in the sense that the Arab population opposes their presence) without the ability to extract them if something goes wrong. From where will the helicopters take off?

Turkey?

Turkey. The logistical support for the 2000 Americans fighting in eastern Syria comes from Incirlik Air Force base in Turkey, which is leased to the US military.

Theoretically, you could base the helicopters in Mosul and fly over from there, but I am not aware that the US has planes parked at any military base near Mosul. The thousands of US personnel at the Iraq command are in Baghdad, with some special operations personnel out near Iraqi mopping up operations against Daesh, giving strategic advice. Or at least that is what they had been doing. ISIL is still behind ongoing insurgencies in some Sunni Arab cities like Samarra.

But given how perilous the situation in northern Iraq still is, youd be raising the question of who would rescue the rescuer if you tried to put support forces there to help with Syria. Plus the Iraqi government is now tight with Damascus and might not allow cross border activities if the al-Assad regime complained to Baghdad about them.

So the support is in Incirlik. And Turkey is happy enough to have 2000 US troops in Syria. Turkey lost the Syrian war and is unhappy about Russian and Iranian dominance of Syria, which the Sunni Arab Muslim activists supported by Turkey see as foreign occupation.

So for Turkey to offset Russian and Iranian power in Syria by backing a long-term US spec ops presence makes political sense.

Except for one thing.

Turkey is terrified of the Kurds?

Turkey is terrified of the Kurds.

The YPG is an independent militia, but has had ties of ideology to the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers Party), which both the US and Turkey designate as a terrorist organization. The PKK wants at least semi-autonomy for the Kurdish regions of eastern Anatolia. Turkey sees that demand as a dire threat that could end up partitioning the country.

Turkey and the US differ about the Syrian Kurdish YPG. Turkey sees it as just a PKK knock off, while the US declines to list it as a terrorist organization.

So if Erdogan is apoplectic about the US arming the YPG Kurds because he thinks the medium weaponry the US supplies will end up in PKK hands, why would he continue to allow the 2000 US special ops troops to receive support from Incirlik Base?

He wouldnt.

Hence, he pressed Trump to say that the US wont supply weapons to the YPG. I presume that what that means is that it wont supply them with medium to heavy weapons. No big artillery pieces or helicopter gunships. Everybody has kalashnikov machine guns, that isnt the issue.

Plus if the US troops remain embedded with the Kurds, that is a brake on any hooking up with PKK for mischief on the Turkish side of the border (though the YPG hasnt demonstrated those tendencies in my view, anyway).

So the compromise is that the Kurds get only light weaponry, now that Daesh/ ISIL is defeated. And the US troops remain, thus forestalling (from Ankaras point of view) a complete Russo-Iranian takeover of the country.

One wrinkle is that Trump is not very powerful with the Pentagon, and it isnt clear that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will fulfill Trumps pledge to Ankara. Hence the Turkish government is demanding guarantees.

And, what happens if the Syrian Arab Army, which does not recognize Kurdish semi-autonomy, makes a move on say Hasaka and the Kurds arent well armed enough to fend them off?

The Russians are saying that the US presence on Syrian soil, opposed by Damascus, is a form of aggressive occupation. The question is, how safe are these embedded troops, with ISIL, Shiite militias and Syrian secret police all over that area?



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Wochit News: U.S. Wants To Stop Supplying Kurds
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Middle East Monitor |  

The Foreign Minister of Qatar said on Thursday that extremism in the Middle East is the result of authoritarianism, the Qatari News Agency has reported. Mohamed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani expressed his sadness that the region has become a region of instability instead of peace and coexistence.

People are suffering from rulers who seek authority, practice bad governance and strip their citizens of their human rights and dignity, the minister told an anti-terror conference in London sponsored by his government. These people fall as prey to the extremist groups. Children in the region, he added, have lived through atrocities in Syria, under Daesh in Iraq as well as Syria, and in Yemen. They are deprived of hope and a better future.

To deter terror, Al-Thani called for stability in the region. This is one of the main ways to win the war on terror and deter violence, he insisted. We need a political commitment to end struggles in the Middle East and North Africa.

According to the Guardian, Qatars Foreign Minister also accused the Saudi leadership of fracturing the region. A pattern is emerging whereby they create a new crisis to cover up previous crises.

Saudi Arabia, he said, has created a humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, divided the Gulf States by attacking Qatar without an exit strategy and tried to pressurise the Lebanese Prime Minister to resign, leaving a vacuum. Which policy of theirs has so far produced a positive result? It has all been counterproductive to stability in the region.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Qatari FM: Saudis refuse to engage in dialogue | DW English
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TeleSur |  

An Iranian official said Trump sees himself as the chief of a global village: This comes as he is just the president of the U.S., and a hated one.

Iran has denounced a potential boycott of the countryss crude oil recently floated by U.S. President Donald Trump, slamming the statements as illegal and noting that any such embargo would be self-defeating.

Trump made the original statement last Saturday, remarking that the abundance of oil supplies from other countries made it possible to limit the purchase of oil and its derivatives from the Islamic Republic.

I determined that there is a sufficient amount of oil and oil products from countries other than Iran, and this allows a significant reduction in the volume of oil and petroleum products that are purchased from Iran, he said in a memorandum sent to the U.S. finance and energy ministers on Nov. 17.

Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said that any such boycott of Irans crude oil would have a powerful impact on the market.

Mr. Trump talks too much, Zanganeh said, responding to Trumps remarks in a document extending an embargo on the supply of oil from Iran that was first introduced in 2012.

Irans oil supply to the market is up to 2.5 million barrels a day, and the removal of this amount would definitely affect the market, Zanganeh said Saturday, according to Irans Fars news agency.

Trumps comments have had a negligible impact on Irans oil trade so far, and exports are proceeding without any issues, the minister concluded. A total of 60 percent of Iranian crude oil is shipped to Asia, with about 40 percent shipped to Europe.

Irans oil exports have nearly doubled since January 2016, when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was implemented in a deal that was agreed after more than a year of painstaking negotiations in July 2015 by Iran, the European Union, Germany, and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: Russia, the United States, China, France, and the United Kingdom.

Trump has repeatedly lambasted the six-party pact as the stupidest and one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into in history, solely benefitting Irans leaders.

The chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Irans parliament, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said that Tump is once again violating the JCPOA through his provocative statements and Nov. 17 memorandum.

Boroujerdi described the former host of The Apprentice as having deluded himself into thinking he is chief of a global village, saying: This comes as he is just the president of the U.S., and a hated one.

The lawmaker also noted that throughout the history of the United States, no president has been weaker than the current incumbent. Trump is not in a position to decide about the share of countries in the international oil market, he said. Iran is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and will defend its rights within the organization.

With the worlds fifth-largest oil reserves, Iran is considered one of the foremost OPEC countries in terms of output growth potential: a major challenger, along with allied Shiite neighbor Iraq, to the leading role played by Irans arch-foe, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Via TeleSur
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By Jonathan Marshall | (Consortiumnews.com) |  

Market trends now favor renewable energy as a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels, but President Trumps resistance to this good news is doing real damage in the fight against global warming, reports Jonathan Marshall.

With petrochemical billionaires Charles and David Koch paying many of the GOPs bills these days, its no wonder conservative policymakers are pushing hard to protect dirty fossil fuels against competition from clean, renewable energy. But entrepreneurial capitalists whom conservatives claim to worship are fighting back, slashing costs for wind and solar power to the point where few customers can refuse them.

A wind-powered turbine.

A remarkable new study by Lazard, the venerable New York investment house, concludes that the unsubsidized cost of energy from new wind and solar plants now falls decisively below that of nuclear and coal plants, and even below that of efficient natural-gas-fired generation. The gap is widening each year as scale economies and improvements in turbine and photovoltaic technology drive cost reductions. Significantly, even cautious modelers at the U.S. Department of Energy concede these trends.

Even more disruptive is Lazards finding that in some scenarios the full-lifecycle costs of building and operating renewables-based projects have dropped below the operating costs alone of conventional generation technologies such as coal or nuclear. In other words, its often cheaper to shut down those older plants and replace them with new wind and solar projects.

Where local conditions especially favor renewable energy, the cost advantages of wind and solar have become enormous. Last spring, for example, Tucson Electric Power inked a 20-year deal to purchase enough solar energy to power more than 20,000 homes at a price of less than 3 cents per kilowatt-hour. (One kilowatt-hour is the amount of energy needed to light ten 100-watt bulbs for an hour.)

Thats just half the cost of new gas and coal generation and about a quarter of the cost of new nuclear power. Only the cheapest wind power can compare.

Trump Fights the Market

Members of the Trump administration, and many Republicans in Congress, are trying to derail the renewable express train.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive to the Murabba Palace, escorted by Saudi King Salman on May 20, 2017, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to attend a banquet in their honor. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has called for rebalancing the market by issuing federal rules to tilt the playing field in favor of coal and nuclear power. Perry was reportedly influenced by the CEO of Murray Energy, a major coal company that sells much of its product to U.S. utilities whose traditional generating plants are becoming uneconomic.

In an effort to boost profits for coal companies, the Trump administration is also working with Peabody Energy to subsidize continued operation of the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona, whose owners voted in February to close the 43-year-old plant. The coal-fired facility has been a major source of air pollution and haze in the Grand Canyon and is the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the nation.

Speaking at a Kentucky Farm Bureau event in October, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said I would do away with the incentives that we give to wind and solar, even though current law already schedules most credits to expire by 2020 for wind and 2022 for solar.

Echoing his sentiment, the latest House tax bill guts clean energy tax credits, though the draft version under consideration by the Senate keeps them intact. The Senates reluctance reflects the fact that many of the nations more than 300,000 jobs in renewable energy production are in heavily Republican states.

As renewable energy costs continue to fall, however, the Trump administration is finding it hard to repeal the laws of supply and demand.

In August, Duke Energy Florida said it was scrapping plans to build a new nuclear plant and would instead double the Sunshine States solar capacity as part of a $6 billion program to modernize the states power grid and build 500 new electric vehicle charging stations.

Meanwhile, American Electric Power, one of the countrys leading owners of coal-fired plants, announced in July that it is investing $4.5 billion to build the nations largest single-site wind project, in western Oklahoma. Beyond that 2,000 megawatt project, AEP has plans to acquire 5,300 megawatts of additional renewable power by 2030 to diversify its power production portfolio and slash carbon emissions.

In a survey this spring of 32 power utilities operating in 26 conservative states, Reuters found only one that said it might prolong the life of its coal-fired units to please the Trump White House.

The number of utilities betting their futures on renewable energy seems to be growing by the day, observes the investment website The Motley Fool. Utilities arent investing billions of dollars into renewable energy to save the climate or appease environmentalists, theyre doing so because its in their best interest financially. Renewable energy is now the lowest cost option when building new power plants and thats whats driving adoption. If these utilities are any indication, there will be tens of billions more poured into the industry over the next decade.

The same trend is happening globally, as major greenhouse polluters like China and India invest tens of billions of dollars in new solar and wind plants. Even the worlds fossil-fuel capital, Saudi Arabia, is joining the revolution: In October, its power authorities received an astonishingly low bid of only 1.8 cents per kilowatt-hour for a 300-megawatt project in the north of the kingdom. Unlimited sun and cheap land make solar power the cheapest resource even in the land of oil.

Policy Imperatives

With renewable energy costs in sharp decline, and utilities shifting their investments accordingly, why should we care if President Trumps team denies the existence of climate change and lauds the future of coal? Because with global carbon emissions still rising, the world must dramatically step up its response if we hope to keep the impact and cost of global warming in check.

Humanity has failed to make sufficient progress in generally solving these foreseen environmental challenges, and alarmingly, most of them are getting far worse, declared a communique by more than 15,000 scientists from 184 countries published this month in the journal BioScience. Soon it will be too late to shift course away from our failing trajectory.

To keep overall warming of the planet under 2 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels  about twice the increase to date  global annual investment in clean energy must triple, according to a major new analysis issued this October by Stanford Universitys Precourt Institute for Energy.

As climate activist Bill McKibben told a recent international climate conference in Germany, If we have any hope of preventing absolute civilization challenge and catastrophe, then we need to be bringing down carbon emissions with incredible rapidity, far faster than it can happen just via normal economic transition.

In other words, we cant afford to depend on slow market adjustments. We need continued renewable energy subsidies and new carbon taxes to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy. We need increased investment in customer energy efficiency programs. We need to tackle carbon emissions not just from power plants, but from transportation, industry and agriculture  all potentially greater challenges.

Daunting as that agenda is, we can at least find some comfort in signs  like the new report from Lazard  that market forces are finally lining up to help humanity save itself.

Jonathan Marshall is author or co-author of five books on international affairs, including The Lebanese Connection: Corruption, Civil War and the International Drug Traffic (Stanford University Press, 2012).

Reprinted with authors permission from Consortiumnews.com
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An excerpt from Love in the time of medical school: Build a happy, healthy relationship with a medical student.

My dad is the oldest of four boys and my grandfather was an anesthesiologist for many years. Apparently, the women who wanted to marry into the family all had to pass the test of listening to my grandfather tell gory surgery stories over dinner. My mother tells me about one particular dinner with my grandparents that simultaneously involved hearing a story about intestines coming out of the body and being served spaghetti for dinner.

While my mother passed that test, I assuredly would have failed it. In our home, we have a rule called simply No Yucky Stuff. Graphic stories gross me out and occasionally make me feel woozy. You will need to navigate how much you want to hear about medical school, how much jargon you want to learn, and what kinds of stories you prefer to hear. Like other challenges in medical school, address your partner with kindness and support. Use I statements that focus on what you want and do not want to hear, rather than focusing on what they do or do not tell you. That way, they will continue to feel that you care about their journey, even if you can only tolerate hearing about certain aspects of it.

You may also start to spend time with your partners medical school friends. It can be a wonderful experience and make you feel like you are a part of your partners community. As one significant other said, Being surrounded by community gives me access. Inclusion and connectedness may increase the closeness between you and your partner.

That said, being surrounded by medical students can also lead you to feel isolated, frustrated, bored, and dumb. There were definitely times when I wanted to yell ENOUGH ALREADY! Can we talk about ANYTHING else, please? Movies, books, politics, religion, farting (no  that would just lead to discussions about farting mechanisms  yes, I have experienced this). If you are already frustrated with the role of medicine and conversations about medicine in your life, being around other medical students may amplify your frustration.

Being around medical students also reopens the conversation about jargon. I noticed, and many significant others mentioned to me how dumb an outsider can feel when sitting with a group of med students. One said, It is hard being somebody not scientifically minded to get used to being on the outside of the conversation. Another said, It is sort of a reality to embrace  you are going to feel stupid sometimes. You are going to feel on the outs with the technical stuff. Still another significant other recalled a dinner with friends this way: They are sitting there talking about this doctor, this rotation, this one they had to do an LP on, but the CT was showing this. Like, I have no idea what is happening, and I cannot contribute at all. These conversations isolate all non-medical students and force them to either sit quietly or ask, sometimes over and over, What does that mean? What are you talking about?

When you encounter medical conversations, try to remember that not understanding medical jargon does not indicate a lack of intelligence. If you sat in a room with French speakers and do not speak French, you would be just as confused. Second, remember that everything they say they learned recently, perhaps even yesterday. Medical students do not inherently understand this stuff. If they did, they would probably not have to study for so many hours.

You will frequently be put in the position of deciding whether to say something while you sit at a table full of medical students. On the one hand, it is fair to expect a group of people sharing one course of study to discuss it. On the other hand, I believe that those professions with jargon (be it technical jargon, business jargon, legal jargon, or scientific jargon) must be aware of their audience and the fact that some will not understand the words they use. The issue of yucky stuff will also arise in social situations involving multiple medical students. I cannot tell you how many times I have stopped a conversation in its tracks because somebody was telling a disgusting story.

So what can you do if you find yourself frequently addressing incessant medical conversation, too much jargon, and yucky stuff? First, have a conversation with your partner before the next gathering. Explain your feelings of isolation and frustration. As always, make it about how you feel, not what they say. Tell them how much you want to be a part of their social circle and that you would appreciate their help steering the conversation away from technical medical talk and intervening when that does not work. When you are with the group and find the conversation straying too often to unfamiliar, graphic, or technical conversations, ask a question that nudges the conversation in another direction. If subtlety fails, you may have to ask the group, or have your partner ask the group, to change the subject. If a yucky stuff topic comes up that makes you uncomfortable, explain to the group how you feel and turn to your partner for support. Be warned: you may not be taken seriously the first time. They may laugh at you and keep talking. Your next tactic would be to request that they save the story until you are not present or tell the story out of earshot. In the case of yucky stuff, often people genuinely do not realize other peoples boundaries. Still others use those stories to sound impressive, to watch you squirm, or to break you in. If these tactics do not work, you may decide not to spend time with this social group and find other ways to bond with your partner.

Sarah Epstein is author of the upcoming book, Love in the time of medical school: Build a happy, healthy relationship with a medical student, and blogs at DatingMed.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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Does physician leadership matter? asks cardiologist and author Dr. Sandeep Jauhar in his New York Times opinion piece Shouldnt Doctors Control Hospital Care? He opens his piece with the termination of the elected leaders of the medical staff office at the Tulare Regional Medical Center due to poor performance. He answers his rhetorical question with the obvious and simple response that doctors should control hospital care. Though he cites physician-led and well-respected health care organizations, like the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic, his conclusion begs a different question. In the past, doctors were in control of hospital care, so why the shift to businesspeople running hospitals?

The issue lies in the false dichotomy Jauhar and others often create by asking whether physicians or businesspeople should ultimately be responsible for hospital care. A complete answer would be the importance of physicians leaders embracing both medical and business perspectives.

Physicians leading alone are not enough

Today, it takes more than a medical degree to lead a health care organization. Physician leaders must embrace the new expectations of doctors, patients, and purchasers. Insurers, regulators, and employers demand more transparency on quality outcomes, preventive testing and screening rates, as well as costs of tests and procedures. Data needed to be collected, analyzed and reported. Process improvement plans need to be implemented to close care gaps. Patients, who decades ago would have died or survived surgery, now recover but are more complex with more co-morbidities and illnesses. The clinical care needed requires a multidisciplinary team-oriented and systematic approach. With all of these demands, doctors and staff are facing epic levels of caregiver burnout and stress.

Is it possible that physician leaders delegated these challenges, reporting, process improvement and management tasks to businesspeople? Doctors went to medical school to be clinicians and care for patients. Even today, medical school education is essentially unchanged from decades ago. Few schools offer the business training and mindset needed to enter this new era of higher expectations of improved access, better quality at lower cost with increasing levels of physician and staff disengagement. Is it possible that since few physicians had an interest, desire or training in these areas that businesspeople consolidated more power?

The type of physician leader matters

But businesspeople dont understand medical care any more than physicians understand the science and discipline of business. Often both camps dont respect enough the others unique language, perspective, and focus to solve the common issues. This has to change. Despite caricatures in health care, there are mission-driven charitable businesspeople and greedy, unethical doctors.

Many great clinicians dont aspire to become physician leaders. Yet, partnering and helping businesspeople understand our challenges, embracing the science, perspective, and discipline of business to solve problems  and overcoming these biases and obstacles  are the keys to success for organizations like the Mayo Clinic, which Jauhar highlights for excellence. Doctors at Mayo Clinic are expected to take on leadership responsibilities during their time there, work collaboratively with businesspeople and still be practicing clinicians. As noted in Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic: Inside One of the Worlds Most Admired Service Organizations,   physicians must distinguish themselves in their specialties before assuming leadership roles [leaders] are asked by their peers to make a sacrifice for the good of the Clinic. By taking on these roles, most of these leaders confess they have a sense of loss as a result [of sacrificing at least a part of the clinical and academic careers they have already established. However, these chosen reluctant leaders are precisely the ones needed to make Mayo so successful. The organizational culture at Mayo is such that if physicians appear conspicuously ambitious for high positions in leadership, their chance of rejection is high. In addition, physician leaders are supported by administrators who also must be team players and who are willing to join the Clinic even though the top positions all go to persons with the title of MD.

A study at Mayo found that behaviors of physician supervisors have a direct impact on the personal well-being of the physicians they lead, but that physicians often receive little training in how to be an effective leader and that new strategies are needed to identify potential physician leaders and better prepare them to lead.

It is clear that at Mayo that physicians are in charge. Those who lead are doing so for the greater good of the entire organization with the strong support of businesspeople.

Physician leaders need to ask the difficult questions to make care better

A recent article in STAT, Not even the mattress pads were spared: An inside look at a Brigham and Womens Hospitals struggle to cut costs, highlights the skills needed for physicians leading hospitals. It is about trust and understanding the needs of doctors and staff.

When CEO Dr. Ron Walls faced a shortfall of tens of millions of dollars, his team reviewed expensive assets like ORs and MRIs to see if they were being used effectively.

Though surgeons were seen as the key power center of the hospital and OR schedules were considered so sacrosanct that hours are written into employment contracts, Walls and his team wondered if they could improve on the OR utilization which ran in the low 70 percent range. This meant that a significant number of OR times were staffed and available, but unused because cases were not scheduled. To maximize OR access and with the support of Brighams chair of surgery, individual surgeons agreed to give up unused reserved block time ten days in advance for other surgeons to use. In return, they were guaranteed that they would also have access to the OR at the last minute. This change required a level of trust that comes only from physicians leading physicians.

A couple of months later, ORs were running at 85 percent capacity. The number of surgical cases increased, patient access to the OR improved, and the hospital closed its financial gap.

Future is bright if doctors lead

At the recent Permanente Executive Leadership Summit, senior physician leaders of all the Kaiser Permanente regions affirmed their commitment to the following:

We are here to make a difference in peoples lives.

To practice what we believe, and to fulfill the promise of medicine.

To serve, to heal, to do right by our patients, and to bring compassion, dignity, and humanity to health care.

Jauhar was partially right. If physicians wish to maintain our autonomy and professionalism, then we must embrace the importance and role of physician leaders. Physicians must lead and control hospital care. However, they will need to embrace the duality of both the science and discipline of business and medicine if they are to be successful. Like the physician leaders of Mayo and Permanente, this is an added burden, responsibility and sacrifice past and current physicians werent necessarily trained or expected to do. Yet, no one else is better suited to make the changes needed to make care better, more affordable, accessible and improve professional satisfaction than physician leaders.

Davis Liu is a family physician and head of service development, Lemonaid Health. He is the author of The Thrifty Patient  Vital Insider Tips for Saving Money and Staying Healthy and Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely. He can be reached at his self-titled site, Davis Liu, MD, and on Twitter @DavisLiuMD.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Paul Little reports at the Herald an interview with Green MP Golriz Ghahraman:

In 2008 Id been working in New Zealand as a junior barrister for two and a half years. The next logical step would have been to go out on my own, but I got accepted to do a masters degree at Oxford. While I was waiting to fly to England, I met a defence lawyer working for the Rwanda Tribunal. He said: You should come over, we need a lawyer at the coalface. Id gone into law in the first place to do human rights law. I spent about three months as an intern then went to The Hague on a consultancy at the Yugoslavia Tribunal, then was offered a job as a lawyer for the Rwanda Tribunal.

So she was recruited by a defence lawyer at the Rwanda Tribunal? So did she prosecute the genociders or defend them?

And even with the UN, defence lawyers didnt have as many resources as the other side. To me its important to have that fair process. No matter how guilty someone looks, guilt needs to be established. But the defence team didnt get paper for the photocopiers  it was like even the UN didnt really believe in it. From back here, having worked in court, I know the defence gets about half the resources of the prosecution. Thats really frightening  theres definitely demographics involved.

So she wasnt prosecuting the war criminals in Rwanda, but defending them. And complains the UN didnt give them enough resources to defend them better! The total cost of the trials was in fact around $1 billion!

Now I had no idea before reading this article that her work in Rwanda was defending the war criminals, not prosecuting them. I doubt anyone else knew either. Lets look at what her Green Party CV says:

Her studies at Oxford, and work as a lawyer for the United Nations and in New Zealand, have focused on enforcing human rights and holding governments to account. Golriz has lived and worked in Africa, The Hague and Cambodia putting on trial world leaders for abusing their power, and restoring communities after war and human rights atrocities, particularly empowering women engaged in peace and justice initiatives.

Now 99% of people who read that would think she was working at prosecuting the abusers, not defending them.

Look at this Guardian article from a few weeks ago:

It was in this South Pacific melting pot, says Ghahraman, that she acquired the confidence to study human rights law at Oxford University, and, later, to stand up in court representing the UN in tribunals prosecuting some of the worlds worst war criminals, including perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide.

Now again 99% of people reading this would assume she was prosecuting in Rwanda. But she was actually defending the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide.

Former Labour staffer Phil Quin has actually worked in Rwanda with the survivors of the genocide there. He is highly unimpressed:

Everyone deserves a defense, but please dont preen as a human rights advocates when you dedicated a year to keeping these killers from justice. And defense underfunded?? Dont make me laugh. ICTR spent 500m defending these guys.  Phil Quin (@philquin) November 26, 2017

There is nothing wrong with being a defence lawyer  even for war criminals. As Quin, says everyone is entitled to a defence. A great mate of mine is a defence lawyer. But the issue here is the way the Greens have selectively published material that makes it looks like she was prosecuting, not defending.

She did later go on to prosecute in Cambodia, and again there is nothing wrong with having started as a defence lawyer so you could gain experience to become a prosecutor. But this is not the story that we were told.

Also she was not assigned as a lawyer to defend the Rwanda war criminals. She was a volunteer as Quin again highlights:

Critical point. She did so not as part of an official legal team, but as a VOLUNTEER. Of all the ways to save the world, she chose to send killers back to the villages where their victims families are trying to rebuild their lives.  Phil Quin (@philquin) November 26, 2017

Quin also highlights one of the persons she defended was Joseph Nziorera.

Hook, line and sinker. Shes a straightforward genocide denier. Goodbye, hope you enjoyed your few weeks in Parliament. Im sure some Assad henchmen could do with your help. . #Rwanda pic.twitter.com/LhNgume3xo  Phil Quin (@philquin) November 26, 2017

Nzirorera was considered one of the main initiators of the Rwandan genocide.

Now again a legal system needs prosecutors and defenders. The issue for me isnt that she worked as a defence lawyer for war criminals, but that all the promotional material to date has given the impression she was prosecuting in Rwanda, not defending. Sure if you look all the way down the Linked In profile, you see the details. So it isnt that she personally has made a false statement about her work. It is that the narrative built around her has been incomplete and misleading. The Guardian article is a great example of that  makes you think she was a prosecutor in Rwanda. The Greens website states her work in Africa was putting on trial world leaders  highly misleading.

Her own maiden speech glosses over her work in Rwanda:

It was living in Africa working on genocide trials where I then learned how prejudice turns to atrocity. Politicians scapegoating groups, as a group, for any social ills, dehumanising language in the media, used for political gain-

Every time I see that I think: Thats how is how it starts. I saw that at the Rwanda Tribunal, at The Hague and when I prosecuted the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

Very clever. It doesnt state she prosecuted in Rwanda but you clearly gain that impression as she lumps it in with prosecuting in Cambodia.

Now imagine this isnt a Green MP. Imagine this is a National MP who had defended war criminals and genociders in Rwanda. Do you think Labour and Green MPs would say Well someone has to do it, and it was good work experience, so thats fine. Or would they be condemning them at every turn?

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Government support needed for necessary services

Be careful what you wish for!

Your wishes have come true if you have ever told your legislator that you want less government or if you have voted for a legislator that supports less government.

Less government looks like closed state offices, delay in processing claims and paper work, difficulty in getting services, bad roads, poorly administered wildlife, crumbling bridges, no help for the low income, outlandish tuition, no food for the hungry, and no responses to your questions because state employees were furloughed or laid off. Less government means less access to public services.

The problem is simple  you get what you pay for. If the public is not willing to pay for services and programs that we need, we simply wont have those services and programs. If you elect legislators that wont fund services, you wont have those services.

If you want access to a state office in your county; if you want social services for those of us that need some help; if you want all our children fed, warm, and educated; if you want to get a person on the phone when you need help; if you want the Montana lifestyle that we love, then dont support less government.

-- Valerie Clague, Helena
Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev delivers a keynote speech during the Korea-Uzbekistan Business Forum at the Shilla Hotel in central Seoul, Thursday, to encourage Korean companies' investment in his country. / Yonhap



The Embassy of Uzbekistan contributed the below article on the occasion of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's visit to Korea.  ED.



Today South Korea is one of the largest investment partners of Uzbekistan. Over the years of cooperation the total volume of the declared Korean investments into economy of Uzbekistan has exceeded $7 billion.



Currently in Uzbekistan there are representative offices of 79 South Korean firms and companies and 449 joint ventures, including 71 with 100 percent Korean capital. The sphere of activity of the enterprises covers such directions as the light, mining and metallurgical, chemical, food-processing industries, mechanical engineering and metal working, health care, tourism and services.



In Uzbekistan the leading South Korean companies such as KOGAS, Lotte Group, KNOC, POSCO Daewoo, Korean Air, Youngone Corp., Hyundai E&C, Samsung E&C, GS E&C, Shindong Resources, Shindong Enercom and others have been successfully operating for an extended period of time.



Uzbekistan's interest in investment cooperation with the Korean side, first and foremost, is stipulated by its desire of bringing into the country modern technologies, advanced practices and methods of management and quality standards, rather than attracting just financial resources.



In this direction important tasks are: firstly, inviting Korean companies to the process of the implementation of programs of modernization, technical and technological rearmament of key branches of the economy and infrastructure; secondly, creation of export-oriented productions of modern consumer goods.



Thanks to cooperation with South Korea, Uzbekistan has mastered production of goods with high value added using most advanced technologies and joined the elite group of car-manufacturing countries.



In its turn, the presence of South Korean business in Uzbekistan opens for them a myriad of opportunities thanks to the following major factors.



Firstly, Uzbekistan holds an advantageous position among other countries of the region regarding indicators of the stability, cost of the main energy resources and existence of necessary raw materials and a qualified and highly competitive workforce.



Secondly, creation of production in Uzbekistan not only provides entry into the market of Central Asia with a population of 60 million people, but also the CIS countries of the aggregate population of 300 million people with which Uzbekistan has bilateral free trade agreements. Huge consumer markets of China and India are also located in close proximity to the country.



Today with active participation of Korean business, in Uzbekistan a number of strategically important projects are being carried out in the following main directions:



Petro-chemistry: In cooperation with a consortium of Korean companies the construction of the Ustyurt Gas Chemical Complex on the basis of the Field Surgil, worth $ 4 billion, has been successfully implemented. It has become not just a symbol of Uzbek-Korean investment collaboration but also gave it a new impetus. In 2012 this project was recognized as the best one in the sphere of the oil and gas industry by a reputed international publication, the Project Finance International.



Korean companies also participate in implemention of construction projects of the 900 MW Talimardzhan Thermal Power Plant, and other large-scale petrochemical projects (construction of plant on production of synthetic liquid fuel).










Former U.S. Energy Secretary and Nobel Prize winner Steven Chu speaks during an academic conference at the KAIST in Daejeon, Thursday / Yonhap
As the government gears up to launch its promised mental health inquiry to stem climbing numbers of suicides, a Maungaturoto health activist is urging more attention be paid to depressed mothers.

Spokesperson for Maternal Care Action Group Kristina Paterson says women suffering untreated depression and anxiety during pregnancy and in the first three years of their childs life are more likely to raise a child who will suffer mental and behavioural problems later in life, and who is more likely to become suicidal.

Although still taking care of their babys physical needs, depressed mothers can struggle to respond to their childs emotional needs, for example, by having unhappy facial expressions or exhibiting anxiety when their child is distressed.

Those formative years are incredibly important and usually set a child up for the rest of their life, Kristina says.

She says early intervention through the successful treatment of maternal depression is far easier than dealing with more complex mental problems later when their children grow up.

Despite this, successive governments have neglected maternal mental health, leading to a dramatic increase in mental health problems overall and putting enormous strain on mental health services.

We can prevent being in such a crisis and having such a high demand on services if we can address things earlier, Kristina says.

Specifically, Maternal Care Action will be pressing the government for more training for midwives around the issue of perinatal depression and training to enhance midwives ability to screen mothers for such depression.

They will seek more spending on early intervention services for depressed mothers and more spending on counselling services for mothers who may be suffering depression,but whose symptoms do not currently meet the criteria for state support.

Kristina says one in eight mothers in New Zealand experience antenatal depression and one in five postnatal depression  about 11,000 mums each year.

Even though suicide is the leading cause of maternal deaths in New Zealand, we have a low rate of screening for depression, Kristina says.

Health Minister David Clark has begun discussions regarding setting up its mental health inquiry, which is on the governments agenda for its first 100 days in office. During the election, Labour vowed to resolve New Zealands mental health crisis, a policy that survived coalition talks.

Kristina hopes Maternal Care Action will form part of an inquiry advisory panel particularly in relation to suicide prevention.
Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ) has thrown $1.66 million at its 2017/18 drowning prevention investment funding round, in an attempt to lower the death toll.

Last year, there were 78 preventable fatalities from drowning and related hospitalisations are on the rise.

The funding is up 8 per cent from last years round and WSNZ chief executive Jonty Mills sees huge value in this.

The water safety sector is predominantly non-government funded and supported by volunteers, Mr Mills says.

Any additional funding is a lifeline providing vital education to the most vulnerable.

The funds are distributed across 38 recipients, including Plunket, Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Sport Northland.

$1.19 million will be spent specifically on delivering the water skills for life programme for those aged 5 to 13.

New Zealand is currently at the upper end of the scale for deaths by drowning out of OECD countries, with 86 per cent of those fatalities being males.

Mr Mills says with a growing population and many unpatrolled coastal areas, water safety education has become increasingly important.
People with a higher-than-average intelligence level have brains that are wired in a different way, researchers say. A new study suggests that intelligence is linked with increased connectivity between some regions, and reduced interaction between others.

Share on Pinterest New research shows that intelligent people have different brain connectivity patterns.

Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany have been giving a lot of thought to how the brains of intelligent people function.

In previous studies, Kirsten Hilger, Christian Fiebach, and Ulrike Basten  all from Goethe University Frankfurts Department of Psychology  have revealed that there are key differences in brain activation patterns that set intelligent people apart.

In 2015, this team published an article showing that the frontal and parietal regions of the brain are more strongly activated in people with a high IQ.

A more recent study, whose findings were reported earlier this year, added that the brains anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex are more actively connected with other regions in the case of intelligent individuals.

At the same time, the researchers noted that high IQ is also associated with a reduced connectivity in the temporoparietal junction, where  as the name suggests  the temporal and parietal lobes connect.

The different topological embedding of these regions into the brain network could make it easier for smarter persons to differentiate between important and irrelevant information  which would be advantageous for many cognitive challenges, suggests Basten.

Intrigued by these findings, Hilger and colleagues went further, setting out to explore how patterns of activation and integration in the brain correlate with a higher level of intelligence.
This week, the four contestants who are up for elimination are - Priyank Sharma, Sapna Chaudhary, Hina Khan and Shilpa Shinde. Well, all these contestants have a huge fan following so it was difficult to guess who will be thrown out of the house.

But a source has revealed to MensXP that Sapna Chaudhary is the one who will be leaving the Bigg Boss house tonight. It might come as a surprise to many but Sapna is out of the house. Many expected it to be Priyank but Sapna is eliminated, the source said.

(c) Colors

Seems like Sapna wasn't entertaining the viewers enough this week. Many might be surprised at this eviction, but for a while, Sapna has been creating issues and picking up fights with everyone for no reasons at all. Instead of playing smart she seems to get influenced by the contestants who claim to be her friends and we can see the results clearly.

The girl who rules the hearts of thousands in Haryana, pretty well managed to make us her fan as well. This decision of the awaam might surprise many, but somehow it was expected.

Every recent action of hers including the petty fights seems utterly pointless. She even managed to get into a fight with Hiten, who seems to stay away from problems as long as he can. We just wonder why did she do that?

(c) Colors

The problem started since the time she got influenced by Priyank and brought up Arshi's Goa-Pune scandal. And later, even slut-shamed her which was unnecessary knowing Arshi's way of playing. Even Salman Khan mentioned how inappropriate it was for her to bring someone's personal matter on national television and talk about it. We wish she could have gotten the hint then and there!

Many also thought that it was finally Priyank's turn to be out of the house this time. But lucks seem to be working in favour of him and Sapna is the chosen one. We are sure this is going to come as shock to her ardent fans.

(c) Colors

Hina Khan is definitely in for a surprise, after all her new friend is leaving the house. Time for Hina to find a 'new' friend once again!

Let us know what you think about this elimination. Do you think Sapna is the right person to be eliminated?
With a travel itinerary swinging between Tokyo, New York and Mumbai  Sahil Nanda obviously witnesses exquisite sights every day. Hence, owing to his forte of travelling across the sea (more often than usual), we're hardly surprised that he's always impeccably groomed (albeit with his dope hair colour). He's a global citizen of sorts and that's quite evident. That said, his beard in particular has always tickled our bones. It's like a Wildman mug, but just not as wild, yet, so well-contoured to align itself with some of the best of them. Long story, cut shorter: it's thick, nowhere close to messy, but nothing that'll pass off as craggily groomed. Clearly, only a miracle would have helped him achieve this feat.

So, today, for '30 Days, 30 Beards', sneakerhead Sahil breaks down his miraculous triumph for us.

MensXP, Wardrobe Partner: Park Avenue

How has growing a beard changed your life?

You know, getting random compliments from strangers is a welcome change!

What made you grow it in the first place?

Can I call it a professional decision? I began growing my beard when I kick-started my business, only because, since I looked very young, people just refused to take me seriously. But that was just the start. Over time, I've started to grow it because of the amount of maturity it offers and the fact that it even makes my hairstyle look better.

Do women dig the beard or clean shaven men?

The beard, without a doubt. There's a meteoric change in their behaviour when I have the beard vs when I don't.

Ever thought of a name for your beard?

Warden Freeman! I've actually thought this through.

MensXP, Wardrobe Partner: Park Avenue

Razor or trimmer? And how often

Well, a trimmer, once a week. We're still talking beards right?

Beards need care. What's your regime like?

Call this a religious practice, but I use a beard shampoo and conditioner every single day.

Ever tried beard oils, shampoos, conditioners etc?

Of course, I use the Beer Beard Shampoo by Manufaktura.

Your best and worst beard phase?

My best: right now  tapered on the sides, fully blown around the chin. Worst: the rough beard phase, right before it's reaching it's biggest high.

MensXP, Wardrobe Partner: Park Avenue

The razor/trimmer you're using right now?

Braun's MGK 3080 trimmer, I style my hair as well as the beard with it.

According to you, the most iconic celebrity beard in the world?

T from Rocky or Jack Gyllenhaal!

And the worst...

Paul Rudd.

What's your next big beard move?

A clean shave!

--

Sahil wears a checked blazer, neo-fit trousers, sunglasses; all from Park Avenue.

Photography: Anubhav Sood

Creative Direction: Santu Misra

Styling: Siddharth Batra

Grooming: Shallu Chandla

Location: The Jug Mug Thella

Production: Anand Pratap Singh

Wardrobe Partner: Park Avenue
26.11.2017 LISTEN

Ms Fameye Esuande Ashun, the Headmistress of Yaa Asantewaah Girls Senior High School, has commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his relentless efforts at bringing the Free Senior High School Policy into fruition.

At a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meeting of the School at Abuakwa near Kumasi, she said as long as government had absorbed almost every payable fee for first-year students and providing free lunch for continuing students, the onus was on parents to provide the basic learning needs of their wards such as calculators and text books.

Ms Ashun said for the Free SHS Policy to be successful, both the Government and parents must fulfil their responsibilities and urged the students to take their studies seriously.

She advised parents against giving mobile phones to their wards to school adding that the Management of the School considered the use of mobile phones in school as an offence.

Ms Eshun advised parents to use available channels provided by the school to address all grievances and avoid using radio stations and the press to address their concerns.

Touching on the PTA 400-capacity dormitory project, she said progress of work was slow because of financial constraints and urged parents to honour their pledges to enable the project committee to finish the work on time.

The Headmistress expressed gratitude to parents who had earlier redeemed their pledges and made donations towards the project, especially the Old Girls Association of the School.

GNA

By Eric K. Amoh, GNA
A Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compound and nurses quarters have been inaugurated at Asafora to serve more than 13 deprived rural communities in the Mfantsiman Municipality of the Central Region.

The project, built at the cost of 77,218 dollars, was jointly funded by the Japanese Government, the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly and The Hunger Project (THP), a Non-governmental Organisation, which was also the implementing partner.

The Asafora Community provided land and communal labour together with the beneficiary communities including Fomena, Gyakoma, Waakrom, Egyirfa, Nsaano and Amissakrom.

It formed part of initiatives geared towards providing the more than 5,000 inhabitants with prompt and accessible quality healthcare delivery.

It has a Clinic, an Out Patients Department (OPD), a Delivery Room, Pharmacy, Maternity and Family Planning Unit and a four-bedroom apartment for the three nurses and one midwife.

The centre also took delivery of quantities of delivery-beds, delivery sets, vaccines refrigerator, Kick buckets and other medical consumables.

Addressing a durbar of chiefs and people to commission the facility, Mr Karoru Yoshimura, the Japan Embassador to Ghana, praised the people of Ghana and Japan for maintaining 60 years of strong bilateral relations to, among other things, boost trade and investments.

He commended all the partners for working hard to ensure the vision of bringing health care to the door-steps of the people materialises.

He pledged the continued support of the Japanese Government to strengthening trade and investment to deepen the economic ties between the two countries.

Mr Samuel Afranie, the Country Director of The Hunger Project-Ghana, said the inauguration of the centre would help end the situation where the sick in the predominantly remote farming communities had to travel long distances to seek medical treatment.

The NGO, he noted, was committed to providing key social interventions in deprived communities to raise the living standards of the people and encouraged them, particularly pregnant women, to patronise the facility to prevent maternal deaths.

Mr Afranie pledged to work together with the Health Ministry to adequately equip the CHPS Compound for efficient combating of common health problems such as malaria, worm infestation, skin diseases, diarrhea, cough and urinary tract infections.

He thanked the Ghana Health Service for posting nurses and a midwife to help take care of pregnant and nursing mothers to reduce infant and maternal mortality.

Mr Kenneth Kelly Essuman, the Municipal Chief Executive, expressed the Assembly's commitment to ensuring regular maintenance of the building.

He commended Hunger Project-Ghana and other collaborators for the immense impact they continued to make on the lives of the people and urged organisations seeking to implement development projects to contact the Assembly.

Mrs Georgina Graham-Hayfron, the Municipal Director of Health Services, said she was excited that the project had been successfully completed and assured of professional services from the health personnel.

She gave the assurance that the facility would render a 24-hour health service to the people within the community and its surrounding towns.

GNA
26.11.2017 LISTEN

The Centre for Democratic Transitions-Ghana (CDT-Ghana) has expressed satisfaction with the Zimbabwe Presidential Succession.

The Centre congratulated all stakeholders in the process for ensuring a peaceful succession without violence or bloodshed.

A statement signed by Nana Ato Dadzie, the Executive Coordinator of the CDT-Ghana, and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Friday, said a lesson from the resolution of the Zimbabwean Presidential Succession saga was that the people themselves took the primary responsibility to resolve the problem.

'Another lesson is that every country must prepare for transition,' the statement said.

'Now that the issue of the Zimbabwean Presidential Succession is resolved; the real challenge of the political transition begins,' it said.

The statement said the CDT-Ghana has begun a process of identifying formal and informal means of assisting the Government and people of Zimbabwe in resolving the political transition issues that would definitely arise.

This, it said, would undoubtedly involve a healing process within ZANU-PF; reconciliation between ZANU-PF and the opposition political parties and accession of the new political appointees to office.

'It also involve capacity-building and training of the new political office-holders; the transfer of official assets and properties from the previous political office-holders to the incoming office-holders; and preparations towards the 2018 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.'

The statement said the CDT-GH would work with relevant Continental, Regional and Zimbabwean National bodies to ensure that those and other related matters were resolved in a peaceful and constitutional manner as the Presidential Succession was handled. It called for massive international, moral, and economic support for the new democratic path chosen by the people of Zimbabwe and congratulated the Government and people for the great political feat.
The Agona Swedru Circuit Court has remanded a 33-year old taxi driver in prison custody for his involvement in armed robbery in the Effutu Municipality and its surrounding communities.

The Court did not take the plea of Godwin Ameka, alias Kobbie, a native of Peki and resident of Old Fadama in Accra, and he will re-appear before it on 27th November, 2017.

Narrating the fact of the case to the Court, presided over by Justice Michael C. Ntumy, Prosecution Chief Inspector Isaac Amon said the wittiness is a worker at a filling station on the Apam Winneba Road.

He said on 25th September 2017, at about 1830 hours, the complainant saw two people emerging from a faulty car parked near the Filling Station.

He said the accused person was later joined by two other persons holding guns and on reaching the station ordered a lady attendant, who was on duty, to surrender all valuable items including mobile phones and monies, which she refused.

Chief Inspector Amon said in the process the attendant managed to escape, adding that the wittiness, also a worker at the station, saw all that went on and came out to assist his colleague, but was apprehend by Ameka and his accomplices.

Prosecution said the witness was marched to the station mart and ordered to open the safe, which he did, and was later marched to his office where Ameka took 80 Ghana cedis from him.

Chief Inspector Amon said after the operation, Ameka and his accomplices high-jacked a Daewoo Taxi with registration Number C/R 016-14 and speed off towards Kasoa.

He said the robbers, after Winneba Junction, attacked an Atos Taxi with registration number GX 5262-17, with passengers on board, and rubbed them of their belongings including four mobile phones valued at 1,650.00 and cash of 1,059.00.

They abandoned the Daewoo Taxi and speed off with the Atos Taxi towards Kasoa, but on reaching Kasoa they abandoned the Atos Taxi and absconded, prosecution said.

The prosecution said Ameka was later arrested in Accra for his involvement in similar robbery case and he was brought to Winneba.

On 23rd October 2017, an identification parade was held at the Winneba Police Station and Ameka was identified by victims he robbed and was re-arrested.

After investigations he was arranged before the Court and charged with the offence.

GNA
26.11.2017 LISTEN

Mr. Kwaku Kwarteng, the Deputy Minister of Finance, says the broad agenda for 2018 and the medium term is to create jobs leading to prosperity and equal opportunities for all Ghanaians.

He said the unemployment situation in the country was a security threat that needed robust measures to address and that was why the 2018 Budget was tailored to meet the needs of the citizenry, but more importantly, to create the enabling environment for jobs to thrive.

'We believe that 2018 holds a lot of prospects for every Ghanaian, hence our introduction of specific policy initiatives to create jobs in 2018 and the medium term,' he said.

Mr Kwarteng said this at the opening of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Information and the Information Services Department (ISD) 2018 Budget Training Workshop for information officers in Accra on Saturday.

The two-day workshop brought together information officers from all the 10 regions to be trained, deliberate, share and exchange ideas on the budget and how to disseminate the acquired information to the citizenry at the various levels.

The workshop, on the theme: 'Putting Ghana Back to Work,' is also a part of the Government's efforts at revamping the ISD.

In a speech read on behalf of the Finance Minister, Mr Kwarteng noted that two initiatives would be used to create jobs in 2018 and the medium term.

'The two are the Nation's Builders Corps and the Akufo-Addo Plan for Economic Transformation,' he said.

The Deputy Minister said those were well thought out programmes that would address the national security risk posed by the growing graduate unemployment, especially through the Nation's Builders Corps (NBCs).

Mr Kwarteng said the NBC would have the goals of improving service delivery, skills and employability as well as improving government's revenue mobilisation through the employment of unemployed graduates and would hire 100,000 graduates with an average of 462 graduates per district.

He, therefore, mentioned graduate teachers in Teach Ghana, sanitation inspectors in Clean Ghana, trained nurses and other healthcare workers in Heal Ghana, trained agricultural extension and other allied workers in Feed Ghana and tertiary graduates in a Revenue Ghana as some of the programmes the NBCs would be focusing on.

He said: 'The NBCs will not over burden the wage bill, indeed our wage to GDP ratio is high, however, we have made adequate provisions in the budget for the programme to be sustainable.'

On the Akufo-Addo Plan for Economic Transformation (AAPET), the Deputy Minister said it would open up key food basket zones through road construction and irrigation projects, as well the ramping up of investments under the Planting for Food and Jobs Policy and the launching of major pension schemes for cocoa farmers among others.

Mr Kwarteng indicated that the policy initiatives were not the only programmes that would create jobs but a lot of other programmes would also do so adding; 'Municipal and district assemblies developmental programmes will also create more jobs.'

He commended the ISD for the effective dissemination of the 2017 Budget.

Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Deputy Minister of Information, said the programme was a coordinated approach where participants would have a detailed understanding of the 2018 Budget and enhance their works in their various sectors.

'It is our hope that today and tomorrow all of us will get a deeper understanding of what the 2018 Budget holds for the country,' he said.

He encouraged Ministries, Departments and Agencies to collaborate with ISD for government programmes to be available to the citizenry in the various regions and communities they represented.

Mr Nkrumah advised the participants to be empowered through the training and step out boldly towards the sensitisation of the citizenry on the 2018 Budget.

He lauded the Ministry of Finance for the availability of resources for the broad engagement of the information officers, and urged it to increase the allocation in subsequent budgets.

The Overview of 2017 Macro and Outlook for 2018, Tax Policy and Policy Initiatives were among the topics discussed at the workshop.

GNA

By Elsie Appiah-Osei, GNA
The Zonta Club of Accra, a member of Zonta International, a global organisation of executives and professionals, has organised a health walk and fundraising to begin the 16-Days of Activism Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence.

The walk and fundraising was supported by the three other Zonta International clubs in the country.

The 16-Days Activism is an International Calendar Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence, which is held every year on November 25 to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and ends on December 10, which marks the International Human Rights Day.

It emphasises that gender-based violence, in any form, is a human rights violation, which is unacceptable.

The Campaign contributes to a world free from gender-based violence, especially for women and girls, including other vulnerable groups such as the aged, persons living with disability and orphaned children.

The 16-Days would be for awareness-creation activities comprising advocacy, generating public support to effectively prevent and address gender-based violence in education, health and the job market among others.

Mrs Janet Aba Tamaklo, the President of Zonta Club, Accra, said since the 1970s the club had been working with its mother organisation to advance the status of women worldwide through service and advocacy.

She said violence against women was a worldwide pandemic, which crossed every social and economic class, religion, race and ethnicity and that one out of every three women worldwide had experienced violence during their lifetime.

'We in Zonta International cannot accept this; we need to use all our energy to eradicate violence against women and girls locally and internationally through service and advocacy.'

Mrs Tamaklo said violence against women occurred in many aspects of life namely; the home, in work places, in open spaces, as human trafficking, as female genital mutilation, early child marriage and childbearing.

She said the Zonta Club of Accra deplored the rampant defilement of vulnerable children and the attitude of certain opinion leaders in the communities where the practices were on the increase.

She said the recent incident of defilement in the Adadeintem Community near Assin Fosu in the Assin South District of the Central Region brings into sharp focus the attitude towards this heinous sexual crime that had to be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

Mrs Tamaklo said: 'Zonta views with concern this blatant disregard for human rights of victims of these sexual misconducts that traumatise the victims and may scar for life.'

She commended the health professionals who provide care to victims of illegal sexual misconduct and expressed regret about the lackadaisical approach by the law enforcement agencies towards perpetrators of these offences.

She appealed to the Department of Social Welfare to be more responsive to victims of sexual violence.

Madam Anne-Marie French Cudjoe, the Governor of Zonta International District 18, said data from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service showed an overall increase in reported cases between 2010 and 2013.

'In 2010, a total of 9,878 cases were recorded as against 14,224 in 2013, a rise of 30.5 per cent,' she said.

Zonta International District 18 comprises countries from West and East Africa including Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Rwanda.

Madam Cudjoe mentioned unequal distribution of power, opportunities, and resources between men and women, poverty and illiteracy, polygamy and the attendant competition and rivalry among spouses, inadequate policy implementation and enforcement of existing laws, authoritarian parenting and low status of women as some of the causes of Gender-Based Violence.

She said the effects of such violence included fear and insecurity, maternal morbidity and mortality, abortions, transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, severe injury and suicide due to stigmatisation.

Madam Cudjoe recommended that the Government must include Gender-Based Violence into school curricula, disseminate the Domestic Violence Act and related legislations to the grassroots to facilitate local response and train court prosecutors and DOVVSU staff on the Law.

She also recommended improvement in the education of women and girls, and prioritisation of efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls at all levels of the administrative set-up of the country.

The Zonta Club of Accra was established in 1970 while Zonta International was established in 1919.

On Friday, Madam Otiko Afisa Djaba, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, launched activities of the 16-Days of Activism Campaign, which includes a National Durbar to be held at Assin Fosu in the Central Region and a debate between St Thomas Aquinas and Labone Senior High schools.

Other activities are Radio and Television Talk shows, Health Education and Screening, and Stakeholder Consultations on the Draft Ghana Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability.

GNA

By Amadu Kamil Sanah, GNA
The HFC Bank has supported the University of Ghana (UG) to launch the redesigning and soft landscaping of the J.B Danquah Avenue as part of the Vice Chancellor's Green Project.

Dr Benjamin D. Ofori, the Co-chair of the Vice Chancellor's Green Project, said it was to make the University cleaner and beautiful.

He said in October, this year, the UG and the HFC Bank Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding to engage themselves for a mutual benefit towards making the environment more healthy and welcoming.

Dr ofori said the project, which starts from the main gate of the University to the Akuafo Hall Round About, was sponsored by the HFC Bank and would be executed by Next Era Infrastructure Limited.

He said: 'Works are expected to be completed in six months and we appeal to the University Community to bear with us, as traffic is redirected when necessary.'

Mr Anthony Jordan, the Managing Director of HFC Bank Limited, said the sponsorship of the redesigning and soft landscaping of the J.B Danquah Avenue formed part of the Bank's Corporate Social Responsibility.

'I am impressed about the level of importance the leadership of the University has attached to the greening and the beatification of the University,' he said.

He said the beatification project proposal came at the right time because the project coincided with the HFC Bank CSR agenda in supporting a cleaner Ghana.

Mr Jordan reiterated the commitment of the HFC Bank to the beatification project just as it was committed to building successful communities.

Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, the Vice-Chancellor, said the green project was aimed at training the students of the University on how to conserve the environment in a sanitised way.

He said as the President was committed to making Ghana the cleanest city in Africa, it was befitting that the premier University of the country led the path by making the University the cleanest.

He said ensuring environmental sanitation in the community meant the shaping of the mindset and attitude of the people towards that goal.

Professor Oduro Owusu said the University had targeted to plant about 1500 trees for the Project adding that 300 coconut and oil palm trees had been planted.

GNA

By Julius K. Satsi, GNA
26.11.2017 LISTEN

The National Youth Authority (NYA) will in February 2018, lay out a new youth policy which would seek to meet the current technological and development trend.

Chief executive officer of the Authority, Emmanuel Asigri said the authority is in the process of reviewing the existing policy to meet the growing demand of the Ghanaian youth.

According to him, the policy which is supposed to be reviewed periodically has not been touched in a long time.

He added that, data which was picked to formulate the current youth policy was dated as far back as the year 2000; a development he thought had belittled the purpose of the policy.

According to him, the current youth policy has no implementation plan.

Speaking at an information sharing session to review the national youth policy with its stakeholders, Mr. Asigri, said: When we saw the documents we questioned that how could they have gone as far back as 2000 to pick data when you know that you were coming up with a policy in just 2010, suggesting that 10 years after, that data was going to be relevant and it is quite scandalous.

Mr. Asigri also said, his agency is going to make sure that it reaches all 216 districts across the country to solicit the views and concerns of organized youth groups.

This would afford the NYA the opportunity to capture their concerns in the new national youth polic.

We want to come up with the various models that we are going to look at by putting in a team together that will touch all the 216 districts, so that as we go round the issues that are not so clear to the youth they will have a sense of direction, he stressed.
Ex-president John Dramani Mahama says the challenges with the Free senior high school (SHS) education policy will not cease unless there is a comprehensive funding strategy.

He said the creation of the Voluntary Contribution Fund to solicit the support of Ghanaians, will not help.

At the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Unity Walk held in the Western Regional town of Tarkwa Saturday, he emphasized the need for a consultative forum to discuss funding options for the policy as was done prior to the establishment of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

The programme rolled out in September, is estimated to cost the country some E3.6million yearly, but political critics have described the amount as unsustainable.

The Free SHS has faced some logistical challenges, with some students sleeping in makeshift structures because of the non-availability of proper accommodation facilities.

Education Minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has said it will cost the government the sum of E80million to upgrade the infrastructure at most of the schools.

In listening to suggestions by civil society organizations, the government has decided to create a Voluntary Contribution Fund to take donations from Ghanaians towards the programme.

But the former President said the creation of the Fund is not a sufficient solution to the funding challenges facing the programme.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com |
26.11.2017 LISTEN

Domestic Airline Company, Starbow has suspended operations with immediate effect. The suspension comes after one of its flights crashed into a fence wall at the Kotoka International Airport Saturday afternoon, in an attempt to take off.

The flight, which was set to take off to Kumasi, skidded off the runway in the direction of the nearby Air-force base, and crashed into the fence.

Five people were treated for minor injuries at the Airport hospital after the incident, according to Starbow.

Some sources who spoke to Starrfmonline.com said the incident might have been caused by the bad weather on Saturday.

I believe it was bad weather. It began to rain with strong winds just as the plane started to take off. So the pilot aborted and veered off the runway and ended up in a grassy field,a government official aboard the plane told Starr News, adding nonetheless, an official investigation will establish the cause though.

In a statement, Starbow said it had suspended all its operations with immediate effect. The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority has also begun investigations into the incident.

Below is the full statement

Starbow S9 104 Incident at Accra, Kotoka International Airport.

Everyone at Starbow wishes to express their sincere regret for the distress experienced by our guests on Flight S9 104 on 25 November 2017 at 12:45, local time.

The service, operated by ATR72-500 (registration 9G-SBF), was a scheduled flight from Accra to Kumasi.

All 65 guests and five crew disembarked, as normal, though five guests were treated for minor injuries at the Airport Clinic. The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority has begun an investigation into the incident.

Eric Antwi, Chief Executive Officer, said: All of us at Starbow at this time remain dedicated to our guests, our crew and their families. Their safety and wellbeing are at the heart of everything we do, and we will cooperate fully with the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, and other agencies, to determine the cause of this incident. We hope to be able to provide further information in due course.

Starbow has suspended its operations with immediate effect and guests with future reservations are invited to contact the airline at 024 500 0000 to make alternative travel arrangements.
The youth of Foase in the Atwima Kwanwoma district of the Ashanti region on Saturday, November 25, 2017 stormed the office of the district assembly to prevent two 40 feet articulated trucks which contained building materials belonging to the Electoral Commission (EC) from being redirected to Twedie.

The truck driver was said to have been instructed by some alleged persons in government to redirect the materials to Twedie, but the youth, upon a tip-off besieged the assembly to prevent the transfer.

The aggrieved youth protested that Foase being the capital of the district host the office of the EC and will resist any attempt to move the materials to Twedie.

Armed police and soldiers were moved to the town to protect the materials in the trucks and also to maintain peace and order. The building materials were later off-loaded at Foase after the District Chief Executive, Chiefs and other opinion leaders intervened to resolve the matter.

Some of the youth who spoke to Adehye FM's Elisha Adarkwah, said the incident was an evidence that some personalities were hiding behind the scenes to remove the district capital from Foase to Twedie. They therefore vowed to resist any attempt by any group or individuals to move the district capital.

Foase Nifahene, Nana Boa Amponsem, backed the move by the youth to resist a change of capital.

He said some companies which were established in the town moved to other districts since their buildings were converted into offices for the district assembly.

He cited that the community centre of the town which was previously used for town hall meetings had been converted to a district administration block while a Cocoa Service Centre was also converted to agric and education office. He indicated that the current office of the District Chief Executive was also a gari processing centre.

He therefore maintained that the town has lost much economically and will not allow the district capital to be moved to Twedie.
The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, put on his white cleric's collar on Sunday for the first time since cutting it up ten years ago in a highly symbolic protest at Robert Mugabe's rule.

The Uganda-born cleric, the second most senior clergyman in the Church of England, made the dramatic gesture on live television in 2007, and stated that he would not wear it again until the Zimbabwe president was gone.

After Mugabe left office this week, Sentamu appeared on the same BBC programme where he was handed the pieces of his collar, only to pull a new one out of his pocket and put it on.

"I think the lesson for Zimbabwe is the same. They just can't try and stitch it up. Something more radical, something new has to happen in terms of the rule of law, allowing people to get jobs," he told the Andrew Marr show.

He added: "I promised when Mugabe goes I (would) put my collar on, so I have no choice but to put it back on. And Mugabe has gone but the new president has to remember something more new than simply stitching up a thing will work."

Sentamu said Zimbabwe needed a kind of truth and reconciliation commission like that seen in South Africa -- and said Mugabe should ask for forgiveness.

"Mugabe at some point needs to say, 'people of Zimbabwe, 37 years (ago) I took on a country that was fantastic, I nearly took it to ruin. Zimbabweans forgive me'," he said.

Many Zimbabweans have celebrated Mugabe's departure but fear new President Emmerson Mnangagwa -- until recently one of Mugabe's closest allies -- could also lead an authoritarian regime.

Sentamu said: "It is quite possible that Emmerson Mnangagwa could actually be a very, very good president. But he can't simply bury the past. It won't go away."

The 68-year-old became the Church of England's first black archbishop when he was enthroned in November 2005.

On the BBC show ten years ago, he held up his collar, saying it was what he wore to identify himself as a clergyman.

"You know what Mugabe has done? He's taken people's identity, and literally, if you don't mind, cut it to pieces, and in the end there's nothing," he said, snipping it into bits with scissors.
More than 100 people have been arrested in Ethiopia over a string of clashes earlier this year between two of the country's largest ethnic groups that killed hundreds, the state-run broadcaster reported.

Five people from the Somali region and 98 from the Oromia region were detained on suspicion that they were involved in the violence along the border between the two federal regions, Fana Broadcasting Corporate said Saturday, citing government spokesman Negeri Lencho.

The Somali and Oromo people, who predominate these regions, are among Ethiopia's largest ethnic groups, and the fighting between them displaced tens of thousands and led to the deployment of troops to quell the bloodshed.

"The government of Ethiopia, in partnership with residents of the areas, is working jointly to rehabilitate those people displaced by the conflict," Fana reported.

Security forces are also pursuing another 24 people from the Somali region who are suspected of being involved in the fighting, the broadcaster said.

It remains unclear who started the September violence, with the Oromos blaming the Somalis for killing two officials from Oromia and the Somalis accusing the Oromos of being behind an attack on a market that killed 18 traders.

The two regions have for years argued over control of arable land along their shared border, but this conflict was far more violent than in the past, with one local official in a city near the border saying 67,800 Oromos alone fled.

Earlier this month, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency reported three other regions in Ethiopia had donated 30 million birr ($1 million, 919,000 euros) to assist people displaced by the crisis.
26.11.2017 LISTEN

Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), a Ghanaian NGO has called on government to be more committed in fight against violence of women and create equal opportunities for them.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today.

Saturday November 25, 2017 was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

It also marked the beginning of the 16-Day International Campaign against gender-based violence which ends on International Human Rights Day (December 10). This symbolic link of violence against women and human rights emphasizes that such acts are a violence of human rights.

The Day was designed by the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate the brutal assassination of three political women activists on November 25, 1960 by dictatorship in the then Dominican Republic.

The campaign originated from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Centre for Women's Global Leadership in the USA in 1991.

This year's campaign theme, "Leave no one behind: violence against women and girls".

In a press statement issued on Saturday November 25, 2017 by HFFG and copied to the media indicated that the NGO is dedicated to promoting equal opportunities for women, children and young people hence wishes to remind the government and citizenry that even one incidence of sexual is one too many.

On this year's campaign theme, HFFG is intended to launch community support platforms for women known as VAW Watchers Groups which would be started in some selected communities in the Western Region.

"These groups will be used to mobilise marginalized and socially excluded women and girls in and out the mining communities to Stand Out and Speak Out against any form of Gender-Based Violence", the NGO explained.

According to HFFG, data obtained from the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service and hospitals across the country indicate that reported case of sexual violence crimes including domestic violence, rape, human trafficking, forced marriage and defilement are still on rampant in many communities in Ghana with women girls, children being the most affected.

"Our own study of media reports conducted this year indicates on at least on incidence of sexual violence is reported every week", HFFG revealed.

To create awareness and intensify the campaign against violence of women and children, Hope for Future General (HFFG) will official commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Tuesday November 28, 2017 at Nvuma in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.

Find below the full statement

On the 19th of June this year, hope for future generations (hffg) and her partners including the Ghana refugee board, Palladium, and Wildaf issued a press statement alerting the government and people to pay close attention to the realisation that sexual violence is a serious problem in our society that requires urgent attention. We emphasized that giving urgent attention to issues of sexual violence will help save innocent lives. Perhaps it stakeholders heeded to our warnings, we could have prevented the recent case in the Assini North District of the Central Region, where a four-year old girl was allegedly defiled by a 17 year old boy. We take delight that following this most recent unfortunate incident, some media organizations and civil society organizations have joined our campaign to end all forms of sexual violence in Ghana.

As the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women 2017, Hope for future generations, a Ghanaian NGO dedicated to promoting equal opportunities for women, children, and young people - wishes to remind the government and the citizenry that even one incidence of sexual violence is one too many.

Sadly, data obtained from the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service and hospitals across the country indicate that reported case of sexual violence crimes including domestic violence, rape, human trafficking, forced marriage, and defilement are still increasing in many communities across the country with women, girls and children being the most affected. Our own study of media reports conducted this year indicates on at least one incidence of sexual violence is reported every week.

However, there is no telling how many more of these crimes go unreported and how many victims are suffering silently as research indicates that Ghanaian women face barriers in reporting violence. These obstacles are rooted in a cultural belief that domestic and sexual violence is a private and a household matter that should be addressed outside of the criminal justice system. For instance, a public health report shows that 33 to 37% of women in Ghana have experienced intimate partner violence in the course of their relationship (this includes physical, sexual, and emotional violence whilst in Ghanaian schools, studies found that 14% of girls are victims of sexual abuse and 52 have experienced gender-based violence (BMC Public Health Journal, 2016). These numbers are likely understated, as girls tend not to report crimes for fear of reprisal.

In view of the barriers to justice discussed above and in line this year's 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign theme of "Leave no one behind: violence against women and girls", HFFG intends to launch community support platforms for women known as VAW Watchers Groups starting in some selected communities in the Western Region. These groups will be used to mobilize marginalized and socially excluded women and girls in and around the mining communities to Stand Out and Speak Out against any form of Gender-Based Violence. They would also link these women and girls to social justice institutions such as DOVVSU, Social Welfare to ensure women and girls' rights are projected. This intervention is part of our Golden Line Project funded by SIMAVI, Healthy Entrepreneurs, Solidaridad and in close collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

HFFG strongly believes that identifying and strengthening community structures including women leadership, victims of VAW and men who stands for women rights as Watchers will contribute to eliminating VAW in our society. This requires a paradigm shift from the current situation whereby in Ghana, the fight against Gender-Based violence is perceived to be solely dependent on the social justice institutions with little accountability expected from community members and leaders to bring perpetrators of those heinous crimes to block and this has contributed to perpetrators getting away with these crimes.

That notwithstanding, we still expect the police and judiciary to be up and doing.

...Signed...

Joan Koomson (Director of Programs)

Yaw Acheampong (HR Manager)

Source: Daniel Kaku
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 []
The Second Ordinary Meeting of the Second Session of the eight General Assembly of Ellembelle District of the Western Region, has held its maiden meeting since the confirmation of the District Chief Executive.

The meeting which was held for two days was to enable the honourable Assembly Members to deliberate on the fee-fixing and budget estimates for the 2018 fiscal year.

Addressing Honourable Members, the District Chief Executive, Hon. Kwasi Bonzo, thanked them for their endorsement during his confirmation. He again, thanked them for their support towards the development of the Assembly adding that he would collaborate with all members to realize enormous developments under his administration.

He informed members that the Assembly had begun community visitations which according to him, was geared towards educating the populace on governmental policies as well as solicit for information on their needs in order to devise ways of supporting them.

Hon. Bonzoh indicated that the Free-SHS had begun and implored Honourable Assembly Members to be on the alert to report any head teacher who by any means would want to extort money from parents for the appropriate action to be taken against them.

He reiterated the Assemblys commitment in investing in education and therefore pointed out that Seven Thousand Ghana Cedis had been released to the Educational Directorate in support of the Regional Science Technology and Mathematics Innovation Education (STMIE) in Takoradi.

Touching on Agriculture, the Honourable DCE informed members that Government had begun the implementation of the Planting for Food, Jobs and Investment through which farmers are being supported with vegetables, cereals and NPK fertilizers in the District and therefore admonished the Assembly Members to inform their community folks to take advantage of the opportunity.

Hon. Bonzoh was optimistic that members would make the necessary inputs for a successful deliberation.

Source: Daniel Kaku
26.11.2017 LISTEN

President Nana Akufo-Addo has said changing Ghanas laws to legalise homosexuality is not a matter which is "on the agenda" but "bound to happen".

Asked by the interviewer: Whats going to provoke it, whats going to make it happen? President Akufo-Addo said: Oh, like elsewhere in the world, the activities of individuals [and] groups.

He recalled how countries such as England, which, in the past, abhorred homosexuality, have over the years succumbed to pressure from LGBTQI lobbyists to amend their laws to accommodate same-sex relationship.

I grew up in England; I went to school as a young boy in England and I grew up at a time in England when homosexuality was banned there, it was illegal and I lived in the period when British politicians thought it was anathema to think about changing the law and suddenly the activities of individuals, of groups, a certain awareness, a certain development grew and grew and grew stronger and it forced a change in law. I believe those are the same processes that will bring about changes in our situation.

The president, however, pointed out that: At the moment, I dont feel and I dont see that in Ghana, there is that strong current of opinion that will say: This is something that we need even deal with. Its not, so far, a matter which is on the agenda.
President Akufo-Addo has given the strongest indication yet that funding for the ambitious one district, one factory policy is ready.

Apart from the $2 billion funding arrangement secured from the Chinese government for the project, the president said GCB Bank has also made available 2 billion all of which will go into executing the policy in the 2018 budget.

The president gave the assurance during a speech at the maiden edition of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry Awards in Accra last night.

The policy which was part of the 2016 campaign promises by the NPP is premised on the need to create jobs and to change the countrys economic fundamentals from a Guggisberg or raw material exporting economy to an industrialised economy.

It is also to reduce the rate of imports into the country.

Barely a year into his administration there are concerns about funding for the policy but the president has dismissed any such concern.

According to the president over 190 business proposals have already been vetted and are waiting for the execution to start in earnest.

Government in collaboration with the Association of Ghana Industries has arranged a suppliers credit facility for $2 billion from China to provide equipment, machinery and other facilities in support of the programme.

The 2018 budget has allocated funding as governments contribution either as equity or in kind support for the establishment of this trade enterprise.

GCB Bank has pledged an amount of 2 billion cedis towards the one district one factory project at the industrial forum in May this year organised by the chamber.

An additional amount of $340 million has been leveraged from local financial institutions for the programme.

This is the kind of leadership and collaboration that is required collectively to build Ghana beyond aid, he chronicled.

The president encouraged entrepreneurs and business people to take advantage of these facilities that have been created by government.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com
26.11.2017 LISTEN

The decision by the Akufo-Addo government to establish a Trust Fund into which to solicit voluntary contributions from individuals and aid-granting institutions and the corporate world, in support of the fee-free Senior High School (SHS) Program, contrary to what former President John Dramani Mahama would have the rest of the country believe, is no signal indication that this laudable and progressive policy initiative cannot be any more sustainable than the New Patriotic Party-initiated National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which the Mahama-led regime of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) effectively ground to a screeching halt nearly a couple of years ago.

Indeed, had President Addo DankwaAkufo-Addo not pumped millions of cedisinto the scheme, the latter would be practically nonexistent today. As well, if a consultative national conference were the best solution to making the NHIS, for example, sustainable, why hadnt the then-President of our Republic not done just that? (See  Lalasulala Free SHS Contribution Will Not Be Successful  Mahama Classfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 11/25/17). Maybe the former Atta-Mills presidential spare-tire would do himself and the rest of us great favor by explaining to the nation precisely why the then-CEO of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr. Sylvester Mensah, was arrested and had his bank accounts frozen and his passports confiscated in the lead-up to the 2016 general election.

We must also remind our dear readers that the Akosombo Accord did not lead to a definitive solution to Dumsor, or the erratic power supply. Indeed, revelations gathered from the infamous AMERI-Deal agreement can at best give us cold comfort. And so I dont know what Mr. Mahama was thinking during the most recent NDC-sponsored so-called Unity Walk in Tarkwa, in the Western Region, when he called for the convening of a consultative national conference as a means of seeking a lasting solution in the form of welling up adequate funding resources for the fee-free NHS policy initiative.The fact of the matter, even as Justice Jones Dotse poignantly put it, is that the Mills-Mahama-led government of the National Democratic Congress, during the 8 years that it held the reins of governance, doggedly pursued the anti-social and anti-people policy of creating, looting and sharing.

In most cases, what has been erroneously characterized as the creation of wealth, among the Mills-Mahama Posse, was actually the rapacious embezzlement of loans solicited abroad in the dubious name of national development. And so it simply cannot be that Mr. Mahama possesses any remarkable modicum of credibility to presume to either enlighten or advise President Addo DankwaAkufo-Addo on the best and/or most resourceful means of sustaining the fee-free SHS policy initiative. True, Mr. Mahama has been there but, of course, we all know that he has absolutely not done that in any way, shape or form whatsoever. And neither had he performed either successfully or exemplarily as President to authorize him to smugly presume to lecture the key operatives of the ruling New Patriotic Party on how best to sustain a program the likes of which the former NDC-MP for Gonja-West never implemented.

The Akan have a maxim which perspicuously observes that If Mr. Naked promises you a bolt of cloth, you just listen to his name. The fact of the matter is that the man who so smugly supervised the criminal scamming of our pensioners and civil and public servants,in the infamous Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Affair, to the humongous tune of some $ 69 million, cannot confidently claim to possess any remarkable knack for protecting the retirement benefits or sunset years of our civil and public servants, let alone the education of the poor and destitute whom the former President has absolutely no regard for, whatsoever. Else, how could Mr. Mahama have so cavalierly presided over the highest rate of illiteracy among our children and grandchildren, even as he, like the Rawlingses, educated some of his children and relatives abroad?

Needless to say, if President Akufo-Addo targets the appropriate sections of Ghanaian society, such as corporations, businesses and philanthropists, he would be pleasantly surprised by the results. Akufo-Addo must also not neglect to look for funding abroad. You see, not every Ghanaian citizen or resident is as payola prone and/or kleptocratic as the Mahama Brothers and their associates and cronies have been said to be. To be certain, there exist hardworking and resourceful Ghanaian citizens all over the world who would give sizable chunks of their wealth and other capital resources to see our once beautiful country function healthily again. By all means, dont trust Little Dramani.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
Ivan Kyei Innocent writes ......

Bridging the gab between academic intelligence and the intelligence required at the job market has become the prime focus area in all public discourse and the need for stakeholders to help salvage the situation has assumed inevitable path.

There are several crucial mishaps underpinning our current academic designs giving it a false sense of realism.

Aside the consistent call on stakeholders to review the over-aged educational curriculum, there are several critical considerations we need to look at as a country to situate our academic enterprise to achieve the results intended for the introduction of university education in Ghana because the current designation is not only a failure but lazy and empty.

In the past we have had a lot of discussions which all sought to lay the blame of this systemic academic failure at the doorsteps of design and curriculum developers and others at the helm of affairs, but its time we shifted our focus a little in our search for this ugly monster ravaging our academic system.

Lets move to various universities classrooms and begin to interrogate what actually happen there.

We are embarking on this search because of the recent surge in unemployed graduates choking the system, our city streets have been transformed into a beehive of an activity, with the youth maurauding and galavanting In hopelessness everywhere with no assurance of any redemptive alternatives.

Some of these graduates, for the want of a better words, despite the so called first class accolades from their respective universities, are unemployable thus various firms and corporations prefer to retain the tired-brains due for retirement at the espense of fresh graduates. This is the severity of the situation we have at hand.

What kind of impacts are the universities making on the academic development of the youth or is the system designed just for students to walk through for papers? (Certificate)

University education in Ghana now appears like students only pay fees in exchange for certificates, no transfer of intellect, development is null, knowledge acquisition is null. This is the reality.

In other jurisdictions where students are trained to use their brains to solve critical situations and devise alternatives for solving critical puzzles in the field of engineering, medicine, nursing, InfoTech and others through in-depth research work which requires active reading and review of various academic literatures, that is not the case in our situation , lecturers give notes to students and expect them to chew the notes verbatim and reproduce same during exams as if their students are ruminants.

In the classrooms of various universities across the country, some lecturers are indeed killing the academic prospects in students aspiring to go higher on the academic ladder because there isnt any proper oversight responsibility in place to check what lecturers do, so any exercise of bad academic discretions on the part of these lecturers will leave an overwhelming damming consequences on these poor students.

The sag in supervision (under the impression that a lecturer knows it all) afford them the luxury to do stuffs that frustrate learning, knowledge sieving and acquisition.

Isnt it amazing that the lecture notes which was given to 2010 batch of students appeared to be same notes given to 2017 compatriots verbatim, the word is verbatim, no update, no review, its just copy cut design. And almost all the universities are guilty of this guilible backward driving approach.

Again during examination, another sad development our team unconvered was about the trend of questions students are made to answer during exams.

Theres this phenomenon which was common, repetition of past questions, l understand every school does it but whats happening in various universities is mind boggling, based on a particular lecturers discretion, previous exams questions could be repeated verbatim for several years and most students have become familiar with these trends and instead decide to abandon lectures and use the entire semester flipping through pages of past questions for examination redemption.

Sad isnt it ? Because the system leaves no incentive for rigorous studies, but this was just a tip of the iceberg considering other funny stuffs we uncovered.

There was another exams style students we talked to complained bitterly about, l dont want to pass judgement on them because Im no academic expert but based on the sentiments expressed, l gathered most of them were seething with frustration.

Fill in style of exams, which one student labelled it as a lazy approach by lazy lecturers they do it so that they can hand it to their TAs to mark.

Under this non academic stimulating process, students are expected to memorise their lecture notes word for word , what students called chew and pour . To survive in this territory of exams you have to be a good chewer of notes to make A in such exams. Question are set leaving blank spaces from selected portions of lecture notes and students are asked to fill these blank spaces with specific words from the notes given. One student who spoke to me under a condition of anonymity said , we are not giving any room to think, anylise or apply what we have learnt throughout the semester, if you cant chew and pour forget it

I understand examination is a kind of assessment to elicit feedback from students to assess how far what was thought was understood and how the knowledge acquired could be used to address immediate and future challenges but if we have a situation where students are allowed to chew just notes and reproduce same in exams, are we really training the minds of our students, how do we expect industries and corporations to employ such students into their firms, to do what? because what is required at the job market is practical, how knowledge acquired from school could be applied in the field is whats needed. Chew and pour has no place on the job market, this partially explains why firms and corporations retain tired brains instead of giving a chance to fresh graduates, in their stead, the rate of messing up is guaranteed and no employer would take the risk.

We always talk about our students being lazy without paying particular attention to the kind of interactions teachers have with our wards in school.

My recommendations

Heads of various institutions must desist from assessing lecturers performance only at the end of a semester, rather in the course of the semester we need a design to be able monitor what a lecturer is doing, this will prevent those who exercise poor academic discretions from polluting students.

Again a particular attention must be turned to end of semester academic assessment of lecturers and those guilty of academic pollution with overwhelming evidential value should be sacked to deter further engagement and future indulgence.

Again mode of employing lectures must be holistic and should be based on intense review of knowledge depth credentials not just certificates and those selected should be given a year or two probation before offering them a permanent appointment. Most universities are found of admitting students who made it into the first class category as teaching assistance (TAs) who are later giving the opportunity to advance to become lecturers, but we forget that most of these first class folks were those who were experts in chew and pour venture, no diversity in terms of knowledge, because their study was based solely on mastering a particular lecture notes and reproduce verbatim in exams which is easy but those who read from other sources to expand their horizons are seen as academic failures.

Lets join the crusade if indeed we are serious to bridge the huge gab between academic intelligence and intelligence required at the job market , but if we continue on this tangent we will continue to breed half baked intellectual with just paper honours (certificates).

Lets reward knowledge versatility and desist from this narrow path of academic demonisation.

Lets break the chew and pour hegemony colonising our univisties and save our generations from eventual academic embarrassment.
Rome, 26 November 2017  A delegation of member state representatives from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) begins a five-day working trip to Bangladesh today, with planned visits to IFAD-funded projects designed to increase incomes and improve living conditions for rural poor in the country.

The delegation includes 11 members of IFADs Executive Board who represent the governments of Angola, Brazil, China, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Switzerland, and the United States.

IFAD currently invests in six on-going projects in Bangladesh. The current portfolio focuses on increasing poor rural peoples ability to generate income, facilitating their access to markets and financial services, and helping them to adapt livelihoods to the effects of climate change.

The IFAD delegation will visit three IFAD-supported projects in the country and meet with community members and local development practitioners to review the impact of the projects on people's living conditions and livelihoods and discuss the challenges that they are facing.

IFADs work in Bangladesh has contributed to gender equality and womens social and economic empowerment by facilitating womens access to microfinance, training and income-generating activities. Rural poor women have also been specifically targeted to participate in infrastructure work in rural areas.

In Bangladesh, 32 per cent of the people still suffer from acute malnutrition. Income-generating opportunities for women help to increase household food security and help to combat household malnutrition.

One in three rural inhabitants in the country lives below the poverty line. IFAD investments contribute to improved food production and income for smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs. IFADs poverty alleviation work in the country is in line with Bangladeshs seventh five-year plan (2016-2020).

To maximise investments, IFAD works with a number of partners in Bangladesh including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Government of the Netherlands, Government of Spain, German KfW Development Bank, Republic of Korea, Norwegian NORAD, Danish DANIDA,USAID and International and National NGOs.

The IFAD Executive Board members will wrap up their visit with meetings with Matia Chowdhury, Minister of Agriculture, and Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Minister of Finance in Bangladesh.

Since 1978, IFAD has directly invested US$717.2 million in 31 rural development projects in Bangladesh, benefitting an estimated 10.7 million Bangladeshi households.
26.11.2017 LISTEN

On a whatsapp platform for only my classmate at Senior Secondary School (WASS), one of my colleagues broached the subject of 'Black Friday'. I jettisoned the logic of adding 'Black' to the Friday. Why not any other colour, but black? And what is the essence of the entire obsession for 'Black Friday'? Apart from my reading of unfettered capitalism into the logic or illogic of the event and the sense of consumerism that it conjures, I was very concerned about the colour.

Obviously, the idea of capitalism, contrary to Weberian theory, is not new to the Akan, particularly the Asante. Scholars, like Kwame Arhin, have written extensively on how capitalism predated the colonial enterprise. The difference between the Asante capitalist and European capitalist is inter alia the redistribution of wealth.

The whole idea of 'Osikani' 'Obrempon' and 'Omama' were categories meant to capture the redistribution of wealth in the complex web of Asante capitalism. Creating clients was necessary for sustaining the social order.

The whole notion of Black Friday in my preliminary thought is to give a token to the proletariats and peasants who have been milked by the bourgeois for the entire year. Why do people celebrate just a day when their economic vampire is simply sucking their blood, while feeding them on polluted water?

Is it even through that prices of consumable commodities will benefit everybody? I am of the opinion that the ceremonial reduction of the prices of commodities is simply to reify the capitalists quest for more profit. After all, if prices are reduced, more will be purchased, and eventually profits will increase.

Now the question of the colour: Why did they not choose any colour other than black? Is it a matter of black labour is cheap, as it was expressed during the heydays of the slave trade or the black race is the cheapest race to engage? I think associating black with evil causes me to think closely about the entire concept of 'Black Friday'. So, granted it is true that the name originated from retailers wearing black instead of their usual red colour, why, again, must it be black? And what significances did the black, as a colour, conjure in their minds?

For a very long time, the colour black is a close affine of evil: black magic, black power, black witchcraft ect. The devil is painted black. Concerning the extent the readings into the colour black has caused havoc to Africans, I need not detail that here. But, it is clear that the globalisation agenda has not roundly inured to the benefit of Africans. It has rather facilitated the exploitation of Africa and Africans. While, Africans have been part of the rhythm of globalisation for centuries, the place of Africa and Africans in the globalisation turn is like a drop in the desert! The question of who is to blame will require an entire thesis!

Instead of celebrating one day of tokenism, the poor should challenge the vampirism of the capitalist. The poor should protest against the trading of their labour for a token. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, realised the existential reality of classism, which fuels capitalism, in Ghana quite late. In fact, it was when he was in exile, following the February 24, 1966 coup that he realised the entrenched nature of classism in Ghana. Alas, it was too late.

If the poor are to rejoice, they should not celebrate a day's artificial relief: they should celebrate a revolutionary mass action against the machine of oppression!

Satyagraha!!!

Charles Prempeh ([email protected]),

African University College of Communications, Accra
A Circuit Court Judge, Her Honour Justice Lydia Osei-Marfo, has implored traditional rulers to refrain from settling cases such defilement, rape and other forms of sexual abuse, especially involving young children.

She offered these words of caution when she addressed the chiefs and people of the Drobo Traditional area in the Brong Ahafo region during their MunufieKese festival a week ago.

Justice Lydia Osei-Marfo used the occasion to advise traditional authorities to refer such cases to the law courts for appropriate adjudication, as she said, trying to settle such cases at home contravenes the law and deprives victims of their rights.

For Defilement cases out of court settlement is steely disallowed; therefore do not try to adjudicate on such cases or try to protect offenders based on family ties and so on, she charged.

She also advised parents and guardians, to promptly report defilement or rape cases to the police and ensure the arrest of offenders.

Justice Lydia Osei-Marfo further advised parents to seek medical assistance for their children forthwith upon finding out they have been sexually abused.

The first thing to do upon realizing your child has been sexually abused, is to immediately take them to a health facility for medical attention. Do not try ministering to them at home, she counselled.

Please send them to the hospital just as you find them, she urged, explaining that a timely medical check on sexually abused victims could essentially help to fetch sufficient evidence for prosecution.

Justice Lydia Osei-Marfo also advised parents to take good care of their children to keep them away from falling into the hands of evil-minded persons.

The Judge also challenged parents to endeavour to educate their daughters to help provide them with equal opportunities as their male counterparts.

According to her, education would help them to effectively play their role as women wherever they find themselves in the future, even if they decide not to pursue professional careers with it.

Education has become an essential part of our lives. Educate your daughters to enable them effectively play their role in society, even if they end up as housewives, she called.

Nana Yaa Ansua, the Paramount queen mother of the area, also urged her colleague traditional leaders to continue contributing their quotas to societys development.

She appealed to parents to make the education of their children, especially the females, their priority.
The Founder of the Action Peoples Party [APC] Dr. Hassan Ayariga , has called on the NPP Government to find better ways to resolve the challenges bedeviling the free Senor High School [SHS] program.

Dr. Ayariga also called on the Akuffo Addo led Government to be bold enough to scrap the policy if it finds it difficult to finance and implement the policy effectively

The APC Founder made these assertions during an interaction with a cross section of the media at his partys office in Accra on Wednesday when he was reacting to the 2018 budget read by the Finance Minister, hon. Ken Ofori Attah, last week.

He added that no one is against the free SHS policy which he added if well planned and implemented would go a long way in helping student and reducing burdens on parents in the country.

But the question is are we ready for the policy now, he asked  and was quick to add that the policy was rushed by the NPP Government just to score political points without proper plan on its pros and cons

We dont need to implement policies because we want to win votes or score political points but we must implement policies because they are prudent and sustainable for the benefit of all

Practically he added that there is going to be massive challenges ahead for the free SHS policy since there are not enough tertiary institutions to accommodate all these students when they come out of the SHS in few years time

The sufferings of the free SHS program which ranges from lack of proper dormitories for students, lack of proper class rooms for effective teaching and learning which has compelled school authorities to convert toilets and under trees as dormitories and class rooms respectively is unacceptable

He is of the opinion that the recent announcement by government of creation of a voluntary fund for willing individuals and bodies to donate and finance the free SHS policy as a sham and a clear indication that the NPP is struggling to finance its maiden flagship program.

The government needs to focus on how best to resolve the issues surrounding the free SHS program instead of focusing on other things which will further deepen the woes of the students and school authorities thereby making the project unsuccessful

The government according to him should be bold to admit its maiden flagship policy which is not covering about 60% of the total SHS population has failed woefully.  Either take urgent measures to salvage the problem or swallow your pride and scrap it .

The education sector he noted saw 11% increase in its allocation but the increment in its payment of compensation and of goods and services far outweigh its capital expenditures. This will affect the infrastructural developments such as schools and dormitories and other logistics

The advent of the free SHS , Dr. Ayariga observed has come along with an increase in the student intake hence any deficit in infrastructural development will render the policy a larger failure in the near future.

On job creation, he pointed out that the best way to create employment opportunities for graduates is to expand the nations economy by investing heavily infrastructure where he cited both Kenya and America for taking that step of investing hugely in infrastructure to create jobs for their citizens

The NPP government upon their massive borrowing could not boast of even a single classroom block let alone construct a single consulting room, the APC Founder mentioned.

He also condemned and described the sacking of 205 public servants by the government from the National Service Scheme [NSS] and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority [DVLA], and other public institutions as unjustifiable dismissals.

On the current happenings in Zimbabwe which has led to the resignation of President Mugabe, Dr. Ayariga said Africa must practice limited democracy in which a sitting president cannot go beyond a limited term

He said even though he admires Mugabe very much for been the only remaining true African who champions the cause of the continent to the outside world regardless of what the western world thinks, he should have left when the clapping was very loud.

Dr. Hassan Ayariga was quick to add that Zimbabwe will surely regret ousting Mr. Robert Mugabe as it has happened in other countries that had ousted their leaders through popular uprisings.
26.11.2017 LISTEN

This year marks the ninetieth anniversary of the arrival Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, a renowned Japanese Scientist, in the then Gold Coast (Ghana).TheNoguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, located on the University of Ghana campus at Legon, was establishment in 1979 as a gift from the Government and People of Japan in honour of this great scientist and humanitarian. In commemoration of this anniversary, a symposium was organized in Dr. Noguchis honour and as a reminder of the friendship between Ghana and Japan.

Dr. Hideyo Noguchi was born in Fukushima prefecture, Japan, in 1876 to a very poor farming couple. At the tender age of one and half years, he burned the fingers on his left hand and this left him severely incapacitated. This notwithstanding, the young Noguchi overcame this and other challenges studied hard and became a physician and world-renowned researcher. He moved to the United States of America in 1900 and was awarded the renowned Rockefeller Fellowship to conduct research in infectious diseases.

Dr. Noguchi also worked in Europe and South America and made significant discoveries in his research into various infectious diseases, including Syphilis and Yellow Fever. As testament to his success as a researcher, Dr. Noguchi was nominated nine times for the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine and published over 100 scientific papers.

In 1927, Dr. Noguchi came to the then Gold Coast (now Ghana) to further his research into Yellow Fever in collaboration with local staff at the now Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Unfortunately, Dr. Noguchi fell victim to this disease seven months later and this resulted in his untimely death at the then European Hospital (now Ridge Hospital) at the age of 51 years. Due to his outstanding achievements and great humanitarian spirit, he has become the pride of Japan and a pioneer of international cooperation.

Dr. Noguchis arrival in Ghana 90 years ago commenced the engagement between Ghana and Japan in medical research. His will and passion for international cooperation and medical research have been passed on from generation to generation after his death.

The establishment of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), at the University of Ghana is one major landmark that testifies to this. Since then, many health-related projects have been executed between the two countries and currently, the cooperation which transcends the borders of Ghana has expanded to include the fields of education and agriculture, as well as infrastructural development.

NMIMR itself has seen expansion and emerged as a leading global biomedical Institute for prevention and control of emerging and re-emerging diseases. Currently, a state-of-the-art facility for infectious diseases is being constructed as part of the expansion to place NMIMR on a higher pedestal to play its role in health and biomedical research effectively.

The two day symposium brought together academia, policy makers , research collaborators and business partners to discuss and share information on the achievements of this great legacy.

The opening ceremony was graced by the Deputy Minister of Health Mr. Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu, who represented the Minister for Health. He said Ghana will forever remain grateful to Dr. Hideyo Noguchi for his dedication and commitment not only to Ghana but the world at large. He again stated that Dr. Noguchis arrival in Ghana in 1927 brought relief to the people of Ghana with his work, interest and dedication in the area of yellow fever.

Ever since this, the Ghana-Japan relation has been growing from strength to strength and we are grateful for that as a country, he reiterated.

He said the Japanese Government had assisted the country in the scaling up of CHIPS implementation, a concept for the attainment of the Universal Health coverage. The Japanese government has also been supporting Ghana towards the eradication of Guinea worm, HIV/AIDS prevention and control, and human resource for health development, he said.

Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana (UG), said the symposium would build on the existing dynamic culture between UG and Japan. He said NMIMRhad built on the legacy of Dr. Noguchi and therefore lauded Dr. Noguchi for living his life for humanity.

His Excellency Mr. Kaoru Yoshimura, the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, said it was his hope that the collaboration in research areas between Japan and Ghana will continue to be the pivot of the relationship between the two countries.

Mr. Hirofumi Hoshi, the Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), reviewed long standing cooperationsince 1969 and showed his expectation for continuous collaboration both in research and public health.

Prof. Takashi Kurata, Program officer of Japan Agency for Medical Research Development (AMED), stated their contribution to the development of research field not only in Ghana but also West-Africa and beyond through the strong support of NMIMR.

Professor Kwabena Mante Bosompem, Director of NMIMR in his remarks mentioned that the symposium has provided the platformfor Japanese and other research collaborators of NMIMR to share scientific results, evidence-based information and knowledge, best practices and the advances made in various fields of scientific research, pathogen detection, disease diagnosis, disease management and control. The symposium also sought to share information about the achievements of the Institute and the various partnerships it has developed with both local and international health promoting institutions.

On stepping forward into the future he pointed out that the Institute should take advantage of opportunities to becoming a sustainable hubfor research radiating networks.

At the opening, there weretwo keynote lectures on the topics: Dr. Hideyo Noguchi and Complement; from Cobra Venom factor to Lectin Complement Pathway, delivered byProf. Teizo Fujita, President, Fukushima Prefectural General Hygiene Institute, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima and A Great Scientist, Dr. Hideyo Noguchi - from Inawashiro to Accra, delivered by Ms. Yukiko Noguchi from theHideyo Noguchi Memorial Foundation, Fukushima.

The Symposium with over 270 attendees had the theme : Arrival of Dr Hideyo Noguchi in the Gold Coast: 90 Years on with seven scientific sessions which included Historical Perspectives of the Collaboration between Japan and Ghana; Infectious diseases research; Advancing Public Health; and Panel Discussions on  Contributions of the NMIMR and partners to regional preparedness for global health risks, threats and emergencies, Scientific collaborations and socio-cultural perspectives, and NMIMR Research achievements impacting Ghana, the West African Sub-region and beyond.
Dear GRNMA President,

Permit me to break protocols for the first time, as Ola Rotimi in the gods are not to blame asked how useful greetings are to a dying body, I am not in the mood to greet, because you and your executive struck me with a bad news! The news of a supposed increments in the dues that nurses and midwives pay to the association.

Dues that about 90% of members cannot tell what you and your executive use for. Did you just say we are not responsible members? That we are spectators? Well you may say so because we have ignored your insensitivity for far too long. We have endured bad leadership for a time I need a month to recollect how long it may be.

Sir, there is agitation all over the country. Majority of nurses are not happy with you and your executive for decisions you take on our collective behalf. Nurses and midwives have concluded calculating how much monthly compulsory deduction would be made from their salaries resulting from the increments.

Any of you that conceived the idea of increasing the associations dues has either lost touch with the Ghanaian nurse/midwife, or have no regard for the plight for him/her. Have you become artistically bankrupt that you dont feel the palpable suffering of your members? We do not appreciate your efforts, because much is left to be desired!

Mr president, we are sorry to disappoint you this time round! We are not ready and will not pay this increment a handful of you sat in cape coast to decide for us.

As GRNMA executive, the Ghanaian nurse/midwife expects you to:

1. Negotiate for better conditions of services for him/her, which you have not done enough on.

2. The Ghanaian nurse/midwife wants you to stand for him/her when he/she is treated badly by his/her superiors at the work place. Many nurses/midwives are suffering under wicked medical superintendents, directors, and more painfully matrons/DDNS' who should know better. Many have suffered in silence without any form of help from GRNMA.

Salaries are increased yearly, with each increase witnessing an automatic increase in the amount of dues we pay, because of the fact that the dues are in percentage terms. For instance, if one was taken a salary of say 400 Ghana cedis this year, and next year same gets an increase to say 450, the dues will also go up.

The increments are not justified enough and should be stopped in toto. You have given the Ghanaian nurse/midwife enough reason to have a rival association to force you to sit up or risk losing all your members to that rival association. You have shown that GRNMA needs new executive to man the affairs of her.

Respectfully, I wish to state that if you cannot make the Ghanaian nurse/midwife any better, dont make them worst of either.

I thought it would be prudent for you and your executive to learn best practices from other associations such as GNAT, who operates a financial system geared towards empowering teachers financially. This has brought economic relieve to some teachers who benefit from this good idea from their association. Nurses will appreciate it if such a system is put in place to better their financial fortunes.

There surely is nothing worst than asking members to pay more for dues you and your executive are yet to account to us.

Mr president, how much dues in total have we accrued as nurses and midwives for the past 5 years? What have you used our money for since assuming office as president?

How much money have accrued from the nurses hostel in Accra for the past 5 years? How much have you used to pay staff working for us at the hostel? How much profit is left in our coffers now?

What benefit does the Ghanaian nurse or midwife get from the hostel that is being operated with our money? Are you aware that most of the time nurses who travel to Accra are told the place is full, hence no space for them? Are you aware that most of the time when calls are placed to the reception of the hostel to make reservation of space the staff don't answer the calls?

Nurses and midwives very much appreciate the northern region reps, Volta region reps and the upper west reps at the 16th binneal conference held in cape coast for their stands and show of concern for the Ghanaian nurse/midwife. They have voted massively against this supafullous increase in dues. God bless them.

You cannot justify an increase to dues that you have not accounted to us.

Posterity will never forgive you if your tenure is the reason we have to form another association, for there is strength in numbers and unity. We will break away if you continue with this increment.

If you cannot built to add up to an existing ark, do not break what you have come to meet!

I am by this letter urging you to drop the increment

idea, because we have not accepted it, and will not pay too. The toad likes water but surely not when it is boiling!

Cheers!

J.A Mbangbe.

Registered dues paying member of GRNMA
26.11.2017 LISTEN

It was another etching in a chronicle of extended violence. For days, resistance by refugees and asylum seekers against forced removal from the Lombrom Naval Base on Manus Island had taken very public form. Images of defiance and distress were receiving international attention. With no electricity, with water supplies destroyed, things were getting dire.

As the weekend dawned, PNG officials were claiming that the remaining 328 men from the base had been moved to new camps in Lorengau. To these can be added the 50 men or so forcibly removed a day prior. Journalists from the ABC noted the use of 12 buses taking men and goods to East Lorengau centre on Friday, though they were unsure how many people were on them.

According to refugee Behrouz Boochani, the journalistic spark in the abysmal dark, The refugees are saying they are leaving the prison camp because the police are using violence and very angry. The clearing operation was nearing its conclusion.

According to Thomas Albrecht, the UNCHRs regional representative in Canberra, The situation still unfolding on Manus Island presents a grave risk of further deterioration, and of further damage to extremely vulnerable human beings. [1]

In a world of parallel universes, where the views of the heavy handed come up against those of the persecuted, narratives differ vastly. PNG Police Commissioner Gari Baki tends to assume all matters of force as relative. Removing the men (the term relocation is preferred) took place peacefully and without the use of force.

The Australian Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, has also done his bit on several fronts of unreality. Efforts are being made to sabotage New Zealands offer to encourage the resettlement of 150 men in that country. Duttons point is petulant and savage: Australia wont have them, but nor shall you. Besides, would you really want them, these opportunists, interlopers and deviants?

Dutton has also waged war on those activists whom he sees as giving unnecessary hope to those on Manus. Last week, he publicly castigated pro-refugee protestors who had defaced the office of Kelly ODwyer, Minister for Revenue and Financial Services.

Another example, seethed the former police officer, of the moral vacuum of the left. Not only giving false hope to those on Manus  who will never come to Australia  but also diverting important police resources and wasting tax payer money to investigate and clean up vandalism. [2]

An update from the Ministry of Immigration and Border Protection expressed a mood of contentment at the efforts of the PNG police. The Australian Government is aware that all men previously refusing to leave the former Manus Island Regional Processing Centre (RPC) have now departed the complex for alternative accommodation.

The statement paints a picture of cold blooded efficiency. Accounts from refugees who have found their way to the alternative centres differ markedly. We have been forcibly removed from where we were, claimed Sudanese refugee Abdul Aziz Muhamat, to places that are not even ready. [3]

The statement also reads as a distancing document. Australians should be pleased to know that refugees had been informed since May that the RPC would close, and refugees moved to sites such as the East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre. The alternative accommodation has been available to house all inhabitants of the former RPC since October 31.

A bullet is duly reserved for the irritating bleeding hearts. Advocates in Australia are again today making inaccurate and exaggerated claims of violence and injuries on Manus, but fail to produce any evidence to prove these allegations. [4] Before and after Donald J. Trump, news, it would seem, is a relative matter, notably from Australias truth-averse Ministry of Immigration, an entity given to fiction and fantasy.

The ministerial statement is also intent to focus on the bad eggs and rotten apples, those nuisances who are never mentioned by name, but hover over the faux compassion of Australian immigration officials like moral pointers and accusers. What is clear is that there has been an organised attempt to provoke trouble and disrupt the new facilities.

The Australian government had been informed that some equipment has been sabotaged at the alternative accommodation centres, including damage to backup generators. There is vandalism to water infrastructure. These matters were under investigation. Who are these mysterious disrupters? What do they want?

The statement naturally makes little of motivation, the Refugee Convention or virtually anything that would give a human dimension to such protest and dismay. The limbo faced by those who failed to be classed as genuine refugees  about 200 men  is not discussed. Nor is anything mentioned about when the US will come good on the offer to resettle refugees in that country..

There is only, the statement chastises, false hope peddled by advocates that [these men] will ever be brought to Australia. Humanity is to be eviscerated, and brutality permitted. This is authoritarian speak, bureaucratic babble, the sort that Dutton adores.

Despite such brutal and brutalising tripe, the Turnbull government remains resolute. Australias reputation as a state happy to observe human rights has not been impaired  or so its politicians, such as foreign minister Julie Bishop, think. Cosily distant from shared borders, its governments can continue to construct a fortress of selectivity and selectiveness when it comes to refugees and those seeking Australian shores. It will outsource its obligations, and fund the necessary satraps. And to hell with international law on the way.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected]

[1] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-24/png-authorities-urge-men-to-leave-manus-island-centre/9187406

[2] https://twitter.com/PeterDutton_MP/status/931337441092317184

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/world/australia/manus-island-detention-refugees-asylum-seekers.html

[4] http://www.minister.border.gov.au/peterdutton/Pages/manus-update-24112017.aspx
The president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has disclosed that provisions are being made to supply Senior High Schools in the country with desks and beds.

This he said will bring some relief to the schools who are struggling to accommodate students due to the increase in enrolment as a result of the Free SHS policy.

Speaking at the 68th speech and prize giving day celebration of Prempeh College in the Ashanti region, the president said his government is aware of the challenges schools are facing as a result of the implementation of the free SHS policy.

And in dealing with them tenders have already gone out and soon contracts will be awarded for the provision of some 69,500 mono desks and some 13,100 bunk beds.

The president also said additional tender notices have been issued for the supply of furniture for dining halls, staff rooms for teachers, computer laboratories and the provision of marker boards for classrooms.

He is confident that the Free SHS policy will ensure that children in Ghana are educated to at least the secondary level.

Money or the lack of it will no longer mean a denial of education, he said, adding already, the policy has led to an increase of over 90,000 children who have entered senior high school this academic year who would have otherwise dropped out at this stage.

Former president John Agyekum Kufour (L) and Education Minister Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh (R) all aluminus of Prempeh College

President Akufo-Addo lashed out at his political opponents who cast doubts on the feasibility of the policy and continue to do so even after its implementation.

He said his government is poised to deliver on the policy and ensure that its implementation is not in any way impeded.

The politically motivated propagandist and naysayers who in the last few years said that free SHS was not possible and could only happen after 20 years are now singing a new tune. They now claim free SHS is not sustainable and will crush in 5 years .

I continue to be puzzled as to the vehemence with which so called social democrats oppose or attempt to undermine measures designed to address poverty, he added.

The president also disclosed that under the Secondary Education Improvement project, government has secured a $40 million loan from the World Bank for the expansion and upgrading of facilities in 75 senior high schools across the country.

Construction works on the existing Community Day Schools are also ongoing and government will also upgrade 42 senior high schools into modern school status.

President Akufo-Addo is confident that Ghanaians will continue to support his government in the implementation of the Free SHS policy.

They recognize the importance of investment we are making in the youth and in the future of our country," he said, adding, "the investment will be sustained.
Review of CI.133 will aid in ...
Germanys wolf population on the rise, new data shows Deutsche Welle

How your scalding hot deep fryer might help cool the weather CNN. Cf. Psalms 63:5. This has been going on for awhile.

Scientists Created a Synthetic Molecule, and It Could End Antibiotic Resistance Futurism

Sugar industry sponsorship of germ-free rodent studies linking sucrose to hyperlipidemia and cancer: An historical analysis of internal documents PLOS Biology. The Sugar Research Foundation. You can imagine.

Shift in Treasury strategy sparks yield curve debate FT

Net Neutrality

Brexit

Eine solche Durre habe ich noch nie erlebt Telepolis (guurst). From the Google translation: It does not want to rain in Spain and Portugal. Only the extreme northwest can breathe a little, as an Atlantic front brings some rain. However, this does not change the fact that the situation is so worrying in many parts of both countries that water rationing is already being considered, especially in Portugal.

Syraqistan

India

US, Japan, India, Australia  is Quad the first step to an Asian Nato? South China Morning Post

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From Street Protests to Kingmaker, Chiles New Left Comes of Age Bloomberg

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Sex in Politics Not!

Sebelius: The Clinton White House doubled down on abusive behavior and its fair to criticize Hillary Clinton CNN. Another Democrat urges Bill Clinton to take his place under the bus

What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men? Paris Review

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The biggest health issue we arent debating Axios. More than four in in 10 households with private coverage and incomes between 150% and 400% of the federal poverty line do not have enough liquid assets to cover a deductible of $1,500 for single people and $3,000 for families. And thats not even a high-deductible plan!

BIg Brother Is Watching You Watch

Oxford and Cambridge are said to be illegally spying on students for money Quartz

Thanksgiving

Amazon Workers in Germany and Italy Are on Strike The Stranger

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The future of Americas suburbs looks infinite The Orange County Register (Re Silc). The photo that accompanies the article is of Santa Clarita. In the high desert. Re Silc: The first time i was in la was 1959. Last week i was there. This cannot be sustainable.

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See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
A young woman who died in a crash in unincorporated Alameda County Wednesday night has been identified as 16-year-old Violet Agamau of Pleasanton, by the Alameda County coroner's bureau.

Agamau died in what California Highway Patrol officials described as a solo vehicle crash around 11:45 p.m. on westbound Stanley Boulevard just west of Isabel Avenue, also known as state Highway 84, near Livermore.

The crash involved a blue Kia SUV carrying five people, the CHP said.

The driver involved in the fatal crash that killed Agamau and critically injured 26-year-old Alexis Garica near Livermore on Wednesday night was previously arrested for driving intoxicated, according to Alameda County Court records.

The driving records of 26-year-old Lauren Davis confirm she had been arrested twice before for driving under the influence and her most recent DUI was in May. According to records, both DUI charges were reduced to reckless driving.

CHP Officer Tyler Hans confirms Davis is now in custody after being released from Highland Hospital in Oakland. She was taken to Santa Rita jail and will be charged with felony DUI and second-degree murder. Davis will be arraigned on Monday.

Alexis Garcia is currently in critical condition after being fully ejected from the SUV. According to officials, Garcia suffered major head injuries and has been put into a medically induced coma at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley.

My family is devastated, said Garcias sister, Kim Brady. One different choice could have changed where we all are today and where we spent Thanksgiving.

The California Highway Patrol says they found alcohol inside the mangled SUV.

The vehicle was believed to be speeding when it lost control, drove off the roadway and overturned, officials said.

Meanwhile, friends gathered late Thursday in shock of the news.

ATM, a senior student at Village High School in Pleasanton, said Agamau was his friend. She was a junior at the school, according to ATM.

"She's a very great person, very loving, fun, energetic," he said.

A growing memorial can be seen at the crash site along the westbound lanes of Stanley Boulevard.

ATM said the deadly crash is a wake-up call for himself and other teens who too often feel bullet-proof to life's dangerous mistakes.

"If you drink, don't get behind the wheel," he said. "Call Uber. Call a taxi. Walk it off, if anything."
Michael Crabtree and Aqib Talib didn't wait long to renew their bitter rivalry.

Less than five minutes into Sunday's game at the Coliseum, the Raiders' wide receiver and Broncos' cornerback got into a shoving match near Denver's sideline.

The pushing led to a full-scale brawl between several players from both teams.

All Things Silver and Black: Oakland Raiders 2017-2018 Season Highlights

After Crabtree had been removed from the pile by tight end Jared Cook, Talib found his way back to Crabtree away from the original dust up. At that point, Talib threw a punch but did not connect with Crabtree.

Crabtree and Talib were assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and ejected. Raiders offensive lineman Gabe Jackson was also ejected for shoving a game official.

The bitterness between Crabtree and Talib dates back to last season when Talib yanked a gold chain off Crabtree's neck during a game. It appears Talib got Crabtree's chain again in this latest incident.
A firefighter suffered minor injuries battling a garage fire in Newtown Sunday.

Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead said a passing firefighter called in a fire at a home on the corner of Fir Tree Lane and Berkshire Road around 1:12 p.m. Responding crews found heavy fire coming from the garage.

An elderly woman who was inside the house at the time was able to get herself to the back door and the passing firefighter helped her to safety.

The fire was quickly knocked down but firefighters remained on scene working on hotspots for some time. One firefighter hurt his arm and was being checked out by medics. No other injuries were reported.

The garage and a car stored inside were destroyed in the blaze, but the fire door prevented the fire from spreading into the main house.

Fire officials said there was some damage from heat and smoke to the main part of the home.

All five fire companies from Newtown and the Southbury fire department responded to the blaze.

The homeowner tells NBC Connecticut he lives in the home with his wife and elderly mother. He and his wife were dropping off their daughter at the airport when the fire occurred. The family is temporarily displaced.
Connecticut State Troopers are being equipped with kits to help the homeless during the cold weather, thanks to their colleagues in neighboring Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts State Police and Springfield, Massachusetts, resident Bob Charland this month delivered 80 donated First Responder Winter Bags for the Homeless to the Connecticut State Police Headquarters in Middletown.

The bags include foot and hand warmers, hats, gloves, socks, toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap, lotion, baby wipes, meal replacement shakes, food, blankets and some feminine hygiene products. The bags will be distributed to troopers in Southbury, Bridgeport and Hartford.

Troopers will carry the bags in their cruisers, providing them to homeless people they may encounter.

Charland, who is terminally ill, came up with the idea. He previously founded a nonprofit organization that provides bicycles to needy children.
A woman accused of mailing potentially deadly homemade bombs to then-President Barack Obama and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in 2016 was arrested, in part, due to cat hair, a cigarette box and an almost-destroyed shipping label bearing her address.

Julia Poff, 46, mailed the devices in October 2016, along with a third package that she sent to the Social Security Administration, near Baltimore, according to an indictment. Of the three packages, only Abbott opened his. It did not detonate because "he did not open it as designed," court documents said.

A grand jury indicted her this month on six counts, including mailing injurious articles and transporting explosives with the intent to kill and injure, according to documents filed this week in district court in Houston.

Federal investigators said the improvised explosive device sent to Abbott contained a cellphone, a cigarette packet and a salad dressing cap, according to a court document from a Nov. 17 detention hearing. It says a similar device was sent to Obama and that "the same" device was sent to the Social Security Administration.

The device sent to Abbott came in a package still bearing an "obliterated shipping label" addressed to Poff, the court document said. The cigarette box used in the device bore a Texas tobacco stamp that identifies the store where the cigarettes were bought. Poff's bank card records showed a purchase of cigarettes at that store. The two incendiary powders in the box matched materials found in Poff's home, federal court documents showed.

Investigators traced Poff to the package sent to Obama because of cat hair found under an address label, according to the detention hearing court document. An FBI crime lab compared the hair to some from two of Poff's cats and found it "microscopically consistent" with the hair of one of those animals, according to the court filing.

At the hearing, a federal agent testified that Poff was angry with Abbott because she did not receive support from her ex-husband when Abbott served as Texas Attorney General, before he was elected governor in 2014. According to court documents, Poff's application for social security benefits was denied.

The agent also testified that Poff said she just didn't like Obama.

Katie Hill, a spokeswoman with the former president's private office, declined to comment Friday. A call by The Associated Press to Abbott's public affairs office in Austin was not returned.

Poff is being held at the Houston federal detention center. Poff's attorney, Ashley Kaper, declined to comment except to say she had been unable to keep her client out of custody.

A criminal background check shows Poff has a misdemeanor conviction for theft. She was also convicted for state felony fraud. In both cases, she was given probation.

A pretrial conference in the case is scheduled for early next year.

Associated Press writer Sara Burnett contributed to this report from Chicago.
What to Know Police say a 15-year-old Florida boy was detained while trying to cross the New York-Canada border Saturday

The teen is a person of interest in the death of his 53-year-old grandmother

He was on the run for three days in her stolen car and was believed to be armed and dangerous with guns taken from his father's arsenal

A Florida teenager trying to enter Canada has been detained by U.S. border patrol agents who want to interview him in connection with the death of his grandmother.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said at a news conference late Friday that the 15-year-old was stopped near Buffalo, New York.

Officials in Florida started looking for the boy and his 53-year-old grandmother on Wednesday after the two of them failed to pick up the teen's father at the airport.

The father had been on vacation with his girlfriend. His mother was watching her grandson while they were gone.

When the father got to his home in Neptune Beach, near Jacksonville on Florida's Atlantic coast, he found it had been ransacked. His mother's home in nearby Mayport was also ransacked. Weapons were missing from both homes and the grandmother's 2015 Dodge Dart was also gone.

Officials said at the news conference that the father is a corrections officer for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Ron Lendvay, a director of investigations and homeland security for the sheriff's office, said surveillance footage from a gas station in south-central Pennsylvania picked up the image of the teen and Dodge Dart on Thursday afternoon.

Lendvay said a warrant was issued for the teen's arrest on an auto theft charge.

Earlier Friday, officials said a body that matched the grandmother's description was found in a shallow grave in the teen's backyard. Officials are waiting for an autopsy but the teen's mother said the body belongs to her ex-husband's mother Kristina French.

Carrie Campbell-Mott, who is divorced from the teen's father, told NBC News that the boy had a loving relationship with his grandmother.

"He has a really big heart. He has never said a bad word to anybody. So it's just baffling," Mott said.

She said her son's diabetic son's mechanical insulin pump recently stopped working  an imbalance in blood sugars has caused erratic behaviors before.

But medical doctors say violence linked to high blood sugar levels is rare.

Campbell-Mott said her son loves the outdoors and is an avid survivalist.

"My gut tells me that he just ran. Like his only thought was to panic and run and to take the guns and go to the woods," she said.
It started as a hit and run in Oakland Park, and now police are searching for the suspects who opened fire on a South Florida driver.

The incident happened early Sunday morning at the Extended Stay America on North Andrews Ave.

I got up at 6:30 this morning and was told by the Broward Sheriffs Deputy to go back in my room and stay inside, said Barry Ware, a hotel guest.

According to the Broward Sheriffsat Office, what started as a hit and run on Andrews Ave. and Northeast 57th Street ended with gunfire around 4 a.m. The victims followed the suspects car into the hotel parking lot. The suspects then fired back. The shots fired stirred up confusion for some hotel guests who woke up to bullet casings next to their vehicles.

I was going to my car actually where the shooting at had happened and there were police hiding in the bushes, not sure if they were looking for someone, said Chelsea Taylor, a hotel guest.

BSO said no one inside the car was shot. Crime scene detectives took pictures of evidence, including a firearm that was pulled out of a garbage can.

There were deputies outside here and up and down the stairs with these big shotguns, said Ware.

On Sunday evening, the hotel parking lot is clear and operations are back to normal after a chaotic morning with more questions than answers, says Taylor.

Its pretty insane. You dont wake up on a Sunday morning and expect to see something like that.
What to Know A 15-year-old boy was killed when he was struck and killed while out as a delivery boy Saturday night

His uncle says his nephew arrived recently from Guatemala and was working to support his family back home

The driver of the vehicle stayed at the scene; there were four men in the car, according to witnesses, who say one of them ran off

A 15-year-old who was working as a delivery boy to support his family in Guatemala was struck and killed by a car in Brooklyn on Saturday evening, police and family say.



The boy, identified by family as Edwin Vincente, was pronounced dead at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital after being rushed there with injuries to his head and body, according to the NYPD, who identified him as Edwin Ajacalon.

Vicente's uncle said his nephew arrived in the U.S. from Guatemala a couple of years ago and lived with him. Most of his family is back home in Central America and he was working to support them.

Vicente was riding his bike to work on 23rd Street in Park Slope when a BMW sedan hit him shortly before 6 p.m. at Fifth Avenue, police said.

A deli clerk provided surveillance video to NBC 4 New York. The video shows Vicente riding through the intersection when the BMW rams into him.

His shattered bike could be seen sitting in the middle of the street after the crash.

"We saw the boy lying on the ground, there was a lot of blood around him," Stephanie Cordova Rodriguez said. "His bike was in two pieces. His hat was on one side, his shoes were on another."

Witnesses say there were four men in the car and that only three of them stayed.

"One of the boys who was in the car was trying to leave, and one of his friends was trying to convince him to stay," Rodriguez said. "He ended up leaving before the cops came."

The driver stayed at the scene and has not been arrested, police said. They said an investigation is ongoing and that it's currently unclear who had the right-of-way.

The driver was taken to a hospital to be evaluated. Witnesses say he was hysterical after the crash.

"He didn't know how to react," Rodriguez said. "There was also a lot of people around yelling at him because he hit the boy."

Meanwhile, Vicente's family back home was getting the unfathomable news that their son was killed in a tragic accident.

"Because he's an immigrant, because he can't get a better-paying job, he has to take a job as a delivery boy, where there's many risks," Rodriguez said. "It's just not fair, he's just trying to get ahead in life."
A Danish mother whose 1997 arrest for leaving her baby outside an East Village restaurant sparked an international debate about parenting styles says she still feels she was unfairly vilified.

"(My) case that happened 20 years ago is even more relevant today," Anette Sorensen told the New York Post for a story published Saturday. She said American parents "live in fear," and she still wants "to show it's possible to live another way."

Then an actress in her 30s, Sorensen parked her 14-month-old daughter in a stroller outside a Dallas BBQ while she and the baby's father, a New York-based playwright, had margaritas inside on a chilly May evening. Sorensen said she repeatedly checked on the blanket-covered baby during the hour they were at the restaurant before a patron summoned police.

The parents were arrested on child-endangerment charges that were eventually dropped. Child welfare authorities briefly took charge of the girl.

"I don't think there's any greater punishment than to have your child taken away from you," Sorensen told the Post.

The episode sparked outrage from New York, where residents were astounded at the idea of parents depositing a child alone on a sidewalk, to Denmark, where residents were equally stunned by the notion of being arrested for leaving a child unattended for a spell while shopping or dining.

Sorensen filed a $20 million false-arrest lawsuit against the city. A jury in 1999 awarded her $66,000, rejecting many of her claims but agreeing that she should not have been strip-searched, among other findings.

Sorensen, who now lives in Hamburg, Germany, is trying to raise money online to get an English translation of a novel she wrote based on her 1997 experience.

"I always had a big longing for an apology," she says in a fundraising video that also features her now 21-year-old daughter. "I probably never will get this apology."
The de Blasio administration hopes a database of "zombie homes" will help the city hold more financial institutions accountable for dilapidated, abandoned buildings that have plagued neighborhoods since the 2007-2008 mortgage meltdown.

Zombie homes are vacant properties that have languished for years in some stage of pre-foreclosure. In many cases, previous owners stopped paying mortgages and moved out, so the buildings have become magnets for squatters and criminal activity.

On Halloween, the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development held a symbolic zombie walk, with volunteer surveyors taking notes and pictures of abandoned homes. The information collected will ultimately help construct the zombie home database.

Using information from that database, HPD hopes to keep banks and mortgage servicers honest in their obligation to report zombie homes to New York state.

Last year, New York passed a zombie property law that requires financial institutions to inspect properties that have become delinquent on mortgages. If it turns out owners have abandoned those properties, the law requires mortgage holders to report them as zombie homes to New York State Department of Financial Services. The law also requires banks and their servicers to maintain the vacant properties, keeping them clean and safe even before final foreclosure judgements are rendered. Failing to do so could result in $500 per day fines.

Leila Bozorg, HPD deputy commissioner for community strategies, said cataloguing zombie homes will allow the city to compile evidence of vacancy, in essence forcing banks and their servicers to be honest about which homes are truly abandoned.

"We do have some reason to believe that there could be mortgage holders that aren't going to be abiding by the new law," Bozorg said.

Once the zombie database is complete, HPD intends to identify neighborhood patterns and use the data to predict where future zombie homes might sprout up. In some cases, the data could be used to direct more foreclosure prevention resources to those areas. In other cases, the city might decide to acquire at-risk properties through a nonprofit community land trust.

Bozorg estimated there are between 2,000 and 4,000 zombie homes in the city.
Former "Glee" star Naya Rivera has been arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery in Kanawha County, West Virginia, E! News confirms.

On Saturday, the Kanawha County Sheriff confirmed to E! News that the 30-year-old actress was arrested that night and was waiting to be arraigned.

Local outlet WSAZ first reported the news and stated, "Investigators say she's charged with domestic battery. They tell us it involves her husband at their home."

Soon after the news was confirmed, reporter Kalea Gunderson shared a video of the arraignment on Twitter, which showed the teary actress after the arrest.

"You have been charged with a misdemeanor domestic battery," said the judge. "Do you know what you have been charged with?"

"Yes, your honor," the star said quietly.

According to Gunderson's following tweet, "Criminal complaint states Rivera's husband Ryan Dorsey told police she struck him in the head and bottom lip when they were on a walk with their child."

The reporter then tweeted that Rivera was released on bond and picked up by her father-in-law.



Best (or Worst) Mug Shots Ever

Last month, E! News can confirm the 30-year-old former "Glee" star was no longer moving forward with her divorce from husband Ryan Dorsey, who is from West Virginia. She filed a request for dismissal of the divorce paperwork, which she originally filed in November 2016.

On Thanksgiving, Rivera posted a smiling and happy photo of the couple's son, Josey.

The photo is tagged with Dorsey's name and captioned, "Josey is the cuteeeest!! #joseyhollisdorsey #nayarivera #ryandorsey #thanksgiving."

A source told E! News, "She is back together with Ryan Dorsey. They want to make it work for the sake of their son."

Meanwhile, Rivera dated the "Pitch" actor before breaking up and getting engaged to Big Sean in 2013.

However, when the rapper called off the wedding a year later, she immediately reunited with Dorsey. They got married three months after getting back together, tying the knot in a secret wedding ceremony in Mexico in July 2014.

E! News has reached out to a rep for the actress, who starred as Santana Lopez on the hit FOX series from 2009-2015.
Dense fog in San Diego County left several travelers figuring out how they would make it home from their long Thanksgiving holiday.

The National Weather Service issued a dense fog advisory Saturday night into Sunday morning and warned that fog may cause travel delays.

Visibility was reduced to a quarter of a mile or less in areas of dense fog, which included the coastline.

The fog caused several flights at San Diego International Airport (SAN) to be delayed.

Mark Kumimoto didn't make it home until Sunday afternoon after his flight from Sacramento made a U-turn over Bakersfield.

I fly in late at night a lot and a few times they said we might be diverted, but Ive never been diverted before, Kumimoto said.

Denise Cooley's Southwest flight from Phoenix was expected to land in San Diego at 9:40 p.m. Saturday. She said the plane was descending when the engines kicked in and the plane gained elevation again.

The flight ended up in Ontario.

Travelers were offered a shuttle bus to SAN but Cooley opted out, insteadtaking a $100 Uber to her Vista home.

The advisory went into effect at 4 p.m. Saturday and expired at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Close to 20 flights departing from Lindbergh Field were delayed or canceled Saturday because of the fog.

Southwest Airlines flights to Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco were also among those affected.

Most flights experiencing delays Sunday morning were to and from the Bay area. Otherwise, arrivals and departures at the airport were operating normally.

Travelers should check their flight status on the airport's website and arrive early for check-in.
A 49-year-old San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officer was arrested in Chula Vista last Sunday on felony domestic violence charges, the Chula Vista Police Department confirmed to NBC 7 Saturday.

The suspect, identified as Emmett Gregory, has been an SDPD employee since September 2001, according to records obtained by NBC 7.

Gregory was arrested Sunday at his home in the Otay Ranch area of Chula Vista, a spokesperson for the Chula Vista Police Department said.

SDPD released a statement saying, We are aware of the incident involving Officer Gregory. We take the conduct of all our employees very seriously and hold our personnel to the highest of standards. We have opened an administrative investigation into the situation and will make sure it is investigated fully."

"Domestic violence impacts families in every profession. The San Diego Police Department stands by victims of domestic violence. It is important, no matter who you are, you feel safe in coming forward and reporting domestic violence when it occurs."

Check back on this breaking story for updates.
Police believe a Maryland woman killed her 2-year-old son before taking her own life on Saturday night.

A family member called 911 about 10 p.m. Saturday, asking police to do a welfare check at a townhouse on Countrywood Court in Landover, Maryland. When officers arrived, they found Yu Song, 34, and Joseph Wang, 2, dead inside the home.

Neighbors told News4 the Song's husband showed up to the townhouse and banged on the door before police came and found her and the child dead.

Neighbors said the family had recently moved out of the townhouse, but Song somehow got inside.

Investigators are asking anyone with information to call 301-772-4925. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477), or go online at www.pgcrimesolvers.com, or use the P3 Tips mobile app (search P3 Tips in the Apple Store or Google Play to download the app onto your mobile device.)
Police arrested two people Saturday in connection with the robbery of an elderly woman near her home in Quincy, Massachusetts, earlier this week.

Quincy police say 26-year-old Kayla Noel-Brown of Quincy and 27-year-old Markell Cruz of Somerville are behind bars in connection with the incident.

Ninety-two-year-old Doris Prendiville's family is relieved to say the least.

Massachusetts State Police say a trooper saw the suspects walking towards Northampton Street. The trooper recognized them from pictures that were posted by Quincy police on social media.

When the trooper approached the suspects, the female identified herself as "Nancy Brown." Once he confirmed that the people in front of him were likely the suspects, he contacted a Quincy detective and an arrest was made.

Both are facing several charges, including unarmed robbery.

Police say the suspects approached Prendiville last week as she was walking back to an elderly living complex on Clay Street in Quincy after getting the Sunday newspaper at a nearby CVS.

Prendiville told police a man in his 30's came out of nowhere, pushed her to the ground, and took off with her pocketbook.

The violent purse snatching was caught on camera.

Prendiville suffered a broken sternum, sprained fingers, and cuts and bruises all over.

Prendiville's daughter, Chris, talked to NBC Boston/necn over the phone about the arrest of her mother's attackers, saying people want money so badly that they are willing to do anything to anybody to get it.

At the Brown family household, Noel-Brown's grandfather came to her defense, saying his granddaughter met the wrong guy.

"She had no idea he was going to do that. Kayla stayed there and helped her up and that's how they got her picture."

The police did confirm that Noel-Brown helped the victim up after she was attacked.

Both suspects will be in Quincy District Court on Monday.
A popular Massachusetts diner destroyed by a fire earlier this year will soon reopen in a different location in Framingham.

According to their website and social media pages, J&M Diner will reopen on Monday, Nov. 27, at 50 Worcester Rd.

The diner was one of 11 businesses destroyed by a 3-alarm fire March 11 at the Old Path Village Plaza on Concord Street.

The diner, which opened in 1998 by the Brossi family, was the business that suffered the most damage. Although devastated, the family vowed to rebuild thanks to the devotion of their customers.

"Our little diner that could, along with other businesses, burned down. It was completely destroyed beyond repair, including all our personal family photos. This space, that we had for 20 years was our second home and our families livelihood. We were devastated, as you could imagine. Within hours, we felt the support from family, friends and our devoted customers," read a statement from the J&M diner website.


A 48-year-old Maine woman is dead following a three-car crash on Interstate 93 in Woburn early Saturday evening.

Massachusetts State police say Deborah A. Burpee, 48, of Kennebunk, was driving a Honda Fit northbound near exit 37A when she struck a GMC Yukon. The Yukon was then pushed into a Honda Civic that was also on the highway.

Burpee was taken to a Burlington hospital with serious injuries. She later died.

The seven people who were inside of the Yukon and the driver of the third car were not hurt.

Police said that traffic in the area was at a near standstill prior to the accident.

Three lanes of the highway were shut down for about 90 minutes following the crash.

The crash remains under investigation.
Egypt Mosque attack: 'Attackers carried Islamic State flag'

Cairo : The death toll in a terrorist attack on a mosque on Friday in Egypt's North Sinai has risen to 305 killed, including 27 children, and 128 others were wounded, state news agency MENA reported on Saturday.

"The attackers of the mosque were carrying the Islamic State flag," MENA quoted the statement of the country's general prosecutor as saying.

"Some 25-30 militants have gunned down the worshippers while performing the Friday prayer," it added.

The attack took place after the mosque's preacher started his speech, when the terrorists threw bombs from the windows and doors of the mosque, besieging the worshippers inside, the statement said.

Later, some masked men, carrying black flags reading "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet," broke into the mosque with automatic weapons, it added.

Long queues of the victims' relatives were laid on the ground, some covered with blankets, outside the Suez Canal Hospital in Ismailia.

"My 23-years old nephew, Amir, who was working as a nurse has passed away in the attack," said Samy Mohammed, who came from Delta Menoufia province to get the license of burying Amir said.

The father of Amir, Magdy, a 45 year-old teacher has also wounded in the attack by three bullets, two in his leg and one in his right arm, Mohammed told Xinhua.

"I couldn't get the body of Amir and he was buried in collective graves with the others," he said while weeping.

But Mohammed was waiting to ensure the status of the father who underwent some surgeries.

The father, Magdy said the terrorists for the first time attacked mosque because they failed to cause rift between the Copt and Muslims and also found difficulties in targeting more security men.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi instructed the Armed Forces to set up a memorial for the victims who lost their lives in al Rawda mosque terrorist attack, official sources told MENA on Saturday.

The case would be tackled as "a top emergency case of state security," MENA added.

The attackers were riding five jeeps and they set seven cars of the worshippers ablaze before fleeing.

Some of the worshippers were Sufis, members of Islam's mystical movement, whom groups such as the IS consider as "infidels."

Local militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, once allied to al-Qaeda, split from it and declared allegiance to the IS in 2014.

Sufis have been a target of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis who burnt one of their shrines in 2013.

Also the IS affiliate in Sinai has beheaded a 98-year-old man who was considered as the Sufist's spiritual leader in North Sina in November 2016.

No group has declared responsibility for the al Rawda attack yet.

North Sinai province, a mostly desert area bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, has been experiencing waves of anti-security attacks that killed hundreds of police and army men since the army-led ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 in response to mass protests against his rule.

Now they started to target the Muslim worshipers at mosque for the first time, which is an unprecedented development in terrorist tactics in the country, according to security experts.

The law enforcement forces continued their operations to hunt down elements involved in the brutal terrorist attack that targeted worshipers, the Armed Forces said in a Saturday statement.

According to intelligence information and in cooperation with Sinai residents, the Air Force has destroyed over the past hours several hotbeds used by terrorists as bases to launch their attacks, it added.

The hotbeds included firearms, ammunition and explosives, read the statement.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi vowed on Friday a "fierce action" against attackers.

Egypt's military said they had carried out airstrikes and raids overnight against militants held responsible for the killings, the bloodiest attack in Egypt's modern history.

The Interior Ministry declared a state of high alert nationwide.
Hafiz Saeed's release: US warns Pakistan of 'repercussions'

Washington : United States President Donald Trump has warned Pakistan that failure to take action against Jammat-ud-Dawa leader Hafiz Saeed "will have repercussions for bilateral relations".

The US "strongly condemns" his release from house arrest and "calls for his immediate re-arrest and prosecution," Trump's Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement on Saturday.

"If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistan's global reputation" the statement said.

Trump's latest warning is more specific focusing on Saeed's release on Thursday in the face of Pakistan's defiance of his admonishment in August that Pakistan had "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists.

"Saeed's release, after Pakistan's failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a deeply troubling message about Pakistan's commitment to combating international terrorism and belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil," Sanders's statement said.

"As President Donald Trump's South Asia policy makes clear, the US seeks a constructive relationship with Pakistan, but expects decisive action against militant and terrorist groups on Pakistani soil that are a threat to the region," she said. "The release of Saeed is a step in the wrong direction."

The statement pointed out that that the US has designated the LeT as a foreign terrorist organisation "responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens."

It added, "Saeed himself is a notorious terrorist who stands accused of having masterminded the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including six American citizens."

On Friday, the State Department had condemned the release of Saeed, who carries a $10 million bounty from the US, and demanded his re-arrest.

Saeed was let go by Pakistani authorities in Lahore after a court refused to extend the detention that ended Thursday and ordered him released from house arrest.

When Donald Trump, who had taken a strong stand against terrorism during his campaign, assumed the US presidency in January, Islamabad put Saeed under house arrest. Pakistan has failed so far to prosecute him on terrorism charges.

In 2008, the US Treasury Department declared Saeed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and put sanctions on him.
China is requiring automakers (making over 30,000 cars per year) to make zero- and low-emission vehicles- of at least 10 percent starting in 2019, rising to 12 percent in 2020.

Car makers that do not meet those targets must buy credits or face fines.

The targets look achievable for the industry as a whole, McKerracher said. Considering the credit structure, 12 percent in 2020 would translate to about 4 percent to 5 percent of actual vehicle sales.

A spokeswoman for Frances PSA Group said the delay was good news but that the company was fully prepared to meet the quotas regardless. Obtaining an energy score of at least 10 percent in 2019 can be achieved if 2.5 percent of PSAs Chinese production is electric.

China going from electric cars being 2% of new cars sold to 20% in 2025 to possibly 100% in 2030

In October 2017, 2% of new cars sold in China were electric cars.

Volkswagen, which has a large footprint in the market and sells more vehicles in China than in Europe, has said it will offer 30 electric models by 2025, but the first of those wont hit the market until 2020.

China is calling for the production of 2 million electric vehicles (EVs) a year by 2020, and 7 million a year by 2025. By 2025, electric vehicles would be 20% of total new car production for China.

Chinas government said it was working on a timetable to phase out fossil-fuel powered vehicles. It is probable that China will pick 2030.

China Leading Electric Car maker BAIC will export electric cars to USA and Canada in 2018

Chinese car-maker BAIC, which assembles cars in the Mexican state of Veracruz, said on Friday that it plans to export cars from Mexico to the United States and Canada starting in 2018.

Yang Nanhua, director general of BAIC in Mexico, said the plan would go into action unless something drastic happens with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

BAIC would bring four new models into Mexico in 2018, including an electric vehicle with a range of up to 200 km

October, 2017  66,000 electric cars sold in China which is 4 times the North American monthly level

China had 66,000 electric cars sold in October, 2017.

Globally 123,000 plug in electric cars were sold in September, 2017. October global sales are not yet tabulated.

It seems likely that China has over half of the global electric car sales. The top model in China was the BAIC EC-Series. 11,315 EC-Series registered in October.

The little EV is a success with a trendy design, improved specs (now with 200 km of range), and competitive pricing (~$22,000).

Chinas electric vehicle sales have now passed 2% of all car sales. The US electric cars are at 1% of overall car sales.

China electric car company BYD plans to increase sales by 10X by 2025 through expansion and diversification

BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu has drawn up an ambitious plan for the Chinese electric carmaker, envisioning the creation of a new-energy corporate giant with sales of a trillion yuan (US$151 billion) by 2025, nearly 10 times its revenue last year.

BYD will conduct a drastic restructuring to form a new industry chain, a move designed to chase rapid growth in the coming eight years.

BYDs different divisions including passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle, battery and electronics will be developed into various clusters of businesses, he added. In 2025, our aim is to achieve sales of 1 trillion yuan.

China could require all cars to be completely electrified by 2030.

Xu Heyi, chairman of carmaker BAIC Group, forecast that electric-vehicle production in China could reach a million units next year.

SOURCES  China Automotive Ministry, China Daily, Bloomberg, South China Morning Post, Cleantechnica, InsideEVs
Varying estimates of lithium deposits could provide lithium for anything from a further 100 million cars  about 10 percent of the global auto fleet  to 10 billion or more.

* estimate cost of building and running a mine and processing plant

* estimate future prices.

* current geological information about the mineral

* estimate of demand. The amount of lithium used per kilowatt-hour of battery power is changing rapidly as manufacturers improve efficiency. One 2015 study by Citigroup Inc. estimated about two kilograms of lithium carbonate equivalent are needed for each kWh; more recent appraisals by Deutsche Bank AG and Advantage Lithium reckon its about a third as much.

There will be many more geological discoveries with more effort to find supplies.

By 2030, Tianqi Lithium, SQM, Albemarle, and FMC will have to supply enough lithium to feed the equivalent of 35 plants the size of the Tesla Gigafactory now being built in Nevada. The total investment in new mines, including some for other elements used in lithium ion batteries, will likely range from $350 billion to $750 billion.

A 300% increase in lithium prices would only add 2% to the price of electric vehicles.
FALLS CHURCH, Va.Vinyl records had their day. Then they nearly died. Then they were revived. Now investors are so confident in the resiliency of the revival that they are investing millions of dollars so the record industry can keep spinning in abundance.

And a big part of the future of this nearly bygone medium could unfold in the Washington suburbs.

Eric Astor of Falls Church, Virginia, is opening a record-pressing facility early next year in Fairfax County that he says eventually could increase the production of records in the country by almost 20 percent. The United States produces about 50 million records annually, and his business, Furnace Record Pressing, will have the capacity to make about 9 million a year.

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot plant would help relieve an industry stymied by a supply chain that cant keep up with increasing demand. Record-pressing machines are expensive and bulky, and businesspeople like Astor are starting to become confident enough in the industrys longevity to invest in such costly equipment.

Ive known this is real for a long time, and our customers are now finally saying we need more vinyl, Astor said. You either step up or theyll go somewhere else.

Astor started Furnace MFG, which is now Furnace Record Pressing, in 1996, manufacturing DVDs and CDs in Fairfax County. About a decade ago, he started manufacturing records, but because he doesnt have the machinery in-house, he outsources the pressing to a plant in Europe. The packaging and distribution is then managed from the Virginia facility.

Furnace Record Pressing has contracts with bands such as Metallica and record companies including District of Columbia-based Dischord Records, a mostly punk label that represents local artists.

Brian Lowit, the label manager for Dischord Records, said that in recent years his label has had to wait as long as six months to receive records because of a backlog at the presses. Lowit said Dischord has always posted steady vinyl sales, but in recent years, the bigger, mainstream labels have also turned to vinyl, clogging the small number of presses in the country.

Dischord uses Furnace Record Pressing to make some of its records, and Lowit said that when the new plant opens, it will probably have more of its albums pressed at Furnace.

What theyre doing will obviously speed up the turnaround time, Lowit said. Its exciting to have a vinyl plant down the street from us. And I think itll be good for other local bands and labels. Itll make things more accessible.

The massive record-pressing plant almost never happened. Astor, who played in punk bands in his teens and 20s, said he struggled to find the proper machinery to press records.

In early 2015, he connected with a man in Mexico who had purchased press machines. The goal originally was for the two to partner and press records in Mexico, but the man decided it was too much work, and Astor bought the machines from him.

He schlepped the machines to the Washington area and refurbished them. The new plant will have 16 new and refurbished machines, each weighing about a ton and measuring about 6 feet long, 4 feet wide and 5 feet tall.

Manufacturing records is a hands-on process that also involves boilers and chillers. Furnace Record Pressing employs 30 people and will begin adding about 35 more to its payroll when the new plant opens in January.

The hardest part is finding good people who can understand the trade, Astor said. You cant turn on a machine and expect records to come out perfectly. The room can have too much humidity. Someone can open a door and the room can then be too cold.

Michael Kurtz, co-founder of the international Record Store Dayan annual day in April that celebrates independently owned record storessaid it is millennials driving the boom in vinyl sales. He said that streaming services such as Spotify present a different listening experience than vinyl and that the two arent in competition.

Kurtz started Record Store Day in 2008 to promote the more than 1,400 independently owned record stores in the country. The event has grown to six continents, and each years sales have outpaced the previous one. In 2015, 12 million new and used records were sold on that day, Kurtz said.

When Record Store Day launched in 2008, record production was typically less than a million per year worldwide, he said. What Record Store Day did was prove that people were willing to buy records. Record labels started printing more, and it allowed the industry to blossom.

The Fairfax facility, near the interchange of the Beltway and Interstate 395, has been under construction for more than a year, and Astor said crews are in the process of moving and installing the pressing machines. Manufacturing records requires large amounts of energy, and Astor said he had to get permission from Washington Gas to double the buildings energy allotment.

Because of this, Astor said he would be donating 5 percent of Furnace Record Pressings revenue to environmental advocacy organizations.

The new pressing facility will also have a listening room and a small area where local bands can occasionally perform.

Ive never seen a format for music grow as fast as vinyl, Astor said. For the last 30 years, weve been hearing this compressed piece of garbage. Now youre listening to it for the first time.
A year ago, in the days after the shock of learning that Donald Trump would be the next president, Charleen Ward was afraid.

And come Sunday, she was in church.

"I was really scared. I felt that things were going to be drastically changed for me as an African-American woman, as a gay woman," she said. "I needed to come after the election. I knew there would be many who felt the way I did. I needed to have that family support of the church."

The pews were packed in churches across the country on the Sunday after the election, filled with Trump supporters giving thanks for the turning of a page in America, with stunned liberals seeking solace, and with many who simply felt compelled to be together in community in an emotional moment.

Surely, the election didn't mark any sort of spiritual awakening in America. There's been no big turn in the tide of an increasingly secular younger generation. But there was a slight shift: In churches across America, some of the people who walked through the doors for the first time in many years on that Sunday after Election Day stuck around. In quiet ways in the past year, the church has changed them. And they have changed the church.

That's apparent at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in the District of Columbia, where Ward found community on that Sunday after the election. The church has so many new members - many of whom voice their commitment to progressive priorities loud and clear, but don't have quite as firm a grasp on church tradition - that the clergy just launched a series to teach them, over drinks, about the theology behind their social justice causes.

"It comes out of the requests from our 20- and 30-somethings, who are kind of new to church. They're not new to advocacy. They're not new to activism," said the Rev. Richard Weinberg. "They have commitments. But they don't have the theological language and background."

Average Sunday attendance jumped from 98 in the month leading up to Trump's inauguration to 122 in the following month, Weinberg said. "I would say that there is more of an energy and a commitment to the resistance movement. Young folks and not-young folks alike are coming."

- - -

It's a pattern echoed across the city and across the country, in congregations of many stripes. In many Jewish and Muslim congregations, some young people who didn't think much about their identities before drew closer to their communities in the face of rising anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. At All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in the District, the Rev. Robert Hardies said that Sunday attendance is 33 percent higher this fall than it was before last year's election.

The Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, said that's the case at most congregations across the country in the liberal Unitarian Universalist church. Her own church in Phoenix saw a 20 percent increase in Sunday attendance after the election.

"A lot of people who are members but hadn't been attending regularly or hadn't attended in a while are all coming back to the community," she said.

She thinks the stress of politics is driving women and immigrants in particular to church. "When people are afraid, when they're facing trauma, when they're in the midst of tremendous challenge and difficulty, they seek out communities that will support them," Frederick-Gray said. "They seek out religious community. And I believe people are experiencing trauma in this political environment."

When The Washington Post asked women who participated in the January Women's March to write in about what actions they've taken since Trump's inauguration, at least a dozen mentioned getting more involved in a church.

"At this time in our lives, this whole political climate is so distressing, a bit frightening, and so un-Christian to me that it is heartbreaking. So many people profess to believe in God but speak and act in ways that Jesus would never condone," wrote Tami Garrow, 57, of Yuma, Arizona. "I just don't get it. At all. . . . So I go to church, write my elected officials, send money, pray, and try to figure out how to be relevant in a world that suddenly feels a bit foreign to me."

Many mainline Protestant churches, as well as mosques and synagogues, have redoubled their social action activities, attracting new members who want a place to get involved. Church committees across the country have been busy hosting rallies about climate change and racism, writing and calling legislators about health care and taxes, and offering direct aid to refugees and immigrants.

"I hear that constantly from pastors, that they've seen an uptick in attendance post-election," said the Rev. Jennifer Butler, who chaired a White House faith council during the Obama administration and now leads the liberal organization Faith in Public Life.

"I think what's helping is that there's also a larger public witness of, I guess you would call it, 'progressive religion' - which I think has given people some comfort and some feeling of confidence in the church, that the church is going to practice what it preaches," Butler said.

- - -

At St. Margaret's, members have joined some of the protest marches and have reached out to Muslim and Jewish leaders to show solidarity. But often the volunteer opportunities are less obviously political, like serving meals to hungry neighbors.

Jade Williams, 27, has started going to St. Margaret's on both Thursdays and Sundays to serve meals and chat with the homeless guests. She came to the church recently, soon after she moved from the Bahamas to the District to work for the Bahamian Embassy here and spotted a sign on the church's door. It matches many of the yard signs that sprang up in the District after the election: "Black Lives Matter . . . Love is Love, Science is Real." But it ends with an additional line: "God's Grace is Everything."

"That's what drew me there and really keeps me there," she said about the sign.

Recently, Williams had a harrowing experience that left her grateful for the church. She, her husband and relatives went to the Jefferson Memorial to take family photos and were shocked when a group of about 20 protesters, in town for a white nationalist demonstration, started taunting the family.

"Growing up, I went to a Catholic school. One of the songs we used to sing when we went to Mass in the morning, that's what's been on my mind these last few weeks - 'They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love,' " she said.

"I think that relationship with the church home is incredibly significant and important to me, after that occurred," Williams said. "It made me appreciate the work that St. Margaret's is doing, its message. Every single message every Sunday morning has a social justice theme."

On a recent Sunday, as the first anniversary of the election approached, Weinberg was the one delivering that message. He spoke of finding a message of liberation in that week's Bible passage, from the Book of Revelation.

"That indeed is a good-news message, but . . . consider how each of us is called to the service of liberating work and faithful resistance in the face of injustice," he preached, naming rallies and marches as part of that work. "For those who have fled their homes and found little welcome in the xenophobic West, liberation is coming. . . . For those who work so many damn jobs and still can't make ends meet, liberation is coming. . . . For our suffering planet, liberation is coming."

Then the Rev. Kym Lucas explained Communion and the collection - taking care to demystify the rituals for those who are new to church services - and a member of the congregation made an announcement.

A year ago, that church member was brand-new herself. "I was so completely devastated by the election," said the 40-year-old mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she works for the federal government and doesn't want her name published. "I wanted to come to a place where I could start to put together what had happened in a way that wasn't just the political horse race but was about my values and my beliefs."

She was raised in the Catholic Church, and while she hadn't attended a church in many years, she says her liberal political beliefs are very much rooted in her religious faith. After Trump won, she wanted to practice that tradition again. Now, she and her daughter are regular churchgoers, and she says the sermons have challenged her to think more deeply about her charitable donations.

Lucas describes the newcomers, like that federal employee, as "seekers." Many of them are looking for a community to spur them to action, but also simply for solace.

"For a lot of people there's been this sense of depression and sadness. We've had to remind ourselves that there is hope," Lucas said.

That's what Ward, as a lesbian mother concerned about raising her 8-year-old daughter in Trump's America, felt she needed.

"The last year has felt like a nightmare," she said. "The church really became a haven."
Some weeks I just want to give it all up and become a large corporation.

Being a human has only been a source of pain and inconvenience. I require periodic food and water. After a few days of subsisting entirely on coffee, I start to become nervous and irritable. I cannot stay awake indefinitely. I have to exist in the physical world, which means that I am never the right temperature, and that I sometimes have to stand in lines. I bang my head on low doorways. People yell at me when I walk down the sidewalk.

Corporations exist in the minds and hearts of Americans and, I guess, were the Founders' truest darlings. They are people, my friend, but without the disadvantages. You cannot prick them. They do not bleed. But if you wrong them, they can revenge. Theirs is an ideal situation, really.

I keep thinking about it, and the more I stare at the tax plan currently wending its way through Congress and the change to the Obama administration's net neutrality policy, the more upsides there seem to be.

Do you want a tax break? You should be a corporation. People are getting tiny, ephemeral tax cuts that appear and are gone as quickly as a dream. Corporations are getting big, permanent ones.

Do you want say over the way traffic works on the internet? Bad news, if you are not a corporation. And even then, possibly still bad.

The life of a corporation sounds like a pleasant one. All you have to do is cough faintly and say that you feel impeded by a regulation and do not think you are going to spend any money on job creation until it is removed, and suddenly everyone is scrambling to remove it.

And being headquartered overseas, even part of the time, sounds relaxing. Or better yet, I could threaten to move overseas! I would like to be courted and listened to by politicians instead of having to telephone them at odd hours to remind them not to remove my kidney. In fact, it would be nice not to have to worry about kidneys at all.

And just think of the freedom! There is a peculiar kind of freedom that the Trump administration seems obsessed with: namely, people's freedom to buy a worse version of something the Obama administration decided was a public good. This is called "consumer choice." It covers all kinds of things, from the internet to health plans. If the last president had decided that everyone deserved to be able to access boats, the Trump administration would be assiduously working to increase our freedom as consumers also to buy boats with large holes in them. If the Obama administration had decided that sandwiches were a public good everyone should have access to, the Trump administration would be defending the consumer's right to buy two pieces of paper stapled together around an old pickle and have it called a sandwich.

Everyone should have health insurance, but what if instead of being guaranteed a certain minimum level of coverage, we gave you the freedom to afford only a bad knock-off version that covered much less? And then there's ending net neutrality: Everyone should have internet, but what if you had the freedom to not have quite so MUCH? People are emitting a loud outcry in exactly the opposite direction of this change. But corporations - well.

The advantages of possessing limitless free speech and no corporeal form seem more pronounced with every passing day.

OK, corporations cannot vote, but they can do everything but. When a corporation insists that it is being impeded from doing what it wishes by someone's behavior, we all rally to eliminate whatever is in its way. Internet service providers wanted a lighter touch? They are getting one. No one tries to grope a corporation.

Humans have so many worries. Student loans. Taxes. Being a person - let alone a woman, which is something both more and less than a person - is exhausting. A human body is something that can have its health insurance taken away. It can be objectified. It can choke on a walnut. The Supreme Court could decide that it had no right to control what happened within its borders.

As a corporation I would have no concern other than the strength of my brand. As a human, I already worry about that a little, and I feel guilty for doing so. No more.

Brand me and give me some real estate and let me live and speak freely. I will miss some aspects of human life, but not very many. I was looking forward to getting married, but that will be easy to reframe as a merger.
26/11 anniversary: Hope papa will come home, says Ombales daughter

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Nine years have gone since 10 terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba attacked Mumbai on 26/11. For the family of Tukaram Ombale who was killed while trying to capture Ajmal Kasab, life has not been the same.

They still feel he would come home. The daughter of Ombale says that "We still feel papa will come home."

"We feel papa will come home any moment, although deep in our heart we know that he will never be amongst us now," says a teary-eyed Vaishali Ombale, the eldest daughter of the Mumbai terror attacks hero.

"We always think that Papa has gone out on duty and will return home. We have kept his belongings at the place they used to be in our home. Our family is proud of his supreme sacrifice," Vaishali Ombale, who has completed her MEd (Masters in education) and aspires to be a lecturer, said.

Ombale, an assistant sub-inspector, was killed by Kasab's bullets in the early hours of November 27, 2008. In a daring act, he had pounced on Kasab without thinking much about the consequences. His bravery had made it possible for the police to overpower Kasab, the only 26/11 terrorist to be captured and hanged.

"Not a day has gone by in the last nine years that we have not remembered him," said Vaishali Ombale, who stays at the Worli Police Camp with her mother Tara and sister Bharti, who is an officer in the state GST department.

"For how long will police or armed forces personnel continue losing their lives in the name of supreme sacrifice," she asked.

"This should stop somewhere. There should be a change in this scenario. Every citizen should always be alert and foil incidents in which we are losing our men," she said, ahead of the 26/11 attacks anniversary.

Vaishali Ombale said citizens should know their responsibilities and must understand that when policemen or armed forces personnel get killed in the line of duty, it is not only the family's loss but also that of the country.

"Satara district in Western Maharashtra from where my family hails has a long history of martyrs. Among the recent ones are CRPF head constable Ravindra Dhanawade, who was killed while fighting terrorists in Kashmir in August and Colonel Santosh Mahadik, who died while fighting terrorists in Kashmir in 2015. The list is unending, which disturbs me a lot," she said.

"We treat every member of a martyr's family like our own family and we help them overcome the grief," she said.

Vaishali Ombale gives tuitions to students from class 8th to junior college, which keeps her busy and makes her forget the pain of losing her father.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived in Mumbai by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people on different locations, killing 166, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores.

OneIndia News
26/11 Mumbai attack: US says it stands with India, remains resolute in fight against terrorism

26/11 anniversary: Sagar Kavach, an operation to keep the seas safe

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The 26/11 attack in which over 160 persons were killed put a big question mark on coastal security. Ten sea borne terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba launched a ghastly attack on the city of Mumbai nine years ago.

Among the various measures undertaken to boost security following this attack was the Sagar Kavach operation. Over the years this operation has improved the coordination between the several agencies and the police.

Twice a year, the police along with the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Intelligence agencies check the preparedness in a bid to defend the seas.

As part of this operation, there has been a boost to communication between the various agencies. No information passed by any of these agencies is taken lightly and preparedness is always at an all time high.

1093 is the helpline number. The agencies have roped in the locals so that any information regarding suspicious movement on the seas is passed on real time. In addition to the helpline number, the agencies have also created groups on WhatsApp to ensure that the information flow is smooth in nature.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, November 26, 2017, 6:26 [IST]
26/11 anniversary: Survivors recall horror amid mastermind Hafiz Saeed's release

India

oi-Madhuri

The pain of those gun fires and death of innocents on November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks which killed at least 164 people and injuring several hundred are still fresh. People have still not forgotten the screams of passer-bys and horror in the minds of those who were stranded inside the hotels that were attacked.

What happend on November 26, 2008?

On November 26, 2008, 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) had arrived in Mumbai by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people on different locations. In the mayhem that followed over the next three days, 166 people were killed, including 18 police officers and two NSG commanders, and 308 people injured, besides property worth crores left damaged.

Attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed released

Earlier on Thursday, the mastermind of the attacks - Hafiz Saeed, the co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and the chief Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JuD) was freed from house arrest by Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Survivors recall the deadly 26/11 horror amid mastermind Hafiz Saeed's release.

Survivor's tale:

Recalling the day, Mohd Taufeeq, a tea seller at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station said, "I still get disturbed whenever I think of that moment (26/11 attacks). I rescued many injured people, the situation was devastating. I am just waiting for the day the real mastermind sitting in Pakistan is caught."

''I went into depression after the incident, my relatives had no chance to escape. Happy that perpetrators were either killed or punished. Hafiz Saeed is in Pakistan, would be ideal if Indian Government gets him here and punishes him,'' said Rahim Ansari, who lost 6 relatives in 26/11 attack.

''My daughter was just 9 years old when she got shot,it was traumatic. Yes we are happy that Kasab was hanged but we will not be satisfied till the real mastermind sitting in Pakistan is punished,'' said the father of 26/11 attacks survivor Devika.

''When I saw Kasab in the courtroom I was livid. I wished I had a gun in my hand, would have shot him there. Anyway Kasab was a mosquito, hope someday the big terrorists are brought to book,'' Devika, the survivor and eyewitness.

OneIndia News
After Republican candidates got clobbered this month in Virginia and elsewhere, a new narrative quickly took hold. It was all about the president, as usual. Its hard to have Trumpism if you dont have Trump, The New York Times concluded. Trumpism without Trump didnt work, CNN concurred.

Clearly, President Donald Trumps historic unpopularity less than a year into his presidency hurts his partys electoral prospects. Its also encouraging that Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie failed to win over Virginia voters with Trump-style rhetoric and naked appeals to racism.

Yet while the notion that anti-Trump fervor doomed the Republicans may be tempting, particularly to Democrats who would rather avoid debates about the partys direction, thats an incomplete explanation of what happened this month in elections across the country. This wasnt just a Democratic wave fueled by opposition to Trump. It was specifically a progressive wave fueled by bold, progressive candidates down the ballot, working with grass-roots activists and organizations, who inspired voters with campaigns based on economic fairness and social justice.

Take a closer look at Virginia, where most of the attention has gone to Lt. Gov. Ralph Northams win and transgender woman candidate Danica Roems incredible triumph over longtime delegate (and the states self-appointed chief homophobe) Bob Marshall.

In an election with the highest turnout for a gubernatorial race in two decades, Democrats flipped at least 15 seats in the House of Delegates. Twelve of those races were won by women, including the first two Latina women elected in the state, Hala Ayala and Elizabeth Guzman. Ayala, a single mother and former welfare recipient, ran on Medicaid expansion, contraceptive access and higher teacher pay and beat a Republican who ran unopposed just two years ago. Guzman, who emigrated from Peru, likewise campaigned on expanding Medicaid and increasing the minimum wage.

For all the talk of a backlash to Trump, there is a compelling argument that the outcome in Virginias gubernatorial race was driven largely by the diverse slate of down-ballot candidates and a surge of grass-roots energy, beginning with the Womens March, that activist groups channeled into contesting local elections.

Given the election results, and the number of new candidates elected, writes Joan Walsh at the Nation, its possible Virginia saw something new: a reverse coattails effect, where the surge of candidates running for the state House, most of them women, helped propel Northam and his ticket to victory. As for Trump, the campaign manager for a first-time candidate who unseated a Republican in northern Virginia told The New York Times Magazine, I cant even worry about him.

Another significant progressive victory occurred in Philadelphia, where Larry Krasner won the race for district attorney. As a civil rights attorney known for representing Black Lives Matter and Occupy and suing the Philadelphia police department 75 times, even Krasner acknowledged that he was an unlikely choice to become the citys top prosecutor.

Ive spent a career becoming completely unelectable, he quipped at a debate this fall. Considering the police unions endorsement of his Republican opponent, there were whispers before the election that, even in heavily Democratic Philadelphia, Krasner could lose. He won by a nearly 50-point margin.

On the other side of the country, progressives earned yet another big win last week in the Albuquerque mayoral race with the election of state auditor Tim Keller. Running a publicly financed campaign, Keller built a platform that included support for paid sick leave, community policing and early childhood education. He won 62 percent of the vote on his way to reclaiming an office that Republicans have controlled for the past eight years.

In races from Jackson, Mississippi, to Birmingham, Alabama, to Aurora, Colorado,where 23-year-old Crystal Murillo defeated a Republican incumbent to become the youngest member of the city councilDemocratic candidates in state and local races have won in 2017 not by running to the center or even running against Trump, but by embracing progressive policies and, critically, working to build coalitions that transcend class and racial lines.

Indeed, the elections show why the debate among Democrats between identity politics and economic populism presents such a false choice: Progressives win when they embrace both. And while the official party organs are more than happy to take credit, it is evident that both new and established activist groups on the left including the Working Families Party, Our Revolution and Peoples Action played an indispensable role in the partys victories. For instance, nearly 200 of the progressive heroes that WFP identified and worked to elect in local races this year, including Ayala, Guzman, Krasner and Keller, went on to win.

Just a few weeks ago, there was widespread panic that Democrats in Virginia were blowing it, so the partys jubilation today is justified. But their success doesnt mean Democrats should accept the conventional wisdom that Trumpism without Trump cant win. It proves that when they campaign on bold, progressive ideas, collaborate with the grass roots and compete everywhereup and down the ballotthey can guarantee that it wont.
Arthur road jail to be Vijay Mallya's home, if extradited: India to tell UK court

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Nov 26: Arthur road jail in Mumbai will be the home of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya if he is extradited to India to face the law in connection with the Rs 9,000 crore loan default cases.

This will be conveyed to a British court next week by India through the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is arguing the extradition case against Mallya on behalf of the Indian government, a home ministry official said.

The Westminster Magistrates' Court in London will be told that it is the duty of the state to ensure security of prisoners and Mallya's apprehension about threat to his life is "misleading". The court will be told that the prisons in India are as good as in any other country in the world and prisoners' rights are fully protected in Indian jails, the official, who is privy to the responses prepared by the government.

The move came after Mallya's lawyers said that the fugitive businessman's life may be in danger if he is extradited to India and there were alleged incidents of human rights violations in Indian jails. The Westminster Magistrates' Court will start hearing the extradition proceedings from December 4.

The London court will be told that there will be no threat to Mallya's life if he is lodged in Arthur road jail, which is highly secure as per the international standard, rejecting Mallya's reported apprehension that he will not be safe in Indian jails if sent back home to face trial in the Rs 9,000 crore Kingfisher Airlines loan default cases, another official said, on condition of anonymity.

Adequate medical facilities are available to treat the prisoners in Arthur road jail, where Mallya will get full security cover as an undertrial prisoner, the court will be told. By making such allegations, Mallya is trying to save himself from getting extradited to India to face the trial in cases of cheating of a consortium of banks, the official said.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba last week had a long meeting with representatives of various authorities, including the Ministry of External Affairs, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate and discussed responses to be filed in the UK court.

The central government has already conducted an assessment of security cover given to prisoners in the Arthur road jail so that its findings could be conveyed to the UK court. Mallya, 61, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by the Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18.

However, he was soon granted bail by the court. If the judge rules in favour of extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallya's extradition within two months of the appropriate day. However, the case can go through a series of appeals before arriving at a conclusion. India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement.

Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent to India last October to face trial in connection with his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002. However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge.

PTI
Kamal Haasan has a dream, and here's what it is

India

oi-Shreya

By Shreya

Recommended Video

Kamal Hasan has a dream of implementing what exactly is said in the Constitution| Oneindia News

Speaking at a literary festival held in the national capital, superstar Kamal Haasan got candid about his dream and aspirations about politics and the nation, which is nothing less than a political potboiler now, especially ahead of the much waited Gujarat Election.

Answering the question, that most of his followers now might be wondering about, whether he is now a politician first or an artist, he said, "I am an actor to begin with, and that's my livelihood. But my call is towards politics, it is just a tool through which I can do something for my country," He also said, "I think everybody should become a politician considering the condition of our nation. Corruption is amidst us, and we should take the onus on ourselves and do something to change it,"

Reminding everyone at the venue of Gandhi's Satyagraha movement, the actor turned politician opened up about his aspirations and said, "I too have a dream. I have a dream that we can actually execute what the Constitution says," He further added that his dream is not of film-making of money-making, hence he does not have any fear of failure.

Taking about Tamil Nadu, where he hails from, he said that his idea of change should begin from his home, and he would like to do something for the farmers of Tamil Nadu and then he would thing about national politics.

However, the very candid Hassan remained tight-lipped about the name of the political party that he would launch and also if he would like to extend his support to BJP and Congress. But he said, that the name, and the manifesto of the party would be made public very soon.

Talking about his support to BJP and Congress, Kamal Haasan said, "My interest lies with the betterment of Tamil Nadu and both BJP and Congress are interested in Tamil Nadu, so whoever helps me fulfill my dreams and ideas for the state would have my support,"

Haasan also spoke on the recent uprising about Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati, which is facing a lot of wrath from different groups. He said that the people are being over-sensitive towards the film. He called the outrage wrong and said,"It wrongs the democracy we keep on beating our chest about,"

OneIndia News
Two of 8 cheetahs released in acclimatisation enclosure at MP's Kuno National Park: Official

Two cheetahs make their first kill at Kuno National Park

Goat gives birth to baby with 'human face' in MP, leaves owner and locals shocked

MP: Cabinet approves death penalty for convicts raping 12 years and below

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Madhya Pradesh Cabinet on Sunday approved the death sentence for rape convicts in the cases involving girls of 12 years of age and below.

The cabinet also passed a resolution for death sentence for gangrape convicts and approved amendment in the penal code to increase the fine and punishment for rape convicts.

Confirming this, Jayant Malaiya, Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister said, "Any person convicted for raping 12-year-old minor or below will be sentenced to death."

The amendment will be presented in the winter session of the state assembly, which begins on Monday.

This comes after multiple cases of sexual violence against girl child and women surfaced in the state, making it one of the most unsafe places.

Recently, four people were arrested for the rape of a 10-year-old girl in the state's capital. Among those arrested were a 67-year-old man and a woman as well.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, November 26, 2017, 20:09 [IST]
26/11 Mumbai attack: US says it stands with India, remains resolute in fight against terrorism

26/11 anniversary: In Pakistan, a trial that never was

International

oi-Vicky

Nine years have gone by since Mumbai was attacked by ten terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. Fortunately for India, one terrorist, Ajmal Kasab was caught alive and this ensured that the case was built up strongly.

The world acknowledged that it was Pakistan which backed the terrorists to stage the attack in Mumbai. Ajmal Kasab confessed, David Headley gave further proof of Pakistan's involvement.

Kasab was hanged in a jail in Maharashtra, but the question is, has justice been done?

While the trial in India concluded in quick time, that was not the case in Pakistan. Till date the trial drags on with no result in sight. What is worse is that Pakistan decided to release the mastermind Hafiz Saeed from house arrest just four days before the 26/11 anniversary.

India had in March 2017 sought the re-investigation of the case in Pakistan.

Pakistan, however, rejected India's request, saying it was 'not possible as it (the trial) is at an advanced stage.

India also wanted Hafiz Saeed to be put to trial as he had masterminded the attack. Indian officials say that there is every attempt being made to delay the trial. The last India heard from Pakistan was when it wanted witnesses to be sent there. India termed the demand as an excuse to delay the trial further.

Pakistan was never serious about the trial. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi too is off the hook. In the run up to the trial a judge even recused himself from the case as he was too scared to hear the case. Pakistan has done little to try any of the accused in the case. In fact it has not even brought Saeed to trial. India insisted that all proof relating to the attack had been sent to Pakistan, but there was no concrete evidence to suggest that the country was serious about probing this case.

The manner in which the case has been heard suggests that absolute mockery has been made of the justice system in Pakistan. In 8 years, 9 judges have changed. The anti-terrorism court (ATC) conducting the trial of seven Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the attack had recently been changed taking the number to 9.

ATC Judge Sohail Akram who had been conducting the 26/11 case for the last two years was transferred to the Punjab judicial services in March.

The Mumbai case is now being heard by Kausar Abbas Zaidi.

Besides Akram, the other judges who have been associated with the case that began in 2009 are Attiquer Rehman, Shahid Rafique, Malik Muhammad Akram Awan and Pervez Ali Shah.

Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi - the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind- was granted bail in December 2014. Zaidi was the judge in the case at that time.

Zaidi had cited "weak evidence, the registration of the FIR invoking irrelevant sections and hearsay evidence against Lakhvi" in his bail order.

There has been no hearing in the Mumbai case in the Pakistani ATC after Islamabad told New Delhi to send its 24 witnesses to record their statements if the case was to be decided soon.

Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum are facing charges of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the attack that killed 166 people. While Lakhvi has been living in an undisclosed location after getting bail, the other six suspects are lodged in Adiala and Rawalpindi.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, November 26, 2017, 6:18 [IST]
Why a terror angle should not be ruled out in the Coimbatore cylinder blast case

Tamil Nadu car explosion: 5 arrested in connection with the case

Coimbatore car blast to be probed by NIA orders MHA

Coimbatore: 24 years back and now, the radical Islamists are of the same family

China: Explosion in Ningbo city, 2 dead

International

oi-Madhuri

A powerful blast in the port city of Ningbo in China's east Zhejiang province today killed two persons and injured over 30 others as the country's worst industrial explosion in three years destroyed nearby buildings and vehicles, officials said.

More than 30 people rushed to hospital after Ningbo explosion. No residents lived at site of explosion, but there might be garbage collectors working inside at time of explosion.

The area resembled a war zone as a video footage posted on social media showed enormous amount of devastation with floors of several buildings blown off due to the explosion.

The incident reportedly occurred around 9:00 a.m. BJT in Jiangbei District.

A rescue operation and an investigation into the cause of the incident are underway.

OneIndia News
Here is a selection of stories curated by AP editors to keep you informed as you start your weekend.
From Strategic Culture

Brown's political legacy is a rather dull affair, more in the shadows of the times that surrounded his time in government. With so little to acclaim, it's not surprising that Brown should now seek to whitewash Britain's -- and his own personal -- responsibility in the illegal war on Iraq.

Gordon Brown, the former British prime minister who took over from Tony Blair in 2007, made headlines earlier this month when he claimed that Britain had been hoodwinked by the Americans about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and thus duped into joining the war on that country.

The Independent, for example, ran the headline: "US hid intelligence from Britain about Saddam Hussein's WMDs before Iraq War, Gordon Brown claims."

Several other British news outlets ran similar headlines along the line that "Britain had been deceived" into joining the American war plan on Iraq, which the George W Bush administration launched in March 2003.

Brown's claim comes out of the publication this month of his autobiography which is grandly titled: "My Life, Our Times."

Given his attempt to re-write the history of Britain's despicable involvement in the destruction of Iraq, a more appropriate title for Brown's book would have been: "My Life, My Excuses."

From an excerpt of Brown's memoir, the former British premier writes: "When I consider the rush to war in March 2003 -- especially in light of what we now know about the absence of weapons of mass destruction -- I ask myself over and over whether I could have made more of a difference before that fateful decision was taken."

This sounds like a man who is racked by guilt over what the American-British war in Iraq and nearly a decade of military occupation unleashed. Such guilt would be understandable given the horrific results of that war: over one million Iraqi civilians killed; up to four million Iraqi children orphaned; millions displaced; a society reduced to rubble; and the scourge of sectarian terrorism that has blighted the entire region, inflicting hundreds of thousands more deaths, especially in Syria.

At the time of the Iraq War, Brown was serving as the Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) in the British government, with Tony Blair as prime minister. He writes in his memoir: "Chancellors have seldom been at the centre of decision-making in matters of war and peace. My official role leading up to the conflict was to find the funds for it."

Again, this sounds like someone trying to minimize their culpability in the disastrous, not to say criminal, decision by the British government to go to war in Iraq.

Central to Brown's claims is that the US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld deliberately withheld crucial American intelligence from the British in the run-up to the war.

It was only years later that Brown says he became aware of this secret US intelligence which cast doubt on claims over Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Brown writes: "Having reviewed all of the information now available... I feel I now understand how we were all misled on the existence of WMDs."

What he is implying is that his government would not have embarked on the Iraq War disaster if it had access to the intelligence report which Rumsfeld withheld from Downing Street back in early 2003, during the "rush to war," as he puts it.

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Cover Crops on Dryland Wheat?

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Another missed opportunity to talk about the most promising solution: regenerative agriculture.

The New York Times yesterday cited a new report by the notoriously conservative Government Accountability Office (GAO), which said "climate change is costing taxpayers billions."

CNN also reported on the GAO study, which calls on Trump to "craft appropriate responses."

The CNN coverage noted several initiatives to combat climate change undertaken under the Obama administration--the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, which sought to lower carbon emissions on a state-by-state basis, and the Paris climate agreement, which saw almost every country agree to voluntary limits on future carbon emissions.

The current climate-denying Trump administration wants to scrap those and other climate initiatives, in favor of prioritizing corporate profits.

But that's not why I'm writing today. I'm writing because once again, a major report on the costs--financial, social, environmental, political--of doing nothing to slow runaway global warming focuses exclusively on reducing carbon emissions. The new report fails to mention that even if we achieved zero emissions tomorrow, we're still in big trouble--unless we draw down and sequester the billions of tons of carbon already in the atmosphere.

Once again, a major report on global warming fails to acknowledge that we have the tools readily at our disposal to draw down that carbon. They are the regenerative agriculture and land-use practices outlined in a recent Stanford Woods Institute report, which says:

If you want to do something about global warming, look under your feet. Managed well, soil's ability to trap carbon dioxide is potentially much greater than previously estimated, according to Stanford researchers who claim the resource could "significantly" offset increasing global emissions. They call for a reversal of federal cutbacks to related research programs to learn more about this valuable resource.

The federal government has no problem subsidizing--to the tune of $20 billion/year--GMO monoculture crops that degrade the soil and play a major role in making global warming worse.

But Congress wants to cut back on research that would help us improve soil health as a means of combating global warming?

Fortunately, other governments are incorporating "the soil solution" into their policies and plans to combat global warming. The most significant is France's "4 for 1000: Soils for Food Security and Climate" Initiative launched by the French government at the Paris Climate Summit in December 2015.

In the U.S.,some states are taking steps of their own to enact regenerative agriculture policies, notably California, Vermont and Massachusetts.

If your state isn't on the list, maybe it's time to start building a Regeneration Movement in your own community?

We can no longer ignore our best hope for averting climate catastrophe. If federal lawmakers won't acknowledge the soil solutiion, we need to make sure our local and state officials get on board.
From Smirking Chimp

On November 19, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the US Strategic Command, declared he would refuse to follow an illegal presidential order to launch a nuclear attack. "If you execute an unlawful order, you will go to jail," the general explained at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia. "You could go to jail for the rest of your life."

Gen. Hyten is correct. For those in the military, there is a legal duty to obey a lawful order, but also a legal duty to disobey an unlawful order. An order to use nuclear weapons -- except possibly in an extreme circumstance of self-defense when the survival of the nation is at stake -- would be an unlawful order.

There is cause for concern that Donald Trump may order a nuclear strike on North Korea. Trump has indicated his willingness to use nuclear weapons. In early 2016, he asked a senior foreign policy adviser about nuclear weapons three times during a briefing and then queried, "If we have them why can't we use them?" During a GOP presidential debate, Trump declared, "With nuclear, the power, the devastation is very important to me."

As the heated rhetoric with North Korean president Kim Jong-un escalated, Trump tweeted that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was "wasting his time" by pursuing diplomacy with North Korea. Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea. During his visit to South Korea earlier this month, Trump distinguished his administration from prior ones, who refrained from using nuclear weapons against North Korea. "This is a very different administration than the United States has had in the past," he said. "Do not underestimate us. And do not try us."

In April, "multiple senior intelligence officials" told NBC News that the administration was "prepared to launch a preemptive strike" if they thought North Korea was about to conduct a nuclear test. Preemptive strikes violate the United Nations Charter, which forbids the use of military force except in self-defense or with permission from the UN Security Council.

A Duty to Obey Lawful and Disobey Unlawful Orders

The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) requires that all military personnel obey lawful orders. Article 92 of the UCMJ provides, "A general order or regulation is lawful unless it is contrary to the Constitution, the laws of the United States...." Additionally, both the Nuremberg Principles and the Army Field Manual create a duty to disobey unlawful orders.

Article II of the Constitution states, "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States." However, Article I specifies that only Congress has the power to declare war. Taken together, the articles convey that the president commands the armed forces once Congress authorizes war.

The president can only use military force in self-defense or to forestall an imminent attack. There must exist "a necessity of self-defence, instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation," under the well-established Caroline Case. A president has no lawful authority to order a first-strike nuclear attack.

In its advisory opinion, "Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons," the International Court of Justice (ICJ) determined in 1996 that "the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, and in particular the principles and rules of humanitarian law."

The ICJ continued, "However ... the Court cannot conclude definitively whether the threat or use of nuclear weapons would be lawful or unlawful in an extreme circumstance of self-defence, in which the very survival of a State would be at stake." That means that while the use of nuclear weapons might be lawful when used in self-defense if the survival of the nation were at stake, a first-strike use would not be.

Article 509 of Field Manual 27-10, codifying a Nuremberg Principle, specifies that "following superior orders" is not a defense to the commission of war crimes, unless the accused "did not know and could not reasonably have been expected to know that the act ordered was unlawful."

"Every violation of the law of war is a war crime," Section 499 of the Army Field Manual states. The law of war is largely contained in the Geneva Conventions.

Gen. Hyten, who said he had been trained in the law of war for many years, cited its four guiding principles: distinction, proportionality, necessity and unnecessary suffering.

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From Alternet

An in-depth discussion with renowned Palestinian scholar Prof. Joseph Massad.



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At its annual gala this November, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) feted Sebastian Gorka alongside fellow Trump White House alumni Steven Bannon and Sean Spicer. The ZOA's president, Morton Klein, has established a special relationship with the Trump administration, going out of his way to defend Gorka against accusations of Nazi sympathies.

On the eve of Trump's election, Gorka appeared in nationally televised interviews clad in a black uniform bearing the medal of the Vitezi Rend, a Hungarian fascist group that collaborated with the Nazis during the Holocaust. Speaking at a conference organized by the right-wing Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post in May, Gorka defended his wearing the medal, proclaiming, "My father was awarded a medal in 1979 by anti-communist members of a splinter order outside Hungary ... I am proud to wear that, as a response to everything that we face today."

Vitzezi Rend has appeared on a US State Department list of "organizations under the direction of the Nazi government of Germany," and its late founder, Miklos Horthy, reportedly declared, "I have always been an anti-Semite throughout my life." During the anti-communist White Terror that took place between 1919 and 1921 in Hungary, Horthy presided over some 60 pogroms, and attacks on Jews continued through the 1920's. When Nazi Germany occupied Hungary in 1944, Horthy participated in the deportation of 437,000 Jews to concentration camps.

Gorka's attachment to a fascist order that reveres Horthy and his anti-Jewish legacy has not appeared to trouble supporters of Israel's right-wing government. Not only has Gorka been an honored guest of the ZOA, he was welcomed by the Jerusalem Post, which received him with warm applause and a prominent speaking slot at its annual conference this May in New York. "The real agenda is clear: Gorka has written forcefully about the need to defeat the jihadi threat to Western civilization," an op-ed defending Gorka in the Jerusalem Post read.

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By ursulafaw

Ivanka Trump commented to the Associated Press a few weeks ago when the Roy Moore allegations were ramping up, "There's a special place in Hell for people who prey on children. I've yet to see a valid explanation, and I have no reason to doubt the victims' accounts." That comment has now been made into a 30-second campaign spot by Democrat Doug Jones, and Daddy Trump is not pleased at all. New York Times:

"As Mr. Moore has rejected calls to drop out even as more women have accused him of preying on them when they were teenagers, Republicans have given up any hope that he will fold his campaign. Mr. Trump has repeatedly told his aides that he does not believe Mr. Moore would ever quit. "What the president did not foresee was that the friction would reach inside his immediate family. He vented his annoyance when his daughter Ivanka castigated Mr. Moore by saying there was "a special place in hell for people who prey on children," according to three staff members who heard his comments. "'Do you believe this?' Mr. Trump asked several aides in the Oval Office in the hours after Ms. Trump said that Mr. Moore should exit the race. Mr. Moore's Democratic opponent in the Alabama race, Doug Jones, quickly turned her comments into a campaign ad."

Having Ivanka Trump as part of a Democratic campaign ad has certainly done nothing to alleviate Mitch McConnell's worries.

"Mr. McConnell and his allies have believed for weeks that disaster awaits, win or lose, if Mr. Moore remains in the race: Either the Democrats will claim the seat on Dec. 12, or Mr. Moore will win and thrust the party into an agonizing months-long debate over whether to expel him. "The accusations against Mr. Moore have lifted Democrats' hopes of notching a rare victory in the Deep South in next month's special election, which would narrow the Republican Senate majority to a single seat. Just as significantly, the president has handed the Democrats a political weapon with which to batter Republicans going into the midterm elections: that they tolerate child predation."

Right now polls have Moore and Jones running neck and neck. Interestingly, McConnell doesn't seem to see it that way.

"The Senate leader has told fellow Republicans in private that Mr. Moore's nomination has endangered the party's hold on the Senate, according to people who have spoken with him -- his starkest acknowledgment so far that the political environment has turned sharply against his party since Mr. Trump's election. Mr. McConnell has also reiterated his intention to move against Mr. Moore if he is elected, though Mr. McConnell has made clear that he thinks that the candidate is unlikely to win."

Here's the ad which is giving Donald conniptions. As for Roy Moore, hey, Roy, when you've lost Mitch McConnell...
From Alternet

Could congressional Democrats be showing their fealty to corporate America?

Let me offer a theory about why Democrats in Congress are not going after the Republicans' worst tax bill ever with the same visceral vehemence they used to oppose the GOP's efforts earlier this year to gut Obamacare and Medicaid.

The House and Senate versions of the bill, while differing in some particulars, have been parsed by the country's best fiscal analysts, and as longtime tax policy investigative reporter David Cay Johnston noted, "share the same basic feature: huge tax savings for big business and the rich, while more than half of Americans may see their income taxes rise between now and the end of 2027. You can read solid analyses by three organizations with track records for accuracy in their tax and spending estimates here, here and here."

So why are the Democrats not making more noise about a giant reverse-Robinhood scheme, that at least on the Senate side, also includes moves to gut Obamacare by ending the tax penalty for not carrying health insurance. If passed, that provision would allow millions to drop their coverage, which in turn, would raise premiums for everyone else. Remember how last summer Dems rose in the House and Senate to remind Republicans that tens of thousands of voters in their districts would lose their healthcare?

The answer -- and it's a theory, but one honed from covering national politics -- is too many Democrats across Congress are still beholden to wealthier constituents, whether individuals who contribute to their campaigns, corporate employers who threaten to leave if they don't get more corporate welfare, or people in their social circles who get invitations to Kennedy Center galas.

Whatever is really going on in the minds of individual Democratic members of Congress -- which might include shoehorning in giveaways for local constituents -- there is a growing sense that the opposition in Washington is not being so loyal to mainstream America, which they like to think they are defending. The question is, why?

New York Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman has noted that Republican talking points about middle-class tax breaks are not just flat-out lies, but have been the standard flat-out lie we've heard for years. Perhaps that reality is numbing Democrats.

"Top-down class warfare, coupled with false claims to be cutting taxes on the middle class, has been standard G.O.P. operating procedure for a long time," Krugman wrote two weeks ago. He continued:

"In fact, for policy wonks of a certain age, the current tax debate inspires an overwhelming sense of de'j vu, because many of the tricks Republicans are using come right out of the Bush administration's playbook in 2001 and 2003. Tax breaks that phase in or out to make the 10-year budget impact look smaller? Check. Misleading examples and calculations to give the false impression of a tax cut for the middle class? Check. Pretending that tax cuts come free, that they won't eventually have to be offset by cuts to popular programs? Check, again."

But there's something deeper and more nefarious going on this time around, Krugman observed, which makes the current GOP tax proposals anything but business-and-lying-as-usual.

"This time around, much more clearly than before, the goal seems to be to favor wealth, especially inherited wealth, over work. And buried in the legislation are multiple measures that would make it much harder for the children of the middle and working classes to work their way up," Krugman said, citing examples.

"Suppose that a child from a working-class family decides, despite limited financial resources, to attend college, probably taking out a loan to help pay tuition. Well, guess what: Under the House bill, that interest would no longer be deductible, substantially raising the cost of college. What if you're working your way through school and your employer contributes toward your education expenses? The House bill would make that contribution taxable income."

The list doesn't stop there. You get the point. But we're not hearing many Democrats demand any reform be progressive, to drive the point home that progressive tax policy could fairly support many needed policies and programs. If that's too abstract, then maybe Democrats should be shouting in the name of not burdening and hampering the next generation to pay for today's excesses.

Whatever the reason or reasons, a larger point appears. This quandary has been noted on off-the-record list-servs where insiders talk freely about politics and policy. Why aren't Democratic leaders raising more hell about the worst GOP tax plan ever? Why aren't they doing more to stop a juggernaut from getting closer to passing, one that panders to those who don't need more money at the expense of future generations? Why are so many Democrats acting like the majority of Republicans?
New Research Reports Freight Management System Market Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2022

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Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has been serving as an active source to cater intelligent research report to enlighten both readers and investors. This research study titled Freight Management System Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast 2014  2020.management system is a software solution that is implemented in transport businesses to optimize the efficiency of commercial freight operations. Such software systems automate processes and help in improving companys communication and productivity. The solution also reduces the load of data entry and helps in eliminating errors. The various features of a freight management include freight tracking system, vehicle maintenance and repairs, pallet tracking, Proof of Delivery (POD) scanning, drivers and subcontractors rating and payments, customer Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) interfacing, consignment entry, consistent auto consignment pricing and comprehensive operational reporting.Request For Free Sample Report @The freight management system market can be segmented on the basis of solutions, technology, services, transport mode and geography. On the basis of solutions, the market can be segmented into logistics management system, baggage and cargo screening system, freight information system, freight operational management system and security monitoring system. On the basis of technology the market can be segmented into surveillance systems, X-rays, detectors and radiations. On the basis of services, the market can be segmented into support and maintenance services, professional services and system integration. On the basis of transport mode, the market can be segmented into seaways, roadways, railways and airways.With the emergence of advanced modules in freight management systems, many transport companies are looking to implement freight management systems to improve their delivery capabilities. Also, there is rapid increase in the demand of on-time delivery of products and raw materials that encourages the fleet owners to implement an efficient freight management system which allows planning for the current inventory. Implementation of freight management systems also ensures warehouse efficiencies by decreasing time spent working on freight management and investing the same amount of time on warehouse duties. Therefore, there is stiff competition among the vendors to come up with innovative products that can cater to the growing demand. Another factor that is contributing to the growth of this market is rise in global trade. International trade bodies like WTO (World Trade Organization) are encouraging open door policy to promote international trade without any tax barriers. Many business establishments are taking the advantage of the trade incentives and relaxation in regulations to expand their businesses beyond national boundaries. This triggers the demand for freight management system that can update and track freight movements globally and ensure the safe and on-time delivery, thereby contributing to the growth of this market.However, trade barriers by countries to safeguard domestic businesses, has restricted the market growth. For example, open door policy is not accepted by many countries and such countries impose heavy taxes on foreign goods to protect their local manufacturers. Therefore, to comply with the taxes, the manufacturers of foreign goods and the vendors of freight management systems increase the prices of their products making them unaffordable in the process. In addition, poor transport infrastructure in developing countries like India and China leads to traffic congestion and accidents which are unpredictable in nature. These unpredictable events affect the operational efficiency of freight management system. The other unpredictable events include cargo thefts and climatic conditions like rain and snow. These are the major factors that are adversely affecting the growth of this market.Browse Full Report With TOC Click here @CEVA logistics is one of the leading players in this line of business and has been awarded Silver Supplier Excellence Award by the Association of Aerospace Industries, Singapore (AAIS) in the year 2014, for their excellence in the field of freight management system. Some of the other major players in this market are Agility Public Warehousing Company KSC, United Parcel Service of North America, Inc. and JDA Software Group, Inc. among others.This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report includeNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeRest of the WorldThis report provides comprehensive analysis ofMarket growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for upcoming yearsThis report is a complete study of current trends in the market, industry growth drivers, and restraints. It provides market projections for the coming years. It includes analysis of recent developments in technology, Porters five force model analysis and detailed profiles of top industry players. The report also includes a review of micro and macro factors essential for the existing market players and new entrants along with detailed value chain analysis.Reasons for Buying this ReportThis report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamicsIt provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growthIt provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to growIt helps in understanding the key product segments and their futureIt provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitorsIt helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segmentsIt provides distinctive graphics and exemplified SWOT analysis of major market segmentsMake An Enquiry@About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine(MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite :Read More Industry News At:
West, northern Michigan brace for storm that could bring foot of snow
Sam Greenwood finished in style in the $5,300 MILLIONS Main Event at the 2017 Caribbean Poker Party Festival. He defeated Andrey Shatilov in heads-up play to capture the $1,000,000 first-place prize and cap off a series to remember.

Greenwood and Shatilov went into heads-up action with Shatilov holding the chip lead, but they traded chips back and forth for nearly three hours. In the last level of the night, both players were all in and at risk but managed to double up and the fight continued on. Greenwood finally won the battle when he picked up pocket kings against Shatilov's . Shatilov flopped top pair and the two players got all of the money in the middle on the turn, with Greenwood holding to end the epic slug-fest.

What a week it was for Sam Greenwood, one that some are calling one of the greatest weeks in poker history. Greenwood started off this week with a third-place finish in the $10,300 High Roller and followed that up with a second place in the $25,500 Super High Roller. He pocketed $366,850 coming into the Main Event and will now add an extra $1,000,000 to his name before he leaves the Dominican Republic.

When asked about the stellar week Greenwood enjoyed, he had this to say. "It was just crazy, I don't think I have ever run this good. I won so many all ins and I'm happy with how well I played. In the high rollers, it was more of a steady climb but in the main, I was all in so many times."

At one point on the final table, Greenwood was down to just 2.5 big blinds but he never counted himself out. "I was at a point where I was happy to ladder up, but I just wanted to double up a couple times." And double up he did, right into heads-up play where he gave all the credit to Shatilov and said the cards played a major role in the outcome. "There were just a couple things he chose to do that gave me a small margin but he wasn't making mistakes. I won because I was on the right side of the cards."

Shatilov has nothing to be ashamed of with his performance as he will still take home $650,000 for his efforts. He started off the final table by eliminating a couple of opponents and jumping out into a massive chip lead. He held on until he got heads-up with Greenwood and the two players slugged it out, each flopping pairs and sending chips back and forth. This will go down as Shatilov's second largest payday after a third-place finish in Barcelona in 2016 for $684,876.

Final Table Results

Place Name Country Prize (USD) 1 Sam Greenwood Canada $1,000,000 2 Andrey Shatilov Russia $650,000 3 Jonas Gjelstad Norway $450,000 4 Jiri Horak Czech Republic $315,850 5 Felipe Ramos Brazil $220,000 6 Preben Stokkan Norway $150,000 7 Udo Erlei Germany $100,000 8 Dan Dizenzo United States $70,000

The tournament attracted a total of 1,061 entries over the course of three starting flights, making up a prizepool of $5,145,850. When the payouts were announced, 111 players would make the money with a min-cash being worth $10,000. On Day 3, the money bubble was reached and it was Kevin Eyster with his tournament life on the line. He was called by Graham Ivany who had him dominated. Unfortunately for Eyster, he was unable to come from behind and became the bubble boy.

From there, eliminations happened fast and they happened often. Some of the big names to fall include partypoker Chairman, Mike Sexton (24th place - $34,000), Maria Ho (25th place - $34,000), Ismael Bojang (39th place - $27,500), Steffen Sontheimer (49th place - $22,500), Seth Davies (55th place - $22,500), Joseph Cheong (58th place - $20,000), Alex Foxen (65th place -$17,500), Brandon Cantu (74th place - $15,000), and Martin Jacobson (92nd place - $10,000).

When the final day got underway, there were just 12 players remaining with Greenwood leading the way. The action got off to a quick start with Michael Malm being eliminated on the first hand and Ruben Perceval shortly following him out the door. Not long after, partypoker's Jason Koon got all of his money with pocket sixes but was called by Gjelstad's pocket nines. Koon was eliminated in tenth place which set up the unofficial final table.

Final Table Summary

The final nine players played for over three hours with chips travelling from stack to stack. Eventually, it was Damian Lomza (9th place -$50,000) putting his short stack to the test with and he was called by Shatilov holding . Lomza was eliminated and the final eight players moved to the feature table. Dan Dizenzo (8th place - $70,000) miraculously stayed alive after running kings into Shatilov's aces, but was left on a real short stack. He picked up a flush draw on the flop and chose to play for all of his chips against Ramos' overpair. He was unable to hit and was the first casualty on the final table.

Nearly two hours later, a flurry of bust outs occured beginning with Udo Erlei (7th place - $100,000). He looked to be in great shape to double up with against Shatilov's , but a king on the flop changed everything. Erlei was eliminated and Shatilov took a massive chip lead. Just a couple of hands later, Preben Stokkan (6th place - $150,000) pushed all in with and was called by Greenwood's . Stokkan flopped a pair of nines but Greenwood turned a pair of aces to eliminate Stokkan in sixth place. Next up was Felipe Ramos (5th place - $220,000) who pushed all in with and was called by Horak's . Horak made a flush on the river and Ramos was the next player to fall.

When four-handed play began, Shatilov and Greenwood were the two top stacks and they continued to apply pressure on their opponents, not giving them any room to breathe. It was Jiri Horak (4th place - $315,850) who got his chips in the middle with ace-queen against Shatilov's king-jack and Shatilov again out-flopped his opponent by hitting a king on the flop. Jonas Gjelstad ($450,000) was left on the short stack and moved all in with . He was called by Greenwood's and couldn't find any help on the board, thus leaving the final two players to battle heads-up.

That will wrap up the coverage from here at the Melia Caribe Tropical resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Continue to follow along with the PokerNews team as we look forward to bringing you all of the updates from our next event.
Day 1C of the 2017 Suncity Cup Finale Macau was the busiest yet, attracting 42 eager hopefuls, all looking to lock up their Day 2 berth. With the format offering unlimited re-entry, two of those chose to fire a second bullet to bring the total number of entries up to 44.

With 15 percent of the field making it through it took just over fifteen 40-minute levels to whittle this down to seven, with Malaysias Michael Soyza the man who climbed the highest.

Soyza bagged up an impressive 174,500 when play concluded in the early hours of Sunday morning, though fellow countryman Wai Kiat Lee was not that far behind, finishing the day with a very respectable 150,000.

Hong Kongs Percy Chao also had a great day, though it took him until his second bullet to find his run good and Chao bagged up the third largest stack, finishing the day with 114,900.

Soyza came into the final nine as one of the larger stacks and some canny play and well-timed aggression saw him seize a lead he would not relinquish, making him currently the fourth largest Day 2 stack, though it was Lee who was the man to bring the Day 1C action to an end.

On the final hand the Malaysian opened the action with pocket aces and found an easy call when the short-stacked Wei Tso moved all-in over the top of his opening raise with ace-king.

Tso found no help on the flop, turn or river and departed empty-handed while the seven remaining players all earned themselves a HK$6,000 payday and secured their Day 2 berth with the end of day counts and Day 2 draw as follows:

2017 Suncity Cup Finale Macau Day 1C Survivors and Day 2 Draw

Position Name Country Chip Count 2A Table/Seat 2B Table/Seat 1 Michael Soyza Malaysia 174,500 - 2-9 2 Wai Kiat Lee Malaysia 150,000 10-9 - 3 Percy Chao Hong Kong 114,900 - 7-5 4 Phachara Wongwichit Thailand 66,900 2-7 - 5 Joey Wong Hong Kong 59,300 8-7 - 6 Ho Yin Sau Macau 54,200 1-4 - 7 Ka Ho Sun Hong Kong 37,400 - 9-2

The day began slowly with just four players, but by the time the first break came around at the end of the third level this had increased to 30.

Ironically, it was Tso who became one of the early frontrunners, winning a massive three-way all-in on an all-heart ten-high flop with pocket jacks after fading the flush draw of Joshua Zimmerman and spiking a set of jacks on the river to beat his other opponents flopped set of threes.

That timely catch shot Tso to the top of the leaderboard for a spell before he nearly lost the lot and dropped right down to the bottom. However, Tso made a stellar recovery and climbed back near the top when play began to get short-handed.

Another player who started strong but came up agonizingly short was Macaus Ka Meng Ho, who edged into pole position just before the dinner break after picking off an ill-timed river bluff from Hong Kongs Yu Fai Wu. While Ho made the final nine he too ran ace-king into the pocket aces of Wai Kiat Lee to depart in ninth place empty-handed.

Lee came close to disaster himself after his pocket kings were out-flopped by the ace-ten suited of Ho Yin Sau as the tournament came close to the final table. Sau spiked his ace and turned his flush to leave Lee with just three big blinds.

However, the Malaysian spiked a set of fives the very next hand to quadruple up, then rivered another set against Joey Wong to bring himself right back into contention. Finding aces twice on the final table also helped of course.

Other notables who could not go the distance included Hong Kongs Nick Wong and Wingkei Chan, the latter of whom also came up short on Day 1B.

That concludes thePokerNews live coverage for the day with Day 1D getting underway on Sunday 26 November at 1pm local time (GMT+8) so join us then as we see whos got what it takes to go the distance and earn themselves a berth for Day 2.
Let me tell you about a man and a place far away from the cornfields of the Midwest: Jeff Pleadwell and Jeffs Pirates Cove at 111 Route 4, Ip Read moreJeffs Pirates Cove: A place of history
From the most unlikely of placesThe Guardian. Savor this one for all of its yummy schadenfreude:

Trumps judicial picks: The goal is to end the progressive state . . . The makeup of Americas judges is quietly becoming the site of one of Trumps most unequivocal successes: nominating and installing judges who reflect his own worldview at a speed and volume unseen in recent memory. Trump could conceivably have handpicked more than 30% of the nations federal judges before the end of his first term, his advisers have suggested, and independent observers agree. . . I think the goal is to end the progressive state as we know it, said Baher Azmy, Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a progressive-leaning legal advocacy group.

Sounds good to me. But the story gets even better if you keep going:

That has involved, first and foremost, building a pipeline of potential conservative candidates, Keith said. Conservative groups like the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation have become de facto clearing houses for Republican presidents and they absolutely have Trumps ear. According to the Hill, of the 13 judicial nominees confirmed since President Trump took office, 10 are either current or former Federalist Society members or regular speakers at its events.

Ive thought for a long time that the Federalist Society is the most consequential conservative initiative of the last generation. Some other time I may go into this story in more detail, but the revival of constitutional originalism owes more to the persistent efforts of the Federalist Society than any other factor. As Margaret Thatcher liked to say, first you win the argument, and then you win the policy battle. (A good account of this can be found in Steven Teless book, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement.)

But it gets better still! Coming soon: Trumps court-packing scheme! Former Democratic operative Ron Klain raises the klaxon call in the Washington Post:

Conservatives have a breathtaking plan for Trump to pack the courts Conservatives have a new court-packing plan, and in the spirit of the holiday, its a turducken of a scheme: a regulatory rollback hidden inside a civil rights reversal stuffed into a Trumpification of the courts. If conservatives get their way, President Trump will add twice as many lifetime members to the federal judiciary in the next 12 months (650) as Barack Obama named in eight years (325). American law will never be the same. . . Enter the next element of the court-packing turducken: a new plan written by the crafty co-founder of the Federalist Society, Steven Calabresi. In a paper that deserves credit for its transparency (it features a section titled Undoing President Barack Obamas Judicial Legacy), Calabresi proposes to pack the federal courts with a minimum of 260  and possibly as many as 447  newly created judicial positions. Under this plan, the 228-year-old federal judiciary would increase  in a single year  by 30 to 50 percent.

Againsounds good to me. Klain leaves out of his breathless account the fact that Democrats did exactly the same thing in the late 1970s under Jimmy Cartera quick expansion and then packing the appellate courts with Democrats. (Its one reason the loopy Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is what it is today.) So sauce for the goose I think.

Special bonus schadenfreude item:
From a bunker somewhere in Washington, Minnesota Senator Al Franken issued a statement yesterday all but acknowledging the misconduct of which he has been charged this week and declaring that hes not going anywhere. Hes sorry. Hes learned from it. He wants to make sure it wont happen again.

Franken frames his misconduct as an excess of warmth. He has hugged people in the thousands, often in crowded and chaotic situations. Now he knows that some of his hugs (exclusively with women, coincidentally) have been of the too close kind. Hes learned that he needs to be more careful. He wants to make sure it never happens again.

If I had it in my power, I would make make sure that a statement this weaselly never happens again. A statement this weaselly would be a criminal offense:

Ive met tens of thousands of people and taken thousands of photographs, often in crowded and chaotic situations. Im a warm person; I hug people. Ive learned from recent stories that in some of those encounters, I crossed a line for some women  and I know that any number is too many. Some women have found my greetings or embraces for a hug or photo inappropriate, and I respect their feelings about that. Ive thought a lot in recent days about how that could happen, and recognize that I need to be much more careful and sensitive in these situations. I feel terribly that Ive made some women feel badly and for that I am so sorry, and I want to make sure that never happens again. And let me say again to Minnesotans that Im sorry for putting them through this and Im committed to regaining their trust.

O for a muse of fire to gag him with a spoon.
Many conservatives would scoff at the idea that Attorney Jeff Sessions is President Trumps most effective cabinet member. They would cite his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation (probably the right call), his refusal to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton (probably the right call), and his failure to remember various obscure meetings with Russians, etc. (unfortunate).

But those who pay close attention to policy know that the Sessions Justice Department is advancing important conservative causes and undoing key liberal policies of the last administration. In fact, as the Washington Post puts it, he is reshaping the Justice Department.

The Post is dubious authority on many propositions, but it knows very well who is harming left-liberalism. It correctly perceives that Sessions has made dramatic and controversial changes in policy since taking over the top law enforcement job in the United States nine months ago.

Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz provide this overview of Sessions key initiatives and accomplishments:

Sessions has implemented a new charging and sentencing policy that calls for prosecutors to pursue the most serious charges possible, even if that might mean minority defendants face stiff, mandatory minimum penalties. He has defended the presidents travel ban and tried to strip funding from cities with policies he considers too friendly toward undocumented immigrants. Sessions has even adjusted the departments legal stances in cases involving voting rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. . . .

I dont think the word even belongs in the second quoted paragraph. Its telling that the authors put it there.

Zapotosky and Horwitz tells us that, based on this record, supporters and critics say the attorney general has been among the most effective of the Cabinet secretaries  implementing Trumps conservative policy agenda even as the president publicly and privately toys with firing him over his decision to recuse himself from the Russia case.

Zapotsky and Horwitz provide a fairly detailed, albeit biased, discussion of Sessions impact in three policy areas: immigration, law enforcement, and civil rights.

On immigration, the estimable Jessica Vaughn, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, gives Sessions an A-plus for his work, especially for his crackdown on sanctuary cities, his push to hire more immigration judges, and his focus on the MS-13 gang.

On law enforcement, Sessions has promoted the rule of law by issuing a new charging and sentencing policy. We discussed that policy here

On civil rights, the Sessions Justice Department is aggressively prosecuting hate crimes. For example, he recently sent an attorney to Iowa to help the state prosecute a man who was charged with killing a gender-fluid 16-year-old high school student last year. The move drew praise from the leftist civil rights community.

At the same time, Sessions is determined not to let overly-aggressive parts of the LBGT agenda trump religious freedom. Thus, the Justice Department has sided in a major upcoming Supreme Court case with Colorado baker Jack Phillips, who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because he said it would violate his religious beliefs.

The Sessions Justice Department has also rolled back overly-aggressive positions taken by the Obama administration in voting rights cases. And, as we discussed here, it is investigating Harvard for race discrimination in its undergraduate admissions policies.

Im confident there is plenty more where all of this is coming from, provided that President Trump puts policy first and retains Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.
When we checked in most recently on the ongoing cage match between Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and the Republican-majority legislative bodies, the Minnesota Supreme Court had decided that DFL Governor Mark Dayton had the constitutional authority to zero out the legislatures funding, as Dayton did at the conclusion of the legislative session this past June.

The courts 29-page opinion affirmed the governors authority to veto the legislatures funding so as long as the legislature has sufficient funds to carry on. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Lorie Gildea noted that the legislature had the funds necessary to subsist until it reconvenes next February.

Governor Dayton had vetoed the legislatures appropriation of operational funding in order to induce it to renegotiate the terms of the tax bill he himself had signed; he says he signed the tax bill in order to avoid a so-called (by him) poison pill that would have deprived funding to the Department of Revenue. Dayton accused the legislatures Republican majorities of treachery in crafting the bill he had just signed. (I gave a fuller account of the background to the cage match in part 1 of this series.)

So far Datytons gambit has won him nothing but the vindication of his constitutional authority to do what he did under the circumstances, while the legislature can keep the lights on. The point of Daytons veto, however, was to induce the legislature to rewrite the tax bill consistent wth Daytons dictates. The cage match continues.

Now the Star Tribune reports that Governor Dayton is ready to throw in the towel. That is how I read Erin Goldens story Headed into final year, Gov. Mark Dayton ready to move on from long fight over House, Senate budgets. According to Goldens account of her interview with him, Dayton allowed that hes ready to restore the legislatures full funding. Golden quotes Dayton: I dont want to protract this. We have the peoples work to do.

Well, what was the point then? Its not clear that Golden asked. Her story lacks an answer.

I have long thought that this political cage match puts Daytons most unattractive features on prominent public display. Dayton has claimed an authority any reasonable executive in a tripartite system would shrink from exercising. He does not play well with others. He has serious anger management issues.

It is perhaps fitting that the Minnesota Supreme Court granted him an untenable victory. The victory is of the variety known as empty, a meaningless chapter of a long-running story that is to be continued.
ISIS apparently carried out a terror attack on a mosque in the northern Sinai Peninsula today, killing at least 235 and wounding more than 100 more. The mosque was in al-Arish, just a few miles from Israel:

Apparently the terrorists set off a bomb inside the mosque, where Sufi Muslims were worshipping, and then shot those who streamed out of the mosque. The attack seems to have been executed in a military manner, with, reports say, at least four vehicles containing gunmen. In retaliation, the Egyptian government has launched air strikes against mountainous areas where ISIS terrorists are believed to congregate.

The attack has shocked Egyptians:

There has been a wave of attacks on the countrys Coptic Christian minority, but strikes on mosques are rare and Fridays onslaught shocked many throughout Egypt.

President Trumps response was appropriate:

Horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshipers in Egypt. The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2017

Hes right about the ideology, but discrediting ideologies is hard. One would think that after the fate of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, the USSR, Communist China, Albania, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela et al., the ideology of socialism would be utterly discredited. And yet it is still with us. For the foreseeable future, immigration policy will be critical to minimizing the risk of terrorist attacks in the U.S.
I want to take the liberty of drawing attention to weekend reading of special interest without commentary from me. I recommend:

 Douglas Murray, The Russian Revolution, 100 years on. Murray looks back at what Communism wrought and decries its continuing appeal. NRO has posted Murrays recent cover story along with sidebars by Anne Applebaum, David Pryce-Jones, Noah Rothman, Roger Scruton, and Radoslaw Sikorski assigning notable books for extra credit reading.

 Clifford May (Foundation for the Defense of Democracy), Came the revolution. The New York Times has more or less celebrated the centenary of the Russian Revolution this year. The celebration expresses a nostalgia for Communism. Former Timesman Cliff May is not amused.

 Seth Barron (City Journal), Autonomy in the UK. A salute to Nick Cave for tebelling against the BDS crowd, with cameos by Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr.

 Victor Davis Hanson (Defining Ideas), A Thanksgiving toast to the Old Breed. Dr. Hanson draws on his family background and his scholarly work to raise a toast to those who are gone.

 Ben Cohen (Wall Street Journal), A chess novice challenged Magnus Carlsen. He had one month to train. Max Deutsch is a self-described extreme learner. In the words of the song, there are such things:

Max [Deutsch] was not very good at chess himself. Hes a 24-year-old entrepreneur who lives in San Francisco and plays the sport occasionally to amuse himself. He was a prototypical amateur. Now he was preparing himself for a match against chess royalty. And he believed he could win. The unlikely series of events that brought him to this stage began last year, when Max challenged himself to a series of monthly tasks that were ambitious bordering on absurd. He memorized the order of a shuffled deck of cards. He sketched an eerily accurate self-portrait. He solved a Rubiks Cube in 17 seconds. He developed perfect musical pitch and landed a standing back-flip. He studied enough Hebrew to discuss the future of technology for a half-hour. Max, a self-diagnosed obsessive learner, wanted his goals to be so lofty that he would fail to reach some. At that, he failed. Max was 11-for-11. He knew from the beginning of his peculiar year that the hardest challenge would come in October: defeating Magnus Carlsen in a game of chess.

The article is behind the Journals paywall. The companion video, however, gives the short version of this compelling and  educational? inspirational?  story (below).
I cant think of a single political figure in recent American history who has been hated as deeply, or for as long, as Hillary Clinton. From the moment she emerged on the national stage in 1992 as a distinctly feminist prospective first lady, she has been the target of right-wing wrath woefully out of proportion to anything she has ever said or done.

2. Hillary Clinton being elected president (at last) would monumentally piss off misogynistic trolls, and whats not to like about that?

This is where Clinton offers a quality that no politician in America can beat. While Republicans are trying to tar her with a bogus scandal connecting her to Russia (and anyone who believes Clinton did something wrong in the Uranium One deal lacks credibility on all matters political), the reality is that no candidate can be better described as Russias nemesis than Clinton. Putin has always hated Clinton because of his innate sexism , which has manifested in his policies , and she certainly didnt endear herself to him by publicly criticizing Russian corruption in 2011. As the ample connections between the Trump campaign and Russia or its water-carriers like WikiLeaks clearly demonstrate, the one person we know we can trust more than anyone is the candidate who Putin very obviously did not want to see as Americas president.

I agree with the basic principle of Godwins Law: The first person to invoke Hitler in a political debate should normally lose. The exception, of course, has to be when someone has genuine Hitler-like qualities. A foreign despot who has invaded neighboring countries and has a right-wing nationalist agenda is about as Nazi-like as you can get.

The reason for this is sexism. Its not the chic thing to say right now, but no other explanation really makes sense. Yes, Hillary Clinton is more centrist than either party likes these days, but why is she singled out for opprobrium here when her husband  who actually served as president  remains popular despite holding the exact same views? The same point can be made about the claim that she is corrupt or too establishment. To the extent that these accusations are valid, they are no more true of Clinton than of the vast majority of politicians from both parties (especially Trump).

Theres much more, but you get the idea. I really cant tell whether this piece is an attempt at droll satire, but Salon isnt very good at satire, so I expect this is meant seriously.

I hope she runs. My long position on popcorn futures will come in yuuge.
The legal and political drama over the 2015 Anambra Central Senatorial District election appeared to be reaching conclusion as the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, announced the date to conduct a rerun.

In a statement, Mohammed Haruna, a National Commissioner at INEC, said the commission has fixed January 13, 2018 for the conduct of the re-run election to fill the vacant seat.

Anambra Central has been without a senator for over two years, a development which analysts said is detrimental to the constituents.

The seat became vacant in 2015 following the sack of the senator declared winner of the seat, Uche Ekwunife, by the election tribunal. She had contested on the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party but her return was disputed at the tribunal.

At the March 28, 2015 National Assembly elections, Mrs. Ekwunife, was declared winner with 101,548 votes.

But her main contender, Victor Umeh of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, who polled 77, 129 votes challenged her victory.

Since 2015, the two major contenders of the election have been embroiled in a series of legal tussles which climaxed in the Appeal Court judgement of November directing INEC to conduct a fresh election within 90 days.

Below is a timeline of court cases and judgements that led to INECs decision to conduct the election.

FROM POLL TO TRIBUNAL

Mrs. Ekwunife was declared winner of the seat by INEC after the March 28, 2015 National Assembly elections.

However, Mr. Umeh headed to the Anambra State Election Petition Tribunal to challenge her victory on the grounds that she was not an authentic member of the PDP when she contested the election.

Delivering its judgement in October 2015, the Justice Nayai Agabana-led three-member National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Awka upheld the election of Mrs. Ekwunife.

Justice Agabana, who read the judgment unanimously adopted by the panel, dismissed all the reliefs sought by the petitioner and declared that Mr. Umeh failed to prove his case.

APPEAL COURT JUDGEMENT

Mr. Umeh got judgement in December 2015, when the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu, sacked Mrs. Ekwunife.

The court voided her election for not being the product of a valid primary and was therefore not duly and legitimately nominated.

At its ruling, the Court described the tribunals ruling as a perverse judgement, which cannot stand, thus, pronounced the sack of Mrs. Ekwunife and ordered INEC to conduct fresh election within 90 days.

The court also disqualified Mrs. Ekwunife and her party, PDP, from contesting in the re-run.

In a bid to make herself eligible for the re-run, Mrs. Ekwunife dumped the PDP and joined APC in January 2016. But a five-member screening committee set up by the APC disqualified her from being fielded as the partys flag bearer.

SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT

Pained by the partys decision, Mrs. Ekwunife headed to the Supreme Court to challenge the nullification of her election.

Delivering judgment in February 2017, Justice Tanko Mohammed of the apex court held that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain matters emanating from the conduct of National Assembly elections.

Looking closely at the wordings of Section 246 (3), it is clear that the decision of the Court of Appeal is final. The decision, therefore has no business climbing or driving to this court for adjudication because this court is completely bereft of jurisdiction to entertain and determine any such appeal from the lower court.

Once the court below delivers its judgment on a National Assembly Election Petition Appeal, the judgment is final and this court has no jurisdiction to hear any appeals related there to, no matter how cleverly framed, Justice Augie said.

INEC ON HOLD

INEC was set to hold the bye election on March 5, 2016 without the PDP as directed by the Court of Appeal. But the PDP got a judgement from an Abuja High Court compelling INEC to include it in the exercise against the ruling of the Appeal Court.

The Appeal court judgement upheld by the Supreme Court had disqualified PDP and its candidate from participating in the election.

The High Court judgement prompted the electoral commission to postpone the poll indefinitely. The electoral commission then appealed the High Court ruling it believed was given in bad faith.

The Chairman of INEC, Mahmud Yakubu, in August 2017 said the commission had not been able to hold the bye-election because of court orders on matters already decided by the Supreme Court.

He said: For instance, the famous Labour Party versus INEC case in 2009, says that once an election is nullified on account of candidate disqualification, the disqualified candidate cannot participate in the rerun election and the party that fielded the disqualified candidate has also lost the right to field candidate in the election.

But unfortunately, some political parties went back to the court and we have been served injunctions that fly in the face of the decision of the Supreme Court. That is why the only rerun election in Anambra Central Senatorial District hasnt been conducted till date.

FINAL APPEAL COURT JUDGEMENT

In reaction to the High Court judgement in favour of PDP, APGA and Victor Umeh, filed a suit challenging the February 29, 2017 judgement.

Delivering judgment in the appeal, the three-member panel of the Appeal Court headed by Justice Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson ordered INEC to conduct the re-run within 90 days.

Justice Akomolafe-Wilson, who led a three-member panel of the Appeal Court, dismissed PDPs preliminary objections on the issue of the appellants locus standi and the courts jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

Following this judgement, which takes out every form of legal encumbrances delaying the re-run since 2015, the electoral body decided to go ahead with the election.

The commission has considered all the circumstances surrounding the election, particularly the 90-day time frame ordered by the Court of Appeal; the demands for preparing adequately for the election, as well as the coming yuletide and decided that the rerun election shall take place on Saturday, January 13, 2018, the statement announcing the re-run read.
Weeks before ordering a siege to the home of a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayodele Oke, an administrative panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve national security crisis at the foreign intelligence office urged Ibrahim Magu to hold back on taking such measures.

Members of the panel, which was set up to review or implement parts of the recommendations of Vice President Yemi Osinbajos investigative committee, told Mr. Magu that he should defer all summons targeted at Mr. Oke while they work with the embattled former spy chief to sort out a myriad of succession and operational issues racking the NIA in the aftermath of the N13 billion naira Ikoyi cash scandal.

But the acting-chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission proceeded anyway, sanctioning a siege that nearly turned fatal amongst security and law enforcement agencies last week.

Acting on the orders of Mr. Magu, a team of EFCC operatives, cushioned by a police squad, stormed the home of Mr. Oke at the exquisite Abuja neighbourhood of Asokoro to arrest him on Tuesday.

But the mission became an instant spectacle after State Security Service personnel on guard at Mr. Okes residence blocked the anti-graft operatives from carrying out any arrest.

The EFCC team also fruitlessly laboured to arrest a former Director-General of the SSS, Ita Ekpeyong, in the same neighbourhood at the same hour, although the EFCC has not stated if the cases are related or not.

Along Maman Nasir Street, where the residences of the former security chiefs are located, palpable fear gripped foreign diplomats who could not access their missions, offices and residences due to the lockdown occasioned by the inter-agency face-off, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

National security analysts said the confrontation, which has been condemned by the Nigerian Senate as appalling and dangerous, could have been averted had Mr. Magu yielded to the appeal of the administrative panel, even though he had the superior legal standing as the head of a statutory agency.

More importantly, the jarring dispute amongst the agencies marks the latest in a string of bitter inter-agency rivalries which Mr. Buhari has neither acknowledged nor addressed despite frequent manifestations since he assumed office in 2015, analysts say.

Members of the panel, which was inaugurated on November 7, include Babagana Kingibe, Zakari Ibrahim, Niyi Oladeji and Albert Horsfall  all formerly of the NIA.

PREMIUM TIMES has learnt of a series of exchanges between the presidential panel and Mr. Magus EFCC in early November, which began after the EFCC wrote to members seeking an audience with Mr. Oke.

In the November 2 letter, Mr. Magu said anti-graft detectives working on probable criminal wrongdoings in the N13 billion cash haul would like to interview Mr. Oke. The EFCC quickly announced the invitation in a statement to the media.

On November 3, the panel responded under a State House letterhead to Mr. Magu that granting his request would not be feasible against the backdrop of their unfolding activities.

The members said Mr. Oke was preparing handover notes to the newly-named acting DG of the NIA; while also helping them with their preliminary duties ahead of their inauguration, PREMIUM TIMES learnt from sources familiar with the deliberations.

Two days after their inauguration on November 9, the panel fired another notice to the EFCC, emphasising that the anti-graft office should put off further invitations to Mr. Oke because its ongoing review activities would require that the former NIA chief be on standby to clarify issues as and when necessary.

Similarly, Boss Mustapha, who was named as the new secretary to the government on October 30, picked up the NIA issues as his first official assignment, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. He notified Mr. Oke, who was on suspension, and Arab Yadam, who was acting as NIA DG, of the expiration of their respective appointments.

Also out at the NIA on the same day was Emmanuel Okafor, the agencys deputy director-general in charge of operations, sources said. Mr. Mustapha also issued directives about a smooth transition of power from Messrs. Oke and Yadam to a newly-named acting DG, Mohammed Dawuda, hitherto the ambassador to Chad.

Meanwhile, and despite being aware of a contrary directive by the presidential panel, Mr. Oke had visited the EFCC on November 7 to assure the agencys director of operations of his willingness to submit himself for questioning as soon as the panel had concluded its activities and released him, sources said.

Mr. Oke also stayed in touch with the EFCC in Lagos, where the discovered N13 billion case is domiciled, to inform investigators of his provisional constraints with similar assurances of his readiness to cooperate when discharged by the presidential panel.

But Mr. Magu apparently scoffed at those behind-the-scenes discussions to move against the former NIA chief.

The EFCC took a similar approach in the case of Mr. Ekpeyong, going after former secret police chief despite being told not to do so by the agencys current DG, Lawal Daura, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

Mr. Magu had written to Mr. Daura, informing the SSS boss that the EFCC was investigating a slew of suspicious transactions by Mr. Ekpeyong during his days at the domestic intelligence office.

But Mr. Daura declined, saying his agency had no records of financial impropriety against Mr. Ekpeyong and, as such, the EFCCs service would not be necessary.

In the thanks but no thanks letter, which was copied to the president and the National Security Adviser, Mr. Daura did not assure Mr. Magu of SSS support in EFFCs moves to arrest Mr. Ekpeyong, PREMIUM TIMES gathered.

More evidence then emerged on Saturday that the SSS also relied on a presidential proclamation by the former head of state, Abdusalami Abubakar, that no other agency would investigate the SSS accounts or operations.

The edict, titled Instrument No 1 of 1999, shields the SSS from external audit and investigation of its financial dealings, making them subject to only presidential review.

Although the EFCC has not spoken officially on reasons for its insistence on arresting both the ex-heads of the SSS and NIA, it has leaked reports to journalists that it secured a magistrate court order to arrest the officials.

A spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, did not respond to requests for comments from PREMIUM TIMES. Calls and text messages to his mobile lines over a two-day period went unacknowledged.

Mr. Oke became a pawn between the presidential panel and the EFCC shortly after Mr. Buhari sacked him as the head of NIA on the recommendations of the three-man panel that probed the aftermath of the cash discovery in April.

The panel, led by Mr. Osinbajo with Attorney-General Abubakar Malami and National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno as members, recommended Mr. Okes dismissal for his role in the scandal, according to the State House.

The EFCC had announced that its operative, acting on a tip-off on April 12, found $43,449,947, 27,800 and N23,218,000 hidden inside an apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi.

The currencies were valued at N13 billion based on prevailing exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Nigeria at the time. The EFCC circulated photograph and video footage of the operation, sparking nationwide outrage.

But the anti-graft agency did not immediately disclose the owners of the recovered cash, a development that seemed largely unusual for an agency which had become known in its name and shame tactics under Mr. Magu.

Mr. Buhari immediately expressed his consternation about the discovery and ordered that it be deposited at the CBN.

But Mr. Oke cleared the air two days later, telling PREMIUM TIMES on April 14 that the money belonged to the NIA. But he didnt disclose what it was meant for.

Mr. Oke was suspended from office on April 19 for his alleged role in the scandal just as Mr. Osinbajos panel began sitting.

In May, PREMIUM TIMES published excerpts of letters between Mr. Oke and the Mr. Monguno, which clarified that the National Security Adviser briefed President Buhari about the money and its purpose long before the EFCCs discoverycontrary to what the president had led Nigerians to believe.

While Mr. Oke has faced a series of disciplinary actions which included being unceremoniously discharged from service shortly before he was due to retire, Mr. Buhari has not explained to Nigerians why he initially feigned ignorance of the covert projects.

National security analysts weigh in

The concerted attempts by the EFCC to arrest Mr. Oke despite revelations that he informed Mr. Buhari about the covert projects, and despite the funds being eventually forfeited to the government have unsettled national security commentators.

Apart from the perilous consequences posed by the inter-agency clashes, analysts wonder why the EFCC has prioritised arresting Mr. Oke even when it hasnt done anything about the former secretary to the government who was fired allegedly for looting funds meant for the internally displaced persons.

Babachir Lawal was fired on October 30, nearly a year after the Nigerian Senate indicted him of stealing over N200 million in IDP funds using his companys bank accounts in violation of Nigerian code of conduct law.

Mr. Buhari had initially cleared Mr. Lawal, telling the Senate in a January 17 letter that the dismissed SGF was not given fair hearing.

The logic that EFCC is operating with doesnt seem to be clear to anyone outside the agency these days, said Chris Ngwodo, a security analyst and legal practitioner.

Even if the EFCC intends to pursue criminal charges against Mr. Oke, the fact that the money he allegedly stole had been recovered from him should render the rest of the matter secondary, he added.

What we should focus on is the case of Babachir Lawal, whom we have absolutely no evidence has returned any money from his loot.

Mr. Ngwodo said Mr. Magu, being a career police officer, had failed to appreciate the complexities of national security duties.

How did we get to a stage in this country in which an anti-corruption agency would be victimising national security institutions and dragging them before the media? Mr. Ngwodo said.

While recognising that no individuals are beyond reproach in a society governed by the rule of law, Mr. Ngwodo urged Mr. Buhari to save Nigeria from chaos by carefully navigating the treacherous waters of national security matters.

The president should not allow the overbearing and reckless instincts of an appointee inflict a long-term damage on the countrys national security, he added.

A government unsettled; a president untroubled

Despite frequent clashes between government institutions or senior administration officials since he assumed office two and a half years ago, Mr. Buhari has shown little sign of being troubled, said Mr. Ngwodo.

The rivalries started with the SSS and the presidents aide de camp slugging it out over security measures around the State House. This occurred within Mr. Buharis first 30 days in office.

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported the confrontation at the time. This newspaper also exclusively uncovered a devastating acrimony between Mr. Monguno and Mr. Daura in 2016, a rivalry that could put the activities of the NSA and the SSS in peril.

Outside the security sector, a supremacy tussle has also persisted between Mr. Magu and Mr. Malami for several months. The AGF accused the EFCC chief of failing to report some special cases to him in contravention of the law. Mr. Magu denied the allegations.

At the Ministry of Health, Usman Yusuf, the suspended executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme engaged the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, in a tussle over supremacy.

The rift between the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, and the Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali, has also been well reported in the media.

On two occasions, President Buhari sent requests to the National Assembly for confirmation of Mr. Magu as substantive chairman of EFCC. Each time, the SSS denied security clearance for Mr. Magu, consequently thwarting the presidents efforts.

All these are clear cases of affront against presidential authority, Mr. Ngwodo said. Yet, the president has remained aloof and even his aides suggested at one time that the insubordination proved that the agencies have independence.

Another national security expert, Daniel Bwala, told PREMIUM TIMES Mr. Magu should have accepted the appeals of the presidential panel and leave Mr. Oke alone in the interim.

Ordinarily, they should have nothing to do with him pending the conclusion of the implementation of the recommendations, Mr. Bwala told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone.

He is needed by the presidential panel and he shouldnt be touched by the EFCC which is also under the control of the president, he said.

Mr. Bwala said the EFCC, as a statutory body, is superior to an administrative panel, but said the Constitution placed all the security agencies under the president.

The argument is a given that the panel cannot override the commission. But in this case, it is not a panel set up by the National Assembly. This panel is set up by the president and its members are carrying out the orders of the president, Mr. Bwala said.

Mr. Bwala said it would be counter-productive for the president to constitute a panel and then undermine or defeat the purpose of the same panel, urging members to write a formal complaint.

What the panel members should do is to write to the president that theyre being harassed and not allowed to do their job, Mr. Bwala said.

The analyst also dismissed insinuations that the panel members were irredeemably biased towards Mr. Oke on the basis of their respective careers at the NIA.

The president that set up the panel did so with full knowledge of their background, he said, adding that the president should not be expected to tap people without impeccable intelligence background to probe the activities of the NIA.

Messrs. Ngwodo and Bwalas submissions mirror the position of a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bolaji Akinyemi, who warned in April that putting a foreign intelligence officer on trial in an open court is going to be disastrous to external national security interests, in reaction to the initial controversies that trailed the recovered funds.

Mr. Oke has been described by the intelligence community as a diligent professional whose painstaking conduct was evident in the revelations that he carried both the NSA and the president along with the national security project, which was approved by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Although the Senate has raised a committee to probe the botched arrests of Messrs. Oke and Ekpeyong, some lawmakers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep mum as Mr. Buhari dithers on matters of national security.

This is the first time well see gross irresponsibility in government whereby there is no arbiter. No one to come in between two agencies that belong to only one person, said Abiodun Olujimi, a PDP senator from Ekiti State. The two agencies report to one person the president and now we find them fighting on the pages of the newspapers. Its a shame.

We are calling on the president. He has to sit up. He should be up and doing. Call these people to order, Ms. Olujimi added.

ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NIA $289 MILLION COVERT PROJECTS CONTROVERSY.
The Federal Ministry of Finance on Sunday disclosed that some Non-Governmental Organisations, NGOs, and importers smuggle other imported items into approved duty waivers issued for the importation of medical equipment and drug related items into the country.

A statement signed by Salisu Dambatta, Director of Information at the ministry, said the ministry also observed that these importers and NGOs engage in the sale of imported drugs meant to be distributed to the public for free after being granted import duty exemption by the government.

The statement said such practices are in flagrant abuse of the import duty waiver granted by the Nigerian government and in contravention of the provisions of Section 46 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) of 1958 (as amended).

Mr. Dambatta did not name the defaulters and was silent on whether government has made moves to seek their prosecution in law court.

Mr. Dambatta, according to the statement, also denied allegations that the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, refused to grant import duty waivers to the importers, saying such allegations are attempts to malign the name of the minister and the ministry.

Mr. Dambatta said there are laid down statutory procedures governing the granting of import duty waivers to importers and NGOs, which are part of holistic measures put in place to check abuses of the Federal Governments fiscal incentives and to put a halt to rampart corrupt practices in the economic sector.

These procedures include submission of an application by the importer and NGO to the Federal Ministry of Finance through the Federal Ministry of Health; evidence of registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission; submission of an approved Memorandum of Understanding duly signed by the Honourable or the Honourable Minister of State, Budget and National Planning between the Donor Agencies, Federal Government of Nigeria and the Recipient-NGOs, presentation of a certificate of exemption from tax from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (only for those who engage in non-profit making activities in line with their objectives), submission of a proforma invoice indicating the value of the imported items, bill of laden and if the imported items are donated, the NGOs are required to provide the Federal Ministry of Finance with authenticated letter from the donor agencies.

Additional documentation may also be required where the need arises. Meanwhile, some of the applicants referred to in the sponsored write-up being planned for circulation did not submit the required documents for processing import duty waivers requests.

This is in contravention of the provisions of Section 46 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) of 1958 (as amended), he affirmed.

The statement added that, For the avoidance of doubt, the Federal Ministry of Finance wishes to state that priority and special attention are always accorded requests for import duty waivers for medical equipment and drugs related items.

As a matter of fact, 318 concession applications were received and 175 were processed to conclusion from 1st May to 24th November, 2017.

According to the statement, President Muhammadu Buharis Administration appreciates the generosity of donor agencies and partner NGOs in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS, Malaria, tuberculosis and other deadly diseases.
A 5-year old boy has been confirmed killed in the Boko Haram attack on Magumeri town of Borno State on Saturday evening.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the attack on the town as well as an army base. The army later confirmed the death of three soldiers while repelling the insurgents. Six other soldiers were injured in the attack, the army said.

Wakil Malam-Tawu, the Secretary to Magumeri Local Government Area, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday that the boy was killed by a stray bullet.

Mr. Malam-Tawu said that two women and a teenager also sustained gunshot injuries in the attack.

He explained that a clinic, mosque and shops were also razed in the attack, adding that those injured were treated and discharged.

The people have returned to their houses and slept at Magumeri while others came back in the morning. It was only one child of about 5 years old that was killed and three other people wounded by stray bullets.

And also a rocket launcher hit one of our health clinics, including a mosque and some shops along the main road.

This morning I visited Magumeri; the town is very calm, we paid a

sympathy visit to the person who lost his child to condole him.

We also paid a visit to the areas where rocket launchers hit some of our structures.

Mr. Malam-Tawu also dismissed as misleading reports indicating that the insurgents had taken over the town, noting that normalcy has been restored to the area.

Although Boko Haram attacks in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe reduced in the past couple of years, the insurgents have still been able to carry out attacks mainly on soft targets.

The insurgency has caused about 100,000 deaths since 2009.
President Muhammadu Buhari has renewed his commitment to bring back all the Chibok girls held by terrorists operating in the North-east using all possible means, just as he expressed appreciation of the progress made in the rehabilitation the 106 freed girls now back in school.

The president, who was reviewing the progress report submitted to him in line with his commitment to personally monitor the rehabilitation and reintegration into society of the freed Chibok girls, also gave assurances that government will provide full support for their education.

In line with, the president has approved payment of N164,763,759 (one hundred and sixty four million, seven hundred and sixty-three naira) for the second semester school fees of the 106 Chibok girls at the American University of Nigeria, AUN in Yola.

According to the progress report received by the president, the decision to pursue avenues in addition to military action to free the abducted girls is in the resolve to protect the lives of all Nigerians, to end the insurgency in the North-east of the country, and to fulfil one of the campaign promises of the president. In line with this, the federal government entered into negotiations with the Boko Haram terrorist group for the release of the Chibok girls who were kidnapped from their school dormitory on the night of April 14, 2014.

So far, two batches of 21 and 82 girls have been freed as a result of those negotiations. Three additional girls were rescued by the gallant efforts of our armed forces, bringing the total number of freed Chibok girls so far to 106.

As a result of their experiences while in captivity, the freed girls were severely traumatised and afflicted by various ailments and injuries. Hence, they were taken to secure medical centres for attention. They also went through debriefing and de-radicalisation by security operatives, after which the girls were handed over to the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development was assigned the main role in supervising the rehabilitation and reintegration of the girls back into society. Long before the girls were released, the federal government had established the Chibok Girls Desk in the ministry, responsible for acting on matters relating to the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, and serving as a channel of communication between relevant agencies and the parents and relatives of the abducted girls.

The government, through the ministry of women affairs and in collaboration with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, UNFPA, UN Women, and other donor agencies, embarked on programmes earmarked to facilitate the rehabilitation and reintegration of the Chibok girls with a nine-month time frame.

A hostel in the National Centre for Women Development was converted into a suitable shelter, where the girls were kept for the nine-month period. The programme, which began in January 2017, ended in September 2017. During the period, the 106 girls were given lessons in English, Mathematics, Biology, Agriculture, and Civic Education. In addition, they were trained in ICT and vocational skills. Professionals were engaged to provide them with psychosocial therapy and one-on-one counselling to help them overcome post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They were also provided with religious instruction and comprehensive care by two in-house doctors and two nurses. Periodic visits from the girls parents to stimulate family support and reunion were sponsored and organised by the ministry.

Having successfully achieved the desired goals of the rehabilitation and reintegration programme, with recorded significant improvement in the academic performance of the girls, in September, a final send-off party was organised for the 106 Chibok girls and they were subsequently moved to the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola for their foundation studies and continuation of their education. The AUN had successfully established a foundation school for 14 out of the 57 Chibok girls who escaped while the rest of their classmates were taken to the Sambisa forest by Boko Haram.

The absorption of the 106 girls into the school marked the beginning of their integration into the larger Nigerian society, thus fulfilling President Buharis promise of providing the best education for them.

Although they have been officially handed over to their parents, the federal government will continue to be responsible for the payment of the Chibok girls school fees right up to their graduation from the school.
11:07





Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has accused the Congress of seeking refuge in casteism and "outsourcing" its campaign to caste leaders while dismissing any threat to the BJP's poll prospects from the

Congress-Hardik Patel tie-up.

He alleged that the Congress was "deceiving" the people over the issue of reservation, while the agitators were lining up for poll tickets.

Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel's open support to the Congress in the December Assembly polls is not an electoral alliance but a "deal" between two sides, Rupani told PTI in an interview.

Dubbing Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who is extensively campaigning in Gujarat, as "gappidas" (teller of lies), the chief minister accused him of dishing out fabricated statistics about the BJP-ruled state.

"From what I understand, I can say it (Congress-Hardik alliance) won't have any effect (on the BJP) as they are exposed. They have kept aside the original demand of reservation and agitators have lined up to get Congress tickets," he said.

Rupani was replying to a question on the impact of Hardik Patel pledging support to the Congress in the Gujarat polls.

"While the Congress is not speaking a word on how it will give reservation to the Patidars (if it comes to power), he (Hardik Patel) is declaring support to the Congress. This shows there is 'saudebaazi' (deal) (between them)," he claimed.

"The Congress formula on giving reservation above the 50 per cent cap is an attempt to deceive the people and it won't work. This exposes the deal," he further said.

"As the opposition does not have any issues against us they are taking refuge in casteism. The Congress is outsourcing its campaign by bringing in symbols of casteism like Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor (OBC leader), Jignesh Mevani (Dalit activist) and tribal leader Chottu Vasava," Rupani said. -- PTI
The head of Hausa Service of the BBC, Jimeh Saleh, has lauded the achievements of Hausa language female writers in Nigeria.

Mr. Saleh gave the commendation on Friday at an event to honour winners of the BBC Hausa short story writing contest for women at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja.

Mr. Saleh said the BBC announced the competition, titled  Hikayata last year on the strength of a long feminist literary tradition in the Hausa speaking world; a tradition, he said, still flourishes.

He also said women are still far ahead of their male counterparts when it comes to Hausa fiction.

He said the Hausa service of the BBC introduced the competition as a way of encouraging the culture of writing among women.

We wanted them to tell and share their stories which are real and profound.

This comes through very clearly in the daily news stories we cover, he said.

Mr. Saleh said over two hundred entries were received last year most of which were strong and engaging.

He said the judges selected Aisha Sabitus Sansanin Yan Gudun Hijira or Refugee Camp as the winning entry.

This year, we had over four hundred entries from different parts of the Hausa speaking world.

The interest in the contest has been remarkable, he said.

He also said about half of the entries were from new writers, adding that almost all the stories were potential winning entries, making the selection process a difficult task indeed.

He thanked the judges: Balaraba Yakubu, Rahma Abdulmajid and Ibrahim Malumfashi for a fantastic job.

I know it was not an easy task selecting a winner but they eventually got one in Maimuna Sani Beli from Kano state.

The winning story Bai Kai Zuci ba or Not from the Heart, is about a woman who is obsessed with her children and constantly dreams of what might befall them if she dies.

She even tells her husband to marry her best friend who loves children if she suddenly dies so she can help take care of the children. She always dreams of dying and coming back from the dead to visit her children.

The judges were impressed by Maimunas bold writing style as, with ease and creativity, she takes the reader from the land of the living to the spirit world, he said.

Mr. Saleh quoted the lead judge, Mr. Malumfashi, a professor, as saying not every writer is confident enough to take on subjects like life after death.

But Maimuna is a courageous writer indeed she is unafraid to tackle any topic and she is uninhibited by any style.

The second place winner was Balkisu Sani Makaranta, while, Habiba Abubakar and Hindatu Samaiila Nabame were joint third place winners.

Other prominent guests at the event were the APC Women Leader, Ramatu Tijani; House of Representatives spokesperson, Abdulrazak Namdas; Director-General of Radio Nigeria, Mansur Liman; and Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Harriet Thomson, among others.

EDITORS NOTE: This story has been edited to reflect the actual comments of the BBC Hausa chief.
A former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, on Saturday in Lagos dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr. Obanikoros defection at his Lagos Island constituency ended months of speculations about the status of his political allegiance.

There were earlier reports that he had settled his differences with the national leader of APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a step to joining the ruling party.

Though Mr. Obanikoro acknowledged reconciling with Mr. Tinubu, he neither denied nor confirmed plans to join the APC.

He, however, finally gave the hint of his defection during a television interview on Thursday.

NAN reports that Mr. Obanikoro defected to the APC along with other PDP bigwigs in the state, including a former aide of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Modupe Sasore.

Others are a national officer of the PDP, Jide Damazio, and another PDP chieftain, Kola Balogun.

They were received by chieftains of APC, including the state chairman, Henry Ajomale; Kashim Imam, James Odunbaku as well as the Attorney General of Lagos State, Adeniji Kazeem, who represented Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode.

Past and serving members of the National Assembly including Ganiyu Solomon, Gbenga Ashafa and Jide Jimoh were among APC bigwigs present.

Presenting the APC flag to Mr. Obanikoro and others, Mr. Ajomale said the coming of the former minister and others meant the opposition was totally dead in the state.

He described Mr. Obanikoro as politically experienced and sagacious, and said his joining the party would no doubt add to the electoral fortune of the party in the state.

We are happy to receive Obanikoro back in our fold. He was with us when we started the Alliance for Democracy (AD) but he decided to go the other way.

Thank God he has realised his mistake and he is back. We are indeed happy to get back this big fish, along with others.

Obanikoro is an asset and he will no doubt add value to our party, he said.

Mr. Obanikoro, in his speech, said he was happy to return to the fold of his age-long political associates after his long sojourn in the PDP.

He said he defected because he could not find fulfillment in the PDP and he joined the ruling party because he had a mission to render service on its platform.

The ex-minister said his former party could not offer him the platform for the kind of service he wanted to render.

Today, I and others are not just joining the APC for joining sake, we are joining because we are on a mission.

I had joined the PDP a few years ago with the hope that certain things would be done right to enable me make the desired impact. That did not happen.

And now, Asiwaju Tinubu has taken leadership to another level, not only in the state, but at the national level.

So, my joining the APC is not by accident. It is to return to my people and seek a platform on which I can render service to my people, because leadership is about service and co-ordination of talents to achieve results.

We have looked everywhere, and the only party that offers that platform for service delivery is the APC.

For me, this is not really a defection; it is a home-coming, because in a way, this is my root. I am happy to return to my people; no place like home, he said.

Mr. Obanikoro praised the leadership style of Mr. Tinubu, which he said had ensured the development of the state.

He thanked Mr. Tinubu for being magnanimous to accept him back in the fold after years of altercations between them.

I thank Tinubu for his magnanimity. I am here because he is generous and has a forgiving heart. If it were other leaders, they will say God forbid.

He has accepted me back despite all the issues between us, I am grateful to him, Mr. Obanikoro said.

The former minister said he we would do his best to add value to his new party.

Also, Messrs. Sasore and Balogun took turns to thank the party for allowing them into the fold.

They said they could not find fulfillment in PDP hence, the decision to join APC.

The duo promised to do their best to ensure APC progresses in the state.

Mr. Imam, in his remark, said the party was happy to receive Mr. Obanikoro and others.

He said the defection meant the party was the only party in the state, as it marked the end of PDP.

The National Vice-Chairman of the APC (South West), Puis Akinyelure, who represented Mr. Tinubu, said the party was glad about the homecoming of Mr. Obanikoro and others.

He said the defection meant the PDP was dead as Mr. Obanikoro was one of its pillars in the state.

NAN reports it was a carnival-like ceremony as party faithful danced and sang to receive Mr. Obanikoro and the others.

A popular Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, was on hand to thrill those present. (NAN)
The police have confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that a deputy commissioner charged with the 2005 murder of auto parts dealers and a woman in Abuja has been reinstated.

But the force said the reinstatement was sanctioned by the Police Service Commission which relied on the judgement of the FCT High Court that freed Ibrahim Danjuma after finding him not culpable on March 9.

The police received instruction from the Police Service Commission that the officer should be reinstated because he had been discharged and acquited by a competent court, said police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood.

Mr. Danjuma and four other officers were tried for the killing of the traders between the night of June 7 and 8, 2005. They had spent some time at a club on Gimbiya Street, Area 11, and were returning to their home in Apo neighbourhood when they encountered some police officers that fired at them.

The police had initially said that the victims, whose were between ages 21-25 and included a woman, were armed robbers.

But a panel set up by President Olusegun Obasanjo to look into the disputed most of the account by the police and recommended Mr. Danjuma and his men for trial.

All the officers were immediately placed on suspension by the police.

Twelve years later, two of the officers were convicted and sentenced to death, but the FCT High Court presiding judge, Ishaq Bello, said there was no evidence to convict Mr. Danjuma and two others.

Last week, Sahara Reporters disclosed that the police have reinstated Mr. Danjuma.

Mr. Danjumas rank would be restored, his accumulated salaries from June 18, 2005, would also be paid with plans to send him on a refresher course, a police memo published by Sahara Reporters showed.

Other officers discharged by the court were also reinstated to their previous ranks or promoted and would get their accrued remuneration, the platform reported.

It was not immediately clear why the police moved swiftly to reinstate the officers even when the victims families are pursuing an appeal.

The families strongly held that Mr. Danjuma participated in the killings and should have been convicted based on the evidence tendered before the judge.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that an appeal had been filed and noticed served on the police.

The Attorney-General of the Federation is prosecuting the matter based on a fiat arrangement with an Abuja-based law firm, Chris Uche and Co.

Mr. Moshood said Mr. Danjuma and other officers approached the PSC with the court verdict and demanded full implementation.

But the issue of reinstating the officers and paying them their salaries from the time they received their respective suspension was not before the court.

The police only acted on the instructions of the Police Service Commission that the officers be reinstated, Mr. Moshood said. They were suspended by the PSC and have now been reinstated by the same body.

The Nigeria Police Force as an institution will always obey instructions from the Police Service Commission, which is the regulatory body, the spokesperson added.

Ikechukwu Ani, spokesperson for the PSC, could not immediately provide details about the controversial reinstatement when reached for comments by PREMIUM TIMES weekend.

Please allow until Monday for our detailed reply to your enquiries, Mr. Ani told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone Saturday.
The Nigerian Army has confirmed the death of three soldiers in a battle with Boko Haram members after the insurgents invaded an army base and Magumeri community in Borno State.

An army spokesperson, Timothy Antigha, said the attack occurred on Saturday evening, with six other soldiers injured in the incident.

At about 6.00 p.m. yesterday, 25th November 2017, suspected elements of Boko Haram terrorists attempted to attack Magumeri. As a prelude to the intended attack on the town, the terrorists attempted to dislodge the Forward Operational Base in Magumeri, Borno State, the colonel said.

However, soldiers of 5 Brigade Garrison located in the town repelled the attack. The troops fought gallantly.

Unfortunately, three soldiers lost their lives, while six others sustained injuries. The bodies of the late soldiers and the wounded have been evacuated. The wounded are receiving medical attention. Some platforms were also attacked and damaged by the terrorists. Further developments regarding the incident will be communicated accordingly.

The 8 Division wishes to assure all residents of Magumeri that everything is being done to ensure their safety and security. To this end, they are to continue pursuing their legitimate activities without any fear.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported the attack on Magumeri with the soldiers being aided by members of a vigilante, the Civilian-JTF.

Kaka Audu, a member of the Civilian-JTF, in the area, said that the insurgents attacked the town from the military check point and Bengel area of the town.

Mr. Audu disclosed that some of the insurgents that attacked from the Bengel axis managed to enter the town and torched some buildings before they were finally pushed back.

We came back from a joint patrol with the military around 6 p.m. because intelligence report showed that the insurgents were gathering at the outskirt of the town.

Few minutes later, the insurgents attacked with full force from two directions. There was reinforcement from the military and the attack was repelled.

Mr. Audu noted that powerful echoes of gun shots and explosive devices prompted residents to flee to nearby forest.

The local militia official added that most of the residents, who had earlier run to the bush, returned to their homes later.

Such attacks on communities and military formations appear to be on the increase this year despite the efforts of the security agencies.

The Boko Haram insurgency has caused about 100,000 deaths mainly in North-eastern Nigeria.
The Attorney General and Commssioner for Justice, Plateau State, Jonathan Mawuyau, has said with its domestication of the Child Rights Act, the government would deal decisively with parents who maltreat their children.

The official said this, Friday in Jos, at the unveiling and dissemination of the states Childs Right Law gazetted by the justice ministry in the presence of UNICEF officials

The gazetted law prohibits child marriage, child betrothal, tattoo and skin marks on children, abduction, removal and transfer from lawful custody without the consent of his parents.

Mr. Mawuyau, said the domestication of the Act will bring to an end, cases of child maltreatment all over the state.

Any parent who maltreats his or her child will be made to face the full wrath of the law, the official said.

He added that the law does not give permission to children to terrorise their parents and other adults in the society.

The law is not meant to allow children rebel against their parents and guardians, he said.

According to Mr. Mawuyau, the law will ensure harmonious relationship between parents and their kids and better welfare for children.

Despite the fact that Nigeria;s child rights law was enacted in 2005, a lot of child abuse related cases are still being reported in the state.

Similarly, the state commissioner of police, Adie Udie, charged the Nigerian govenment to wake up to the global responsibiities of protecting the rights of children.

The commisioner, who was represented by a deputy commissioner of police, Yahaya Abubakar, lamented that issues of the Nigerian child were not taken serious by stakeholders.

The Nigeria government has failed the child. Each day, people talk about human rights, but the Childs Right Act should have been domesticated in all the states of the federation and implemented fully, but just a few state governments have done that, he said.

The Childs Right Act has 273 sections divided into 25 parts.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has announced the award of a full postgraduate scholarship to the 2016/17 best graduating student of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

The Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Maikanti Baru, announced the scholarship in a statement by NNPC spokesman, Ndu Ughamadu.

Mr. Baru said the recipient, Al-Amin Bugaje, would be sponsored to further his education up to Ph.D level in any institution in the world.

Mr. Bugaje, 23, bagged a First Class degree in Electrical Engineering with the highest Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.93 to emerge the universitys overall best graduating student.

This gesture is in line with NNPCs Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of championing educational excellence nationwide.

We equally want to encourage other students who are still in school to aspire towards achieving excellence in their academic pursuits, Mr. Baru, himself a First-Class degree holder in Mechanical Engineering from ABU, said.

He noted that the NNPC recently held the grand finale of its Annual National Quiz Competition.

At the end of that quiz, we rewarded the state winners with a one-off educational grant of N100,000 each, the national finals winners: first place (Delta), second (Abia) and third place (Ondo) won N300,000, N250,000 and N200,000 respectively as annual bursary support for the entire course of their tertiary education, he added.

Responding, an elated Mr. Bugaje expressed his gratitude to the NNPC for giving him the opportunity to further his education, stressing that he was shocked to hear the GMD announce the scholarship gesture to him.

I thank the NNPC for this wonderful opportunity to go and compete with the best of the best in the world.

Hopefully, I will utilise this opportunity to go and groom myself the more and see how we can come back to contribute our quota to nation-building, Mr. Bugaje said.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Ibrahim Garba, lauded NNPCs support to the institutions best graduating student saying it is very encouraging on the part of the corporation.

It would show the way to other corporate bodies to follow suit and invest in education.

It also shows NNPC as not only a critical supporter of the nations economy, but also a pillar in the nations educational development, the vice Chancellor said.

The vice chancellor also thanked the GMD for his gesture in supporting the universitys mini-petroleum refinery project, saying that most of the milestone achieved in the refinery initiative came from the NNPC.

NAN recalls that Baru delivered the Pre-Convocation Lecture where he harped on the need for Nigeria to diversify its economic base away from the vulnerability and fragility of oil and gas revenue.

A total of 50 of the 8,260 undergraduates bagged first degrees, 3,600 were awarded postgraduate diplomas, 256 graduated with Ph.D degrees and 2,300 obtained masters degrees across the universitys 13 faculties.

(NAN)
The 2015 governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, in Abia State, Alex Otti, has said he believes his party will win the 2019 election in the state.

Mr. Otti asked the incumbent governor, Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party, to prepare for his handover note in 2019.

Mr. Otti said this in Umuahia during a rally by the Abia State chapter to celebrate last Saturdays victory of Governor Willie Obiano in the Anambra State governorship election.

Mr. Obiano of APGA won the Anambra election by over 50 per cent. Anambra is the only state in the South-east and indeed in Nigeria governed by APGA.

Mr. Otti said Mr. Obianos crushing defeat of his opponents at the poll had rekindled his hope APGA could win Abia State.

The ex- Diamond Bank chief executive declared that APGA had been revived in South-east and is now set to sweep the polls particularly in Abia come 2019.

Some PDP members from Governor Ikpeazus Obingwa Local Government Area also defected to APGA during the rally.

Receiving the defectors, Mr. Otti said the PDP administration in the state had failed to address the basic needs of the people, describing Abia as the least developed state in the South-east zone.

He said his emergence in 2019 would liberate Abia State from the clutches of underdevelopment and maladministration which he blamed on PDP.

Mr. Otti called on his supporters and APGA faithful to remain steadfast in their support for him until his dream of superintending over the affairs of the state was realised.

Therefore let every Abia resident here today realise that to break the jinx of underdevelopment ravaging Abia state, we must show an extraordinary kind of altruism, think outside the box and do something extraordinary for the good of our state and our people.

On my side, I want to assure you that the burning desire to replicate and even surpass the Anambra leadership example in Abia State is very much alive; hence the need for all of us to remain optimistic, committed and steadfast in our quest to herald Abia state of our dream, as thats the only way my lofty leadership vision for Abia can be actualised.

In his remarks at the rally, Secretary to Anambra State Government, Solomon Chukwulobelu, said Mr. Obianos victory was not for Anambra State alone but for the entire Igbo.

He said Mr. Obianos victory marked the liberation of Anambra from political godfatherism and bad influence.

The SSG who represented Mr. Obiano thanked Anambra electorates for their massive support to APGA, saying it was a strong indication that Igbos are now determined to redeem their lost ground on the political equation of the country.

He said APGA is the party to beat in 2019 elections, and urged Igbos to stay with the party as a platform to advance their regional interest.

We (APGA) stand for the best, to give Ndigbo the best. We have consolidated as a political party to take over South-east and later Nigeria, he said.
The senator representing Lagos West at the National Assembly, Olamilekan Adeola, on Sunday publicly declared his intention to contest the Ogun State governorship election in 2019 on the platform of Nigerias ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

The lawmaker also replied to alleged criticism of his ambition by incumbent Ogun Governor, Ibikunle Amosun.

He said he was aware Mr. Amosun was opposed to his ambition, but that would not stop him.

It is my strong conviction that God and the good people of the state would crown me a governor and not a single individual, he said.

Mr. Adeola, however, thanked Mr. Amosun for attacking him, which he said made him more popular in the state and environs.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr. Amosun, without directly mentioning Mr. Adeola, said he would not hand over to a non-indigene pretending to be a son of the soil.

While addressing journalists on Sunday in Abeokuta, Mr. Adeola said he would still pay a courtesy call on Mr. Amosun, to convince the governor that he was his best possible successor.

Speaking on the governors insinuation that he was not an indigene of Ogun West, Mr. Adeola said that assertion was false.

My father is from Ago-Isaga in Yewa zone, while my mother is from Kemta community of Abeokuta and am comfortable at home, he said.

Mr. Adeola, Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, also challenged other APC governorship aspirants to a public debate.

I challenge them. I challenge Akinlade, I challenge Tolu, I challenge Suraj, I challenge Gboyega Nasir Isiaka. I challenge them to a public debate. If you are sure of yourself and you believe you have what it takes to govern our state and take Ogun State to the next level, come out for a public debate, he said.

Let Ogun State listen to us and let Ogun State take its decision and let everybody stop hiding under the finger of one individual. The media can be the observer, you (journalists) can call for the debate, you can organise it and let all of us come and talk to you, Mr. Adeola said.

Speaking further, he said if elected governor, he would improve on the revenue base of the state and consolidate on the good works of past and current governors.

I have what it takes to take Ogun State to the next level by the special grace of God. If you are embarking on such a journey, one thing you must seek for is the face of God and once God says there is a way, then there is nothing else you can do, he said.

Ive decided to run or contest for the governor of the state, I have no regret. I am standing by my words that 2019 is sacrosanct.
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.




Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 01:51:21|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Light pollution at night is on an alarming rise worldwide, despite a transition to energy-saving LED lights, a new study has found.

Satellite images showed that the artificially lit surface of our planet grew by 2.2 percent per year in both size and brightness from 2012 to 2016, according to the study in the U.S. journal Science Advances.

The findings, released this week, were based on data from the first-ever calibrated satellite radiometer designed especially for nightlights, known as Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer (VIIRS), which is mounted on a U.S. satellite that has been circling our planet since October 2011.

Globally, the increase in light emission closely corresponds to the increase of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with the fastest growth occurring in developing countries.

Still, researchers noted they may underestimate the problem of light pollution, because the VIIRS instrument used in this study can not "see" light at wavelengths below 500 nanometers, something called "blue" light, which humans can see.

"Earth's night is getting brighter. And I actually didn't expect it to be so uniformly true that so many countries would be getting brighter," Christopher Kyba from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geoscience, who led the study, told reporters at a news teleconference.

The study found that lighting changes varied greatly by country, far exceeding the global rate in some cases, and with decreases in radiance in only a few, such as war-torn Yemen and Syria, said the study.

In some of the world's brightest nations, like the United States and Spain, radiance remained stable, while for most nations in South America, Africa and Asia, it grew, it said.

The study is among the first to examine the effects, as seen from space, of the ongoing worldwide transition to LED lighting, which requires significantly less electricity to yield the same quantity of light as older lighting technologies.

Proponents of LED lighting have argued that the high energy efficiency of LEDs would contribute to slowing overall global energy demand, given that outdoor lighting accounts for a significant fraction of the nighttime energy budget of the typical world city.

"While we know that LEDs save energy in specific projects, for example when a city transitions all of its street lighting from sodium lamps to LED, when we look at our data and we look at the national and the global level, it indicates that these savings are being offset by either new or brighter lights in other places," Kyba said.

Kyba expected that the upward global trend in use of outdoor lighting will continue, bringing a host of negative environmental consequences.

"There is a potential for the solid-state lighting revolution to save energy and reduce light pollution," he said. "But only if we don't spend the savings on new light."

The researchers warned that "loss of night" on a planetary scale could cause negative effects on human health, ecosystems and even astronomical research.

"This is concerning, of course," said Frank Holker of the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin, a co-author of the study.

"We are convinced that artificial light is an environmental pollutant with ecological and evolutionary implications for many organisms from bacteria to mammals, including us humans and may reshape entire social ecological systems."

The Arizona-based International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) has campaigned for the last 30 years to bring attention to the known and suspected hazards associated with the use of artificial light at night.

"Today's announcement validates the message IDA has communicated for years," IDA Executive Director Scott Feierabend said. "We hope that the results further sound the alarm about the many unintended consequences of the unchecked use of artificial light at night."
NEW YORK and CHICAGO, Nov. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- (RSNA) -- Ambra Health, makers of the leading cloud-based, medical image management suite today announced a new relationship with Google Cloud. As a Google Cloud Technology Partner, Ambra Health will now also offer its Ambra Suite of imaging solutions through Google Cloud. The collaboration gives healthcare providers further opportunities to gain insights from broad sets of health data, such as medical imaging, as well as enhanced opportunities for machine learning and artificial intelligence to streamline time-consuming and expensive image management processes, and opportunities for hybrid storage models.

Across health care, data still frequently remains stuck in on-premise department systems and facilities, prohibiting the sharing of data that could lead to invaluable health insights, new routes for clinical trials, and provider collaboration. The flexibility provided by Ambra Health, working with Google Cloud, enables large multi-hospital institutions, as well as radiology imaging centers and small medical groups, to easily access and share medical images with physicians and patients anytime, anywhere  critical capabilities in today's value-based healthcare industry.

"The future of healthcare depends on our ability to appropriately store, curate, and share Immutable Data. Last generation on-premise systems fall short of this goal. Our collaboration with Google Cloud offers more opportunities for providers to work together more effectively and furthers deep learning capabilities for medical imaging," said Morris Panner, CEO of Ambra Health.

The Ambra Suite is designed to serve as the backbone of medical imaging innovation and progress for healthcare providers. Ambra streamlines the medical image exchange process and connects patients, care providers, and facilities worldwide so that doctors can focus on what matters most: patient care. More than 1,000 healthcare providers share images using the Ambra network today, resulting in over 750,000 user logins per month from across more than 50 countries worldwide. In total, more than 3 billion images are managed through the Ambra platform.

To learn more about the new collaboration visit the Ambra Health or Google Cloud booth, (booths #1122 and #8161 respectively) at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago from November 26 to December 1.

About Ambra Health

Ambra Health is a medical data and image management SaaS company. Intuitive, flexible, scalable and highly interoperable, the Ambra cloud platform is designed to serve as the backbone of imaging innovation and progress for healthcare providers. It empowers some of the largest health systems such as Memorial Hermann, Stanford Children's Health and New England Baptist Hospital as well as radiology practices, subspecialty practices and clinical research organizations to dramatically improve imaging and collaborative care workflows. As expert partners, we listen to our customers, understand their needs, and apply our extensive knowledge to deliver innovative medical image management solutions for the future of healthcare, now. Discover what the Ambra medical imaging cloud can do for you at www.ambrahealth.com.

Contact: Stacy Silver, [email protected]

SOURCE Ambra Health

Related Links

http://www.ambrahealth.com


Arterys has created Arterys MICA: a novel AI platform for medical image analytics. Today, most imaging interpretation solutions are installed inside hospitals and lack the computing power to deliver real-time, interactive AI insights to medical images. Arterys MICA is web based, and runs on a scalable, distributed GPU architecture. As a result, physicians benefit from vast amounts of computation and can leverage artificial intelligence algorithms instantly.

MICA can support multiple workflows in a variety of imaging modalities, such as MRI and CT. It was designed to work seamlessly with applications that integrate AI algorithms into workflows, allowing clinicians to interact with and edit their output in real time. The system also captures these user edits, so that algorithms can later be improved based on real-world use, creating collective intelligence to benefit all users.

Additionally, MICA includes the Arterys PHI Service, which ensures protected patient data remains within the hospital network, yet it can be accessed remotely by users with the right credentials. This solution is critical in achieving scale while protecting patient data privacy. This proprietary technology complies with regional data and privacy laws in the US, Canada and the EU, and is already working well at top clinical and academic institutions in these regions.

The cloud provides several additional benefits, including scalability without additional IT investment, access to the latest updates and upgrades instantly, and the ability to share images of any size easily and with a complete set of interpretation tools. MICA now supports three applications: the FDA-cleared Cardio AIMR and a new clearance-pending application to support Oncology workflow for lung and liver: Arterys Liver AIMR, CT and Arterys Lung AICT.

"We are excited to see how the Arterys MICA platform realizes our vision of democratizing high quality care via data driven medicine and assisting radiologists across a wide variety of workflows," said CEO and Co-Founder Fabien Beckers. "The platform and these products get us one step closer to our vision of empowering physicians with AI to convert data into insights, so they can define the optimal path for each of their patients."

Demonstrations of the FDA-clearance pending oncology workflows will also be available. Supported by MICA, these products have been designed to volumetrically segment and measure suspicious lesions, help track them over time and allow clinicians to apply radiological standards such as LI-RADS and Lung-RADS as appropriate.

Machine Learning Showcase

At the Machine Learning Showcase, CEO Fabien Beckers and Dr. Albert Hsiao will present "A Year of Experience with AI in the Market: What We've Learned and the Future of Medical Imaging and Cloud AI," and offer anecdotes, learnings, and insights from a year of on-market experience with AI, followed by discussion of the role cloud AI will play, occurring Monday, Nov. 27, at 12:00 noon at the Machine Learning Showcase stage, North Hall B.

About Arterys

Arterys was founded in 2011 to facilitate the global advancement of medicine through data, artificial intelligence and technology. Because a significant proportion of the world's medical data resides in medical images, Arterys set out to tackle several issues around the space, including the enormous workloads radiologists face, the lack of accuracy with many of today's tools, and the need for increased consistency across practices. Arterys is now focused on expanding its technology beyond cardiac MRI to continue solving some of radiology's most pressing needs. For more information, please contact us at:

www.arterys.com

@ArterysInc

SOURCE Arterys Inc.

Related Links

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NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Change Healthcare today announced a strategic relationship with Google Cloud that leverages the two companies' respective strengths to develop innovative solutions for the healthcare industry. Change Healthcare's deep clinical knowledge and extensive expertise in healthcare imaging, combined with Google Cloud's capabilities in artificial intelligence, analytics, and infrastructure, has the potential to help enable real-time collaborative care and augmented radiology workflows.

Change Healthcare and Google Cloud will work on technology solutions to meet the challenges that healthcare providers face today and in the future. Change Healthcare is exploring how Google Cloud's machine-learning technology can help uncover actionable insights for healthcare providers. Change Healthcare is extending its capabilities in combination with Google Cloud's G Suite to create solutions that aim to connect care teams, no matter where they are located. These combined solutions built on Google Cloud Platform have the potential to provide a scalable data infrastructure that better supports the needs of healthcare providers with more relevant, pervasive, and cost-effective solutions.

"Change Healthcare is positioned to transform the value that imaging brings to healthcare providers. By working with Google Cloud in this strategic collaboration, we are poised to accelerate that transformation," said Erkan Akyuz, executive vice president and president for Imaging, Workflow & Care Solutions, Change Healthcare. "In today's dynamic healthcare industry, providers are looking for new ways to improve patient care. That is why Change Healthcare will be working with Google Cloud to introduce innovative technologies and solutions to address the challenges healthcare providers face both today and in the future."

The relationship between Change Healthcare and Google Cloud will help enable easier and more natural collaboration for caregivers and provide deeper insights through pragmatic machine-learning solutions. These capabilities will be built on a broad cloud-based imaging data infrastructure that has the potential to be more cost-effective and reliable than other solutions available today. Change Healthcare's ecosystem of technology, processes, and expertise can help its customers reduce costs, increase effectiveness, and may ultimately help improve patient and provider outcomes.

"Change Healthcare is a well-established leader in healthcare innovations, and we are excited by the opportunity that this strategic relationship offers to the industry," said Gregory Moore, M.D., Ph.D., vice president, Healthcare, Google Cloud. "We look forward to working with Change Healthcare to help them serve their customers, which include some of the largest and most complex healthcare providers."

To learn more about enterprise imaging solutions from Change Healthcare and the strategic relationship with Google Cloud, visit Change Healthcare's Booth No. 7313 at the RSNA 103rd Annual Meeting 2017, to be held in Chicago, Nov. 26 through Dec. 1.

About Change Healthcare

Change Healthcare is inspiring a better healthcare system. Working alongside our customers and partners, we leverage our software and analytics, network solutions, and technology-enabled services to enable better patient care, choice, and outcomes at scale. As a key catalyst of a value-based healthcare system, we are accelerating the journey toward improved lives and healthier communities. Learn more at www.changehealthcare.com.

SOURCE Change Healthcare

Related Links

http://www.changehealthcare.com


(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/609947/dcs_plus_Logo.jpg )

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/609945/dcs_plus_TINA_Software.jpg )

These, together with the support provided in adopting the new tax framework rapidly and correctly, create the premises for efficient collection of the incomes, effective control over the expenses and ability to monitor the business healthiness in real time and accurately.

Link to full article

Context:

As of January 2018, all member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will introduce VAT (Value Added Tax), as per the VAT Framework Treaty signed in October 2016. Businesses with operations in the GCC countries will be impacted by the introduction of VAT, a fundamental change to business operations in a region with little history of taxation. The hospitality and leisure industries are likely to be affected, as the GCC countries have collectively host millions of tourists annually.

About dcs plus' TINA:

TINA is one of the world's most advanced travel ERP systems and is favoured by members of large global TMCs. Suitable for any type of travel agency, TINA aims to maximize office management and systems with an eye towards increasing efficiency and productivity.

TINA travel ERP allows businesses to:

Keep a clean and organized account of all transactions

Calculate the VAT for each service that is introduced in the system: either based on the region where the service is offered - domestic, regional or international, per customer type - company or individual, and even per price component - supplier tax, service fee, city tax

Allocate automatically the right percentage of VAT

Access comprehensive reports regarding all transactions

Access in one place all the needed information for accountants and for tax declarations

Request a demo for dcs plus TINA

Cristian Dinca, CEO of dcs plus said: 'TINA is used in more than 25 countries worldwide, helping and supporting large travel companies to automatize the process of VAT calculation and application, for almost 14 years now. Given our vast experience, we can assist GCC companies in adopting and implementing the new VAT framework, thus giving them more time to focus on growing their businesses.'

About dcs plus:

dcs plus is a leading travel technology company, committed to designing and developing enterprise technology solutions for the travel and tourism industry. It is the only company in the travel sector that has its own full software stack addressing the needs of all types of travel operators: TMCs, DMCs, tour operators, OTAs. Founded in 2002, dcs plus has a portfolio of hundreds of customers in more than 45 countries.

dcs plus is headquartered is in Bucharest, Romania and has offices in Dubai, UAE.

Contact: Andrei Savin, [email protected]

SOURCE dcs plus
SINGAPORE, Nov. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kenon Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KEN, TASE: KEN) ("Kenon") announced today that it will be releasing its third quarter 2017 results on Monday, November 27, 2017.

Kenon will also host a conference call the same day, starting at 9:00 am Eastern Time. Management will host the call and will be available to answer questions after presenting the results.

To participate, please call one of the following teleconferencing numbers. Please begin placing your calls at least 10 minutes before the conference call commences. If you are unable to connect using the toll-free numbers, try the international dial-in number.

Singapore: 3158-3851 US: 1-888-407-2553 Israel: 03-918-0644 UK: 0-800-917-5108 International: +65-3158-3851

At: 9:00 am Eastern Time, 6:00 am Pacific Time, 2:00 pm UK Time, 4:00 pm Israel Time and 10:00 pm Singapore Time.

For those unable to participate, the teleconference will be available for replay on Kenon's website at http://www.kenon-holdings.com beginning 24 hours after the call.

About Kenon

Kenon is a holding company that operates dynamic, primarily growth-oriented businesses. The companies it owns, in whole or in part, are at various stages of development, ranging from established, cash-generating businesses to early stage development companies. Kenon's businesses consist of:

IC Power (100% interest)  a leading owner, developer and operator of power generation and distribution facilities in the Latin American, Caribbean and Israeli power markets;

and Israeli power markets; Qoros (50% interest)  a China -based automotive company;

-based automotive company; ZIM (32% interest)  an international shipping company; and

Primus Green Energy, Inc. (91% interest)  an early stage developer of alternative fuel technology.

Kenon remains committed to its strategy to realize the value of its businesses for its shareholders. In connection with this strategy, Kenon may provide its shareholders with direct access to its businesses, which may include spin-offs, listings, offerings, distributions or monetization of its businesses. Kenon is actively exploring various ways to materialize this strategy in a rational and expeditious manner. For further information on Kenon's businesses and strategy, see Kenon's publicly available filings, which can be found on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Please also see http://www.kenon-holdings.com for additional information.

Contact:

Jonathan Fisch

Director, Investor Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE Kenon Holdings Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.kenon-holdings.com


Lunit is one of the top international medical AI companies, named in CB Insights "AI 100" startups list as one of the leaders transforming healthcare industry. Lunit has proven high-end technology, recognized at international competitions such as ImageNet (5th place, 2015), TUPAC 2016 (1st place), and Camelyon 2017 (1st place), surpassing top companies like Google, IBM, and Microsoft.

Top-notch medical AI technology at the tip of your fingers

Lunit's AIs are trained by a huge collection of de-identified clinical data from Lunit's partner hospitals, 18 in total number of partnerships. The total number of images that has been directly used in its research has reached over 1 million well-curated high-quality case images. With the given image data, the AI algorithms are then specifically trained to detect target diseases or radiologic findings, including lung cancer, tuberculosis, pneumonia, pneumothorax, and breast cancer for chest x-ray and mammograms.

Based on this top-notch AI technology, Lunit is to introduce , a cloud-based imaging AI platform that is currently available to the public at https://insight.lunit.io/. The platform delivers Lunit's state-of-the-art AI models; the first one to be unveiled is the chest x-ray solution. Lunit's chest x-ray solution detects major chest abnormalities, lung nodule/mass, consolidation, and pneumothorax, with an unprecedented high level of accuracy  97% standalone accuracy in nodule detection, 99% for consolidation and pneumothorax. (See Lunit INSIGHT Introductory video here: https://youtu.be/ZkWBVyNuE3A)

According to the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), one of the largest clinical trials conducted on lung cancer screening, 26.5% of lung cancer cases were shown to be missed by chest x-ray. Worldwide, more than 1 billion chest x-ray exams are performed every year. Decreasing the proportion of missed cases even by 10% would translate into significant clinical benefit.

What's foremost remarkable is how Lunit's AI solutions have been proven to significantly increase the diagnostic performance of its users up to 20%, from non-radiology physicians to radiology experts. Lunit's solutions are designed to augment the diagnostic performance level of its users as the "second reader," not replace them.

"Lunit's vision is to develop advanced software for medical data analysis and interpretation that goes beyond the level of human vision," said Anthony S. Paek, CEO of Lunit. "In presenting Lunit INSIGHT, we hope to contribute in opening a new era of medical practice, by helping and empowering healthcare professionals to make more accurate, consistent, and efficient clinical decisions for the patients."

Users can upload their medical images via online, at Lunit INSIGHT webpage. AI analysis results appear in just a few seconds, including not only the level of abnormality, but also the visualization of the AI's attention map. Lunit's solutions will also be presented integrated into the systems of various companies including Nuance, EnvoyAI, and Infinitt Healthcare.

"Featured" in RSNA; development in process for mammography solution

Lunit was chosen as "featured" exhibitor of RSNA in a consecutive two year since its initial presentation last year. This year, Lunit's exhibition booth is part of the "machine learning showcase," along with Google Cloud, NVIDIA, and other top exhibitors. On Tuesday, 28 November, Brandon B. Suh, Chief Medical Officer, will give a presentation, "Lunit INSIGHT: Toward Beyond-Human-Level AI for Medical Imaging Modalities," at Machine Learning Theater. A press conference and demonstration at Lunit booth will be followed shortly after the presentation.

In order to launch meaningful AI solutions that has high clinical impact, proper clinical validation is an important part of the process. "Large-scale multi-center reader studies are set to be conducted in early 2018," said Suh, Chief Medical Officer of Lunit. "These are the studies with multiple leading hospitals in Korea and the US for Lunit's chest x-ray and mammography solutions; publication of the results are targeted for late 2018." FDA approval for Lunit's chest x-ray and mammography solutions are expected to be achieved by end of 2018.

Other than the chest x-ray solution, Lunit's mammography solution to detect suspicious breast cancer lesions is in its final stages of development. Lunit INSIGHT for Mammography is expected to be publically released by the first quarter of 2018. Lunit is also doing research in developing solutions for digital breast tomosynthesis, chest CT, and coronary CT angiography.

About Lunit

Founded in 2013, Lunit develops advanced medical image analytics and novel imaging biomarkers via cutting-edge deep learning technology, in order to empower healthcare practitioners to make more accurate, consistent, and efficient clinical decisions. Lunit was chosen as Top AI startups in healthcare industry by CB Insights in 2017 and also was listed as "Top 5 AI startups for social impact" by Nvidia. Lunit is based in Seoul, South Korea.

SOURCE Lunit
CLEVELAND, Nov. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MIM Software Inc., a leading global provider of medical imaging software, today announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for post-treatment dosimetry of Yttrium-90 (Y90) microspheres.

Yttrium-90 microspheres deliver local radiation as permanent brachytherapy implants to tumors in the liver. Currently, PET or SPECT images are obtained after treatment to verify the distribution of microspheres. Now, absorbed dose from the Y90 microspheres can be calculated on a voxel-by-voxel basis using the PET or SPECT images.

MIM SurePlan LiverY90 provides timesaving tools for liver and tumor segmentation, deformable registration, and allows patient-specific dose calculation on Y90 PET and Bremsstrahlung SPECT images after administration of permanent Y90 microsphere implants. The absorbed dose can be calculated for tumors and the liver to help provide important additional information to the clinician.

Three methods are available for dose calculation: Local Deposition Model, Local Deposition Model with scaling for known injected activity, and the Voxel S Value approach based on the schema in MIRD Pamphlet No. 17. All three methods are available for PET while only the Local Deposition Model with scaling for known activity is available for SPECT images that are not in Becquerel per milliliter (Bq/ml).

MIM Software will demonstrate MIM SurePlan LiverY90 at the 2017 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting November 26-30 in Chicago. Attendees wishing to view a demonstration can visit booth 8108.

About MIM Software Inc.

MIM Software Inc. provides practical imaging solutions in the fields of radiation oncology, radiology, nuclear medicine, neuroimaging, and cardiac imaging. MIM offers solutions for PC and Mac workstations, mobile iOS and cloud-based platforms. MIM is a privately held company that sells its products globally to imaging centers, hospitals, specialty clinics, research organizations, and pharmaceutical companies.

For more information, visit www.mimsoftware.com.

SOURCE MIM Software Inc.

Related Links

http://www.mimsoftware.com


SelfDrive.ae announced the launch of a new segment of all electric cars (E-Cars) to its online fleet of Self Drive car rental in Dubai. In a unique initiative to promote E-Cars; SelfDrive.ae has become the first online self drive rent a car portal in the UAE to host E-Cars on the company's "Smart Mass Mobility Technology" (SMMT) Platform.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/609889/Self_Drive.jpg )

As part of this initiative the company offers Renault Zoe All Electric Car at an introductory price of 5 AED an hour with a min billing cycle of 24 hrs with a range of 250 kms per day. These vehicles can be rented on demand and can be reserved via Selfdrive.ae web and pwa. This offer is applicable for Local Residents, International travellers, Expat and Corporates and can be reserved for a day, week or for a monthly lease. Clients renting this car would have the option to charge the car free of cost at more than 90+ Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) locations.

Speaking about the introduction of electric cars to its fleet, Soham Shah, Founder & Director Pinewoods Technology Services Dubai (holding company of Selfdrive.ae), said, "We are thankful to Road Transport Authority (RTA) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) for collaborating to incentivize electric cars by allowing free charging across all DEWA Car charging stations, free parking and Salik Tag". He further added, "Selfdrive.ae is proud to take first steps towards making electric cars more accessible and affordable to the masses and to create an ecosystem for people to explore the new age of mobility by introducing new avenues in smart mobility and car share technology".

UAE is an extremely mature market with high potential for on demand Electric car rentals. With the efforts and support of the local Authority to incentivize electric Car and with the growing infrastructure of charging stations, electric cars would be the future main stream mode of transportation. SelfDrive's Smart Mass Mobility Technology platform (SMMT) which also finds resonance with the Dubai Smart City vision of incorporating electric cars for clean energy, smart cities and self-driving cars for safer passenger transportation.

About "SelfDrive"

The Parent Company SelfDrive.In is India's pioneer in the self-drive car rental space. It is a 100 percent owned subsidiary of PINEWOODS SERVICE CORPORATION, incorporated in the FY 2005. Pinewoods is India's leading Corporate Car Leasing and Car Rental Company and it is also the First Indian car rental company to kick start International operations with 2000 cars across 7 Emirates in UAE. The company has built its own proprietary platform called Smart Mass Mobility Technology (SMMT) which is future ready to host Electric Cars and Selfdriving Cars. The platform allows users to reserve Self Drive car on demand through Web/App/Phone/PWA, and choose from 75 different car models across 25 car brands, which also includes luxury brands across locations. It also offers flexibility in rental duration for the customer to select from Hourly / Daily / Weekly / Monthly / Yearly and Flexi lease Options. Operating Across 300+ sub-location with door step delivery service. Customers can enjoy unlimited free kilometers, with Zero Deposit (Excess) and drive across UAE.

E- Commerce website has helped over a million people, traveling across various cities with online spot booking, Payment Process & Confirm Reservation.

Company PR Contact:

Ruchita Jain.

[email protected]

+971 564513914

SOURCE Self Drive
RFE/RL, VOA, and the other networks of U.S. international media will remain committed to our mission, stipulated by U.S. law, to provide accurate, objective, and comprehensive journalism and other content to our global audiences, including in the Russian Federation.

We will study carefully all communications we may receive from Russian authorities concerning our operations. While we will not speculate as to the effect that any new steps by the Russian government will have on our journalistic work, any characterization of such steps as reciprocity for U.S. actions severely distorts reality. Russian media, including RT and Sputnik, are free to operate in the United States and can be, and are, carried by U.S. cable television outlets and FM radio stations. However, U.S international media, including VOA and RFE/RL, are banned from television and radio in Russia.

In addition, our journalists on assignment are harassed by Russian authorities and face extensive restrictions on their work. RFE/RL contributor Mykola Semena recently was sentenced by a Russian court for an article he wrote, and contributor Stanislav Asayev is being held by Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine. RFE/RL journalists were knocked down and kicked while on assignment in Russia's southern region of Krasnodar in March, and VOA correspondent Daniel Schearf has been denied a visa to re-enter Russia.

The BBG would be pleased if the current focus on reciprocity between Russian and American media ends by giving U.S. outlets  including U.S. international media such as VOA and RFE/RL  the same rights and opportunities in Russia that Russian networks have in the United States.

CONTACT: Nasserie Carew, 202-203-4400, [email protected]

SOURCE Broadcasting Board of Governors

Related Links

http://bbg.gov


Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 02:06:25|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

GENEVA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Swiss researcher has challenged the existence of dark matter and dark energy at all, which runs counter to a century of scientific consensus, according to a press release by University of Geneva (UNIGE) on Saturday.

For close on a century, researchers have hypothesized that the universe contains more matter than can be directly observed, known as "dark matter." They have also posited the existence of a "dark energy" that is more powerful than gravitational attraction discovered by Newton.

The two hypotheses have long been used to account for the movement of stars in galaxies and for the accelerating expansion of the universe respectively.

In his study recently published in The Astrophysical Journal, Andre Maeder, a professor at UNIGE Department of Astronomy, challenges that these concepts may be no longer valid -- the phenomena they are supposed to describe can be demonstrated without them.

Professor Maeder argues that by doing away with the ideas of dark matter and dark energy, or at least the need for them to exist, the concept could contribute to "potentially solving two of astronomy's greatest mysteries."

He goes back to basics to posit a "starting hypothesis that has not been taken into account." By this, he means the scale invariance of empty space. "In other words, the empty space and its properties do not change following a dilation or a contraction," he says.

After several rounds of cosmological testing of a model based on constant empty space, Professor Maeder found that it held true in the context of both Einsteinian relativist theories and Newton's laws of acceleration.

The model predicted the accelerated expansion of the universe without having to factor in any unseen particle or dark energy. Other tests based on the speeds reached by stars in the outer reaches of galactic clusters, and stars oscillating around the plane of the Milky Way, also pointed to explanations that relied not on dark matter but on the invariant empty space hypothesis.

Maeder's discovery paves the way for a new conception of astronomy, one that will raise questions and controversy alike, according to UNIGE, but it "remains true to the spirit of science: nothing can ever be taken for granted, not in terms of experience, observation or the reasoning of human beings," he says.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/arts/design/salvator-mundi-leonardo.html

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160228/338238LOGO )

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/610336/Artprice___Leonardo_DaVinci.jpg )

thierry Ehrmann: "Artprice notes the perfect concordance of this article with our press release on 19 November 2017, available online at:

for the English version:

https://www.actusnews.com/fr/ARTPRICE/cp/2017/11/19/artprice-the-auction-record-for-salvator-mundi-by-leonardo-da-vinci-proves-that-the-museum-industry-reg-is-completely

It is now clear that the new auction record of $450.3 million for Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi has led to an almost identical appreciation of where the art market is going on both sides of the Atlantic except that our analysis was publicised well before the result.

Indeed, the new record has immediately ratcheted high-end art prices with a number of works fetching significantly higher than their estimates. Artprice has long predicted the formation of a new economic model within the art market, a model that is now clearly emerging because the art market has become efficient, mature and liquid and is now an appropriate subject for sophisticated econometric and technical analysis.

However, the art market's revolution is not just limited to its price scale and structure: by including Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi in a sale of Contemporary Art Christie's has completely overturned a long-standing convention. This remarkable break with tradition by a secular institution represents a major milestone for the future of the art market as it mutates into a proper market economy with the Internet serving as its primary market forum (auction sales are becoming increasingly dematerialized).

Thierry Ehrmann: "The Museum Industry, a business model that Artprice conceptualised and IP copyrighted as of 2005, is driving this paradigm shift.

The new economic science - taught by Artprice - is relentlessly pushing prices up. Our conviction about the evolution of the art market started with a simple observation: the exponential nature of art museum openings around the world. In 2014 an Artprice meta-study revealed that more art museums opened between January 2000 and December 2014 than during the entire 19th and 20th centuries.

It also revealed that roughly 700 new art museums are being built every year on 5 continents, each with international vocations and each with at least 4,500 artworks.

This massive expansion of the global museum industry goes hand-in-hand with a major soft-power competition between the world's nations, particularly its major powers (China / US) and the Gulf States. Indeed, soft-power rivalry is leading the art market inexorably towards spectacular new auction results. In our well-documented view, we are likely to see results around the billion dollar threshold by 2020."

Indeed, thanks to its direct Intranet link to major Auction Houses, Artprice is aware of plans for prestige sales in the near future. According to our econometrics department and our Big Data algorithms, we can already predict that several sales will generate results in excess of one billion dollars, notably Christie's sale of the David and Peggy Rockefeller collection next May in New York.

Artprice also notes that Sotheby's is preparing a particularly flamboyant 2018 with a series of spectacular sales that should allow the firm to close the gap that has recently emerged with its primary rival.

We are also receiving similar signals from Asia, particularly from China.

Less than an hour before this communique was released, France Television published an article based 100% on Artprice's copyrighted (2005) analysis of the Museum Industry as a way of understanding the price of artworks.

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/economie/emploi/metiers/art-culture-edition/video-deux-dix-ou-cinquante-milliards-d-euros-ca-vaut-combien-la-joconde_2481337.html

"The Mona Lisa is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Tourists flock to admire the painting in the Louvre. It is also one of the few paintings entirely created produced by one of the greatest artists in history. Rarity, celebrity, technical perfection, a cocktail that makes its value difficult to estimate. An expert and two auctioneers interviewed by FranceInfo made a rational calculation based on quantifiable variables.

For Elsa Gody, you can apply a simple formula: take the price of a ticket to the Louvre Museum, multiply it by the number of visitors over a given period... According to the Catawiki auctioneer "that comes to about two billion euros". His colleague Pierre Blanchet is less 'rational' arguing that the 'passion' for the painting makes its value impossible to estimate, especially during an auction where prices can quickly soar. ... / ... "Why not 10 billion?" he finally says."

Artprice hereby predicts that the Art Market will definitively change price scale in 2018.

In view of the above, Artprice confirms that in 2018 the Art Market will definitely change its price scale, both in the terms of total turnover and in terms of spectacular new records for Old Master, Modern and Contemporary artworks sold in prestige catalogued sales that will fetch around one billion dollars.

According to our econometrics department over 180 artists should substantially renew their their auction records in 2018. The face of the Art Market, which Artprice has become an integral part of as the World Leader in Art Market Information for 20 years, has now definitively changed.

http://www.artprice.com

Copyright thierry Ehrmann 1987/2017

About Artprice:

Artprice celebrates its 20th birthday, editorial by thierry Ehrmann, founder and CEO of Artprice. https://www.actusnews.com/fr/ARTPRICE/cp/2017/10/04/artprice-celebrates-its-20th-birthday-editorial-by-thierry-ehrmann-founder-and-ceo-of-artprice

Artprice is listed on the Eurolist by Euronext Paris, SRD long only and Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF.

Artprice is the global leader in art price and art index databanks. It has over 30 million indices and auction results covering more than 700,000 artists. Artprice Images(R) gives unlimited access to the largest Art Market resource in the world: a library of 126 million images or prints of artworks from the year 1700 to the present day, along with comments by Artprice's art historians.

Artprice permanently enriches its databanks with information from 6,300 auctioneers and it publishes a constant flow of art market trends for the world's principal news agencies and approximately 7,200 international press publications. For its 4,500,000 members, Artprice gives access to the world's leading Standardised Marketplace for buying and selling art. Artprice is preparing its blockchain for the Art Market. It is BPI-labelled (scientific national French label).

Artprice's Global Art Market Annual Report for 2016 published last March 2017: http://imgpublic.artprice.com/pdf/rama2016_en.pdf

Artprice's Contemporary Art Market Annual Report for 2016 - free access at https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-art-market-in-2016

The text presented hereafter is a translation of Arte Creative's online presentation: ARTE: A gigantic Christmas tree in the guise of a butt plug, a machine that defecates five-star meals, an icon immersed in urine and staged corpses - subversive, trash, provocative or insulting? Thierry Ehrmann, the man behind The Abode of Chaos dixit "The New York Times", an artist and the founder of Artprice, is the mouthpiece for scandal and discloses the workings of the most striking controversies in contemporary art. And scandal sells. 9 episodes are online: http://www.arte.tv/guide/en/weekly-highlight

Artprice's press releases: http://serveur.serveur.com/Press_Release/pressreleaseen.htm and https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom

News Artmarket:

http://twitter.com/artpricedotcom https://www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom

https://www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom

https://plus.google.com/+Artpricedotcom/posts

http://artmarketinsight.wordpress.com/

Discover the Alchemy and the universe of Artprice http://web.artprice.com/video, which headquarters are the famous Museum of Contemporary Art, the Abode of Chaos http://goo.gl/zJssd https://vimeo.com/124643720

The Contemporary Art Museum The Abode of Chaos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/la.demeure.du.chaos.theabodeofchaos999

The Abode of Chaos/Demeure du Chaos Contemporary Art Museum by thierry Ehrmann,author, sculptor, artist, photograph https://www.flickr.com/photos/home_of_chaos/sets/72157

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Artprice.com
The Horsham Gateway shopping centre in Victorias Wimmera region has been sold to a Chinese investor for $14.55 million.

The centre located at 120-124 Wilson Street , was sold by a local private developer at Horsham, a regional town halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide.

The centre is anchored by Target on a new 15 year lease.

There are six non-discretionary specialty shops, including "a bustling Snap Fitness."

It was advised has having a fully leased net income of $1,205,000pa.

The 1.21ha site comprises additional Commercial 2 zoned land that provides scope for future development.

The $12-million development created more than 250 jobs during its construction phase. Target opened in May 2013.

The quality of the Target lease covenant remains just as strong as a Woolworths or Coles supermarket, however the rent per square metre is generally substantially less, the CBRE selling agency advised.

Other recent regional retail transactions include the IGA, Nagambie at $7,800,000 reflecting a 6.11 % yield and Bunnings, Yarrawonga at $11,500,000 reflecting a 4.9% yield.
There has been a surge in popularity of TV series that are based off of comic books, including Riverdale which is based off of the Archie Comics and of course The Walking Dead series. Devlin Thompson, the manager at local comic book shop Bizarro-Wuxtry, said best sellers are not necessarily the comics with TV shows.
Martinsville is building a new police station. What you need to know.
Albania's President Ilir Meta has kicked off a two-day unofficial visit to a southern Serbian town with a sizable ethnic Albanian population.

Meta announced a new era of relations between Belgrade and Tirana as he met with local officials in Medvedja on November 26.

"I am very happy that I can bring today a message of  cooperation, because we are living in a new era of cooperation between Serbia and Albania as two countries but also two nations," he said.

Our aspiration is to pave the way toward Europe," the Albanian president also said.

Zoran Stankovic, who heads the Coordination Board for the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac, and Medvedja, said that the goal of Meta's visit was to "show that Serbs, Albanians, and others who live in this region can live without any problems.

Relations between the two Balkan countries remain strained, mainly over the former Serbian province of Kosovo, where the ethnic Albanian majority declared independence in 2008. The move was recognized by 115 countries, although not by Serbia or Russia.

The prime ministers of Serbia and Albania pledged to work toward better ties as they met in Tirana in May 2015.

Serbia and Albania are both candidates for accession to the European Union.

Albania is a NATO member, while Serbia is not.
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.
The leader of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has said that it is time for him to step aside.

"There was a time when people like me were needed to fight, to establish order," Kadyrov said in an interview with public broadcaster Rossia 1 that was aired on November 26. "Now we have order."

Kadyrov, 41, said his successor would be the prerogative of the Kremlin, adding that there were "several people who can do this job perfectly."

Kadyrov did not state that he was resigning, and there was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.

Kadyrov has said before that it was time for him to be replaced as leader of Chechnya.

In February 2007, once Kadyrov had reached the minimum age of 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin nominated him as president of Chechnya. He won a new five-year term in September 2016.

Rights groups and critics have long accused blamed Kadyrov and his paramilitary forces for serious rights abuses, including the widespread use of kidnapping, torture, and extrajudicial murders. He recently faced international condemnation over reports of a crackdown on homosexuals.

The Chechen leader denies the charges.

Kadyrov also said in the interview that he was "more than certain" of the innocence of five men from Chechnya convicted in the 2015 murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

"According to my information, these guys are totally innocent," he said, adding that "someone needed to close the case, someone needed to state that the perpetrators were found."

He did not elaborate.

Nemtsov, a reformist former first deputy prime minister who was a vocal critic of Putin and Kadyrov, was shot from behind on a bridge just outside the Kremlin in February 2015.

In July, a Moscow court sentenced the convicted triggerman, Zaur Dadayev, and four accomplices to prison terms ranging from 11 to 20 years.

Nemtsovs relatives and associates believe that his killing was ordered at a higher level.

With reporting by Bloomberg, Interfax, TASS, and RIA Novosti


WASHINGTON -- An American stockbroker who made a fortune in the Russian market in the 1990s and 2000s and later co-founded a posh Moscow nightclub before leaving the country died of blunt force injuries suffered as a result of a fall from a Washington, D.C. building.

The findings, released on November 16 by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), confirm that Dan Rapoport died on August 14 after falling from a height, but do not conclusively explain the circumstances leading up to his death.



Washington police told RFE/RL that an investigation into his death had ended and declined further comment. Earlier this year, a police spokeswoman told RFE/RL that foul play was not suspected, but that final conclusions were pending the autopsy.



Washington metropolitan police found Rapoports body on August 14 on the sidewalk outside 2400 M Street, a nine-story apartment building in the northwest part of the city.



The medical examiner's report said Rapoport, 52, died of multiple blunt force injuries due to fall from height and described the death as sudden/unexplained. The report also said the manner of his death was undetermined.



The OCME said no other information would be immediately released.



A preliminary police report said officers responded to a report of a jumper on the evening of August 14, and the man, later identified as Rapoport, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead.



The apartment building has an open rooftop with a pool, running track, and seating area for residents.

The police report said officers found $2,620 in cash on Rapoport when they discovered his body on the sidewalk, along with headphones, a cracked cell phone, a Florida drivers license, and other items.



He was wearing flip-flops, perhaps indicating he had been at the pool on the roof prior to falling.



Brianna Burch, a police spokesperson, told RFE/RL in August that there did not appear to be anyone with Rapoport at the time and there were no listed witnesses. In follow-up correspondences with RFE/RL through early November, the police continued to say they did not suspect foul play.



Rapoport had recently moved back to Washington after spending several years working in finance in Ukraine.



While some friends said they did not believe he would have committed suicide, others said he had appeared depressed.



Go-To Location



A native of Latvia and a fluent Russian speaker, Rapoport emigrated with his family to the United States in 1980. After graduating from a U.S. university, he moved to Russia in the early 1990s as a wave of privatizations swept across the country.



The sale of former state-owned companies created a booming stock market, minting a new generation of millionaires, Russian and foreign.



Rapoport was respected within Russian financial circles, where he worked for more than a decade at a local brokerage called CenterInvest, making his way up to managing partner. He claimed his clients included some of the nation's wealthiest tycoons.

In 2007, he opened a swanky nightclub in downtown Moscow called Soho Rooms, which became the go-to location for Moscows elite.



In 2012, he left Russia and returned to the United States, saying the stock brokerage industry that had made him a fortune "had died" as commission fees shrunk with improvements in technology.



But in a media interview prior to his departure, he also criticized the direction Russia had taken and expressed support for Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, who was jailed last year.



"Our flight to Washington is in 12 hours. It's sad to leave Russia, but for thoughtful people, living here has become unbearable and disgusting," Rapoport wrote on his Facebook page on June 13, 2012.



He moved to Washington, where he said his parents lived, and set up a company called Rapoport Capital to advise and assist technology start-ups as well as venture capital funds on fundraising options.



In 2016, four years after leaving Russia, Rapaport set up an office in Kyiv and opened a private equity fund. In social media posts, he was a vocal supporter of Ukraine, and an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.



Rapoport gained a degree of publicity in January 2017, after The New York Times reported that the daughter and son-in-law of the then newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump had purchased a mansion owned by him and his first wife. The mansion was located in an exclusive neighborhood of the U.S. capital.



Later that same month, Raporport's co-founder of the Soho Rooms nightclub, Sergei Tkachenko, was found dead outside a Moscow building. Investigators said Tkachenko's body was found on a building awning with injuries typical of a fall from a great height.



In 2018, the open-source investigative organization Bellingcat reported that Rapoport had been the creator of a fictional persona named David Jewberg, who was frequently quoted in Ukrainian media as a senior Pentagon analyst.

With reporting by Todd Prince in Washington, D.C. and Mike Eckel in Prague.
Windows of cars were blown out and streets were littered with debris from the force of the explosion. A white cloud of smoke was rising above the explosion site. Shattered windows were reported in businesses up to 1km away from the site of the explosion. Policemen and firemen rushed to the scene. State media reported that at least 30 people had been taken to local hospitals amid rescue operations. At least two people were killed. The cause of the blast is under investigation.



After blast in China

No other details about the blast exact location were provided. The city government said on an official social media account that the blast happened in a vacant lot in an industrial area. The Ningbo gas company told China Youth Daily there were no gas lines in the vicinity. Ningbo has a large international shipping port and is best known for its auto-manufacturing industry. It is also home to Geely, the Chinese owner of Volvo. Industrial accidents are common in China, and have prompted growing calls for better safety standards. In 2015, an explosion traced to improperly stored chemicals killed at least 173 people in Tianjin, a port east of Beijing.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 03:01:36|Editor: pengying

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Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed (R) meets with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, Nov. 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Adele Ezzin)

TUNIS, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni began a two-day official visit to Tunisia Saturday to discuss boosting bilateral cooperation and fighting illegal emigration.

Gentiloni was received by Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi at the presidential palace in Carthage, before meeting with his Tunisian counterpart Youssef Chahed at the government headquarters.

The Italian leader has approved the financing of a development project in the governorate of Kebili in southwest of Tunisia with a value of 55.5 million dinars (about 22.52 million dollars), the Tunisian presidency said.

Gentiloni has also confirmed the continuation of the process of converting a new portion of Tunisian debts into investment projects, in addition to examining the progress of an ongoing project on setting up an electrical link between Tunisia and Italy.

Regarding the fight against illegal emigration, Gentiloni said it is imperative to increase the efforts of both sides to mitigate this problem that keeps growing.

An agreement signed between the two Mediterranean countries in 2012 on fighting illegal migration has started to "work properly", Gentiloni said.

"Tunisia and Italy are serious about fighting illegal emigration in an effective and complementary way," he said at a press briefing.

The stability of the Mediterranean area, more precisely Libya, is a common concern shared by Italy and Tunisia which has a special interest in it like whole European Union, he added.
What happened in Notre Dame hoops home game vs. Southern Indiana?

Home games against upset-minded non-conference opponents are coming fast and furious this time of year for Notre Dame men's basketball team
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

This is an article from Curious Kids, a series for children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions they'd like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome  serious, weird or wacky!

Do astronauts get space sick when they travel from Earth to the International Space Station?  The students of class 3E, Ferny Grove State School, Brisbane.

This is a great question. If any of the students of class 3E get the opportunity to fly in space, just slap on an anti-nausea skin patch and go for it! Space sickness discomfort is real but if it happens to you, it will be short and you will remember the space voyage experience forever.

Yes, astronauts can get space sick travelling to the International Space Station. It is less likely travelling in the cramped Russian Soyuz spacecraft used to transport astronauts there now, than the old Space Shuttle that was used until 2011. The ability to move around in the Space Shuttle increased the chance of space sickness happening. Space sickness affects up to half of the astronauts during their first few days on the space station.

The idea of an astronaut barfing into their space helmet sounds funny, or embarrassing, at first. However, as astronaut Mike Mullane has said in his biography, it could be fatal - particularly if the astronaut was spacewalking. The vomit could smear the inside of the helmet, blinding the astronaut. And because it could not be removed, it could be inhaled or clog their oxygen circulation system.

These days astronauts travel to the International Space Station via the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. (Image credit: Flickr/NASA, CC BY)

Read more: Curious Kids: Do bees ever accidentally sting other bees?

What causes space sickness?

As you probably know, gravity is lower inside the International Space Station. Gravity is the force that pulls us down to the ground. The low gravity in space allows astronauts to float around, which looks very fun, but it can help cause space sickness.

Space sickness is nausea and disorientation felt by many astronauts. NASA uses the term "space adaptation syndrome" instead of space sickness. It more closely describes the problem because it is an issue of the astronaut struggling to adapt to weightlessness in space. The cause of space sickness is still not fully understood.

Recent experiments show that space sickness is related to our inner ear. Two separate parts of the inner ear respond to rotation and sudden changes in direction. If you shake or move your head very quickly, you can get dizzy and some people may even feel sick. However, this normally passes very quickly.

Read more: Australias back in the satellite business with a new launch

This normal response is upset under low gravity - your inner ear thinks you are constantly moving. It takes some time to adapt to the new condition of weightlessness. It is made worse if you move your head while your body is still adapting. This is why previous astronauts travelling in the larger Space Shuttle were prone to space sickness more than the current astronauts travelling in the cramped Soyuz spacecraft  because in a confined space, the astronauts were less likely to move their heads around very much.

Space sickness affects many, possibly up to half, of the astronauts the first few days on the space station. (Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)

Space sickness was not talked about in the early space missions. The original Mercury and Gemini spacecraft were, like the current Soyuz, cramped. It wasn't until the Apollo and later missions that space sickness became of concern to NASA.

In 1983 the first detailed study was carried out aboard a Space Shuttle flight (STS-7) by astronaut-doctor Norm Thagard. His and all later studies were hampered by the astronauts themselves. None of them wanted to admit to being space sick. They were worried that mission control might remove them from space walking opportunities, or even worse, that they might not get included on later space missions.

Read more: Curious Kids: What started the Big Bang?

Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you'd like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to us. You can:

* Email your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au

* Tell us on Twitter by tagging @ConversationEDU with the hashtag #curiouskids, or

* Tell us on Facebook

(Image credit: CC BY-ND)

Please tell us your name, age and which city you live in. You can send an audio recording of your question too, if you want. Send as many questions as you like! We wont be able to answer every question but we will do our best.

Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, PhD Research Student, History & Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates  and become part of the discussion  on Facebook, Twitter and Google +. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on Space.com .
WASHINGTON  The military space business is stuck in its old ways and missing a "golden opportunity" to capture the energy of a rejuvenated commercial industry, said a former White House space and aviation technology adviser who is now a top official at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

"In the national security space sector, we're in dire need of new thinking and innovation," said Fred Kennedy, director of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office. He assumed that post in September after serving as deputy director since January.

Speaking at a breakfast meeting of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation Nov. 15, Kennedy criticized the Pentagon's methods for acquiring satellites and called for a "shakeup" in national security space programs.

In the Defense Department, Kennedy said, "We've gotten very good at building small numbers of extremely exquisite things, very expensive things on very long time schedules." That culture that emphasizes high performance and low risk is now working against the military because its satellites have become huge targets for adversaries.

"Our savior is going to be the commercial sector," said Kennedy. Some pockets within the military are moving in that direction but not soon enough. "We're starting to see an influx of commercial technology, but we need more of it, and quick."

Kennedy worries that the commercial space boom could turn out to be a fad that fades in a few years, so the Pentagon should be harnessing that energy now. "My biggest fear is that in a couple of years people will forget Matt Damon and 'The Martian' and be back where we were before."

'Other transactions' contracting

DARPA's weapon for capturing privately funded technology is an authority known as "other transactions," or OTA, to sign contracts with vendors that bypasses some of the federal procurement red tape.

"We do that. It's very effective and useful," said Kennedy. "I can't say it's always quicker than the normal contracting process. But it is actually an effective way of teaming."

The way it works with DARPA: The agency selects a commercial partner and the company is expected to help fund the venture. "Then we can go out and work on problems jointly," Kennedy said.

He touted one of DARPA's most ambitious space programs, the robotic servicing of geosynchronous satellites, or RSGS. It is a government-industry partnership with SSL MDA Holdings.

If the project is successful  a launch is planned for 2021  it would elevate DARPA's status as a disruptor, Kennedy said. He recalled that an earlier program called Orbital Express, designed to service spacecraft in low-Earth orbit, got off to a fast start but was deactivated in 2007 because there was no business case for it.

The RSGS effort is aimed at high-orbit satellites, most of which are in need of some type of service  new flight computers, more fuel, more propellant. Companies in the industry told DARPA that they would buy that service if available. "We have to get out of today's culture of treating satellites like a Rolls Royce or Ferrari, that they have to work for 15 years, so you'd better test the hell out it, make sure it absolutely works," said Kennedy. "Geosynchronous orbit is a natural place to go.  They all need to be refueled, repaired, moved or retired. There is a commercial interest and a national security need."

The RSGS will be a "commercial transition and not something we push to the Air Force," he said. Once the system is up and running, SSL will commercialize it.

Industry skeptical

Kennedy's cheering words of encouragement, however, were met with skepticism from executives in the audience who argued that DARPA often funds the development of technologies that already are available in the private sector, creating government vs. industry competitions that undermine private efforts.

Kennedy only partially agreed. He said he hopes projects like the RSGS will result in a "shakeup" in how the space sector does business with the government. "I'd like to use RSGS and other systems to be some kind of a wedge to force people to think differently about the enterprise, in our case, about the 'order of battle.'"

But he acknowledged that "culture is the biggest problem" in military programs. "I'd like to live in a world where we do not have to wait 10 years and spend $20 billion to get a capability," he said. "I would like to see a change away from that."

Executives in the audience pointed out that the Defense Department has not moved to capitalize on the small satellite revolution or "hosted payloads" as alternatives to custom-built military spacecraft. The industry had expected to see movement in that direction by now as the Pentagon considers future replacements for its constellations of missile-warning and classified communications satellites.

Rather than deploy hundreds of sensors in tiny satellites that are cheaper to replace, the Pentagon has preferred to buy large expensive systems, giving enemies richer targets, industry officials said.

"That is a problem," said Kennedy. "The idea of having lots of something as a deterrent isn't a bad thing.  It's very difficult for DoD to see beyond the traditional model. But DARPA is well positioned to poke at that model."

Kennedy defended DARPA's decision to award BAE Systems a $12 million contract to develop a digital "testbed" for space command-and-control technologies. Companies in the sector contend that such technology is commercially available.

The project, known as "Hallmark," is more ambitious than it looks, said Kennedy, and DARPA believes it needs to invest in areas where there is no commercial capability. The testbed is not just to experiment with technology but also to do cognitive assessments of operators. "We want to measure how people are performing when they get new tools. We think that's a unique place for us," he said. "We thought we needed to invest in that."

Space plane moving forward

DARPA also has come under criticism for rejecting commercial proposals for a military space plane in favor of a new development venture with Boeing Phantom Works.

Kennedy said the experimental space plane, dubbed XS-P, will help the military services launch satellites into space quickly and at less cost than traditional methods. DARPA reportedly invested $40 million in the project.

The space plane was initially named the XS-1 but it was relabeled once DARPA realized XS-1 also was the designation of the original rocket enginepowered aircraft, the Bell XS-1, designed and built in 1945.

The new XS-P uses an AR-22 engine built by Aerojet Rocketdyne. It would be reusable like a commercial airliner and DARPA wants it to be able to fly to space 10 times in 10 days.

An initial flight is scheduled for 2019, said Kennedy. The contract with Boeing is an "other transactions" deal so it will be up to the company to move it forward after the development is completed.

"That's commercial transition," he said. "I'm not here to sustain capability. I can't afford that." Boeing has a commercial business case for the space plane, he added. "They believe they can go off and launch capability and make money. DoD then can purchase those services."

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
H e drinks a whiskey drink, he drinks a vodka drink, he drinks a lager drink, he drinks a cider drink  all fine options, except for one.

"You can tell what type of person someone is by their drink order in specific bars," Anjali Sharma, a former bartender with eight years of experience from Atlanta, told Business Insider.

And ordering vodka apparently speaks volumes to bartenders.

According to some of the bartenders Business Insider surveyed, if you order vodka drinks, you either look boring or troublesome  or perhaps both.

"Please don't order vodka," Emily Doyle, a bartender with 12 years of experience in Ireland, told Business Insider. "You're nice when you stick with beer, but a demon on spirits."

"Friends don't let friends date vodka-soda girls. Basic girls always order them," Kyle Siegel, a bartender with nine years of experience in Montauk, New York; New York City; Palm Beach and West Palm, Florida; and Maryland told Business Insider.

"Vodka is for people want to f--k up and forget," an anonymous bartender said.

These feelings of disdain are compounded when the vodka you order comes in the form of expensive shots.

Of course, vodka drinkers needn't despair. At the end of the day, paying customers who aren't overly intoxicated will generally get what they order.

All bartenders ask is that you be nice. "Eye contact, greetings, please and thank you  I'll respond in kind, and we'll all have more pleasant interactions," Rebecka, a bartender with 10 years of experience in New York and Glasgow, Scotland, told Business Insider.
A serial child sex attacker targeting girls in south-east London may have struck again, police said.

Seven schoolgirls  one aged just 11  and three women have previously reported being approached by the same man, who they say sexually touched them before running away.

The attacks all happened in Lewisham and Greenwich between Friday, June 30, and Monday, October 19.

The latest assault, which detectives say may be linked to their investigation, was on a 12-year-old girl in Eltham on Tuesday morning.

Appeal: Police have asked anyone with information to contact the police / Met Police

A Met Police spokesman said: Officers are investigating a sexual assault on a 12-year-old girl that happened at 7.30am on Tuesday, November 21 in Middle Park Avenue.

The victim was approached by a man who sexually assaulted her. She screamed and he made off.

At this stage detectives are keeping an open mind about whether this incident is being linked to a series of sexual offences on girls and women in south-east London.

Scotland Yard previously issued CCTV images of a suspect fleeing the scene of one assault.

The suspect is described as a white man, aged between 40 and 50, with short white or blonde hair.

Detective chief inspector Martin Stables, from Lewisham, said: "We are working closely with local schools to make pupils aware of these incidents and to ensure they are vigilant when walking to and from school."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Greenwich CID via 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A n independent east London bakery is offering training to refugee women who find themselves alone and isolated after coming to the capital.

Just Bread project is a collaborative scheme between the Refugee Council and E5 Bakehouse in Hackney, which is designed to support the training and employment of refugee women.

Now training its fifth group, the project aims to settle newcomers to the UK through teaching established bread making techniques in this country.

Four women previously trained on the course are now employed at E5 Bakehouse's new cafe in Tower Hamlets, which it hopes will be run by refugees in future.

The women currently learning to bake bread on the 10-week course at E5 Bakehouse, with baker Lizzie Parle (R)

The women are employed at E5 Roasthouse, in Poplar, which opened in September, where they are making around 500 flatbreads a week.

A trainee called Elsa is also making flatbreads for Gourmet Goat, a food stall in Borough Market.

She took part in the scheme in 2016 as an Asylum seeker and gained employment at the bakery after making her refugee status.

Jean Kerm, 36, a baker at the Roasthouse, said, "The idea is for the cafe to be run by refugees."

The women are trained to make sourdough bread and a range of other skills across the bakery

Just Bread is a 10-week training programme that was launched in 2014. Women are trained in sourdough bread making, in addition to skills across the bakery such as kitchen lunch service, pastry, coffee, butter, jam making and milling.

Women from countries including Iraq, Iran, Ethiopia and Afghanistan are currently in training, and are encouraged to share their own cuisines with one another.

As many participants of the scheme are "vulnerable", E5 hopes the classes offer "some way of connecting people as well as building confidence and skills for employment".

Alongside the project, E5 runs a monthly subscription service where customers pay to receive bread made by the refugees each week.

Previous trainees are now making and selling flatbreads at the cafe and Borough Market each week

Women also take certificates in Health and Safety during the scheme.

The bakery also organise events and projects to allow trainees to have access to employment.

The participants are split half and half between refugees and Asylum seekers. Mr Kerm said it is therefore "important that they have at least one day a week where they are doing some work".

For the last two years, the trainees produced bread for the immersive cinema experience Secret Cinema.

E5 Roasthouse opened in September 2017, and now employs trainees from the Just Bread project

Trainees made and sold chouquettes - similar to profiteroles - at Secret Cinema's live Moulin Rouge event earlier this year.

Commenting on the project, Mr Kerm said: "You can really see the difference between when they first come and when they start to relax.

"Some weeks it's a bit harder than others. They are always really positive but we are really aware that some of them are in very hard positions."

And the project does not only work one way - the Roasthouse is also learning from the trainees and has adapted its menu with Middle Eastern recipes in collaboration with the women.

"We are really learning from them," Mr Kerm said. "The refugees show us how they used to make bread in their countries."

"They have their own techniques that we can use in the cafe."

Andrew Lawton, Integration Manager at the Refugee Council, said: The refugee women we support through Just Bread have experienced unimaginable trauma and loss and its vital they feel safe and supported.

"Not only are these women able to learn new skills and ultimately gain employment, they also build up fantastic friendships with people who have been through the same thing.

"The project has gone from strength to strength and a huge part of that is the wonderful partnership between E5 Bakehouse and the Refugee Council.

"Our vision for the project is that one day Just Bread is run entirely by refugee women themselves.

Originally conceived by campaigner Liz Siena, Just Bread is supported by Andrew Lawton at Refugee Council.
T he bar and restaurant trade in the City of London has not taken a hit since Brexit, new figures show - despite slowdowns in other areas.

Latest data analysis from Reuters has attempted to show how the City  known as the beating heart of Britains financial services sector  has been impacted in the wake of last Junes EU referendum vote.

Bank bosses have repeatedly warned of a mass jobs exodus when the UK pulls out of the bloc in 2019, with even the Bank of England admitting as many as 75,000 financial services jobs could be lost in the aftermath of a hard Brexit.

But the figures so far show the Citys bustling bars and restaurant trade has been resilient.

According to a Freedom of Information request submitted to the City of London Corporation, the number of new venues applying for new alcohol licences is at a record high in the first eight months of 2017.

The Bank of England, next to Bank Tube station which has seen a drop in passenger numbers. / AFP/Getty Images

The boom is partly explained because the areas night life is no longer just for finance workers after diversifying in recent years, a spokesperson for the City of London Corporation said.

In other areas, the City has seen a slowdown. The cost of commercial property has dropped more since June 2016s Brexit vote than at any other time since the end of the financial crash.

Renting prices have also fallen by about five per cent year-on-year, the data from Savills showed.

Despite a non-stop increase in Tube passengers using the Citys main Bank and Monument stations since 2009, this year the number of people passing through the station fell by 2.7 per cent in the first eight months.

In Canary Wharf, the data showed passenger numbers are still rising but at a slower rate.

According to recruitment agency Morgan McKingley, this year has seen a record low of financial services jobs available in London for the first time in five years.

The agency saw a 10 per cent drop in new financial services jobs compared with the same period in 2016.

The fresh data analysis comes after months of speculation by bank bosses over job losses in the UK's booming finance sector.

In October Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein hinted that although the company wants to fill the building, Brexit has taken its success outside our control.

The chairman of RBS, Sir Howard Davies, also added there would definitely be a cost to British jobs following Brexit with damage to the City considerable over time.

In July, the Treasury launched a battle in Whitehall for a so-called City visa to protect international bankers coming to the UK financial sector after Brexit amid fears of a jobs exodus.
I ran has aired more allegations against London mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe that could add 16 years to her prison sentence.

A programme aired by state TV focused on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly plotting to topple Iran's government.

The seven-minute report showed pictures of a BBC pay stub and an email from 2010 showing she once worked to train Iranian journalists.

It comes following reports that Britain is preparing to pay a decades old 450 million debt to Iran in a diplomatic effort at improving the 38-year-old's chances of release.

Emma Thompson marches in support of mother held in Iran 1 /10 Emma Thompson marches in support of mother held in Iran Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe march Richard Ratcliffe is joined by actress Emma Thompson in Hampstead PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe march Ms Thompson called on the Government to do more PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe march Richard Ratcliffe talks to demonstrators before a march REUTERS Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe march Ms Thompson joined supporters in north London REUTERS Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe march Demonstrators hold placards reading 'Free Nazanin' Reuters Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe march The actress told Boris Johnson to 'get on a plane' Reuters Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe march Demonstrators hold placards before a march in support of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe REUTERS Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe march The grop gathered in Hampstead PA

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said the show was intended to increase pressure on the British government.

It also included an email from June 2010 in which Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, wrote about the ZigZag Academy.

This is a BBC World Service Trust project in which the trust trained "young aspiring journalists from Iran and Afghanistan through a secure online platform."

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and their daughter Gabriella

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe left the BBC in 2011 and joined the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency.

Her husband and Thomson Reuters have repeatedly stressed that she was not training journalists or involved in any work regarding Iran while there.

She had been visiting her parents to introduce them to her daughter, Gabriella, when she was arrested in April last year at Tehran's international airport.

Mr Ratcliffe has not seen his wife or daughter for over 20 months

The state television report comes after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson faced criticism after he told a parliamentary committee that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was "teaching people journalism" when she was arrested last year.

He later apologised "for inadvertently causing her further anguish" and admitted that his words could and should have been clearer.

Boris Johnson with Richard Radcliffe / Stefan Rousseau/PA

Speaking on Sunday, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband said the report and other Iranian comments about his wife seemed timed to exert as much pressure as possible on the British government.

He said the material appeared to be from his wife's email, which investigators from the hard-line Revolutionary Guard immediately got access to after her arrest.

He said: "It's trying to justify the new charges.

Since his apology and meeting with Mr Ratcliffe, it has been reported that Mr Johnson is hoping to improve relations with Iran by paying back a historical debt owed since the 1970s.

The former Shah of Iran paid the British government 650 million for 1,750 tanks but only 185 were delivered before his regime was brought down and the order cancelled.

The International Chamber of Commerce demanded Britain pay 450 million back in 2009 but a ruling on international sanctions against Iran prevented this from happening.

It is thought that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe may be being held by the Iranian government as "collateral" for the debt.

However despite widespread speculation, the government continues to insist that the two issues are unrelated.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 03:06:39|Editor: yan

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by Raimundo Urrechaga

HAVANA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Cuba marked on Saturday the first anniversary of the death of revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, amid political tensions with the United States and the beginning of an electoral process that may reshape its leadership.

Exactly one year ago, Cuban President Raul Castro announced to the world that his brother and historic leader, Fidel, died at 90 years of age.

Twelve months later, Cubans feel as if he were physically present and time hasn't erased an event that shocked this Caribbean nation and the world.

"We remember Fidel not with pain, but with our heart because thanks to him we are a sovereign country. Fidel for all represented an example of honesty, dedication, humility and love and that is why we will always remain loyal to him," Alina Cordovi, a state employee, told Xinhua.

After his death, the State Council decreed nine days of national mourning, and this year although normality reigns, many agree that Fidel's legacy and ideas should be remembered.

Throughout the country, tributes have taken place this week with book presentations, exhibitions, workshops, concerts, among other activities.

"Any homage to Fidel is small, many times he risked his own life for the well-being of Cubans and the sovereignty of our country. Today we remember him alive and with his ideas as a path for the future," said Vicente Ruiz, a 76-year-old citizen.

In the nine days of mourning, a national slogan came up naturally among Cubans. The phrase "I am Fidel" will last to remember him and a way for locals to swear allegiance to his ideas and legacy.

"We still feel a deep pain similar to when you lose a family member. But we have the belief that the only way for Fidel's ideas to last among us is to keep his revolutionary principles up high," Roberto Palacios, a state worker told Xinhua.

On Dec. 3, there will be a mass political event and vigil at the Antonio Maceo Revolution Square in Santiago de Cuba.

The next morning, there will be a pilgrimage from that place to the Santa Ifigenia cemetery to pay tribute to Castro on the same day his ashes were placed in the necropolis.

Fidel Castro never allowed personality cult, while discretion and simplicity always marked him.

As part of his political legacy, Fidel requested to not name parks, institutions or schools in his name and barred monuments with his figure.

Weeks after his death, Cuba's National Assembly approved a law which bans naming streets or squares and building monuments or statues with the name of Fidel Castro, in respect to the former president's last will.

"Fidel always repeated a lot of (Jose) Marti's ideas that 'all the glory of the world fits in a grain of corn' and I believe his legacy is the living presence of Fidel. We don't need a monument to remember him," said Orestes Rodriguez, a school teacher in Havana.

However, other Cubans believe that Castro deserves greater tributes due to the extent of his legacy.

"I do not agree; I think as Cubans we would be proud to have a university with the name of Fidel or a bust or statue where we remember our leader forever. If he didn't want it that way then we will have to respect his final will," Amarilys Cuesta, a private worker, told Xinhua.

ONE YEAR AFTER, CUBA AND ITS REFORMS

Twelve months after the passing away of the founding leader of the Revolution, Cuba continues its process of updating its economic model, although with financial restrictions due to the embargo imposed by the United States and the crisis in Venezuela, its main trading partner and political ally.

In the coming months, many expect reforms to be accelerated which will contribute to a greater role of the private sector in the economy, a gradual elimination of the double currency system and state decentralization, all goals set by the seventh Congress of the Communist Party in April of last year.

"We are still living the same process, with economic modifications but Cuba has not changed in the last year," said William Gonzalez, a 49-year-old private worker.

According to the Cuban Ministry of Economy and Planning, the annual growth goal should be only one percent this year due to the financial contractions the island faces.

One day after commemorating the anniversary of Castro's death, more than eight million Cubans will go to the polls to elect local delegates to the municipal assemblies of People's Power, the first step in the process of general elections in the island.

In the second electoral stage at a later date to be announced, Cubans will vote for delegates to provincial assemblies and the National Assembly.

Once the parliament is constituted in February 2018, its lawmakers will have to pick the president and members of the Council of State, moment when current leader, Raul Castro is expected to step down.

At the same time, U.S. president, Donald Trump, rolled back the opening with the island initiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and toughened the economic blockade limiting trade and travel with the Caribbean nation.

"This new situation with the United States really makes the progress we had made with Obama very difficult. Not only did we suffer emotionally a year ago with the loss of our leader, but now we have a complex situation with our neighbor," said Ronaldo Paredes, a university student.
T he EU will impose new rules on the UK during any Brexit transition period in a move set to infuriate Theresa May, leaked papers show.

The position set out by Brussels' chief negotiator Michel Barnier would make the application of new EU rules a condition of a transitional deal.

This means Britain could be subject to further Brussels' regulations for about two years after leaving the bloc.

Accepting the imposition of new rules would go against the approach to an implementation period set out by the Prime Minister in her Florence speech, where she said the "framework for this strictly time-limited period... would be the existing structure of EU rules and regulations".

Negotiations: Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis and European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier / REUTERS

It could also trigger a revolt by Brexiteers, with Cabinet members like Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Liam Fox determined 2019 should be the last year the UK accepts new rules from Brussels.

Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson has already indicated that accepting further regulations would cross a red line.

He told the Sun in September: "You heard the Prime Minister say very clearly in Florence that she envisages the transition period being run under existing arrangements  that was the phrase she used, 'The existing rules'."

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson / Getty Images

Meanwhile Nigel Farage lashed out at the plans, saying: "Here is another set of unreasonable demands from Barnier making no deal seem more attractive.

"The European Commission are clearly not interested in genuine negotiations.

It would be better for us to walk away and save a lot of time."

Nigel Farage with Michel Barnier in the European Parliament in April 2017. / AFP/Getty Images

The Prime Minister hopes to secure an implementation period between the UK's formal exit date and the commencement of any post-Brexit trade deal so that businesses have time to adjust to the new arrangements.

But the Independent obtained a presentation drawn up by Mr Barnier for representatives of the 27 remaining EU members which said a transitional deal would involve the "automatic application in the UK of new EU rules post-30 March 2019".

It also makes clear that after leaving the bloc the UK would have "no institutional rights, no presence in the institutions" and "no voting rights"  indicating that the UK would have no say over rules it would have to implement in the period.

The Prime Minister wants talks on a trade deal and an implementation period to be given the green light by EU counterparts at the European Council on December 14-15.

But she has been warned by European Council president Donald Tusk that while that was possible it would be a "huge challenge".

He has given her until December 4 to make progress on issues including the Brexit divorce bill and the thorny problem of the Irish border.

Brexit: Article 50 Triggered - In pictures 1 /26 Brexit: Article 50 Triggered - In pictures Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow delivers British Prime Minister Theresa May's formal notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels AFP/Getty Images Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Common PA Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow delivers British Prime Minister Theresa May's formal notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels AFP/Getty Images European Council President Donald Tusk holds a news conference after receiving British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit letter in notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to EU Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters Prime Minister Theresa May takes her seat after announcing in the House of Commons PA The time 12:20pm shows on Big Ben on March 29, 2017 in London, England. The British Prime Minister Theresa May addresses the Houses of Parliament as Article 50 is triggered and the process that will take the United Kingdom out of the European Union begins Carl Court/Getty Images D-day: pro-EU protesters outside of the Houses of Parliament today as Theresa May prepares to trigger Article 50 AFP/Getty Images EU Council President Donald Tusk holds British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit letter which was delivered by Britain's permanent representative to the European Union Tim Barrow (not pictured) that gives notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters PMQ's in The House of Commons PA Jeremy Corbyn speaking at PMQ's in The House of Commons Sky News Theresa May leaving for the House of Commons Jeremy Selwyn Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at the headquarters of Vivendi in Paris where he took part in TV interviews to discuss the imminent triggering of Article 50 by the UK to leave the EU Stefan Rousseau/PA Britain's permanent representative to the European Union Tim Barrow arrives at the EU Council headquarters for as meeting before hand delivering British Prime Minister Theresa May's notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to EU Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow arrives at the British representation of the European Union in Brussels Aurore Belot/AFP/Getty Images A giant headed Theresa May in Parliament Square, London during a protest by Avaaz after PM signed a letter to trigger Article 50 that starts the formal exit process by the UK from the European Union David Mirzoeff/PA British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson walks down Whitehall Jack Taylor/Getty Images Britain's PM Theresa May signs the official letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, invoking Article 50. AFP/Getty Images

Meanwhile the UK and EU's plans to share out quotas for cheap food imports from countries around the world after Brexit have come under fire from Australia.

Restrictions on how many products can be imported into the EU on favourable rates are set across the bloc and concerns have been raised internationally that exporters could take a financial hit when the UK quits.

The Government has agreed with Brussels to divide up the number of goods that can be brought in on low or zero tariffs based roughly on current rates.

Australian trade minister Steven Ciobo said the move would impose unacceptable restrictions on nations exporting to the bloc.

"The point is that you have a choice about where you place your quota at the moment," he told the BBC.

"Therefore, given that you could put it in the UK or you could put it into continental Europe, why would we accept a proposition that would see a decline in the quota available because of the Brexit decision?"

Other countries with concerns about the quota-splitting plan include the United States, New Zealand, Brazil and Canada.

A Department for International Trade spokesman said: "We want to ensure a smooth transition which minimises the disruption to our trading relationships with other WTO members and tariff rate quotas are one of the issues that we are discussing with them.

"This is largely a technical process and we will continue to engage WTO members including Australia in an open, inclusive and transparent way."
T heresa may has faced pressure to dramatically change her Brexit plans to prevent further crisis over the Irish border, with the countrys European Commissioner urging her to change course.

Phil Hogan said the problems around the border could be solved by remaining in the customs union and single market, or allowing Northern Ireland to do so.

The threat of a hard border is one of the key obstacles blocking talks on a UK-EU trade deal after the country leaves the bloc.

Mr Hogan's comments came after the Prime Minister's DUP allies issued a warning that they would not tolerate any attempt to put barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK after Brexit.

Theresa May on Brexit divorce bill and Irish border

The Prime Minister has been given until December 4 to come up with further proposals on issues including the border, the Brexit divorce bill and citizens' rights if European leaders are to give the green light to moving on to the next phase of negotiations.

Mr Hogan, the EU's agriculture commissioner, said it was a "very simple fact" that "if the UK or Northern Ireland remained in the EU customs union, or better still the single market, there would be no border issue".

In a swipe at the Government's approach to Brexit he told the Observer: "I continue to be amazed at the blind faith that some in London place in theoretical future free trade agreements.

Theresa May dodges questions on Brexit bill in Brussels

"First, the best possible FTA with the EU will fall far short of being in the single market. This fact is simply not understood in the UK.

"Most real costs to cross-border business today are not tariffs - they are about standards, about customs procedures, about red tape.

"These are solved in the single market, but not in an FTA."

New deal: May, Tusk and Juncker in the foreground / AP

The Prime Minister has ruled out remaining in the single market and customs union and any arrangement which appeared to give Northern Ireland a separate status would be strongly resisted by the DUP, whose 10 MPs are effectively keeping Mrs May in Downing Street after she lost her majority in the general election.

DUP leader Arlene Foster told her party conference on Saturday: "We will not support any arrangements that create barriers to trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom or any suggestion that Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the UK, will have to mirror European regulations."

Meanwhile it emerged the UK could be required to follow new rules implemented by the EU during a Brexit transition period.

The position set out by Michel Barnier in leaked documents would make the application of new EU rules a condition of a transitional deal, meaning Britain could be subject to further Brussels' regulations for about two years after leaving the bloc.

Mrs May hopes to secure an implementation period between the UK's formal exit date and the commencement of any post-Brexit trade deal.

She said this would give businesses time to adjust to the new arrangements, but accepting the imposition of new rules could trigger a revolt by Eurosceptics.

It would also go against the approach to an implementation period set out by the Prime Minister in her Florence speech, where she said the "framework for this strictly time-limited period ... would be the existing structure of EU rules and regulations".

The Independent obtained a presentation drawn up by Mr Barnier for representatives of the 27 remaining EU members which he said a transitional deal would involve the "automatic application in the UK of new EU rules post-30 March 2019".

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has already indicated that accepting further regulations from Brussels would cross a red line.

The Prime Minister was also under pressure not to water down a red line on the European Court of Justice's jurisdiction ending when the UK leaves the EU.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that Eurosceptic ministers and backbenchers have expressed alarm at a plan being pushed in the Cabinet's Brexit sub-committee for the UK to agree to a system of "voluntary referral" of cases to the Luxembourg court.
D rone users will be required to do safety awareness tests as part of a planned new legislation on their usage in the UK.

Police will be given new powers to clamp down on illegal use of the remote-controlled devices.

The government wants to harness new drone technology which could see them used for the likes of parcel deliveries and organ transplants.

The pilots union welcomed the bill, after warning of near misses involving the airborne vehicles.

The union's general secretary, Brian Strutton, said: "These proposals are a step towards the safe integration of drones, but until the new rules are in place the threat of a serious collision remains."

It comes after a drone flew directly over the wing of a large passenger jet as it came into land at Gatwick Airport in July.

The proposed bill, which is to be published next year, would ensure owners of drones weighing more than 250g would need to register and sit a test.

Owners would be banned from flying them near airports or at heights above 400ft under the proposals.

Police could also get new powers to ground and seize drones if they suspect they had been used in criminal activity.
R eality TV star Ferne McCann has told the father of her newborn daughter he will never see them again after visiting him in prison.

She told Arthur Collins, jailed for throwing acid over revellers in a crowded east London nightclub, this is the last time you will see either of us.

Her words to her ex-boyfriend came as she visited him in Belmarsh prison with their child for the first time.

The couple split after Collins, 25, was arrested on suspicion of the acid attack in the Dalston club in April.

Arthur Collins / Metropolitan Police

During the visit, the This Morning host told him: You have ruined our lives. This is what you have done. And this is what you are missing out on.

Collins was convicted of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent and nine of actual bodily harm on November 13.

He was warned he could face life in jail when he is sentenced on December 19.

Towie star's ex-boyfriend guilty of nightclub acid attack

Ms McCann told Sunday People: went to see Arthur and I took Sunday with me. This was because I am very angry about what has happened and I needed to communicate that and wanted to hear what Arthur had to say.

Ferne McCann breaks down in tears on ITV This Morning

I strongly feel for the innocent people hurt that night and I in no way condone violence as I have already made clear.

It was a difficult decision to take Sunday into that environment but I felt I needed to confront him about a number of things, which I have now done.

Ms McCann and Collins had a year-long on-off romance before he went on the run following the attack before being arrested.

She posted pictures on social media app Instagram of them on holiday together in Dubai before the incident.
F ormer TV-presenter John Leslie has denied claims he put his hand up a womans skirt in a nightclub and insisted he has not done anything wrong.

The ex-Blue Peter presenter is accused of sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman during a night at Edinburgh's popular Atik nightclub in June.

The woman, who was celebrating a hen party, claims the star put his hand up her skirt during a special VIP night at the venue.

According to The Sun, he was arrested after police questioned the alleged victim at the venue.

Nightclub: The alleged incident was reported to have happened at a club

The 52-year-old was then charged with sexual assault.

But he has since said that the claims are false and told the Sunday People: I totally deny the allegation that has been made. I have not done anything wrong.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: Police in Edinburgh have charged a 52-year-old man following a report that a 26-year-old woman was the victim of a sexual assault at a nightclub in the Tollcross area on Sunday 25 June.
S usan Calman has become the latest celebrity to be sent home from Strictly Come Dancing after losing out in the dance-off to Alexandra Burke.

It was a shock to see Burke, who has been vying with Debbie McGee for pole position for most of the series, in the bottom two, but she was duly saved by the judges.

In Saturdays live show, the comedian and her partner Kevin Cliftons American Smooth to Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin failed to impress the judges, who told her she would need to improve her technique if she wanted to stay in the competition.

An emotional Calman thanked the voters, her fellow contestants, and her wife, who had come down to London from Glasgow to watch her perform each week.

I want to thank everyone who voted for us we got far farther than we thought we would. And most of all Ive mad a friend for life. Kevin may not have won the Glitterball trophy, but hes one Strictly for me," she said.

Theyre tears of happiness. This has been the best experience of my life to dance with this handsome, handsome man.

Strictly Come Dancing 2017 - In pictures 1 /18 Strictly Come Dancing 2017 - In pictures Mollie King and her dance partner AJ Pritchard Guy Levy/PA Chizzy Akudolu and her dance partner Pasha Kovalev Guy Levy/PA Aston Merrygold and his dance partner Janette Manrara Guy Levy/PA Gemma Atkinson and her dance partner Aljaz Skorjanec Guy Levy/PA Debbie McGee and her dance partner Giovanni Pernice Guy Levy/PA Joe McFadden and his dance partner Katya Jones Guy Levy/PA Alexandra Burke and her dance partner Gorka Marquez Guy Levy/PA Charlotte Hawkins and her dance partner Brendan Cole Guy Levy/PA Rev Richard Coles and his dance partner Dianne Buswell Guy Levy/PA Davood Ghadami and his dance partner Nadiya Bychkova Guy Levy/PA Susan Calman and her dance partner Kevin Clifton Guy Levy/PA Simon Rimmer and his dance partner Karen Clifton Guy Levy/PA Brian Conley and his dance partner Amy Dowden Guy Levy/PA Jonnie Peacock and his dance partner Oti Mabuse Guy Levy/PA

Elsewhere in the programme Kelly Clarkson performed her new single in the studio accompanied by a performance from the shows professional dancers.

Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday, December 1 at 7.20pm on BBC One.
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Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 04:06:51|Editor: yan

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OXFORD, Britain, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- High-tech teams specialized in Nano technology and transport app on Saturday won prizes at the British entrepreneur competition for the overseas Chinese students.

Teams dedicated to Transport, a smart app for passengers, and a Nano-lubrication material won top prizes at the finals of the 10th British Innovation and Entrepreneur Competition for overseas Chinese students held at Oxford.

The annual event, sponsored by the Chinese Students and Scholars Association UK (CSSA UK), aims to boost entrepreneurship among Chinese students and pave the way for them to establish enterprises when they return to China.

Zhang Cen, CSSA UK chairman, told Xinhua that a total of 500 teams had participated in the competition this year, a record high at the event's history.

These projects, focused on areas ranging from new energy, new material and information technology to maritime industry, culture and management, have showed clear characteristics of being highly tech-savvy and up-to-date, Zhang said.

Hu Xiaofan, an official representing the Chinese Embassy in Britain, said the competition has served as a platform where the overseas Chinese students could display their talents and speciality.

The contest is affiliated to the 12th "Chunhui Cup" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition for Chinese Overseas Students, which was founded in 2006 by the Chinese Ministry of Education and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. Chunhui Cup was created to encourage Chinese overseas students to return to China to start their own businesses.
According to the President of the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC), twelve airlines have requested to operate with Venezuela. | Read More
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 07:37:25|Editor: Xiang Bo

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by Xinhua writers Zhai Wei, Tian Dongdong

BUDAPEST, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- As Chinese Premier Li Keqiang heads to Budapest on Sunday for the sixth meeting of heads of government of China-Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries, the once lagging behind part of Europe gets another chance to showcase its new title -- the fastest growing region in Europe.

Data from the European Union (EU) lists Romania (8.6 percent in Q3, 2017), Latvia (6.2 percent), Poland and Czech Republic (both 5.0 percent) as top four fastest growing economies in the Union, which happen to be members of the China-CEE cooperation framework and take the lion's share of China's investment in the region.

China is assisting Europe in transforming its once economically backward countries into its new growth engines.

From 2009 to 2014, CEE countries' exports to China grew by 173 percent, while total trade exchange with China grew by 86 percent, according to Luxemburger Wort daily. In the first four months of 2017, CEE countries exported 5.48 billion U.S. dollars worth of product to China, marking an 18.9-percentage increase year-on-year.

Every year, over 800,000 Chinese tourists spend their vacations in CEE countries, with countries like Bulgaria witnessing a 50-percentage-point surge in visitors year-on-year in the first half of 2017. Furthermore, over 8 billion U.S. dollars of investment has been brought into the region due to China's Belt and Road Initiative, according to figures from the Chinese government.

It is not these countries alone that have benefitted from the cooperation, the EU has too.

For one, by addressing uneven development among member states, Chinese investment is beneficial in promoting EU integration. In addition, many of the primary materials exported from CEE countries to western and northern Europe are processed and exported to China, which also contributes to the development of Europe.

Not to mention, with the construction of the Budapest-Belgrade railway, China-Europe Land-Sea Express and more logistic centers in the region, China is helping further enhance CEE countries' role as a transport hub over the Eurasian Land Bridge.

Taking full advantage of their geographic location, connecting the Asian and European continents, CEE countries can play a critical role in infrastructure and connectivity building as well as global production capacity cooperation, thus contributing to the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.

In short, it's a win-win game. The China-EU relationship is currently at a historical peak, with bilateral trade reaching levels that beggar belief ( Ambassador Zhang Ming, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, puts it at more than 1 million U.S. dollars every minute). Over 600 flights shuttle between the two sides every week, with more than 6.6 million mutual visits recorded last year alone.

Despite overall healthy relations, the EU has sometimes -- and unfortunately so -- treated China with anxiety and accusation.

By depicting China's investment as espionage targeting European companies' high technology and a way to "buy political influence" from CEE countries, some EU politicians seem to fear that robust China-CEE cooperation would sow discord between the EU and its eastern partners.

However, the only thing the EU has to fear is fear itself.

For those who describe China's investment as espionage, they neglect, if not intentionally, the following figures.

Since 2010, China has had the world's fastest supercomputer. In 2016, China had ten universities in the world's top 50 for engineering/technology and computer science. In the same year, China launched the world's first quantum satellite. And over the past five years, artificial intelligence patents lodged by China jumped by 186 percent. On this measure China is now second only to the United States, and well ahead of the EU and Japan, said the Sydney Morning Herald.

Faced with such data, any notion that China might be seeking to take over European companies in a bid to steal technology is laughable and stems from either ignorance or cultural arrogance.

The same attitude can be easily traced behind the smear campaign against the Belt and Road Initiative. In fact, European countries such as Greece, Poland and Siberia have greatly benefited from the initiative. However, regrettably, deeply-rooted zero-sum mentality and an ideological bias against China have made some politicians and some media turn a blind eye to these achievements.

During their talks in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, on Nov. 14, Premier Li told Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, that the two sides should solve their old problems with greater wisdom. EU's apparent worry over growing China-CEE cooperation is definitely one of the "old problems."

As more and more European countries show interest in Chinese investment and the Belt and Road Initiative, old-fashioned mentalities and bias put the whole continent's prosperity at risk. A more confident, open-minded attitude by the EU towards China surely benefits all. And that's probably the "greater wisdom" for which Li had asked.
Actor Rance Howard Dies at 89, Son and Director Ron Howard Confirms

Actor Rance Howard died at the age of 89, according to his son, director Ron Howard.

Clint & I have been blessed to be Rance Howards sons. Today he passed at 89, Ron Howard tweeted Saturday, Nov. 25. He stood especially tall 4 his ability to balance ambition w/great personal integrity. A depression-era farm boy, his passion for acting changed the course of our family history. We love & miss U Dad.

Rance Howard, Ron Howards Father, Dies at 89  Variety https://t.co/v0B5TTDUxV R.I.P. ?  Alain Marche (@Alain_Marche) November 26, 2017

Clint & I have been blessed to be Rance Howards sons. Today he passed at 89. He stood especially tall 4 his ability to balance ambition w/great personal integrity. A depression-era farm boy, his passion for acting changed the course of our family history. We love & miss U Dad.  Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) November 25, 2017

Rance started acting at age 20 as part of a touring theater company, even acting alongside Henry Fonda in the play Mister Roberts, People reported. He played in major films like Cool Hand Luke, Psycho, Apollo 13, and Cinderella Man.

Sad to hear of the passing of Rance Howard, a fine actor himself, and patriarch of the Howard talent dynasty. Condolences to @RealRonHoward @BryceDHoward Clint Howard and family. Rance left a marvelous legacy to be proud of. Requiescant in Pace. pic.twitter.com/V04Svt6W9T  Afton Theatre (@AftonTheatre) November 26, 2017

RIP Rance Howard, who played David Sheridan on Babylon 5. Condolences to the extended Howard family. https://t.co/8kKDRoLQ54 pic.twitter.com/XhkIxeltv1  Babylon 5 News (@B5News) November 26, 2017

NEWS ALERT: Oklahoman actor Rance Howard has died at the age of 89. Howard is father to director Ron Howard and grandfather to actress Bryce Dallas Howard.

Rance was born in Duncan. pic.twitter.com/UO6t434pUP  News 9 (@NEWS9) November 25, 2017

Beautifully written. He was one hell of a guy and so are you @RealRonHoward. Wishing you and your family all the best. #RanceHoward #RestInPeace https://t.co/Z40HvJfLnj  Leonard Maltin (@leonardmaltin) November 25, 2017

Hes had a 65-year career where he has never broken out as a movie star, Bryce Dallas Howard, the daughter of Ron Howard, said of her grandfather.

Hes never made the money that people dream of, and yet hes carved out this incredibly unique and remarkable and beautiful career of a character actor. Hes an example of that stick-to-it-ness and what that adds up to in a life, she told The Hollywood Reporter.

Today we lost one of the greats: #RanceHoward, who I was proud to call a personal friend. When I first arrived in LA , he opened his home to me & made me feel like family. He was a legend, both as a person & performer. @BryceDHoward & @RealRonHoward sending lots of love.  Josh Gad (@joshgad) November 26, 2017

Sad news  one of the true gentlemen in this business Rance Howard has passed away. Ron and Clint Howards Dad  Scott and I got to know him as Old Man McCoy in Ed Wood and from eating lunch daily at the Tallyrand Restaurant in Burbank. A real sweetheart. R.I.P. pic.twitter.com/Iduso4hhOB  Larry Karaszewski (@Karaszewski) November 26, 2017

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Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 12:13:15|Editor: Zhou Xin

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BUDAPEST, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has vowed to bring cooperation between China and the 16 Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) and relations between China and Hungary to a higher level.

Li made the statement in an article published on the newspaper The Hungarian Times before attending the sixth meeting of heads of government of China and the CEEC on Nov. 26-29 in Budapest and paying an official visit to Hungary.

"This is an important meeting held at the fifth anniversary of the launching of China-CEEC cooperation (16+1 cooperation). I'm looking forward to the meeting and the visit," Li said.

Noting that Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in May the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Li said he is full of confidence about China-Hungary relations and the prospect of China-CEEC cooperation.

The premier recalled that the first China-CEEC economic and trade forum was held in Budapest in 2011 and, a year later, the 17 countries established a new trans-regional cooperation platform, called the 16+1 cooperation.

Over the five years, the 16+1 cooperation has been growing and the mechanism improving, bringing about remarkable progress to cooperation in all fields, Li said.

Political mutual trust between China and the CEEC countries has been deepened, with the two sides having established cooperation mechanisms in about 20 areas, he said.

Economic cooperation has been growing steadily, with bilateral trade increasing to 58.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 from 43.9 billion dollars in 2010 and the completion of a number of landmark infrastructure projects, said the premier.

People-to-people exchanges have been strengthened in the fields of education, culture, health, tourism, media, think tank, political party and youth, and at local levels, he said.

After a great start, the 16+1 cooperation demands a new direction and new momentum, the premier said, adding that he will work with CEEC leaders to review what the two sides have achieved in the five years and draw a blueprint for the future.

On China-Hungary ties, Li said both countries are beneficiaries and supporters of economic globalization, and it is in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries to stick to trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

Speaking highly of the strategic alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Hungary's Eastern Opening policy, Li said the Belt and Road Initiative and 16+1 cooperation have put the two countries' economic and trade cooperation on a fast lane, with progress made in the areas of investment, finance, agriculture, scientific and technological innovation and small and medium-sized enterprises.

China and Hungary have also made strides in people-to-people exchange and cooperation in the areas of culture, education, sports, tourism and traditional Chinese medicine, he said.

Both sides hold that China-Hungary ties have entered the best period in history, Li said.

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has set out a grand blueprint and action guideline for future development of China, said Li, adding that a more open and prosperous China will surely bring more and greater opportunities to all countries in the world including Hungary.
Ancient Mural in Israeli Christian Church Is First Use of Georgian Calendar Yet Discovered

A team of archaeologists has uncovered a mural on the floor of a Christian church in Israel with significant historical implications.

The mural was uncovered in August by researchers from several universities and organizations working in the Israeli coastal city of Ashdod, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Nov. 23.

The tile floor bears a four-line inscription in Greek which reads, [By the grace of God (or Christ)], this work was done from the foundation under Procopius, our most saintly and most holy bishop, in the month Dios of the 3rd indiction, year 292, The Christian Times reports.

The inscription was deciphered by Dr. Leah Di Segni, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who explains that the date is given according to the Georgian calendar. It corresponds to the year 539 in the modern Gregorian calendar system.

The inscription is believed to be the oldest discovered example of the use of the Georgian calendar in Israel. This was many years before it was used in Georgia itself, Segni told Jerusalem Post.

The inscription mentions Bishop Procopius, who ordered the churchs construction.

The excavation team was led by Dr. Alexander Fantalkin of Tel Aviv Universitys Archeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations Department, and Prof. Angelika Berlejung of Leipzig University, the Jerusalem Post reports. Fox News adds that experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Gottingen also participated in the project. It was the teams third season digging at the site, and so far, its most fruitful.

Ancient City Yet to Be Uncovered

Ashdod-Yam (Ashdod-sea) was the neighbor of Ashdod, an important urban center in early Byzantine times (the Byzantine era extended from 330 AD1430 AD.)

Ashdod is believed to be home to the worlds largest community of Georgian JewsJews who migrated from the nation of Georgia. Ashdod, then called Azotos, is the only ancient Philistine city mentioned in the Christian Bibles New Testament.

It is believed the famous Georgian prince and bishop Peter the Iberian lived in Ashdod-Yam before his death.

We know from historical sources and a representation on the Madaba map (a contemporary mosaic map located in Jordan, from the sixth century) that the regions center of gravity shifted from Ashdod to Ashdod-Yam during the Byzantine period, Dr. Alexander Fantalkin told the Israeli journal Haaretz.

Obviously, the ruins of the Roman-Byzantine city of Ashdod-Yam are waiting beneath the dunes, Fantalkin added.

The city of Ashdod-Yam was occupied at least as far back as the late Iron Age (eighth to seventh centuries B.C.), and through the Hellenistic Period (323-31 B.C.)

Ashdod-Yam, known in sources from the period as Azotos Paralios, covered a large area, and the renowned Madaba Map shows it with public buildings, including churches and a street flanked by colonnades, according to the Israeli Antiquity Authority.

Antiquity Authority archeologist Saar Ganor told the Jerusalem Post, Testimony to the presence of the actual Georgians in the Land of Israel as far back as the Byzantine period has been found dozens of kilometers from Ashdod, [as well as in] Jerusalem and its surroundings, but this is the first time that a Georgian church or monastery has been discovered on the Israeli coast.

Its interesting that, like today, Ashdod was a focus of attraction for Georgians, he added.

Like Fantalkin, Ganor believes that the rest of the city is awaiting excavation from beneath the dunes.

This public structure, which has only now begun to come to light, is part of an extensive archeological complex in the southern part of modern Ashdod, he said.

We are now hard at work to raise additional funds to continue the archeological excavation of Ashdod-Yam.

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Body of Missing Elk Hunter Recovered in Washington

The body of a Vancouver man who disappeared while hunting elk in Washington State has turned up near where searchers had previously found his pickup truck.

Search crews discovered the body of elk hunter Joel Presler on Nov. 24. He had been out of contact since Nov. 11.

Presler, 37, had traveled from Vancouver to hunt elk in the Forlorn Lakes region of Washingtons Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Skamania County Sheriffs deputies found his 2004 black Ford pickup on Nov. 15 off Forest Road 6035, OregonLive reported. Searchers scoured the area around the Peterson Prairie Campground and Comcomly Lake area, where his truck was found, but they found no sign of the missing hunter.

Four-foot-deep snow made the search more difficult. Snow had been falling heavily since the start of Preslers hunt and during the early days of the initial search.

On Nov. 19, The Associated Press reported that the search had been suspended.

Authorities said that Presler, an experienced sportsman who had hunted in that area for several seasons, was too experienced to have traveled far from his truck to camp, AP reported.

Presler was reportedly in good health with no known physical issues.

Deputies said that warmer temperatures melted most of the snow making it much more likely that a search would yield results, Fox reported.

Searchers located Preslers body 100 to 150 yards from his parked pick-up. He was wearing shirt, pants, and boots, but had taken off his parka, hat, and gloves, according to The Oregonian.

These items, along with his backpack, were found about 50 yards from his body. Sheriff Dave Brown said that this was indicative of hypothermic behavior. People experiencing severe hypothermia will often shed clothing out of the mistaken belief that they are overheating.

Given the heavy snowfall, Presler could have lost sight of his truck and wandered looking for it until he succumbed to the cold.

The Sheriffs Department was assisted by members of Silver Star Search and Rescues Wilderness Search and Rescue division. Silver Star is a volunteer organization with 50 years of experience. It was volunteers with Silver Star who found Preslers missing gear.

Brown told OregonLive on Nov. 25 that his department would continue to investigate the death, and that hypothermia likely was a factor in Preslers demise.

The Clark County Medical Examiners Office will conduct an autopsy.

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Bribery Paves Way for Fraudulent Scheme at Chinas State-Run Gold Mining Company

In Liaoning Province, a gold mine with about 0.2 tons of gold reserves was sold to a state-run gold company at a price equivalent to seven tons.

On Nov. 21, Chinas state-run newspaper, the Procuratorial Daily announced the partial result of an ongoing corruption investigation into four entities: the state-run mining company, China National Gold Group Company, and its Liaoning Province firm, the gold bureau of the Liaoning provincial government, a geology team under the purview of the Liaoning authorities, and the Jintai-Hongqi Gold Mine and its former owners.

The corruption came to light after the Jintai-Hongqi Gold Mine was depleted in May 2013 after just 0.2 tons of gold were extracted. The Liaoning geology team had made an evaluation that the mine, located in Jianchang County in the provinces southwestern corner, contained a reserve of seven tons.

An investigation by the Liaoning prosecutors office discovered that private owners of the Jintai-Hongqi Gold Mine had bribed officials at the provinces gold bureau, officials in charge of the geology team, and top executives at China National Gold Group Company, in order to sell the mine at an inflated price with an overestimated gold reserve study. Li Wei and Guo Yuru, the owners of the gold mine, sold it to the state-run company at 360 million yuan (about $54.5 million) in January 2012.

To make the transaction possible, Li first paid 20,000 yuan (roughly $3,031) in bribes to Zhang Fuhe, a section director at the geology team, who led the evaluation study of the gold mine in 2009. Zhang, in return, ordered his engineers not to go into the mine themselves, but had them pick up ore from the mine every two or three days.

What Zhangs engineers picked up was ore that been sprinkled with gold dust by Li, a trick that allowed the ore to show a higher gold yield when tested in the laboratory.

To silence anyone who might become suspicious of the adulterated ore study results, Li also paid 20,000 yuan each to the technician who wrote the evaluation study; Qi Hong, director of the 11th geology team; and Ding Yan, the deputy chief engineer.

Further investigation revealed that the Liaoning firm did not have the final say in its acquisition of the gold mine. Rather, the final decision came from the parent company, China National Gold Group Company, and Sun Zhaoxue, the companys former CEO, who had accepted a bribe of 11.5 million yuan (about $1.7 million) from Li.

Sun, after learning that the prosecutors office had launched an anti-corruption investigation, asked Li to prepare 10 million yuan (about $1.5 million) in bribes to himself, money Sun would use to bribe other officials to stop the investigation.

The sale also required approval from the Liaoning gold bureau. The investigation uncovered that Mr. Wang and Mr. Liu, the bureaus former director and deputy director, had accepted a bribe of 9 million yuan (about $1.36 million) from Li.

Sun, after being placed under investigation in September 2014 by the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection, the Chinese Communist Partys main anti-corruption watchdog, was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment on bribery charges in December 2016. His assets, worth 3.5 million yuan (about $530,206), were also confiscated.

In February this year, Li was sentenced to a two-year prison term and a fine of 15 million yuan (about $2.27 million); 34 additional suspects are being investigated.

On Weibo, Chinas popular microblogging service, some have reacted with outrage, while others have taken the news as something to be expected.

One netizen from Anhui Province decided to take a jab at Sun, writing, He got 11.5 million yuan in bribes, and 3.5 million was confiscated from himI dont understand. So does that mean the remaining 8 million yuan is for his retirement fund?

A netizen with the moniker SoLetitrain from Shandong Province wrote, Everyone, do not panic. This is China.

A netizen from Shanxi Province wrote, Hahaha, news like this actually happens at many different places everyday. They only got unlucky this time and were caught. Those who havent been caught have become very rich.
Chester, a false killer whale who lived in captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium, died on Nov. 24, 2017. (Shutterstock/Alex JW Robinson)

Chester the Miraculously Rescued False Killer Whale Dies in Captivity

Chester, a false killer whale rescued from the brink of death several years ago, died on Friday, Nov. 24, at the Vancouver Aquarium.

We are deeply saddened to announce his passing this morning, said Vancouver Aquarium president and CEO John Nightingale in a statement provided to the CBC.

He did not say what caused Chesters death, but in a blog post, the aquarium said on Friday that his behavior changed on Wednesday afternoon. Despite overnight intensive care on Wednesday and Thursday, Chester passed away early Friday morning, it said.

The Vancouver Aquarium has been Chesters home since his dramatic rescue in July 2014 when he was found stranded on a windswept beach in Tofino, British Columbia, Canada.

Local residents found him in extremely poor shape at about a month old on North Chesterman Beach. He was malnourished and dehydrated and had a number of cuts and wounds on his body.

The aquarium said that Chesters rescue was nothing short of a miracle and his subsequent survival was an incredible feat of determination on both the part of the animal and his rescuers.

The cetaceanthe category of marine mammal Chester belongs to that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoiseshad a less than 10 percent chance of survival, said the Vancouver Aquarium.

But after receiving over 10,000 hours of veterinary treatment and care, Chester managed to pull through and became a beloved member of the Aquarium family: affectionate, cheeky, and full of fun.

A review was conducted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada following Chesters recovery, and because he was so young when he was found, he wasnt able to develop the necessary survival skills for a life in the wild. He was therefore deemed non-releasable and the aquarium in Vancouver became his permanent home.

Below is a video of Chesters dramatic rescue and subsequent recovery at the Vancouver Aquarium:

Specialists at the aquarium are now investigating the cause of Chesters death.

We know that stranded animals, possibly because of injuries sustained during stranding, do have incidences of renal failure later on. That is something well be looking at during the necropsy, said Vancouver Aquarium head veterinarian Martin Haulena.

Chesters death is yet another episode in the ongoing debate about whether the Vancouver Aquarium should keep captive cetaceans.

The death toll continues. How much more evidence do we need that captivity does not meet the welfare needs of cetaceans? #endcaptivitynow https://t.co/KbErgROpUq  CFHS (@CFHS) November 24, 2017

In November 2016, the last two beluga whales at the aquarium died nine days apart, allegedly due to an undetermined toxin, CBC writes.

In June, a harbor porpoise also died at the aquarium.

With Chester gone, only one living cetacean remains at the aquariuma Pacific white-sided dolphin named Helen.

Today and for the next few days, our team will be dedicating our time with Helen  to help her adjust to the change, the aquarium said. We encourage you to share your memories of Chester.

Chester was about three and a half years old when he died.

Chester enchanted and educated millions of Vancouver Aquarium visitors about his unusual species and their life in the wild, the Vancouver Aquarium statement reads, he will be missed by all.

Chester, our rescued false killer whale, celebrated his 3rd birthday today! It's not a proper bday w/out a with a tasty gelatin cake. <3 pic.twitter.com/1vSUOD5Lg0  Vancouver Aquarium (@vanaqua) June 5, 2017

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A stack of U.S. dollars together with stacks of 100 Chinese yuan notes at a bank in Hefei City in eastern China's Anhui Province on March 9, 2010. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese Residents Still Moving Large Sums of Money Abroad

A massive operation that laundered money and transferred funds out of China was recently uncovered in Shaoguan City, in Chinas southern province of Guangdong.

On Nov. 22, Chinas state-run mouthpiece Xinhua reported that the underground bank had handled more than 20 billion yuan (roughly $3 billion) worth of funds, involving 148 fraudulent accounts by more than 10,000 clients from more than 20 provinces. Seven suspects were detained.

Chinese authorities were clued into this illegal bank in July, when they observed suspect activity at a branch of a state bank in Shaoguan. The account they focused on, opened under the surname Zhong, showed 121 transactions in 2016 in which money was rapidly added and removed, amounting to 98 million yuan (roughly $14.8 million).

The reports show that Chinese residents are still trying to take money out of the country, a phenomenon that has taken place for years. Underground banks are also a common means used by corrupt officials for funneling their assets abroad.

In 2015, the Chinese regime cracked down on such operations nationwide, in an attempt to stabilize the economy and keep the yuan from depreciating.

However, underground banks continue to be revealed in the press from time to time. Earlier this year, underground banks were found in other cities in Guangdong Province, as well as in Yangzhou City in Jiangsu Province, involving hundreds of millions of yuan.

According to official data, Chinese authorities had uncovered more than 380 underground money shops last year, with 900 billion yuan (roughly $13 billion) in transactions.
Engaged Couple Expecting 1st Child Die in Wrong-Way Thanksgiving Crash

Three people died in a wrong-way Thanksgiving Day crash on Interstate 75 in Hillsborough, Florida, local media reported.

The Florida Highway Patrol confirmed that Justin B. Lakin, 21, of Bradenton, Yvette R. Alexandre, 21, of Ruskin, and Lashay D. Waiters, 24, of Bradenton, were in the crash, according to Brandenton.com. They were taken to Tampa General Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Lakin was driving a Toyota Corolla northward in the southbound center lane on I-75 after 10 p.m., police said.

A 2009 Ford Focus driven by Waiters was traveling south on I-75 when they were hit by Larkins vehicle. Alexandre was in the car with Waiters.

Alexandre and Waiters had recently gotten engaged, family members told the outlet. They had planned to get married in January of next year.

Suzette Alexandre wrote on her Facebook Friday, We will miss their (b)eautiful faces and smile. My Baby girl Yvette Alexandre and her fiance Lashay we will always love you guys.

WFLA reported that the couple was heading home after dropping off a friend. The couple both attended the University of Central Florida in Orlando, where they met.

According to the Daily Mail, Yvette had written that she was pregnant two weeks after announcing their engagement.

Police said theyre not sure why Lakin was driving the wrong way. According to WWSB, all passengers were wearing seatbelts and alcohol wasnt a factor in the crash.

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People stand in front of the main gate of the RYB Education kindergarten in Beijing on Nov. 24, 2017. Chinese police have launched an investigation into alleged child abuse at the Beijing kindergarten. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)

Former Clinton Foundation Executive Tied to Chinese Kindergartens Investigated for Child Abuse

For the second time, a Chinese kindergarten run by the RYB Education New World company is being investigated for abusing children, this time with allegations that staff injected children with unknown substances, fed them white pills, and forced them to strip naked for health checks by nude men.

The Beijing-based, New York-listed RYB Education company has Joel Getz as an independent director. Getz was president of the Mayors Fund to Advance New York City and is the former director of development for the Clinton Foundation.

At the Clinton Foundation, Getz directed its worldwide charitable, educational, and economic development initiatives, according to his Yale profile, and was instrumental in creating a formal development operation for the Clinton Foundation, which raised in excess of $135 million annually.

RYB Education announced a $50 million share buyback program on Nov. 24, noting that Beijing police were investigating claims of seriously improper conduct at the kindergarten, and said it provided surveillance footage from the school to authorities.

It also announced it established its own special task force under its independent directors to conduct a thorough self-inspection across all teaching facilities.

Beijing police are investigating claims that children were allegedly sexually molested, pierced by needles, and given unidentified pills, according to Reuters, which cited reports from the state-run Xinhua news agency.

At least two women were detained by police, and RYB Education has suspended several teachers, according to Reuters.

RYB Education has since fired a 22-year-old teacher surnamed Liu, who was detained by local police, according to Reuters. Several other teachers were suspended. On Nov. 24, RYB Educations shares fell 38.4 percent.

The accusations are similar to a previous case of abuse uncovered at an RYB Education school in Siping, where two teachers were found guilty in a Jilin Province court in 2015 for abusing kindergartners.

The 2015 case bore a striking similarity to the current case. Reuters cited court documents saying staff on multiple occasions used needles and intimidation tactics to abuse many of the children under their care.

In the current case, parents have reportedly found needle marks on at least eight toddlers. According to the Beijing-based Caixin news outlet, one mother said she found needle marks on her daughters arms, buttocks, and forehead.

Guanzhuang police said medical examinations confirmed the injuries were caused by needles, according to Caixin. Police are still investigating claims from children who were fed unknown white tablets and a brown syrup.

Another parent told Caixin that disobedient students were also forced to stand naked or were locked up in a dark room at the kindergarten.

Allegations of abuse have been reported in two classes with close to 25 children each. The children are between 2 and 6 years old.

According to the Los Angeles Times, one parent said her child told her that a naked man, or men, called uncle doctor and grandpa doctor, would perform a health check on them after the children were forced to strip naked. Children were also allegedly threatened to not tell anyone of the abuse, under threat that the teachers had a very long telescope that allowed them to watch the children even in their homes.

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Actors Naya Rivera (L) and Ryan Dorsey attend the March Of Dimes Celebration Of Babies Luncheon honoring Jessica Alba at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on Dec. 4, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California. (Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for March Of Dimes)

Glee Star Naya Rivera Arrested on Domestic Battery Charges in WV

Naya Rivera, who plays Santana Lopez in the television series Glee, was arrested after allegedly attacking husband Ryan Dorsey, WSAZ reported.

Rivera was arrested Saturday night in Chesapeake, West Virginia, after her husband called the police to report her hitting him, the report said. Rivera is accused of hitting him in the head and face while they were walking with their 2-year-old son.

Husband Ryan Dorsey, also an actor, gave deputies a video of the attack, the Kanawha County Sheriffs Department confirmed. Later, she was taken into custody at around 9:30 p.m. local time.

WSAZ posted a video of the actress in court, showing her handcuffed and dressed down in a hoodie and dark pants.

Glee actress Naya Rivera arrested on domestic battery charge. Full story on https://t.co/gLqggB15yU pic.twitter.com/YqlflJ23T6  Kalea Gunderson (@KaleaWCHS) November 26, 2017

She appeared before a judge on Sunday and was released on $1,000 bond. Her father-in-law reportedly picked her up from jail.

She was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery early Sunday. It carries a maximum of one year in prison and a $500 fine.

Nivera indicated that she will hire an attorney, according to WSAZ.

They were in West Virginia to visit Dorseys family.

Glee star Naya Rivera charged with domestic battery against her husband https://t.co/w3ElnM0Cl4  The Independent (@Independent) November 26, 2017

VIDEO from tonights arraignment: After, I asked @NayaRivera if she wanted to say anything and she just put her head down. She was released on bond. Her father-in-law picked her up. Facing domestic battery charge on her husband. #wsaz pic.twitter.com/u5MLQu2xqZ  Jatara McGee (@WSAZJatara) November 26, 2017

Rivera filed for divorce from Dorsey in November 2016, but she called it off last month, People reported.

She said in a statement: After much consideration, we have made the decision to end our marriage. Our priority is and always will be our beautiful son that we share together. We will continue to be great co-parenting partners for him. We ask for respect and privacy for our family during this difficult time.

Just a month after calling off her divorce from husband Ryan Dorsey, Glee's Naya Rivera has been arrested: "Investigators say she's charged with domestic battery." https://t.co/pLOLDPqWBs pic.twitter.com/LaS5qCWcTK  E! News (@enews) November 26, 2017

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Over 6,400 practitioners of Falun Gong create a character formation in the image of a woman meditating in Taipei, Taiwan, on Nov. 25, 2017. (Bai Chuan/The Epoch Times)

Over 6,400 Gather in Taiwan to Form Massive Image of Falun Gong Practitioner in Taipeis Liberty Square

This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of the first visit to Taiwan by founder of Falun Gong

TAIPEI, TaiwanClad in black, yellow, blue, and white clothing, thousands of people assembled in Taipeis iconic Liberty Square to form a massive imagemeasuring 158 feet by 184 feetof a serene-looking woman sitting in meditation with her right palm lifted.

Over three days of intensive labor, more than 100 local residents first laid down color-coordinated mats that created the outline of the image. Then, on Nov. 25, more than 6,400 practitioners of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong sat down for meditation in the formation.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a cultivation practice. Adherents cultivate themselvesseek to improve themselvesthrough practicing slow, meditative exercises and living according to moral teachings based on the core principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The ancient Buddhist practice was introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in 1992, with lectures held throughout China. Mr. Li later traveled the world to give lectures, and outside China over a million people are believed to practice Falun Dafa. According to the website Minghui.org, a clearinghouse for news about Falun Dafa, tens of millions of people are practicing Falun Dafa inside China, despite 18 years of persecution.

The image included eight Chinese characters that expressed the wish that practitioners of Falun Dafa could help Master Li spread light and truth throughout the world. In Chinese, master is a common way for disciples to address their spiritual teacher or instructor.

Each of the characters, which are formed in an ancient Chinese clerical script, measures 68.9 feet wide by 52.5 feet long. Two lotusesan important symbol in Buddhismas well as ancient Chinese decorative motifs, fill out the rest of the formation.

Wu Ching-hsiang, a retired architect who was responsible for the blueprint of the character formation, said the image depicts what it means to be a Falun Dafa adherent. A practitioner needs to meditate, sitting in the lotus position. And a practitioner also needs to erect his palm to send forth righteous thoughts, said Wu. Righteous thoughts are a meditation about cleaning up oneself, as well as cleaning up ones nearby environment, he said.

Citing a passage from Zhuan Falun, Falun Dafas main book of teachings, Wu said, The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities, elaborating that a practitioners harmonious state would not only benefit himself, but also those around him.

Most of the participants were Falun Dafa adherents residing in Taiwan. But about 700 of them came from other countries and regions, including Canada, the United States, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. The character formation activity, which has become a tradition held every November in Taiwan, dates back to before the Communist Party began persecuting the practice in mainland China in 1999. In Taiwan, people are free to practice their religious beliefs, including Falun Dafa.

In mainland China, the then-head of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin, believed Falun Dafas popularitya state survey in 1999 estimated there were more than 70 million adherents, though practitioners estimated the number was over 100 millionto be a threat to the Partys atheist and materialist ideology.

The Chinese regimes nationwide persecution has affected millions of Falun Dafa practitioners, who have been arrested, detained, tortured, and killed while imprisoned, according to the official press office for Falun Dafa, the Falun Dafa Information Center. Researchers have found that Falun Dafa practitioners are the main source for organs for Chinas large transplantation industry, with the organs taken from living practitioners, who die in the process.

The image and words of the character formation have another layer of meaning, according to Huang Chun-mei, the activitys organizer and deputy chairman of the Taiwan Dafa Association. I hope [the character formation] can inspire our society to become better and be more peaceful, and people can further improve their morality, she said.

20th Anniversary

The character formation this year held additional significance, as it celebrated the 20th anniversary of Mr. Lis first visit to the island, in 1997. Some of the practitioners who participated in the formation said they considered themselves especially fortunate to have attended the lectures given by Mr. Li in Taiwan that year.

Chen Hsin-lin, 55, an administrative staff member at Taiwan Television (TTV) who started practicing Falun Gong in 1996, said she was taken completely by surprise when Mr. Li unexpectedly showed up at TTV to meet with local practitioners on Nov. 15, 1997. About 10 to 20 practitioners there were fortunate to hear an hour-long lecture, according to Chen.

The next day, Mr. Li gave another lecture at Taipei Municipal Sanxing Elementary School, which was attended by about 1,000 practitioners. Before Mr. Li left Taiwan, he gave one final lecture at Taichung Municipal Wufeng Agricultural and Industrial High School on Nov. 20.

Jack Lee, 47, formerly a network management engineer who started practicing Falun Gong in early 1997, said he couldnt remember precisely what Mr. Li had lectured about at the elementary school, but he vividly remembered the strong feeling when Mr. Li entered the hall.

I remember when Master Li walked past me, because I had an aisle seat, I felt such a strong feeling of compassion, said Lee.

Wu, 63, who started practicing Falun Dafa in 1995, said he was at both the elementary school and high school lectures. He recalls Mr. Li saying: This Dafa is very precious. It is not just qigong.  You have to keep learning and cultivate yourself. You have to put your heart into it. Wu said he walked away from the lectures knowing that he had to apply teachings in the Dafa books into words and actions in his everyday life.

Huang, who started practicing Falun Dafa in October 1995, said she saw Mr. Li speak in Beijing in 1996, at a conference for practitioners from around the world to talk about their experiences. According to Huang, she and a few other practitioners also visited Changchun, Mr. Lis hometown in northeastern China, where he first began openly teaching Falun Gong in 1992.

I remembered going to a plaza to do the exercises one morning in Changchun. And I was stunned to see there were over 1,000 practitioners. I asked a local coordinator if these people had come here [from all over China] for a special event. He told me no. This was about the same number of practitioners who show up at the plaza every day, and sometimes, even more practitioners show up.

Coming From All Over the World

Currently, Taiwan is the only place in the world that holds such large-scale formations annually. For many practitioners from other countries and regions, participating in such an event is especially memorable.

I think it helps to show the joy and beauty of Dafa, said Logan Bauer, 37, a programmer from Oregon City in California, who took up the spiritual practice in 2009. He had suffered from chronic depression, but the illness disappeared after he began practicing Falun Gong.

Karen Dunscombe, 34, a small-business owner from Australia, said that before practicing Falun Gong, she led a miserable life as an atheist and would put all the negativity onto everyone else. Since taking up the practice, my soul and my heart were replenished, she explained. She realized how beautiful people can become, when their eyes open to the world and high principles.

[The character formation] can show the people of China the positive values of Zhen, Shen, and Ren, added Dunscombe, referring to the Chinese words for truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

For Jeong Ki Tae, 58, a research professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Falun Gong helped him to better understand how to do his job as a researcher. Jeong, who started practicing Falun Gong in 2000, came with a group of 150 practitioners from South Korea to participate in the character formation.

It is my honor to join this meaningful eventmy great, great honor, said Jeong.

Oanh Tran, 40, owner of a travel agency in Vietnam, said that organizing such large-scale activities in Vietnam is difficult because of interference from the Vietnamese authorities, who are influenced by the policies of their communist ally in China. Tran added that a contingent of about 400 practitioners from Vietnam had traveled to Taiwan.

For many tourists at Liberty Square, Falun Gong was not new to them. I know about the persecution in the Peoples Republic of China. In Taiwan, it is democratic, [with] freedom of religion, said Vladimir Baar, 64, a geographer from the Czech Republic.

Sabine Jacob, a clinical research coordinator in hematology-oncology in Los Angeles, said: I am glad that the event is being held and that people can express themselves and their faith, and what they believe in.

Those are the foundations our country builds on. And we are proud of that.
Gong Xiaoyan in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, pleading for the release of her father in China. (Cao Jingzhe/The Epoch Times)

Silicon Valley Resident Calls for Freedom for Jailed Father in China

Gong Xiaoyan, originally from Chinas Qingdao City in Shandong Province, has settled and worked in Silicon Valley for many years now. But in her mother country, the persecution of the peaceful meditation practice, Falun Gong, hits close to home.

Falun Gong is a self-improvement spiritual practice that was introduced in China in the early 1990s. With truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance as its core principles, the practices benefits to physical and mental health led to its widespread popularity, with more than 70 million adherents in China by 1999, according to a state survey. Practitioners say their numbers reached more than 100 million.

But Falun Gongs popularity was perceived as a threat to the Chinese Communist Partys authoritarian ideology, and the Chinese regime launched a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in 1999. The official press office for Falun Gong, the Falun Dafa Information Center, estimates that millions of Falun Gong adherents have been arrested and detained since the persecution started, often enduring torture and abuse while imprisoned.

After enduring a decade of persecution, the Gong family in China again faces danger.

In Oct., Gongs family home in Qingdao City was raided by police. Gongs parents were taken away by local police. Gongs mother was allowed to go home the next day, but her father Gong Piqi has since been incarcerated at the Pudong Detention Center in Jimo District, Qingdao City.

Police also ransacked the home, confiscating Gong fathers notebook computer and over 157,000 yuan (US$23,600) in cash, Gong said. In China, Falun Gong practitioners regularly suffer this kind of unlawful treatment at the hands of the authorities, as documented by Minghui.org, a U.S.-based website that tracks the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Gong explained that the latest round of persecution was carried out by the provincial authorities, executing a new directive from top officials, the door knocking campaign that began in March this year. Typically a team of two policemen go in pair knocking on the doors of every home that belongs to a known Falun Gong practitioner. The policemen will probe if the person still practices Falun Gong. If the person is not at home, their workplaces, friends, and relatives are also visited. Anyone found in possession of Falun Gong-related literature or materials is detained.

According to related reports on Minghui.org, over 20 Falun Gong practitioners in Qingdao City were kidnapped and had their homes ransacked on Oct. 16, the same day as Gongs parents, as part of the door knocking campaign. Many of the practitioners are elderly, some over 70 years-old.

Pudong Detention Center has denied the lawyer representing Gong Piqi from visiting him, but what worries Gong Xiaoyan most is her fathers health. Not much detail is known of her fathers situation, but Gong has received some bad news. I couldnt believe in less than two weeks, my father cant walk, Gong said at a gathering to appeal her fathers imprisonment in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, California on Oct 26th.

History of Persecution

Gongs whole family started to practice Falun Gong in 1995. Gong Xiaoyan still remembers her father finishing overnight the entire length of Zhuan Falun, Falun Gongs main text of teachings. He was overjoyed to have found his path in life.

Since the persecution started in 1999, the familys peaceful lives were disrupted. Young Gong spent her days in fear. She watched on as her mother got taken away to the police station every so often. Her mother would be gone for a few days, sometimes a few weeks. She knew no security while growing up.

This is not the first time Gong Piqi, now 62, is being incarcerated for his faith. From May 2005 to April 2006, he was kept in a brainwashing center run by Qingdao Citys 610 officea Gestapo-like police set up to exclusively carry out the persecution of Falun Gong. He was forced to listen and read propaganda defaming Falun Gong. Gong recalled visits to her father during that time, accompanied by her grandmother who was over 70 years old. Her mother was also serving a prison sentence for refusing to give up faith in the principles of Falun Gong, truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. I was crying inside. My dads hair turned white, he needed support to walk or stand, and his hands were shaking. These memories torment Gong Xiaoyan now.

Gong Piqi served in the Chinese military all his life before the persecution. In the environment where the whole nation is in pursuit of corruption, and when it was even worse in the military, Father stood out after he began practicing Falun Gong, Gong Xiaoyan said. Before practicing, her father smoked 3 packs of cigarettes a day. Every night, there were lavish feasts and drinking parties thrown for military officials. Luxury brand gifts were given as bribes. After practicing Falun Gong, her father quit smoking and drinking, and steer clear of bribes at his workplacerare in the military.

Persecution of Good People

Yet, to be a good and decent person, one needs to pay a price nowadays, Gong Xiaoyan said.

Gong also recalled many of her close acquaintances suffering severe persecution. The Gongs neighbor, Liu Jiming, recovered from various chronic illnesses after she practiced Falun Gong. The Liu family became happier and more harmonious as a result. yet Liu was arrested by local authorities for refusing to give up her faith, and later died in detention.

Another family friend, Zou Songtao, a PhD candidate at a local maritime college, used to give Gong Xiaoyan math tutoring lessons. He was also arrested for practicing Falun Gong. Zou was beaten so severely that he fell into a coma and died after three days in prison, Gong recalled. Zous wife, who was also detained, went missing not long after. The couple had left behind a one year old daughter, Gong said.

Back in China, Gong has a classmate and neighbor Yang Jin. Yangs mother also practiced Falun Gong. She used to keep me company when our mothers were both in detained in 2005. We comforted, encouraged, and looked after each other. Now my father is in detention again, her mother is also suffering imprisonment, Gong said.

In an effort to rescue father and other Falun Gong practitioners, Gong recently sent a letter to the White House and President Donald Trumps office, calling for attention to the ongoing human rights violations against Falun Gong adherents in China. I hope President Trump will speak up publicly on this issue, because previously the Obama administration seemed to have been largely silent and made no real efforts. I hope President Trump will raise the issue openly and help Falun Gong practitioners to gain the freedom to practice in their own country.

Gong hopes that one day there will be freedom in her motherland. I would also like to appeal to [Chinas leader] Xi Jinping, as part of a new generation of Chinese leaders, to end this persecution sooner rather than later.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 13:48:33|Editor: Xiang Bo

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NINGBO, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and many injured in an explosion at the site of a demolished factory in the city of Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang Province Sunday, according to local authorities.

More than 30 people were taken to hospital, with two injured seriously, after the accident which occurred 8:50 a.m. in Jiangbei district, local authorities said

Local police said many nearby residential communities were affected by the explosion.

An investigation is underway.
Youth Pastor Charged in the Deaths of 3 People in Virginia

A youth pastor was arrested and charged with murder in the shooting deaths of his stepdaughter, wife, and the stepdaughters boyfriend in their home on Thanksgiving Day, police said.

Christopher Gattis, 58, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The womens bodies and the mans body were found inside the Chester, Virginia, home and in the front yard, police said.

Jeanett Gattis, 58; her daughter Candice Candy Kunze, 30; and Kunzes boyfriend, Andrew Buthorn, 36, were identified as the victims, officials said.

CONTINUING COVERAGE on the Thanksgiving Day triple homicide in Chesterfield County. Police say youth pastor Christopher Gattis shot his wife, his wifes daughter and the daughters boyfriend. Learning more about all involved. @8NEWS pic.twitter.com/qLlfRwKuUP  Aaron Thomas (@Aaron8News) November 25, 2017

Gattis, a youth pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, is being held at Chesterfield County Jail without bond. He is set to appear at the General District Court on Monday and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court on Tuesday.

Members of Grace Lutheran Church are deeply saddened by the loss of life last night as a result of three individuals being shot in Chester, and this tragedy included members of Grace Lutheran Church, the church said in a statement on its website.

This photo provided by Chesterfield County, Va., Police shows Christopher R. Gattis. Police say Gat https://t.co/ixjLmGkaHv via https://t.co/WWTgwQlrGM  ??DCZKY ??? (@DCZKY1) November 25, 2017

Many people knew Gattis and the victims, a neighbor stated.

We were all friends. We hang out sometimes [and] cook out in the back, neighbor Mike Brown told WTVR. I mean every time I see them, theyre always the same way. [I] had no clue that they were having problems that I knew of, but behind closed doors is behind closed doors.

The 911 call was released.

I have one detained; be advised he shot three people  I got one male subject on the ground. Hes got two gunshots to the stomach  Sir, we have two females down in the kitchen, according to the call, as reported by NBC12

Church members confirm Christopher Gattis served as a youth pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Chester. Hes charged with three counts of murder. @8NEWS pic.twitter.com/vntxeVMipw  Aaron Thomas (@Aaron8News) November 24, 2017

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Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 14:23:40|Editor: pengying

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NEW DELHI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- India Sunday commemorated the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks which claimed the lives of over 170 people.

On Nov. 26, 2008, terrorists carried out a series of coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across India's financial capital Mumbai, lasting four days.

Apart from 170 deaths, over 300 people were injured in the mayhem.

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind paid his tribute to the victims of the terror attacks.

"On the ninth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, we mourn with the families that lost their dear ones. And we recall with gratitude the security personnel who gave their lives in the battle against evil," he tweeted.

"On this day, we renew our resolve to take on, defeat and eliminate terrorism in all forms, and to make our people, our country and our world safer," he added.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office also tweeted, "We salute all those brave women and men who lost their lives in the gruesome 26/11 attacks in Mumbai."

In Mumbai, the capital of the western state of Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other ministers of his cabinet paid homage to those who were killed in the attack. The state government also paid tribute to family members of those killed.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 15:01:33|Editor: pengying

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Palestinians carry the Egyptian flag and the Palestinian flag as they take part in a protest in solidarity with Egyptian people after the deadly attack on a mosque in Egypt's Sinai, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on Nov. 25, 2017. According to latest reports, a bomb and gunfire attack against a mosque in a small village in Egypt's Sinai killed at least 305 worshippers, including children, and injured over 100 others on Friday. (Xinhua/Mamoun Wazwaz)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 15:13:54|Editor: Liangyu

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Children perform Taiji fan in Kampala, capital of Uganda, Nov. 25, 2017. Chinese cultural performances along with local traditional dances highlighted the celebrations here on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of the establishment of Confucius Institute in Uganda. (Xinhua/Joseph Kiggundu)

KAMPALA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese cultural performances along with local traditional dances highlighted the celebrations here on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of the establishment of the Confucius Institute in Uganda.

The programs showed a harmony between the two different cultures of China and Uganda. Officials attending the event agreed that the Confucius Institute set up in the Makerere University, which is Uganda's oldest and top university, has contributed a lot to cooperation between the two countries.

Chu Maoming, deputy Chinese ambassador to Uganda, said the institute has built a bridge to connect the two peoples through language learning and cultural exchange.

"It has become a window through which the Ugandan people come to know more about China. It has boosted bilateral exchange," Chu said.

"With this we will see greater contributions made to boost China-Uganda educational cooperation, people-to-people exchange and development of bilateral friendly relationship," said Chu.

He advised Ugandan students to learn the Chinese language well and make a use of this in the East African country's future development.

"Use what you have learned to deepen mutual understanding between China and Uganda, helping them to become friends and reliable partners," the Chinese diplomat said.

Barnabas Nawangwe, vice chancellor of the Makerere University, said he is looking forward to building a Chinese cultural center in the campus to enhance Uganda-China cooperation.

"I am looking forward to having a Chinese cultural center here. This will attract the people who want to study and know more about Chinese culture," said Nawangwe.

Oswald Ndoleriire, Ugandan-side director of the Confucius Institute, said the institute, launched in December 2014, has now over 70 students enrolled for Chinese language degree courses and over 4,000 more for short-term courses.

"The Confucius institute has yielded fruits that we are very proud of," said Ndoleriire, adding that it has held a partnership with Uganda's National Curriculum Development Center in introducing Chinese language courses in secondary schools.

He also said the institute has extended its cultural activities to outside the capital Kampala, and offered its students a chance for research trip to China in each July.

"This helps them to know better about the Chinese culture and to seek opportunities for studying in China," said Ndoleriire.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 15:23:57|Editor: Zhou Xin

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JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Up to 14 militants loyal to the hardliner Islamic State (IS) group were killed after the security force aircraft targeted their hideouts in Mamandara area of Achin district in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province late Saturday night, provincial government spokesman Attaullah Khogiani said Sunday.

Two local commanders of the fanatic group namely Assadullah and Shakirullah are also among those killed in the raids, the official said.

IS militants who have control in parts of the eastern Nangarhar province haven't commented.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 15:39:00|Editor: Liangyu

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TOKYO, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese delegation introducing the achievements of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) ended its four-day visit to Japan on Sunday.

The delegation, headed by He Yiting, executive vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, visited Japan at the invitation of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner the Komeito party.

During its stay, the delegation met with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the LDP, Yoshihisa Inoue, secretary-general of the Komeito party, and Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren).

The delegation also held briefing sessions for Japanese political parties, friendly groups, major media, think tanks as well as economic circles on the spirit and significance of the CPC party congress and had in-depth discussions with them on the congress and the Sino-Japanese relationship.

The Japanese side congratulated on the success of the 19th CPC National Congress and Xi Jinping's re-election as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

The Japanese side also spoke highly of the achievements and significance of the CPC congress and expressed the wishes for continued improvement and development of bilateral relations.
Noem tells NYT former President Trump doesn't offer 'best chance' for GOP

In an interview with The New York Times, Gov. Kristi Noem spoke about her reservations about former President Donald Trump announcing his bid for re-election.
In 1946, the Museum of Modern Art staged a career retrospective of the New York painter Florine Stettheimer. It was only the second time it had featured a woman artist so fully; her friend and close confidant Georgia OKeeffe had been first, earlier the same year.

Stettheimer, having died in 1944, didnt see it, and those who knew her might have thought it just as well. Next to her profuse talent for the making of fantastical scenes, the artists principal attribute may have been her aversion to the spotlight.

Art history, like any other, favours those who speak loudest, and Stettheimers contentment to whisper slyly, for the most part, to her family and inner circle (I wish you would become ordinary like the rest of us and show your paintings this year! OKeeffe once wrote to her) has helped keep her a persistent footnote to the larger story.

This year, the Art Gallery of Ontario  curiously, perhaps, given the lack of connection to be found between the artist and Toronto  teamed with New Yorks Jewish Museum to organize the most recent modern-day reclamation. Florine Stettheimer: Painting Poetry opened here earlier this fall, after a run there that mostly elicited effusive praise. (Roberta Smith, in the New York Times, called her paintings among the most spellbinding and enduring in the history of art.)

How could an artist who provokes nearly no equivocation  Peter Schjeldahl, writing in the New Yorker, called her adored  remain so inconspicuous? Its telling that those same stories, while celebrating her gifts, still feel the need to argue outwardly for her canonization.

The years since her death are not a void of Stettheimer exclusions  shes been shown often  but they dont seem to stick. Along the way, her sparkly worlds earned famous fans  Andy Warhol once called her his favourite artist  but that may have done her more harm than good.

The problem with Stettheimer is shes constantly in this moment of discovery  you come at her through Warhol, or camp. That might be why she has this more cultish reputation, explains Georgiana Uhlyarik, the AGOs curator of Canadian art. Now that were all agreed to take her seriously, then lets take her seriously.

If no real counterweight has been offered, its as much a reflection of the artists steadfast indifference to publicity as anything else. She inhabited a rarefied realm, largely of her own creation. The way I think of her is as someone who creates a whole world, says Uhlyarik,. She is the maker, the context, the subject and the audience. I dont feel like were invited. She has no interest in making a space for the viewer at all.

Art imitated life for Stettheimer, a wealthy socialite who lived with her mother and sisters in an extravagant, sprawling 5th Ave. apartment. Her world was largely internal: she showed her work mostly by invitation, whether in her home, where she lived happily with her pieces in the living room and bedroom, or in her vast studio up the road at Bryant Park.

She hosted salons, convening discussions on poetry, music and art that she deemed to be simpatico to her internal world. She saw it as a level of conversation she was interested in having: this is what I want to talk about and these are the people I want to speak with, Uhlyarik said.

Those included OKeeffe, Alfred Stieglitz and their circle of proto-Modernists gathered around his 291 gallery, but Stettheimer was closer with no one beyond her immediate family than Marcel Duchamp, the bombastic Dadaist and one of the 20th centurys biggest cultural game changers (also from a wealthy family, they had in common the liberty to indulge only in creative angst). His chutzpah seemed a counterweight to her introversion; opposites, as they say, attract.

Calling Stettheimer a sophisticate, Schjeldahl wrote, was like calling water wet. The well-travelled artist drank deeply of high culture of the day, studying in Germany and France before the Second World War, and consuming the revolution in Modern painting there taking place at the hands of artists like Gauguin and Klimt.

Struck by the Ballets Russes, she tried her hand at producing a ballet of her own, though it never saw the stage. (For all her practiced exclusivity, Stettheimer did step out: a shimmering amphitheatre at the AGO puts on view Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Steins Four Saints in Three Acts, the 1934 opera with an all-African American cast for which Stettheimer designed sets and costumes.)

Stettheimers paintings present as both fantasy and forthright, a declaration of self that quickly evolved into a distinct esthetic. Stettheimer may have been private, but she wasnt shy: an early work, a 1915 self-portrait in which she reclines nude in a field of pale blue-white, is thinly veiled tease to the viewer and art history itself.

Here, Stettheimer bald-facedly name-checks Manets Olympia, a point of departure for early Modern painting, with a sly reversal. Where Manet had appropriated a Titian painting to render modern life  Olympia was a prostitute  Stettheimer takes back the male gaze, softening its dark to light, and positions herself as the author, subject and audience, smiling coyly holding a blazing clutch of wilting flowers.

By the 1920s, her works depart into other realities; her figures are sylphs, their fluid forms barely differentiated by gender, moving in worlds vaguely familiar but wilfully flat. Theyre wildly original  a feat, given the swell of a movement herding artists to fall in line  and I wish I could like them more than I do.

Stettheimers pictures are less a robust challenge to an established order than they are radical confections, where her wilfull exclusion of a tumultuous world outside her comfortable realm speaks to her luxury of choice. (Its possible such a throwdown carried with it a certain machismo that a sophisticated lady might find distasteful, though no such propriety held OKeeffe from carving out her space in the boys club that Modernism surely was).

In any case, exclusion is the byproduct of privilege, and Stettheimer seemed to live in its blithe embrace: A scene at Lake Placid, where the family summered, features a background of icy-green water reared up like a sheet lifted at its corner; Music, a 1920 piece, portrays an alternate universe of chilly blue with a fuchsia-clad deity dancing at its core. In Picnic at Bedford Hills  another nod to Manet, Id think, and his Le Dejeuner sur lherbe  she electrifies the grass in a sickly yellow-green while Duchamp lays out lobster for the family. If thats a picnic, imagine dinner.

Throughout, Stettheimer keeps her distance. Portraits, of herself and her sisters, push back at the viewer with an air of look, dont touch. (Every figure is presented like a little canape, for you to consume and enjoy, Uhlyarik says.) Theyre delectable, but a precious tease, giving nothing away.

Stettheimer seems to be issuing deft little challenges to the ruling ethic of Modernism, in which she was participant, though less, it seems, as a player than a sly critic watching from a calculated distance. Under no obligation to, and having less interest in slotting neatly into the evolving narrative, she crafted her own take on the moment. She seems to suggest, even through her committed detachment, that there were many ways to be Modern.

Stettheimers private revolution, coy and fanciful, is nothing if not unique, making her a hard fit for the tidy divisions of art history. But history, as were learning, is tidy only for those first able to write it, and the margins creep in more each day.

Florine Stettheimer: Painting Poetry continues at the AGO to Jan. 28, 2018. See ago.net for information.

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OTTAWAThe Trudeau government knows other countries are raising their eyebrows at the thought of feminist trade deals, but the Liberals are convinced the idea will one day be as obvious as labour and environmental standards are today.

That is one of the messages Canadian negotiators have been using to try to convince the United States and Mexico to include a gender chapter in the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), newly released briefing materials show.

Think back 20 years and remember the early discussions of labour and environment in the context of trade agreements, said talking points prepared for senior bureaucrats at Global Affairs Canada ahead of negotiations that began Aug. 16 in Washington, D.C.

Some recognized a link and a need to address some issues inside trade agreements. Others didnt, said the document. The creation of co-operative mechanisms increased our understanding of these issues and demonstrated the need for appropriate obligation in trade agreements.

The Canadian Press obtained the records through the Access to Information Act.

Even Canadian officials were skeptical at first, the documents suggest.

Our first reflex was to say that (free trade agreements) are gender-neutral, said the document. But are the effects gender-neutral? We began to realize that not all are.

Only one in five exporting firms is led by a female entrepreneur, the document points out, along with research from the World Bank that showed a vast number of countries do not give women the same legal rights as they do men when it comes to doing business.

The documents also note Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump have come together on this issue before, when the Liberal government  helped along by Trumps daughter and adviser Ivanka  managed to engage with the White House on the issue of women at work.

Besides, the documents argue, such an approach could help build support for the deal at a time when people around the world have been increasingly rejecting the notion that free trade is good for everyone.

The Trade and Gender chapter will also be an important signal to demonstrate that making economic growth more inclusive is an important objective of the NAFTA modernization . . . and an important means by which to generate support for the final outcomes, it said.

It remains unclear whether the proposed gender chapter will survive, as U.S. officials have been described as showing less enthusiasm than others when negotiators devoted half a day to the issue during the most recent round of talks in Mexico City.

Read more:

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Freeland calls U.S. proposals extreme as NAFTA round ends without major progress

Some flexibility on NAFTA's regional rules of origin, Freeland says

Angella MacEwen, a senior economist with the Canadian Labour Congress, said that does not mean gender equality would be absent from the deal.

Im not holding out an expectation that there will be a gender chapter in an eventual NAFTA, but I do think they have added a gender lens to other chapters and that is useful, said MacEwen.

That includes the labour chapter, where Canada has proposed language on things like pay equity and child care in the preamble, although they are not hard obligations.

The Liberals also believe pushing for gender to be included in some way in NAFTA, much as they worked to incorporate more progressive elements in the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), would set a standard for future trade deals too.

Alex Lawrence, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, said Ottawa remains committed to including gender in the new NAFTA.

With respect to trade agreements, the gold standard now needs to include a gender chapter, he said in an email.

Several sources both in and outside of government said the proposed text is modelled after the gender chapter the Liberal government added to its free trade deal with Chile.

That pact, which was only the second in the world, had both countries agree that working to include women and girls is key to long-term economic development and reaffirm their commitment to international agreements on gender rights.

It also made clear that nothing in the gender chapter could be subject to the dispute resolution mechanism that applies to the rest of the trade deal.

The documents suggest the Liberal government is aware this could open them up to criticism, as one of the charges against the side deal on labour that accompanied the original NAFTA was the toothless language on non-discrimination.

These measures are nonenforceable and have faced criticism over the years for not meaningfully addressing concerns, said a heavily redacted memo on the issue, previously classified as secret, released alongside the talking points.

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Hyekyung Jo, a North Korean defector living in Toronto with her husband and sons for seven years, had hoped to remain in Canada as a permanent resident.

Instead, she and as many as 50 other North Korean families residing across the GTA recently received letters from the federal Immigration Department informing them that their requests for permanent residency are poised to be revoked. They face deportation to South Korea  a place that Jo said is hostile to North Korean nationals.

Part of the issue identified in the Oct. 30 letter that Jo and her husband, Myungchul Kang, received is this: the South Korean government automatically grants North Koreans citizenship. Canada recognizes South Korea as a safe haven for refugees.

Another issue: Jo admitted at a Saturday news conference with other affected families that she and her husband werent truthful when they arrived in Toronto as asylum seekers in 2010. They told refugee board officials theyd travelled directly from China when, in fact, theyd lived for several years in South Korea.

Jo said if she had a chance to speak directly to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, she would ask for a second chance for the sake of her children: Daniel, 9; Alex, 6; and 9-month-old Jayden  the two youngest born here.

If I go back (to South Korea), the adults, me and my husband, will survive somehow, Jo said through a translator and weeping.

But the kids who were born here and the oldest, its not their fault that they ended up as my kids. Im really sorry that weve told false stories (in 2010) but it was only for our survival and I hope the Canadian government gives us an opportunity to stay.

Jo added that while in South Korea, her husband was under investigation for espionage, a distressing situation that makes returning to the peninsula even bleaker, she said. Kang, 36, currently supports his family as a sushi chef.

Rocky Kim is president of the Canada Federation of North Korean Defectors, which organized the news conference at the Korean Salvation Army Church. Kim, also a North Korean national, said up to 50 families in the Toronto area received letters from the ministry.

Kim said these letters have shocked the North Korean community, especially since they come many years after families like Jos passed refugee hearings.

Progressive Conservative MPP Raymond Cho, who is originally from South Korea, attended the news conference. The PC immigration critic and representative for ScarboroughRouge River said his native country can be a difficult place for North Korean defectors, who often experience discrimination at school and while seeking work.

That occurs partly because North Korean dialects are distinct and set them apart from southern speakers, Cho said. In addition, South Korean documentation, such as social insurance numbers, identifies North Korean nationals on paperwork that employers can see.

Its almost impossible to get a good job, Cho said. Thats the reality.

Cho told the crowd of about 200 people that North Koreans who dont thrive in the South look elsewhere, to places like Canada.

He said North Koreans are brainwashed by (immigration) brokers to tell lies to Canadian officials, as Jo did, to claim that they arrived as refugees directly from China, and that they are often counselled to claim they have no documentation such as passports, or to change their names and dates of birth.

They think it is the only way to get into Canada  they just dont know any better, Cho said of the North Koreans.

Canada has been closing the door on North Koreans for several years.

In 2013, Ottawa compiled a list of 35 countries determined to be safe for refugees. South Korea is on that list.

In late 2013, a decision by the refugee appeal tribunal to overturn a North Korean womans refugee status signalled a change in how Ottawa viewed asylum seekers from the authoritarian regime now led by Kim Jong Un. The North Korean woman and her daughter had come to Canada from South Korea that year and were quickly granted asylum by the Immigration and Refugee Board. Chris Alexander, federal immigration minister at the time, successfully appealed the asylum decision by contending that North Korean refugees are automatically granted South Korean citizenship.

Laura Albanese, Ontarios minister of citizenship and immigration, and David Zimmer, minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, attended the Saturday news conference, along with Willowdale Liberal MP Ali Ehsassi. In total, five people told their stories.

One woman, Minhee Kim, said she fled the North because of the hunger and the poverty. She said was then investigated by South Korean intelligence officers because shed been in the military.

Another defector, Yuna Kim, said her mother was tortured and beaten to death after she escaped. Taegun Kim said he was filmed by media when he arrived in China in 2002, which exposed his identity, and his family in North Korea suffered reprisals.

Jo said it appears she and her husband have one more chance to meet with ministry officials, but if that does not go well, she expects her family will have between one and two months to leave the country.

Please give hope to my kids, Jo said, facing the assembled politicians at the church.

Zimmer said after listening to their stories, he felt strongly that the federal government should find a way to allow for special circumstances for North Korean defectors.

Zimmer said he plans to raise this issue with his federal counterparts when he returns to Ottawa next week.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada could not be reached for comment Saturday.

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Indigenous people in the shadow of one of the worlds largest nuclear reactors are adamant their values will underpin their decision on whether to approve a proposed multibillion-dollar storage bunker for radioactive waste  a process that could take at least another year to play out.

Armed with commitments from both the Canadian government and proponents of the Deep Geologic Repository to await their buy-in, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) say they will take their time to reach an informed opinion on a project already more than a decade in the planning.

Our values and who we are as a people and our connection to the lands and the waters are in many ways more important than the technical aspects of this, Randall Kahgee, a former chief and now lead adviser to the First Nations on nuclear issues, said in an interview.

This is not just a simple project. This is a forever project. It requires our people to think beyond seven generations, which is typically how we plan and think about these things.

The Ontario Power Generation project, currently estimated to cost $2.4 billion, would see a bunker built at the Bruce nuclear power plant near Kincardine, Ont., close to the Lake Huron shoreline. Hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of low and intermediate radioactive waste  now stored at the site above ground  would be buried 680 metres deep.

The Saugeen Ojibway Nation comprises about 5,000 members of the Saugeen First Nation and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, many of whom live elsewhere. They have long complained about being shut out of decisions related to the power plant.

We were never part of shaping those decisions, Kahgee said. We certainly have not benefited in the same way that others have. Its the kind of classic example we see historically, where our people are often left on the outside looking in on their own territory while others reap the benefits.

The waste storage plan, pushed by OPG as perfectly safe but opposed by politicians and scores of communities in Canada and the United States as an eco disaster in the making, won tentative approval from an environmental review panel in May 2015. Since then, both the previous Conservative and current Liberal governments have repeatedly delayed making the politically fraught final decision.

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Federal government wants more information on impact of proposed nuclear-waste bunker near Indigenous community

OPG identifies most of Ontario as alternate 'location' to bury nuclear waste: Jennifer Wells

Most recently, federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna asked the giant utility in late August to come back yet again with more information  this time on how the project might affect area First Nations.

OPG continues to be engaged in respectful dialogue with SON, as it has been since 2004, and is seeking further information on those effects as well as the timeline for the SON community process, said Neal Kelly, with Ontario Power Generation. Once OPG has that information, we will submit the updated analysis to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

Steps toward a consensus among affected First Nations are underway. Members turned out to a conference over four days in September and October that Kahgee dubbed Nuclear 101. The aim was to explain nuclear power basics: radiation, levels of waste toxicity and the issues around how best to store the waste that remains dangerous for centuries. People, he said, have to understand enough to ask the right questions and hold a good dialogue.

Your no has to be just as informed as your yes, he said.

Various community sessions are being planned for 2018, but whats critical, Kahgee said, is to come up with a robust consultation process that ultimately reflects the native voice.

This is a historic moment in this country, he said. We are probably one of maybe one or two Indigenous communities in the world doing work on consent. Its a tremendous burden, but its also a tremendous opportunity.

Not lost on the Saugeen peoples in the ongoing discussion is the reality of the nearby power plant, a major employer in the area critical to Ontarios electricity needs, and the hazardous waste stored on site for years.

Its not going away, its there, and if we take seriously our role as stewards of the land, implicit is the responsibility of stewardship to act, Kahgee said. These are complex issues that will take time for our people to address. If this was simply about money or beads and trinkets, that conversation would have happened long ago.

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PARISFrench President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday launched an initiative to combat violence and harassment against women in France, aiming to erase a sense of shame that breeds silence among victims and changing what he said is the countrys sexist culture.

In a nearly hour-long speech at the Elysee presidential palace, Macron noted that 123 women died in attacks against them in France last year. Holding a moment of silence for them, he declared: It is time for shame to change camps.

In neighbouring Italy, the head of the Chamber of Deputies marked International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by noting with dismay that the Weinstein case hasnt inspired women to speak out on workplace harassment or assault like it has in the United States and other parts of Europe.

Laura Boldrini was referring to the onslaught of revelations after sexual harassment and assault allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein were made public.

The Weinstein case lifted the lid on the shame of (sexual) abuse in the glamorous world of U.S. cinema, setting off an avalanche in many other areas of society, Boldrini said, addressing a special gathering in which all the 630 seats, usually occupied by lawmakers in Parliaments lower house, were instead filled by guests who came to speak of their rebellion against being victims of men.

Among the invited: a woman who survived being stabbed repeatedly in the back by an ex-beau; the mother of a college student who was strangled and her corpse set ablaze by her former lover after she broke up with him; a woman whose child was slain by her estranged husband to avenge their failed marriage; a Moroccan immigrant whose abusive husband burned down their home after she found the courage to flee to safety with their children; a Nigerian who was trafficked into a prostitution ring the day she set foot in Italy.

Boldrini lamented that Italy hasnt seen a similar outpouring of accusations of workplace harassment.

In Italy, this certainly hasnt had the same effect, she said, adding: Id like to think that this has happened because there arent molesters, but Im afraid thats not the way it is.

She explained the tendency toward silence, including about rape, saying that women know that in this country there persists a strong prejudice against them in terms of their credibility.

In France, Macrons plan would encourage women to take action, strengthen laws against offenders and educating citizens on the issue  starting from nursery school.

He noted that violence takes on other forms, notably in the workplace, a result of inequality and a false sense of mens superiority.

What should be sanctuaries today becomes a hunting ground simply because (men) can use ... age, authority, their post or simply force, the French president said.

But Macron cautioned against France becoming a society where every interaction between a man and a woman can come under suspicion. We are not a Puritan society, he said.

Among proposed measures, Macron said legal complaints will be rushed through the system, and the statute of limitations for suspected sexual crimes against minors would be moved to 30 years from 20 currently as part of a bill to be presented in 2018.

Macron also wants to rectify intolerable ambiguities in the penal code surrounding the legal age of consent. Outrage followed a ruling in an assault case that an 11-year-old was of the age of consent. He suggested the age of 15  the legal age of sexual adulthood in France, and the age at which Macron met his future wife, Brigitte, his schools drama teacher.

To encourage more women to speak out, Macron said that from the start of next year, an online alarm system will be set up for instant contact with police.

Nursery school teachers will be trained to address non-negotiable equality between the sexes.

Macron said violence against women is most often committed where women should feel protected  be it at home, in the street or in the office  and the deafening silence must end.

Several of those inspiring other women in Italy to refuse to accept violence at the hands of male companions or relatives, carry their scars of being attacked themselves, like Lucia Annibali, a lawyer whose face was devoured by acid tossed by two attackers hired by her ex-boyfriend, and who now advises the Italian government on legislature measures such as anti-stalking laws.

This rebellion by women marks a stunning turnaround in Italy, where a generation ago, the Italian penal code prescribed lenient prison sentences for men who killed women out of jealousy or to preserve family honour.

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The mayor of the Japanese city of Osaka has said he is cutting ties with San Francisco because of a new statue there, overlooking a small park downtown.

The statue has three figures holding hands on a pedestal, representing girls from Korea, China and the Philippines. Beside them is a likeness of the Korean activist Kim Hak-sun.

It is a commemoration of the tens of thousands of comfort women who were detained and raped by Japanese soldiers before and during the Second World War. The issue still strains the relationship between South Korea and Japan, two key U.S. allies whose co-operation is vital to checking North Koreas aggression, and to balancing Chinas power in East Asia.

South Korean activists, including former comfort women, have accused Japan of playing down the atrocity, and an organization in San Francisco has taken up their cause. But Japanese officials say that criticism is one-sided and an obstacle to reconciliation.

Osaka and San Francisco are sister cities. But after Mayor Edwin M. Lee of San Francisco signed a resolution this week to turn the statue into a city monument, the mayor of Osaka, Hirofumi Yoshimura, said he would scrap the sisterhood by the end of the year. The relationship of trust has completely been destroyed, Reuters reported him as saying.

Yoshihide Suga, Japans chief Cabinet secretary, said at a news conference Friday that erecting comfort women statues in the United States and other countries is in conflict with our countrys stance and extremely regrettable.

The women were forced into brothel work at comfort stations, which were set up in various territories occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army. A UN investigation found that comfort stations were in use as early as 1932, and that as many as 200,000 women had been enslaved by the time the war ended in 1945. Most of the women are thought to have been Korean, but some were from China, the Philippines and other countries.

The statue in San Francisco was not intended as an affront to the people of Japan, said Julie Tang, a retired California Superior Court judge and a chairwoman of the Comfort Women Justice Coalition, which has been working for years to erect the statue.

The issue is womens freedom from sexual violence, especially from rape and assault during wartime, she said.

Critics of the movement say that the activists are promoting an unbalanced version of history, and that statues like the one in San Francisco might stoke animosity toward people of Japanese ancestry, more than 110,000 of whom were forced into internment camps in the United States at the same time the Imperial Japanese Army was running its comfort stations.

South Korea, too, has been accused of keeping comfort women. This year, a South Korean court ruled that the government was guilty of detaining women to work as prostitutes for U.S. soldiers during the 1960s and 70s.

After the San Francisco statue was unveiled in September, Jun Yamada, the consul general of Japan in San Francisco, said in a statement that the aim of current comfort women memorial movements seems to perpetuate and fixate on certain one-sided interpretations.

He added: This is unwarranted and hardly conducive to objective fact finding and mutual agreement, let alone a final reconciliation. Rather, they are rapidly alienating the entire Japanese public, who could otherwise be sympathetic to the wartime plight of these women, by unduly exacerbating emotional antagonism.

Judith Mirkinson, president of the Comfort Women Justice Coalition, said it was fitting that the statue was unveiled at a time when many women are feeling more emboldened to talk about sexual assault  and when statues have become lightning rods for political debate.

As weve seen over the last year, statues are very meaningful to people, said Mirkinson, whose group funded the construction of the memorial. They represent history.

Japans position on comfort women has been evolving for decades. In 1993, the government officially acknowledged that its wartime military had forced women to work in brothels.

At the time, former comfort women were beginning to speak out more forcefully, and they continued to criticize Japan for refusing to admit to the scope and scale of the abuse. In 2011, a statue portraying a sitting girl with clenched fists was installed near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, where several former comfort women had been staging regular protests.

Since then, dozens more statues have been erected, including some as far-ranging as Australia, Germany and the United States.

In 2015, Japan and South Korea came to an agreement. Fumio Kishida, Japans foreign minister at the time, said in a statement that the government of Japan painfully acknowledges its responsibility, and that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed sincere apologies and remorse to all those who suffered as comfort women.

Japan promised about $8.3 million (U.S.) to provide medical care and other services to comfort women, and Seoul was asked not to publicly criticize Tokyo over the issue.

But in December, another statue in South Korea  this time in the southern city of Busan  was installed in front of the Japanese Consulate. In January, Tokyo withdrew its ambassador to South Korea and its consul general in Busan. (They both returned in April.)

When President Donald Trump visited Seoul this month, South Korea invited Lee Yong-soo, a former comfort woman from Korea, to Trumps state banquet, setting off a formal protest from the Japanese government.

And now there is a comfort woman statue in San Francisco  the first in a major city in the United States.

San Francisco and Osaka have been sister cities since 1957. The relationship is meant to promote cultural exchange, including through special events and student ambassador programs.

In a letter last month, Lee, the mayor of San Francisco, urged Yoshimura, his counterpart in Osaka, not to cut ties, emphasizing that the partnership was between people, not just governments. It would be a shame to penalize those who worked so hard to build a strong future of co-operation between our residents, the letter said.

Tang said the coalition had received letters of support from people in Osaka who disagreed with Yoshimuras position.

What hes doing is extremely despicable and shameful, and it is against what we are trying to do in America, she said. This is to sensitize people to the issue of women and the kinds of sexual assault that they receive from men in authority.

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Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 16:39:14|Editor: Zhou Xin

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SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed in a five-vehicle collision on a highway in the western U.S. state of California, the state highway patrol authorities said Saturday.

Six others were injured in the serious crash involving five vehicles late Saturday night in San Pablo city, about 23 km northeast of San Francisco on the western U.S. coast, California Highway Patrol (CHP) Oakland Area Office tweeted.

The wounded were transported to a local hospital for treatment, according to the CHP Oakland.

It added that all westbound traffic on the highway was diverted to nearby exits and it was not known how long the duration of road closure will last.

Other details about the collision including information about the victims were not immediately known.

It was the second fatal traffic accident in San Francisco in two days during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

A 35-year-old Oakland man was killed Friday after his truck hit an overpass pillar on the same interstate highway.
The Progressive Conservatives have found their voice.

And Patrick Brown, the little-known Opposition leader who would be premier, is making himself heard. Just in time for the coming provincial election.

Who is Patrick Brown? Why should he be premier? What would he do in power?

He will cut income taxes. Reduce hydro rates. Impose a carbon tax. Issue refund cheques for child care. Take over our subways and build more of them. Boost health-care funding.

And step down if he doesnt deliver on his key promises in four years.

His proclamation of a Peoples Guarantee  signed onstage with a dramatic flourish  had the ring of a Marxist peoples manifesto as 1,500 loyal convention delegates cheered him on. Brown is no Bolshevik, but on Saturday he purged the party of the ghost of Mike Harris  and the Common Sense Revolution that has haunted PCs for decades, culminating with the defeat of Tim Hudak in 2014.

Now, Brown is remaking the party in his own emerging image  a mirror image of the Bill Davis era that tried harder to be all things (or more things) to all people. Not just right-wing people.

It is a focused, focus-group-tested campaign platform with a twist  more heft and left than hard right, offering more political lift than trickle-down:

Surprisingly progressive income tax cuts are targeted at lower-income people, not high rollers (including a sales tax credit). The child-care credits offer more to poor people with less, and rebate actual expenses (unlike the no-strings-attached baby bonus that Stephen Harpers Tories conjured up to buy votes federally).

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Who is Patrick Brown? The Ontario PC leader opens up about life, love and his new haircut as a June election looms

This election platform is not just a U-turn from the Harris years but an off-ramp from the Harper hothouse where Brown and many of his staff got their start. Instead of the provocative chain gangs that Tories proposed to punish prisoners in 2011, Brown offers anti-gang money to combat human trafficking of women.

There are populist teasers, like free Wi-Fi on GO trains (duly costed), tax credits for winter tires (the nanny state is back!) and an end to punitive auto rates based on postal codes (hello, Brampton!).

There will be plenty of time to analyze these ideas before next Junes election. But give Brown credit for getting his ideas out there so early after saying so little for so long.

Now, the Tories hope they can counter whispers that Brown had a scary agenda, a hidden agenda, or no agenda at all. With the next Ontario campaign barely six months away, there is no time to lose  not if Browns PCs want to win.

Over the past year, a huge 22-point lead in the polls has vaporized into a statistical margin of error  a mere three-percentage-point gap  as the embattled Liberals regain their footing. No longer can the Tories count on coasting to victory on the strength of Premier Kathleen Wynnes weakness.

And so the man who would be premier must do more and say more to earn the job. What once seemed like his for the taking, with little talking, now requires more proposing and persuading.

This weekend, in the same sprawling convention centre where he won the partys leadership in 2015, Brown attempted to respond in his own way. In his own time.

Three years ago, he came out of nowhere (not quite nowhere  he served as a loyal backbencher in Harpers Conservative government) to take the provincial party by storm. Brown proved to be a formidable organizer, signing up tens of thousands of supporters to seize the party from slow-moving Queens Park rivals.

With his impressive outreach to new Canadians in urban centres long neglected by traditional Tories, he has since boosted party membership to an unprecedented 140,000 loyalists. Yet after all this time as leader, Brown remains an enigma wrapped in a riding  a local, lifetime politician whose prodigious energy is matched only by his professional caution.

Brown loves to win. But will Ontarians love him back?

That depends on who he is. And how much voters want to dump Wynnes Liberals.

The word change is infused throughout the 78-page platform document like a mantra in a prayer book. But the Tories have cleverly transposed their catechisms into the style of a glossy magazine. More than a mere pamphlet, it contrasts with the usual stodgy corporate report format favoured by traditional parties.

It is accessible, readable and understandable. Whether it is agreeable is a question of personal political taste, but it is at least accountable  and the PCs get a gold star for subjecting their numbers to scrutiny by Kevin Page, the former parliamentary budget officer who frequently challenged the Harper governments accounting (he gave his blessings).

Underpinning the PC platform is not just continuity but surprising congruency with the existing order. Yes, Brown wants to dump Wynnes complex cap-and-trade regime for what his team describes as a Trudeau carbon tax emanating from Ottawa. But the bottom line is that Brown has dragged his fellow Tories (some kicking and screaming) into the world of climate change by finally putting a price on carbon, one way or another. (Fun fact: Taking a page from the Trudeau campaign book, Brown would also declare a deficit in the first year of his mandate to clean up the books he believes the Liberals have cooked.) Nor will Brown cancel the youth pharmacare program dubbed OHIP+ coming next year. Why commit political suicide?

After all this time as the provinces putative premier-in-waiting, polling shows roughly 50 per cent of voters still have no opinion of him. Most probably wouldnt recognize him in a supermarket lineup.

A leader with no profile and no policies cant win as the anti-Wynne alone. Now, Brown is offering voters a first look  and after three years of radio silence, he displayed a much-improved and fluent delivery, albeit aided by a teleprompter.

Much like the Uncola of old, he wants to be seen as the Un-Conservative of the Davis era  opposing the privatization of Hydro One, supporting rent controls, backing a $15 minimum wage (albeit more slowly) and supporting child care.

In short, running a PC government not dramatically different from todays Liberal government, for better or for worse.

Similar but different. Yet change all the same.

Martin Regg Cohns political column usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca, Twitter: @reggcohn

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The Canadian government joined the UN on Tuesday to answer a call from Caribbean nation states recovering from the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, which are requesting assistance from the international community for support in reconstruction.

Aside from a larger pledge from the Netherlands, which is intended exclusively for Dutch territories, the Canadian pledge of $100 million over five years was the largest in response, exceeded only by bilateral pledges from the European Union. A stark contrast to the U.S. pledge, which amounted to $4.3 million.

Celina Caesar-Chavannes delivered the announcement in her role as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)  UN High Level Pledging Conference.

Caesar-Chavannes was an inspired choice to share the news of Canadas support to the region. She opened her statement sharing of her own Caribbean roots: I myself, as a daughter of the soil from Grenada, am proud of this close bond and it is a privilege to be able to continue building these bridges between our countries.

More than 32,000 people have been displaced by the 2017 Caribbean hurricanes, with an estimated 17,000 still in need of shelter. Communities are in the process of addressing immediate infrastructure projects, including schools, hospitals, government administrative offices, and private institutions at the core of local economies.

Livelihoods hang in the balance of this rebuild.

According to Global Affairs Canada the funding will begin by taking into account the needs assessments for both Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda. The funding further focuses on supporting local efforts, particularly those led by women, ensuring better preparation for natural disasters and reconstruction of essential services.

The Caribbean diaspora in Canada is powerful  according to 2016 census data it is nearly 750,000 strong, and Canada is immensely enhanced culturally and economically by these connections. When the storms hit, Canadian organizations, businesses and individuals sprung into action to ensure emergency supplies reached those in need.

The Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA) served as a central organizing space for support to the region during the storm. The women in leadership of the JCA focused much of their efforts on Barbuda where the devastation was so widespread that the island was left uninhabitable for the first time in 300 years.

Toronto financial professional Akilah Allen-Silverstein stepped forward in support of friends and family in Dominica where 90 per cent of vegetation and structures were lost in the storm. She hosted an event this past week in efforts to replant trees and crops essential to preventing further flooding or landslides.

Akilah also shared the story of her mother, who considers herself lucky as she only lost a roof and was able to ensure her own safety while also salvaging some family albums from flooding. Her mother joined the local reconstruction efforts with a much-needed focus on securing appropriate mental health supports for communities impacted.

The success of these efforts will be defined by our ability to effectively empower women in leadership. Women who are creatively organizing to ensure children and youth dont see a gap in their education due to the storms as institutions are rebuilt. Women working to ensure those traumatized by the storms have mental health supports. Women who are brimming with entrepreneurial ideas to bring prosperity and wellness back to their communities.

Toronto writer Sharine Taylor welcomed the Canadian investment watchfully: We need to be mindful of how we play our global citizenship card to ensure it leads towards tangible changes on the ground.

Sharine is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bashy Magazine, a publication aimed at carving an authentic space connecting the lived experiences of the Jamaican diaspora. I echo her hope that the support Canada is offering does not end up spent on administration before reaching the communities that need it most.

Long after the storms are no longer deemed emergencies and disappear from the headlines, local communities carry out the difficult work of balancing immediate needs of displaced families while also carrying out long-term reconstruction.

Im proud that the Canadian government not only answered the call for assistance, but also chose to lead globally with a feminist approach in their response to supporting local reconstruction efforts in the Caribbean.

The resilient women and men rebuilding these communities have a long road ahead. In the words of Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Canada is proud to stand in solidarity with its Caribbean friends.

Tiffany Gooch is a political strategist at public affairs firms Enterprise and Ensight, secretary of the Ontario Liberal Party Executive Council, and an advocate for increased cultural and gender diversity in Canadian politics.

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Helena, Mont., has a new mayor. He is from Liberia.

Wilmot Collins, an African who became an American, is the first Black and the first African to be elected mayor of this small city. When he had recently arrived and spoke out against racism, his house was smeared: Go back to Africa, KKK. He called the police. When they arrived, his neighbours were already washing the painted threat away.

LaToya Cantrell was just elected mayor of New Orleans  the first woman and the first Black woman. She is a transplanted Californian who came to prominence through her post-Katrina rebuilding efforts, defeating a field of 18, including several from prominent Louisiana families.

Today, aging white men open their devices with dread, preparing for the shock of the latest stupid man caught behaving stupidly. As revolting as Roy Moore et al are, we must thank Donald Trump for having launched this dramatic sea change in what is acceptable. The silent complicity that greeted Bill Clintons transgressions came to a sudden stop, and the trigger for the building roar of anger from newly empowered victims today, was when we saw the infamous Trump Access Hollywood video. So, thank you, Donald.

Another Trump gift has received less attention though. It is the building counterattack on his kind of racist politics by women and non-white men as candidates in campaigns against even well-entrenched Republicans. When Roy Moores career  built on homophobia, bigotry and the alleged sexual abuse of minors  comes to a screeching end on Dec. 12, we will celebrate the date. If, for some shameful reason, Alabama voters make him a senator, it will be another Trump gift. Trumps sly half endorsement will have locked a heavy ball and chain on his and the GOPs ankles for years.

The triumphs of Collins and Cantrell are a powerful reminder of why American democracy has survived slavery, civil war and rampant political corruption. American voters can and do push back when offered a better choice of leader. And, increasingly, those leaders are younger, more progressive, non-white, women and men.

The Democratic sweep in Virginia was not altogether surprising, but the background of many of the candidates was: the first Asian woman, the first two Latina women, the first trans woman, and the first African-American woman. Across the country, the pattern was repeated: newcomers, especially women and non-white men, successfully challenged establishment candidates.

In Canada, we have seen some growth in women and visible minority candidates, but less in the numbers elected. Equal Voice, the women in politics advocacy group, reports that nearly one-in-three candidates were women in 2015, up from one-in-four a decade earlier. But women MPs are still stuck at less than 25 per cent, up little since 1997. We do have a Sikh as a national party leader, and three governments with gender-balanced cabinets, each impossible goals in the United States.

Meanwhile, on the global stage, cool relations are warming and stalled deals given new life. The TPP countries have relaunched their Pacific trade agreement. That Trudeau, supported by Mexico, demanded further changes to the draft got a lot of attention. What didnt was that Canadas somewhat strained relations with Mexico under the previous regime have grown into a mutual defence pact on NAFTA. Each has now made private commitments that they will not allow America to divide them into separate bilateral bargaining rivals. That was not clear a year ago. Today it is certain. Again, a gift of Donald Trump.

Despite Merkels wobbles and Macrons newbie missteps, France and Germany are rebuilding their traditional alliance, focused on reforming EU institutions, working closely for the first time in two decades  again, Trump. China is moving to be, improbably, the global champion of the world network of trade alliances as Trump has, incredibly, left the stage empty for them to occupy.

One of the oldest verities of political life is that politics is always a pendulum, most often swinging gently across a centrist resting point. When it swings wildly away from that position, you know it will swing strongly back in the other direction. Another is that nothing is so powerful in promoting unity as a despised common enemy.

The damage caused by the election of a corrupt, bigoted American president is real. But, in the ironies of political life, we are now seeing some of the unanticipated benefits. Thank you, Donald.

Robin V. Sears, a principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group, was an NDP strategist for 20 years.

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Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 17:04:20|Editor: Zhou Xin

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BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- World leaders and officials have strongly condemned Friday deadly terrorist attack on a mosque in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which claimed the lives of at least 305 people.

At noon on Friday, some 25 to 30 assailants bombed and opened fire at the mosque, killing 305 worshippers, including 27 children, and wounding 128 others, according to Egyptian authorities. It was the first terrorist operation to target a Muslim mosque in Egypt's modern history.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message of condolences to his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to offer his deep condolences and sincere sympathy to President Sisi, the families of the victims and the injured.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also stressed that China will join hands with Egypt to firmly oppose any forms of terrorism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that "The murder of civilians in the course of an act of worship is striking with its cruelty and cynicism," confirming that Russia was ready to further enhance cooperation with Egypt in fighting international terrorism.

U.S. President Donald Trump offered condolences to the people of Egypt after the "heinous" attack. "There can be no tolerance for barbaric groups that claim to act in the name of a faith but attack houses of worship and murder the innocent and defenseless while at prayer," said the White House.

Sebastiano Cardi, president of the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council, said, "The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack", and he wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the attack, extended his deepest condolences, and wished a swift recovery to those who have been injured.

European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that he was "appalled by the attack on a mosque in North Sinai. My thoughts are with Egypt and all those affected by this evil and cowardly act."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker "condemned in the strongest possible terms this barbaric and cowardly act deliberately targeting peaceful and innocent people," adding that "Europe stands beside you in solidarity just as you have stood with us in the past."

European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini denounced the attack, saying "No one should be killed because of their religion, no sacred place should be profaned by violence and terrorism. People of all religions...are united in the fight against terrorist violence."

"Perpetrators of such unbearable acts must be held responsible," she said, adding that the EU "will continue to stand with the Egyptian authorities and people as they confront the threat from terrorism."

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in a statement that "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this perfidious terrorism, which once again has not even spared places of worship and peaceful people of faith from its brutal atrocities."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian denounced the attack by saying, "France stands resolutely with Egypt in this latest ordeal. We will continue to stand together in the fight against terrorism and fanaticism."

Swiss President Doris Leuthard echoed, saying that "her thoughts are with the victims and their families."

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar also tweeted that he was "deeply saddened by the horrific attack... This is a terrorist attack that deserves all condemnation."

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos conveyed condolences to the victims' families and his wishes for a fast recovery of those injured.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned "the barbaric terrorist attack on a place of worship in Egypt", saying that "India resolutely supports the fight against all forms of terrorism and stands with the people as well as Government of Egypt."

Pakistan Foreign Ministry also condemned "in the strongest term the heinous terrorist attack against innocent worshipers," saying his country "stands in full solidarity with their Egyptian brethren in this moment of anguish and tragedy."

A statement released by Israeli Prime Minister's Office denounced "the horrific and criminal terrorist attack" which occurred close to Egypt's border with Israel, saying that "Terrorism will be defeated even more quickly if all countries work against it together."

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said, "I strongly condemn the heinous attack in Egypt and offer condolence to the Egyptian people... Attacking people during Friday prayer is against humanity and Islam."

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry confirmed the country's solidarity with Egypt and extended sincere condolences to the families of the martyrs and wishes swift recovery of the wounded.

King Abdullah II of Jordan and Morocco's King Mohammed VI also voiced their full solidarity with Egypt and the Egyptian people.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted, "Once again the cowardly hand of terrorism targeted the dear nation of Egypt... It does not differentiate between places even if they are mosques and place of worship."

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah condemned the attack that violates all religions, norms and human values, and voiced his country's solidarity with Egypt and his full support to all measures taken by Egypt to maintain its security and stability.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) strongly condemned "this terrorist crime, which is contrary to all human values and principles, the teachings of Islamic law and divine religions," the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Abu Dhabi said in a statement.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, widely known as Farmajo, said, "We stand united with our brothers and sisters in Egypt against terror," calling for effective international cooperation against terrorism.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said, "We pray that Egypt may be consoled and that it may be granted the courage to bear this loss, and to bring the perpetrators of this vile act to justice."

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said, "Tunisia is fully committed to the Egyptian side in this painful circumstance, especially as we support all measures from the Egyptian authorities to ensure the safety of citizens."

Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its strong condemnation of the terrorist attack and its condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Egypt, describing the incident as "a crime contradicting all humanitarian values and principles."

Libya's U.N.-backed prime minister, Fayez Serraj "strongly condemns the cowardly treacherous terrorist attack," saying that "This terrible crime against a house of God can only be carried out by those who have no human or religious morals."

The Sri Lankan government offered the deepest condolences and urged the international community to join hands to find effective ways and means to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

The Brazilian government expressed its condolences to the families of the victims, its wishes for the prompt recuperation of the injured and its solidarity with the people and government of Egypt.

Terror attacks started to rise in Egypt following the military ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Since then, most of the attacks have focused on restive North Sinai, killing hundreds of policemen and soldiers, before they later started to extend to other provinces and target the Coptic minority in their churches.
Coeur Mining, Inc. explores for precious metals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, silver, zinc, and lead properties. It holds 100% interests in the Palmarejo gold and silver mine covering an area of approximately 67,296 net acres located in the State of Chihuahua in Northern Mexico; the Rochester silver and gold mine that covers an area of approximately 43,441net acres situated in northwestern Nevada; the Kensington gold mine comprising 3,972 net acres located to the north of Juneau, Alaska; the Wharf gold mine covering an area of approximately 3,243 net acres situated in the northern Black Hills of western South Dakota; and the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine comprising 97,298 net acres located in northern British Columbia, Canada. In addition, the company owns interests in the Crown and Sterling projects located in southern Nevada; and the La Preciosa project located in Mexico. Further, it markets and sells its concentrates to third-party customers, smelters, under off-take agreements. The company was formerly known as Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation and changed its name to Coeur Mining, Inc. in May 2013.Coeur Mining, Inc. was incorporated in 1928 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Graham Holdings Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified education and media company worldwide. It provides test preparation services and materials; data science and training services; professional training and exam preparation for professional certifications and licensures; and non-academic operations support services to the Purdue University Global. The company also offers training, test preparation, and degrees for accounting and financial services professionals; English-language training, academic preparation programs, and test preparation for English proficiency exams; and A-level examination preparation services, as well as operates three colleges, a business school, a higher education institution, and an online learning institution. In addition, it owns and operates seven television stations; and provides social media management tools to connect newsrooms with their users, as well as produces Foreign Policy magazine and ForeignPolicy.com website. Further, the company publishes Slate, an online magazine; and two French-language news magazine websites at slate.fr and slateafrique.com. Additionally, it provides social media marketing solutions; home health and hospice services; burners, igniters, dampers, and controls; screw jacks, linear actuators and related linear motion products, and lifting systems; pressure impregnated kiln-dried lumber and plywood products; cybersecurity training solutions; digital advertising services; and power charging and data systems, industrial and commercial indoor lighting solutions, and electrical components and assemblies. The company also owns and operates 11 restaurants and entertainment venues; and engages in automobile dealerships business. The company was formerly known as The Washington Post Company and changed its name to Graham Holdings Company in November 2013. Graham Holdings Company was founded in 1877 and is based in Arlington, Virginia.
CACI International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides expertise and technology to enterprise and mission customers in support of national security missions and government modernization/transformation in the intelligence, defense, and federal civilian sectors. It operates in two segments, Domestic Operations and International Operations. The Domestic Operations segment offers information solutions and services to the U.S. federal government agencies and commercial enterprises in the areas, such as digital solutions, C4ISR, cyber and space, engineering services, enterprise IT, and mission support. The International Operations segment provides a range of IT services, proprietary data, and software products to the commercial and government customers in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and internationally. The company designs, implements, protects, and manages secure enterprise IT solutions. It also offers software-defined, full-spectrum cyber, electronic warfare, and counter-unmanned aircraft system solutions; and platform integration and modernization and sustainment, as well as system engineering, naval architecture, training and simulation, and logistics engineering. In addition, the company provides enterprise cloud solutions for classified and unclassified networks; and intelligence support that ensures continuous advances in collection, analysis, and dissemination to optimize decision-making. CACI International Inc was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 17:09:22|Editor: Zhou Xin

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A Nepali elderly casts her ballot at a polling station in Nuwakot, Nepal, Nov. 26, 2017, during the parliamentary and provincial elections of the country. Voting began to elect Nepal's parliament and the provincial assemblies on Sunday in the country's northern 32 mountainous and hilly districts in the first phase. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)

KATHMANDU, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Voting began to elect Nepal's parliament and the provincial assemblies on Sunday in the country's northern 32 mountainous and hilly districts in the first phase.

Another round of elections will take place on Dec. 7 in the remaining 45 districts of southern plain and hilly districts.

Despite a number of bomb blasts targeting the candidates and their campaigns in the run-up to the elections, Nepal's Election Commission (EC) said the voting is taking place peacefully in all districts where polls are being held with exciting participation of voters.

"There is no report of disturbances in polls in the early hours of voting," EC spokesperson Navaraj Dhakal told Xinhua.

In the recent bomb attacks, former speaker of Nepal's parliament Ram Chandra Poudel, former Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat, another former Finance Minister Barsaman Pun, former Home Minister Janardan Sharma and former Information and Communication Minister Sher Dhan Rai were targeted but not harmed.

Nepal's Home Ministry on Saturday said "effective and reliable" security has been arranged for the polls, urging voters to participate in the elections without fear.

These elections are taking place to elect the federal legislatures at central and provincial levels as envisioned by the Nepal's new constitution promulgated in September 2015.

The Himalayan country had earlier held local elections as first step toward implementing the new constitution.

"Elections for federal parliament and provincial assembly are important step towards implementing the constitution which was promulgated by the Constituent Assembly for the first time in Nepal's history," Lokraj Baral, a political scientist, said on Sunday.

Nepal is holding the two elections together because of constitutional provision under which all polls will have to be concluded by Jan. 21, 2018.

There are 3,191,945 eligible voters for the first phase of elections. As many as 702 candidates are contesting both polls under a first-past-the-post election system. There are 5,838 candidates under proportional election system for both phases of elections, according to Nepal's election authority.
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.
NextEra Energy, Inc. is the largest electric utility holding company in the US. It operates a network of power generation and distribution facilities that include fossil-fuel-generated and green energy. As of mid-2022, the company was capable of generating 58 GW of electricity with nearly 60% of the load produced by green sources including wind and solar. In their view, going green isnt an option, its the solution. NextEra Energy has been recognized multiple times as a leader in clean energy and ESG practices and was ranked the #1 electric and gas utility on the Forbes list of Most Admired Companies.

The company is the result of several mergers that begin with FPL Group. FPL Group is now a subsidiary of NextEra Energy and the third-largest provider of electricity in the US servicing nearly half of Florida. FPL and its affiliates are the single largest provider of renewable energy generated from wind and sun. The group changed its name in 2010 following a decision to shift focus onto renewable energy sources.

Today, NextEra Energy, Inc through its subsidiary FPL serves about 12 million people in eastern and southwestern Florida. The company employs nearly 14,900 people who service 5.8 million accounts. The company is in business to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity to retail and wholesale clients. Electricity is generated through wind, solar, nuclear, natural gas, and coal-fired facilities.

The company is also engaged in the construction and operation of new facilities, specifically renewable power generation, storage, and delivery facilities, and can offer custom solutions tailored to any need. Offerings include tailored services to assist businesses with their transition to clean energy.

NextEra Energy also owns and operates 7 nuclear power stations in Florida, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin generating power for the wholesale market.

Unlike other companies that are targeting net-zero emissions, NextEra Energy has a plan to reach real zero and is investing heavily to reach that goal by 2045. The company had invested nearly $50 billion in green energy infrastructure and initiatives by mid-2022. The plan is to first work on reducing its own emissions and then take its knowledge and expertise to the world.
KAZ Minerals PLC, together with its subsidiaries, engages in mining and processing copper and other metals primarily in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. It operates through Bozshakol, Aktogay, East Region and Bozymchak, and Mining Projects segments. The company operates the Aktogay and Bozshakol open pit copper mines in the east region and Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan; three underground mines in the east region of Kazakhstan; and the Bozymchak copper-gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. It also develops greenfield metal deposits; operates Koksay deposit in Kazakhstan, and the Baimskaya licence area in the Chukotka region of Russia; and produces and sells various by-products, such as gold, silver, molybdenum, and zinc. In addition, the company supplies and distributes heat, water, and electricity; and offers construction, project management, financing, management, sales and logistics, and repairs and maintenance services. The company was formerly known as Kazakhmys PLC and changed its name to KAZ Minerals PLC in October 2014. KAZ Minerals PLC was founded in 1930 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 17:14:23|Editor: Zhou Xin

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ADEN, Yemen, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. drone killed five operatives of the Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot in an overnight strike as they were traveling through a mountainous road in the southeastern province of Shabwa, a local official told Xinhua on Sunday.

The local Yemeni official based in Shabwa said that missiles fired by unmanned U.S. aircraft destroyed a vehicle and left five bodies badly burnt in the area late on Saturday.

A tribal chief confirmed the strike, saying "a drone kept hovering for hours and then struck a car carrying five al-Qaida operatives in Markhah area of Shabwa."

"The vehicle was completely destroyed and no one of the citizens approached from the scene to see for fear of new air bombings," the tribal source added.

An intelligence source said that "the attack aimed at killing a high-ranking member of the al-Qaida terrorist group. But investigators were unable to identify those killed because only charred remains of the terrorists' bodies left at the scene."

The southeastern province of Shabwa, now under the control of newly-recruited Yemeni troops backed by the United Arab Emirates, has recently witnessed a number of anti-terror offensives against hideouts of al-Qaida in the past weeks.

The U.S. military has carried out several airstrikes against the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters in different provinces of the war-torn Arab country since U.S. President Donald Trump approved expanded military operations against the group.

That included intensified overnight airstrikes and ground military raids against the al-Qaida hideouts in the mountainous areas of al-Bayda and southeastern province of Shabwa.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida branch, seen by the United States as the global terror network's most dangerous branch, has exploited years of deadly conflict between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence, especially in southeastern provinces.

Yemen's government, allied with a Saudi-led Arab military coalition, has for years been battling Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels for control of the impoverished country.

UN statistics showed that more than 8,000 people have been killed in Yemen's conflict, most of them civilians, since the Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in 2015.

The impoverished Arab country is also suffering the world's largest cholera outbreak, where about 5,000 cases are reported every day.
comScore, Inc. operates as an information and analytics company that measures advertising, consumer behavior, and audiences across media platforms in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and internationally. The company offers ratings and planning products and services, including Media Metrix Multi-Platform and Mobile Metrix, which measure Websites and apps on computers, smartphones, and tablets; Video Metrix that delivers measurement of digital video consumption; Plan Metrix, which offers understanding of consumer lifestyle; TV Essentials that combines TV viewing information with marketing segmentation and consumer databases; and StationView Essentials to understand consumer viewing patterns and characteristics. Its ratings and planning products and services also comprises Cross-Platform solutions, including Comscore Campaign Ratings for verification of mobile and desktop video campaigns; OnDemand Essentials that provides transactional tracking and reporting; validated Campaign Essentials, which validates whether digital ad impressions are visible to humans, identifies those that are fraudulent, and verifies that ads are shown in brand safe content and delivered to the right audience targets; and Total Home Panel Suite, which capture OTT, connected TV, and IOT device usage and content consumption. In addition, the company offers analytics and optimization products and services that provide solutions for planning, optimization, and evaluation of advertising campaigns and brand protection. Further, it provides movies reporting and analytics products and services to measure movie viewership and box office results by capturing movie ticket sales in real time or near real time. The company serves digital publishers, television networks, movie studios, content owners, brand advertisers, agencies, and technology providers. comScore, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.
Devon Energy Corporation is an independent oil and gas company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company was incorporated in 1971 by John Nichols and his son J. Larry Nichols and later went public in August 2000. The company has since grown to be included in the S&P 500 and is one of the first energy companies to introduce resolutions requiring the company to monitor its impact on global warming. One time a major player in the global oil market, Devon has since sold off its offshore holdings in an effort to focus on US production and its transition to a lower-carbon future.

Devon Energy merged with WPX in early 2021 in an all-stock merger of equals. The new company is primarily engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the US midwest. The company operates more than 5,100 wells in Oklahomas Delaware Basis, Eagle Ford Group, and the two locations in the Rocky Mountains. As of late 2022, the company laid claim to 1.625 million barrels of reserves including 44% petroleum, 27% natural gas liquids, and 29% natural gas. Daily production was running in the range of 300,000 BPD in petroleum liquids, 125,000 BPD in natural gas liquids, and 920 million cubic feet of natural gas.

Rick Muncrief, formally CEO of WPX, is now the head of Devon Energy. Mr. Muncrief comes to the table with more than 40 years of experience including 27 years with one of the US Big Three Oil Companies. WPX Energy (Williams Production and Exploration) brought properties in the Williston and Permian Basins to the combined company. Its proven reserves were roughly 527 million barrels of oil and equivalents. The company also owns and operates a midstream network of pipelines and storage facilities it uses to market and deliver its products.

Devon Energy Corporation has pledged to reduce its GHG impact to net zero by 2050. This will be done by a variety of methods that include improving efficiency and leakage, a reduction in flaring, and the electrification of its operations. Near-term goals include a 50% reduction in GHG by 2030 including a 65% reduction in methane release and a 100% reduction in flaring. The company is also focused on reducing its environmental impact by relying on recycled water wherever possible and plans to reduce freshwater usage by 90% in the most active areas. Total greenhouse gas emissions have been in decline since 2018 and fell 17% between 2018 and 2020 alone.
Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in banking, trust, securities, and other businesses related to financial services in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia/Oceania, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail & Business Banking Company, Corporate & Institutional Company, Global Corporate Company, Global Markets Company, and Asset Management Company. The company provides deposit products; syndicated, housing, and card loans; business matching services; and advisory services related to overseas expansions, and mergers and acquisitions-related services. It also offers consulting services, including asset management and asset succession; payroll services; and sells lottery tickets issued by prefectures and ordinance-designated cities. In addition, it offers financial solutions, such as bonds, mergers and acquisitions advisory, risk hedging products, etc. for corporate customers to meet their needs in fund-raising, investment management, and financial strategies; solutions based on their capital management, business strategy, and financial strategy; real estate agency services; advisory services and solutions, such as advice on proposals on various investment products to financial institutions; and financial services that include funding support and public bonds underwriting. Further, the company offers sales and trading services to meet needs for customers; investment products for individual customers; and consulting services for institutional investors. Additionally, the company provides products and services related to trust, securitization and structured finance, pension, and stock transfers; securities services; and research, private banking, and information technology-related services. Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to individuals, small and medium enterprises, and corporate customers in Brazil and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Commercial Banking and Global Wholesale Banking. It offers deposits and other bank funding instruments; debit and credit cards; digital prepaid solutions; payment platform; loyalty programs; employee benefit vouchers; payroll loans; digital lending and online debt renegotiation services; mortgages; home equity financing products; consumer credit; and local loans, commercial and trade finance, guarantees, structured loans, and cash management and funding solutions, as well as on-lending transfer services. It also provides funding and financial advisory services related to projects, origination and distribution of fixed-income securities in the debt capital markets, financing of acquisitions and syndicated loans, other structured financing arrangements, and subordinated debt and energy efficiency transactions; advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, and equity capital markets transactions; and stock brokerage and advisory, equity, and equity research services. In addition, the company structures and offers foreign exchange, derivative, and investment products for institutional investors, and corporate and retail customers; and provides market making services. Further, it offers instant payment services; range of products and services focused on the agribusiness sector; microfinance services; and online automotive listing and digital car insurance solutions, as well as digital trading platform. Additionally, it provides its financial services and products to its customers through multichannel distribution network comprising branches, mini-branches, ATMs, call centers, Internet banking, and mobile banking. Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Koninklijke Philips N.V. operates as a health technology company in North America and internationally. It operates through Diagnosis & Treatment Businesses, Connected Care Businesses, and Personal Health Businesses segments. The company provides diagnostic imaging solutions, includes magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography (CT) systems, X-ray systems, and detector-based spectral CT solutions, as well as molecular and hybrid imaging solutions for nuclear medicine; integrated interventional systems; echography solutions focused on diagnosis, treatment planning and guidance for cardiology, general imaging, obstetrics/gynecology, and point-of-care applications; proprietary software to enable diagnostics and intervention; and enterprise diagnostic informatics products and services. It also offers acute patient management solutions; emergency care solutions; sleep and respiratory care solutions; and electronic medical record and care management solutions. In addition, the company provides power toothbrushes, brush heads, and interdental cleaning and teeth whitening products; infant feeding and digital parental solutions; and male grooming and beauty products and solutions. It has a strategic collaboration with Ibex Medical Analytics Ltd. to jointly promote the digital pathology and AI solutions to hospitals, health networks, and pathology laboratories worldwide, as well as a strategic partnership agreement with NICO.LAB. The company was formerly known as Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and changed its name to Koninklijke Philips N.V. in May 2013. Koninklijke Philips N.V. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 17:19:25|Editor: Zhou Xin

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by Huang Heng, Guo Shuang

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. authorities and local officials have urged customers to shop on this year's Small Business Saturday, a new shopping holiday that falls on the fourth Saturday of November, and which is sandwiched between the traditional Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

First observed in the country on Nov. 27, 2010, Small Business Saturday is not like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, which feature big-box retail and e-commerce stores respectively such as Macy's and Amazon.com.

Small Business Saturday is less about big profits and more about encouraging holiday shoppers to patronize businesses owned by small merchants in their own communities, even backyards.

Avalon is a small community located in Santa Catalina Island in the western U.S. state of California, 90 km west of Los Angeles downtown, with only 3,700 residents.

"We are a small business, we do 10 percent off on anything in the store on Small Business Day," Marcela Johnson, who works for a local grocery in Avalon, told Xinhua.

"A lot of people here support local business, during last three days, we almost increased 30 percent. Cyber Monday comes too, we did way better last year, (online shopping) doesn't affect here very much, because there are many local supports here," said Johnson.

Independent neighborhood retailers, restaurants and producers like Johnson's grocery play a very important role in the country's economic system, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), an independent federal agency supporting the interests of small business.

"Small businesses are the engine of our national economy. We now have in the United States about 30 million small businesses. About half of all American workers are either employed by a small business or own a small business. And two out of three new jobs are created by small business. Those are pretty powerful and compelling statistics," said Linda McMahon, Administrator of SBA, in a press release Saturday.

McMahon's words were echoed by Tulsi Gabbard, a Federal Representative from Hawaii, who tweeted Saturday morning: "Small businesses are the heart of our economy, and in Hawaii they make up over 99 percent of the business & employ nearly 270,000 people. Today, Nov. 25 is SmallBusinessSaturday -- let's get out and support local businesses."

Vala Afshar, a digital business experts who wrote "The Pursuit of Social Business Excellence," posted on his twitter that there are 29 million small businesses in the United States, accounting for 99.7 percent of all business in the county.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also joined the promotion team, saying on its official twitter page that over 800 small businesses located across 43 states contributed to the NASA's rocket program.

"Did you know that there are over 1,600 small businesses that are supporting our work and missions? In the 2016 fiscal year, these small businesses received over 5.25 billion U.S. dollars in contracts from us." NASA said.

Even though, the traditional small business's future is not that blooming as McMahon expected, mainly due to the pressure of e-commerce. It is a part of reason why she said the Small Business Saturday's goal is "to revitalize a sense of entrepreneurship in America."

On the Small Business Saturday last year, an estimated 112 million Americans spent a combined 15.4 billion U.S. dollars, three times the sales in 2012, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.

However, it was less than the figure registered in 2015, which was estimated at 16.2 billion dollars.

"There is no chain brand here, we are only a small business, we don't have sales on Black Friday," Susan, a staff of local store Catalina Kids in Avalon, told Xinhua, "but I bought lots of Christmas presents online on Thursday."
Got back last night from an amazing 12 day safari, will be doing a blog after we sort through thousands of pictures. Actually looking forward to working on the blog, we get to relive the safari again.

3 Days Mdonya - Ruaha (Thanks Shep for the great trip report on our first and last camps, we knew this was exactly what we were looking for)

4 Days Ikuka - Ruaha (Thanks Stokeygirl for pointing out this one to us, AMAZING)

5 Days Lake Manze - Selous

Thanks to ETrip Africa who looked after our booking, everything went extremely smoothly. I know we will be asked whether we preferred North or South, will put some thoughts together on that as well.

Back soon with some links.
Trying to plan a surprise trip to Japan for Christmas (yes I'm aware japan isn't big on Christmas) and our anniversary. Me and my wife will be traveling to japan the 19th of Dec. and are staying until the 28th. I have half the trip planned out, just stuck on Christmas Eve. I was wondering if anyone knows of a nice decent-sized village/town to hole up in a nice hotel (or ryokan), where there will be plenty of snow for a christmasy feel that is relatively close to the Jigokudani park. We'll be staying in a ryokan there the night before, but I would like to continue heading north/northeast to continue a full circle back to tokyo. Thanks for any help in advance.
Where to go during last several days in Japan after Osaka?

Where to go during last several days in Japan after Osaka?

Hello,

I'm traveling to Japan for a couple weeks in late December. I stay in Tokyo for a few days, then head to Kyoto, then Beppu, then Osaka. When I leave Osaka I'll have a few days left before flying back home which I still haven't planned.

I've already lived in Japan for about a year a few years ago (military) so I've already been to most major cities. Is there any hidden gyms between Osaka and Tokyo that I potentially haven't been to? Or should I just stay in Tokyo again for the last few days?
Hey all,

My girlfriend and I (both in our 20s) are officially visiting Japan for 3-months from February 1st to the end of April. We're posting here for general advice and a review of our itinerary/budget for the three months we'll be there. Our goal for the trip is to be immersed in Japanese culture, meet and learn about the lives of locals as well as expats, practice photography, and document our experience while in the country. We'd also like some opportunities to see the rural side of Japan, which we haven't yet experienced in the last two times we've visited.

Our first week in Japan will be spend in Sapporo city to see the Snow Festival and the Otaru Light Path in Otaru - we were fortunate enough to find an AirBnB that will accommodate us close to the city center. We considered doing some snowboarding, but it seems that the slopes are a bit far away and the lift ticket is pricey, leading to an expensive trip for a single day of snowboarding. Otherwise, we'll explore Sapporo city.

Our second week will be spent in Nara, Okinawa. We plan to go whale watching, see the aquarium, Peace Memorial, and castle there.

From Okinawa, we fly to Osaka where we've budgeted a one-month stay from the 17th of February to the 17th of March. We may end up taking a side trip to Kobe (Either for a weekend, or a bit longer) but expect that this time will be spent in either an apartment or a month-long AirBnB. This is the area of our trip that is the most uncertain - we know a lot of money can be saved in accommodations by booking for a full month, but we're not sure if we'll be able to fill an entire month with activities in Osaka.

After Osaka, we have a week scheduled to visit Kyoto. I think we'll be arriving a bit before the blooming of cherry blossoms, which is unfortunate.

Lastly, we'll be traveling to Tokyo for the last month of our trip. We plan to acquire a room in a Share House or Social Apartment and spend the month in the Tokyo area. I've read a lot that Tokyo is less friendly and more work-focused than Osaka but we have an undeniable draw to the city. After our month in Tokyo, we'll fly home.

Scattered in our plans is a trip to the Buddhist temples at Koyasan, a stay in a Ryokan or two, trips out to a rural area and nature trails, and time spent documenting and interviewing the Japanese people.

Our budget (Including our flight to/from Japan) is $18,000. Our base-estimate for food per day is $60 for two people($1800/month which feels a bit high, but this is a conservative estimate). Our initial estimates for domestic flights/trains between cities, as well as lodging, is $5500 total. This leaves about $1700/month of "fun money" for everything else - tickets, extra transit costs, etc. We're both equipped with substantial emergency savings accounts in the case that anything goes terribly wrong, or if we end up breaking our budget on accident.

We've already finalized stays, plans, and transport in Sapporo and Okinawa. The rest we've approximated.

We'd love any advice, anecdotes about similar visits, recommendations for rural areas near Osaka or Tokyo that would be worth visiting/exploring, suggestions on how to best experience Japanese culture, etc.

Thanks!
Hi! I'm heading to Tokyo in January and looking to find accomodation near Haneda airport for 2 nights. My flight arrives at about 8:30 at Narita airport and my friend's fight arrives at 11:30pm at Haneda airport. We are flying out of Haneda airport 2 days later. I am looking to find accomodation near to Haneda airport that is cheap(we are students!) and easy for us to get to. I realise that I will have to travel quite a way to get to Haneda from Narita. I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas about accomodation? Or if it is better for us both to travel into more central Tokyo and meet there? any help would be appreciated! Thankyou!
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Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 17:34:28|Editor: Zhou Xin

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PHNOM PENH, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Sunday ordered authorities to investigate the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) established by jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha.

Sokha, 64, was arrested on Sept. 3 and charged with treason for allegedly attempting to topple the government.

He is currently imprisoned awaiting a trial on treason charge, a crime that faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

On Nov. 16, the Supreme Court dissolved Sokha's Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) for its involvement in his alleged treasonous acts. The dissolution left 55 CNRP lawmakers and 5,007 commune councilors lost their positions.

In an old video to his supporters in Australia, Sokha told them that he created the CCHR in 2002.

Speaking to more than 4,000 garment factory workers during a get-together in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen ordered the Interior Ministry to look into the CCHR because it was established by a Cambodian who received advice from a foreign power to overthrow the legitimate government.

"The Cambodian Center for Human Rights in Phnom Penh must be shut down because it was founded at the behest of a foreign power," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 17:34:29|Editor: Zhou Xin

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NANNING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed and nine injured in a rock fall on a mountain road in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Sunday, according to local authorities.

The rocks fell in the township of Zhoulu in Mashan County at around 9 a.m., hitting pedestrians and vehicles, according to county government sources.

The injured were taken to hospital.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 18:04:35|Editor: Zhou Xin

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LONDON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Five people including three teenage boys were killed after a stolen car crashed into a tree in northeastern England, British police said Sunday.

The accident happened in Leeds, a city in northern Yorkshire county, on Saturday night.

Two of the boys who died were aged 15, and the youngest victim was 12. Police say the other two people killed were men aged 24 and 28.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 18:49:44|Editor: Liangyu

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KABUL, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Up to 20 militants were killed and 33 others wounded amid military operations across Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry said Sunday.

"The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces carried out 12 clean-up operations and 15 special operations in nine provinces in the past 24 hours, killing 20 insurgents and injuring 33 others," the ministry said in a statement.

The Afghan air force also launched airstrikes, destroying four militants' hideouts over the period, the statement said, without elaborating casualties on the side of security forces.

The Afghan troops have beefed up military operations against militants as the Taliban militants and Islamic State (IS) fighters are attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions ahead of winter in the mountainous country.
This week on Issues in the News, prominent Washington correspondents discuss topics making headlines around the world, including the resignation of longtime Zimbabwe leader, Robert Mugabe. Join moderator David Rennie of The Economist, along with our panelists, Philippe Gelie of Le Figaro and Thomas DeFrank, Contributing editor for the National Journal on Issues in the News. Listen this Saturday and Sunday on the Voice of America!
Music Time in Africa is VOAs longest running English language program. Since 1965, this award-winning program has featured pan African music that spans all genres and generations. Ethnomusicologist and Host Heather Maxwell keeps you up to date on whats happening in African music with exclusive interviews, cultural information, and of course, great music -- including rare recordings from the Leo Sarkisian Library of African Music.
A top official in Afghanistan has come under fire for seeming to confirm for the first time that neighboring Iran has recruited thousands of Shiite Afghans and warriors from other regional countries to fight in Syria.

Deputy Afghan Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqiq made the controversial statement during a trip last week to Tehran. His remarks were recorded on video and aired and reported by Afghan media, prompting critics to take to social media to denounce him and call for his removal from office.

While addressing an international summit of scholars from Iran and other Muslim nations, the Afghan deputy chief executive is shown praising Major General Qasem Soleimani, who commands foreign operations of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The gathering was convened to discuss ways to fight the dark ideology of IS terrorists from a unified Islamic front, according to Iranian media.

The Iranian general is said to be one of the founders of the Fatemiyoun Division, made up of mostly Afghan fighters and deployed to the Syrian conflict zone.

I thank all the warriors who cooperated in these wars from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other parts of the world who attended the wars. In fact, it was the war of Islam against infidelity and against the conspiracies of the world arrogance, Mohaqiq said.

The Afghan official did not elaborate and went on to commend the prominent role of General Soleimani in the victory in Syria.

IS moved into Afghanistan

Mohaqiq claimed that more than 10,000 Islamic State members who escaped the conflict, including those from Central Asian states, have now moved to Afghanistan and are threatening stability of northern and western border provinces.

The northern part of Afghanistan, once a secure area, has now been destabilized after the incursion of Daesh, Mohaqiq said using local acronym for IS. The instability, he warned, will threaten neighboring Central Asian nations.

The Afghan government has not yet commented on Mohaqiqs remarks, but the foreign ministry has maintained that reports of Afghans being sent to conflict zones in the Middle East are under investigation and that the issue has also been raised with Iranian authorities.

Allegations from rights groups

Rights defenders have repeatedly drawn international attention to what they say is Tehrans training and deployment of Afghan refugees in Iran.

Human Rights Watch in a detailed report published last month also accused Iran of committing war crimes by recruiting and sending Afghan immigrant children as young as 14 to fight in Syria alongside government forces.

The report charged the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps with recruiting and providing combat training to mainly Shiite Hazara Afghans who have settled in Iran after fleeing decades of hostilities in their native country.

Recruits for Fatemiyoun Division are said to come mostly from about 2.5 million Afghan refugees, many of them without residency papers. Pro-government Iranian media describes the division as a volunteer Afghan force fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Rights groups have documented cases of Afghans, mostly Shiite Hazaras, in Iran who volunteered to take part in the Syrian conflict in the hopes of gaining legal status and a monthly income of around $600 for their impoverished refugee families.

Iranian authorities reportedly tell Afghan recruits they are being trained to fight to protect major Shiite shrines in Damascus, Aleppo and Raqqa.

Iran is reported to have poured billions into Syria in addition to raising Shiite militias from countries with significant Shiite population, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, which also hosts millions of Afghan refugees.
Fresh fighting between the Islamic State (IS) terror group and Taliban insurgents has displaced hundreds of people in an eastern Afghan province.



More than 200 families fled their homes in the Khogyani district of eastern Nangarhar province as the two warring parties engaged in fierce fighting, local officials said.



Ahmad Ali Hazrat, head of the Nangarhar provincial council, told Radio Liberty the clashes took place in areas under the influence of Taliban. He added that many locals fled their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire between the militant groups.



Some villagers, who view IS as an outside force, have supported Taliban militants to battle the IS fighters in the district and counter the terror groups frequent attacks on their villages.



This is not the first time local residents have been displaced by clashes between the two groups. Civilians have borne the brunt of the rivalry between IS and the Taliban in the district.



More than 2,000 families were displaced and at least eight civilians were killed in October when IS and Taliban fighters clashed for several days in the Waziro Tangi region of the Khogyani district, according to provincial authorities.



The Waziro Tangi Valley is considered an important economic corridor used by militants for smuggling of Afghan mineral supplies to neighboring Pakistan.

An anti-corruption watchdog in Afghanistan earlier this year said militant groups received at least $46 million from minerals and precious stones illegally exported last year from Nangarhar province to Pakistan.





Afghanistan has some of the world's richest mineral resources, including extensive deposits of copper, iron, gemstones and precious metals.



Since its emergence in early 2015 in the southern districts of Nangarhar, the Islamic State group in Afghanistan, also known as IS-Khorasan, has engaged in frequent clashes with Taliban fighters for control of districts and villages in the province.



Besides battling with Taliban militants, IS fighters have repeatedly targeted local villages in Nangarhar. The group has destroyed homes, torched markets and barred children from attending school in areas under its control.



The group has also claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks in major Afghan cities, including attacks on mosques and worshipers.

The IS terror group had reportedly planned to establish a caliphate in Afghanistan, according to General John Nicholson, commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. He recently told VOA, They declared that Jalalabad would be the capital and they would take over Nangarhar; they have failed.



Afghan and U.S. forces say they conduct joint operations against IS militants in the country, and Afghan special forces, backed by U.S. ground and airpower, have cleared many areas of IS militants in Nangarhar.



Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesperson for the Nangarhar governor, on Saturday told reporters at least 16 IS fighters, including two commanders, were killed in an airstrike in the Achin district, the groups stronghold.



Radio Libertys Baaz Mohammad Abid contributed to this report from Nangarhar.
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Wildfires that swept through Northern California in early October killed 42 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, and caused an estimated $6 billion in damage to the region. The fires have also frozen an income stream the region relies on: tourism. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 19:09:49|Editor: Liangyu

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KABUL, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Seven militants of Haqqani group were killed following an airstrike in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia, authorities said on Sunday.

"Based on a tip-off, an airstrike was carried out at around 11:05 local time Sunday in Jaji district, Paktia province, killing seven members of Haqqani terrorist network," the command of Special Forces said in a statement.

As a Taliban-linked group, the Haqqani network, mostly operating in eastern provinces and capital Kabul, has been responsible for many deadly attacks against security forces.

Elimination of targeted militants would further improve public security in the eastern provinces, the statement added.

The network, which was listed as a terrorist group by the United States in 2012, has yet to make comments on the latest report.
Botswana's President Seretse Khama Ian Khama was the first African head of state to call on Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to step down during the recent crisis in that country. Prior to Mugabe's resignation, the Botswana leader said Zimbabweans have been subjected to untold suffering for a long time, due to what he says is poor governance under Mugabe's leadership.

Khama spoke to VOA's Peter Clottey about the recent developments in Zimbabwe. The transcript of the interview has been edited for length and clarity.

On Mugabe's decision to step aside

KHAMA: My reaction to that is that is long overdue because for too long has he presided over a poor government in that country, which has led it to the state it has found itself today. And with millions of his people having to seek opportunities in other countries. And also the deficit, the huge deficit in democracy that country has, so its just been, unfortunately, from the days of independence 37 years ago, all those years have been lost when Zimbabwe could by now have been far ahead and economically politically, and in many senses, even the lives of Zimbabweans could have been much higher  enjoying a much higher standard of living than the situation today.



Q: Well, Mr. President you have been at the forefront calling for democracy in Africa. Youve called on President Mugabe, when he was leading, that it was about time he left. When you meet your colleague heads of state who wants to stay there in perpetuity, what do you tell them, Mr. President?

KHAMA: Im not going to mention names but youd be surprised to know that on occasion when I have met some of them and Im not saying this applies to all, but when I have met some of them, on one on one, they actually agree with what Im saying. But unfortunately dont go on to express those same views in public.

Q: So Mr. President, why do you think African leaders try to stay in power for a long time, despite the fact that citizens in the country get tired of them. They voice it out, yet they come up with arguments to say the people want them to stay. They change the constitution. Why arent they following examples of Botswana, Ghana, and Benin and a few other countries, who are charting the course of democracy on the continent?

KHAMA: First of all, I would say its not only African leaders, there are, I think, many other examples in other parts of the world where leaders try to stay in power beyond the time that they should. But then in many cases you find that they have used their positions as leaders for self-benefits, for self-interest, and then they lose sight of why they were put in those positions. And I think its the issue of power, and I said to someone else recently that, you know, it was [former British PM] Tony Blair, I think who said that the best way to deal with power is to relinquish it. So, when youre in office, the trappings that come with it, the benefits that come with it, and everything like that, to then see yourself one day just as an ordinary citizen once again, for some its probably just too much of culture shock, and therefore they just want to hang on and go on forever.



Q: What are your hopes for Zimbabwe?

KHAMA: Well, I think, I think my hope for Zimbabwe is to be able to really reach its full potential for the benefit of its citizens. We would, like as I said earlier on, you know, they have been long suffering, and I know, being a neighbor, that country has immense potential. And Im pretty sure that if (new leader Emmerson) Mnangagwa really sets his sights on encouraging investments through providing a window of opportunity, embracing democracy, youre going to find domestic and foreign investors coming back into that country in a big way. And I think very soon, theyll be back on their feet again. So, they just need to be able to get over this political intolerance that they have had for so many years, where the opposition is seen as enemies



Q: What is your message to the people of Zimbabwe as they head in to unchartered waters at the moment?

KHAMA: I think they have tasted, even if its just been for a week, theyve tasted what democracy can bring them. Theyve been able to go onto the streets without being beaten up. Theyve been able to voice their opinions about President Mugabe when he was still in office without any crack down.

The papers have been able to write whatever they want, so theyve experienced it and I would say to them, they should hang on for their lives to this. What they have already tasted they should build on and not allow politicians to ruin their lives that. Im sure many people who have been outside the country also want to come back into their country and make a living there.

I dont think it was by choice necessarily that they left their country, so Im sure they all want to come back and now when you saw the celebration on the streets in various centers in Zimbabwe that should have been an indication to anybody how much they want change. It will be a very brave person who tries to take them back to where they were before, during Mugabes era.
The crush of unfinished business facing lawmakers when they return to the Capitol would be daunting even if Washington were functioning at peak efficiency.

Its an agenda whose core items  tax cuts, a potential government shutdown, lots of leftover spending bills  could unravel just as easily as advance in factionalism, gamesmanship and a toxic political environment.

Theres only a four-week window until a Christmas deadline, barely enough time for complicated negotiations even if December stays on the rails. And thats hardly a sure bet in President Donald Trumps capital.

First: Avoid shutdown

Trump and congressional leaders plan a meeting Tuesday to discuss how to sidestep a shutdown and work though the legislative to-do list.

For the optimistic, its plain that Democrats and Republicans have reasons to cooperate, particularly on spending increases for the Pentagon and domestic agencies whose budgets otherwise would be frozen. An additional round of hurricane aid should be bipartisan, and efforts to reauthorize a popular health care program for children seem to be on track.

Tax cuts advance

Republicans are advancing their cherished tax cut measure under special rules that mean Senate Democrats cannot use delaying tactics. The measure passed the House just before the Thanksgiving break and moves to the Senate floor this coming week.

After the Senate GOPs failure on health care this summer, the majority party is under enormous pressure to produce a victory on taxes. Still, GOP deficit hawks such as Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona remain uneasy about the overhaul.

Democrats limited leverage

While Democrats are largely sidelined on taxes, they hold leverage over a mix of budget-related issues.

First, theres the need to avert a government shutdown after a temporary spending bill expires Dec. 8. The most likely scenario, congressional aides say, is for an additional extension until Christmas. On a parallel track are talks to raise spending limits that are keeping agency budgets essentially frozen unless those caps are raised. If that happens, then negotiations could begin in earnest on a massive catchall spending measure in hopes of having it signed into law by years end.

Taxes have gotten all the attention so far, but the showdown over a potential shutdown right before Christmas could soon take center stage. Democrats are counting on GOP fears of a holiday season closure to ensure Republican concessions during December talks.

Both sides would have to make concessions that may upset partisans in either party. Just as House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., fears a revolt on the right, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California risks an uprising on her left. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., round out the quartet of top negotiators.

Everybodys got complicated politics. The chance of short-term failure is pretty high  short-term failure being a shutdown, said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist. But the four of them, assuming they dont want to shut the government down for a long time, are going to have to come to an accommodation.

Talks on the spending caps are stuck, however, aides say. A GOP offer to lift the Pentagon budget by more than $54 billion next year and nondefense limits by $37 billion was rejected by Democrats demanding balance between the two sides of the ledger.

Immigration battle

Long-delayed battles over immigration and Trumps promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border are huge obstacles. Many Democrats whose votes are needed on the spending bills insist they wont vote for any legislation that includes the wall. Trump remains dead set on his $1.6 billion request for a down payment on the project.

Those same Democrats also insist that Congress must act by years end to protect immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and whose protected status is set to lapse next year. Trump backs the idea despite issuing an executive order reversing the Obama administration protections, starting next spring. Conservatives oppose drawing in the immigration issue to legislation to keep the government running.

Hurricane aid

Hurricane relief is adding one more wrinkle.

Congress has approved more than $50 billion in aid in response to a series of devastating hurricanes. The most recent request by the White House is the largest yet at $44 billion, but its not nearly enough to satisfy the powerful Texas delegation, which is pressing behind the scenes for more.

Completely inadequate, said Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas. We must do far more to rebuild, repair and allow Texans to return to normal as quickly as possible.

The wild card

Trump is a wild card. He warmed to the idea of cutting deals with Democrats after a September pact with Schumer and Pelosi to lift the governments debt ceiling.

He promised Democratic leaders that he would sign legislation to give the young immigrants legal status, provided border security is addressed as well.

But that demand on border security came with a long list of conditions subsequently added by the White House. Among them: building his Mexico border wall, overhauling the green card system and strengthening measures against people who stay after their visas expire.

Trump has not really engaged on the year-end agenda, however, and his impulsiveness could be a liability. He almost disowned an omnibus spending bill in May after media accounts portrayed the measure as a win for Democrats.
Cuban President Raul Castro on Sunday voted alongside thousands of people in municipal elections that kick off the process to end his family's hold on the island nation.

The Communist Party-supervised process comes a day after the first anniversary of Cuban leader Fidel Castros death.

Though no opposition candidates were competing in Sunday's elections for more than 12,500 council seats, voters could still choose among 30,000 candidates named by acclamation in neighborhood assemblies.

The municipal vote, Cubas only direct election, is the beginning of a strictly controlled process to eventually choose leaders in higher government positions. A February election for provincial and national assembly deputies is expected to decide who will succeed Raul Castro as president.

Campaigning in Cuba is prohibited. Candidates for ward post are chosen based on merits; not on policy agendas. They are nominated at neighborhood meetings.

The Castro brothers have headed the government since the 1959 revolution led by Fidel.

Current first Vice President Migel Diaz-Canel is expected to replace 86-year-old Raul who succeeded the ailing Fidel as president in 2008. But Sunday Diaz-Canel would not contemplate the future.

I think today is not the day to talk about that. Today, we are feeling much more sublime things. There will always be presidents in Cuba, defending the revolution, and they will be comrades who come from the people. The people will elect them. And they will have to go through this process, he said. Today is the day to talk about what we are doing here. Today is the day to talk about Fidel, he added after casting his ballot.

Voter Marisela Quesada said, "I'm telling you from my heart. I am a revolutionary until the end but I would like my president Raul [Castro] to continue. I would like him to continue, yes, she said.

In my life, I wouldn't want any other because things are still being done like when there was his brother [referring to Fidel Castro]. Everything is still the same. Everything is good. I feel good, she said.

A voter, who requested anonymity due to her government position, told Reuters there is an ongoing discussion on reforming the electoral process.

I am happy to vote, but I must say, like most young people I do not think it makes any difference, she said.

Castro is expected to remain the leader of the all-powerful Communist Party. He would be 90 when his current term ends in 2021.

Results from todays election are expected Monday. Ballots are secret and more than eight million people were eligible to vote.


Sufi Muslims in Egypt say they plan to continue plans for an annual celebration of the birthday of their prophet, Mohammed, even as the country reels from the massacre at a Sinai mosque that killed 305 worshippers and wounded another 128.

No group has claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, widely believed in Egypt to have been launched because Sufis worshipped at the Al-Rawdah Mosque in a village by the same name. Sufis are members of a mystic movement within Islam and are viewed as heretics by Islamic militants.

The Sufis said they will mark Mohammed's birth date next Friday throughout the country and at Cairo's Al-Hussein mosque, one of Islam's most prominent sites in Egypt.

On orders from President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Egypt is observing three days of mourning for the slaughter that unfolded just as an imam was about to deliver his sermon. Shouting Allahu Akbar, or God is great, 25 to 30 militants opened fire and tossed grenades at the estimated 500 people inside the mosque.

In a televised address, the Egyptian leader vowed the use of "brute force" against the attackers, who fled the mosque as they fired shots at ambulance workers arriving on the scene to help the victims of the attack.

"The armed forces and police will forcefully take revenge for our martyred sons and restore security and stability in the short period ahead," Sissi said. He ordered a mausoleum be built in memory of the victims of the attack.

Hours after Sissi spoke, the Egyptian army said air force jets had attacked the "terrorists and discovered several vehicles used in the terrorist attack, killing those inside near the vicinity of the attack."

One survivor of the massacre at the mosque, Ebid Salem Mansour, a 38-year-old worker in a salt factory, told the Associated Press, "Everyone lay down on the floor and kept their heads down. If you raised your head, you get shot." He said, "The shooting was random and hysterical at the beginning and then became more deliberate. Whoever they weren't sure was dead or still breathing was shot dead."

Prosecutor's statement



Nabil Sadeq, Egypt's chief prosecutor, said in a statement that some of the attackers were masked and others were bare-faced. One, the statement said, carried a black banner matching those carried by the Islamic State, but the jihadist group has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

An Islamic State affiliate has been carrying out attacks in the Sinai since 2013.

Stephen Zunes, University of San Francisco political professor and chair of Middle East Studies, said the attack marked an escalation in militants' willingness to go after civilians in Egypt.

"This is the largest, by far, terrorist attack in Egypts modern history," Zunes told VOA. "Initially they were able to take advantage of the widespread discontent with Sissis authoritarian rule, and most of ISISs attacks have been against police stations and concentrations of troops, other government facilities."

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman said Sunday at the first high-level meeting of a Saudi-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism that the attack in Egypt was a "painful event" and a reminder of the dangers of terrorism.

"The biggest threat from terrorism and extremism is not only killing innocent people and spreading hate, but tarnishing the reputation of our religion and distorting our belief," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump reacted to the violence, calling it a "horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshippers."



Neighboring Israel sent condolences to Egypt following the attack. Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979 and maintain close security cooperation.

Battling Islamic State



Egypt's security forces are battling an Islamic State insurgency, mostly in the northern region of Sinai, where militants have killed hundreds of police officers and soldiers since fighting there intensified in the past three years.

Militants have targeted security forces, but have also struck beyond the Sinai by hitting Christian churches and civilians in other parts of Egypt.

Egyptian media reported that Sissi met with top security officials, including the defense and interior ministers, immediately after the attack as security was stepped up around government buildings.
The scale of the bloodshed was vastly higher than past militant attacks but the Egyptian government response the same: three days of mourning, reassuring messages in the media that things are under control, and the president promising vengeance.

The identical pattern in the aftermath of Friday's attack on a mosque in Sinai, which killed 305 people, raises the question whether Egypt has any options left in the fight against Islamic militants.

The military has thrown tanks, fighting vehicles, fighter-jets, warships and helicopter gunships along with tens of thousands of security forces in three years of conflict with extremists, including an affiliate of the Islamic State group in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

The area has been under emergency law for several years and the entire country since April. Security forces have forcibly evacuated areas adjacent to the border with Gaza, razing residents' houses and farmlands. They have blown up underground tunnels that authorities believe jihadis used to smuggle weapons and fighters in from neighboring Gaza, ruled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

These measures have shown few tangible results.

The firepower and troop deployments in Sinai have kept militants from holding territory but have not prevented them from carrying out assassinations that terrorize the population and launching deadly attacks on military and police posts and convoys and recently a daylight robbery in Sinai's largest town.

In a televised address, a livid Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Egypt's general-turned-president, pledged the use of "brute force" in response to Friday's attack. "The armed forces and police will forcefully take revenge for our martyred sons and restore security and stability in the short period ahead," he vowed.

There is little public discussion of how to conduct the war and northern Sinai area is closed off to journalists, making it difficult to assess what's going on. In the overwhelmingly pro-government media, talk about the conflict is largely focused on cheering the military and police, commemorating their "martyrs" and urging the public to rally around el-Sissi.

The closest authorities came to admitting shortcomings was last month when el-Sissi removed the armed forces' chief of staff and top police generals after a planned attack on militants in the Western Desert went disastrously wrong. The operation left over a dozen counterterrorism police officers dead and exposed poor coordination among security and intelligence agencies.

It also illustrated the problem posed by Egypt's long desert border with Libya - a country mired in chaos and rife with armed Islamic militant groups - through which weapons and fighters can be smuggled. That has fueled a second front of militant violence in the west, with signs of arms movements to the Sinai extremists.

Egypt's response has been in line with a longstanding model of fighting a conventional war against an opposing army. Indeed, recent years have seen up to $15 billion in arms deals, largely for big-ticket items such as two helicopter carriers, submarines, assault helicopters and fighter jets.

But critics have called for a counterterrorism strategy in Sinai rather than the reliance on a conventional deployment of overwhelming force. There are some trained counterterrorism soldiers and police deployed, but most are poorly trained regular troops and police conscripts whose main skill is manning a checkpoint. Warplanes and attack helicopters have limits in a rugged mountain terrain that the militants know far better than the military does. And forces moving with tanks and heavy vehicles are often ambushed by the more agile militants using light arms, machine guns, roadside bombs and suicide bombers.

El-Sissi recently said security forces are hampered by the presence of civilians in Sinai, requiring extreme caution which benefits the insurgents. But critics say the military has been heavy-handed as is, deepening the distrust of local tribes who have long claimed discrimination.

Male family members are sometimes arrested if another member is suspected of militancy, according to Sinai rights activists. Soldiers and police at checkpoints are notorious for mistreating people, they say. Roads are often blocked and mobile phone services disrupted. Houses have been razed to clear zones for military control and people forcibly evacuated. Even those who oppose the militants become less likely to help security forces.

At the same time, the militants brutally intimidate residents from cooperating with security forces, kidnapping suspected collaborators and dumping their decapitated bodies on the streets of el-Arish, Rafah and other north Sinai towns for all to see.

So the locals provide the military with little actionable intelligence.

One suggestion has been for the military to arm local Sinai tribesmen hostile to the militants - like the Sunni Arab "Awakening" militias in Iraq that were created by the U.S. military and were a key part of defeating al-Qaida in the 2000s. Given the anger many tribesmen now feel after Friday's massacre, it's a scenario that is becoming less unthinkable.

The military, however, fears armed tribesmen could eventually turn against it.

Critics also contend the government's country-wide campaign against Islamists has pushed some young people toward the Islamic State group affiliate. The crackdown was launched against the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 after the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi, a Brotherhood member. Since then, thousands of Brotherhood members and other Islamists have been jailed. There have been accounts of younger Islamists being radicalized, some in prison, and turning to IS support.

The government contends that the Brotherhood is a terrorist group, intertwined with militants from the start.

Some believe the militants are gambling as they turn ever more brutal, risking a revolt by the populace. Hassan Khalaf, a local tribal elder, said many of those killed were already cooperating with the army and that they were likely targeted as an intimidation tactic. "People are more determined now to stand against that inhuman and heartless bunch," he said.
More than six years after a tsunami overwhelmed the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan has yet to reach consensus on what to do with a million tons of radioactive water, stored on site in around 900 large and densely packed tanks that could spill should another major earthquake or tsunami strike.

The stalemate is rooted in a fundamental conflict between science and human nature.

Experts advising the government have urged a gradual release into the Pacific Ocean. Treatment has removed all the radioactive elements except tritium, which they say is safe in small amounts. Conversely, if the tanks break, their contents could slosh out in an uncontrolled way.

Fishermen protest

Local fishermen are balking. The water, no matter how clean, has a dirty image for consumers, they say. Despite repeated tests showing most types of fish caught off Fukushima are safe to eat, diners remain hesitant. The fishermen fear any release would sound the death knell for their nascent and still fragile recovery.

People would shun Fukushima fish again as soon as the water is released, said Fumio Haga, a drag-net fisherman from Iwaki, a city about 50 kilometers (30 miles) down the coast from the nuclear plant.

And so the tanks remain.

March 11, 2011

Fall is high season for saury and flounder, among Fukushimas signature fish. It was once a busy time of year when coastal fishermen were out every morning.

Then came March 11, 2011. A 9 magnitude offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people along Japans northeast coast. The quake and massive flooding knocked out power for the cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Three of the six reactors had partial meltdowns. Radiation spewed into the air, and highly contaminated water ran into the Pacific.

Today, only about half of the regions 1,000 fishermen go out, and just twice a week because of reduced demand. They participate in a fish-testing program.

Lab technicians mince fish samples at Onahama port in Iwaki, pack them in a cup for inspection and record details such as who caught the fish and where. Packaged fish sold at supermarkets carry official safe stickers.

Only three kinds of fish passed the test when the experiment began in mid-2012, 15 months after the tsunami. Over time, that number has increased to about 100.

The fish meet what is believed to be the worlds most stringent requirement: less than half the radioactive cesium level allowed under Japans national standard and one-twelfth of the U.S. or EU limit, said Yoshiharu Nemoto, a senior researcher at the Onahama testing station.

That message isnt reaching consumers. A survey by Japans Consumer Agency in October found that nearly half of Japanese werent aware of the tests, and that consumers are more likely to focus on alarming information about possible health impacts in extreme cases, rather than facts about radiation and safety standards.

Fewer Japanese consumers shun fish and other foods from Fukushima than before, but 1 in 5 still do, according to the survey. The coastal catch of 2,000 tons last year was 8 percent of pre-disaster levels. The deep-sea catch was half of what it used to be, though scientists say there is no contamination risk that far out.

Not yet psychologically ready

Naoya Sekiya, a University of Tokyo expert on disaster information and social psychology, said that the water from the nuclear plant shouldnt be released until people are well-informed about the basic facts and psychologically ready.

A release only based on scientific safety, without addressing the publics concerns, cannot be tolerated in a democratic society, he said. A release when people are unprepared would only make things worse.

He and consumer advocacy group representative Kikuko Tatsumi sit on a government expert panel that has been wrestling with the social impact of a release and what to do with the water for more than a year, with no sign of resolution.

More radioactive water

The amount of radioactive water at Fukushima is growing, by 150 tons a day.

The reactors are damaged beyond repair, but cooling water must be constantly pumped in to keep them from overheating. That water picks up radioactivity before leaking out of the damaged containment chambers and collecting in the basements.

There, the volume of contaminated water grows, because it mixes with groundwater that has seeped in through cracks in the reactor buildings. After treatment, 210 tons is reused as cooling water, and the remaining 150 tons is sent to tank storage. During heavy rains, the groundwater inflow increases significantly, adding to the volume.

Another government panel recommended last year that the utility, known as TEPCO, dilute the water up to about 50 times and release about 400 tons daily to the sea  a process that would take almost a decade to complete. Experts note that the release of radioactive tritium water is allowed at other nuclear plants.

Tritium water from the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States was evaporated, but the amount was much smaller, and still required 10 years of preparation and three more years to complete.

A new chairman at TEPCO, Takashi Kawamura, caused an uproar in the fishing community in April when he expressed support for moving ahead with the release of the water.

The company quickly backpedaled, and now says it has no plans for an immediate release and can keep storing water through 2020. TEPCO says the decision should be made by the government, because the public doesnt trust the utility.

Our recovery effort up until now would immediately collapse to zero if the water is released, Iwaki abalone farmer Yuichi Manome said.

Some experts have proposed moving the tanks to an intermediate storage area, or delaying the release until at least 2023, when half the tritium that was present at the time of the disaster will have disappeared naturally.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a conservative U.S. ally, appeared likely to win a second term on Sunday despite opposition claims that his re-election is an unconstitutional power grab.

Hernandez's popularity is based largely on a drop in violence in the impoverished Central American country, whose homicide rate was once among the world's worst. Honduras' National Autonomous University says the rate has dropped to 59 homicides per 100,000 from a dizzying high of 91.6 in 2011.

But corruption and drug trafficking allegations have cast a shadow over his government, and his re-election bid has fueled charges that his conservative National Party has trampled the country's institutions in a bid to entrench itself in power.

Fears of just that sort of consolidation - but by a leftist rival allied with Venezuela - led Hernandez's party to back a military coup in 2009 against a president it accused of plotting to violate Honduras' seemingly iron-clad constitutional ban on re-election.

The country's highest court backed the 2009 ouster of President Manuel Zelaya. But the current court is packed with Hernandez' supporters and it ruled in 2015 that the constitutional ban was inferior to a citizen's right to seek re-election, a decision that infuriated opposition leaders.

"Here in Honduras there is no democracy; there is a dictatorship," Zelaya told The Associated Press late Saturday. "The hypocrisy of the Honduran elite is evident ... the people will have to decide at the ballot box." Now a leader of the main opposition alliance, he warned of possible irregularities in the vote.

Hernandez has used the military to help crack down on crime since taking office four years ago, and his campaign website boasts of praise from U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who has lauded Hernandez "for his leadership in addressing security and governance challenges."

The president also has reached out to evangelical Christians and warned that his rivals would carry Honduras toward a Venezuelan-style crisis - alluding to the fact Zelaya had been backed by the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"God our Lord is with us, and we would not do anything without his divine protection," Hernandez said in a final campaign video posted on his Facebook page.

"We will take a step forward to confront those who seek chaos and those who, allied with foreign forces, try to drag us to a system that has brought only pain and suffering to other societies," he added.

The 15th of 17 children, Hernandez was born in a small, mountain city in western Honduras. He attended a military school, studied law at the national university and says he obtained a master's degree in public administration from the State University of New York. He was the head of Congress before winning the presidency in 2013 elections.

In addition to people in Honduras, tens of thousands of Hondurans were eligible to cast ballots in seven U.S. cities: Atlanta, New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Washington.

Sunday's general elections are the tenth in Honduras since the country returned to democracy in 1980 after almost two decades of military regimes.

The leftist Opposition Alliance Against Dictatorship is running television host Salvador Nasralla, while the traditional Liberal Party is running Luis Zelaya, a middle-of-the-road candidate. There are another six candidates from tiny opposition parties, but the president remains the clear front-runner.

One issue that could hurt Hernandez is the perception of corruption.

A convicted drug trafficker testified in a New York courtroom this year that he met with Hernandez' brother Antonio to get the Central American country's government to pay its debts to a company that the trafficker's cartel used to launder money.

Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga, ex-leader of the cartel known the Cachiros, testified that Antonio Hernandez asked him for a bribe in exchange for government contracts. The brother has denied that allegation.

And in September, the son of a former president from Hernandez's party, Porfirio Lobo was sentenced in New York to 24 years in prison after revealing his role in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy. Fabio Lobo, 46, pleaded guilty in May 2016, admitting he worked with drug traffickers and Honduran police to ship cocaine into the United States.
Iranian state television has aired more allegations against a detained Iranian-British woman, something her husband said Sunday appeared timed to further pressure London as it considers making a $530 million payment to Tehran.

The case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has gained momentum in recent weeks as British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson faces tremendous criticism at home over his handling of it.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, already serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the "soft toppling" of Iran's government while traveling there with her toddler daughter, also faces new charges that could add 16 years to her prison term.



On Thursday, Iranian state television aired a seven-minute special report on Zaghari-Ratcliffe. It included close-ups of an April 2010 pay stub from her previous employer, the BBC World Service Trust.



It also included an email from June 2010 in which she wrote about the "ZigZag Academy," a BBC World Service Trust project in which the trust trained "young aspiring journalists from Iran and Afghanistan through a secure online platform."



Zaghari-Ratcliffe left the BBC in 2011 and then joined the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency. Both her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, and Thomson Reuters repeatedly have stressed she was not training journalists or involved in any work regarding Iran while there.



The state television report comes as the British foreign minister faces criticism after he told a parliamentary committee that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was "teaching people journalism" when she was arrested last year. Though Johnson later corrected himself, the Iranian television report made a point to highlight them.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Sunday, Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband said the report and other Iranian comments about his wife seemed timed to exert as much pressure as possible on the British government. He said the material appeared to be from his wife's email, which investigators from the hard-line Revolutionary Guard immediately got access to after her arrest.



"It's trying to justify the new charges," Ratcliffe said.



The report comes as Britain and Iran discuss the release of some 400 million pounds held by London, a payment Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi made for Chieftain tanks that were never delivered. The shah abandoned the throne in 1979 and the Islamic Revolution soon installed the clerically overseen system that endures today.

Authorities in London and Tehran deny that the payment has any link to Zaghari-Ratcliffe. However, a prisoner exchange in January 2016 that freed Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans also saw the United States make a $400 million cash delivery to Iran the same day. That money too involved undelivered military equipment from the shah's era, though some U.S. politicians have criticized the delivery as a ransom payment.



Analysts and family members of dual nationals and others detained in Iran have suggested that hard-liners in the Islamic Republic's security agencies use the prisoners as bargaining chips for money or influence. A U.N. panel in September described "an emerging pattern involving the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of dual nationals" in Iran.



Others with ties to the West detained in Iran include Chinese-American graduate student Xiyue Wang, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly "infiltrating" the country while doing doctoral research on Iran's Qajar dynasty. Iranian-Canadian national Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani, a member of Iran's 2015 nuclear negotiating team, is believed to be serving a five-year prison sentence on espionage charges.



Iranian businessman Siamak Namazi and his 81-year-old father Baquer, a former UNICEF representative who served as governor of Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province under the U.S.-backed shah, are both serving 10-year prison sentences on espionage.



Iranian-American Robin Shahini was released on bail last year after staging a hunger strike while serving an 18-year prison sentence for "collaboration with a hostile government." Shahini is believed to still be in Iran.



Also in an Iranian prison is Nizar Zakka, a U.S. permanent resident from Lebanon who advocates for internet freedom and has done work for the U.S. government. He was sentenced to 10 years last year on espionage-related charges.



In addition, former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 while on an unauthorized CIA mission, remains missing.
The deputy head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned Europe that if it threatened Tehran, the Guards would increase the range of missiles to above 2,000 kilometers, the Fars news agency reported Saturday.

France has called for 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.

Iran has repeatedly said its missile program is defensive and not negotiable.

"If we have kept the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometers, it's not due to lack of technology. ... We are following a strategic doctrine," Brigadier General Hossein Salami said, according to Fars.

"So far we have felt that Europe is not a threat, so we did not increase the range of our missiles. But if Europe wants to turn into a threat, we will increase the range of our missiles," he added.

The United States accused Iran this month of supplying Yemen's Houthi rebels with a missile that was fired into Saudi Arabia in July and called for the United Nations to hold Tehran accountable for violating two U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Iran has denied supplying Houthis with missiles and weapons.

Range seen sufficient  for now

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said last month that Iran's 2,000-kilometer missile range could cover "most of American interests and forces" within the region, and Iran does not need to extend it.

Jafari said the ballistic missile range was based on the limits set by the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the head of armed forces.

Iran has one of the Middle East's largest missile programs, and some of its precision-guided missiles have the range to strike Israel.

The United States says Iran's missile program is a breach of international law because the missiles could carry nuclear warheads in the future.

Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear program is for civilian uses only.

The United States has imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, saying its missile tests violate a U.N. resolution that calls on Tehran not to undertake activities related to missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
In February 1986, Natan Sharansky, a Soviet political prisoner, crossed the Glienicke Bridge linking East and West Berlin under American diplomatic escort, thus ending nine years of Gulag-style labor camps in Siberia and dark, cold cells in Moscow.

Thirteen years after I asked to be deprived of Soviet citizenship, I was finally deprived of Soviet citizenship, he said.

Sharansky emigrated to Israel, took up several ministerial positions in the Israeli government, including deputy prime minister.

In an interview with VOA on the sidelines of events organized by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation marking the centennial of the Bolshevik Revolution, Sharansky recalls his battles with the KGB and calls on leaders of the free world to take up the mantle left by visionaries such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and continue the legacy of democracy.

WATCH: Sharansky: 'By Sun, I See That We Were Going to the West'

By sun, I see that we were going to the West

They were taking me somewhere, they refused me to tell me where; by sun, I see that we were going to the West. After three or four hours, it was clear that we were no longer in the Soviet Union. I demanded [to know]: Is this hijacking? What is happening to me?

He was finally informed by one of the four KGB men accompanying him that the Soviet state had determined that his actions were not worthy of a Soviet citizen and he was being expelled.

This is how I understood I am free, Sharansky told VOA.

Sharanskys release was negotiated along with an exchange of spies between the U.S. and the then-Soviet Union. The transfer was layered in drama, with the Soviets seeking to keep their control of the political activist to the very last minute, while the Americans were pushing for their own concessions.

The American side insisted that Sharansky would cross the bridge a half-hour before the spies were exchanged, making clear that the spying for the Americans charge the Soviets put on Sharansky were groundless; he was a human rights activist both on the day he was sentenced and on the day he was freed.

Sharansky told VOA that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, U.S. President Ronald Reagans counterpart, complained to him when the former prisoner and the USSR leader later met.

You say of all the people youre grateful, No. 1 Reagan, No. 2 [Soviet dissident Andrei Dmitriyevich] Sakhorov, only No. 3 is me. Im the one who released you! Gorbachev said, according to Sharansky.

Sharansky insists, then and now, that the order of thanks for the collapse of the Soviet Union, and any authoritarian regime for that matter, is as follows: first of all, dissidents such as Andrei Sakharov in their time who keep this spark of freedom of alive, I know this is very difficult, it needs a lot of courage and in many cases it has a tragic ending; secondly, leaders like Reagan, Thatcher and the late Democratic U.S. Senator Henry Martin Scoop Jackson from Washington state, who saw the real nature of the regime and understood it was an evil empire and you have to stand up to it and link the question of human rights with international policy.

In the interest of detente, in the interest of peace, in the interest of stability

Sharansky acknowledges, though, not everyone holding leadership positions in democratic societies treats the task of supporting democratic movements in totalitarian regimes with equal enthusiasm.

In the era of Reagan and Thatcher, international politics was largely dictated by realpolitik, he says, referring to a policy approach dominated by concerns for power juggling instead of moral objectives.

Even if it was absolutely wrong morally, in the interest of detente, in the interest of peace, in the interest of stability, Western societies largely practiced a noninterference or little-interference policy in the realm of human rights back then, he said.

Today, he says, theres also the belief that it may be better not to demand change from dictatorships, which often appear invincible, at least on the outside, citing China as a regime that is strong, or looks strong.

There are terrible human rights violations, and the world doesnt ask questions, because they do not have the courage to demand a change to the policy, he said.

The seeming habit of governments of bringing out a long list of interests or problems that have to be dealt with first before human rights issues, often put down as abstract values, are addressed, is an absolutely wrong approach, in Sharanskys opinion; nevertheless, this approach, in his words, is very typical, citing his own experience.

WATCH: Sharansky: 'Our Representatives Were Absolutely Shocked'

Chinese official didnt look like the one shocked by the question

In 1997, while serving as minister of Industry and Trade in Israel, Sharansky met with a visiting Chinese delegation.

I said: Mr. Vice President, I was in a political prison for many years, I know how important it was that the [outside] world were asking about my fate, so Im asking you, what about the fate of Chinese political prisoners?

He [the Chinese vice president] didnt look like the one shocked by the question, but our representatives, our foreign affairs officials, were absolutely shocked! I think after this, there was some kind of order that I didnt have any more meetings with Chinese [delegations]; they tried to prevent me from asking this kind of question again! Sharansky said.

In the end, he says, Israels ability to affect Chinese governments behavior is limited, but its very important that when the American president and leaders of European countries are meeting with Chinese leaders that they put the question, the fate of dissidents, on the top of their agenda.

I know that nowadays more often it doesnt happen than happen, he conceded.

The former Soviet political prisoner sums up the legacy of Reagan and Thatcher in the roles they played in bringing down the Soviet empire: Your solidarity with people struggling for freedom is not only your moral principle, its your basic interest. His message for the new generation of leaders: the more you understand this and your policy reflects this, the more you can influence the world.

He attributes the reluctance to confront authoritarian regimes to a lack of understanding, due to deceptive appearances, of what goes on inside those regimes.

WATCH: Sharansky: The Nature of Totalitarian Regime

Anatomy of totalitarian regime

In every totalitarian regime, there are three categories of people, Sharansky says: a small group of true believers, a vast number of double thinkers, and dissidents.

He describes double thinkers as those who dont believe in the regime, who dont believe in its ideology, but are afraid to speak the truth, so they pretend. However, observers from the outside often mistake double thinkers, who tend to make up the majority of these societies, as true believers, he says.

You see, these massive parades, everybody shouting welcome to their leaders, everybody crying and weeping when the leader is dead, all these people must be true believers; look how strong this regime is! Sharansky explained.

Such mass shows of support often can deceive outsiders and lead to dissidents voices being discounted when in fact dissidents are usually people who are very connected to what is happening inside the minds of people and understand the regimes weaknesses, Sharansky said.

Thats why my friend Andrei Amalrik, 20 years before the Soviet Union fell apart, predicted that it would fall apart, explaining exactly whats happening in the minds of the people. ... He predicted it 20 years before it happened, he added.

Sovietologists were wrong

Soviet dissident Amalrik published a book in 1970 titled Will the Soviet Union Survive until 1984? Amalrik is reported to have said that he originally intended to use the year 1980 in the books title, but settled on 1984 instead, in recognition of British writer George Orwells seminal political novel 1984, which depicted the horrors of life under totalitarianism.

In contrast, Sovietologists [academics who specialize on the former Soviet Union], even one year before it happened, before the Soviet Union fell apart, were writing and saying how strong the [Soviet] system is, Sharansky said, adding the same can be said about other dictatorships.

WATCH: Sharansky: 'It's Not They Who Guarantee Work and Food'

Mitterrand: I was wrong



In the epilogue of his memoir, Fear No Evil, Sharansky wrote about a meeting with then-French Prime Minister Francois Mitterrand that underscores the odds against which dissidents and their supporters had to fight in their struggle to be heard.

During the meeting, Mitterrand pointed to a chair Sharansky was sitting in and said: Avital [Sharanskys wife] sat there often when she came to ask for my assistance. I always wanted to help her, but the truth is, I never believed she had a chance. I thought she was naive, and that theyd never let you out. But your wife was right and I was wrong.

Sharansky: 'I Prefer to Be a Free Person in Their Prison'
Photo taken on Sept. 6, 2017 shows a view of the Karuma Hydro Power Project site in Kiryandongo district, Uganda. The 1.4 billion dollar Karuma Power Plant along River Nile is being financed by the Chinese government and is the first underground power plant in the East African region. (Xinhua/Zhang Gaiping)

KIRYANDONGO, Uganda, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Construction work was always her childhood dream. Three years back, straight after university, Sumaya Manzi got a placing at a Chinese construction firm, Sinohydro.

Having studied construction management at university, she was placed by the Chinese engineers at the laboratory section, a key post for the construction of the 1.4-billion-U.S. dollar Karuma Hydro Power Plant along River Nile in northern Uganda.

China is financing construction of the hydro power plant, the first underground power plant in the east African region. When completed, the plant is expected to provide over 600MW of electricity.

Under the watchful eye of her Chinese supervisors, Manzi is in charge of material engineering.

"I deal with concrete materials, cement, aggregate, fly ash. We oversee the quality of the materials used to produce the concrete. Everything goes through me here at the laboratory," she told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"I am learning a lot from the Chinese engineers. I started as a graduate, I never had a lot of field skills. I am now getting to know things on the ground, not on paper," she said.

Manzi is optimistic that with a few more years of experience in the sector, she will be able to work on the construction of any hydropower plant.

She is not alone, many engineers are gaining skills from their Chinese counterparts.

Workers go about their work at the Karuma Hydro Power Project construction site in Kiryandongo district, Uganda, Sept. 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Gaiping)

Pittson Omar is a civil engineer and does draftsman's work at the construction site of Karuma Hydro Power Plant.

Working under the supervision of Chinese engineers, Omar does design work at the dam.

"I do construction drawings and follow them to see work progress on the site. I am learning a lot from the Chinese. In Uganda, we were used to square or rectangular structures, but now we have to adjust to circular ones," he said.

Omar said they are gaining skills in adjusting to different kinds of hydro power plant construction standards, from British, American to Chinese.

"We teach them basic skills like drawings and calculations so that they can fully understand our drawings," Shi Yayuan, one of the Chinese designers of Karuma power plant said.

"Hydro power plant construction is very complicated, you need to see the geology situation. So we need to often go to the site to see how best the structure can be designed," Shi said.

A few hundred kilometers away, another Chinese company--China International Water and Electric Corporation--is constructing a 568 million dollar project dubbed Isimba Power Plant Project, which will help ease the severe power shortages in Uganda and accelerate the development of local economy.

Wang Yongtian, head of construction at Isimba Hydro Power Plant told Xinhua that one of their priorities is to build the capacity of local engineers in constructing hydro power plants.

"We will try to hire more locals to work in our project. We also need our local engineers to nurture skills in construct a hydropower plant in Uganda," he said.

He said the project is soon entering the mechanical and electrical phase which will be an opportunity for the local engineers to learn.

"I have proposed to the ministry of energy to invite more Ugandan engineers to come on site to learn when we are doing the installation," he said.
Tens of thousands of Nepalese in mountain villages and towns cast votes Sunday in a landmark election hoping to usher in political stability that has eluded the country since it began its rocky transition to democracy a decade ago.



It is the first election after the tiny Himalayan country adopted a new federal republic constitution following the abolition of the monarchy in 2008. Besides picking lawmakers for a national parliament, voters will choose provincial assemblies for the first time.



Polling was brisk  more than three million people were eligible to vote in the first phase of the two-stage polls. Security was stepped up after a series of small blasts blamed on a Maoist splinter group targeted political candidates in the final days of the campaign.



There are two main alliances in the fray  a leftist coalition between the Maoist Party and the communist CNP-UML, and a centrist one led by the Nepali Congress.



After a decade beset with instability in which the government changed hands through nine prime ministers, and fractious political parties bickered over the constitution, most Nepalese hope that the elections deliver a clear verdict.



What we are still hoping for after all this hopelessness is that one strong party will come who will be the ruling party for the next five years, says Anand Joshi, a businessman in the capital Kathmandu.



He is among the tens of thousands who are deeply disappointed that the advent of democracy brought little benefit to the country since a violent civil war ended in 2006 and pro democracy protests led to the abolition of monarchy.



Instead, political infighting put development on the backburner as short-lived governments failed to deliver what people in one of the worlds poorest countries want  jobs, roads, schools and hospitals.



I am not going to vote. I have no confidence in this whole roundabout of all these politicians, says Joshi.



Many are hoping that the provincial assemblies being created for the first time will usher in change by giving local governments a greater voice in development. Seven states, that have still to be named, have been carved out. But this is uncharted territory points out Nischal Nath Pandey, Director at Kathmandus Center for South Asian Studies.



We've never experimented on federalism before, we were always a centralized country. How this is to be managed by the political elite that has not yet known how to transfer power to local bodies has yet to be seen, according to Pandey.



Nepalese citizens are not the only ones waiting for the election outcome. The election is also being closely watched by India and China, neighbors that are vying for influence in the strategic Himalayan country that lies sandwiched between them. While the Nepali Congress is closer to New Delhi, which has traditionally held sway in Nepal, the leaders of the left parties are keen to build closer ties with Beijing, which has gained in influence in recent years.



The next round of voting will be on December 7th. The counting could take several days.
The pope has led a minute of silence in St. Peter's Square for the victims of the deadly attack on a mosque in Egypt.

Francis said following the traditional Angelus greeting on Sunday that the victims "were praying in that moment. We also pray in silence for them."

The pope said the attack on Friday "brought great pain," adding that he continued to pray for the dead and the wounded "and for the whole of that community, that has been so hard hit."

The pope previously expressed in a telegram his "strong condemnation" of the attack, which killed 305 people in the deadliest assault by Islamic extremists in modern Egyptian history.

The pontiff also asked for prayers for his six-day trip Myanmar and Bangladesh, for which he departs later Sunday.
Pope Francis is to arrive Monday in Myanmar in an effort to draw global attention to the Rohingya refugee crisis.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church is to visit Bangladesh on Thursday.

The pontiff's schedule does not include a visit to a refugee camp, but he is expected to meet with a small group of Rohingya in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital.

I am coming to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a message of reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace, Pope Francis told Vatican Radio, My visit is meant to confirm the Catholic community of Myanmar in its worship of God and its witness to the gospel."

In recent weeks, Myanmar and Bangladesh have agreed to the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, according to officials from both countries.

Despite the deal, Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario told the French news agency AFP, the situation remains explosive and tough to resolve.

"I am hopeful the Rohingya can be returned to Myanmar," D'Rozario, the Archbishop of Dhaka, told AFP.

Reports said the deal was signed following talks in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, with Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and Bangladesh's foreign minister, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali. The French news agency AFP quoted Ali as saying, "This is a primary step. [They] will take back [Rohingya]. Now we have to start working."

The U.N. refugee agency spokesperson said conditions in Myanmar's Rakhine state are not in place to enable safe and sustainable returns.

Refugees are still fleeing, and many have suffered violence, rape, and deep psychological harm, Adrian Edwards, a spokesperson for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said Friday.

D'Rozario, who was made cardinal by Francis in 2016, is still looking forward to the pontiffs visit. There are about 360,000 Catholics in Bangladesh.

"The cries of the Rohingya are the cries of humanity," D'Rozario said. "These cries ought to be heard and addressed. The main thing is to tell the people 'We are on your side," he said.

The cardinal spent two days visiting a refugee camp, speaking with families forced to leave their homes in Rakhine state.

"The international response for relief has been satisfactory, but how long will it last for? Generosity will not continue to flow as it did in the initial phase of the crisis."

D'Rozario added that Bangladesh, though overcrowded and impoverished, deserves praise for its efforts in helping those fleeing violence.

"There are a lot of tensions, social tensions. Land is not available. It's a very densely populated country, physically they don't have any space. I admire the local people [for their restraint], the population has more than doubled. There are environmental issues with all the trees cut to make shelters. There will be landslides when there is big rain, he said.

About 600,000 people have fled Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh, which is now undergoing its own crisis as it seeks to accommodate the Rohingya.

"It is not possible for Bangladesh alone to tackle this. The future looks very bleak," D'Rozario said.
An artificial earthquake caused by a North Korean nuclear test in September reportedly caused buildings to collapse and killed scores of people, including schoolchildren, South Korean media reported this week.

On Sept. 3, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test, successfully detonating a hydrogen bomb  one that could fit onto an intercontinental missile (ICBM).

The blast produced two shallow earthquakes in the Punggye-ri region, where North Korea's nuclear test facility is located, U.S. and Chinese government seismologists reported at the time. Authorities in Japan, South Korea and numerous nongovernment experts in the United States confirmed that the earthquakes were likely the result of a nuclear test.

Nearby village badly damaged

An unnamed source, who recently visited a village about 8 kilometers from Punggye-ri, described the damage to the South and North Development (SAND), a research institute that works with defectors from the North, according to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

The source said houses and a school collapsed in the village of Sindong-ri and that dozens of people were killed and injured, the paper reported.

"September 3 was a Sunday, but some 150 students were waiting in their classrooms to do some work," the source said, according to Chosun Ilbo. "Casualties occurred when half of the school building crumbled."

After the detonation in September, the first earthquake was a 6.3-magnitude tremor that was consistent with the detonation of a 1-megaton hydrogen bomb, according to experts. Five minutes later, the same seismologists detected a magnitude-4.6 earthquake, which indicated the likely collapse of a tunnel in which the nuclear device was placed.

In October, Japanese television channel Asahi TV reported the collapse of an underground tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear facility, saying it likely caused the death of about 200 people.

Harvest delays repairs

In the village affected by the earthquakes, the source told SAND that the damage to buildings had yet to be repaired because farmers were busy with the harvest.

"Farmers couldn't even think of repairing the damage because they're busy harvesting crops even though three months have passed since their houses were destroyed," the source said, as reported by Chosun Ilbo. "Displaced farmers are staying in temporary shelters or living with neighbors whose houses sustained less damage."

The Washington Post reported in October that experts feared Mount Mantap, the 2,195-meter-high peak under which the tests are conducted, was suffering from "tired mountain syndrome," and could collapse, releasing radiation from the nuclear explosions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has prioritized developing a nuclear-tipped ICBM that could hit mainland U.S. Before the Sept. 3 nuclear test, Pyongyang had conducted 21 missile launches this year, including two ICBM tests in July.

The rogue nation last launched a missile Sept. 15, from the Sunan district in Pyongyang. It flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and landed in the sea.

North Korea conducted its first nuclear test Oct. 9, 2006.

Brian Padden in Seoul contributed to this report.
A Saudi-led Muslim military coalition, commanded by a former Pakistan army chief, was officially launched Sunday in Riyadh where defense ministers of the participating nations met for the inaugural meeting.



Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia, opened the meeting of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition or IMCTC.



An official statement explained the pan-Islamic coalition of 41 predominantly Sunni Muslim countries will coordinate and multiply their individual efforts in the global fight against terrorism and violent extremism.



The meeting [in the Saudi capital] marks the official launch of the IMCTC and strengthens the cooperation and integration of member countries in the coalition, it reads.

The coalitions formation specifically has been the focus of debate in Pakistan after former Pakistani military chief Raheel Sharif was appointed as IMCTCs first commander.

Addressing Sunday's meeting, Sharif explained the IMCTC will act as a platform to assist member countries in their counter terrorism operations through intelligence sharing and capacity building.

A number of our member countries are under tremendous pressure while fighting well established terrorist organizations due to capacity shortages of their armed forces and law enforcement agencies, the Pakistan general noted.



While supporters dubbed the Saudi-led coalition the Muslim NATO, skeptics, including those in Pakistan, continue to question its objectives and see it as a sectarian-based grouping against rivals - Shiite Iran, Syria and Iraq.



Saudi officials announced formation of the coalition in 2015, headquartered in Riyadh, with a mission to fight terrorism, particularly to counter the threat of Islamic State.



Tehran has opposed the move from the outset and has been lobbying against it, believing it is aimed at increasing Saudi influence in the region.

Critics warn Islamabads participation could upset the countrys minority Shiite community and undermine bilateral relations with Iran, which shares a nearly 1,000-kilometer border with Pakistan.



The Pakistani Senate, the upper house of parliament, witnessed another heated debate on the issue last week when opposition members urged the government not to give any undertakings in Sundays meeting in Riyadh without taking the parliament into confidence.



Senator Farhatullah Babar, in his speech, noted the coalition encompasses four key areas, including ideology, communications, counter-terrorism financing and military. Those areas, particularly ideology, present potential pitfalls and challenges with possible consequences for Pakistan, local media quoted Babar as saying.



On Monday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and the head of the countrys main spy agency, ISI, among others, are scheduled to visit Riyadh at the invitation of the Saudi leadership for important consultations, although it is not known exactly what the issues are.



If the IMCTC turns out to be a Saudi platform to bash geopolitical enemies and advance sectarian narratives, then this country [Pakistan] would best stay away from such a misadventure, warned the leading English language newspaper, DAWN, in an editorial Saturday.



The newspaper noted with concern the Saudi crown princes statement issued Friday in which he dubbed Irans supreme leader the Hitler of the Middle East.



In its announcement before Sundays meeting, the IMCTC quoted General Sharif as saying that terrorism is the biggest challenge confronting the Muslim world.



The general retired in November 2016 and is credited with effectively countering terrorist groups operating in Pakistan during his three-year tenure as the chief of the powerful military.



But Shiite community leaders and independent critics in Pakistan have criticized the government, as well as Sharif, for accepting the assignment, fearing it would fuel domestic sectarian rivalries.



Pakistan has always walked a tightrope while trying to maintain a balance between its immediate neighbor, Iran, and also Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Kingdom hosts hundreds of thousands of Pakistani expatriates, and is a key source of oil supplies to Islamabad on deferred payments and cash grants to help Pakistans traditionally struggling economy.



The Pakistan government, under extreme domestic pressure, had refused to join Saudi-led military operations against Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen in 2015.



The parliament barred then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif from joining the operation, saying Pakistan's involvement in a foreign conflict would exacerbate sectarian tensions at home and upset its friends in the Muslim world.
Thousands of people marched in protests held in countries around the world Saturday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

In Paris, hundreds marched after French President Emmanuel Macron announced an initiative to address violence and harassment against women in the country. He said 123 women had been killed by a partner or former partner in France in 2016.

Macron said plans included strengthening the law against those who commit violence against women, encouraging women to take action, and increasing education on the issue  starting from nursery school. He said he hoped to erase the shame victims of violence feel and to change France's sexist culture.

The group Dare Feminism said in a statement that Macron's proposals were positive, but the efforts needed to be met with proper funding.

Around the world

Protests also took place from Brazil to Mozambique to Turkey.

In Rome, the noisy procession included people who run safe houses for women who are escaping violent husbands or boyfriends.

Protesters urged Italy's politicians to focus attention on the issue and increase funding for shelters and other institutions that help women.

Turkish police, however, tried to stop several hundred women from marching, telling them their protest had been banned. But after talks with officials, the peaceful assembly was allowed to take place along Istanbul's main pedestrian avenue.

First, the government needs to stop their discriminative policies, even supported by laws, against women, because women will always say no to this, protester Fatos Ocal said.

Demonstrators criticized the Turkish government's gender policies and shouted chants that included We wont be silent and We arent afraid.

They do not even let this [march] happen. They cannot tolerate this. They do not want us, the women, to be free. But we will not leave the streets, as long as we can, protester Aysegul Doker said.

The group FemicideMap reported that 1,915 women had been killed in Turkey in the past seven years. In 995 of those cases, the suspect was either the victim's husband or boyfriend, the report said.

'Devastating' problem

According to the United Nations, violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today.

Data from 87 countries from 2005-16 showed that 19 percent of women between ages 15 and 49 said they had experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner.

As part of the international activities, the U.N. is hosting 16 days of activism to bring attention to the issue of violence against women and girls.
U.S. President Donald Trump sped full throttle Sunday into a special Senate election in Alabama, attacking Democrat Doug Jones as a lawmaker who would be a "puppet" to party leaders if he is elected next month.

In Twitter comments, Trump did not mention Republican nominee Roy Moore, accused of sexually abusing two teenage girls four decades ago when he was a local prosecutor in his early 30s and pursuing other teen girls for dates.

But Trump said Jones, a former federal prosecutor, would be beholden to the two top Democratic leaders in Congress, Senator Chuck Schumer and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

"The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster!" Trump said, in part referring to the country's constitutional amendment sanctioning gun ownership.



The December 12 election is for the three remaining years left in the Senate seat once held by Jeff Sessions, who resigned it in early 2017 to join Trump's Cabinet as attorney general, the country's top law enforcement position.

Democrats have not won the Alabama Senate seat in two decades, but polls in the southern state show Jones with a small lead after allegations surfaced in a Washington Post story that Moore had abused a 14-year-old girl when he was 32. Another woman later leveled similar accusations against Moore.

Moore has denied the allegations, attacking the newspaper report as "fake news" and accusing establishment Republican lawmakers in Washington of trying to undermine his election chances. Both Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and two of the party's former presidential candidates, Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney, have called for Moore to end his candidacy.

The White House at first said the election was up to Alabama voters, but as Trump left last week for the Thanksgiving holiday at his oceanfront resort in Florida, said of the allegations against Moore, "He totally denies it." Trump did not directly say whether he believes the women's accusations or Moore's denial.

"You have to listen to him also," Trump said of Moore. "He said 40 years ago this did not happen, so, you know.



In a second tweet Sunday, Trump noted that he had endorsed appointed Senator Luther Strange, who lost a Republican primary to Moore in late September. "He shot way up in the polls but it wasnt enough," Trump said of Strange. "Cant let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!"

Senator Lindsey Graham, another Republican lawmaker who called for Moore to quit the race after the sexual abuse allegations surfaced, told CNN on Sunday that if Moore wins the election, "it becomes an everyday case" for Republicans in Washington of whether Moore should be expelled from the Senate because of the sexual abuse allegations.

"The moral of this story is don't nominate someone like Roy Moore who could lose a seat most Republicans would win," Graham said.

Graham told Trump, "You're mistaken," if he thinks it would easy for Republicans to align with Moore in the Senate should he win. "I'm not going down the road he's going," by supporting Moore.

The Republican party's already tenuous hold on a Senate majority, now at 52-48, would be cut in half to 51-49 should Jones win.

The party is facing difficult issues in the coming weeks as it attempts to overhaul the country's complex tax code and approve a spending plan to keep the government funded through next September.
UNICEF's Middle East director is calling Yemen one of the worst places on Earth to be a child and urging all involved in the fighting to let humanitarian aid keep coming in.

Geert Cappelaere told reporters in Amman, Jordan, Sunday that UNICEF was able to get nearly 2 million doses of vaccines delivered to Sana'a airport Saturday, but that such success should not be a "one-off."

Cappelaere said far more supplies are needed and that ships carrying food, chlorine tables for drinking water, and treatments for diarrhea and cholera are on their way to the port of Hodeida.

"More than 11 million Yemeni children are today in acute need of humanitarian assistance. That's almost every single Yemeni boy and girl," Cappelaere said. "To all parties and all those with a heart for children, please take your responsibility now."

He was talking about the responsibility for all those involved in Yemen to stop fighting and stop what he calls the war on children.

"Today we estimate that every 10 minutes, a child in Yemen is dying from preventable diseases," he said.

The Saudi-led coalition trying to drive out Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Sana'a promised last week to ease a blockade of the airport and Hodeida.

It shut down the facilities almost three weeks ago in response to a Houthi missile attack near the airport in Riyadh. The Saudis intercepted the missile.

Saudi Arabia blames the missile launch on Iran. Iran denies arming the Houthis.
The U.S. vice consul in Brazil was discharged Saturday from a hospital after being shot in the foot in an attempted robbery at a seaside holiday resort near Rio de Janeiro, local media reported.

Stephanie Masland Bohlen was operated on Friday at Samaritan Hospital, Agencia Brasil said.

Masland Bohlen and her husband were approached by two unidentified people late Thursday as they stopped to adjust their GPS navigation system on a highway in Angra dos Reis, in the southern part of Rio state, according to local media.

When they tried to flee, Masland Bohlen was shot in the foot. Her husband was unharmed.

Civil police are handling the investigation.

A British tourist was shot and wounded in Angra dos Reis in August when she, her husband and their three children accidentally drove into a favela controlled by criminals.

The Rio area is one of the world's most famous tourist destinations but many favelas  largely unregulated communities of working-class Brazilians  are public safety nightmares.
A U.S. federal grand jury this week indicted the man accused of driving a truck down a crowded bike path in Lower Manhattan on charges of terrorism and murder. The attack last month killed eight people and injured 12 others.

U.S. authorities charge that Sayfullo Saipov, 29, of Paterson, New Jersey, was inspired by Islamic State (IS) militants' online propaganda and admitted that his goal was to kill as many people as he could.

During his stay at the hospital, Saipov reportedly requested to have an IS flag in his room while he was recovering from wounds he suffered during the October 31 attack. He was shot and wounded by police after he crashed his truck into a school bus.

Saipov came from Uzbekistan to the United States through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program in 2010.

Media coverage of the attack and subsequent stories of Saipov's time in the U.S. have repeatedly referenced his ethnicity, engendering heated public debates among Uzbeks about how Saipov should be identified.

The Uzbek-American community has struggled with the idea that someone from their homeland is facing terror-related charges in their adopted country.

Many, however, are unhappy with how the media seem to be giving more attention to his ethnicity and place of origin than to his alleged actions. Their argument: A terrorist is a terrorist; nationality or ethnicity should not factor into the debate, lest it cast aspersions on an entire community.

Terrorists have no country, no religion and no national identity, Olim Sharipov, head of the Uzbek American Association in Chicago, said.

Sharipov added that by committing evil acts, people like Saipov strip themselves of all identities  in Saipov's case, both American and Uzbek.

Some Uzbeks inside Uzbekistan are distancing themselves from Saipov as well.

We have no terrorists. This guy left Uzbekistan a long time ago. He is an American now, so his actions should be analyzed in that context, a young researcher from Tashkent, the country's capital, who requested not to be named for security reasons, said.

Context matters

Steve Swerdlow, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, maintains that it is important to view the issue of terrorism and ethnicity through the right lenses and in the right context.

Obviously, we should not overemphasize his Uzbek nationality, but it is important to understand the circumstances of the country he comes from, Swerdlow said.

He is critical of Uzbekistans counterterrorism methods, such as torture, and argues the governments harsh approaches over time have contributed to the growth of extremism. He also believes that lack of justice, widespread corruption and complex socioeconomic conditions drive millions of vulnerable young Uzbeks to look for opportunities overseas. In the process, some fall victim to terror groups, he said.

Since 2015, there have been at least seven Uzbek-related terror cases in New York.

The Uzbek community in the U.S. is worried that the acts of the few will overshadow the great stories of the many who have gone on to do great things in their adopted homeland.

With at least 40,000 green card winners over the past two decades and thousands still seeking a brighter future in the lottery each year, many Uzbeks fear the small number of Uzbeks who have been accused of supporting terrorism or arrested in the U.S. on charges of terrorism may jeopardize their chances of traveling to the U.S., much less immigrating to the country.

"With so many successful compatriots here, we'd like to think that we are the best of both worlds. So, this and other cases from the recent years really hit us hard," said Norkhoja Sodikov, an Uzbek community leader in New York.

Sodikov came to the U.S. 12 years ago after receiving a green card through the U.S. visa program that makes up to 55,000 permanent resident cards available each year to people from "underrepresented countries." It is often referred to as the green card lottery.

Lottery visa

Following last months terror attack and the revelation that the alleged attacker had come to the U.S. through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, U.S President Donald Trump hinted at ending it.

There also have been rumors that the administration is considering adding Uzbekistan to the list of countries on the controversial travel ban.

Nate Schenkkan of Freedom House argues that painting entire communities with the same broad brush should be avoided.

At this point, it is difficult to say whether there is something unique about this case or something uniquely Uzbek or Central Asian, Schenkkan said.

Instead, he said, efforts should be made to look into the tactics being used by terrorists and whether there are any commonalities.

We have an increasing body of evidence or set of examples of different kinds of terrorist attacks committed by different ethnicities in different countries, using similar tactics that are spread by jihadist groups and networks, including ISIS, and instructions that are sent out on social media channels or ISIS publications that reach all sorts of different ethnicities," he said, using an acronym for the militant group.

Schenkkan urges the West, particularly the United States, not to take disproportionate steps to punish the community as a whole for the acts of a few individuals.

Own the issue

Some Uzbeks, however, argue that the community should try to own the issue and help resolve it.

The reality is that there are Uzbeks who support terrorism, extremism and violent methods to achieve goals. They exist, and by not recognizing that bitter truth, Uzbeks only fool themselves, Alisher Siddique, director of Radio Libertys Uzbek service, said.



Last week, a bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation visited Uzbekistan and met with the countrys leaders. Tashkent said it was ready to support the investigation and strengthen the cooperation against terrorism and extremism.
File photo shows health workers take people's blood pressure during a commemoration event of the World Diabetes Day in kampala, capital of Uganda, Nov. 14, 2017. (Xinhua/Joseph Kiggundu)

KAMPALA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan doctors on Saturday voted to suspend their strike for three weeks following government commitment to increase salaries and improve the working conditions in public hospitals by next month.

A total of 113 doctors out of 195 who attended the Uganda Medical Association (UMA) extra-ordinary meeting held in the capital Kampala voted to suspend the strike, which has been going for the last three weeks.

Ekwaro Obuku, the UMA president, said if the government fails to honor its commitment to respond to their issues by Dec. 15, the doctors will resume the industrial action.

"We are putting government on notice. The government shouldn't take our trust for granted," said Obuku.

Obuku said the three week's time will enable the association to continue to engage with the government to resolve the issue.

David Bahati, the state minister of finance, told the medical delegates that the government is committed to increase salaries and duty allowances for the health professionals.

He said the government is only waiting for the salary review commission report to be released on Dec. 15 to effect the salary increase of all public servants.

"I am on my knees to ask you to consider and call off the strike. Let's wait for the salary review commission report. We need to solve the salary issues once for all," said Bahati before the strike was called off.

The minister said the government has already released additional 41 billion shillings (11.7 million U.S. dollars) through a supplementary budget for medical supplies, medicines, vaccines and improving management in public hospitals.

The doctors began their strike on Nov. 6 demanding increase of salary and duty allowances, review of the supply chain and management of medicines, vaccines and medical supplies.

Bahati said the government has directed the District Resident Commissioners (RDCs) to stop intimidating and harassing medical doctors.

"No doctor will be sacked. We have told the RDC's to stop it immediately," said Bahati.
Zimbabwes former finance minister testified Saturday that armed, masked men in uniform abducted him from his home during the military operation leading to the ouster of longtime leader Robert Mugabe and held him for a week in an unidentified location, fueling debate about the legality of the popular, mostly peaceful takeover by the armed forces.

The account by Ignatius Chombo came a day after a High Court judge, a retired general, ruled that the militarys actions last week, which commanders described as a move against criminals around Mugabe, were legal. While some critics said it set a dangerous precedent, the decision by Judge George Chiweshe reinforced the militarys assertion that it acted within the law even though it set off events, including impeachment proceedings and street demonstrations against the 93-year-old Mugabe, that ended his 37-year rule.

Minister describes abduction

The joyful inauguration on Friday of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former top aide to Mugabe, showed that most Zimbabweans are happy to have a new leader who might take steps to revive the shattered economy and grant them more freedoms. Even so, perceptions that the abrupt political transition was constitutionally sound are important to Zimbabwes new leadership, which must prepare for 2018 elections and seeks to attract foreign investment.

However, Chombo and two leaders of the ruling ZANU-PF partys youth league who said they were abducted by the military before being handed over days later to the police described experiences reminiscent of human rights violations that were a routine occurrence during Mugabes rule. The three men have been linked to a party faction loyal to Mugabes wife, Grace, whose presidential ambitions triggered the military intervention.

I was in the custody of armed persons who were dressed in soldiers uniforms, said Chombo, who has been charged with corruption. I dont know where I was taken to.

He described in court how the raid in the early morning of Nov. 15 began with two explosions, one of which shook his home. Men entered his bedroom with AK-47 assault rifles pointed at him, his wife and his maid, then handcuffed and hustled him out of the house through a smashed living room window, blindfolding him with his own T-shirt, Chombo said.

A one-hour drive to an unidentified location led to days of custody during which interrogators told him that he had performed badly in his role as a government official and ruling party leader, he said. He said he was blindfolded most of the time and never saw his captors faces. He was not assaulted and saw a doctor after requesting pills, but suffered lacerations during the forced exit from his home, falling several times while barefoot.

Rights violated

Several days ago, his captors told him to pack his things and they drove him home, he said. There, two cars with police were parked.

They said, You are under arrest, Chombo said.

Defense lawyer Lovemore Madhuku said it was obvious that Chombo was originally taken by state agents, likely the military, and that his constitutional rights had been violated because he was not taken to court within 48 hours of his detention. The police arrest, he said, was designed to provide legal cover for an illegal act.

The military must know that there is a constitution in this country, Madhuku said. Theres no such thing as a military arrest.

However, state prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba said the police arrest of Chombo was lawful and that there was no evidence the armed men who previously held him belonged to the military.

The detained youth leaders, Kudzanai Chipanga and Innocent Hamandishe, have been accused of denigrating the military. All three men are now in police custody.
Botswana President Ian Khama has publicly applauded the resignation of former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, who he has blamed for the countrys huge deficit in democracy, and the lack of development in the 37-years of independence, which he said have been lost.

President Khama, who has been among the few African heads of state who had openly questioned and challenged President Mugabe continued leadership, despite his age and deteriorating economy, said Mr. Mugabes resignation Tuesday was long overdue.

In a phone interview with VOAs Peter Clottey following his attendance to the inauguration of Emmerson Mnangagwa, who assumed the presidency of Zimbabwe, Friday, Mr. Khama gave his reasons for why he was not saddened by Mr. Mugabes departure from the political scene.

Because for too long has he presided over poor governance in that country which has resulted in the state it finds itself in today, and with millions of its people having to seek opportunities in other countries, explained Khama.

Zimbabweans have left their country in huge numbers to seek better opportunities in other countries, including Botswana. Khama said, like many other heads of state who continue to cling on to power, way after their mandated years or effectiveness, Mugabe had stayed due to self-benefit, self-interest, losing sight of why they were put in those positions.

Said Khama, Like in a case like Mugabe, he was prepared just to see his country going to ruins and he was just blind to that fact, just to stay on in power.

Referring to Mugabes expected resignation speech, in which he instead spoke of how he would improve things, Khama said that that was yet another sign of Mugabes detachment from the reality.

If you heard that statement that he gave the other day, that evening, where he was going to announce and say now we are going to make a new start and fix things and hell preside over his Congress in December, you just knew that this old man had lost it.

With a new president now at the helm in Zimbabwe, Khama said he is hopeful for a better life for many Zimbabweans, including those who have left. He said he hopes to see them return to rebuild their country.

Like I said earlier on, theyve [Zimbabweans] been long suffering and I know being a neighbor that that country has immense potential, and I am pretty sure if [President] Mnangagwa really sets his sights on encouraging investment through providing a window of opportunity, embracing democracy, you are going to find domestic and foreign investors coming back to that country in a big way. And I think very soon they will be back on their feet again, said Khama.

Khama said there is no going back for Zimbabweans who demonstrated in huge numbers leading up to Mr. Mugabes demise, that they wanted a better life and accountability in government.

I think they have tasted, even if its just been for the week, they have tasted what democracy can bring them, said Khama.

They have been able to go to the streets without being beaten up, they have been able to voice their opinions about President Mugabe when he was still in office, without any crackdown, the papers have been able to write whatever they wrote, so they experienced it. So I would say to them, they should hang on, for their lives to this, what they have already tasted, and they should build on it and not allow politicians to ruin the lives of what was happening in the past.

Using his own country as a model, Khama said if Zimbabwes government under Mugabe had shed its years of political intolerance, allowed more open and even dissenting views, then its image of a legitimate government, would not have been questioned.

If, I think, they had embraced democracy, and done for the people what I have really tried to do here, I hope we have been successful in doing that, then they would have been rewarded, by winning elections without having to resort to rigging them.
Zimbabweans artistes on Sunday got together to celebrate the resignation of former president Robert Mugabe and performed what they called 'The Fall of A Dictator Jive'. Don't forget to LIKE our page in order to get the latest news and information on Zimbabwe. (Benedict Nhlapho)
Father Fidelis Mukonori, the Catholic priest who was with former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe following the military takeover, said President Emmerson Mnangagwa invited Mr. Mugabe to his inauguration, but Mr. Mugabe declined, offering instead to be at "his disposal," whenever he needed him.
Some people regard government surveillance as a necessary evil at best. But in the Districts outer suburbs, covertly listening in on Americans phone calls is considered a stable line of business by at least one local company.

Steve Bock, the chief executive of wiretapping contractor Subsentio (Latin for to notice secretly), views his work as a public service in the fight to protect national security. He became part of a generation of entrepreneurs who retooled their careers in the years after the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon, when the government boosted funding for defense and intelligence efforts.

As the scope of surveillance has expanded, so has Subsentios business. Today Subsentio operates a busy assembly line of FBI-requested wiretaps, much of it coordinated out of a nondescript office in Chantilly, Va.

Bock said public scrutiny over surveillance has so far done little to disrupt his companys business.

Every time there is a terrorist attack, a countrys parliament or congress will go through their breast-beating and say, We need new laws in place to prevent this,  Bock said. The fact is, we see communications providers expanding globally, and we see criminals expanding globally.

The wiretapping business is so big now that some cellphone companies maintain units of compliance professionals whose sole function is to aid in tapping lines. Bock said his team of a few dozen, which consists of former telecommunications professionals and former FBI wiretapping professionals, has carried out tens of thousands of wiretaps among them.

The company counts more than 300 phone companies as customers, including the worlds biggest carriers.

You wont find anyone whos done more, Bock boasted in a recent interview.

The privately held company declined to provide revenue or other financial information about its business.

Federal law requires telecommunications carriers to take certain steps to respond to FBI requests, creating an opportunity for specialized companies such as Subsentio and rivals such as Reston-based VeriSign and a Milpitas, Calif., company called Yaana, with offices in Sterling.

Subsentio became one of the biggest players in the lawful intercept market following a succession of targeted acquisitions, including the purchase of the compliance unit of rival Neustar, a move that gave the Colorado-based firm a larger foothold in Northern Virginia.

As communications technology has evolved, so has Subsentios business. The proliferation of encryption applications and cloud computing in recent years has put up new roadblocks to the companys older lines of business, nudging Subsentio to seek out new opportunities as it tries to stay competitive.

The company also must negotiate the sometimes-adversarial relationship that exists between the U.S. law enforcement community and phone companies. The issue was thrust into the national conversation when Apple refused to help the FBI break into the iPhone of a man who, with his wife, fatally shot 14 people at a San Bernardino office building in late 2015. It was later disclosed that the FBI hired hackers to break into the phone.

Subsentio executives say they dont break into encrypted devices, though they sometimes enlist the help of carriers in accessing the information.

Yet there are times when they must turn down FBI requests. Perhaps a wiretap order lacks a signature from a judge or does not include correct dates or references the wrong legal authority. In other cases, they have to tell the FBI they cant carry out a tap because it falls out of their U.S. jurisdiction, such as when a target is traveling overseas.

Cloud computing creates it own complications, especially when data is split among servers spread across vast distances. A call can sometimes switch to a server on another continent for connectivity reasons, complicating questions of jurisdiction.

Theres no case law to deal with this, Bock said.

To address the problem, the company sells a virtual tap meant to break calls that are handled online. In April, the company was awarded an export license that let it sell the virtual tap in an undisclosed European country, paving the way for its first steps into the international market.

In a mark of how government surveillance has proliferated in recent years, the legal environment in these countries can be quite permissive. Subsentio Chief Technology Officer Marcus Thomas said that in Australia, for example, they are often required to pull Internet addresses visited by the individuals they are asked to surveil. Theyre in discussions with one undisclosed customer about how to expand into Japan.

We always wondered if our service would one day become obsolete, but that hasnt been the case . . . were open for business, Bock said. Weve found that every administration thats come through has realized the value of surveillance.
A rendering of a brick-and-mortar store of Everlane, the online retailer which is preparing to open its first stores, in San Francisco and New York, on Dec. 2. (Rendering by Leong Leong /Courtesy of Everlane)

Five years ago, Michael Preysman swore that his online clothing company, Everlane, would never have a bricks-and-mortar store.

"We are going to shut the company down before we go to physical retail," he told the New York Times.

He doubled down on that pledge in March, telling Quartz he couldn't think of any apparel stores that offer "a great experience."

Now, it seems, his view on that has, well, evolved.

Everlane, the socially minded brand Preysman founded six years ago, is opening its first store, in New York, Dec. 2. The flagship, on Prince Street, will carry many of the companys best sellers, including T-shirts, cashmere, denim and shoes. A second store, in San Franciscos Mission District, will open in February. And although the stores will be relatively small  2,000 square feet in New York, 3,000 square feet in San Francisco  Preysman says they will allow the company to reach new shoppers and interact more closely with existing ones.

Our customers tell us all the time that they want to touch a product before they buy it, Preysman said. We realized we need to have stores if were going to grow on a national and global scale.

There were other reasons, too, he said: It turns out that even people who buy online prefer to return or exchange items in person.

Everlane, which Preysman founded at 25, is the latest online darling to set up physical locations. Warby Parker, the popular eyeglasses retailer, opened its first retail shop in New York in 2013. Today, it has more than 60 stores across the United States and Canada. Bonobos, the mens retailer that was bought by Walmart this year for $310 million, has expanded offline in recent years, as have shoe company M. Gemi and clothing brand Cuyana.

The trend underscores how quickly attitudes about technology can shift among retailers. Not long ago, some thought of bricks-and-mortar stores as vestiges of the past that add to operating expenses. But they also prove important in attracting new customers and fulfilling online orders. Even Amazon.com made its way into the bricks-and-mortar business this year with its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods Market. (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

After youve gotten all the low-hanging fruit  customers who are willing to buy online or who follow your brand on social media  how else do you get people to buy your items? said Sucharita Mulpuru, a retail analyst for market research firm Forrester. Thats where having a physical footprint can make an impact.

[Americans love shopping online, but they want to return things in person]

And, she added, the conditions for opening small-format physical locations have improved in recent years, as shopping centers look to fill vacancies. Given the widespread closures around the country  more than 7,000 stores have shuttered so far this year  landlords and shopping centers are more willing to forge flexible arrangements, including monthly or yearly leases, with niche brands.

Theres been a real shakeout in shopping centers and malls, she said. It used to be that leases were 20 years long, but now were seeing an environment where a lot of these digital-first retailers can comfortably move into physical locations.

***

Preysman, who has degrees in computer engineering and economics, started Everlane in 2011 with just one product: a $15 T-shirt that came in black, white and pink.

He found a Los Angeles factory that would manufacture 1,200 T-shirts for $7.50 apiece and sold them for $15. He was upfront with customers about his costs, as well as exactly where the money was going. Radical transparency, he called it.

Theres a lot of  for lack of a better word  lying in the retail industry, he said. Why is this shirt 40 percent off and this other one 10 percent off? You dont know where things are made or how theyre made or what the actual costs are.

After a successful run with T-shirts, Everlane started selling $35 ties  less a strategic decision than a matter of having found a factory in New York that could manufacture them under favorable conditions, Preysman said. After that, he added sweatshirts and backpacks. Back then, he says, it never crossed his mind to sell anywhere but on the Internet.

There was this belief back then that the online experience was far superior to the physical one, Preysman said. But as weve grown, our brand has become about more than just our products. Weve created a community.

Today, the company offers more than 500 products manufactured by about two dozen factories. Each one has been vetted through a year-long process that includes interviews, background checks and unannounced visits. The factories must pay fair wages, offer reasonable working hours and make environmentally friendly decisions. On its website, Everlane tells customers where each item has been made and offers behind-the-scenes photos and videos of each factory.

The company expects annual sales to double this year. And although Preysman preaches radical transparency, he declined to provide revenue figures or say whether the company, which is privately held, was profitable.

[Stitch Fix goes public in the first tech IPO led by a woman this year]

Over the years, Preysman has also taken a staunchly anti-promotional approach, avoiding the culture of discounts that has permeated the retail industry. When Everlane has too much of a certain item  a shirt, perhaps, or a pair of shoes  Preysman allows customers to decide how much they pay. A cotton tank top originally priced $18, for example, was recently being offered on the company's site for $13, $15 or $17. (Paying the maximum amount, the website noted, contributes to "development, shipping and overhead and allows us to work on creating new products." About 12 percent of shoppers pay more than the minimum price, Preysman said.)

If you train your customers to expect sales all the time, theyll take it, he said. If you tell them, This is the way it works, and heres why, theyll adapt.

Preysman is, at times, extreme in his approach. Early on, he shut down the Everlane website on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that has grown to become synonymous with rock-bottom prices and sweeping discounts.

I just said, We dont run sales, so were not going to participate in this,  he said. He has eased up in recent years and now donates the days profits to factory workers.

We are always trying new things: Can we push this further? he said. How much can we ask of our customers?

***

Preysman has spent the past two years experimenting with different types of formats  pop-ups, open houses and, most recently, a six-week pop-in at Nordstrom stores  to find the right approach for Everlane stores. One concept, called Shoe Park, required customers to take off their shoes at the door. Once barefoot, shoppers were allowed access to a plant-filled showroom in New Yorks SoHo neighborhood lined from wall to wall in pairs of Italian-made shoes in every size. Shoppers were encouraged to try on a pair while they grabbed coffee or sipped a cocktail. It turned out to be fun, Preysman said, but not very practical.

We turned it into such a playground that at the end of the month, we ended up with all sorts of damaged shoes, he said. It wouldnt have been economical long-term.

Last winters Cashmere Cabin, a six-week pop-up in New Yorks West Village, allowed shoppers to browse sweaters while they drank mulled wine and hot chocolate. Cozy and enjoyable, sure. But a long-term business model? No.

[Online retailers seize on long-ignored market: Women size 16 and up]

Others experiments, which the company called open houses, were built around Everlanes mission to be as transparent as possible. Evening events showed customers where products were sourced and how they were made but didnt offer many items for sale. That didnt work, either, Preysman said.

That just confused everybody, he said. We learned that while people want experiences, they also want to shop. Its got to be a mix of both community and commerce.

Executives at Nordstrom  which stocked some of its stores with Everlane items for six weeks this fall  said customers had responded favorably to the pairing.

Our recent partnership with Everlane has been our most successful pop-in concept to date, Blake Nordstrom, the companys co-president, said in a recent earnings call. Our pop-in shops give customers access to highly sought-after brands like Warby Parker and Goop.

When Everlanes first store opens this week, it will sell clothing and shoes but also facilitate talks, workshops and performances. Preysman plans to invite local chefs to host intimate family-style dinners and says he will offer classes on a variety of topics, such as meditation.

If people are going to go somewhere, its because they want a connection, he said. If theyre just going to shop, they can do that online.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Everlane would be opening stores in New York and San Francisco on Dec. 2. The opening of the San Francisco location has been delayed until February.

Read more:

Move over, ugly Christmas sweaters. Famjams are here.

Unboxing this years hot toy: The L.O.L. Surprise

Americans are feeling richer these days, but they wont necessarily be spending more on gifts
An Indian man asks for money in Hyderabad, India, on Nov. 13. Authorities in the city are rounding up homelss ahead of a visit by Ivanka Trump. (Mahesh Kumar A./Associated Press)

When Ivanka Trump leads a U.S. delegation to southern India this week, the presidents daughter will use her official role as a White House adviser to promote female entrepreneurship and economic power.

But looming over her visit will be an uncomfortable question that Trumps company has refused to answer: What are the work conditions for laborers in India who have pieced together clothes for her fashion line?

Trump has called for more support for working women around the world, but she has remained silent about the largely female garment workforce in India and other Asian countries that makes her clothing.

Her brand  which Trump no longer runs day to day but continues to own  has declined to identify the factories that produce her goods or detail how the workers are treated or paid.

The India trip will further elevate Trump as one of the administrations biggest stars. Her advocacy for women on an international stage has become a key element of her political profile and personal image.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president's eldest daughter "has been a champion of women's economic empowerment not just in words but in action," adding that she helped launch a World Bank initiative to help female entrepreneurs gain better access to capital, "which will empower women across the developing world to start their own businesses."

In a telephone call with reporters Tuesday to preview her trip, Trump talked about the administrations commitment to the principle that when women are economically empowered, their communities and countries thrive. She will give the keynote address to an entrepreneur summit that is themed Women First, Prosperity for All.

Trump will be greeted in the Indian tech capital of Hyderabad with trappings befitting a royal dignitary, including a gala dinner with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a restored palace.

It will be a world away from Indias garment industry, in which laborers earn about $100 a month, some amid punishing workloads, verbal abuse and sexual harassment, according to union organizers and industry experts.

On the positive side, its a huge employer for women, but the systematic issue is that we dont treat women properly, otherwise they would not be working in this kind of system, said Anita Cheria, director of the social justice group Open Space, which works with garment workers in the southern city of Bangalore. These industries can do much better for women.

Trumps trip throws a spotlight on her company and persistent questions about whether its practices match her rhetoric about improving opportunities for women in the developing world.

A Washington Post examination in July found Trump's brand relies solely on foreign workers to produce its goods and lags behind many in the clothing industry when it comes to overseeing the treatment of workers in its supply chain.

[Ivanka Inc.: Ivanka Trump clothing line practices are out of step with industry trends]

At the time, executives told The Post that the brand had started looking into hiring a nonprofit workers rights group to increase oversight and help improve factory conditions. Brand president Abigail Klem said she was planning her first trip to tour facilities that make Ivanka Trump products.

We recognize that our brand name carries a special responsibility, she said.

But four months later, it is unclear if the company pursued any of those steps. Asked about the status of Klems trip or the hiring of a workers rights group, the company declined to comment.

Executives referred to a statement earlier this year from Klem, who said the company is committed to only working with licensees who maintain internationally recognized labor standards across their supply chains.

Using clothing labels and shipping records earlier this year, The Post traced Trumps products to Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

But it remains a mystery which Indian factories produce Trumps goods, including an array of Indian-made cotton blouses sold at department stores such as Lord & Taylor this spring.

The Post sought to identify the facilities by interviewing Indian garment industry officials, union organizers and workers in New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and the state of Punjab but was unable to locate the facilities.

G-III, a large clothing distributor that makes Trump products, recently expanded into Bangalore, a major hub for the Indian garment industry, according to people who work in the industry and a G-III employee in Bangalore, who declined to discuss its operations.

A spokesman for G-III declined to identify the factories it uses in India, noting the company works with independent manufacturers in countries throughout Asia and Central and South America.

More than 20 labor and human rights groups co-signed a letter to Trump this month urging her brand to disclose the names of its supplier factories and allow independent groups to monitor its conditions, among other steps. She has not yet responded.

International human-rights and labor advocates say Trump is failing to use her platform to illuminate the conditions facing female garment workers around the world.

If Ivanka truly wants her legacy to include protecting working women, said Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum, she needs to start with the women in her supply chain.

Earlier this year, an attorney for Trump told The Post that because of her White House role, she has been advised that she cannot ask the government to act in an issue involving the brand in any way, constraining her ability to intervene personally.

Indias textile industry is one of its largest employers, accounting for 15 percent of total exports and bringing in $17 billion for ready-made garments between 2016 and 2017, government data show.

Garment factories are spread across India, with a concentration around the capital city of New Delhi and the states of Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Women make up 60 percent of Indias garment sector, according to government data cited by the industry-backed Clean Clothes Campaign, though that does not count the large informal sector of women who sew from home.

The Garment Labor Union in Bangalore says women make up 85 percent of its total workforce, with unskilled and semiskilled laborers earning about $4.60 to $4.70 a day. Workers are often crammed into noisy factories without air conditioning  unbearable in Indias summer heat, when temperatures soar to 120 degrees. They churn out hundreds of shirts and jeans per day, with little time for water breaks, advocates said.

Despite the difficult working conditions, the industry overall has a good record in compliance checks for child labor, fire safety and overtime, experts said.

For her part, Ivanka Trump is increasingly playing a prominent diplomatic role in her fathers administration, frequently representing the United States among foreign dignitaries and heads of state.

[Buying Ivanka Trump: Fans embrace her brand as a political statement]

In September, during a session of the United Nations General Assembly, Trump met with India's foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, whom she said in a tweet she has "long respected."

She has faced mixed reception abroad. In Japan this month, she spoke to a half-empty auditorium, and she was booed by some in a Berlin audience this spring when she described her father as a tremendous champion of supporting families.

During her visit to India, Trump will lead the U.S. delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, a city of more than 6 million people and home to office campuses for Google, Facebook and Amazon.

The summit was launched in 2010 by the Obama administration as a way to link entrepreneurs with Muslim communities around the world. This year's summit, co-hosted by India and the United States, is expected to host 1,500 business leaders and other attendees from 170 countries. More than 50 percent of the entrepreneurs in attendance will be women, organizers said.

Ivanka Trump will speak Tuesday at the summits plenary session, Be the Change: Womens Entrepreneurial Leadership, and will appear the following day for a session titled, We Can Do It! Innovations in Workforce Development and Skills Training. In her speech, Trump is expected to touch on themes such as womens economic empowerment.

On the first day of the summit, Modi will host Trump at a gala dinner in the restored Falaknuma Palace, a luxury hotel previously owned by one of the monarchs, or nizams, who ruled Hyderabad before Indias independence.

Guests are traditionally ferried to the sprawling Italian-marble palace in a horse-drawn carriage and sprinkled with rose petals. The presidents daughter will dine with Modi and other dignitaries at a 101-seat teak table once known as the worlds longest dining table.

The city of Hyderabad has spent weeks preparing for the visit, doing an estimated $1.85 million in road repairs alone, according to municipal commissioner Harichandana Dasari.

Giant potholes have been repaired, and a bridge that Trump is scheduled to pass was painted in the colors of a rainbow. A local paper also reported that the ranks of stray dogs, ubiquitous in Indian cities, have mysteriously thinned.

Hundreds of panhandlers have been rounded up and swept out of sight, tucked in a shelter house run by a local ashram, according to local officials.

We were told Ivanka is coming from America, and they want to round up the beggars, said Gattu Giri, the joint secretary of the Amma Nanna Anada Ashramam, which has picked up the homeless in a $20,000 bus paid for by the State Bank of India.

Harwell reported from Washington. Gowen reported from New Delhi. Gupta reported from Bangalore.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 20:45:09|Editor: Zhou Xin

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JERUSALEM, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israel's health minister, who heads a powerful ultra-Orthodox party, resigned on Sunday in protest of construction work on a rail on Sabbath, the day when all works are rigorously prohibited under Jewish law.

Yaakov Litzman, head of United Torah Judaism party, said in a statement that his resignation was handed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of public violations of the holy Jewish day. According to Litzman, the work, part of maintenance work of the national rail lines, was conducted on Saturday unnecessarily and could have been done on a different day.

He said the observance of the Sabbath through Jewish history has always been a "supreme value."

"We were raised to defend the Sabbath from desecration," he said, adding that "as a minister in Israel, I cannot maintain the ministerial responsibility" of being part of a government that acts in contradiction to the "holy values of the Jewish people."

The ultra-Orthodox parties have provided important support to Netanyahu's otherwise narrow coalition.

According to local media reports, Netanyahu may face a coalition crisis as other ultra-Orthodox parties might raise demands to observe the Sabbath in other fields. However, Litzman's party, for now, is remaining part of the coalition.

At the start of Israel's weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said he regrets Litzman's resignation, adding he hopes to find a solution that will bring Litzman back.

"The Sabbath is important also to us as so does the needs of the general public in Israel, including the need to ensure a safe and consistent transportation," Netanyahu added.


A scene from the first episode of MTV Floribama Shore. (MTV)

Senior editor, style

All told, MTV has spent more of its life grasping for a piece of popular culture than actually affecting it. Besides its vulgar awards shows, occasional hits come and go and ideas are sometimes recycled ("TRL" being a recent example), but the network's derelict condition rarely improves in the long run. Age may certainly be a factor, but it's hard to remember the last time I heard anyone talking about what's on MTV.

Oh, wait, I do remember  it was "Jersey Shore," the surprise-hit reality series about a group of young partyers living together for summer seasons in Seaside Heights, N.J., which aired from 2009 to 2012 and briefly held viewers in a guido grip of voyeuristic astonishment. Fast success elevated "Jersey Shore's" cast members to a fleeting and opportunistic fame; they eventually became future answers to trivia night questions. (Sure you can get the names Snooki and the Situation correct, but what about Pauly D? Or JWoww?)

People over 40 are fond of suggesting that MTV could solve all its identity problems by simply returning to its original, all-music video format, but that idea grows more outlandish with time, especially in the Spotify era.

Instead, the network is venturing back to the debauchery of a beach town  this time in Monday nights premiere of MTV Floribama Shore (the use of MTV in the title already suggests an erosion in brand confidence), where eight young strangers gather in an oceanfront house in Panama City Beach, Fla., and behave precisely as their forebears who settled the first Real World season 25 years ago.

You dont get on this show because of impressive intellect or emotional maturity. You get on this show (more specifically, you offer yourself up to this sacrifice) by embracing the stereotypes that are being sold.



The male cast members of Floribama Shore are, from left, Kirk Medas, Gus Smyrnios, Jeremiah Buoni and Codi Butts. (MTV)

In Floribamas case, that means commodifying ones Southernness. The first two episodes are scrubbed clean of any controversial red-state politics or inherent prejudices (gone are the days when someone on an MTV reality show made a slyly racist remark in the first 10 minutes). In fact, Floribama is edited in such a resolutely post-racial way that its two African American cast members, Candace Rice and Kirk Medas, quickly become invisible. The only identity here is a mostly bogus notion of what its like to live in the South  which, when described, doesnt sound all that special.

"There is not one other bitch like me," proclaims Kortni Gilson, a 21-year-old Panama City Beach local, who apparently hasn't looked around much. As the gang gets acquainted over binge drinking, an overserved Kortni conks out early, rising only to stumble around in search of a bathroom and eventually urinating on her roommate's bed. "I wasn't just blacked-out," she nonchalantly explains to the camera the next day. "I was blacked the hell out."

Its here where a viewer realizes that MTV is again clinging to some unworthy aspect of its past, nostalgic for those old reality shows where alcohol abuse could be seen as an affectionate quirk or rite of passage. The old defense holds true  in a documentary setting, the producers are obligated to let us see people behaving as they are, in good moments and bad  but the luridness of it has lost all meaning. Rather than laugh at Kortni, you think: Someone help this woman.

Similarly depressing is having to watch and listen as a group of young people in 2017 adhere to outdated ideas about gender roles. I have to be a gentleman and a douchebag because I feel like thats what women want, explains the house heartthrob, Jeremiah Buoni. The effect is more regressive than retro.

This gang also correctly intuits that hooking up is the only path to pleasing their producers. Their nightly excursions to clubs have a conspicuous familiarity about them, as they twerk and strut and try to show how much fun theyre having on mostly empty dance floors. (Is it possible that theyve been sentenced to Floribama Shore as part of a work-release program?) Its a sad pantomime of Snookis faded glory, which gives a viewer the vague feeling that an entire generation has moved on and no one remembered to tell poor ol MTV.

MTV Floribama Shore (one hour) two-episode premiere, Monday at 10 p.m. on MTV.
Reba McEntire hosts the annual CMA Country Christmas for the first time on ABC at 8. Expect appearances by Luke Bryan, Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town, CeCe Winans and Trisha Yearwood. (Mark Levine/ABC)

(All times Eastern.)

The Voice (NBC at 8) The top 11 perform.

Angry Angel (Freeform at 9) Brenda Song plays a newly-minted angel who finds herself stuck on Earth, much to the chagrin of her angel mentor (Jason Biggs), in this Christmas movie.

The Good Doctor (ABC at 10) The team takes on a risky case involving a Congolese boy with severe congenital heart anomalies.

Premiere

Floribama Shore (MTV at 10) MTV tries to recapture some of that "Jersey Shore" magic with this reality series, which follows eight young adults spending the summer in Florida's Panama City Beach.

Specials

Dog and Beth: Fight of their Lives (A&E at 9) This two-hour special follows bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman and his wife, Beth, as they chronicle Beth's battle with throat cancer.

A Very Pentatonix Christmas (NBC at 10) Jennifer Hudson, Jay Leno and "America's Got Talent" winner Darci Lynne Farmer make guest appearances during the a capella group's second annual holiday special.

Vanderpump Rules: How They Got Here (Bravo at 10) This special promises to get you caught up on all the drama ahead of next week's season premiere.

Documentary

Meth Storm (HBO at 10) This documentary follows law enforcement and meth addicts in rural Arkansas, where a new strain of Mexican-made methamphetamine has had devastating effects on a struggling community.

Returning

Street Outlaws (Discovery at 9) Season 10.

Finale

Fashion Police: The Farewell (E! at 8) Melissa Rivers hosts the iconic franchise's final episode, which features tributes and never-before-seen footage of the late Joan Rivers.

Late Night

Conan (TBS at 11) Rainn Wilson, Angela Kinsey, Ivan Decker.

Daily Show (Comedy Central at 11) Esther Perel.

Fallon (NBC at 11:34) Martin Short, Gina Rodriguez, Spoon.

Meyers (NBC at 12:37) Ice-T, Michael Showalter, Midland.


Karam al-Masri won a journalism prize for his work in Syria. On the way, he lost almost everything. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

When the Syrian uprising began in 2011, Karam al-Masri was a young law student in Aleppo. His schoolteacher parents had raised him to be an engaged citizen, so Masri followed anti-Assad regime protesters into the streets, and posted to Facebook the video footage he captured on his old Nokia cellphone.

I wanted to tell the truth, the 26-year-old told the audience gathered for an International Center for Journalists awards dinner this month. I wanted to tell the world what was going on.

He never planned to be a journalist, never imagined that he would ultimately chronicle the obliteration of his beloved city from behind a camera lens  nor that he would receive a prize for this work, the 2017 Knight International Journalism Award. But the war changed everything.

Every day was a struggle to survive, Masri said from the stage of a Washington ballroom. In the past six years, he had been shot, kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured. His mother had been killed in the bombings; other friends and family had perished, too.

Syrians have lost everything; even their dreams no longer exist, he said. I have waited for a happy ending like the one I have seen in Hollywood films. I want an end to the misery that the Syrian people have endured.

For now, he could offer only a faintly positive note on which to end his speech:

I have gained a great deal by going through this experience  mainly, I have fallen in love, in love with being a journalist, and conveying the truth, he said. And the crowd before him rose to its feet.



In November 2013, Masri captured this image of rebel fighters from the Free Syrian Army firing a heavy machine gun against government forces in the Salah al-Din neighborhood of Aleppo. (Karam al-Masri/AFP/Getty Images)

One year ago, Masri was seeking shelter in half-demolished buildings, dodging mortar attacks, his stomach knotted with hunger. He doubted he would get out of Aleppo alive.

Now, days after the awards dinner, he sat in a brightly lit conference room at the ICFJ headquarters, clad in blue-rimmed glasses and a black bomber jacket, swiveling his chair as he spoke  in English and in Arabic, through a translator  about his past and future.

His career as a journalist might have ended even before it began, after a friend reported his Facebook posts to the regime in 2011. Government forces came for him at night, he said, surrounding his family's home with heavily armed vehicles and bright lights. The message, for him and anyone who saw it: If you do what he does, it will cost you.

He was held in solitary confinement for a month, in a claustrophobic cell that barely contained his narrow frame. He came to memorize the markings left behind in the plaster walls by the previous occupant. The prisoner had used a sharp edge  a zipper, Masri suspects  to carve a straight line for every day of a roughly seven-month sentence, the word freedom in Kurdish, an elaborate drawing of the prison itself.

After Masri was pardoned and released, I was in absolute fear, he said. I was quiet, I was compliant. But he gradually began to forget the fear and the pain. He started documenting protests again  this time surrounded by trusted friends and wrapped head to toe, like a mummy, so he couldnt be identified.

In 2013, he bought a used Canon camera and began to experiment with its settings. I laugh at the quality of those pictures now, he said. But as Western journalists abandoned Syria, Masri started freelancing for Agence France-Presse.

[How a 7 year-old Aleppo girl became our eras Anne Frank]

Over the next three years, he filed hundreds of images. He remembers every one: An emaciated baby nursing an empty bottle. Bandaged men slumped on a debris-strewn, bloodstained hospital floor. A young boy bent over a black body bag, his tear-streaked face frozen mid-scream.



An Aleppo boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of relative in a Masri photo from April 2016. (Karam Al-Masri/AFP/Getty Images)

On his way to cover a massacre in eastern Aleppo in November 2013, Masri and two friends were stopped at an ISIS checkpoint. They were blindfolded, driven hours away and put in solitary confinement for 45 days. After that, his captors moved Masri from prison to prison for nearly six months.

Every time a new prisoner arrived, he said, everyone would gather around, eager for news from the outside. This was how he learned that his familys neighborhood had been bombed.

His worst fears were confirmed when an aunt came to visit. I asked, Wheres my mother? and my aunt said she was sick, Masri recalled, his eyes reddening. He later learned the truth that his aunt couldnt bear to share: His mother was dead. Soon after, his aunt was also killed in a bombing.

Masri wrote of his grief for Agence France-Presse: "I've lost everything  my family, my university. I'm an only child. What I miss most is my family, my father, my mother. Particularly her. I think about her every day, I see her in my dreams."

By the time he was released from the ISIS prison, Masri no longer recognized his devastated home town. But he soon resumed his work, filing video and photos to AFP as the siege of Aleppo began and the chaos around him intensified.

The destruction in those last three months was worse than what wed seen in the three years before, he said.

His editors at AFP watched anxiously from afar as the Syrian army closed in on Masri's neighborhood, according to their firsthand account in the AFP. To protect him, his colleagues ran Masri's photos without his name  but he demanded that they reinstate his byline. The work was his responsibility, he told them, and he wanted his name there to lend credibility.

[The Syrian war is far from over. But the endgame is already playing out.]

His tenacity  paired with the exceptional quality of his photography  made him an immediate standout among the roughly 300 candidates for this years Knight International Journalism Award, ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan said. Masri shared this years prize with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a Karachi-based journalist and filmmaker.

Had it not been for him, the world may not have known about a lot of the atrocities that were taking place in Aleppo, Barnathan told The Washington Post. It was just too dangerous for Western journalists to be there. And he learned best practices on the job to become a reliable journalist, and to be our eyes and ears in this horrific war zone.



I have waited for a happy ending like the one I have seen in Hollywood films, said Masri during a visit to Washington this month. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

In his final weeks in Aleppo, Masri texted constantly with Rana Moussaoui, an AFP colleague in Beirut. He told her of the constant danger, his growing hunger, his mounting despair. When he lost his camera in a fire, he wrote to her that he had lost the will to go on: "I don't want to leave. I want to be buried here with everything beautiful that I lost, with my parents and my memories."

Moussaoui and other co-workers rallied to support him, telling him that his work was important, that he had to survive.

He left Aleppo during the mass evacuation in December 2016, using a borrowed camera to document the refugee migration. He crossed the border into Turkey and eventually made it to Paris, where he has lived since March. He was recently granted asylum in France and hopes to continue his career as a photojournalist.

At night, he said, he dreams of two Aleppos: the thriving city he knew before the war, and the demolished ruins he fled.

As for his new life in France, he shrugged. I can live anywhere. It doesnt matter. I could live on Mars, he said. I lost my country. Theres not an option to not adapt. What he wants, he said, is to go back to a war zone  I can go anywhere but Syria  as soon as he can.

Its become an addiction. I feel bored in a life of no adventure, no danger, and at the same time, there is a growing need for objective, neutral documentation, he said. And my camera can do that.



One photo that Masri keeps returning to is this one from March 2015 of a young boy walking past a makeshift barricade made of buses. (Karam al-Masri/AFP/Getty Images)

There is one photograph in particular that he pulls up often, he added, scrolling through his phone to find it. The image is of a city street, framed by buildings with shattered windows. Three massive buses stand on their ends, towering above the dusty road where a boy walks past. There is danger in this scene, Masri explained: The abandoned buses were used as fortified perches by government snipers. Civilians were sometimes killed just crossing the street near buses like this, he said.

Amid the many horrors of war-torn Aleppo, Masri said he was the first to capture this particular detail. But thats not why the photo means so much to him.

This is in my neighborhood, he said softly. This was my home.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday takes up one of the most important privacy cases in years. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Former columnist

That cellphone in your pocket?

Nathan Freed Wessler sees it as a dangerous time machine as well as a communication device.

After all, says the ACLU attorney, the location data your phone gathers all day, every day, makes it possible for an interested party  the police, lets say  to look back at a period of time and reconstruct precisely where you were. And from that to deduce who you were talking to and why.

In other words, imagine if the Department of Justice could have traced a Washington Post reporter to that Virginia garage where he met Deep Throat.

Such data may offer invaluable help in prosecuting a criminal. But if its available on demand, without a warrant, it could be a nightmare for journalists who are trying to protect their sources. And for their news organizations.

"It can really imperil the ability of journalists to do confidential reporting," said Wessler, who will be in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to argue against the government in one of the most important privacy cases in many years: Carpenter v. United States.

In the case, FBI agents in Detroit got over four months worth of location records from cellphone-service companies for suspects in a robbery investigation. The ACLU is representing Timothy Carpenter, one of the suspects, who ended up being convicted.

No one is arguing that robbers shouldnt be punished for their crimes. Rather, the argument is that, in an age when smartphones are ubiquitous, new privacy protections are necessary.

A long list of news organizations and journalism advocacy groups have signed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the ACLU position: That law enforcement officials need a warrant before they are able to demand location data from cellphones.

Were not arguing that this information should be off-limits, rather making the modest claim that police should show probable cause and get a warrant first, Wessler told me.Its a reasonable protection.

Heres why it matters to journalism: Reporters need confidentiality to do their work, and they need to be able to promise it to sources. At a time when President Trump has expressed the desire to crack down on sources and journalists, its not hard to imagine the implications.

A journalists cellphone location data can reveal the stories a journalist is working on before they are published, where a journalist went to gather information for those stories, and the identity of a journalists source, said the brief filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Exposing those sources and journalistic methods can put sources jobs and lives at risk, compromise the integrity of the newsgathering process, and have a chilling effect on reporting.

Cellphones have become a kind of mobile newsroom, says Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee, but theres no way to use them without sharing location data with a service provider.

That paints a picture of where journalists go and with whom they meet. That chills reporter-source relationships, threatens newsgathering, and ultimately harms the flow of information to the public, Brown said.

In addition to the 19 journalism organizations supporting the ACLUs position, the giants of the tech world are also on board: Apple, Verizon, Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft, Google and others.

Their brief rightly makes the case that rigid analog-era rules should yield to consideration of reasonable expectations of privacy in the digital age.

The criminal case relies on an outdated idea called the third-party doctrine. It says that by sharing information or records with a third party  such as a business or an individual  a person gives up any reasonable expectation that the information will stay private. That made sense in the 1970s when that action might have been canceled checks sent to a bank or a phone number dialed and transmitted over a phone company line.

But today, our phones send a stream of information at all times to a third party  the cellphone service provider.

Allowing that information to be accessed without a warrant might even be interpreted to mean that other digital information could be similarly unprotected, Wessler said  among the possibilities: copies of notes, recordings of an interview, or things that havent even been invented yet.

The Justice Department disagrees. It will argue that First Amendment protections for journalists will cover them adequately and that the third-party rule applies even in the digital age  that by the mere act of using their phones, people know they are giving up a certain amount of privacy.

Those who care about privacy and about protecting journalist-source relationships should hope that that argument fails.

If it doesnt, law enforcement stands to gain what Wessler calls an almost inconceivable new power. A power that, in the digital age, would harm journalists and citizens.

For more by Margaret Sullivan visit wapo.st/sullivan
Domestic violence survivor Melissa Latson encourages people who think they need help to apply for a new Prince Georges County grant that will help them seek refuge before filing a protective order. (Mark Gail/For The Washington Post)

Ten days before Melissa Latson was kidnapped and held hostage, she and her boyfriend had gotten into a fight at home, where she ended up passing out with a bruise on her face.

Seeking safety, she took her children and briefly stayed at a friends house.

It wasnt the first time she had to whisk the children away.

Latson wanted to flee her relationship for good with each bruise, black eye and bloody nose that had come in the months before. But the single mother was on a limited income and couldnt leave the Southeast Washington apartment where she lived with her three children.

I had stayed in my apartment knowing he knew where I was, Latson said. I suffered in my own home.

Domestic violence victims often find themselves enduring abusive relationships because they, like Latson years ago, cannot escape. But a new grant in Prince Georges County, Md., expands housing assistance to those attempting to get away.

In the past, women seeking shelter or housing aid in Prince Georges had to have a protective order filed with the court before they could access funding. The $1.5 million grant is the first time money is available to those seeking refuge before they have filed a protective order.

The grant aims to help victims get to a safe place and stabilize their lives as they navigate the criminal justice system, said Prince Georges County States Attorney Angela Alsobrooks, whose office recently secured the funding from the state.

Were hoping to reach the large number of individuals that want to leave before something happens, Alsobrooks said during a news conference announcing the availability of the grant dollars in October. This funding is not designed to help after the crime has occurred.

[Abuse survivors in Prince Georges get help beyond filing a protective order]

The funding, which can be accessed through the Prince George's County Family Justice Center, can cover three to six months' worth of housing expenditures with the option of being extended up to a year. The money can also help pay for therapy sessions or counseling for victims and their children, Alsobrooks said.

Carolyn White-Washington, head of a Prince Georges-based nonprofit group that empowers women to leave abusive relationships called Sisters4Sisters, said the county has needed such help for women for years.

White-Washington talked to one woman in October with four children who wound up living in her car because she couldnt find a place to stay but needed to flee her abuser.

I cannot emphasize how many women have stayed in abusive relationships because they had nowhere to go, White-Washington said.

Latson stayed with her boyfriend for about eight years, turning to friends to take her in when tensions flared at home. But she never stayed with them for long, worried she might be imposing or putting them at risk if her boyfriend tracked her.

Id stay a night or two and then dread going back to my apartment. It was like torture, Latson said.

After frequent visits to the local police station, but never pressing charges out of fear of reprisal, Latsons abusive relationship ended two days after Christmas in 2005.

Less than two weeks after their fight, Latsons boyfriend confronted her outside her office in McLean, Va., early in the morning.

 Holler and I will blow your brains out,  Latson recalled him saying as he stole her truck and shoved her inside.

[Family Justice Center in Pr. Georges to serve victims of violence in a single place]

Latson happened to be on the phone with a police detective at the time, and when their conversation abruptly ended, police broadcast an alert that covered the region, she said.

Within a short time, officers spotted her truck before her boyfriend led police on a chase through the District. He crashed into other cars while fleeing and drove so fast at one point that Latson thought the truck would flip.

Her boyfriend eluded police crossing into Prince George's County, where Latson wound up at a stranger's apartment and was held hostage during a standoff with law enforcement. Helicopters flew overhead, news vans planted themselves outside and SWAT officers swarmed the building as negotiators attempted to engage with Latson's boyfriend.

I couldnt believe this was my life, Latson, now 47, said. I thought I was going to die.

Six hours later, Latsons boyfriend told her to put on her coat and walk out the door. He said he would follow behind.

I thought he was going to shoot me in the back of my head, Latson said.

Instead, he surrendered.

Police flanking the door on the left immediately grabbed her and police on the right took her boyfriend down and handcuffed him.

Melissa, I love you,  he told her at the police station that night.

Ten months later, a jury found Latsons ex-boyfriend, Michael Troy Smallwood, guilty of one count of carjacking, a crime that carried the heaviest sentence of all the charges leveled against him in the kidnapping. Smallwood is serving a sentence in federal prison on an unrelated drug distribution conviction. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

I think about what my life would be with that grant, Latson said. My kids would be in a safe space and all of this could have been avoided.

Latson runs a nonprofit called Motivating Elegant Ladies that works with girls ages 10 to 17 to teach them about healthy relationships and the importance of developing self-confidence.

She encourages women who think they need help to apply for the grant in hopes of avoiding similar painful experiences.

Please pray for the courage and strength to leave, Latson said. It will not get any better. It is only going to get worse.

Justin Jouvenal contributed to this report.
A man was shot in the eye while seated in a car just south of Dupont Circle in Washington early Sunday morning, according to a D.C. police report. The victim was in serious but stable condition on Sunday, a police spokesman said.

About 1 a.m., the car was in the 1300 block of Connecticut Avenue NW, when the passenger began arguing with a man who was standing nearby, police said. After a brief argument, the man outside fired one round into the cars windshield and struck the passenger in the left eye, according to the incident report.

The driver sped off and called 911.

Police have classified the offense as an assault with intent to kill, according to the police report.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 20:50:11|Editor: Liangyu

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NANJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Photographer Chris Magee, whose grandfather shot the only documentary about the Nanjing Massacre, is reshooting pictures of the city to make its war history more widely known.

He revealed the progress of his plan in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, on Sunday.

The first phase of his work started in October by photographing the buildings and streets that had appeared in his grandfather's filmstrips in 1937.

For the next step, he will also choose typical pictures from old images of Nanjing between the 1910s and 1940s and reshoot them in the same place to demonstrate the city's changes.

His grandfather John Magee was an American priest in Nanjing, who secretly filmed the slaughter of Chinese soldiers and civilians by Japanese troops 80 years ago.

The 105 minutes of footage is considered the only film record of the massacre, in which 300,000 people were murdered.

Chris Magee knew the history through his grandfather's diaries, old pictures and films.

A picture of a child named Xia Shuqin touches him deeply. Xia narrowly survived the brutal killings of the Japanese troops.

"I feel sad every time I see these pictures and videos. If Japanese troops did not occupy Nanjing, the life there would have been happy. So I got an idea to rephotograph the city," Magee said.

He hopes to let more people understand the truth of the history through the compared pictures of the past and now. "Anyway, new life is going on," he said.

He will publish a photo album and exhibit his works.

Zhang Jianjun, curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, said that Chris Magee will participate in a memorial ceremony on China's National Memorial Day to recognize Nanjing Massacre victims, on Dec. 13.
A 34-year-old Glen Burnie woman killed her two-year-old son Saturday night and then took her own life, Prince Georges County police said.

Police said that a family member asked officers to do a welfare check at a home in the 1700 block of Countrywood Court in Landover at about 10 p.m. Saturday. They found Yu Song, of the 400 block of Gumper Court in Glen Burnie, and her son, Joseph Wang, dead in a townhouse.

A preliminary investigation found that Song killed her son and then herself, police said. Both died of asphyxiation, police said. The police did not explain the specifics of how they died.
Two teenagers were shot  one fatally  in the 300 block of P Street SW on Saturday night, officials said.

D.C. police identified the homicide victim as Khyre Amar Ledbetter, 18, of Northeast.

About 9:20 p.m. Saturday, officers were called about the sound of gunshots in the area, which is several blocks west of Nationals Park, near the Washington Channel. Police found the victims, who were taken to local hospitals.

Ledbetter died from his injuries. The other victim is expected to survive, police said Sunday.

Officials did not have any suspect descriptions to release.

The Metropolitan Police Department offers rewards of up to $25,000 for help in the arrests and convictions of those responsible for homicides in the District. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 202-727-9099.
Police in riot gear contain a group of protesters at the corner of 12th and L Streets NW on the day of the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States in Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

For six demonstrators who joined hundreds of others in Washington for an Inauguration Day protest that turned chaotic and destructive, their trial in D.C. Superior Court, set to resume Monday, seems to hinge on an issue of perception:

Did the blocks-long march and related mayhem in downtown Washington amount to a riot? Or was it a lawful, free-speech assembly in which a relatively small number of participants committed vandalism, including smashing windows and spray-painting a government vehicle?

As the jury in the case heard opening statements and witness testimony early last week  before the trial recessed Tuesday for Thanksgiving  lawyers for the two sides offered starkly different perspectives of the glass-shattering disturbance on the day President Trump was sworn in.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff cast the Jan. 20 demonstration as a premeditated mass assault on the citys peace and safety  a protest geared entirely toward violence and destruction, she said. Attorneys for the four women and two men on trial described a constitutionally protected gathering of political dissenters, only a small handful of whom engaged in violence or engaged in destruction, as one lawyer put it.

In a trial that is expected to last until mid-December, how the jurors ultimately view the raucous events of Inauguration Day will not only determine the outcome of the current case but also could influence how prosecutors handle the cases of more than 150 additional protesters charged in the 33-minute disturbance.

[Inauguration protesters were playing a role in the violence and destruction, prosecutor says]

Like the six anti-Trump activists who are in court now, the other demonstrators face felony rioting charges, and the U.S. attorneys office has said it is planning for a series of trials extending into the middle of next year, with the defendants being prosecuted in groups of about a half-dozen. However, if the first trial ends with acquittals, it could prompt the government to rethink its approach to the rest of the cases.

On that damp, chilly morning, hundreds of demonstrators, gathered under the banner Disrupt J20, marched about a mile from Logan Circle to the Franklin Square area, most of them clad in dark clothing and with their faces hidden  a civil disobedience tactic called black bloc. Along the way, and during a circuitous march covering several blocks near Franklin Square, protesters left a trail of wreckage.

Legally speaking, rioting in the nations capital can entail collective responsibility, and that concept is at the heart of the ongoing trial, in which none of the defendants is accused of personally causing any damage or injuries.

The Districts criminal code defines a riot as a public disturbance involving an assemblage of 5 or more persons which by tumultuous or violent conduct . . . creates grave danger of injury to property or persons. If anyone is seriously hurt or the damage exceeds $5,000, every person who willfully incited or urged others to engage in the riot shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 10 years.

A D.C. police officer suffered a broken wrist in a half-hour of mayhem that authorities said caused more than $100,000 in damage.

In her opening statement, Kerkhoff did not cite any direct evidence that the defendants willfully incited others to engage in rioting  and defense lawyers stressed to the jury that no such evidence exists.

The prosecutor pointed out the six could have quit the march when the violence began. Video clips show the defendants in the group at various times during the disturbance, Kerkhoff said.

It appears she will argue at trial that their continued presence in the unruly, chanting crowd amounted to incitement.

Besides being charged with inciting a riot, the defendants are accused of conspiracy to riot, even though Kerkhoff did not mention any direct evidence that the six took part in planning the protest. Again, defense lawyers said the government has no such evidence.

In the days before the inauguration, authorities said, undercover police officers infiltrated meetings of Disrupt J20 at which mayhem was planned.

Kerkhoff told the jury the march was widely publicized in advance, including the intended use of the black bloc tactic, which is associated with riotous demonstrations.

[D.C. police infiltrated inauguration protest group, court papers show]

This was not some sort of spontaneous gathering, she said in court. There were advertisements . . . Come to Logan Circle. Wear black.  Kerkhoff noted the six showed up with dark clothing, goggles, helmets and other black bloc paraphernalia.

The six activists also are charged with destruction of property and with engaging in a riot, which is punishable by up to six months in jail.

The U.S. attorneys office declined to comment on the aggressive prosecution, which the American Civil Liberties Union in the District criticized as excessive.

From what we can tell, this seems like a gross overreach, with the prosecution trying to convict nearly 200 people for crimes that were committed by a few, said Arthur Spitzer, legal director of the ACLUs District branch. The group has a pending lawsuit against the city, accusing police of arresting innocent protesters on Inauguration Day and detaining people for up to 16 hours without food, water and bathrooms.

Unless they have some evidence that we dont know about showing an agreement among all these people to engage in acts of vandalism, then we think these prosecutions are abusive, Spitzer said of the current trial.

For the charges to stick, jurors will have to conclude the protest was a riot.

To that end, Kerkhoff, in her opening, tried to give the panel an intimate view of the chaos, from the vantage point of terrified workers and customers in a BP gas station, an Au Bon Pain cafe, a Starbucks and other places where windows were smashed. The video clips she showed the jury were mostly close-ups, from cellphones and body-worn police cameras, conveying a sense of perilous, frenetic violence.

As several brick-throwing demonstrators smashed windows at the gas station, the frightened employee inside puts a case of drinks up against the door to prevent people from coming inside and attacking, Kerkhoff said.

The owner of a sandwich shop had to temporarily close her business because of vandalism. She bore the stress of that, the prosecutor said. At the Starbucks, workers and patrons had to dive for cover against flying glass as protesters hurled bricks and a trash can, shattering a plate-glass window.

On TV monitors in the courtroom, Kerkhoff showed the jury the repair bill for a large window at the Au Bon Pain: $5,790.40, the invoice read.

In my mind, there was no stopping what was going on, a D.C. police officer, Ashley Anderson, testified. She joined the force about four years ago and is assigned to a bicycle patrol squad. Trying to corral the demonstrators that day, I honestly felt hopeless, she told the jurors. It was like something I had never seen before, ever.

Defense lawyer Steven McCool, representing one of the men on trial, showed the jury a long-range video clip  an aerial shot of 13th Street NW as the huge crowd of protesters moved south toward Franklin Square. A handful of demonstrators  just specks on the video  broke away from the throng to vandalize the gas station, then rejoined the group as it kept marching.

A couple of people run toward the BP station, he said in a dismissive tone. They would have you believe that this . . . shows you a riot was occurring.

He told the jury: This case is about our freedom to associate with one another and to express our opinions freely. . . . We are here because its easier for the police to treat everyone the same, to call a protest a riot and lock everybody up. Its easier to do that than to comply with the First Amendment.

Five defense lawyers followed him in making opening statements, all sounding a similar theme: Their clients are activists, not criminals.

One of them, Brittne Lawson, 27, is a nurse who works with cancer patients at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. They have no evidence that she did anything wrong, her attorney said.

Another defendant, Alexei Wood, 37, of San Antonio, is a photojournalist who was documenting the march and live-streaming it on Facebook.

Mr. Wood was not involved in that, his lawyer said of the mayhem. Hes independent, hes up-and-coming, and hes building a resume.

He wasnt inciting what they call a riot.
Lucy Harper, 17, a high school junior who lives in College Station, Tex., has been picking at her skin for as long as she can remember. When she was in seventh grade, she also started pulling out her hair.

For a while my skin picking was under the radar, but it was because I was pulling my hair, she says. If I wanted my skin to clear up, Id stop picking and start pulling. If I wanted my hair to grow back, Id stop pulling and start picking.

She lost so much hair that her middle school classmates asked whether she was going bald. I tried everything to stop picking and pulling, she says. I bought tons of fidget toys. I tried constraining my arm with a wrist brace. I got permission to wear gloves and a hat to school, and I even once went to piano lessons with Band-Aids on every one of my fingertips.

Harper suffers from trichotillomania (hair pulling) and excoriation (skin picking, also known as dermatillomania), two of several disorders collectively known as body-focused repetitive behaviors, or BFRBs. The umbrella term includes a number of repetitive self-grooming habits that can cause damage or injury through pulling, picking or scraping, or biting the hair, skin and nails.

Many people engage to some extent in nail biting or skin picking. But when these behaviors become extreme and out of control, they are regarded as serious disorders.

There is significant psychosocial damage, says Douglas Woods, a professor of psychology at Marquette University who studies these conditions. Among those who cant contain the urge to pick, pull or bite, depression is relatively common. People become very self-conscious, and self-esteem suffers. They start to avoid social situations in which people could notice the effects of their behavior, and often spend tremendous amounts of time trying to cover the effects.

Historically, BFRBs had been considered impulse-control disorders, along with kleptomania and gambling addiction. However, in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, BFRBs are categorized as obsessive-compulsive disorders, or OCDs. "The truth is, they probably belong in an in-between category," Woods says.

Although now regarded on the same spectrum, the two actually are quite different. Classic OCD occurs when someone experiences uncontrollable, recurring thoughts  such as a disproportionate fear of germs  and behavior she or he feels compelled to repeat over and over, such as excessive hand-washing.

Impulse-control disorders, on the other hand, typically involve an inability to resist a potentially harmful or self-destructive urge.

An estimated 2 percent to 5 percent of Americans suffer from trichotillomania, or hair pulling (which includes eyelash pulling) and 5 percent from skin picking, the two most-common BFRBs, according to the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors. Other BFRBs include hair or skin eating, lip and cheek biting, tongue chewing and compulsive hair-cutting, according to the foundation, a nonprofit based in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Before age 12, hair pulling occurs equally in boys and girls, but later it predominantly occurs in girls, according to psychologist Suzanne Mouton-Odum, a clinical assistant professor at the Baylor College of Medicine. Why is this? We are not certain, but I suspect that many more females begin to pull around the age of puberty, she says. Likely there is a hormonal component that affects more females than males. Other hypotheses are that males are more able to cover hair loss, or maybe do not seek treatment as they can hide the results of their pulling.

Researchers believe that these disorders probably have a genetic component, because they tend to run in families. Scientists are studying the genes of affected people, trying to identify markers that can provide clues to their origins. Several studies have shown a familial connection; one, for example, found higher rates of OCD in immediate family members of those with extreme cases of hair pulling than in the general population.

Also, evidence from a twins study suggested a higher occurrence of hair pulling in identical compared with fraternal twins. Research also has shown differences in the brains of people with these disorders compared with the brains of those who don't have them.

Each person seems to pull or pick for different reasons, or in different situations, Mouton-Odum says. Some do it in response to emotion  anger, anxiety, happiness  while others in response to needing to feel a certain sensory sensation, while others pull or pick in response to certain environmental triggers, such as activities, places, mirrors.

Woods agrees. The behaviors seem to be both a problem of a habit gone awry and a way of coping with emotional distress, he says.

Medication such as clomipramine, an antidepressant used to treat OCD, can help, but experts say the most effective therapy is behavioral. There are two frequently used approaches.

The first is habit-reversal training, which teaches patients to be more aware of their pulling and picking, and its cues, and trains them to use a "competing response" when the urge hits, such as clenching the fist with the hair-pulling hand and pressing it to the side of the body.

The second is comprehensive behavioral treatment, or ComB, which looks at each person as an individual and evaluates [his or her] individual pulling/picking profile, Mouton-Odum says. ComB allows clinicians to design a treatment plan specifically for that person. Strategies are offered based upon their unique pulling/picking triggers, she adds. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach. It is quite tailored.

Because people often are unaware of when they pull or pick, some have found that using an app-equipped bracelet called Keen helps control the habit. The bracelets are programmed to detect when the behaviors begin, then send a gentle vibration to alert the individual to stop. The bracelet has not been studied in clinical trials, but anecdotal reports suggest it can be a valuable tool. Its price starts at $129.

Lesley Stevens, 37, an online content creator who lives near Phoenix, is a hair puller, skin picker, nail biter and thumb sucker. She wears one bracelet on each wrist  because she picks and pulls with both hands  and says they have been very useful in keeping her habits under control. They buzz my wrist and make me aware when Im doing anything I have trained it for, she says.

For Harper, the Texas teenager, connecting with other BFRB people who completely understand my struggles has enabled her to cope, as has attending therapy workshops that remind me that I am so much more than my BFRBs. She says she still struggles a little with skin-picking, but it doesnt control my life anymore, and being open about it allows me to not be ashamed, she says.

Read more

Obsessive-compulsive disorder nearly ruined her life

Hoarding is a serious disorder, and its only getting worse in the U.S.

Her dizziness started after two days on a boat, and then it never went away
TEXAS

Private funeral is held for Border Patrol agent

Family, friends and law enforcement officers converged on West Texas Saturday to mourn a Border Patrol agent whose death last weekend in rugged, remote area has not been explained.

Bagpipes played as pallbearers carried the U.S. flag-draped coffin of Rogelio Martinez into a Catholic church in El Paso for a private funeral. He died last weekend of head and other injuries.

It honors him to see law enforcement agencies from across the United States attend the service, Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero told reporters gathered outside Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

Martinez died this past Sunday, and his partner, whose name has not been released, was seriously injured. They were found late Saturday in a culvert, in a rugged area near Van Horn, about 30 miles from the border with Mexico and 110 miles southeast of El Paso.

 Associated Press

FLORIDA

Navy identies sailors killed in aircraft crash

The U.S. Navy says two sailors from Florida and another from Louisiana died in an aircraft crash in the Philippine Sea.

In a news release, the Navys 7th Fleet said the families of Lt. Steven Combs and Airman apprentice Bryan Grosso of Florida and Airman Matthew Chialastri of Louisiana were notified of their deaths following the Wednesday crash.

The C-2A Greyhound transport aircraft was traveling to the USS Ronald Reagan when it crashed. Eight people were rescued. U.S. and Japanese ships searched for the three missing sailors.

Their service and sacrifice will be lasting, said Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer, commander of the 7th Fleet.

The release didnt provide home towns for the men, but all three were assigned to the Ronald Reagan.

The Navy is investigating the cause of the crash.

 Associated Press

N.J. man pays for layaway orders for others: A Secret Santa has spent more than $10,000 to pay for dozens of holiday layaway orders at a New Jersey toy store. The good Samaritan, who identified himself as "Charlie K," went to the Toys R Us in Cherry Hill on Friday to do some shopping for his son. While at the store, he decided to pay for 62 layaway orders of strangers  totaling $10,780 overall  and bought an additional $2,000 worth of items to give to Toys for Tots by having everyone who was inside the store pick out three toys to donate.

 Associated Press
Protests by Muslim activists continued for a second day across Pakistan on Sunday, but most were peaceful and security forces kept a distance from the crowds, averting a repeat of the unrest that gripped cities and towns Saturday after police stormed a protest camp blocking a highway to the capital.

The army, which was called out by civilian officials Saturday night to keep order in the capital region as the demonstrations cascaded, reportedly agreed to guard government buildings in the capital but put off any further action. Army leaders formally asked the government to clarify the role of troops in the event of further civilian unrest, apparently concerned about losing public support.

Late Sunday, Pakistani media reported that top civilian and military officials had met and agreed to seek a negotiated solution to the crisis.

The chaos erupted after millions of Pakistanis spontaneously took to the streets Saturday to protest what they believed was an insult to the prophet Muhammad by the government.

Clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Islamabad and other locations left several hundred injured, and at least six civilians were killed. On Sunday, mass funerals were held for some of the victims at the highway camp outside the capital.

[Pakistani protesters see dark conspiracy afoot in a clerical error about Muslim prophet]

The main protest leader, cleric Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, told journalists at the site Sunday evening that the group would negotiate only if the government removes the federal law minister, Zahid Hamid. Protesters believe Hamid was behind plans to change a law requiring all political candidates to swear that Muhammad was the final prophet in Islam.

Some protesters called Saturday for Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and his entire cabinet to resign, but that demand seemed to have been downgraded Sunday as Rizvi and other religious leaders reiterated only their original call for Hamid to step down or for the government to name and punish any other officials involved in the proposed law change.

On Saturday, Hamids home was ransacked by protesters. There was no indication that he intended to resign or would be removed.

Late Sunday evening, Hamid released a video message in which he said he believed in the finality of Muhammad, loved him from the depth of my heart and was prepared to lay down his life for the prophets honor. He also read out the oath all candidates must repeat about Muhammad.

[In Pakistan, once-fringe Islamist radicals are making their way into mainstream politics]

As tensions eased, the government lifted a blackout of all TV news channels that had been imposed Saturday and restored public access to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Officials said they had suspended news broadcasts and social media to prevent an escalation of public anger and violence.

But with the conflict unresolved, the Muslim citizenry still aroused and the potential for violence to erupt again, the government kept all public schools and universities closed, shopping centers were shuttered, and many streets were deserted in the major cities of Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore. Some religious groups have called for a nationwide strike Monday.

The Abbasi government was widely criticized Sunday for failing to anticipate trouble as the highway protest camp swelled over the past three weeks and for launching an assault that failed to drive the demonstrators out and instead inspired sympathetic protests and road blockings nationwide.

In its lead editorial Sunday, the Dawn newspaper said the government had handled the episode disastrously and allowed the protests to become a dangerous and destabilizing national crisis. The paper asserted that no fledgling political party could be allowed to hold the capital hostage and that the episode showed a near-vacuum at the top of government.

[Pakistani capital tense while Muslim devotees honor man who assassinated a liberal governor]

The religious group that spearheaded the protests, the Movement in Service to the Messenger of God, was almost unknown until recently. It is part of the mainstream Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam, has disavowed violence and focuses on reverence for Muhammad. But it has also created a cult around a man who assassinated a provincial governor for religious reasons and was hanged last year.

The once-obscure Islamist movement recently entered national politics, fielding candidates for Parliament in two recent races. One of them was a high-profile contest in Lahore to replace former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by the Supreme Court in July. The movement's candidate came in third, a stunning result that shocked the political establishment.

Were looking at a combination of emboldened hard-line protesters and a deeply vulnerable government. Thats a perfect storm for extended unrest, said Michael Kugelman, a Pakistan expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. He said military involvement might actually ease the crisis because the army enjoys respect among such religious groups.

On Sunday, leaders of the Messenger of God movement were joined by other Barelvi groups and clerics, who addressed crowds on streets and squares across the capital region and the country, making stirring speeches about the prophets finality and playing religious chants on loudspeakers.

At a crossroads in Tramri Chowk, a working-class market center several miles outside Islamabad, hundreds of men sat or stood in the street all day, listening to religious leaders and periodically breaking into chants that praised Muhammad and vowed to defend his finality to the death. The mood was emotional and edgy, and the crowd was guarded by young men holding clubs who stopped all cars from entering the square. Banners praising the prophet flew above the crowd

We are not terrorists or extremists. We are Muslims, and our belief that our prophet is the last and final one is fundamental. There can be no compromise on this matter, said Chaudhry Rizwan Ahmad, a local politician. We are here to set an example so no one will ever try to change the laws again.

Another man in the crowd, a government worker named Adnan Khan, said he and everyone else there would give their lives to defend the prophet. This is our faith. It is everything, he said. If we die here, we will go to paradise.

Shaiq Hussain contributed to this report.

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The couple, who have a boy named Archie, announced on Jan. 8 that they would step back from being royals, become financially independent, and split their time between North America and the United Kingdom.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 21:05:14|Editor: Zhou Xin

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HELSINKI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed in an alleged drunken driving accident in Pori, western Finland late Saturday, media said on Sunday.

A car with Latvian registry plate had ejected off the highway at high speed and hit a tree, said the Satakunnan Kansa, a newspaper based in Pori.

The Latvian driver survived and was suspected of aggravated drunken driving. One of the killed persons was a Ukrainian, and the nationality of the other man killed remained unknown on Sunday.
Iranian state television aired videos in the past week targeting a Briton and an American serving time on espionage charges in what appeared to be a bid to pressure the United States and Britain as London considers making a $530 million payment to Tehran.

The case of Iranian-British national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, arrested last year, has gained momentum in recent weeks as British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson faces criticism at home over his handling of it.

Meanwhile, state television aired footage of Chinese American national Xiyue Wang, also detained in 2016, as President Trump continues his hard line against Tehran.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, already serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the soft toppling of Irans government while traveling there with her toddler daughter, faces new charges that could add 16 years to her prison term.

On Thursday, Iranian state television aired a seven-minute special report on Zaghari-Ratcliffe. It included close-ups of an April 2010 pay stub from her previous employer, the BBC World Service Trust.

It also included an email from June 2010 in which she wrote about the ZigZag Academy, a BBC World Service Trust project in which the charity trained young aspiring journalists from Iran and Afghanistan through a secure online platform.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe left the BBC in 2011 and joined the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency. Both her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, and Thomson Reuters repeatedly have stressed that she was not training journalists or involved in any work regarding Iran while there.

The state television report comes as the British foreign minister faces criticism after he told a parliamentary committee that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was teaching people journalism when she was arrested last year. Although Johnson later corrected himself, the Iranian television report made a point to highlight his comments.

The report comes as Britain and Iran discuss the release of about 400 million pounds held by London, a payment that Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi made for Chieftain tanks that were never delivered. The shah abandoned the throne in 1979, and the Islamic Revolution soon installed the clerically overseen system that endures to this day.

Authorities in London and Tehran deny that the payment has any link to Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Late Sunday, Iranian state TV aired a feature focused on Wang, a Chinese-born American graduate student at Princeton who is accused of passing confidential information about Iran to the State Department. He was arrested in August 2016 while conducting research on the Qajar dynasty, which once ruled Iran, for his doctorate, according to Princeton officials.
Members of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement salute behind the coffins of three comrades killed in combat in Syria during their funeral in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on Nov. 8. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images)

Even as Arab countries step up pressure on Hezbollah for its ties to Iran, the Lebanese Shiite militant group has cemented its status as a regional power, projecting military strength beyond Lebanon's borders and weathering political crises at home.

The group's rise comes as Iran and Saudi Arabia vie for hegemony in the region, intensifying conflicts from Syria to Yemen. Saudi Arabia sees Hezbollah as Iran's most potent proxy, and in recent weeks has spearheaded an effort to isolate the movement.

But Hezbollahs dominant position was made apparent this month in the ongoing saga of Lebanons prime minister, Saad Hariri.

According to U.S. and Lebanese officials, Saudi Arabia forced Hariris resignation, shattering Lebanons coalition government, which included Hezbollah ministers. Saudi Arabia hoped the move would undermine Iran by paving the way for more aggressive action against the Shiite militants, the officials say.

Instead, it rallied Lebanon in support of its prime minister and cast Hezbollah as the stabilizing force. On Wednesday, Hariri announced he was suspending his resignation as he held talks with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.



Saad al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanon's prime minister from Saudi Arabia, arrives to attend a military parade to celebrate the 74th anniversary of Lebanon's independence in downtown Beirut on Nov. 22. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

Now Hezbollah is set to potentially benefit from the turmoil, using its political and military prowess  and vast social networks in Lebanon  to entrench itself further. From its strongholds in southern Lebanon, where it made its name fighting Israeli troops, to the battlefields of Syria, Hezbollah is ascendant, with few able to challenge it.

The Saudis hoped that Hariris resignation would create an electroshock . . . that the cabinet would be immediately dissolved, and Hezbollah and its allies would have to step down from ministries and other important positions of power, said Raphael Lefevre, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center. Of course, this never happened.

[Lebanons plunge into political crisis raises specter of war with Israel]

Hezbollah became stronger after the Syrian war began, when it joined forces with Syrias Iranian-backed government to battle Sunni rebels, he said. Its influence in the heart of Lebanons security institutions is certainly greater than ever before.

A nation of just 6 million, Lebanon is governed through a power-sharing agreement among the countrys main religious groups  Christians, and Sunni and Shiite Muslims. The prime minister is Sunni. The speaker of parliament, a Shiite, and the Christian president are both Hezbollah allies. Hezbollah holds 10 seats in parliament and two cabinet positions.

But the movement also draws strength from outside Lebanons formal power structures, where it is at once social provider and political kingmaker, as well as a fearsome nonstate army and Iranian-backed proxy.

Its capabilities arguably eclipse those of the Lebanese Armed Forces, and its social services  from schools to charities and technical assistance to farmers  have cultivated fierce loyalty among Shiites and other communities.

Hezbollah thrives of course on its position of being a state within a state, an alternative provider for all kinds of things, said Heiko Wimmen, project director for Iraq, Lebanon and Syria at the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit that researches violent conflict.

In times of crisis, when Lebanons political institutions are weakened, what Hezbollah provides for its constituencies becomes more important, he said. They are so firmly entrenched in their communities on the one hand, and they are so secure in their position vis-a-vis state institutions on the other.

[Saudis accuse Iran of possible act of war as regional tensions rise]

As a guerrilla force, Hezbollah traces its origins to Israels occupation of southern Lebanon from 1985 to 2000, when attacks on Israeli troops prompted their eventual withdrawal from Lebanese territory. Hezbollah fought another war with Israel in 2006  one that ended in a stalemate but raised its status as a capable deterrent force.

But it was the fighting in Syria that catapulted the group to its position as a transnational organization with capabilities rivaling the region's armies.

Hezbollah has lost thousands of fighters in Syria, but it has also recruited many new members . . . and has gained new skills that turn it from a paramilitary group able to wage guerrilla operations into an actual mini-army, Lefevre said.

It now has its own tank divisions and special-operations units, coordinates with the Syrian and Russian armies in Syria, and leads complex offensives in hostile territories, he said. It also receives a steady flow of cash and weapons from Iran, where ruling Shiite clerics have nurtured Hezbollah's rise.

As a result, Hezbollah has led offensive operations against Sunni extremists on the Syria-Lebanon border, coordinating with the Lebanese army but also relegating it to the background.

Hezbollah was obliged to play this role, because whenever the Lebanese government doesnt fulfill its duty to protect the people, somebody has to defend them, said Mohammed Obeid, a political analyst who is close to Hezbollah.

In those offensives  in the Lebanese town of Arsal and in the Syrian town of Qalamoun near the border  Hezbollah and Lebanons army have expelled al-Qaeda and Islamic State-linked militants.

This coordination doesnt mean that Hezbollah is controlling the decisions of the Lebanese army, Obeid said of the operations. But [the fighting] is not easy for the Lebanese army. And Hezbollah is everywhere.

While it remains popular, particularly in the face of what many Lebanese see as Saudi aggression, Hezbollah needs to maintain nationwide support. The group has billed itself as a defender of all of Lebanons communities, and seeks to cultivate Sunni allies inside and outside the government.

Hariri, who is Sunni, has long been a Hezbollah opponent. But when he resigned from his post on Nov. 4, Hezbollahs secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, accused the Saudi government of detaining the embattled premier  and called for his immediate return home.

Hezbollah definitely wants Sunni allies, Wimmen said. The whole outlook of the movement, at least on the surface, is not a sectarian one. 

In the meantime, even some Lebanese who say they are not affiliated with Hezbollah are still ardent supporters of the group.

There are people with Hezbollah for ideological reasons and there are people with Hezbollah because they are protecting us, said Bilal Ballout, a credit collection agent from southern Lebanon. Lebanese forces are giving as much as they can. But Hezbollah has an army.

When you get popular power, you get political power, he said. And Hezbollah gets better and stronger every single day.

Suzan Haidamous contributed to this report from Beirut.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the location of the town of Qalamoun. It is in Syria, not Lebanon.

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Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who is charged in the U.S. for evading sanctions on Iran, is surrounded by the media members as he arrives at a courthouse in Istanbul on Dec. 17, 2013, in a separate case against him. (Str)

A Turkish-Iranian gold dealer is due to go on trial this week in New York, but no one expects him to be there  at least not at the defense table.

After a sealed hearing last week, lawyers and the judge in the case were tight-lipped about what, exactly, will happen once U.S. v. Reza Zarrab et al. gets underway with jury selection Monday. Zarrab, 34, is accused of orchestrating a years-long scheme to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran by concealing bank transactions that delivered gold and U.S. currency to that country's government.

Since Zarrabs arrest in March 2016, the case has roiled U.S.-Turkey relations. Zarrab is described by U.S. authorities as well-connected to senior members of the Turkish government, which in turn calls his prosecution an attack on their country.

Turkish prosecutors announced Nov. 18 they had launched their own investigation into two of the American prosecutors who have overseen the Zarrab case, to determine if evidence was illegally obtained. U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim, one of the officials Turkey claims to be investigating, called the accusations ridiculous on their face.

Even before the trial has started, youve got really ramped up rhetoric and tension between the two sides, and I would expect thats going to continue and worsen once the trial actually begins, said Amanda Sloat, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a former senior State Department official. Going forward, this case is going to breed more mistrust.

[U.S.-Turkey tensions boil over after arrest of consulate employee]

Turkeys president has personally lobbied the U.S. government to release Zarrab, and its foreign minister said Zarrab was a hostage being forced to testify against Turkeys government.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman discounted such talk, saying if Turkey wants to help Zarrab, they should provide evidence that might help him beat the charges.

The best way for them to be helpful is to help the defense counsel by providing in court any evidence or witnesses they are aware of that could assist the defense, Berman said.

Zarrab, a wealthy, high-profile figure in Turkey, is charged with conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions law, bank fraud, and money laundering. He was originally slated to go on trial with Mehmet Hakan Attila, deputy CEO of Halkbank, which is majority-owned by the Turkish government.

The alleged scheme allowed Halkbank to supply billions of dollars worth of services to the government of Iran without risking being sanctioned by the U.S., according to the indictment.

[The U.S. is on a collision course with Iran in the Middle East]

The indictment says that high-ranking officials in Iran and Turkey participated in and protected this scheme. Some officials received bribes worth tens of millions of dollars paid from the proceeds of the scheme so that they would promote the scheme, protect the participants, and help to shield the scheme from the scrutiny of U.S. regulators, it alleges.

The Turkish government has accused American prosecutors of building their case on old corruption charges brought by Turkish prosecutors years earlier that were ultimately dropped amid ongoing internal power struggles in that countrys government.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Turkeys accusations the old same song and dance . . . I would have to give you the same answer as the last time they accused us of trying to foment some sort of a coup. And I would say that is ridiculous.

Since his arrest, Zarrab has been held at a federal jail in New York City. But he has stopped appearing at pretrial hearings in court, and in early November, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website listed him as having been released, though authorities said he was still in federal custody.

Often, that is a strong indicator someone has decided to cooperate with government prosecutors. Several people close to the case, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believe, but do not know, that Zarrab is cooperating with the Justice Department.

Sloat said if Zarrab does testify for the prosecution, you would have the prime suspect being able to articulate specifically what happened and who else was involved in these events, and thats the part that is presumably causing concern in Ankara.

Last week, Attilas lawyer, Cathy Fleming, said at a hearing that the growing secrecy surrounding the case was hampering her ability to prepare for the trial. She said she wasnt even allowed to tell her client the name of one of the witnesses against him.

Frankly, if we even suggest the name to anybody, its going to end up in the press, she said.

A lawyer for Zarrab declined to comment.

Speculation about Zarrabs possible cooperation has led some to suspect he may be providing information not only to prosecutors about Turkey, but also to the special counsel investigators probing associates of President Trump, including his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

[Flynns lawyer shuts down communications with Trumps team, a sign he may be cooperating with Mueller probe]

Flynn did work on behalf of Turkey before the election, and investigators have examined his business relationships with figures connected to the Turkish government.

Its not clear, though, that even if Zarrab is cooperating, he would have much to say about Flynn or Trump. His arrest came in early 2016, well before many of the events that are being probed by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

If Zarrab does appear as a prosecution witness at his trial, it will be the latest and biggest twist in an FBI investigation that has had several odd turns.

When the FBI began looking into the financial transactions at the heart of the case, there was much they didnt understand. But then an outside forensic accounting expert showed them how many of the transactions allegedly concealed major violations of U.S. law, according to people familiar with the case.

Soon after that revelation, investigators learned Zarrab was traveling with his family to Disney World in Florida. They had not planned to move on him so quickly, according to these people, but they seized the opportunity to arrest him.
Opinion

The Last Verse Trampled by Turtles embody the spirit of Americana on the album Alpenglow
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 21:15:16|Editor: Zhou Xin

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DOHA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Qatar will reduce procedures for investors to boost the business sector, Qatar News Agency reported on Sunday.

The decision was announced by Ministry of Economy and Commerce, following the ministerial decision this year on regulations and procedures for licensing the opening of commercial representative offices.

The move aims to provide an attractive investment environment for various economic and commercial projects, said the report.

The decision will offer a 30-day deadline for the authorities concerned to decide on the request for opening a representative office. And appeal could be filed within 30 days if the request is rejected.

Despite siege imposed on Qatar since June 5 by its gulf allies, Qatar is trying to facilitates all procedures for foreign investments to support its economy.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 26/11/2017 (1816 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sunday funday

The Good Will Social Club and its sister restaurant, Have a Nice Day, are hosting a boozy brunch worth peeling out of bed for. Today, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., swing by 625 Portage Ave. for brunch and drink specials accompanied by live sets from Winnipeg DJ duo House of Gold Diamonds. Theyll spin R&B, soul and indie pop tunes to help you rise and shine.

Light it up

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Winnipegs first latte art throwdown for women and non-binary folks takes place Thursday at Forth Cafe.

The Manitoba Electrical Museum (680 Harrow St.) is hosting a special exhibit until Dec. 30 chronicling All That Glows: Then and Now. Have a look at how holiday lights, trees and decor have evolved since the 1880s and see how electrical systems developed, specifically in Manitoba. The free display is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays, with guided tours available by appointment.

Give back

After dropping cash on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, non-profits are hoping Canadians will make Giving Tuesday a spending priority. More than 135 Winnipeg charities are signed up as partners on the official website: givingtuesday.ca. The site details how individuals, families, schools and other organizations can give back to the community.

Shop til you drop

Nows the time to make your list and check it twice at The Forks. The historical sites holiday bazaar is Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The evening market promises specials from the usual Forks vendors and plenty of pop-up shops from crafters and artisans. There will be live music, beer and wine specials at The Common (1 Forks Market Rd.).

Art of the pour

Whats being dubbed Winnipegs first latte art throwdown for women and non-binary folks takes place Thursday at Forth Cafe (171 McDermot Ave.) The entry fee is $5 per coffee-pouring pro. Sign up starts at 7 p.m. and the competition begins at 8 p.m. Spectators can come watch for free and enjoy the poured lattes, among other drink specials. Check out open mic comedy at The Handsome Daughter (61 Sherbrook St.) later on.

Friday night lights

Get festive with an evening drive through the Canad Inns Winter Wonderland  a 2.5-kilometre showcase of Christmas lights you can enjoy from the comfort of your car or one-horse open sleigh. The annual eye-catcher opens Friday at 6 p.m. at Red River Exhibition Park (3977 Portage Ave.). Advance tickets are $12 per vehicle, at Macs, Canad Inns, Red River Co-op gas bars and grocery stores.

Shutterbug Saturday

Spend Saturday shooting with the From Here & Away photography team. Dress for the weather and rocky terrain as Joseph Visser leads this photo safari through a naturally beautiful part of St. Boniface  Lagimodiere Gaboury Historic Park (363 Notre Dame St.)  from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The outing is free and open to photographers of all skill levels, including kids. Look up From Here & Away on Facebook for more details.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 26/11/2017 (1816 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba-born mom who has taken to Twitter in her decade-long fight to regain custody of her children faces the prospect of prosecution.

Counsel for the West Region Child and Family Services agency cited confidentiality provisions of Manitobas Child and Family Services Act in a letter Nov. 6 to the womans attorney and asked the offending posts be removed. It also cited the penalties for breaking confidentiality provisions; they include a fine of up to $50,000 or imprisonment for up to two years or both.

Confidentiality provisions are intended to protect the best interests of children and they include anyone who names a parent or a child, even if that someone is a parent. Warning letters arent uncommon but prosecutions are, the Free Press was told.

AP FILES Counsel for the West Region Child and Family Services agency cited confidentiality provisions of Manitoba's Child and Family Services Act in a letter Nov. 6 to the woman's attorney and asked that Twitter posts be removed.

As of Saturday, it wasnt clear whether the mother would delete the account, but comments since the province issued its warning three weeks ago suggests she wont.

Its the law, said one source within the agency which oversees the guardianship the womans two sons who remain in care.

A spokesman for the province backed up that position Friday afternoon.

We cannot provide specific information about any child in care. We can say that under the Child and Family Services Act, child safety is paramount. Children are taken into care only when there are serious safety concerns that cannot be resolved without removing the child. Agencies work with parents or guardians to provide a safe environment for their children, but there are occasions where this is not immediately possible. Apprehensions are a last resort and the primary goal is to work with families towards safety so children can flourish within the family network and community, a provincial spokesman said by email.

Another child welfare source confided the details of the initial apprehension of the womens three boys a decade ago were horrific.

Several years ago, the mother was the focus of media attention when she walked from Manitoba to Parliament Hill in an effort to raise awareness of the provinces CFS issues.

Since then, the mom has matured into her 30s and moved to a First Nation in Ontario. Shes stable, sober and described by her lawyer as a middle-class mom.

She gave birth to a girl, now seven years old, and despite child welfare assessments there has never been any question shes a good mother. At the same time, her troubles in Manitoba have gone on so long that her eldest son aged out of the system and came back home on his own. Its not clear whether he lives on his own now.

You know whats extraordinary? the womans Toronto based lawyer Katherine Hensel said Friday.

Whats extraordinary is her resilience and her energy. Think about the tens of thousands, just in Manitoba, people who do not have these superhuman abilities, Hensel said. This is a family thats not unusual at all, except for the level of energy she (the mother) has managed to maintain.

The lawyer said shes filed an application in the Court of Queens Bench, which is sealed under Manitobas child welfare laws. It asks to have the CFS order of guardianship overturned in an effort to get the two youngest boys out of their current placement. Five thousand followers on the mothers Twitter feed have read all the details shes posted as to why thats necessary.

For the lawyer, the entire case boils down to social justice for Indigenous people who have been marginalized.

This case tells us why theres more children in care now than there was at the height of residential schools, more kids in care now than ever went to residential schools. This case tells us why and how that happened, Hensel said.

Whats extraordinary is her resilience and her energy. Think about the tens of thousands, just in Manitoba, people who do not have these superhuman abilitieslawyer Katherine Hensel

The mom could ultimately seek financial compensation from the province and if she does, all the details covered under the provinces child welfare cloak of confidentially would be out in the open, unsealed, with initials instead of names to protect her boys, the lawyer said.

This war over words comes at a politically sensitive time in the provinces child welfare history in the years-long aftermath of Tina Fontaines death.

In Manitoba, the Pallister government is on the cusp of introducing reforms to the system. With 11,000 children in care and nearly 90 per cent of them Indigenous, Manitobas child welfare system has long been recognized as being in crisis.

Critics have described the system as commodifying children with a bias on apprehending them rather than helping families who are struggling to stay together. That was a concern raised by the Phoenix Sinclair inquiry.

Family Services Minister Scott Fielding partnered up with one of the citys best regarded community agencies this fall to foster a program designed to give parents support in their reunification with children.

Within the last week the province floated a proposal that would allow foster parents to apply for permanent guardianship; another plank in the platform to create stability and permanence for kids in care.

Permanence and stability are the watchwords, the provinces spokesman said Friday in response to the Twitter war and Manitobas pending reforms.

When children are apprehended, the first priority for CFS agencies is to fully assess reunification with the parents or guardians. Children can be reunited with their parents at any time while they are in care. For children in care to achieve the best outcomes, it is critical for them to establish lifelong connections. This is a fundamental element of the CFS reforms the Manitoba Government recently announced, the spokesman said.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 26/11/2017 (1816 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A local radio station has suspended one of its programs for six weeks following the on-air promotion of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

CKUW 95.9 FM removed Where Angels Fear to Tread from its scheduled programming after Bnai Brith Canada highlighted the content of its Nov. 11 broadcast.

During the episode, the host interviewed Toronto conspiracy theorist Sydney White  described on-air as an investigative journalist  who promoted a number of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and tropes.

White claimed Israelis gassed and cremated the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, and accused American-Jewish businessman Larry Silverstein (who leased the World Trade Centre) of making billions on the massacre.

She repeatedly labelled the United States as Zionist America and accused Jewish bankers of instigating and funding the Russian Revolution. In addition, she alleged a Toronto newspaper banned coverage of her talks, claiming a reporter told her the owners of the publication are Zionists.

Who prints the money? The criminals who print the money and turn every country into a debtors prison, those same criminals own the media and print the news, White said.

The host, April Cherpaw, didnt question or disagree with Whites claims. According to Cherpaws LinkedIn page, she also serves on the stations board of directors. Despite the suspension of the show, the episode remains available for download on the CKUW website.

In response to the broadcast, a Bnai Brith representative will appear on-air to talk about the rise of anti-Semitism in Canada and the 2016 audit of anti-Semitic incidents.

We commend CKUW for taking action against anti-Semitism on the air. This hateful content was totally inappropriate for any Canadian radio station, let alone one financed in part by mandatory student fees, said Michael Mostyn, chief executive officer of Bnai Brith Canada.

CKUW is partly funded by student fees transferred from the University of Winnipeg Students Association. It is a non-commercial, university-based, volunteer-run station.

Where Angels Fear to Tread is a weekly, one-hour program broadcast on Saturday afternoons.

The description of the show on the CKUW website reads: The Powers That Would-be have made their intentions quite clear: they need us divided, confused and in a state of fear. Do we really want to live like this? Where Angels Fear to Tread seeks a way through and past these dark intentions.

On Nov. 25, the radio station delivered an on-air apology for the Nov. 11 broadcast.

The host of the show and the stations program director were unable to be reached for comment.

ryan.thorpe.media@mail.com
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 21:15:18|Editor: Zhou Xin

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MANILA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines ordered the troops on Sunday to crush the leftist rebels that continue to wage war against the government.

"My directive to the troops is to intensify our focused military operations to destroy the New People's Army (NPA), and to protect our communities against terrorism," Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero said.

The chief of staff said the military expected the NPA rebels to intensify their attacks in the wake of the government's decision to terminate the peace talks to end one of Asia's longest leftist insurgencies.

Specifically, Guerrero said he expected more NPA attacks "against innocent and defenceless targets," referring to civilians.

The leftist rebels have been fighting for nearly 49 years.

About 3,800 NPA armed men continue to fight, mainly in the poorest provinces of the Philippines.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte suspended talks with the rebels last week after a series of renewed attacks against troops and civilians by the leftist insurgents.

Duterte said his administration will go after those members of the leftist organizations that are acting as fronts of the rebels. He also warned to arrest business establishments that are giving money to the rebels.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the country has witnessed an increase in rebels' atrocities even before the cancellation of the talks.

"There have been an increase of violent activities, particularly attacks on police stations and outlying detachments, particularly those manned by Cafgus," Padilla told reporters, referring to militia men.

Since 1986, the Philippine government has been trying to reach a peace deal with the leftist rebels but failed to make any headway.

The rebellion in the Philippines began in 1969 and reached its peak in 1987 when it boasted 26,000 armed guerrillas.

However, the movement has since dwindled due to differences in strategy and tactics and the arrests of many of its top leaders in the late 1980s.

Peace negotiations with the rebels were suspended in 2011.

The Duterte administration revived the talks with the rebels in August last year. But the talks have since bogged down due to a series of attacks launched by the rebels against troops and civilians.
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One month after Naya Rivera called off her divorce from husband Ryan Dorsey, the former Glee star has been arrested in West Virginia for alleged domestic battery. The incident occurred on Saturday night before police arrived at a Chesapeake home, where the couple was visiting Dorseys family over the holiday weekend. Rivera was arrested following the law enforcements viewing of cell phone video footage (recorded by Dorsey) that reportedly showed Rivera hitting him in the head and on the bottom lip while they took a walk with their 2-year-old son, according to CNN:

[Rivera] was arraigned at the Kanawha County Magistrate Court and released on bond after a brief court appearance, court records show. During a brief court appearance, Rivera said she plans to hire an attorney. Domestic battery carries a maximum of a year in prison and a fine of up to $500, court records show.

Rivera and Dorsey, who initially dated in 2010, publicly split but rekindled their relationship and married in July 2014, three months after the actress ended her engagement to Big Sean. After two years of marriage, Rivera and Dorsey agreed to divorce but pulled the filing in October 2017 while citing a desire to make it work for the sake of their son.

Following news of Riveras arrest, Big Sean didnt aim for subtlety while weighing in on Twitter with some serious shade:

Courtesy of local CNN/ABC affiliate WCHS, heres a brief clip of Rivera being formally charged at her arraignment.

Glee actress Naya Rivera arrested on domestic battery charge. Full story on https://t.co/gLqggB15yU pic.twitter.com/YqlflJ23T6  Kalea Gunderson (@KaleaWCHS) November 26, 2017

(Via CNN & People)
Deathstroke has emerged from the post-credit shadows.

True Bloods Joe Manganiello shared a new image of himself as Slade Wilson, the sword-wielding DC Comics assassin who  Spoiler warning!  made a surprise appearance in the Justice League post-credits scene. No words are needed, its just the character unmasked in a photo posted across social media.

After Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and the newly resurrected Superman (Henry Cavill) grappled with Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) and his Apokolip-tic forces in Justice League, the finale tag saw Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) escaping from prison to rendezvous with Deathstroke.

Shouldnt we have a league of our own? Lex asks in the scene, seemingly setting the stage for some kind of Legion of Doom or Injustice group  a counter organization to the Justice League comprised of supervillains.

A post shared by Joe Manganiello (@joemanganiello) on Nov 24, 2017 at 9:23pm PST

Affleck stepped down from his role as director on The Batman, prompting speculation that he would drop the character, as well. The actor addressed the situation at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year, stating for the gathered crowd in Hall H, Let me be very clear. I am the luckiest guy in the world. Batman is the coolest fing part in any universe. DC. Marvel. Im so thrilled to do it.

He added afterwards in an interview with EW, My status remains what it always is. Ive done the two movies. Ive always intended on doing a third if Warners wants to make it. Certainly, if the Batphone rings, I will answer.

Matt Reeves is now at the helm of The Batman, but he said hes not using Afflecks script. However, Manganiello had said rather coyly, I know everything but I cant say any of it.

In October, Gareth Edwards (The Raid) was in early talks to write and direct a solo movie about Deathstroke, and the characters appearance in Justice Leagues post-credits scene seems to confirm plans for him down the road.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 21:35:21|Editor: Liangyu

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TOKYO/SEOUL/ULAN BATOR, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese delegation introducing the achievements of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) ended its three-nation Asia tour on Sunday, which has taken them to Mongolia, South Korea and Japan.

The delegation, headed by He Yiting, executive vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, met with local political party leaders and held briefing sessions with party officials, friendly groups, major media and think tanks in the three countries to introduce the spirit and significance of the CPC party congress.

On their parts, the host countries congratulated on the success of the 19th CPC National Congress and vowed to enhance bilateral relations.

During its stay from Thursday to Sunday in Japan, the delegation, invited by Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner the Komeito party, met with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the LDP, Yoshihisa Inoue, secretary-general of the Komeito party, and Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren).

The Japanese side spoke highly of the achievements and significance of the CPC congress and expressed the wishes for continued improvement and development of bilateral relations.

At the invitation of the South Korean foreign ministry, the delegation visited South Korea from Tuesday to Thursday and met with officials from South Korea's National Assembly, political parties and the government.

The South Korean side lauded the influence of the party congress to the world.

They agreed the visit has enhanced South Korea's understanding of the CPC party congress and China's future development, and that the country stands ready to promote development of South Korea-China relations.

Before the two countries, the delegation also visited Mongolia on Nov. 19-21 and the Mongolian side spoke highly of the historic achievements made by China and expected to push for greater development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
Former Glee star Naya Rivera was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery after an alleged altercation with her husband Ryan Dorsey on Saturday night in Kanawha County, West Virginia, police confirm to PEOPLE.

Naya Rivera mugshot

A rep for Rivera did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Glee actress Naya Rivera arrested on domestic battery charge. Full story on https://t.co/gLqggB15yU pic.twitter.com/YqlflJ23T6  Kalea Gunderson (@KaleaWCHS) November 26, 2017

The past year has been drama-filled for the star, who called off her divorce from Dorsey  with whom she shares 2-year-old son Josey  last month.

Dorsey, 34, and Rivera first dated in 2010 before going their separate ways while she starred on Glee. They later wed in July 2014, just three months after her engagement to rapper Big Sean ended.

Ryan Dorsey and Naya Rivera

In their statement about the divorce last November, the couple told PEOPLE, After much consideration, we have made the decision to end our marriage. Our priority is and always will be our beautiful son that we share together. We will continue to be great co-parenting partners for him. We ask for respect and privacy for our family during this difficult time.

Rivera briefly opened up about their reconciliation to PEOPLE last month, saying It is what it is, but Im glad that my family is together.
Octomom Nadya Suleman and her eight 8-year-old kids had a very active Thanksgiving morning.

That phrase seemed to be for her son Jonah, who struggled to keep up with his brothers and sisters. You can do it, dont give up! Suleman encouraged him before he eventually stepped out of the sack to catch up with his siblings at the finish line.

Last but not least to finish the race#LittleJonah, she explained of the clip. #NeverGiveUp #IsJonahYourHouseAndYourTheSnail.

Sack Race...#WhenYourKidsTakeUpTheEntireSackRace ???? #NeverGiveUp ???????? A post shared by Solomon Family (@nataliesuleman) on Nov 23, 2017 at 4:43pm PST

And last but not least to finish the race...#LittleJonah #NeverGiveUp ????#IsJonahYourHouseAndYourTheSnail ???? A post shared by Solomon Family (@nataliesuleman) on Nov 23, 2017 at 5:03pm PST

The family has participated in this Thanksgiving activity for a few years now, photos of which Suleman has often shared on social media.

A new year, an old tradition Suleman wrote on Instagram in a now-deleted photo, accompanying a smiling family photo of herself and her kids. #TurkeyTrot5k #FitFamily #HappyThanksgiving.

Thankful for another day of health and happiness! And of course, another Thanksgiving morning race! #5k #Thanksgiving #Thankful #HealthyFamily #AttitudeOfGratitude ???? A post shared by Solomon Family (@nataliesuleman) on Nov 24, 2016 at 10:01am PST

As fans remember, Suleman made headlines after giving birth to octuplets in 2009 when she was already the mother of six children. She quickly earned the name Octomom.

In February of this year she opened to Inside Edition about the media scrutiny she faced after she made the tough decision to release a sex tape, pose for a nude photo shoot and become a stripper to provide for her children.

I never coined the term Octomom. Octomom was created by the media, she said. They made it up without my permission, but I took accountability out of desperation to provide for my family. Shamefully  I abandoned my own identity.

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The troubling times caused her to step out of the spotlight and abandon the character in 2013  a decision that has had a positive impact on her family.

I was alive again, she said. As Octomom, I was the walking dead. When I woke up and I went back to my roots, my helping profession, and my kids, we were struggling financially but it didnt matter. I never felt so free and so happy in my life.

Now, they all live together in a three-bedroom town home in Orange County, California and dine on an all-vegan menu of cheese-less pizza, lots of veggies and chocolate cake.

I have embraced every day with gratitude, Suleman, who works as a counselor, said.
The burgers and fries sold at this McDonalds in Moscow  reportedly the worlds busiest one  may soon be labeled as the products of foreign agents in a tit-for-tat game of diplomacy between Russia and the United States. (Photo: Getty Images)

Fast food chain McDonalds may find itself in the center of a diplomatic dispute between the United States and Russia.

Tensions flared this week as Russia responded to a U.S. Department of Justice order requiring the Moscow-funded news organization RT, originally named Russia Today, to file paperwork under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

RTs editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, blasted the announcement saying, The war the U.S. establishment wages with our journalists is dedicated to all the starry-eyed idealists who still believe in freedom of speech. Those who invented it, have buried it.

In a tit-for-tat move, Russian president Vladimir Putin respond with a law that will expand the list of foreign agents acting in Russia to include western news outlets. Under the law, such news outlets would be forced to market themselves as foreign agents and to disclose their funding.

And now it seems the American hamburger has entered the fray of international politics. Boris Chernyshov, a 26-year-old Moscow lawmaker in the federal Russian Assembly, wants to label the fast food restaurant as a foreign agent over claims of misleading advertising.

The food sold by American fast food restaurants, according to some studies, negatively affects the body and human health, Chernyshov said. In advertising, a positive image of consumption of these products is presented.

Under the law, restaurants like McDonalds and KFC would have to designate their advertising in Russia as the messages of foreign agents, says Chernyshov. The second step will be the legislative initiative to include American fast food networks in the appropriate registry.

The U.S. and Russia have battled over western fast food chains operating in the country in the past. In 2014, Russian health officials shut down four Moscow McDonalds restaurants over sanitary violations. The move was widely seen as retaliation over sanctions levied onto Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

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Moscows Pushkin Square is home to the worlds busiest McDonalds. There are 430 McDonalds restaurants across the country and they employ some 35,000 Russians.

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Buckingham Palace just addressed those Prince Harry and Meghan Markle engagement rumors

Theres a major royal rumor circulating that Prince Harry is about to pop the question to Meghan Markle. And it seems like the whole world is here for it. In fact, Buckingham Palace just addressed the engagement rumors. And now, we dont know what to think.

If you can believe it, Prince William and Kate Middleton wed nearly seven years ago, and so much has happened since then. William and Kate are already expecting their third child. Everyone seems to be ready for royal wedding part two. Even the bookmakers agree  they have suspended bets on a 2018 royal wedding because the possibility seems so high at this point.

Its no secret that things are serious between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. According to reports, Markle has moved out of her Toronto residence and into Nottingham Cottage, Harrys residence at Kensington Palace. Apparently, its not so much of an if they get engaged, but a when. And that could seriously shake up the British monarchy.

Perhaps eyes are on the royal family even more so than usual, given that this year marked the 20th anniversary of Princess Dianas death. Weve also seen some incredible fairytale weddings (most recently, Serena Williamss to Alexis Ohanian), and thats only got us jonesing to see more.

So, what does the royal family have to say about all this?

Well, according to Hello!, a spokesperson from Buckingham Palace responded to the rumors, only saying that they would not give a running commentary on Harrys love life.

If you ask us, that seems very suspicious.

Royal expert Katie Nicholl agrees that an engagement seems like its coming soon, according to ET. But she does make a strong point that it really is all about the timing.

You have to remember there are other engagements and events coming up in the royal calendar that an engagement simply couldnt clash with, Nicholl told ET. I think that the new year is probably a more realistic prospect for an engagement announcement.

2018, youre looking pretty good already!
Donald Trump claims he turned down Time magazines 2017 Person of the Year honor  but they say thats fake news

Another day, another incidence of Donald Trump playing the role of a man scorned. This time, hes in a battle with Time magazine over their annual Person of the Year honor. Last year, the honor went to Trump. In 2015, it went to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And this year, Trump has some opinions on who he thinks theyre going to pick: him, again. But Time magazine is disputing his claim.

On Friday, November 24th, the president tweeted that he was probably going to be the magazines pick for 2017 Person of the Year. But probably wasnt good enough, so he declined altogether, also via Twitter. Thats when Time magazine stepped in and shut down his side of the story.

The publication tweeted a statement saying that Trump is incorrect about how they pick the Person of the Year. As we know, its very in character for Trump to make up whole incidents entirely, spinning them to make himself look good. It usually has the opposite effect.

Trump does seem to be inordinately obsessed with Time magazines honor, like an attention-deprived child yearning for a gold star. He tweeted in 2015 about how the magazine would never pick him for the honor. Its hard to imagine a situation where, say, former President Obama would care more for a relatively pointless honor than for, you know, actually leading the country.

Heres the tweet that sparked it all.

Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named Man (Person) of the Year, like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2017

And heres Time magazines retort.

The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.  TIME (@TIME) November 25, 2017

Burn. We dont know who is telling the truth (though we can probably guess), but this situation has proved ample fodder for Twitter comedians.

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Actor and comedian Billy Eichner weighed in on the situation with some good jokes.

Time Magazine called me a few weeks ago too. This led to us texting and then, of course, sexting. We hooked up a few times, which was fun. But, ultimately, it didn't seem like an ideal match. It's too bad though because Time Magazine is really hot. Oh well. Thanks anyway!  billy eichner (@billyeichner) November 25, 2017

Podcast host and writer Bobby Finger remixed Trumps quote and applied it to Frances McDormand.

Vanity Fair called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be on the cover of their Hollywood issue, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway! - Frances McDormand  bobby finger (@bobbyfinger) November 24, 2017

At least we can still have Twitter jokes, even when the world is in flames. Stay tuned to see who will be crowned Time magazines Person of the Year.
In the midst of a national wake-up call regarding the prevalence of sexual assault, a new report highlights hundreds of allegations of such violations against a chain of massage spas. As reported by BuzzFeed, the franchise Massage Envy has faced some 180 different allegations of sexual assault from its customers.

With nearly 1,200 locations across the country, a reported 1.65 million monthly members, and a 67% grasp on the day spa market, Massage Envy is a behemoth in both the franchise industry and in strip-mall massage therapy. Even with those astounding metrics, the hundreds of allegations of sexual assault should raise more than an eyebrow. Additionally, the reporting done by BuzzFeed, and the stories from the women who have come forward, depict a company struggling to protect itself in the face of these crimes.

Despite the difference in timing and location, the womens stories bear striking similarities. They were loyal customers  Massage Envy is based on a monthly membership model  who considered a trip to the spa a welcome respite from their busy lives. In the midst of routine appointments, the women said, they were assaulted and, when trying to report the crimes to police, found that local management was reluctant to cooperate and the parent company was reluctant to intervene.

Rather than referring reports within their spas to law enforcement, it appears the company has repeatedly attempted to deflect customers complaints and to dissuade them from calling the police. As one former manager explained to BuzzFeed, [The internal review policy is] in place to protect the company. Its centered around defusing the situation so the client doesnt call the police. You dont want cop cars showing up at your location the next day.

Danielle Dick, a college professor in Virginia, is one of the numerous women who have come forward in recent months to report sexual assaults at Massage Envy. (Photo: CBS 6)

The disturbing list of assaults and the way the company has dealt with them makes one wonder if the franchise business operation  a model mostly associated with fast-food joints and dry cleaners  is well suited for a business that relies on employees laying their hands on customers bodies. A lawyer who has filed a number of lawsuits against Massage Envy, Adam Horowitz, points out to BuzzFeed that the massage business has built-in risks.

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Just like there was opportunity in the priesthood, says Horowitz, theres opportunity in the massage room. When you get a massage, your guard is down completely. Youre not expecting to be violated. In response, however, representatives of Massage Envy point out that all therapists undergo background checks.

Its important to recognize that many, if not most, of these cases arent mere allegations. Despite the lack of cooperation from Massage Envy corporate, victims have filed charges and perpetrators of assaults have been found guilty and convicted.

In the case of Susan Ingram, a Pennsylvania woman who was assaulted in 2015, a massage therapist, James Deiter, was sentenced to up to 13 years for assaulting her and eight other women. When arrested, he reportedly admitted that he needed help.

While the corporate entity has never had to appear in court to face proceedings in sexual assault cases, an upcoming lawsuit brought by Susan Ingram and seven other women may change that. In an attempt to hold the company more accountable for its policies and procedures, they are taking Massage Envy to court. A trial is set for this January. Massage Envy is a partner in crime, says Ingram. They had every opportunity, on multiple occasions, to remove [Deiter] from his position, and they chose not to.

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Shoppers congregate at Macys in New York Citys Herald Square on Black Friday 2017. (Photo: AP)

Black Friday is here, and with huge masses of shoppers seeking deals in malls and big-box retailers nationwide, confrontations are expected. This years events look to be on trend, but without some of the more widespread mob violence weve seen in years past.

A Missouri teen was shot outside a mall in Columbia, Mo., receiving life-threatening injuries. According to KQFX, the unidentified 19-year-old was accidentally shot by by another man as the two sat in a car in the malls parking lot. According to police, the first man had been trying to holster the weapon when it suddenly went off.

A fistfight broke out Thursday at a mall in Alabama just before closing time. Footage of the incident shared on Facebook shows two women throwing punches as police and security step in. Police and mall management believe the dispute was personal and not over holiday deals.

The two women were treated for minor injuries by paramedics.

Mike White, general manager of the Riverchase Galleria, told Yahoo Lifestyle in a telephone interview that the fight happened 20 minutes before closing time. [Tthe fight] was not something that affected the bulk of the people who were there, said White.

The Hoover Police Department issued a statement on Facebook Friday saying the fight was of a personal nature and not over merchandise.

The police department also says it responded to calls reporting gunfire outside the mall an hour later but could find no evidence of any weapons being fired.

Aside from these two incidents, Black Friday at the Riverchase has gone smoothly this year. With crowds surging peaceably through the shops and department stores, its a further sign that the economy is on the upswing, said White.

Elsewhere in the country, footage of a tug of war over a toy car at a Walmart has surfaced:

Four men can be seen grappling over it until staff step in and break it up. Neither group ends up getting the car.

While Black Friday has become known not only for its deals and long lines but also for the dustups that inevitably happen when shopping is transformed for one day into a full-contact sport, perhaps the steady and unstoppable growth of online shopping has made deal hunting a more nonviolent pursuit.

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The deep-discount phenomenon exists not only in America. Black Friday deals were up for grabs at retailers around the globe and are marked with decorum and orderliness in places like Finland and the U.K.

Shoppers in both countries shared video footage of bargain hunters walking single file into stores in apparent parody of the free-for-all stampedes found in America.

Oh, it was terrible, writes YouTuber Toni  in the description for his video. In it, a line of shoppers calmly file into a Finnish shopping mall.

BBC reporter Frankie McCamley tweeted a video of British shoppers doing the same:

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Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 21:40:22|Editor: Zhou Xin

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TEHRAN, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran's tanker shipping company plans to expand cooperation with Norwegian suppliers of parts for oil tankers, Financial Tribune daily reported on Sunday.

"The National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) has been in touch with Norwegian ship parts and equipment manufacturers in the last 20 years and we hope to keep up this collaboration," head of NITC Sirous Kianersi was quoted as saying.

The cooperation is in line with the measures to comply with global environmental standards, Kianersi said at the Iran-Norway Bilateral Maritime Opportunities conference.

Kianersi also said his company has joined hands with the research and development arm of the Iranian Petroleum Ministry, known as RIPI, to cut down on sulfur emissions of its tankers.

"To meet international obligations, we have signed a deal with RIPI to reduce sulfur emissions of our crude oil vessels," he was quoted as saying.

According to the report, the NITC plans to modernize its fleet of around 70 tankers, one of the largest in the world, under a five-year program, and Norwegian companies are "on the NITC's list" to help the company upgrade its large fleet.

The Iranian company also plans to reduce the average age of its tanker fleet from 10 years old, Kianersi said, adding that the renovation program will not affect NITC's capacity of 15 million deadweight tonnage.
At least 27 children were among the 305 people killed during a terrorist rampage at a Sinai mosque on Friday, the Egyptian government said as it updated the grim toll of one of the bloodiest attacks since September 11th.

Egypts attorney general said that up to 30 gunmen had taken part in the slaughter and that they carried the black banners of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) as they gunned down worshippers during Friday prayers.

Relatives of the victims told The Telegraph that some households in the village of Rawda had lost every single male member of their family. There is no one in the village who didnt lose at least one of his relatives, said Mohammed Sleem, a university student who lost two cousins. .

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion has fallen heavily on Isils Egyptian affiliate, known as Sinai Province, which has carried out deadly attacks against Egyptian troops and Christians in the area.

The Egyptian military carried out airstrikes in north Sinai in response to the killings but it was not clear if they were acting on specific intelligence or simply trying to make a show of force to reassure the public.

Investigators said Saturday they were still finding bodies in the toilets and other areas as they combed through the grounds of mosque.

Bloodstained floors at the mosque Credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Soliman

The village of Rawda is home to around 2,500 people and with almost all of the men at the mosque for prayers nearly every home was in mourning on Saturday.

Some women lost all their male family members, said Abdel Qader Mubarak, a village elder. One woman lost her husband and two sons, and another lost three of her sons. There is no home in Rawda without a martyr. At least 100 families have at least one martyr or at minimum a wounded person.

Mr Mubarak was outside the village on Friday but relayed what happened from what he had heard from survivors.

"It was during the Friday sermon, where all men were inside the mosque. About 20-30 armed men surrounded the mosque from outside and some of them entered the mosque. They shut the door behind them. They started to open fire with machine guns and hand grenades. Some of them shot through the windows of the mosque. It was random shooting. Then they left and wandered in the village, whoever was found in the village was shot, then they returned back to the mosque, whoever was found still alive was shot again," he said.

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People bury victims of the of the Egypt Sinai mosque bombing Credit: Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Nabil Sadeq, the Egyptian prosecutor general, said that between 25 and 30 gunmen had arrived at the mosque on Friday in a convoy of SUVs and had taken up positions at the entrances and exits.

[The worshippers] heard heavy gunfire outside the mosque and the sound of explosions followed by the entry of a number of people. Some were masked and others were unmasked with thick, wild hair, Mr Sadeq said.

They were carrying machine guns and a flag that reads "There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and wearing clothes similar to military uniforms, he said. He officially raised the death toll from an initial count of 235 to 305.

Wreckages of cars are seen after the Egypt Sinai mosque bombing Credit: Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Most of the men at the mosque were Sufis, adherents to a mystic tradition of Islam. Isil considers Sufis to be heretics and has threatened them often. Your blood is filthy and permissible to shed, a Sinai Province leader warned Sufis last year in an interview with the Isil magazine Rumiyah.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypts president, said a mausoleum would be built to commemorate the victims of the worst terror attack in Egyptian history.

Egypts army released footage of what it said were airstrikes against terrorist outposts in Sinai, which destroyed quantities of weapons, ammunition, explosive materials and administrative facilities. Witnesses said the strikes targeted mountainous areas around Rawdah.

#_ :                 pic.twitter.com/gjCaBIZK3A    (@EgyArmySpox) November 25, 2017

The military has been battling against a bloody insurgency in the Sinai since 2011 but has so far been unable to defeat the jihadists or prevent a string of high-profile attacks.

Egypts government, which relies heavily on tourism, has been at pains to stress that most of the attacks have taken place in a limited area in north Sinai. Egypt as a State, society and region is still, with its overwhelming majority, far from the hands of bloody terrorist groups, the governments information office said in a statement.

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza had been due to open on Saturday, providing a rare opportunity for the isolated people of Gaza to travel to the outside world. But the crossing remained closed in the wake of the attack and travellers were told to stay at home.
Angela Merkel told party delegates: 'Now it is no use to grieve things' - DPA

Angela Merkel vowed to get a government in place as soon as possible on Saturday as she recovered from a week-long crisis that threatened to force fresh German elections and could have ended her political career.

In a speech to members of her party, Mrs Merkel said she wanted to avoid a re-run of September's elections, which saw her Christian Democrats reduced to 33 per cent of the vote and left her struggling to muster a coalition government in talks with a range of smaller parties.

The people voted. And I absolutely do not favor, if we cant do anything with the result, asking people to vote again, Mrs Merkel said at a party conference in the Baltic coast resort of Kuehlungsborn on Saturday.

Europe needs a strong Germany, so it is desirable to get a government in place quickly, she told the party meeting.

Now it is no use to grieve things, she told the party conference.

Angela Merkel speaks with Martin Schulz, the leader of the Social Democrats Party (SPD) Credit: Michele Tantussi/Getty Images Europe

Negotiations between Mrs Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and smaller parties broke down in the early hours of Monday morning, triggering a week of instability that threatened to leave Germany without a government.

The crisis was calmed but not entirely resolved when the Social Democrats (SPD), the main centre-left party agreed to enter coalition talks on Friday.

If she proves unable to form a new coalition government, a weakened Mrs Merkel will have no choice but to either form a weakened minority government, or face new snap elections  an event party leaders fear could strengthen the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier intervened after the collapse of coalition talks Credit: AXEL SCHMIDT/Reuters

Her comments came as a senior SPD figure hinted the party would likely approve a renewed coalition with Mrs Merkel's conservative party if she came up with "convincing" proposals.

Niels Annen told the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper that Germany needed to form a government quickly and that his party would not rule it out governing alongside Mrs Merkel.

"Germany urgently needs a predictable and reliable government. A grand coalition could be an option and we should not exclude it," Mr Annen said.

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He said the SPD was focused on "what is good for the country."

Martin Schulz, the leader of SPD, had previously ruled out entering into another grand coalition with Mrs Merkel after his party suffered its worst ever result in the federal elections in September.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) Volker Bouffier (L), Minister President of Hesse, The Federal Green Party Chairman, Cem Ozdemir (R) on the first day of coalition talks in October Credit: FILIP SINGER/EPA

He backpedaled and offered Mrs Merkel talks on Friday after a dramatic personal appeal from the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and mounting pressure from members of his own party who threatened to mount a leadership challenge.

We do not have a government crisis, but Germany is in a complicated situation, Mr Schulz said on Friday.

The president made a dramatic appeal to the parties to speak again, because we cannot go straight to new elections. . . The SPD is aware of its responsibility for Germany and for Europe.

It is not yet clear whether the SPD will enter into a new coalition with Mrs Merkel, or whether it will only offer to prop up a minority government from the outside.

Mr Schulz has said that any final decision on this will be put to the full party membership in a vote.

If the discussions result in us taking part in a government in any shape or form, the members will vote on it, he said.

Mrs Merkel's career as leader of her party was left in the balance after four weeks of negotiations on forming a "Jamaica coalition" - so called because the party colours match those of the Jamaican flag - broke down after a series of gruelling late-night discussions on Monday.

Christian Lindner, leader of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), dramatically stormed out of the talks with Mrs Merkels CDU, its sister centre-right Bavarian party the CSU, and the left-leaning Greens, after midnight on Sunday, citing irreconcilable differences.

Disagreements around immigration and Mrs Merkel's controversial decision to offer an "open-door" to refugees in 2015 were one of main points of contention.

The outcome of the new talks is not expected until some time in the New Year.
The tiger was shot near a railway line in Paris - REUTERS

Animal rights groups expressed outrage yesterday (Sat) after an escaped circus tiger was shot dead by its owner as it roamed the streets of Paris near the Eiffel Tower.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation, established by the film star turned animal rights activist, called for an immediate ban on wild animals in circuses in response to the tigers death.

Its a miracle that there were no human victims, the foundation said in a statement. It is essential to react immediately and ban this exploitation of wild animals reduced to slavery.

Terrified Paris residents called firefighters after spotting the 440-pound feline wandering near a tram line on Friday. Services were halted as panic spread while social media relayed the news.

Valerian Fuet, a fire brigade spokesman, said: The tiger was already dead when we arrived. Its body was found just over a mile from the Eiffel Tower.

Un tigre sest echappe du cirque en face de FranceTv.  On a vu le tigre redescendre sur les rails  nous disent Yasmine et Thomas pic.twitter.com/DYzpP85vY0  MargauxDuguet (@MargauxDuguet) November 24, 2017

Eric Bormann, the circus manager who killed the animal, was briefly taken into custody. Police have opened an investigation.

Mr Bormann said he shot it for the safety of the public after failing to capture it alive. He said the door of its enclosure had been left open in what he suspected was an act of malice.

Mr Fuet said the tiger was shot in an alley. It was not in the street, there were no passers-by. It escaped from the Bormann-Moreno circus which was preparing to open next week.

Philippe Goujon, the mayor of the 15th arrondissement where the tiger was shot, said there was now no question of allowing the circus to go ahead as planned.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation pointed out that 13 other EU member-states have banned animals in circuses and said it was outraged that France had not already done so.

The Bird Protection League, which also campaigns in defence of other animals, voiced a similar demand.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby - Copyright AHeathcliff O'Malley , All Rights Reserved, not to be published in any format without p

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said he does not understand why fundamentalist Christians in the US support Donald Trump.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said he "really genuinely" had no explanation for how the US President has secured such a significant support base amongst church-goers.

He made the admission as described the Mr Trump's attitude towards women as "completely unacceptable".

Questioned on why he believed the President received support from fundamentalist Christians in the US, he replied: "There's two things going through my mind: do I say what I think, or do I say what I should say?

"And I'm going to say what I think. No I don't understand it. I really genuinely do not understand where that is coming from."

However, he conceded that he would attend the official state dinner he has traditionally been invited to if the US President came to the UK on an official visit.

He said: "I've spent years and years involved in conflict stuff around the world where I met people who had killed many, many people.

"Part of the job is to meet people you disagree with and to testify of the love of Christ to them and to seek to draw them into a different way.

"The odds are, it would be unlikely I'd do more than shake hands with him."

The Archbishop has previously accused Mr Trump of being part of a group of leaders from a nationalist, populist, or even fascist tradition of politics.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP

He made the comments after the American presidents ban on travellers from some Muslim-majority countries was announced

Exactly when Mr Trump will make a visit remains a matter of conjecture.

The latest suggestion is that Mr Trump could make a visit to the UK early next year, possibly to open the new American embassy in Wandsworth.

Since taking office he has been to the Far East and the Middle East. In Europe, he has visited Italy, Poland, Belgium, German and France - but not the UK, despite having been in office for 10 months.

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A Foreign Office spokesman said: Our position on the State Visit has not changed  an offer has been extended and President Trump has accepted. Exact dates for President Trump to visit have not yet been arranged.

While Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford never made an official visit to Britain, most other recent incumbents of the Oval Office did cross the Atlantic early in their presidency.

John F Kennedy came within five months of taking office, Richard Nixon did so in just over a month. Both Bushes came to London in the summer after they won the presidential election and Barack Obama two months after entering the White House.

Donald Trump approval rating tracker

However, a visit by Donald Trump remains problematic. Despite an invitation from Theresa May, there is strong opposition across the political spectrum.

In February John Bercow, the House of Commons Speaker, made clear that he "strongly opposed" granting Mr Trump the honour of addressing both houses of parliament.

Since taking office Mr Trump and his son Donald Jr, have also succeeded in antagonising Sadiq Khan, London's mayor with a series of attacks on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump used his Twitter feed over the weekend to round on his media foes, this time accusing CNN of being a purveyor of "fake news".
By Maximiliano Rizzi

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Argentina authorized on Friday the use of genetically modified soybean seeds resistant to herbicides other than glyphosate, as the European Union (EU) debates whether to extend the license of weed-killers containing the ingredient.

The EU debate comes amid concerns the active ingredient in Monsanto Co's popular weed-killer Roundup causes cancer. That has caused concern in the South American country, the No. 1 exporter of soybean meal and soybean oil and No. 3 raw soybean exporter, that its exports to the EU could be in jeopardy.

In a statement, the Agriculture Ministry said the SYN-000H2-5 seed needed different herbicides which had not raised health concerns around the world. Syngenta AG and Bayer AG had requested government approval for the seed.

"This is of great importance given the rise of resistant weeds and other potential limitations to the use of the glyphosphate herbicide," the Ministry said.

The EU granted an 18-month extension to glyphosphate in July 2016 pending further scientific study after failing to agree on a proposed 15-year license renewal.

It was not clear if a potential glyphosate ban in Europe would impact shipments of soy-based products from Argentina, Gustavo Lopez, director of Buenos Aires-based consultancy Agritrend, told Reuters.

Argentina shipped 7.5 million tonnes of soybean meal to European countries in the first nine months of 2017, data from government statistics agency Indec show. The country's producers are expected to plant 16.8 million hectares of soybeans for the 2017-18 crop.

Last week, Monsanto and U.S. farm groups sued the state of California for requiring cancer warnings on products containing glyphosphate.

(Reporting by Maximiliano Rizzi; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Susan Thomas)
Ostrovets (Belarus) (AFP) - Thirty years after the Chernobyl disaster spewed radioactive clouds into the sky and sent shockwaves across Europe, Belarus is building a nuclear reactor on the doorstep of the EU despite fears in neighbouring Lithuania.

Construction of the facility, located in the northwestern Belarusian town of Ostrovets only around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Lithuanian border, is entering its final stages.

Its two reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, will be operational from 2019 and 2020 respectively.

The project, approved by strongman Alexander Lukashenko's government in 2008 and spearheaded by the Russian state energy corporation Rosatom, is being nearly completely financed by Moscow with a $10-billion loan.

The construction of the reactor initially revived bad memories in a country that had a quarter of its territory covered with radiation from the 1986 explosion at the Soviet-era plant in Chernobyl, in present-day Ukraine.

"When we heard that a plant was being built literally outside our windows, we were scared," said Nina Rybik, a writer who was one of tens of thousands evacuated from contaminated zones 30 years ago.

"But then the fear passed: we were told that advanced technology is being employed to build the station and that every single thing is being controlled," she told AFP.

She said that even those who had gathered signatures against the construction of the plant were now trying to find work there.

As worries about nuclear safety had been magnified by the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, the local authorities and the Russian contractor actively worked to reassure the nearby population.

To showcase their commitment to safety, Belarusian authorities demanded in 2016 that Rosatom replace equipment damaged during a fall, even though the Russian corporation insisted that the 330-tonne shell had merely touched the ground after sliding down from a four-meter height.

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Rosatom calls the reactors "the most modern in the world" and says that they "respect all international norms".

Belarusian sociologist Elena Martishchenkova said that around half of Belarusians support the development of nuclear energy, with the figure reaching 65 percent in the Ostrovets district this year.

- Balloon ride for EU -

But there is little optimism for nuclear energy on the other side of the border.

Vilnius denounced the project as a violation of "international nuclear and environmental safety requirements", as it is located 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the EU border and only 40 kilometres from the Lithuanian capital.

Rosatom has repeatedly denied that the project violates international norms.

But Russia's long silence about a leak of a radioactive isotope in September, first made public by French authorities, has revived memories about the Soviet Union's initial denial then downplaying the danger the Chernobyl accident posed.

Rosatom denied last week the ruthenium-106 came from its facilities after Russia's meteorological service confirmed "extremely high" concentrations of the isotope about 30 kilometres from a site where the firm reprocesses spent nuclear fuel.

In an interview with AFP, Lithuania's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Rasa Jakilaitiene, accused Minsk of trying to conceal information and minimising the consequences of "at least six incidents" that occurred at the Ostrovets plant in 2016.

In May, the Lithuanian government even flew EU energy chief Maros Sefcofic in a hot air balloon over Vilnius so he could see how close the Belarusian plant was to the city, in an attempt to convince EU officials that the plant represented a health hazard.

The Baltic country even adopted a law declaring the nuclear plant a national security threat.

"In accordance with the law, no electricity from the Ostrovets nuclear power plant will be able to enter the Lithuanian power market, nor the European electricity market," spokeswoman of Lithuania's energy ministry Aurelija Vernickaite told AFP.

This closes a potentially important market for the nuclear plant with a capacity that exceeds the needs of Belarus' relatively small population of 9.5 million people.

Minsk has even considered having factories run overnight in order to use the surplus electricity.

- 'Very sensitive question' -

Another thorny issue is the processing of radioactive waste, which the Belarusian government says it is working on.

Constructing the plant was primarily seen as a means for Russia's Vladimir Putin to extend his economic influence in the former Soviet Union.

It was also seen as offering a helping hand to Lukashenko, who at the time faced an economic crisis aggravated by Western sanctions for his crackdown on the opposition.

But now that most of the sanctions have been lifted -- after Lukashenko freed several political prisoners -- Minsk is presenting the plant as a means to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, which fuels the power plants that create most of the electricity in Belarus.

Moscow has often used its oil and gas deliveries as a means to influence Belarus and Russia's other former Soviet neighbours.

"It is a very sensitive security and energy question -- dependence on one country, especially if it restricts current energy deliveries," Alexander Mikhalevich, an expert in nuclear issues at Belarus' Academy of Sciences, said during a recent energy conference in Minsk.

bur-gmo-apo-oc/as/spm/rl/iw
(Reuters) - Cleveland police were searching on Saturday for suspects in a shooting that wounded five teenagers and killed a 12-year-old boy who had stepped outside his father's store at the sound of gunfire, police and media reports said.

The shooting took place late on Friday when three or four males opened fire on a group of teenagers near a liquor store on Cleveland's east side, police said in a statement.

A bullet struck the boy in the torso when he stepped out of his father's nearby beauty supply store to see what was happening, the Cleveland.com news website said.

The father, who also went outside when the gunfire started, discovered the boy was wounded when they retreated into his store, and medics found the youth unresponsive, police said.

"We don't know exactly what spurred this or what happened, but, you know, definitely our hearts go out to the families of the victims here," Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters.

The shooters were believed to be juveniles who fled on foot, Williams said. The wounded teenagers were all males aged 14 to 16 and were taken to University Hospital. One of them remained hospitalized with head wounds, police said.

There have been no arrests, and police declined to name the victims because of their ages. But Cleveland.com said the slain boy was a seventh-grader from Parma, Ohio. His family said he did well in school and loved sports, the website reported.

(Reporting by Ian SimpsonEditing by Marguerita Choy)
Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas) lashed out at President Donald Trump for using Fridays deadly mass shooting at an Egyptian mosque to keep up his push for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

What an idiot, Vela tweeted Sunday in response to a Washington Post piece analyzing Trumps suggestion that a border wall would effectively stop Muslim extremists from entering the United States.

Vela, an outspoken Trump critic, questioned whether the president foolishly believed such a wall could have prevented the 9/11 attacks, as well as the wave of mass shootings plaguing the country, including the ones in Las Vegas last month and at a Texas church earlier this month.

What an idiot... Does @realDonaldTrump foolishly think a border wall would have prevented 9/11, Charleston, San Bernardino, Orlando, Las Vegas, and Sutherland Springs?  US Rep. Filemon Vela (@RepFilemonVela) November 26, 2017

Some details remain unclear over Fridays attack in Egypt, which left at least 305 dead in the Sinai region. No group has claimed responsibility, though gunmen carried the black flag of the Islamic State during the attack. Trump almost immediately used the attack to peddle his border wall and tighter immigration policies.

Will be calling the President of Egypt in a short while to discuss the tragic terrorist attack, with so much loss of life. We have to get TOUGHER AND SMARTER than ever before, and we will. Need the WALL, need the BAN! God bless the people of Egypt.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2017

Throughout his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised his supporters a big, beautiful wall if elected. But in the more than 10 months since taking office, Trump has failed to make any significant progress on it.

Theres little evidence to suggest terrorists are crossing into the U.S. using the southwest border. Only a handful of people with ties to Islamic terrorist groups have ever been caught attempting to enter the U.S. from there, the Post reported Saturday.

In most U.S. mass shootings, the gunmen are white, male U.S. citizens.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Kurdish| 2017-11-26 21:45:24|Editor: Zhou Xin

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ISTANBUL, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Sunday that his country is expecting the United States to end its partnership with the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG).

"Since the very beginning, we have said that it is wrong for the U.S. to partner with PKK's cousin PYD and YPG in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State) terrorist group," Yildirim told the press in Istanbul prior to his departure for Britain.

Ankara sees the Kurdish groups as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting against the Turkish government for over 30 years, while Washington regards them as a reliable ground force against the Islamic State (IS), also known as Daesh.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday spoke to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the phone, pledging not to provide weapons to the YPG any more, an irritant that has hurt bilateral ties, according to the Turkish side.

Yildirim noted that Washington has described it as an obligation rather than an option to support the Kurdish groups on the ground. "But since Daesh (IS) is now eliminated then this obligation has disappeared," he added.
On Friday, Londons Metropolitan Police responded to reports of shots fired near Oxford Circus, one of the citys busiest train stations.

Panicked commuters spilled onto the sidewalk and joined pedestrians in running away from the perceived threat, taking refuge in stores under a police directive to stay put.

In the middle of the chaos, the Daily Mail reported that a truck had plough[ed] into pedestrians around the Oxford Circus station. In another social media post, since deleted, the paper said that a witness had described seeing a pavement covered with blood.

(Photo: Twitter)

But the severity of the scene as described by the Daily Mail contrasted sharply with the majority of reports coming from the area.

Even for the Daily Mail their response to the incident at Oxford Circus is outrageous and irresponsible pic.twitter.com/Zrt0RepjqJ  Sam Wilson (@MrSamWilson) November 24, 2017

While people shared videos of Londoners running to shelter, the Metropolitan Police had not found any casualties and later announced that its officers were unable to find evidence of shots fired. The Oxford Circus train station was closed briefly, but has reopened.

Twitter sleuths tracked down what appears to be the source of the Daily Mails witness report: a 10-day-old tweet.

The message contained a hashtag, #oxfordstreet, that many were using on Friday to share updates from the scene. The problem? This particular tweet was posted Nov. 14.

There is a lorry stopped on the pavement in Oxford street, police all around it and blood on the floor, its definitely the aftermath of something, Twitter user Dan Smallbone wrote that day.

#oxfordstreet There is a lorry stopped on the pavement in Oxford street, police all around it and blood on the floor, it's definitely the aftermath of something maybe just a crash but nothing on the news... Anyone have a clue?  Dan Smallbone (@DanSmallbone) November 14, 2017

On Nov. 14, the London Evening Standard reported that an Oxford Street window cleaner had fallen, as BuzzFeed noticed. The story mentioned blood on the pavement.

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This Friday, due to the Mails apparent citation of Smallbones days-old tweet, people turning to social media for updates on the situation in central London began seeing mixed reports, fueling confusion and anger.

The Mails report on the incident has since been updated.

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Daily Mail tweeting about lorry ploughing into people at Oxford Circus, then delete it when it turns out to be unfounded. Talk about unhelpfully spreading rumours... and this from one of our biggest newspapers!  Mark Ablett (@mark_ablett) November 24, 2017

During the panic in Oxford Circus & and despite the police saying not to spread rumours, the Daily Mail decided to post this rumour based purely on a 1 tweet #OxfordStreet pic.twitter.com/SZGEKcWTuj  The Pileus (@thepileus) November 24, 2017

As a newspaper the Daily Mail is like the person who screams "fire" in a crowded theatre after seeing the flash of a torchlight. #oxfordstreet https://t.co/xuFiAhfYLs  Harry Leslie Smith (@Harryslaststand) November 24, 2017

Tip: NEVER listen to what the Daily Mail has to say. Theyre full of utter bollocks and give journalism a bad name. Ignore their shite. #OxfordCircus #OxfordStreet  Mike P Williams  (@Mike_P_Williams) November 24, 2017

Reached for comment, a Daily Mail spokesperson said the publication deeply regrets its error, which was swiftly spotted, and is investigating how it happened.

The Mails statement read:

As in any major incident these days, social media was awash with confused reports from Oxford Circus tonight, many of which turned out to be inaccurate. It is the job of the mainstream media to strike a balance between reflecting what is being reported from the scene without spreading false facts. And, despite the fast-moving situation, reporting this particular information that was not in line with the mass of eye-witness reports was a grave error. The failure was swiftly spotted internally and the story containing the inaccurate information was only live for exactly seven minutes. Nevertheless MailOnline deeply regrets that it was ever published at all, however briefly, and has instituted an urgent inquiry to establish exactly how it happened.

Meanwhile, London police have stood down in the area and are encouraging people to go about their business after the afternoons chaos.

I saw people running, one London resident told HuffPost UK. My first thought was this is a bit extreme for Black Friday. Then suddenly a swarm of people came up the escalators. A swarm. It was horrifying. The screams  they were running for lives and it felt like they were running from something.

The U.K.s terror threat level was recently lowered to severe, the second highest of five possible states, after a bomb attack on another London train station prompted officials to raise it to critical.

This story has been updated with a statement from the Daily Mail.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A 17-year-old Danish girl who offered to fight for Islamic State was found guilty on Friday of planning bomb attacks at two schools, one of them Jewish, state broadcaster DR reported. The High Court ruling upholds a ruling in the Holbaek district court in May that found the girl - who was not named - guilty of attempted terrorism. The girl was arrested at her home in January last year, when she was aged 15, and charged with planning the attacks after acquiring chemicals for making bombs. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; editing by Ralph Boulton)
Cuban artist Danilo Maldonado Machado poses with his daughter during a photo exhibition in Havana (Photo: Stringer . / Reuters)

On the night Fidel Castro died, Danilo Maldonado Machado went for a walk in downtown Havana. The streets were peaceful; most residents of the city were asleep or at home listening to the news. Maldonado took out his smartphone and starting recording a video of himself.

Here we are on [Avenue] 23, he laughed, leaning against a street sign. El ano que se murio la yegua.

This last sentence is a little awkward to translate; literally it means the year the mare died. Yegua, or mare, is a fairly strong insult in Spanish, which is to say its not the type of thing the average politically-conscious Cuban would be calling the recently-deceased Comandante during a time of official national mourning.

El ano que se murio la yegua! Maldonado repeated, to uncomfortable looks from passersby. He was jubilant, yet disappointed at the tepid reaction to the presidents death. Unfortunately, he told me later, The number of people I would have liked to see shouting freedom! in the streets didnt turn out. As he passed by the Hotel Tryp Habana Libre, Maldonado had a sudden inspiration.

The building, one of the tallest and most prominent in the Havana skyline, has an unusual history. It was originally the Havana Hilton; after Fidel Castros triumphant entry into Havana in 1959, he made it his headquarters. It was later nationalized, and in the early years of the revolution it housed a temporary Soviet embassy. Seized by the moment, Machado pulled out a can of spray paint and on the wall of the Habana Libre he wrote the words se fue  roughly, hes gone. Then he uploaded the video to Facebook.

My friends sometimes think that I knew I was going to end up in prison, he told me. But the truth is I imagined thered be a party in the streets, celebrating freedom. Just a few hours later, state security was outside his door.

Maldonado, better known by his artistic alias El Sexto, has become one of Cubas most prominent political dissidents in recent years, notorious for his anti-government artwork. His arrest late last year was just the latest of many; he was detained in the run-up to president Obamas 2016 diplomatic visit, and in 2014 for a scheme that involved painting the names Raul and Fidel on a pair of pigs and releasing them in the streets, an homage to George Orwells anti-totalitarian novel Animal Farm. 10 months in prison, that cost me. he recalls. I got out thanks to a ton of people who helped make sure people found out about it on social media: Amnesty International, The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba.

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#elsexto #octubre2016 #fridge #dibujosvallegrande A post shared by Danilo Maldonado Machado (@dmmelsexto) on Oct 21, 2016 at 1:49pm PDT

A sketch by El Sexto, made in 2015 in the Valle Grande Prison

In the year since his most recent arrest made international headlines, Maldonado has been traveling outside of Cuba, promoting his art, speaking to audiences in various countries. In the aftermath of Castros death, many predicted a thaw in the Cuban governments attitude toward political dissent. Instead, recent weeks have seen the detention of several prominent artists and activists on the island. Robert Jimenez and Cesar Mendoza are friends of mine, says Maldonado, referring to two activists recently arrested in Cuba. Theyre human rights activists, but thats dangerous because the dictatorship prefers silence on the part of the people.

Cubas 1976 constitution guarantees freedom of speech, with the caveat that such speech must be in keeping with the objectives of socialist society. In practice, that means that dissidents like Maldonado live in perpetual fear of a visit from state security. In another recent case, the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara was arrested for illegal possession of construction materials. At the time, Otero was planning an independent artistic exhibition  that is, one without government approval. The Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez described the police action as a pretext to force him into an endless legal process. She says the governments goal in such cases is twofold: to discourage and isolate dissidents, and to make them consider whether leaving the country might be their best long-term option. Call it self-deportation, Cuban-style.

Now, on the anniversary of Castros death, Maldonado and the dissident community see little cause for celebration. The political environment on the island remains the same, he told me by email. I would even say its worse: total uncertainty. In just a few months time, Fidels brother Raul, who assumed the presidency in 2008, is slated to step aside, making way for an as-yet unknown successor. Details on the political process are not forthcoming. There havent been candidates, or campaigns to show political proposals, says Maldonado. Everything seems to indicate that the next person in charge will come to power the same way as the current dictator, by inheritance, like in a monarchy. Maybe [Rauls] daughter Mariela Espin will be the next president. Cuba observers generally agree that the most likely president-in-waiting is the current Vice President, Miguel Diaz-Canel. His record gives little indication that he might be a reformer; in a leaked video published to youtube in August by the Cuban dissident Antonio Rodiles, Diaz-Canel discussed plans for further crackdowns on counter-revolutionaries: specifically, independent media and political opposition.

Shortly after Maldonados release from prison in January, I reached him by Skype. I asked him why, in the case of his graffiti celebrating Castros death, he felt the need to combine art with vandalism. Why not express your political views without defacing public property? Maldonado scoffed at the very premise. I dont think its vandalism to paint on the walls in Cuba, where every wall belongs to the state, he told me. If they have the right to those walls, dont I as well? Arent we all the state? Or is there some owner in particular? Once you put it that way, you can recognize clearly that its the dictator who owns every wall in Cuba.

Maldonado traces his artistic and political thinking back to an interaction with his mother when he was only 9 years old. I did a drawing of Fidel Castro, and I put a monkey head on him, he remembers. His mother saw it and was horrified. And she told me that you cant do that and made me erase it. His mothers panic at a simple drawing puzzled young Danilo. And from that moment I started to think. Years later, he would become a street artist under the alias El Sexto. The name itself was a finger in the eye to the authorities; at the time, a team of Cuban espionage agents known as The Cuban Five were imprisoned in the U.S., and the government was busy lionizing them in official propaganda. So Danilo styled himself El Sexto, The Sixth. If the Five were the ideal of revolutionary zeal, then the sixth was just a regular guy. El Sexto was a representation of the people a kid, an old person, anyone, explains Maldonado. So thats what the story of El Sexto was based on. He started painting all over Havana.

After just over a year, the police finally caught up with El Sexto. I was 26 or 27, he recalls, and they arrested me as I was leaving my house. Danilo was disappeared for 4 days, exactly where to he wasnt sure. Yet losing his anonymity had an upside; once the dissident community realized that he was behind the mysterious anti-government graffitis that had been popping up around the city, they were eager to meet him. When I got out, they were all waiting at my house, he says. It was then that he met Yoani Sanchez (the blogger mentioned earlier), and Gorki Aguila, leader of the anti-Castro punk band Porno Para Ricardo. I knew Gorkis songs, and I had heard about Yoani on TV and even met her once; but to emerge from prison and see them waiting for you is something else!

Con la maestra Yoani Sanchez #yoanisanchez #dw_gmf #facecristocubanshare #elsexto .#elsexto A post shared by Danilo Maldonado Machado (@dmmelsexto) on Jun 20, 2017 at 8:26am PDT

Maldonado with blogger Yoani Sanchez

In the years that followed, Maldonado began to cultivate his image online and internationally, through interviews and an active social media presence. He realized that this could be a strategy for protecting himself from the state; in modern Cuba, the government sometimes treads lightly with its most famous or visible dissidents, fearful of international condemnation. You can see that in the case of my friend and mentor Yoani Sanchez, says Maldonado. If not for this protection, I wouldnt even be free to respond to your questions... but this doesnt mean that Im not vulnerable in a dictatorship like this one. Nor is state retaliation against Maldonado himself the only risk he runs; his 18 year-old younger brother, who recently graduated from studying mechanics, was expelled from a job this month. Maldonado claims the decision was purely political. Just for being my brother, he says.

I have to return [to Cuba] in the next two months and no one knows what will happen when I do. I miss my daughter, all my family, and my friends. I have to believe that everything will turn out ok. When I spoke to Maldonado in February after his release from prison, he cited his daughter as one of the reasons he felt compelled to continue his activism. I dont want my daughter, because of an ideological difference, to not exist as a person. I want my daughter to think what she wants, to do what she wants, to present herself in life on the basis of her character I dont want anyone to be there to crush her dreams.

Maldonado and his girlfriend, Alexandra Martinez, recently welcomed another daughter, Luna Maria, in Miami.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story indicated Mariela Espin was the daughter of Fidel Castro. She is the daughter of Raul Castro.

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By Stephen Kalin RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Sunday an attack on an Egyptian mosque that killed more than 300 worshippers would galvanize an Islamic military coalition that aimed to counter "terrorism and extremism". Top defense officials from 40 Muslim-majority nation's met in Riyadh on Sunday. They are part of an alliance gathered together two years ago by Prince Mohammed, who is also Saudi defense minister. The crown prince has said he would encourage a more moderate and tolerant version of Islam in the ultra-conservative kingdom. Prince Mohamed told delegates that Friday's attack in Egypt "was a very painful occurrence and must make us contemplate in an international and powerful way the role of this terrorism and extremism". Gunmen carrying the flag of Islamic State attacked the mosque in North Sinai. The group of Muslim nations, called the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, has yet to take any decisive action. Officials say the group would allow members to request or offer assistance to each other to fight militants. This could include military help, financial aid, equipment or security expertise. The group, which will have a permanent base in Riyadh, would also help combat terrorist financing and ideology. "The biggest threat from terrorism and extremism is not only killing innocent people and spreading hate, but tarnishing the reputation of our religion and distorting our belief," Prince Mohammed told officials from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Iraq and Syria, at the forefront of the battle against Islamic State, are not members, nor is mainly Shi'ite Muslim Iran, the regional rival to mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia. Qatar, originally part of the alliance, was not invited to Sunday's meeting after Riyadh led a group of states seeking to isolate Doha, saying it supported terrorism. Doha denies this. Abdulelah al-Saleh, a Saudi lieutenant general and the coalition's secretary general, said Qatar was excluded to help build a consensus for launching operations. He also said the group was not aimed at creating a Sunni bloc to counter Iran. "The enemy is terrorism. It's not sects or religions or races, its terrorism," Saleh told reporters. Saleh said military initiatives had been proposed to the group's ministerial council, but he did not elaborate. Despite agreement on principles, members voiced different priorities at the meeting. Yemen's delegation said the focus should be Iran, al Qaeda and Islamic State, while Turkey called for "support from our friends" against Kurdish separatists. Critics say the coalition could become a means for Saudi Arabia to implement an even more assertive foreign policy by winning the backing of poorer African and Asian nations with offers of financial and military aid. Alongside leading a diplomatic charge against Qatar, Saudi Arabia is also leading a war against Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in its neighbor Yemen, Saleh said Riyadh would pay the 400 million riyal ($107 million) bill for the coalition's new center, but said other nations could offer financial support for specific initiatives. (Additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Edmund Blair)
Cairo (AFP) - An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced 14 men convicted of being homosexuals to three years in jail each for "abnormal" sexual relations, a defence lawyer said.

Ishaq Wadie said the men were released on bail of 5,000 Egyptian pounds ($283, 230 euros) each until an appeals trial.

The trial of three other suspects was delayed over procedural reasons, the lawyer said.

Homosexuality is not expressly outlawed in Egypt, but gays have previously been charged with debauchery in the deeply conservative Muslim society.

In recent months, authorities have cracked down on people who practise so-called "abnormal" sexual relations, which in Egypt means homosexuality, or for inciting debauchery.

The stepped-up measures follow an outdoor concert in Cairo on September 22 by Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila, when the flag representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community was raised.

Thirty-one people have been arrested since the show, 10 directly linked with the event, according to judicial and security officials.

London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International said the number was more than 70 people, some of whom had been subjected to anal examinations.

On November 9, Amnesty condemned a draft bill in the Egyptian parliament that would criminalise homosexuality.

The bill lays jail terms of between one and three years for first time offenders, whether the act takes place in public or a private place. Repeat offenders would receive five years.

"This deeply discriminatory bill would be a huge setback for human rights and another nail in the coffin for sexual rights in Egypt," said Najia Bounaim, North Africa campaigns director at Amnesty.
SheKnows

In an unsurprising move, Donald Trump announced his third run for president on Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago. While the former president still has his supporters, there are plenty of Republicans who are now criticizing his decision to campaign because they believe hes hurting the GOP after his midterm elections disaster. Donald Trumps former chief of []
An animal handler on Friday shot dead his escaped circus tiger in the middle of a Paris district about a mile from the Eiffel Tower, according to French officials.

Witnesses said the animal was shot two or three times before it collapsed.

It was a very big tiger, a witness told Le Parisien. We heard two or three shots and saw police going down towards the tracks of a nearby tramway. The tramway had been shut down because of the presence of a tiger on the tracks the Paris transit agency said.

Le trafic est interrompu sur l'ensemble de la ligne T3a en raison de la presence d'un tigre, propriete d'un cirque situe a proximite. #RATP #T3a  T3a RATP (@T3a_RATP) November 24, 2017

The 450-pound, two-year-old tiger was shot before French firefighters arrived on the scene, LExpress reported. Authorities took the tigers owner into custody for questioning, according to French media. He appeared to be in shock, said LExpress. He was being held on suspicion of putting peoples lives at risk, according to Le Parisien.

The tiger had escaped from the Bormann Moreno circus, which recently set up in the city for shows slated to begin in about a week.

The animal had been free for some time, according to officials. The Paris police department announced later Friday the danger to the public was over after the animal had been neutralized.

#tigre  echappe dun cirque a Paris 15 : tout danger est ecarte. Ne relayez de fausses informations.  Prefecture de police (@prefpolice) November 24, 2017

No one was injured by the tiger or the shooter.

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Captive animals that have escaped are sometimes killed because tranquilizer darts can take too long to take effect, and the animals may put peoples lives at risk.

Some area residents, conservationists and animal right activists were outraged that the tiger had been killed and posted gruesome photos of the tigers body on social media, calling for an end to the use of animals in circuses and for boycotts of events that exploit animals.

Here is the tiger shot today in Paris, France, this Friday, November 24, 2017, these escaped from the circus, and killed by shotguns, by his owner, another victim, ban all animals from circuses, sign the petitions thank you to all of you... pic.twitter.com/YD2zv0WS3W  ouhibi mokhtar (@OuhibiMokhtar) November 24, 2017

Related coverage

Ex-Circus Elephants Enjoy Retirement In Latin Americas First Sanctuary

A Mountain Lion Broke Into A Home And Stole A Dog, Authorities Say

Mountain Lion Captured In San Francisco Freed In California Wilds

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Sanaa (AFP) - A vessel carrying the first shipment of food aid in three weeks docked Sunday at the rebel-controlled Red Sea port of Saleef in western Yemen, a United Nations official said.

Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme for the Middle East and North Africa region, said some 25,000 tons of wheat will be offloaded early on Monday.

She said "strong winds" were preventing the offloading from taking place on Sunday.

Saleef port is around 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of the key port of Hodeida, also on the Red Sea and in rebel hands.

Hodeida port is the main conduit for UN-supervised deliveries of food and medicine and vital to UN efforts as it is closest to the majority of people in need.

Earlier this month, a Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed Huthi rebels imposed a blockade on Yemeni ports and airports in response to a missile fired by the Huthis that was intercepted near Riyadh airport.

The UN humanitarian affairs office had said on Friday that it had been given clearance by the coalition that has been fighting the rebels since 2015 to resume flights into Sanaa.

But it added that desperately needed shipments of food and medicines to Hodeida remained blocked.

On Sunday, a ship did dock at Hodeida, but the WFP's Etefa said it did not belong to the UN aid agency, and that it might be a "commercial" vessel.

The deputy head of Hodeida port, Yahya Sharafeddine, confirmed to AFP over the phone that it was indeed a "commercial" ship not linked to WFP aid.

"The ship in Hodeida is for traders. The one in Saleef is for WFP," he said.

UN officials have warned that Yemen could face the world's largest famine in decades unless the crippling blockade by the coalition is lifted.

A UN plane carrying desperately needed vaccines landed in the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa on Saturday after coalition forces partly lifted the blockade, after warnings that thousands of people could die.

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The coalition intervened to prop up Yemen's government after the Iran-backed Huthis drove it from Sanaa.

The devastating war has since killed some 8,600 people, while a further 2,000 have died of cholera.

Yemen is highly dependent on imported wheat for its basic needs, and aid groups have warned that humanitarian deliveries cover only a small portion of what is required.

The UN says more than 11 million children in war-torn Yemen are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said on Sunday that he is embarrassed and ashamed about the allegations by multiple women of sexual harassment against him, but that he is looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow.

Ive let a lot of people down, and Im hoping I can make it up to them and gradually regain their trust, Franken told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I know I have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of the people Ive let down, the people of Minnesota, my friends and colleagues, everyone who counts on me to be a champion for women.

The comments are the first Franken has made publicly since the initial allegations were made against him. Earlier this month, radio host Leeann Tweeden accused Franken of forcibly kissing her during a 2006 holiday USO war zone tour and having a picture taken of himself with his hands over her chest while she was asleep on a transport military plane.

Three other women came forward with accusations that Franken groped them as they posed with him for photographs on three separate occasions between 2007 and 2010.

The 66-year-old senator and former Saturday Night Live  star said that he has taken tens of thousands of photos since first running for office and doesnt recall the alleged encounters.

I dont remember these photographs, I dont, he said. This is not something I would intentionally do.

Franken told the Star Tribune that he has been thinking about how that could happen and needs to be more careful and a lot more sensitive in these situations.

The newspaper also asked Franken if he expects more women to come forward.

If you had asked me two weeks ago, Would any woman say I had treated her with disrespect? I would have said no. So this has just caught me by surprise, Franken said. I certainly hope not.

In a Nov. 16 blog post, Tweeden said that Franken mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth during a rehearsal for a skit the pair were performing for U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2006. Tweeden told Franken she didnt want to rehearse the kiss, but he insisted.

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I felt disgusted and violated, Tweeden wrote.

Tweeden also posted the photo of Franken apparently pretending to grab her breasts as she slept aboard a military transport plane.

(KABC)

Franken apologized in a statement the same day.

I certainly dont remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann, Franken said. As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny, but wasnt. I shouldnt have done it.

Shortly after Frankens apology, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called for the Senate Ethics Committee to look into the allegations. Franken agreed, and said he would cooperate.

While I dont remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe womens experiences, the senator said.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 22:20:32|Editor: Zhou Xin

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LONDON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Police in Britain will be given new powers to prevent the unsafe or criminal use of drones as part of a new package of legislation announced Sunday.

Banning drones from flying near airports or above 122 meters will also form part of the new regulations.

New drone-safety laws will help put the UK at the forefront of drone technology development, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.

New measures will also make it mandatory for drone owners to register to improve accountability. And drone operators will be required to use apps - so they can access the information needed to make sure any planned flight can be made safely and legally.

The clampdown aims to allow drone users to continue flying safely and legally, helping to place the UK at the forefront of the fast-growing drone industry. It will also pave the way for the devices to be harnessed for a range of uses by businesses and public services.

The draft Drone Bill, which will be published next spring, will give officers the right to order operators to ground drones where necessary. Officers will also be able to seize drone parts to prove it has been used to commit an offence.

The news comes as funding for a pioneering new drones program was announced to help cities shape the way drone technology operates.

Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg said: "Drones have great potential and we want to do everything possible to harness the benefits of this technology as it develops. But if we are to realise the full potential of this incredibly exciting technology, we have to take steps to stop illegal use of these devices and address safety and privacy concerns."

"These new laws strike a balance, to allow the vast majority of drone users to continue flying safely and responsibly, while also paving the way for drone technology to revolutionise businesses and public services."

Changes to the law will mean that drone users will have to sit for safety awareness tests. Users of drones weighing 250 grams and over will have to be registered, while the government is also working closely with drone manufacturers to use geo-fencing to prevent drones from entering restricted zones.

A government-funded Flying High Challenge is to launch Monday when up to five British cities will be supported in the research and development of drone technology.

The research could transform critical services in emergency health services and the transport of human organs for transplants. It could also lead to essential transport infrastructure assessment and repair, and parcel delivery and logistics.

Assistant Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said, the national police spokesperson for the criminal misuse of drones, said: "We are working with relevant partners to understand the threats this new technology can pose when used irresponsibly or illegally. If you use a drone to invade people's privacy or engage in disruptive behavior, you could face serious criminal charges."

Tim Johnson, Policy Director at the Civil Aviation Authority welcomed plans to increase drone operator training and the creation of no-fly zones.
When Google revealed its new Pixels earlier this year, it made a tacit statement: The age of headphone jacks on smartphones is over. So, what's a diehard Google-phone fan to do? Buy Google's new wireless earbuds -- in theory, at least. Several leaks ensured we knew they were coming, but the Pixel Buds were still a surprise because they emphasized functionality over convenience. Obviously, you can listen to music with them, but you can also sift through notifications and translate languages on the fly. Still, despite lots of potential, Google's Pixel Buds just don't live up to the hype.

Getting started

Assuming you've got an Android device running Nougat or newer, the setup process couldn't be easier: Open the case next to a compatible phone, and you'll get a pop-up that walks you through the process. Keep in mind, though, that this dead-simple pairing works only with the first phone you set it up with; otherwise, you have to press and hold a button inside the case to put the Pixel Buds into pairing mode. From there, you pop into the Bluetooth settings and pair them the old-fashioned way. This is also the setup process you'll use if you want to use the Pixel Buds with an iPhone. It would've been nice if the Pixel Buds paired as seamlessly with the second or third device as they do with the first, but really, that's the least of the problems here.

Design

Each Pixel Bud has two distinct sections: the part that sticks in your ear and the tiny bulb that sits outside it. Because of the way these two parts are connected, the Pixel Buds ultimately rest right on the edges of your ears -- it took me a few days before I could plop the Buds into the sweet spot without any extra fiddling. The bulbs are admittedly a little odd-looking, but they're still more subtle than, say, Apple's AirPods.

The Buds are connected by a nylon cord. I know; I'm not a fan either. While a fully wireless design might have looked better, the cord dangles around your neck unobtrusively and makes the Buds harder to lose. (Unless you're me  I once draped them around my neck and forgot they were there for an entire day.) Chances are you'll barely notice the cord while you're wearing these.

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You'll definitely notice it when it's time to charge the Buds in their cloth-covered case. Google's preferred method involves popping the Buds into their respective nooks, wrapping the length of the cord around an inner column and shoving the remainder into the space where the Buds sit. I joked on Twitter last week that I'd never remember how to do it, but it's much easier than my glibness let on.

That doesn't mean it's not annoying. If the cord isn't snugly wrapped, it could prevent the case from closing properly. That doesn't keep the Buds from charging, but it does mean the case is prone to pop open accidentally  that already happened in my backpack once, and by the time I got where I was going, the Buds had worked their way free of the case entirely. You're also meant to make tiny loops by pulling the nylon cord near the buds to make sure they anchor sturdily in your ears. I did, but that ultimately made no difference -- the Pixel Buds stayed put in my ears during runs regardless of whether I made those loops. Your mileage will vary, though: I've let a few other people try the Buds, and the loops didn't prevent them from falling out of place.

In use

Personally, I prefer in-ears that sit snugly in the ear canal. They just sound better. That said, I was pleasantly surprised with Google's first-generation earbuds. You'll notice more definition with wired in-ears, but the Pixel Buds produced loud, clear audio with more oomph than Apple's AirPods. My test tracks ran the gamut from EDM to jazz to lots of weird Japanese stuff, and just about all of it came through with a surprising sense of substance. If you like a lot of bass in your music, though, the Pixel Buds will probably leave you wanting. For people who really care about audio quality, there are much better ways to spend $160. Still, for a set of nearly wireless earbuds, the Buds sound pretty good.

Unfortunately, you're going to hear a whole lot more than just your music. Because the Pixels Buds sit right on the edge of your ear, you're going to notice a lot of ambient sound leaking in unless you have the volume cranked up. That's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're a city dweller who often has to navigate busy streets and intersections, the Pixel Buds still allow you to hear oncoming traffic. Of course, if you're toiling away in a noisy office, the Pixel Buds do nothing to block out the sound of raucous conversations around you. If you're like me and need to shut out the world to get work done, the Pixel Buds will disappoint.

When it's time to actually interact with the Pixel Buds, you'll need to reach for your right ear. A quick tap on the touch-sensitive right bud plays or pauses whatever you're listening to, and swipes forward and back along the surface raise and lower the volume, respectively. Compared to the limited controls on Apple's AirPods, the Pixel Buds' are considerably more nuanced  the AirPods can play/pause and skip tracks with a double-tap, but not both; you have to jump into settings to change what that action does. The Pixel Buds let you do it all, and with surprising competence; because each gesture is so different, I never accidentally turned up the volume when I meant to listen to my notifications or pause a song.

The problem is, the touch surface is easy to accidentally activate, especially when the Buds are dangling around your neck. I burned through the Pixel Buds' batteries twice because my neck had un-paused Spotify without me noticing, leaving me screwed for the commute home. The fact that this happened twice is surprising if only because of the Buds' battery life  in general, they last between four to five hours on a charge,

Of course, the Pixel Buds mainly exist as a vessel for Google's Assistant. You access it by saying -- what else? -- "OK, Google" or by holding your finger against the right earbud, but the tell-tale Assistant bloop only happens when you do the former. It should really happen when you press the earbud, too, if only to make absolutely clear when the Assistant has actually started listening for a command.

Once you get the hang of things, the experience of talking to Google Assistant through the buds is mostly identical to using it on your phone or through a Google Home. That's often a good thing, but I wish Google had done a little more to tune Assistant for wearable use. When I ask it to play a certain song, for instance, Assistant only does so after telling me the name, the artist and the service it's playing on. Uh, maybe just play the damn track, Google.

Sometimes, Google Assistant appears to listen to what I'm saying and then fails to do anything about it. These weren't arcane commands, either  I asked the Assistant to play a song or playlist I had requested multiple times before, and it just hung. This was such a pervasive issue that I sent my first review unit back to Google on the suspicion that it was defective. The replacements I received didn't exhibit the same problem quite as often, but it still happened once or twice. My network connection was strong, and I make it a point to speak extra clearly to virtual assistants, so I can't really explain what's causing these failures.

You can use the Pixel Buds as in-ear translators, too -- a use case Google specifically highlighted at its most recent launch event last month. The idea of having an in-ear translator (like an inorganic Babel fish) is a compelling one, but in practice, we're still a ways off from seamless cross-language conversations. To get started, Google suggests you say things like "I need a [language] translator" to launch the Google Translate app in the correct mode. Fair enough, but on a few occasions, the buds just spit a snippet of a foreign language into my ears when given that command. Weird.

When Translate does launch normally, you lay a finger on the right bud and start talking. Your words then get rendered into one of 40 target languages, and the native speaker listening holds down a button on the Pixel to start responding. The translation process itself typically happened in mere moments, but this really boils down to the strength of your network connection. When I tried using the feature where AT&T coverage was sort of lousy, it took a few extra seconds to get the spoken translation. Responses rendered in your language get routed right into your ears, but for such exchanges to work best, you'd have to hand over your phone so the other person can hold down the button and respond when appropriate. Depending on where you are, that might not be such a great idea.

And, of course, because Google Translate is doing the cross-cultural heavy lifting, expect a few misfires here and there. Engadget's video producer, Brian Oh, is a native Korean speaker, and for every mostly accurate translation I ran by him, there was one that just made him roll his eyes. Ditto for the handful of Vietnamese friends I tested the feature with. As always, Google Translate is super-literal about what you say, so the idioms that pepper our daily conversations rarely make sense when rendered in another language. If you were planning to rely on the Pixel Buds in some far-flung locale, it's probably best to keep your utterances succinct.

Wrap-up

I'm not entirely sure why Google released the Pixel Buds in their current form. At best, they're decent; at worst, they feel unfinished. The concept certainly has promise, and I appreciate that Google wanted the Pixel Buds to be feature-rich compared to its most notable rival. Ultimately though, it feels like Google was more concerned with getting these things out the door (and maybe making a few bucks over the holidays) than giving them the polish necessary to be truly valuable. It's possible that Google will iron out some of these issues over time with software updates, and if that's the case, we'll update this review. Until then, though, you can do better.
WASHINGTON  Republican senators on Sunday continued to distance themselves from alleged sexual predator Roy Moore, while President Donald Trump reiterated his implicit support of the Alabama GOP Senate candidate in a pair of tweets that morning.

The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017

I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasnt enough. Cant let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017

I want to be on the side of right when history writes this story, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said on ABCs This Week, as he repeated his call for Moore to end his candidacy in the Dec. 12 special election.

The allegations that the 70-year-old Moore preyed upon teenage girls while in his 30s are still very strong and credible, and the denial has been weak, Scott said.

Sen. Tim Scott on Roy Moore: "I want to be on the side of right when history writes this story."@MarthaRaddatz: Is Pres. Trump on the side of wrong?



Scott: "The president will have to make his own decisions on where he thinks he is and why he's there." #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/8iMU7flA08  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 26, 2017

It would be best if [Moore] stepped aside, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said on NBCs Meet the Press.

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Scott and Portman are among many GOP lawmakers in Washington, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who have called on Moore to exit the race since the allegations against him first emerged earlier this month.

But Trump continues to stand by Moore and has not ruled out campaigning for him. He all but endorsed him last week, arguing that it would be better to have Moore in the Senate than a liberal person, referring to Moores Democratic opponent, Doug Jones.

On Sunday, the president again tweeted that Liberal Jones would be BAD! and called him a Democratic puppet who is WEAK on Crime.

Jones is a longtime prosecutor who in 2002 prosecuted two of the KKK members responsible for the 1963 bombing of a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four girls.

Moore has denied the sexual misconduct allegations  now from nearly 10 women. Known nationally for his strident opposition to gay marriage, he has said he the accusation stems from a conspiracy to keep him out of the Senate.

Despite their condemnation of Moore, Republican lawmakers on Sunday were reluctant to denounce Trumps efforts to rally support for Moore.

The president will have to make his own decisions on where he thinks he is and why hes there, Scott said, when asked if Trump is on the side of wrong.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called Trumps implicit support an attempt to throw a lifeline to Roy Moore, but said the decision was up to the president.

However, he warned that a Moore victory could have long term negative consequences for Republicans.

If you think winning with Roy Moore is going to be easy for the Republican Party, youre mistaken, Graham said on CNNs State of the Union.

The president obviously can speak for himself, and I think he sees the specter of a Democrat holding that seat and what that might mean for his agenda, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told Fox News Chris Wallace.

Thune advised Trump to help everybody out by doing what he can to try and get Roy Moore to step aside, but acknowledged that Alabama voters dont care a lot what Washington, D.C., thinks.

Also on HuffPost

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Taking Security Seriously

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) talks with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) before the start of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing concerning the roles and responsibilities for defending the nation against cyberattacks, on Oct. 19, 2017.

With Liberty And Justice...

Members of Code Pink for Peace protest before the start of a hearing where U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Oct. 18, 2017. Committee members questioned Sessions about conversations he had with President Donald Trump about the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, the ongoing investigation about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and other subjects.

Whispers

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), right, speaks with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) before a confirmation hearing for Christopher Sharpley, nominee for inspector general of the CIA, on Oct. 17, 2017.

Not Throwing Away His Shot

Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the musical "Hamilton," makes his way to a meeting of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies in the Rayburn Office Building during a round of meetings to urge federal funding for the arts and humanities on Sept. 13, 2017.

Medicare For All

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), center, speaks on health care as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), left, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), right, listen during an event to introduce the Medicare for All Act on Sept. 13, 2017.

Bernie Bros

Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pack his office on Sept. 8, 2017. Members of the "Draft Bernie for a People's Party" campaign delivered a petition with more than 50,000 signatures to urge the senator to start and lead a new political party.

McCain Appearance

Sen. John McCain, second from left, leaves the Capitol after his first appearance since being diagnosed with cancer. He arrived to cast a vote to help Republican senators narrowly pass the motion to proceed for the replacement of the Affordable Care Act on July 25, 2017.

A Narrow Win

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, center, speaks alongside Sens. John Barrasso, left, John Cornyn, right, and John Thune, rear, after the Senate narrowly passed the motion to proceed for the replacement of the Affordable Care Act on July 25, 2017.

Kushner Questioning

Jared Kushner, White House senior adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, arrives at the Capitol on July 25, 2017. Kushner was interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door meeting about contacts he had with Russia.

Hot Dogs On The Hill

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) prepares a hot dog during the American Meat Institute's annual Hot Dog Lunch in the Rayburn Office Building courtyard on July 19, 2017.

And Their Veggie Counterparts

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) visits the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals veggie dog giveaway on July 19, 2017, countering a National Hot Dog Day event being held elsewhere on Capitol Hill.

Poised For Questions

Callista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, waits for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican on July 18, 2017.

Speaking Up

Health care activists protest to stop the Republican health care bill at Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 17, 2017.

In The Fray

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks to members of the media after announcing the revised version of the Senate Republican health care bill on Capitol Hill on July 13, 2017.

Anticipation

Christopher Wray is seated with his daughter Caroline, left, as he prepares to testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination to be the next FBI director on July 12, 2017.

Up In Arms

Health care activists protest to stop the Republican health care bill at Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 10, 2017.

Across A Table

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) meets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Capitol Hill on June 29, 2017.

Somber Day

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks about the recent attack on the Republican congressional baseball team during her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill on June 15, 2017.

Family Matters

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), right, and his sons, Jack, 10, and Brad, arrive in the basement of the Capitol after a shooting at the Republican baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 14, 2017.

A Bipartisan Pause

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), right, coach of the Republican congressional baseball team, tells the story of the shooting that occurred during a baseball practice while he stands alongside Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), left, a coach of the Democratic congressional baseball team on June 14, 2017.

Hats On

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) reacts about the shooting he was present for at a Republican congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, as he speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 14, 2017.

Public Testimony

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is sworn in to testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on June 13, 2017.

Comey's Big Day

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election on Capitol Hill on June 8, 2017.

Conveying His Point

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats testifies at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on his interactions with the Trump White House and on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on June 7, 2017.

Selfie Time

Vice President Mike Pence takes a selfie with a tourist wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat inside the U.S. Capitol rotunda on June 6, 2017. The vice president walked through the rotunda after attending the Senate Republican policy luncheon.

Budget Queries

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies before the House Budget Committee about President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 budget proposal on Capitol Hill on May 24, 2017.

Flagged Down By Reporters

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, leaves a closed committee meeting on Capitol Hill on May 24, 2017. The committee is investigating possible Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election.

Shock And Awe

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hold a news conference on the release of the president's fiscal 2018 budget proposal on Capitol Hill on May 23, 2017.

Seeing Double

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) arrives in the Capitol for the Senate Democrats' policy lunch on May 16, 2017.

Honoring Officers

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Peace Officers Memorial Service on the West Lawn of the Capitol on May 15, 2017.

Whispers

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), right, and ranking member Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) talk during a hearing with the heads of the U.S. intelligence agencies in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 11, 2017.

Skeptical

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates arrives to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election on Capitol Hill on May 8, 2017.

Differing Opinions

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) gives a thumbs-up to protesters on the East Front of the Capitol after the House passed the Republicans' bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on May 4, 2017. The protesters support the ACA.

Real Talk

United States Naval Academy Midshipman 2nd Class Shiela Craine (left), a sexual assault survivor, testifies before the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Military Personnel with (2nd from left to right) Ariana Bullard, Stephanie Gross and Annie Kendzior in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 2, 2017. Kendzior, a former midshipman, and Gross, a former cadet, were both raped twice during their time at the military academies. The academy superintendents were called to testify following the release of a survey last month by the Pentagon that said 12.2 percent of academy women and 1.7 percent of academy men reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact during the 2015-16 academic year.

In Support Of Immigrants

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), center, is joined by dozens of Democratic members of the House of Representatives to mark "Immigrant Rights Day" in the Capitol Visitor Center on May 1, 2017 in Washington, D.C. The Democratic legislators called on Republicans and President Donald Trump to join their push for comprehensive immigration reform.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
A court released the head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa from house arrest in Lahore: Reuters

The US has strongly condemned Pakistan's release of the alleged militant accused of masterminding the 2008 attack on Mumbai - saying it sends a deeply troubling message about its commitment to fighting terrorism.

Hafiz Saeed, accused of plotting the commando operation that left more than 160 people dead, was released from house arrest earlier this week by a three-judge panel in the city of Lahore. His spokesman, Yahya Mujahid, called it a victory of truth.

But the White House denounced the move and said it could damage US-Pakistan relations.

Saeeds release, after Pakistans failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a deeply troubling message about Pakistan's commitment to combatting international terrorism and belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil, said press secretary Sara Huckabee Sanders.

If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation.

Mr Saeed, 68, has always denied being behind the multi-target attack on Mumbai that left close to 170 people dead. In 2010, he told The Independent: They make me out to be the biggest and most evil terrorist. Do I look like one to you?

We are deeply concerned that #Lashkar-e-Tayyiba leader Hafiz Saeed has been released from house arrest. LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai attack in which 166 people, including American citizens, were killed. pic.twitter.com/VzhI0f1jBZ  Heather Nauert (@statedeptspox) November 24, 2017

He has insisted that his organisation, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, is involved solely in charitable activities.

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Yet both India, the US and other countries, accuse Mr Saeed of being being the attack. They say that while Jamaat-ud-Dawa may indeed perform charitable activities, it is also a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan militant group which became notorious for strikes on Indian targets, including a 2001 attack on its parliament in Delhi.

In December 2008, UN Secretary Council declared Jamaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist front group. In April 2012, the US announced a bounty of $10m on Mr Saeed.

After the attack on the Indian commercial capital, Pakistan was put under intense pressure to detain and prosecute Mr Saeed. India and the US said there was sufficient evidence, though this was something prosecutors in Pakistan denied.

Instead, Mr Saeed has spent much of the last decade being placed under house arrest and then released. His situation under house arrest is not irksome; Mr Saeed has a large property in Lahore and is protected not only by his own armed guards but by armed police officers.

While some in Pakistan may wish to see Mr Saeed placed on trial, there is widespread suspicion among Indian and US officials that he still retains close links to the countrys Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which has been long blamed for sponsoring many of the cross-border attacks on Indian targets.

After his latest release from house arrest, Mr Saeed attacked recently ousted prime minster Nawaz Sharif as a traitor for his efforts to seek peace with India.

Nawaz Sharif asks why he was ousted? I tell him he was ousted, because he committed treason against Pakistan by developing friendship with [Narendra] Modi, killers of thousands of Muslims, Mr Saeed said, according to Reuters.

The Trump administration has been intensifying pressure on Pakistan to fight extremists and drive them from hideouts in Pakistani territory.

The campaign appeared to produce some success this year when Pakistani security forces assisted with the release of a Taliban-held US-Canadian family after five years in captivity. However, US officials cautioned that move needed to be followed by additional measures to prove the country's commitment.

The White Houses comments came as police in Pakistan launched an operation to clear Islamist protesters from an intersection linking the Pakistani capital with the city of Rawalpindi, sparking other demonstrators across the country to take to the streets in solidarity.
An Indian woman whose marriage to a Muslim was annulled at her Hindu father's request has denied she was forcibly converted to Islam, ahead of her testimony in the Supreme Court Monday.

The decision by a local court in May to nullify the marriage and force Akhila Ashokan, 25, to return to live with her parents has caused outrage among woman's rights campaigners.

Her father had petitioned the high court in the southern state of Kerala to annul the marriage, claiming she had been forced into it and made to convert to Islam.

But the court's decision was challenged by her former husband in the supreme court, which asked her to appear in person to give evidence on November 27.

"I am a Muslim. I was not forced. I want to be with my husband!" a Press Trust of India report quoted Ashokan as saying.

The news agency said she made the shouted comment to journalists as she was being whisked away by police to the airport for her flight to New Delhi on Saturday.

Inter-religious relationships are still taboo in India, particularly in rural areas.

The issue has become a flashpoint for nationalists in recent years, with Hindu extremists raising fears of "love jihad" -- claims that young Muslim men were attempting to seduce Hindu women in order to convert them.

Ashokan married in December last year after converting to Islam and changing her name to Hadiya.

She has not been allowed to leave her father's house since the marriage was annulled in May.

The federal investigations agency has said it is looking into alleged links between her husband Shafin Jahan and extremist groups.

He has not been convicted of any crime.
Tehran (AFP) - Iran and Turkey signed a deal Sunday with Qatar aimed at boosting commercial ties with the Gulf state which is under blockade by its Arab neighbours, Iranian state television said.

The broadcaster's website said the agreement provides for the creation of a "joint working group to facilitate the transit of goods between the three countries".

It also said the three nations aimed to tackle "obstacles to sending goods from Iran and Turkey to Qatar".

Qatar's relationship with Shiite-dominated Iran, seen as the major rival to Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, is one of the major factors underpinning the crisis between Qatar and its former allies.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt all cut ties with Qatar in June, accusing Doha of backing extremism and fostering ties with Iran, charges that Qatar denies.

Since the crisis erupted, Iran and Turkey -- whose relations have warmed considerably in recent months -- have sought to help break Qatar's isolation, including by increasing food exports to the emirate.
By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin LONDON (Reuters) - The trilateral meeting between Iran, Russia and Turkey in the Russian resort of Sochi this week was "a right step, at the right time" for stability in Syria, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad. Russia's Vladimir Putin won the backing of Turkey and Iran on Wednesday to host a Syrian peace congress, taking the central role in a major diplomatic push to finally end a civil war all but won by Assad. Sochi summit  was a right step at the right time," Rouhani was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA on Saturday in a phone call with Tehrans main regional ally. He said a national congress to hold face-to-face talks between government and opposition could be "a step towards stability and security of Syria." Iran has signed large economic contracts with Syria, reaping what appear to be lucrative rewards for helping Assad in his fight against rebel groups and Islamic State militants. "Tehran is ready to have an active role in reconstruction of Syria," Rouhani added. The chief commander of Irans Revolutionary Guards, who has sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to Syria to prop up Assad's regime, also said on Thursday that their forces were ready to help rebuild Syria and bring about a lasting ceasefire there. Syria's six-year civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee in the worst refugee crisis since World War Two. In a joint statement in Sochi, the three leaders called on the Syrian government and moderate opposition to "participate constructively" in the planned congress, to be held in the same city on a date they did not specify. SAUDI OPPOSITION Saudi Arabia, Irans arch rival in the Middle East, also sponsored a meeting on Wednesday at a luxury hotel in Riyadh for the Syrian opposition groups. Regional tensions have risen in recent weeks between Sunni Muslim monarchy Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran. Saudi Crown Prince called the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "the new Hitler of the Middle East" in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday. Israel also views Iran as the main threat in the region, and a cabinet minister said this month Israel has had covert contacts with Saudi Arabia. "It is very odd that a regional country considers Iranian nation as its enemy and the Zionist regime as its friend," Rouhani told Assad in the call. The next round of U.N.-backed peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending the Syrian civil war will begin on Nov. 28. (Editing by Clelia Oziel)
Baghdad (AFP) - Iraq is to build a new pipeline to allow oil exports to resume from the northern province of Kirkuk to neighbouring Turkey, the oil ministry said Sunday.

Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaybi has ordered documents to be prepared towards building the new pipeline to "transport crude oil from Kirkuk's oilfields to the port of Ceyhan" in Turkey, a ministry spokesman said in a statement.

An older pipeline was "too damaged by attacks by Daesh terrorist gangs to be rehabilitated," Assem Jihad said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

Iraq had exported 250,000 to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) through that pipeline before IS jihadists swept across large parts of the country in 2014.

The new pipeline is to stretch for around 250 kilometres (150 miles) from the area of Baiji, in the province of Salaheddine to the south of Kirkuk, to the Fishkhabur border post with Turkey further north.

Earlier this month, the oil minister said Iraq aimed to double the output of Kirkuk oilfields to one million bpd after retaking the province from Kurdish forces in October.

Iraqi government and paramilitary forces moved in to take over Kirkuk and its oilfields after Iraqi Kurds in September voted for independence in a controversial referendum opposed by Baghdad.

Iraqi forces have driven IS fighters from all towns they once held in the country and are pressing a final push to flush them out from the western desert bordering Syria.
By Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's minority government looked set to collapse within days on Friday after the party propping it up submitted a motion of no confidence in the deputy prime minister, weeks before a summit on Britain's plans to leave the European Union. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that if the motion was not withdrawn by Tuesday, he would be forced to hold an election before Christmas, a prospect EU officials say would complicate a key EU summit on Dec. 14-15 on Brexit. "What that would mean is me throwing a good woman under the bus to save myself and my own government, and that would be the wrong thing to do," Varadkar told national broadcaster RTE, dismissing demands for his deputy Frances Fitzgerald to quit. Varadkar is due to play a major role in the Brexit talks, telling EU leaders whether Ireland believes sufficient progress has been made on the future border between EU-member Ireland and Britain's province of Northern Ireland. The border is one of three issues Brussels wants broadly resolved before it decides whether to move the talks on to a second phase about trade, as Britain wants. While Varadkar could go into the summit in a caretaker role, he said that any election would have to happen before Christmas so that he or his successor could attend the next meeting of EU leaders in February with a fresh mandate. The head of opposition party Fianna Fail, Micheal Martin, earlier said an election "can be avoided if the government takes action" by asking Fitzgerald to resign. Varadkar said he would not seek, nor did he expect to be offered, a resignation. Fianna Fail supports the minority Fine Gael government in a "confidence and supply" arrangement. Voting no confidence in a minister would break that agreement. Varadkar and Martin met on Friday and were due to speak again over the weekend ahead of the motion of no-confidence in Fitzgerald, to be debated on Tuesday. The trigger is her handling of a legal case involving a police whistleblower. "At a time when issues and decisions will need to be made that will reverberate in our country for decades to come, the prospect of either an election taking place or a government not being in place afterwards is actually unconscionable," Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe told RTE. However a source familiar with Fine Gael's planning said it had begun to make preparations on Friday for a snap poll. BORDER DEBATE As well as the border, the other issues Brussels wants resolved before Brexit talks move on to trade arrangements are Britain's financial settlement on leaving the bloc and the rights of EU citizens living in Britain. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier assured Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney on Friday that the EU would defend Dublin's position in talks with Britain over the coming weeks. Coveney told parliament on Thursday the government was not yet ready to allow the talks to move on to trade issues, and needed more clarity from London. Fianna Fail's Martin said parliament would be united behind Varadkar at the December summit. University College Dublin politics professor David Farrell said Varadkar may be tempted to take an even harder line against the United Kingdom in the talks in a bid to shore up support among Irish voters, who are overwhelmingly against Brexit. "I suppose the only card he can try and play to distract from the crazy shenanigans around the causes of this election is leadership in Europe," he said. An election would likely be dominated by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, two centre-right parties that differ little on policy but have been bitter foes for decades, something that has always left the minority government one serious row away from collapse. But it would also present an opportunity for left-wing opposition party Sinn Fein to see if its veteran leader Gerry Adams' decision last week to step down will boost its support. The party said deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald would lead them into the election, if one is called. While Sinn Fein, the third largest party in the Republic, has said it wants to enter government, the two largest parties have ruled out doing a deal with the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Since Varadkar's appointment as Fine Gael leader six months ago, his party has narrowly led Fianna Fail in opinion polls, which suggest both parties would increase their support but struggle to form anything but another minority government. (Editing by Gareth Jones)
Dublin (AFP) - Ireland could face new elections when a political crisis comes to a head next week, bringing instability to Dublin just after it started flexing its muscles in Brexit negotiations.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar is resisting calls by the country's second largest party, Fianna Fail, for his deputy to resign over a long-running police whistleblowing scandal.

Fianna Fail has tabled a motion of no confidence in Frances Fitzgerald in parliament on Tuesday -- and if it goes ahead, the minority Fine Gael government could fall.

After talks with Fianna Fail leader Michael Martin on Friday, Varadkar said they aimed to resolve the crisis.

"I don't want there to be a general election. I don't think Micheal Martin wants one either," he said.

But he repeated again on Saturday that he believed his deputy had "done nothing wrong" in a controversy which relates to her time as justice minister between 2014 and 2016.

Fitzgerald faces questions about what she knew about the smearing of police whistleblower Maurice McCabe, a row that has already caused the resignation of two police chiefs and a justice minister.

The scandal also contributed to the departure of former prime minister Enda Kenny, who was replaced by Varadkar in June.

The stand-off comes as Ireland seeks guarantees from London over the border with British-controlled Northern Ireland after it leaves the European Union.

EU leaders -- including Varadkar -- will decide at a summit in December whether enough progress has been made to move Brexit talks to the next stage.

Varadkar wants commitments that the border will remain completely open, warning any new controls risk endangering the peace process, as well as hitting the economy on both sides.

- 'Walked into a corner' -

Analysts suggest that neither of the two main Irish parties want a new election so soon after the February 2016 vote, when Fine Gael was forced to seek the support of Fianna Fail to govern.

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But the positions of both sides have become entrenched.

"The main players walked themselves into a corner," said David Farrell, a politics professor at University College Dublin, adding the situation was mostly an "accident of circumstances".

Michael Marsh, from Trinity College Dublin, said the whistleblowing row "certainly will not be the issue on the doorsteps, given a housing crisis, Brexit and economic recovery".

But he said Martin was "being pushed by some of those behind him", and perhaps did not want to lose ground to Sinn Fein, the third largest party which has also tabled a no-confidence motion.

Opinion polls suggest a new election -- which both parties have suggested could come next month -- would deliver a similar result as last time.

But a new deal between the main parties might be more difficult given the current circumstances.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 23:25:45|Editor: yan

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Elections for the parliament and provincial assemblies were held successfully in 32 mountainous and hilly districts in the first phase, Nepal's Election Commission (EC) said on Sunday.

The Himalayan country is scheduled to the second phase of polls on Dec. 7 in the remaining 45 districts.

These elections are being held to implement Nepal's new constitution promulgated in September 2015 which has envisioned creating three layers of governance structure - federal, provincial and local.

The Himalayan country has already held local elections this year electing local assemblies and governments.

The EC said on Sunday that except sporadic incidents, the polls were held peacefully in all the districts where elections were held in the first phase.

There were concerns over security during the polls after recent incidents of bomb attacks targeting senior leaders of political parties, candidates and their poll campaigns.

In the recent bomb attacks, former speaker of Nepal's parliament Ram Chandra Poudel, former Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat, another former Finance Minister Barsaman Pun, former Home Minister Janardan Sharma and former Information and Communication Minister Sher Dhan Rai were targeted but not harmed.

"Elections were held peacefully due effective security measures taken by the Nepali government," Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav told a press conference.

As per the early estimate of Nepal's election body, voter turnout stood at 65 percent which might go up once the final turnout figure is available.

Voter turnout in constituent assembly elections held in 2013 was 78.74 percent and 74.16 percent in recently held local elections, according to the EC.

The elections in the first phase were held for 37 parliamentary seats and 74 provincial assembly seats under the first-past-the-post system while elections for the remaining seats at both the parliament and provincial assemblies will be held in the second phase.
By Asif Shahzad

FAIZABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Islamist party activists on Sunday clashed with Pakistani security forces for a second day outside the capital, Islamabad, burning vehicles before withdrawing into an uneasy stand-off at a protest camp they have occupied for two weeks, police said.

Despite orders from the civilian government to the army on Saturday night to help restore order, no troops were at the scene around the protest camp in Faizabad, on the outskirts of the capital, witnesses said.

The military's press department did not respond to queries about the government's order.

According to media reports at least six people were killed on the previous day, when several thousand police and paramilitary forces tried to disperse the religious hardliners, who have blocked the main route into the capital demanding that the law minister be fired for committing blasphemy.

At least 150 people were wounded in Saturday's clashes, hospitals reported, and police superintendent Amir Niazi said 80 members of the security forces were among those casualties. Reuters could not confirm that there had been any deaths.

Throughout Sunday, baton-armed supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labaik party blocked several main highways, roads and arteries in major Pakistani cities, paralysing traffic and daily life.

"We have orders just to contain them," Islamabad's Assistant City Police Commissioner Mohammad Ali said.

Smoke billowed from the charred remains of a car and three motorcycles burned that morning near the Faizabad protest camp, where several thousand Tehreek-e-Labaik activists have gathered in defiance of the government.

After the early morning clashes, the area settled into an uneasy stand-off. The paramilitary Rangers force - which had held back from Saturday's confrontation - was in charge of Sunday's operations, officers said.

"We still don't have orders to launch an operation. We will act as the government orders us," said Rangers commander at the scene Colonel Bilal, who gave only one name. "We have surrounded the protesters from all sides. We can move in when the government orders us."

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FAILED CRACKDOWN

Activists from Tehreek-e-Labaik have blocked the main road into the capital for two weeks, accusing the law minister of blasphemy over a wording change in electoral law the party says weakens the Islamic tenet of Mohammad as God's final prophet.

"We will not leave. We will fight until end," Tehreek-e-Labaik party spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told Reuters on Saturday.

Led by cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, Labaik is one of two new ultra-religious political movements that became prominent in recent months. Labaik, which campaigns on defending Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws, won a surprisingly strong 6 percent and 7.6 percent of the vote in two recent by-elections.

While Islamist parties are unlikely to win a majority they could play a major role in elections that must be held by the summer of next year.

Tehreek-e-Laibak was born out of a protest movement lionizing Mumtaz Qadri, a bodyguard of the governor of Punjab province who gunned down his boss in 2011 over his call to reform strict blasphemy laws. Party leader Rizvi called Qadri, who was executed last year, "a hero" in a September interview with Reuters.

By Sunday afternoon, private TV stations that had been ordered off the air the day before were broadcasting again. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube remained blocked in many areas.

After Saturday's failed crackdown by police, the government called for military assistance "for law and order duty according to the constitution".

However, there has been no public statement from the military in response and no sign that any troops had left their barracks.

On Saturday before the government order, Pakistan's army chief called on the civilian government to end the protest while "avoiding violence from both sides", the military press wing said.

The ruling party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - who was disqualified by the Supreme Court in July and is facing a corruption trial - has a fraught history with the military, which in 1999 launched a coup to oust Sharif from an earlier term.

Minister of Interior Iqbal on Saturday said the protests were part of a conspiracy to weaken the government, which is now run by Sharif's allies under a new prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

"There are attempts to create a chaos in (the) country," Iqbal said on state-run Pakistan TV.

(Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Alex Richardson)
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Saturday for countries to unify their efforts against "terrorism" as he condemned an attack on a mosque in Egypt that left 305 people dead.

"Israel strongly condemns the horrific and criminal terrorist attack on the Rawda mosque near El-Arish," said a statement from his office.

"Terrorism will be defeated even more quickly if all countries work against it together."

Egypt was in mourning on Saturday as the death toll from the gun and bomb assault at the mosque in the Sinai Peninsula soared above 300, including children, in the deadliest attack the country has witnessed.

The state prosecution said that up to 30 militants in camouflage flying the Islamic State group's black banner had surrounded the mosque and proceeded to massacre the worshippers during weekly Friday prayers.

The army said warplanes attacked militant hideouts in the insurgency-wracked North Sinai in retaliation.

IS has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is the main suspect as the mosque is associated with followers of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam whom it has branded heretics.
Washington (AFP) - Both sides of the US political divide are defending Malia Obama's right to privacy after a video went viral showing the eldest daughter of former president Barack Obama apparently smoking.

Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump were among the numerous defenders of Malia, 19, on Twitter after the video on Friday seemed to show her blowing smoke rings in a bathroom.

"Malia Obama's private life, as a young woman, a college student, a private citizen, should not be your clickbait. Be better," Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of Democratic former president Bill Clinton and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, wrote on Twitter.

Malia Obama is a student at Harvard University.

Ivanka Trump, the daughter of and an adviser to President Donald Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton in last year's election, similarly defended Malia's right to privacy.

"She is a young adult and private citizen, and should be OFF limits," Ivanka Trump wrote on Twitter.
Mr Tillerson is said to to believe Ms Trump and her husband have 'walked all over him': AP

Ivanka Trump will not be accompanied by any senior State Department officials when she visits India because Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly does not wish to bolster the image of the Presidents eldest daughter on the world change.

Ms Trump, 36, is due to travel to India next week to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in the southern city of Hyderabad. The theme of this years event is Women First, Prosperity for All.

But while the high-profile annual event was previously attended by former Secretary of State John Kerry and Barack Obama, the State Department is not sending any senior officials to accompany Ms Trump.

CNN said this was because Mr Tillerson did not want to bolster Ms Trumps position on the global stage. In recent months, both Ms Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, have taken a front seat in several international settings where Mr Tillerson believes, that as the USs top diplomat, he should represent the country

They wont send someone senior because they dont want to bolster Ivanka. Its now another rift between the White House and State at a time when Rex Tillerson doesnt need any more problems with the President, a senior State Department official told the network.

Rex doesn't like the fact that hes supposed to be our nations top diplomat, and Jared and now Ivanka have stepped all over Rex Tillerson for a long time. So now, hes not sending senior people from the State Department to support this issue. Hes not supporting Ivanka Trump.

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Mr Tillerson, a former top executive with Exxon Mobil, has had a controversial time since he became Secretary of State, paring down the department, failing to fill scores of senior posts and watching the departure of many senior career diplomats.

He has also had a difficult relationship with Mr Trump.

Earlier this summer, Mr Tillerson was forced to hold a press briefing to deny reports she had been planning to resign and had only stayed in his position after the intervention of Vice President Mike Pence.

I have never considered leaving this post, he said. He declined, however, to deny reports that he referred to Mr Trump as a f***ing moron. He said: Im not going to deal with petty stuff like that.

At around the same time, Ms Trump startled international observers when she sat in for her father at several sessions with world leaders at the G20 summit in Hamburg. She was invited to visit India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Democratic congressman denies allegations he used tax dollars to settle cases with women, as Nancy Pelosi faces criticism for praising his work

John Conyers said he looked forward to vindicating myself before the House ethics committee. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

The Democratic congressman John Conyers stepped down as ranking Democrat on the House judiciary committee on Sunday, amid allegations he used taxpayers money to settle cases with women who accused him of sexual misconduct.



The news came shortly after the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, was widely criticised for calling the 88-year-old an icon because of his work in the civil rights movement.

John Conyers is an icon in our country, she said. He has done a great deal to protect women.

Appearing on NBCs Meet the Press, Pelosi stopped short of calling for Conyers resignation from Congress. The Michigan representative, she said, would do the right thing.

Conyers, who denies the allegations, said in a statement he wanted to stay on the committee but did not want to undermine his colleagues as he faces an ethics investigation.

I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family before the House committee on ethics, Conyers said.

In a statement announcing Conyers decision, Pelosi said: We must ensure the Congress has a climate of dignity and respect with zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Jerrold Nadler of New York, the second-ranking Democrat on the judiciary committee, said in a statement: Mr Conyers has a 50-year legacy of advancing the cause of justice, and my job moving forward is to continue that critical work.

Lisa Bloom, an attorney for a woman who filed a sexual harassment complaint against Conyers in 2014, said in a statement her client was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement, which she asked Conyers and Congress to release.

Basic fairness and decency dictate that if Mr Conyers can speak publicly about the matter, the woman should be free to do so as well, Bloom said.

In their own statement, 12 women who worked for Conyers over 30 years said: We do not condone or justify sexual harassment and believe the ongoing national debate is important. While we do not pass judgment on the specific allegations reported in the press or the women who brought them, our experiences with Mr Conyers were quite different than the image of him being portrayed in the media.

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Conyers was a gentleman and never behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner in our presence, the women said. He was respectful, valued our opinions, challenged our thinking, and treated us as professionals.

The statement ended: We believe in due process and support allowing the ethics investigation to run its course.

The allegations against Conyers come amid a cascade of accusations of sexual misconduct in politics, Hollywood and other industries.

In Democratic ranks, the Minnesota senator Al Franken has been accused of inappropriate behavior by four women. He has issued apologies and submitted his case to the ethics committee.

Im embarrassed and ashamed, Franken told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Sunday.

Franken contacted local Minnesota media a day before returning to Congress. The first allegation against him was made just before the Thanksgiving recess and he has kept a low profile in the nearly two weeks since.

In response to a question about whether he expects more women to come forward, Franken said: If you had asked me two weeks ago, Would any woman say I had treated her with disrespect? I would have said no.

So this has just caught me by surprise ... I certainly hope not.
Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - The leader of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine has resigned, the region's news agency said Friday, following a week of tensions between rival factions.

"Igor Plotnitsky has submitted his resignation for health reasons," the head of the region's secret police, Leonid Pasechnik was quoted as saying by the Lugansk Information Center reported.

Pasechnik said he would take control of the region ahead of a new election.

Earlier this week, Plotnitsky had sacked his interior minister and accused him of masterminding a coup attempt.

But the minister, Igor Kornet, refused to step down and armed men loyal to him blockaded part of the Lugansk city centre for two days before dissipating on Thursday.

Russian media reports said Plotnitsky had been unable to regain control of the situation, and had arrived Thursday in Moscow.

Contacted by AFP on Friday, a spokeswoman for Plotnitsky said she was "not in a position to comment on this information."

Lugansk is one of two Ukraine regions held by separatist rebels backed by Moscow, in a conflict that has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 2014.

Ukraine said Friday that five of its soldiers had died during the fighting in the east, while accusing Russia of ramping up its military presence in the region amid squabbles among warring rebel factions.

Separately, the Ukrainian military's anti-terror centre said eight rebels had been killed in the fighting and nine wounded.

The violence came as leaders from the European Union and six former Soviet countries, including Ukraine, were meeting in Brussels for a summit aimed at deepening ties, though Moscow's role in the Ukraine conflict conspicuously off the agenda.
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's U.N.-backed government said on Thursday it was investigating reports of African migrants being sold as slaves and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice. Footage broadcast by CNN appearing to show African migrants being traded in Libya sparked an international outcry and protests in Europe and Africa. "There have been direct instructions issued to form an investigative committee so as to uncover the truth and to capture the wrongdoers, and those responsible, and put them before the judiciary," Libyan Interior Minister Aref al-Khodja told journalists in Tripoli. "We are now currently waiting for the results of the investigations which I believe are coming to a close." The CNN video showed what it said was an auction of men offered to Libyan buyers as farmhands and sold for $400, appearing to confirm earlier reports of the existence of markets for trading migrants in Libya. [nL8N1HJ2WP] [nL8N1IL3EB] Many Libyans reacted with anger to the outcry, with some pointing to a European push to stop migrants from crossing the Mediterranean to Italy that activists say has resulted in a worsening of conditions for migrants inside Libya. "We call on local and international bodies to cooperate with the Attorney General's Office and provide any information that helps to reveal the truth," the U.N.-backed government's presidency said in a statement. "We, in Libya, are victims of illegal migration and we are not a source for it," it added, appealing to foreign powers to help stop flows from migrants' countries of origin and across Libya's southern borders. The U.N. Libya mission said on Wednesday it was "actively pursuing the matter with the Libyan authorities to set up transparent monitoring mechanism that safeguards migrants against horrific human rights abuses". Under pressure from Italy, the U.N.-backed government has co-opted local groups and tried to bolster Libya's coastguard to stem the record flows of migrants crossing the Mediterranean since 2014. Though sea arrivals to Italy are down almost a third this year, this week was marked by a surge in rescues after several days of bad weather, and one body was recovered, Italy's coast guard and humanitarian groups said. On Wednesday, 1,100 migrants were rescued from 11 boats, the coast guard said, and more than 200 were picked up on Thursday. (Reporting by Hani Amara in Tripoli, Aidan Lewis in Tunis and Steve Scherer in Rome; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 23:30:48|Editor: yan

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HANOI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Education and Training has proposed free tuition for all public elementary and secondary schools as an appropriate mechanism for universalizing access to education in Vietnam.

The proposal is part of draft amendments to the Law on Education that the ministry has submitted to the government, the Vietnam News Agency reported on Sunday.

Under this proposal, public schools will charge no tuition fees until students finish their secondary education (grades 6-9). Private schools have the right to develop their own tuition fee structures towards recouping costs and making reasonable profit.

According to the draft amendments, elementary and secondary schools (grades 1-9) should be considered primary education, while high school (grades 10-12) should provide a choice between academic or vocational training programs at beginning and intermediate levels. High school students should be allowed to switch to vocational training programs if they qualify.

The ministry has also proposed that Vietnam adopt different sets of textbooks for general education. While it will take responsibility for drafting one set, other organizations and individuals will be encouraged to write their own sets of textbooks based on the general education curriculum.

The proposal also imposes higher qualification requirements for elementary school teachers. They will have to obtain a college diploma in pedagogy instead of an intermediate-level vocational training certificate.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-26 23:35:51|Editor: yan

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BUDAPEST, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday arrived in Hungary for an official visit to the country and the sixth meeting of heads of government of China and 16 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) in Budapest.

Premier Li was welcomed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other ministers at the airport.

Noting that this year marks the fifth anniversary of the launching of China-CEEC cooperation, Li said upon his arrival that the 16+1 cooperation has been growing and expanding in the past five years, benefiting the two peoples with substantial projects and cooperation results.

As part and parcel of China-Europe cooperation, the 16+1 cooperation has not only helped the development of the Central and Eastern European countries themselves, but also promoted the balanced development of Europe as a whole, which is conducive to the process of European integration, Li said.

"China is willing to work with all sides to review what we have achieved in the past five years and draw a blueprint for the future to achieve greater progress," Li said.

During the meeting, Li is expected to join hands with CEEC leaders to set out an outline for future cooperation, witness the signing of a series of cooperation documents, meet the press, attend the seventh China-CEEC economic and trade forum, celebrate the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the 16+1 cooperation, and hold bilateral meetings with CEEC leaders.

On China-Hungary ties, Li said the two countries enjoy profound traditional friendship and he spoke highly of the development of bilateral relations since the two sides established diplomatic relations more than 60 years ago.

"I'm looking forward to discussing with the Hungarian side about cooperation and jointly fleshing out the content of the China-Hungary comprehensive strategic partnership," Li said.

The two countries announced in May the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership in Beijing.

During the visit, Li will hold talks with Orban, witness the signing of documents on cooperation in politics, economy, finance and people-to-people exchanges, and meet with the press.

The premier will also meet with Hungarian President Janos Ader and Parliament Speaker Laszlo Kover.

After the meeting and visit scheduled for Nov. 26-29, Li will attend the 16th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Russian city of Sochi from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.

The tour is being made at the invitation of Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 00:16:02|Editor: yan

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RABAT, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's King Mohammed VI will a working and friendship visit to Cote d'Ivoire, the Moroccan Ministry of the Royal Household, Protocol and Chancellery announced in a statement on Sunday.

The Moroccan King will also participate in the 5th African Union-European Union Summit, scheduled to take place in Abidjan November 29-30, the statement pointed out.

At the summit, African and EU leaders will focus on the challenges that affect both continents, such as peace and security, and on their common interests, notably sustainable and inclusive development that creates youth employment opportunities.

The participants will also discuss the progress of the 2014- 2017 action plan adopted during the last summit in Brussels and outline the next steps to take in order to concretize the joint AU-EU strategy with regards to the issues faced by both continents.

Some 5,300 participants are slated to attend this meeting, 83 of which are heads of states representing 55 African countries and 28 European countries, delegations from various partner countries, the African Union Commission, the European Union Commission, international organizations, and regional and sub- regional organizations.

As for bilateral ties between Morocco and Cote d'Ivoire, the two countries enjoy strong political, economic and military cooperation.

The king's visit to the West African country is his fifth since the coming to power of President Alassane Ouattara in 2011.

At the economic level, Moroccan investments in Cote d'Ivoire in 2016 reached 213 million U.S. dollars, making Morocco the largest source of foreign investment in the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 00:41:07|Editor: Jiaxin

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is welcomed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other senior officials upon his arrival in Budapest, Hungary, Nov. 26, 2017, for an official visit to the country and the sixth meeting of heads of government of China and 16 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC). (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BUDAPEST, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday arrived in Hungary for an official visit to the country and the sixth meeting of heads of government of China and 16 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) in Budapest.

Leaders of the 17 countries are expected to draw a new blueprint for the 16+1 cooperation five years after the mechanism was launched. And Li's visit is also set to bring bilateral ties between China and Hungary to a higher level.

At the airport, Li was welcomed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other senior officials.

After the meeting and visit scheduled for Nov. 26-29, Li is going to attend the 16th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Russian city of Sochi from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.

FIVE YEARS ON, LEADERS TO DRAW NEW BLUEPRINT FOR 16+1 COOPERATION

Noting that this year marks the fifth anniversary of the launching of China-CEEC 16+1 cooperation, Li said upon his arrival that the 16+1 cooperation has been growing in the past five years, benefitting people from the two sides with substantial projects and cooperation results.

Being part of China-Europe cooperation, the 16+1 cooperation has not only boosted the development of the CEEC themselves, but also promoted a balanced development for the wider Europe, which is good for Europe's integration, Li said.

"China is willing to work with all sides to review what we have achieved in the past five years and draw a blueprint for the future to achieve greater progress," Li said.

During the meeting, Li is expected to join hands with CEEC leaders to set out an outline for future cooperation, witness the signing of a series of cooperation documents, meet the press, attend the seventh China-CEEC economic and trade cooperation forum, celebrate the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the 16+1 cooperation, and hold bilateral meetings with CEEC leaders.

Ahead of the visit, Li vowed to bring China-CEEC cooperation and China-Hungary ties to a new high.

In an article published in the newspaper The Hungarian Times, the premier said the 16+1 cooperation has been growing and the mechanism improving over the past five years, bringing about remarkable progress to cooperation in all fields.

Political mutual trust between China and the CEEC has been deepened, with the two sides having established cooperation mechanisms in about 20 areas, he said.

Economic cooperation has seen a steady growth, with bilateral trade increasing to 58.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 from 43.9 billion dollars in 2010 and the completion of a number of landmark infrastructure projects, said the premier in the article.

Chinese Ambassador to Hungary Duan Jielong told a recent think tank conference that the current ties between China and the CEEC are "at their best in history."

After a great start, the 16+1 cooperation demands a new direction and new momentum, the premier said.

VISIT FOR STRONGER CHINA-HUNGARY TIES

On China-Hungary ties, Li said on his arrival that the two countries enjoy profound traditional friendship. He also spoke highly of the development of bilateral relations since the two sides established diplomatic relations more than 60 years ago.

"I'm looking forward to discussing with the Hungarian side about cooperation and jointly fleshing out the content of the China-Hungary comprehensive strategic partnership," Li said.

In May, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Orban announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries in Beijing.

During the visit, Li will hold talks with Orban, witness the signing of documents concerning political, economic, financial and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, and meet the press.

The premier will also meet with Hungarian President Janos Ader and Parliament Speaker Laszlo Kover.

In the article on the Hungarian newspaper, Li said both countries are beneficiaries and supporters of economic globalization, and it is in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries to stick to trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

The premier hailed the strategic alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Hungary's Eastern Opening policy, adding that the Initiative and 16+1 cooperation have put the two countries' economic and trade cooperation on a fast lane, with progress made in areas of investment, finance, agriculture, scientific and technological innovation and small and medium-sized enterprises.

China and Hungary have also made strides in people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in the areas of culture, education, sports, tourism and traditional Chinese medicine, he said.

Both sides hold that China-Hungary ties have entered the best period in history, Li said.
A man who survived the Las Vegas massacre in October was killed several weeks later in a hit-and-run as he walked down a Nevada road, authorities said.

Roy McClellan, 52, was killed Nov. 17 when he was struck by a Chevrolet Camaro in Pahrump, about 60 miles west of Las Vegas, officials said.

Just several weeks earlier on Oct. 1, McClellan was with his wife and several others when Stephen Paddock opened fire from above the Route 91 Harvest music festival, killing 58 and wounding hundreds more.

The group made it out of whats been deemed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, with McClellan helping to transport multiple victims to a local hospital, his wife said.

In a Facebook post written not long after the shooting, Denise McClellan noted her husband and his friend didnt hesitate to place themselves in danger to help a complete stranger.

GOD kept them safe, she continued. I thank the Lord for keeping them here.

But Roy McClellan lost his life seven weeks later, when he was fatally hit as he walked down Highway 160.

The vehicle fled the scene, but was later found and charges against the driver are pending, police told KSNV-TV.

This isnt what I wanted for him, his wife told the television station. I dont understand why he wasnt taken at the shooting, but a month later he was taken this way.

She noted he had been struggling to cope in the aftermath of the shooting, but that he was going to therapy.

I hope my husband found peace and hes safe now, Denise McClellan said.

A GoFundMe page was created to help offset the costs of a funeral and other expenses.

Roy was a true friend and you know he always had your back in any situation, wrote Mark Phillips, who created the page. Lets please get him home and take the burden off his devastated family.

As of Sunday, more than $2,500 had been raised.

McClellan is not the first survivor of the Las Vegas massacre to have died in recent weeks.

Dennis Carver, 52, and his wife Lorraine, 53, were killed in a car crash on Oct. 16.

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The California couple was less than a mile from their Riverside home when their Mercedes crashed into a metal gate and brick pillars and caught fire.

It reportedly took firefighters nearly an hour to contain the fire.

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Chautara (Nepal) (AFP) - Millions of Nepalis headed to the polls Sunday for a historic election billed as a turning point for the impoverished Himalayan nation, hoping to end the ruinous instability that has plagued the country since the end of a bloody civil war a decade ago.

The two-phase elections for national and provincial parliaments are the first under a new post-war constitution born out of a peace deal that ended the 10-year Maoist insurgency in 2006 and set the country on a path from monarchy to democracy.

It took nine years after the end of the conflict for the new charter to be agreed as a series of brittle coalition governments bickered over the country's future as a federal democratic state.

Many hope that the elections, which will establish the country's first provincial assemblies, will bring an end to political turbulence and limit the impact of the horse-trading in Kathmandu on much needed development in the rest of the country.

Polling stations in Chautara, a town east of Kathmandu, were still busy mid afternoon with lines of voters waiting in the bright sun to cast their ballots.

"It is hard to hope for change, but I am still voting," said 78-year-old Keshab Nath Upadhayay as he leaned heavily on a walking stick.

Upadhayay like many others in the impoverished Himalayan nation walked for hours to reach his nearest polling station.

In western Baitadi district, a 114-year-old woman made the journey to cast her vote, said local official Deepak Kumar Acharya.

Meanwhile, districts in the west have been hit by snow and sub-zero temperatures in recent days adding another obstacle to voters in one of the least developed corners of Nepal.

Voting was temporarily suspended in three polling centres after an explosive device was found at one and acid was sprinkled on ballot boxes at two others, local officials said. There were no reports of injuries.

There has been sporadic violence in the lead up to the polls, mostly blamed on a splinter faction of the Maoist Party, which has left dozens injured.

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Around 3.2 million people across the north of the country, including areas badly hit by a devastating earthquake two years ago, are eligible to vote in Sunday's first phase. The more populous south will vote in 10 days' time.

- Three dominant parties -

Nepal's new constitution, finally passed in 2015, lays out a sweeping overhaul of the political system and aims to devolve power away from the central government to seven newly created provinces.

Rules laid out in the new charter will weed out some fringe parties from the parliaments and raise the bar for ousting a prime minister, leading to hopes that the next government could be the first to last a full five-year term.

Nepal has cycled through 10 leaders in the last 11 years and corruption has flourished, hampering growth as well as the recovery from the 2015 earthquake that destroyed half a million homes.

"The government changes every nine months and don't get to do any work. Instead they fight for power. We hope that will change," said farmer Gyan Bahadur Thapa after casting his ballot in Chautara.

However, analysts warn that the impact of the changes could be limited, with the three parties that have dominated the political stage since the end of the conflict expected to take the lion's share of seats.

The Maoist Party of the former rebels has formed an electoral alliance with the communist CNP-UML, fielding candidates jointly in key races.

The powerful bloc has left the ruling party, the centrist Nepali Congress, on the back foot, forced to look to smaller parties in a bid to remain in power.

Supporters said the Maoist insurgency and the drawn-out peace process that followed it were intended to create a more equal society. But the political instability and endemic corruption have undermined that goal.

Under the new constitution a proportion of seats in the federal and provincial assemblies are allocated to women and people from indigenous communities and the lowest Dalit caste.

Nepal's borders with India and China were closed ahead of the vote and thousands of security personnel have been deployed at polling stations.

Results are expected a few days after the second vote on December 7.
(NEW YORK)  The director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau resigned Friday and named his own successor, leading to an open conflict with President Donald Trump  who announced a different person as acting head of the agency later in the day.

That means there are now effectively two acting directors of the CFPB, when there should only be one.

Typically an acting director position would be filled according to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. But Richard Cordray, along with his resignation, elevated Leandra English, who was the agencys chief of staff, into the deputy director position.

Under the Dodd-Frank Act that created the CFPB, English would become acting director. Cordray  an Obama appointee  specifically cited the law when he moved English, a longtime CFPB employee and ally of his, into that position.

Within a few hours, President Donald Trump announced his own acting director of the agency, Mick Mulvaney, who is currently director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mulvaney had widely been expected to be Trumps temporary pick for the bureau until a permanent one could be found.

Mulvaney is a long-time critic of the CFPB, and has wanted the agencys authority significantly curtailed. So the difference between English and Mulvaney running the agency would be significant.

The person nominated to be director of the CFPB requires confirmation by the Senate, and it could be many weeks or months before the person would be able to step into the role permanently. Cordrays move was aimed at allowing his favored successor to keep running the agency for as long as possible before a Trump appointee is confirmed by the Senate.

Cordray had announced earlier this month that he would resign by the end of this month. There is wide speculation that Cordray, a Democrat, is resigning in order to run for governor in his home state of Ohio.

The CFPB was created as part of the laws passed following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession. The agency was given a broad mandate to be a watchdog for consumers when they deal with banks and credit card, student loan and mortgage companies, as well as debt collectors and payday lenders. Nearly every American who deals with banks or a credit card company or has a mortgage has been affected by new rules the agency put in place.

Cordray used that mandate aggressively as its first director, which often made him a target for the banking industrys Washington lobbyists and Congressional Republicans who believed Cordray was overreaching in his role, calling the CFPB a rogue agency.

As director, he also was able to extract billions of dollars in settlements from banks, debt collectors and other financial services companies for wrongdoing. When Wells Fargo was found to have opened millions of phony accounts for its customers, the CFPB fined the bank $100 million, the agencys largest penalty to date.
Islamabad (AFP) - Thousands more protesters massed in Pakistan's major cities Sunday after attempts to disperse an Islamist rally in Islamabad ended in deadly violence, with the military hesitant to respond to a government appeal for help.

An estimated 5,000 demonstrators were occupying roads between Islamabad and neighbouring Rawalpindi, AFP reporters saw, more than twice the number that were in the streets when police and paramilitaries began a bungled operation to clear them one day earlier.

At least 4,750 were in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi, according to traffic officials, up from roughly 200 the day before. In the cultural capital Lahore an estimated 3,400 were occupying main roads.

Reports said the protests had also spread to other cities and towns across the country.

The numbers are still relatively small by Pakistani standards but have grown swiftly. The situation has become more charged since authorities moved to clear the roughly 2,000 people who have blocked a major highway in Islamabad since November 6, paralysing the capital for weeks.

They were met with stubborn resistance by protesters who torched vehicles and threw stones, with at least seven people were killed and dozens injured before security forces retreated on Saturday.

An interior ministry order said the federal government had authorised the deployment of troops to secure the capital until further notice.

But one day after the order was released there was no official military response and no sign of armoured vehicles or soldiers on the streets. A military spokesman declined repeated requests for comment.

Late Sunday an interior ministry official told AFP the paramilitary Rangers force had been empowered to "deal with the protests", but offered no further details.

Civil-military relations have long been fraught in Pakistan, with the military ruling the country for nearly half of its 70-year history.

The little-known Islamist group at the centre of the protests, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLY), is demanding the resignation of Pakistan's law minister Zahid Hamid over a hastily-abandoned amendment to the oath, which election candidates must swear.

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Demonstrators have linked the issue to blasphemy -- a highly contentious matter in Muslim Pakistan that has fuelled violence many times before.

TLY leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi repeated the demand in a press conference Sunday and insisted terrorism charges be levelled against top officials including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and current leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

He called for a general strike across the country Monday, and declared that TLY will "fully participate" in general elections due to be held next year.

Rizvi said his group was "negotiating" but refused to offer further details, including of who with, and vowed the sit-in would continue "at any cost".

"We are not scared of these bullets. We have to die one day so why not die for the honour of the holy Prophet," he said.

- Broken teeth -

Earlier, at a main stage set up at the centre of the sit-in, demonstrators were playing religious songs as more groups arrived. A military helicopter flew briefly overhead but otherwise few members of the security forces were in sight.

"I don't care if my wife and child ... die of hunger, for me nothing matters more than the honour of my Prophet," Riaz Shah, a labourer from Lahore who has been at the sit-in since it began, told AFP.

He dismissed fears of military intervention, saying the army "would not come here and dishonour the Prophet".

Pakistan's media authority lifted a ban on television broadcasts and authorities said social media sites were no longer being restricted, after an information blackout earlier in the day sparked confusion about the state of the protests.

But many schools announced closures and commuters braced for another week of traffic chaos.

"People's businesses have been destroyed, people are unable to go on their jobs, to hospitals, they are not sending their children to schools," said resident Maqbool Ahmed, calling for the army to "disperse them up by beating them with clubs".

The violence is the latest blow to the embattled Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) government ahead of the 2018 election, and after its leader Nawaz Sharif was deposed as prime minister over graft allegations this summer.

Analysts said the government had allowed a relatively small protest by an obscure group to grow into a potentially dangerous situation.

The government's predicament was "daunting", analyst Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center in Washington told AFP, adding that its ability to survive "depends on the trajectory of the protests".
Washington (AFP) - The Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington can remain open to discuss peace with Israel and may be able to resume full operations soon, the State Department said Friday.

The comment came one week after US officials said the diplomatic mission would have to close because of a law stipulating that Palestinian leaders must not call for Israelis to face international prosecution.

The order provoked outrage among the Palestinian leadership, who threatened to cut all ties to President Donald Trump's administration if the ban went ahead, a move that would doom his hopes to revive the peace process.

But on Friday a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinians had been advised to limit their activity at the office to the peace process until a waiver to the law is renewed.

"Given the lapse last week of a waiver of statutory restrictions on PLO activity in the United States, we have advised the PLO Office to limit its activities to those related to achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians," the official said.

If after 90 days the president determines that the Palestinians are engaged in "direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel," restrictions on the PLO and its Washington office may be lifted, the official added.

Both parties have so far been "cooperative, constructive, and prepared to engage in negotiations" as the administration pushes efforts to restart substantial Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the official said.

"We therefore are optimistic that at the end of this 90-day period, the political process may be sufficiently advanced that the president will be in a position to allow the PLO office to resume full operations."

Under long-standing US law, permission for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to maintain its mission in Washington must be renewed every six months.

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In September, Palestinian leaders lobbied at the United Nations for Israeli officials to be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court, which US officials said was a breach of the terms of the arrangement.

Some observer speculated that Trump's administration had allowed the waiver to lapse in order to put pressure on the Palestinians before the expected announcement of a new plan to resolve the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But the official denied this.

"The lapse in the waiver was not intended to create 'leverage' with or impose pressure on the Palestinians, with whom we have been having constructive discussions about the path to a lasting, comprehensive peace," she said.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi defended Rep. John Conyers on Sunday while saying accusations of sexual harassment against the 88-year-old Democratic congressman from Michigan should be taken seriously.

On NBCs Meet The Press, Pelosi called Conyers an icon in our country who has done a great deal to protect women and deserves due process.

Just because someone is accused  and was it one accusation? Is it two? Pelosi, D-Calif., said. The fact is, as John reviews his case, which he knows, which I dont, I believe he will do the right thing.

Last week, BuzzFeed revealed that in 2015, Conyers settled a sexual harassment and wrongful dismissal complaint with a woman who said she was fired the year before because she refused to provide sexual favors to him. Another former staffer of Conyers said she faced daily harassment from him in a separate, sealed lawsuit that she attempted to file this year. But the woman abandoned the effort after a judge refused to seal the suit. The House Ethics Committee has launched an investigation into the claims.

Conyers announced on Sunday he will step aside as a ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee while the Ethics Committee reviews the allegations.

But Pelosi would not say whether Conyers should resign from his seat in Congress.

He will do the right thing in terms of what he knows about his situation, Pelosi said. Hes entitled to due process. But women are entitled to due process as well.

Pelosi was asked by Meet The Press host Chuck Todd whether she believes Conyers accusers?

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I dont know who they are, Pelosi said. Do you? They have not really come forward.

Shortly after her appearance on Meet The Press, Pelosi released a statement commending the brave women coming forward.

Zero tolerance means consequences, Pelosis statement said. As a woman and mother of four daughters, I particularly take any accusation of sexual harassment very seriously. Any credible accusation must be reviewed by the Ethics Committee expeditiously. We are at a watershed moment on this issue, and no matter how great an individuals legacy, it is not a license for harassment.

When the House returns to work this week, Pelosi noted, all of its members will undergo anti-harassment and antidiscrimination training.

We must ensure the Congress has a climate of dignity and respect with zero tolerance for sexual harassment, she said.

U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). (Photos: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Earlier Sunday, President Trump reiterated his tacit support for Roy Moore, the embattled Republican candidate for Alabamas U.S. Senate seat, despite multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and assault against him.

The president blasted Moores Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, in a pair of tweets.

The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY, Trump tweeted, tying Jones to Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Jones would be a disaster!

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Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 01:01:10|Editor: yan

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NEW DELHI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The local government in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh approved death sentence for child rapists on Sunday, officials said.

"Madhya Pradesh cabinet today approved death sentence for rape convicts in the cases involving minors of 12-year-old and below," a local government official said. "The cabinet was chaired by the state's Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal."

The government believes that the move will help curb rising crimes against women and children in the state.

Local Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya said a resolution that advocates death sentence to gang rape convicts has also been passed.

"The amendment in penal code to increase the fine and punishment for rape convicts was also approved by the state cabinet," Malaiya said.

Sexual attacks on women and girls in India puts a question mark on their safety and efficiency of police force in the country.

In December 2012, a fatal gang rape of a medical student in New Delhi brought spotlight on crimes against women in India.

The incident saw huge protests and resulted in new anti-rape laws in the country. However, brutal sexual attacks against women continue to be reported across India.
Warsaw (AFP) - The heart of Frederic Chopin, among the world's most cherished musical virtuosos, may finally have given up the cause of his untimely death.

The prolific 19th-century Polish-French pianist and composer died at the age of 39, of what had long been believed to be tuberculosis (TB).

However, in 2008, Polish medical experts raised the possibility that Chopin -- whose health had always been very frail -- had actually suffered from cystic fibrosis (CF).

The genetic respiratory illness clogs the lungs with sticky, thick mucus and sufferers on average generally do not survive past their late 30s.

Now, Polish scientists, who were the first to use modern technology to study Chopin's heart -- preserved for the last 168 years inside a crystal jar in what appears to be cognac -- believe they are a step closer to an accurate diagnosis.

"We can say that it is highly possible that it was tuberculosis," lead researcher Professor Michal Witt, a top specialist in molecular and clinical genetics, told AFP.

Unable to open the hermetically sealed jar, his team of medical experts used high-resolution photographs taken in 2014 to make their diagnosis.

"The lesions which we saw fit well with the initial diagnosis which was held for years, namely tuberculosis.

"The lesions are clearly visible on the pericardium of Chopin's heart," Witt said, referring to the organ's outer membrane typically affected by complications stemming from TB.

- 'Still debatable' -

The findings of Witt and his team are due to be published in the February print issue of the esteemed American Journal of Medicine, complete with a unique photograph of the pickled heart.

But without DNA tests, Witt admits that he cannot entirely rule out the possibility of cystic fibrosis.

In 2008, Poland's culture ministry rejected a request by academics to run DNA tests on the relic to check for the CFTR gene, a telltale sign of cystic fibrosis, over fears the procedure could irreparably damage the heart.

Story continues

Whether Chopin suffered from cystic fibrosis "is still debatable", Witt told AFP.

"We cannot prove this for sure, but the likelihood that it was tuberculosis rather than cystic fibrosis is far, far higher.

"We can say that with a high degree of confidence."

Records show that as an adult weighing 40 kilogrammes (88 pounds) at a height of 1.70 metres (five feet seven inches), Chopin was chronically underweight, a typical symptom of cystic fibrosis.

Without genetic tests, it is also impossible to be entirely certain that the organ itself is Chopin's, although as Witt points out, there "is no reason to believe that it isn't, at least to our knowledge."

- Cognac? -

Last examined in 1945 after World War II, the heart is "clearly visible" and well preserved in what Witt calls a "light amber brown" liquid.

"It's highly possible that it is cognac," he said, adding that "since the French Revolution, cognac has been used as a preservation fluid in France."

Chopin's heart is kept inside a pillar in Warsaw's sprawling and ornate baroque Church of the Holy Cross.

After his death in exile in Paris in 1849, it was brought to Chopin's native Warsaw that same year by his elder sister Ludwika to honour his dying wish.

The rest of Chopin's remains are buried in the French capital's Pere Lachaise cemetery.

Born in Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw in 1810, Chopin composed many of his most moving pieces in his father's native France, where he ended up after an 1830-31 uprising of Polish insurgents against the 1795 partition of Poland by Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Having refused to take a Russian passport, he was never able to set foot on his and his mother's native Polish soil following the failed insurrection.

Described by 19th-century German composer Robert Schumann as "cannons hidden among blossoms", Chopin's music was and remains a symbol of Poland's long and turbulent struggle for freedom.
Police have release pictures of two men they want to speak to about an altercation that is believed to have sparked a mass evacuation of Oxford Circus Tube station.

Armed police raced to the area as panicked passengers fled the station on Friday afternoon after receiving 999 calls reporting that shots had been fired but later found there was no evidence of any shots.

British Transport Police said the incident is believed to have been sparked by an alternation between two men on the platform. They have now released CCTV images of two people they want to speak to in connection with the incident.

A spokesman said: Officers believe an altercation erupted between two men on the platform. They would now like to speak to these two people in the CCTV images, who they believe may have information about the incident and the circumstances around the incident.

They would also like to speak to anyone who was at the station or in the area at the time and saw or heard anything that would have caused mass evacuation.

Panic  the incident sparked chaos as people rushed to evacuate the packed Tube station (Pictures: PA)

Chief Superintendent Martin Fry said: Our officers, alongside those from the MPS, reacted quickly and responded professionally in line with our well prepared plans. I know incidents like these can cause concern, but our officers are highly visible around the network and across the country.

The incident left several people injured and nine taken to hospital, including one with leg injuries.

MORE: Police make arrest after vicious hammer attack on 96-year-old D-Day hero

MORE: Teenage girl, 16, who smothered and slashed Katie Rough, seven, detained for life for manslaughter

In a statement the Met Police said: Given the nature of the information received, the Met responded in line with our existing operation as if the incident was terrorism, including the deployment of armed officers.

Officers working with colleagues from British Transport Police carried out an urgent search of the area. No casualties, evidence of any shots fired or any suspects were located by police.
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in February (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Former US Attorney Preet Bharara has said cooperating with special counsel Robert Muellers investigation may be the only sane and rational move for ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Mr Flynn has become part a central part of Mr Muellers probe into whether Trump campaign advisers colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election.

That investigation also reportedly involves a probe into whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice when he allegedly asked ex-FBI director James Comey to drop an inquiry into Mr Flynn.

This week it was said that lawyers for Mr Flynn have stopped sharing information with Mr Trumps lawyers about the investigation - the clearest indication to date that Mr Flynn is cooperating with Mr Mueller, according to the New York Times.

A lawyer for Mr Flynn did not immediately respond to The Independent's request for comment.

Lawyers for both Mr Flynn and Mr Trump declined to comment to the Times.

In a tweet, Mr Bharara - who was dismissed by Mr Trump earlier this year - suggested that helping with the investigation may be Mr Flynns only chance to save himself and his son, Michael Flynn Jr, following reports that prosecutors have enough evidence to charge them both.

Mr Flynns son also worked on the Trump campaign.

If you're dead to rights, flipping on others and cooperating with the prosecution is the only sane and rational move, Mr Bharara said. Also, prosecutors accept cooperation only if you can provide substantial assistance. Higher up in the food chain. Stay tuned

Mr Flynn joined the campaign as an adviser in January 2016. He was selected to be Mr Trump's national security adviser during the transition, but resigned in February after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with a Russian official.

If you're dead to rights, flipping on others and cooperating with the prosecution is the only sane and rational move. Also, prosecutors accept cooperation only if you can provide "substantial assistance." Higher up in the food chain. Stay tuned... https://t.co/ZtAxKGx8Wi  Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) November 24, 2017

At least one former Trump team member has already agreed to cooperate with Mr Mueller. George Papadopoulos, a low-level campaign staffer, recently pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with a professor with Russia ties.

Court documents revealed in Mr Papadopoulos indictment showed the professor had promised the campaign staffer dirt on Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails.
Kenners once notorious Early Bird Certificate Package contained a cardboard stand for the toymakers 12 original figures, which werent available in time for the holidays. (Photo courtesy of the Star Wars Collectors Archive)

Editors note: The original version of this story ran in December 2015. To mark the 40th anniversary of that toy-less first Star Wars Christmas, we present a fully updated reprise, complete with additional insider interviews.

Maybe youve heard the story of the first Star Wars Christmas, and maybe you havent. Maybe you know about the mail-in certificates, and maybe you dont. Either way, the story is worth telling and retelling because for all that the future holds for the Disney era of George Lucass creations, the first Star Wars Christmas is the only Star Wars Christmas that will ever be defined by one brilliant idea  and zero action figures.

Our story begins in the 1940s  or at least it does when Corky Steiner tells it. Steiner is a former executive of the company once known as Kenner Products, and the son of Phil Steiner, who cofounded Kenner with brothers Al and Joe.

One day, Corky Steiner says, Al Steiner notices a kid blowing bubbles. Al Steiner figures theres a toy to be had in that act of play, and hes right. The Bubble-Matic Gun is born, and Kenner, a very small company that manufactured pine-tar soap, among other things, is reborn.

Going forward, Corky Steiner says, Kenner was about looking at what kids saw and translating what they saw into toys.

Fast-forward to the 1970s. Kenners a division of General Mills. It makes Easy Bake Ovens, and tops wish lists with its Six Million Dollar Man merchandise based on the days hit cyborg-action series. (Television shows, not movies, was where it was at for the toy industry.) Then one day a filmmaker shows up with an oddball proposal. Corky Steiner paints the scene: A number of toy companies passed on [this] unusual presentation with funny names These names are ridiculous. [People thought,] This guy must be nuts.

No, hes not nuts, Kenners research-and-development team says of Lucas and the pitch for his unseen film, Star Wars, per Steiner. Everything we think we see in this script is a toy. This is a bonanza.

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Bernard Loomis, the then-president of Kenner, gives the green light: You guys like it, he says, according to Steiner, go for it.

While Kenner gets to work, Star Wars becomes a phenomenon. Released in May 1977, it rolls from summer through Thanksgiving as Hollywoods unrivaled, No. 1 box-office hit. By holiday shopping season, Star Wars merchandise, including mass- and locally produced knockoffs, is flying off shelves.

There is, however, a hitch, for customers and for Santa alike.

Once Kenner started getting into Star Wars it was pretty much all hands on deck, 24/7, recounts Mark Boudreaux, an intern who would go on to become a full-time designer with the company, helping create the classic Millennium Falcon toy. We didnt see the trailer until February 77 so that didnt give us much time to actually put plastic product on the shelves.

It was impossible to get the toys in market in time for Christmas, Steiner adds, and, yes, we could get some stuff like puzzles and games, but we couldnt get the essence of the toys.

The essence or star of the Star Wars line is the 3.75-inch action figure cast in the detailed likenesses

of the films characters  and, as Steiner says, its not ready to ship.

So, Kenners Loomis goes for it again.

They asked me to put together some preliminary conceptual documents  some artwork, fabricate some envelopes so that we can show our management team what the thoughts were, says Boudreaux. And it was quite an interesting conversation, if I recall, going to upper management and saying, Hey, you know, we want to sell an empty cardboard box for under the tree.

And that becomes the crux of the companys holiday campaign.

These action figures are not yet available, a 1977 Kenner TV commercial advises, but the Star Wars Early Bird Certificate Package is in stores.

Sold for about $10 each, the Early Bird Certificate Package is a little, rectangular box adorned with Star Wars illustrations. Inside is a form. Fill it out, mail it in  and then wait up to six months for Luke, Leia, R2-D2, and Chewbacca action figures to be sent to you.

In the age of same-day delivery, this deal sounds insane. In an analog galaxy far, far, away, the IOUs are a hit  expected to be a complete sellout for Christmas 77, hometown newspapers report.

A close look at the Early Bird package. (Photo courtesy of the Star Wars Collectors Archive)

In California, 8-year-old Mike Sterling is among those sold.

I was so in the bag for Star Wars even just the promise of the eventual arrival of Star Wars action figures was enough to keep me happy, says Sterling, currently the owner of the Camarillo, Calif., comic-and-toy shop Sterling Silver Comics.

In New Jersey, 12-year-old Gus Lopez is so anxious to get the Early Bird Certificate Package that he buys it for himself before Christmas  with money saved from a 20th-century profession known as a newspaper route.

You have to keep in mind that in 1977 there was so little Star Wars product, so anything that came out was welcomed, especially around the action-figure line, says Lopez, now the creator of The Star Wars Collectors Archive.

And the wait for those action figures?

Waiting, says Lopez, was half the fun.

And Christmas morning isnt so bad, either.

The kit did come with the backdrop and a handful of stickers and so I wasnt completely empty-handed, Sterling says.

Photo courtesy of the Star Wars Collectors Archive

And thats another reason the story of the first Star Wars Christmas is worth telling and

retelling: It worked out.

Loomis, who died in 2006, lived to see the Early Bird Certificate Package become a collectors item, the subject of a 2005 limited-edition reissue, and a defining mark in a distinguished career.

Steiner called Loomiss idea brilliant. So did Christopher Bensch, vice president of collections and chief curator of The Strong National Museum of Play, who added via email that it was as unexpectedly successful as [Star Wars] itself. Even Loomiss citation in the Toy Industry Hall of Fame singled out the gambit, praising the extraordinary marketer for once selling empty boxes at Christmas.

More than that, the first Star Wars Christmas commercially changed every Christmas that followed.

Star Wars revolutionized the movie business and the toy business simultaneously, said Bensch. The Star Wars action figures marked the first time that the ancillary products  especially toys  earned more money than the movie that generated them.

Never has that phenomenon been more evident than now. Since Disney relaunched the franchise with The Force Awakens in 2015, Star Wars toys have grossed more than $1.5 billion in the U.S. alone. Earlier this year, to mark the 40th anniversary of the first film, now known as A New Hope, Hasbro (the toy giant that bought and ultimately absorbed Kenner) released a line of highly detailed 6-inch action figures using the 1977 packaging. The centerpiece of the set was an homage to the Early Bird Certificate, but this one actually contained a figure of Darth Vader.

For the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, Hasbro issued deluxe versions of the original Kenner figures in throwback packaging, including Darth Vader in a recreation of the Early Bird envelope. (Photo: Hasbro)

While sales remain brisk and certain products may be in limited supply in stores and online, no child of 2017 need worry about receiving an IOU on Christmas Day.

Besides, the first Star Wars Christmas only happens once.

I still have my memories of the good times I had with my Star Wars figures, says Sterling, who long ago lost his Early Bird Certificate Package and its related toys to the ages, and thatll do.

Watch: The 5 best vintage Star Wars toy commercials:

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince vowed to "pursue terrorists until they are wiped from the face of the earth" as officials from 40 Muslim countries gathered Sunday in the first meeting of an Islamic counter-terrorism alliance.

"In past years, terrorism has been functioning in all of our countries... with no coordination" among national authorities, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi defence minister, said in his keynote address to the gathering in Riyadh.

"This ends today, with this alliance."

The summit is the first meeting of defence ministers and other senior officials from the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, which officially counts 41 countries and identifies as a "pan-Islamic unified front" against violent extremism.

The alliance was announced in 2015 under the auspices of Prince Mohammed, whose rapid ascent since his appointment as heir to the throne in June has shaken the political scene across the region.

Sunday's meeting comes as several military coalitions, including key Saudi ally the United States, battle to push the Islamic State group from its last remaining bastions in Iraq and Syria.

The alliance groups largely, although not exclusively, Sunni-majority or Sunni-ruled countries.

It excludes Saudi Arabia's arch-rival, Shiite-dominated Iran, as well as Syria and Iraq, whose leaders have close ties to Tehran.

Sunday's meeting coincides with an escalation in tensions between Riyadh and Tehran, particularly over wars in Syria and Yemen and the political structure of multi-confessional Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supporting armed groups across the Middle East, including Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah and Yemen's Huthi rebels.

"The pillar of this coalition is inclusion," said Saudi General Abdulelah al-Saleh, the alliance's acting secretary general, playing down the exclusion of the three countries.

"Our common enemy is terrorism, not any religion, sect or race."

Story continues

The alliance meeting in Riyadh brings together Muslim or Muslim-majority nations including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Uganda, Somalia, Mauritania, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen and Turkey.

- 'Distorted image of Islam' -

Retired Pakistani general Raheel Sharif, who has been appointed commander-in-chief, also insisted that the coalition was not against any religion or state.

The alliance aims to "mobilise and coordinate the use of resources, facilitate the exchange of information and help member countries build their own counter-terrorism capacity," Sharif said.

While the alliance officially includes Qatar, which is the target of a six-month boycott led by Saudi Arabia, organisers in Riyadh said no Qatari officials were present at the meeting.

Qatar's flag was also absent.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain abruptly cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in June, accusing the emirate of being too close to Iran and supporting Islamist extremism.

Doha denies the allegations.

Egypt, which sent a military official and not its defence minister to Sunday's meeting, is reeling from a Friday attack on a mosque that killed more than 300 people during prayer time.

While IS has not claimed responsibility, Egyptian authorities say the organisation is the main suspect as the mosque is associated with followers of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam, whom IS has branded heretics.

Prince Mohammed said Friday's "painful event" was a reminder of the "danger of terrorism and extremism".

"Beyond the killing of innocent people and the spread of hatred, terrorism and extremism distort the image of our religion," he said.

Since his sudden appointment as crown prince, Prince Mohammed has moved to consolidate power, announcing crackdowns on both terrorism and corruption.

A corruption purge saw around 200 members of the Saudi elite including princes, ministers and business tycoons arrested or sacked earlier this month.

Related:

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A man walked into a New Jersey Toys R Us and did a little more than the usual holiday shopping.

The man, identified as Charlie K. by NJ.com, paid off two layaway orders worth $10,780.

Just, you know, trying to bring some happiness to people. Thats really it. Help bring back to the community that brought so much happiness to me and my family, Charlie K. told NBC affiliate KCBD.

While the surprise payment did not cover all layaway orders, Charlie K. also bought about $2,000 worth of additional toys to donate to the Toys for Tots charity, NJ.com reported. He told a Philadelphia CBS affiliate that he was looking to fulfill kids Christmas wishes.

I can only do it because of the community that provided me the luxury to do it. I love this community, and Im trying to provide back for it, Charlie K. told NJ.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 01:11:12|Editor: yan

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SANAA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A ship carrying 5,500 tons of flour docked in Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Sunday, after 20-day military blockade from Saudi-led coalition, a security official at the port said.
Dakar (AFP) - Senegal's national assembly has lifted the parliamentary immunity of Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall, a leading opponent of President Macky Sall, opening the way for his trial on graft charges.

The mayor has been in pre-trial detention since March on what his supporters say are politically-motivated charges.

After a raucous debate, the deputies late on Saturday voted by 125 to 27 to back a report by a parliamentary commission calling for Sall's immunity to be lifted.

Earlier Saturday, security forces fired tear gas to break up a demonstration of dozens of his supporters outside the assembly, in the centre of the Senegalese capital, local media said.

In March, Sall, who is no relation to the president, was accused of misappropriating 1.83 billion CFA francs ($2.85 million, 2.7 million euros) in city funds. He denies the charges.

Mayor of Dakar since 2009, he was elected to Senegal's parliament in July, and had been seen as a key contender for 2019 presidential elections.

Hundreds of his supporters, chanting "Khalifa until we die!", took to the streets of the capital last month to call for his release.
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Pro-independence parties may fail to retain an absolute majority of seats in the Catalan parliament in regional elections next month, a poll published on Sunday showed, with pro-unity parties poised to increase their vote share. Failure to win a majority in the regional parliament would be a blow for Catalan separatists who have billed the Dec. 21 election as a de-facto plebiscite on Madrid's decision to impose direct rule on the wealthy region last month. Following Spain's worst political crisis in decades, the sacking of the secessionist Catalan government in October has a eased tensions for the moment, although victory for the pro-independence camp in December would plunge the northeast region back into uncertainty. Catalan separatist parties are predicted to win 46 percent of the vote, down slightly from 47.7 percent in a previous election in 2015. Unionist parties combined would account for another 46 percent of votes, up from less than 40 percent last time, according to the poll by Metroscopia. The poll shows pro-independence parties winning 67 seats, one short of the absolute majority they would need to retain control of the regional parliament. Unionists forces would also fall short a majority in this scenario, although the poll suggests a high number of voters, around 23 percent, remain undecided. The staunchly unionist center-right party Citizens looks set to cement its position as the largest opposition force with 25.3 percent of votes, gaining from the Catalan wing of Prime Minister Rajoy's conservative Popular Party which drops to 5.8 percent and loses five of its 11 seats. Turnout for the election, which former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said on Saturday would be the most important in the region's history, is predicted to reach a record 80 percent. (Reporting by Sam Edwards; Editing by Keith Weir)
Oreites (Chypre) (AFP) - Nearly 6,000 carob trees were planted on Sunday in Cyprus as the Mediterranean island seeks to revive its tradition of producing "black gold".

"We're going to plant 40,000 carob trees before the end of March," said Constantine Christophides, a professor at the University of Cyprus who heads the project.

In three or four years, these trees could produce 10,000 tonnes annually of carob, which is used to make syrup, a sweetening agent or in animal feed.

That represents around one fifth of the carob produced on the island at its peak in the early 20th century.

"In 1900-1910, we exported 50,000 tonnes a year," Christophides said, adding that the substance was then considered the "black gold of Cyprus".

Cypriot carobs, long pods filled with black seeds, were popular from Europe to Britain and Canada.

Income from the trees enabled many families living in the countryside to put their children through school.

But carob trees were abandoned and production fell as new generations moved to towns and cities.

The university project, carried out in collaboration with Cyprus' Agricultural Research Institute, aims to produce carob food, drinks and other items locally.

"The carob is an organic substitute for cocoa, for example," said Christophides.

The professor said laboratory tests were being conducted to develop, among other things, new carob-based drinks or drugs based on its beneficial properties for digestion.

"It's a great opportunity to revive that tradition, to bring the carob tree back to Cyprus and to enrich the environment," said Evdokia Constantinou, one of the volunteers who came to plant trees on Sunday.

"Cyprus was covered with trees in antiquity and now we have lots of places where trees don't grow because of lack of precipitation."
President Trump blasted Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate for Alabamas U.S. Senate seat, on Sunday  reiterating his tacit support for Republican Roy Moore despite multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and assault against the former judge.

The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY, Trump tweeted, tying Jones to Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. Jones would be a disaster!

I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary, the president added. He shot way up in the polls but it wasnt enough. Cant let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!

The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017

I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasnt enough. Cant let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017

Before leaving the White House for the holiday weekend last week, President Trump told reporters that people in Alabama should vote for Moore because Jones is a Democrat.

I can tell you one thing for sure: We dont need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, the president said. Ive looked at his record. Its terrible on crime. Its terrible on the border. Its terrible on the military. I can tell you for a fact, we do not need somebody thats going to be bad on crime, bad on borders, bad with the military, bad for the Second Amendment.

Story continues

Trumps support of Moore runs counter to many congressional Republicans, like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who are calling for Moore to exit the race amid allegations from nine women ranging from uncomfortable and unwanted overtures to sexual assault. Most of the accusers said the misconduct occurred when they were teenagers and Moore was in his 30s.

Related: #MeAt14: Women tweet photos of when they were age of Moores accuser

But when asked by reporters on Tuesday if having an alleged molester in the Senate was preferable to seating a Democrat, the president pointed to Moores denials.

Well, he denies it, Trump said. Look, he denies it.

He says it didnt happen, and you know, you have to listen to him also, the president added.

Trump did not rule out campaigning for Moore before the special election on Dec. 12.

Trumps support for Moore is also at odds with one of his closest advisers in the West Wing: his daughter.

When asked about the claims against Moore last week, Ivanka Trump said there was a special place in hell for people who prey on children. She added: Ive yet to see a valid explanation and I have no reason to doubt the victims accounts. Her comments were used in a campaign ad by Jones.

The president himself has faced more than a dozen allegations of various forms of misconduct, with most of the women coming forward during last years campaign. The October 2016 release of an Access Hollywood tape revealed that Trump bragged in 2005 that he could grope and forcibly kiss women without their consent. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders has said the administrations position is that all of Trumps accusers are lying.

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Washington (AFP) - The Islamic State group may be on the run from its last bastion in Syria but the United States is gearing up for a longer stay in the country.

And if US forces are to counter Iranian and Russian influence as Syria struggles to emerge from civil war, they will need Turkey's help.

But Washington's relations with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's testy government have been strained of late, posing a diplomatic challenge.

So when US President Donald Trump called his counterpart Friday, he needed to make a significant gesture -- and he seems to have delivered.

Tensions remain high, but Trump's apparent promise not to send any more weapons to the YPG Syrian Kurdish militia was a key concession to Ankara.

Without it, a major NATO ally might have moved closer to Iran and Russia, who are battling to save Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime.

Some in Washington and the region may see it as a betrayal of a battlefield ally that was instrumental in capturing the IS capital Raqa.

But the Kurds now have the strength to hold their own in northeastern Syria, and Washington is turning to the bigger picture.

"We can't operate in the long term in Syria without Turkish bases and Turkish airspace and to some degree Turkish diplomatic support," said former US ambassador James Jeffrey.

"So that's what the call is all about," Jeffrey, a former senior US national security adviser and envoy to both Ankara and Baghdad, told AFP in Washington.

Syria has been ensnared in civil war between Assad and an array of armed groups since 2011, and the chaos allowed IS to seize part of the east.

US commanders mobilized a coalition -- including the YPG -- to take on the jihadists, and the Kurdish Syrian fighters were in the vanguard when Raqa fell last month.

Turkey, a NATO ally, was nominally part of the US-led coalition, but in led its own intervention into northern Syria, battling extremists but also the Kurdish forces.

Story continues

The YPG is an offshoot of the same movement as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is waging a separatist insurgency inside Turkey.

- Driving Erdogan crazy -

According to Jeffrey, who as a fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy is still in touch with senior Turkish figures, "nothing drives Erdogan more crazy" than US backing for the YPG.

But at the same time, Ankara and Washington share an interest in countering Russia and Iran's influence in Syria and in shaping the country's future as peace talks loom.

After Friday's call, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Trump had promised arms supplies would halt and "essentially he said this nonsense should have been ended earlier."

The White House was less explicit, but confirmed Trump "informed President Erdogan of pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria."

The White House also underlined that both leaders had discussed the importance of the upcoming United Nations-backed Syrian peace talks due to start next week in Geneva.

This is important because Turkey is now also party to a parallel and potentially rival political process being conducted under Russian auspices in the Kazakh capital Astana.

On Wednesday, Erdogan met presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Hassan Rouhani of Iran -- Assad's key allies -- in the Russian resort of Sochi, to discuss both sets of talks.

This could explain the timing of Friday's call, explained former Turkish member of parliament Aykan Erdemir, in an interview with AFP.

"There seems to be a greater convergence between NATO ally Turkey's Syria policy and Russia and Iran's Syria policy," said Erdemir, a scholar at US think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

In the early years of the Syrian conflict, Erdogan like then US president Barack Obama was rhetorically a staunch foe of Assad, despite frequent US-Turkish diplomatic spats.

But Russia's dramatic military intervention and steadily more powerful Iranian support saved the Syrian strongman's regime, and both Ankara and Washington confront a new reality.

For Erdemir, Erdogan is edging towards accepting that Assad's regime will cling on in some form, and is seeking a tactical accommodation with Moscow and Tehran.

He noted Turkey had allowed Assad to fly across its airspace for talks with Putin in Russia -- while Russian military transports brought war supplies in the other direction.

"Erdogan recently referred to Assad as the central administration, the central government in Syria, and many saw that as a landmark statement," he said.

- Radical U-turns -

But he predicted the shift would not last; Erdogan has much invested in painting Assad as a war criminal, and Russian forces will eventually want to edge Turkish troops out of Syria.

"I have serious doubts about the sustainability of Erdogan's game with Iran and Russia," he said, describing Turkish foreign policy in recent years as "a series of radical U-turns."

It might not yet be a U-turn, but after Trump's called Jeffrey said: "Are we better off now than we were 24 hours ago with the Turks? Probably."

Last week, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stirred surprise when he announced US military presence in Syria would remain even after the Islamic State's defeat.

"We are going to make sure we set the conditions for a diplomatic solution," he said.

The solution Washington seeks would ideally lead to an elected government -- without Assad -- in Damascus, despite the effort invested by Iran and Russia to protect him.

But if that proves impossible, the priority will be stability and curtailing Iran's growing power.

To wield influence, the US will need the longer-standing military presence that Mattis envisages -- and to maintain that, Turkish support.

Turkey, for Jeffrey, is posing Washington a legitimate question: "We want a policy. What is your policy?"

Washington is now, perhaps, moving closer to an answer.
By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Saturday there would be repercussions for U.S.-Pakistan relations unless Islamabad took action to detain and charge a newly freed Islamist accused of masterminding a 2008 assault in Mumbai, India. A Pakistani court ordered the release on Wednesday of Hafiz Saeed, who was put under house arrest in January after years of living freely in Pakistan, one of the sore points in its fraying relationship with the United States. His freedom had also infuriated its arch-foe India. The White House on Saturday urged Pakistan to arrest Saeed, calling for him to be prosecuted over the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including Americans. "If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation," the White House said in a statement. This is the first time the United States has acknowledged that the recent decision could have an impact on relations between the two countries, who are allies but view each other with suspicion. Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks in which 10 gunmen attacked targets in India's largest city, including two luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a train station in a rampage that lasted several days. The violence brought nuclear-armed neighbors Pakistan and India to the brink of war. The United States had offered a $10 million bounty for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). Members say the JuD is a charity but the United States says it is a front for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group. The White House said Pakistan's failure to charge Saeed sent a "a deeply troubling message about Pakistans commitment to (combating) international terrorism." It added that it also was counter to Pakistan's claim that it did not provide sanctuary to militants. President Donald Trump has accused Pakistan of harboring agents of chaos and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a U.S.-backed government in Kabul. Pakistan argues that it has done a great deal to help the United States in tracking down terrorists. U.S. official expressed hope that relations between the two countries could improve after a kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their three children were freed in Pakistan in October, after the couple was abducted in neighboring Afghanistan. Michael Kugelman, of the Woodrow Wilson Center think tank in Washington, said he did not expect an imminent change in relations between the two countries, but Saeed's release would be a critical point for Washington as it considers it options. "This could move the U.S. closer to adapting a largely symbolic but nonetheless major punitive step - the revocation of Pakistan's non-NATO ally status, which would be a big reputational blow for Pakistan," Kugelman said. Pakistan won major non-NATO ally status in 2004 from the George Bush administration, in what was at the time seen in part as recognition of its importance in the U.S. battle against al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents. Non-NATO ally status is a designation given by the U.S. government to close allies who have a strategic working relationship with U.S. Armed Forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Susan Thomas)
By Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Saturday there would be repercussions for U.S.-Pakistan relations unless Islamabad took action to detain and charge a newly freed Islamist accused of masterminding a 2008 assault in Mumbai.

A Pakistani court ordered the release on Wednesday of Hafiz Saeed, who was put under house arrest in January after years of living freely in Pakistan, one of the sore points in its fraying relationship with the United States. His freedom had also infuriated its arch-foe India.

The White House on Saturday urged Pakistan to arrest Saeed, calling for him to be prosecuted over the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including Americans.

"If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation," the White House said in a statement.

This is the first time the United States has acknowledged that the recent decision could have an impact on relations between the two countries, who are allies but view each other with suspicion.

Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks in which 10 gunmen attacked targets in India's largest city, including two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a train station in a rampage that lasted several days.

The violence brought nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India to the brink of war.

The United States had offered a $10 million bounty for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). Members say the JuD is a charity but the United States says it is a front for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group.

The White House said Pakistan's failure to charge Saeed sent a "a deeply troubling message about Pakistans commitment to (combating) international terrorism." It added that it also was counter to Pakistan's claim that it did not provide sanctuary to militants.

Story continues

President Donald Trump has accused Pakistan of harbouring agents of chaos and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a U.S.-backed government in Kabul.

Pakistan argues that it has done a great deal to help the United States in tracking down terrorists.

U.S. official expressed hope that relations between the two countries could improve after a kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their three children were freed in Pakistan in October, after the couple was abducted in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Michael Kugelman, of the Woodrow Wilson Center think tank in Washington, said he did not expect an imminent change in relations between the two countries, but Saeed's release would be a critical point for Washington as it considers it options.

"This could move the U.S. closer to adapting a largely symbolic but nonetheless major punitive step - the revocation of Pakistan's non-NATO ally status, which would be a big reputational blow for Pakistan," Kugelman said.

Pakistan won major non-NATO ally status in 2004 from the George Bush administration, in what was at the time seen in part as recognition of its importance in the U.S. battle against al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents.

Non-NATO ally status is a designation given by the U.S. government to close allies who have a strategic working relationship with U.S. Armed Forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Susan Thomas)
London (AFP) - Britain will decide on the Irish border issue only once talks about its post-Brexit arrangements with the European Union are under way, trade minister Liam Fox reiterated Sunday.

The British government's insistence on the stance is increasingly at odds with Irish demands for guarantees, ahead of a mid-December summit when EU leaders will decide if Brexit talks can move on to trade.

The impasse threatens to scupper hopes in London that "sufficient progress" has been made on the border, as well as citizens' rights and its divorce bill to leave the bloc, to move the negotiations into the next phase.

"We don't want there to be a hard border but the UK is going to be leaving the customs union and the single market," Fox, a leading Brexiteer in the Cabinet, said on television.

"But we can't get a final answer to the Irish question until we get an idea of the end state -- and until we get into discussions with the EU on the end state that will be very difficult."

He added: "So the quicker we can do that the better."

Fox's comments came as Phil Hogan, the Irish Republic's EU agriculture commissioner, restated his country's threat to block Brexit talks progress unless it receives firm assurances of no hard border on the island.

Ireland has urged Britain -- or just Northern Ireland -- to remain within the single market or customs union, which Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly ruled out.

Hogan told a British Sunday newspaper that May's ministers had "blind faith" in reaching a comprehensive free trade deal, and warned Dublin would "continue to play tough to the end" over the border.

Arlene Foster, the leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party -- which props up May's minority Conservative government in Westminster -- also weighed in, saying her party opposed any internal trade barrier within the UK. She also accused the Irish government of intransigence.

Meanwhile John McDonnell, Britain's shadow chancellor, said he was "worried" by Fox's comments and remaining in the customs union or single market should remain an option.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 01:21:14|Editor: yan

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TRIPOLI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Many Libyans feel frustrated over the repeated failures of political factions to amend the political agreement, agreeing that a state of despair and frustration was caused by the procrastination of the political parties to end successive crisis of Libya.

Many Libyans spoke of their stance on the recent failure of the negotiations to amend the political agreement.

Ibtisam Al-Tarhouni, a 28-year-old law student at the University of Tripoli, believes that politicians have not achieved their interests in recent negotiation rounds.

Therefore, they rejected any efforts for amendment of the agreement and adopt a UN road map to resolve the crisis.

"Most of the participants in the amendments to the agreement, whether from the House of Representatives or the Higher Council of State, believed that the amendment would ensure their continuation on power in Libya.

However, they felt that the amendment would exclude some individuals and reduce powers of some parties. Their hopes have dissipated and the state of division returned," she explained.

Al-Tarhouni pointed out that all Libyans agreed that the reason for the continued political division is the existing parties, "which seek to continue to be in power, and unfortunately caused our frustration and made the solution seem far."

Al-Tarhouni considered that all alternatives to dialogue are scenarios of war and the continuation of chaos, "because there is no alternative to dialogue for all Libyans. They must learn that compromise for the sake of the country is a moral that should be adopted at these critical times."

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Libya, Ghassan Salame, in September proposed and action plan for Libya that includes amendment of the current UN-sponsored political agreement, holding a UN-sponsored national conference for all of Libya's political factions, adopting a constitution, and finally election of a president and a parliament.

Representatives of Libya's eastern-based Parliament and Tripoli-based Higher Council of State have recently held UN-sponsored negotiation meetings in Tunisia to amend the agreement.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a UN-proposed amendment.

However, the rival Higher Council of State rejected the amendment, announcing possibility of holding elections within six months to appoint a government of technocrats.

Libyan official TV journalist Waleed Mohammed said that the repeated failure of the negotiations to amend the political agreement "makes a large segment of Libyans in a state of discontent."

The UN-proposed formula states that the Presidential Council and the Government will continue to perform their functions until presidential elections are held, and that the Presidential Council shall consist of only one president and two deputies.

Ali Sweih, member of the Higher Council of State, stressed that the most important disagreement in the amendment of the political agreement is about the authority of the House of Representatives to choose the new presidential council.

"When we met in a formal session to vote on the proposals of amendment that we received from the UN envoy Salame, the biggest disagreement among the members of the Council was the House of Representatives authority to select members. This is an encroachment on our right to nominate Presidential Council members," Sweih told Xinhua.

"If the House of Representatives will do everything according to the proposal, then what is the role of the Higher Council of State in the agreement and implementation of its provisions?"

Sweih noted that the rejection of the Council "does not mean boycotting the rounds of the amendment. The Council seeks a balance with the House of Representatives in sharing tasks entrusted to them under Article 12 of the additional provisions of the agreement, which stipulates that the amendment must be authorized by the House of Representatives and the Council."

Sweih stressed the Council's commitment to dialogue and political solution "to bring together all parties. We sense of frustration of the people due to the failure to end the political division, which caused great problems at all levels."

House of Representatives member Abdalmen'em Balkour expects the House of Representatives and the Council to agree on the amendment of the agreement, "as the situation does not tolerate any political maneuvers or procrastination from any party."

"When the House of Representatives and the Council sat on the dialogue table despite the complete differences in their respective political visions, the aim was to end the crisis and overcome differences to accelerate the process of unifying institutions and solving the problems of the Libyans, and pay attention to the dangers that beset our country from all directions," Balkour told Xinhua.

Balkour called for a specific timetable to discuss all outstanding issues in the agreement, "and not to compromise and waste time, because we lost a lot and we must compensated, in light of the continued chaos and lawlessness."
Pakistan-US ties could be affected if Islamabad does not act to rearrest and prosecute a mastermind of the deadly siege in India's Mumbai nearly a decade ago, the White House warned on Saturday.

The statement came three days after a Pakistani court ordered the release of Hafiz Saeed, who heads the UN-listed terrorist group Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and has a $10 million US bounty on his head.

Saeed's freedom came despite months of pressure by Washington on Islamabad over its alleged support for militants.

Freeing him "belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists," President Donald Trump's press secretary said in a statement.

"If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation," the statement said.

Saeed had been under house arrest since January following a government crackdown on JuD, but a spokesman for his party said authorities had failed to provide evidence.

Trump seeks "a constructive relationship with Pakistan, but expects decisive action against militant and terrorist groups on Pakistani soil that are a threat to the region," the White House said.

"The release of Saeed is a step in the wrong direction."

On Friday the US State Department expressed deep concern at Saeed's release and called for him to be arrested and charged.

Six Americans were among 166 people killed in 2008 during the three-day siege in Mumbai when gunmen who arrived by sea sparked battles with Indian commandos.

The drama, played out on live television around the world, nearly brought nuclear-armed enemies India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

JuD is considered by the US and India to be a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the militant group blamed for the attack on India's financial capital.

In October, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington is concerned that extremist groups are threatening the "stability and security" of the Pakistani government.

Story continues

Trump has accused Islamabad of harboring "agents of chaos" who could attack US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Washington and Kabul have long accused Islamabad of supporting Afghan militants including the Taliban. They are believed to have links to Pakistan's shadowy military establishment.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied the charge.

Saeed's party says he has no links to terrorism, and his spokesman said he was placed under house arrest for talking about the rights of people in the disputed Kashmir region.
Pakistani security forces clash with protesters after security forces launched a crackdown on Saturday - Anadolu

Violent clashes broke out in cities across Pakistan on Saturday after police moved to clear out a sit-in protest by hardline Islamists in the capital Islamabad.

Several thousand protesters from the little-known Tehreek-i-Labaik have brought the city to a virtual standstill since November 6 and armed police and paramilitary units moved to disperse them on Saturday morning.

But the confrontation quickly turned violent as security forces fired teargas and rubber bullets and the protesters tore through the streets setting fire to police cars.

At least six people were killed in the clashes in Islamabad and 139 people were wounded, mostly from the security forces, according to hospital officials.

The violence spread to several other Pakistani cities as other demonstrators took to the streets in solidarity with the Islamabad sit-in.

Protesters gather next to burning police vehicles after setting on fire them during clashes in Islamabad Credit: AP Photo/Anjum Naveed

Hospital officials said at least 139 people had been wounded, mostly security forces. In Karachi at least nine people were injured after 200 demonstrators blocked a major road. Clashes were also reported in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, and several smaller towns throughout the country.

The Islamist demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Zahid Hamid, the justice minister, after his ministry made a slight change to an oath that Pakistanis must swear in order to get a passport or run for office.

The oath declares that the spiritual leader of the Ahmadi movement, a Muslim minority group, is a false prophet. The change to the oath, which was quickly reversed, downgraded its opening from I solemnly declare to I believe.

A Pakistani police officer aims his gun towards the protesters during a clash in Islamabad, Pakistan Credit: AP Photo/Anjum Naveed

The Ahmadi are widely discriminated against in Pakistan and hardline Islamists took the tweak to be a sign that the government was softening its position against them.

Javed Latif, a government MP, told The Telegraph that his home had been attacked by the demonstrators. Other MPs have also reportedly been attacked.

Pakistans politically beleaguered has been hesitant to take on the Islamists for fear of sparking violent confrontations. Police suspended their operations in Islamabad after the clashes spiraled out of control.
Matt Duchene scored his first goal for the Ottawa Senators in Saturdays loss to the New York Islanders. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Throughout his first seven contests with his new team, all Matt Duchene saw were goose eggs.

But the 26-year-old finally got on the board with an Ottawa Senators logo his chest Saturday night versus the New York Islanders when he collected a Mark Stone shot from the slot and banged it in from the doorstep.

That reaction? Unmistakable relief.

It broke an eight-game goalless drought for Duchene that dated back to his final few days with the Colorado Avalanche. He was pointless with a minus-10 rating while averaging 17:26 time on ice in his first seven games with Ottawa.

However as one streak of ineptitude was broken, another continued on. Duchenes tally was too little too late to prevent Ottawa from dropping its sixth straight contest, 2-1 on home ice.

More NHL coverage on Yahoo Sports:
JuJu Smith-Schuster will be sideline support on Sunday night (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Even with three games already out of the way, theres a lot to discuss. Lets go through our Saturday status walk-through.

 JuJu Smith-Schuster (hamstring) is out for Sunday nights home showcase against Green Bay, which opens up Martavis Bryant as a lottery ticket. Bryants never been a reliable floor player, but theres plenty of plausible upside here. Vance McDonald (ankle) is also a scratch, which slightly pushes up the Jesse James projection.

 Rishard Matthews (hamstring) didnt practice Friday, making him a risky play against the Colts. If you wanted to talk yourself into Corey Davis or Eric Decker, you have more to work with.

 Devonta Freeman (concussion) is out for another week, which means the world will be on Tevin Coleman. Terron Ward, a solid player in his own right, figures to get about a third of the work. Julio Jones (ankle/knee) was removed from the injury report.

 Kelvin Benjamin (knee) was ruled out Saturday, after missing a full week of practice. Given how new he is to the Buffalo organization, Id be surprised if he made a notable fantasy impact the rest of the year. Jordan Matthews (knee) and Charles Clay (knee) are both expected to play at Kansas City, though theyre listed as questionable. Mike Tolbert (hamstring) will not play.

 Matt Forte (knee) had a limited workout Friday and might play against the Panthers. Im not going to risk a thing on him.

 Matt Moore picks up the start at New England, with Jay Cutler coming back from a concussion. Moores been known to lock in on Kenny Stills, for whatever that matters to you. Jarvis Landry has a strong volume history against the Pats, in part because New England isnt concerned about death by 1,000 cuts.

[Week 12 fantasy rankings: Overall | PPR | QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | FLEX | DST]

 Dontrelle Inman (groin) had a full Friday workout after two partial days. Looks like hell play at Philadelphia.

 Jacoby Brissett is out of the concussion protocol and is cleared to start against Tennessee. Hes a solid QB2 for those in hybrid or Superflex formats.

Story continues

 The Mike Davis backpats can stop for a moment  hes dealing with a groin injury and is unlikely to play against San Francisco. If I had to use any Seahawks back, Id roll the dice with J.D. McKissic. Jimmy Graham (ankle) missed two practices, but is expected to play through the questionable tag.

 Ty Montgomery (ribs) is unlikely to go Sunday night against Pittsburgh. Aaron Jones (knee) is already out, which means Jamaal Williams is the likely starter. The Steelers are 15-point favorites, so the Packers could be forced to junk the running game early.

 Will Fuller (ribs) is expected to miss another week, and looks like a reasonable cut in most leagues. Bruce Ellington has been running as a regular for three weeks.

 Martellus Bennett (hamstring/shoulder) probably wont play against Miami. New England has plenty of depth either way. Chris Hogan (shoulder) remains week-to-week.

 The Jaguars are missing Allen Hurns (ankle) and Jalen Ramsey (hand) for their inter-conference match against Arizona. Perhaps WR Dede Westbrook will take a step forward in his second start; youd expect Patrick Peterson to follow Marqise Lee around. John Brown (toe) is out for the Cardinals.

 George Kittle (ankle) has been practicing all week and should play against Seattle. C.J. Beathard is set to start again, much to the chagrin of the Jimmy Garoppolo public.

 Jameis Winston (shoulder) remains week-to-week. The Bucs are probably better off with a healthy Ryan Fitzpatrick over a dinged Winston.

 Although the Rams are without Robert Woods, ostensibly their best receiver this year, the Saints are missing their two starting cornerbacks, Marshon Lattimore and Ken Crawley. Advantage, Rams.

 Philadelphia PK Jake Elliott made it through the concussion protocol and is expected to play against Chicago.
Amazing cat sanctuary A cat relaxes in the shade at the Lanai Cat Sanctuary in Hawaii. (Photo: Andrew Marttila/Caters News)

This Hawaiian cat sanctuary has created an incredible island paradise for the states stray cats. Although most people would take a trip to one of the Hawaiian Islands many heavenly sights, Andrew Marttila, 32, and his partner, Hannah Shaw, 30, wanted to visit something more unusual. They decided to take a trip to the Lanai Cat Sanctuary, which is currently home to more than 500 felines. (Caters News)

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Harare (AFP) - Once Robert Mugabe's fiercest supporters, independence war veterans played a key role in ousting him,proving they still wield influence in Zimbabwe which only threw off colonial rule in 1980.

Mugabe's reign was built on support from three pillars -- ZANU-PF party, the military and the war veterans -- and their hardening stance against him in recent years was a bellwether of his downfall on Tuesday.

Last weekend, after the army took control, the war veterans rallied tens of thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans to join street protests against Mugabe in a sudden outpouring of public will.

"Our relationship with Mugabe had irretrievably broken down," Victor Matemadanda, secretary general of the Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association, told AFP.

"We entered into a marriage, then problems started and we opted out."

War veterans' leader Christopher Mutsvangwa led the hardening rhetoric against Mugabe, threatening to march on his private residence.

Just before the president stepped down, Mutsvangwa called further street protests, telling him "Smell the coffee. Your time is up.".

The war veterans now have their favoured candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa as president, and he was careful to mention them in his inauguration speech on Friday.

- Violent mobs -

Veterans of the 1972-1979 independence war accuse Mugabe and his wife Grace of betraying their liberation struggle and enjoying extravagant, corrupt lives while former soldiers were left destitute.

"The first couple's conduct was the last straw and we rallied the people to come together and unequivocally denounce that," said Matemadanda.

For the war veterans, the idea of styling themselves as defenders of freedom sits uneasily with much of their history as enforcers in Mugabe's regime.

They were the shock troops of Mugabe's violent election campaigns, especially in 2008, and were often implicated in the beating, intimidation and even killing of opposition supporters.

Story continues

Starting in 2000, they also led the violent campaign to seize white-owned farm in what Mugabe encouraged as a correction of the British colonial legacy of black people having only small areas of poor-quality land.

Often drunk or on drugs, mobs of "war veterans" -- who have always included many activists too young to have actually fought in the war -- attacked farmers and labourers with machetes and axes, with the president's support.

- Grace's enemies -

But the relations between Mugabe and the veterans soured as Grace became more active in politics and emerged as a possible next president.

Grace, backed by her younger "G-40" supporters, pushed them off the top table, and they found themselves no longer a priority for Mugabe's largesse and patronage.

In a landmark moment in 2016, they issued an angry rebuke of Mugabe, decrying his "dictatorial tendencies" and withdrawing their support for his 2018 re-election bid.

"They came to realise that they had been used as political storm-troopers for Mugabe and ZANU-PF -- and yet their real role was to take sides with the people and be as neutral as possible politically," said independent political analyst Alois Masepe.

"They realised their error and apologised and I am hoping this new awakening is permanent even under a new leader."

Mnangagwa still holds onto his wartime name of "The Crocodile", and the veterans believe his rise to power means they have regained their place in the country's power structure.

"We want to continue to play the role of protectors of the revolution and be with the people," said Matemadanda.
Reservist friends of the owner of an illegally built carpentry shop set for demolition in the settlement Netiv Ha'avot sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this weekend saying they plan to help their friend rebuild.

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In four months, the state is scheduled to demolish 15 structures in the settlement after the High Court of Justice ruled they were built illegally, some on privately-owned Palestinian land.

The carpentry shop, owned by IDF reservist Tzvi Aharonovich, was not included in the High Court ruling on the 15 houses, but in a different ruling, and it is expected to be demolished even before that.

Aharonovich's carpentry shop (Photo: Netiv Ha'avot Struggle HQ)

Some youth have already decided to barricade themselves in the carpentry shop, while Aharonovich's army friend decided to join the protest by sending a letter to Netanyahu and to Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

"We, team members in Tzvi Aharonovich's reservist unit, finished active service and training on Israel's southern border with Tzvi this week," the soldiers wrote. "While on reserve duty, we were shocked to learn of the state's plans to demolish the carpentry shop, which is Tzvi's livelihood."

"Without going into the political or legal argument, we were taught never to abandon friends and never to leave wounded soldiers in the field," they continued. "If the carpentry shop in Netiv Ha'aVot in Gush Etzion is demolished, we will rebuild it immediately ourselves. We won't abandon Tzvi and his family and leave them without livelihood."

Aharonovich's reservist friends (Photo: Netiv Ha'avot Struggle HQ)

Last August, following the protest of Netiv Ha'avot settlers, the prime minister's chief of staff Yoav Horowitz held a meeting with their representatives and with the head of the Gush Etzion Council, Shlomo Ne'eman. Among other things, the sides discussed possible solutions to prevent the demolition of the 15 homes, scheduled for March 2018.

In October, the Civil Administration approved a temporary solution, according to which the residents would move to a nearby plot for three years. The settlers said at the time the temporary solution was not enough.
The Likud Party is working on promoting two legislative initiatives concerning work on Shabbat in an apparent effort to prevent further escalation in the crisis with the Haredi parties in the wake of Health Minister Yaakov Litzman's (United Torah Judaism) resignation

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The first bill proposal seeks to give the interior minister the authority to cancel municipal bylaws as part of Interior Minister Aryeh Deri's (Shas) ongoing struggle against municipalities, primarily Tel Aviv, which allow the opening of convenience stores on the Jewish day of rest.

The second bill proposal, by MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ), is an amendment to the Hours of Work and Rest Law to bar work on Shabbat completely.

Train construction work done on Shabbat (Photo: Ofer Meir)

This proposal, which is already on the Knesset's agenda, is titled "Consideration for Israel's tradition."

The 1951 Hours of Work and Rest Law forbids the employing of workers on the weekly day of rest. However, article 12 of the law determines the labor minister can permit the employing of a worker during the weekly hours of rest, or part of them, if he is convinced stopping the work might hurt national security or the safety of people or property, or cause considerable damage to the economy, the work process or to providing needs the labor minister deems to be vital to the public or part of it.

According to the bill proposal, the current wording of the law does not instruct the minister to take into consideration offense caused to the public or Israel's tradition. The proposal therefore calls on the minister to consider these factors "as much as possible."

Likud is planning to approve at least one of these proposals at the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday.

While the Likud Party is determined to promote these bills to prevent the Haredi parties from quitting the coalition, other members of the coalitionincluding the Yisrael Beytenu Party and even some of the Likud's ministershave raised objections.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 01:26:16|Editor: Yamei

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People attend the burial of a mosque attack's victim in Bir al-Abed of North Sinai, Egypt, on Nov. 25, 2017. The death toll in a terrorist attack on a mosque on Friday in Egypt's North Sinai has risen to 305, including 27 children, and 128 others were wounded, state news agency MENA reported on Saturday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

ANKARA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkey announced on Sunday that Monday would be a day of national mourning for the deadly terror attack in Egypt's Sinai, which killed more than 300 people.

Flags will fly at half-mast at Turkish representations in the country and abroad, the Prime Ministry declared in a written statement.

At least 305 people were killed and more than 100 others injured when attackers bombed a mosque in the town of Bir al-Abed in North Sinai and opened fire on fleeing worshipers on Friday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag as well as other senior officials condemned the terror attack and offered their condolences to the Egyptian people.
An explosion in a port city south of Shanghai on Sunday killed two people and injured at least 30 others as it knocked down buildings and left streets littered with damaged cars and debris, the government and news reports said.

The early morning explosion struck a riverfront neighborhood in Ningbo, one of China's busiest ports, the official Xinhua News Agency and other outlets reported. Xinhua said it occurred at a factory but a police statement said the cause was under investigation. Two people were killed and two more seriously injured, the district office announced on its social media account. It gave no details of the deaths. At least 30 others were taken to hospitals, according to Huanqiu.com, a website operated by the newspaper Global Times. It gave no details of their injuries.

China suffers frequent deadly fires and industrial accidents, often blamed on negligence.
A human rights official in the Mexican state of Jalisco was found alive Saturday, a day after his apparent kidnapping generated worries about the safety of rights workers in the country.

A statement from Mexico's National Human Rights Commission called the news "encouraging," adding that the investigation into what happened would continue. The statement did not name the official or provide details of how he was found.

Authorities said gunmen stopped the official on Friday as he was driving to the offices of the state rights commission and apparently kidnapped him.
The deputy head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned Europe that if it threatens Tehran, the Guards will increase the range of missiles to above 2,000 kilometers, the Fars news agency reported on Saturday.

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At present, Iran has one of the Middle East's largest missile programs and some of its precision-guided missiles have the range to strike Israel.

France has called for 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.

Iranian Raad missile

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Iran has repeatedly said its missile program is defensive and non-negotiable.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei (Photo: Reuters)

"If we have kept the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometers, it's not due to lack of technology. (...) We are following a strategic doctrine," Brigadier General Hossein Salami said, according to Fars.

"So far we have felt that Europe is not a threat, so we did not increase the range of our missiles. But if Europe wants to turn into a threat, we will increase the range of our missiles," he added.

Iranian army Brig. Gen. Salami (Photo: AP)

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards military force, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said last month that Iran's 2,000-kilometer missile range could cover "most of American interest and forces" within the region, so Iran did not need to extend it.

Jafari said the ballistic missile range was based on the limits set by the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the head of armed forces.

'Political and spiritual support'

The United States accused Iran this month of supplying Yemen's Houthi rebels with a missile that was fired into Saudi Arabia in July and called for the United Nations to hold Tehran accountable for violating two UN Security Council resolutions.

Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with missiles and weapons.

Yemen is in total blockade. How could we have given them any missile?" Salami said, according to the Fars report on Saturday. "If Iran can send a missile to Yemen, it shows the incapability of (the Saudi coalition). But we have not given them missiles.

Salami said the Houthis managed to increase the range and precision of their missiles in a "scientific breakthrough."

Jafari, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, said on Thursday that Iran only provides advisory and spiritual assistances to the Houthis.

Iran long denied sending fighters to Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad in the fight against the rebels, and said the Revolutionary Guards' presence on the ground was advisory

In what seemed to be a correction of Jafari's comments, Salami said on Saturday that Iran's support for the Houthis was "political and spiritual."

The United States has imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, saying its missile tests violate a UN resolution that calls on Tehran not to undertake activities related to missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

The United States says Iran's missile programme is a breach of international law because the missiles could carry nuclear warheads in the future.

Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear programme is for civilian uses only.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation was scheduled to discuss Sunday at least two bill proposals concerning work on Shabbat in an apparent effort to prevent further escalation in the crisis with the ultra-Orthodox parties, but Likud officials refused to promote these legislative initiatives.

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The first bill proposal seeks to give the interior minister the authority to cancel municipal bylaws as part of Interior Minister Aryeh Deri's (Shas) ongoing struggle against municipalities, primarily Tel Aviv, which allow the opening of convenience stores on the Jewish day of rest.

The second bill proposal, by MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ), is an amendment to the Hours of Work and Rest Law to bar work on Shabbat completely by instructing the labor minister, who has the authority to permit work on Shabbat, to consider "Israel's tradition" in his decision.

UTJ leader Litzman, PM Netanyahu and Shas leader Deri (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, AP)

Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is due to hand in his resignation in response to train works done on Shabbat on Sunday, and these legislative initiatives were supposed to soften the blow, preventing the two Haredi parties Shas and Litzman's United Torah Judaism from quitting the coalition and essentially bringing down the government.

But Likud officials, who don't wish to be seen as caving in to Haredi demands, instructed Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who heads the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, not to put the bills up for discussion.

Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry is working to amend the law to allow Litzman to serve as deputy health minister with a minister's authorities.

Up until two years ago, Litzman served as a deputy minister with ministerial powers, a common arrangement made in order to allow members of United Torah Judaism to be part of coalition governments without being full government members. The reason for this arrangement is seemingly the unwillingness by members of United Torah Judaism to take part in government decisions, some of which are contrary to their world view.

But the High Court of Justice ruled in 2015 that Litzman cannot remain a deputy minister with ministerial powers, determining this arrangement to be illegal, and forcing him to become a full member of the government.

The new bill being pushed by the Justice Ministry would amend Basic Law: The Government, allowing the prime minister to grant ministerial authorities even to those who serve as deputy ministers.
The IDF, Shin Bet, Israel Police and Border Police arrested six suspects in the West Bank overnight Saturday.

Three are accused of involvement in terror activities and violent rioting. The suspects were brought in for interrogation.
The IDF will carry out a large military exercise in southern Israel this week that will conclude on Thursday.

The IDF Spokesman's Office said that as part of the exercise, there will be increased helicopter activity in the area and that the drill was planned in advance.
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) tendered his letter of resignation on Sunday morning over government-approved train works done on Shabbat, bringing to an end the first time a Hasidic, ultra-Orthodox leader has led a ministry in decades.

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While Litzman quit his ministerial position, he remains in the Knesset and his party remains in the coalition government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he will serve as acting-health minister for the time being. The Justice Ministry is working to amend the law to allow Litzman to serve as deputy health minister with a minister's authorities after a 2015 High Court ruling that found such an arrangement to be illegal.

Train work carried out on Shabbat (:  )

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Acting at the behest of his leader, Acting at the behest of his leader, Hasidic Ger Rebbe Yaakov Aryeh Alter, Litzman said Sunday the train work "goes against Halacha and the status quo," and he is therefore left with no choice but to resign.

"Throughout the generations, we knew we were protected by Shabbat, we knew it was the root of the covenant between the people of Israel and G-d. Unfortunately, Israel Railways has recently made Shabbat into 'National Renovation Day': they needlessly do all their renovations on Shabbat," he said.

"All over the world, trains work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without closing train stations, there is never any need to mess up traffic," said Litzman, who sidestepped the fact that it is the Haredi bloc in the government that stops public transport from running on weekends. "Only here they do this (work on Shabbat) out of spite."

Litzman (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

Litzman stressed that railway work had not always been done on Shabbat. "I'm disappointed I couldn't stop the desecration of Shabbat. Shabbat is precious to us all."

Referring to reports he was ordered to resign by his religious leader, Rebbe Alter, Litzman noted the two are nevertheless in agreement over the decision. "I'm an emissary of Torah's greatest scholars, not of politicians, not of anyone. I did what I was instructed to do, what I think is right to do," he insisted.

"The Holy Shabbat is the national day of rest, and we have been taught to safeguard against Shabbat's desecration. Sadly, and with great pain, due to government work that has been carried out in public by Israel Railways for a long time now, I have decided to resign from my position as health minister. I cannot take ministerial responsibility for the public, state-condoned desecration of Shabbat, in opposition to the Jewish people's sacred values, status quo and coalition agreement," Litzman declared.

"I'm happy for the privilege I had to promote and improve Israel's health system," added Litzman. "I acted in every way to benefit those who are ill, without discriminating between populations and communities," said Litzman. "I resign with my head held high, with a sense of purpose, of merit and Jewish calling. I will continue to do all I can for the people of Israel, anywhere and in any way."

Railway work carried out on Shabbat (Photo: Roee Idan)

An UTJ official admitted that "if (the Shabbat train works) were done quietly, then there would've been another option. But if it is done in a public manner, there is no other option but resignation."

The official accused coalition chairman MK David Bitan (Likud) of "not realizing and not correctly assessing the extent of the crisis. We've been telling him for months: this is an ongoing issue, it's explosive, it's trouble. But Bitan and the Likud failed this test."

Despite the fact Litzman's party, United Torah Judaism, is not quitting the coalition, many Likud officials are worried the current political and public climate would cause irrevocable damage to the government. "Litzman's resignation is the beginning of the end," said one Likud minister. "The general feeling is that everything is falling apart."

Netanyahu: We're already working on a solution

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to Litzman's resignation on Sunday's government meeting, which was boycotted by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) in protest of Litzman's resignation.

"I am sorry for Minister Yaakov Litzman's decision to resign from the government. Litzman is an excellent health minister," Netanyahu said.

"Shabbat is important to us, as are the needs of all Israeli citizens who rely on safe and continuous public transportation. I believe we'll find an agreed upon solution, we're already working on one together," the prime minister added.

Netanyahu (Photo: Olivier Fitoussi)

While Sephardic Haredi goverment members, such as Shas's Aryeh Deri, have and do serve as ministers, there has not been an Ashkenazi minister in decades, until Litzman's recent tenure.

This was due to a religious decree by leading Ashkenazi rabbis that forbade its leaders from accepting a ministerial position, as it would formally mean they would support and take responsibility for all of the government's decisionsincluding such decisions that go against their beliefs, such as government-sanctioned works done on Shabbat.

Litzman was left with no choice but to take on the position of minister two years ago after the High Court of Justice ruled that the arrangement according to which he was a deputy minister with ministerial powers was illegal.

Infrastructural and maintenance work on the train done on Shabbat has long been a thorn in Litzman's side.

The current crisis surrounding weekend train works began two weeks ago. The Haredi parties felt the Israel Railways was not sensitive to their needs, leading Litzman to call Netanyahu and set an ultimatum: he would resign from the government if Shabbat train works continue.

As a last minute solution, it was decided last Friday to only have non-Jewish workers carry out the Shabbat works, but the Haredim did not consider this to be an acceptable permanent solution.

On Wednesday of this week, Haredi MKs threatened the coalition would be dismantled if non-vital train work is done on Shabbat. Following negotiations that lasted well into the night Wednesday and continued on Thursday morning between the Haredim, Labor Minister Haim Katz and the Israel Railways, it was indeed decided to greatly reduce works on the train this weekend in an effort to prevent further escalation of the political crisis.

Labor Minister Haim Katz (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

However, while the train work done during the weekend focused on the signaling system, on Saturday some works that are not considered "Pikuach Nefesh" were carried out, including electricity work on the new Jerusalem-Tel Aviv train line.

'IDF soldiers can take the bus'

Infrastructural, maintenance and construction work is regularly done by the Israel Railways on weekends to avoid inconveniencing passengers during the week.

During talks with Netanyahu's representatives last week to prevent Litzman's resignation, he appeared to not worry about inconveniencing passengers.

"They can start working on Thursday night, continue on Friday until Shabbat enters, and work from the end of Shabbat until Sunday morning," Litzman told the prime minister's chief of staff Yoav Horowitz on Wednesday.





(Photo: Ofer Meir)

"And what are the soldiers who take the train home on Friday going to do?" Horowitz asked.

"They can take the bus," Litzman replied.

Taking the bus makes the journey significantly longer, and often includes changing buses and long waits at bus stops.

While other participants in the discussions confirmed the comments, Litzman's office denied the report, saying: "The minister is not willing to harm train passengers, neither civilians nor soldiers. His only demand is to safeguard the holy Shabbat and to stop turning the Shabbat into the national day of renovations."

A move that could have toppled the government

Litzman's resignation is also a self-influcting wound, as he is said to greatly enjoy being health minister, a position for which he has received a great deal of praise.

Though at present it seems that UTJ is will remain in the coalition, if Litzman's Agudat Yisrael faction decides to resign from the government, it would almost certainly spell the same fate for Degel HaTorahthe Lithuanian and smaller faction within United Torah Judaism. Degel HaTorah's leader is Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, who, while considered more of a pragmatist, is over 100 and currently in the hospital in critical condition.

Since the political union between the two Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox factions in 1992, under the United Torah Judaism party, there has been no precedent where only one of the factions withdrew from the coalition.

The snowball effect could then continue, with Shasthe Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party in the coalition, which normally works in complete cooperation with UTJ on matters of religion and statealso resigning. In fact, Shas leader Aryeh Deri is reportedly furious with Litzman over the danger that his resignation might force both Shas to resign from the goverment.
After eight intense months and amid fierce opposition to the initiative, the first group of female tank combat recruits will complete their training in a week, and for the first time a female tank unit will patrol the border.

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The female tank fighters began their basic combat training in March together with the IDF's co-ed Caracal Battalion. Fifteen soldiers began basic training but two withdrew during the first week.

After basic training, the 13 remaining fighters transferred to the tank training base in Shizafon, southern Israel, and were divided into squads, each headed by a senior tank commander.

(Photo: Avihu Shapira)

Their training was conducted using the Merkava Mark III tank.

A senior Ground Forces officer explained the women's training was unlike the usual tank training (squad-platoon-company maneuvers) but rather focused on the basic tank roles. The reason being that the female soldiers will be stationed on Israel's peaceful borders and will not join the fighting IDF tank brigades.

He further explained that the female fighters will be defending Israel's southern borders, and in the event they will be required to return fire, it will be from stationary positions.

In the coming month, the 13 fighters will be absorbed into the IDF Southern Territorial Division and divided into three tank squads.

The IDF will then determine how well they are performing their assigned duties and whether the investment is worth it for the army. Only then will a decision be made whether to continue drafting women to the tank units.

In any case, the IDF stressed, even if the program is continued, there will be no female tank fighters in Lebanon and Gaza, nor will there be co-ed tanks but rather all-female tank squads.

Among the opponents to the project is Brig. Gen. (ret.) Avigdor Kahalani who argued that "There is no reason in the world to place women in the role of tank fighters, to storm the trenches with a 'knife between their teeth,' no reason whatsoever. There are sufficient men who will do the work."

Maj. Gen. (res.) Yiftach Ron-Tal expressed similar sentiments, saying that "the system has gone mad."
Everything is stuck. The past weekend proved we shouldnt expect a dramatic changeover in the Middle East anytime soon: The Russians have yet to curb the internal unrest in Syria, the Egyptians have been unsuccessful in pushing the Islamic State organization out of Sinai, and the Cairo talks revealed there is no real sign of reconciliation between the Palestinians.

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Its all just manipulations of the public opinion, wishful thinking, headlines that dont hold water, and empty documents, like the ones that came out of the Sochi summit about Syria and from the Palestinian factions summit in Cairo.

The Middle East is stuck in the same place, and bleeding. After people already eulogized ISIS and declared the Islamic States collapse in Syria and in Iraq, its members bathed northern Sinai with the blood of more than 300 Egyptian citizens over the weekend.

Friday's mosque attack in Sinai. Egypt created the impression that the elimination of the ISIS threat was already in the horizon (Photo: Reuters)

We have been hearing for weeks now that the blows ISIS suffered in Sinai and the agreements between Egypt and Hamas have weakened the terror group in the peninsula and cut its number of fighters by half. The Egyptians boasted of their work in the past year vis-a-vis the Bedouin tribes in Sinai, which included investments in infrastructure and in tourism and providing workplaces for the Bedouins in Egypt itself and in the Canal cities.

Egypt created the impression that eliminating the ISIS threat in Sinai was already on the horizon. On Friday, it turned out it was an optical illusion. The Egyptians didnt really change their national list of priorities and didn't really stop neglecting the remote province in Sinai.

Fridays massacre must serve as a wake-up call for the Egyptian authorities. Without recruiting the Sinai population for the fight, the Second Field Army will keep marking time and bleeding there for many years to come. Just like the Syrian army, the Russian army and their alliesthe Turks and the Iranianswill keep marking time in Syria in an effort to put out the fires of civil disobedience, jihadist movements and the Kurds.

The summit organized by President Vladimir Putin in Sochi last week with his two partners to the victory in SyriaTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhaniwas dubbed by some in the Russian media as the second Yalta Conference. In the first conference, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin Roosevelt and Russian Prime Minister Joseph Stalin divided Europe after World War II. Here they divided Syria. Vive la difference.

From left to right: Rouhani, Putin and Erdogan in Sochi last week. Conflicting interests wont allow an agreement (Photo: Reuters)

The results of the Sochi summit were a meaningless document, filled with words of bragging, declaring that the three leaders are hoping for UN-sponsored, democratic and transparent elections in Syriawhich goes to show that nothing realistic will come out of there. According to Russian sources, there were more disagreements than agreements there.

Additional meetings will be held in the near future between the foreign ministers and chiefs of staffs, who will try to come up with an acceptable plan that will serve the three parties interests. The meeting planned for this week between representatives of the Syrian tribes, which were supposed to reconcile with the Assad regime, was also postponed to late December.

At the same time, the Russians keep planting their feet in every place in the Middle East that they can find a foothold. Russian Foreign Intelligence Director Sergey Naryshkin paid a rare visit to the Palestinian Authority and to his counterparts in Israel over the weekend. What is he doing here? Where in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are the Russians trying to plant their feet?

The Cairo summit produced empty declarations as well. It was a conference between 11 Palestinian organizations discussing a position paper that was likely worded by the Egyptian intelligence services. None of the organizations signed the paper, and they arent committed to it in any event.

The purpose of the conference was to give a real push to the reconciliation process, with the cherry on the top being regular opening of the Rafah Crossing. That didnt happen. Just like the civil control of the Gaza Strip hasn't really been handed over to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. The announcement that came out of the summit about holding general elections in the PA by the end of 2018 isnt worth much either, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas can postpone it as much as he wants.

So whoever feared Russian-Iranian-sponsored peace and tranquility in Syria can calm down. There is no agreement in Syria, the Americans arent leaving yet, the partners to the victory have conflicting interests that wont allow an agreement leading to governmental stability, and the civil war will break out again. Those who were concerned about a Palestinian reconciliation agreement can heave a sigh of relief too.

Because of manipulations by political leaders and the illusion of a solution among the Palestinians in Gaza, Israel must prepare for the possibility of a violent outbreak, mainly from the strip, in light of the populations frustration and shattered expectations.

And in Sinai, as people here warned after it lost its territorial strongholds in Iraq and in Syria, ISIS will turn into a murderous organization that will mainly target civilians wherever it succeeds in planting cells and expanding.
Its allegedly an idiotic crisis, a whim of a rabbi who reached the train of time too late, a small intrigue in a detached Hassidic dynasty. Health Minister Yaakov Litzman has left in order to return . The Health Ministrys patients will keep getting sick, the trains will keep being late and the coalition will keep producing bills reeking of corruption.

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A prime minister is replaced in the ballot box, Benjamin Netanyahu has declared. A prime minister may be replaced in the ballot box, but he is kept in place through the Ger Rebbes ear. Thats why hes putting such a huge effort into Litzman.

We may find it amusing, but this is a significant crisis. It points to the historic change the ultra-Orthodox sector is going through. The ghetto walls are being cracked and are threatening to break open. What the external pressurefrom Yair Lapid and othershas failed to do is now being done by the internal pressure. We know the reasons: The growing population, the poverty, the idleness, the Internet access, the social media.

Litzman (L) and Deri. As young Haredim are peeking beyond the wall and adopting what they are finding, their politicians are growing weaker (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Young Haredim are peeking beyond the wall and adopting what they are finding there. One of the results is that the politicians are growing weaker. Litzman, Aryeh Deri, Moshe Gafni and their colleagues are torn between the expectations of their elderly rabbis and the expectations of the street, which are fueled by commercial websites like Behadrei Haredim and Kikar Hashabat and by the Haredi radio stations. The new Haredi world is populist, demagogic and verbally aggressive, and it is dragging the elderly rabbis along with it.

When the Haredim lived within the walls, their politicians focused on caring for the sector. In fact, they had a pact with the secular majority: Youll give us everything we need and let us surround ourselves with walls, exempt ourselves from duties and control our community, and well let you decide on everything else. Youre the secularsits your war, your peace, your economy, even your Shabbat. The emergence of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef , Shas spiritual leader, who was influential both within and outside the walls, was unusual. The Ashkenazi rabbis didnt follow in his footsteps.

But the street changed. Now it wants it both waysboth exaggerated sectorial benefits and an impact on the non-Haredi public domain. Both to receive an exemption from military service and to halt Israel Railways infrastructure work and close supermarkets on Shabbat. The fact that the current government is more generous towards the Haredim than any other government in the past only increases their appetite. The street isnt grateful to Netanyahu for what he has given. It sees and demands more.

This leads to an explosive collision, because non-Haredim have interests and an agenda and ballots too. If the infrastructure work isnt conducted on Shabbat, the train will be put out of service on Sunday, and the protest of soldiers unable to reach their bases will be reflected in their parents vote. The Likud party can afford to hand out money and jobs and enact personal laws, but when it comes to the train passengers protestit must be careful.

The Ger Rebbe doesnt usually meet with non-Haredi politicians, doesnt read any newspapers apart from Hamodia, doesnt watch television and doesnt surf the Web. A secular journalist has a better chance of reaching Ayatollah Khamenei than the Ger Rebbe.

If I could visit him, this is what I would tell him: Honorable rabbi, I know how distressing this is for you, but theres nothing you can do about itthe world is changing. Even the Saudis realized that and appointed as their crown prince a 32-year-old guy who has promised to carry out major reforms in the government, in the economy andmost importantlyin religious politics. The road you are taking wont preserve the walls and wont turn secular Israel into a halachic state. Youll get swept away in the flow.

From a political aspect, youre bringing about a national Likud government which will harm your sectorial privileges. From a historical aspect, youre lagging behind, and youre lagging there on your own, with Gods help. You should take that into account.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 01:26:17|Editor: yan

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ISLAMABAD, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Law Minister Zahid Hamid reportedly decided to resign following clashes between police and protesters triggered by a clearance operation, according to local reports on Sunday.

Hamid made the decision during his meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said the Express Tribune, adding that the law minister would tender his resignation to the prime minister on Monday.

Many other news channels also quoted sources as reporting that the minister is likely to resign shortly.

The Pakistani government last month passed a religion-related bill and triggered strong opposition from religious community. The government later retracted the bill, but some religious groups demanded the resignation of the law minister and staged the sit-in protest for almost three weeks.

The protesters blocked the main road linking Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The government took a clearance operation on Saturday after rounds of negotiations with the protesters. However, the operation triggered more protests in major cities across the country.

Local reports said that several were killed and over hundreds injured during Saturday's nationwide clashes.
The weekly coalition party leaders' meeting was canceled on Sunday after it was boycotted by the heads of the Haredi factionsShas leader Aryeh Deri United Torah Judaism leaders: newly resigned Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (of the larger, Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction) and MK Moshe Gafni (of the smaller, Lithuanian Degel HaTorah faction).

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Deri, Gafni and Litzman decided to boycott the party leaders' meeting after Litzman resigned his post as health minister over government-sanctioned train works done on Shabbat. Deri also boycotted the government meeting held earlier in the day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to cancel the meeting for the first time since the 34th government was sworn in. Instead, he plans to meet with each of the party leaders separately in the coming days and only then convene the coalition leaders' meeting.

Deri, Gafni, Litzman and Netanyahu (Photos: Alex Kolomoisky, Yoav Dudkevich, Reuters)

Acting at the behest of his leader, Hasidic Ger Rebbe Yaakov Aryeh Alter, Litzman said Sunday the train work "goes against Halacha and the status quo," and he is therefore left with no choice but to resign.

"Throughout the generations, we knew we were protected by Shabbat, we knew it was the root of the covenant between the people of Israel and G-d. Unfortunately, Israel Railways has recently made Shabbat into 'National Renovation Day': they needlessly do all their renovations on Shabbat," he said.
DUBAI - Saudi Arabia's assertive crown prince on Sunday opened the first high-level meeting of a kingdom-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism, vowing that extremists will no longer "tarnish our beautiful religion."

The alliance, initially announced with 34 nations, now includes 41, according the Saudi government. Addressing the defense ministers and other high-ranking officials, Crown Prince Mohammed said Sunday's meeting sends "a strong signal that we are going to work together and coordinate together to support each other."

However, the alliance doesn't include Iran, Iraq or Syria, while member nation Qatar sent no one to attend the one-day Riyadh gathering amid a diplomatic standoff between Doha and four Arab nations led by the kingdom.
BEIRUT - An intensifying push by the Syrian government and allied forces to take the last major rebel stronghold near the capital Damascus killed at least 23 people on Sunday and injured many, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The group said at least 127 people, including 30 children, have been killed by air strikes and shelling since the Syrian army backed by Russian jets began an offensive nearly two weeks ago to take the besieged rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area.

Eastern Ghouta is one of several "de-escalation" zones across western Syria, where Russia has brokered deals to ease the fighting between rebels and President Bashar Assad's government.
Police arrested 30 protesters during the Haredi anti-draft demonstration in Jerusalem on Sunday.

The protesters blocked a main road in the city, disrupting both vehicle and light rail movements.
The teachers' organization announced that, starting Monday, staff in all high schools of the ORT Israel network will go on strike.

This is over the lack of progress in the negotiations between the teachers' union and the Ministry of Finance regarding the teachers' new wage agreement.
Maintenance work on the railroad on Shabbat may be controversial in the political sphere, but it enjoys a consensus among the general public, according to a new poll conducted shortly before Yaakov Litzman's (United Torah Judaism) resignation from the coalition over the issue.

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After Litzman resigned, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a meeting between the faction leaders after the Haredi party leadersincluding Litzmanheaded by Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) and Moshe Gafni (Degel HaTorah faction) boycotted the government meeting.

The poll, carried out by the NGO Hiddush, which seeks to promote "religious freedom and equality," demonstrated that the majority of the population approves work being carried out on Shabbat, despite the fact that a political crisis has been raging for months on the issue.

(Photo: Ofer Meir)

Five hundred Jewish participants were polled in the survey, with equal numbers of men and women), half of whom identify as secular.

Aked "should a limited amount of maintenance work be allowed on Shabbat for the sake of safety and to prevent serious service delays during the week," 71% responded positively.

Only 23% agreed that "no compromises should be made regarding the sanctity of Shabbat and all maintenance work should be done exclusively during the week, even at the cost of severe inconvenience to the general public".

The poll data also reveals that an almost equal number of both genders supports the work on Shabbat.

Additionally, that figures indicate that support for the work on Shabbat increases with age: 62% of respondents under the age of 29 support the work while support rises to 80% among those over the age of 50.

(Photo: Roee Idan)

Notably, 10% of those who identify as Haredim, 29% of those who identify as religious and 87% of those identifying as "traditional even if not so religious" fully support the work being carried out on Shabbat. Among those identifying as secular, support was partciularly high at 90%.

When the stats were divided up according to party loyalty, Zionist Union supportes were most eager to permit work on Shabbat.

Sixty-five per cent of Likud voters sanctioned the notion, while 64% of Bayit Yehudi voters expressed their approval of the idea.

Thirteen per cent of Shas voters said they would support the work on Shabbat and 80% of Yisrael Beytenu voters said they would back the required work.

Ninety-five per cent of Meretz voters threw their weight behind the idea, 98% of Zionist Union voters approved of the work,

Ninety-three percent of Yesh Atid voters said they were ok with maintenance work on Shabbat, and 87% of Kulanu voters supported it.
Police arrested at least 36 Haredi protesters in Jerusalem Sunday evening during another demonstration by radical groups opposed to IDF conscription.

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The protesters blocked a main road in the city, disrupting both vehicle and light rail movements, in what have become increasingly common sights in some of Israel's major transport arteries, both in and around the capital.

Scenes of violence at the protest (:  )

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Haredi protesters sprayed with water at the demonstrations (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

By the early evening, police began making arrests after the unruly demonstrators repeatedly refused to obey instructions, began attacking them and at times got into physical skirmishes with civilians.

(Photo: Ohad Zwingenberg)

(Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

(Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

(Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

We will not allow blatant violations of public order, roadblocks, the harming of residents peace and security and the disruption of their lives, the police said after employing riot-dispersal techniques, including spraying the residents with water hoses.

(Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

The protest began following orders from Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, who heads radical Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox sect, calling to demonstrate for the respect of the Torah that is being denigrated by the dirt in the prolonged custody of 12 prisoners of 'Olam HaTorah' (the world of Torah).

(Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Last Monday, over 2,000 hard-line ultra-Orthodox demonstrators protested the arrest of draft dodging yeshiva students in Bnei Brak, blocking the city's main Jabotinsky thoroughfare. At least fifteen protesters were arrested.
Supreme Court President Esther Hayut has forbade Israeli judges from establishing independent contacts with politicians and representatives of the Israel Bar Association on the Judicial Appointments Committee.

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Hayut's decree was made following last week's expose about the politicization of the Judicial Appointments Committee by the investigative journalism Uvda TV program, in which judges appeared to lobby for their advancement.

"The image is not flattering to say the least," wrote Hayut in her first letter to presidents of various courts in Israel.

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Hayut wrote that the continuation of such contacts, "and cooperation between the Bar Association and the political parties in the committee, as a declared covenant, poses a danger that the choice will strive to promote a political agenda at the expense of professional considerations.

"The politicization of the judicial system is liable to completely undermine its foundations as an independent and self-reliant system. I intend to do everything possible to protect the independence of the judiciary and to prevent its politicization."

Hayut also wrote that "the composition of the Judicial Appointments Committee was designed so that the committee would form a balance between the political bodiesthe legislative and executive branches, and the professional bodiesthe judiciary and representatives of the Israel Bar Association."

This, she continued, would ensure that the committee is "primarily guided by professional considerations in selecting the best candidates for the position."

According to Hayut, cooperation between the Israel Bar Association and the political parties in the committee as a declared alliance "poses a danger that the (committee's) appointments will strive to promote a political agenda at the expense of professional considerations."

Hayut concluded by addressing the judges referenced in the expose.

"The fact that the conference organizers and their hosts held conversations with the judges, which were recorded for the purpose of the article, is very problematic," she wrote. "However, the expose also serves us as a mirror, of the way some of us conducted themselves at the conference.

"I am sure that what we have witnessed does not represent us all, but even so, we must draw the lesson we need from what we have seen. The judges who choose to continue participating in conferences are required to adhere to the rules set forth in this matter by the Courts Administration, the Ethics Committee and the President of the Supreme Court, and to act in a manner that is befitting of our status as judges."
Elders of a village in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula where militants killed 305 people in a mosque had been warned by Islamic State operatives to stop collaborating with security forces and to suspend rituals associated with Islam's mystical Sufi movement, security officials and residents said Sunday.

The latest warning came as recently as a week ago, telling villagers in Al-Rawdah not to hold Sufi rituals on Nov. 29-30 to commemorate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, according to residents and the officials who work for security and military intelligence agencies operating in Sinai.

Local operatives of the Islamic State affiliate in Sinai consider Sufis to be heretics who should be killed. Ahmed Saqr, an expert on the Sinai insurgency, said militants had publicly identified the mosque, which also serves as a Sufi center, as a target months ago.
A Cairo court on Sunday released 17 people arrested last month during a crackdown by the authorities on homosexuality, judicial sources said.

They had been charged with practising homosexuality and inciting debauchery and were sentenced to three years in prison should they fail to pay a fine of 5,000 Egyptian pounds ($285).

The defendants have been given leave to appeal against the sentence in a higher court.

Although homosexuality is not specifically outlawed in Egypt it is a conservative society and discrimination is rife. Gay men are frequently arrested and typically charged with debauchery, immorality or blasphemy.

In October Egyptian security forces arrested 57 people in a wave of arrests triggered by the raising of a rainbow flag at a music concert.

The overwhelming majority of those arrested were not involved in the flag incident, however, and were arrested over their perceived sexual orientation in the following days. ($1 = 17.6400 Egyptian pounds)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 01:31:19|Editor: yan

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SANAA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A ship carrying 5,500 tons of flour arrived at Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Sunday, after 20 days of military blockade by Saudi-led coalition, a security official at the port said.

"It is the first commercial ship docked in the port after 20 days of blockade," Khalid Jomaey told Xinhua by phone.

He said "another aid ship carrying wheat from the United Nations World Food Programme is sailing near the port and is set to dock within hours."
The Israeli government voted on Sunday a budget to create a new route to a hiking trail to pass through east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, said the Minister of Tourism.

Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin invoked the economic and tourism aspect of this project, with a budget of 10 million shekels, but did not hide its ideological aspect, recalling that "the new route (from Israel's National Trail) will pass through the Old City and Shiloh, places full of Jewish history ".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed a decision "that was needed in terms of tourism potential."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 01:31:20|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Six people have been injured by a small car that drove into the pedestrians in front of a nightclub in Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony of Germany, German media DPA reported Sunday.

The exact motive of the driver is still unclear, DPA cited a police spokesman. The police of Oldenburg had informed via Twitter that there was no evidence of an attack.

The investigation has revealed that probably a dispute in the Cuxhaven nightclub at the accident cite could be related to the incident, the police was cited by the DPA as saying, "A political background, however, is more likely to be ruled out, according to the current state of affairs."

At least four people were reported to be severely injured and two others slightly injured. The victims, German citizens aged 19 to 29 years, were taken to surrounding clinics.

The DPA reported, according to the police, the 29-year-old driver appears to be of Syrian origin and lives in Cuxhaven. He has also been investigated for whether he was under the influence of alcohol, the result of which was not yet available.
A ship carrying food aid from the World Food Program docks at the port of the Yemeni coastal city of Hodeidah on November 26, 2017. (AFP Photo)

SANAA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A ship carrying 5,500 tons of flour docked in Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Sunday, after 20-day military blockade from Saudi-led coalition, a security official at the port said.

"It's the first commercial ship docked in the port after 20 days of blockade," Houthi official Khalid Jomaey told Xinhua by phone.

He said "another aid ship carrying wheat from the United Nations World Food Programme is sailing near the port and is set to dock within hours."

The delivery is the first commercial shipment to be allowed by the coalition into the rebel-controlled seaport.

The move came one day after the coalition allowed aid flights to the rebel-held Sanaa airport.

On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemeni dominant Shiite Houthi rebels said it would allow access of humanitarian supply planes to Sanaa and ships carrying aid to the Red Sea port of Hodeidah.

Jens Laerke, spokesman of the UN humanitarian aid coordination agency OCHA, said last Friday that what really matters is that "we can get the ports in Hodeidah and Saleef open both for humanitarian aid and for commercial imports."

The coalition has been facing escalating criticisms from senior UN officials and humanitarian agencies who expressed mounting concerns over already worsening humanitarian catastrophes in the war-torn Arab country which largely depends on humanitarian aid supplies and food imports.

The coalition, which intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to back the Sunni government of the Yemeni exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, said it is planning to give clearance to aid ships only.

Around 10,000 Yemeni people, mostly civilians, were killed in the war that triggered the worst humanitarian crisis and pushed the country into the brink of famine.
Armed attackers killed 305 worshippers in a bomb and gun assault on the packed mosque in Egypt's restive North Sinai province, in the country's deadliest attack in recent memory. (AFP Photo)

ANKARA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkey announced on Sunday that Monday would be a day of national mourning for the deadly terror attack in Egypt's Sinai, which killed more than 300 people.

Flags will fly at half-mast at Turkish representations in the country and abroad, the Prime Ministry declared in a written statement.

At least 305 people were killed and more than 100 others injured when attackers bombed a mosque in the town of Bir al-Abed in North Sinai and opened fire on fleeing worshipers on Friday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag as well as other senior officials condemned the terror attack and offered their condolences to the Egyptian people.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 04:16:46|Editor: yan

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DUBAI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese construction companies said here on Sunday that demand in the Middle East region remains high despite the geopolitical issues.

The remarks were made during the largest construction and building maintenance fair in the Middle East and North Africa, known as "Big 5," which attracted 2,500 firms from 60 countries.

Speaking to Xinhua at the Chinese pavilion, Vincent Deng, Managing Director of China's Tuojia International Trade Company, said that they came to the fair because they were looking forward to the potential of the market in the Middle East.

For Seven Huang, Manager of China's Hongbo Adhesive Technology company, it is the second time he travelled to Dubai for business.

"We offer a wide range of adhesive tapes with various prices, as we figured out that in the two biggest Gulf markets, namely the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, we can serve our customers better if we offer products of different qualities," added the Chinese businessman.

"Saudi and the UAE are growing markets for us, we are also exporting to Iran," said Gina Zhou, International Business Manager of Zhengfeng Iron and Steel Corporation.

She added that the Chinese government is regulating the steel market well, "so that there is a balanced market instead of an oversupply."

China was the biggest exporter of construction products for the UAE in 2016, with a market share of 30 percent and a total value of 3.9 billion U.S. dollars, according to the event organizer DMG Events.

"We notice that Chinese products have improved in quality, so they are no longer cheaper than their competitive products from Europe," said Abdullmajeed Al-Khalaf, a Saudi Arabian company owner.
A screenshot taken on March 15, 2016 from Russian Defense Ministry video shows the first group of Russian Aerospace Force aircraft heading back to Russia from Hmeimim, Syria, on March 15, 2016. (Xinhua/Sputnik)

MOSCOW, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Six long-range TU-22M3 bombers on Sunday launched airstrikes on targets of Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in the province of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"After taking off from an airfield on the Russian territory, the aircraft hit terrorists'strongholds and areas with high concentration of militants in the Euphrates valley," the ministry said in a statement.

The destruction of all targets was recorded by unmanned aerial vehicles, the ministry said.

Su-30SM and Su-35S fighter jets based at the Khmeimim airbase in western Syria provided air cover for the bombers, it added.

The Russian military have launched dozens of strikes on terrorists in Syria since the beginning of November. According to the Russian Federation Council's Defense and Security Committee, the fight against IS in Syria will possibly be over by the end of the year and Russia may be able to withdraw its air force.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 04:41:50|Editor: yan

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TEHRAN, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Sunday welcomes China's contribution to provide one million U.S. dollars worth food aid to Afghan and Iraqi refugees and promote education for refugee girls residing in Iran.

WFP is very grateful to Chinese government for its contribution, which was carried out since August this year, said Negar Gerami, WFP Representative in Iran, during a press conference held in Tehran.

It will enable us to address the basic food needs of Afghan and Iraqi refugees in Iran, strengthen their livelihoods and provide food security, she said.

According to Gerami, the one million-dollar contribution from China has been used in locally purchase of 1200 tons fortified wheat flour, sunflower oil, lentils, rice and sugar as food distributions for 30000 Afghan and Iraqi refugees living in settlements across Iran.

As part of the implementation of the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund initiated by Chinese government in 2015, efforts are being made including the one million-dollar contribution project to achieve food security for the most vulnerable Afghan and Iraqi refugees in Iran, according to a statement by the Chinese Embassy in Iran.

WFP has been providing food assistance to these refugees since the first asylum seekers arrived from Afghanistan and Iraq in the late 1980s.
Doctor Rose Ahlefeldt (L) and Associate Professor Matthew Sellars try to operate a high resolution dye laser, which they use to study rare earth crystals in the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, on Sept. 6, 2017. Australian scientists have made a significant breakthrough in developing an "unhackable" quantum internet, it was announced on Sept. 12. (Xinhua/ANU/Stuart Hay)

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. researchers developed a high-speed encryption system that may prevent hackers from breaking into computer systems. These quantum encryption techniques may be one step closer to wide-scale use.

According to the new study, published online this week in Science Advances, the system is capable of creating and distributing encryption codes at megabit-per-second rates, which is five to 10 times faster than existing methods and on par with current internet speeds when running several systems in parallel.

The researchers at Duke University, The Ohio State University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, demonstrate that the technique is secure from common attacks, even in the face of equipment flaws that could open up leaks.

"We are now likely to have a functioning quantum computer that might be able to start breaking the existing cryptographic codes in the near future," Daniel Gauthier, a professor of physics at The Ohio State University, was quoted as saying in a news release. "We really need to be thinking hard now of different techniques that we could use for trying to secure the internet."

Recent advances in quantum computers may soon give hackers access to machines powerful enough to crack even the toughest of standard internet security codes, according to the research.

To a hacker, that all personal information would appear indecipherable gibberish due to ciphers called encryption keys. The quantum system would ensure that all such information is first scrambled and then be unscrambled by the receiver, using one of these keys.

For this system to work, both parties need to have access to the same key, and it must be kept secret. The developed research of quantum key distribution (QKD) makes this secure through quantum mechanics, measuring tiny bits of matter like electrons or photons automatically changes their properties, to exchange keys in a way that immediately alerts both parties to the existence of a security breach.

Though QKD was first theorized in 1984 and implemented shortly thereafter, the technologies to support its wide-scale use are only now coming online. Companies in Europe now sell laser-based systems for QKD, and in a highly-publicized event last summer, China used a satellite to send a quantum key to two land-based stations located 1200 km apart.

But Nurul Taimur Islam, a graduate student in physics at Duke, explained the problem with many of these systems is that they can only transmit keys at relatively low rates, between tens to hundreds of kilobits per second, which are too slow for most practical uses on the internet.

"At these rates, quantum-secure encryption systems cannot support some basic daily tasks, such as hosting an encrypted telephone call or video streaming," Islam said.

Like many QKD systems, Islam's key transmitter uses a weakened laser to encode information on individual photons of light. But they found a way to pack more information onto each photon, making their technique faster.

By adjusting the time at which the photon is released, and a property of the photon called the phase, their system can encode two bits of information per photon instead of one.

This trick, paired with high-speed detectors developed by Clinton Cahall, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering, and Jungsang Kim, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke, powers their system to transmit keys five to 10 times faster than other methods.

"It was changing these additional properties of the photon that allowed us to almost double the secure key rate that we were able to obtain if we hadn't done that," said Gauthier, who began the work as a professor of physics at Duke before moving to OSU.

In a perfect world, QKD would be perfectly secure. Any attempt to hack a key exchange would leave errors on the transmission that could be easily spotted by the receiver. But real-world implementations of QKD require imperfect equipment, and these imperfections open up leaks that hackers can exploit, according to the researchers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 05:06:54|Editor: yan

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ABUJA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian army on Sunday confirmed three soldiers were killed in an attack on a town in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno.

Timothy Antigha, an army spokesman, said six soldiers were also injured in the attack on Magumeri, a serene town in Borno State late Saturday.

Antigha said the terrorists attempted to dislodge troops in the town, located about 35 kilometers north of Maiduguri, capital of Borno and birthplace of Boko Haram.

The gunfight between the troops and the terrorists lasted for about two hours.

Boko Haram had made bold attempts to seize the town in the past, but the group was always repelled by the government forces.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 05:21:56|Editor: Yamei

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. lawmaker John Conyers, a long-term civil right icon for many Americans, stepped down as the ranking Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee on Sunday, amid a probe over multiple sexual harassment accusations against him.

However, Conyers said he denied the allegations, but was stepping down because of the ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation.

"I deny these allegations, many of which were raised by documents reportedly paid for by a partisan alt-right blogger. I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family before the House Committee on Ethics," the 27-term congressman said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called for "due process" before making conclusions about Conyers, repeating that she wants to see the investigation of Conyers play out.

"John Conyers is an icon in our country. He has done a great deal to protect women," said Pelosi on NBC's "Meet The Press" program, citing the Violence Against Women Act which she said Conyers had contributed a lot.

Asked if she believes the accusations against Conyers, Pelosi said: "I do not know who they are. Do you? They have not really come forward."

Pelosi later said in a statement: "Zero tolerance means consequences. I have asked for an ethics investigation, and as that investigation continues, Congressman Conyers has agreed to step aside as Ranking Member."

Conyers'office recently confirmed issuing a settlement of 27,000 dollars to a former staffer who says she was fired for resisting the congressman's sexual advances, according to a NBC news report.

Conyers has acknowledged the payout, which he said amounted to a severance package, but he denied the allegations about what it was for, said the report.

Pelosi was also asked whether she would accept an apology from Democratic Senator Al Franken, who has apologized after being accused of unwanted touching from multiple women, if no other accusers surfaced.

"His accusers have to accept an apology," Pelosi said. "The victims have some say in all of this, as well. And that has happened in the past. People have accepted an apology, as is coming forth now that I see in the press."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 05:41:59|Editor: yan

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by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The renovation work launched by the Turkish government in the conflict-ravaged old city of Diyarbakir has stirred debate among the local population and experts who call on authorities to preserve historic sites.

Some sites of Sur district in the city was in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

However, after the collapse of a two-year ceasefire, the district became the scene of several months of unprecedented urban clashes between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkish security forces.

Most of the ancient houses and other historic sites within the city walls have been damaged or destroyed.

HISTORIC CITY DESTROYED IN CONFLICT

Young armed fighters of the blacklisted PKK created havoc in the district, terrorizing the residents, erecting barricades, setting up checkpoints and dug tranches, prompting heavy armed response.

The fighting erupted in 1984, when the Kurdish rebels began armed campaign against the Turkish government, leaving so far some 40,000 people dead.

In a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) meeting, Environment and Urbanization Minister Mehmet Ozhaseki said that a total of 70,000 dwellings and workplaces, 27,000 heavily or completely damaged and 43,000 less damaged, in seven districts of southeast Anatolia were destroyed due to terrorist activities in the region.

According to the Turkish government, 2.6 billion Turkish liras (660 million U.S. dollars) have been spent on the maintenance works of less-damaged buildings, demolition of heavily damaged houses, compensation fees for locals and others.

Religious sites were not spared either. At least five churches and nearly 10 mosques have suffered serious damages, according to official data.

An Armenian Catholic Church, known as Surp Giragos, which dates back to the 19th century and was known for its brilliant ceramic work, suffered from severe damages in the clashes.

"Reconstruction as altered the social and historic tissue of the Sur district with a known history of 7,000 years. This area was the most history-packed one of Diyarbakir, now it is been lost to a development program," said Serefhan Aydin, head of the Chamber of Architects of Diyarbakir.

Aydin pointed out that six neighborhoods of Sur are still inaccessible to people except the construction team. The measure was detrimental as experts could not enter the area to supervise the ongoing work.

"From aerial footage, we saw that at least 100 protected houses have been destroyed by forklift operators in those neighborhoods and we could not see what is really going on there because the site is still prohibited to enter," the architect lamented.

PLACE TOO EXPENSIVE FOR LOCALS TO LIVE IN

A Turkish official in Ankara overseeing the project denied the claims saying that "the ancient houses are been restored according to the original looks. We have experts on the ground who create a replica of the houses that have been partially or entirely damaged by terrorist activities."

"Some houses had to be destructed because they had been irreparably damaged by PKK terrorists who dug trenches and holes in the houses in order to entrench themselves from the security forces," explained the source on the condition of anonymity.

Locals and rights activists claimed that the development scheme was disrupted by the central government's desire to rebuild Sur into a lucrative tourist attraction, turning it into a district far too expensive for its former impoverished residents to live in.

"Measures need to be taken in Sur as most of the people living there were in unhealthy conditions, but they should not be done in the current way," said local journalist Mahmut Bozarslan.

"Local residents had no say in the rebuilding operations. The expropriation fee paid to them is insufficient to buy a new house in the same district. The works will go on for another two years, but people who left Sur will never be able to return there," said Bozarslan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in 2011, long before the launch of the reconstruction plan, that he was "dreaming" of the reconstruction of Sur, with the aim of rebuilding it into true Ottoman style and to turn it into an international tourism destination.

After nearly two years of reconstruction, Sur is still open to debate and opinions remain divided.

The Chamber of architects of Diyarbakir is planning to reveal a comprehensive report on the work in the first week of December as officials insisted that the conflict-torn city would reflourish in the future.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 06:07:03|Editor: Yamei

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Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May delivers her keynote speech on the last day of the Conservative Party Annual Conference in Manchester, Britain on Oct. 4, 2017. (Xinhua file photo/Han Yan)

LONDON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The border between the Republic of Ireland and Britain's Northern Ireland became a major flashpoint Sunday with British Prime Minister Theresa May urged to change her Brexit plans to prevent a mounting crisis.

Phil Hogan, Ireland's European Union (EU) commissioner warned the border issue could derail May's hopes of agreeing a trade deal with the EU after Britain leaves the bloc.

The Observer newspaper in London said May had effectively been handed just days to give stronger guarantees over the border issue.

The newspaper said the threat of a hard Irish border has emerged as a major obstacle to May's aim of securing the green light for Brexit trade talks at a crucial summit only weeks away.

Hogan, who is the EU's agriculture commissioner, told the Observer that Britain remaining inside the EU's single market and customs union, or allowing Northern Ireland to do so, would end the standoff.

However, May and her Brexit ministers have insisted that Britain, including Northern Ireland, will leave the single market and customs union in March, 2019 when it ceases to be an EU member state.

Hogan warned in his interview that there was blind faith from some British ministers that Britain would secure a comprehensive Brexit free trade deal. He warned that Ireland would continue to play tough to the end over its threat to veto trade talks until it had guarantees over the border.

The Irish government has insisted on a written guarantee that there will be no hard border between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Britain's International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told Sky News Sunday that a final decision on the border issue can not be made until a UK-EU trade deal has been agreed.

Fox said: "We don't want there to be a hard border, but the UK is going to be leaving the customs union and the (EU) single market."

Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he was concerned by Fox's comments, warning they could put talks ahead of the crucial December summit of EU leaders in jeopardy.

Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Barry Gardiner said in a Sunday television interview his party had not ruled out Britain staying in the EU single market and agreeing a new customs union with Brussels.

To add to the wrangle, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party Arlene Foster expressed confidence at the party's annual conference in Belfast Saturday that May's government will not agree to any post-Brexit special status for Northern Ireland.

Foster was cheered as she told delegates: "We joined the then-European Community as one nation, will leave as one United Kingdom."

Currently, May's minority government is being propped up by the 10 DUP politicians at Westminster.

The EU has given May until Dec. 4 to come up with further proposals on issues including the Northern Ireland border, the Brexit divorce bill and citizens' rights. Proposals are being demanded by Brussels before European leaders agree to starting EU-UK talks on the future trading arrangements.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 06:17:05|Editor: yan

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LJUBLJANA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian President Borut Pahor and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday urged for a more successful fight against terrorism as they had a phone conversation in the wake of Friday's attack on a mosque in Sinai.

The two presidents discussed "the need to more successfully fight against terrorism and all forms of radicalism which pose a threat to international peace and security," a press release from Pahor's office said on Sunday.

The Slovenian president also expressed to his Egyptian counterpart his condolences for the victims of the deadly terrorist attack on a mosque in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula

At noon on Friday, some 25 to 30 assailants bombed and opened fire at the mosque, killing 305 worshippers, including 27 children, and wounding 128 others, according to Egyptian authorities. It was the first terrorist operation to target a Muslim mosque in Egypt's modern history.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 06:32:07|Editor: yan

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ROME, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the Italian capital on Sunday to raise the public awareness against domestic violence.

In a rally marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is observed worldwide on Nov. 25 since its inception in 1999, an estimated 150,000 people gathered near the central railway station in Rome, and then marched through the city. Other similar rallies were held across Italy to mark the Day.

Violence against women has been an unrelenting plague in Italy and other European countries, despite increasing efforts by both public institutions and women's groups to boost awareness and prevention.

Some 114 women were killed in the first 10 months of 2017, about a woman killed every 2.6 days, according to the latest report released by Italy's Economic and Social Research Institute EURES.

They had been 116 in the same period of 2016, and 150 throughout the whole last year. The number of "femicides," a term defined when the murder of a woman is perpetrated by a male partner or a male relative, had increased by 5.6 percent in 2016 against 2015, the EURES report said.

Statistics by the Italian police also showed that some 71.9 percent of all murders targeting a woman in the last 10 years were carried out by a father, brother, husband or another male relative.

On Saturday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella also spoke out against domestic and gender violence, especially pointing at sexual violence, which he said "does not concern women only, but all of us, because it is a most serious violation of human rights."

Mattarella made his remarks after meeting a delegation of women led by the speaker of Italy's Chamber of Deputies Laura Boldrini at the Quirinale presidential palace.

"Denouncing the problem is not enough: we need to root out the sources of the problem, and remove the conditions that create (female) subjugation and violence," Mattarella said in a statement.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 06:37:09|Editor: yan

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Athens, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- An Afghan migrant was killed, and three others were injured on Sunday after a violent brawl that broke out among them in a village on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

The incident took place at a house which some of the Afghans rented near the Moria refugee camp.

According to the local police, the cause of the violence was not yet known.

The island of Lesvos has been at the forefront of the refugee crisis over the last two years.

More than 1 million people landed on Greek shores, crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey and continuing their perilous journey to central Europe, before the closure of the Balkan corridor.

Currently, approximately 8,000 migrants and refugees are being hosted on Lesvos island, according to official data released last week.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 06:37:10|Editor: yan

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MEXICO CITY, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Four American hikers stuck on Mexico's Citlaltepetl volcano, located at the border of the states of Puebla and Veracruz, have been rescued, while a fifth is still missing, Puebla's office of civil protection announced on Sunday

Two of the five mountaineers were found on Saturday night, before being taken for treatment at a Mexico City hospital. On Sunday, rescue workers found two more of the group, who are currently being treated at a medical center in Puebla.

"A fifth man is missing, who can only be rescued by land, and Mexico's mountain rescue service is handling it," said the civil protection office on Twitter.

On Saturday, the five climbers were reported as stuck towards the summit of Citlalteptel, with several sources reporting they were in the area known as El Sarcofago (The Sarcophagus), 5,200m above sea level.

The Citlaltepetl is Mexico's highest volcano and mountain and is more commonly known as Pico de Orizaba.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 06:42:11|Editor: yan

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TEGUCIGALPA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Elections in Honduras were happening calmly on Sunday, amid an intense police and military apparatus in place nationwide.

To help maintain security, all businesses were closed for the day, except for supermarkets and malls.

When visiting the capital, Xinhua reporters saw that the city had a heavy police presence along major thoroughfares.

At least 30,000 soldiers and police officers are monitoring the election across the nation, authorities said. By the end of the morning, no security incidents had been reported.

10 political parties are taking part in the elections, but polls only give three candidates with a realistic chance of victory.

The favorite is current president Juan Orlando Hernandez. While the Constitution prohibits presidents from running for re-election, a ruling by the Supreme Court in 2015 opened the possibility of doing so for Hernandez.

In second place, Salvador Nasralla leads an opposition alliance between the Liberty and Refoundation Party and the Innovation and Unity Party.

Finally, Luiz Zelaya, the former dean of the Central American Technological University, is the candidate for the Liberal Party.

In order to guarantee the elections, around 16,000 national observers and over 700 international counterparts are supervising the process. The electoral authorities set to begin providing official results in the evening.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that criticism of the anti-corruption crusade will not deter his government from ensuring that those who found to have engaged in looting public funds are brought to book.

Instead of being deterred, he said the crusade will be strengthened and fought at all levels.

Buhari who was apparently reacting to insinuations that the fight has not yielded any positive impact said the responsibility of the government t was to investigate and prosecute those found to have wanting, while the judiciary is the one who convict offenders.

The President spoke in an interview published in the 2017/2018 Nigeria Outlook, a study on the economy, governance and investment opportunities in the country compiled by a team of Nigerian professionals led by Reginald Ibe and Dahiru Ganiyu Ali.

He said: we are succeeding in the anti-corruption war. Cases are being investigated and those indicted are prosecuted. The number of conviction is not within the ambit of the executive.

Ours is to investigate and charge to court, while it is the duty of the judiciary to convict. We cant be prosecutor and jury at the same time. We respect the principle of separation of power as enshrined in our constitution. We dont tele-guide the judiciary and the onus is on that institution to do its work expeditiously.

The anti corruption war is not limited in scope. Anybody that runs foul of the law will answer for it. We will strengthen the war in due course. You dont need a national debate to fight corruption. You just need to crack down on corrupt people with fear of favour. We will strengthen the war and fight it at all levels.

President Buhari said the major task of his government is to make an enduring impact on the life of Nigerians, adding that it is unfortunate that for many decades, we paid lip service to diversifying the economy.

But we merely succeeded in turning ourselves into a mono economy. And when oil price crashed, we simply crashed with it as a nation. It should never happen again, and that is why we are focused on Agriculture, mines and steel development, as well as manufacturing. We will lay a solid foundation and build on it. That will ensure that Nigeria will never be at the mercy of just one commodity again.

Oil will still get attention, but it get it along with ,any other commodities. That is our goal, and Nigeria and the international community can count on our single mindedness as an administration. We are determined to make a difference.

On the plans of the government to revamp the economy, the President said: One thing I can say confidently is that the Economic Recovery and Growth plan as enunciated by the administration will place the Nigerian economy on a sound foundation that will stand us in good stead for decades. The duty of the government is to make salutary impacts on the lives of the people and that is what we are resolved to do.

If you look at the ERGP, you will notice that it projects into the future. That shows you that it has already factored in many things. Anybody that is honest with himself will admit that we have charted a direction that will lead us even far beyond 2020 as a nation.

On over bloated public service and whether the government has plans to right size, President Buhari said There is time for everything. This time of parlous economic reality is not the right time to send more people into the Labour market, this is a government with a human face.

The human being is the Centre of our universe. We met a monthly wage bill of the public service at about N165 billion. It is very easy to say downsize. But rather, we preferred to audit the system and scores of thousands of ghost workers have been discovered in the process.

We saved more than N20 billion which has reduced the monthly wage bill significantly. We will continue to audit the process, get the correct number of workers we have, rather than retrench and cause more misery. I have said it before and I say it again. If I have my way, no single Nigerian will lose his or her job at this time.

In the fight against Boko Haram, he said We have achieved a lot in the fight against Boko Haram. However. A sociological study will be conducted on what caused Boko Haram and what sustained it for so long. That is toward ensuring that such does not reoccur again in this country
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has declared the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari as the most transparent and open in the history of Nigeria, saying the President has been open to the extent of allowing Nigerians to make input in almost all his major policy decisions.

Speaking Saturday at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Media Dialogue in Abuja, the Minister said unlike President Buharis two predecessors, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, information now pass more freely and speedily from the government to the people. Mohammed, who was represented by Bayo Onanuga, the Managing-Director of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said: the Ministry of Information under this government has been hyperactive; thereby, making the administration of President Buhari the most open and transparent in the history of Nigeria. Take for instance, a few days ago, the full minute of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting was sent to all media houses to use as content for public consumption. This shows that the federal government is trying to provide as much information as possible to the public.

Also, Nigerias recent upward climb on the Ease of Doing Business Index (EDBI) is another indicator of this governments strong resolve and commitment to transparency initiatives. The Minister further encouraged the media to take advantage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to request for more government information that will serve the interest of the public; stressing that Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of government who fail to provide information requested in compliance with the FOI Act can be sued.

Mohammed however cautioned that while the federal government demonstrates its commitment to promoting openness in the affairs of governance, it will not carry on its business on the pages of newspapers. He said that though Press Freedom is guaranteed under Nigerian laws, the media should exercise this freedom with a sense of responsibility.

The media must continue to call government and members of the political class to order when they go wrong. However, the media should remain truthful, factual and objective. It should also desist from spreading information from unverified and unverifiable sources. As professionals, try to do your work in compliance with the media laws and codes of ethics which guide the media profession, the Minister advise.
WATFORD CITY, N.D.  Imagine your citys population growing from 1,744 residents to nearly 7,500 in one year.

That was reality for Watford City during the oil boom years, but the city was likely serving 10,000 to 15,000 people who lived in the area, said Brent Sanford, North Dakotas lieutenant governor and the citys oil boom-era mayor.

As a frame of reference, today they are still graduating 60 to 70 kids, but there are 150 kindergarteners, he said, referring to the children who were born during the height of the boom.

That explosion of oil and gas development in western North Dakota was, by some estimates, supposed to last years, with the price per barrel staying around $100 for most of the early 2010s.

But a crash in prices in 2014 forced companies to pull out, halting most drilling there. It sent a ripple through the states income, forcing legislators to cut spending from $6 billion in the 2015-17 biennium to $4.3 billion for 2017-19.

Critics say North Dakota brought the deficit on itself, claiming it let development happen too fast and spent too much. But Sanford and others dont see the downturn as a bust, rather as a lively industry that has stabilized.

I dont call it a bust. The 80s were a bust, said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council. This is a whole different level of oil activity than weve ever seen.

But how does North Dakota move on from the boom-bust cycle when it is dependent on oil and agriculture commodities?

What happened?

With the first shale oil play in the country, the state became the No. 2 producer of oil behind Texas and pumped out a million barrels a day  it still does that, according to the state Department of Mineral Resources.

With 170 rigs, which was typical during the boom, the state could tap around 2,000 wells per year, DMR Director Lynn Helms said in presentations to various groups. That meant North Dakota could see between 40,000 to 70,000 new wells that would produce on average for 45 years, he estimated. Each well could produce $24 million in that timeframe.

We were on our way to 1.8 million barrels a day to 2 million barrels a day, Ness said.

That was in May 2014, just months before OPEC started flooding the market and pushed oil prices to lows not seen in 10 years. On top of that, Iran signed a deal in 2015 that allowed it to open its production, Helms said.

That was really what hit the industry hard, he said. It wasnt that first drop, but that second one was unexpected.

North Dakotas economy is heavily dependent on commodities, said former Rep. Kenton Onstad, D-Parshall. As a resident in the thick of the Bakken, he said legislators knew prices could drop as he placed blame on the state for lowering oil and corporate taxes.

He also said the state should have slowed oil development down so it could prepare its infrastructure.

They didnt take that approach. It was wham, bam, bam, bam, he said. The things that North Dakota did, we created a boom and bust.

Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, said the Legislature did well in spending during the boom and cutting after the downturn. He cited investing $1.25 billion in state funds in schools, taking over county social services, spending nearly $3 billion in road projects from 2013 through 2016. Money also was allocated to non-oil counties, including for flood control for Valley City and Fargo, he said. A lot of the money spent on infrastructure were one-time expenditures, he noted.

For people who say we blew the money, I strongly disagree.

Value-added

Officials agreed the state needs to expand value-added products to agriculture and oil. Industries should also work together instead of compete against each other.

Oil development has slowed, giving the industry time to develop technology that will help them operate for less money, Ness said. It also gave cities and the state time to catch up on infrastructure and reorganize.

Certainly there were lessons learned, he said, but he feels the state is better because of the boom.

Onstad said he doesnt believe North Dakota is ready to move on from the oil and agriculture industries.

Were kidding ourselves if we say we are never going to be dependant on commodities, he said.

If North Dakota can tie its industries together, sell finished products and attract workers from other states, it can succeed, Sanford said. Communities and the state should ask themselves what they should do to be the place to live.

I see the state will continue  working on value-added products, Wardner said. We need to continue that strategy, that focus.
The human slave auction documented by CNN in Libya ignited global outrage and drew attention to an inhuman practice that is regrettably also rampant in other parts of Africa where the media does not have the freedom to report on abhorrent slavery practices.

The wave of condemnation of degrading treatment endured by sub-Saharan migrants reduced to slavery in Libya was largely an outcome of the mediatization of the auction, unlike the ordeal of the black population in Tindouf, which continues because of the media-black out imposed by the Polisario leadership and their mentor Algeria.

If slavery in Libya as an outcome of the erosion of the rule of law in a war-torn country, human auctions in Tindouf is an institutionalized practice that is a relic of an archaic tribal system. In these camps, slave masters hold documents attesting to their ownership of other human beings, mostly blacks.

In 2009, two Australian journalists with the Sydney Morning Herald were invited to the Tindouf camps by the Polisario representative in Australia with the aim to carry out a propaganda coverage in favor of the Polisario leadership.

However, once in the camps the two journalists noticed slavery practices and decided to secretly film a documentary on the ordeal of black people in the camps.

The film, dubbed Stolen, exposes modern-day slavery in the refugee camps of Tindouf through telling the story of a Sahrawi girl called Fatim Sellami, herself a slave, who was reunited with her mother after 35 years of separation with the help of the United Nations.

The film, which also tackles several cases other than Fatims, was not initially meant to deal with slavery. Ayala and Fallshaw wanted to make a documentary on the living conditions in the Tindouf camps, but when they arrived there, they found out about the slave trade and decided to shift focus.

The film shows that those Sahrawi girls offered for sale are persecuted and are frequently beaten. Their names are also changed and they are not allowed to marry except with the permission of their masters who have to provide them with a document stating that they have been granted freedom.

In its annual report on the human rights conditions in the Tindouf camps, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned the persistence of slavery practices.

Practices of slavery that centuries ago were a basic feature of traditional nomadic culture in the Western Sahara appear all but nonexistent among the Sahrawi refugees today, HRW said in its report on Tindouf camps.

The persistence of certain forms of slavery highlights the need for continuous, on-the-ground human rights monitoring, HRW said.
Moroccos Royal Air Force (FRA) sent its F-16 fighter jets to take part in the Advanced Tactical Leadership Course (ATLC) held in the Al Dhafra air base, 30 km away from Abu Dhabi.

The exercise brings together air forces of Gulf countries in addition to Egypt, the US and the UK, said the website Far-Maroc specializing in military news.

Besides F-16, other fighter jets are taking part in these air exercise including F-15, Typhoons and Rafales.

Al Dhafra is a joint UAE and USAF base, which, whilst the home to the majority of the Emirates fast jet force, is also home to the US KC-10 air-air refueling aircraft which is involved in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Last January, the Royal Air Force said it will upgrade its fleet of F16 fighter jets with electronic warfare systems supplied by Harris Corporation under a contract worth $91 million.

Moroccos F-16s are equipped with a variety of extra equipment, including Lockheed Martin Sniper targeting pods, Goodrich DB-110 airborne reconnaissance pods and Raytheons Advanced Countermeasures Electronic System (ACES). Armament includes AIM-9X Block II Sidewinders with lock on after launch capability, AGM-65D Maverick air-to-surface missiles and Enhanced GBU-12 Paveway II laser guided bomb kits.

The Moroccan Air Force are deployed in the Bengrir air base near Marrakech. They have been used in Yemen as part of the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis. One of these jets was lost in a crash due to reportedly technical failure.

The delivery of these fighter jets places Morocco among an elite group of air forces who operate the advanced multirole F-16 air craft.
The Popular Party has rebuked the head of the local government of the Canary Islands, Antonio Morales, for granting the Tindouf camps an excessive aid worth 1 million.

The criticism to the lavish aid sent to Tindouf comes against the backdrop of the condemnations against the Polisario leadership and its mentor Algeria for their humanitarian aid embezzlement.

The Popular Party deemed the aid disproportionate saying that Morales had better use that money to improve the living conditions of thousands of poor families in the islands.

From humanitarian aid embezzlement by the Polisario officials to slavery and forced disappearances in the Tinfoud camps, where Algeria has abdicated its responsibilities and forsaken a civilian population to the mercy of a separatist militia, the humanitarian situation in the camps is most appalling.

UN Security Council resolution 2351 has actually reiterated the call on Algeria to uphold its responsibility to allow a census of the population held in the camps.

Algerias obstinacy to refuse a head-count of the population of the Polisario-run camps prompted the EU to reduce aid sent to these camps in a bid to curb humanitarian aid diversion.

The decision was taken following a report by the EU anti-fraud office (OLAF) denouncing the embezzlement of humanitarian aid by the Polisario leadership and Algerian officials. Therefore, the European Commission decided to cut aid commensurately with the estimated number of 90,000 people instead of the inflated 165,000 people put forward by the Polisario and Algeria in an attempt to sell the idea of the existence of a Sahraoui People with a republic in exile.

Carrying out a head-count of the population held in Tindouf will enable international aid agencies to assess the needs of the population and will also pave the way for the camps dwellers to obtain the refugee status, which will grant them the right to return to their homeland Morocco or at least the right to freely choose their country of asylum. Such options that Algeria and the Polisario dread the most as they continue to trade in the suffering of Sahraouis living in abject conditions.
The Ivorian presidency has just announced that King Mohammed VI will begin this Sunday, November 26, a work and friendship visit to Cote dIvoire.

According to the Ivorian presidency, Alassane Ouattara would welcome the sovereign in the early afternoon.

The Monarch will be accompanied by a large Moroccan delegation, including ministers and businessmen.

The Monarchs new trip to Cote dIvoire will be his fifth since the coming to power of President Alassane Ouattara in 2011. His latest visit to the West African country dates back to February 2017.

The current royal visit coincides with the holding of the 5th European Union-Africa Summit, scheduled to take place in Abidjan November 29-30.
Bound by an enduring political alliance, Morocco and Cote dIvoire bolstered their ties at all levels to become a shining example of south-south cooperation in the continent.

The current visit by King Mohammed VI to Abidjan, which started Sunday and which coincides with the 5th AU-EU Summit (November 29-30) reflects the keen interest attached by the Monarch and the Ivorian President Alassane Dramane Ouattara to sustaining a bilateral partnership underpinned by south-south cooperation.

The visit, the fifth by King Mohammed VI to Cote dIvoire since President Ouattara took office in 2011, will build on the progress achieved in the previous visit in February 2017. This visit was marked by the signing of 14 cooperation agreements providing for cooperation in the fields of the military, pharmaceutical industry, road infrastructure, finance, small and medium sized enterprises, social development, techno parks, data processing, transportation and logistics.

These agreements bring to 140 the number of cooperation accords signed between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1962.

The bilateral cooperation projects are reflective of Moroccos resolve to support the large-scale socio-economic development projects underway in Cote dIvoire, and its commitment to expand the scope of bilateral cooperation and share the expertise it has acquired in wealth and job generating sectors.

Since 2011, Morocco has considerably accelerated the pace of its investments in Cote dIvoire to top the list of foreign investors in the country. In 2015, Morocco was the first foreign investor in Cote dIvoire with 22% of total FDIs in the country.

Morocco was outpaced by France in 2016, but is now coming back in the race, exploring new partnership and investment opportunities.
The Royal Household has confirmed the participation of King Mohammed VI in the fifth summit bringing together the African Union and the European Union in Abidjan on November 29-30.

The participation of the Monarch in the event coincides with a working and friendly visit to Cote dIvoire, Moroccos enduring political ally and key economic partner in West Africa.

The attendance of the King in the summit shows that the empty seat policy is over and that Morocco will defend its interests and make its voice heard regarding its strategic interests.

The proponents of separatism in the continent, notably Algeria and South Africa, have lobbied for the participation of the Polisario separatist entity under the guise that it is a member of the African Union.

The confirmation of the Polisarios participation was made in Brussels by the Chairman of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat who affirmed that all members of the pan-African organization will take part in the event, though he did not say all member states. The host country of the event, Cote dIvoire, has not extended any invitation to the separatists it does not recognize.

The EU for its part maintains that it does not recognize the separatist Polisario entity and will not recognize it even it attends the Summit. For the EU, the participation of the Polisario is an issue to be resolved within the AU.

As the alliance of the Polisario proponents erodes in the continent with the collapse in Zimbabwe of Mugabis regime and the impending erosion of the ideological ties feeding into the Polisario separatist thesis, support for Moroccos territorial integrity grows in tandem with its south-south cooperation approach in the continent.

The participation of the King in the event sends a strong message that Morocco will not leave its chair empty and that its political, economic and cultural weight are incomparable with a puppet state whose strings are pulled by the military regime in Algeria.

As a part of Africa gears in full speed on the path of development and democracy, Polisario proponents came to represent all that is wrong with Africa, authoritarianism, corruption and rentier economy. Their contribution is as anachronistic to the continents pressing issues as they are a source of instability.

The EU as a regional grouping and as member states do not recognize the Polisario. Hence the attendance of the separatist entity is de facto excluded in the proceedings of the event.

Moreover two-thirds of the African Union members do not recognize the Polisario as a state. Twenty-eight of these members have actually tabled a motion last year demanding the expulsion of the Polisario from the pan-African organization.

The very membership of the Polisario in the African Union is an aberration and anomaly at odds with the international law. The freezing of the Polisarios membership hinges on the depletion of Algerias oil mantra, which enabled it to buy support of like-minded states in Africa at an age of ideological polarization.
An eye for an eye. Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/Getty Images

Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a new law on Saturday allowing international media outlets to be listed as foreign agents, according to Russian state media. The law is intended as direct retaliation for the new U.S. requirement that the Kremlin-backed RT news outlet register as a foreign agent with the Justice Department  which the website and television channel finally did earlier this month. Indeed, the Russian Embassy in the U.S. promised a quick symmetrical response at that time.

Per the new Russian law, any media organization operating in Russia that receives financial support from foreign organizations or governments can now be designated a foreign agent, depending on the judgment of the Russian Ministry of Justice. Voice of America and the Russia-based outlets run by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, all of which are funded by the U.S. government, will likely be the first U.S. organizations to face the designation, as Russian lawmakers had already been threatening to do following the RT news. Its yet not clear if Russia will target traditional U.S. news organizations as well.

RTs influence in America has come under closer scrutiny following Russias attempts to interfere in last years U.S. presidential election, particularly since the U.S. intelligence community highlighted the networks role in that interference last January. In September  amid growing political pressure in Washington to do more in response to Russias election-meddling  the U.S. told RT it would need to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a 1938 law passed to limit the reach of pro-Nazi propaganda in America.

According to the U.S. intelligence community, RTs American channel is staffed, supervised, and financed by the Kremlin, and has substantially expanded its repertoire of programming that highlights criticism of alleged US shortcomings in democracy and civil liberties in an effort to influence Americans.

RT, which used to be called Russia Today, has insisted it is not one of the Kremlins propaganda arms, and initially fought the registration requirement. When they finally did register, RT acknowledged that its parent company, ANO TV-Novosti, was funded by the Russian government to a substantial extent, but that the network was not sufficiently aware of who supervises, owns, directs, controls or subsidizes ANO TV-Novosti to actually detail those foreign ties.

Exactly how (or if) these dueling foreign agent designations will actually affect news outlets operating in the U.S. or Russia is not yet clear.
It wasnt me. Photo: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

A New York Times piece published on Saturday delves into President Trumps un-shocking decision to endorse U.S. Senate candidate and alleged sexual predator Roy Moore over the fierce objections of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell  whose brilliant plan was to subvert democracy by getting Governor Kay Ivey to delay the election.

Like Moore, Trump has been accused of sexual assault by several women, and like Moore, he has refused to budge an inch on the question of his innocence. As the Times reveals, though, Trump has gone way beyond mere denials. He has taken to contesting objective reality itself:

But something deeper has been consuming Mr. Trump. He sees the calls for Mr. Moore to step aside as a version of the response to the now-famous Access Hollywood tape, in which he boasted about grabbing womens genitalia, and the flood of groping accusations against him that followed soon after. He suggested to a senator earlier this year that it was not authentic, and repeated that claim to an adviser more recently. (In the hours after it was revealed in October 2016, Mr. Trump acknowledged that the voice was his, and he apologized.)

So now, Trump not only is insisting that the lies he spouts all day are true, but also has created a new set of facts that contradicts the ones he has already acknowledged. But, hey, who are you going to believe, President Trump or your lying ears?

The fact that for about 38 percent of the country the answer is President Trump is almost as disturbing as the possibility that the president may be more mentally unfit for office than most people acknowledge.
The Uganda Institute of Information and Communication Technology (UICT) has asked government for at least Shs 13bn to enable it develop infrastructure as the institute repositions itself to become a regional centre of excellence.

UICTs acting principal Irene Nakiyimba said the institution had developed a 10-year master plan to become the first ICT centre of excellence (CoE).

Ugandans have not fully embraced ICT, and this is because we lack professional skills, our first target will be government cadres since most of them dont have ICT-related skills, government is spending a lot on ICT-related expatriates she said.

Some of the graduands

Nakiyimbas request came during the institute's 11th graduation held last week. She explained that as Uganda goes into the ICT economy, it is vital that we have an institute that will lead in spearheading the implementation of an ICT-led economy.

This [CoE] will build skills and professional capacity of ready-to-work labour force to support the analysis, design, development, installation management and maintenance of ICT infrastructure and systems, she said.

At this event, 538 students received diplomas and certificates. Nakiyimba advised the graduates to take control of their lives if they are to make it in life and be responsible in their actions.

Always remember that there is only one person, you; you must learn to take 100 per cent responsibility for everything that you experience in life, she said.

Nyombi Tembo, representing the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC), said government had recognized the importance of the institution and required robust digital literacy and technical competencies among its graduates and pledged support.

Things like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, cyber security and machine learning will require specialized skills that our educational institutions like UICT must be ready to impart, Tembo said.

Vincent Bagiire, the ICT ministry permanent secretary

The ICT ministrys permanent secretary, Vincent Bagiire, said he did not expect to hear of graduates lacking employment.

Be flexible, you may not get a job on what you studied but be happy with what you start with; whether working in a shop or working upcountry, be humble and ensure people around you enjoy your presence, he said.



justuslyatuu08@gmail.com
In another few weeks, City Brew will move a block up North 27th Street to its new home, currently under construction, and begin the next phase of its life.

It's a big move for the homegrown Billings coffee company. The new building will be a full-service coffee shop with plenty of space to sit and meet. The building's drive-through has been designed to better accommodate and move the flow of traffic that comes off N. 27th Street, something that occasionally created issues at the old location.

Most importantly, the move will allow City Brew's corporate offices to expand. Currently, the offices take up the second floor of the old City Brew building at 1131 N. 27th St. Once the coffee shop's move up the street is complete, the corporate offices will expand to the bottom floor of the old building and it will become City Brew's new corporate headquarters.

"It's exciting," said Becky Reno, City Brew's founder and CEO. "We've grown so much."

City Vineyards, a wine shop, grew out of City Brew and was sold off by Reno to her daughter and son-in-law, who now run the company. City Vineyard recently opened an expansive new store on Grand Avenue near Zimmerman Trail.

The wine store's move left a vacancy at City Brew's coffee shop at 17th Street West and Grand Avenue, where it was first housed. The space has been up for lease all year and Reno said the company finally has a tenant ready to move in.

She described the business as a national company with which City Brew signed a nondisclosure agreement until the lease contract is finalized. Once everything is completed, she'll announce who the new tenant is.

City Brew currently employs more than 400 people and began serious expansion several years ago, when American Investment Co., a family-owned investment group, bought into the company. The partnership infused City Brew with cash and allowed it to expand across the region, with locations ranging from western Montana to North Dakota to Wyoming.

Reno wants to see it continue.

"We have great opportunity (for growth)," she said. "We're going to be very strategic. We want to grow at a pace that makes sense."

With the expansion of the corporate offices, Reno will begin searching for new senior leadership for City Brew operations, leaving her to focus on her efforts on leading the company at the board level.
Gulu University vice chancellor Prof George Openjuru has called for lecturers to consider heading out on internship with their students to appreciate how the skills they impart are appreciated in the job market.

Prof Openjuru said he was making the call on the back of persistent concerns about the quality of graduates by prospective employers. He argued that lecturers were possibly unaware of the changing demands in the market place.

Universities must change the way they are teaching. So, we are working with NGOs, government agencies, policymakers and stakeholders in various universities to see that lecturers go for internship in companies so as to teach what is up to date, he said.

Prof George Openjuru

The call came during a two-day conference called under the theme. 'Towards meaningful partnerships: Rethinking lifelong learning and work in Uganda at Esella Country Hotel in Wakiso last week. The conference was supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), in partnership with Gulu, Makerere and Uganda Martyrs Universities.

Prof Openjuru said the move to involve lecturers in internship would have far reaching consequences.

We want a curriculum review, we want to produce a different kind of graduate, as we are concerned that our education is not impacting the economy, Openjuru said.

The secretary general of Unescos National Commission, Rosie Agoi backed the idea. She observed that the work of universities it to teach, carry out research and anything that fails realization of these objectives should be eliminated for the good of the country.



tusiime.chris20@gmail.com
Busoga Kingdoms bid to improve learning outcomes last week received a major boost with a Shs 36m donation.

This is after Chinese firm Huawei, in conjunction with the Chinese embassy, donated examination printing equipment worth $10,000 (Shs 36m) to Busoga Kingdoms joint examinations board (BKJEB).

The equipment, including a laptop, two desktop computers, one printer and other assorted appliances will assist the Kingdom in preparing the regions students to enhance skills in preparation of national examinations.

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga (2nd L) hands over a portrait of the Kyabazinga to the Chinese ambassador

BKJEB was initiated by the Kyabazinga, William Wilberforce Gabula IV, with the aim of boosting the Kingdoms education standards. He was on hand for the ceremonies held at the kingdom headquarters.

Receiving the equipment on behalf of the kingdom, the speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, said the gesture would stop Busoga from lagging behind in national examinations as has been the case in the last three years.

Of the ten worst performing districts in last years PLE, six were from Busoga, but I bet that with this uniform exam printing in all schools, students will get familiar with question approach and these failures shall be eliminated, Kadaga said.

Kadaga further cautioned parents against failing to take their children to school on time to enable the pupils cover the entire syllabus.

Our parents should play their roles by sending their children early enough to school so as to help them cover up the syllabus on time and spare third term for revision, Kadaga added.

Rebecca Kadaga formally receives the printing equipment from Abel Abei of HUAWEI (L) as the Chinese ambassador to Uganda, Zhung Zhuieng (R) looks on

In his remarks, the Chinese ambassador to Uganda, Zheng Zhuqiang implored more Ugandans to embrace education in a bid to find solutions to worlds problems.

I urge Ugandans to embrace education so as to find solutions to the worlds problems and make impossibilities more possible through innovation and research, Zhung said.

Speaking for the kingdom, Busoga education minister, Abdul Latif Wangubo said that BKJEB would train teachers on assessment and marking.

Some of our teachers set exams without following the right procedures, but with BKJEB, we will train our teachers on the right setting techniques that will help our pupils compete with those in other regions of the country, Wangubo said.



wambuzireacheal@gmail.com
If you have been planning a year-end trip but struggling to book flight tickets because of the holidays, then this probably is what you are looking for. To celebrate their 12th anniversary, GoAir is offering tickets for as cheap as Rs 312 on select routes. The offers have started today and will continue till November 29 and are on a first-come, first-served basis. Not only the holidays, customers could book tickets for next year as well. The travel period on offer is December 1 to October 28, 2018.

These offers are only available on flights flying from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi and Lucknow. The cheapest ticket, which is for Rs 312 is for the Ahmedabad to Mumbai, Bengaluru to Kochi, Bengaluru to Goa, Bengaluru to Hyderabad, Delhi to Chandigarh, Delhi to Lucknow, Hyderabad to Bengaluru, Kochi to Bengaluru and Lucknow to Delhi.



The most expensive flights on the list are for Rs 2,412 for multiple routes.



These are however, base fares and there are no cashbacks available, the website mentions. These fares are also not applicable for group or infant bookings.



No promotional code will be applicable on these fares.

Jeh Wadia said in a statement that the reaction to the offer has been really encouraging. "The company is delighted to witness load factor in excess of 97 percent on average across the 12 new flights which commence today. This new offer is yet another innovative endeavour to ensure that air travel becomes affordable for customers. The company is extremely proud of the legacy of service and performance that it is associated with over the past 12 years and will continue to work towards enhancing customer experience," he further added.

GoAir started operations from 2005 and by 2017 has become the fifth largest airline in India.
Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association

Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America.
Woman faces

prison time

FORT EDWARD  A Hudson Falls woman who was sentenced to probation for assaulting a female corrections officers at Washington County Jail has been sentenced to state prison for violating probation.

Catherine M. Rouse, 30, pleaded guilty in 2014 to a felony assault charge for injuring an officer at Washington County Jail.

She was sentenced to 6 months in the county jail and 5 years on probation, but earlier this year was found to have violated probation.

That resulted in Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan sentencing her to 2 years in state prison and 3 years in parole.

She was arrested Aug. 9, 2014 in connection with a struggle with an officer that led to a shoulder injury for the officer.

Rouse was being booked into the jail on criminal mischief and harassment charges at the time, officials said.
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SALEM  Marchers, floats, tractors, firetrucks, dancers, horses, Santa and tossed candy brought holiday cheer to Salems Main Street on Saturday afternoon as the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce presented its seventh annual Christmas parade.

Sue Clary, recently elected Salem town supervisor, was in the parade as a politician for the first time. In other years, shes participated as a member of the chamber of commerce.

In Salem, you wear lots of hats, Clary said. She had brought her two granddaughters, Louise and Vera Clary, in a hand-pulled wagon, along with other chamber members and my good friend, the Grinch. The chamber group stopped in front of the reviewing stand at the intersection of Broadway and Main to decorate a Christmas tree and give the Grinch his heart.

Salem Brownie Troop 3159 had an elaborate float showing a Christmas tree farm and a hot cocoa stand. Twelve members of the troop wore little frosties costumes in white and black.

We do a lot of stuff in the community, so we have a lot of props on hand, said troop co-leader Tera Williams. We just finished our kindness rock project, putting kindness rocks all over Salem.

Not quite as organized but just as enthusiastic were several dozen students from the Salem Drama Clubs production of Shrek, scheduled for Dec. 8-10.

We have a cast of more than 65, said director Mary Skelly. Some of them are in other parts of the parade, including the parades grand marshal, Carly McPhee, an outstanding senior at Salem Central School. We had a big rehearsal this morning, had lunch together, and now were in the parade.

Dave Brown, dressed as an elf, drove his M&M Express in the parade. The tiny train consisted of a lawn tractor and two trailers decorated with toy Santas, elf dolls, a wicker reindeer, tinsel and lots of lights.

I do something more to it every year, said Brown, who traveled from Danby, Vermont.

It wouldnt be a small-town parade without horses. Colleen Steidle had brought four horses with green holiday saddle blankets from her family business, 4J Farmm in Argyle.

We have a guided trail riding facility, Steidle said. Weve been in other parades, but this is our first time in a Christmas parade. My kids are riding, and one of my horsemanship kids.

Other participants in the parade included the Lunch, Learn and Play program from the Community Courthouse Center, Washington County Dairy Princess Rachel Hall on the Bunker Hill Business Owners float, the Susi Shoe Dancers, the Washington County Draft Animal Association, the Cool2BKind Club at Salem Central School, Cub Scout Pack 61, Girl Scout Troop 3061, the Salem Rescue Squad, and, as the parades finale, Santa and Mrs. Claus in a white horse-drawn carriage.
In line with increasing rates of drug and alcohol abuse, sober living houses are picking up steam in Billings, with five new homes opening up in the past year alone.

Sober living houses are transitional homes where people fighting addiction can live communally, often with supportive programming. Theyre designed for temporary stays, anywhere from six to 18 months, before people live independently. Many entering sober living have recently completed residential treatment or a pre-release program.

Theres often a waitlist for the homes, as demand has increased in recent years, along with drug- and alcohol-related crimes. Felony drug possession charges in Yellowstone County went from 198 in 2012 to 546 in 2016. One in 10 Montanans abuses alcohol or drugs, according to a recent report by the attorney generals office, which calls the states growing substance abuse problem an epidemic.

In Billings, some form of sober living has existed as early as 1986, when Clapham House, a sober home for men leaving prison, opened. Rimrock opened its first of two homes in 2004, and private organizations have followed the trend, with Ignatias House opening four homes in the past year, and Community Support Project opening its first in the past few months.

Coralee Goni, who manages sober living at Rimrock Foundation, said she knows of more groups working to open houses in Billings.

There are so few options out there, and sober living houses fill up so fast, Goni said.

The sober housing shortage is worse for women, she said. At Hannahs House, a womens sober living home run by South Side nonprofit CLDI, 78 women applied last year for just four openings. The program at Hannah House is geared toward women working to reunite with their children. Children can live at the home with their mothers as long as a state social worker approves.

Billings has at least 114 beds in 16 sober living homes spread throughout Billings, many on the South Side.

House rules

The houses all operate differently. Some have a Christian focus and some do not. Some have unpaid, live-in managers  and sometimes those managers spouses and children stay with them  while others are staffed with paid house directors who do not live on-site.

All have strict rules for residents, which usually include a nightly curfew and requirements that residents obtain jobs and attend Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings.

Its not just a get-out-of prison house or a flophouse or a place to lay your head, said Richard Todd, who runs Ignatias House.

Rachel Leslie, who manages Hannah House, said the women who live there typically havent had much structure in their lives and so programming and rules are necessary. The house connects women with legal, educational and job search services, and mandates a weekly house meeting, meal and Bible study.

Because the homes are structured as programs and not boarding facilities, the residents do not enjoy standard tenant rights. At most of the homes, residents sign an agreement upon move-in that says house managers can search their rooms if deemed necessary, and that drug or alcohol use can result in immediate termination from the program. A standard 30-day eviction notice is not given.

But house managers say the rules are necessary to maintain a sober house, and that relapses are considered on a case-by-case basis. For instance, most house managers will meet with the person who has relapsed and try to determine whether they are able to regain their sobriety and remain in the house without compromising others sobriety.

But if someone is kicked out, it can happen in as little as a day.

Theres a real thin line between helping and enabling, and we are definitely not Ignatias House of Enabling, said program director Richard Todd.

Lack of regulation

The facilities have created problems in other cities in the U.S. In New York, for example, one sober living facility required residents to relapse in order to retain their bed. Thats because the manager of the facility received kickbacks for referring residents to a certain treatment center. Similar abuses in Florida led to 32 arrests there, the Sun-Sentinel reported in August.

In Los Angeles, neighbors complained that the houses were a public nuisance, with overcrowded homes, added noise and traffic and drug paraphernalia left in the area.

Spurred by such problems, other states have attempted to regulate the homes.

Massachusetts has regulated sober homes for a year now, and while obtaining a state certification is still optional there, no state agency or contracted organization can make referrals to non-certified sober homes in Massachusetts.

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would assign oversight of sober homes to the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.

But in Montana, no such regulation or certification exists. Sober homes do not receive money from the state, and they are treated as private residences by the city, so are not subject to regulation by the Department of Public Health and Human Services as public accommodations.

One local resident, Catherine Card, is concerned about the lack of regulation and has been raising the issue at neighborhood task force meetings and with the sober homeowners themselves.

Card, a pastor, lives on the South Side near many of the homes. Her concern is that the lack of oversight could put already vulnerable people in situations where they have little recourse to address problems.

My concern is although some may be well-meaning in offering housing to people coming out of treatment or prison, the owners of these houses have the upper hand over the residents, she said.

Card is also concerned about a potential conflict of interest at the citys newest home, which is next door to Cards home.

Community Support Project LLC opened a home for men in September. Lisa and John Noteboom, co-owners of the home, are the parents of Coralee Goni, the Rimrock employee who manages sober living. Goni has no involvement in the operation.

Rimrock has referred patients whove completed treatment to the home run by Community Support Project.

But Goni says thats simply due to the shortage of sober housing in Billings, and that referrals to her parents home are no different from or more frequent than referrals to other homes.

The new wave of sober homes opening isnt about business, Goni said, but about answering a growing demand.

Different people are seeing this need and seeing an opportunity to help, Goni said.
Sens. Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham said they believe the Senate can reach a consensus on immigration policy, possibly as part of the year-end government funding bill.

Durbin, D-Illinois, said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that he believes Graham could be a part of a bipartisan coalition to pass legislation that would increase border security and legalize the immigration status of individuals who came into the United States illegally as children.

"I can tell you, when it comes to border security, we have signed up for that," Durbin said. "Sen. (Chuck) Schumer said that months ago. We believe that there are aspects of border security that Democrats and Republicans can agree on."

And Graham, R-South Carolina, suggested an agreement on border security and so-called "DREAMers" could be tacked onto the government spending bill.

"We need border security, so there's a deal to be done," Graham said. "Dick's right about this. For the DREAM Act, I think you could get strong border security and a break in chain migration. If you could put those three things together, put it on the end-of-the-year spending bill, that would be a heck of an accomplishment for 2017."

But Graham prefaced his remarks by outlining where he will and will not make concessions.

"Well, the way I look at the end-of-the-year bill is a chance to do some good for the country as a whole, starting by funding the Defense Department more adequately," Graham said. "I'm not going to vote for a bill that doesn't increase defense spending dramatically. And I'm willing to increase non-defense spending of the NIH, the Corps of Engineers, the FBI, the CIA."

Durbin and Graham remained flexible as to whether the immigration deal would decide their votes. If Congress is unable to pass a spending bill by midnight on December 8, the government will shut down.

When he was asked if a government shutdown is possible over immigration, Graham said: "In Congress, anything is possible."
It was just about a year ago when I brought the idea of expanding The Post-Star editorial board to our then-publisher, Terry Coomes.

I had some trepidation, I told her.

If we added two more citizen representatives to the one already serving, the citizen representatives would have an equal voice in the stands we take.

The counter argument was they would also share equal blame.

More than once this year when our editorial board was labeled the liberal media and accused of bias, I pointed out that we had three citizen representatives who were independent of the newspaper. If anyone thought there was bias, I encouraged them to talk to any of the citizen representatives and ask about the process.

The other concern was whether anyone would want to sign up for a year-long term.

It turns out they did.

A half-dozen or so former citizen representatives who had served four-month terms in years past volunteered to come back. All were great candidates who had brought a great deal to the table before. In the end, instead of interviewing them all again, we put their names in a hat and drew out two names.

For the past 11 months, Dan Gealt and George Nelson have been making the trek to our office each Wednesday morning to talk about local issues and what to do about them.

There were many meetings where the citizen representatives outnumbered those of us who draw a Post-Star paycheck.

It worked out just fine.

George and Dan became important contributors to the process and staples in our newsroom.

The original concept for our editorial board was for each of three citizen representatives to serve a four-month term each year. There was never supposed to be more than one citizen representative on the board at any one time. Often, just when they were getting comfortable, their term was up.

That was not a problem for Dan and George. Having served before, they knew what to expect from the beginning, and over the course of this year, they became part of our team that featured three citizen representatives.

George always waited until the end of the meeting before bringing up his weekly concern.

Dan was the nitpicker who would suggest different words in editorials  usually better words  and always found the typo that we had missed.

They were active, idea-oriented and not afraid to ask questions when we interviewed political candidates.

They both will be missed.

We are looking again for two citizen representative veterans to serve on our editorial board for all of 2018. Were hoping that some of those who applied last year will volunteer again.

Weve been using citizen representatives for more than 10 years now. I recently started compiling a list of those who had served. Weve been lucky to get such a great group of volunteers from diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Board candidates should be able to attend one morning meeting a week and be engaged in local news and issues. If you are interested in making a return engagement, contact me at tingley@poststar.com with a little background about when you served and what you are doing now.

For those of you who have never served but are interested, we will be looking for new candidates in the spring.
If you know what the Republican tax bill will do, please call your local U.S. representative and tell them.

Were you even aware that an overhaul of our income tax system has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and will soon be voted on by the Senate?

If you were aware of that, do you have any idea how it will affect your personal tax bill?

This bill is a rush job, pushed by a president and Republican majority in Congress desperate to pass something  anything  that they can brag about, however unworthy of praise the bill may actually be.

Look at the way a repeal of the Affordable Care Acts individual mandate  the requirement to buy health insurance or pay a penalty  was jammed into the tax bill at the last minute. This is a cob job, a slapped-together structure that has every sign of eventual collapse.

Look at the way the personal tax cuts included in the bill expire in 2026, because Republicans could not figure out a way to make their math work. Having the tax cuts expire for individuals (the corporate tax cuts, in contrast, are permanent) is the only way Republicans could figure out to write this bill without exploding the deficit to an unacceptable size.

Mick Mulvaney, the federal budget director, has said the administration is willing to take out repeal of the individual mandate if that will persuade moderate Republican senators like Maines Susan Collins, to support the bill.

So is there anything about this last-minute bill the Trump administration likes enough to stand behind?

Yes, the huge corporate tax cut, from a 35 percent rate to a 20 percent rate, and the changes in business tax rules, which will allow pass-through companies to pay at a much lower rate. Pass-through companies are set up so owners can claim the business income on their personal returns.

The changes in the pass-through rules would benefit larger companies more than smaller ones, making it harder for the smaller companies to compete. That is why Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, a former small business owner himself, has come out against the bill.

The business tax cuts are the heart of the bill. Coincidentally (perhaps), many of Donald Trumps companies are set up as pass-through businesses, and these cuts would save him millions of dollars.

Regardless of the effect on Trumps personal wealth, some experts have supported the business tax cuts, arguing they will improve the U.S. economy.

But who knows?

These are issues that should be debated, publicly. But no hearings have been held in Congress on this bill, and very little time is being allowed for public discussion.

Were certain that most people can tell you more about what was on their Thanksgiving table than what is in the tax bill. We bet more people have started their Christmas shopping than have even a basic understanding of the bill.

But this bill will have a direct and significant effect on most Americans. You might pay less in taxes. You might pay more. Either way, you are going to have to change the way you fill out your tax forms.

Speaking of paying more, we noticed that our Republican congresswoman, Elise Stefanik, voted against the bill, because it drops the deduction for state and local income taxes. That deduction benefits residents of high-tax states like New York, Massachusetts and California. Coincidentally (a lot of coincidences pop up with this bill), those are Democratic states.

You have to give Stefanik a smidgen of credit for trying to protect her constituents interests, although we suspect she was given the OK to vote no by Republican leaders, because the bill was going to pass anyway.

Instead of putting the blame for the soak-the-blue-states strategy on Paul Ryan and crew, where it belongs, Stefanik blamed New York state leaders (Democrats, coincidentally) for failing to reduce state taxes.

But if you want to talk about New York and the federal budget, you should point out that our state contributes far more revenue to the federal treasury than it gets back in federal spending. In 2016, New York sent about $41 billion more in tax payments to the federal government than it received back in federal spending, according to the state Comptrollers Office.

The apparent partisanship in the proposed changes to the tax code is another reason far more debate is needed on this bill.

A University of Chicago survey of economists found that 69 percent of them were either uncertain of what the Republican tax bill will do or believe it will not substantially boost the nations gross domestic product. That leaves 31 percent who agree with the Republican assertion that the bill will create economic growth.

The point is, even economists dont know, and that is because this bill has not been thoroughly vetted. Congressional hearings should be held, as they should be on any major piece of legislation and were, for example, on the Affordable Care Act. This bill is much too important for a rush job.

To learn more about the proposed tax bills, check out the nonpartisan reports linked to in the attached box.
On Small Business Saturday, two potential downtown businesses got a boost when they were announced as co-winners of the 2017 Battle of the Plans.

Womens retailer Something Chic, pitched by Linda Brooks, and restaurant Mason & Dixon, planned by Owen and Nicole Yurko, tied for the top spot for the annual business competition. Winners were announced during a gathering at the MoAV Coffee House.

The event was organized by the Downtown Billings Alliance, Big Sky Economic Development, Montana State University and Rocky Mountain College. Lisa Harmon, DBAs executive director, acted as emcee.

About 40 people were on hand to hear the culmination of several months of work by the budding entrepreneurs. The four finalists included Brooks, the Yurkos, Alan Loomis of Yellowstone Biking and Kassi Soelter of Crepe Cuisine.

The two winners will receive award packages totaling $35,500. That includes $20,000 in start-up assistance, plus money toward signs, advertising, marketing, education and one-year memberships in DBA, BSED and the Billings Chamber of Commerce.

In the business expansion category, This House of Books, which opened a year ago, won a partial award. It was one of two retailers that entered the contest and the only one to make it to the finals, Harmon said.

The judges felt that the applicants that we had didnt meet all the criteria of expansion, but parts of it, she said.

For that reason, This House of Books was awarded $4,000 for its exterior signage and $1,000 for marketing and advertising.

Winning the battle is a rigorous process, Harmon told the audience. During the contests first phase, potential and expanding businesses must submit a one-page synopsis on opening or growing a business in the downtown area.

In round two, contestants attend sessions detailing how to write a business plan, handle financing, hire employees and deal with human relations issues. They also develop a business plan.

This year a dozen entrants in the initial round were pared down to nine in the second round and then to five finalists for the last round. In a Shark Tank-like setting, each of the finalists gave a five-minute talk about their business proposals and answered questions.

Deciding on a winner was no easy task, Harmon said.

The battleground was in the judges quarters, she said. All the participants knocked it out of the park and we were like oh man, this is not easy. 

Deliberations went on so long, she said, the judges decided to take a step back for 24 hours before making the final choices.

All of you who participated  congratulations, Harmon said.

She and Greg Krueger, DBA's director of development, presented oversized checks and wooden keys to the city to Owen Yurko and Linda Brooks.

Harmon told Yurko that he and his wife drew up an amazing plan.

I know that youre deeply rooted in the restaurant industry, she said. Were so, so proud to welcome you downtown.

Brooks, who took second last year, decided to compete again.

All your hard work has paid off, Harmon told her. Thanks for sticking with it. Youre are that entrepreneur, youre set, youre ready.

Afterward, Brooks said Something Chic will be a womens clothing store thats modern contemporary and wallet-friendly.

I believe you can have great style and fashion at an affordable price, she said. Approximately 75 percent of my inventory is going to be under $100.

Brooks has always enjoyed shopping for clothes downtown with a friend, and the two talked about opening a store. Now, with the support and resources at her disposal, Brooks hopes to make that dream come true by the end of next summer.

Competing in the Battle of the Plans gave her an education in what it takes to own and operate a business.

Ive earned so much in the last almost two years that its mind-boggling, she said.

Brooks, a surgical nurse, learned after competing the first year that her biggest problem was finances. She lacked start-up capital.

So she spent the past nine months as a traveling nurse, to earn the money she needed. In that time, Brooks saved $25,000.

Winning on Saturday feels like a validation of all she's invested.

"All the sacrifices I made, away from home and my husband, everything was worth it and it paid off," Brooks said. "I can't wait to be in downtown Billings."

Yurko, who has 15 years of experience working in restaurants, started flipping burgers at a concession stand and now is the general manager of Montanas Rib and Chop House. When he turned 25, Yurko decided he wanted to open a restaurant by the time he was 30.

I turned 30 on Sept. 29, so everythings kind of falling into place now, he said.

Mason-Dixon will serve Southern food in what Yurko called a fast-casual concept. The goal is to source the food as locally as possible and use cooking techniques that create foods in a healthier way, including offering vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Yurko is in talks to open the restaurant on the first floor of the former St. Vincent de Paul offices, at 2610 Montana Ave. Hes aiming for a summer opening.

Getting the validation and the partnership with downtown Billings is going to help further the concept along, make funding easier and make getting open a little easier, he said.
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Wild turkeys aren't uncommon in the Quad-Cities, but still, Peter and Karen Metcalf of Bettendorf were surprised when one landed on their deck, attempting to eat at their bird feeder.

The Metcalfs live near the border with Riverdale/Scott Community College and have about an acre of woods behind their house. It's a prime spot for deer and turkeys, and Karen recently heard the yapping of a coyote. The bird feeder, stocked with black oil sunflower seeds, attracts "all kinds of beautiful birds," Karen said.

Now they can add "wild turkey" to that list.

Karen also said that she and her husband have seen male turkeys displaying at each other  that is, strutting, puffing, and spreading their feathers in a wide fan. "Quite a sight sight!" Karen said. "Amazing what goes on in parts of Bettendorf, despite all the development."

MARIMO MOSS BALL: Martha Smith has been teaching people (including me) about plants for years, but now she's come up with a new one.

On Tuesday, Dec. 5, she's going to teach a workshop at the University of Illinois Extension office in Milan on marimo moss balls. These are a rare species of filamentous green algae that grows underwater and is known for its unique round shape and smooth velvety texture.

In nature, these moss balls can only be found growing in a few lakes, including in Japan, Iceland, Scotland and Estonia.

The balls are very popular in Japan, Smith, a horticulture educator for Extension, said. They are regarded as good luck charms and because they live so long  200 years or longer  they often are kept as family heirlooms, passed down to children and grandchildren, according to her research.

Smith had never heard of them until a co-worker recently came back with one from an arts fair in Rockford, Illinois.

She has been able to secure a quantity of moss balls from a supplier in Indiana and has scheduled the workshop for noon to 1 p.m. The $10 charge includes two moss balls, a glass container and rocks and shells for decorating.

Class size is limited to 20 and Smith told me last week that 17 people already were signed up. If you'd like to take your chances at getting in, call 309-756-9978. Otherwise, consider this another example of the wonders of nature.

A final thought: I hope the suppliers are propagating these balls themselves, not tearing them out of lakes.

SQUIRRELS BURROW INTO PUMPKINS: I've been amused watching the squirrels on our deck go after our fall-themed pumpkin display.

First they chew at the outsides of the pumpkins, leaving deep scratches in the walls. Finally the scratches break through to the inside and  aha!  they find even better stuff. Seeds!

They proceed to pull these out, sticking their heads inside the pumpkins until half their body has disappeared. Then, rapidly, they pull back out, look both ways to make sure no one is gaining on them, then chew furiously and leave scraps all over the sidewalk. Cute.
NEW YORK | Lawmakers who sped a bill through the U.S. House last week may have handed a few more goodies to Wall Street's wealthiest than they realize.

Investors in billion-dollar hedge funds might be able to take advantage of a new, lower tax rate touted as a break for small businesses. Private equity fund managers might be able to sidestep a new tax on their earnings. And a combination of proposed changes might allow the children and grandchildren of the very wealthy to avoid income taxes in perpetuity.

These are some of the quirks that tax experts have spotted in the bill passed by the House on Nov. 16, just two weeks after it was introduced. Whether they were intentional or accidental, it will be up to congressional tax writers to keep or revise them before a final bill makes it to President Donald Trump's desk  assuming both chambers can work out a compromise. Senate leaders plan to vote on their own version of tax legislation by the end of this month.

"There sure are a lot of glitches and loopholes, in large measure because there's so much complexity in this bill that's being raced through," said Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, a Washington policy group.

Loopholes aside, the biggest features of the Republican tax plans in both chambers bear a mix of news for wealthy investors.

The good: a potential cut in the top marginal income tax rate; big cuts in business taxes; an end to the alternative minimum tax; and a cut or repeal of the estate tax. The bad: limits or the outright end of individual deductions for state and local taxes and tax hikes on the debt financing that fuels private equity deals.

The loopholes are deep in the details.

The House bill contemplates a major shift in how most American businesses are taxed. Right now, profits from "pass-through" entities, like sole proprietorships and partnerships, show up on their owners' individual income taxes. The House bill replaces that with a new 25 percent top tax rate on pass-throughs' business income. Supporters describe the change as a boon for small business owners, a way to keep them relatively even with corporations, which stand to see their tax rate drop to 20 percent from 35 percent.

The bill's drafters probably didn't mean for investors in partnerships like hedge funds to use the new pass-through rate, according to David S. Miller, a tax partner at Proskauer Rose LLP in New York. Capital gains, the kind of income these funds tend to generate, would be excluded.

But there may be a workaround. In a note published on Nov. 13, Miller highlights what he calls "an unusual set of drafting glitches."

Here's how it would work, according to Miller: A fund could choose to be taxed the same way a securities dealer is. It would have to mark its portfolio to market regularly and record any profits as ordinary income. Doing so would allow it to characterize the money it makes as "business income" rather than investing income, and qualify for the pass-through rate.

For a hedge fund that generates short-term capital gains, this strategy could have the effect of dropping an investor's tax rate to 25 percent from 39.6 percent. The manager of the fund probably wouldn't get the full benefit, Miller said.

The Senate plan, which is still under discussion and hasn't yet been put into legislative language, would overhaul taxes for pass-through businesses in a completely different way.

Another provision in the House bill is aimed squarely at fund managers. It targets the so-called carried interest tax break that Trump called for ending during his campaign when he said "hedge fund guys are getting away with murder."

Hedge fund and private equity managers typically get some of their pay in the form of carried interest  a percentage of their investors' profits. Under current law, if those underlying profits stem from investments held for more than a year, the managers enjoy the same preferential, lower rate on the carried interest that their clients pay on their investments.

The House bill preserves this break, but limits it by extending the holding period from one year to three.

Even that tax hike might be avoidable, according to Monte Jackel, a senior counsel at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Jackel notes that the provision doesn't apply to corporations that hold carried interest. So a fund manager could collect his carried interest through a type of corporation that doesn't itself pay taxes.

"It looks like that's what they've written," Jackel said, adding that it's the type of discrepancy that's likely to get fixed once someone notices it. The Senate is working on a similar change in carried-interest taxation, but hasn't released detailed language.

Another quirk in the House bill is so glaring that Richard Levine, a special counsel at Withers Bergman LLP in New Haven, Connecticut, says he can't believe it was accidental. This one involves the estate tax, a 40 percent levy that applies to the estates of a few thousand of the richest Americans each year.

The House bill would limit the tax to even fewer estates right away and then eliminate it entirely in 2025. But it leaves in place a related measure that allows heirs to sell assets without having to pay income tax on the appreciation that took place before they inherited them.

Taken together, that means that a family whose fortune derives from a long-held asset  think Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., or the Walton family's Wal-Mart Stores Inc.  might never have to pay tax on the bulk of that wealth at all. The founding generation could borrow against the stock to meet expenses, and the next generation could sell it income tax-free.

The last time the estate tax was repealed, during the single year of 2010, Congress changed the rules on inherited assets to avoid this result, said Robert Gordon, who advises clients on the tax implications of investments at Twenty-First Securities Corp. in New York.

He predicted the same thing will happen this time, but that it's being held back as a negotiating tactic. (The Senate bill would limit the estate tax to fewer people but not repeal it.)

Levine helps wealthy individuals with tax planning, and he said the House proposal is "very welcome for my clients."

"As a matter of tax policy it's completely indefensible," he said. "It permits income that is obviously income, in a constitutional sense, to go entirely untaxed."
Talk about perfect timing.

Just in time for that most common of New Years resolutions  you know, the one about getting in shape and losing weight  a second Anytime Fitness exercise center is coming to the west side of Rapid City. The opening is planned for just after the first of the year.

Remodeling is underway at the former location of Dakota Party at 780 Mountain View Road, according to manager Darci McManigal of Black Hills Properties.

McManigal said this new location is separate from another Anytime Fitness on East St. Patrick Street east of Family Fare supermarket.

Anytime will use just part of the location most recently occupied by Dakota Party, which moved to the Rushmore Crossing Shopping Center earlier this fall.

McManigal hopes to announce another new tenant for the remaining space soon, she said.

Unique News changes hands

Unique News of Rapid City is changing hands. Jeanne Hoback and Deb Casey of Rapid City are taking over the single sheet fun news publication from Vi Stoltz, who is retiring.

Hoback describes Unique News as a cheerful, newsy monthly publication, minus the hard news aspect while seeking to entertain and provoke thought along the way.

To me it was always positive, little bits of information about an invention or a positive thought, or a word of the month, she said

Like Stoltz, Hoback will print Unique News at home. She will serve as editor and salesperson. Casey will do the layout.

I do the writing and sell the ads and Deb makes it pretty, Hoback said.

They plan on having the December issue out between the first and third of the month.

Itll be our very first one, Hoback said. Were going to have a lot of fun with this.

Call Hoback at 605-341-4377 for more information.

Hospital adds third CT scanner

Regional Health Rapid City Hospital has installed a new advanced CT scanner, bringing the number of CT scanners at the hospital to three.

The addition of the new unit means better medical images, less radiation and quicker turnaround times for patients awaiting results, according to a Regional Health release.

Demand for CT (Computed Tomography) imaging has grown exponentially over the past five years. Lower radiation has increased the safety and better technology has expanded its uses, Senior Director of Medical Imaging Services Jamie Madden said in the release.

The addition of the Siemens Somatom CT will reduce the turnaround time to complete CT-guided biopsies for suspected cancers in the lungs, liver and kidneys. Madden said the goal is to deliver biopsy results in less than three days.

The third CT unit was scheduled to be part of the expansion of Rapid City Hospitals Emergency Department that is currently underway. Because of demand Regional Health decided to put the new device online immediately. The CT will be moved to the new emergency department when construction is completed.

Ranching for profit seminar

The South Dakota Grassland Coalition is sponsoring a two-day seminar, Intro to Ranching for Profit, and New Ways to Think About Your Business, on Dec. 14-15 at the Branding Iron Banquet Room at 19079 US Highway 85 in Belle Fourche.

Topics to be discussed during the seminars, which run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, are:

Three secrets for increasing profit: Do you own a business or a job? How Ideas Fly presentation; Hard work and harmony; and Working through ranch problems.

Main speaker Dave Pratt is a respected authority on sustainable ranching in North America, according to a release. He has researched management intensive grazing and other strategic issues affecting the profitability of ranches.

Admission is free for SD Grassland Coalition members, or $30 per person, which includes a one-year coalition membership.

Reservations should be made by Dec. 8. Contact Judge Jessop at 605-280-0127 or at judge.jessop@sdconservation.net.

For more information on Pratt, see ranchmanagement.com.
The student loan debt plan is on hold, again, and no one knows when (or if) it's coming. What could this mean for you?

Host Teri Barr is talking with Cecilia Clark, a Student Loans Expert with Nerd Wallet, to learn why this newest hold on the program, could take awhile, the 3 things you need to know about and prepare for right now, including making your loan payments again in the New Year.

The latest from Cecilia at NerdWallet:

More episodes on debt:

Support the show: https://omny.fm/shows/pennywise

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Applied Sciences Assistant Professor Tony Perlinski encourages his students to play in the dirt. Luckily for the students enrolled in Perlinskis soils laboratories at the Rangeland Complex on the southeastern edge of campus, theyre surrounded by plenty of it.

Other range programs dont have the on-campus resources we have, Perlinski said. We walk out our back door and were in rangeland. Because of that, we can teach differently.

The Rangeland Complex, which was dedicated Sept. 26, 2015, features a laboratory and classroom building, as well as the 25,000 square foot Coffee Agriculture Pavilion. The Coffee Pavilion provides space for livestock classes and rodeo practice, while the Rangeland Lab has two dedicated spaces for animal dissection and soil analysis.

Perlinski, who teaches all his courses in the soils lab, said the modern lab amenities are useful, but the living laboratory outside is also involved in the curriculum.

Rangeland is a hands-on program and so it makes sense for us to study outside, he said. Getting students into the rangelands and teaching students what theyre going to be doing is valuable. We are providing skills and experiences they can put on their resumes and that is important. Being able to talk about a concept in the classroom and demonstrating it in the field is extremely high impact.

Assisting those high impact practices is campus Horticulturist Lucinda Mays and grounds employees. Perlinski said Mays is attentive to the needs and requests of Rangeland faculty about what to plant in the living laboratory.

Lucinda and the grounds crew do a lot of great stuff for our program. Theyve planted a lot of native grasses and plants and because of that we draw really heavily on using the outdoor lab space. Theyre open to whatever we are trying, he said.

Perlinski is willing to try almost anything. Earlier in the fall semester he and his class did a small prescribed fire to see the effects it had on control and invasive cool season grasses.

We wont know for sure the effects it had for some time, but some of the burn areas promoted some new, intense regrowth, he said. Its part of a larger project where we are reseeding native species in those burned areas.

While the living laboratory has provided several opportunities for high impact learning, the indoor facility is no slouch.

We are still growing into it and what we can do with the lab indoors, Perlinski said. Weve been here a year and a half, and so to be honest Im still figuring out what to do with this space. But this facility is so important to our program.

The lab features six workstations for four students apiece, along with scientific instruments and other equipment.

The soils lab is the primary use of those stations but we also use those spaces to process samples for habitat inventory and analysis and rangeland hydrology, Perlinski.

Each lab was built to accommodate 24 students, but Perlinski said some courses have as many as 30 students.

Thats a great problem to have because it means our program is successful, he said.

Perlinski has also had a successful year. In the summer he successfully defended his dissertation and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming in Watershed Management. He was also recently elected the President of the Nebraska Section for the Society of Range Management and serves on the Advisory Council as Chair for the International Society of Range Management.

I enjoy giving back and working with rangeland, he said. And, I have a hard time saying no.
When we saw the recent news that the U.S. House had passed a massive tax cut for multi-national corporations that would add over $1.5 trillion to the national debt, we recalled a moment in 2010 when then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said the national debt was the single biggest threat to our national security. Having personally spent time overseas countering the terrorist threat to the United States, we understand the seriousness of Admiral Mullens assessment and know personally whats at stake. We are deeply concerned that Congress is on the verge of adopting a tax policy that would greatly undermine our countrys strength at home and its ability to project power abroad.

Dont get us wrong. Some deficit spending to fund targeted investments in infrastructure and education could make our country stronger and more competitive, but the policy Congress is advancing sets us on the wrong course. Our rivals on the world stage know the strategic value of massive investments in public education. China, for example, already graduates more than eight times the number of graduates in science, technology, engineering and math than the United States. Weve seen too clearly how other countries have quickly advanced their cyberwarfare capabilities. Without decisive investment in the future, there will not be enough highly-skilled Americans trained and ready to fight back.

The U.S. Houses proposed changes to the tax code would gut American higher education and weaken national security. For example, tuition waivers allowing graduate students to engage in advanced studies would be redefined as taxable "income." The result?

Overnight, the tax burden on graduate students would more than double. Countless American students would be shut out from top programs in computer science, nuclear engineering and critical languages like Chinese and Arabic. These are the fields our military and civilian agencies need to defend against rapidly evolving threats to American security.

Imagine if our space program wasnt staffed by top scientists, but by mediocre ones simply lucky enough to be born into wealth. Imagine if the analyst deciphering chatter on terrorist networks rose to their position not because they were the brightest, but because they were among the few with a trust fund to pay for their education. This would be the new reality under the proposed tax regime and would not only compromise American national security, but also cause the United States to fall further behind the world in scientific achievements, thereby damaging our country for generations to come.

Most Americans wont even see any significant short-term benefits of the House tax bill. Millions, including small business owners, will actually see their taxes rise. Eliminating personal exemptions and deductions for state taxes will hit Montanans particularly hard. Thirteen million Americans are expected to lose health insurance. Premiums are guaranteed to rise, as will medical-related bankruptcies.

Who will benefit?

According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, those with incomes above $730,000 will get a big tax break. The heirs of the wealthiest people in America will now collect their inheritance with little to no taxes paid. Corporations will have greater incentive to fire Americans and ship their jobs overseas. The few provisions meant to provide middle class tax relief are temporary. The corporate tax cuts? Permanent.

As individuals who have served our nation overseas in harms way, we say this with great seriousness: The senators and representatives who support such policies are threatening American national security. These politicians should be willing to release their own tax returns, to show just how much they will personally benefit. If they are unwilling to do that, then you know whose interests theyre really serving. Its not the United States of America, and its not the people of Montana.
Most strains of Escherichia coli, or E. coli, are harmless. Shiga-toxigenic E. coli, or STEC, is not one of those strains.

In 2016, South Dakota had the highest per capita rate of illness due to STEC in America. But a recent study out of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology that identified genes related to harmful E. coli strains may help public health officials monitor, predict and prevent future outbreaks.

Currently, health officials measure the concentration of E. coli in waterways. If it exceeds a certain level, the water may pose a potential safety risk and is thus deemed impaired by the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The recent study by Ph.D. student Kelsey Murray, under the direction of Linda DeVeaux, Ph.D. and Lisa Kunza, Ph.D., may soon replace that testing methodology, though.

We just look at the bacterial DNA, basically, Murray said from a room in the Mines Chemical and Biological Engineering/Chemistry building on Wednesday morning. We look at their genes to see whether or not they carry particular genes that are associated with certain pathogens.

Again, not all forms of E. coli are harmful. Murrays testing methodology searches for the particular genes that can create the harmful strains.

Our method more clearly defines the risk, she said.

DeVeaux explained the difference between the current form of E. coli testing and this new methodology a bit further.

What theyre (EPA) doing is a much broader and general, DeVeaux said. They just correlate overall that in the past, if there was this level of E. coli, they saw X number of infections from it.

But E. coli levels are only part of the story, DeVeaux said.

They give some indication generally about the risk, but we can pinpoint it probably better using something like this, she said of the new methodology, which included taking water samples from different locations along Rapid Creek and Big Sioux River and then screening for 33 different types of genes which, in various combinations, can create the harmful E. coli strains.

Though the study didnt quantify the number of genes, its known that as the number of genetic combinations rise, so too does the potential for a harmful strain to develop.

In Rapid Creek, the genetic density and proximity was highest in water samples taken shortly after leaving the citys wastewater treatment facility. But nothing in this area compared to the Big Sioux River.

We definitely found the genes in the Big Sioux and their total bacterial load is significantly higher than this side of the state, Murray said. So while we didnt quantitate the genes, we can say theres just more of a chance of them exchanging among the bacterial population just by the density and proximity of the bacteria.

In South Dakota in 2016, there were 80 cases of people becoming sick from contact with STEC, a rate of 9.3 cases per 100,000 people. Though seven of the 80 cases in 2016 came from the Rapid City metropolitan area, the greatest concentration came in the northeast and southeast part of the state, near where the Big Sioux River traces its winding path before emptying into the Missouri River in Sioux City, Iowa. The northeast section of the state experienced 23 cases (13.3 per 100,000 people), while the southeast section saw 17 cases (15.1 per 100,000 people).

Though the groundbreaking study presents a new way forward for E. coli and water testing, the next test comes in trying to find a correlation between the strains found in waterways and those found in patients coming to the hospital with E. coli related illnesses.

The thing that we really need to do is correlate what were finding in the water with whats showing up in the clinic, DeVeaux said. Is the water the source of the people who are ending up in hospitals? Are they the same combinations that were finding in the water?

Improved and consistent monitoring is also paramount, Deveaux added.

We dont even know what these bacteria can evolve to do, so thats why continuing to monitor all of them, rather than just the ones that we know come together in organisms that weve seen causing disease, is necessary, she said.

To Kunza, the next step for environment and health officials is just as clear.

If the EPA were to adopt a method similar to this instead of E. coli as their general characteristics ... that would allow people to have a much better idea of the health risk associated with using waterways, certainly, Kunza said.

But as Murray, Kunza and Mines spokesman Charles Michael Ray made clear, the implementation will, perhaps regrettably, be left to others.

This research just lies out, heres the science, Ray said. Heres what we should be concerned about."
John Thune has so much campaign money socked away that he now makes more from interest and dividends than some other politicians collect from donors.

Thune is a Republican U.S. senator from South Dakota. His Friends of John Thune campaign committee held $11.37 million at the end of September, according to mandatory public reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

An undisclosed portion of the committees money is invested in securities. During the July-through-September quarterly reporting period, the securities generated $151,129.72 of interest and dividends for Thune, who does not face re-election until 2022.

Meanwhile, during that same quarter, two leading Republican U.S. House candidates from South Dakota who are raising money for next years primary election collected less than $150,000 apiece. They are Shantel Krebs, who reported raising about $133,000 during the quarter, and Dusty Johnson, who reported raising about $118,000.

Thune has been investing campaign funds since 2004 in a professionally managed portfolio of securities that includes certificates of deposit, bonds, mutual funds and money-market accounts, said Ryan Nelson, Thunes chief of staff.

Because of the amount and because of the success of the stock market the last 11 months, there have been some very nice returns on it, Nelson said in a Journal phone interview.

Besides growing his campaign account through investments, Thune has continued to bring in new money, including about $185,000 in contributions during the July-through-September quarter. Total receipts into his committee so far this calendar year are $1.12 million.

The $11.37 million balance held by Thune's committee exceeds not only the amounts held by other South Dakota politicians but also most national politicians. The only federal candidate committees with more money at the end of September than Friends of John Thune were the committees of President Donald Trump, with $18 million, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., with $12.85 million.

Additionally, a political action committee affiliated with Thune, the Heartland Values PAC, had $762,580.73 on hand at the end of its most recent reporting period in June.

Thunes success as a fundraiser has been aided not only by his own efforts but also by a lack of competitive opponents in his re-election campaigns, and his rise through the ranks of Republican leadership.

After he won his Senate seat with a close and expensive victory over the Democratic incumbent Tom Daschle in 2004, nobody ran against Thune in 2010. In 2016, Thune spent little on his campaign while rolling to a 44 percentage-point win over Democratic challenger Jay Williams.

He ran against literally nobody and effectively nobody, said Jon Schaff, political science professor at Northern State University in Aberdeen.

Along the way, Thune has risen to the chairmanship of the Senate Republican Conference, a position considered to be third in rank among Senate Republicans. He has also risen to the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Those influential posts have helped Thune attract campaign contributions on a national scale, said Emily Wanless, assistant professor of government and international affairs/political science at Augustana University in Sioux Falls.

Hes in a position where people would like to align themselves with him, Wanless said, especially given his leadership position in the Senate.

Schaff said Thune could probably quit raising money and still have enough for his next two re-election campaigns. Its therefore probable, Schaff said, that Thune is eyeing a higher prize such as the leadership of the Senate Republicans and is using his campaign money to shore up support for an eventual promotion.

There was some evidence of that last year, when Thune contributed $2 million from his candidate committee to the National Republican Senatorial Committee to help other Republicans win election to the Senate.

The ability to fundraise for other people allows you to build up a storehouse of favors, Schaff said, and when you want to get into the leadership job, you can cash that in.

In an interview last month for the Journal's Mount Podmore political podcast, Thune said he is not currently seeking the leadership job but also indicated he would not decline it if the opportunity arose.

"Being the leader in the Senate is like herding cats or nailing Jell-O to a tree or something," Thune said. "It's hard. It's really a hard job."

"It's not something I've ever aspired to," he continued. "I've kind of felt like in my political life that if there are opportunities that come along and I think I can make a contribution or have an impact in some way, then I certainly don't close doors to that. But it's not a job I'm aspiring to."
A true gentleman who was respected by all who knew him.

He was a kind and decent man to the very core.

We are diminished by his loss.

I have never met anyone so likeable, so professional and so dedicated to public service.

A heavy heart this Thanksgiving.

He was a good, good man.

The news of Craig Tieszens death struck Rapid City and much of South Dakota like a thunderbolt. By all measures  as the Twitter comments above indicate  he was a beloved and generous public figure who respected others and their viewpoints while working in challenging leadership positions.

How far the 68-year-old state lawmaker and former police chief was willing to go to help another was evident Wednesday, the day of his daughters wedding in a faraway romantic setting where family members gathered for a momentous event.

He was kayaking with his brother-in-law, Brent Moline, at Cook Islands in the South Pacific. According to local police reports, Brent got into trouble and Craig attempted to rescue him, but both men were claimed by the ocean  a catastrophic family tragedy.

It was the final measure of a man admired by his peers and countless others whose lives he touched in 42 years of public service where he consistently and to the very end demonstrated what kind of man he was and will forever be.

Rep. Tieszen became Rapid City police officer Craig Tieszen in 1975 when his career in law enforcement began. Before that, he was a Peace Corps volunteer where his legacy of caring, kindness, humor and commitment likely began to take shape.

In 2000, he was named police chief of Rapid City, a position he held for seven years before retiring from law enforcement and then taking a run at elected office. In 2009, the Republican won a seat in the state Senate, where he served for seven years. In 2016, he returned to the Legislature as a representative for District 34 on the west side of Rapid City.

In his years in law enforcement and politics, his path crossed with those in every station of life  from children to senior citizens, the affluent to the less fortunate, the powerful to the average working-class citizen. Judging by the outpouring of grief and recollections on the career and life of Craig Tieszen, many benefited from their association with him and proclaimed it to the world. Not many of us will be so honored upon our passing.

How many of us would be willing to risk our life, especially on a child's wedding day? What type of person is willing to put another life ahead of their own? The answer has been right in front of all those who have known Craig Tieszen.

In the end, most are remembered and judged by how they lived. It is the final and ultimate verdict. Craig Tieszen, however, also will be remembered for dying the way he lived  in service to others. On the day before Thanksgiving, he made a selfless sacrifice that cost him a life that he had worked hard to achieve. Yet for those who knew him, there can be little doubt that he was only thinking of his brother-in-law when he made what would turn out to be the last decision of his earthly life.

Craig Tieszen will be missed by many and the pain of this loss won't soon pass. Death is always hard to accept, especially when we lose someone who has given so much to so many. We thank him for his public service and express our sincerest condolences to his family. Upon his return to this community, we need to celebrate his life and support his family.

It is the least we can do for a man who through his actions showed others how to live and had the courage to put it all on the line.
The Lewis and Clark expedition returned to the Bitterroot Valley on June 30, 1806, after spending the winter at rainy Fort Clatsop on the Oregon Coast. It was at Traveler rest that the leaders would split, with Lewis following a new route east and Clark retracing some of their steps to the Three Forks. From there he was to survey fresh country  the Yellowstone River. The day of parting was July 3, 1806.

Dressed in its finest, the Bitterroot Valley was preparing to face summer. The array of colorful wildflowers, blending with the new mint green of the cottonwoods and aspens, was offset by the glistening white of the snow-covered Bitterroot Range. Amid this splendor, Clark traveled to the headwaters of the Bitterroot River. His trail passed familiar sights from the previous September and led to a crossing of the Continental Divide near Gibbons Pass, to the north of Lost Trail and Chief Joseph passes.

Clark wrote of July 3, 1806, we colected our horses and after brackfast I took My leave of Capt Lewis and the Indians with (19) men interpreter Shabono & his wife & child ... we proceeded on through the Vally of Clarks (Bitterroot) river on the West Side ... This evening we Crossed 10 Streams 8 of which were large Creeks which Comes roleing their Currents with Velocity into the river. those Creeks Take their rise in the mountains to the West (Bitterroot Range) which mountains is at this time covered with Snow  Some snow is to be Seen on the high points and hollows of the mountains to the East of us (Sapphire Range) ... we encamped on the north side of a large creek (Blodgett Creek north a few miles from Hamilton).

Even after all of this time in the wilderness, Captain Clark was as patriotic as ever and couldnt forget the Fourth of July. This being the day of the decleration of Independence of the United States and a Day commonly Selebrated by my Country I had every disposition to Selebrate this day and therefore halted early and partook of a Sumptious Dinner of a fat Saddle of venison and Mush of Cows.

With that done, it was back on the trail, fording the numerous creeks coming out of the Bitterroots. After first passing by Hamilton and later Darby, their camp that night was close to the confluence of the West and East Forks of the Bitterroot.

Long before Lewis and Clark came through the Bitterroot Valley, Native Americans used it as a thoroughfare and a hunting grounds. The Salish had their name for the waterway prior to the captains christening it. They called the northern part of the river Place of the Bitterroot, after the pink flowering plant they sought for its bitter tasting roots. A favorite source of food for Native people, Lewis brought samples back to St. Louis, introducing this new species to the world.

In Roberta Cheneys book, Names on the Face of Montana, she lists a couple of more name tags. The Flatheads (Salish) called the plant Spet-lm ... plant with bitter tasting root. She also says the original (Native American) name of the river was Spet-lm-suelko ... the Water of the Bitterroot.

Missoula took root at the place where the Bitterroots course is spent and it meets the Clark Fork. Two men, whose names are etched in the history of the area, Worden and Higgins, put up a trading post, and the small village of Hell Gate, the predecessor to Missoula, was open for business.

Darby, Hamilton, Stevensville, Florence and Lolo, as well as other valley towns, all claim the Bitterroot and tout it in their promotions. Sprawl from the north is rapidly invading the valley, but the river fights to hold its grace, passing by groves of cottonwoods, farms and pastures, as it represents the plant that became Montana state flower in 1895, the beautiful bitterroot.
Emmas House and Bitter Root Water Forum are two local non-profits participating in #GivingTuesday, a global day of donating time, money or voices via social media and collaboration on Nov. 28.

After Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday families and businesses often ponder their holiday and end-of-year giving. The goal of #GivingTuesday is to focus on gratefulness and thankfulness before the hurried and often harried holiday season.

Joni Lubke, development director of Emmas House, said giving to the Bitterroot Valley Childrens Advocacy Center can have a big impact because safe kids and safe families equal safe communities.

If we can provide hope and healing for even one child, we can stop the lifelong consequences of sexual abuse and in turn not only save a childhood but also a life, Lubke said. Each one of us can make a difference, together we can make change.

Val Widmer, executive director, said Emmas House appreciates donations.

As 2017 comes to an end, many of us are thinking about how we can make charitable gifts that will have an impact on improving the lives of children that have been harmed by abuse, Widmer said. Your donation on Tuesday will help us as we launch western Montanas first trauma treatment center for children, with the most innovative evidence-based programs that help children and families heal. Giving Tuesday gives hope to kids every day.

The Bitter Root Water Forum is Working Together for Clean Abundant Water.

Katie Vennie, program coordinator for BRWF, said #GivingTuesday is giving back to your community in a meaningful way.

It can be by donating to non-profits like Emmas House and Bitter Root Water Forum or it can be donating your time, she said. Its a cool opportunity on this day thats a global day around the world.

Vennie said that donating to the BRWF helps them bring the community together around clean abundant water.

It is important to everyone and for everyone to have clean abundant water, so the way to help build that in the community is by supporting the Water Forum, she said. We work toward this through on-the-ground restoration and watershed education.

"So this #GivingTuesday, give a healthy watershed and create future water stewards by giving to the Bitter Root Water Forum.

People can donate to the Bitter Root Water Forum at their website www.brwaterforum.org/, via their Facebook page, or in person at 178 So. Second St. in Hamilton.

People can donate online at www.emmashousecac.org or mail a donation to Emma's House P.O. Box 2034, Hamilton, MT 59840. For more information call 363-7216.

Find out more about #GivingTuesday by emailing info@givingtuesday.org; or go online to twitter@GivingTues or Facebook.com/GivingTuesday.
Three years ago, the Burrows family moved to Montana from New York.

My husband was CEO of Burrows Corp. and we decided to build a ranch and looked in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, Marcia Burrows said. We purchased 320 acres in Hamilton and then we found out my husband had cancer and he has passed. The girls and I decided we would go through with this anyway.

Marcia Burrows said the plan was to relocate her daughters from the city to experience rural life where they could have horses and be in tune with nature and enjoy the small town feeling that this beautiful valley offers, she said.

Both girls are home schooled and told the Ravalli County Commission members earlier this month that they were delighted to make friends and learn in the Media Arts in Public Schools program.

By accident we found this little jewel of MAPS, Marcia Burrows said.

I joined MAPS in hope for a career in digital animating and hopefully I can work for Disney or Pixar to animate films, said Audrey Burrows, 13.

She said her amazing teacher in design works with her one-on-one an hour before each class to help her master Photoshop.

MAPS offers five different programs and I feel very fortunate to be part of it, she said. I look forward to learning more in future semesters.

Marcia Burrows confirmed the success.

Audrey has been very interested in animation that you do with technology and I cant believe this is available right here, she said. Truly it is wonderful and she has just grasped onto it. What impressed me is the five rows of state-of-the-art Apple computers. Clare Ann has found phenomenal instructors.

Ava Burrows, 14, in ninth grade, said she was accepted into the MAPS Entrepreneur class in mid-September.

MAPS was great for my sister and I because we didnt have any friends when we moved here, she said. It is interesting and is helping us become more social.

Ava Burrows said through MAPS she learned to create a successful business.

(MAPS Executive Director) Clare Ann Harff is an extraordinary teacher, she said. She answers all my questions with clear answers and always makes sure I understand what shes teaching me. She gives positive feedback and makes me more confident.

Marcia Burrows said their family business is known world-wide.

Ava wants to run the family business and always has, she said. I love that she has this opportunity to learn so many things about the company. Thats our story and Im thrilled and surprised.

The MAPS Media Institute has five different programs: entrepreneurship, film, design, music and technology. Their professional instructors help students learn about communication and other skills that will prepare them for life.

The MAPS success with students is documented and has a goal of expansion.

We know were bettering student lives, were seeing that, Harff said. The deliverables are there, both externally as well as through relationships. Now it is time to get it to more students.

Harff reported MAPS has done a significant infrastructure upgrade this year.

We have 25 Windows machines, we have over 45 iMacs, we have a recording studio, and a full production lab, she said. We have won awards, our students have won awards, and were a big part of our community.

Harff mentioned a few of the productions MAPS has done including Special Olympics Montana, a program about 21st Century Community Learning Centers across Montana, and about a Montana Native American Formula One team that is the first in the nation to go to a national competition.

Sarah Jones, an AmeriCorps/VISTA volunteer working with MAPS and developing MAPS Works: Connecting Community Through Media Arts, also presented to the commissioners.

She has been leading the charge on MAPS expansion at Salish Kootenai College, Montana GearUP workshops on the Flathead Indian reservation and Blackfeet Indian reservation, and Riverstone School.

Even though we are stretching statewide were still doing local programs at local communities, Jones said. I serve because I believe in Montanas youth and the power of storytelling through the arts, and I share that passion with the people I come in touch with.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is encouraging people and groups wanting to protect critical wetlands, agricultural lands and grasslands to consider enrolling their property into conservation easements.

This year, USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) plans to invest $250 million in technical and financial assistance to help private landowners, tribes, land trusts, and other groups protect these valuable lands.

The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) focuses on restoring and protecting wetlands as well as conserving productive agricultural lands and grasslands. Landowners are compensated for enrolling their land in easements.

Protecting these lands preserves Montanas heritage, natural resources and open space, said Tom Hedt, NRCS acting state conservationist in Montana. Easements are also important tools for people who are trying to improve the management of their land.

Applications for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program are taken on a continuous basis, and they are ranked and considered for funding several times per year. The next deadline is March 1, 2018.

The 2014 Farm Bill created ACEP, merging together several easement programs into one. In the past year, easements have protected nearly 102,000 acres in Montana, which is one-third of the national total.

Through ACEP wetland reserve easements, NRCS helps landowners and tribes restore and protect wetland ecosystems. Wetlands are one of natures most productive ecosystems providing many ecological, societal and economic benefits.

Seventy-five percent of the nation's wetlands are situated on private and tribal lands, Hedt said. Wetlands provide many benefits, including critical habitat for a wide array of wildlife species. They also store floodwaters, clean and recharge groundwater, sequester carbon, trap sediment, and filter pollutants for clean water.

Wetland conservation easements are either permanent or for 30 years. Eligible lands include farmed or converted wetlands that can successfully be restored, croplands or grasslands subject to flooding, and riparian areas that link protected wetland areas. As part of the easement, NRCS and the landowner work together to develop a plan for the restoration and maintenance of the wetland.

Through ACEP agricultural land easements, NRCS provides funds to conservation partners to purchase conservation easements on private working lands. This program helps keep working lands working, especially in areas experiencing development pressure.

In Montana, agricultural land easements are also a large part of the NRCS strategy for addressing threats to sage grouse, especially in areas at high risk of cropland conversion or exurban development. Montana NRCS, landowners, and land trust partners collaborated in 2017 to bring an unprecedented number of applications to the table. NRCS has received approval on nearly 92,000 acres of easements in sage-grouse habitat totaling around $22 million.

Partners include state or local agencies, non-profits and tribes. Landowners continue to own their property but voluntarily enter into a legal agreement with a cooperating entity to purchase an easement. The cooperating entity applies for matching funds from NRCS for the purchase of an easement from the landowner, permanently protecting its agricultural use and conservation values. Landowners do not apply directly to NRCS for funding under this program.

Easements are permanent. Eligible lands include privately owned cropland, rangeland, grassland, pastureland, and forestlands.

Landowners and tribes interested in wetland reserve easements and partners interested in agricultural easements should contact the Ravalli County USDA service center at 363-1444.
Medical marijuana dispensaries are temporarily prohibited within the Hamilton city limits, but just down the road outside of Victor, Heirloom Remedies is providing patients with cannabis and the general public with an eclectic range of quirky products and services.

Its an under-the-radar facility, in part because current Montana law doesnt allow dispensaries to advertise, according to owner Tayln Lang. But hes proud of the business, which he opened in May, and eagerly invites anyone whos curious to come check it out.

I can advertise the gift shop, which is open to the public, and I can say the word dispensary, but I cant say marijuana, Lang says with a grin. I had a small, home-based delivery business, but thought it was time to open a storefront dispensary.

I didnt want to irritate people or put it in anybodys face, so I decided to open outside of the city limits. Today, I service patients from Florence to Darby, from a good central location that provides a certain amount of discretion.

That closeness to Hamilton is one of the draws for Steve Tomlin, who swings by on his lunch break to pick up two strains of cannabis that help him with post-traumatic stress disorder.

This is huge for me to have this here, Tomlin said, handing Lang cash for the buds in a paper bag as Lang rings up the order to track it. If they do it right  Colorado and Washington are both good examples  this can provide a good source of income for Montana.

Lang believes hes among those who are doing it right.

Chimes ring out when someone opens the front door, and they walk into a glass foyer before the door to the gift shop is opened by an Heirloom Remedies employee. Initially, it looks and smells like a typical gift shop, with two Christmas trees sporting ornaments for sale, two chairs facing a wood-burning stove, and a wide range of lotions and lip balms spread among antique furniture.

Look a little closer, though, and the chairs upholstery is printed with marijuana leaves, the teacups inside one of the antique showcases is filled with various cannabis strains, and a variety of edible cannabis treats are in a basket on the top. Two chalkboards behind the showcase displays the different products, names and prices.

We wanted to be not just a marijuana dispensary, but more like a holistic health destination, Lang says as he walks up stairs to the upper level, where three women have wrapped up their yoga class, and he opens a door to show where a licensed massage therapist plies her trade. We have an eclectic mix of things for people who come in.

Since this isnt just any old gift shop, however, Lang and his partners have taken steps to ensure that its a secure facility. All of the glass windows are coated with a product from 3M that makes them virtually indestructible, Lang said. If someone does break in, he has high-definition cameras strategically placed that cover virtually every inch of the facility; Lang can view them from a variety of places, including on his cellphone.

I can even see what denomination of bills are going into the cash register, Lang said, adding that because theyre a cannabis dispensary, which remains illegal under federal laws, banks typically refuse to do business with them so all their transactions are in cash.

Once a person has chosen their cannabis wares from those on display, a written order is slid through a small opening in a heavy steel, locked door. An employee inside that room then opens one of the two 5-foot-tall safes that are inside, fills the order, and slides it back through the slot in the door.

No one is getting in that we dont want to have in here, Lang said.

He walks out back behind the store to a garage hes converted to a greenhouse. Heirloom Remedies is vertically integrated, which means they engage in every stage of the product, from growing cannabis to destroying the leftover plant stems and leaves.

This is a closed grow production facility, Lang said, as he hands a visitor a protective white suit and green booties to cover shoes. That means its a clean room, with no connection to outside ambient air unless it goes through a process of being filtered. The reason for that is Im growing cannabis for sick people and he needs to protect the plants from mold or mildew spores, and bugs, without using any pesticides.

He notes that his average patient is a woman around the age of 65, who often is in a lot of pain from a range of illnesses including cancer, multiple sclerosis or Crohns disease. He provides cannabis to about 100 people who have gotten recommendations from their doctors and approval from the state Department of Health and Human Services. His clients can have only one provider, and Lang cant dispense marijuana until he has the card in hand.

He puts on dark glasses, and opens the door into the vegetative room, filled with dozens of small plants. They start as clones cut from other plants, and Lang picks up one, showing the small roots that are growing after being sprayed with water. Around the brightly lit room are taller plants in pots, which are watered and fed on a regular basis.

I have T5 fluorescent lights. I have humidifiers and a dehumidifier, carbon dioxide generators  since the plants breath in CO2 and breath out oxygen, Lang said. I control the temperatures in the room and in the water, as well as the pH level and the parts per million of dissolved solids in the water, which we test daily.

He opens the door to the flowering room, which somehow is even brighter than the vegetative room. Inside are 5-foot-tall cannabis plants in buckets, each with the name of the strain written on masking tape.

We fool them into thinking its summer, using a 12 (hours)-on, 12-off light cycle, Lang said. Once theyre finished growing, we harvest them. Its a little bit of science, a little bit of art and a little bit of a lot of other things.

He pauses to look around at all the equipment, and notes that its an expensive endeavor.

The big misconception is that everyone involved in the industry is swimming in money, Lang said. Thats not the case. Im just barely covering my expenses.

Lang has been involved in the cannabis industry for a decade, but said hes still learning since theres no school where you can train. In addition to the challenges in growing cannabis  one being that female plants can turn into male plants and produce unwanted seeds  theres also the evolving legislation with potential new rules that will be part of a Nov. 30 hearing in Helena.

As opposed to the free-for-all that ensued after Montana voters first overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana in 2004, the newest regulations are much more specific. They call for testing all marijuana and marijuana-derived products for THC levels, contaminants and other quality issues before they're sold.

The state wants a seed to sale provision that tracks medical marijuana, thorough labeling for all products, and taxes from providers to cover the costs of administering the Montana Medical Marijuana Act, which was passed by legislators earlier this year.

With 21,120 patients currently enrolled in the Montana Marijuana Program, Lang believes the state is moving closer to acceptance of medical marijuana. He finds some of the proposed regulations to be a bit expensive and onerous, but hes already implemented some of the others.

We want to set the bar high with how medical marijuana can be and should be dispensed in the state of Montana, Lang said. Were a member of the Bitterroot Chamber of Commerce; I hosted a business after hours (event), and members of the community came out for tours.

Medical marijuana has become less of a partisan issue as it has been in the past, as more legislators are exposed to it and see its place in our community. It isnt a dirty thing to be ashamed of and it can be sold tastefully and safely.

Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton didnt return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday, but County Attorney Bill Fulbright said that he hasnt heard of any complaints about Heirloom Remedies.

Like any other business, if hes operating within the county and following the rules, it shouldnt be a problem, Fulbright said.

And someday, Lang said he might open a dispensary in Hamilton to make it even more convenient for his customers. In October, the City Council adopted a resolution to temporarily prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries and storefront businesses within Hamilton city limits, but will revisit that stance after the state wraps up its rule-making process, which is expected in April 2018.

Once the state regulatory process is complete, the City Council can determine whether and to what extent it may decide city regulation is necessary to further address public health and safety concerns, and to what extent any of the issues outlined by the U.S. Attorney General will be addressed, City Attorney Karen Mahar wrote in a Nov. 8 memo to the City Council.
Did you know that Montana has one of the highest rates of young adults killed in crashes that involve alcohol-intoxicated drivers?

So why do young people drink and drive? According to Key Insights from Young Adults" within the report entitled Drinking and Driving in the Big Sky State," published by Montana State University:

There is a culture of drinking and driving in Montana, particularly rural Montana; young people have pride and overconfidence in being able to drive after drinking alcohol; pressure from friends encouraging alcohol consumption; a lack of alternative transportation in small rural towns; and they want to get home and need their car the following day.

Why do some young people choose not to drink and drive? Fear of harming others or themselves, usually taught by a personal experience or community tragedy; legal and financial reasons; reputation of a DUI citation; and peer pressure with concern for their and others safety.

So what can be done to deter drinking and driving in Ravalli County? The first and most important piece is education that begins at home with parents. Second is educating our young people with programs in the schools. Thanks to our school administrators, the Ravalli County DUI Task Force is involved in numerous educational campaigns with the help of law enforcement officers and first responders; legal, judicial and medical professionals; counselors; and guest speakers who are victims and perpetrators of drunk and drugged driving crashes.

Lastly is by the help of you, our community, who donate their time and business resources helping us in our school programs.

Remember we all share the roads, and safe driving allows us to make it home tonight and every night.

 Glenda Wiles, Ravalli County DUI Task Force Coordinator
The Gazette will have an expanded Opinion section on Christmas Day to share letters of thanks from our region's nonprofit agencies. Continuing a popular holiday feature, The Gazette again invites leaders or designated representatives of nonprofits to write letters recognizing their donors, volunteers or sponsors for support in the past year. Letters are welcome from charitable human service, health care, educational and cultural organizations that serve Montana or Wyoming.

Letters must be less than 250 words. Include the author's name, address and daytime phone number (only the name and city will be printed). Space isn't available to thank supporters by name. Instead, consider thanking all donors, sponsors and volunteers, and briefly remind readers of the work that your organization does for its community. Letters may include contact information for readers who want to learn more about the organization.

The Christmas thanks letters must be received by noon on Dec. 18 to be published on Christmas Day.

Email letters to speakup@billingsgazette.com, mail to Pat Bellinghausen, The Billings Gazette, P.O. Box 36300, Billings, MT 59107; or fax to 406-657-1208. Please type "Christmas thanks" in the email subject line.
We are proud and wowed by the hundreds of Montanans who braved the weather to attend four public hearings and voice concerns about the mine being proposed in the headwaters of the iconic Smith River. Our Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) heard your clear message: Montanans want to protect the Smith Rivers wealth of sustainable virtues  recreation, angling, scenic beauty, cultural treasures, and outdoor economy  rather than allow a foreign mining company to risk those values and our grandchildrens legacy for short-term profit. The DEQ is now reading through the more than 10,000 written comments people have submitted raising the same concerns we heard at the live hearings.

In the Great Falls hearing, Mayor Bob Kelly insisted on a bigger reclamation bond for the project in case pollution from an environmental event at the mine reaches the Missouri River. The city of Great Falls needs to be formally declared as having standing as an injured party and be able to seek and receive payment for reclamation and reparation of the damage that may occur to our water source, said the mayor. He was one of many people who recognized the threat this mine poses to downstream interests including clean water, fish, irrigation, property values, human health, and the recreation economy.

In White Sulphur Springs, Smith River landowner and engineer Warren Hopper expressed concern about the tailings liner leaking over time In my line of work, I have seen double- and even tripled-lined impoundments eventually leak. Other opponents reminded DEQ of the track record of modern mines shuttering when the global market dictates, leaving locals with environmental contamination and taxpayers with the cleanup costs.

For most Montanans, mines like Black Butte are a threat to good jobs rather than a boon. In Helena, more than 200 people showed up to the hearing, many coming straight from having paraded drift boats and rafts sporting No Smith River Mine signs around the Capitol and rallying against the mine on the lawn.

At the hearing, representatives from leading businesses such as Simms, Orvis and Costa spoke of the role the outdoor economy plays in Montana and their businesses. Lifelong outfitters and guides told DEQ that this mine makes them worry about their livelihoods. I have built a business of the Smith River. I have watched my business put kids through college. We provide good paying jobs. Why risk it? asked Brandon Boedecker, owner of Pro Outfitters.

Finally, in Livingston, we heard concerns of forever impacts mines like the Black Butte project leave behind after shipping Montanas natural resources and profits overseas. Tim Stevens of Livingston said of the mine, The impacts are going to be forever, and thus, bonding, and analysis of impacts on things like roads and water quality, wildlife and the local way of life also needs to be forever.

Though the scoping period ended Nov. 16, this is not the last time for concerned citizens to make a difference. Next spring, be prepared for DEQ to release a draft document detailing the possible environmental impacts of the mine. The public will have the opportunity to review and comment on those impacts and the course DEQ should take with this mine proposal. This will be another crucial time for Montanans to speak up and make sure this mine presents zero risk to the Smith River watershed.

Montana Trout Unlimited would like to thank the DEQ for hosting these hearings and listening to the concerns of the public. Now its time for the DEQ to take those public concerns seriously.

 David Brooks, Executive Director, Montana Trout Unlimited
Last summer we learned that outdoor recreation in Montana accounts for $7 billion in consumer spending, supports 70,000 jobs, and generates $286 million in state and local taxes. Outdoor recreation is now far and above the biggest sector of Montanas economy. That sector depends on public lands, especially those managed by the Forest Service.

We learned these numbers while Montana was experiencing one of its most devastating fire seasons in recent memory, threatening our communities and the outdoor recreation economy those communities depend on. Summer season business in Seeley Lake, for instance, came to an abrupt standstill soon after the Rice Ridge Fire erupted in late July. The most profitable time of year turned into a bust.

The supreme role that outdoor recreation plays in our economy and the increasing severity of our fire season underscore the need for smart forest reform legislation that enables the Forest Service to foster jobs and protect communities from wildfire.

The most urgent need is fixing how the Forest Service funds firefighting, because the current method is bankrupting the agency. Currently, the agency spends more than half its budget on fighting fires, having to plunder non-fire funds to pay the costs. This leaves the agency unable to conduct forest restoration projects that protect communities along the urban-wildland interface and unable to maintain campgrounds, picnic areas, trails, and other outdoor infrastructure.

The fix for this funding crisis is the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act (S. 1842), which would grant land managers access to federal disaster funding instead of having to rob non-fire related forest management funds. This bill has bipartisan support, including from Sen. Jon Tester, and could easily pass before the next fire season.

A second critical step is properly funding the Forest Service. For years, Congress has stripped the agencys budget to the bone. Following a tough fire year, President Donald Trump proposed cutting the Forest Services budget by 16 percent, including a staggering 84 percent cut to trail funding and 56 percent cut to road maintenance. These cuts would break the agencys back and make it impossible for it to conduct even its most basic functions.

Finally, Congress needs to reauthorize the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. This program empowers collaborative efforts across Montana, including the Southwestern Crown Collaborative, which has created more than 150 jobs, secured more than $50 million in investments, reduced fire risk near communities, and restored tens of thousands of acres of forests.

Instead of supporting these common-sense solutions, Rep. Greg Gianforte and Sen. Steve Daines are pushing unreasonable bills to rewrite national forest management from the top-down. Rep. Gianforte has signed on to a bill (HR 2936) written by a congressman from Arkansas that would eliminate public input and environmental review on projects of up to 46 square miles. The Senate is attempting to negotiate a slightly more realistic bill, but the leading proposal there (S. 2068) would still curtail public input while requiring the Forest Service to double timber production, regardless of funding or market conditions.

Given the current political gridlock, the outlook for bipartisan agreement on a complete rewrite of national forest management is dim. That means another year of no action to reduce fire risk or address the crisis in fire funding that threatens our outdoor economy and thousands of Montana jobs.

Sen. Daines and Rep. Gianforte have repeatedly blamed environmental extremists for our states wildfires. Scapegoating and divisive rhetoric wont improve the health of our forests, reduce the severity of our wildfires, make our communities safer, or bolster our outdoor economy. It also wont put people back to work in the woods.

What will help are realistic solutions and real leadership to address the issues facing our forests. Anything less is selling the people of Montana, and our forests, short.

 Gabriel Furshong is interim executive director of Montana Wilderness Association. Marne Hayes is executive director of Business for Montana Outdoors. Dave Chadwick is executive director of Montana Wildlife Federation. John Arnold is owner of Headhunters Fly Shop in Craig.
Political Incorrectness Paradoxes, and Anything else out of left field.
Admiral L Ramdas (retd)

PVSM AVSM VrC VSM

Former Chief of the Naval Staff

Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar

Magsaysay Awardee for Peace

LARA- RAMU FARM

Village Bhaimala, P.O.Kamarle. Alibag, PIN 402201, India

Tel 02141-248711/248733

Mob 9860170960/ 9422383930

lramdas[at]gmail.com

24 Nov 2017

Dear Hon Chief Justice of India,

NEED FOR A SPECIAL JUDICIAL ENQUIRY TO INVESTIGATE INTO THE SUDDEN DEATH OF JUSTICE LOYA

All Democracies exist and survive on three main pillars a namely the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary. Freedom from British rule, was won after a prolonged struggle and The Indian Constitution was evolved after nearly two and a half years of debate in the Constituent Assembly, and passed on 29 November 1949 and India became a Republic on 26 January 1950. Our Constitution became effective. This one and only holy book which matters, subscribes to the above concept of our Democracy, wherein all our citizens are considered to be equal in the eyes of the law.

This is all the more important when a CBI judge, Justice Loya, specially appointed by the CJI of the Mumbai High Court to investigate the murder of Sohrabbudin, dies under mysterious circumstances while on a visit to Nagpur. The silence of the two judges who apparently persuaded the late Judge Loya to travel to Nagpur, and accompanied him, is disturbing to say the least. The inaction of the judiciary about this sequence of events thus far is indeed surprising. This is all the more puzzling in the context of the recent revelations by family members of the late Justice Loya, who have raised certain questions, apprehending foul play in the circumstances leading to his sudden death.

A judicial probe at this point, at least to respond to the queries raised by the family, and to uphold the image of the judiciary in the eyes of the people of India, is absolutely necessary.

As a former Chief of the Indian Navy, I feel strongly that it is critically important to clear any doubts about this entire incident. Therefore in the larger interests of the nation and its people, and above all in upholding the Constitution of India and the image of our entire legal system, a high level judicial enquiry be initiated immediately.

L.Ramdas

The Hon CJI, Supreme Court, New Delhi;

Cc: The Hon CJ of the Mumbai High Court
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 "What Rape Reform Needs: More Convictions, Less Punishment" | Main | Interesting Eighth Amendment attack waged against extreme application of Tennessee's "Drug Free School Zone" law 

The question in the title of this post is prompted by this new Los Angeles Times article headlined "Pace of executions in California may be up to Gov. Jerry Brown." Here are excerpts:

When the California Supreme Court upheld a voter initiative in August to speed up executions, some death penalty advocates assumed lethal injections would resume before the end of the year. Three months after the courts action, both backers and opponents of the death penalty concede that executions might be more than a year away.

Gov. Jerry Browns administration has yet to finalize an execution protocol, which is necessary to resolve a federal court case that has blocked lethal injection in California for nearly 12 years. An injunction stopping executions also is pending in state court.

Brown is the shot caller in the litigation over lethal injection, said Michele Hanisee, president of the Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys for L.A. County. Hanisee expects the state to finalize a lethal injection protocol by January, but if Brown doesnt want it to move forward quickly, it wont move forward quickly, she said.

Although no one can now predict when executions will resume, UC Berkeley law school Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said it is just a matter of time.

The uncertainty in all of this, he added, is what will Jerry Brown do. Brown personally opposes the death penalty but enforced it as attorney general. He took no position on two recent and unsuccessful ballot measures that would have ended the death penalty.

Chemerinsky and other lawyers said it was conceivable that Brown and defense lawyers could delay executions until Brown steps down as governor in January 2019. Brown also could try to commute death sentences to life without parole, but his power is limited by the California Constitution. Unlike former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who just before leaving office in 2003 commuted the death sentences of all of Illinois condemned inmates, Brown would need the support of the state Supreme Court to spare inmates with multiple felonies on their records.

Lawyers estimate that at least half of all death-row inmates have committed two felonies. The governor would need the support of four of the seven California high court justices to commute those inmates sentences. Brown has three appointees on the court and a fourth vacancy to fill. But whether his appointees would support commutations is questionable. Two of them  Justices Goodwin Liu and Mariano-Florentino Cuellar  are moderately liberal, but Justice Leondra Kruger, the third, has voted with conservatives on criminal justice issues.

Ronald Reagan was the last California governor to commute a death sentence, deciding in 1967 to move Calvin Thomas off death row because Thomas had serious brain damage. Under former Gov. Pat Brown, Jerry Browns father, 35 death row inmates were executed. The elder Brown commuted the capital sentences of 20 others.

Among the most famous executions under Pat Browns watch was that of Caryl Chessman, convicted of robbery, sexual assaults and kidnapping. He was sentenced to death under a law, later repealed, that made certain kidnappings capital offenses. Chessman, who represented himself at trial, wrote four books on death row and attracted international sympathy. The elder Brown tried to commute Chessmans sentence, but the California Supreme Court refused to go along, on a 4 to 3 vote.

Jerry Brown has never faced the wrenching decisions that confronted his father over executions, and the issue also is new for Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, appointed by Brown after Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate. Becerra, now the top law enforcement officer in California, has testified that he supports the death penalty, but not the way it is being executed, and would enforce Proposition 66, the execution speed-up measure largely upheld by the state supreme court in August. Becerra also has said he would run for election to continue as attorney general.

Prosecutors are expected to press Becerra to move quickly to overturn the injunctions preventing executions, but his role is to represent Browns Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in the case, a Becerra press aide said. Prosecutors, who sponsored Proposition 66, and crime victims also are considering trying to intervene in the two court cases preventing executions....

There is no enthusiasm inside the administration to do anything to hasten executions, said Michael D. Rushford, the founder and top executive of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit that helped write Proposition 66. Voters narrowly approved the measure a year ago. The state Supreme Court ruling that permitted its enforcement became final only a few weeks ago, delayed by an unsuccessful request from challengers for the court to reconsider. There are laws in this state that if the administration doesnt want to enforce, they dont, Rushford said, and this is one of them.

Rushfords group sued to force the Brown administration to produce a single-drug lethal injection method, which has not yet been made final, and has warned it would sue the administration again if it does not move toward executions.

There are about 18 inmates who could immediately be executed because they have no appeals left. But these inmates have obtained federal stays to prevent their executions until the lethal injection case overseen by Seeborg is concluded. For the stays to be lifted, Seeborg would have to decide that Californias new single-drug method of execution, once finalized, did not violate the U.S. Constitutions ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Whatever he decides could then be appealed....

Browns press office referred questions about executions and possible commutations to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which said it was revising a lethal injection protocol but declined to estimate how long that might take.

Ana Zamora, a policy director of the ACLU of Northern California, said she does not expect executions to resume soon. The D.A.s and the proponents of Prop. 66 really sold voters a false bill of good, she said. Nothing has changed. There are still significant problems around lethal injection, and those are not going to go away anytime soon.
The legislative leadership, especially Austin Knudsen are bragging again that they imposed no new taxes on hard working Montana's. That is a big lie. Please check your last year's school tax on your property tax bill and compare it to this year's.

We send our local property taxes to the state and get money back through entitlements. The legislature simply did not fund the block grants to the schools and passed on a tax increase to the counties. Mine went up 30 percent in one year in Daniels County and about the same in Valley County. The Legislature just eliminated another $13 million in education grants to local school districts in the special session. Local school boards, county and state officials are stuck trying to work through this.

Our small northeastern county of Daniels is owned 23 percent by the state, more than any other county in Montana for its size. The state used to pay an in-lieu payment to nine counties with more than 6 percent state land to help make up the difference in lost local taxes. This has been nearly eliminated with no correlation between state land ownership and taxes. The locals make up the difference in their taxes. This is totally unfair and wrong. It seems many politicians are more concerned about access on these lands than paying their fair share for owning them. Either pay up, or sell them to get them on the tax rolls.

Speaker Knudsen and Sen. Mike Lang are our local reps and often seem more concerned about holding the party line than representing their constituents. Knudsen's far-right hardline ideology is not good for his constituents or Montana. Their plan for public funding of private/charter schools, often called school choice, will mean more taxes and government when most rural schools are fighting for survival now. Knudsen had no problem passing on $750,000 to the counties for the last congressional special election by not allowing a bill for mail-in ballots to come to the floor for a vote. Uncompromising hardline position?

Steve Carney

Scobey
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. | Precision Leadership Group (PLG) celebrated its official business expansion in Sioux Falls at the beginning of November.

The company was founded in Hull, Iowa, by Lisa Te Slaa.

She and her team focus on providing companies with the necessary leadership tools and processes that allow senior executives and other organizational leadership to successfully execute their strategy and performance goals.

Since 2009, PLG has been working with businesses and individuals in Northwest Iowa and Eastern South Dakota.

Depending on a clients need, the partners will develop a plan that may include all members of the team or a combination of the individual members. In addition to on-site work, PLG will also offer stand alone events designed for individuals seeking personal professional development
SIOUX CITY | For years, people in Sioux City could instantly recognize Linda Kalin in traffic thanks to her custom Mrs. Yuk vanity license plates.

The plates were a play on Mr. Yuk, the green-faced mascot that became the de-facto national mascot for poison control centers.

Adopting the moniker Mrs. Yuk is just one of the ways Kalin shows her dedication to the Sioux City-based Iowa Poison Control Center, a 24-hour operation that provides callers with immediate advice on how to handle poison emergencies and where she serves as executive director.

The 60-year-olds commitment to the Iowa Poison Control Center has not gone unnoticed. On Tuesday, she will be one of three people recognized as a 2017 Iowa Public Health Hero.

The annual awards recognize exceptional efforts by individuals from diverse career paths who have worked to improve health and wellness throughout Iowa, according to the University of Iowa College of Public Health, which presents the awards.

Award recipients are nominated by their peers in the Iowa public health practice community.

This type of recognition shouldnt come as a surprise to Kalin, a veteran health care official who helped found the statewide Poison Control Center.

For decades prior to her involvement, most of Iowas hospitals handled toxin related calls individually.

A Twin Cities native, Kalin arrived in Sioux City in 1979 to be with her husband, Bruce Kalin, the third-generation owner of Sioux City-based Kalins Indoor Comfort. The two met as undergraduates at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She later transferred to the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota to finish up her bachelors of science in chemistry.

In Sioux City, Linda Kalin took an emergency room position at what is today UnityPoint-St. Lukes. As an ER nurse at the Sioux City hospital, she took more than her fair share of calls from people overdosing on drugs or parents concerned about something their child accidentally ingested they shouldn't have.

We only had a few a day, she said.

Despite the hectic nature of such calls, Kalin enjoyed the adrenaline rush they provided and being able to help people. After encouragement from a doctor she worked with, Kalin attended a toxicology conference at her own expense and became more enamored with the process.

ER was a perfect fit for me, but I happened to love what all of that entailed and enjoyed all the science behind and the research and the education and the treatment behind all the diseases caused by drugs and toxins and so on, she said of toxicology.

Kalin and other staff members at St. Lukes poison control center soon began to specialize in toxicology. In 1989, she became the first Iowan to become a certified specialist in poison information through the American Association of Poison Control Centers. She later joined the organization's board of directors.

We were positioned to grow that poison center and with tremendous help and support from St. Lukes, we grew into being the poison center for a good part of the state at that time, she said.

In 2000, the St. Lukes center consolidated with the one being run by the University of Iowa to form the Iowa Poison Control Center headquartered in Sioux City.

Kalin has led the organization of 22 staff members made up of consultants, doctors, nurses and more as its executive director since its inception.

It worked wonderfully, she said. It has a lot of what I loved about the emergency department, which was a very fast paced (environment), kind of noisy and stimulus coming from every direction.

Im a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie and I love not knowing whats rolling in next and the ER and poison center are very similar there. Calls come in, you have to adapt quickly and you have to make decisions fairly quickly so I found my niche.

Being honored alongside Kalin as 2017s Iowa Public Health Heroes are Julie Stephens of Cedar Rapids, public health emergency preparedness and disaster recovery specialist at Linn County Public Health; and Denise Wheeler of Des Moines, family planning coordinator and Title X director at the Iowa Department of Public Health.

In a release, College of Public Health Interim Dean Keith Mueller commended all three public health workers for their dedication to improving the health and well-being of all Iowans.

Their work makes the state stronger in emergency preparedness efforts, family planning education and services, and poisoning prevention and control, including responding to the growing opioid crisis, he said.
Steve Anderson of Concord was presented with the NCCAs 2017 Governors Award during the NCCAs annual meeting recently in McCook. The award is presented annually to one board member from five of the states community college areas.

Anderson was initially appointed to a District III position on the Board of Governors in April 1997, and was formally elected to the board in 1998. He was reelected to the seat in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. In his time on the Board of Governors, Anderson served as chairperson in 2004 and 2012, vice chair in 2003 and 2011 and secretary in 2002, 2010, and 2017. During his tenure, he has also served as chairperson of several board committees; most recently as chair of the Finance Committee in 2017.
The honored faculty members had their photos and plaques added to the emeriti display in the hallway entrance leading into the Roth Atrium. This years faculty emeriti have a combined 221 years of service to the University.

Faculty emeriti in attendance included Adam Frisch , professor of modern languages; Marian Pesky , assistant professor of health, physical education, and recreation; Heather Craig-Oldsen , professor of social work; and Barb Redmond , assistant professor of business. Faculty emeriti not in attendance included Jay Gunnels , professor of health, physical education, and recreation/sports science. Deceased faculty emeriti included George Frangedakis , associate professor of business, and Leo Frommelt , professor of education.

The appointment of emeriti status at Briar Cliff is an honor, and given in recognition of valued teaching, advising, service and scholarship to the University. To obtain this status, a professor must be nominated by his or her department, the vice president for academic affairs and the president; then approved by the board of trustees. The candidate must also have attainment of tenure, a rank of associate professor or higher, and a faculty appointment for at least 10 years prior to retirement.
VERMILLION, S.D. | On Nov. 2, the University of South Dakota Beacom School of Business Division of Accounting and Finance honored three alumni with service awards and awarded 25 students top performance awards.

Angela Hillestad, M.P.A. 07, an assurance partner with Eide Bailly LLP in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was honored for outstanding service. Hillestad is active in the South Dakota CPA Society, serves on the inaugural Beacom School of Business Accounting Advisory Council, and serves as a team chair for the Sioux Empire United Ways Community Impact Division. She is a graduate of Leadership Sioux Falls and returns to campus to mentor and recruit business students.

Christopher Nelson, Accounting 82, M.B.A 88, was honored for outstanding service. Nelsen has worked for 29 years with the South Dakota Investment Council and serves as Assistant Investment Officer. Nelson and a partner manage $1 billion in fixed income assets and he oversees $1.5 billion in alternative assets.

Tiffany Paben, B.S. 04, M.P.A. 04, a Senior Manager with Deloitte and Touche, LLP in Omaha, Nebraska, was honored for outstanding service. Paben is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants.
TOKYO, Japan | U.S. Air Force Col. Kenneth Moss, a Sioux City native, enjoyed his time in the spotlight after joining President Donald Trump on stage to begin the Commander in Chiefs swing through Asia earlier this month.

Moss presented President Trump with a leather flight jacket from the 374th Airlift Wing, Yokota Air Base in Japan. Trump took the jacket, handed Moss his suit jacket and told Moss he could keep it.

The most asked question I get is whether I kept the Presidents coat, said Moss with a laugh. And, no, I didnt keep it.

Moss, 47, the son of the former Carol Johnson, of Hinton, Iowa, and Dan Moss, of Leeds, was born June 12, 1970, at St. Joseph Hospital in Sioux City. Dan Moss, at the time, was serving in the U.S. Air Force. The elder Moss now resides near Detroit, Michigan, while Kenneth Moss' mother, Carol Burbank, makes her home in Colorado.

Both Carol and Dan graduated from high school in 1968; she from Hinton and he from Leeds High School.

We knew President Trump was going to stop at the base, but we didnt know about the jacket presentation, Burbank said. I saw it live (on TV). I was pretty amazed.

Col. Kenneth Moss, a 1992 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, serves as commander for the 374th Airlift Wing, Yokota Air Base, which is 20 miles west of Tokyo. He is responsible for the management, training, command and control of the Department of Defenses only airlift wing in the Pacific theater.

As such, the base is responsible for the refueling and security of Air Force One when a President visits this area of the world, as President Trump did beginning on Nov. 5, when he landed at Yokota Air Base.

Wed known quite a while about his visit, Moss said. We worked very hard to prepare for it. I was excited to be able to show off our base and it was extremely exciting for our airmen and the 11,000 people who live and work here, including our families and the nationals.

Moss said it is rare for a President to deliver remarks to the troops while on the base. In fact, Moss said the 20-minute address by President Trump may have been a first for the base.

It certainly represented a first for him.

The opportunity for anyone to meet a sitting President is small, said Moss, who disclosed that he and his wife, Molly, met President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump backstage prior to the Presidents talk.

I presented him with the jacket backstage and it was Presidents Trump idea to do it out on the stage, Moss said.

Col. Moss said the Presidents appearance and talk represented a shot in the arm for all those serving at Yokota Air Base as the excitement lingered for several days after the departure of the Trumps.

For the whole base, it was fantastic, he said. There was so much excitement among the troops and our families, too.

And for one Sioux City native, the chance to present a gift to a sitting U.S. President.

When I reached Moss late Friday afternoon, it was actually 6 a.m. Saturday on his base. He was starting his day by talking about getting the Christmas decorations up. He wanted me to share a final statement.

Please let the people around Sioux City know how much their support of the military means to the men and women in uniform and their families, he said. We hope everyone there had a great Thanksgiving.
In a plea agreement, Nhan admitted that, from late 2014 until Dec. 15, 2015, he manufactured anabolic steroids and intended to distribute some of the steroids to various customers. In December 2015, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Nhans residence and seized numerous vials containing anabolic steroids, as well as laboratory equipment, packing material, labels, and sheets of papers listing the names and addresses of individuals who had purchased or intended to purchase the steroids, the release said.
LAWTON, Iowa | Kami Busch left Northwestern College in 2013, armed with a degree in Spanish and a quest to teach in that field in a Siouxland school district.

Busch applied in two schools and quickly was hired at Akron-Westfield. then moved after one year to Lawton-Bronson, where she has now taught Spanish for four years.

"I feel confident that if I was going to move, I could find something," Busch said.

Her confidence grew out of a recognition that Spanish teaching candidates in Iowa are often few and far between.

In the 1990s, there was only one school year when Spanish teachers for grades 7-12 didn't make that list. Since then, when the national category was broadened to all foreign languages, there were only two years -- 2013-14 and 2014-15 -- when a shortage of foreign language teachers in Iowa was not found.

Education officials point out Spanish isn't the only shortage subject area in Iowa. The list also includes many specialty, non-core, courses such as industrial technology, family and consumer sciences, business, many science subjects and Talented and Gifted.

Larry Bice, Iowa Department of Education Administrative Consultant for Educator Preparedness, said shortages of Spanish teachers are most acute in rural districts, where openings often may draw only two or fewer candidates. Bice noted the overwhelming number of Spanish teachers in the state are in their 20s.

Just 41 graduates of Iowa universities and colleges in 2016 had teaching degrees with an emphasis in Spanish language, Bice said. Of those, 14 graduates were from the University of Northern Iowa. At other colleges with teaching programs, there were smatterings of one to four graduates.

Bice said state officials often speak with college administrators about targeting shortage areas, to put resources in those subject fields and to speak with college students to consider such options.

In the last four years, the Sioux City Community School District has filled three jobs for Spanish teachers. Combined, 11 candidates applied for the openings, including two in 2014 and just one in 2015.

Rita Vannatta, the district's human resources director, said other elementary teacher openings, by comparison, typically receive 40 or more applicants.

Spanish is taught in the Sioux City district's three high schools, but not in its middle schools. Vannatta said the district has been "fortunate" to not have unfilled Spanish teaching posts.

Vannatta said the district recruits to fill the district's 2,000 teaching and support positions from local colleges and job fairs. In the toughest to fill jobs, a position may not get staffed until the second semester of a year.

"We want the most highly-qualified teacher in the classroom for our students. We can wait until a mid-year hire, perhaps there can be a mid-year (December) graduate," she said.

Vannatta said school administrators across Iowa, such as her brother, a principal at Clay Central-Everly, recognize the scarcity of Spanish teacher candidates, and also other specialty fields outside the core subjects.

"Certain areas are hard to find (candidates). Teaching is a wonderful profession that I encourage people to try," Vannatta said.

Busch said some people considering teaching careers might not consider Spanish since it is not in their sphere of knowledge, since they may have been raised in places with little to any diversity. She said college teaching majors may not realize there is more than instructing the Spanish language. The discipline also includes teaching about cultural pieces of Latino culture.

The Northwestern College graduate said she first picked up on the teaching shortage in her later college years after she saw less than a half-dozen people in teaching methods courses for Spanish.

"When you see only five students, you think they're aren't a lot of people going into this area," she said.

Students enrolled in disciplines with too few applicants may be eligible for both state and federal forgivable loans in college, covering up to $20,000 in tuition and other costs. But in spite of the financial incentives, Bice said he doesn't see the longstanding Spanish teacher shortage turning around "in the foreseeable future."

A native of Charter Oak, Iowa, Busch said Spanish is an important subject. She noted many firms now want bilingual employees, whether that is for interacting with patrons in a medical or retail business.

"It makes you so much more employable. It is a needed skill anymore," said Busch, the former Kami Kuhlman.

She teaches Spanish in seven of the eight periods in the Lawton-Bronson High School, and finds the job "super fulfilling."

"It is rewarding to see something that kids weren't comfortable with, start to click and understand," she said.
SIOUX CITY | With one major piece of the Interstate 29 widening and reconstruction project almost complete, the pieces to the last major phase are beginning to fall into place.

The northbound lanes from Floyd Boulevard to just past Hamilton Boulevard are nearly complete, and traffic will be switched over to the new lanes shortly after Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday, the Iowa Department of Transportation opened bids on the next step of the project, reconstruction of the southbound lanes and replacement of five bridges from Wesley Parkway to the Floyd River. Bids still must be reviewed and certified, but the apparent low bid is $41.8 million from Godbersen-Smith Construction Co. of Ida Grove, Iowa.

It was the second-to-last bid in the 11-year, $400 million project to widen I-29 to three lanes in each direction from Sergeant Bluff, through Sioux City, to the South Dakota border. Construction is wrapping up on the project's ninth year. If the recent bid is approved, it will bring the total of bids thus far, with one major bid-letting remaining, to some $373 million.

The highway's new configuration is beginning to become clearer to metro Sioux Cityans and those who travel through the city regularly, said Dakin Schultz, Iowa Department of Transportation District 3 traffic planner.

"We always heard the questions, 'What's it going to look like?' 'Where will I exit?'" Schultz said. "It's really starting to come together."

Work is concluding on the northbound lanes, and the full configuration should be open sometime in December, Schultz said. Current plans call for the Wesley Parkway exit to open Dec. 8. Traffic also will soon be able to directly access the Nebraska Street exit rather than using the Floyd Boulevard exit to get to Nebraska Street.

The entrance ramp onto northbound I-29 at Virginia Street also will open soon, replacing the former entrance at Floyd Boulevard. Once those exits and entrances are open, much of this year's work will be completed, except for some shoulder work, grading and installation of barrier rails.

"There's still going to be some things they'll be doing off to the side, but that will be the permanent configuration," Schultz said.

There will be less activity through the construction zone this winter compared to last winter, Schultz said, but construction crews were plenty active this summer from an area near the Floyd Monument to just west of Hamilton Boulevard.

Seven bridges were completed. Pavement in the traffic lanes was removed and replaced. Exits at Nebraska Street and Wesley Parkway were reconstructed, a notable improvement, especially at Nebraska Street, where a realignment now allows I-29 traffic to exit directly onto Nebraska Street as opposed to the old alignment, which dumped traffic onto Gordon Drive, forcing motorists to make a short jog onto Nebraska Street.

It's been a notable change that has improved traffic flow, Schultz said.

"I think it works real well. We expected that to function well," he said.

The direct path into downtown will provide for easier navigation for visitors, said Barbara Sloniker, Siouxland Chamber of Commerce executive vice president.

"I think what you'll see is it will be easier for retail establishments in the downtown district to direct customers to them," Sloniker said. "I think it shows our downtown better."

Depending on the contractor's plans, drivers could see some of the work on the southbound lanes begin during the winter, but work will ramp up in the spring for the final two-year push to complete the project.

Schultz said major construction of I-29 should be done in 2019, with some finishing work in the Hamilton Boulevard area wrapping up in 2020.
To those who believe, living as we do in the cocoon of small town or ranch life, that we won't be affected by the machinations in Washington  not so. Soon, many of us will feel the sting as Trump's war on The Affordable Care Act continues. Despite protests from people who will die without health care, the Senate has sneaked a repeal of an important part of the ACA into its version of the "tax cut" legislation. If this egregious bill is passed, it will destabilize the ACA and hurt millions of those people, while others of us won't see big increases in our take-home pay. Instead, we will lose important deductions for: medical expenses, state and local taxes, student loans, mortgage interest and more.

Give big companies more money and they will just stash it overseas, not trickle it down to their workers. Worse yet, there are plans for massive cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. This is all about giving the richest even more tax breaks while some of us will actually pay more. That's why they're trying to push this through before anybody gets a good look at it.

And speaking of Trump's Buy American, Hire American, he and Ivanka still have all their products manufactured overseas. He's filed for permission to hire several dozen foreign workers to work at Mar-a-Lago for this winter season. Really.

I challenge all Fox viewers to take one hour each day, and tune to MSNBC or CNN or CBS  be sure you're hearing the truth by checking how other broadcasters are reporting news. Read a newspaper or two. You will be surprised.

Trump is still dragging his feet on enacting any of the new sanctions on Russia that Congress imposed after they meddled in our election. Why is that, do you suppose? Russia has never been our friend, and is not now. Either we get rid of some of these people who are endangering our country, or we may all have to subscribe to Babbel and learn Russian.

Paula Dee

Lovell, Wyo.
CHICAGO -- My mom likes to tell the story of my first day of kindergarten: When we arrived, she had to restrain me from running off to join the crowd of kids pouring through the front door.

She always caps her story with: "I couldn't stop crying and you didn't even want to say goodbye to me because you were in such a hurry to get into school."

I was so eager, in fact, that even before kindergarten, I vividly recall driving by the nursery school down the street, hungering to be let into what I was convinced was a magical wonderland of toys and stories a la "The Electric Company."

But when I asked my parents why I couldn't go to preschool, they looked at me like I'd grown an extra head. It wasn't for us -- I had family at home to take care of me. That's just how it was done way back then in the Hispanic community; the babies stayed home with mom or grandma until formal schooling started.

To this day, Hispanic kids continue to be underrepresented in preschools. There are lots of reasons, not the least of which are cultural and language-related. But the biggest and least surmountable is that there simply aren't enough spots in affordable, high-quality preschool centers to go around.

The shortage is so acute for Latino kids that, according to Salud America!, a national Latino advocacy organization focusing on families, only 40 percent of Hispanic kids attend preschool, compared to 53 percent of white kids.

The effects of Latinos being more likely to live in child care deserts, and therefore less likely to attend preschool, are chilling because they are coupled with multiple factors that make for a shockingly rough start in life.

According to a new report from Salud America!, "The State of Latino Early Childhood Development," Hispanic kids begin life with birth weights and developmental capacities that are similar to those of white children. But by 24 months, their capacities to reason, remember tasks, communicate verbally and identify letters, numbers, and shapes lessen significantly compared to white children. And these deficits "appear even more prevalent in Mexican-American children than in other nationality subgroups."

The authors cite the usual suspects: lower education levels among Hispanic parents, larger family sizes in which individual children get a smaller slice of available attention, unemployment or underemployment, and the higher incidence of depression among Hispanic mothers. These, combined with the cultural assumptions that teachers are the only experts suited to teach kids literacy and numeracy skills, and low or no English skills create a perfect storm for Hispanic kids' underperformance when they start kindergarten.

And those, sadly, are the best-case scenarios -- the statistics get even more dire when you factor in other hardships, many of which are quite prevalent.

Salud America! says that 28 percent of Latino youth suffer four or more traumatic experiences such as parental domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness, criminal justice involvement, child abuse, neglect, poverty/homelessness, or parental death.

It's difficult to write about such harrowing statistics. They reinforce the negative stereotypes that people, especially educators, have about Latino children, feeding the sense that these kids are beyond hope, while ignoring that not all Hispanic kids are disadvantaged.

But the truth is that even though you don't have to look very far to find Hispanic valedictorians, and successful Latino business owners, brain surgeons and astronauts, a great deal of Hispanic children are in crisis. The bright side is that more widely available preschool for Latino kids can help close academic gaps before they become a life sentence of low achievement.

Universal preschool is not a magic bullet for all that ails public schools or low-income families. But it can be a much-needed intervention for the most vulnerable of Hispanic students, who are expected to make up about a third of all public-school students by the year 2026.

As of now, only 14 cents of every public education dollar are spent on early childhood education. This gives the edge to parents and families who can afford to put their kids in high-quality, unsubsidized preschool programs, while leaving the needy even further behind.

The low funding represents a lack of foresight and an ignorance of well-established research showing that the prekindergarten years are the most important, developmentally, for all children.

But ultimately, any money dedicated to preventing Hispanic infants from falling two years behind their peers before kindergarten even starts is peanuts compared to the costs of remedial education, social welfare programs and incarceration.
WASHINGTON -- When White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked the press corps Monday to preface their daily briefing questions with a statement of thankfulness, reporters obliged.

Or, should we say, obeyed.

For this, no doubt, Sanders was grateful.

Yet again, she controlled the crowd, though this time by candy-coating her usual condescension with faux fellowship.

I'm thankful I wasn't in the room.

My first impulse when someone asks me to share is to not-share. This isn't because I'm not a sharing person -- you can have my cake and eat it, too -- but because sharing, like charity, should be voluntary. For a press secretary to require professional journalists to essentially beg for their supper, surrendering their adversarial posture like a dog commanded to Drop The Bone, is an infantilizing tactic. The effect is to neutralize the opposition.

Yes, I said opposition. The press, by definition, is oppositional. As Mr. Dooley, the turn-of-the-century fictional bartender created by columnist Finley Peter Dunne is often paraphrased: "The newspaper's job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."

Yet, from the interplay between the media and the Trump administration, one would think reporters were supposed to be taking dictation. Seen and not heard. Sanders, whose persistently arched brows convey an air of constant disapproval, routinely brushes reporters' questions aside. During any given press briefing, one is likely to hear words to these effects:

"I think he addressed that pretty thoroughly yesterday," she'll say. Or, "We don't have any announcement on that." Or my personal favorite, which came in response to a query about chief of staff and retired Gen. John Kelly's controversial remarks about Florida Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson, "If you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that's something highly inappropriate."

One peers into Sanders' fantasy movie, where the reporter, abashed, shrinks into the folds of his trench coat, muttering, "What an impudent, incompetent fool am I!"

If Sanders isn't evading, she's scolding. Like a parent weary of her 3-year-old's constant "why?," her tone and expression telegraph: "Because I say so, case closed."

Sanders' sudden shift from press secretary to minister's daughter a few days before Thanksgiving coincides with her apparent image evolution of being more-carefully coiffed, couture-d and contoured with appropriately professional makeup. One can almost hear the hive of consultants discussing how to imperceptibly adapt this no-frills brainiac to the shallower requirements of a visual medium.

If one were Sanders' employer, meanwhile, one surely would be pleased. She's everything a terrible person -- or, say, an unpopular president -- could hope for in a public relations artist. She says nothing; gives away nothing; looks fierce and dutifully repeats falsehoods as required. Her resistance to flinching or blinking is state of the art.

Yet, even as Sanders declines to enlighten the press corps, she manages to inspire admiration for her toughness and effectiveness -- from a certain perspective. To Donald Trump's base, she's the a la mode on a slice of apple pie, the pompom and confetti at a freedom rally, or, perhaps, the elfin princess who can read and direct a person's thoughts by hypnotizing them with her magic pearls. Her daily humiliation of the press, making them seem like churlish children, is a booster shot of "fake news" animus that also inoculates against viral truths.

To the media, she is the wall Trump promised to erect and, increasingly, it seems, we are the swamp he seeks to drain. Out with the media, out with free speech, out with facts! For these purposes, Sanders is perfectly cast. Where there is the prolonged car alarm of "fake news," there is bound to be a fake news officer. Such is not always the case. In fact, the most successful press secretaries were journalists first.

Jay Carney, formerly of Time magazine comes to mind, as does Tony Snow, previously of Fox News. Both men were well-known, respected and liked by their media peers before crossing over to the Dark Side. They also understood what reporters needed and tried to provide it. When they couldn't, they were at least self-effacing and seemed sincere in regretting limitations imposed by the job. Most important, they fully understood and appreciated the sanctity of the First Amendment, without which all freedoms fail.

To this testament, a note of personal gratitude. Today, not just on our national feast day, I'm thankful for the freedom to speak without (undue) fear of retribution.

Let's not let the turkeys whittle it away.
It was, Happy 84rd birthday, Emperor Akihito as the Japanese Embassy hosted a celebration to at the Tanoa Tusitala Hotel on Friday night.

The Japanese Ambassador, Maugaoleatuolo Shinya Aioki explained that his was the first time he had hosted this event because the Embassy of Japan in Samoa had now separated from the Embassy of Japan in New Zealand and has opened independently in January this year.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi paid tribute to the Japanese government and poeople, I would like to thank the Ambassador Mauaoleatuolo for the invitation to commemorate Japans National Day and to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan.

Since the establishment of the formal ties in 1973, those 44 years ago, Japan and Samoa have developed a strong friendship over the years. Samoa has benefited significantly through development co-operations programs in the range of many key sectors but mainly in the transport and infrastructure, health, education sectors, he said.

I would also to acknowledge Japans International grassroots human security programmes.

The occasion was celebrated in traditional Japanese fashion with great food and lots of sake, a traditional Japanese drink made from fermented rice.

Everything from the decorations that were fuchsia teuila and hand-made origami swans, to the exquisite cuisine which consisted of fresh sashimi and hand rolled sushi, strongly reflected the combination of both cultures.

Tuimaugaoalii Kazumasa Shibuta greeted every guest personally at the door alongside his stunning wife who was dressed in a beautiful, silk, kimono.

In attendance were fellow ambassadors, cabinet ministers and special guests.

Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoiwas was called on stage alongside His Excellency to crack open the barrel.

After the opening and when everyone was served, the entire room raised their glasses for a special toast in honour of the Emperor.
Veteran pacer Texas Terror N made his return to Saratoga Casino Hotel on Saturday night following a lifetime best performance at the Meadowlands.

The Al Annunziata trainee was the 4-5 favourite in the $19,500 Open Pace following a 1:50.1 victory in New Jersey last week. Bruce Aldrich, Jr. wasted no time moving Texas Terror N out to the early lead in the Saturday feature and the nine year old pacer took it from there.

Following first half fractions of :27.1 and :56.1, Texas Terror N paced a final half in :55.3 en route to his wire-to-wire win that came in 1:51.4. Deetzy (Billy Dobson) sat the pocket to the winner and finished as the runner-up while Dancin Yankee (Mark Beckwith) earned the show spot.

Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon with a 12:15 p.m. start to the matinee.

(Saratoga Casino Hotel)
Three Of Clubs, a son of Mach Three who was claimed for $30,000 at Yonkers by trainer Matias Ruiz and co-owner Daniel DeJohn on September 22, continued his incredible run of form upon coming to The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, taking a new mark for driver George Napolitano, Jr. of 1:50.1 in the $25,000 handicap pace.

Three Of Clubs hustled right out to the lead and led at every pole, going under the wire a length clear of pocket-sitter Si Semalu, with favoured Bit Of A Legend N having to go the rough tuck then first-over journey, reporting home third. In seven starts for Ruiz and De John, Three Of Clubs has posted a 7-4-2-1 record, good for $69,830  a sizable and quick return on investment.

Maxdaddy Blue Chip finished fourth in the feature after starting from post eight and coming from last at the three-quarter pole. Maxdaddy Blue Chip was voted Pacer of the Year at Pocono, and he took a turn in the spotlight to receive that honour.

Rene Allard won his fourth training victory title in the last five years at The Downs, winding up with 151 success to top Ron Burke (114, five closing night including three handled by Anthony Nap) and Gil Garcia-Herrera (56).

Also in the final night spotlight was George Napolitano, Jr., who won his record eleventh dash-winning title and sixth consecutive local crown. The leading driver at Philly and second to the long-gone Aaron Merriman in the North American standings, Napolitano wound up with 287 visits to the Hanover Shoe Farms winners circle during 2017, including five on closing night. Simon Allard (213) held off Jim Marohn, Jr. (211) after a rock-em-sock-em late-season battle to finish second, with Matt Kakaley (191) and Anthony Napolitano (174, four wins closing night) completing the drivers top five.

The local UDR belt went to veteran Swedish horseman Ake Svanstedt, who mixed stakes performers with developing overnight stock to post a .419 batting average.

(PHHA/Pocono)
More than six years after a tsunami overwhelmed the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Japan has yet to reach consensus on what to do with a million tons of radioactive water, stored on site in around 900 large and densely packed tanks that could spill should another major earthquake or tsunami strike. Experts advising the government have urged a gradual release to the Pacific Ocean, while local fishermen and residents are balking. And what about the world? Fukushimas radioactivity has already spread across the world and releasing more tons of contaminated waters will surely not help to stop the global nuclear cataclysm currently sweeping across our seas. STOP THIS MESS!

The Japan Times explains the stalemate is rooted in a fundamental conflict between science and human nature.

Experts advising the government have urged a gradual release to the Pacific Ocean. Treatment has removed all the radioactive elements except tritium, which they say is safe in small amounts. Conversely, if the tanks break, their contents could slosh out in an uncontrolled way.

Local fishermen are balking. The water, no matter how clean, has a dirty image for consumers, they say. Despite repeated tests showing most types of fish caught off Fukushima are safe to eat, diners remain hesitant. The fishermen fear any release would sound the death knell for their nascent and still fragile recovery.

People would shun Fukushima fish again as soon as the water is released, said Fumio Haga, a drag-net fisherman from Iwaki, a city about 50 kilometers (30 miles) down the coast from the nuclear plant.

And so the tanks remain.

Fall is high season for saury and flounder, among Fukushimas signature fish. It was once a busy time of year when coastal fishermen were out every morning.

Then came March 11, 2011. A magnitude 9 offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people along the coast. The quake and massive flooding knocked out power for the cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Three of the six reactors had partial meltdowns. Radiation spewed into the air, and highly contaminated water ran into the Pacific.

Today, only about half of the regions 1,000 fishermen go out, and just twice a week because of reduced demand. They participate in a fish testing program.

Lab technicians mince fish samples at Onahama port in Iwaki, pack them in a cup for inspection and record details such as who caught the fish and where. Packaged fish sold at supermarkets carry official safe stickers.

Only three kinds of fish passed the test when the experiment began in mid-2012, 15 months after the tsunami. Over time, that number has increased to about 100.

The fish meet what is believed to be the worlds most stringent requirement: less than half the radioactive cesium level allowed under Japans national standard and one-twelfth of the U.S. or EU limit, said Yoshiharu Nemoto, a senior researcher at the Onahama testing station.

That message isnt reaching consumers. A survey by the Consumer Affairs Agency in October found that nearly half of Japanese werent aware of the tests, and that consumers are more likely to focus on alarming information about possible health impacts in extreme cases, rather than facts about radiation and safety standards.

Fewer Japanese consumers shun fish and other foods from Fukushima than before, but 1 in 5 still do, according to the survey. The coastal catch of 2,000 tons last year was 8 percent of pre-disaster levels. The deep-sea catch was half of what it used to be, though scientists say there is no contamination risk that far out.

Naoya Sekiya, a University of Tokyo expert on disaster information and social psychology, said that the water from the nuclear plant shouldnt be released until people are well-informed about the basic facts and psychologically ready.

A release only based on scientific safety, without addressing the publics concerns, cannot be tolerated in a democratic society, he said. A release when people are unprepared would only make things worse.

He and consumer advocacy group representative Kikuko Tatsumi sit on a government expert panel that has been wrestling with the social impact of a release and what to do with the water for more than a year, with no sign of resolution.

Tatsumi said the stalemate may be further fueling public misconception: Many people believe the water is stored because its not safe to release, and they think Fukushima fish is not available because its not safe to eat.

The amount of radioactive water at Fukushima is still growing, by 150 tons a day.

The reactors are damaged beyond repair, but cooling water must be constantly pumped in to keep them from overheating. That water picks up radioactivity before leaking out of the damaged containment chambers and collecting in the basements.

There, the volume of contaminated water grows, because it mixes with groundwater that has seeped in through cracks in the reactor buildings. After treatment, 210 tons is reused as cooling water, and the remaining 150 tons is sent to tank storage. During heavy rains, the groundwater inflow increases significantly, adding to the volume.

The water is a costly headache for Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., the utility that owns the plant. To reduce the flow, it has dug dozens of wells to pump out groundwater before it reaches the reactor buildings and built an underground ice wall of questionable effectiveness by partially freezing the ground around the reactors.

Another government panel recommended last year that the utility, known as Tepco, dilute the water up to about 50 times and release about 400 tons daily to the sea  a process that would take almost a decade to complete. Experts note that the release of tritiated water is allowed at other nuclear plants.

Tritiated water from the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States was evaporated, but the amount was much smaller, and still required 10 years of preparation and three more years to complete.

A new chairman at Tepco, Takashi Kawamura, caused an uproar in the fishing community in April when he expressed support for moving ahead with the release of the water.

The company quickly backpedaled, and now says it has no plans for an immediate release and can keep storing water through 2020. Tepco says the decision should be made by the government, because the public doesnt trust the utility.

Our recovery effort up until now would immediately collapse to zero if the water is released, Iwaki abalone farmer Yuichi Manome said.

Some experts have proposed moving the tanks to an intermediate storage area, or delaying the release until at least 2023, when half the tritium that was present at the time of the disaster will have disappeared naturally.

Article Japan still at a stalemate as Fukushimas radioactive water grows by 150 tons a day was initially published on Japan Times.

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Editors note: Todays editorials originally appeared in The Seattle Times. Editorial content from other publications is provided to give readers a sampling of regional and national opinion and does not necessarily reflect positions endorsed by the Editorial Board of The Daily News.

The last thing Americans need during the holidays is more stress about politics, but thats what theyre getting from President Donald Trumps administration.

Now more than ever, the public must stay engaged and ensure their voices are heard as the administration continues its relentless bulldozing of policies and rules protecting the public.

The latest is Federal Communications Chairman Ajit Pais noxious proposal to erase net-neutrality protections established in 2015. Pai unveiled his plan Tuesday, and it may be approved at the Republican-controlled FCCs Dec. 14 meeting.

The existing rules are essential in ensuring that the small but powerful group of companies that function as internet gatekeepers do not prioritize, throttle, block or discriminate against any information delivered by their networks. The rules have broad support; millions of Americans set records for public participation on this issue.

Net neutrality champion U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, said Washingtonians can play a role in opposing this rollback.

Cantwell, who tried to block Pais appointment, is encouraging residents and especially the business community to tell the FCC why they need the certainty and level playing field that net-neutrality rules provide.

I dont think they have a deep understanding about the level of connectivity of service that exists today and what even a small slowdown could do, she said of net-neutrality opponents on the FCC.

The perspective of small to mid-size businesses is especially needed. Their stories should be shared with Cantwell and other policymakers as well to help make the case in Congress.

Pai, a former Verizon lawyer and Trumps choice for FCC chairman, wrongly characterizes net-neutrality rules as an effort to micromanage business.

It was a major shift initially to classify broadband as an essential service needing government oversight, but the rules were lightly applied and restrictions on blocking content were already in place.

Broadband companies still fought the rules in court and lost, but now the FCC is granting their wishes. If Pai succeeds, theres likely to be another lawsuit.

If anyone is micromanaging the communications sector its Trump. His administration is removing roadblocks to help an ally, Sinclair Broadcasting, acquire Tribune Media while simultaneously fighting AT&Ts acquisition of Time Warner, which includes the CNN network that Trump so dislikes.

States, meanwhile, are trying to restore some of the consumer and business protections that are being stripped away in Washington, D.C.

State-level net-neutrality rules are well intentioned but may be problematic  interstate services need federal regulation. There is, however, a strong case for states to extend their consumer-protection laws to online services.

State Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, has a straightforward privacy-protection proposal that would require phone and internet companies to get customer consent before collecting their personal information. It died in a Senate committee during the last legislative session, despite bipartisan support, but should receive consideration in 2018.

Like Cantwell, Ranker believes this is an area where Washington can show leadership and build a coalition to restore consumer protections that are being chipped away by the feds.

Politics and broadband regulations arent the first priority during the holidays. But the FCC and lawmakers need to hear, soon, why net-neutrality rules must be retained.
CHICAGO  My mom likes to tell the story of my first day of kindergarten: When we arrived, she had to restrain me from running off to join the crowd of kids pouring through the front door.

She always caps her story with: I couldnt stop crying and you didnt even want to say goodbye to me because you were in such a hurry to get into school.

I was so eager, in fact, that even before kindergarten, I vividly recall driving by the nursery school down the street, hungering to be let into what I was convinced was a magical wonderland of toys and stories a la The Electric Company.

But when I asked my parents why I couldnt go to preschool, they looked at me like Id grown an extra head. It wasnt for us  I had family at home to take care of me. Thats just how it was done way back then in the Hispanic community; the babies stayed home with mom or grandma until formal schooling started.

To this day, Hispanic kids continue to be underrepresented in preschools. There are lots of reasons, not the least of which are cultural and language-related. But the biggest and least surmountable is that there simply arent enough spots in affordable, high-quality preschool centers to go around.

The shortage is so acute for Latino kids that, according to Salud America!, a national Latino advocacy organization focusing on families, only 40 percent of Hispanic kids attend preschool, compared to 53 percent of white kids.

The effects of Latinos being more likely to live in child care deserts, and therefore less likely to attend preschool, are chilling because they are coupled with multiple factors that make for a shockingly rough start in life.

According to a new report from Salud America!, The State of Latino Early Childhood Development, Hispanic kids begin life with birth weights and developmental capacities that are similar to those of white children. But by 24 months, their capacities to reason, remember tasks, communicate verbally and identify letters, numbers, and shapes lessen significantly compared to white children. And these deficits appear even more prevalent in Mexican-American children than in other nationality subgroups.

The authors cite the usual suspects: lower education levels among Hispanic parents, larger family sizes in which individual children get a smaller slice of available attention, unemployment or underemployment, and the higher incidence of depression among Hispanic mothers. These, combined with the cultural assumptions that teachers are the only experts suited to teach kids literacy and numeracy skills, and low or no English skills create a perfect storm for Hispanic kids underperformance when they start kindergarten.

And those, sadly, are the best-case scenarios  the statistics get even more dire when you factor in other hardships, many of which are quite prevalent.

Salud America! says that 28 percent of Latino youth suffer four or more traumatic experiences such as parental domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness, criminal justice involvement, child abuse, neglect, poverty/homelessness, or parental death.

Its difficult to write about such harrowing statistics. They reinforce the negative stereotypes that people, especially educators, have about Latino children, feeding the sense that these kids are beyond hope, while ignoring that not all Hispanic kids are disadvantaged.

But the truth is that even though you dont have to look very far to find Hispanic valedictorians, and successful Latino business owners, brain surgeons and astronauts, a great deal of Hispanic children are in crisis. The bright side is that more widely available preschool for Latino kids can help close academic gaps before they become a life sentence of low achievement.

Universal preschool is not a magic bullet for all that ails public schools or low-income families. But it can be a much-needed intervention for the most vulnerable of Hispanic students, who are expected to make up about a third of all public-school students by the year 2026.

As of now, only 14 cents of every public education dollar are spent on early childhood education. This gives the edge to parents and families who can afford to put their kids in high-quality, unsubsidized preschool programs, while leaving the needy even further behind.

The low funding represents a lack of foresight and an ignorance of well-established research showing that the prekindergarten years are the most important, developmentally, for all children.

But ultimately, any money dedicated to preventing Hispanic infants from falling two years behind their peers before kindergarten even starts is peanuts compared to the costs of remedial education, social welfare programs and incarceration.
Does our country face a big problem with deficits? Is it a mistake to add to them?

House Speaker Paul Ryan certainly thinks so. Or he used to. In 2010, he told Fortune magazine that the nation was sleep-walking toward a debt crisis, and he foresaw calamity on a grand scale. Within a few years, a sale of government bonds will fail, he said. The capital markets will go crazy, and the Fed and Treasury will run to Capitol Hill demanding a giant bailout. Wow.

He offered much the same view in 2011. We face a crushing burden of debt, which will take down our economy, Ryan predicted. It will lower our living standards.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also once seemed to think it ill-advised to enact a whopping corporate tax cut when the deficit is such an enormous challenge. He said so as recently as last December.

I think this level of national debt is dangerous and unacceptable, McConnell argued. My preference on tax reform is that it be revenue neutral.

Yes, McConnell really said revenue neutral, which usually means offsetting tax cuts with tax hikes elsewhere. He now says that miraculous economic growth will take care of everything.

One other thing McConnell used to believe: that its a bad idea to advance far-reaching initiatives on a partisan basis. In March 2009, the Republican leader said he had hoped that the newly installed President Obama would govern more to the middle. He assailed Democrats for instead intending to do as much as they could on a strictly partisan basis.

The danger of that, politically, is they end up owning the whole thing, McConnell said, warning of blowback.

This week or next, McConnell will be pressuring Republicans in the Senate to pass a sweeping, 515-page tax bill on, well, a strictly partisan basis. The radical bill would shift taxes away from corporations and the rich to regular folks and would increase the deficit by at least $1.4 trillion.

When it comes to the middle class, by the way, this proposal doesnt even deserve to be called a tax cut. According to the Tax Policy Center, it would leave about half of taxpayers paying more by 2027.

Republicans are lying coming and going. They hold down the sticker price of the bill and minimize its impact on the deficit by having the middle-class tax cuts (but not the corporate reductions) expire. But they insist that future Congresses would keep the middle-class tax cuts in place.

So they are either lying about the deficit, or misleading the middle class.

Ryan has already burnished his standing as a deficit hypocrite by pushing a comparable tax cut through the House. But dont you worry.

As soon as Republicans shovel every dollar they can to the people who pay their partys bills, hell dust off those old the-sky-is-falling quotes and warn about the deficits he helped to bloat. Hell tell us how urgent it is to slash Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and programs for the needy (although hell try to bamboozle us again by claiming only to be reforming them).

What can stop this duplicitous raid on the federal treasury? A mobilization at the grass roots that tries to muster some of the energy that went into saving Obamacare would be helpful. But in the end, the honor of the Republican Party is in the hands of a small number of senators.

Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona have said over and over that (unlike their two-faced leaders) they actually do care about the deficit, even where this tax-cut bill is concerned. If they dont vote against it, they will be enrolling in the Ryan-McConnell Deficit Prevarication Association. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is as close as there is to a genuine moderate in the Senate GOP. Voting for this utterly immoderate scheme will mean tossing her moderate credentials into a bonfire.

But the man whose voice most needs to be heard is Arizona Sen. John McCains. Over the last few months, he really has been the conscience of the Senate. This summer, he gave a remarkable speech during the Obamacare debate in which he chided the partys leadership for asking us to swallow our doubts and force [the bill] past a unified opposition.

I dont think thats going to work in the end, he said, and it probably shouldnt.

It definitely shouldnt work on this Pay-Off-Our-Donors tax cut. More than anyone, McCain could give Corker, Flake and Collins the heart to follow their convictions.
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True tax reform is complicated, and the current faux-reform is moving through Congress in such helter-skelter manner that a comprehensive evaluation is near impossible. But it can be helpful to examine key issues that are complex and often misrepresented.

One is the overall tax burden on businesses, especially corporations. This is the subject of much demagogy. President Donald Trump has asserted that corporations in the United States are the most heavily taxed of any country in the world. This is nonsense.

What is true is that the U.S. corporate income tax has a marginal rate that is among the highest of all industrialized nations. But this is only one factor in taxation of corporations.

First, while the marginal rate  that paid on the next additional dollar of income  is high, the average rate  all income tax paid divided by all income, is much lower than that and falls in the middle of the pack among similar nations. The large difference between the two rates is because there are many exemptions, special credits and exclusions that collectively might be deemed loopholes. These significantly reduce actual tax paid by most corporations and bring it all the way to zero for a surprisingly large number of those on the Fortune 500.

Secondly, while the income tax is the primary national-level tax paid by U.S. corporations, it is not for most in Europe or for large emerging economies, such as Brazil or South Korea. The U.S. stands nearly alone in not having a value-added tax as its center of national government financing.

A value-added tax is one on the value of the goods or services sold by a business minus the value of the inputs it purchased, whether raw materials, components, electricity, fuel or similar costs of doing business. Labor costs are not subtracted, nor is interest paid. In VAT systems, this tax on value-added is paid all along the production and distribution system. Retailers add it to the price of the goods sold and remit the money to the government after deducting the value of the goods gotten at wholesale. So to the customer, it is like a sales tax. And that is how the media usually explains it to the American public, as a national sales tax borne by consumers.

But it is not as different from the U.S. corporate income tax as one might think. For income tax, one takes the value of sales and deducts allowable expenses. What is left is called income and that is taxed. For a VAT, one takes the value of sales and deducts allowable expenses. The balance is called value-added and that is taxed. The allowed expenses are different under a VAT than under our corporate income tax. But the taxes both are ultimately borne in part by the consumer and in part by the owners of the business.

Beyond the issue of corporations in other countries having to pay VAT that U.S. companies dont on their domestic business, there are differences in social insurance taxes. In the U.S., any employer nominally must pay half of FICA taxes for retirement, survivors, disability and Medicare. They also pay a portion of the unemployment taxes due to the state and must procure workmans compensation insurance. Employees also pay part of FICA as a payroll deduction.

In Europe and Latin America in particular, such social insurance taxes are far higher because they usually encompass the whole retirement system for the nation. Mandatory retirement benefits also often are larger. And the entire health care system often is funded by taxes on employers. So the cost of labor above the amounts actually paid to employees is usually well above levels in the United States.

So yes, U.S. corporations do face a higher marginal corporate income tax rate than in other countries. And yes, in many economic decisions, what happens at the margin determines what action is profit maximizing. But when one looks at average income tax paid, the United States is down in the pack. And when one looks at all taxes paid by companies relative to sales or to government revenue or to GDP, the U.S. has a more lightly taxed business sector than most countries.

Reducing loopholes was the approach of some Reagan-era tax changes. These were not revenue neutral as some claim. The reduction in loopholes was far from broad enough to cover the reduced revenue from the lower rates. But this approach remains one viable basis for true reform.

Over the 30 years since the last Reagan-era changes, myriad special provisions have crept back in to benefit sundry interest groups.

Another misconception hangs over current debate, that the Reagan-era changes were revenue neutral. They were not. They permanently reduced the fraction of federal revenues that come from taxes on corporations. They reduced such taxes as a fraction of business profits and relative to the value of total national output. In the 25 years leading up to the first Reagan tax law, corporate income taxes averaged some 18 percent of all federal revenues. In the quarter-century after the last Reagan changes they have averaged 10.3 percent. Over the same periods, the average for corporate income tax revenues relative to GDP dropped from 3.2 percent to 1.8 percent. Reagan-era tax laws effected a sharp reduction in business taxes as a portion of federal finance. In contrast, FICA taxes, which are much more regressive, increased sharply.

There is potential for reform of corporate taxation in the country that could improve fairness and economic efficiency. But nothing like this is detectable in Republican proposals so far.
Amid a year of jostling federal policy around refugees, those who work closely in bringing vetted people to North Dakota are expecting a continued decline in resettlements.

The agency working with the federal government to resettle refugees in the state is Lutheran Social Services, a Fargo-based nonprofit. Shirley Dykshoorn manages that resettlement effort and, while she says the projected total of 352 people bound for resettlement in fiscal year 2018 is approximately in line with the LSS yearly average, the number represents a drop from the past few years.

Looking forward, a dwindling national quota for refugees paired with executive actions such as the proposed travel ban have left resettlement agencies unsure of where they stand.

Everybodys waiting to see what happens next, Dykshoorn said. Weve been riding with the roller coaster.

In fiscal year 2017, LSS resettled a total of 421 people in multiple North Dakota cities. The year before that, the agency resettled 563 people.

The drop-off isnt uncharacteristic for LSS, nor is the yearly total the lowest the agency has seen. North Dakota resettlements hit 20-year high and low points within a span of just two years, peaking at 633 people in fiscal year 2000 before falling off to just 51 people in 2002.

But the reduced number of refugees now coming to the state is reflective of a broader decline in vetted people being accepted by the U.S. as a whole. Dykshoorn said the refugee population approved to move to the country in 2018 is 45,000, down from 50,000 capped the year before by elected President Donald Trump.

For 2016, the national quota was set at 110,000 refugees. While the total number of refugees has decreased, so too has the list of nations from where they might be coming.

The most recent version of the travel ban as signed by Trump identifies eight countries, mainly Muslim-majority ones such as Syria, Libya and Somalia, and would prohibit nationals from those states from entering the U.S., even as vetted refugees. The latest ban reduced the total number of countries on the list but added Venezuela and North Korea for the first time.

The ban has undergone numerous judicial challenges and subsequent rewrites. But even as its legitimacy has been questioned in court, the executive order has had a de facto influence on who can come to the U.S.

For the past several years, people from Somalia have been the second-largest ethnic population resettled as refugees in North Dakota, trailing behind people from the Himalayan nation of Bhutan. With Somalis now struggling to gain entry, LSS is now expecting this year to primarily settle people from Bhutan and the central African nation of Congo.

The total population for resettlement is lower than it has been, but Dykshoorn said the agencys offices in Grand Forks, Fargo and Bismarck are all on track to meet their individual targets for fiscal year 2018. As with most years, Fargo will accept the highest number of people, with this years projection set at 252. Grand Forks is expecting to take 50 people, as is Bismarck.

Integration volunteers showing record interest

The reduced number of resettlements has prompted LSS to examine its personnel hours and redirect its resources. With fewer refugees, Dykshoorn said her office is focusing more on providing services for other groups of immigrants.

Just as in Fargo, the Grand Forks branch is also now assessing its staffing needs in light of fewer people scheduled for arrival. Reggie Tarr oversees the local LSS refugee programs.

Our numbers have been cut in half, Tarr said of the incoming population hes expecting to see this year in Grand Forks. His office has resettled about 100 people per year for the past few years.

Even with dramatically lower numbers, Tarr said the office has yet to make any major personnel decisions. Refugee resettlement is too unpredictable to make any sudden moves, he said, and the agency is holding on to see how things unfold.

Nobody knows when another executive order will come in or what might be triggered by something else, Tarr said.

Resettlement might be down, but citizen interest in refugee aid appears to be running strong in Grand Forks. Cynthia Shabb is executive director of the Global Friends Coalition, a nonprofit organization that brings in local volunteers to help integrate refugees who live in the community.

Id say our volunteer numbers remain very high, and volunteer commitment is probably the highest its ever been, Shabb said. I think were going to close out this year with many more volunteer hours reported to us than any other year.

Global Friends offers a number of services to refugees in Grand Forks, from gathering donations of household furniture to teaching classes for arrivals to hone their English language skills and prepare for U.S. citizenship exams. Since the organization also works with secondary refugees, or people who first arrived elsewhere in the U.S. but have since moved to Grand Forks, Shabb says the number of individuals served by the coalition has remained pretty consistent.

Right now, she says the groups biggest challenge is funding. Declining levels of resettlement seem to have reduced the priority level among some grant sources to provide money to refugee-related programs, Shabb said. And the national political mood has made other sources nervous.

Some of these other grants have simply changed their focus, she said. At least one has come out and said, with the current climate, the way it is in the country right now, theyre not going to fund refugee work, or at least what we wanted to do, because they didnt want us to be a target of hostility.

Shabb thought that attitude was counterproductive, especially in light of the continued need for services for refugees who are already in the country. For those who focus mainly on resettling those still outside  and especially for the people waiting to be resettled  its still not clear to what extent the current conditions will determine the future.

Theres just a lot of uncertainty right now, Dykshoorn said.
The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.
The timing couldnt have been worse. Four days before Nebraska regulators were to vote on a route through the state for the Keystone XL oil pipeline the company reported an oil spill in South Dakota.

The 210,000-gallon spill was on farmland in Marshall County, near the North Dakota border. Officials dont believe the spill polluted any surface water bodies or drinking water systems.

On Monday, the Nebraska Public Service Commission voted 3-2 to approve a route for the pipeline. The commission wasnt allowed to consider the spill in its decision. The route approved by the commission wasnt the one preferred by TransCanada Corp, the company that owns Keystone. The route is 5 miles longer than the one TransCanada wanted and will require an additional pumping station.

Its been a long battle for TransCanada and the fight isnt over.

The project was proposed in 2008 and has been opposed by environmental activists, American Indian tribes and some landowners. When completed it will carry oil from Canada through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska to meet the existing Keystone pipeline, where it could move as far as the U.S. Gulf Coast. North Dakota officials have been strong supporters of the project along with business groups and some unions. The project has been touted as a way to create jobs and reduce the risk of shipping oil by trains that can derail. President Barack Obama's administration reviewed the project for years before rejecting it in 2015 because of concerns about carbon pollution. President Donald Trump reversed that decision in March.

The future of the pipeline remains uncertain. TransCanada CEO Russ Girling said after the Nebraska ruling that the company would study "how the decision would impact the cost and schedule of the project." TransCanada plans to announce late this month or early in December whether it will proceed with the pipeline, which would carry an estimated 830,000 barrels of oil a day. TransCanada will review the Nebraska decision and whether it has lined up enough long-term contracts to ship oil. Since the project was launched the price of oil on the world markets has changed the outlook for the pipeline.

The Tribune Editorial Board has supported the Keystone pipeline. We believe that pipelines, while not perfect, are the safest way to move oil compared to railroads and trucks. The safety of pipelines has been an issue with the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in North Dakota attracting international attention. While Dakota Access is operating there are still court challenges that havent been decided. The Keystone pipeline also will likely face legal battles in the future. So the oil spill in South Dakota gives opponents another opportunity to argue pipelines arent safe.

Its important that TransCanada and other companies involved with pipelines take all available safety steps. No landowner wants to see his land soaked with oil and no company relishes the job of cleaning it up or the black eye it gives them. We need to move the oil with the utmost care. Economic factors, not court challenges, will likely decide the fate of Keystone. The Keystone and other pipelines can be economic drivers. They also need to live up to their safety promises.
Mount Vernon Township High School student robot designers are getting a boost as they pursue skills in science and engineering, as the the Monsanto Fund recently awarded a one-time $5,000 grant to the schools competition robotics team, the RoboRams.

Employees from the Monsanto plant in Centralia invited the RoboRams to apply for the grant in September and they will use the funds received to participate in FIRST Robotics and its educational programs and competitions.

FIRST challenges teams of students to design, build and program their own robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors  immersing young students in real-world engineering experiences.

 The Southern
The sound of hammers banging and machines humming fills the workshop of Bamberg's Black Water Barrels.

Some employees are busy working the wood through the milling process while others can been seen putting round hoops on the barrels.

A little further down, the interior of a 53-gallon barrel catches fire at the charring station, helping to prime the wood so the vessel can hold bourbon.

"There is no glue or nails in the barrels," company president Greg Pierce said, explaining the manufacturing process. "It is all pressure. These staves are made to fit like a glove. They are pressurized, and the hoops are put on the barrel."

The slight smell of burned wood pervades the warehouse as barrels are neatly lined up for the next journey of what is a 17-step process to prepare the barrels for market.

"We make about 100 a day," Pierce said. "It depends on when the orders come in."

This adds up to about 30,000 barrels a year, 90 percent of which are used for the distilling of bourbon in the United States, but also internationally in countries including as Austria, Chile, Germany and Japan.

"We have over 300 customers in the U.S. and overseas," Pierce said. "Most of them are craft distilleries."

But the Southeast is the Black Water Barrels' largest market.

"There was an influx of moonshiners several years ago," Pierce said. "There are all these moonshiners out there. Basically, there is a glut of clear alcohol. All alcohol is clear and you get it brown by putting it in a charred barrel."

Clear alcohol in a charred barrel ends up becoming bourbon "if there is at least 51 percent corn" in it, he said.

The cooperage, which located in Bamberg in September 2016 with the help of Bamberg native and former Gov. Nikki Haley, has flourished since its opening.

The company employs about 23 people and has invested more than $3.6 million in the former Zeigler automotive dealership, utilizing about 20,000-square-feet of that space.

But Pierce says growth is on the way.

"As we get new contracts in, we will fill a second and third shift, which we are considering doing after the first of year," he said, noting the company owns about seven acres and may need to add additional facility space. He says the growth could mean an additional 50 to 60 jobs.

The reason for the expected expansion?

The company is looking to pick up a contract with Charleston-based Terressentia Corporation, which owns and operates the O.Z. Tyler Distillery in Owensboro, Kentucky.

"This group in Kentucky is in the motherland of bourbon," Pierce said. "There are only eight companies on the Bourbon Trail, and this company is on the Bourbon Trail. That kind of sets us apart from a lot of people."

He says Terressentia Corporation produces about 75,000 barrels a year, of which he is hoping Black Water picks up about 5,000 to 10,000 barrels. It would be the company's largest customer.

"This would be a third of our capacity," Pierce said. "That puts us in a position that very few are fortunate to be in. Most cooperages are 100 to 150 years old. We are 2 years old. This is a very big deal for us."

The company is also seeking other "anchor customers" and is in trial runs with the likes of Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Four Roses and Cuervo.

The industry is extremely competitive, said Pierce, noting the hardest thing about making a barrel is to "convince people you can make a good barrel."

"There have been so many people in the past who said they made good barrels but they don't, so people are gun shy," he said.

Pierce said Black Water sends their barrels to potential customers and those companies take the barrels apart to determine whether or not they will purchase them.

"They look at the thickness of the rings, they look at the type of wood, they look at the char levels," he said. "There is a lot of due diligence that goes into whether or not you do or you don't make a great barrel. If they are off on anything, they reject it. We have been pretty fortunate in the past."

Making the "right barrel" is not as easy as it looks. The process doesn't begin in Bamberg. It begins in the Appalachians.

The wood for the barrels, American white oak, is cut from land owned by Black Water in the mountains of North Carolina all the way to Missouri.

"We have to have a very tight grain so it does not leak," Pierce said. "The only thing that causes a tight grain in wood is if it gets extremely cold and extremely hot."

He said the distance between extreme temperatures is what helps wood become ideal for whiskey barrels. The company makes three barrel sizes 30-, 53- and 60-gallon barrels for wine, tequila, rum and gin. Each barrel weighs about 135 pounds.

The wood is hauled to the company's staving mill in Nebo, North Carolina.

"They debark the logs and they grade them to see if they fit our criteria," Pierce said. "They cut them in staves, which are 2 to 4 inches wide, 1-1/4 inch thick and 36 inches long, and they ship them to us."

Workers read the white oak's medullary rays, which are large bands of radial cells emanating from the center of the log.

The wood is cut into boards with growth rings roughly perpendicular to the face of the board. The pores found in red oak can be porous, but with white oak, the pores are plugged with a plastic-like substance called "tyloses." The substance makes the wood ideal for creating a watertight vessel.

The products are typically brought in by six different trucking companies engaged by Black Water. About 2.5 million board feet are shipped to the company annually.

"From there, they air dry them for about a year," Pierce said.

The first step in barrel making is the milling process, which entails the shaping and molding of the barrels. The process includes tapering the staves in order to create the rounded barrel.

"We raise the barrel and put it in a steam room for an hour, where the wood has to get soft and wet," Pierce said. "Then you winch it in. That is where we fit the body of the barrel together and put a hoop on the bottom."

The barrel then goes through the charring process.

"It brings out all the sugars and burns the inside of the barrel so the liquid hits it," Pierce said. "It not only turns it (the liquid) brown, but it caramelizes it when you have an interaction with the wood."

He said charring typically enables the liquid to go in and out of the wood about an eighth of an inch, creating the unique taste.

There are about five different charring settings for barrels that can all impact the eventual taste of the bourbon, Pierce said.

"Some people like one char or two char and some like five char, which is blistering," he said. "Within a few moments, it will turn the product from a pure white to a very dark brown."

But Pierce says a barrel is "just half the process" when it comes to how liquor tastes.

"You have to have good liquor," he said. "You can't put crappy liquor in a barrel and think my barrel is going to make my liquor taste good."

While it's true that good wood is needed for the barrels, how liquor is stored can also make a big difference, Pierce said.

"The temperature will make that wood contract, and it plays with the liquid," he said. "They call it 'messaging,' and the temperature has everything, really, to do with how it will taste."

Another key to how liquor will taste is the content of the liquor itself, Pierce noted.

"The more wheat, the sweeter it (bourbon) is going to be," he said. "If you have a lot of rye, it will have more of a pepper taste to it."

There are 17 pieces of equipment that go into making a barrel, Pierce said. The machines are from Germany and Scotland and are designed by Anthon and Schoolhill Engineering.

"They make the best," Pierce said. "There are only about three people who make it. We bought the most expensive equipment. We bought the Lamborghini of equipment so the parts cost like a Lamborghini, too."

"(The barrels) are pressure tested," he said. "They are filled with x amount of water and x amount of air pressure, then they force the water through the barrels to see if they leak."

Pierce said the barrels do not leave the facility if they leak.

"But if you leave a barrel and set it out for a period of time, it is going to leak," he said. "It will dry up and dehydrate."

In order to ensure this does not happen, the company makes the barrels to fit a specific order, Pierce said.

"We make them today and ship them tomorrow," he said. "You have about two weeks to get something in the barrels."

From the Black Water facility, the barrels are shipped by truck or through the Port of Charleston.

Pierce said the early days of the company did prove to be a challenge as a result of some equipment issues. Now, the barrels are topnotch, he said, crediting the training his employees have received.

"There are no coopers in Bamberg. So, we hired a fourth-generation cooper from Switizerland for months (who) trained our folks," he said.

Another operated a Napa Valley cooperage, Demptos Napa Cooperage, and Mendocino Cooperage.

"We would not be in business without them," Pierce said.

The idea of building a cooperage came from Pierce, who realized through his 25 years of industry experience that there was a significant and growing need for additional oak barrels in the spirits industry.

Through his work in the industry, he was constantly asked, Do you know where we can get barrels?, by distillers all over the Americas.

The idea of the company started to take life in 2014, Pierce said. The idea became a dream and the dream became a reality -- Black Water Barrels.

The company is named for the slow, gentle black waters of the Edisto River that meander through Bamberg County on its trek to the Atlantic.

Pierce says the future looks bright for Black Water Barrels.

"Bourbon is growing about 9 percent a year, and they are looking at a 10-year run," he said. "It is not going to slow up."
Classrooms have been renovated, programs are being reviewed and other changes are underway at Denmark Technical College, according to the S.C. Technical College System. But more has to be done.

"We are working closely with the college to make progress, but it is a slow process," tech system spokeswoman Kelly Steinhilper said.

"We are hopeful that by next May  the one-year anniversary of the State Board assuming oversight  we will see marked improvement, she said.

The state tech system assumed temporary control of the college in May, replacing the local board. A new local board was appointed to serve in an advisory capacity.

The move followed an audit that showed the college's operating balance plummeted from $9 million to $285,000 in four years.

Officials have blamed Denmark Tech's financial problems in part on enrollment falling from 2,000 students in 2012 to 600 students last fall without adjustments to employees and course offerings. Outdated equipment and underfunding contributed to the problem.

Interim DTC President Dr. Christopher Hall, who was named to the position in January, said the transition from a local area commission to the state board assuming governance has worked well.

"I think the morale has changed at the college," he said. "People want to come to work and people want to do a good job. They see where the college is headed and they want to be a part of that."

Hall admitted the college experienced bad decision making in the past.

"Some of the things I improved since I have been here could have been done a long time ago," he said. "If more had been done over the years, they probably would not be where they are."

But the college was hurt by other factors, too.

An improving economy has more people working instead of going to college. Denmark Tech has also been hurt by negative news about the college.

"There are a lot of people who really believe the college is going to close," he said. Students have even told him that they will not return for fear the college is closing.

"I am reassuring them that we are here and we are here to stay, Hall said.

The tech system reports the college is operating within budget.

A second-quarter status report on the college's operations, financial standing and student recruitment was presented to the S.C. General Assembly on Oct. 31.

Currently, there are 549 students. Thats a 17.2 percent decrease from the fall of 2016 when there were 632 students, the status report states.

Hall says for the college to be financially secure, it needs to have between 800 and 1,000 students. Just two years ago, the college had between 1,200 and 1,300 students.

The college currently has 75 employees, which is an 18.5 percent decrease from last year which more accurately reflects the college's needs based on declining enrollment,' according to the state tech report.

Of the 75, Hall said about 24 employees are teachers and faculty.

"When I first got here, we made the decision to release some of the temporary employees," Hall said. "We have not gone through where we have gotten rid of permanent employees."

Hall said there have also been people who have left for other opportunities. A decision has not been made on filling these vacant positions.

The quarterly report revealed the efforts the state tech system has undertaken since assuming oversight of the college in May.

Finance Division

 Assisting college with procurement processing through daily communications and weekly on-site visits.

 Handled critical procurements on the colleges behalf, including an emergency procurement for mold and mildew remediation.

 Worked in conjunction with DTC business office personnel to improve and streamline the employee travel reimbursement process.

 Regularly monitoring grant-related activity and providing guidance regarding best business practices for grant processing.

Academics and Student Affairs Division

 Assisted staff with compiling information and writing narrative for regional accreditation body Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

 Worked with staff to evaluate academic program productivity (faculty, enrollment, graduates, job opportunities, etc.) and finalize the colleges annual program evaluation process.

Certificate programs recommended to be cut include: administrative support, computer servicing and repair, criminal justice, gerontology, multi-media web graphics design, premedical and web processing. One associate degree program administrative office is also recommended for elimination.

"Most of the programs we recommended to be cut are our certificate programs," college Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs Tia Wright-Richards said. "That is because we have not had a lot of students who have enrolled in those programs over the last three years."

The programs could be discontinued before the next school year.

A certificate program is for individuals already in a profession who desire to enhance their skill sets.

"Were not getting a whole lot of that," Hall said. "Most of the people who come to school here now want to get those degrees."

 Assisted college with developing dual-enrollment partnerships.

Hall said he has personally visited the area high schools to lay out how the college plans to improve dual enrollment. Dual enrollment is a program allowing high school students to take college courses and receive credit for doing so.

"Right now we have about 151 high school students enrolled," Hall said.

He said most students are taking general education courses such as English, math, psychology and welding.

The college also provides the Project Lead the Way program, which gives students insight into careers in engineering and science.

"We want to expand our programs," Hall said. "Ultimately my end purpose would be trying to set up agreements with one of the high schools or more where a student could start at the 9th grade ... and by the time they finish their high school diploma they will also earn an associate's degree as well."

He said Denmark-Olar and Blackville-Hilda are in close partnership with the college for dual enrollment.

 Conducted data analysis of college performance to include course success, retention, persistence, service area attendance and online course enrollment.

Hall said the college is doing an analysis to see what kind of things can be done to improve retention rates in courses and the programs. No specific decisions have been made.

"We have to look at the data first," he said. The college is looking at the attendance policy and working with instructors to ensure they are engaging students throughout the semester.

Two programs the college wants to enhance are megatronics and industrial maintenance.

 Coordinated an articulation and transfer visit to the Medical University of South Carolina for students interested in transferring after completing their associate degree.

About 12 DTC students went to MUSC recently as the college is looking to enter an agreement with MUSC to see if transfer opportunities would be available.

Hall said nothing has been finalized with MUSC.

"They are open to it," he said.

Information Technology Division

 Completed an upgrade of Internet bandwidth for DTCs main campus. About 33 percent of the system has been upgraded as part of a three-phase process, Hall said.

"We have more connectivity between all the classes here on the main campus," he said. "We have a new cyber cafe for the students down in the student area so they have Internet access down there after class time."

 Replacing an out-of-date telephone system with a new hosted voice over Internet protocol telephone system through Spirit Telecom.

The previous system was no longer supported by the vendor, since it went out of business in 2010.

Hall said the college has also replaced outdated computers and has even found previously purchased computers that had not been used.

Over the years, there has been a large accumulation of this computer equipment stored throughout campus.

 Replaced outdated data center equipment. The college is in the process of replacing primary servers, storage and switching equipment. Current equipment is outdated, unsupported by the vendors and no longer under maintenance.

 Completed repairs of non-functional video surveillance equipment and related networks.

 Completed updates to network wiring and infrastructure to ensure compliance with fire safety and other regulatory requirements.

 Working with college staff, Polycom (the equipment vendor) and the local school districts to complete the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service grant to deploy video teleconferencing equipment in high schools and middle schools in Denmark Techs three-county service area.

 Due to staff vacancies and resource shortages at the college, the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education is providing on-site and remote assistance for day-to-day IT operations such as network and data center management, PC and lab maintenance, project management, procurement, IT-related facility issues, etc.

General Counsel

 Continued work on training modules for the DTC Area Commission to include: review of legislation affecting institutes of higher learning; orientation working with local service area governments; a review and discussion of accreditation standards; review and revisions of by-laws; review and update on the Freedom of Information Act.

Human Resources Division

 Currently recruiting for the following executive cabinet positions: president, vice president of academic affairs and student services, human resource director and IT manager. The positions have been advertised.

Hall said the state system office has provided staff on a weekly basis to assist the college with these functions.

 Hired new vice president for fiscal affairs Shatika Spearman (chief business officer).

 Identifying areas of the college that can be more streamlined.

"When I got here, just about every process we had at the college was on paper," Hall said. "We are looking to move to electronic ways of doing the same thing that will be a lot faster and a lot less latency in what we do."

He said about 20 to 25 percent of the process has been done, with hopes it will be complete by the spring or summer of 2018.

 Develop and implement a compliance work plan of key areas identified as issues within the college human resource function, including: payroll, benefits, leave, personnel files, classification and compensation, employee relations, training and confidentiality.

 Since Aug. 25, state human resource staff has coordinated and provided mandatory training and development on Fridays for college employees, to include: communication, customer service, time and leave, travel and supervisory practices.

Executive Office

 System president met with readySC area representative Robert Crenshaw and Hall to discuss training opportunities for upcoming Swiss Krono expansion in the area.

"We have worked with them to try to line up some of our industrial maintenance and megatronics. Those are positions that will be in need at Swiss Krono when they expand," Hall said.

Hall said college will piggyback on the company's youth apprenticeship program, which has partnered with Barnwell High School.

"We will try to use that program and try to duplicate it in other high schools around the area," he said. "We are meeting with all the industries and trying to get a feel for their needs.

Hall said the college is in close contact with readySC and Apprenticeship SC.

 System president met with Hall to discuss enrollment strategies and fiscal accountability.

"We have to be more out in the community and letting people know what we do," Hall said. The college has made it a point to attend job fairs, high schools and churches to get its message out.

"We have to be intentional about our enrollment goals," Hall said. "When we know there are areas like industrial maintenance where there are jobs available, we have to be very intentional about finding people who want that job so that we can offer them a pathway to that position."

Hall said the college is also seeking to focus spending on what is desperately needed.

"Unless the travel is related to exactly what that person's position is, we have cut out a lot of the travel," he said. "We have looked at other areas where we may have been spending more money than we should have."

The college has also taken an inventory of supplies.

"We want make sure people have what they need and are not stockpiling a lot of stuff," he said. "It is about being a good steward of the resources you have."

 Took the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education on a walking tour of the facilities at Denmark Technical College to include dormitories, classrooms and student services to make state board aware of the deficiencies in Denmark Technical College facilities and equipment.

Hall noted the dorms were built in the 1950s and 1960s. He said the newest building on campus, the library, was built in 2009.

"From what I can tell, very little has been done to keep them updated," Hall said.

So far, small things that can be fixed easily, such as cleaning of the dorms, have been done until bigger projects can be tackled.

And there are bigger projects, Hall said.

Currently, there are 192 students living on campus and there is a third dorm building that is unlivable. The building has roof and plumbing issues.

The college has just finished renovating its biology and chemistry labs, which will enable students to have updated, state-of-the art labs with running water and gas.

Hall says he would also like to see all 29 classrooms on campus have a computer and a projector to enable PowerPoint presentations.

Currently, only five classrooms on campus have the capability.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation has scheduled a public information meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 5 concerning proposed improvements to the interchange of Interstate 26 and U.S. 21 at Exit 119 in Lexington County.

The meeting will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Grace Chapel Church at 663 Dixiana Road, West Columbia. The meeting will have a drop-in-type format with displays for viewing, and citizens will have the opportunity to provide written comments. Project information, including meeting materials and comment forms, will also be available on the SCDOT website (http://www.scdot.org, Public Involvement Portal  Public Meeting Calendar).

The purpose of the meeting is to provide an opportunity to review and discuss individually with representatives from SCDOT the proposed improvements. These improvements are intended to improve the current geometric deficiencies. Another purpose of the meeting is to gather information from the public or any interested organization on historic or cultural resources in the area.

Personnel from SCDOT will be available to answer questions and discuss the project with interested citizens on an individual basis.

For more information, contact Jennifer Necker, SCDOT program manager, at 803-737-7829 or NeckerJL@scdot.org.
Earlier this year, Gov. Henry McMaster used his veto power to reject the General Assemblys action to take away funding for the South Carolina Conservation Bank and sunset the entity created in 2002 as an ongoing source to acquire real estate in the interest of preservation.

Now McMaster has ordered an investigation of the conservation bank, questioning how it operates and spends money.

That comes on the heels of a Legislative Audit Council report earlier this year questioning how the bank spent money. The audit said the bank sometimes paid wealthy landowners to avoid developing their property without guaranteeing public access to the land.

The audit also said some landowners were paid when property was not in danger of development.

Conservation bank officials have disputed the criticism in the report but damage has been done. As much as its mission is important, the future of the conservation bank is in doubt.

But onservation bank successes should not be ignored.

It has helped protect nearly 300,000 acres around South Carolina by actions including guarding green space surrounding Angel Oak on Johns Island, providing funds for the purchase of Morris Island, preserving Camdens Revolutionary War battleground and securing 8,700 acres along eight miles of the Santee River. The list of worthy projects is long, including protection of waterfowl habitats and public hunting areas in the Midlands.

In reality, the conservation bank is the only statewide source of funding available for willing landowners and their land trust partners to conserve significant natural resource lands, wetlands, historic and archaeological sites.

It is funded by a fraction of the S.C. documentary stamp tax (state deed recording fee). Of every $1.35 collected by the state, 25 cents is credited to the Conservation Bank Trust Fund. No tax dollars are used for funding.

The conservation bank provides the opportunity to leverage private and federal investments for the public benefit. But it must be reauthorized every five years to continue its work. The charter was extended by five years in 2012, meaning the Legislature had to act by 2017 to continue its existence.

The conservation banks successes have been achieved despite a modest allocation of money as it has obtained support from private and public sources to purchase land and to obtain permanent conservation easements for forests and farmland.

The program is completely voluntary: Land trust organizations, state agencies and local governments can apply for grants to acquire either title to, or a conservation easement on, properties with conservation and/or cultural/historic significance. Then its up to the landowners to decide whether to accept the grants and protect their properties. They are under no obligation to do so.

McMaster should not give up on the conservation bank. In his veto message, he urged the Legislature not only to sustain his veto but to set about a reasoned debate about the Banks future and mission.

Let the investigation and the debate move forward. And then follow the approach the governor has advocated: Fix the problems but do not allow an important tool for land preservation in South Carolina to fade into history.
Portuguese Association of the Ceramics and Glassware Industry (Apicer) is showcasing its high quality ceramics products for the first time in the Middle East during The Big 5, a major event for the construction industry, in Dubai, UAE.



The Big 5 is taking place from November 26 to 29 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).



According to industry trade statistics between the EU and the GCC countries, the stone, glass and ceramics import figures in 2016 reached a total of 174 million euros, while export figures a total of 1,441 million euros in the same year.



The Big 5 gives us a great opportunity to showcase our innovative ceramic products, and demonstrate our long-standing heritage and expertise in the industry, said Jose Sequeira, president of Apicer. We are confident that through our participation, the bi-lateral trade relations in the ceramics and glassware products sector will be further cemented between the EU and the GCC markets.



In 2016, export figures of Portuguese ceramic and domestic glass products together exceeded $800,000, reaching a record number in the history of the ceramics and glassware industries.



Between 2015 and 2016, Portuguese exports of ceramic products grew by 6.3 per cent globally, while exports to the UAE grew by almost 60 per cent. For glassware products, export figures increased by 13.4 per cent in 2016, while UAE grew tenfold.



Considering all ceramic products, the UAE was the 19th international market for Portuguese exports and the 29th glassware destination market.



The ceramic products that contributed most to the growth of the UAE market in Portuguese exports were ceramics for domestic use in earthenware and stoneware, glazed wall and floor tiles and sanitary ware, with variations of over 450 per cent, 55 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively, in 2016 compared to 2015.  TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Aramco, a world leader in integrated energy and Sabic, a global leader in diversified chemicals, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a fully-integrated crude oil to chemicals (COTC) complex in Saudi Arabia.



The MoU governs the execution of the front end engineering design (FEED) before a final investment decision is made.



The COTC complex is expected to process 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil, which will produce approximately nine million tons of chemicals and base oils annually and is expected to start operations in 2025.



Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin H Nasser said: This project converges the commercial and strategic interests of both Saudi Aramco and Sabic, while reinforcing Saudi Aramcos efforts to optimize the investment of our petroleum resources. COTC will also help expand our downstream portfolio, reducing our focus on the transportation sector and securing new and promising commercial opportunities.



Sabic vice chairman and CEO Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan said: "This venture will contribute to the realization of one of the major aspirations of Saudi Vision 2030, namely achieving economic prosperity by boosting our investment capacity, diversifying the economy and creating jobs for Saudi nationals. It will help strengthen our economic growth and attract world-class quality investments thanks to our unique and strategic geographic location."



"Today is a historic day, marking the complementary nature of the relationship between Sabic and Saudi Aramco because it is the first time the two largest economic entities in Saudi Arabia jointly enter into a strategic partnership to achieve a pioneering and innovative new technology.



Once completed, this project will not only be the largest crude oil to chemicals complex in the world, it will also set a new competitive threshold thanks to the project's mass scale and the benefits derived from our joint collaboration. The project will, therefore, help achieve the respective growth ambitions of Sabic and Saudi Aramco and further establishes the Kingdom as one of the pioneers in the petrochemicals industry, Al-Benyan added.



This announcement marks a historic alliance between the two largest Saudi global entities, in addition to solidifying the Kingdoms position as a global leader in chemicals by substantially increasing production and further maximizing value across the entire hydrocarbons chain through integration. The COTC complex will be constructed based on an innovative configuration that achieves crude oil to chemicals conversion that is unprecedented in the industry.



This MoU follows the Heads of Agreement (HoA) signed in June 2016 between the two companies, which governed the feasibility study for the development of a fully integrated petrochemicals complex in the Kingdom. A Saudi team developed innovative COTC configurations derived from best-in-class refining and chemical technologies.



The complex is expected to create an estimated 30,000 direct and indirect jobs, further stimulating the Kingdoms economic diversification. By 2030 the COTC complex is expected to have 1.5 per cent impact on the Kingdoms Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with investments being shared equally by both companies.



Consistent with the Kingdoms Vision 2030 economic transformation program, this project will support the creation of a world-leading downstream sector in Saudi Arabia, built on four key drivers: maximizing value from the Kingdoms crude oil production via integration across the hydrocarbon chain; enabling the creation of conversion industries to produce semi-finished and finished goods to help diversify the economy; developing advanced technologies and innovation; and enabling sustainable development in alignment with the Kingdoms National Transformation Program.  TradeArabia News Service
The Smart Dubai Office (SDO) has partnered with regional technology business solutions (TBS) provider Nearbuy to host a trial of the first robot receptionist in the Middle East.



Farah, which stands 1.50 metres tall, started work today (November 26) at the Smart Dubai Office headquarters in the Dubai Design District. It features a touch-screen panel where visitors to the office can check in; automatically alerting the employee they are meeting of their arrival. The robot will then escort the guest to the meeting room, allowing them to settle in while waiting for their host to join them.



Farah, which means happiness in Arabic, was named following an internal competition conducted at Smart Dubai. It will be subject to a probation period of three months, like a human employee. Its sophisticated programming means that it is capable of performing a range of other duties relevant to the traditional receptionist role, including taking guests orders for tea, coffee and other beverages, which it can then transmit to the office pantry for fulfilment, as well as security screening and taking payment orders where needed.



Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, director general of the Smart Dubai Office, said: Smart Dubai is delighted to host this ground-breaking experiment in artificial intelligence  the first of its kind in the region  at our offices. Our objective is not to replace humans with robots, rather to understand where we can automate some repetitive administrative functions to allow us to invest in and create new types of sustainable employment opportunities for talented people.



Farah the robot has not replaced any of our team members seeing as we already had a touchscreen reception facility. It is our hope that this three-month experiment will give us some great insights into the potential uses of applied artificial intelligence in our quest to make Dubai a world-leading smart city. We are also looking forward to sharing the insights with other partner government entities as we additionally seek to maximise the use of new technologies in the public sector, she added.



Nicolas Standeart, CEO and founder of Nearbuy, which owns Farah, said: As well as adding some fun to the workplace, robots are already providing invaluable, reliable and cost-effective business support to a number of companies globally.



As a UAE home-grown company that is pioneering tech-based business solutions internationally, we are delighted to be partnering with Smart Dubai to experiment with workplace-based artificial intelligence in this exciting city we intentionally chose as a home base for our global business. We have no doubt that the insights gained will go on to benefit many organisations in the region and further afield.



Developed in Germany, Werobots are the most advanced wayfinding robots developed to date. Nearbuy owns the exclusive licence for Werobots in the Middle East and has seamlessly integrated the technology with its other platforms.



The home-grown company has developed world-leading digital tech-based solutions for public venues. Among the services the company offers to its business customers is tailored programming and leasing of robots, which can be utilised in a number of different functions, including information providing and wayfinding for visitors at airports, business districts, retail environments, events and corporate environments.  TradeArabia News Service
Showcasing the latest technologies and offering a varied educational agenda, the Big 5 Solar, a premier event for solar industry in Dubai, UAE is expected to advance solar power generation in the Middle East.



The first edition of the event will be held under the patronage of the Ministry of Energy alongside the largest construction show in the Middle East, The Big 5, and will benefit from more than 79,000 visitors expected at Dubai World Trade Centre from November 26  29.



The decision to co-locate these events comes on the back of survey results from The Big 5 2016, which showed 20 per cent of visitors have an interest in solar technologies, said Josine Heijmans, portfolio event director of The Big 5 and The Big 5 Solar.



In addition to popular demand, we recognise that the need to develop environmentally sustainable solutions is fast accelerating solar penetration across the entire construction industry.



The UAE Ministry of Energy, Dubai Municipality, The Clean Energy Business Council (CEBC), Group solar Hong Kong (GSHK), Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa), Saudi Arabia Solar Association, and the Architectural Solar Association are some of the major stakeholders that have confirmed their support and participation at the event.



Under the theme Driving a solar powered world, The Big 5 Solar will bring to the Mena region the best and latest solutions from around the globe, from solar thermal technologies (CSP) to energy storage, from photovoltaics to solar technologies and related services.



Abdulrahman Alnounou, CEO of Back2Back, said: Solar in the GCC market will definitely have scope for both on and off grid solutions going forward, because solar is the next generation of power.



Back to Back will showcase long-term power generation, and the first tracking system made and designed in the UAE to track the solar light from early morning to sunset, the station is designed especially for the Middle East and African market environment where is there is both heat and cold.



Environmentally-friendly and maintenance-free are two of the most valuable features of the Campion solar lighting systems, including our best-selling solar street lights which now offer a breakthrough function of being operated and monitored remotely in order to easily maintain performance and durability, explained Mohammed Zain, managing partner of exhibitor and Silver Sponsor Campion International. The company offers all visitors a comprehensive look on the efficiency and feasibility of using their new solar lighting system.



In addition, the event will feature 12 CPD-certified Solar Talks where visitors will be able to learn for free from regional experts. Speakers will provide exclusive insights into the industrys most compelling topics, including the connection between solar and construction, the role of small and medium enterprises in developing the solar industry, and the impact of VAT on the solar industry.



Also CPD certified, and a prominent apex to the exhibition, will be the third edition of the Global Solar Leaders Summit (GSLS). Opened by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy, Dr Matar Al Neyadi, the summit is set to focus on how to action strategies and the visions outlined by solar experts from around the world.



Now more than ever, the economic, financial and political communities must join the dots to successfully scale up the pace of renewable energy deployment, said keynote speaker and chairman of the Clean Energy Business Council (CEBC) Dr Nasser Saidi.



Organised by dmg events Middle East, Asia & Africa, The Big 5 Solar 2017 will be co-located with The Big 5  the largest, most influential and renowned construction industry event in the Middle East which is expected to attract over 79,000 visitors and more than 2,500 exhibiting companies. - TradeArabia News Service
Meet award-winning artisans and buy their products at Kerala Arts and Crafts Village
Wyoming may build a new retirement facility for veterans that would provide more medical care than currently offered at the state veterans assisted living facility. The retirement home is still in the planning process but the Legislatures Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee has been discussing the proposal over the last year and will hear more presentations at its meeting next week in Thermopolis.

The Wyoming Veterans Commission is behind the latest round of interest in a nursing home for veterans, though the idea has been discussed for several years, said Stefan Johansson, policy administrator at the state Department of Health.

The Veterans Commission has proposed building the facility in Sheridan to take advantage of the Veterans Affairs hospital there as well as a local retirement home that uses the Green House model, which the commissioner is recommending for the retirement home.

The Green House model focuses on moving away from an institutional setting in nursing homes and emphasizes a home-based atmosphere through architecture and the daily schedules of residents. Green House Living for Sheridan already uses the model.

Theyd be looking to leverage that experience, Johansson said.

Representatives from the Veterans Commission were unavailable to comment.

According to documents submitted to the Legislature, the 24-unit nursing home would cost $5.78 million and could open within five years. Federal grants would be used to cover some of the cost of construction and operation.

The state currently operates the Veterans Home of Wyoming in Buffalo, and Johansson said lawmakers previously considered adding a nursing home onto that facility before determining doing so would be too expensive.

The Veterans Home is an assisted-living facility, meaning residents generally need to be able to move independently. A nursing home provides more medical care and attention.

An analysis by the Department of Health found that the number of veterans needing skilled nursing care was going to drop by 2030 and that the nursing home market in Wyoming is already weak, with occupancy rates having dropped since the mid-1990s.

However, the department determined that a veterans nursing home could succeed both because the Green House model is innovative enough to stand out in a crowded market and because federal subsidies would make the nursing home cost competitive.

Johansson said that because planning was still in the relatively early stages it was not clear where the home would be located if approved by the Legislature, nor whether the Department of Health would operate the facility or whether it would be contracted to a private third-party.
WASHINGTON  The crush of unfinished business facing lawmakers when they return to the Capitol would be daunting even if Washington were functioning at peak efficiency.

Its an agenda whose core items  tax cuts, a potential government shutdown, lots of leftover spending bills  could unravel just as easily as advance in factionalism, gamesmanship and a toxic political environment.

Theres only a four-week window until a Christmas deadline, barely enough time for complicated negotiations even if December stays on the rails. And thats hardly a sure bet in President Trumps capital.

Trump and congressional leaders plan a meeting Tuesday to discuss how to sidestep a shutdown and work though the legislative to-do list.

For the optimistic, its plain that Democrats and Republicans have reasons to cooperate, particularly on spending increases for the Pentagon and domestic agencies whose budgets otherwise would be frozen. An additional round of hurricane aid should be bipartisan, and efforts to reauthorize a popular health-care program for children seem to be on track.

Republicans are advancing their cherished tax cut measure under special rules that mean Senate Democrats cannot use delaying tactics. The measure passed the House just before the Thanksgiving break and moves to the Senate floor this coming week.

After the Senate GOPs failure on health care this summer, the majority party is under enormous pressure to produce a victory on taxes. Still, GOP deficit hawks such as Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona remain uneasy about the overhaul.

While Democrats are largely sidelined on taxes, they hold leverage over a mix of budget-related issues.

First, theres the need to avert a government shutdown after a temporary spending bill expires on Dec. 8. The most likely scenario, congressional aides say, is for an additional extension until Christmas. On a parallel track are talks to raise spending limits that are keeping agency budgets essentially frozen unless those caps are raised. If that happens, then negotiations could begin in earnest on a massive catchall spending measure in hopes of having it signed into law by years end.

Taxes have gotten all the attention so far, but the showdown over a potential shutdown right before Christmas could soon take center stage. Democrats are counting on GOP fears of a holiday season closure to ensure Republican concessions during December talks.

Both sides would have to make concessions that may upset partisans in either party. Just as House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., fears a revolt on the right, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California risks an uprising on her left. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., round out the quartet of top negotiators.

Everybodys got complicated politics. The chance of short-term failure is pretty high  short-term failure being a shutdown, said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist. But the four of them, assuming they dont want to shut the government down for a long time, are going to have to come to an accommodation.

Talks on the spending caps are stuck, however, aides say. A GOP offer to lift the Pentagon budget by more than $54 billion next year and nondefense limits by $37 billion was rejected by Democrats demanding balance between the two sides of the ledger.

Long-delayed battles over immigration and Trumps promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border are huge obstacles. Many Democrats whose votes are needed on the spending bills insist they wont vote for any legislation that includes the wall. Trump remains dead set on his $1.6 billion request for a down payment on the project.

Those same Democrats also insist that Congress must act by years end to protect immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and whose protected status is set to lapse next year. Trump backs the idea despite issuing an executive order reversing the Obama administration protections, starting next spring. Conservatives oppose drawing in the immigration issue to legislation to keep the government running.

Hurricane relief is adding one more wrinkle.

Congress has approved more than $50 billion in aid in response to a series of devastating hurricanes. The most recent request by the White House is the largest yet at $44 billion, but its not nearly enough to satisfy the powerful Texas delegation, which is pressing behind the scenes for more.

Completely inadequate, said Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas. We must do far more to rebuild, repair and allow Texans to return to normal as quickly as possible.

Trump is a wild card. He warmed to the idea of cutting deals with Democrats after a September pact with Schumer and Pelosi to lift the governments debt ceiling.

He promised Democratic leaders that he would sign legislation to give the young immigrants legal status  provided border security is addressed as well.

But that demand on border security came with a long list of conditions subsequently added by the White House. Among them: building his Mexico border wall, overhauling the green card system and strengthening measures against people who stay after their visas expire.

Trump has not really engaged on the year-end agenda, however, and his impulsiveness could be a liability. He almost disowned an omnibus spending bill in May after media accounts portrayed the measure as a win for Democrats.
WASHINGTON  More than 2,000 conservatives in tuxedos and gowns recently filled Union Stations main hall for a steak dinner and the chance to cheer the man who saved the Supreme Court from liberal control.

Justice Neil Gorsuch didnt disappoint them, just as he hasnt in his first seven months on the Supreme Court.

Tonight I can report that a person can be both a publicly committed originalist and textualist and be confirmed to the Supreme Court, Gorsuch said to sustained applause from members of the Federalist Society, using terms by which conservatives often seek to distinguish themselves from more liberal judges.

The 50-year-old justice has been almost exactly what conservatives hoped for and liberals dreaded when he joined the court in April. He has consistently, even aggressively, lined up with the courts most conservative justices. He has even split with Chief Justice John Roberts, viewed by some as insufficiently conservative because of his two opinions upholding President Barack Obamas health law.

During arguments, Gorsuch has asked repeatedly about the original understanding of parts of the Constitution and laws, and he has raised questions about some long-standing court precedents, including the civil rights landmark ruling on one person, one vote.

Liberals despair about Gorsuch goes beyond his judicial actions. He occupies a seat once held by Justice Antonin Scalia which they thought Obama would get to fill. But Senate Republicans refused to consider Obamas nominee, a strategy that paid off when Donald Trump unexpectedly won the White House.

At the Federalist Society, Gorsuch recognized the improbable turn of events that led him from an appellate judgeship in his native Colorado to Americas highest court.

If someone had told Gorsuch a year ago what would soon transpire, I would have said that you had taken way too much advantage of my home states generous drug laws, he said.

Gorsuch likes to remind audiences of his relative youth, despite his head of silver hair, suggesting a long tenure on the bench. In front of a nonpartisan audience last month, he talked about his teenage daughters and the regular early-morning 17-mile bike rides along the C&O canal that he does with a friend.

He spoke fondly of the horses, goats, chickens and rabbits on the small farm where his family lived outside Boulder, Colorado, before moving to the Washington area this year. He enthusiastically recounted ski outings and his favorite moguls.

Early reviews of Gorsuchs time on the court have varied with the ideological bent of his reviewers.

While his confirmation was pending, the liberal Alliance for Justice worried that Gorsuch would often embrace the most conservative outcome on the high court.

Our concerns were confirmed, said Nan Aron, the groups president.

Daniel Epps, a Washington University law professor in St. Louis and onetime law clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy, said he finds Gorsuchs style sometimes grating, less so the substance of his questions at arguments.

During a high-profile argument about politics in redistricting in October, Gorsuch began a question by suggesting that maybe we can just for a second talk about the arcane matter, the Constitution.

To Epps, the tone was all wrong, especially for the new guy on the nine-member court. Id love to see a bit more recognition that the court deals with really hard questions that many people, including his colleagues, have struggled with for a long time. If someone thinks he has all the answers, maybe hes missing something important, Epps said.

Some of Gorsuchs choices of where to speak  with Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at the Trump International Hotel and at the Federalist Society dinner  also have fed perceptions that rubbed his critics the wrong way.

The dinner, Aron said, was just the latest stop on Neil Gorsuchs thank you tour to honor the people who got him what should have been Merrick Garlands job. Garland, an appeals court judge, the Obama nominee whom the Senate blocked.

I think he could have done a better job certainly in the public appearances he chooses to make to sort of send the signal that hes not a Republican justice, hes a justice, said Epps, who also co-hosts the Supreme Court-focused First Mondays podcast.

His co-host, Ian Samuel, said there has been a hysterical overreaction to Gorsuchs questions in the courtroom. Samuel, a professor at Harvard Law School and former Scalia law clerk, said Gorsuch has an obvious interest in questions about accountability in the American system of government and control over the court system. Its better that he puts it out there and says this is who I am. I dont think he cares whether some people think its shocking, Samuel said.

Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society executive vice president who has advised Trump on judicial picks, also took issue with Gorsuchs critics when he introduced the justice at the dinner. They mischaracterize candor and a demand for rigorous analysis as polarizing, Leo said.

Gorsuch and Leo embraced on the podium, in front of an adoring crowd of like-minded lawyers, judges and academics. The Federalist Society, which counted Scalia among its earliest backers, has helped Trump identify candidates for federal judgeships and has members in legal jobs across his administration.

Gorsuch made no apologies either for the substance of his questions and writing, or his style. He talked at length about the importance of seeking out the meaning of the Constitution and laws as they were understood when they written.

Originalism has regained its place at the table of constitutional interpretation, and textualism in the reading of statutes has triumphed. And neither one is going anywhere on my watch, Gorsuch said.

He went on to note that some pundits have expressed bewilderment about the questions he asks in court.

But while I have you here tonight, I thought I might just settle the matter once and for all by taking a poll. ... Should I just keep on asking about the text and original meaning of the Constitution? he asked.

The response was predictably and overwhelmingly in favor.
Once a powerhouse for filming western flicks, a lack of tax incentives for filmmakers has forced Tucson to adapt.

With large productions often bypassing Arizona to film in states that offer more tax incentives, Tucson has shifted its focus to independent films, reality television shows, and magazine photo shoots, said Shelli Hall, director of the Tucson film office.

Run Coyote Run, a show for FOXs Latin America market, was shot here, and just renewed for a second season. Complex TV, a streaming network from Complex Magazine, is currently shooting in Tucson.

Last year, a film company with offices in Paris and Los Angeles came to Tucson to shoot four music videos for French artists. The Discovery Network often films here for segments that include University of Arizona faculty; and Neiman Marcus, Williams-Sonoma, West Elm, Calvin Klein and Macys book photo shoots in the region.

While many of the film projects that come to Tucson are small, the local film industry still generates dozens of jobs and millions of dollars. The Complex TV shoot generated $800,000 for the local economy when the crew came here for 46 production days.

Last year we facilitated $11 million in direct spending, Hall said. We are on track to beat that number this fiscal year. She added that through 2015 and 2016, about $9 million was spent in Tucson.

Hall also said that Run Coyote Run was filmed partly in Sonora, bolstering Tucsons partnership with the region. We have a great relationship weve developed over the years because of these cross-border projects, she said.

Another advantage: Tucson is only an eight-hour drive from Los Angeles, in addition to having a dozen flights to and from Los Angeles daily.

Despite the money that is generated by film projects in Tucson, the lack of tax incentives offered by Arizona keep larger productions away.

We dont have the tax incentives 40 other states are offering to Hollywood, Hall said, adding that production companies would rather take their business elsewhere, to a state like New Mexico. Thats the most important thing they want.

Councilman Steve Kozachik expressed frustration at the lack of incentives offered to production companies, calling it a big loss to the state economically.

Its a big loss to Southern Arizona especially, he said.

Tucson no longer gets big-name films or TV series, and TV series that were looking at Tucson as a place to film have passed on it, according to Kozachik.

He added that Arizona has turned itself into flyover country for the film industry. Were losing opportunity, so were losing revenue, he said.

When production companies choose to film in Tucson, the money doesnt come from the film itself, but from all of the economic activity generated by the film crew, Kozachik said.

Crews come here and rent hotel rooms, eat at our restaurants, rent cars, build sets, he said.

Kozachik said he is working with Hall to push the state legislature to begin offering film incentives.

Gov. Doug Ducey reopened the state film office in Phoenix last year after it was closed in 2010, offering hope that the film industry in Arizona will grow.

Ornella Jaramillo, a line producer for Run Coyote Run, said that while tax incentives arent offered, Tucson officials make up for it with their helpfulness, making the filming process easier for the crew.

It was perfect, not only as a location, but as a base camp, Jaramillo said.

They gave us a lot of options. She also noted that filming in Tucson actually saves money.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Nov. 26 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.
Daruka Ajangs new African braiding salon holds her familys hopes for the future.

She imagines chairs full of customers, the glass display case stocked with purses and jewelry from around the world, an empty property nearby transformed into a restaurant.

But shell take it one step at a time, just as she and her husband John Anyieth have done since moving to the United States five years ago.

The family spent about 20 years in refugee camps in Kenya waiting for this chance at a new life  they dont plan to waste it.

Nile Star Braiding Salon, 2914 E. 22nd St., opened in October. Ajang and four other women do single braids, twists, sew-ins and crochet. She is also offering henna.

Our hope is to have a better life, and thats what we are trying... says Ajang, 34. Both of us are working, and what were doing is still not enough ... Thats why we are trying hard to make a business so things change, and if the business works, we will have a better life.

Ajang, who has been braiding for a long time, joins other Tucson refugee women in using existing skills for entrepreneurial endeavors. Last year, Syrian women rallied around baking with a series of sweets sales for the community. Other women have sold needlework, sewing and crocheting handmade crafts at local markets.

Thats part of the refugee experience, to find as many different ways to bring income into the household as possible, says Jeffrey Cornish, the executive director of the International Rescue Committee in Tucson.

Anyieth, 36, works at Costco, and Ajang works as a certified nursing assistant. To save up for rent and the hair extensions available in the shop, Ajang says she worked two jobs, 12 hours a day, six days a week. Shes still working one of those jobs but has made room for the business.

The couple also has four children, ages 15, 12, 8 and 4. Three of the four children were born in Kenya. Their youngest son joined the family in the U.S.

Daruka is determined, she is persistent and she is really hardworking, says friend Beth Miksa.

Building a life in limbo

Although both Ajang and Anyieth spent most of their lives in Kenyan refugee camps, both were born in what is now South Sudan and fled violence as children.

When the shooting started, we had to run ... Ajang recalled. She and her mother and two sisters were separated from her father after he was shot in the arm. The family reunited in Ethiopia in 1989 and then fled violence again, back to Sudan. Continued fighting propelled them out of the country to a refugee camp in Kenya in 1992.

Anyieth fled with his own family around the same time, driven out by the decades-long conflict sparked by the Sudanese governments refusal to acknowledge previously agreed-upon autonomy for southern Sudan. South Sudan became independent in 2011, although civil war and ethnic clashes have continued. Arizona has resettled 39 refugees from South Sudan but more than 2,500 from Sudan, according to figures from the Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program. When the family began the resettlement process in Kenya, the country was not yet divided, Anyieth says.

Ajang grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp, married Anyieth, and they began a family of their own. Not long after the wedding, the couple moved to a second camp in hopes of improving their chance at resettlement.

Anyieth said camps lacked food, security and medical facilities.

Despite the conditions, the camp is where the couple got their entrepreneurial start. Three years before leaving for the U.S., they opened a restaurant serving regional food, Ajang says. Around 30 customers dined with them daily.

They opened the business to stockpile a taxi fund in case one of their children needed emergency healthcare in the middle of the night. Without cash for a cab, they were looking at a three-hour walk to the hospital, she says.

About 10 years after applying for resettlement, they finally got the news: They were America-bound.

The first thing we wanted was to get out of the camp and go anywhere, whether the U.S. or Canada or Australia, Anyieth says. But we were excited about America, the land of opportunity.

A new set of challenges

The last five years have brought jobs, a car, a child, a house and now a business.

Adapting to a new country is a process, Anyieth says. We are learning a lot. We are not 100 percent, and we dont understand all of it, but were getting there.

They made their first priority paperwork and green cards. Now theyre in the process of applying for U.S. citizenship and have interviews in December.

When we came here, we expected this to be our home, so when we came, we were excited about it, Anyieth says. Theres nothing that we left back home. We are starting our new life here.

They say Tucson welcomed them.

Despite the local welcome, the national travel ban, which until recently barred travelers from Sudan, frustrated the family when Anyieths father died. Although he wanted to return to South Sudan, he feared he would be unable to re-enter the U.S.

Ajang says she already spoke English when they moved to Tucson  plus Arabic, Dinka and Swahili.

Their fluency in English has helped the family.

Learning the language can be a major barrier to successful resettlement, especially for home-bound refugee women.

If you have a large family with a husband, wife and six kids, the wife will stay home to take care of the kids, says Senada Kadich, the senior program manager for the International Rescue Committee in Tucson. Kadich came to the U.S. as a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina about 20 years ago. Helping them adjust here includes helping them realize working is still possible, and both parents working increases income.

The IRC, which resettled Ajangs family in Tucson, runs women-specific programs dedicated to helping these refugees learn English, get jobs and stay connected to the community. Staying home while a husband works, with no way to learn English, is isolating, says Noorullah Dawari, the local IRCs womens empowerment specialist and an Afghan refugee.

One of those programs gives women their own smartphones so they can connect with relatives at home, case managers, healthcare professionals and other local refugees.

They come from a highly social, collective society, and they come here and its very individualistic, Cornish says.

Working for

a better life

Community has been key for Ajangs family.

When we came here, we joined a community of believers from Grace St. Pauls Episcopal Church, Anyieth says. They were so helpful to us in so many different ways  prayers, finances and love. They loved us.

Through the church, the family met friends such as Miksa. Miksa helped them shop for a car and care for their new son, who had surgery in 2014 and a feeding tube for six months. In recent months, Miksa has helped Ajang research what it takes to start a business in Arizona.

Its nothing like owning that restaurant in Kenya, Ajang says. In Africa, they didnt have to pay taxes or lease the property. They built the restaurant and pocketed the profits.

I have seen them tackle things one by one... Miksa says. They must have their own personal list of what they want to accomplish and then they work through it one by one, creating their own strategies. Theyre not afraid to try new things, and they are really trying to make a better life for themselves by hard work.

But its not easy.

With one car, Ajang and Anyieth take turns shuttling each other and their children to work and school. Ajang is only working four days now  mostly nights  so she has time to focus on her business. About two years ago the family built a house with Habitat for Humanity Tucson. Anyieth is studying dental lab technology at Pima Community College and Ajang spent two years getting certified as a patient care technician at Tucson College.

Theyre taking it one step at a time. Ajang dreams of one day opening a restaurant, too.

Our faith is really strong in God, and we know in life there are always ups and downs and, for us, we believe that nothing is permanent, Anyieth says. We can have all those bad obstacles on the way, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
TEMPE  When Talia Fuentes fills out the race/ethnicity portion of the Census, she checks three boxes: Hispanic, Native American and Caucasian, but up until 2000, Fuentes, and others like her, would have only been able to check one box.

According to the U.S. Census, in the year 2000 about 6.8 million Americans marked two or more races, and by 2010, that number increased by a third, up to roughly 9 million.

Fuentes, 32, says she grew up in Mesa, in a primarily white neighborhood, with a Hispanic father and a biracial mother with Native-American and white background who often told her to suppress her mixed heritage.

Everything that was Hispanic about me, she would point out and make it bad, and make it negative. So, I was always very apprehensive to even identify as what I was, because she was very negative against anything that came from my father, she said.

Maxwell, Fuentes 11-year-old son, identifies as Native American, Hispanic and white.

When talking about race with him, she describes their conversations as open.

It seems like his generation, theyre all mixed, so theres a little more camaraderie. Because he has that privilege of being white, I try really to remind him frequently, through conversations of you need to be aware of how youre acting, or how youre respecting people, and its very much so about humanizing the person and how you treat humans in general, Fuentes said.

According to Fuentes, her son, despite being multiracial and looking white, he still holds enough Native American blood to qualify for health benefits, but her experience with the health-care system there has consisted of having her sons race questioned.

Ive taken him to the Indian hospital and they even look at him like, well, hes not  he doesnt look Native American, she said.

The topic of multiracial families is also being looked at Arizona State University.

Doctoral student Annabelle Atkins is researching multiracial Americans through her Multiracial Families Project. Having grown up within a multiracial household, she already has personal experience with the subject.

My mother is Taiwanese-Chinese, and my father is white, so I am multiracial, but I never thought to identify that way because it wasnt a very popular term when I was growing up, she said.

Atkins says the idea to explore the topic further came from a question her adviser asked her.

He said to me, How did your parents teach you about being multiracial? And I stopped for a second, and I was like, Nobodys ever asked me that before, and I dont think they ever really said anything about it, said Atkins. So that was kind of shocking to me that I never had this opportunity to talk about my identity with my parents.

Although Atkins had already looked into Asian-American parents, she thought to broaden the scope of her study.

Since I was already studying socialization, I thought, maybe I need to study this with multiracial families because its important that they have an opportunity to talk about their identity with their parents, she said.

In order to find families to talk to, Atkins said she plans to attend cultural events all around the Phoenix metro area.

Those families would include those like first-time mother, Mai-Linh Le, who identifies as Asian-American.

Le anticipates talking about race with her daughter, who is almost 2 years old, will be more about teaching her to be open to different cultures.

I want Claire to be open, welcoming, and understanding of where people come from, some of the differences, and understanding and appreciating those things, just so we can try to combat against this trying time that were living in, she said.

Back in 2015, a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data estimated that 14 percent of infants born in the United States were multiracial or multiethnic, tripling the share in 1980. The same study correlates the growth of multiracial infants, with the increase of mixed-race marriages, just like Les family.

While Les household includes two different cultures, its also made up of two different languages.

At home, I do speak to her (Claire) in Vietnamese, as with my parents and my extended family, they speak to her in Vietnamese, and she speaks English at school and with my husband, said Le.

Les daughter, Claire, is biracial, being half-Vietnamese and half-Caucasian, and while she doesnt think her daughter recognizes races, she anticipates some questions in the future.

I think when she starts asking about why mommy and daddy dont look the same and things like that, we will definitely address that and talk about where people come from, and how people came to live in America, specifically in Arizona, said Le.

According to a Pew Research Center analysis, multiracial Americans tend to be younger. A Pew analysis found the median age of multiracial Americans to be 19, in comparison with single race Americans, which is 38.

Mia Zavala is part of the young generation of Americans who consider themselves multiracial

She identifies as both Mexican and Taiwanese, and while she said the topic of race was discussed within her family, she took it upon herself to explore her heritage.

They (her parents) talked to me a lot about where my grandparents came from in Mexico and where they came from Taiwan, and thats pretty much it, she said. What I learned about the Hispanic culture was mostly just living in that community, and I also did an exchange year in Taiwan in high school to get a sense of that culture.

By the time she attended college, Zavala says she initially found it hard to connect to her Asian roots.

When I came to college, I really wanted to get in touch with my Asian side, but I felt like I wasnt Asian enough. There would be comments that would be said, like, Oh you dont look Asian enough, Youre not Asian, and thats really hurtful, Zavala said.

When traveling to Mexico, Zavala says she has also experienced difficulties with connecting with the Hispanic community there.

I have been to Mexico a couple of times and my Spanish isnt very good, and they would say things like, How can you say that youre Mexican, when you cant speak Spanish? and thats hard, she said.

Despite the struggle she has faced, Zavala has a more optimistic outlook now that shes a bit older.

I dont feel bad about myself anymore. I think people that are biracial or multiracial should be more accepting of themselves too. I dont feel like our generation is having as many problems or issues with that anymore, she said.
Mexican customs officers in Naco, Sonora, watched a man emerge from the trunk of a white sedan with his mouth taped shut and his hands and feet in shackles.

The man approached the customs officers and asked for help.

Meanwhile, the driver of the sedan, Roxanne Marie Carpenter, 54, was unaware her captive had escaped. She drove to a plaza a few hundred yards south of the international border where she planned to collect a bounty of 30 pounds of marijuana from two drug cartel members for turning the man over to them, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson.

When the cartel members discovered the captive was no longer in the trunk on the morning of March 29, they took the car and told Carpenter to run. She was arrested by FBI agents hours later as she walked across the international border into Naco, Arizona.

Federal prosecutors said Carpenter and three Sierra Vista men conspired to kidnap the victim and turn him over to the cartel after they heard about the bounty, which was issued after the captive reportedly stole a marijuana load in Cochise County.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson sentenced Carpenter to 14 years in federal prison for what Jorgenson called a shocking, depraved series of activities that were fueled by a lifestyle of substance abuse.

Federal prosecutors said Carpenter, also known as Rocky, was the mastermind of the plan and recruited her friends to kidnap the victim, who went by Ghost.

Fausto Zombie Velazquez, 23, negotiated the bounty price with the cartel, prosecutors said. Brian Meyers, a 40-year-old friend of the victim, was the lure to get the victim to enter the car. Phoelix Loki Begay, 29, was the muscle.

In an interview with FBI agents included in court documents, Carpenter quoted Begay as saying: You know, if we could get our hands on Ghost, and we turned him, thats $37,000, Rocky. You could buy this property, not have a problem with it. You know, everything would be cool.

Carpenter recounted to agents that Begay told her: Rocky, we need to get some money. Living like this is ridiculous.

Before deciding to kidnap the victim, Carpenter wanted to confirm there was a bounty, saying: Were not going to do this and theres not going to be any money.

Carpenter then spoke with Velazquez, who confirmed the bounty.

So I asked Zombie. I yelled from the carport. I said, Hey Zombie. Can you get a hold of your family and find out if theres still money on  on Ghosts head? And he said, all right. Let me make a phone call.

They negotiated with the cartel for the bounty, which started at $37,000 but quickly diminished to an offer of a truck. The kidnappers rejected the truck offer because they would not be able to split it among themselves. In the end, the parties agreed to 30 pounds of marijuana.

Hours before Carpenter drove across the border, Meyers drove the victim and Begay to a remote area near Bisbee, prosecutors said. Sitting in the back seat, Begay shocked the victim in the neck with a cattle prod and used the seat belt to choke him. After the victim blacked out, they cut him out of the seat belt and he fell out of the car.

When the victim started to resist again they kicked and punched him until they could shackle his feet, handcuff his wrists, and put duct tape over his mouth and around his legs and arms. They then put him in the trunk. Begay shocked the victim repeatedly and kept him on a dog leash to quiet him.

They went to the house of Carpenters friend and smoked meth, laughed, joked, and listened to music while Velazquez negotiated the bounty with the cartel. During that time, the victim was confined to the trunk with a pillowcase over his head, federal prosecutor Serra Tsethlikai told Jorgenson on Tuesday.

They drove to a Safeway in Bisbee, where they bought more duct tape and Velazquez called the cartel to arrange the delivery of the victim, according to court documents. Carpenter then drove the victim from Bisbee to Naco, but got lost.

She met the other conspirators at the Gay 90s Bar in Naco and Velazquez drove in front of Carpenter to guide her to the port of entry in Naco, while the victim pleaded for his life from inside the trunk.

All four were indicted in federal court on conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping charges.

A jury found Carpenter and Velazquez guilty of the charges in August. Velazquez is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 11.

Meyers pleaded guilty July 20 to one count of conspiracy to kidnap. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 27.

Begay pleaded guilty to the charges July 25. He was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years in prison.

On Tuesday, defense lawyer Jill Thorpe told Jorgenson that Begay served seven years in the Army, including 18 months in Afghanistan where he was awarded several medals. After returning to civilian life, he struggled with drug abuse and committed domestic violence.

Begay agreed to participate in the kidnapping because he was worried the cartel would hurt Carpenter, Thorpe said. Tsethlikai questioned why Begay was involved in negotiating the bounty if he had no interest in the money.

Defense lawyer Jonathan Young said the kidnapping victim was related to a cartel member and was never in any real danger from the cartel. In a sentencing memorandum, he urged Jorgenson to disregard statements made by his client and the other kidnappers as the hyperbolic ramblings of some overwrought methamphetamine enthusiasts.

Young said Carpenter became involved in the criminal activity when the kidnapping victim stashed part of the stolen drug load at her house over her objections. She felt threatened and wanted to resolve the situation by turning over the kidnapping victim to the cartel.

Im very sorry for being involved in this. I didnt realize it would get so bad, Carpenter told Jorgenson, adding I didnt want to end up in a trunk myself.

The only reason she was the one who drove into Mexico was because the other three conspirators were under court-mandated supervision, Young said, which would raise flags when crossing back into the United States.
The Tucson Fire Departments history from its frontier days up its development into a 21st century force is featured in a new book on sale by the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation.

Historians Al and Bob Ring are the authors of Tucson Fire Department, Established 1881, a 244-page book with photos and documents.

The book is based on the archive that Al Ring built on the foundations website, www.tucsonfirefoundation.org, where more than 300,000 searchable items are featured.

The items include news stories, recordings and videos, said Mike McKendrick, chairman of the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation, a nonprofit founded by firefighters to raise funds to provide advanced training and health and wellness support for Southern Arizona firefighters.

The book costs $37.95 and is available for purchase online at tucsonfirehistorybook.org/ and at the foundations estate sale/resale pop-up store at 4911 E. 29th St. from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 1-2. For future pop-up dates for the sale of the book, a schedule can be found on the foundations Facebook page.

The book includes stories of a hard-scrabble volunteer force and introduces the reader to firefighting tradition, including the use of well-trained horses that pulled Tucsons early fire engines on up to the development of paramedics and other specialized services, according to the foundation.

Among stories in the book are:

The capture of Public Enemy No. 1, bank robber John Dillinger and members of his gang. Authorities were led to them because a fire that broke out on Jan. 22, 1934, at the Hotel Congress downtown.

The Dec. 20, 1970, Pioneer Hotel fire at Stone Avenue and Pennington Street. The fire broke out on the fourth floor and raced its way to the top of the 11-story building. Twenty-nine people died.

An Air Force jet crashed Oct. 26, 1978, south of the University of Arizona, killing one person, injuring six and narrowly missing students on the playground at Mansfeld Junior High School. The planes pilot ejected over the UA campus and the crash ignited a wall of flames several stories high.

An arson fire ravaged Old Tucson Studios, destroying nearly 40 buildings in the 360-acre park and causing an estimated $10 million in damage on April 24, 1995. No one was seriously hurt in the fire that for many Tucson-area firefighters was their career fire.

I am very proud of the book, said McKendrick during an interview. Besides the books cultural and historical significance, proceeds from sales will raise funds to care for firefighters. The three leading causes of death for firefighters are heart disease, cancer and suicide, he said.

More firefighters will take their own lives this year than will die battling a fire. Sadly, over 100 firefighters will commit suicide nationwide, and firefighters killed in battling fires is now down into the 80s, McKendrick said.
LAST Week In Politics has largely been dominated by the Autumn budget that was announced by Philip Hammond on Wednesday. However, what may have been missed is Theresa May's meeting with EU President, Donald Tusk, on Friday. Online left-wing news outlet, Evolve Politics, reported significant findings over approximately 3 million worth of Russian money flowing into the Conservative Party.

Meanwhile, Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as Zimbabwe's president, Ratko Mladic was given life imprisonment over war crimes during the Bosnian wars in the 1990s, over 300 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Egypt and Bangladesh and Myanmar have signed a deal for Rohingya Muslims.

UK and Brexit news

On Friday, Theresa May met with EU president, Donald Tusk in a bid to get the EU the talks onto trade and the transitional period in December. However, Tusk has said that May faces a huge challenge to move them on, there was hope that Theresa May could convince her EU counterparts by offering extra cash to meet the a60 billion divorce bill, but the problem of the Irish border and citizen's rights persist. This underlines Theresa May's attitude that its all about money. On Wednesday, Philip Hammond also set aside an extra 3 billion for Brexit, read more on the budget here.

Online news outlet, Evolve Politics, reported about Russian money finding its way to the Conservative Party, legitimately.

The highlights of the report show former deputy finance minister Vladimir Chernukhin and his wife, Ms Lubov Chernukhin, have donated 514,382.40. Gerard Lopez donated 400,000 in April 2016, Lopez is the Chairman of the board of Rise Capital, who have recently invested heavily into Russian infrastructure projects. The sort of projects that are hard to secure without support from the Russian government.

The above is just a snippet from their preliminary investigations and of course tracking the money back to Russia directly, will be near-enough impossible. Plus, the donations are legal, and they recognise this and don't allege anything illegal but also say that they will investigate Russian dark money within UK politics. Nonetheless, this does raise the question over why they donated?

Because as they point out, in post-USSR Russia, exchanging of party donations and favours is the traditional and accepted method of how politics is done in Russia, which does raise the issue of what was expected of the Conservatives following these donations?

World News

Following Robert Mugabe's ousting as president of Zimbabwe, his former vice-president, Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in after returning from exile. It has been reported that Robert Mugabe has been given immunity from prosecution. Whilst the population largely celebrated the downfall of Mugabe, many are overlooking that Mnangagwa was his right-hand man for a larger part of his presidency, meaning there is a concern that this could be much of the same as before or even worse because despite the significant problems in Zimbabwe, Mugabe to keep a high rate of literacy amongst other successes.

Former commander of the Bosnian-Serb forces of the Bosnian wars during the 1990s, Ratko Mladic, was given life imprisonment over wars crimes by the UN war crimes tribunal. Mladic oversaw the siege of Sarajevo, which over 10,000 died plus Mladic's forces systemically exterminated 7,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. Meanwhile in Egypt, over 300 have been killed and over 120+ have been injured in an attack on a mosque. Following an explosion in the mosque, gunmen targeted fleeing worshippers during Friday prayers, no group has claimed responsibility.

In the middle-east, Israel have continued their annexation of Jerusalem, slowly removing the rights of the Palestinian people, Saad Hariri returned to Lebanon.

Further east, thousands of Rohingya Muslims will be able to return to Myanmar after Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal that paves the way for their return. This comes after over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims fled across the border following the ethnic cleansing by the Buddhist Myanmar's armed forces.
THE MIDDLE-EASTERN conflicts that engulf the region, exacerbated by British and American involvement, look to be steadily getting worse. The West supported Israel continue their ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people by recently annexing more land from them, there has been a lack of dialogue over the famine in Yemen and Lebanese PM, Saad Hariri, returned after his disappearance in Saudi Arabia then trip to France.

The instability of the region has been steadily growing for decades but with Saudi Arabia at odds with Iran, it looks like it could boil over into further conflict within the region.

In the meantime, Netanyahu's government continues its plan to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Jerusalem.

Palestine and Israel

There was an announcement recently that will see Israel move forward with the plans to move a military checkpoint a few 100 metres further into the occupied West Bank, closer to al-Walaja, an agricultural village cultivated by locals for millennia. The move will cut off 296.5 acres of land from the locals, the UN have said that since 1948, al-Walaja have lost 85% of their land and the gradual annexation of land from them is a microcosm of what is occurring throughout Palestine. The land grab is part of the Israel plan to create a 'Greater Jerusalem'.

The plan to create a Greater Jerusalem by Israel is in its final stages by the government led by Netanyahu and the demographic changes of Jerusalem have changed dramatically since they began building steel and concrete barriers through the Palestinian neighbourhoods.

The plan would involve ethnically cleansing the Palestinian people from the area and this is to be put forward by two different bills. One bill will annex more land in West bank, bolstering the Jewish population in the area and the other bill will deny 100k Palestinian people the 'wrong side' of the barrier rights within the city.

Meanwhile, a web of harsh Israeli policies, including late-night arrests, land shortages, home demolitions and a denial of basic services, are intensifying the pressure on Palestinians inside the wall to move out. The move has been described as ethnic cleansing without guns and it is designed to pre-empt any future peace efforts and nullify the Palestinian ambition towards a state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Saudi Arabia and Saad Hariri

The Lebanese PM, Saad Hariri, returned as promised on the celebrations of Lebanon's independence from France. This follows a hectic two weeks of disappearing in Saudi Arabia after 'announcing' his resignation, then flying to France then Egypt, with a stopover in Cyprus. The President of Lebanon refused his resignation and accused Saudi Arabia of forcing him to resign. Since he has returned to Lebanon, Hariri did offer his resignation but agreed to delay for further consultations. However, some Lebanese had doubts over Hariri after he received a hero's welcome. Many were concerned that the crowds that were cheering, were being played as the country's economy is collapsing.

The people of Yemen are suffering famine after a Saudi-led coalition installed a blockade on the region after a missile attack on Riyadh. The coalition fighting in Yemen said on Wednesday it would reopen a key Red Sea port, a second port and Sanaa airport to aid. The move has been welcomed by the UN and aid groups but remain sceptical over whether it would happen. Furthermore, the Houthi government announced that the country's main international airport was open again, this is following an airstrike on the facility's navigation system by Saudi Arabia, the airport was open only to humanitarian aid.

Saudi Arabia have also just authorised the purchase of $7 billion worth of precision-guiding munitions from America. This will further fuel the campaign waged by the House of Saud in Yemen, with no end in sight for the region.
pakistan is facing an extremist agitation, which is headed by a cleric named Khadim Hussain Rizvi. The agitation started with a road blockade of the capital Rawalpindi and has now spread to other parts of Pakistan. It is reported that 10 people are killed and hundreds injured. To stop the spread of news about the agitation, all Pak TV channels have been barred from reporting this news and mobile services have been suspended.

BBC has reported the Pakistan government was left with no option after the Pak police and para-military forces failed to break the roadblock.

The police were attacked by the agitators with stones and over 100 policemen were injured as well as hundreds of agitators.This group who are Islamists (extreme fundamentalists) was agitating for over two weeks and had blocked all roads to the capital leading to near anarchy in the country

Army called

The main demand of the Islamists is the resignation of the Law Minister Zahid Hamid who they say changed the rules on his own. They allege that he was instrumental in a new government order, that dropped a clause which required civil servants to say on oath that Mohammad is the last prophet.

With the agitation showing no sign of a letup, the Interior Minister has announced that the army has been called in to aid the civil authorities.

Times of India has reported the army has intervened after some 5500 police and paramilitary forces failed to disperse the agitators, who are followers of Khadim Hussain Rizvi who is a member of the Tehreek-e-Labaik party.

Agitation spreads

The agitation has now spread to other parts of Pakistan and notably, Lahore and Karachi are also facing blockades by the Islamists.

They are gaining in strength day by day and this agitation is a manifest of that. The government cancelled the executive order but it took three days and this further fueled the anger of the Islamists.

Hardliners adamant

The Tehreek-e-Labaik party is an extremist group that emerged after a guard was executed for murdering the Governor of Pakistan Punjab.The Pakistan PM, Shahid Khaqan Abbas appears unequal to the task.

He replaced the PM Nawaz Sharif in August this year, who had to resign after the Pak supreme court upheld corruption charges against him and his son-in-law and daughter.

Extremist fringe gaining

The extremist fringe in Pakistan is gaining ground and with elections due next year, its anybodys call they will improve their position in the Senate. India and the USA will be observing the developing situation with interest.
They say Dogs are mans best friend; well it turns out they are also womans best friend, after a Canadian Dog Walker was saved by three dogs during a three-day ordeal in remote British Columbia. Annette Poitras, 56, said she wouldnt have survived, if it wasnt for her trusty pet pug-beagle mix, Bubba, her Border collie, Chloe and a clients boxer by the name of Roxy.

Lost and injured in the wilderness for almost three days

The incident happened on Monday when Poitras was walking her own two dogs and a clients dog, near Eagle Mountain in the wilderness of British Columbia.

Poitras fell and injured herself and also lost her phone along the way, meaning she had no way to call for help.

When Poitras didnt return home that day, she was reported missing by her husband, Marcel. A search party was sent out to look for her, involving some 100 rescuers and two helicopters. However, it took nearly three days for the missing dog walker to be found.

Into the Wild: Dogs Save Injured Woman Lost in Wilderness https://t.co/oF8pYFgFgF pic.twitter.com/UIveZlt1wQ  Honesty At The Peak (@HATPeak) November 25, 2017

On Wednesday afternoon, some of the rescuers heard a faint cry for help, while the dogs were barking, enabling them to find the party in a remote area of the bush. Poitras was found off-trail, quite a way into the Coquitlam Watershed, surrounded by swamp and dense bush.

According to the rescue party, she was found alive and in good condition and was extracted using a helicopter.

According to her husband, the three dogs did not leave her side throughout the ordeal and helped her to stay alive. She had no supplies and there was some torrential rain during her ordeal. He said while one of the dogs cuddled up to her, another stood guard, and yet another dog went searching for food for the group.

Dog walker missing for two days recovering in 'safe warm place' https://t.co/dmVRoUpJQR pic.twitter.com/yGSau7tIwC  The Vancouver Sun (@VancouverSun) November 25, 2017

Canadian woman recovering well from her ordeal

Poitras is currently in hospital after the ordeal, and her husband said she is recovering well, but is suffering from back pain.

She hopes to be released from the hospital within the next few days. Newsweek quotes Marcel as saying they are looking forward to peace and quiet, walking the dogs and visiting their family, now the terrifying ordeal is over.

Pooches pay bedside visit to dog walker after wilderness ordeal https://t.co/K3xALOApFZ pic.twitter.com/YzTgYD02vO  CBC British Columbia (@cbcnewsbc) November 25, 2017

Welcome doggie visit in hospital

Meanwhile, as reported by CBC, Poitras had a welcome visit in hospital on Friday afternoon when two of the dogs were allowed into her room. Her own border collie, Chloe, instantly jumped on her bed, while the boxer, who belongs to a client and goes by the name of Roxy, reportedly gave her plenty of kisses. Apparently Bubba the puggle stayed home.
Over the last month, the biggest story to dominate the political headlines has been the sexual assault and harassment scandal surrounding Roy Moore. While Donald Trump has come out in defense of Moore, the president is not pleased that his daughter voiced her displeasure.

Donald on Ivanka

It was at the start of November when the Washington Post broke their bombshell report accusing Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore of attempting to engage in sexual activity with underage women, with the oldest allegation dating back to 1979. The paper cited 30 sources, including four women who all had similar stories.

As expected, Moore denied the claims, and instead deflected the blame onto the "liberal media." Moore was expected to defeat his Democratic opponent Doug Jones in a fairly routine election in the red state of Alabama, but recent poll numbers show it's likely to be a toss up. The reaction from the Republican Party and the conservative media has been split, with some calling on Moore to drop out of the race due to fear of tarnishing the brand of the GOP. Others have been quick to support him, which included Donald Trump who spoke out earlier this week at the White House when he insisted that his administration doesn't need another "liberal" in the Senate. While the president stood by Moore's side, First Daughter Ivanka Trump wasn't in agreement, much to the chagrin of her father, as reported by the New York Times on November 25.

JUST IN: Trump angry with Ivanka for condemning Roy Moore: report https://t.co/kF0uLedWHA pic.twitter.com/BnKYRznkBO  The Hill (@thehill) November 25, 2017

Originally reported by the New York Times, and later highlighted by The Hill, Donald Trump is not happy that his daughter Ivanka Trump went behind his back to bash Roy Moore.

After the initial story broke, Ivanka said that there is "a special place in hell for people who prey on children." Ivanka's remarks are in stark contrast with her father, who addressed the issue with several members of his administration.

President Trump blindsided congressional Republicans with his defense of Roy Moore https://t.co/lJhRX3qPT6  The New York Times (@nytimes) November 25, 2017

"Do you believe this?!?" Donald Trump reportedly asked his aides at the White House, in reference to his outrage of Ivanka Trump's comments.

According to the New York Times report, Trump has been hesitant to criticize Moore as he compares the current scandal to his own history with sexual assault and harassment allegations, including the now infamous "Access Hollywood" tape that was leaked a month before the election and exposed the president's private thoughts about a married woman, while bragging about using his fame to touch women.

Trump was irate that his daughter, Ivanka, decided to say there was a "special place in hell" re Moore. "Do you believe this?" he said over and over to ppl https://t.co/oI6lmniw5h  Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 25, 2017

Next up

While the First Family is split in how to handle the scandal around Roy Moore, the special election is just weeks away and both candidates are running neck and neck. It's unknown whether or not Trump will take a trip down to Alabama to campaign for Moore, but did leave the door open when speaking to reporters earlier this week.
There's no greater feeling in the world than "giving back," even if it's 70 years later. Recently, a Holocaust survivor made that clear by donating 1 million dollars to the American wounded veterans programs. He wanted to thank the troops who saved his life over 70 years ago. 83-year-old Bernard Darty, says he is one of the few remaining survivors of the Holocaust and his gratitude for the American troops who rescued him will never end. Darty, who now resides in Paris is the co-founder of Darty Group, an electrical retailer that owns and operates over 340 stores in three European countries.

Life on the run

Darty was a mere boy, living in France when Germany invaded. He was originally from Poland but his parents moved because of the pogroms. He remembers dodging and hiding from the German SS in hopes of avoiding Germany's dreaded death camps. Unfortunately, Darty's mother was captured and sent to the notorious concentration camp, Auschwitz.

She died within three weeks of her arrival. He, however, was taken in by his aunt. She was protected because her husband was a French police officer. For two years, Darty was in hiding, living in appalling conditions and eating whatever he could. The 83-year-old firmly believes that had the war not ended, he would have surely perished.

Darty recalls the day that changed his life forever.

It was 1944, and American troops stormed the beaches of France in hopes of liberating its people. As history would write it, America and their allies had won the war. This impacted young Darty. He was very grateful to the American troops who for sure saved him and thousands more from certain death.

Now 70 years later, the young scared boy has grown up into a successful entrepreneur.

He co-founded one of Europes leading appliances companies with his brothers. He married another Holocaust survivor and the two went on to have children. Now they're grandparents and Darty expressed his joy in seeing his family at gatherings. He notes that none of this would have been possible if not for the heroic efforts of the brave American troops.

Forever grateful to American troops

The $1 million donations will be distributed to various veteran charities across America. He hopes that his contribution would impact the lives of veterans just like they did his. They saved him so many years ago and now he wants to help save them. Indeed the generation that helped Darty is long gone, he hopes that the money would go to the veterans who are suffering now. Darty wishes all American Veterans happy holidays and hopes that the troops overseas return home to their families safe. He knows that somewhere in the world there is a scared child, just like he was, waiting to be saved by the American troops.

You might also like 11 Facts about Veteran's Day you probably didn't know.

Now let's hear from you

How did this story impact on you? Do you know any veterans in need of Darty's donations? Tell us in the comments.
Indian-American Silky Gaind was allegedly battered by her husband and elderly in-laws, who flew from Punjab, India to Tampa, Florida to reportedly assist their son in controlling his disobedient 33-year-old wife, according to several news organizations. Gaind was rescued by police in September after she called her parents in India, telling them about the assaults she suffered. She was finally permitted to leave a court-mandated shelter for battered women last month, India West reported on Friday (Nov. 24).

Gainds release from the shelter followed an online petition that was launched by Margaret Petros, Executive Director, Mothers Against Murder (MAM), and supported on social media by Papiha Nandy, CEO and President, Papiha Nandy Broadcasting Company (PNBC).

With nearly 600 supporters, the petition was delivered to Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Eckerd Kids, which was contacted by a child protection investigation agency in Hillsborough County, FL.

Husband and in-laws arrested after also holding mother and child hostage

Gainds husband, Devbir Kalsi, his father Jasbir Kalsi, and his mother Bhupinder Kalsi were arrested and taken to jail on September 2. The trio was accused of holding Gaind and the couples one-year-old daughter hostage, WFLA noted. They also reportedly beat her over an extended period of time, the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office stated.

When Gaind called her parents in India, she not only conveyed that she was being battered by her husband and in-laws, she also stated that she was being held captive.

Though Gaind did not call police directly due to cultural expectations, a family associate notified the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office (HCSO), WFLA relayed.

Family would not open door, mother screamed for help

After officers arrived at the couples home, located in Riverview, FL, deputies discerned that there were people inside the house, yet no one opened the door or as much as acknowledged a deputy was at the home, USA Today reported.

A deputy kept knocking, while a supervisor was en route to the home. Gaind tried opening the door. She, then, screamed for the officer to save her and the child.

A deputy finally had to force the door open. When he did, Gainds 33-year-old husband confronted the officer and also tried to close the door. After the deputy had to force his way in, according to USA Today, he was taking Kalsi into custody.

Then, the deputy was confronted by Kalsis elderly parents  Jasbir Kalsi, 67, and mother Bhupinder Kalsi, 62.

Deputies find battered, bruised woman

After the officer summoned for backup, more deputies arrived. When they went inside the home, they discovered Gaind was beaten and bruised pretty much over her entire body, according to WFLA. The trio was arrested and taken to Hillsborough County Jail.

Gaind filed for divorce in September. Her husband faces felony charges, including false imprisonment, child abuse, harassing a witness, and domestic violence, according to a records search of the Hillsborough County Clerks office. He was released on bond on October 2.

According to India West, Kalsis parents also face various criminal charges.

After each posted bail, they were released on September 20. News organizations reported that Gainds in-laws do not have their passports and that they are being monitored by authorities, including the Department of Homeland Security.

Battered woman re-victimized, ordered to stay at shelter or lose child to foster care

Gaind and her small daughter were transported to a battered womens shelter after police rescued them. However, the battered woman was ordered to stay at the shelter by the countys child protection agency. If she did not remain, according to Petros and India West, she was threatened that her daughter would be taken from her and moved to foster care.

An alarm system was installed at Gainds home.

She was finally allowed to leave the shelter on October 13. Petros told India West that the re-victimization that happened was the result of a system that ideally should help, but millions of crime victims encounter similar treatment every year in the United States. As an effect of victims rights being slighted or ignored, she also stated, An aggressive approach is needed to force those who work for the system to honor victims rights.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans on voting to end net neutrality on December 14. Net Neutrality was created in 2015 to ensure that broadband services couldn't block websites, charge websites for faster service, or charge consumers for the use of anything from social media to Ted Talks. Losing it could have several drastic affects on the way we use the internet.

A vote against net neutrality could harm the economy and effect freedom of speech

While everyone would be hurt by the loss of free access and the sudden rise in internet cost, small businesses will suffer the most.

Many small business owners can't afford an actual storefront, so instead, they sell their goods through an online company, set up on Etsy, eBay, or any number of other sites. According to the US Small Business Administration, over 80 percent of small businesses have only one worker, and many of these one person companies sell their goods online. Some small businesses that do have a store still rely on online purchases, since their online site is easier for most shoppers to reach. These small businesses, that are usually already struggling financially, would not have the money to pay if broadband started charging them for a higher processing speed. As a result, their site will become slower than the average consumer is willing to wait, and their business would fail.

The American Sustainable Business Council sent a letter to the FCC explaining the effect this vote could have, and stating that the end of net neutrality would be disastrous for small businesses. The Small Business Administration also claims that small businesses make up 99.7 percent of all US businesses. If that large a percentage of total businesses start to fail it may affect the economy.

People who work from home, perform online freelance work, use the gig economy, or earn money through product renting sites could also be affected. Many gig-based and freelance companies are large enough to pay a fee, so their speed may not be affected. The companies aren't the only ones that could be affected though. If the vote passes people who work online could find themselves paying to gain access to the sites they work for.

According to the Pew Research Center, 24 percent of all Americans make money through the digital economy. Without net neutrality, they could be charged to continue.

A blow to the economy isn't the only negative effect the loss of net neutrality could have; it would also give broadbands the right to completely block content for the purpose of stopping peaceful online protests. This is not a theoretical situation. In 2005, before net neutrality began, Telus cut its subscribers access to Voice for Change, a site for the Telecommunications Workers Union. In 2006 AOL blocked every email with a link to the petition against their company. They later claimed it was an accident, caused by a glitch. Without any strict laws saying that sites cannot be blocked, cases like this could happen again.

Not just with sites or emails that make their company look bad, the broadband owner could theoretically block any site they disagree with.

The FCC has received fraudulent responses from both sides

There has been a widespread and aggressive public response against the vote; a public protest at Verizon stores has been scheduled for December 7 and over 22 million people have sent comments to the FCC. The New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has noticed something strange has been happening to these comments. Close to 50,000 complaints have disappeared, and many of the messages saying that we should get rid of net neutrality seem to be faked.

Consumers have been sending messages to the FCC saying that their names were stolen by someone to send messages.

The attorney general's office estimates that there are several hundreds of thousands of cases of stolen identities used for comments in the New York area alone. There have also been comments made under the names of the deceased. Data scientist Jeff Kao estimates that over a million comments supporting the repeal have been faked. The FCC spokesman has stated that they will not be investigating every comment and has pointed out that some comments against the repeal of net neutrality are equally suspicious. Among them are 7.5 million comments that can be connected to the same email generator. With so much confusion over whether comments on both sides are real or fake, it seems like the largest deciding factor will be the in-person protests at Verizon. We shall have to wait until December 7 to see an honest account of the public's opinion.
On Friday night, Donald Trump caused a social media frenzy after he tweeted out that he was in the running to become the 2017 Time Magazine "Person of the Year." While that was the president's story, the publication decided to clarify what took place.

TIME on Trump

After the controversial and historic 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump became the most talked about individual around the world, often for all the wrong reasons. After pulling off the upset with a shocking win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump was named the 2016 TIME Magazine "Person of the Year." At the time, the former host of "The Apprentice" said it was a tremendous honor, but a lot has happened over the course of the last year.

With his approval numbers dropping to all-time lows and having passed little in the form of legislation in Congress due to in-fighting with his own Republican Party, Trump decided to give himself a little ego boost. On Friday night, the president tweeted out that he was contacted by TIME Magazine to possibly be named the 2017 "Person of the Year." Trump elaborated and explained that he turned down the offer due to the obligation of an interview and photo-shoot because he couldn't be guaranteed the award. As seen on their offical Twitter account, TIME Magazine made sure to fact-check the commander in chief.

The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.  TIME (@TIME) November 25, 2017

In a tweet sent out by the offical TIME Magazine Twitter account, the publication was forced to set the record straight in regards to Donald Trump's claims.

"The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year," the tweet read, before adding, "TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6."

Hate to tell you but that PROBABLY means youre NOT Person of the Year. They just wanted a photo shoot. But Im sure you still have that fake TIME cover somewhere in storage. https://t.co/HkW1XkKxXK  Richard Stengel (@stengel) November 24, 2017

In addition, former TIME Magazine editor Richard Stengel also responded to Donald Trump on Twitter, which doubled down with a more emotional and personal attack on the president.

"Hate to tell you but that PROBABLY means youre NOT Person of the Year," Stengel tweeted. "They just wanted a photo shoot," he continued. "But Im sure you still have that fake TIME cover somewhere in storage," Stengel concluded.

Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named Man (Person) of the Year, like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2017

Next up

While Donald Trump continues to be at odds with the majority of the mainstream media, he has many other issues to worry about in the White House.

As of press time, the future of health care and tax reform remain a mystery, with the Russian investigation heating up by the day, all while the billionaire real estate mogul sits on an approval rating of less than 40 percent.
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HCM CITY  Korean exports of pears and apples to Viet Nam have soared in the past years, according to the Korea Agriculture Food Trade Association.

Koreas pear exports to Viet Nam surged by 9,440 times in the 2011-16 period, from US$52,000 in 2011 to $4.96 million last year.

Its apple exports to Viet Nam also went up by 928.8 per cent in the period, from $66,000 to $679,000.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar in HCM City on Friday, Cao Thi Quynh Giao, director of Lam Khai Hoan Co.Ltd, said her company imports about two to five containers (each container having a loading capacity of 600kg) of pears and apples from South Korea to distribute to supermarkets in Viet Nam.

Many Vietnamese consumers are fond of Koreas pears due to its good quality and reasonable prices, she said.

Her company plans to import more pears and Fuji apples from Korea, kiwi from Australia and gala apple from the US, she said.

Ta Minh Thanh, deputy director of Tu Son Supermarket in Chau oc, An Giang Province, said the supermarket started to sell Korean pears and apples two and a half years ago, with sales of pear very good.

We are here to meet Korean firms as we want to find suppliers of apple/pear gift boxes to serve customers on the occasion of Lunar New Year holiday, he said.

Lee Soon Nyung, managing director of Hyun Jin Corporation, said Korea exports about 25,000 tonnes of pears a year, with the US (10,000 tonnes), Taiwan (10,000 tonnes) and Viet Nam (2,000 tonnes) being three biggest export markets.

It exports about 3,400 tonnes of apples a year, of which 2,000 tonnes is exported to Taiwan and 300 tonnes to Viet Nam.

As Viet Nam does not cultivate pears and apples, many businesses have imported them from other countries to supply in the market. Vietnamese people are fond of Korean fruits, especially apples and pears, he said.

Viet Nam is a very potential market. We want to export more apples and pears as well as other kinds of fruits into Viet Nam.

The business meeting today will help us understand more about requirements of our Vietnamese partners so as we can satisfy their demand.

Lee Sun Hyung from Gyeong Buk Corporation, said "Viet Nam is an emerging market for Koreas fruits".

Many Korean companies as well as his company have prepared high-grade pear and apple gift boxes with nice design, hoping that the products will be consumed well in Viet Nam in the future, he said.

Organised by the Korea Agriculture Food Trade Association and the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Viet Nam-Korea business seminar attracted seven Korean fresh fruits exporting firms and 15 Vietnamese enterprises.

The two sides exchanged information on import-export situation, prices, and quality of products as well as difficulties accounted during the import process. Korean firms talked about ways to improve the problems and propose ways to increase exports in the future.

The association said it plans to invite Vietnamese fruit importers to visit South Korea to understand more about the production process of the fruits as well as discuss business opportunities.

Viet Nam imported vegetables and fruits worth $1.02 billion in the first eight months of 2017, a year-on-year increase of 94 per cent. Of which, the import value of vegetables was around $200 million, while fruits imports were more than $800 million, double the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.  VNS
BINH DUONG  Construction on a US$19-million production area began in the southern province of Binh Duongs Bau Bang Industrial Zone (IZ) last week.

The 13ha area is financed by four Taiwanese firms  DDK Viet Nam, Yi Xing, T-Star and Ever Young companies.

These firms are involved in real estate, factory leasing, industrial infrastructure investment consultation, environmental protection equipment, electricity and aluminum product production.

The construction of the area is considered the start in forming a concentrated production cluster of Taiwanese firms in the province. The cluster, expected to cost $200 million, will cover an area of 80ha in the IZ.

In his speech at the ceremony, Vice chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Tran Thanh Liem spoke highly on the Taiwanese firms investment in the IZ, as well as their contributions to local socio-economic development.

Local authorities would continue to create the most favourable conditions for the investors during their operations in the locality, Liem said, while expressing his hope that more Taiwanese enterprises would choose Binh Duong as their investment destinations.

Currently, Taiwan is the provinces leading source of foreign direct investment with 772 projects worth over $5.5 billion. - VNS
SINGAPORE  Viet Nams National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan arrived at Changi International Airport yesterday, starting her official visit to Singapore.

NA Chairwoman Ngan was welcomed at the airport by Deputy Speaker of the Singaporean Parliament Lim Biow Chuan, Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Nguyen Tien Minh and staff of the embassy.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties on August 1, 1973, the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Viet Nam and Singapore has progressed effectively on the pillars of politics; economy; national defence-security; education, law, health care, culture-arts-sports; and cooperation at regional and international forums.

As of September 2017, Singapore was the third largest foreign investor among 126 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam, with over 1,917 projects worth more than US$41.5 billion.

Viet Nam poured some $241 million into 65 projects on the island state, placing Singapore 12th place out of 68 countries and territories receiving Vietnamese outbound investments in oil and gas, mining, information technology and services.

Over the past years, the Vietnamese and Singaporean legislatures have maintained the exchange of visits by high-ranking parliament leaders and officials. Apart from discussing law-building and legal supervision, they have contributed to promoting bilateral trade and investment.

The two sides have worked closely together at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

They have offered mutual consultations and shared similar stances on the settlement of security and environmental issues in the region.

This is the first visit to Singapore by a top Vietnamese legislator in 14 years, following the previous trip by NA Chairman Nguyen Van An in 2003.

The visit is an important diplomatic activity to strengthen the Viet Nam-Singapore strategic partnership, towards celebrating the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties.  VNS
A school with some of the prettiest - and toughest - students in North Viet Nam recently celebrated its 100th birthday. One of its pupils was Le Thi, later to become a professor. She was one of two girls who hoisted the National Flag at Viet Nams first independence day at Ba inh historical square on September 2,1945. Ha Nguyen reports.

Thousands of students and ex-students from Trung Vuong school, formerly known as ong Khanh, flocked from Viet Nam and abroad last week to Ha Noi to join a grand celebration for the schools 100th anniversary (1917-2017).

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan attended, awarding an Independence Order, First Class, to the school.  The State recognises the school for its great contributions to education in Ha Noi and the country, she said.

She also witnessed the release of a postal stamp collection on ong Khanh-Trung Vuong, which includes images of the school, President Ho Chi Minh with school students and many others. The collection will be published and put on sale in 192 countries.

The schools old name was the Girls School of ong Khanh, which was established in 1917.

Unforgettable: Ninety four year old Vien Thi Thuan, an ex-student of ong Khanh girls school, dreams of the old days. Vien Thi Thuan, 94, is one of the few living ex-students of ong Khanh, once the only secondary school for girls in the north of the country. She said the image of pretty, dreamy, innocent and slender school girls in their white ao dai (womens traditional long robes) was an unforgettable memory for many old Hanoians. Many male students from other schools often came around to look or peep at girls when class was over. To enroll at the school, students had to pass many strict examinations. At the school, apart from learning lessons - and French - we learned domestic sciences, such as housework, cooking, needlework and household arts, such as singing, playing the piano and physical training, Thuan said. In addition, the school taught students embroidery, how to bathe and take care of new born children - and how to spend time in their daily lives. The ex-ong Khanh student recalled: At that time, we had a romantic life. We often exchanged views and noted love poems in our books. I had a friend, a daughter of a doctor. She felt in love with a handsome physics teacher. But she was very shy when discovered by her friends. Her sadness after her unrequited love finally ended when the teacher married another girl remains in notes by my friends of the time, said Thuan. Another of Thuans classmates was Le Thi, one of the two ong Khanh schoolgirls who hoisted the national flag at Viet Nams first Independence Day at Ba inh Square on September 2, 1945. Le Thi later became a professor.

Comrades in arms: Le Thi (white dress) and Tay woman am Thi Loan were given the unparalleled honour of being the first people to hoist the national flag at the historic Ba inh Square on Viet Nams first Independence Day, September 2 1945.-- Photo courtesy of Le Thi.

After the August Revolution against the French colonialists in 1945, the school was renamed as Trung Vuong, the name of the countrys first heroines to fight against the northern aggressors.

In winter 1946, at the school itself, many revolutionary fighters, including ong Khanh schoolgirls, bravely struggled against the French. Twenty four young students died in the battle to defend the city.

All in white: Female students in the old days. During the anti-American war, many Trung Vuong students left their text books to join the fight. Many of them bravely sacrificed themselves for the country, including female writer Duong Thi Xuan Quy and artist Vo Thi Phuong Thao. As a mark of his respect for the fight put up by the students, President Ho Chi Minh visited the school five times, telling school teachers to practise well and students to learn well. During the anti-American war, many Trung Vuong students left their text books to join the fight. Many of them bravely sacrificed themselves for the country, including female writer Duong Thi Xuan Quy and artist Vo Thi Phuong Thao. As a mark of his respect for the fight put up by the students, President Ho Chi Minh visited the school five times, telling school teachers to practise well and students to learn well.

The Trung Vuong Secondary School is my second family. We received great love from our teachers, who always showed enthusiasm in teaching us, said lawyer ang Tuyet Vinh, an ex-student of the school.
Revivalists: The SRiver team.  Photo Courtesy of SRiver

Viet Nam News by An Vu Folk art not only provides a modest income for many Vietnamese, it has often been considered a national treasure. However, as modern art styles become popular, the old paintings are starting to fade into the distance. In the so-called golden age, folk paintings were created to meet citizens spiritual demands, with acclaimed products and styles based in craft villages such as ong Ho and Sinh. The variety of models, genres, themes and patterns detailed the lives of Vietnamese people. They provided illustrations of the simple things that happen in everyday life, such as farming, herding, handicraft work and family life. The uniqueness of folk art is enhanced by its combination with poetry, folk songs, proverbs written in Nom (ancient Vietnamese writing system), messages on moral codes and religion, or workers dreams for well-being, an adequate family and an equal society. Folk paintings not only reflect peoples lives, but also record the fast changes of the nation through many periods of time, and the reaction to Western culture. Its simplicity has influenced generations of Vietnamese art lovers and foreign visitors. Once an invaluable resource of the Vietnamese people, the old art is losing ground rapidly. Hanging folk painting in the house for Tet (Lunar New Year) used to be an elegant hobby, a beautiful custom of old Ha Noi. However, at present, to be able to buy an authentic ong Ho folk painting on the pavements of the citys streets is mission impossible, or, if there are available, the techniques and aesthetic features are often poor," said chairman of Viet Nam Association of History Science (VAHS) Phan Huy Le. Therefore, a group of young Vietnamese, named "SRiver", has been formed to conserve folk painting lines, especially paintings in the Hang Trong style. The group consists of young people working in diffirent jobs but sharing the same passion for fine art designs and Vietnamese culture. The age of the group ranging from 23 to 33. Half of them are graphic designers. Trinh Thu Trang, architect and founder of the group, said it set out to save traditional values. As the ones who are passionate for Hang Trong paintings and folk beauty, we gathered together to form SRiver. Our first brainchild Hoa Sac Viet (Colours and Patterns of Viet Nam) was made to reserve and uphold traditional values. "We do not try to attach the paintings to modern life or try to cling onto something that belongs to history. What we are trying to do is select folk material that have potential to be applied to modern life, including graphic fashion and interior design. This is how we hope to revive folk values so they do not sleep permanently in museums.

Sage advice: The SRiver team speak with researcher Phan Ngoc Khue.  Photo Courtesy of SRiver

Patterns and colours: Hoa Sac Viet, a book on Vietnamese woodblock printing, published by the SRiver team. - Photo Courtesy of SRiver

Hang Trong is a genre of prints made from woodblocks that originated in Hang Trong and Hang Non streets in downtown Ha Noi. In the past, the art was an essential element of the Tet holiday in the capital, but today this tradition has almost disappeared.

For SRiver, this first and big venture is based on the potential of Hang Trong art painting in particular and Vietnamese fine arts in general by collecting, analysing and copying it into a source of rich natural colours and patterns for designers and painters. They will be able to create designs for all purposes, from curtains and bedsheets and even clothing.

The idea is expounded in a book entitled Hoa Sac Viet.

Our hindrance was the lack of sources. Folk painting is a dying art and it is hard to find some materials on the market, so we looked for them in places like Japan and South Korea. We also studied the last craftsmen, such as Le inh Nghien and reseacher Phan Ngoc Khue.

Nghien has 70 Hang Trong paintings so we borrowed his precious collection to copy digitally into our book. The process was made entirely by computer, and we used Illustrator software to digitalise the colour and patterns of the original paintings, said Trinh Hong Van, a member of the team.

At present, SRiver is calling for supports on Comicola website so it can complete the project on scheduled time.

Culture is like a flow and each one of us is a drop of water. Many drops moving in the same direction create a flow. If we feel Vietnamese culture is just a small part of this big world, lets be creators. This is the spirit of SRiver, Van said.

When we started this project, we hoped we could inspire young people from all walks of life, so they also can initiate their own ideas to create projects relevant to the national folk culture, she added.

The book will be published on March 31 of 2018. VNS
Hong Van

Old, makeshift dormitories for ethnic students in the northern mountains were sometimes made by putting timber panels together. Now, these shacks are being replaced with stable buildings, made with solid construction materials - and love. The love comes from Le Thu Huyen, the founder of a four-year-old project called Nabe.Arc (Natural Beauty in Architecture).

The new dormitories are built on the campus of the few schools available, often behind or next to the classrooms. They have bunk beds and kitchens where students living far away can stay free of charge. New schools are also being built by Nabe.Arc.

A vision of using architecture to help poor communities led the young architect and her companions to build and donate homes-away-from-home in the provinces of Lai Chau, ien Bien and Ha Giang. In the past, ethnic students travelled to schools often far away and then lived in flimsy shacks.

The building programme has all been done under a project called Nabe.Arc (Natural Beauty in Architecture). It is aimed at building schools, dormitories, libraries and offering vocational training workshops for ethnic students.

Le Thu Huyen, the 30-year-old architect is founder of the project, which was established in 2013. Now an architect with a passion for meaningful architecture projects in mountain areas, she retains the same concern.

The idea about Nabe.Arc started from a passion for travel," she said. "When I travelled, I could see the problems some locals were facing in our own country.

"If I can do anything, I will always help. Initially, I focused on raising funds, but then realised this led nowhere. And then I thought of applying some architecture to rural projects, building infrastructure, for example, said Huyen.

Stability: Dilapidated old dormitories for ethnic schoolchildren have been replaced by solid, pleasing structures.

When Huyen was at university, like many other students, she loved travelling to mountain provinces, often carrying food and clothes for poor villagers.

Huyen then carried out three programmes aiming to raise funds for the needy in the mountainous provinces.

It was not as difficult as I expected. Things went smooth. Yet I found that by donating villagers commodities and food, we just solved the problem in the short term, said Huyen, who was a third-year architecture student at the time.

Huyen then thought of combining architecture and charitable projects and she started researching "Social Architecture", which was quite popular in other countries, but never mentioned at her university. She started learning by herself and eventually produced a graduation thesis on social architecture.

Then, one of her friends told her about the problems in Pa U Commune in Lai Chau. Huyen and her friends started discussing building a dormitary for local students.

Nabe.Arc finished a dormitary for La Hu ethnic students in Tham Pa Village in Lai Chau in 2014. One year later, classrooms in Nam Vi Village for La Hu and Mong ethnic students were finished. In 2016, a school with six classrooms for Xuong ethnic students was also opened.

The project also offers training for local volunteers and domitary staff on safety skills, abuse prevention and dormitary management.

Currently, Nabe.Arc, in co-ordination with other charitable projects and organisations, is raising funds to build a boarding school in Ngoc Long Commune. The school comprises a domitary for elementary students, another for secondary students and a creative library for students. The total cost will be VN5 billion (US$220,000), half of which has been raised.

This weekend, the project will organise KHOE Creative Festival in Ha Noi, an event to raise funds for the boarding school project. The event offers festival-goers more than 30 creative outdoor activities for children, including pottery making, traditional paper making, drawing, carpentry and furniture making as well as fashion design and Virtual Reality activities.
Andrea Nguyen has authored many English books featuring Vietnamese cuisine that are more than cook books, offering glimpses into national history, culture and traditional customs. Born Nguyen Quynh Giao in 1969 in Viet Nam, the California-based author has several acclaimed books to her credit, including Asian Dumplings, Asian Tofu, The Banh Mi Handbook, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen and The Pho Cookbook. She has written for many magazines and newspapers, created the Asian Market Shopper app and set up the vietworldkitchen.com website. She speaks to Minh Thu about the motivation and inspiration for her culinary stories.

Inner Sanctum: How did you develop your passion for cooking and feel the need to write so many cookbooks?

I have been reading cookbooks since I was about 10 years old. Cookbooks were a way for me to learn about other cultures through their cuisines. When I did not see a cookbook about Vietnamese food the way my family and other Vietnamese-American brethren prepared it, I wanted to write my own. That journey started many years ago. Who thought I would be writing cookbooks for a career? I am fulfilling a childhood dream.

Inner Sanctum: Who influenced and inspired you to cook?

My mother taught me how to cook when I was young. First it was rice, then nuoc cham (dipping sauce), and dumplings. She taught me to be detail oriented. She measured with rice balls but also used to scale. She read cookbooks, newspapers, and also wrote down recipes. She was a model for me.

I also watched shows in America. My heroes included good teachers like Julia Child and Irene Kuo, who owned restaurants and wrote great Chinese cookbooks that I learned a lot from.

Inner Sanctum: You had another career. How did that happen, and how did you return to cooking?

Since the age of 10, Ive been reading and studying cookbooks. I perused cookbooks, both Eastern and Western food, as if they were novels.

I fantasised about doing something in food but Ive been a bank examiner, university administrator, and communication consultant. But in the midst of those careers, I cooked and read the classics as well as new interpretations of food, trying to find cultural and culinary links between cuisines. I read Vietnamese cookbooks in English and Vietnamese, trying to figure out how to best present the unfamiliar and exotic to a broad audience of cooks.

To test my determination, I cooked professionally for one year in the early 1990s. It was the hardest work Id ever done. Hands down. My father offered to put me through cooking school, a bold move on his and my moms part since they didnt initially take to me getting a university degree. But I demurred and figured that Id be better off in something more conventional, so I got a graduate degree and forged a career as a communication consultant for clients in education. I wrote as a freelancer on the side to hone my writing and research skills and eventually built a website and won a cookbook contract with Ten Speed Press for my debut work, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. It was the book that Id been wanting to write since I was 10.

I have no formal culinary training. I never went to cooking school. My lifelong curiosity about food, cooking, and culture fuels my work. At the end of the day, my aim is to capture the human connections to food and demystify Asian food without dumbing it down.

Inner Sanctum: So Into the Vietnamese Kitchen reinforced your confidence and passion?

It was published in 2006, a landmark publication with over 175 recipes. The work is the first comprehensive full-colour cookbook devoted to Vietnamese food in the English language. Leading food writers have praised the book for its attention to detail, accessibility, and thorough research. I work to demystify Vietnamese cuisine while bridging culinary traditions with contemporary practices.

Another one about the Vietnamese baguette, The Banh Mi Handbook, was released in 2014. Its my way of drawing people into Vietnamese cooking through the ease and simplicity of making a darn good sandwich. Many people are interested in bold flavours and banh mi sandwiches are a fabulous way to enjoy and explore them.

Inner Sanctum: Can you share some memories of your learning to cook?

Rice was the first thing I learned to cook from my mother. She made me wash the rice 10 times before I could add water to cook it. I made the rice for our family and my father liked his rice dry. If the rice was wet and mushy, I apologised to the family. But then I kept practising and that is what cooking is about  practising and learning so you can develop skills. Edible mistakes get eaten up and you keep moving forward.

Inner Sanctum: How would you position the traditional cuisine of Viet Nam in the modern society ?

Vietnamese food is very popular now in the US. People are very curious about the flavours, ingredients, and techniques. The general healthiness of the cuisine is also attractive. Many people are travelling to Viet Nam and going to Vietnamese restaurants here in America. They want to make Vietnamese food part of their regular lives. It is an exciting time for Vietnamese food culture. Vietnamese food is just as good as any other cuisine.

Inner Sanctum: There is an opinion that women are not going to be masters at cooking anymore, because there are so many restaurants and other options now. What do you think?

The best food is made at home because you can make small amounts of food and really perfect them. You can control flavours, apply good techniques and use excellent, fresh ingredients.

I know many home cooks that make food that is just as good or better than restaurant food. Just because you can go to restaurant for convenience does not mean that the restaurant food is better for you. It is healthier and more economical to cook at home. I have restaurant chef friends who come to my house to cook and eat with me.

Inner Sanctum: Your latest cookbook on pho introduces both traditional and adventurous recipes. Is this to make pho more popular in countries where the peoples tastes are different from the Vietnamese?

Pho is very adaptable and customisable. It was created by resourceful cooks who had little to work with, and there has been a lot of innovation over the past 100 plus years. In Viet Nam, Ive eaten pho cuon (summer roll), pho ga tron (chicken noodle in sauce), and stir-fried pho -- non-traditional pho dishes.

In America, we have pho dumplings, pho - banh mi and pho burritos. My aim in writing The Pho Cookbook is to tell the story and history of pho and then to invite others to learn the foundations for making it, and then create their own pho flavours and dishes.

Americans are making excellent pho at home now. Many tell me that their pho tastes better than the pho at restaurants.

By cooking Vietnamese food, people learn about the rich and diverse culture of the country. Ultimately, there is better human understanding. That is why I write my cookbooks. VNS
Off to a good start: A mixture of starters from two different lunch sets. Clockwise from top left: Crab spring roll, pomelo chicken salad, green mango salad with dried shrimp, and shrimp and pork spring roll with fried vermicelli. VNS Photo The Nomad Quynh

Viet Nam News Nomad Quynh wanders into the Citadel and finds out why a new Vietnamese restaurant can make its mark in a crowded market. A few days ago, I took a foreign partner out for lunch, and decided to give Citadel Saigon a try. This place is one of the newest Vietnamese restaurants in HCM City, aiming to serve traditional Vietnamese cuisine with no MSG and using only fresh, quality ingredients. Its location, Lane 74 Hai Ba Trung, District 1, is well known among city foodies. It is one of those special downtown places with many nice old French buildings that have been renovated several times, but still manage to maintain the original French architectural style. It is especially lively at night, with some of the most well-known and long standing restaurants in town, like El Gaucho, The Refinery and Hoa Tu. The new kid on the block is to the left of The Refinery. The beautiful French colonial building, quiet and spacious with big windows that bring in a lot of sunlight, did not fail to impress. It reminded me of the old Sai Gon, and we learnt there was once a real citadel here in 1790. The first floor is an outdoor area with no air conditioning, suitable for cool days or in the evening. It was lunchtime, so the staff suggested that we go upstairs, which we did, climbing up a quaint wooden staircase. A pretty waitress showed us to our table and gave us the a la carte as well as set lunch menus. VN180,000 per person gets you a starter, a salad, a main course with soup and rice, and a dessert. A good offer, especially when you get to choose from many options. We decided to take two different sets. For starters, he chose the crab spring roll, while I went for the shrimp and pork one with fried vermicelli. He also got the green mango salad with dried shrimp, while I opted for the pomelo salad with chicken. These dishes were brought to us on the same plate, with two spring rolls in each portion, which made it easy to share. My shrimp and pork roll was very tasty  the outer layer of fried vermicelli was perfectly crispy and not too thick, while the inside tasted fresh and flavourful. My partners crab rolls were also good, but I would prefer their crust to be a bit less thick. I preferred my partners choice of salad, however. The pomelo chicken salad was not bad, but not as good as the mango with dried shrimp, which was very fresh and tasty with several different, complimenting flavours. For the main course with soup, I chose braised basa fish in clay pot and sour soup with pork ribs, while he got the caramelized pork plus spinach and crab soup. Both main courses were really good. I am normally not a big fan of fish, but this is definitely one of the best fish in clay pot dish Ive had in a Vietnamese restaurant, flavourful with just the right balance of different spices, not overdone, like it is at many other places. When I invited my partner to try it, he was reluctant at first, saying he was already quite full. After taking a bite, he asked me if he could finish the rest.

Main courses: Clockwise from top left: Caramelized pork, braised basa fish in clay pot and sour soup with pork ribs. VNS Photo The Nomad Quynh

Old world charm: View of the outdoor area on the ground floor. VNS Photo The Nomad Quynh

The caramelized pork in clay pot was also very good and is a safe option if you dont like fish. The soups were tasty as well, but if youre not a fan of ribs with bones, the spinach and crab soup would be a better choice.

We were both very full, but I managed to persuade my partner to try their dessert - passion fruit mousse. We didnt regret it. The mousse was nicely presented inside a real passion fruit. It was delicious, just sour enough to make you feel less full after a big meal. We finished it in no time.

The drinks are also worth a mention. We both had kumquat tea with no sugar. For VN35,000 it is a refreshing, reasonably priced drink There are many other alcoholic and non-alcoholic options in the menu.

The meal was made more enjoyable by the professional service of well trained staff.

We chatted with one of the owners, Ms Hong. She said she opened this restaurant with two other partners from France and Hong Kong. She and Pierre  her French partner, also own the B3 Steakhouse&Craft Beer  a nice, reasonably priced steakhouse in HCM City.

We have always liked this French colonial venue, so when their contract with the previous establishment ended, we thought why not open a Vietnamese restaurant here since we all love Vietnamese food. As you probably can see, both the decoration and the food here somehow reflect all our different tastes as a Vietnamese, a French and a Chinese. Our menu is a combination of our most favourite Vietnamese dishes, and we try to provide the healthiest food with the freshest ingredients. We use no MSG in our cooking.

She also told us that they are planning to launch a new menu with a lot of new, interesting dishes next month. This beautiful and spacious venue is also a good choice if you want to host a large group of customers.

My foreign partner was so happy that he took down the address so that he could return here on his next business trip. In a city full of Vietnamese restaurants, I must say that Citadel Saigon has succeeded in displaying its own flair.

Citadel Saigon

Address: 74/7 Hai Ba Trung, District 1, HCM City

Tel: 0163 278 1770

Opening hours: Everyday from 11am  11pm

Comment: Lovely Vietnamese restaurant located in the heart of HCM City in an old French colonial building that was once a citadel. Food is made with fresh ingredients using no MSG.
AVON, Minn. (AP)  Hot coals, molten iron and the clang of metal on metal. This is therapy, blacksmith-style.

Ken and MaryLou Zitur have owned Kens Custom Iron since 1988, creating ironwork and metal fabrication for home and business use, as well as products for use by other blacksmiths.

We went all hells bells into it together, Ken and I, MaryLou Zitur told the St. Cloud Times. Weve spent every moment together since.

Now, theyre opening their doors to veterans with a yen for blacksmithing  for free.

At their Blacksmithing for Veterans event Nov. 10, nearly 60 veterans packed into the Zitur familys workshop space for an open-forge experience that allows them to work at one of five stations, ask questions and socialize.

I know my dad has had it in his heart to honor vets since I came back from active duty, said the Ziturs daughter, Samantha Rule, who served in the U.S. Air Force and now works as a customer care manager for her parents shop with her husband, Justin.

Were really honored to be able to host this, Rule said. Its not about us; its about the veterans. We cant say enough how appreciative we are for them and their service.

The idea to host a free event for veterans stemmed from a study discovered by Ken Zitur, which indicated that blacksmithing may be therapeutic for veterans suffering from PTSD.

I think whats special about blacksmithing is that it helps mentally and physically  you have to focus all your attention on the task, because theres so much that can go wrong, Rule said.

Blacksmithing is also a low-cost hobby for beginners, according to MaryLou Zitur.

You dont need a lot of money to do it, she said. Even if you cant afford an anvil to pound on, you just need a sturdy piece of metal and a hammer.

She said the hot iron and the forge can be mesmerizing.

Over the course of the event, Ken Zitur gave demonstrations on how to handle coal fires and hot metals, how to hammer and more.

When youre in the shop, youve got to assume everything is hot, Ken Zitur told the group, a sentiment that was met with some knowing chuckles. To find out, what I do is test it with the back of my hand. That way, if I get a burn, its on the back of my hand, and I can still pick up my work.

Attendees didnt need to have any blacksmithing experience to attend the workshops; safety glasses and ear plugs were handed out at the door, and then beginners and experts alike could roam from station to station, or simply watch.

Justin Schottmuller had purchased several blacksmithing books before he was deployed to Baghdad with the National Guard.

I was going to come home, build my own forge, the whole thing, Schottmuller said.

When he returned home after his service, a gift of a blacksmithing class and all he had read while abroad motivated him to attend all the local blacksmithing events he could find.

Schottmuller said he doesnt quite know what it is about blacksmithing that calls to him  especially because he comes from a family of carpenters and woodworkers  but his friend Paul Petersen was able to put his own interest in the craft into words.

(Blacksmiths) are taking a piece of raw metal from anywhere, and making it into something beautiful, Petersen said. Petersen also served in Baghdad with the National Guard, though not alongside Schottmuller.

I was flipping through channels and caught Forged in Fire, said Petersen. I was hooked immediately.

Forged in Fire is a competition show centered on blacksmithing that airs on the History Channel. Rule said local interest in the craft has spiked since the show gained popularity.

It has been kicking off like crazy, said MaryLou Zitur. We started doing small classes 14 years ago, and those would have two or three people in them. Now we have 12 classes with 10 people per class.

Rule added that four of those courses are female-only classes. She said that shes excited to help host a space for women to experiment with the craft together.

People tend to think blacksmithing is a male-dominated craft, Rule said. But women can do it, too, and its really cool to see them come together over that.

But at the workshop, men and women alike were coming together over their military service and their interest in blacksmithing. Petersen said its fantastic that the Zitur family would hold an event with veterans in mind.

Its such a good feeling to know that people still have that respect, he said. Its good to know people still feel appreciation.
WATERLOO  A teen accused of trying to hold up a downtown pawn shop has now been charged with robbing a home in September.

Davionte Dashawn Barksdale, 18, was arrested Thursday on charges of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, carrying weapons and going armed, according to Waterloo police.

Authorities allege Barksdale wore a mask and carried a gun when he knocked on the door of a home at 229 Charles St. around 1 p.m. Sept. 5. When the female resident came to the door, he entered, took a gaming system and rifled through her purse before leaving.

Barksdale was later detained in September when officers were called to suspicious activity outside Levi Brothers Jewelry and Loan on East Fourth Street. Police found a .38-caliber revolver with a scratched off serial number in a nearby cigarette urn, and Barksdale was detained for conspiracy. Investigators allege they had planned to steal other firearms in the store.

The conspiracy case was transferred to adult court in October.
URBANDALE  Members of a coalition opposed to abortion plan to push the Legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds next session to approve a measure declaring that life begins at conception as part of a broad effort to overturn the 1973 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

Scott Valencia, president of the Coalition of Pro-Life Leaders, told members of the Westside Conservative Club backers of Senate File 253 plan to push the personhood bill again in 2018 after it fell two votes short of passing a Senate committee in March.

That is going to be a hard, uphill battle, Valencia conceded, but he noted successes last session in defunding Planned Parenthood and enacting a 72-hour waiting period for an abortion and a ban on most abortions after 20 weeks.

We have legislators, we have the governor saying were not done, said Drew Zahn of The Family Leader organization. Were of the same mind  were not done pressing this issue until legislators, until the culture, recognizes this fundamental truth that that little girl kicking in her mothers womb  shes a baby.

Republicans took full control of the Legislature after the 2016 election, and Valencia said groups opposed to abortion are looking at the task in front of them as a two-year journey.

After that session was coming to a close, a lot of them stood up and said this is not over, we believe in this, Valencia said. So we have to give them the opportunity to complete what they said they were going to do.

Once the 2018 session is completed, the coalition plans to produce a score card to show members how legislators voted on priorities.

The legislation  which womens health organizations argue will have far-reaching and unintended consequences  would declare life is protected from the moment of conception  and accorded the same rights and protections guaranteed to all persons.

That bill is a very dangerous bill for Iowa families, said Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen of Des Moines. It would outlaw common forms of birth control, and the consequences of that legislation would be dire.

But Zahn said the key point of the bill is it challenges the question of when life begins and seeks to bring that basic principle before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Isnt it about time that we finally have the conversation of when does life begin? Someone has to move the ball forward on that fundamental question, Zahn told the conservative gathering. It takes one state.
WATERLOO  The city may renew portions of two tax-increment financing districts to keep them from expiring before development occurs.

Waterloo City Council members have set 5:30 p.m. Monday public hearings on plans to remove undeveloped land from the Northeast Industrial Area and San Marnan TIF districts. That land would then be added back into the TIF districts.

The areas removed and then put back into the TIF are undeveloped areas that are not likely to be developed before their 20-year sunset, said City Planner Aric Schroeder. The amendment will establish a new 20-year sunset for these areas.

This would appear to be the best model to accomplish economic development in this area, he added.

Tax-increment financing allows cities to provide industrial park infrastructure, buy land and provide tax incentives to entice business development. Those investments are then paid off with the property taxes generated by the new development within the TIF district.

Waterloo TIF burdens high despite tax release WATERLOO  The city isnt ready to put one of its sharpest economic development tools back i

But economic development TIFs have 20-year time limits. If a city extends incentives or spends money in the latter years of a TIFs life, it could lose the ability to capture the increment property taxes before the debts are paid off.

The original Northeast Industrial Area TIF was created in 1993 to buy land and provide incentives for Ryder Integrated Logistics and subsequent projects. While that TIF was created before the state added sunset clauses, an expansion area created in 2004 has yet to see construction and will expire in 2024.

The San Marnan TIF was created in 1999 for the former GMAC document storage building near Tower Park. It saw a major expansion in 2004, which extended it west past the VGM Group project at Ansborough Avenue and included a large area of farm land south of U.S. Highway 20 from Ansborough east to Iowa Highway 21.

Portions of the San Marnan expansion area, primarily north of U.S. 20 have been developed and are generating increment taxes for the district. Those areas would remain in the district when the undeveloped lots essentially start with a fresh 20-year sunset.

Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson said the city could face problems negotiating development agreements with the current 2024 expiration dates approaching, especially since many of the parcels in question need sewer, roads and other infrastructure.

The city needs time to recaputure the increment to pay for the debt incurred, he said.

A new warehouse locating in the Northeast Industrial Area likely would be eligible for free land and five years of 50 percent tax rebates. Such a project starting in the summer of 2018 may not begin paying property taxes until 2020, so the TIF would expire before the warehouse was fully on the tax roles.

We need to have that guaranteed amount of taxes coming in on the tail end of the rebates to pay back city for costs and also be planning for the next area or parcel to be developed, Anderson said.

Any increased value on the property being removed from the TIF district would be released back to the citys general fund, school districts and county tax base. The property would be returned to the TIF district at its current value.

Waterloo renews Martin Road TIF district WATERLOO  The city gave itself another 20 years to fully develop the Martin Road tax-increm

The City Council took a similar action in November 2016 to remove and return undeveloped portions of the Martin Road TIF district, which includes areas along U.S. Highway 63 from just north of Ridgeway Avenue to the south city limits.
WATERLOO  The Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley needs help with the following:

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa has the opportunity for community members to give back by adopting a Little or a Little and their family for the holiday season. All ages of Littles are available, and accommodations can be made for the family size if needed. Gifts are needed by the week of Dec. 18 to allow delivering of the gifts.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Cedar Valley seeks volunteers from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m. Monday to collect free will donations during Cedar Valley Christmas concert at the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center.

Join the Cedar Valley Jaycees as they pair each volunteer with a child on from 6 to 9:30 a.m. Dec. 2 to buy and wrap holiday gifts and share breakfast.

The ARC of the Cedar Valley needs homemade decorated cookies and Christmas candy dropped off at the North Star on Dec. 8 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to support their annual Cookie Walk.

For more information, call the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley at 272-2087, or go to www.vccv.org.
Wilbur Ross, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, is not happy with you, me, and, based on comments he made at a gathering of big biz executives Nov. 16, our republics representative government.

When asked about the slow-and-getting-slower NAFTA trade talks at an invitation-only Wall Street Journal CEO Council meeting that day in Washington, D.C., Ross, identified by Politico as one of President Donald Trumps closest advisers on trade, said the U.S. will continue to take a hard line on its proposals just as the fifth round of the increasingly bitter talks continued later that week in Mexico City.

Ross went on to report the [NAFTA] negotiating environment has only grown more difficult as a result of industries like ag that have voiced a greater level of concern over the direction the administration is taking in the 2.0 talks.

The Commerce chief was right; ag has voiced great concern over the direction the White House had taken in talks with two of the nations largest farm and food trading partners, Mexico and Canada.

So concerned, in fact, that three weeks before the Journal gathering, 85 farm-affiliated businesses and groups  from Deere & Co. to the Pet Food Institute  sent a sternly-worded letter to Ross calling into question his recent observation that there is not a world of oversupply of agricultural products.

The letter also reminded Ross of the Trump administrations worrisome talk of leaving NAFTA, a deal that accounted for an estimated 28 percent of all U.S. ag exports ($39 billion out of $140.5 billion) in the 2017 ag trade year. Had Ross and the president forgotten that just a year ago, candidate Trumps initiative to modernize NAFTA contained a do no harm pledge to American food and agriculture sectors?

Withdrawing from NAFTA  even the suggestion of withdrawal  the letter warned, would cause immediate, substantial harm to American farmers, ranchers and the U.S. economy as a whole.

If Ross received the letter, he didnt heed it. He again complained about agriculture to the Journal audience when asked about NAFTA. As one special interest group, say agriculture, for example, gets nervous, the Commerce secretary whined, they start screaming and yelling publicly. They start writing letters, soliciting the Congress people, and they start screaming and yelling in public.

And, good grief, an exasperated Ross added, all this public participation just complicates the environment and, frankly, makes the negotiations harder.

Yeah, thats the trouble with democracy. A government of, for and by the people involves  believe it or not  people. Some, like Ross, are rich; others are poor. Some are powerful; others weak. Some are well-informed; others completely ignorant.

All, however, were created equal no matter the amount of money in their back pocket or the number of politicians in their vest pocket. We are equal even if we are the ones screaming and yelling publicly or on the receiving end of the screams and yells.

And, sure, democratic government would be speedier and less messy if we the public sat in silence while the plutocrats and autocrats run it.

But the founders didnt envision a government where individual wealth or personal power were paramount. Instead, they created a government that empowered all people: E pluribus unum, out of many, one. Those many include everyone  billionaires and poets, plumbers and teachers, bankers and, yes, even yellers. Everyone.

Their reason was elegantly simple. If plutocrat billionaires  and even former plutocrat billionaires like Ross  dominated American government, the United States wouldnt be a democratic republic that empowers people; it would be a banana republic owned solely by the powerful.

We are those people, all of us, including Ross. We are the public in public debate, public policy and public accountability. We are, in fact, the public in republic.

Truly successful leaders live this idea from birth; fools die never knowing it.
As a centrist who is fiscally conservative, pro-business, believes in equality on all fronts and understands 87 percent of Americas GDP is from the business sector, Im alarmed as our economy is headed to a dangerous cliff.

President Ronald Reagan (Republican, 1981-1989) often expressed how free trade and open markets were key components to economic growth and international security. Americas first international trade agreement was created under his leadership in 1985.

Today, more than 300,000 U.S. companies employ 41 million Americans who are involved in international trade. Lawmakers know the road to economic recovery from a recession and continued prosperity is paved with trading partners.

President Trumps first executive order, issued Jan. 23, was to withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. America has 14 other free trade agreements with 20 countries.

The populist, authoritarian and nationalist movement of America first trade policy, proposed to President Trump by Stephen Bannon (executive chairman, Breitbart News), has caused a historic shift for the United States. Trumps confrontation with TPP, NAFTA and World Trade Organization, to name a few, has pitted his hostile nationalist agenda against an American tradition of practical internationalism.

The conservative Wall Street Journal has clearly warned citizens the Bannon-Trump policy will hurt our economy and the average American worker.

How important is international trade to Iowans? In Iowa, 456,300 jobs (1 in 5) are linked to international trade. Over 3,420 Iowa companies are involved in the export industry. Customers from 196 countries and territories buy Iowa-made goods and services.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, America depends far more on the global economy than it did two decades ago and international trade and foreign investment are increasingly vital to U.S.

Business groups and lawmakers throughout America lament Trump walked away from TPP while throwing our 11 trading partner countries under the bus. On Nov. 11, those 11 countries reached an agreement between themselves to further trade while ignoring America.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a member of the committee that oversees trade, said, Im more concerned about what they might do renegotiating existing agreements than what they do bilaterally with countries they dont have agreements with.

Regarding Trumps NAFTA renegotiation, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said, I have been worried because other countries have pushed back: You want us to build a wall, well were not going to take your corn. If were talking about renegotiating NAFTA, we actually stand to lose ground in agriculture, so we would really have to work that very, very carefully.

After three decades of America opening up trade markets, the dominoes of Trumps America first policy are falling, and it is alarming. John Murphy, international policy vice president, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said, Industry after industry is engaged in fierce global competition. There is a sense in which the United States is standing still, while countries around us are moving forward.

Russia and China, especially, have the most to gain from Bannon-Trumps international trade mistake. Its obvious why Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were so hospitable to Trump during his recent Asia trip.
The congressional oath of office: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

The italics are mine to emphasize there are forces out to destroy mankinds most elegant accomplishment, the foundation for the United States of America. You think Im crazy? Wake up to what is occurring every day. Internally, we have the moneyed oligarchy that wants absolutely no government interference or taxation affecting their quest to amass more wealth and power. Externally, we have a multiplicity of enemies and no friends, who want to see every American citizen on their knees. Where we have reached out to help other countries, do you think they will assist us? Ponder that. Our president says, America first, but only for the ultra-moneyed class.

All of the above brings us to a supine, self-serving legislative branch of our government that is the antithesis of good management. We have a bunch in charge whose only agenda is to revoke everything the previous administration accomplished. Yes, he was black. Get over it! Meanwhile, they do nothing to counteract threats to our nation or even life on Earth.

You think we arent being threatened? Look at what is happening as you read this. We have two regimes, North Korea and Iran, on the cusp of atomic war. The latter country has a mantra repeated daily, Death to America. We have China and Russia sitting on 90 percent of rare-earth minerals vital for our electronics industry. We have hackers from every country in the world electronically stealing huge amounts of cash and information. We have China extending its sphere of influence over the South China Sea to control all shipping. Wait for them to demand payment for safe passage. We have Russia placing missiles in the Arctic region of Siberia aimed at  guess who? What has Congress demanded be done with our northern border?

As told televisions 60 Minutes, Congress decimated the DEAs control over opioid distribution, and thousands have died or will die from the epidemic availability of opioid drugs. Scientific Americans editorial board labeled the actions of the Houses Committee on Science, Space and Technology as lunacy.

Internally we have the greatest threat to our democratic process brought on by the most abominable Supreme Court decision in more than a century. Whats being done to counteract this dreadful decision that has foreign-owned shadow companies using cash to control our elections? We have a Congress that attaches earmark expenditures to totally unrelated legislation. Foreign countries are taking over our major technological companies. Our infrastructure has life-threatening deficiencies. The only tax reform they can think of is to give the super-rich more money. Potable water is disappearing, and pollution is rampant. Are we experiencing dereliction of duty, criminal acts or treason?

Just asking. Get rid of this bunch and replace them with problem solvers.
Dear Donald: If you really believe me, if you think us Russians didnt try to tilt the election in your favor, then I have a bridge Id like to sell you. Its in Brooklyn. Yours faithfully, Vlad.

That note could well have been waiting for President Trump as he returned from his lengthy trip to Asia, where he continued to pursue his deranged and dangerous attempts to deny Russian involvement in last years election. His statements reveal a man deeply committed to a post-truth world  a place where facts and fact-finders dont matter, and he alone, the Twitter King, gets to define reality.

Even worse, his attempts at denial are profoundly un-American, rejecting the consensus view of his own intelligence agencies while swallowing the disinformation spread by the Russian ruler, a tyrant who has repeatedly demonstrated his disdain for democratic values and exceeds even Trump in assaulting his media and political critics.

Putin lies. Trump believes. And the world laughs. On what planet does this make America great again?

As Sen. John McCain said: Theres nothing America first about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community. ... Vladimir Putin does not have Americas interests at heart. To believe otherwise is not only naive but also places our national security at risk.

Last January, Americas intelligence agencies issued a joint report concluding Moscow tried to influence the U.S. election. Special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to probe those influences more deeply.

The president was given clear and indisputable evidence of Russias role, says James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, and yet Trump continues to reject that evidence, fearing it could undermine the legitimacy of his election. He fired FBI director James Comey in a failed attempt to sidetrack ongoing investigations, and during his Asia trip, returned yet again to a topic that clearly burns him to the core.

That clear and indisputable evidence is really an artificial Democratic hit job, he told reporters, adding that the intelligence chiefs who produced the report are political hacks. His critics are all haters and fools who dont understand the importance of refurbishing relations with Russia. Putin vehemently denies any knowledge of election meddling, and Trump believes his denials.

The reaction was so negative Trump backtracked slightly, saying he accepted the findings of the intelligence agencies, but he clearly doesnt. His ego is so huge and so fragile he denies any fact that contradicts his worldview.

Putin knows and exploits this character flaw. The former KGB officer is a trained liar and manipulator, said former deputy CIA director Michael Morell to the Washington Post, and Trump is swallowing his propaganda hook, line and sinker.

Trump knows Putin helped him and is grateful for the boost in defeating crooked Hillary. But because Putin denies the help, and Trump gratefully accepts the denial  bolstering the argument he won on his own  the president is even further in Putins debt. A brilliant KGB double play. And thats what has intelligence experts so worried.

I think Mr. Putin is very clever in terms of playing to Mr. Trumps interest in being flattered, former CIA director John Brennan told CNN. And I also think Mr. Trump is, for whatever reason, either intimidated by Mr. Putin, afraid of what he could do or what might come out as a result of these investigations.

The presidents refusal to confront Putin, while eagerly embracing the Russian leaders lies, demonstrates to Mr. Putin that Donald Trump can be played by foreign leaders who are going to appeal to his ego and to try to play upon his insecurities, which is very, very worrisome from a national security standpoint, says Brennan.

In Trumps view, the artificial Democratic hit job is hindering his ability to forge a new relationship with Russia and solve a range of problems, including North Koreas nuclear threat. Its a shame because people will die because of it, he complained.

And normally, improving relationships with Moscow would certainly advance Americas interests. But these are not normal times. Putin has proven, over and over again, from Ukraine to Syria, that he is no friend to America or to democratic values.

I dont know why the ambiguity about this, said Brennan. Putin is committed to undermining our system, our democracy and our whole process. And to try to paint it in any other way is, I think is astounding, and in fact, poses a peril to this country.

So Donald, about that bridge ...
Late last week I got an email from David Gelles, a reporter at the New York Times. He said he was working on a story about Etsy and wondered if we could talk. We had an interesting conversation later that evening. When I asked what the article would be about he said, The company was finally ready to tell its story. That certainly sounded intriguing.

Ive been writing about Etsy for many years now, and have been a seller on the site since July 2005, a month after it launched. Some of my own Etsy articles include:

Writing all of these articles has helped me to learn about business, big and small. Ive learned about manufacturing, importing, the stock market, ecommerce and more. Its been like a mini business school education.

When I was speaking to the New York Times reporter he said, A lot of the people I talked to for this story so far told me I should talk to you. That means so much. It was fun to have the Times photographer here on Friday for a photo shoot in my studio (check out Kayanas portfolio), but more than anything it was really gratifying for me to be part of this larger conversation about craft and commerce.

Read the New York Times piece here.

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Staying out of debt is easier said than done, I know. However, its something you can do, and its something you should be practicing everyday. As Christians, we are in this world, but we are
News / Agriculture

by Stephen Jakes

Matabaleland formers have been invited for a meeting with the Provincial Veterinary Officer of Mat South Dr Mdlongwa in Gwanda on November 29.A notice to the farmers states that Mdlongwa invited all mat south farmers to a meeting on the 29th of November at Gwanda provincial Veterinary offices at 9am."This meeting has been called to discuss the FMD situation in the province. I wish to urge farmers to seriously take this invitation and we attend in our numbers. Such forums are where we Ned to propose what we think its best for our cattle industry," reads the notice.
Draughts is a funky little cafe tucked into a railway arch in Islington, in north London. It has exposed brick walls, a bar stocked with trendy craft beers and a selection of comfy chairs. The toast is artisanal and the avocados are smashed. But the most striking thing is the shelves arrayed at the back of the cafe. They groan with board games  more than 700 of them, according to Russell Chapman, who works there. When it was founded in 2014, Draughts became Londons first dedicated board-game cafe. All the old classics are there: Monopoly, Risk, Battleship, along with their memories of family arguments at Christmas. But the main draw for the patrons is a new generation of deeper, more involving  simply better  games that have been devised over the past couple of decades. At one table a group of people are playing Pandemic, a tricky, strategy game in which players are cast as doctors and scientists trying to save the world from four plagues. Their neighbours are engrossed in a game of Castle Panic, in which the defenders co-operate to defend a fortress from a horde of encroaching monsters.

A board-game cafe sounds like the sort of niche business that appeals only to hip millennials with a fondness for ironic nostalgia. But, on a Friday afternoon, the crowd is more diverse than that, with families and 50-somethings alongside the youngsters. Draughts is doing so well that its owners are now pondering opening another branch. It is just one beneficiary of a new golden age in board games. The most popular games sell in their millions. Top of the list is Settlers of Catan, in which players compete to settle a fictional wilderness. It has shifted more than 20m copies since the first edition of 5,000 was released in Germany in 1995. Dominion, a medieval-flavoured card game, released in 2008, has sold 2.5m copies.

More here.
Amal de Chickera in openDemocracy [h/t: Ram Manikkalingam]:

2. ARSA terrorists and the Burmese state  the world judges the perpetrators, not the crime

The most immediate reactions to the events since 25 August were very insightful. Many countries were nuanced in their response to the atrocities committed by the Myanmar military, which were touted as a clearance operation.

They were quick to point out the states right to protect its territorial integrity, and were supportive of state efforts to root out terrorism. No state questioned if the ARSA attacks were the excuse Myanmar had been waiting for, or looked at the atrocities in the context of Myanmars decades-long track record on the Rohingya.

The gripe was with the degree of force used by Myanmar and its indiscriminate nature. It was not with the fact that force was being used at all. And so, Myanmar was called on to carry out its clearance operation with restraint. This is akin to asking a rapist to in future, only commit sexual harassment.

By contrast, condemnations of ARSA  the fledgling militant outfit  were fast, furious and uncompromising. The killing of 12 police officers was condemned without qualification; not so, Myanmars killings, rapes, arsons, forced expulsion etc., of Rohingya in the hundreds of thousands.

This duality of response is telling of a deeper (perhaps the deepest) problem in global politics. And it is not just limited to state responses. States are at the centre of the status quo, and states will be extremely conservative and cautious in their criticisms of other states, while being liberal and (almost) uninhibited in their criticisms of actors who confront or threaten states.

More here.
Justin Fox in the New York Times:

In 2010, Greece was insolvent. The profligacy of Greek governments and the staggering laxity of lenders after the country joined the European common currency in 2001 had left it with huge debts that, in the aftermath of a global recession, it could no longer afford to service. Countries in such straits usually go through ad hoc bankruptcies known as sovereign debt crises, in which the currency is devalued and debts defaulted upon and/or written down. These can be messy, but they do at least allow for fresh starts.

Short of leaving the euro, a move with no precedent or procedure and a high risk of cascading chaos, this was not an option for Greece. So in May 2010, the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund stepped in with what was characterized as a 110 billion euro ($146 billion at the time) bailout.

It wasnt so much a bailout of Greece, though, as of its lenders, notably the struggling big banks of France and Germany. Greece still owed an impossible amount of money, only now its main creditors were the troika of E.C., E.C.B. and I.M.F., which went on to impose harsh austerity measures. That austerity accelerated Greeces economic decline, making repayment of its debts even less likely. More bailouts that werent exactly bailouts followed.

Fiscal waterboarding is the name that the University of Athens economist Yanis Varoufakis gave to this process, after the torture method that simulates near-drowning again and again. And just as intelligence experts generally dont think waterboarding is an effective way to extract information, it is hard to find an outside economic or financial expert who thinks the troikas Greece policy has been effective or sensible.

More here.
Timothy Shenk in TNR:

The notion that a governments chief obligation is getting stuff done is a fairly recent arrival on the historical scene. Not until the twentieth century did it attain the commonsensical status it enjoys today. As Antonin Scalia observed with characteristic snark, the Constitution contains no whatever-it-takes-to-solve-a-national-problem power. Policy arose in fits and starts over centuries, and the legacy of that jagged evolution is still with us. Today, policymaking has taken over a government that is nonetheless bound by the Constitution; politicians promise to swoop in and fix whatever has gone wrong, while working in a system that is designed to curb the impulse to intervene. That tension has helped bring us to our current impasse, where Americans ask more than ever from a government they increasingly distrust.

Understanding how we arrived at this juncture is the task that political scientists Karen Orren and Stephen Skowronek have set for themselves in The Policy State. Completed at the onset of the Trump administration, it is a slender volume that draws upon their decades of research on the making and remaking of American political institutions. The book is also a sterling example of political science at its best: analytically rigorous, historically informed, and targeted at questions of undeniable contemporary significance. In the measured tones of senior academics, Orren and Skowronek uncover a transformation that revolutionized American politics and now threatens to tear it apart.

When James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and other delegates gathered in Philadelphia to draft the Constitution in 1787, they aimed to balance two conflicting imperatives. They wanted a state powerful enough to take decisive action in a few key areas but not so strong that it would give way to tyranny. They also wanted a government accountable to the will of the people but equally able to resist demagogues, who might sway voters with what Madison called a wicked project like the equal division of property.

More here.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Two Bulawayo residents defrauded a home seeker of $5000 after they purported to be selling a housing stand luring him to pay the money.Promise Moyo (42) and Wilson Banda (56) were denying the charge of fraud when they appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Franklin Mkhwananzi.The court was told that the two defrauded Phawulani Ndlovu (37) of his $5000 after they claimed to be selling a housing stand at over $7000.They expected him to make a $6 259 and be left with a balance of $800.He paid $4000 initial and later paid $500 and lastly paid $629 but later the two were not committal to showing him the stand until he made a report to the police leading to their arrest.


$2.5M Cash Capital Raising Fully Subscribed

Sydney, Nov 27, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited ( ASX:COB ) (Company or Cobalt Blue) is pleased to announce it has received firm commitments from investors for a securities placement to raise gross proceeds of AUD$2.5 million.



Under the offer, approximately 11.4 million new ordinary fully paid shares are to be issued and allotted by the Company (Shares), with approximately 2.8 million free attaching listed options (1 for 4) granted on the same terms and conditions as existing listed options (see Note below). (Options) Proceeds are A$0.22 cash per Share. (Placement).



The Placement was managed by NSW based stockbroker Blue Ocean Equities Pty Limited (Blue Ocean).



The Shares and Options are to be issued under the Company's available 15% capacity under Australian Securities Exchange Limited (ASX) Listing Rule 7.1.



Funds raised will be applied as follows:



Following a recent commercial visit in November to Korea and Japan, potential partners have highlighted the desire to source cobalt sulphate samples for in-house purity testing. In order to produce a sufficient sample quantity for evaluation by Japanese, Korean and Chinese entities, COB is seeking funds to:



- increase the scale of the Pre-Feasibility study testwork program to produce the volume of cobalt sulphate requested; and



- potentially enhance Thackaringa's commercial production via further technical improvements.



The production of these samples is an important step to seeking long term relationships with the battery industry and key equity/debt participants



More detail about the Company's projects can be found within the investor's presentation which is available on the Company's website http://www.cobaltblueholdings.com



Note: Each option has the right to subscribe for one fully paid ordinary share issued by the Company (Share) for a cash exercise price of A$0.25 each Share, on any business day until expiry on 2 May 2020.





About Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited





Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX:COB) (FRA:COH) (OTCMKTS:CBBHF) is an exploration and project development company. Work programs advancing the Broken Hill Cobalt Project in New South Wales continue. Our ambitious goals are subject to funding availability. Cobalt is a strategic metal in strong demand for new generation batteries, particularly lithium-ion batteries now being widely used in clean energy systems.
Director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan said he is feels ashamed of standing up for his film S Durga, which was excluded from the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

The 40-year-old director said that the I and B ministry has taken the Kerala High Courts ruling to heart, after the judiciary ordered them to screen the Malayalam movie at the ongoing movie gala.

When I went to court, I thought I was fighting with the system. But now it has turned into an ego issue I feel the ministry has taken it personally I feel ashamed that I fought, Sanal told PTI.

The filmmaker, who reached here last night after attending Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane, said he tried meeting IFFI director Sunit Tandon to discuss when they plan to conduct the screening of the film but had to wait for a long time to get through him.

Sanal added he had submitted all the required documentation as demanded by the festival authorities on Saturday but is still unsure if the movie would be shown at IFFI, which closes on November 28.

He said he had produced the censored version of the movie in 35mm print, along with a copy of the censor certificate, along with two DVD copies to IFFI.

I handed over all the required things to IFFI, but I havent got any assurance that my film will be screened, he said.

On Friday, Kerala High Court declined to stay a single bench order to screen the Malayalam film at the Panorama section.

In the appeal, the government had stated that the film, though selected by the jury, had not secured the exemption as required by the Panorama regulation in the absence of any certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

It was also contended by the Centre that the inclusion of the film is likely to upset the arrangements of the 48th IFFI.

Sanal had moved the court after S durga was dropped from the festivals Panorama section, along with the Marathi film Nude.
Islamist party activists on Sunday clashed with security forces for a second day on the outskirts of Pakistans capital, Islamabad, burning vehicles before withdrawing to a protest camp they have occupied for more than two weeks, police said.

According media reports at least six people were killed on the previous day, when several thousand police and paramilitary tried to disperse a sit-in protest by the religious hard-liners, who have blocked the main route into the capital from the neighbouring garrison city of Rawalpindi.

More than 125 people were wounded in Saturdays failed crackdown, and police superintendent Amir Niazi said 80 members of the security forces were among the casualties.

On Sunday morning, smoke billowed from the charred remains of a car and three motorcycles near the protest camp, where several thousand members of the Tehreek-e-Labaid party have gathered in defiance.

Police and paramilitary forces had surrounded the camp in the Faizabad district between the two cities, but no army troops were on the scene, despite a call the night before by the civilian government for the military to help restore order.

We will move when we have orders, Niazi, the police superintendent, said on Saturday. What the protesters did yesterday was in no means was lawful. They attacked our forces.

Activists from Tehreek-e-Labaik have blocked the main road into the capital for two weeks, accusing the law minister of blasphemy against Islam and demanding his dismissal and arrest.

We are in our thousands. We will not leave. We will fight until end, Tehreek-e-Labaik party spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told Reuters on Saturday.

Tehreek-e-Labaik is one of two new ultra-religious political movements that became prominent in recent months.

While Islamist parties are unlikely to win a majority they could play a major role in elections that must be held by summer next year.

Tehreek-e-Laibak was born out of a protest movement lionizing Mumtaz Qadri, a bodyguard of the governor of Punjab province who gunned down his boss in 2011 over his call to reform strict blasphemy laws.

The party won a surprisingly strong 7.6 percent of the vote in a by-election in Peshawar last month.
In a hard-hitting judgement, the Supreme Court ruled that the engineering degrees awarded by deemed universities through the correspondence mode during the period 2001-2005 are invalid. The verdict also ordered a CBI enquiry on regulatory authorities who passed approvals to these institutions for those courses.

The contentious universities started their correspondence courses without obtaining the approval from neither the University Grants Commission (UGC), or from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), as the court opined that technical education could not be imparted through correspondence mode.

The judgement has the potential of making many of those students unqualified for the jobs they are currently engaged with, and taking away their livelihood, and placing a blot on their academic credentials.

It would have been large-hearted if only the verdict carried prospective effect. What if it were medical degrees? Is it possible to undo the clinical treatments given to various patients during the said period?

Why judge again?

The Court has directed the AICTE to hold a test for those graduates to enable them to retain the degree/s, and up to two chances will be given to clear the papers. What will happen to those who fail in the re-test?

While conceding that some of the institutions may have indulged in malpractices, illegally advanced their commercial interests, and handled academic programmes that were forbidden to them, and the regulators fail to oversee the merits, it is deplorable that the students had to face the pain of being re-tested, or delete the degree from the candidates academic profile, after having had toiled for it. Unfortunately, these candidates did not have the benefit of an audience before the learned jury.

After more than a decade from the date of their original completion of graduation, their career growth should be based on their performance appraisals, not academic degrees. Isnt it agonising to give a test again in all the subjects? A lot of what you study at college is not meant to be remembered after a while. A test at the end of a semester is supposed to ensure that you gained a fair amount of understanding at that time, in the hope that some of it would be internalised in your education.

Those graduates were judged by their employer before they were hired and are periodically evaluated for their performance. Why should they go through the mill for the regulatory lapses?

More degrees, less knowledge

On a serious note, do Indian degrees correspond to knowledge? A rising demand for the college degrees has led to the proliferation of hundreds of private colleges with little regulatory supervision. The term university is used rampantly, giving an impression that they are approved universities.

On the contrary, some of the premier institutions, though not formally recognised by UGC, dont provide any degree/diploma, but only a certificate. Such schools also house brilliant pupils and faculty. Many corporates select candidates based more on their skills, rather than degrees.

Regulatory failure

The verdict also raised serious questions about the efficacy of the UGC as a regulatory body. While denouncing on the performance of the UGC, the honourable court said, The UGC failed to regulate the deemed universities although it is the sole regulating body in the country for distance education. Deemed universities violated the norms as there was neither an approved engineering college, nor qualified faculty at their campuses.

Any remedy for the students?

Based on the judgement, can the aggrieved students claim suitable compensation from those institutions/regulators for deceiving them and playing with their time, money and careers?

In early 2014, the SC had directed the government to take a look at the fate of 44 deemed universities which were recommended to be blacklisted. The HRD Ministry, which had sought de-notification of these 44 institutions, assured the Court that the future of students is not affected. Are the names referred by the SC in the recent judgement still appearing in the list of these 44 institutions? Now, does the government have anything to offer the anguished pupils?

The judgement will also affect students living in villages and remote areas where institutions of higher learning are not available.

Last word

The apex court also observed that commercialisation of education seriously affects credibility of standards in education, and seriously affecting excellence and merit.

One thing is clear: The price of this mess is being paid by students.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
News / National

by Stephen Jake

Habakkuk Trust director Dumisani Nyongolo Nkomo has urged the citizens to confront the new Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa with several demands before its too late."The people's demands must be clear . It must not be about handing power from Mugabe to E.D , we need to make it a people's agenda not to endorse but to seize the opportunity and place our demands on the table," he said."This includes:"1. Transition to democratic dispensation occasioned by a timed framed , credible ,inclusive transitional authority birthed by an inclusive all stakeholders dialogue ."2. Road map to free and fair elections supervised by the U.N"3. Regional , international observers to be deployed six months before and after election"4. Measures to restore confidence in the economy"5. Alignment to constitution of key laws"6. Devolution of power framework to be put in place."
Assyrian, Athens and Italy

Maria Nissan, an Assyrian Master of Fine Arts student at the University of Georgia. ( Margherita Vallini) University of Georgia graduate Maria Nissan is utilizing her graduate thesis project to bring together the two cities that she loves Athens, Georgia, and her current home of Florence, Italy.

Nissan, a Master of Fine Arts student, is creating an immersive sensorial installation project. The project will be made from coffee and tea filters that she is collecting from both cities. In its final state the project will be an entire room of filters that have been sewn together to look like a tent.

"I originally started this project because I wanted to bring back a part of Athens with me to Italy," Nissan said.

Nissan Attended UGA where she earned a degree in art education and lived in Athens for six years. Living in Athens left a lasting memory on her that she says can't compete with any other place that she visits.

"I was a flight attendant and have travelled to nine countries during 2017. No matter what place I am in I have never felt a stronger community than Athens," Nissan said. "The locals here have a rich history with the town's character. You will never meet a person who says they hate Athens."

The Athens community helped Nissan to gain more confidence and understanding in her work as an artist. Nissan also said that living in Athens provided her with a break from the cultural discrimination that she has face all her life as someone of Assyrian-Iraqi background.

"When I first started my academic career here as an artist I had no confidence in my art and didn't understand it. But the people here, my professors, and the community saw something I didn't," Nissan said. "Athens just said yes, we accept you, as is."

Attending UGA helped Nissan to meet some life changing professors that mentored her and helped her transition from a student making art into an artist and they continue to help her through the difficulties of being an artist.

"We spent countless hours discussing the philosophies of life as an artist. They didn't play pretend with me, they prepared me for the difficulties that would come with being an artist and believing in yourself continuously," Nissan said. "Whenever I would find myself depressed in Italy and with my art, I would reread their recommendation letters written for me for grad school. Sometimes you meet a person that changes everything. I met three."

Associate professor of art, Chris Hocking, remembers Nissan and says that the two still keep in touch even though Nissan is currently all the way in Italy. He describes Nissan as ambitious talented and a hard worker. Hocking says that the project sounds great but that he doesn't know much about it or how it looks.

"I think it's supposed to be an installation size work which means it's going to be a very large kind of room sized piece but it trying to tie everybody in through smell and touch sight proximity to the piece so it's going to serve as a nice metaphor," Hacking said. "The most interesting part is how it evolves and how she's developing as a person and as an artist."

Whether he knows it or not Hocking played a huge role in Nissan's project because the idea to use filters came from a conversation that she had with him at Walker's Coffee Shop and Pub in Athens.

"My previous installation was expensive and I needed to use cheaper materials. He looked at my tea bag and suggested filters," Nissan said. "That idea planted the seed and it evolved. I had no idea the project would turn into my master's thesis."

The main focus of Nissan's project is to merge one part of her personality with another hence why she is using coffee and tea filters from both Athens and Florence.

"Athens and Italy have been major landmarks in my identity and I wanted to merge these two parts of me together," Nissan said.

Another aspect of the project is incorporating the community. Nissan has collected filters from 14 different local Athens restaurants for her project. Currently more than 1,000 people have unknowingly helped Nissan with her project.

"Each tea urn requires 80 people to drink from it. Each coffee pot requires 20 people, a total of 6,000 people that have helped this art piece in the communities. My goal is 10,000 collaborators," Nissan said.

Brittany Warnock, general manager at the Iron Factory in Athens and a close friend of Nissan's, helped her to collect filters while Nissan was still in Athens.

"It was really cool to see her brining kind of bringing her heart into Italy a little bit by using these little bits of Athens and kind of putting them all together," Warnock said.

She is excited to see the final piece and has nothing but kind words to say about the artist.

"If you've ever met Maria she has a very big personality and her art is like that too its very big and it's very in your face kind of and so I'm sure her professors over there in Italy are thrilled to have her because I'm sure she adds something that they've never seen before and I'm proud that she comes from Georgia," Warnock said.

A challenge that Nissan has face with her project is getting the word out. Social media has helped but she still needs help to reach her goal of having 10,000 collaborators involved.

"I am asking all local restaurants who would be willing to participate to please contact me," Nissan said. "This project is constantly evolving and I am sure my next trip to Athens will contribute to its growth."
Countering Genocide: The Importance of Prayer and Aid for the Persecuted

Bullet holes and a defaced cross mar the main altar of St. Addai's Church in Karemles. ( Edward Pentin) The savagery of the Islamic State's two-year assault on Christian and Yazidi men, women and children led the Obama administration to declare that the terrorist organization had committed genocide against religious minorities in the Middle East. The March 17, 2016, designation of ISIS' campaign as a crime against humanity, followed by a bipartisan genocide resolution passed by Congress, inspired fresh hope that the terrorists' victims would finally obtain the security, legal protection and humanitarian assistance they needed before they could return to their ancestral communities. Yet today, with the terrorist organization holding just 5% of the territory it once dominated in Iraq and Syria, displaced Iraqis in Erbil and those returning to shattered neighborhoods elsewhere have received little or no assistance from the U.S. government or the United Nations. Instead, they depend on the generous, but limited, services covered by the Knights of Columbus and other faith-based nonprofits like Aid to the Church in Need and Catholic Relief Services, working in tandem with local Church leaders and Caritas.

If this desperate state of affairs continues, Catholic leaders and activists have warned, these Christians, who have too few means to rebuild their own lives, and Christianity, with its two-millennia-old heritage, will likely be extinguished from the Middle East -- just as ISIS had planned. This watershed moment should prompt an examination of conscience in the corridors of power in Washington, the chanceries of U.S. dioceses and the homes of the faithful. And to aid that process of critical spiritual and moral reflection, advocates for persecuted Christians have organized a week of prayer and activism this month that will highlight the crisis facing our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. "What we have seen and witnessed is not merely a violation of religious rights and not simply religious persecution," Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore told the Register. "We have seen ... genocide based on religion. There are Muslim minorities and other religious minorities, but by far the largest group is of the Christian faith," added the archbishop, who served as the U.S. bishops' point man on religious freedom from 2011 to 2017. Like many advocates for persecuted Christians, the Baltimore archbishop expressed frustration with Washington's response to the genocide designation. "The aid was being distributed primarily through the U.N. and by USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development]," Archbishop Lori said, "but it wasn't reaching these persecuted Christians." A coalition of U.S. lawmakers, Church groups and activists has mounted an uphill battle to change U.S. policy and provide specific aid to genocide victims. The coalition includes the Knights of Columbus, which already has raised millions of dollars to aid genocide victims, Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, and Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., who have sponsored critical legislation designed to help religious minorities targeted by ISIS: H.R. 390, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act of 2017. In late October, this coalition's hard-fought efforts secured a key victory. Vice President Mike Pence announced that the Trump administration would now depend on USAID to funnel aid to genocide victims. "Christianity is under unprecedented assault in those ancient lands where it first grew," the vice president said. "Help is on the way." The new policy will take effect by March, with the expectation that USAID will direct federal dollars to faith-based organizations, which will partner with other international and local Church groups to assist embattled religious minorities. This policy change marks a long-overdue course correction for Washington, which has until now let the U.N. manage outreach to genocide victims despite vocal complaints from critics. Last month, for example, the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) released its "Iraq Stabilization for Nineveh Report," which claimed that a sizable number of its projects assisted Christian areas. But local Church authorities contend that members of their flocks are not living in many of the localities identified as "Christian." They also note long-standing problems with poorly executed projects, due to a pervasive lack of accountability. Additional concerns are outlined in a formal response to the UNDP report by the Church-based coalition In Defense of Christians, which boasts Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York among its advisers. The good news is that the administration's new policy will likely give Church groups a significant oversight role, and that will provide a better level of accountability as new projects are initiated. Advocates for embattled religious minorities have also welcomed a policy shift that acknowledges the specific needs of communities under threat of genocide. "Trusting religious organizations with funds to aid refugees of their own religion" is important on a humanitarian level, Cardinal Dolan told the Register. "These folks are on the front lines. They know where the people are suffering," and they "can get the aid to them quickly." In recent years, U.N. and senior U.S. government officials have justified their muted response to the plight of these vulnerable communities with the explanation that they have "prioritized individual needs, not group needs," Supreme Knight Carl Anderson noted in a March column for The Washington Post. "This means that, when being considered for aid or resettlement, those who are the targets of genocide do not have their status as communities marked for extermination taken into account." Yet in past decades, Washington offered generous help to groups of people who were victims of genocide, including the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, Anderson pointed out. And this September, after an estimated 400,000 Rohingya Muslims fled violence in Myanmar, the U.S. State Department said it would provide $32 million in humanitarian assistance to the religious minority in the predominantly Buddhist country. Church leaders have properly and consistently pressed for the humanitarian needs of all religious groups. But Washington's quick action on behalf of the Rohingya provides sharp contrast with its largely ineffective response to predominantly Christian communities that face genocide in Iraq and Syria. Indeed, the festering humanitarian and security crisis in the Middle East reminds us that the work initiated by the Knights of Columbus and Rep. Smith isn't over yet. Some would say it is just beginning. The U.S. Senate must still pass its version of H.R. 390 and thus give legislative support for aid to ISIS' victims. "Pastors should address this from the pulpit," George Marlin, the president of Aid to the Church in Need, told the Register. In addition, Church leaders have called for Sunday, Nov. 26, the Solemnity of Christ the King, to be a "Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians" (see EWTN broadcast information that follows). The entire Church -- pastors and their flocks -- is encouraged to "express their solidarity through prayer, sacrifices" and financial help for Christian communities that face enormous hardship. "We must fight," said Marlin, "to keep the Christian presence in the Middle East."
File photo by Sharon Steinmann

LIGHT IT UP

USA Childrens & Womens Hospital, USA Mitchell Cancer Institute, USA Physicians Group and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mobile invite the community to celebrate the joy and wonder of the holiday season during a special tree-lighting ceremony and holiday festival with crafts, treats, local childrens choirs and other live acts and special appearances by Santa Claus and Ronald McDonald. In case of rain, the event will take place Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Lights of Love at USA, Nov. 28 at 4:30 p.m., USA Children's & Women's Hospital, 1700 Center St., free, www.facebook.com/events/487966264929940/.

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Courtesy USA Department of Music

JOY TO THE WORLD

Dr. Laura Moore will conduct the University of South Alabama Concert Choir and University Chorale Holiday Choral Concert, with a repertoire including beautiful sacred works by composers from all eras, as well as fun contemporary settings of holiday carols where even the audience may be asked to sing along. As always, there will be holiday classics mixed in with new sacred and secular settings.

Holiday Choral Concert, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m., USA Laidlaw Performing Arts Center Recital Hall, $8, $5 for USA faculty and staff, youth under 18 and senior citizens, (261) 460-7116 or (251) 469-6136.

Performers from every part of the University of South Alabama department of music will bring Joy to the World at the universitys annual Holiday Concert featuring traditional and modern arrangements of holiday favorites. The concert includes performances from the USA Concert Choir, University Chorale, USA Wind Ensemble, USA Opera Theatre, USA Piano Duo, USA Clarinet Ensemble, Celtic Crue, USA Trombone Ensemble and the USA Steel Band. The Jaguar Marching Band will continue its tradition of closing the evening, this year with a full-band performance of Christmas Festival and Sleigh Ride.

2017 Holiday Concert, Dec. 1 at 6:30 p.m., USA Mitchell Center, free, www.southalabama.edu/colleges/music/.

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Courtesy Battleship Memorial Park

WWII LIFE

Historical re-enactors will bring the WWII era to life aboard the USS Alabama and the USS Drum by demonstrating what life was like during the war, complete with a call to battle stations and emergency drills. Sailors from the living history crew will fire 20mm and 40mm guns as they repel diving air attacks. Battleship Memorial Park will also usher in the holiday season with several activities, including Operation Gratitude. Bring a donation to the William F. Greene State Veterans Home and receive a $2 discount on admission.

Living History Crews, Dec. 2 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., $15 adults, $6 children 6 to 11, $13 seniors citizens 55 and up, free for children 5 and under and active military with ID, Battleship Memorial Park, www.ussalabama.com.

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Lush Facebook photo

TIME TO SHINE

Sponsored by the Loop Business Association, Candlelight at The Loop is a trolley tour and open house at businesses in the Loop area, including Lush, where Mobile native Lauren Denton is signing her book, The Hideaway; The Pillars, where you can shop at the holiday market, have cookies and hot chocolate and get family photos made with Santa Claus for $25; a live nativity scene at Little Flower Catholic Church; and much more.

Candlelight at the Loop, Dec. 1 from 5 to 8 p.m., free, www.facebook.com/events/129699944406350/.

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Bob's Downtown Diner Facebook photo

EAT, DRINK, GIVE

Giving money to a good cause couldnt be easier. All you have to do is visit your favorite restaurant or bar on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day. During the nationwide Dining Out for Life fundraiser, local restaurants and bars will donate 10 percent of the cost of your meal and drinks to AIDS Alabama South, which fights HIV/AIDS along the Gulf Coast. Be sure to visit Bobs Downtown Diner, LuLus Gulf Shores, 219, Bay Breeze Cafe, Flip Side Br and Patio, Time to Eat Cafe, Kazoola, OK Bicycle Shop, Pour Baby, Off the Hook Marina and Grill, Stevies Kitchen, Liquid Lounge, Taqueria Cancun, Island Wing Company and Callaghans Irish Social Club.

Dining Out for Life, Dec. 1, (251) 545-4201 or www.facebook.com/events/129699944406350/.

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President Donald Trump is urging voters to reject Alabama Democrat Doug Jones' bid for the U.S. Senate, saying the former federal prosecutor is "weak on crime, weak on the border and bad for the military."

The criticisms have become the president's mantra as the White House looks to spotlight Jones while directing attention away from GOP nominee Roy Moore, who has been accused of having improper sexual contact with teenage girls in the 1970s.

Here's a look at Jones' stances on the issues highlighted by the president:

Is Doug Jones weak on crime?

What Trump said:

Doug Jones is "weak on crime."

What Jones said:

Jones, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama and assistant U.S. attorney in Birmingham, has touted his law enforcement background, including the prosecution of two Ku Klux Klan members for the decades old bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church.

His campaign answered the "weak on crime" allegations directly.

"I am certain the domestic terrorists Doug locked up as U.S. attorney, including Tommy Blanton, a murderer who sits in prison now and will die there, would disagree that Doug is soft on crime. Officers, police chiefs and prosecutors heralded Doug for his toughness and persistence," the campaign said in a statement.

Is Doug Jones weak on the border?

What Trump said:

Jones is "weak on the border."

What Jones said:

Jones said he does not support the president's efforts to build a wall at the U.S./Mexico border, saying it is "too expensive."

"I don't think we need to be spending $20 billion dollars," on a wall, Jones said. "I want to put it on healthcare, I want to get tax cuts for the middle class."

Jones said he supports programs that allow undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S as children to remain in the country.

"Children and young adults in the (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program are contributing members of our society, serving in the military and owning businesses that employ Americans. More than 109,000 of the DACA participants served in the military and naturalized as citizens as of 2015. In 2016 alone, 359 DACA recipients enlisted in the U.S. Army. DACA participants must maintain clean records and pass background checks and are not threats - simply the product of their parents and grandparents seeking to give them a better life," he said.

Is Doug Jones bad for our military and veterans?

What Trump said:

Jones is "bad for the military."

What Jones said:

Jones maintains defense spending is important, adding "you have to be smart about how money is spent."

"The federal budget is very large, and it contains many components. But I think in today's world, defense spending is very important, making sure we have a capable and modern military to protect this country is incredibly important. That is the most paramount thing."

Jones recently addressed veterans issues, saying they should be honored and we should "ensure they receive quality health care and benefits."

Is Doug Jones bad for gun rights?

What Trump said:

Jones is "bad for our 2nd Amendment."

What Jones said:

Jones said he is a "Second Amendment guy," but said there are "limitations" on Constitutional amendments.

"We've got limitations on all constitutional amendments in one form or another," Jones said. "I want to enforce the laws that we have right now. The biggest issue, I think, that's facing the Second Amendment right now is that we need to make sure we shore up the National Crime Information System, the NCIC system for background checks, to both keep guns out of the hands of criminals, but at the same time, cut down on error so that law-abiding citizens can get those."

Does Doug Jones want to raise taxes?

What Trump said:

Jones wants to raise "taxes to the sky."

What Jones said:

Jones has said he has reservations regarding Trump's tax reform plans.

"We want to make sure anything that is on the table is fair. What I see now troubles me a lot. I don't care about the wealthiest in this country getting huge tax cuts ... while the poor suffer," Jones said.

And abortion?

The president has not addressed the abortion issue in his criticism of Jones but it has become a key issue with Moore, who said the Democratic nominee's pro-choice stance isn't in keeping with the majority of Alabamians. Here's what Jones said about abortion:

What Jones said:

"I fully support a woman's freedom to choose to what happens to her own body. That is an intensely, intensely personal decision that only she, in consultation with her god, her doctor, her partner or family, that's her choice. Having said that, the law for decades has been that late-term procedures are generally restricted except in the case of medical necessity. That's what I support. I don't see any changes in that. It is a personal decision," he said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

BORN on 15 September 1942 in Zvishavane in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe in a farmer family that was aggressively anti establishment, President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa's family had an abrasive relation with the white oppressive regime that led the family to flee for life into neighbouring Zambia.There, Mnangagwa did his primary and secondary education. After finishing his schooling at Mumbwa Boarding School, he enrolled into a Building course from Kafue Trade School, but he eyed Hodgson Technical College, the leading educational institution in the nation.He managed to crack the entrance exam and enrolled into a four- year programme in City and Guilds Industrial Building Course. His interest in political activism sparked during his days in college with UNIP, a student union of which he was an elected executive. He was found guilty of burning one of the buildings during one of his violent political actions against the white-supremacy. As a result of this, he was expelled from the college.Following this incident, he joined hands with three others and started a construction company at Nampala which lasted for three months. He was asked by the United National Independence Party to help organise the party at Chililabombwe (Bancroft) until the end of 1961. Following this, he returned to Lusaka where he became Secretary for the UNIP Youth League while working for a private company. In 1962 he was recruited into Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) by Willie Musarurwa.After joining ZAPU, he left for Tanzania where he stayed in Mbeya and then at the new ZAPU training camp with the likes of James Chikerema, Clement Muchachi and Danha.In April 1963, Mnangagwa, along with twelve other ZAPU cadre members, was sent to Dar es Salaam and on to Egypt for military training at the Heliopolis Training School. In August 1963 he and ten of the 13 cadre members decided to join the newly formed Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF).This led to their detention by Egyptian authorities. During this detention, the ZANU PF members communicated with Robert Mugabe (former President) who was in Tanganyika (Tanzania) at the time and told him that eleven students who had broken away from ZAPU had stopped training and were now detained.Mugabe diverted Trynos Makombe, who was travelling from China, to go to Egypt to secure their release. Makombe provided them with tickets to fly to Dar es Salaam.On arrival in Tanzania, six of the eleven came back to Rhodesia while President Mnangagwa was among the remaining five who joined the first Frelimo Camp at Bagamoyo in late August 1963. President Mnangagwa was sent to China with other Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) cadres, where they spent the first two months at the School of Ideology in Beijing.Combat training was conducted in Nanking for the next three months. He subsequently remained at another school for military engineering. The group consisted of Felix Santana, Robert Garachani, Lloyd Gundu, Phebion Shonhiwa, and John Chigaba. After completing military training in May 1964, they went back to Tanzania, where they formed the "Crocodile Group". There were no weapons available for them to operate in the thenSouthern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), despite this duty having been assigned to John Mataure and Noel Mukono.The group rushed to attend the ZANU Congress in Mkoba, Gweru, sometime in May 1964, arriving a day before the Congress. The results of the election were as follows: Rev Ndabaningi Sithole was elected President and Leopold Takawira was to be the Vice-President. Herbert Chitepo was also elected National Chairman while former President Robert Mugabe was chosen to be the Secretary General. Following the ZANU Congress, three of his colleagues, Shoniwa, Jameson Mudavanhu, and Edison Shirihuru, were captured and arrested for smuggling guns into the country.He sent Lawrence Svosve to go back to Lusaka, Zambia with some messages but never saw him again. In spite of this setback, the Crocodile Group remained in operation and was joined by Matthew Malowa, a ZANU PF member who had trained in Egypt.In addition to smuggling arms into the country, a major task was to recruit supporters from Harare, Masvingo, Mberengwa, and Macheke and smuggle them out through the border at Mutoko, so that they could go on to Tanzania for training, both political and guerrilla. The Crocodile Group travelled entirely on foot between Harare and Mutoko.The ZANU PF leadership at Sikombela sent the Crocodile Group a message exhorting them to take some action so that the newspapers would report and indicate that it was under the orders of the ZANU Military High Command. The intention was that the news clip would then be shown to the OAU Liberation Committee which was meeting in Dar es Salaam so that it would see that ZANU PF was actually active in the country. The message was delivered by William Ndangana who met with the Crocodile Group at Rev Ndabaningi Sithole's house in Highfield, Harare.The plan was to establish roadblocks to terrorise the whites. At this point the group, known by the Rhodesians as the "Crocodile Gang", included William Ndangana, President Mnangagwa, Matthew Malowa, Victor Mlambo, James Dhlamini and Master Tresha.It was during this operation that they killed a resident farmer and police reservist, Petrus Oberholtzer, at Nyanyadzi in Chimanimani, and sabotaged a locomotive train in Masvingo. The incident resulted in the capture and subsequent hanging of James Dhlamini and Victor Mlambo.It was in January 1965, when Mnangagwa was arrested by police inspectors at Michael Mawema's house in Highfield.Mnangagwa was arrested for blowing up a locomotive in Masvingo and was convicted under the Law and Order Maintenance Act and sentenced to death. He was defended by lawyers who pleaded that he was under age and could not be executed. Following this, he was taken to hospital where doctors confirmed that he was under 21 and as a result, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.He served the first year at Salisbury Prison (Harare) and then went to Grey Prison (Bulawayo) following which he was sent to Khami Prison where he spent six years and eight months. After serving his ten-year sentence, he was further detained at Khami and then at Harare Prison together with other nationalists like Cdes Robert Mugabe, Enos Nkala, Maurice Nyagumbo, Edgar Tekere and Didymus Mutasa.He was then deported to Zambia where his parents were. President Mnangagwa was received by the party at the Livingstone Border post and handed over to the Zambian police. A Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) representative, Baya, came to receive him at the Victoria Falls Bridge and proceeded with him to Lusaka. Josiah Tongogara was Commander of ZANLA.It was at that time that he enrolled at the University of Zambia, where he practised law with Enoch Dumbutshena and doubled up as Secretary for ZANU PF for the Zambia Division in Lusaka. He was also in the student board for politics at the University of Zambia. After practicing for a few years and working for a private law firm, he met former President Mugabe once again during his involvement in the Mozambican War of Independence. He later became close friends with him and served as his personal bodyguard. At the Chimoio Congress in 1977, he was elected Special Assistant to President Mugabe and member of the National Executive for ZANU PF.The post of Special Assistant meant that he was head of both the civil and military divisions of the Party. His second was Gava (the late Retired General Vitalis Zvinavashe) who was Head of Security in the Military High Command but was his deputy in the Central Committee in the Department of Security.President Mnangagwa participated in the Lancaster House Conference which discussed the future and independence of the Republic of Zimbabwe and in January 1980 and led the first group of civilian leaders which included Didymus Mutasa and Edson Zvobgo from Maputo (Mozambique) to Zimbabwe. The now the late Retired General Solomon Mujuru (Rex Nhongo) also led the first group of commanders numbering 28 from Maputo to the ceasefire.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel told a New York City radio host that despite "very concerning" allegations against Roy Moore, it will be the voters of Alabama, not the RNC, that will decide whether he is the state's next senator. [All Roy Moore and U.S. Senate race coverage]

The Hill reported this morning:

"McDaniel said during an interview with John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York that the allegations against Moore are "concerning," but that Alabama officials have maintained Moore can't be replaced on the ballot.

"The allegations were obviously very concerning, concerning to the degree that we [the RNC] pulled our resources," McDaniel said.

"[But] Roy Moore cannot be replaced on the ballot," she continued. "He is the candidate. The Alabama [Republican] Party has stood by that. Now the Alabama voters are going to have to be the judge and jury on this."

The deadline to register to vote in the Dec. 12 election is Monday Nov. 27.
President Donald Trump is doubling down on his criticism of Alabama Democratic Senate nominee Doug Jones, pushing for Republican support while omitting the name of controversial GOP candidate Roy Moore.

In a Sunday morning tweet, the president referred to Jones as "weak" on the issues and a "puppet" of Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.

The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017

The president followed that with another tweet referencing his support for Luther Strange and Trump's claims it boosted the former Alabama Attorney General in the polls.

Strange was defeated in the GOP runoff by former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, despite a last-minute push by the president.

I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasnt enough. Cant let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017

Moore has been accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with two teenage girls in the 1970s and several leading Republicans have called on him to exit the race. Moore denies the allegations.

Trump was silent on the Moore controversy in the days after it broke but has since said the country cannot risk putting a Democrat in the seat.

"I can tell you one thing for sure we don't need a liberal person, a Democrat, Jones, in that seat," the president told reporters last week when asked about Moore. "I've looked at (Jones') record. It's terrible on crime. It's terrible on the border. It's terrible on the military. I can tell you for a fact we do not need somebody that's bad on crime, bad on borders, bad on the military, bad on the Second Amendment."

The president has stopped short of a full endorsement of Moore, however.

"Roy Moore denies it. That's all I can say," Trump said.

The president said he will announce this week if he plans to travel to Alabama to campaign for Moore.
Regardless of who wins the U.S. Senate race on Dec. 12, Alabama will be sending another Christian to Washington. Roy Moore is a Southern Baptist; Doug Jones is a Methodist.

And that's no surprise to anyone who knows anything about Alabama. Here, 86 percent of the people profess to be Christians, and nearly half identify as evangelical Protestants. When it comes to Bible-believing, Alabama always stands near the top among the states.

But faith is being put to the test in this roiling race, for the near and far to observe and contemplate.

The particulars don't require much rehashing, having received 24/7 media scrutiny for three weeks now. It's deeper questions that are surfacing. What counts as morally flawed in politics? Does the Bible follow voters behind the curtain to cast their ballots? Does winning trump sinning?

And what does rest for of the country think about all this?

When you put the questions to various scholars and pastors, they'll talk for a while.

'Political playbook'

Moore remains embraced by right-leaning evangelical voters, according to polling, despite allegations that he sexually pursed teenage girls decades ago, when he was in his 30s and working as an up-and-coming lawyer in Gadsden. Moore vehemently denies the allegations.

A year ago, Donald Trump rode overwhelming evangelical support to the White House, even after the release of an Access Hollywood tape in which he could be heard making vulgar references about groping women.

At least two professors who are carefully watching the Senate race believe that let's-just-win politics is taking a toll on evangelicals.

"I do think nationally, the Trump/Moore candidacies have hurt the reputation of evangelicals," said Jason Roberts, a Falkville native who's a political science professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. "It is not so difficult to respect a differing viewpoint if it is ground in core values like religion. ... But I do think the continued support for Moore/Trump among religious leaders have made people realize that this support is not clearly grounded in religious differences."

John Fea, chairman and professor of history at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, goes further. He's written a book, "Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump," to be released in the spring.

Fea said the efforts among Christian conservatives to "win back the culture from the forces of secularization" have been ongoing since the late 1970s. He calls it the evangelical's "political playbook."

The strategy, in short: Elect a president and members of Congress who will pursue laws aligned with evangelical views, and who will approve like-minded Supreme Court justices.

"The 2016 election put this playbook to the ultimate test," said Fea, who describes himself as evangelical. "The playbook survived its greatest challenge, but only by separating the political agenda of the playbook from the necessity of Christian character."

He said, "The political playbook has taught conservative evangelicals that they must maintain power at all costs, even if it means looking the other way when multiple women accuse a candidate for the U.S. Senate of sexual molestation and harassment."

"First, it tells the world that Christians are in the business of forcing their views on others through legislation and executive actions," said Fea. "Second, it neglects to remember that Christians follow a savior who relinquished worldly power even to the point of giving his life. Yet, my fellow evangelicals do not seem to see Jesus's example as a model, or at least a starting point, for thinking about their engagement in the world."

'They hate that'

The Rev. Franklin Raddish, founder of the Capitol Hill Independent Baptist Ministries, brings to the table an entirely different view. He's established King-James-based Bible studies in Washington, D.C., and several state capitals.

Ardently pro-Moore, he said that that evangelical Christians must speak up when battling left-wing political forces.

"They use the 'separation of church and state' and have taken that thing out of complete context of what it is meant to be," said Raddish. "They've used it as a club to beat down the opposition. They don't like our Bible, our churches and our preaching."

He said, "We preach strongly that this nation ought to be one nation under God. They hate that."

He said Moore is a "good man of integrity," who is fighting the "good fight for faith" and who is respected among Christian evangelicals because "he sacrificed his income, position and even his family to stand for what he believes. You show me one politician on Capitol Hill who has done that."

It's a theme that Moore's campaign gladly heralds. "The so-called liberal or progressive Christians who have opposed Roy Moore and Donald Trump would rather embrace very un-Christian things like abortion on demand while looking down their noses at those who would dare believe the Bible or suggest that America's government and liberty are gifts of a living God," campaign spokesman Brett Doster said.

Moore has twice been removed as the state's chief justice: In 2003, for defying federal orders to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the state Judicial Building, and in 2016, for instructing the state's probate judges to refuse to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

"That's why he's popular among Christians," agreed the Rev. David Webb, pastor of Walker Springs Road Baptist Church in Jackson, which last week hosted Moore's first major public appearance after the allegations against him surfaced. "He's living what he believes."

'Alternative ways'

Alabama's Protestants don't march in lockstep, obviously. Michael Altman, a religious studies professor at the University of Alabama, said that the state's Protestant church-goers have been cleaved by politics for a century.

For liberal Protestants, he said, Jones vs. Moore is an important moment. "They are making the most of this opportunity to remind folks that there are alternative ways to understand the Bible, Jesus, Christianity and politics," he said.

"Also, I don't think one has to be a 'liberal pastor' to reject Moore's brand of political Christianity," said Altman, noting that Southern Baptists such as Russell Moore, the leader of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, have condemned Moore.

Overlooked in the campaign, for the most part, have been Jones' religious views. The former top federal prosecutor in Birmingham is a "person of deep faith" who believes in "Christ's call to minister all people - regardless of their background, race, or religion," said campaign spokesman Sebastian Kitchen.

"He agrees with more than 50 ministers who wrote that Roy Moore's 'extremist values and actions are not consistent with traditional Christian values or good Christian character,'" Kitchen said, referring to a recent petition signed by pastors including those who participated in a Nov. 18 news conference at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Birmingham.

"They continued that 'Christianity affirms God's love for the neighbor and care for the most vulnerable in society.' Unfortunately, Roy Moore instead uses religion to divide people."

The Rev. Bill Morgan, who was Jones' pastor at Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook from 2003-15, said the idea that any candidate can outclaim another "to be the Christian candidate" is "just disingenuous."

Morgan said Jones and his family have been 'regular church people" through the years, who routinely worship on Sundays and pitch in with congregational projects.

"Their Christian faith is part of their daily life," said Morgan. "They don't wear it on their sleeves or show it off. They are studying intelligently and seriously scripture and how to make applications to one's personal and community lives."

After long years of preaching in Alabama, Morgan is used to the battle of religious ideals. He said there should be room for both sides, especially when faith and politics intersect.

"Sometimes, people want to cast it between a biblical candidate and a social-issues candidate, and that is just not accurate," Morgan said. "Both groups will give their biblical and theological understanding and people will have to make their decision on which one seems to be a more intelligent interpretation and which one is looking for Bible verses to shore up their opinion." Reflectively, he added, "Welcome to Alabama."
So hes signed it. Of course, there was never much doubt Vladimir Putin would put pen to paper on a piece of legislation thats been rushed through both houses of parliament in roughly two weeks.

But now that its officially law, well soon see how Russias media foreign agent bill is to be used.

As with many of Russias recent laws, this one has been intentionally drafted loose. Its a toolkit that leaves unspecified who the eventual targets will be. Laws like this are political instruments and, therefore, must be flexible.

Heres how the whole thing works.

First, a pedantic technicality. Actually, its not a self-contained law. Its an amendment to a law that was already going through the parliament.

The bit Im writing about was tacked on the end, just after the US added Russian broadcaster RT to its own foreign agents list. Russias politicians had already made it clear they were preparing countermeasures for such an eventuality.

The amendment ostensibly allows Russian authorities to respond in kind  but actually means any foreign media organisation can be designated a foreign agent  regardless of whether its state, or privately owned.

Importantly, the decision about who will suffer this fate is up to the Ministry of Justice. It will draw up the list  and this is what makes it a political tool.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for such a hastily drawn up plan, the new bill leans heavily on an existing law.

In 2012, Putin signed his controversial NGO legislation into being  largely as a response to what he felt was foreign encouragement of opposition protest activity in Russia. He said foreign NGOs had been acting as Trojan Horses for hostile powers to stir up domestic discontent. Therefore, NGOs needed to be taken down a peg or two.

The law forced NGOs with foreign funding to declare themselves foreign agents  or face closure. Foreign agent NGOs have to state on all their published information that its coming from a foreign agent. And in a country where the paranoia of the Cold War still has a powerful legacy, that doesnt sound good.

NGO foreign agents also have to follow strict auditing requirements  with quarterly, half-yearly, and annual scrutiny of such things as who is giving them money and what it is being spent on. Its had a crippling effect on all sorts of human rights, and environmental organisations.

The new media foreign agent legislation says many of the requirements put on foreign media will be the same as the ones NGOs have to follow. Again, the specifics are left to the whims of the Ministry of Justice.

The intention seems to be to trip media organisations up with bureaucratic and legal red tape. The administrative headaches of complying with all the auditing will either be difficult enough that foreign media companies give up and go home. Or, if the police come knocking, therell be something investigators can find to launch a prosecution.

The bill is so vague its drawn the condemnation of Russias Presidential Human Rights Council.

It does not have a legal definition or any substantial legal definiteness, and therefore in practice will inevitably cause problems in determining the parties in the legal relations that arise, said the councils report. It recommended the Federation Council vote down the bill and send it back to the Duma for a total overhaul.

But the Presidential Human Rights Council is criticising the bill for doing exactly what it was designed to do. Why get bogged down in petty legalese, Senator Andrei Klimov suggested, when as far as he is concerned the bill is right from the political viewpoint.

As the Ministry of Justice has said, the law is meant to be used selectively. This measure, introduced by federal law, is a response to the media of countries who have specific restrictions for Russian media activities.

Foreign Ministry spokeswomen Maria Zakharova helpfully put it this way: If they dont close Russian media abroad, the media of those countries will work in Russia as normal. If there are repressive methods used against Russian media or journalists, then we have all the necessary tools to respond.

The Ministry of Justice isnt hanging around. Long before Putin sat down and took the lid off his pen, a list of possible targets was being circulated. It includes Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Russian language offshoots.

There are plenty of hints CNN might be hit too.
Activists from Tehreek-e-Labaik on Sunday clashed with security forces for a second day on the outskirts of Pakistans capital, Islamabad, burning vehicles before withdrawing to a protest camp they have occupied for more than two weeks.

According media reports at least six people were killed on the previous day, when several thousand policemen and paramilitary forces tried to disperse a sit-in protest by anti-blasphemy protesters, who have blocked the main route into the capital from the neighboring garrison city of Rawalpindi.

More than 125 people were wounded in Saturdays crackdown, and police superintendent Amir Niazi said 80 members of the security forces were among the casualties.

On Sunday morning, smoke billowed from the charred remains of a car and three motorcycles near the protest camp, where several thousand members of the Tehreek-e-Labaik party have gathered in defiance.

Activists from Tehreek-e-Labaik have blocked the main road into the capital for two weeks, accusing the justice minister of blasphemy against Islam and demanding his dismissal and arrest.
There are about 1.8 billion Muslims around the world, most of whom only consume halal meat. The Arabic word halal means permissible, and in relation to food, refers to meat and meat-containing products that are prepared on the basis of Islamic law. It involves slaughtering animals according to Muslim tradition.

The halal-certified food and beverage industry is valued at $415bn. Eight of the 10 largest suppliers of global halal meat are non-Muslim majority countries, with Brazil, Australia and India at the top.
Nepalese vote in parliamentary and provincial elections to choose a new government to conclude democratic transition.

Millions of Nepalese are voting in the second phase of the parliamentary and provincial assembly elections, more than a decade after the end of Maoist rebellion.

The elections, which have largely remained peaceful, will hopefully end the Himalayan nations long-delayed democratic transition. The first-phase of the election was held on November 26.

The new constitution passed in 2015 declared Nepal a federal state with three levels of government: federal, provincial and local.

This was intended to decentralise power from Kathmandu to the newly-created seven provinces and local government units.

Voters will elect 275 members to the House of Representatives (HoR) in a mixed system, with 60 percent of representatives chosen through a first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, while the remaining 40 percent will be elected through a Proportional Representation (PR) system.

The federal parliament will be a bicameral legislature, with the 259-member National Assembly (NA) chosen by an electoral college. The HoR and NA will have almost equal powers.

Its the first parliamentary election since 1999.

Voters will also choose representatives to seven provincial assemblies, for the first time since Nepal turned into a federal republic and abolished the monarchy in 2008.

Counting of votes will begin after the second phase of polling concludes on Thursday. Final results may not be known until the middle of December.

Significant achievement

One-third of the seats have been reserved for women, at all three levels of government. The PR system aims to ensure the representation of Dalits, Janajati (indigenous) groups and minorities in the governing structures.

Anurag Acharya, a political analyst based in Kathmandu, told Al Jazeera it is a significant achievement for Nepal, especially after years of instability and a decade-old civil war (1996-2006).

People in the southern region, or Tarai, complain of historical underrepresentation of their communities. They say the boundaries of the new states have been drawn to favour the people from the hills, who have traditionally dominated Nepals politics.

Politicians from the southern region say the 2015 constitution has diluted many of the progressive provisions of the 2007 interim constitution.

Acharya says the grievances of marginalised groups such as Madhesis (those living in Tarai) and Tharus need to be addressed.

The new constitution is an open and flexible document and provides room for future amendment, Acharya told Al Jazeera.

Despite reservation for women and marginalised groups, politicians have been reluctant in giving tickets to them.

Women are not being fielded in direct election. It reflects the patriarchal mindset of political class, Acharya says.

Similar is the case in regard to Dalits and Janajatis. The marginalised are only getting through the PR list, he says.

He says, however, that the process of inclusive political leadership has started from the local elections which were conducted in three phases between May and September this year.

How does the voting work?

Each voter will be given two ballot papers for the two methods (FPTP and PR). A party has to cross the election threshold of 3 percent of the overall valid vote to be allocated a seat under the PR method.

Forms of government

A multi-party, federal democratic republic and parliamentary form of government will be in effect.

Federal parliament (HoR+NA) will elect a prime minister, who is the real executive head. The leader of the party that wins a simple majority is invited to form the government.

Members of the HoR are elected for a five-year term.

The National Assembly (NA) is a permanent body, with 56 members chosen by an electoral college consisting of PA members and village and municipal executive members. Three members are nominated by the president. It has a term of six years, with one-third of its members retiring every two years on a rotational basis.

The president and vice president are constitutional posts with nominal power. They are elected by an electoral college formed by the HoR, NA and PA members.

The members of the PA choose chief ministers to run the respective provinces.

A total of 753 local units, spread across 77 districts in seven provinces, have been elected to run the village and municipal administration.

The main political parties
News / National

by Staff reporter

Good meetings with President Mnangagwa, Morgan Tsvangirai, Joyce Mujuru, and civil society leaders in Harare today and yesterday @UKinZimbabwe pic.twitter.com/UiwWAgWCBf  Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) November 24, 2017

Britain says it is committed to re-engaging Zimbabwe and revive the country's economy.The British envoy witnessed the inauguration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare today.The British envoy who is the Minister for Africa Mr Rory Steward came for the inauguration of President Mnangagwa and paid a courtesy call on the President soon after his inauguration.Mr Steward said he is happy that President Mnangagwa spoke of economic reforms and his willingness to uphold the rule of law.On the issues of illegal sanctions that have crippled the country's economy, Mr Steward hinted on the possibility of lifting them.In his address, President Mnangagwa spoke of the need to engage the international community and rebuild the country's economy.The involvement of the international community is expected to bring investors in the country and create jobs.Mr Rory Steward twitted, "Good meetings with President Mnangagwa, Morgan Tsvangirai, Joyce Mujuru, and civil society leaders in Harare today and yesterday."
For decades, Kurds have been denied civil rights; their desire to secure them is perceived as dangerous.

The major crises destabilising the Middle East today have been ongoing for over 100 years. Some of the major factors that have caused and have fed them include: the drawing of the Sykes-Picot borders, Western interventions, Persian-Turkish-Arab rivalry, Arab-Israeli conflict, sectarianism and religious extremism.

The Kurds have not been party to any of these issues and, in fact, have had to pay a heavy price for problems they did not create.

Yet some analysts and observers have claimed recently that the Kurdish desire for statehood is a major destabilising factor in the Middle East. Such claims willfully ignore realities on the ground and decades of history.

The Kurdish independence movement

The Kurds are among the first peoples in the Middle East who sought a nation-state of their own. The Kurdish national idea found expression on the ground as early as July 1880, when Sheikh Ubeydullah united Kurdish tribes into a confederation and announced an uprising in the Kurdish territories of the Qajar Empire.

He sought Western recognition of a Kurdistan nation. In his October 5, 1880 letter to a US missionary, he wrote: the Kurdish nation, consisting of more than 500,000 families, is a people apart. Their religion is different (to that of others), and their laws and customs are distinct.

This rebellion failed and Sheikh Ubeydullah was exiled to the Hejaz, where he died in 1883. But the Kurdish national idea lived on.

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The Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of World War I, as did the model of the multiracial, multireligious Eastern state. Britain, France and Russia proceeded to divide the region and push on it the idea of nation-states, drawing arbitrary borders under the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916.

The idea of a Kurdish nation-state was also on the table, and was mentioned in the Treaty of Sevres of 1920 between the Western powers and the Ottoman Empire.

As the British were imposing their colonial control over Mesopotamia, Kurdish leader Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji led a series of rebellions and formed a Kurdish kingdom in 1922. By 1924, the British had destroyed this state, despite initially agreeing to it.

The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which presented the final settlement of World War I, effectively ended any plans for a Kurdish state in northern Kurdistan.

The struggle for civil and cultural rights

Regional and international factors and a myriad of issues related to the Kurdish movement meant that the Kurds failed to achieve their national project, in spite of being the fourth-largest population in the Middle East after the Arabs, Turks and Persians. As a result, the Kurds found themselves under the control of governments which embraced the exclusionary ideas of citizenship and nation-building.

The Kurds tried to secure the bare minimum of cultural and national rights in their new countries, in an effort to preserve their national identity. But that proved almost impossible.

Turkeys response to the Kurdish demands came in the constitution of 1924, which denied the existence of all non-Turkish peoples in Turkey. The newly established nation-state issued a long list of laws and decrees aimed to Turkify the Kurds and absorb, deny and efface their cultural and national identity. At the same time, the government sent the military to Kurdistan to enforce these regulations by force, and crush rebellions provoked by these assimilationist policies.

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The situation in Iran was fairly similar under the Shah, who rejected Kurdish demands for cultural and national rights. The advent of the Islamic Republic did not herald any change in the status of Kurdish citizens in Iran and, in fact, increased the pressure on them. The Kurds in Iran were deprived of political rights and denied participation in the government; a number of Kurdish leaders have been assassinated.

The situation in Iraq was worse. After the Arab government in Baghdad, under the British mandate, ignored its 1924 promise to the League of Nations to respect the administrative and cultural rights of Kurds in the country, consecutive governments waged war in Kurdistan. This escalated to Saddam Husseins use of chemical weapons in the 1980s and ethnic cleansing operations in Kurdish cities and villages.

The Kurds in Syria were in no better situation, as the Damascus governments adopted openly racist policies towards them. Matters reached their worst during the 1960s when thousands of Kurds were stripped of their Syrian citizenship, as part of a plan to divide and Arabise the Kurdish regions and create an Arab belt by settling Arab clans into Kurdish cities and villages.

For decades, these four countries coordinated action on the Kurdish issue, working together against any national demands or advances made by their Kurdish populations. The policies of ignoring the Kurds, denying their rights and altering their demographics have resulted in the general economic and cultural backwardness of their cities and villages.

Iraqi Kurdistan and stability in the Middle East

The Kurds of Iraq seized the first opportunity they got for self-rule after decades of war and genocide, and, in May 1992, they had the first free elections in their history and in the history of the Iraqi Republic. This resulted in the creation of an elected government and a parliament.

In spite of the difficulties of the early years, both friends and foes of the Kurds have to admit that with more autonomy from the Baghdad government, Iraqi Kurdistan moved quickly towards embracing civic values, achieving economic prosperity and safeguarding rights for minorities and women.

Furthermore, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) succeeded in gaining recognition from Turkey and establishing a partnership with Ankara. This was the first step in solving one of the longest-lasting conflicts in the Middle East, and could serve as a model for solving similar crises in the region.

Within two decades of gaining autonomy, Iraqi Kurdistan became a bastion of stability in Iraq and the region, weathering well the internal Iraqi insurgency caused by the 2003 US invasion and the turmoil after the Arab Spring.

When the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacked Iraq and threatened both Baghdad and Erbil, the Kurds seized the opportunity to show off to the world the success of the Kurdish experiment. The stability and internal strength of Iraqi Kurdistan allowed it to successfully defend itself against ISIL and eventually push back and reclaim territories ISIL had occupied.

Kurdistan became a safe haven for all the non-Muslim minorities that the Iraqi government had failed to protect, as well as the Sunni Arabs who were fleeing Shia regions and Shia Arabs fleeing Sunni regions. In 2016, in spite of Baghdad refusing to offer support and consistently cutting the KRGs budget, the region was hosting a large number of displaced persons and refugees, who at that point comprised at least 30 percent of the inhabitants of the province.

Thus, claims that Iraqi Kurdistan is threatening the peace and stability in the region with its bid for independence do not really reflect facts on the ground. Iraqi Kurdistan has been the only region that has presented solutions to many chronic crises of the Middle East. Since its establishment in the early 1990s, it has achieved peace and democracy and adopted a culture of diversity and acceptance, in spite of the hostility it has faced.

The decision to hold a referendum on September 25 was an expression of the Kurdish leaderships responsiveness to the demands of the people of Kurdistan, that their voice and their desires be communicated to the international community. The vote was part of its democratic tradition and was held according to international standards; it did not contradict the regulations of the United Nations, international law or the Iraqi constitution.

Kurdish independence from Iraq could have been a practical, peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish problem, because it would have satisfied Kurdish aspirations and responded to the Kurdish nationalism which rose after the victory over ISIL. It would have made it easier for the international community to find an acceptable solution for the Kurdish problem in the Middle East as a whole.

Baghdad responded by closing Kurdistans airspace, launching a military campaign along the borders of Kurdistan and attempting to cancel Iraqi Kurdistans legal status enshrined in the Iraqi constitution of 2005. The Iraqi government dispatched the Popular Mobilisation Units and their adviser, Qassem Suleimani, the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, to attack the KRGs forces and push the country to the brink of civil war. The statements against Kurdistan coming out of Baghdad were, at times, more extreme than the statements of the Baathist officials in charge of the mass extermination operations against the Kurds in the 1980s.

The strengthening of Haider al-Abadis government and the preservation of Iraqs unity may well serve the interests of the US and the West at this point in time, but they will not bring about a long-term solution that would establish peace in Iraq. There are no guarantees that the Kurds will not pay a hefty price once again for someone elses failed experiment.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Art helps students bridge Japan-N Korea divide

Students in Japan are using art to express their feelings on their countrys tensions with North Korea. They are reaching out to other students whose families migrated to Japan from North Korea years ago, as they try to bridge a cultural divide.
As urbanisation creeps closer towards the desert, some fear that traditional culture is being left behind.

Sharqiya Sands, Oman  Leading towards the reddish, rolling dunes of Sharqiya Sands, the paved road gives way to a compressed dirt track, peppered on both sides with tufts of green scrub.

Deeper into the desert, the road disappears, but Humeid al-Meghairi knows the way instinctively. The 27-year-old Bedouin tour guide grew up here and now spends his days teaching foreigners about his familys traditional way of life.

Tour groups meet in the afternoon under the baking sun, where they stay in tiny huts made of palm fronds. They snack on bread cooked over fire, chopped up and mixed with milk and honey. In the evening, they pause atop the dunes to watch the sunset and sip strong Omani coffee.

This life is special  At night, after dinner, it is quiet, and everyone joins in to see the stars and join the silence, Meghairi tells Al Jazeera, perched on a blue-and-red rug inside his family-owned Nomadic Desert Camp.

But the Bedouin lifestyle is changing. As modernisation creeps closer towards the desert and young people increasingly look to large urban areas for work, some fear that traditional Bedouin culture is being left behind.

Earlier this year, more than a dozen Bedouin families from the village of Asaadiyah in Oman were reportedly given 18 months to move to a nearby town and make way for the construction of a highway. Other villagers have publicly complained about the states decision to build modern, low-income housing near their lands.

Amid this backdrop, more and more young Bedouins are voluntarily trading the desert life for urban conveniences and employment opportunities, observers note.

People have changed, says Khalfan bin Khamis al-Hashemi, a cultural researcher who owns the Old Castle Museum in Sharqiya Sands.

Most of them are getting a better education, so they want to seek more stable jobs, and its an easier life in the city compared with the hard life in the desert.

Searching for jobs

Some are even splitting their time between the two worlds. Hamad al-Hashemi, a 27-year-old Bedouin journalist who works for a state-run Omani media outlet, spends five days a week in Muscat and returns to Sharqiya Sands each weekend. It is a three-hour drive each way, but he has grown used to the commute.

Its very important for me to be here every week, because this is where I was born, and I cant let this go. This life, my family and my friends are here, Hamad tells Al Jazeera, noting that the only jobs available in the desert are camel-herding and camel races, cultural-related jobs.

Meghairi, who holds a bachelors degree in engineering, acknowledges that although he enjoys the desert life, he may also be forced to look towards the city for work in the future.

There are not many jobs in the desert, and [Bedouins] need many things that they cannot find in the desert, so they move a little closer to the town to get better jobs, and also specifically for school for the kids, he says.

Bedouins have traditionally raised camels and goats to make a living, travelling from one spot to the next while following the water and grass. But today, its not enough, because in the desert theres less rain, less grass, so they have to buy everything from the town  and what they get now from the animals, its not enough, Meghairi adds.

For his part, Hamad believes that the foundation of the Bedouin lifestyle is strong enough to withstand the threats of modern encroachment.

It will exist for many years. Many people do not care about technology and urbanisation, he says. They like the desert life, they like the sands, they like the culture.

They hurry for the new life

But Khalfan, who spent years travelling the country to collect artefacts of Omani and Bedouin culture, is not so certain. He cites the governments provision of modern housing and subsidised water and electricity, which has led many Bedouins away from their roots.

In addition, replicas of traditional Bedouin products can now be mass produced cheaply in countries such as China, denting another conventional income source.

Urbanisation will keep affecting this lifestyle negatively, and if the government keeps providing them with housing in their areas, of course, this will contribute to this  Bedouins really like the modern lifestyle now, and although they like living with their parents, they dont like the old way of living, Khalfan tells Al Jazeera.

Amid rapid development in the Gulf region in recent decades, many youths are racing to catch up, despite the risk of erasing their rich cultural traditions, he adds.

Before, they made many things [that were] beautiful, but now, they cannot do it  When it is the easy life, it is not good. They forget many things, Khalfan says.

They hurry for the new life. They dont understand what this means.

Follow Megan OToole on Twitter: @megan_otoole




Rebel-held Eastern Ghouta near Damascus targeted with 23 people killed, while 34 die in Deir Az Zor, activists report.

Dozens of civilians have been killed in air strikes and artillery shelling in war-ravaged Syria, activists said on Sunday.

Air raids targeting Eastern Ghouta district outside the capital Damascus killed at least 23 people as Syrian government forces continue to increase military pressure on the rebel-controlled area.

The toll could rise further because of the number of wounded people in a serious condition, said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least four children were among the dead, he added.

The local Ghouta Media Center also reported 23 civilians had been killed.

Attacks on Eastern Ghouta over the past two weeks have killed more than 100 people, the Syrian Observatory said.

Sundays attacks targeted the opposition-held residential neighbourhoods of Douma, Misraba, Ein Tarma, Medeira and Harasta, according to an Anadolu news agency reporter in the area.

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Eastern Ghouta was hit even though it was listed as a de-escalation zone, where military activity is prohibited under an agreement endorsed by Turkey, Russia, and Iran.

Rebels in Eastern Ghouta have managed to keep Syrian military forces at bay during years of war, however, a government siege of the districthas led to a humanitarian crisis with severe shortages of food and medicine.

Guney Yildiz, from the European Council of Foreign Relations, told Al Jazeera that Syrian forces are stepping up attacks against opposition fighters in advance of new negotiations in Geneva starting on Tuesday.

I think the main goal is make rebels feel even weaker ahead of the UN talks next week, Guney said.

He noted Eastern Ghouta, with a population of about 300,000, was a significant target because of its location so close to Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory also reported that Russian air strikes on Sunday killed 34 civilians, including 15 children, in a village held by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in eastern Deir Az Zor province.

The Russian raids reportedly hit al-Shafah village on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River early on Sunday.

Russias Defence Ministry said six Tu-22M3 long-range bombers targeted ISIL positions in Deir Az Zor province and struck terrorist strongholds in the valley near the river.

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Deir Az Zor provnice is one of the final redoubts of ISIL in Syria after the armed group was pushed out of its main strongholds such as Raqqa and Deir Az Zor city.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed in the war since it began in March 2011 with millions of residents fleeing the country.

Russia has been a major supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces since its military entered the conflict in September 2015. The United States, Turkey, and Gulf nations have backed opposition fighters.
Government has dealt 20,000 cases of abuse against women, Erdogan says, and perpetrators will be punished with new laws.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday a new reform plan to protect women from physical and sexual abuse will be rolled out by Turkeys government in the coming months.

Speaking to a large crowd at an event on Sunday marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Erdogan called violence against women a betrayal to humanity.

Whoever is involved in this betrayal must be punished, the president said.

Erdogan also highlighted the importance of women to society.

If there are no women, then half of the society is not there A society without women is destined to disappear, the Anadolu news agency quoted him as saying.

Turkeys Family and Social Policies Ministry has investigated 20,000 cases of violence against women, he said.

The United Nations says one-third of all women suffer physical or sexual violence during their lifetime.

It is time for united action from all of us so that women and girls around the world can live free from harassment, harmful practices, and all other forms of violence, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement on Saturday.
A prominent Kuwaiti journalist has said the summit will go ahead with Qatars participation, despite regional deadlock.

A prominent Kuwaiti journalist has said that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit will be held on schedule next month with Qatars participation, despite increasing indicators that the annual meeting will be postponed due to the regional diplomatic crisis.

In an interview with the German Deutsche Welle (DW) broadcaster on Friday, Ahmed al-Jarallah, who has close ties to Kuwaiti policymakers, said that a solution to the Gulf crisis is imminent.

Jarallah, an editor of several newspapers and magazines in Kuwait, made the comments to DW during his visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh as part of a Kuwaiti delegation. He said leaving Qatar out of the group would make the country vulnerable to other agendas.

There has been no official announcement from Kuwait or the GCC secretariat about the status of the summit.

The convening of the GCC summit has been a subject of debate for weeks, with the emir of Kuwait warning of the GCCs collapse, and Bahrain threatening to boycott the summit should Qatar attend.

As long as Qatar continues this approach, the Kingdom of Bahrain cannot participate in any GCC summit or meeting attended by Qatar unless it corrects its approach, comes to its senses, and responds to the demands of the countries that suffered so much from its policies, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa said on October 31.

Established in 1981, the GCC is a political and economic alliance of countries in the Arabian peninsula, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The alliance fosters economic, security, cultural and social cooperation between the six nations, who hold an annual summit to discuss regional affairs.

The GCCs future

But the future of the GCC has been thrown into question as a result of the deep rift caused after Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt all imposed a land, air and sea blockade on Qatar on June 5.

The blockading countries have accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, maintaining cordial relations with Iran and meddling in the internal affairs of their countries.

But Qatar maintains there is no legitimate justification for the actions taken by the four nations, calling their decision a violation of its sovereignty.

This years summit is meant to be held in Kuwait, which has taken up the role of mediator in hopes of resolving the crisis.

As the rift draws nearer to entering its sixth month, the debate over whether the summit will be held is growing.

Despite leading the blockade against Qatar, Saudi Arabia seems to have softened its stance towards the former and towards the crisis, raising questions over the fate of the summit.

In statements that represented a clear shift from Saudis previous antagonistic position towards Qatar, Adel al-Jubeir, Saudis foreign minister, told the American CNN news broadcaster earlier this month that the issue with the latter is very small and should not distract people.

In response to allegations that the Gulf countries may be seeking regime change in Qatar, Al-Jubeir said: This is not our policy  Our policy is to see a change in behaviour.

Without statements from officials regarding the planned summit, it is hard to extract whether the meeting will go ahead, or whether it will be postponed. If the latter occurs, it could signal more troubling times for the countries of the GCC.
The United States recent history is filled with mass shootings and a lack of political will to initiate reforms to curb gun violence. The past two months have seen two of the deadliest shootings in the nations history.

As of November 24, there had been 321 mass shootings in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks gun-related violence. October saw the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history in Las Vegas, when Stephen Paddock killed 59 and injured more than 500 concert-goers at the Mandalay Bay hotel.

On November 5, Devin Patrick Kelley killed 26 and injured 20 at a Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, the deadliest shooting in a place of worship in the US history. These tragedies have energised calls for increased gun control legislation.

Simultaneously, the far right has seen a surge in support after the election of Donald Trump, whom they view as sympathetic to their cause. US hate crimes have risen for the past two years. Minorities have taken to arming themselves for self-defence as a result.

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Gun control has been used to limit African Americans self-defence groups in the past, most notably the post-Civil War Black Codes, which disarmed African Americans, and the 1967 Mulford Act, which was supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and attempted to inhibit the gun rights of the leftist Black Panther Party .

Al Jazeera spoke with Douglas Jefferson, the vice president of the National African Americans Gun Association (NAAGA), a Black alternative to the NRA, about their view on mass shootings, public perception of African American gun ownership and how responsible gun control could be achieved.

Al Jazeera: What approach does the NAAGA take towards gun violence tragedies like those in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, as compared with an organisation like the NRA?

Douglas Jefferson: [The] NAAGA addresses issues of gun rights in a holistic manner, particularly in regards to African Americans. The recent spate of mass shootings are just as tragic as past shootings. However, the reflexive response of many people is to blame the guns used to perpetrate such tragedies. This is a mistake in that this response does not actually solve the issue of mass shootings in a meaningful manner.

In the case of the shooting in Sutherland Springs, laws were in place that should have actually prevented this shooting. The issue was that mechanisms of the current laws did not function properly. Adding more laws and restrictions does not solve that issue. In the case of the Las Vegas shooting, the shooter had no history of arrests, mental illness, or violent behaviour in addition to keeping his plans to himself. That kind of individual is very hard to detect and interdict without laws that violate the civil liberties of the average citizen.

Al Jazeera: The African Americans community has a long history of gun ownership in its struggle to achieve equal rights. In response, conservative politicians have signed gun control laws that targeted the rights of African Americans. How do you view modern gun control legislation?

Jefferson: Gun ownership in the black community has been key to achieving many of the gains that we enjoy today. The marches of the Civil Rights Movement and the accompanied voting registration drives in the Jim Crow South would have been impossible without the Black people from those towns who hosted the out of town marchers in their homes and protected those same marchers with firearms against domestic terrorist attacks from [Ku Klux] Klan members and white mobs. While some of the current gun control laws were well intentioned and others werent, I dont think that the current gun control law structure has had the desired effect of reducing gun violence.

This is [because] gun violence is not looked at holistically. There are many factors that contribute to the level of gun violence that we see, and the presence of the firearm itself is the smallest factor. Since firearms do not operate themselves there is a human element that must be contended with. Also, one must look at the differences between street crime-related gun violence and mass shootings.

Though the outcomes of the two instances are the same (injuries and death), the two phenomena are created by different conditions with structural poverty being the primary driver of street crime-related gun violence and a lack of societal mechanisms to identify and address individuals with mental illness or emotional instability in the case of mass shootings.

Al Jazeera: Is there a way to achieve responsible gun control? If so, what would be necessary?

Jefferson: While there are measures that could be instituted to curb gun violence, there is no one broad-based policy that addresses all gun violence without severely impeding on the rights of individuals who are unlikely to ever commit such crimes and such policies do not focus on the gun itself.

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There is also the question of weighing the cost of prevention policies against the rights of the greater majority who do not commit gun violence. We have to remember that with every law there has to be an enforcement mechanism for when the law is violated. Our current legal system tends to lean toward draconian punishments for crimes and, given this fact, I am not inclined to believe that a slew of new gun control legislation would be much different. Given the history of the US, I can see a situation developing where black people are unfairly targeted by such laws. It has happened before in this country and it continues to happen to this day, particularly in the case of drug crime prosecutions.

Al Jazeera: The past few years have reportedly seen a rise in gun ownership in the African Americans community. What do you think is behind this?

Jefferson: There are multiple factors contributing to the rise in black gun ownership. One factor is the level of crime [experienced] in a number of our communities. People are concerned about their safety and realise that the police are not always able to respond in time to protect them. They want to be ready and able to protect themselves in the event that someone attempts to victimise them.

Another concern is the increase in violent rhetoric and acts from hate groups like the alt-right, KKK, and Neo-Nazis. There is a history in this country of such groups violently attacking members of the black community. The past has shown us that armed self-defence is a practical response to such instances where the state cannot be there to protect you due to physics (time and space), or wont be there due to incompetence, moral cowardice, or outright malice.

Al Jazeera: NAAGA was founded in February 2015 as an alternative to the NRA for the African Americans community. Why did the African Americans community need an alternative? What did the NRAs advocacy lack?

Jefferson: NAAGA seeks to address 2nd Amendment rights (those that guarantee gun ownership in the US) in a holistic fashion in regards to the African Americans community. When most people think of what a gun owner looks like, African Americans dont come to mind. Generally, this is true even amongst African Americans. NAAGA seeks to change this reality by educating African Americans on the rich history of the black tradition of arms in this country, which has been integral to every moment of African Americans self-determination which created conditions for African Americans to live as fully fledged citizens of a country that historically has not recognised us as full citizens.

Al Jazeera: How does being a gun owner inform your identity as an African Americans?

Jefferson: I am proud to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights because I know that practice comes from a long and proud tradition of arms within my community. From escaped slaves who took up arms to maintain their freedom against slave catchers to Civil Rights leaders who defended their homes and families against Klan nightriders  who would terrorise them at night after the marchers had gone home, there are countless examples of African Americans affirming their rights as citizens and human beings by embracing the 2nd Amendment. I see myself and NAAGA as continuing that tradition and bringing to life the stories of many of these individuals that have been forgotten.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has warned Hezbollah against interfering in regional conflicts, saying he postponed his resignation to discuss ways to disassociate Lebanon from wars in neighbouring countries.

Speaking during a meeting with the Higher Islamic Council, the official body for the countrys Sunni Muslims, on Saturday, Hariri stressed that Lebanon was being targeted and that it risked being dragged into chaos.

The postponement [of resignation] at the request of President Michel Aoun was to give an opportunity to discuss and negotiate our principal demands to make Lebanon neutral and keep it away from the conflicts and the wars in the region, and to implement the policy of disassociation  and commit to the Taif Agreement, Hariri said in a statement released by the prime ministers office.

As we have previously announced on several occasions, we will not accept Hezbollahs positions that affect our Arab brothers or target the security and stability of their countries, he added.

A Sunni Muslim politician and longtime ally of Saudi Arabia, Hariri announced his resignation in a televised address on November 4, shortly after landing in Riyadh.

In that speech, Hariri blamed interference in Lebanon by Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah for his decision, adding that he feared an assassination attempt.

Political crisis

Hariris resignation plunged Lebanon into uncertainty, threatening the countrys fragile political stability and raising concerns over an open-ended crisis.

It also stoked fears of an escalation in the regional divide between Iran and Saudi Arabia, with Lebanon on the front lines.

Officials in Lebanon said they would only accept Hariris resignation if he delivered it on Lebanese soil.

After more than two weeks, Hariri returned to Beirut via France and Egypt, and subsequently announced that he would temporarily refrain from stepping down at the behest of the countrys president.

Saudi Arabia, Hariris long-time political patron, is Irans arch foe in the region. Riyadh supports Syrias armed opposition while Iran and Hezbollah both support Bashar al-Assads government.

Addressing the Islamic Council on Saturday, Hariri said: The burdens placed on Dar al-Fatwa are huge. Your mission is to rationalise the religious discourse and educate the citizens to prevent the exploitation of some religious platforms for political objectives against the interests of Lebanon and the Lebanese. Because we are the people of moderation and tolerance.

We are targeted in the region and if we do not act wisely, we will drag the country into chaos, Hariri said. You are Dar al-Fatwa, and you have shown during the crisis that has passed that you are keen on national unity and preventing any division or sedition among the Lebanese.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras  Hondurans voted to choose a new president on Sunday in an election that lays bare the fragility of the Central American countrys democracy eight years after it suffered a military coup.

The election is unprecedented, marking the first time a Honduran president seeks re-election.

Official results have been delayed, but President Juan Orlando Hernandez of the conservative National Party claimed victory as Salvador Nasralla of the Opposition Alliance Against Dictatorship also claimed to be winning.

Despite a constitutional ban on re-election, Hernandez is running for a second term based on a contentious 2015 Supreme Court ruling that overturned the article prohibiting re-election.

His opponents argue that only the Honduran people hold the power to change the constitution, making Hernandezs candidacy illegal.

There is an important percentage of citizens that reject and are against a candidate that seeks re-election in an illegal and illegitimate way, Eugenio Sosa, a sociologist and professor at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, told Al Jazeera.

Despite the controversy, Hernandez has been projected to win. Polls in October before the one-month polling blackout before election day showed he held a double-digit lead over his closest contender, Salvador Nasralla of the left-right Opposition Alliance.

The possibility of Hernandez winning has to do with the fact that the citizens that are against him are divided between two political forces, the Liberals on one hand and the [Opposition] Alliance on the other, Sosa said.

Hernandez has campaigned on continuing his governments hard line security policies and business-friendly economic initiatives.

He adamantly defends the countrys military police force, created by his National Party predecessor, Porfirio Lobo, and advocates an ongoing military presence in the streets.

His economic policies focus on attracting foreign investment, including through controversial economic zones known as ZEDEs that would allow corporations to circumvent local regulations.

Nasralla, a TV presenter who debuted as an outsider presidential candidate in the 2013 election, has campaigned on fighting corruption, strengthening public health and education, combatting crime with prevention, and introducing agrarian reforms, among other proposals.

His Opposition Alliances platform also includes plans to hold a vote on whether to convene a national constituent assembly to rewrite the 1982 Constitution.

Memories of 2009 coup

The proposal, together with the re-election debate, stirs up memories of the 2009 US-backed military coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya, who now backs Nasrallas candidacy.

Zelaya had planned a non-binding poll on whether to hold a referendum on putting together a constituent assembly. Regardless of the outcome of the poll, Zelaya was barred from being on the November 2009 ballot. But coup supporters justified Zelayas removal by claiming that he was attempting to change the constitution to prolong his stay in power.

Now, Hernandez, who supported Zelayas removal, is ahead, while the core demand of the post-coup resistance movement to re-found the state through a constituent assembly remains unfulfilled.

But Sosa argued that the terrain may have shifted in the final leg of the campaign, opening possibilities for an opposition win.

There have not been any new official polls since last month, because there is a ban on new polling data for one month before election day.

Sosa explained that some Liberal Party voters who reject the presidents re-election may consider throwing their support behind the Opposition Alliance as the most viable option to block Hernandez from clinching power.

Whether the Opposition Alliance is successful, Sosa added, will spell the next stage in a still-unfinished process of political parties reconfiguring after the coup.

A key factor in Sundays outcome, Sosa said, will be how many voters show up to the polls. Turnout was 61 percent in 2013, up from 50 percent in 2005 and 2009.

Controversies mount

Both the Opposition Alliance and Liberal Party have accused the National Party of conspiring with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to carry out a sophisticated fraud plot to rig the elections in Hernandezs favour. Hernandez has remained silent on the accusations. TSE chief David Matamoros Batson has said the body is working to guarantee free and transparent elections.

If there are complaints of fraud but the victory is very tight, as it may be, it could lead to a post-election scenario of very strong citizen dissatisfaction and rejection [of the results], Sosa said.

Less than a week ahead of the elections, the National Party accused Venezuela of interfering in the election to support the opposition. Nasralla denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Alliance accused the National Party of using fear tactics to influence the election and called on voters to not be intimidated.

Key issues

Warning of gang violence, the government also introduced a one-week ban on carrying firearms as part of security measures. Nasralla argued the weapons ban should also extend to the police and military, which have been repeatedly accused of human rights violations.

Meanwhile, Honduras human rights record remains grave. The country is the most deadly in the world for environmental activists, according to the human rights watchdog Global Witness  a situation epitomised by the 2016 murder of internationally renowned indigenous resistance leader Berta Caceres.

The life of Honduran people is at play in this election because were in an economic crisis [and] the human rights violations by the government are increasingly evident, Kevhin Ramos of the Association for Democracy and Human Rights told Al Jazeera.

The by Kevhin

the human rights violations by the government are increasingly evident.]

Its been an aggressive government, and if [Hernandez] wins, it could represent a great setback for human rights, he continued, highlighting specific cases of assassinations and criminalisation of social activists.

Since the coup, indigenous people, peasant farmers, LGBT people, lawyers, human rights defenders and other social leaders have suffered widespread abuses, including targeted attacks.

The country is also one of the most dangerous in the Americas for journalists, with 28 journalists murdered between 2010 and 2015, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Although the homicide rate has dropped from when it was infamously dubbed the murder capital of the world in the wake of the 2009 coup, it is still one of the most deadly countries in the world, with a murder rate of 59.1 per 100,000 people, according to 2016 data from the Observatory of Violence at the National Autonomous University of Honduras.

High levels of impunity allow most violent deaths to go unpunished. Official 2013 statistics revealed that 80 percent of homicides go unpunished, but civil society groups have suggested the impunity rate is likely even higher.

Hondurans also voted to elect 128 congressional representatives, 20 representatives to the Central American Parliament and 298 mayors.
Revolutionary Guards commander says Tehran so far limited missile range to 2,000km but could increase this with ease.

The deputy commander of Irans Revolutionary Guards said that Tehran has so far purposely limited the range of its missiles to 2,000 kilometres, but that it would increase the range if Europe turned into a threat.

Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron called for dialogue with Iran about its ballistic missile programme, separate from Tehrans 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.

Iran has repeatedly said its missile programme is for defensive purposes only and not negotiable.

We tell the European countries that if we have confined the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometres until today and have not increased it any further, it is not because of a lack of technology, because we have no limitations for the range of our missiles in technological terms, Brigadier General Hossein Salami said in an interview with state TV on Saturday.

So far we have felt that Europe is not a threat, so we did not increase the range of our missiles. But if Europe wants to turn into a threat, we will increase the range of our missiles, state-run Fars news cited Salami as saying.

Young age and naivety

The head of Irans Revolutionary Guards military force, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said that the 2,000-kilometre missile range could cover most of American interest and forces within the region, so Iran did not need to extend it.

Jafari added on Friday that Iran considered the French presidents efforts to engage with Iran on its missile programme a result of his young age and naivety.

He will soon conclude that such an attempt is fruitless, the Fars news agency cited Jafari as saying.

The general said that the range of Irans missiles was based on the limits set by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Irans supreme leader and head of its armed forces.

Saudi Arabia and the United States accused Iran this month of supplying Yemens Houthi rebels with a missile that was fired towards the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with missiles and weapons.

Yemen is in total blockade. How could we have given them any missile? Salami said, according to the Fars report on Saturday. If Iran can send a missile to Yemen, it shows the incapability of [the Saudi coalition]. But we have not given them missiles.

Salami said the Houthis managed to increase the range and precision of their missiles in a scientific breakthrough.

In what seemed to be a correction of Jafaris comments, Salami said on Saturday that Irans support for the Houthis was political and spiritual.

The US has imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, saying its missile tests violate a United Nations resolution that calls on Tehran not to undertake activities related to missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

The US says Irans missile programme is a breach of international law because the missiles could carry nuclear warheads in the future.

Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear programme is for civilian uses only.
Long-term implications of Zimbabwe's 'military assisted transition'.1. The detention and trial of former Minister Chombo marks a vengeful and retaliatory politics. The manner in which he has been singled out signals that similar treatment might also await those now in power.2. For all the efforts to frame the coup as somehow 'legal' and thus #notacoup , the attempt to legalise via the High Court reeks of desperation. This is political instrumentalization of the law, not legal performativity, much less a deeply embedded legal culture.3. Impunity: Despite some conciliatary and statesmanlike comments, it is unlikely that any serious attention will be given to righting wrongs committed in the past, including those who disappeared for saying 'Mugabe must go' only a few weeks or months before the Generals.4. Zero-sum politics. The three factors above suggest to me that we are likely to see a continued (and indeed enhanced) winner-takes-all politics, which bodes poorly for those concerned about representation and citizen engagement, or just good policy-making and the rule of law.5. Britain & Zimbabwe: Impunity comes into this too. In order to normalise the relationship, Britain needs to acknowledge and internalise the wrongs of its colonial projects, and accept the blame that comes with that. But this has rarely seemed further away or more challenging.

Long term implications of Zimbabwe's military assisted transition'.

1. The detention and trial of former Minister Chombo marks a vengeful and retaliatory politics. The manner in which he has been singled out signals that similar treatment might also await those now in power.  Sara Rich Dorman (@afr_pol) November 25, 2017
Hundreds of anti-blasphemy protesters continue to block Islamabad highway after police action kills five people.

Islamabad, Pakistan  Hundreds of defiant anti-blasphemy protesters continue to block a major highway into the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Sunday, after a security forces operation failed to clear the demonstration a day earlier, resulting in at least five deaths, hospital officials said.

More than 217 people have also been wounded in the clashes, which saw police fire tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and water cannon at protesters, who fought back with stones and metal rods.

The government called in the Pakistani military late on Saturday to help control the situation, but on Sunday no soldiers were visible among the security forces cordon established to contain the protesters.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi held a high-level security meeting with Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday to discuss the situation.

The demonstrators have been blocking the Faizabad interchange, a major entry point into Islamabad, since November 8, demanding the resignation of the federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid over perceived blasphemy.

Anti-blasphemy protests explained On November 8, hundreds of anti-blasphemy protesters entered the Pakistani capital Islamabad to protest against a slight change in the countrys electoral law, which they saw as a softening of the states position against Ahmadis. The protesters are led by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a firebrand cleric who has long campaigned against Ahmadis, accusing them of blasphemy and regularly inciting violence against them. While the government reversed the change in the electoral law even before the protesters arrived in Islamabad, they are now demanding federal law minister Zahid Hamid, who they consider responsible for the change, be fired and face criminal charges. Since then, the protesters have blocked a major access route to the Pakistani capital and rebuffed several attempts at negotiation by the government.Led by cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, they hold Hamid responsible for a slight change in the wording of a recently passed electoral law, which they consider to soften the States position against Ahmadis. Last week, the Islamabad High Court ordered the government to clear the protest as they were causing a huge inconvenience to commuters between Islamabad and its twin city of Rawalpindi.

Protesters hold position

After the earlier assault, security forces had backed off to a distant outer perimeter on Sunday.

We are holding our positions until we receive further orders, said Naeem Iqbal, an Islamabad police spokesperson.

At the Faizabad interchange, hundreds of protesters continued to occupy the road, gathered around a makeshift stage where protest leaders have been addressing them.

Many of the protesters were armed with sticks or metal rods, and some held riot shields snatched from the police during the unsuccessful operation to clear the area.

The entry points to the demonstration are policed by masked protesters wearing yellow construction helmets emblazoned with the name of Rizvis political party, the Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan.

Sitting on thatched mats or blankets, many of the protesters were reading the newspapers, whose front pages were dominated by news of the clashes on Saturday.

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Pakistans media regulator lifted a ban on all television news channels on Sunday evening, after blocking transmissions for more than 24 hours. The regulator had said live coverage of the protest was hindering security operations.

Authorities also blocked access to social media sites Twitter, Facebook and Instagram nationwide, as some protesters had begun using them to broadcast live video from the demonstration.

Late on Saturday, several smaller protests had developed in Karachi, Pakistans largest city, as well as in Lahore, Gujranwala and Faisalabad.

Major highways in Punjab province, Pakistans most populous, remained closed due to the protests on Sunday, said Imran Ahmed Shah, a motorway police spokesperson.

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras digital correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim
Four Arab countries triggered the Qatar-Gulf crisis by cutting their ties with Qatar on Monday June 5 (all times local Doha time).

Here is how it all unfolded:

5:50am  Bahrain cuts ties with Qatar

Bahrains Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues a statement early on Monday saying it would withdraw its diplomatic mission from the Qatari capital, Doha, within 48 hours, and that all Qatari diplomats should leave Bahrain within the same period.

6am  Saudi cuts ties with Qatar

Saudi Arabia says it is cutting diplomatic ties to Qatar and it has pulled all Qatari troops from the ongoing war in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia makes the announcement via its state-run Saudi Press Agency early on Monday. It appears to be timed in concert with an earlier announcement by Bahrain, similarly cutting ties.

The dispute between Qatar and the Gulfs Arab countries had escalated over a hack of Qatars state-run news agency. It has spiralled since.

6:10am  UAE, Egypt cut ties with Qatar

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar.

Both the UAE and Egypt make the announcement on their state-run news agencies within minutes of each other.

8:35am  Etihad suspends flights from Tuesday

Abu Dhabi-based airline, Etihad, says it is suspending flights to Qatar from June 6 until further notice.

Etihad says its last flights will leave early Tuesday morning.

Etihad gives no reason for the decision. It is the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates.

9:55am  Qatars official reaction

Qatar says there is no legitimate justification for four Arab nations to cut diplomatic ties.

Qatar also says the decision is a violation of its sovereignty, vowing to its citizens that it will not affect them.

10am  US urges GCC unity

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tells reporters in Sydney: It is important that the GCC remains a unified [front].

Tillerson does not expect the rift to have any significant impact, if any impact at all, on the unified fight against terrorism. Qatar hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East.

10:20am  Emirates flights cancelled from Tuesday

The Dubai-based airline, Emirates, says it is suspending flights to Qatar amid a growing diplomatic rift.

Emirates says on its website on Monday that flights would be suspended until further notice, starting on Tuesday.

10:45am  Yemen cuts ties with Qatar

Yemens internationally recognised government cuts relations with Qatar, and says it supports the decision by the Saudi-led coalition to end Qatars participation in the war on the Houthis in Yemen. Qatar had been part of the coalition since March 2015.

The government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi says it severed ties with Qatar in part over its support of extremist groups in Yemen, in contradiction with the goals announced by the countries supporting the legitimate government.

11:05am  FlyDubai flights cancelled from Tuesday

Dubais budget carrier, FlyDubai, says it has cancelled its flights to Qatar amid a diplomatic dispute between it and other Arab countries.

The carrier says on Monday that, starting Tuesday, all flights would be suspended. It offers no other details.

FlyDubais decision follows that of Emirates and Etihad in cancelling flights to Doha.

12:10pm  Saudia flights suspended from Monday

Saudi Arabian Airlines says it is suspending flights to the Qatari capital, Doha.

The airline, also known as Saudia, posts on Twitter that it would be halting flights from Monday morning, without elaborating.

1:15pm  Air Arabia flights suspended from Tuesday

Air Arabia, a low-cost airline based in the United Arab Emirates, says that, along with other Emirati airlines, it is suspending flights to Qatar over a growing diplomatic crisis.

Air Arabia says its flights will be suspended from Tuesday until further notice.

1:20pm  Updates from FIFA

Footballs world governing body says it remains in regular contact with Qatar.

FIFA issues a short statement saying it has spoken with the Qatar 2022 Local Organizing Committee and the Supreme Committee for Delivery Legacy, handling matters relating to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

It says: We have no further comments for the time being.

1:30pm  Saudi border line up

Reports of trucks being lined up across the border in Saudi Arabia, unable to enter Qatar.

2pm  Saudi closes border with Qatar

Saudi Transport authority confirms immediate border closure with Qatar, by land and by sea.

2:50pm  Libyas Haftar cuts ties with Qatar

The faction led by Khalifa Haftar, one of three rival governments in Libya, announces it is cutting ties with Qatar.

Haftars foreign minister accuses Qatar of harbouring terrorism.

3:10pm  Egypt recalls ambassador

Egypts foreign ministry says it has given the Qatari ambassador in Cairo 48 hours to leave the country, and has ordered its own envoy in Doha to return home, also within two days.

3:15pm  Maldives cuts ties with Qatar

Decision made because of the Maldives firm opposition to activities that encourage terrorism and extremism.

3:30pm  Iran calls for dialogue

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi is quoted on the ministrys website as calling for a clear and explicit dialogue among the feuding nations. Iran says rising tensions among its Arab Gulf neighbours threaten the interests of everyone in the region.

3:30pm  UAE port to turn away Qatar-bound vessels

UAEs Port of Fujairah says all vessels flying the flag of Qatar or destined for Qatar will not be allowed to call at the port.

4pm  Irans food can reach Qatar in 12 hours

Food shipments sent from Iran can reach Qatar in 12 hours, says Reza Nourani, chairman of the Iranian Union of Exporters of Agricultural Products.

4:40pm  Turkey expresses sorrow

Turkey is ready to help, however it can, to bring the disputes to a manageable level, says Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking at a joint news conference in Ankara.

Cavusoglu adds: We see the stability in the Gulf region as our own unity and solidarity.

5:10pm  Egypt suspends air and sea links

Egypts foreign ministry says in a statement that the country is suspending air and sea links to Qatar, citing national security.

5:40pm  No Qatari vessels allowed in Saudi ports

The Saudi Ports Authority notifies shipping agents not to receive vessels carrying Qatari flags or ships owned by Qatari companies or individuals.

6:25pm  Saudi shuts Al Jazeera office

Saudi Arabia shuts down Al Jazeera Media Networks local office, according to Saudi state media.

6:30pm  Israel praises anti-Qatar moves

Avigdor Lieberman, Israels defence minister, praises the measures against Qatar, saying: There is no doubt that this opens very many possibilities of cooperation in the struggle against terror.

7:30pm  Egypt airspace to close on Tuesday

Egypts Ministry of Civil Aviation civil aviation announces that the countrys airspace will be closed to Qatari flights starting Tuesday 04:00 GMT.

8pm  US military has no plans for change

The US militarys central command says it has no plans to change our posture in Qatar amid a Gulf diplomatic crisis. Major Adrian JT Rankine-Galloway says in a statement that US military aircraft continue to fly missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria from Qatars Al-Udeid airbase.

8:30pm  Turkey is seeking to resolve Gulf spat

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is actively involved in efforts to resolve the diplomatic spat between Qatar and its neighbours, according to Turkeys Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus.

8:30pm  Saudi banks asked to sell Qatari riyals

Saudi Arabias central bank asks local banks to sell Qatari riyals and not to buy any more, local media and Reuters report.

10:40pm  Kuwait calls for restraint

Kuwaits Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah calls Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and urges him towards restraint and not to take any measure that could escalate the situation in the Gulf, according to the state-run KUNA news agency.




Islamic industries are expanding globally and governments are taking notice of a sector that could be worth trillions.

When Kerim Ture placed his first order for a batch of long-sleeved tunics that could be worn by Muslim women, the manufacturers producing them demanded payment upfront, apparently convinced the venture would fail and Ture would be left unable to pay them.

The Turkish entrepreneur quickly proved that their scepticism was unfounded, and he was back shortly afterwards to place a new order, having sold the first.

Today the website Ture established to sell his products, Modanisa, attracts 100 million visitors annually, has customers in 120 countries, and has no shortage of manufacturers willing to work with it.





Modanisa now has 300 suppliers and 30 designers, its become a platform for hundreds of suppliers from all over the world who want to sell products on our site, a spokesperson for the company told Al Jazeera.

However, Tures story is not simply about one companys success and his own financial achievements.

In establishing Modanisa in 2011, Ture wanted to offer Muslim women who chose to adopt modest Islamic dress codes, more options than were then available and give them an outlet they had lacked.

Just because they (Muslim women) wanted to cover a little more, the world ignored them and they had to suffer with the same old boring clothes, Ture told the audience at a TEDx talk in Bulgaria in May, adding: We thought it was unfair.

Clothing is more than a fabric you put on your body, its more than that, its part of your expression and part of your identity, its unfair.

Modanisa is one small part of the diverse and expanding halal sector, which according to research by the Thomson Reuters foundation is estimated to be worth $3.7 trillion by 2019.

As halal simply means permissible in the Arabic language, the term can be applied to any product or service, which does not violate Islamic laws and social norms.

What separates halal industries from others, which do not necessarily fall foul of Islamic injunctions, is a conscious effort to accommodate the requirements of Muslim consumers.

The industries involved are as varied as banks offering services that avoid the accrual of interest and nail varnish that allows a user to perform ablution before prayer.

Other major industries include the halal food sector, clothing, and tourism.

The trend is particularly noticeable among Muslim communities in western countries, such as the UK, where international brands such as KFC and Subway offer halal menus, clothes shops such as H&M and Marks and Spencer sell clothing lines geared towards Muslim women, supermarkets have halal food sections, and mainstream banks offer Islamic finance products.

Cardiff Universitys Dr Jamal Ahmed explained that consumption of halal products was driven just as much by issues of identity as commitment to Islamic rules.

Consuming halal, be it food, clothing, travel or Islamic finance, gives them a sense of identity but also a sense of stability and freedom from anxieties by Jamal Ahmed, Cardiff University

Academic studies have consistently reported that ethnic minorities in general but Muslims in particular, feel more strongly about their identities than people back home (their countries of origin), Ahmed said.

Accordingly, Muslims seek identity anchors when they construct their notions of self and make a statement about who they are.

Consuming halal, be it food, clothing, travel or Islamic finance, gives them a sense of identity but also a sense of stability and freedom from anxieties.

However, where an individual consumer sees the fulfilment of a religious obligation or act affirming their identity, governments see fiscal growth potential.

Recent exhibitions of halal businesses in Japan and Turkey drew backing from the governments of those countries.

In 2013, former British Prime Minister David Cameron declared his intent to make London one of the great capitals of Islamic finance, and announced the issue of the UKs first government bond compliant with Islamic law, becoming the first non-Muslim state to do so.

Its not just in the financial industry that countries that are not majority-Muslim are taking a lead role in the growth of the halal sector.

Brazils Muslims make up a tiny part of its population of 207 million people, at just over 200,000, yet the country is a leading exporter of halal beef, with the industry valued at close to $6bn in 2015.

Similarly, New Zealand is also a leading exporter of halal meat despite its relatively small Muslim population, with sales of $576m.

Abdul Azim Ahmed, a researcher in Contemporary Religion, told Al Jazeera that while the growth in the halal sector gave accessible alternatives to the Muslim population, there was also a danger of simply reducing Muslim ethics down to consumer choice.

Another example, the Nike 'Pro-Hijab' was chosen as one of 2017's top inventions by Time Magazine. The Nike Pro Hijab had negible impact on the lives of Muslim women, and with allegations of abusive work practices still surrounding its many factories, it is right to ask how 'Islamically' ethical are the products being pitched at Muslims by Abdul Azim Ahmed, Researcher in Contemporary Islam

Ahmed explained that placing too much emphasis on the consumer end of halal produce, took the focus away from the wider issue of whether aspects such as the manufacturing processes or treatment of workers complied with Islamic ethics.

The greater accessibility of halal meat is certainly a good thing in democratising food, there is still however a question to whether or not industrial scale slaughter of animals meets the spirit of Islamic ethics.

Another example, the Nike Pro-Hijab was chosen as one of 2017s top inventions by Time Magazine. The Nike Pro Hijab had negible impact on the lives of Muslim women, and with allegations of abusive work practices still surrounding its many factories, it is right to ask how Islamically ethical are the products being pitched at Muslims.

I believe a truly Islamic approach to business, manufacturing, and conservation requires a fundamentally more radical approach involving governments and transnational organisations, and that it will not be achieved by a shift in consumer practice.
Analysts give mixed reviews of plans to transform economy, but agree it will be tough for Riyadh to wean itself off oil.

Reforms spearheaded by Saudi Arabias crown prince may be insufficient to wean the economy from its addiction to oil and create a thriving private sector able to generate sufficient jobs, economists and analysts say.

Prince Mohammed bin Salmans Vision 2030 master plan aims to transform Saudis economy as sluggish oil prices squeeze its finances.

Since Mohammed bin Salman cracked down on corruption earlier this month, some observers have voiced concerns about the impact of political risk on his plans, amid fears of a backlash.

Nobody actually expects Vision 2030 to be fully implemented, but it is an attempt to show the world that there is a direction of travel away from oil, Jane Kinninmont, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House think-tank in London, told Al Jazeera.

Ultimately, success depends on the willingness of foreign investors to put their money in the country, and there are some concerns at the moment about political risk, which are not helping the country get the levels of investment they need.

The kingdom has long tried to diversify away from its dependence on oil, but this effort has gathered pace with the collapse in prices since 2014.

Unveiled last year, Vision 2030 is a radical strategy by Mohammed Bin Salman  popularly referred to as MBS  to kick-start development of the non-oil private sector.

His ambitious targets envisage increasing the private sectors contribution to GDP from 40 to 65 percent.

Demographic time bomb

Reform is crucial if the Saudi government is to defuse a demographic time bomb that makes it essential to create jobs  fast.

Jason Tuvey of Capital Economics in London said that as many as 5.5 million new workers could enter the Saudi labour force by 2030.

The working-age population is expanding rapidly. UN estimates suggest that, by 2030, it will rise by more than a quarter. This is one of the steepest rises in the emerging world, he said.

The shrinking Saudi state cannot provide enough jobs for these new workers and unemployment is growing, hitting 12.7 percent earlier this year, underlining the priority of private sector growth.

However, while Mohammed Bin Salmans reforms have generated enthusiasm in predictable quarters such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), economists are not entirely convinced.

While the scope of the programme is impressive, it will face numerous implementation challenges and still fails to address several key issues holding back economic growth, Tuvey said.

The result is that Vision 2030 is likely to fall short of its lofty intentions.

There are a number of reasons for the scepticism. While diversification has been a policy priority since the 1970s, efforts have often fallen short of targets.

Research at Chatham House suggests that Vision 2030s ambitious goals could reflect a long tradition of optimism bias in Saudi diversification plans aimed at grabbing international attention.

One example of such lofty ambitions came with the announcement in October of proposals to build a vast new $500bn economic zone on the Red Sea called Neom.

Neom has helped Saudi Arabia to make a splash and rebrand itself, but I think it is highly unlikely that they will be able to secure that volume of inward investment at a time when the Saudi system is changing so dramatically that there is quite a lot of political uncertainty, Kinninmont told Al Jazeera.

Observers also believe there are clear limits to Saudi Arabias ability to wean itself from oil.

Saudi Arabia is pumping 12 million barrels a day, with hydrocarbons accounting for 50 percent of GDP and most government revenue.

Its non-oil private sector also shows few signs of stepping up: Tuvey said that in 2016, it recorded its worst performance since the late 1980s.

Private businesses have been held back by a range of problems that have kept productivity levels behind other G20 economies. Weak productivity has depressed wages, meaning Saudi nationals prefer working in government jobs where salaries are higher, swelling the bureaucracy.

Will it be easy?

One sign of private sector weakness has been falling levels of foreign investment, and Saudi Arabia languishes at 92nd out of 190 countries on the World Banks Ease of Doing Business 2018 list.

At a conference last week in London, market commentator Simon Constable said the conditions necessary for a vibrant private sector include a robust rule of law, low corruption, a small bureaucracy, and limited government involvement in the economy.

Saudi Arabia can transition away from oil, but these factors are key, he said. I think it can be done, but will it be easy? No, it will need a lot of changes.

There are also huge social challenges to diversification, not least the fact that Saudis lack the skills to work in the private sector, despite high government spending on education.

World Economic Forums Global Competitiveness Report sees the inadequately educated workforce as one of the most problematic factors when it comes to doing business.

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While Vision 2030 does outline educational reforms, Tuvey says the government has shied away from a much-needed overhaul and its targets are far from ambitious.

Finally, the radical scope of Mohammed Bin Salmans reforms have prompted some observers to ask whether a backlash is possible, especially among potential losers in the reform process, such as young men.

Some have argued that a consolidation of power could make it easier for MBS to push ahead with the Vision 2030 reform plans. But as weve noted before, theres a risk of a further shift away from consensus-based policymaking. The big risk here is a backlash against MBS that undermines his authority and threatens Vision 2030, Kinninmont said.

There is a risk of a backlash, but the form that that might take is very unclear. Mohammed Bin Salman is breaking many of the traditional rules of the Saudi system, and certainly, there will be opponents of the changes.

Recent economic wobbles have clearly not helped to bolster confidence. Crude prices have fallen 15 percent this year to well below levels the government needs to balance its budget.

While commending the reform efforts, in July, the IMF revised its forecast for Saudi growth this year down to just 0.1 percent.

Vision 2030 is not overambitious  the actual vision is what the economy needs. There is no choice other than ambitious reform, Marcus Chenevix, MENA analyst at TS Lombard in London, told Al Jazeera.

If we see things like labour reform, something like the unpegging of the riyal, then yes, it could work. But right now, with the agenda we are looking at, this wont happen.
Ships carrying more than 30,000 tonnes of wheat docks arrive through Yemens Houthi-held ports of Saleef and Hudeida.

About 25,000 tonnes of wheat has arrived in Yemen, the second batch of food aid that has been allowed into the country since the Saudi-led coalition imposed a blockade nearly three weeks ago.

A spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), Abeer Etefa, said the shipment landed on Sunday at the Houthi rebel-controlled Red Sea port of Saleef in western Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition battling Houthi fighters imposed the siege on Yemeni ports and airports in response to a ballistic missile they fired at the Saudi capital, Riyadh, which was shot down earlier this month.

UN officials have warned that Yemen could face the worlds largest famine in decades unless the crippling blockade by the coalition is lifted. The impoverished Middle Eastern country is highly dependent on imported wheat.

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Saleef port is 70km north of the key port of Hudeida, also on the Red Sea and in rebel hands. Hudeida Port is the main conduit for UN-supervised deliveries of food and medicine but has been blocked by the Saudi-led coalition for weeks.

On Sunday, the first vessel carrying food and medical supplies also arrived through Hudeida.

According to an official who heads operations at the port, the ship, sent by the WFP, was carrying flour and relief materials weighing 5,500 tonnes.

This is not enough for the Yemeni peoples needs, but we hope this is a good sign to open the port of Hudeida and lift the siege in all Yemeni provinces, the official told reporters on Sunday.

On Saturday, about 1.9 million doses of vaccines were also flown into Yemen, a UN childrens agency official said on Sunday.

UNICEF director Geert Cappelaere told reporters in Jordans capital, Amman, that more than 11 million children in Yemen are in dire need of aid.

It is estimated that every 10 minutes a child in Yemen dies of a preventable disease, he added.

Today it is fair to say Yemen is one of the worst places on Earth to be if youre a child. The war in Yemen is sadly a war on children. Yemen is facing the worst humanitarian crisis I have ever seen in my life, Cappelaere said.

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The UN has listed Yemen as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis with 17 million people in need of food  seven million of whom are at risk of famine.

More than 2,000 Yemenis have died in a cholera outbreak now affecting nearly one million people.

Yemens civil war has raged since 2015 when the Houthis stormed the capital, Sanaa, and deposed the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Since then the Houthis have been dislodged from most of the countrys south, but remain in control of Sanaa and much of the north.
African refugees have long used Libya as gateway to Europe, but many are now facing abuse, exploitation and trafficking.

Libyas UN-backed government says it is investigating allegations that hundreds of African refugees and migrants passing through Libya are being bought and sold in modern-day slave markets.

According to reports, the trade works by preying on the tens of thousands of vulnerable people who risk everything to get to Libyas coast and then across the Mediterranean into Europe  a route thats been described as the deadliest route on earth.

Libya is the main gateway for people attempting to reach Europe by sea, with more than 150,000 people making the crossing in each of the past three years.

They [the refugees] are from several African countries and they say they have fled war, poverty and unemployment in their countries  They have taken a tough journey through the desert and they have paid people smugglers to get to Libya to try to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. With the security and financial collapse in Libya, human trafficking and smuggling have become a booming trade, says Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from a detention centre in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

Modern-day slavery is widespread around the world and Libya is by no means unique ... But what's particularly shocking is that this is happening effectively in the open, where people can go to a farmhouse, place a bid and end up 'owning' a human being. by Leonard Doyle, International Organization for Migration

There is no proper registration process for the tens of thousands of refugees arriving in Libya.

According to reports, the business of detention centres is unsupervised in some parts of Libya and stories of torture, rape and forced labour have emerged.

When the centres get too crowded, people are then allegedly sold off like goods in an open market. Survivors have told the UNs migration agency that they use smartphones to connect with people smugglers to get them to Libyas coast, and that they were then sold, being held for ransom, used as forced labour or for sexual exploitation.

The International Organization for Migration says trade in humans has become so normalised that people are being bought and sold in public for as little as $400.

As shocking as it seems, its indeed true, Leonard Doyle from the International Organization for Migration tells Counting the Cost. The reason it [slave trade] can happen is because there is really no rule of law across much of Libya. Libya is a country as big as France, with a lot of space there. Migrants are coming there  they see the promise of a new life when they go to their Facebook feed and they think something wonderful is waiting for them in Europe, because a smuggler has abused the system and has sold them that lie.

He explains that when they arrive in Libya, they get off the bus and they are quickly put into a kind of murder machine, an extortion machine. They are robbed of their possessions, their families are called. They are forced, they are tortured, they give them money. And then they are sold. Unbelievable, but they are sold in open, public auctions: $400 for a labouring man, maybe a bit more for a woman who can be put in the sex trade. And this is whats happening across the country.

Doyle stresses that this issue shows that the international community should pay more attention to post-Gaddafi Libya.

There is an international responsibility to help  What is particularly important now is that this issue is reaching global attention, says Doyle.

Modern-day slavery is widespread around the world and Libya is by no means unique. Its happening in the developed countries of the world as well as the undeveloped countries. But whats particularly shocking is that this is happening effectively in the open, where people can go to a farmhouse, place a bid and end up owning a human being.
The case against Assange is as political as it is legal; where does it go from here? Plus, Kenyas election influencers.
Opinion / Interviews

DUE to circumstances beyond our control, over the last three publications we were not able to publish this column. However, the brutally frank, Comrade Chrispen Tapfuma Mataire (born February 24, 1945 in Chivhu), whose Chimurenga name was David Todhlana (pictured right) is back with his fascinating series.In this interview with our team comprising Munyaradzi Huni and Tendai Manzvanzvike, Todhlana who boasts of a Degree in Political Science and Political Administration from the University of Zimbabwe speaks about how his ideas gave birth to the Wampua College in Mozambique. He speaks about the clash between the Zanu leaders and their Zanla commanders as they prepared for the Geneva Conference, leading to his arrest in 1977.Read on SM: Comrade, can you tell us briefly about Zipa?Todhlana: We had to go into Zipa because we were told by the Front Line States that if you want to start the war, Zipra and Zanla have to unite. The other instruction was that we don't want vanaMugabe, vanaNkomo and other leaders messing up with Zipa. They must keep out of it.While this was happening, as Zipra we continued calling for the release of our leaders from prisons in Lusaka. Remember some of the Zanu leaders had been arrested after the death of Chitepo. Unfortunately, no one was listening to us.Preparations for the Geneva Conference started. It was suggested that if possible Zanu and Zapu should form one organisation to go to Geneva. The Front Lines States were saying the Zanu and Zapu positions were not very different so we were supposed to unite. This is when the Patriotic Front was formed. Just for the purpose of attending the Geneva Conference.As freedom fighters, under Zipa we were invited to Geneva. However, by this time, the Zipra comrades had already pulled out of Zipa. Even some Zipra comrades we had deployed at the war front, they had left. It was now Zipa in name, but as Zanla we were still making efforts to have our Zipra comrades back.I remember Report Mphoko was the Zapu representative in Maputo. We had a meeting with him saying "Report, why don't you impress upon your comrades, Mangena and others to come back to Zipa?" We also told him that Geneva was going to be a waste of time. As freedom fighters we were supposed to continue the war.SM: Why were you convinced that nothing would come out of the Geneva Conference?Todhlana: The war had stopped from around 1974 until the time of detente. It was now 1976 and there was no war. The Smith regime was not feeling any pinch or anything. There was nothing to motivate them to talk to us. We were supposed to hit them hard enough, so that they could seek audience from us. Taifanirwa kumborova varungu stereki. This was our position.On the other hand we continued saying, anyone who wanted to engage us as the Zipra component in Zipa, first talk about releasing our leaders who were in Zambian prisons. We said take our leaders from the prisons and take them to Geneva. These are the people you are supposed to talk to, not us. Or take vanaMugabe not us. Isusu we want to fight.So some comrades went to Geneva, but apparently, vana Nkomo from Zapu had their commanders, like Dumiso Dabengwa, Lookout Masuku and others who were the Zipra component of Zipa. The Zanla component in Zipa had refused to go the Geneva. We refused. So Nkomo and his commanders were representing Zapu and from Zanu there was Mugabe and others, but with no commanders. Mugabe had been joined by Zanu comrades who had been released from Zambian prisons, like Tongogara and others.While in Geneva, some journalists provoked a situation. They asked Mugabe kuti we can see vaNkomo with his commanders, where are your commanders? VaMugabe defended himself saying ndinana Tongogara and others, but this was not accepted zvichinzi, these people were in jail in Zambia. We want Zanla commanders under Zipa who were executing the war. These were journalists provoking vaMugabe. This got into the minds of our Zanu leaders and the commanders who had been released from prisons in Zambia. So they sent Kangai to Maputo to come and meet us. His task was to persuade us to go to Geneva. He came and spoke to us and we told him that there was no reason for us to go to Geneva. We repeated that varungu hatisati tavarova enough for them to agree to negotiate with us. We told him that Geneva was just an exercise in futility. We said imi continue talking nevarungu isu we intensify the war. We said our intensification of the war would result in real negotiations. Kangai went back to Geneva empty handed. VaMugabe then sent Rugare Gumbo. He came and told us that kwanzi naShef huyai. We told him that our response was the same as we had given to Kangai. We are not coming. Rugare went back to Geneva with the same message. Then came iye mbune Tongo saying kwanzi navaMugabe ini sacommander wenyu ndiuye kuzokutorai. We held a meeting with Tongo and told him the same message. We told him that our focus was on the armed struggle. We told him that hondo had just resumed in April 1976 after yamira from December 1974. The war has just resumed. Geneva is just a gimmick yevarungu. So Tongo went back to Geneva empty handed.After Tongo had left, we were summoned by Samora Machel. We went for the meeting and he was lecturing to us saying "macomrades you lack experience. In politics there is time to fight and time to negotiate. How many revolutions dzamakanzwa dzekuti soldiers ended vava in the capital city after over-running the enemy? In every situation you end up at the negotiating table. What do you lose when you talk?"Zvino tangoti tuzu kuburitsa maziso. Samora pointed at me and said, "iwe, you are a KBG agent." I could not understand what he was talking about. He said stop all this stubbornness. He ordered us to choose a team of five commanders who were to go to Geneva. He made it very clear that this was an order and not for negotiation. We had no option because we were in Mozambique and Samora was our host.SM: So who are the commanders you chose?Tondlana: We chose Dzino, Gwauya, Rex Nhongo, Elias Hondo. I can't remember the fifth one. We were told to remain behind to intensify the war. But personally, I didn't play a big role in the intensification of the war. I had a special task.SM: What was this special task?Tondlana: Remember I told you that I received my military training in the Soviet Union? While in Soviet Union I was reading a lot about Marxism and Leninism. I also read a lot about revolutions across the globe. So when I arrived in Mozambique from Mboroma in Zambia, I was appointed as the commander of Chibavava Camp. I was not a member of the Zipa command. While at Chibavava my deputy was Mark Dube. Joice Mujuru was my third in command. There were several other camps around like Nyadzonya, Doroi and so on.While at Chibavava I noticed that one of the comrades who was really interested in Marxism and Leninism was Dzino. I could see that we had differences but akanga ari mumwe wangu panyaya yeMarxism and Leninism. One day I left Chibavava Camp and went to Chimoio where Dzino was based. I then asked him kuti why don't we start an ideological college to teach our fighters? I said through this college lets transform our revolution from being a democratic national bourgeoisie revolution yekuti nyika yedu isununguke, yekuti vanhu vatema vazvitonge. I said I think we should go a step further and establish a socialist revolution. Dzino quickly understood me. He asked me what I had in mind. I told him lets establish this school at Chimoio and select comrades, especially those who had gone up to Form Four to be the students. He agreed to my ideas. Around February to April 1976, I was given the greenlight to establish the college and I coined it as the Wampua College. Wampua was a name that had been given to a college in 1922 in China when the Chinese Communist Party was formed. Most teachers at this college were from Soviet Union teaching communism. Dzino assisted me to pick some comrades who had the potential to come and be part of the team.SM: Who are some of these comrades?Tondlana: Happison Muchechetere, Basopo Mupangara, Chaitezvi and others. But all these comrades I didn't know much about their capacity. Dzino knew them well because he had trained some of them at Mgagao. After assembling this team, we started teaching our students. This college takaivaka nehuswa nemapango. We actually sat down to compile the syllabus and the books required. But much of the work, taiita from our heads. We would get books from wherever we could.SM: What exactly where you teaching the cadres at this college?Tondlana: We were introducing the cadres to the concepts of Marxism and Leninism. We would tell the cadres that we look forward that our revolution would transform from being national democratic  just to free ourselves from the foreign yoke. We told them that this revolution would produce a capitalist state. We told them that we wanted a socialist revolution, as was in China, Soviet Union and son on. Our idea was that we take advantage of these socialist countries that were supporting us to skip the capitalist state and go straight into socialism. This is what we were teaching the cadres. This is where I told you earlier on that I wanted to multiply myself a million times. Everybody to think like Davie.However, I didn't stay for long at this college. In August 1976, after the death of one of the members of the Zipa High Command, Kaguri who was the director for supplies, I was appointed to replace him. I refused to take up the post. I told Dzino and Rex Nhongo that there was no need for me to be moved from the college. They however insisted and I was ordered to leave Wampua College. I left the college with a grain of salt. I was enjoying what I was doing at the college.SM: We hear that you were later arrested. Tell us why and how?Tondlana: Yes, I was arrested in 1977. After the Geneva Conference, the comrades came back. Our leaders now knew the influential role yaDzino. They tried to dispatch him to Europe to mobilise resources for the party. They wanted to do this so that they could come kumacamps Dzino asiko. Dzino refused to go. Dzino knew that these leaders were up to something since they had to use Samora to force them to attend the Geneva Conference. As we were refusing to go to Geneva, our leaders said we had defied their orders. We were labelled sevanhu vapunduka. So when they were preparing to come back from Geneva, Dzino was assigned to go to Europe. They knew of his influential role.When the team arrived from Geneva, Tongo came to Chimoio to organise meetings. We had about two to three meetings with Tongo, but we could see there was tension. Yanga yava tension inobatika. Terrible tension. You know Tongo was huge and he had these big eyes.To be continued next weekSM: Yeah, even from pictures he looks quite frightening.Todhlana: But I had misgivings with Tongo. In 1973, Zanu used to have bi-annual conferences in Zambia. After every two years, there would be an elective conference. I didn't attend this particular bi-annual conference but I heard from many who attended that conference that the way it was run was unheard of. Apparently, before this conference the other conferences were attended by povo in Zambia. The commanders did not attend such conferences.But this was now 1973 and we had started the war in 1972, commanders were asked to attend the conference. When they came they participated in terms of voting kuti vaipinda mudare reChimurenga ndivanani. Most of these commanders didn't know much about the party leadership and when they were told to vote, who do you think they voted for? They came up with this Bereka Mwana Concept. Munhu aiyenda kunomira kumashure kwemunhu that he or she supported. We are told that vanaTongo would direct the fighters kuti iwe enda unomira kumashure kwemunhu uyo and uyo.Remember Tongo was very popular with the forces and they did what he told them to do. Tongo was popular not because he was good hearted or that he was a good planner. He was popular because he was always with the fighters. Ainge ainesu. Kutraining, it was Tongo, kuwar front it was Tongo.You know William Ndangana was the chief of defence while Tongo came second as chief of operations. This was before 1973. The tables were then turned when Tongo became chief of defence. William Ndangana went to foreign affairs. The fighters didn't know Ndangana so they supported Tongo. Ndangana never visited us at the war front and as fighters we didn't know him even though he was chief of defence. This is how Tongo took over the reins of the defense portfolio. This is what I heard and from that perspective I was not happy.Another thing was the death of Badza and Nhari. Following this conference, things were not well in Zanu. There was some measure of tension. Those who were preponderant before this conference were the Manyikas. They held most of the influencial posts in Zanu. Chairman Chitepo was a Manyika, Mutambanengwe and others were all Manyikas. MaZezuru nemaKaranga vakanga vari vashoma. Now in 1973, people like Rugare Gumbo got into Dare ReChimurenga. He was coming from school in Canada. Who voted him? Aimuziva ndiani? Ko Kumbira Kangai apinda chirudzii? These were activists who had been turned into Zanu representatives in countries where they were studying. How did they find themselves into Dare?SM: How did they maneuver?Tondlana: This is the million-dollar question. Gumbo and Kangai came at the same time. My suspicion is that it was Tongo who was manipulating the system. Rugare Gumbo is Karanga and Tongo was a Karanga. Kangai was half-Manyika and half-Karanga. Handiti aiva wekuBuhera? This is my suspicion. I however, don't have concrete evidence that this is what exactly happened.SM: Let's go back to the story of your arrest.Todhlana: After Geneva Conference flopped, everybody came back. We held meetings with Tongo as commanders. During the meetings I suggested that the Zanla High Command should change. I was making my contribution during discussions. Tongo vakagara apo. We were discussing. I suggested that lets increase the number of the people in the High Command from the current 18 to 24 or more. I said this would increase the efficiency of the High Command. As I was suggesting this, I had something behind my mind.SM: What was that?Tondlana: I was saying in my mind, I don't hold in high esteem members of High Command yaTongo. Some of them were semi-illiterate.SM: Like who?Tondlana: Like Joseph Chimurenga. Rex Nhongo was Standard Six? Elias Hondo, I think Grade Three? Chinamaropa, Chauke like the whole shoot of them. None of them could boost kuti ndakaenda kuchikoro. Even iye Tongo had gone Form 2. I could see that these comrades could not embrace and understand the ideology that I wanted to push.My wish was to take the commander from Tete Province into the High Command, then commander from Gaza province, commander from Chibavava, commander from Nyadzonya and others to them six. I knew all these comrades had passed through Wampua College. So I wanted the number of the High Command to be increased not that they were few but because I underrated them.SM: Don't you think you were being over-ambitious?Tondlana: Hooo, that's your judgement?SM: No, I am just asking. We want to know because look you had a history of coming from Zipra. Now you wanted to change things in Zanla High Command. Weren't you being too ambitious?Tondlana: (laughs) I really don't know. So after this discussion, Rex held me by the hand. He led me into a nearby orchard. He then said; "Davie, I appreciate what you want to do. I really appreciate what you are trying to do, but Davie you are better off fighting from within." He then said; "food for thought." He walked away.I later realized that Rex was giving me a warning that Davie you are better of fighting from within meaning usadzingwe from Zanu. So the message was play it cool. Lie low.SM: Why was Rex Nhongo giving you this advice?Todhlana: Rex was my cousin brother. We come from the same area. Takasangana kuhondo tikazivana. So we established a good relationship. He also knew sincerely that Davie vanoda zverevolution. His message was usadzingwa from Zanu.SM: Is there any other person who was in support of your idea?Tondlana: I never sold it to anybody. I just spoke about it in that meeting. This was a preliminary meeting at Chimoio. He final meeting was to be held in Beira. This was just a meeting of the commanders and the fighters. After this meeting, we were told that we would finalise issues in Beira. A driver was dispatched to go Tembwe and take Sipho Ncube. Even some field commanders were invited to this meeting. We went with them to this meeting in Beira. We thought we were going to find solutions to our challenges in Zanu. Unknown to us, the Zanu leadership had made up its mind.SM: What do you mean?Tondlana: This Beira meeting was just a decoy. The Zanu leaders had made up their minds to arrest the Zanla commanders in Zipa. They could not arrest us in our camps because we were popular with the fighters. So the idea was to take us away from the fighters and Frelimo would assist the Zanu leaders.When we got to Beira, Mugabe gave the opening speech. He used a polite way of saying mumusangano mune vanhu vapanduka. Mugabe then said, we are breaking for lunch. He instructed that Zipa commanders were to use one exit door. The High Command which was in Zambian prisons and members of the Central Committee were to use another door.Once we got out through the exit door, we were arrested by Frelimo soldiers who were armed. We were put in a truck and were taken to Karidoso Hotel. We were kept there under heavy guard by Frelimo.SM: Do you remember some of the comrades who were also arrested?Tondlana: There was myself, Muchechetere, Chaitezvi, Webster Gwauya and others. We were 25 in total. There were only two female comrades. One of them later became Muchechetere's wife. I want you to take note of something here. Dzino was arrested briefly but was later released. It later turned out that Tongo wanted to use Dzino to go and silence fighters at the different camps. Tongo had spent two years in prison in Zambia and these new fighters didn't know him. These new recruits didn't know many in the Zanu leadership. For example when Mugabe was taken to Teresera Base, he would take his plate vachinomira muqueue just like everyone else. The recruits couldn't recognise him and no one had told them who he was. It was only after we arrived from Mboroma that we started educating our recruits about our leaders. VaMugabe would come to the camps once in a while, like I remember one time he came to Chimoio and we introduced him to the fighters.SM: Let's go to that hotel where you were under heavy guard.Tondlana: I need to tell you that Rex Nhongo was the overall commander of Zipa, but he was also not arrested. We spent about five days at the hotel. We were then flown to the Mozambican border with Tanzania. It was more like kachitsuwa. No one up to this point has explained to us why we had been rounded up.After independence, others went to Number 88 Manica to plead with Zanu kuti tiregerereiwo, but I said I am not going to plead to anybody because I didn't do anything wrong. I am convinced that the level of understanding of the revolution differed. The winner does not only take it all. The winner tells the story.What is am saying is, after they arrested us, vana Tongo had the opportunity to tell the fighters their side of the story. We couldn't defend ourselves. If we had the opportunity we would refute the claims that we were sellouts. Disagreements are not equal to being a sell-out. My understanding of a sell-out is that he or she is someone who stands in the way of a revolution, someone who diverts or impedes. Differences in approach or ideas does not make me a sellout. Ukanditi sell-out ndinochema.SM: You were not a sellout?Tondlana: I am an ultra-revolutionary. That's why up to this day I am calling for Zanu-PF to have the Liberation Fighters' Wing just like the Women's and Youths Leagues. I have been calling for the party to set up the Chitepo College. Wampua College after I left was later called Chitepo College.SM: Let's go back to your arrest. What happened after you were taken to the border between Mozambique and Tanzania?Tondlana: We stayed there and practically we had nothing to do. No means of communication. Nothing. The only thing we could do was kuchera mbeva. Ini handidye mbeva but ndaidzichera zvakaoma. In 1978, we were then joined by another group that comprised people like Rugare Gumbo, Crispen Mandizvidza, Hamadziripi and others. These comrades had their own misunderstand with the leadership. We were arrested in January 1977 and this group joined us in 1978. I didn't embrace these new comrades.SM: Why?Todhlana: I didn't look at them as my colleagues. Our orientation was different. They were not revolutionaries. They were potential bourgeoisie.You see, the national democratic revolution is a stage of our struggle where everybody participates. The main issue here is national liberation. So both the rich and the poor participate in this national democratic revolution. The idea is kuti titore nyika yedu tigoita zvatinoda.But I was anticipating going beyond this national democratic revolution. I wanted to transform the national democratic revolution to a socialist revolution.SM: Don't you think you were being too idealistic?Tondlana: When I look at it now, the situation has drastically changed. You can't put the socialist revolution on the agenda today, but back then it was the ideal thing to do.So anyway, we were in captivity until the British sent a plane that took us to Rhodesia at independence. We were then taken to Skyline Motel. While at the motel we started discussing whether to go back to Zanu or join other parties.Myself, I said, Zanu zvayandiramba, I go back to Zapu. So I went back to Zapu. We were taken to Gweru for military training so that we could be integrated into the national army. Word got to Gweru that we could not be integrated into the national army. It was myself, Parker Chipoyera, Tendai Pfepferere and others. We were instructed to go and see Mnangagwa. We were flown to KG6. Mnangagwa told us that we could join any arm of the government but not the armed forces.Mnangagwa instructed me to go and see the then Minister of Transport. I was then deployed to the Harare International Airport until 1982. I later worked in other ministries in government.SM: If you look back at the role you played and some of the things you did during the liberation struggle, like you said you killed sellouts mercilessly, do you have any regrets?Todhlana: No, not at all. I went to war and played my part. Of course I had misunderstandings with the leadership in Mozambique in 1977 and I got arrested, but I don't regret. All that happened because people didn't know what was happening exactly. It was not vaMugabe and Tongo who orchestrated our arrest. This was a Frelimo arrangement. You remember I told you that we went for the meeting where they forced some of our comrades to go to Geneva? I told you that at that meeting they called me a KGB agent? That was Samora Machel.The other thing, when Badza and Nhari were arrested, they were arrested by Frelimo. Those comrades were rounded by Frelimo and handed over to Tongogara.What I am trying to tell you is that if it wasn't for Frelimo's plan, as Zanu we could have found a better way to solve our issues.SM: But surely Frelimo could not just arrest you without conniving with your leaders?Todhlana: Physically, Frelimo is the one that arrested us but yes our leaders were behind the plan. Our charge was insubordination  that you are called by the leader of the party in Geneva and you refuse to go. I believe that this charge of insubordination actually came from Samora Machel. He is the one who advised our leaders. I think he agreed with leaders like Tongo to arrest usYou know when Tongo died, I celebrated.SM: Why?Todhlana: I said to myself, vaMugabe will not breathe a sigh of relief because dai taenda kumusha tina Tongo, this was going to be another Idi Amin. This was going to be another Idi Amin. In my thinking ingadai kusina Mugabe izvozvi. Tongo was ambitious and ruthless. I am sure he could have staged a coup de tat. Anything could have happened.SM: But Todhlana, this was a fierce fighter who was loved by many comrades?Todhlana: Kuti fierce fighter ndiko kuti chii? (laughs). Remember I said he was popular kumacamps and not kuwar front. This is my own understanding and my own projection. The way I knew Tongo, dai independence yakasvika tichinaye, possibly dai vaMugabe kusisina.SM: Are you not saying all this against Tongo because you are bitter he got you arrested in 1977?Todhlana: Bitter about what? I have no bad feeling against anybody. I remember around the 1980s, some people would say vanaDavie vakatengesa. I would ask such people, do you really understand what happened? Kutengesa how? Don't just sing a song yausingazive who composed it and kuti malyrics ayo anoti chii.There was difference of approach and difference of opinion, full stop. I never did anything to favour varungu. That is being a sellout to me. But like I told you, the one who wins in a contest tells the story.
Few witnesses could be more damning against a purported sexual abuser of four decades ago than an ex-cop from that era. That is, unless the ex-cop has a hidden agenda. Like the former Gadsden, Alabama cop who claims police were told in the 1970s to ensure that now-GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore stayed away from teen cheerleaders  and who actually turns out to be a left-wing Moore opponent.

Faye Gary created quite a stir last week with her comments, though she confessed to MSNBCs Andrea Mitchell that the claims about Judge Moore were just rumors and that we never got a complaint on it.

What didnt come out during her media interview  in which she appeared sober and non-partisan  is that she has an ideological axe to grind with the judge.

After confirming with the City of Gadsden Personnel Office that Gary actually had served as a police officer, I contacted her via a Facebook message. The passion and anger quickly emerged, with Gary making clear she objected to Moores stances on homosexuality, Islam and the display of the Ten Commandments.

In fact, the venom leapt from the page. Gary insisted that Moore will, as she put it, pay for his stance on gays, Muslims and most of all for hiding behind the Ten Commandments for his political gain. She seemed to be implying that hell suffer some kind of divine retribution.

Gary also became vulgar. After I told her the Gadsden Malls ex-manager contradicted her claim that Moore was suspended from the facility and that this is what happens when you listen to the rumor mill (her term), she wrote, Thanks for your opinion but they r just like a[**] h[***]s we all have one.

Note that none of this means Garys claims are or arent true. But it hints at her motivation for coming forward and certainly makes her something less than an unimpeachable source.

Unsurprisingly, Garys Facebook page reflects her political passions. Scrolling down, you find pictures of Barack Obama along with some harsh condemnation of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who had at the time raised Garys ire by criticizing Michelle Obama.

Further casting doubt on Garys claims is that her story doesnt add up. She stated that we were also told to watch him [Moore] at the ball games and make sure that he didnt hang around the cheerleaders. But when Andrea Mitchell asked if this was just rumor or if she was actually given instructions from superiors, Gary replied It was just rumors.

Of course, theres no law stating you cant hang around cheerleaders, anyway, so this wouldnt be the polices official domain. Nor did Gary say she ever saw Moore hanging around cheerleaders. And if cops had approached him and said Judge, you must observe an exclusion zone around those cheerleaders, it would be quite the story.

So, the real story here may be that Gary would like to be a cheerleader for Moores far-left opponent, Doug Jones. Once again, Gary cited a rumor that the judge was banned from the Gadsden Mall even after Barnes Boyle, the facilitys former manager, said that to the best of his knowledge Moore was not banned (video below). Gary states she was told to watch Moore around cheerleaders, yet indicates that this instruction was actually a rumor. She says she worked juvenile, so if any complaint [about Moore] had come in, it would have come to us.  But we never got a complaint on it. What she doesnt say is that, with all her watching, she ever observed Moore behaving inappropriately around any teen girls. So is there anything here but rumor?

In addition, the story of Moores most damning accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, has already unraveled. Meanwhile, rumor is helping obscure reality. This is precisely the goal, too. As Huffpos Amanda Terkel put it Friday, the best chance to defeat Moore is for the Democratic Party to lie low. Why? Because their positions are damning in Dixie.

Consider how Terkel also wrote that Doug Jones is trying to distinguish himself from the national party.

Well, hes not trying very hard.

Hes pro-prenatal infanticide, apparently even up to the moment of birth. Hes pro-transgender agenda, which includes support for transgenders in the military and having confused (or clever) boys use girls locker rooms. Hes also pro-amnesty, pro-CO 2 regulation, pro-ObamaCare and is a tax-and-spend politician. This is the real scandal in the Senate special-election campaign: that Doug Jones wants to bring New York values to Alabama.

And maybe this is why Democrats have to bring a Hollywood scandal to Roy Moore.

Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Twitter or log on to SelwynDuke.com
General John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, started a minor controversy in responding to a question by saying that he would not obey a presidents illegal command for a nuclear strike. Of course, he was completely correct in his response. He explained further that he would advise the president on a legal approach and an appropriate course of action would then be worked out.

The much deeper question was not asked: What would the general do if the president ordered a perfectly legal, but profoundly immoral, nuclear strike? The trials at Nuremburg were precisely about this question.

This second question illuminates the most important burden carried by our president. This is the kind of burden that prematurely ages a vigorous individual. This is also the most important question that should confront us as we judge a candidate for the presidency. We cannot afford to have someone who lacks a strong moral foundation occupying the Oval Office.

In my estimation we have only had one president who faced the issue head-on and made the right decision about this dread challenge. That man was Ronald Reagan.

In 1983 President Reagan called for a robust missile defense program to be called the Strategic Defense Initiative. This idea, which many thought to be childish, was sarcastically named Star Wars. The name stuck because of its positive associations and was adopted by those actually favoring missile defense. The next year the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) was established to implement Reagans intentions.

Shortly thereafter I was invited to join a small, high level, working group supporting SDIO. This group of senior aerospace industry executives, program managers and engineers was chartered to do a top-level design of a new multi billion dollar National Laboratory. Among several things relating to the SDIO mission, the new laboratory would provide the technical foundations for the Governments missile defense architecture. For months we worked hard at the task with meetings sometimes starting before breakfast and ending just before midnight. The proposed laboratory now exists. It is Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado.

Don, a vice president of TRW, was leader of the working group. It was in casual conversations with him that I first became aware of what must have been going through the mind of President Reagan when he called for the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Several years before, then-Governor Reagan sent out an inquiry to industry for information about strategic defense and what might be done about it. Perhaps Reagan was just curious, as he had already been exposed to the subject through a lecture by the nuclear physicist Edward Teller. Perhaps, also, he was beginning to think about running for resident and wanted to be prepared. In any event, Don was selected to brief the governor.

Now Don had given this kind of briefing to politicians several times before and was well prepared. Don had two sets of charts: kindergarten level for politicians and a backup set covering some of the technical details. Don was in for a big surprise. He was only into a few of the low level charts when Reagan started quizzing him on relatively advanced specifics about strategic defense. Even Dons higher level charts did not provide sufficient information to answer the governors questions. It was clear that Governor Reagan was thinking well ahead on the subject. The two of them agreed to meet again with Don being presented with a set of questions that the governor wanted answered. This led to a series of meetings.

They soon got into the weeds: Disarming strikes verses population annihilation. Boost phase verses terminal defense. What to do about decoys. How to manage operational command and control. How to manage deployments so as to maintain deterrence stability. Cost control.

The political issues were beyond Dons charter  they were left for Reagan to mull over. Governor Reagan soaked up all this information and dove even deeper. At the end of each meeting Reagan posed further questions for Don to research and answer.

Don told me that Ronald Reagan stood head and shoulders above all the people he had briefed in terms of intelligence and creativity and mastery of detail. I subsequently heard the same opinion from some of my other acquaintances who had gotten to know Reagan.

Through it all one question remained hanging in the air: what to do about innocent civilians caught in the nuclear cross fire? The question was never answered.

Time passed and Governor Reagan became President Reagan. He was now faced with this question for real: what to do about innocent civilians? Now President Reagan was caught in what we might call the Presidents Dilemma.

Consider the following nightmare scenario: It is the early 1980s. Ronald Reagan is newly installed as president. Despite Nixons Opening to China, ever since the last stages of the Viet Nam war, relations with China have been deteriorating. Now, they have reached the crisis stage. China decides to roll the dice. They launch a massive nuclear missile strike against the people of the United States. The Chinese reason that the American retaliation will kill a great many Chinese, but their key industries and their cadres are safely underground and will survive and flourish in the post war world. Most of their population, being rural, will likewise survive. A world with a destroyed America is a tantalizing prospect.

As the crisis built up the president was safely sequestered somewhere in the remote Virginia countryside. Minute by minute he receives reports as the Chinese warheads arc around the Earth. What can we do to stop them, he asks. We can do nothing, he is told.

The Chinese missiles in that era were relatively primitive and inaccurate. The Chinese therefore targeted cities. Not all the Chinese missiles work as planned, not all the warheads actually explode on target. But enough do that the American population is decimated  several tens of millions of Americans are dead.

What does President Reagan do now? Long established doctrine says he must launch a massive retaliation against the population of China as well as against its industrial and military centers. But Ronald Reagan is a moral man. He knows that following the doctrine, following the law, will result in maybe hundreds of millions of innocent victims. They may be Chinese but they are also husbands, wives and children. They are human beings, just like Americans.

The president faces a dilemma. Follow the law, follow established doctrine, and commit mass murder on a stupendous scale. Or, absorb the loss of American life and not respond with nuclear force. He knows that the latter choice means he likely will be hung by his fellow citizens who are out for bloody revenge. But the latter choice may be the only moral choice.

We cannot know if a scenario such as this troubled President Reagans thoughts. But something much like it must have occurred to him, for he sought a better way. The key to that better way was clearly the means to intercept those missiles so that no American need die. This he actually said when calling for his missile defense program.

The irony in all this is that President Reagan could tell no one, not even his closest advisors, what he would do in an eventuality such as described above. If he even so much as hinted that he might not retaliate with nuclear weapons then the deterrent value of those weapons would be lost.

Until proper defenses are in place, the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and the promise of massive nuclear retaliation must be maintained  even if the president understands that the doctrine is merely a myth. There is no way to predict what a moral president would do in this extremity. MAD is a myth that poses the Presidents Dilemma.

After Reagan, foolish presidents immediately scaled back missile defense R&D almost to the point of extinction. Consequently, we have now only a weak deployed missile defense system. Thus the Presidents Dilemma remains to haunt our current president.
As noted in Thomas Lifson's article, the Riverside district attorney filed a criminal complaint (People v. Macias) against the student perpetrator of a politically motivated assault on the UCR Campus.

Riverside County prosecutor was my profession. At the time of my honorable retirement, I was supervisor of the Gang and Homicide Units of the southwest part of the county. As such, I have some knowledge and expertise regarding criminal law and filing procedures. The charge filed against Macias is commonly referred to as "grand theft from person." The gravamen of the offense in this case is not the monetary value of the item taken, but the fact that it was taken "from the person of another."

Grand theft from person is said to be a "wobbler" in that it can be filed either as a misdemeanor or a felony. The Riverside filing deputy exercised a degree of leniency and consideration toward Macias in that they opted to file the least serious charge available, which took into account the conduct at issue. That is, they filed a misdemeanor (not felony) charge of grand theft from person.

Based on this filing decision, it's a fair assumption that defendant Macias has no prior criminal history. Of course, if I were the filing deputy, I would also take into consideration another important mitigating factor  to wit:

The fact that the poor child has been subjected to the incessant brainwashing of the left-wing Marxist fools that they euphemistically refer to as "professors of learning" over there at UCR.

What is most disturbing is the fact that UCR concluded that no action was necessary on its part to address the attack against the victim. Thomas Lifson's point is well taken that unless we stand on the rule of law, "the consequences can be fatal to the stability of the polity and society."

Of course, we are all mindful of recent incidents, especially those at U.C. Berkley, where conservative voices have been disrupted or denied a venue for expression as a result of intolerance and violence from leftists agitators while campus and police authority stand idly by.

Unfortunately, the trend to bend the law to suit political circumstances has also infected the FBI and the Justice Department, our federal government institutions entrusted with the task of fair and balanced investigation and the impartial administration of justice. Things certainly have changed in recent times in that regard, and not for the better. A story from my youth illustrates how far we have fallen.

My father was an appointee of Richard Nixon and served as assistant attorney general in charge of the Internal Security Division of the Department of Justice for the United States of America.

I was in high school at the time Nixon was forced to resign. At the time, my father commented, "No, son, it's good [that Nixon resigned]. It shows that we are a special people. It shows that the law applies to the president just like the rest of us." I relate this not because I think there is any truth to the Trump-Russia collusion nonsense. The point is simply to illustrate my father's deep and abiding belief that ours is (or at least at that time was) "a nation of laws." The Old Republic is certainly finished if we are no longer "a nation of laws," but instead "a nation of elites," where the application of our laws vary depending on one's status or political affiliation.

During the Obama administration, we witnessed a deep level of corruption, which, even during the current Trump administration, continues to fester without any meaningful effort by The Department of Justice or the FBI to honestly and evenhandedly investigate the facts and hold those to account who, for their own personal enrichment and political gain, would subvert our laws and the interests of our nation.

Back in the day (when Dad worked there  almost half a century ago!), it was assumed that when an incoming administration of the opposite political party to the outgoing administration took over, there would be a house-cleaning. Not so under the current Trump administration. Here we have an attorney general (Sessions) who has recused himself from all the important decisions of his office, which demand a through and a complete investigation to restore public confidence in our federal justice system. To add insult to injury, our attorney general has left immediate subordinates in positions of power whose personal interest is not to reveal, but rather to obstruct ascertainment of the truth.

Issues needing investigation (to name a few) include influence-peddling for personal gain and the compromise of our national security through the sale of 20% of our uranium reserves; Hillary Clinton's use of an unsecured server and her trafficking of classified information on various unsecured devices; the willful destruction of evidence, even while under subpoena, by Clinton and her subordinates; and serious and factual allegations of obstruction of justice and dereliction of duty by our highest government officials at the Justice Department, the FBI, and the IRS.

No, Sessions can't be involved in any of that. He needs to leave those weighty decisions to his deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, whose political affiliation is with the former Obama administration and who himself has a serious conflict of interest due to his having presided over the investigation of Russian bribery and extortion at the heart of the Uranium One deal.

Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse  for surely Rosenstein is an embedded fox, and Sessions a nervous, fearful old hen.

Those institutions that we have entrusted with the fair administration of Justice appear to be mere protective functionaries of, as Chris Farrell of Judicial Watch described it recently on The Lou Dobbs Show, "a giant socialist organ" on the verge of becoming a "failed state."

Alas, our dear country manifests the symptoms of a Banana republic, yet still the spirit of our founding principles (i.e., the First Amendment), survives. And so commentators are still permitted to express themselves on the internet in a public forum like American Thinker. God forbid that the forces aligned against freedom of speech and our constitutionally based values should prevail! But then, I never thought I would see what we are currently witnessing  the breakdown of our fundamental institutions of government such that we no longer seem to be a nation of laws.

I leave you with a more optimistic thought this holiday season and some hope for the future.

In a recent commentary in American Thinker, Chris Chantrill, noting Breitbart's assumption, stated in part, "[Y]ou have to win the cultural battle before you can win the political battle." Yes, there is a resurgence of conservative populism within our culture, spawned in large measure by the anger and frustration of the unwashed of our nation, with the corruption and dysfunction of our elite overseers in media, education, and the federal government institutions they inhabit. Things are churning in our country, from low to high. Yes, there is much swamp-draining left to be done. But Trump's election victory against all (establishment) odds was a harbinger of things to come. There is a depth and a breadth to the conservative-populist movement that animates our fellow citizens, and in numbers sufficient for victory. If we collectively join our voices to the battle, we can and we will win our country back.

Keep your chin up. Continue to fight the good fight. As long as we stand together on the truth, justice will prevail!

Robert Kirk, a retired Riverside County prosecutor, suffers from a rare malady that afflicts only a tiny percentage of his fellow Californians  commonsense conservative thought. For comments or to follow his current politically incorrect project, go to www.alienanthro.com.
In his August 1954, Scientific American article, "The Origin of Life," Nobel Prize winning Harvard Biologist George Wald stated,

"One only has to contemplate the magnitude of this task to concede that the spontaneous generation of a living organism is impossible. Yet here we are as a result, I believe, of spontaneous generation."

What is "the magnitude of this task" that reasonably renders a natural origin of life "impossible?" Dr. Wald states,

"In the vast majority of processes in which we are interested the point of equilibrium lies far over toward the side of dissolution. That is to say, spontaneous dissolution is much more probable, and hence proceeds much more rapidly, than spontaneous synthesis."

The processes of interest include building proteins, DNA, RNA, and lipids. Nature does not engage in the "processes" of building these life-essential molecules (synthesis); Nature, rather, dismantles them (dissolution), if they exist at all.

Why? Nature inexorably proceeds towards "equilibrium" (Chemical Equilibrium), the most stable state. For example, the most stable state for amino acids in Nature is individual amino acids, not proteins.

Building a protein, DNA, RNA, or lipid is an endothermic reaction, which is a reaction that requires an input of energy which will remain with the compound (until Nature takes it apart), plus an activation energy to cause the individual parts to combine. Over-simplifying, the reverse reaction, the destruction of the compound, dissolution, requires only the activation energy which is less energy than required for building, synthesizing, the compound. The dissolution, the destruction of the compound, releases the inherent energy in the compound and is termed an "exothermic" reaction. Nature prefers exothermic reactions, which for the life-essential compounds noted is destruction, not construction. Nature does not construct proteins, DNA, RNA, or lipids.

Dr. Wald further states,

"How do present-day organisms manage to synthesize organic compounds against the forces of dissolution? They do so by a continuous expenditure of energy.  A living organism is an intricate machine for performing exactly that function.  What we ask here is to synthesize organic molecules without such a machine.  it calls for phenomena and forces  some probably yet to be discovered."

The "phenomena and forces" have not been discovered. The operating principle, Chemical Equilibrium, the foundation of Chemistry, the inexorable progress towards stability, towards death rather than life, will not be overcome, to any useful extent, by natural "phenomena and forces", ever, in this Universe. That principle, Chemical Equilibrium, the principle upon which Natures Chemistry operates is absolute. What is required is an "intricate machine," a living cell, in a very controlled environment, which uses energy with exceptional precision and design, to build rather than destroy -- which is Natures direction. A living cell is incredibly complex, "intricate," and all parts of the cell have to be in place simultaneously or it will not function at all; in fact, Nature will destroy any partial cell (which Nature could never construct at all). The term "simple cell" is the greatest oxymoron in the English language

Dr. Wald proffers probability as a possible solution ("yet  I believe," because given enough time, Wald speculated, anything can happen), but time is not the savior; time leads to equilibrium, to dissolution, not to "anything," at least in this Universe. And, if Chemical Equilibrium could be overcome, naturally, where probability would then be relevant, the incomprehensible number of compounds which could be formed could never be sorted, selected to construct anything useful. Both Chemical Equilibrium and probability are absolute blocks to life.

The problem is not what we dont know; the problem, now revealed by microbiology, is what we do know.

"We now know not only of the existence of a break between the living and non-living world, but also that it represents the most dramatic and fundamental of all of the discontinuities of nature. Between a living cell and the most highly ordered non-biological system, such as a crystal or a snow flake, there is a chasm as vast and absolute as it is possible to conceive." Michael Denton, Evolution, A Theory in Crisis, p. 249,250, 1985.

Absolute. Science, specifically, astronomy, origin of life research via chemistry, biology, microbiology, the present ability to assess the efficacy of random mutation, geology, informatics, and probability all lead to the conclusion that a designer was necessary. The designer? Having reviewed the philosophies and religions of the world, the support for the different persuasions and the questions, there is no doubt in my mind that the Designer is the Person revealed in the pages of the Bible.

The statement of Chemistry is that "Life is not a natural phenomenon." That statement is absolute.

(Very readable) Sources for understanding the issues:

https://evolutionnews.org/ (Excellent source for understanding the issues on origin of life and evolution.)

Darwins Black Box, The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, Michael Behe, 1996. (This book addresses the complexity of and route to a molecular machine among the staggering collection of molecular machines comprising the ultimate biological molecular machine, a living cell.)

The Edge of Evolution, The Search for the Limits of Darwinism, Michael Behe, 2008. (It is assumed by Darwinists that random mutation of the genome is an effective mechanism to produce what we see in the fossil record. Given our recent ability to sequence the genomes of organisms, that assumption can now be directly addressed.)

Dr. Michael Behes responses to his critics (on the web) are also a very informative source of information and perspective.

Evolution, A Theory in Crisis, Michael Denton, 1985. (This will be current material for many more decades. Dr. Denton applies science to assess the data on the origin of life and its subsequent development.)

Programming of Life, Donald E. Johnson, 2010. (Ever write a computer program? Information is another absolute roadblock to a natural origin of life.)

www.reasons.org (Excellent source on astronomy, geology, the Earths formation, as well as origin of life and evolution.)

Genesis, The Scientific Quest for Lifes Origin, Robert M. Hazen, 2005. (Dr. Hazen, believes in a natural origin of life. This is an excellent book which goes into some detail about the scientific experiments which attempt to address natural origin-of-life issues. After reading it carefully, I wondered if the eminent researchers were listening to what science, chemistry was revealing, and I wondered that none of them named the common underlying problem, Chemical Equilibrium.)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Saturday that he would not accept Hezb'allah's stated policy of interferring in the internal affairs of other Arab countries - a direct challenge to Hezb'allah's power in Lebanon.

Hariri resigned as prime minister earlier this month but withdrew the resignation at the behest of Lebanon's Christian President Michel Aoun.

Hariri challenging Hezb'allah - and by extension, Iran and Syria - is eerily reminiscent of his father's actions which led to his assassination in 2005. Rafiq Hariri died in a car bomb explosion on February 14, 2005, just a few days after a meeting with Hafez Assad, Syria's president at the time.

Reuters:

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Saturday that he would not accept Iran-backed Hezbollahs positions that affect our Arab brothers or target the security and stability of their countries, a statement from his press office said. The statement did not specify which countries he meant.

Everyone knows that Hariri is talking about Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, who are under direct threat from Hezb'allah.

Hezbollah is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Gulf monarchies have accused the Shiite group of also supporting the Houthi group in Yemen and of backing militants in Bahrain. Hezbollah denies any activity in Yemen :or Bahrain.

Hariris resignation pitched Lebanon to the forefront of a regional power tussle this month between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which backs Hezbollah. The two regional powers back competing factions in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. After returning to Lebanon this week, he shelved the decision on Wednesday at the request of President Michel Aoun, easing a crisis that had deepened tensions in the Middle East. Following his announcement, made on Lebanons independence day, hundreds of Hariri supporters packed the streets near his house in central Beirut, waving the blue flag of his Future Movement political party. On Saturday, he said that his decision to wait instead of officially resigning is to give a chance to discuss and look into demands that will make Lebanon neutral and allow it to enforce its disassociation policy.

The "disassociation policy" would make Lebanon neutral. This is the farthest thing from Hezb'allah's mind. The terrrorists have every intention of supporting terrorist groups and rebels in Yemen, Bahrain, and elsewhere. The heart of their poiicies is to check Saudi Arabian influence on behalf of their paymasters in Iran.

In 2005, it was the Syrian occupation of Lebanon and Hezb'allah's support for President Hafez Assad that Hariri was fighting. A report on the elder Hariri's assassination released in 2005, found members of Assad's family personally responsible for Hariri's murder. Cell phones used during the car bombing were traced to Hezb'allah operatives. A tribunal was set up to try those responsible for the assassination, but Hezb'allah and the Lebanese government refused to cooperate.

Now, Saad Hariri finds himself in a similar position as his father - opposing Hezb'allah. For all the talk of Hezb'allah being a "political organization," the fact is, they have the guns to enforce their will and are not shy about using them.

The terrorists had no comment on Hariri's statement, but issued a statement of their own looking forward to "dialogue."

On Saturday, Hezbollahs International Relations Officer Ammar Moussawi said that the Shiite group is ready to reach understandings with our partners in the country, and that the group is open to real dialogue and cooperation with all, Lebanons state news agency NNA reported.

Hezb'allah's idea of "dialogue and cooperation with all" leaves a lot to be desired.
I find it tremendously sad that so many supposedly intelligent people who tell us how to run our lives are all of a sudden faking that in 2017 that powerful people have been mistreating people for years while they have intentionally looked the other way. They are obviously enablers.

I am 64 years old and have been working with other people for over 59 years, and I have never believed that it was OK to slap them on their behinds  or any of the rest of the nasty stuff coming out now. I certainly have known not to hang around with pedophiles, let alone fly over two dozen times with a billionaire who procures underage girls for powerful men on an airplane called "Lolita" to something called "orgy island." (Somehow, almost all reporters have never cared about Jeff Epstein and Bill Clinton and still don't.) I also know that cigars are for smoking.

I have worked for seven employers after I graduated from college, and I didn't see any of them in possession of a slush fund for treating people badly. I would have been fired. How did anyone in Congress believe he had the right to use our money to pay claims and then keep them secret? Where was the appropriation? Was it the same place Obama stole unappropriated funds from to cover up losses in Obamacare? Who approved the payments? My guess is that a lot of people know whom the payments were made for. Why weren't those people expelled from Congress?

We see every day that politicians throughout the country really care little about how taxpayer funds are used. They believe that the money is theirs, not ours. The swamp is extremely deep, and they care about maintaining and expanding their power. That is almost their only goal.

Now we hear that politicians from around the country are going to require that everyone take a few hours of courses to learn how to treat people. Here is an idea that should cover it: treat those you work with as you would your mother or your daughter. The lesson won't cost much and won't take much time.

Finally, everyone, especially Democrats, reporters, and Hollywood, should stop pretending he all of a sudden cares about the treatment of women in 2017. After all, these people were more than willing to put both Clintons back in the White House in 2016 despite knowing how many women they have mentally and physically harmed and sought to destroy over decades. They would still put them in the White House today.
I used to think that the anti-Trump media hysteria peaked last summer. Ordinarily, you would expect the media to tire of its one note coverage of Trump and slide back into a more traditional hate for a Republican president.

I was wrong.

Kyle Smith writing in the New York Post:

Not only is everything (still) hyper-politicized, but the lines between news media, lifestyle media and flat-out activism have faded into irrelevance. On Wednesday, the lead story in Teen Vogue, next to stories about how I Will Never Use Regular Soap Again After THIS $6 Foam Body Wash and Everyone Basically Wore Lingerie to the VS Fashion Show After Party, was this screaming headline: The United States Voted No on an Anti-Nazi UN Resolution. It ran over a terrifying picture of crowds carrying banners, some featuring swastikas, with smoke in the background suggesting a terror attack. Only when you click through do you discover that there is no news here whatsoever: The US votes against this meaningless, nonbinding UN gambit every year because the US has this thing called the First Amendment. President Obamas appointees also opposed the resolution. Meanwhile, Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross addressed a Women of the Year Summit earlier this month hosted by Glamour magazine. Her speech was ostensibly about being 45 and childless, but it could easily have been made by a womens-studies professor at Barnard instead of a sitcom star: I look back and think about all the ways were told that those two goals: being chosen and having kids, are what makes you worthy . . . this narrow story of husband plus child equals woman. And the patriarchy  the patriarchy is not pleased with me right now. Im failing at my function. Let me tell you, Mike Pence is fing confused by me right now. It seems unlikely that Vice President Pence is wandering around the White House buttonholing aides and saying, My gosh, did you know that Tracee Ellis Ross is 45 and is unmarried with no children? Im so confused by this information! At the same Glamour magazine event, Congresswoman Maxine Waters called out, You recognize when a leader is dangerous and got the crowd chanting, Impeach him! Impeach him!

The media and liberal activists are so cocooned, so out of touch with ordinary Americans that they are failing to realize they are in the process of re-electing the president. It isn't just that the media has lost credibility. They didn't need to trash Trump for that to happen. Nor is it really a question of their hollow warnings of the imminent establishment of a Trump dictatorship that is causing many ordinary Americans to wonder about the media's sanity.

What the media is doing with their over the top criticisms of Trump is angering millions of voters. They are motivating ordinary people to go to the polls and stick it to the Democrats and their media allies.

That anger may not translate into an advantage for Republicans in 2018, largely because Trump is not on the ballot. But if the media continues this assault on reason in criticizing Trump, even those predisposed to stay home or vote against him will cast a protest ballot in Trump's favor.

That the media can't see this is a result of a myopia about the way that ordinary people live and think. They are acting as if they are still the credible "gatekeepers" who used to decide what news Americans got and how they should view it. No more. The disconnect between what the media is reporting about Trump and what people can see with their own eyes is profound. And the more they scream, and whine, and warn, and condemn even the most innocuous Trump policy or action, the closer the president gets to re-election.
On June 6, 1944, American soldiers risked their lives to storm the beaches of Normandy in what is known as D-Day. Fast-forward 74 years later, and you will find ungrateful students confused about their genders hiding in their safe spaces on the politically correct grounds of a college campus.

Yes, the cult-based schools in which you were once encouraged to express new ideas has now become a place to go and get brainwashed into conforming to leftist beliefs, all while leaving in crippling debt. Students and faculty can now prevent conservative speakers from appearing on the campuses by violently protesting without permits, and they are encouraged to do so. If any of the students hears something he does not like, he declares himself triggered and runs to a safe space.

This booming wave of crybabies are known as the Millennials, "a generation raised not to believe in freedom of speech, but rather that they should have freedom from speech." According to FIRE, 54% of public and 59% of private universities impose politically correct speech codes. An example of the anti-First Amendment speech codes happened at a university in California on Constitution Day (September 17), 2013. A student was told he could not protest NSA surveillance outside the free speech zone, which made up only approximately 1.37% of the campus. My roommate had a personal story up at University of Minnesota, Duluth where his boss told him he must not refer to females as wo-men when designing school posters, as the inconvenient root may offend feminist activists on the campus. So there you have it: college campuses in today's society are breeding grounds for fascism, while the students shroud themselves under the veil known as the safe space.

So how can we stop this nonsense? First, we eliminate safe spaces and promote the expression of new ideas instead of filtering out ones you do not like by aggressively coloring your anger out in a room filled with puppies (yes, these places do exist). Second, we allow students to assemble peacefully on campuses to express their ideas and beliefs without being shut down by protesting students who think they are right because they talk louder than their opposition. Third, we stop implementing political correctness in school handouts, posters, and newsletters. Fourth, we hire professors fit for the job, regardless of their ideological beliefs. They are there to teach, not to use their appeal to authority fallacy to push their biased political agendas. Lastly, we eliminate useless majors and subjects and departments that just waste money and are there only to persuade students into adopting their political agendas. There are too many students enrolling in majors that do not prepare them for a real job, and there are too many departments that segregate everyone on the basis of identity politics.

We need more students to rise up and start fighting back. We are stronger in number, and there are plenty of students from both sides of the political spectrum who agree that the political correctness and safe space culture on campuses is a violation of the First Amendment.
Some astonishing revelations from the Egyptian state prosecutor on the mosque attack in the Sinai that killed 305 people and wounded more than a hundred.

The way the prosecutor described the attack is more reminiscent of a military assault than an incident of terrorism.

CNN:

Dozens of men wearing military combat uniforms and armed with automatic machine guns carried out the deadly assault on a Sufi mosque in northern Sinai, Egyptian authorities said. Twenty-five to 30 attackers arrived in five SUVs at the al Rawdah Sufi mosque in Bir al-Abed on Friday. Some wore masks and at least one was carrying an ISIS flag, the state prosecutor told state-run Nile TV in a statement. They positioned themselves at the building's entrances and the front of the mosque shortly before the massive gunfire and loud explosions rang out. By the time the attackers' weapons went quiet, 305 people were dead, including 27 children, the prosecutor said Saturday. An additional 128 people were wounded. The al Rawdah Sufi mosque is known as the birthplace of an important Sufi cleric. Sufism is a mystical branch of Islam that some jihadists consider heretical.

The attackers were not fanatical suicide bombers. This was, from start to finish, a military operation, extremely well organized, well funded, and absolutely cold blooded. They not only killed everyone in the mosque, they tried to kill anyone who was running away. The objective to strike terror in the Egyptian people appears to have been secondary to eliminating a mosque whose very existence was an affront to ISIS and killing "infidels."

The Egyptian military tried to retaliate with a conventional bombing attack but found few targets.

The Times of Israel reports that ISIS is also at war with local Beduin tribes in the Sinai:

The pretext for Fridays attack was likely the mosques affiliation with Islams mystical Sufi stream. It is known as the birthplace of Sheikh Eid al-Jariri, considered the founder of Sufism in the Sinai. The Islamic State, like al-Qaeda and other radical Sunni organizations before it, has denounced the Sufis. But for IS it isnt merely about religious differences: In the past two years, the Sufis have worked in tight cooperation with Egyptian security forces in the peninsula in an effort to counter the Islamic State and curb recruitment among the local Beduin. Recent months have also seen a clan war that has pitted several tribes (notably Tarabin) against the Islamic State. The spate of mutual killings, which has included beheadings (not only on the part of IS), may also be connected to Fridays attack. Last May, tribesmen executed eight Sinai Province operatives in retribution for a car bomb the terror group detonated near a Tarabin encampment. Among the triggers for those incidents was Sinai Provinces effort to take control of smuggling along the border with the Gaza Strip and to stem the flow of cigarettes, which they forbid, into the Sinai. Those restrictions threatened the livelihood of the Tarabins, who responded with violence.

We saw this same kind of tribal warfare against ISIS in Iraq, with the terrorists exacting revenge on Shias and some Sunni tribes who were cooperating with the government. This could mean that in Egypt, the fighting is likely to get even bloodier.

The military assault on the mosque shows that ISIS is far from finished in the region. Being able to marshall 30 terrorists and purchase 5 SUV's as well as weapons and ammunition bespeaks an organization growing in strength. Today, most ISIS attacks are confined to the Sinai. But it's only a matter of time before they start shooting up popular tourist spots and other places were westerners gather.
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A poster of "Old Beast" [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

Chinese mainland actor Tu Men won the best leading actor award at the 54th Golden Horse Awards Saturday evening for his performance in "Old Beast."

In the film, which won best original screenplay, Tu plays an elderly businessman who steals money from his children to pay a debt.

Mainland director and film producer Vivian Qu won best director for her dark drama "Angels Wear White," which touches on the theme of child sexual abuse.

Hong Kong's Kara Wai and the Taiwan-born Vicky Chen took home best leading actress and supporting actress awards respectively, with their performances in crime thriller "The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful," which won best feature.

Taiwanese satire "The Great Buddha +" was the biggest winner of the night, grabbing five awards including best new director and best original score.
The Daily Mail versus The Guardian: wrapping Nazis and eugenics in Paperchase guff

Have you boycotted Paperchase, sellers of printed stationery  yep, people really do still send letters (though not to Daily Mail readers who communicate by holding their noses and yelling into the wind)? Hope not. Paperchase tried its best to shine a light into societys darkest recess. It reached out to the Daily Mails Untermensch readership, hoping that in offering them two free rolls of Christmas wrapping paper, theyd be put on the path to decency.

But Stop Funding Hate thought Mail readers beyond salvation and bombarded Paperchases social media account with complaints. Paperchase didnt rescind the offer, but did vow never again to reach down into the sewer. It was truly sorry. Some people are just not worth the effort. Wrapping paper is a not a right; its a moral choice. The tree gods gladly give up their own to wrap useful gifts like photos of Jeremy Corbyn, DVDs of The 100 Best Silences and the Pop-Up Book of Safe Spaces. But save for the odd Japanese knot weed and leylandii, no vegetation wants to be seen dead around the kind of stuff Mail readers buy at Christmas  jackboots, flaming torches and Jeremy Clarkson audio tapes.

Sarah Baxter tells Times readers Stop Funding Hate is interested in muzzling the Press. The groups founder, Richard Wilson, admitted on Newsnight that the end point for us is a media that does the job we all want it to. Which is? Baxter says its suppressing the array of opinion reflected in the British press Stop Funding Hate, however, has morphed into an arrogant group of hate-mongering activists who are outraged about an ever-expanding range of subjects.

The idea is simple: starve the publication you dont like of advertising money and watch it die. If this also deprives thick-as-custard people of reading the tabloids, all to the good. If those mouth-breathers cant be banned from sharing views of the right-minded, their reading material must be censored. The caring Left knows best.

The Advertising Association is concerned, stating: The UK has a free press and advertising plays a vital role in funding that. Pressure group lobbying of this kind has negative implications for our press freedom. Advertising body Isba, warns: We shouldnt take for granted the freedom of the press.

Over in the Guardian, which would surely be the only newspaper on the bottom shelf when the anti-haters have won the day, Peter Peston thunders:

Stop Funding Hate may legitimately urge Mail readers to quit (and Mail readers may, equally legitimately, examine the causes SFH espouses and make up their own minds). But trolling rather nervous companies such as Paperchase isnt legitimate. Its the thin end of a dangerous wedge  with no winners in sight, from left or right. As last weeks Ipso complaints ruling on Trevor Kavanaghs The Muslim Problem column for the Sun mordantly observes: There is no clause in the editors code which prohibits publication of offensive content. Nor should there be.

In the same paper, Stewart Lee writes beneath the headline: My futile attempt to sell satire to the Daily Mail. Well, the paper does employ the sublime Craig Brown, so maybe hes enough? Guardian readers are told:

Usually, I am the sort of person who thinks that anyone who has ever worked for the Daily Mail is worse than Adolf Hitler, even the temps and the tea lady. And Im not alone. So disgusted are youth voters by the repellent newspaper, its now clear that the Daily Mails increasingly hysterical attacks on Jeremy Corbyn, the coddled egg of British politics, may even have helped secure his triumphant loss in the last general election.

Worse than Hitler? Satire, right? Phew! And people not voting for Corbyn because the Mail told them, too? I thought it was about anti-Semitism. But, then, Ive not been keeping up with the Guardians news on Jews and Jezza Labour Party, not since one of their columnists wrote in the Guardian: I have developed a habit when confronted by letters to the editor in support of the Israeli government to look at the signature to see if the writer has a Jewish name. If so, I tend not to read it.

I didnt call for a boycott. And the sport pages are good. Boycotts are, after all, for censors and Nazis.

Lee also turns to the subject of Nazis, riffing on when the Mail hailed the blackshirts.

And a sepia-toned card of the first Viscount Rothermere, the papers 1930s proprietor, declares, in Daily Mail font, I urge all British young men and women to study the Nazi regime in Germany. There is a clamorous campaign of denunciation against Nazi atrocities which consist merely of a few isolated acts of violence, but which have been generalised, multiplied and exaggerated to give the impression that Nazi rule is a bloodthirsty tyranny. Congratulations on passing your driving test.

Haha. Got one about the Guardian opposing the creation of the National Health Service as it feared the state provision of healthcare would eliminate selective elimination?

This is not to defend the Mail. Its to highlight how censorship is formed by bigotry.

Owen Jones disagrees. He writes in the Guardian: Paperchase rejecting the Daily Mail is another victory against hatred. No, hes not being ironic.

This paper, whose less than glorious history includes cheerleading for the Nazis and Oswald Mosleys blackshirts, is one of the most vindictive bullies in Britain.

And the Guardian? The Spectator tells us that not all leading figures in the Left, including eugenicist George Bernard Shaw, minded tyranny. ( In March 1933 Shaw was a co-signatory to a letter in The Manchester Guardian protesting at the continuing misrepresentation of Soviet achievements: No lie is too fantastic, no slander is too stale  for employment by the more reckless elements of the British press.)

Malcolm Muggeridge, was initially supportive of the Soviet regime. But then he went to Moscow as a correspondent for the Manchester Guardian and learned about the Ukrainian famine. The Guardian censored his reports. The left was divided by the atrocities of the Soviet Union into honest, moral people and those who turned a blind eye.

Is this a row between newspapers: the Guardian in need of the Mail to showcase what it is not; the Mail and right-wing Press, doing much the same? The difference is, though, that only one side supports censorship.

Anorak

Posted: 26th, November 2017 | In: Broadsheets, Key Posts, News, Tabloids, The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
Chinese car-maker BAIC, which assembles cars in the Mexican state of Veracruz, said on Friday that it plans to export cars from Mexico to the United States and Canada starting in 2018.

Yang Nanhua, director general of BAIC in Mexico, said the plan would go into action "unless something drastic happens with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)."

The landmark free trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and the United States is currently undergoing a tough re-negotiation process, at the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump.

"We are very confident that Mexico is a market with not only a great sales potential, but also a strategic (hub)," said Yang during a press conference for the 2017 MAPFRE Carshow in Mexico City.

Yang also said that BAIC would bring four new models into Mexico in 2018, including an electric vehicle with a range of up to 200 km. He added that the company is looking to enter the Mexican aeronautical industry.

Tian Jinghai, assistant to the director general of BAIC International Development, told Xinhua that the company intends to offer its products to the Mexican market and to satisfy a broader demand.

"We intend to offer the best products and services to Mexican consumers, as well as provide a better image of Chinese brands in Mexico," said Tian.

Tian also noted that "the Mexican market is a priority," and BAIC also wants to expand its market to the rest of Latin America and North America.

"The U.S. market is very mature and full of competition, as it is the second-largest (automotive) market. For any Chinese automotive company, this represents a great challenge, as well as opportunities, to enter this market. BAIC is no exception," said Tian.

"We are improving our product development and technological offering to meet American rules and laws," Tian added.

BAIC sells its products in countries such as Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Peru and Venezuela. Its production in Mexico is also expected to serve these markets.
A marriage of two important beer producers in one house. We all love stories of unions as opposed to separations of course because it signifies constructive steps to growth, augmentation of varied possibilities, and simply because it is positive in all ways. Caulier, a Belgian beer producer and Toccolmatto, an Italian craft beer producer paved one road to their union in one gastronomic place in Rome, the reformatted 28 Birreria Gastronomica in Via Flaminia 525.

Toccolmatto When he opened Toccolmatto in the Village of Taste of Fidenza, it was only a production of 5 hectolitres then by 2015, the new production site was producing ten times more. is a craft beer producer that was born in October of 2008 in Fidenza, Italy in the hands of Bruno Carilli. It is known for its distinctive beers and the innovative use of ingredients. Bruno had significant experiences in the agro-food industry including working for Carlsberg Brewery., it was only a production of 5 hectolitres then by 2015, the new production site was producing ten times more.





Upper photo: (left) Bruno Carilli, founder of Toccolmatto and (right) Federico Scapin, Administrator of Caulier Italy Bottom photo: The staff of 28 Birreria Gastronomica

Caulier on the other hand is an older brewery that was established in 1842 in Belgium. At the end of the 19th century, the brewery started its major export route to the United States. In the succeeding years, it had changed its name a few times and merged with other breweries. By the 1970s, it joined the Interbrew Group, the founder of the beer brand Stella Artois. Over the years, the brand slowly disappeared. In 2008, Eric Coppieters bought the traditional Caulier beer brand and established Caulier Sugar Free to produce beer without colorants, sweeteners and preservatives following the original recipes when the brewery was established in 1842. The beers strong points are being gluten free, low in calories and for the diabetic. Caulier produces several lines of beer but the main one is 28, an old brand of the Caulier which used to be brewed with 28 kilograms of grain per hectolitre. on the other hand is an older brewery that was established in 1842 in Belgium. At the end of the 19th century, the brewery started its major export route to the United States. In the succeeding years, it had changed its name a few times and merged with other breweries. By the 1970s, it joined the Interbrew Group, the founder of the beer brand Stella Artois. Over the years, the brand slowly disappeared.following the original recipes when the brewery was established in 1842.Caulier produces several lines of beer but the





With the joint venture of both breweries, the Italian production of the Caulier beers will be brewed by Toccolmatto Brewery at 28 Birreria Gastronomica while the rest will still be brewed by De Proef in Belgium for Caulier Benelux market. But it doesn't end there because from this union, 28 Birreria Gastronomica has hopes to transform the place into a temple of beer culture. It is being prepared in fact, to become the headquarters of the UDB (Unione Degustatori Birra) which deals with the promotion of artisan beer and training of professional tasters. while the rest will still be brewed by De Proef in Belgium for Caulier Benelux market. But it doesn't end there because from this union, 28 Birreria Gastronomica has hopes to transform the place into a temple of beer culture.





At 28 Birreria Gastronomica, it's possible choose among the bottled beers as well as twenty kinds of beer by the glass with the use of the Growler, a machine that's connected to the beer cellar on the upper floor. For the draft beer, Caulier and Toccolmatto are providing a selection of ten kinds of beer each plus six kinds of beer from guest breweries that will be changed periodically. it's possible choose among the bottled beers as well as, a machine that's connected to the beer cellar on the upper floor. For the draft beer,that will be changed periodically.

The Kitchen. Caulier and Toccolmatto both pursue the quality and passion for craftsmanship that also reflects the kitchen of Caulier and Toccolmatto both pursue thethat also reflects the kitchen of 28 Birreria Gastronomica . Attention to the selection of producers, especially the small reputable ones, a wide and varied selection of high quality craft beers are the distinctive features of 28 Birreria Gastronomica









Manning the kitchen is Chef Roberto Fiumi who conceptualized a menu based on high quality ingredients from local and regional producers. The selection of cheese comes from Caseificio Quattro Portoni, the ham from the farm of Zavoli, the meat from Roberto Liberrati, Fratelli Roccia and Pile and the coffee from Massimo Bonini.







The highlight of the kitchen is the oven grill called Lu Furnu that's invented by Paolo Parisi. It is powered by mangrove charcoal that permits the cooking of the meat with the ideal temperature and gives a pronounced aroma. A must try is the pork belly cooked in low temperature and the grilled sweet & sour spare ribs that pair well with the Caulier 28 Tripel and the lamb cutlets (scottadito) accompanied with pate of coratella and Roman style artichokes.





The best way to get the most of the gastronomic experience at 28 Birreria Gastronomica is pairing the beer with the food well. A good starter would be a platter of ham and cheese, most especially the Surfin' Blue that was awarded as the Best Cheese in the World at the Mondial du Fromage with a suggested pairing of Toccalmatto Surfing Hop or the cod fish coated in beer batter with yuzu that goes well with Toccalmatto Tohki-Shu.

If you are with your kids, they won't feel left out as the menu also has a couple of options for them like the baby burger and the crispy chicken. Don't skip the dessert menu as the entries are quite interesting too. There is the Birramisu with the Caulier 28 Imperial Stout and also the Gaufre de Bruxelles (Belgian waffles) with berries and maple syrup or vanilla ice cream.

28 Birreria Gastronomica With the wide selection of quality beer and the carefully studied food menu for ideal pairings, is the perfect place to uncover the world of beer and gastronomy.



Via Flaminia, 525

00191 Rome, Italy

Tel: +39 06 99709481





Open daily from Tuesdays to Sundays 11:00 to 01:00 except Mondays.





Restaurants in Rome:




The fly-past has become synonymous with the race with the flagship A380 aircraft flying over the iconic circuit accompanied by the Aermacchi MB-339NAT fast jets of the UAEs air display team, Al Fursan.

Captain Ali Al Jabri, an Etihad Airways A380 pilot and Vice President Corporate Safety and Quality, embarked on the flight for the seventh year in a row, and was joined by Captain Sulaiman Yaqoobi, Captain Adel Al Zubaidi and Captain Kian Siew Beh in the flight deck.

The superjumbo  tail number A6-APD  passed over the start line and home straight of the circuit at 800 feet and travelling at 220 knots - slightly slower than its normal cruise speed of 490knots (907 km/h).
Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor Saturday praised the Hong Kong Police for maintaining Hong Kong's rule of law, integrity as well as law and order.

Attending the passing-out parade of the Hong Kong Police College Saturday, Lam said that the police force has contributed greatly to the economic development of Hong Kong which every member of the law enforcement agency should take pride.

A total of 40 probationary inspectors and 176 recruit constables passed out.

Lam said the number of crimes per 100,000 population in 2016 stood at 825 cases in Hong Kong, representing a new low in the past 44 years. It was attributed to the concerted efforts of every member of the police force.

The chief executive also commended the police force for being innovative and striving for excellence in the past years.

On technology-related crimes, it has set up a dedicated team to handle online crimes after noting with foresight that technology-related crime would burgeon and become popular.

In view of the heightened global terrorism situation, it set up a team within a short period of time to ensure that Hong Kong remains one of the safest cities in the world, she added.

Lam encouraged graduates to work with full commitment and passion, and to serve the society and members of the public with empathy. Meanwhile, she hoped that every member of the police force could work together and continue to maintain its professionalism.
Piyushs sister Meher Vij, who's riding high on the success of Secret Superstar, however, was not aware about the development.

Mumbai: Piyush Sahdev, popular for TV serial 'Beyhad' among others, has been arrested for allegedly raping a 23-year-old fashion designer.

He was charged under IPC section 376 by the Versova Police Station in Mumbai.

Senior Inspector Kiran Kale of the police station confirmed the news to the Times of India, "Yes, he has been arrested on 22nd of November under the charges of rape. He will stay in remand till 27th of November till the court's hearing. He was arrested in the evening from his house."

The complaint was registered on 20 November, after which Piyush was produced before the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Wednesday.

Piyushs sister Meher Vij, who's riding high on the success of Secret Superstar, however, was not aware about the development till reports started making rounds.

She told the daily, "I have got to know this from you. When did this happen. I don't know anything at all."

Later, she continued, You know I haven't been able to get in touch with my father so I too do not know anything about this news. Actually, Piyush and I haven't been in touch at all ever since he got married. His wife had some issues so I chose to back off. Whatever contact we have had, has been only through our father ever since then."

Another TV actor Parth Samthaan was accused of sexual harassment in March earlier this year.
Cao Jianming (L), Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China, shakes hands with Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at Istana Nurul Iman, Brunei's royal palace in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei, Nov. 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Xue Fei)

China and Brunei reached consensus on the strengthening of prosecution cooperation on Saturday during a visit here by Cao Jianming, Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China.

Cao, who led a Chinese delegation consisting of several provincial chief procurators, met with Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at Istana Nurul Iman, Brunei's royal palace. He thanked the Sultan for attaching great importance to strengthening procuratorial exchanges between the two countries and for his support for hosting the Eleventh China-ASEAN Procecutors-General Conference.

Cao said that the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China will work with their Brunei counterpart to actively implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepen mutually beneficial and pragmatic cooperation and make positive contributions to the development of the strategic cooperation between China and Brunei.

Hassanal welcomed Cao Jianming for his delegation's visit. The Sultan said Brunei attaches great importance to developing relations with China and is willing to work with China to consolidate mutual political trust, broaden exchanges and cooperation in various fields to better benefit the two peoples.

Earlier in the day, Cao held working talks with Hajah Hayati, the Attorney General of Brunei Darussalam, and issued a joint statement on further enhancing cooperation between both sides.

The two sides agreed to deepen the exchange of information, broaden the cooperation channels, strengthen communication and cooperation in the multilateral framework and promote the upgrading of the friendly relations under the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding in the field of legal cooperation signed in 2002.
Half a dozen Hindu organisations on Saturday submitted a petition to the organisers requesting them not to show the film.

Panaji: Days after the Kerala High Court ordered that Malayalam film 'S Durga' be screened at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, half a dozen Hindu organisations on Saturday submitted a petition to the organisers requesting them not to show the film.

The petition, handed over to IFFI Director Sunit Tandon on Saturday afternoon, said the screening of the controversial movie should be stalled to maintain law and order.

The IFFI 2017, which kicked off on November 20, will conclude on November 28.

"It is clear that the film has targeted the Hindu Goddess Durga and denigrated her and in the process hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. The film is also likely to create law and order situation," the petition signed by various organisations, including members of Sanatan Sanstha and Gomantak Mandir Mahasangh, reads.

The Kerala High Court recently gave a go-ahead for the screening of the film during the ongoing IFFI, while the festival organisers have asked the filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan to submit the censored version of the film.

"The court may have given the direction to show this film. We respect the court but you can't ignore the sentiments of crores of Hindus who worship Goddess Durga," the petition reads.

Referring to the controversy surrounding Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming film 'Padmavati', the petition said, "Currently issues are going on regarding 'Padmavati' film. So showing this film at IFFI will add to the controversies. Though there is freedom of art, it can't be at the cost of hurting of feelings of the majority community."

'S Durga', which was earlier titled 'Sexy Durga', narrates the horrifying experience of a hitchhiking couple. The film, a road movie that follows the horrifying experience of two hitchhikers, a man and a woman, at the hands of two men in the dead of the night, won the Hivos Tiger Award in the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2017.
As the Padmavati protests have taken a violent turn, the film industry has resolved to fight back in a big way.

As the Padmavati protests have taken a violent turn, the film industry has resolved to fight back in a big way. And distinguished members of the fraternity are outraged.

Says Shabana Azmi, The nation is in the grip of hyper-nationalism. These exaggerated protests against imagined insults to the nations pride have never been as bad as they are today. I wont be a stifled bystander while my colleague Deepika Padukone is issued death threats.

Ashoke Pandit, a vocal supporter of Padmavati and the president of the Indian Films and Television Directors Association (IFTDA), called for a 15-minute tools-down motion for the entire Indian film industry on Saturday.

We called for a complete blackout in every film industry of India in the North, South and East and left it to them to join us in this silent protest, he said.

Ashoke feels its a now or never situation for the industry. We cannot give into the goon element. Today theyre demanding Sanjay Leela Bhansalis head and Deepikas nose. Only God knows what they will be demanding next. We cannot allow hoodlums from fringe groups to dictate terms to us, he declared.

He also feels the lack of solidarity in the film industry currently. Everyone is in their own worlds, impervious to whats happening elsewhere. Thats wrong. Today, theyre doing this to Bhansali, tomorrow it could be you or me, he warns.
As part of this strategy, the party would declare former Karnataka CM J.H. Patels son Mahima Patel as its state unit president on November 30.

New Delhi: After the Election Commission allocated the Arrow symbol to it, the Janata Dal (United) led by Nitish Kumar is now focussing on trying to wrest control of the state units of the party, which had sided with the rebel Sharad Yadav faction. The party which has already decided to contest the Gujarat elections in a big way by fielding more than 100 candidates will now turn its focus on Karnataka which goes to polls next year.

As part of this strategy, the party would declare former Karnataka chief minister J.H. Patels son Mahima Patel as its state unit president on November 30. Mr Patel has already joined the JD(U) after meeting Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar last week.

Mr Patel, a former MLA and minister, is also expected to get a large number of supporters of the pre-split Janata Dal (United) with him to the party fold. His father J.H. Patel was one of the tallest leaders of the Janata Dal in Karnataka and was the states first non-Congress chief minister.

The senior Patel had witnessed turbulent days as chief minister after his mentor Ramakrishna Hegde was expelled from the party and the split in the party. He had later merged his faction with Mr Hegdes Lok Shakti and entered into an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

It is interesting to note that the current state JD(U) chief M.P. Nadagowd had sided with the Sharad Yadav faction after Mr Kumar had decided to join the NDA following differences with alliance partner RJD in Bihar.

Many workers have evinced interest in joining us after the Election Commission recognised us as the real JD(U) by allocating the Arrow symbol, JD(U) National Secretary K. C. Tyagi told this newspaper.

He said that henceforth his party would focus on expanding its foot prints across the country and make the JD(U) a national party in the run up to the 2019 general elections.
Modi also emphasised on the Indian Constitution's important role in the country's overall development after independence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Justice of India, Justice Dipak Misra and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at valedictory session of the National Law Day, 2017 function in New Delhi on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday stressed that the legislature, the judiciary and the executive were part of the same family and should strengthen each other and work for new India, even as the Chief Justice and the law minister sparred over the issue of judicial activism.

The prime minister also said that the three wings -- the legislature, the judiciary and the executive -- need to brainstorm on how to move forward in the changed scenario.

"They are members of the same family...We do not have to prove anyone right or wrong. We know our strengths, we know our weaknesses," he said at a gathering of judges and advocates at the National Law Day event here.

Modi pointed out that while fighting for rights, one should not forget about duties.

He emphasised that the balance between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary has been the backbone of the Constitution and it has helped the country during the Emergency.

Modi also pitched for self-regulation and a system of checks and balances for the good health of any institution and quoted B R Ambedkar to state that there should be a limit for any authority.

Before the prime minister addressed the gathering, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reminded the judiciary of the principle of separation of powers between the judiciary, the legislature and the executive.

He said the concept of separation of power is as binding on the judiciary as it is on the executive.

Responding to the remarks of the law minister, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra said that "there should be mutual respect and there cannot be any claim for supremacy by any of the wings".

The CJI said that the dream of the Prime Minister is a literate, educated and digitally-enabled India and the judiciary is "playing the role of a constitutional catalyst" to achieve the goal.

Referring to the issue of judicial over-reach, Prasad said law-making must be left in the realm of those elected to make the law.

"The founding fathers clearly meant that governance must remain in the realm of those elected to govern by the people of India and accountable to the people of India," he said.

While independence of the judiciary was "important", judicial accountability, probity and propriety were "equally" necessary, he said.

Justice Misra hit back by saying that, "We are not really interested to bring any kind of policy."

"But the moment the policies are formed, we are allowed to interpret and see that they are implemented," he said.

Misra said the judiciary follows the principle of 'judicially manageable standards' under which it does not get into realms where it can't do much. "If we can't do it, we will not get into it," he asserted.

Misra rejected the suggestion that PILs were being used as a means to formulate policies and to govern the country.

He said there had been several writs and PILs which the Supreme Court has turned down. He also said that the apex court has been going "slow" on economic matters, particularly tenders and especially global tenders.

Prasad said while the government accepts the Supreme Court decision to strike down the National Judicial Appointments Commission which sought to overturn the system of judges appointing judges, it is important to appreciate the suggestion of an audit of judicial appointments.

He referred to the contempt of court proceedings by the apex court against Justice C S Karnan.

Prasad said his records show that the then collegium had described him as an expert in all fields of law. Perhaps, he was not an expert on contempt of court, the minister said, without naming Karnan.

The CJI said whenever the law minister writes to the collegium, his observations are not ignored. The recommendations once rejected by the government are not reiterated out of mutual respect.

Earlier in the day too, the two had countered each other's assertions.
He said the reservation formula for the Patel community promised by Congress is legally and constitutionally untenable.

Arun Jaitley said, the reservation formula for the Patel community is legally and constitutionally untenable. (Photo: PTI)

Ahmedabad: Stating that the reservation formula agreed upon by the Congress and Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel was constitutionally untenable, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday accused both of them of cheating the people of Gujarat on the issue.

He also accused the Congress of dividing the society for political gains ahead of the Assembly polls next month.

Speaking in Ahmedabad, Jaitley, who is the BJP's election in charge for Gujarat, claimed that Congress's attempt to gain political ground through such tactics would eventually push Gujarat into anarchy.

He said the reservation formula for the Patel community is legally and constitutionally untenable.

"Whatever promised under that reservation formula prepared by them (Congress) is not possible as per the Constitution. Neither the Constitution nor the law permits it (reservation above 50 per cent). Both of them, those who promised it and those who accepted it, are cheating the people of Gujarat," the Union Finance Minister said.

He added that the people of Gujarat are smart and will never fall prey to such "deception".

Three days ago, Hardik Patel pledged his support to the Congress for the Gujarat Assembly polls after accepting the reservation formula prepared by the opposition party. The party promised to find a legitimate way to provide quota to the Patidar community over and above the 50 per cent cap set by the Supreme Court.

Without taking any names, Jaitley said the Congress leadership is falling prey to the anarchist forces.

"As the election is nearing, Congress is now trying to gain some ground by dividing the society. In a way, Congress has become dependent on those forces, which will bring nothing but anarchy. But, since the people of Gujarat saw such anarchy in the past (during the Congress rule), they will never go in that direction," he said.

"In the end, this election will be fought on two core issues. On one side, there is stability and governance, while on the other side, there is anarchy. There are two main combinations...Congress's combination has become a representative of anarchist forces. That is the reason why the Congress leadership has lost its way," he added.
Alleged victim of Love Jihad to appear in top court tomorrow

Kochi: Hadiya aka Akhila, who is allegedly a victim of Love Jihad, said on Saturday that she had embraced Islam on her own free will and wanted to go with her husband Shefin Jahan.

She also said she needed justice and that there was no compulsion from anyone in her changing the religion.

Hadiya, who will appear in the Supreme Court on Monday as directed by a bench headed by the Chief Justice, expressed her stand to mediapersons at the Nedumbassery airport before she was taken to New Delhi by a flight in the afternoon. It was for the first time that she appeared in public after the Kerala high court, in May this year, had annulled her marriage to Shefin Jahan and given her custody to her father K.M. Asokan of T.V. Puram, Vaikom, Kottayam district.

Hadiya was taken to the airport amidst tight security by the police, who tried to prevent her from speaking to the media. However, she managed to say a few words to the reporters before she was whisked away to the airport building. Chaotic scenes prevailed at the airport as mediapersons jostled to get close to Hadiya to get a response from her.

She later took a flight to Delhi accompanied by her father, mother Ponnamma and a team of police personnel headed by Kaduthurthy circle inspector Johnson, another woman circle inspector, two women civil police officers and a male civil police officer. Hadiya and others are expected to stay in Kerala House in Delhi.

The Kerala high court had annulled Hadiyas marriage after her father approached the court expressing fears that his daughter will be taken abroad for alleged terrorist activities. Her husband Jehan, who had married her while she was studying in a homeopathic college in Salem last year, filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the HC verdict.

The apex court in October had ordered the authorities to produce Hadiya before it on November 27.

Hadiya and her parents were taken from T.V. Puram by the policemen around 2 pm, while their house was surrounded by hundreds of curious people and mediapersons from the morning itself. The police had provided unprecedented security at the village.

A number of police vehicles were lined up before their house and the cops tried to shield Hadiya from public view while she entered a police vehicle along with her parents.

Kottayam Special Branch DySP J. Santhosh Kumar, Vaikom DySP K. Subhash, Vaikom CI Binu, Sub-Inspector M. Sahil also accompanied the vehicle to the airport.
The bullet-ridden corpse of Territorial Army soldier Irfan Ahmed Dar was found near a paddy field by the locals.

Srinagar: An off-duty Army jawan was killed by suspected militants in Jammu and Kashmirs southern Shop-ian district overnight, the police said on Saturday. This is the 6th such incident in the restive Valley in the past seven months.

The bullet-riddled corpse of 23-year-old Territorial Army soldier Irfan Ahmed Dar, who had gone missing on Friday evening, was found in Shopians Wuthmulla Naad village on Saturday morning, the police said.

Locals said that they saw Dars body lying near a paddy field and immediately informed the police. He was wearing a pheran, traditional woollen robe. The police said he had been shot multiple times.

The jawan was a resident of Shopians Sanzan village and was posted in the Armys Engineering Regiment in Gurez area close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Bandipore district. A defence spokesperson here said that Dar, a 175 Territorial Army official, was to return to his duty on November 26.

SSP Shopian Ambarkar Shriram said that Dar was apparently abducted and subsequently murdered by militants. We have taken up investigations. It appears to be a case of kidnapping and murder and we suspect terrorists are involved, he said. No militant outfit active in J&K has, so far, claimed responsibility for killing Dar.

The deceaseds family told the police that Dar had come home on vacation. They said that he had left home in his car on Friday evening and did not return. His vehicle was found one kilometre from the place where his body was found on Saturday morning, the police said.

Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who was touring neighbouring Kulgam district as part of her public outreach, condemned Dars murder. She tweeted, Strongly condemn the brutal killing of Irfan Ahmed, a brave Territorial Army soldier at Shopian. Such heinous acts will not weaken our resolve to establish peace and normalcy in the Valley.

Her predecessor and Opposition National Conference (NC) working president, Omar Abdullah, also took to the micro-blogging site to condemn the killing. He wrote, The murder of young Irfan Dar is a very tragic & reprehensible act. My unqualified condemnation & heartfelt condolences to his family.

Dar is the sixth off-duty security personnel to have been killed by militants in Kashmir this year.

On October 18, a Special Police Officer (SPO), Abdul Haleem Kohli, was shot dead from point-blank range by suspected militants outside his house in Gutroo village of Tral in southern Pulwama district.

On October 1, a J&K police head-constable, Ashiq Hussain, was shot dead by two gunmen at a marriage ceremony in Pulwamas Padgampora village. The victim, working as munshi at Pulwamas Awantipora police station, was on leave to attend the marriage of a close relative when targeted.

A week before that, a Border Security Force (BSF) official, Muhammad Ramzan Parray, was killed and four of his family members injured in a militant attack in Hajin area of Bandipore district. Parray, an official of the BSFs 73rd Battalion, was posted in Singhpora area of neighbouring Baramulla district and had come home on holiday when the militants attacked him with a knife before shooting him dead. His father Ghulam Ahmad Parray, brothers Muhammad Afzal and Javaid Ahmed and paternal aunt Habla Begum were injured in the attack.

On June 15, a J&K policeman, Shabir Ahmed Dar, was shot dead from point-blank range by assailants in Bogund village of Kulgam district.

On May 9, Ummer Fayaz Parray, a 22-year-old officer with Armys 2 Rajputana Rifles, was on leave when he was abducted by two masked gunmen from the wedding of his cousin in Batpora village, Kulgam district. Next morning, his bullet-riddled corpse was found in Harmain area of neighbouring Shopian district.

In March and April this year, the Valley had witnessed a series of militant attacks at policemen and their families following which the police department had issued an advisory asking its field personnel to avoid visiting their homes for the next few months.

They should preferably avoid visiting their homes for the next few months as their personal security is of paramount importance, the advisory had said. It also asked all the heads of various formations to brief their officers and men regarding the threat so the life and property of police personnel were secured.
The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) headed by Rajnath met here to decide the dates of the Winter Session.

New Delhi: Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu said on Saturday that it does not matter how many days Parliament sat but what matters is how many days it functioned.

His remarks come a day after the dates for Parliaments Winter Session were announced following oppositions criticism of the government for delaying the session.

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) headed by Home minister Rajnath Singh met here on Friday to decide the dates of the Winter Session.

The CCPA recommended that the session be held from December 15 to January 5. Speaking at a literary festival here, Mr Naidu said that the debate on the freedom of speech and expression should go on.

How many days the Parliament sat doesnt matter, what matters is how many days it functioned, he said.

Mr Naidu said that the philosophy of life should revolve around character, calibre, compassion and conduct and not caste, community and cash.

Stressing that literature was the backbone of the society, Mr Naidu said that it mirrors its inner workings, its triumphs and challenges, its anxieties and its possibilities.

From Kalidasa to Premchand, from Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore to present day, India has always been blessed with a strong literary lineage of writers, poets, intellectuals and thinkers, who have chronicled times, exemplified our open traditions, he said.

He also said that India is worlds youngest country of its size, and new intellectual churning and questioning, ideas about society, politics, activism and youth power are its exciting new features.
The home minister expressed satisfaction that the Inter-State Council and the Standing Committee have been revived after a gap of almost a decade.

New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday stressed the need for greater cooperation between central and the state governments so that any differences can be swiftly resolved.

Addressing the 12th meeting of the standing committee of the Inter-State Council, which discussed important issues like financial transfers from the Centre to the states, GST and maintenance of communal harmony, Mr Singh said that a number of steps have been initiated by the NDA government to promote cooperative federalism and harmonious relations between Centre and states.

Other Union ministers, including finance minister Arun Jaitley, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister for social justice Thaawar Chand Gehlot, urban development minister Hardeep Puri and chief ministers of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Tripura also attended the meeting. States of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh were represented by their ministers.

The home minister said the standing committee of the Inter-State Council is being periodically convened to lend speed and purpose to the process of harmonising Centre-state relations.

He claimed that a meeting of the council, which was held in July 2016, happened after a gap of 10 years. Mr Singh said the council has helped resolve various issues between different states and Centre in the last two years. While 82 such issues were resolved in 2015, last year as many as 140 issues were sorted out.

The home minister also expressed satisfaction that the Inter-State Council and the Standing Committee have been revived after a gap of almost a decade.

Mr Singh informed the Committee that recommendations of the Standing Committee on Punchhi Commissions report, which looked into Centre-State relations, would be discussed in detail in the days ahead and its recommendations would then be placed before the Inter-State Council, which is headed by the Prime Minister.

The Punchhi Commission, headed by former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Madan Mohan Punchhi, submitted its report in 2010 containing 273 recommendations in seven volumes.

The Standing Committee of the Council has already discussed 69 recommendations related of the Punchhi Commission relating to the Constitutional provisions on various subjects such as the role of Governors, the Inter-State Council and , assent to bills passed by Legislative Assemblies.

Once finalised these would be forwarded to the Inter State Council for a final decision. In addition, representatives of 30 Union ministries and departments as well as seven state governments were also present to assist the Committee in its deliberations.
Modi said all three needed to brainstorm on how to move forward in the changed scenario.

New Delhi: Soon after the Chief Justice of India sparred with the Union law minister over the issue of judicial activism on Sunday, with the CJI denying the ministers allegation that the judiciary was encroaching on the legislature or the executive, and saying there can be no compromise by the judiciary in enforcing a citizens fundamental rights, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that all three (legislature, judiciary and executive) were a part of the same family and should work to strengthen each other.

Mr Modi said all three needed to brainstorm on how to move forward in the changed scenario. They are members of the same family... We do not have to prove anyone right or wrong. We know our strengths, we know our weaknesses, he said at a gathering of judges and advocates at Vigyan Bhavan here to celebrate National Law Day.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had earlier rejected law minister Ravi Shankar Prasads remark that probity and propriety in the judiciary was as important as judicial independence. Mr Prasad said the fine balance among the judiciary, executive and legislature should be maintained to avoid any strain, adding law making should be left to those elected to make the law. The founding fathers clearly meant that governance must remain in the realm of those elected to govern by the people of India and accountable to the people of India. he said.

This was the second day the government criticised the judiciary for its overreach. On Saturday, finance minister Arun Jaitley asked the judiciary to maintain a delicate balance without encroaching into the policy domain of the executive.

The CJI, in his reply, said every citizen of the country, irrespective of their background and status, must follow and practice constitutional religion to strengthen the rule of law and democracy. He said that the fundamental rights of the people had to be given top priority, and denied the allegation that judiciary was encroaching upon the domain of the legislature and the executive. One single religion that everyone must follow is constitutional religion, he said.

On Mr Prasads remark that PILs cannot become a substitute for governance, the CJI said the Supreme Court believed in and practised constitutional sovereignty. He said the fundamental rights were the core value and bedrock of the Constitution. An independent judiciary with the power of judicial review had been conferred with the power of being the ultimate guardian of the Constitution to strike a balance to ensure governments function as provided by the law within their respective domains. Citizens rights have to be at the pinnacle, the CJI said.

The focus of the judiciary should be on reducing pending cases, rejecting frivolous litigation and stressing alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to settle cases, he added.

Attorney-general K.K. Venugopal said the PIL was a boon and it had served poor citizens of the country. He referred to a judgment in a PIL that led to the mass release of undertrials who served the maximum jail terms prescribed for offences during the trial itself.

The A-G said: It is one thing to deliver a judgment in a PIL, but to implement it and to achieve results is a totally different thing. Therefore, there has to be collaborative effort. The government has to be given an opportunity to consider the various pro and cons.
A two-day conference opened in Chongqing on Nov. 25 to draw out various views on how to promote Chinas discourse power internationally through enhanced translation of government documents.





Huang Youyi, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and executive vice president of the Translators Association of China, delivers a speech at the conference. [Photo by Gao Zhan / China.org.cn]





It is more necessary than ever for China to promote international communications, to tell its stories to the world and to build its own political discourse system with Chinese characteristics, said Li Keyong, president of Sichuan International Studies University, during the third conference of its type.

It attracted more than 120 academics from across the nation to discuss how to create better translations of Chinese government documents.

The translation of documents and the way of publicity have become two key aspects in building Chinas discourse system in the international community, Li added.

In his speech, Huang Youyi, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and executive vice president of the Translators Association of China, said that, in the new phase of development, China was confronted by challenges in regard to translation of Chinese official documents.

It is essential that China should interpret Chinese political philosophy, path and blueprint by itself, Huang said. the translation of Chinese government documents should target readers. On the one hand, the translation should focus on its original content; on the other hand, it should be readable.

Huang noted that China should promote further study of its political discourse system so as to enhance discourse power in the international community.

According to Ming Guohui, party secretary of Sichuan International Studies University, in 2016, it established an Institute for international discourse studies, aiming at studying on the Chinas political discourse system and cultivating students in a new academic discipline.
The President said it is upto the higher judiciary to mentor and encourage the lower judiciary.

New Delhi: Asserting that all the three branchesjudiciary, legislature and Executiveare equal, the President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said that the delicate balance of separation of powers among the three branches should not be disturbed.

Speaking at the Law Day celebrations here at Vigyan Bhavan, the President said that it is critical to keep this intricate and delicate balance in mind when exploring the relationship between the three branches of the state. Law Day is observed on November 26 every year when the Constitution was adopted in 1949 on this day. The Constitution came into force from January 26, 1950.

The President said the three branches are all equal. They should all be conscious of their liberty and strive to protect their autonomy. He cautioned that they should be careful not to disturb the fraternity of the separation of powers by even unknowingly intruding into the domain of either of the two other branches.

Pointing out that every branch has a certain responsibility under the Constitution, the President said they should fulfill their obligations in the spirit of the Constituent Assembly, which framed the Constitution. He said sobriety and discretion in communication between the three branches is also extremely advisable. This will promote and enhance fraternity among the three branches. It will also reassure the ordinary citizen that the Constitution is safe  and in mature hands, he said and recalled the role played by Dr. Ambedkar in drafting the constitution.

Our fundamental commitment must continue to be to take the values of our Constitution  and the fruits of our social, economic and political development  to the very grassroots of our society. For this we must make constant efforts to raise standards of subordinate institutions and bring them at par with apex institutions in all spheres. The legislative sanctity of Parliament is important. But so is that of every gram panchayat. And this must demand attention from each one of us.

On the role of higher judiciary, he said perhaps the greatest challenge is before the higher judiciary. It is in its mandate to bring justice closer to the people. The High Courts need to take up the task of quickly providing certified translated copies of judgments in local and regional languages. Even the hearings in court, if possible, have to be in a language that is understandable to the ordinary litigant. The process of case disposal too has to be made faster.

On the arrears in courts, he citing the instance of Jharkhand high court and said I am glad to note some High Courts are taking steps in these directions. As of June 30, 2017, there were about 76,000 old cases, pending for five years or more, in sessions and district courts under the High Court of Jharkhand. The High Court has set a target of March 31, 2018, to dispose of almost half these cases.

Further, the President said it is upto the higher judiciary to mentor and encourage the lower judiciary. In this, the cooperation of state governments is very much necessary. It is for state governments to ensure that the district and subordinate court judges are not denied their due perquisites and facilities. And it is for the High Courts to urge subordinate courts to be more efficient and conclude cases faster. I appreciate that this concern is close to the heart of the Chief Justice and the other Judges of the Supreme Court.
Lucknow has thrice sent a woman to the Lok Sabha as its representative with Sheila Kaul being elected in 1971, 1980 and 1984.

All the parties fielded women candidates after the Lucknow mayoral seat was reserved for women. (Representational image/File)

Lucknow: Lucknow voters on Sunday cast ballots to elect their first woman mayor in the ongoing civic body polls in Uttar Pradesh which already has the distinction of giving the country its first woman governor and chief minister.

As many as 23,27,900 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in 2,201 polling booths, Lucknow District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said.

As the exercise to choose the first woman mayor in 100 years was in progress, enthusiastic voters queued outside polling stations, enjoying a mellow sunshine on a wintry Sunday afternoon.

All the parties fielded women candidates after the Lucknow mayoral seat was reserved for women.

Prominent contestants in a field of 19 are Sayukta Bhatia (BJP), Prema Awasthi (Congress), Bulbul Godiyal (BSP), Priyanka Maheshwari (AAP) and Meera Vardhan (SP).

Uttar Pradesh is credited with giving the country its first woman governor Sarojini Naidu and chief minister Sucheta Kriplani.

Now, the City of Nawabs is poised to break the glass ceiling by electing its first woman mayor since the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act came was notified way back in 1916.

"Our time has come," feels Bhatia, while the BSP nominee says, "Better late than never".

Vardhan is the kin of educationist Acharya Narendra Dev, while Awasthi is the wife of the late Congress legislator Surendra Nath.

Lucknow figured in the second leg of the three-phase municipal elections across the state.

The Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act came into being in 1916 and Barrister Syed Nabiullah became the first Indian to head the local body.

In 1948, the UP government changed the electoral nature of the local body and introduced the concept of administrator and Bhairav Datt Sanwal (ICS) was appointed to the post.

In 1959, the UP Municipalities Act, 1916, was replaced by the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, paving the way for the formation of the municipal corporation (nagar

mahapalika) in Lucknow on February 1, 1960.

It was on the intervention of the Allahabad High Court in 1989 that the government announced local bodies polls.

An amendment in the Constitution accorded the status of municipal corporation to Lucknow's local body retrospectively from May 31, 1994.

Provisions were made in the Municipality Act of 1959 to allow citizens to elect a mayor. Provision of reservation to women, SCs, STs and OBCs was also made on a rotational basis.

Kriplani, who had come to the forefront during the Quit India Movement in 1942, held the chief minister's office from 1963 to 1967.

She had worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi during the Partition riots. She was one of the few women who were elected to the Constituent Assembly and was part of the sub-committee that drafted the Constitution.

Naidu, popularly known as the 'Nightingale of India', was the governor of the United Provinces, now known as Uttar Pradesh, from 1947 to 1949.

She was born in a Bengali family on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad and was educated in Chennai, London and Cambridge.

Naidu too was a follower of Mahatama Gandhi and had participated in the freedom struggle. She, later, went on to become the president of the Indian National Congress.

Lucknow has thrice sent a woman to the Lok Sabha as its representative with Sheila Kaul being elected in 1971, 1980 and 1984.
Tthe formation of these highly ordered structures is likely to affect how clouds form.

London: Fatty acid molecules released during cooking may be enhancing the formation of clouds, which have a major cooling effect on the planet, according to a study.

Scientists demonstrated for the first time that fatty acid molecules emitted from deep fat fryers during cooking can spontaneously form complex 3D structures in atmospheric aerosol droplets, according to the study published in the journal Nature Communications.

The team believes that the formation of these highly ordered structures is likely to extend the atmospheric lifetimes of these molecules and affects how clouds form.

"It is known that fatty acid molecules coating the surface of aerosol particles in the atmosphere may affect the aerosol's ability to seed cloud formation," Christian Pfrang, from the University of Reading in the UK.

"However, this is the first time scientists have considered what these molecules do inside of the aerosol droplet, and we have shown that they may be assembling into a range of complex, ordered patterns and structures. This means they may last longer in the atmosphere," Pfrang said.

The researchers studied a model system to represent atmospheric aerosol consisting of individually levitated droplets of mixtures of brine and oleic acid, a fatty acid associated with cooking emissions.

They observed that the fat molecules assembled into highly ordered "lyotropic" phases - crystal-like lattices of spheres or cylinders which are known to strongly affect water uptake from the surrounding environment, a key process in cloud nucleation, and viscosity, which affects chemical reaction rates.

Further experiments showed that the fatty acids were more resistant to chemical attack by ozone, and therefore can survive longer and travel further in the atmosphere, if they adopt these complex structures.

The extended lifetimes of these molecules may facilitate droplet growth and thus cloud formation.
The message was hand written in Japanese, although it would be readily understandable to Chinese readers.

The company said it had identified the branch responsible for the sign and had removed it (Photo: Facebook)

Tokyo: A major Japanese cosmetics maker has apologised after one of its retail shops posted a sign barring Chinese customers.

The apology from Pola came after Chinese social media users shared a photo of the red-lettered poster saying "No entry by Chinese people".

The message was hand written in Japanese, although it would be readily understandable to Chinese readers.

It was not clear where the incident took place, although it did not appear to be in a major tourist hub.

"We are sincerely sorry and regret that an inappropriate poster ... has caused unpleasant feelings and nuisance to many people," Pola said in a statement issued Saturday in both Japanese and Chinese.

The company said it had identified the branch responsible for the sign and had removed it. It did not specify where the shop was. "Our company takes this issue seriously," it said.

"We will suspend operations at the shop and punish those responsible as soon as we confirm the facts of the matter." Japan has seen a huge boom in the number mainland China visitors in recent years, many of whom spend large sums purchasing made-in-Japan products like make-up.

But their swelling numbers have provoked a backlash, with some Japanese complaining the crowds are unruly and ill-mannered.

Pola, a main pillar of globally operating Pola Orbis Holdings, is trying to expand in Asia and capitalise on the popularity of its skin care products among Chinese customers.
From looking younger to slashing risk of cancer, we list reasons why winter is the best time to get intimate with your partner.

People who had sex at least twice a week released more antigens like immunoglobulin which helps fight off colds and flu. (Photo: Pixabay)

Scientists claim that men are more aroused by revealing pictures of women during colder months than they were during the summer.

Scientists also say that cold air also improves sperm quality - explaining the higher birth-rates during this period and a general sense of more attraction during this period.

Whatever, be the reason, we list reasons why winter is the best time to get intimate with your partner.

It could lower his risk of prostate cancer: According to a study conducted by the Harvard Medical School, men who ejaculated more often reduced their risk of developing prostate cancer by 22 percent. Researchers still don't know what is the reason behind it, but if sex is the way to avoid it, then why not!

Chance of getting a cold goes down: According to researchers at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, people who had sex at least twice a week released more antigens like immunoglobulin which helps fight off colds and flu.

It keeps you looking super young and confident: A Scottish researcher and clinical neuropsychologist David Weeks found that the people whose age was underestimated by seven to 12 years were also reporting having sex three times a week, in comparison to those who were less frequent

It'll help get rid of menstrual cramps: A 2000 study found that 9 percent study done in 2000 found that 9 percent of 1,900 women were masturbating solely to get rid of their menstrual cramps. There's no way that many masturbating women are wrong.

It makes women more fertile: A new study in Fertility and Sterility found that having sex every day could help prepare your immune system for pregnancy, which is critical in terms of increasing your chances of having a baby.

Lowers blood pressure and ability to stress out: A 2005 study found that people who had penile-vaginal intercourse had lower blood pressure and better stress responses than people who didn't.

Sex can actually make one more intelligent: Several studies by researchers at the University of Maryland and Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea, found that mice and rats who had sex more often were also less stressed. A de-stressed mind makes people more intelligent thinkers.

Cuddling chances increase: Cuddling is an option during summer, after sex, as both partners are sticky and hot. But in the winter, youre probably going to want to get your cuddle on. In the winter, one is more likely to cuddle post sex because it's a great way to stay warm.

Sex in socks: A 2013 study from University of Groningen in the Netherlands found that 80 percent of women who took part in the study had orgasms when manually stimulated by a partner if they were wearing socks compared to 50 percent when barefoot.
Officials at BNCMC claimed that in addition to Tahir Biznor, there were many other illegal structures in the area, Navi Basti.

Mumbai: Early morning Saturday, the team carrying out rescue operations at Tahir Biznor  the illegal Bhiwandi building that collapsed Friday morning  recovered the bodies of women, taking the death toll to four. Nine others were injured when the structure came crashing down on Friday. The Bhiwandi police detained the owner of the building, Tahir Ansari, and questioned him as to why the structure had not been vacated despite notices from the Bhiwandi-Nizampur city municipal corporation (BNCMC).

The incident occurred when a majority of the buildings residents were sound asleep. It was only after onlookers and neighbours alerted them that they tried to escape. However, more than 11 people got trapped in the debris and were rescued by Friday evening and taken to a nearby government hospital for treatment.

An official said, We had the list of missing people which stated one woman to be missing. Hence, we continued our search in order to find the person. Teams from the Regional Disaster Management Cell and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) continued with rescue operations from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon.

Officials at BNCMC claimed that in addition to Tahir Biznor, there were many other illegal structures in the area, Navi Basti. An official who did not wish to be named said, Even after sending notices to these people, they continue to stay and then blame us if anything wrong happens.
A police official said the Maharashtra police's 'Force One' commando team has also got the permission to carry weapons in flights.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people killing 166, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores. (Photo: PTI/File)

Mumbai: An improved coordination between various agencies and the quick response mechanism put in place by the police are the key to Mumbai's security in the last nine years following the 26/11 attack, officials said.

The police force is capable of securing the city as its response mechanism has improved over the years, Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padasalgikar said.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people killing 166, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores.

Following the dastardly attack in the financial capital, the Maharashtra government has taken a range of measures to upgrade the police force in areas like technology, training, gadgets, weapons and coordination between all the agencies, another police official said.

To beef up the coastal security, the government has provided radio frequency identity cards and smart cards to the fishermen, he said.

The defence ministry has also installed around eight radars to catch any suspicious movement on the entire west coast, the official said.

Setting up the marine police wing and securing the coastline area with the help of surveillance through drones are among the government's ambitious projects, another

official said.

The sharing of intelligence among all the agencies, including police, navy, coast guard and other central agencies, has also improved, he said.

The mega cities, including Mumbai, are covered with the CCTV network to curb criminal activities, he added.

The Maharashtra Police recently procured 4,600 bullet-proof jackets, another police official said.

The procurement was delayed as no company was willing to bid for it following allegations of purchase of substandard bullet-proof jackets, he said.

Of the 4,600 jackets, the testing of 3,000 has been done so far and these will be distributed in a few days to various police units, the official said.

"Apart from the jackets, we also purchased 1,500 bullet proof helmets which we have distributed," he said.

In last one year, the police also procured bullet-proof shields, 'morchas' (a kind of protective gear), night vision monoculars other modernised weaponry for the quick

response teams, he said.

There are proposals to procure bomb suits and total containment vehicles also, the official added.

Another police official said the Maharashtra police's 'Force One' commando team has also got the permission to carry weapons in flights.

Earlier, only the National Security Guard (NSG) personnel were allowed to carry weapons in flights.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padasalgikar said, "The police is capable enough to tackle any kind of situation to secure the city as our response mechanism has improved over the years."

"We have quick response teams in every region comprising young and fit men, who can strike in case of any eventuality," the police commissioner said.

The police is also regularly conducting joint exercises of the Force One and the elite commando team of NSG, which has a base in suburban Powai, he said.
The daughters had claimed that their mother had died two years before and their father is missing since two years.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has rejected a plea of two girls from Ratnagiri district, who sought that compensation money received by her father from land acquisition should be given to them.

The daughters had claimed that their mother had died two years before and their father is missing since two years. The court said that the girls should wait till 2022, marking seven years of his missing status, after which it would be assumed that he is died.

The court also noted that it doesnt know whether their father wants to give share of his money to his daughter or not. A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice M.S. Sonak was hearing petition filed by Deepali Savardekar and her sister. While the hearing the court noted that there is no legal declaration that he is not alive.

According to evidence act if person is not traceable for more than seven years he is presume to be dead. The court said that girls would have to wait till the year 2022 because missing complaint was registered in the year 2015 and till then such declaration is taken, whatever legal heirs of such person could not get the benefit.

Therefore the court said that at present the amount payable as compensation to Ramesh Savardekar couldnt be allowed to pay to his children, even if they are ready to execute any indemnity bond. The court further raised query that we dont even know that the father of the petitioners intended to give the said money to his children or not.

The court directed competent authority and Special land acquisition officer to deposit the amount of compensation and all the other amounts payable to Mr Savardekar in an interest earning Fixed Deposit in any nationalised bank or Scheduled bank.
The Congress, which Rahul Gandhi is all set to lead is very different from what it was in the past.

While the official announcement of who will be the next Congress president will be known in a few days from now, it hardly leaves any doubt that Rahul Gandhi is all set to take over as the new president of the party. The long-awaited change in the party leadership will soon be known to the world. Questions are being asked if this change will help in rebuilding the party or if electoral fortunes of the party will change after this.

It is difficult to imagine that the problem of the Congress (being unable to win elections) will come to an end with Rahul Gandhi becoming the party president. It will still be long before he can lead the party to electoral successes. But electing Rahul Gandhi as the new president would certainly help in keeping the Congress party united.

A member of the Nehru-Gandhi family heading the Congress leaves little scope for a rebellion within the party, even though there may be some undercurrents of dissatisfaction with the leadership. But any effort to elect someone from outside the family to lead the party might result in a situation of serious infighting within the Congress with various factions challenging each other.

Except keeping the party united during difficult times, Rahul Gandhis elevation to the top post hardly means anything. It will be too much to expect that the same Rahul Gandhi who has till now not won any votes for the Congress will suddenly become a vote-catcher.

The Congress, which Rahul Gandhi is all set to lead is very different from what it was in the past. Let us not even look at how strong was the partys support base was when leaders like Kripalani, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Jawaharlal Nehru, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy or Indira Gandhi headed it. The leadership of each of these persons was unchallenged.

The Congress had a decent support base even when Rajiv Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi became the party chief. When Rajiv Gandhi became the Congress president in 1984, the party had an overwhelming support among the people, a record 415 seats in the Lok Sabha and about 48 per cent share of the national votes.

When Sonia Gandhi took over as the party president in 1999, the party had witnessed decline and was not in power at the Centre but it still had a sizeable support (28 per cent vote share and 114 members in the Lok Sabha). At that moment, the Congress was the ruling party in as many as 16 states. Sonia Gandhi did face initial challenges from Sharad Pawar and P.A. Sangma, who eventually walked out of the party, but later she managed to consolidate her position and led the party to victory in 2004 Lok Sabha elections. For most of the previous presidents, the leadership was not as challenging as it is going to be for Rahul Gandhi. Those leaders faced the challenge only from the senior party leaders. Rahul Gandhi faces a far more tough challenge as compared to any other Congress chief in the past as the party at present is at the lowest level of popularity. And the challenge comes from none other than the leader of the party in power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. Though it is true that

Rahul Gandhis ability to counter the high-pitched campaigning of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah is limited, it would be unreasonable to question all his abilities.

The Congress has 44 members in the Lok Sabha and its vote share during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was 19.3 per cent. The story of the decline of the party in not limited to only the national elections. Its electoral success is very poor even in the state Assembly and local body elections. The party has hardly managed to win any Assembly election held after 2014 parliamentary elections, except Punjab. At the moment, the Congress is ruling only in five states  Karnataka, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram. Of these five states  Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram  are small and hence of very little electoral significance at the national level. Of the total 3,896 Assembly seats in the country, the Congress has 732 seats as compared to BJPs 1306; 1858 seats are with regional parties. If seen in terms of vote share, the Congress has a combined vote share of 18.6 per cent votes in the present Assembly while the BJP has 25.6 per cent. The Congress performance in the local body elections in different states is no better.

The parties vote share in Assembly polls might change after Himachal Pradesh results are out. Indications are strong that the Congress might lose in HP; and find it difficult to retain power in Karnataka, Meghalaya and Mizoram which go to poll early next year.

Rahul Gandhi can hope to change the wheel of fortune in the favour of Congress only if the party manages to win the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh, capitalising on anti-incumbency mood. The two states with a BJP government for last 15 years may be facing an anti-incumbency mood of the voters. If that does not happen, the task cutout for Rahul Gandhi, of leading the party to victory during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which already seems difficult, would become an impossible one.

But if Rahul Gandhi manages to pull a victory in Gujarat, the fortunes of the party and Rahul Gandhi might change sooner than later. But that certainly is an uphill task.
The company says that users will be able to browse their libraries, playlists and access recommendations and stations through the system.

Samsungs Smart TVs have been receiving quite a few updates lately. A few days ago, they received support for YouTube TV. Now, on Saturday the company announced that soon customers will be able to listen to Amazon Music through their Smart TVs, becoming the first third-party devices to connect to the service.

The company says that users will be able to browse their libraries, playlists and access recommendations and stations through the system. The service will also be accessible through other Samsung audio products, such as soundbars and wireless speakers as well.

Currently, users can listen to streaming services such as Spotify through Samsungs SmartTVs but this might be an appealing alternative to Prime users who own a Samsung TV, and who dont have an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot in their home. The company didnt say exactly when users will be able to begin listening; saying only that it will be available starting this month. The functionality is limited to models from 2015 and newer.
Many Chinese are calling for preschool teachers to be more highly qualified following the recent exposure of incidents of abuse at kindergartens, China Youth Daily reported.

China Youth Daily's official WeChat account said that not only does the country lack preschool teachers but also many of them are not qualified.

In 2016, the ratio of staff to students in full-time kindergartens was about one to 12, far below the standard of one to five released by the Ministry of Education in 2013, according to the report.

It added that by the year of 2021, China will have an additional 15 million preschoolers, and the shortage of preschool teachers and childcare workers will surpass 3 million.

The number of preschool education graduates is too small to fill the shortage. Additionally, many of those graduates will not become teachers, instead opting for other jobs due to the industry's low salaries and high pressure.

Most of China's kindergartens are currently private, and they lag far behind from public facilities in terms of financial support and other resources.

As a result, these kindergartens will often hire staff who are not qualified to be a preschool teacher at all.

In 2016, there were 2.5 million preschool teachers in China, among whom 56.37 percent held an associate degree, and 22.4 percent had only a high school diploma or below, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Education.

According to a kindergarten principal from Jinan, Shandong Province, once these unqualified teachers "find that the children are not as cute and naive as they had imagined, lacking better training they will simply treat them incorrectly."

It is much harder to become a preschool teacher in other countries than it is in China.

In Canada, only graduates with a major in preschool education can apply, and they must pass a dozen required courses. Similarly, in the United States and France, a preschool teacher requires a bachelor's degree, years of special training and teaching certificate.
The virtual politician, called SAM, was created by Nick Gerritsen, a 49-year-old entrepreneur in New Zealand.

The AI politician is constantly learning to respond to people through Facebook Messenger as well as a survey on its homepage. While Gerritsen acknowledges that humans biases can creep into algorithms, he said that he does not view bias as just a challenge to technology solutions.

Scientists have developed the world's first artificial intelligence politician, that can answer a person's queries regarding local issues such as policies around housing, education and immigration.

The virtual politician, called SAM, was created by Nick Gerritsen, a 49-year-old entrepreneur in New Zealand.

"There is a lot of bias in the 'analogue' practice of politics right now," said Gerritsen.

"There seems to be so much existing bias that countries around the world seem unable to address fundamental and multiple complex issues like climate change and equality," he said.

The AI politician is constantly learning to respond to people through Facebook Messenger as well as a survey on its homepage. While Gerritsen acknowledges that humans biases can creep into algorithms, he said that he does not view bias as just a challenge to technology solutions.

While the system is not perfect, it may still help bridge the growing political and cultural divide in many countries, 'Tech In Asia' reported.

By late 2020, when New Zealand has its next general election, Gerritsen believes SAM will be advanced enough to run as a candidate. However, it is not legal for AI to contest elections.

"SAM is an enabler and we plan to operate within existing legal boundaries," Gerritsen said.
Donald Trump has accused Pak of providing safe havens to militant groups waging insurgency operations against a US-backed govt in Kabul.

A Pakistani court ordered the release of Hafiz Saeed on Wednesday, who was put under house arrest in January after years of living freely in Pakistan, one of the sore points in its fraying relationship with the United States. (Photo: AP | File)

Washington: The White House said on Saturday there would be repercussions for US-Pakistan relations unless Islamabad took action to detain and charge a newly freed Islamist accused of masterminding a 2008 assault in Mumbai, India.

A Pakistani court ordered the release of Hafiz Saeed on Wednesday, who was put under house arrest in January after years of living freely in Pakistan, one of the sore points in its fraying relationship with the United States. His freedom had also infuriated its arch-foe India.

The White House on Saturday urged Pakistan to arrest Saeed, calling for him to be prosecuted over the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including Americans.

Read: 26/11 attack mastermind Saeed walks free, says will fight for Kashmir

If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation, the White House said in a statement.

This is the first time the United States has acknowledged that the recent decision could have an impact on relations between the two countries, who are allies but view each other with suspicion.

Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks in which 10 gunmen attacked targets in Indias largest city, including two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a train station in a rampage that lasted several days.

The violence brought nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India to the brink of war.

The United States had offered a $10 million bounty for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). Members say the JuD is a charity but the United States says it is a front for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group.

Read: US demands arrest, prosecution of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed

The White House said Pakistans failure to charge Saeed sent a a deeply troubling message about Pakistans commitment to (combating) international terrorism. It added that it also was counter to Pakistans claim that the country did not provide sanctuary to militants.

President Donald Trump has accused Pakistan of harbouring agents of chaos and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul.

Pakistan argues that it has done a great deal to help the United States in tracking down terrorists.

A US official expressed hope that relations between the two countries could improve after a kidnapped US-Canadian couple and their three children were freed in Pakistan in October, after the couple was abducted in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Michael Kugelman, of the Woodrow Wilson Centre think tank in Washington, said he did not expect an imminent change in relations between the two countries, but Saeeds release would be a critical point for Washington as it considers its options.

This could move the US closer to adapting a largely symbolic but nonetheless major punitive step - the revocation of Pakistans non-NATO ally status, which would be a big reputational blow for Pakistan, Kugelman said.

Read also: 26/11 attacks mastermind Saeed has blood on his hands: Ex-CIA dy director

Pakistan won major non-NATO ally status in 2004 from the George Bush administration, in what was at the time seen in part as recognition of its importance in the US battle against al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents.

Non-NATO ally status is a designation given by the US government to close allies who have a strategic working relationship with US Armed Forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
In the last four decades, the Pakistani deep states pursuit of low intensity conflict in Afghanistan and India.

Noting that both the Pakistani state and civil society have become the targets of terror attacks, it said some attacks have occurred, with insider help, on sensitive military bases where nuclear weapons are likely stored. (Photo: AP)

Washington: Pakistans tactical nuclear-weapons programme is not only dangerous for safety and security of the region, but also it is the surest route to escalating conventional war to the nuclear level, according to a report by an American think-tank.

In its report Asia in the Second Nuclear Age, the Atlantic Council, however, said Pakistan does not appear to have operationalised its tactical nuclear-warfare plans yet. Pakistans tactical nuclear-weapons programme is dangerous for safety and security reasons, and also because it is the surest route to escalating conventional war to the nuclear level. However, Pakistan does not appear to have operationalised its tactical nuclear-warfare plans yet, said the report released this month.

The greatest threat in the region comes not from the development of large, sophisticated, and diversified nuclear arsenals, but from the continued stability of the institutions guarding them. In this regard, the future stability of Pakistan remains a wild card, said the report.

In the last four decades, the Pakistani deep states pursuit of low intensity conflict in Afghanistan and India, via the vehicles of radical jihadi non-state actors, has produced terrible blow back effects on Pakistan itself.

Noting that both the Pakistani state and civil society have become the targets of terror attacks, it said some attacks have occurred, with insider help, on sensitive military bases where nuclear weapons are likely stored. The possibility that Pakistans nuclear weapons could be stolen  or that schisms in Pakistans military might cause nuclear command-and-control failures  is not as fantastic as it once seemed, report said.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that the US strongly condemns the release of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba leader from house arrest.

Supporters of Hafiz Saeed (second from left), head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, kiss his hands as he arrives after his release at a mosque in Lahore. (Photo: AP)

Washington: The US has demanded the immediate re-arrest and prosecution of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, warning Islamabad that there would be repercussions for bilateral ties if it fails to take decisive action against the notorious terrorist.

The banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) head, who carries a $10 million American bounty on his head for terror activities, walked free on Friday after the Pakistan government decided against detaining him further. He was under house arrest since January.

In a strongly worded statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Saturday that the US strongly condemns the release of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba leader from house arrest and calls for his immediate re-arrest and prosecution.

If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation, Ms Sanders said, reflecting the Trump administrations outrage at Saeeds release.

She said Saeeds release, after Pakistans failure to prosecute or charge him, sends a deeply troubling message about Pakistans commitment to combating international terrorism and belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists on its soil. The release of Saeed is a step in the wrong direction, she said.

She said the Pakistani government now has an opportunity to demonstrate its seriousness in confronting all forms of terrorism, without distinction, by arresting and charging Hafiz Saeed for his crimes. Saeed is a notorious terrorist who is accused of having masterminded the November 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.
65 per cent voter turnout in Phase 1 on Sunday, Phase 2 polling on December 7.

Nepalese women wait in line to cast their votes during the legislative elections in Balefi, Sindhupalchowk, 80 kilometers east of Kathmandu. (Photo: AP)

Kathmandu: Around 65 per cent votes were cast on Sunday as polls opened in Nepal for a historic round of provincial and parliamentary elections that many hope will bring the much-needed political stability to the Himalayan nation.

Of the total 15.4 million voters, 3.19 million were eligible to cast their votes in the first phase of the polls on Sunday while the rest will exercise their franchise during the second phase on December 7.

The polling was held more or less in peaceful manner, with exception of sporadic incidents in a few places, and the voters cast their votes enthusiastically, according to officials of the Election Commission.

Around 65 per cent of the 3.19 million voters cast their votes on Sunday to elect amid tight security lawmakers in 32 districts, mainly hilly and mountain regions in the northern part of the land-locked country, the officials said.

The turnout was lower than the votes cast during the local-level polls, when more than 70% voters exercised their franchise.

Bajura district situated in far West Nepal witnessed the highest percentage of polling with 80% people casting their votes, the EC officials added.

The voting took place in 37 electoral constituencies of 32 districts.

Altogether 702 candidates were in the fray for 37 seats of Parliament and 74 of provincial assemblies. Voting started at 7 am and continued till 5 pm.

This is for the first time that elections for Parliament and provincial assemblies are being conducted under the new Constitution promulgated in September 2015.

The second phase will see elections in 45 districts including Kathmandu valley and southern plains of Nepal, also known as Terai.

The elections will elect 175 Members of Parliament and 350 members of provincial assemblies in seven provinces for a five-year term.

A large number of security personnel including the Army were mobilised to ensure security.

The EC authorities visited several remote areas on helicopters to assess poll preparations. chief election commissioner Aydohee Prasad Yadav visited Dolpa in the North-East mountain region and Nuwakot in the central Nepal, respectively, to have a direct observation of the poll preparations.

I am also excited for the polls as most people whom I met today in various parts of the country are really excited. Unlike them I am a bit worried if any force disturbs the elections. Thus, lets first make this election a success and we all will celebrate it together, CEC Yadav had told reporters on the eve of the election.

Two major communist parties  CPN-UML and former rebel CPN (Maoist) now rebranded as CPN (Maoist Center)  have forged an electoral alliance against the ruling Nepali Congress. The two parties have vowed to garner a majority in the elections and forming a communist government.

The Nepali Congress has also forged an electoral alliance with pro-Hindu Rastriya Prajatantra Party in certain electoral constituencies.

There are also some electoral alliances between the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, a key Madhesi party and Nepali Congress in some constituencies to counter the communist alliance.
Army Chief tells PM deploying troops will send wrong message.

Protesters from the Tehreek-i-Labaik Yah Rasool Allah religious group shout religious slogans during a protest in Islamabad. (Photo: AFP)

Islamabad: Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday told Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi that deploying troops against the protesters in Islamabad would send a wrong message.

General Bajwa, who met PM Abbasi here, said force cannot be used against fellow Pakistanis.

PM Abbasi and the army chief deliberated over the prevalent situation following launch of a security operation against sit-in protesters Friday night.

Recommendation of the Army Chief has come in hours after interior ministry issued a notification Saturday night regarding deployment of Pakistan army in the capital to check violence and aid to governments efforts in having the sit-in ended.

Seven people were killed while more than 200 wounded in clashes with security forces in Islamabad. At least 400 have been held according to the latest reports while 26 First Information Reports (FIR) have been lodged in different police stations.

Interior minister Ahsan Iqbal had made it clear to the protesters that the government would not succumb to illegal demands of a group of people and that law minister Zahid Hamid would not tender his resignation.

Earlier, interior minister Ahsan Iqbal briefed the PM and the Army Chief on operation against protesters. The meeting reviewed different options to end sit-in protest in the light of Islamabad high court (IHC) order. The participants also discussed requisition of armed forces in aid of the civil power under Article 245 of the constitution.

Officials said the federal government had decided to seek religious scholars help to end the sit-in. The Army said that it would protect the government buildings.

Earlier on Saturday, after a midnight deadline expired, police launched an operation to clear protesters.
The alliance was announced in 2015 under the auspices of Prince Mohammed.

The summit is the first meeting of defence ministers and other senior officials from the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, which officially counts 41 members. (Photo: AFP)

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia gathered officials from 40 Muslim countries on Sunday in the first meeting of an Islamic counter-terrorism alliance, a move Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declared a "clear signal" to extremism.

"In past years, terrorism has been functioning in all of our countries... with no coordination" among them, he said in his keynote speech.

"This ends today, with this alliance."

Prince Mohammed said the 40 countries were sending a "clear signal" that they would "work together to support the military, financial, intelligence and political efforts of every member state".

The summit is the first meeting of defence ministers and other senior officials from the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, which officially counts 41 members.

The alliance was announced in 2015 under the auspices of Prince Mohammed, whose rapid ascent since his appointment as heir to the throne in June has shaken the political scene across the region.

The alliance groups largely, although not exclusively, Sunni-majority or Sunni-ruled countries.

It excludes Saudi Arabia's arch-rival, Shiite-dominated Iran, as well as Syria and Iraq, whose leaders have close ties to Tehran.

Sunday's meeting coincides with an escalation in tensions between Riyadh and Tehran, particularly over wars in Syria and Yemen and the political structure of multi-confessional Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supporting armed groups across the Middle East, including Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah and Yemen's Huthi rebels.

The meeting also comes as several military coalitions, with backers including both Iran and key Saudi ally the United States, close in on the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

The alliance meeting in Riyadh brings together Muslim or Muslim-majority nations including Afghanistan, Uganda, Somalia, Mauritania, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen and Turkey.

Retired Pakistani general Raheel Sharif has been appointed commander-in-chief.

While the alliance officially includes Qatar, which is the target of a six-month boycott led by Saudi Arabia, organisers in Riyadh said no Qatari officials were present at the meeting.

Qatar's flag was also absent.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain - all members of the counter terrorism alliance - abruptly cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in June, accusing the emirate of being too close to Iran and supporting Islamist extremism.

Qatar denies the allegations.
More than 15 million eligible voters will pick a 275-member legislature, the first under a new constitution agreed after years of wrangling.

A second phase of the election will take place on Dec. 7, and the election commission has said that the final results probably won't be known for several days because of the cumbersome counting procedures. (Photo: AP)

Kathmandu: Nepalis began voting for a new parliament on Sunday with the army on alert as a series of small blasts blamed on a rogue Maoist group reminded the Himalayan nation of the violence and instability it is hoping to leave behind.

More than decade after the end of a civil war between Maoist peasant guerrillas, Nepal is hoping this election - the first parliamentary polls since 1999 - will complete its long journey from a monarchy to becoming a federal republic.

A second phase of the election will take place on Dec. 7, and the election commission has said that the final results probably won't be known for several days because of the cumbersome counting procedures.

A Maoist splinter group was behind a series of small blasts in the run up to the polls, and security forces have defused around 30 improvised explosive devices since Friday, army spokesman Nain Raj Dahal said.

Suresh Balsami was the first voter at Kagatigaun polling centre near the capital Kathmandu.

"I voted for peace, development and prosperity of the country," said the 32-year-old bus driver as other voters began to trickle in.

Nepal voted in 2008 and 2013 for a Constituent Assembly, which doubled as parliament, to write a post-monarchy charter that plotted the course to becoming a federal republic.

More than 15 million eligible voters will pick a 275-member legislature, the first under a new constitution agreed after years of wrangling.

Simultaneously, voters will choose representatives to seven provincial assemblies for the first time since Nepal abolished the monarchy in 2008.

The centrist Nepali Congress party, considered a pro-India group, has formed a loose electoral alliance with the Madhesi parties from the country's southern plains bordering India and former royalists.

Facing the alliance is a tight-knit left coalition between the former Maoist rebels and the main opposition Communist UML party, perceived to be closer to China.

Wedged between India and China, Nepal needs to balance ties, but the outcome of the election could determine which of the Asian giants gets the upper hand in the battle for influence in the buffer state.

Both are looking to benefit from Nepal's potential as a source of hydropower.

Home to Mount Everest, and one of the poorest countries in the world, Nepal depends of tourism and aid. More than one-fifth of its 28 million people survive on less than $1.90 a day, and parts of the country are still recovering from a devastating earthquake that killed 9,000 people in 2015.
At the Angelus, Pope Francis expresses "great sorrow" for the massacre on November 24 in Egypt. "The kingship of God: Solidarity with those who suffer to arouse attitudes and works of mercy everywhere". "That beggar, the needy who tend their hand to us is Jesus; that child, that prisoner ... ". Mother Catalina de Maria Rodriguez was beatified yesterday in Cordoba (Argentina). Tonight Francis leaves for Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "Those people were praying at that moment. We too in silence, pray ... ": with these words Pope Francis invited the nearly 20,000 pilgrims to pray for the victims of the massacre that took place in the Al Roda mosque on November 24 in the village of Bir Al-Abd near Al-Arish , in North Sinai.

The pontiff had sent a telegram condemning the slaughter and expressing his solidarity to the entire Egyptian people. Inviting the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Angelus to prayer, the pontiff said: "Dear brothers and sisters, the news of the massacre in a mosque in northern Sinai in Egypt in Friday caused us all great pain. I continue to pray for the many victims, for the wounded and for the whole community, so severely affected. May God free us from these tragedies and sustain the efforts of all those who work for peace, harmony and coexistence. "

Earlier, Pope Francis focused on the gospel of today's solemnity, Christ the King, that highlights the passage on universal judgment (Matthew 25: 31-46).

"This word," said the Pope, "never ceases to impact us, because it reveals to what extent God's love comes to us: to the point of being identified with us, but not when we are well, when we are healthy and happy , but when we are in need. And in this hidden way He allow us meet Him, holding out His hand to us as a beggar. Thus Jesus reveals the decisive criterion of his judgment, that is, the concrete love for the neighbor in distress. And thus reveals the power of love, the royalty of God: Solidarity with those who suffer to arouse attitudes and works of mercy everywhere. "

"The parable of judgment continues by presenting the king who deprives those who during their lifetime did not care about the needs of their brothers. Even then, they remain surprised and ask, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or stranger or naked, ill or in prison, and have not served you?" (V. 44). Subtly: "If we had seen you, we would certainly have helped you!" But the king will reply: "All you did not do to one of these little ones, you did not do to me" (v. 45). At the end of our life we will be judged on love, that is, on our concrete commitment to loving and serving Jesus in our younger and needy brethren. That beggar, the needy who tends his hand to us is Jesus; that child, that prisoner ... ".

"Jesus - he concluded - will come at the end of time to judge all the nations, but he comes to us every day, in so many ways, and asks us to welcome him. May the Virgin Mary help us to meet and receive him in his Word and the Eucharist, and at the same time in the brothers and sisters suffering from hunger, illness, oppression, and injustice. May our hearts welcome him in our life today, so we may be are welcomed by Him into the eternity of His Kingdom of Light and Peace. "

After the Angelus and silent prayer for the massacre in Egypt, Francis recalledd that yesterday, in Cordoba (Argentina), mother Catalina de Maria Rodriguez was proclaimed blessed. She was the founder of the Congregation of Hermanas Esclavas of Corazon de Jesus, the first institute religious woman of apostolic life in Argentina.

Before taking his leave of the pilgrims, he recalled that tonight he will begin his journey to Myanmar and Bangladesh. "I ask you - he added - to accompany me with prayer, so my presence for both of these nations is a sign of closeness and hope."
In a significant new development, China has proposed initiating an economic corridor with Myanmar to advance bilateral trade links, creating a central intersection for the Belt and Road Initiative between Southeast Asia and China.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) meets with Myanmar's State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on Nov. 19, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Addressing the media while on a recent visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh, Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced, "China and Myanmar have great potential for cooperation as they are highly complementary in economy. To further enhance China-Myanmar comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, China has proposed building the China-Myanmar economic corridor."

Starting from Yunnan in southwestern China, the corridor would proceed south to Mandalay in Myanmar, eastward to Yangon and then westward to the Kyaukpyu special economic zone. This would boost connectivity and facilitate development throughout Myanmar.

Three branches of this network would operate along with a proposed $1.5 billion oil pipeline through the Bay of Bengal. Deepening economic cooperation with these new projects under the BRI, China has also backed a $7.3 billion deepwater port in Rakhine state.

Explaining the geo-strategic location of Myanmar, expert Gu Xiaosong has said it "serves as an important intersection for the Belt and Road Initiative," and the new corridor will "allow China to access the Indian Ocean more conveniently."

Ostensibly, one of the originally planned six corridors of the Belt and Road Initiative, the BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar Economic Corridor) is still in the pipeline, this new round of mega-projects will help focus on the uplifting and development of the entire region and launch the BCIM in tandem with the new CMEC.

Along with opening up development prospects for Myanmar, Foreign Minister Wang Yi also proposed a peace process to address the country's ongoing tensions with Bangladesh over the prevailing Rohingya refugee situation. Spinning out of control, an exodus of 600,000 refugees to the neighboring country has plunged both into a crisis with no seeming workable solution.

Proactively, the Chinese Foreign Minister put forward a three-step peace initiative, firstly focusing on achieving an effective ceasefire, secondly keeping communication lines open to avoid misunderstandings, and thirdly, finding a realistic long-term solution to the conflict with international assistance.

Finding the peace strategy beneficial and mutually acceptable, both Myanmar and Bangladesh have responded positively to the three-phased solution, as confirmed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang.

Welcoming the mediation efforts as well as the economic corridor and development offer, Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw said he "appreciated the proposal of building a China-Myanmar economic corridor, and intends to actively integrate with the Chinese side over the project."

Simply yet effectively, the Chinese approach to the issue is to develop Rakhine state, which is the flashpoint of the ongoing conflict, with the help of the new China Myanmar Economic Corridor project. Having observed that economic instability and unemployment usually cause such problems, improving living standards with jobs and development usually is the only practical solution.

Along with this, gradual repatriation of refugees in Bangladesh could be organized by both sides according to their previous understanding.

Visiting Myanmar only last week, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson proved unable to solve the crisis as he took a stern stance and called the Rohingya matter "ethnic cleansing," which offered no chance of progress.

Yet under Chinese advice, Bangladesh and Myanmar have finally signed a deal to return the Rohingya displaced by the conflict, a welcome step for the former. Though details still need to be fleshed out, the Bangladesh foreign ministry has stated that the process of repatriation would begin within two months.

With a ceasefire already achieved, the Bangladesh Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali optimistically said it was the "first step" while a senior Myanmar official Myint Kyaing reaffirmed the Rohingya would be re-settled "as soon as possible."

Having solved an international crisis that had all the potential to spin out of control, China taking an active interest in peace efforts augurs well for South Asia. Recently, the first mediation effort by China was between Afghanistan and Pakistan and it helped calm the situation; now, this second diplomatic initiative has taken the world by surprise, while Bangladesh and Myanmar have finally heaved a heartfelt sigh of relief.

As planned by the U.S. and other powers, sanctioning Myanmar would have been counter-productive, what China did was consider the economic aspect and bring about a mutually acceptable formula for stability. Not only that, these developments would also firmly establish both the countries as Belt and Road countries, narrowing down the odds for any future friction as they avail the benefits of trade opportunities and connectivity.

Sabena Siddiqui (Twitter: @sabena_siddiqi) is a foreign affairs journalist and lawyer based in Pakistan.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Thank you for your response.

We have had different advice because of the use of the word "may".

But, I will obviously check everything.



Also, the reason why cancelling the student visa is a priority is because the current college he has been at for the past 18 months have:

- lost his assignments,

- lost parts of his exams and failed him so he's had to repeat subjects (then, they later they would find the part he had done as we would appeal the failing),

- there is no communication between the tutors and the college on what is expected, therefore, he would do what the tutor has assigned and then the college would officially inform he has not completed his subjects for that term

- when we call to discuss these issues and a supervisor is busy, they say they will call back, they don't

- they tell you one thing in meetings on how to mediate problems, when you email them to confirm what they said is true (to get in writing) they avoid the question and never answer



The list goes on. It's an absolute joke.



My partner is already a person who is susceptible to anxiety and depression and it is truly debilitating. He stopped going to his classes because going to the college was making him depressed. It's a toxic environment, not conducive to learning. Before this college he was a good student and had no problems with previous learning institutions.



His student agent believes that we should make a formal complaint through him and cancel the student visa that way because you can remain in the country for up to 12 weeks on "holiday".



His student visa expires on the 19 June 2018, so our plan is to do something by January/February, because spending an additional $4000 at this college makes my skin crawl.



Do you have any knowledge or advice on this situation?



Thanks.
What does Kern County need drums for? A drum circle, of course. Shuffling through the database of purchase card expenses from the county of Kern is at turns pedestrian, surprising and amusing. Streams of purchases of flash drives, airfare, conference registrations and tires give way to acquisitions of 24 polyester mumu dresses, two sets of snow shoes and yes, a Djembe African drum.
Between $6 million and $8 million a year in taxpayer funds flows from the coffers of the County of Kern and into the retail world through cred
 Flash

Russian President Vladimir Putin (Xinhua file photo)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill vesting the government with the power to label foreign-funded media outlets in Russia as "foreign agents," said a presidential decree published Saturday.

The lower and upper houses of Russia's parliament approved the bill on Nov. 15 and Nov. 22, respectively.

The law was enacted after Russia's state-owned English news channel RT America was forced to register as a foreign agent in the United States by the Department of Justice under its Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) effective since 1938.

FARA requires "persons acting as agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities."

U.S. authorities accused Russian media outlets of influencing public opinion during the 2016 presidential election by spreading fake news. But Moscow saw the forced registration as an obstacle to Russian media activities in the United States and a step violating the freedom of speech.

According to the new Russian law, the Ministry of Justice will decide which media outlets should be listed as a foreign agent, who may face restrictions in Russia.

The ministry said it has sent letters about possible recognition as foreign agents to VOA, Caucasus Reality, Crimea Reality, Siberia Reality, the Idel Reality regional project, the Current Time TV channel, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Liberty's Tatar-Bashkir service and the Factograph project.
 Flash

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang left Beijing on Sunday morning for an official visit to Hungary and the sixth meeting of heads of government of China-Central and Eastern European Countries in Budapest.

Li will also attend the 16th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Russian city of Sochi from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is urging residents to lock their vehicle doors after a rash of attempted car burglaries.

Rash of attempted car burglaries in Pasco

Deputies search for suspects

Residents urged to keep car doors locked

The problem across Pasco County has kept some residents on edge.

Deputies have arrested two people so far. A 17-year-old was arrested after a rash of break-ins in the Ballantrae Community in Land O' Lakes.

A 49-year-old man, Stephen Titland, was arrested after tried to open a pickup that was actually an unmarked patrol car with the deputy sitting inside.

Deputies said Titland tried to break into at least 7 vehicles in Trinity Oaks over the past few weeks.

Detectives are still looking for others why may have been involved.

Law enforcement agencies all over the Bay area recommend for residents to keep their car doors locked.
The Florida Highway Patrol is searching the for person involved in a shooting on Florida's Turnpike Saturday morning.

2 people shot on Florida's Turnpike

Troopers said shooting prompted by road rage

Troopers searching for suspect and vehicle



The shooting happened at about 10:15 a.m. in the southbound lanes of the Turnpike, near mile marker 272.

A 37-year-old man and 17-year-old girl, both from Miami, were shot by someone in the a gray Toyota Camry, troopers said.

They were driving in a Chevy Impala when the shooting happened.

The shooting may have been prompted by road rage, Sgt. Kim Montes said.



Both people were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center with minor injuries.

The driver of the Camry fled the scene. Troopers are still searching for the car.

Troopers are collecting evidence and reviewing surveillance video.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Crimeline at 1-800-423-8477.


Stranded, Hypothermic Sea Turtle Sent to Recover at Oregon Coast Aquarium

Updated 11/25/2017 at 4:25 PM PDT - Updated 11/25/2017 at 4:27 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Seaside, Oregon)  An Olive Ridley sea turtle was recovered from a beach on the southern Washington coast this week and brought down to the Seaside Aquarium for some first aid, after which it was sent to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport for rehabilitation. Hypothermic and possibility injured, the 50-pound turtle was cold and skinny but alert. (Photos courtesy Seaside Aquarium).

Tiffany Boothe from Seaside Aquarium said she and other crew from the Seaside Aquarium responded to the call at Benson Beach, near Cape Disappointment on Wednesday. They took it back to their facility and warmed it up as they waited for wildlife officials to come and transport it to Newport.

She is very tired, Boothe said on Wednesday. Unbeknownst to most, during the winter, cold-shocked sea turtles can become stranded on our beaches. Reports of stranded turtles can begin as early as mid-October and can continue through January.

The turtle was discovered by Chad and Mickey Heidt of Beaverton, Oregon, who were camping at Cape Disappointment State Park. The sizable but helpless creature caused a stir on Seaside Aquarium's Facebook this week. One employee even set a small stuffed turtle next to it in an attempt to comfort it - or at least comfort page followers who felt sad for the turtle.

We got her into a warmer environment and she perked up a little more, Boothe said. At the Oregon Coast Aquarium they will be able to examine her more closely and get her the help she needs. X-rays will be done to rule out internal injuries; coming in through the surf can be rough for these cold-stunned turtles.

Sea turtles forage for food offshore, Boothe said, normally in warm water currents off the coast of California. Some weather patterns can temporarily push those currents farther north, but they often suddenly dissipate, giving way to the colder waters of Oregon and Washington. Then the turtles find themselves trapped in these frigid ocean currents.

When this happens, their bodies slow down and they become hypothermic, Boothe said. Those that can make it to shore 'haul' out to get out of the cold water, but the winter conditions on the beach are rarely more hospitable.

Once they are found on the beach, it's frequently difficult to tell if the sea turtle is dead or alive. Extreme hypothermia can make for a turtle that's unresponsive to touch and a heartbeat so slow and weak it's difficult to detect.

Oregon Coast Lodgings for this - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

Most sea turtles found on Oregon and Washington shores do not survive, even if found and recovered quickly, Boothe said. Those that do live are taken to one of two licensed rehab facilities on the Northwest coast; the Oregon Coast Aquarium or the Seattle Aquarium. When stabilized (which, if successful, can take up to a few weeks), the turtle is transferred to a center in California, where it will be released back into the wild.

After receiving the turtle around 12:30 a.m. on Friday morning, Oregon Coast Aquarium staff evaluated her condition, administered fluids, and performed a blood draw. Initial exams show the turtle is extremely emaciated and had likely been buoyant for an extended amount of time. Her temperature was 59 Fahrenheit, which is well below the standard temperature of 75.



Jim Burke, Director of Animal Husbandry at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, said it's not uncommon to see Olive Ridley turtles on the beach right about now. If you see one, do not move it or transport it yourself. Instead, call Oregon State Police Tipline at 800-452-7888 or the Marine Mammal Stranding Network in Oregon, Washington, and California at 1-866-767-6114.













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Nearly two dozen gathered to take part in Saturday morning's free Brew Yoga event in the park adjoining the Neches Brewing Company. Led by instructor Melody Butler, the session blends vinyasha and hatha yoga forms, which alternately focus on flowing with breath through poses and longer held poses. Saturday's event marked the 1-year anniversary of the monthly Brew Yoga event, which continues to grow in participants. Several stayed after the half-hour yoga to get a beer at the pub, which also hosted an onsite sale of items by LuLaRoe in concert with Small Business Saturday sales.
Horrific news of open auctions of enslaved Africans in anarchic Libya has gone viral recently. Ironically when The Black Star News wrote an editorials critical of the targeted killings of Black people in Libya during the war to depose Mumammar Quathafi, powerful forces had one of those editorials deleted.

http://www.blackstarnews.com/global-politics/others/the-libya-editorial-...

Those targeted killings were forewarning of the auctions we see today by the new order in Libya.

The world must repudiate these crimes and there must be consequences.

Some background on the history of enslavement of Africans globally. Black African people have been exploited through threats, violence and enslavement since the 15th Century through to the 21st Century.

The first Europeans to arrive on the coast of Guinea were the Portuguese. They were originally interested in trading in gold and spices, and set up colonies on the islands of Sao Tome, a two-island nation floating on the gulf of Guinea.

However, during the 16th Century, the Portuguese found that these volcanic islands were ideal for sugar growing and so to cultivate the sugar, an undertaking requiring a large labor supply, the Portuguese turned to large numbers of enslaved Africans.

Elmina Castle on the Gold Coast, originally built by African labor for the Portuguese in 1482 to control the gold trade, became an important depot for kidnapped Africans that were to be transported to the Western hemisphere. We can only imagine the savagery visited upon them.

Subsequently other European Kingdoms were able to reach Africa and forcibly transport Africans across the Atlantic which led to the devastation, depopulation and disadvantage of Africa in comparison to other parts of the world. Walter Rodney describes its negative enduring impact on the contemporary African condition.

Most of Europe and the Americas benefited from the Transatlantic Trade in enslaved Africans; they plundered Africa of its natural resources and shared the spoils. They used Africans as labor to develop their countries.

The Spanish were the first to transport Africans to the Americas from Europe but by 1518, Africans captured from the coast of West Africa were being shipped directly to America to be sold at auctions like beasts and then transported to toil on plantations. Men were mercilessly whipped for the slightest transgression, women raped at will and families torn apart to different White "masters."

The Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans --they were not "slaves"-- peaked in the late 18th century, when the largest number of Africans were captured on raiding expeditions into the interior of West Africa.

A comprehensive database compiled in the late 1990s puts the figure at just over 11 million people. Of those, fewer than 9.6 million survived the so-called Middle Passage across the Atlantic, due to the inhuman conditions in which they were transported, and the violent suppression of any on-board resistance. Many people who were enslaved in the African interior also died on the long journey to the coast.

According to Maulana Karenga, a professor of African studies, activist and author, the effects of the Atlantic trade in African captives was "the morally monstrous destruction of human possibility involved redefining African humanity to the world, poisoning past, present and future relations with others who only know us through this stereotyping and thus damaging the truly human relations among people of today". He cites that the crimes constituted the destruction of cultures, languages, religions and human possibilities.

Although the enslavement of peoples existed in various forms before the transatlantic route, the difference between this and the others is that the transatlantic one was directed with extraordinary cruelty and ghastliness towards only Black Africans, stripping them of all their rights.

Without a doubt, it permanently weakened the African continent and made it vulnerable to European invasion and colonization and plunder. Its legacy includes the racism and contempt from which Africans still suffer from today; White Supremacy was promoted in order to justify the crime of enslavement of Africans.

Rodney, who in addition to being a brilliant academic was a political activist --assassinated in his prime in Guyana-- stated, "The role of slavery in promoting racist prejudice and ideology has been carefully studied in certain situations, especially in the USA. The simple fact is that no people can enslave another for four centuries without coming out with a notion of superiority, and when the color and other physical traits of those peoples were quite different it was inevitable that the prejudice should take a racist form."

This is still evidenced today in many parts of the world. The horror is not yet at an end. The shackles are merely invisible but the "ebony" as a people, is still treated with hatred, prejudice, suspicion and discrimination. To borrow from Fanon, the "wretched" of the earth.

The CNN footage of a slave auction in Libya has now gone global. For all the crimes Quathafi was accused of carrying out during his long dictatorial regime there were never any auctions of enslaved Africans in Libya. The world must stop it.

In the CNN footage young men were being auctioned from as little as 300 --800 Libyan dollars. The auctioneer referred to them as "big strong boys" for farm work. One would be forgiven for thinking we were back in the 19th Century.

The existence of modern-day markets for enslaved Africans in Libya has been known for months, with testimony from the International Organization for Migration and other humanitarian agencies.

The Libyan government has promised to set up a commission to investigate this allegation. One has to wonder if this is because of the revelation of the video footage?

This however is a delayed promise. An investigation should have commenced as far back as April when BBC news first reported this gruesomeness, and the perpetrators brought to book.

This is a regrettable stain on humanity. A reminder of a dark past that should have no place in modern society.

Most of the migrants being auctioned are of West African origin, reminiscent of the 19th Century. As an African and a human being, I am not only outraged but I am saddened and ashamed. What are the governments of these West African countries doing to help their own citizens stranded in Libya?

What are they doing to address the root causes of why our brothers and sisters are risking crossing deserts and seas, where they endure torture, beatings, rapes from their traffickers, searching for a pot of gold in another country?

Tens of thousands have also drowned in the Mediterranean. Where is their outcry? Where is the evidence of their cooperation with the Libyan government in an effort to assist the stranded migrants?

Where is the outrage from the African Union and the United Nations beyond the useless diplomatic statement that "slavery and other such egregious abuses of human rights have no place in the 21st century"?

Action is needed as a matter of utmost urgency. We need collective outcry from the International community.

Wherever a Libyan Embassy or Mission exists organize a demonstration in protest and also encourage a boycott of Libya.

Google the contact information and send letters, email messages and make phone calls or organize protests outside the offices of: Libyan Embassies in your countries of residence; the African Union (AU); your Parliamentary Representatives or Congress in the case of the U.S; and, the United Nations.

We must all act collectively for, as Dr. King warned: "Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other away."

Here in the U.K. we can organize continuous protests at:

Embassy of Libya, London. Address: 15 Knightsbridge, Belgravia, London SW1X 7LY. Phone: 020 7201 8280

Ambassador: Mahmud Mohammed Nacua